First, Second, and Third Force

First Force, Second Force, and Third Force are important concepts in The Fourth Way/The Work. Understanding these concepts will clarify how to approach your endeavors in a manner that doesn’t create counterforce. First Force is the “I want/I need/I should” doership posture; Second Force is the resistance that arises in response to it. Without Third …

reification

Reification: The Vestigial Faculty of Objectification

“Reification is defined as the process of treating abstract concepts or statements as concrete entities, allowing for the assertion of additional facts about them, such as provenance and attributes.” – ScienceDirect In simpler words, reification is when we “make a ‘thing’” out of something that isn’t actually a thing. Take, for example, when a couple …

Conflicts aren't real. There is only the unfolding of what is.

Conflicts aren’t Real: The Parasitic Concept of Opposition

There are no Conflicts The so-called conflicts you’ve read about in history books or experienced with the people around you are merely unfoldings of what is. Conflicts have no ontological weight. Opponents also do not exist. Conflicts only exist internally. Holding on to internal conflicts — seeing parts of unfolding as “conflict” — only weakens …

Efforts drain energy as opposed to increasing one's capacity for it.

Efforts are Unnecessary: The Vestigial Faculty of Discipline

The End of Struggle Efforts are not the expenditure of energy — they are the misuse of energy that leads to fatigue and inauthentic action. The need for effort is an obstacle placed by the sense of importance. Contrary to the mind-worm’s logic, efforts are not necessary. In fact, whatever you think requires effort can …

The donkey that represents being motivated by the carrot and stick.

Carrot and Stick: The Vestigial Faculty of Self-Assification

We first used the carrot and stick on donkeys— indeed, the life of an ass is nothing more than being motivated by reward or punishment. However, humans have made themselves to be more asinine than their four-legged counterparts. The donkey is at least free from the carrot and the stick while its master is away. …

Polypsychicism: The Doctrine of Many Selves

The Polypsychic Being Part I — Origins of the Idea of Many Selves In the early twentieth century, Russian philosopher P. D. Ouspensky and his teacher George Ivanovich Gurdjieff introduced a psychology that still feels ahead of its time. They began from a simple observation: a human being does not think, feel, or act as …

Transformation of Time

Everydayness and Polypsychism everydayness, the dull hypnosis of everyday life polypsychism, the condition of multiple competing selves or egoes within the mind We find ourselves entranced by mechanical loops of living. Our sense of time is a major accomplice. The days of the week, the hours of the day, even the months of the year …

A Brief Reminder of Who and Where We Are

It has been my hope in writing this simplest and briefest of sketches to present the reader with the most essential starting point for any spiritual pursuit. I will be skimming over vast amounts of information – entire religions’ worth of intricacies, but, sometimes simplicity is more conducive to understanding than lengthy expositions. This is …