The author describes how the tools of scale and relativity help us awaken from sleep, to reach an awareness that is more in touch with reality.
Our Changing Connection with Reality
Our inner lives comprise moments of varying profundity or depth. Depending on the activity at hand, the mood we are in, or the influence of others, our connection with the internal or external reality changes. At times we are more focused or observant. At other times, our attention is more negligent, and we may be more absent-minded or carefree. However, whether brushing our teeth, paying a phone bill, or cooking a meal, there is always an opportunity of shedding more attention, or light, on the given moment.
‘Have I said it before? I am learning to see. Yes, I am beginning. It’s still going badly. But I intend to make the most of my time.’
Rainer Maria Rilke
In a human being, more than one single process is occurring at any time. In fact, it is often the case that a multitude of processes are simultaneously taking place. As we tend to remain in a very small location in our inner world, this multiplicity escapes us. As a result of efforts to remember ourselves—to be present to what is in front of us—awareness, or presence, begins to grow.
Obstacles to Presence
The Fourth Way describes some of the obstacles to being in the moment, including imagination (or day-dreaming[1]), identification[2], and negative emotions—such as fear, envy, and anger.
Mr. Ouspensky spoke of three stages of negativity. First, one is in imagination, forgetting that the sense of ‘I’ in a given moment is but a fleeting nervous impulse lasting for three seconds. In imagination, one forgets that one has internally a multitude of ‘I’s. Then comes identification, in the sense that this ‘I’ expands and occupies our sense of identity. This state of identification can lead to negative emotions, which may or may not be expressed. The non-expression of negative emotions is the first necessary step in the effort to become more conscious, more awake.
‘There are a great many chemical processes that can take place only in the absence of light. Exactly in the same way many psychic processes can take place only in the dark.’
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff
The Tools of Scale and Relativity
Fourth Way authors describe ‘scale’ and ‘relativity’ as two concepts that the system has and life[3]lacks. Scale is an inner state in which a person can perceive the true importance of an idea. For example, the ideas of self-remembering, or being present, and the non-expression of negative emotions, are ideas of the greatest scale, as emphasized by Robert Earl Burton.[4]Other ideas, such as the theory of human types described by Rodney Collin, or the idea of alchemy—external and internal refinement—are of less importance, or have less scale.
Relativity is another inner state, denoting the ability to see the relative connection between one thing and another. Appreciating good wine, or a decent coffee, are examples of relativity within the sense of taste. Likewise, the emotional center uses relativity to evaluate a work of art. Ultimately, however, relativity is the ability to discern the needs of the moment, and to connect them in a practical way to being present. For example, sometimes actively listening during a concert or a conversation can catapult us into presence. At other times, stopping thoughts can have a similar effect.
Using the Intellectual Part of the Emotional Center, the King of Hearts
Our machine, or lower self, has many different facets. However, this is not necessarily a negative thing. Part of us that can use this haphazard combination and turn it into something higher. This part is the king of hearts[5], or, more specifically, the nine of hearts. By bringing more attention to the moment, this part can make the soul grow, our higher centers. The chief way to achieve this is the transformation of suffering, growing from darkness to light, which the king of hearts can do.
‘More light, more light.’
Johann Goethe’s final words
[1]The endless flow of unconscious thoughts
[2]Described as ‘attachment’ in the Buddhist tradition
[3]Organic life on Earth, including humanity
[4]Founder of The Fellowship of Friends.
[5]See ‘Balancing the Lower Centers to Reach Higher Centers’ in the July 27, 2018 issue: https://fourthwaytoday.org/balancing-the-lower-centers-to-reach-higher-centers/.