The Fourth Way and Esoteric Traditions
All work for development has two sides—something old in man has to be killed and something quite new has to be born. Preparation for the one and the other must go side by side, and they require quite different work. – Rodney Collin
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How does self-observation develop our sense of I? A Sequence of Work ‘I’s Once, during an elementary school break, as I now remember, I started playing hide and seek with children from all six grades in the school. Then an older girl yelled at me: “What are you doing in the game? Cockroach! Eh, cockroach! […]
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How can we utilize the law of octaves to help continue progressing in our work to awaken? Movement forward also requires rest, where new shocks can enter. “Life is a movement and a rest.” – Gospel of Thomas Motion and Repose in Spiritual Life The word movement comes from the Latin, movere; “to move, set in motion.” […]
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Can We Stand to See Ourselves? Everybody stands before a mirror and, instead of himself, sees somebody else. — Ouspensky, The Fourth Way People live their lives in a state of sleep and have an imaginary idea of who they are. Working towards awakening requires a third force. If one only has the first force of […]
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From Rodney Collin: We are connected with everyone we have met or talked to or felt, because we have given them part of ourselves. Whatever is strongest affects whatever is weakest. A crowd can be on the verge of panic and one strong person, by projecting confidence, can stop it. In a group of people […]
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An Apollo Walk Apollo is the name of the place my school has created. In almost fifty years, we have transformed a rude environment, adding roads, gardens, palm trees and roses, buildings and fountains—even a Greek-style theater. But all this is only external. More importantly, we have transformed ourselves and created a society worthy of […]
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Learning to play music: Does “raising up” the lower centers lead to higher centers? Some decades ago, after I began to work in a Fourth Way school, I returned to music. I needed to study the cello to play in a nascent community orchestra. I had stopped playing in my teens and my beautiful instrument […]
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Editors‘ note: In the Fourth Way today, understanding our lower centers and how they can work together in balance is key. This article describes the lower brains or centers in each person, and how balancing of these functions leads to experiencing higher states. The Seven Centers of the Human Machine The Fourth Way describes the […]
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Will, unity and the many I’s In the Fourth Way, a student learns to understand the difference between will and mechanicality. What is the unifying principle to overrule the many parts of our being? The work is upside down and backwards to life. To life, “freedom” means being able to follow the many ‘I’s the […]
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Bread and the Essence of Craftmanship – How does a master craftsman use bread-making for presence? Amidst these days of mass marketing and food production, one man here makes bread by hand for his community. Craftsmanship requires attention in the moment for a finished product to be both useful and beautiful. Presence to detail creates […]
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