The Magnetic Centre and the World of Man

[T.C.]

Hi everybody! ;D

Since the All New Cassiopaea Forum is going to be more focused on The Work, Esotericism, The C's, I thought I'd share some recent thought's and see what everyone thinks.

In some ways, I think this post follows on from a great post which Ryan made entitled, Soul Potentiality in Adamic Man, which can be found here:

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=8655.0

If it can't be considered a kind of "Chapter 2" then I'd at least like to dedicate it to Ryan and thank him for the inspiration.

The first subject is what Gurdjieff defines as The World of Man in the last chapter of his book, Life is Real only then when I AM.

A soul is not born with men and can neither unfold nor take form in him so long as his body is not fully developed.

It is a luxury that can only appear and attain completion in the period of "responsible age," that is to say, in a man's maturity.

The soul, like the physical body, is also matter - only, it consists of "finer" matter.

The matter from which the soul is formed and from which it later nourishes and perfects itself is, in general, elaborated during the processes that take place between the two essential forces upon which the entire Universe is founded.

The matter in which the soul is coated can be produced exclusively by the action of these two forces, which are called "good" and "evil" by ancient science, or "affirmation" and "negation," while contemporary science calls them "attraction" and "repulsion."

In the common presence of a man, these two forces have their source in two of the totalities of general psychic functioning, which have already been mentioned.

One of them coincides with that function whose factors proceed from the results of impressions received from outside, and the other results of the specific functioning of the organs, as determined by heredity.

In the common presence of a man, as in everything in the Universe, sometimes one and sometimes the other of these totalities of functioning can serve as the source of one of the forces required for the process of which we are speaking.

For this process, it is not important to know which of these two forces is affirmative and which is negative; what matters is that when one affirms, the other denies.

The full realisation and precise determination in man of that totality of functioning whose factors are constituted from impressions coming from outside is called the "outer world" of man.

And the full realisation of the other totality, whose factors have arisen from automatically flowing "experiences" and from reflexes of the organism - notably of those organs whose specific character is transmitted by heredity - is called the "inner world" of man.

In relation to these two worlds, man appears in reality to be merely a slave, because his various perceptions and manifestations cannot be other than conformable to the quality and nature of the factors making up these totalities.

He is obliged, in relation to his outer world as well as his inner world, to manifest himself in accordance with the orders received from any given factor of one or the other totality.

He cannot have his own initiative; he is not free to want or not want, but is obliged to carry out passively this or that "result" proceeding from outer or inner results.

So here, G. has given us the basis and explanation for the concept that people are just reaction machines. We exist in two worlds. On the one hand, the outer world provides us with stimuli, and the inner world reacts to the same; on the other hand, the inner world provides a stimuli, which we act out in the outer world.

Such a man, that is to say, a man who is related to only two worlds, can never do anything; on the contrary, everything is done through him. In everything, he is but the blind instrument of the caprices of his outer and inner worlds.

The highest esoteric science calls such a man "a man in quotation marks"; in other words he is named a man and at the same time he is not a man.

He is not a man as he should be, because his perceptions and his manifestations do not flow according to his own initiative but take place either under the influence of accidental causes or in accordance with functioning that conforms to the laws of the two worlds.

In the case of "a man in quotation marks," the "I" is missing and what takes its place and "fills its role" is the factor of initiative proceeding from that one of the two above-mentioned totalities in which the center of gravity of his general state is located.

Now, in the book Gnosis - The Exoteric Cycle, Boris Mouravieff describes how the "inner world of man" functions using very specific terms, analogies and diagrams.

He talks about the three lower centres in man: The Intellectual, the Emotional and the Moving. The centres are all connected to one another, but there is no master, there is no centre of gravity for them to "orbit" around so they kinda crash into each other, just causing reaction after reaction. As G. puts it above, "In the case of 'a man in quotation marks,' the 'I' is missing".

We shall now examine the changes produced, in (the inner world of man), as a result of the appearance and growth of a magnetic centre within us. In a general way, one can say that the radiance of this centre will assist in efficiently perfecting the development of the lower centres. Under its banner, relations between the three centres will be radically modified, and this will strongly influence a man's life. In turn, this will lead to certain repercussions in his relations with those around him.

(T)he three centres are permanently interdependent. As a result, every movement of one or other of them automatically leads to a response in the other two. Because of this, as long as the (inner world) of the individual is composed solely of various combinations and movements of the lower centres, man can neither have a pure thought, nor a pure feeling, nor can he take any final decision.

Because of the way these mechanical ties operate, everything is mixed up within him. Certainly the response of the other centres does not have the same strength of movement as the centre where an action originates. Nevertheless, in ordinary circumstances man cannot ignore them. This phenomenon, accompanied by a varied amount of under-development and derangement in the centres and their sectors, is the cause of the doubts and inner conflicts in which man struggles so often. In addition, these bundles of mechanical ties have a specific significance, playing a positive role in the mental life of the individual.

Taken in ensemble, they constitute the organ—or better still the instrument—of morality. Given that, in exterior life, the voice of the real 'I' is weak and rarely heard, man, almost constantly identified with the 'I' of the Personality, can and often does act without taking the words of this secret voice into account, even if he repents later. In practice, under these conditions, the mechanical ties between the three centres are the only brake on his ungovernable greed. This moral instrument is moulded to fit the traditions of milieu and family. It is shaped from birth onwards by education.

One good example of the moulding of this moral (can we say even artificial?) instrument, was discussed by Laura, in this thread here:

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=2279.msg13746#msg13746

Psychologist Martha Stout asks:

How does conscience develop in human children?

Do we come by our conscience naturally, or is it a parallel development to other mental abilities? Do children acquire and adjust a moral sense as they experience life, from the lessons taught by family, society and culture?

Conscience, it seems, has not really been studied. But what HAS been studied is "moral reasoning."

Piaget described two general stages of moral development. The first stage is the "morality of constraint," or "moral realism," in which children obey rules because rules are regarded as inalterable. At this black and white stage of reasoning, young children believe that a particular deed is either absolutely right or absolutely wrong and that people will inevitably be punished for wrong behavior that is discovered. Piaget referred to this last as "imminent justice." (...)

The second stage of Piaget is the "morality of cooperation" or "reciprocity."

At this stage, children view rules as relative and subject to alteration under certain circumstances. Their concept of justice gives considerable consideration to people's intentions. Older children can "decenter" their point of view (make it less egocentric), and moral rules are understood as important to the functioning of society rather than only as ways to avoid individual bad outcomes.

(Kohlberg proposed that) 7 to 10 year old children reason on the "preconventional" level at which they defer to adult authority and obey rules based only on expectations of punishment and reward. This is "premoral." (...)

At about the age of 10, children move to the "conventional level" of moral reasoning. At this level, their behavior is guided by the opinions of other people and a desire to conform.

At this level, obeying authority becomes a value in itself without reference to rewards or punishments.

Now, returning to Mouravieff:

Clearly, without this instrument, the organization of social life in all its forms is unthinkable. Yet because of its nature, it cannot guarantee good and equitable human conduct; to ensure its own existence in times of peace, human society has always been obliged to have recourse to constraint and the application of penalties: necessary remedies, since morality will never be strong enough to curb the extreme and anarchistic tendencies of the Personality. The latter, in effect, lacks that kind of consciousness that the practical studies of religion describe as the fear of God.

(T.C.: This Godfearingness was a foundational concept of the great Sufi, Ibn al-'Arabi, whose works come highly recommended by Laura and the C's )

The mechanical ties between the centres can be represented very schematically(...). In (a man in quotation marks), these ties are normally sufficiently solid to function throughout a lifetime. (...)

We have said that the emergence of the magnetic centre can provoke a profound change in the mental organism. Having reached a certain degree of growth, this centre establishes direct ties — no longer mechanical but conscious — with each of the three centres. (...)

When these new ties are sufficiently consolidated they replace the old ties, which fall away. From now on, man regains the capacity to have pure thoughts and pure feelings, no longer adulterated as a result of the mechanical interdependence of the centres. From this point, each centre will be able to work independently but under the strict control of the magnetic centre, which ensures their coordination.

Thus, acting on our moral nature, the emergence and growth of the magnetic centre will result in progressive replacement of the elements of this moral nature by corresponding elements of Consciousness. We then stop being the victims of impulsive movements, and our reactions to impressions and shocks become more and more reflective and conscious.

However, one must not think that such a radical transformation of both inner and outer life can come about abruptly. Excluding very rare exceptions, which concern the just by nature — this evolution seems a long process, an uninterrupted combat with a series of successes and falls. More than once, he who searches will fall into crises of discouragement; more than once it will seem to him that he is being driven beyond the limits of his own life; he will sometimes feel crushed under the burden of the tests and difficulties against which he will be pitted during his search. This can be understood when we know that esoteric science in its teaching goes far beyond simple information. Its purpose, in fact, is nothing less than the transformation of the very being of those who study it, a concern completely outside the scope of positive science. Because it generally deals with those of the unjust who nevertheless aspire to the light, it calls on them(.)

This process, is somewhat described as the third stage of moral development, mentioned in the post by Laura:

Sometime during adolescence, a FEW people develop beyond the conventional level to the third and highest level (notice that most people remain at the level of the 10 year old) called "postconventional morality."

This level requires the individual to formulate abstract moral principles and to act on them to satisfy his or her OWN conscience rather than to gain the approval of others.

So what practical exercises can bring us to this kind of morality? A new place within which act's as the centre of gravity for directing our currently chaotic characters?

I believe G. gave us a possible solution to this predicament in the aforementioned and "unfinished", last chapter of his last book. The active creation of "The World of Man":

The real "I" in a man represents that totality of the functioning of his general psyche whose factors have their origin in the results of contemplation, or simply in the contact between the first two totalities, that is, between the factors of his inner world and of his outer world.

The totality of manifestations of this third world of man is, strictly speaking, as the ancient sciences understood, the real "inner world of man" as opposed to the real "outer world."

I shall call this third definite totality of functioning in the general psyche of man by the same neam it was given in the distant past, that is, "the world of man."

According to this terminology, the general psyche of man in its definite form is considered to be the result of conformity to these three independent worlds.

The first is the outer world - in other words, everything existing outside him, both what he can see and feel as well as what is invisible and intangible for him.

The second is the inner world - in other words, all the automatic processes of his nature and the mechanical repercussions of these processes.

The third world is his own world, depending neither upon his "outer world" nor upon his "inner world"; that is to say, it is independent of the caprices of the processes that flow in him as well as of the imperfections in these processes that bring them about.

A man who does not posses his own world can never do anything from his own initiative: all his actions "are done" in him.

Only he can have his own initiative for perceptions and manifestations in whose common presence there has been formed, in an independent and intentional manner, the totality of factors necessary for the functioning of this third world.

Thus, it is quite obvious that the whole secret of human existence lies in the difference in the formation of the factors of the first two totalities are formed by themselves, in conformity to laws, as a result of chance causes not depending on them, while the factors of the third totality are formed exclusively by an intentional blending of the functions of the first two.

And it is indeed in this sense that one must understand the saying, common to all old religious teachings, that "man receives all his possibilities from On High."

Here's where we link to a quote in the post made by Ryan; for in Life is Real Only Then, When I AM, G. never explains how to bring together the first two worlds in order to create the third.

'I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles -- an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle. But these two worlds can never make contact with each other, to make data for Third World; even God cannot give the possibility for contact between Inner-world and Outer-world struggle; neither can your heredity give it.

'Only one thing can give it: you must make an intentional contact between the two worlds; then you can make data which crystallize for the Third World of man, called by the ancients the World of the Soul.

'I can give you a small example which will perhaps give you the "taste" of this intentional contact. You, for example, when you give up cigarettes. You have an Outer-world struggle (not to buy, not to take, but remember always to break habit); and you have an Inner-world struggle (you imagine how it was when you could smoke -- you imagine it in a different way, more keen, and with more longing); and it will seem (with this Inner-world imagining) even more desirable than it had ever been. You will have made this cigarette an Intentional Contact between the two struggles, and even by this small effort you will have made data for the Third World.

'This can be a thing for power. I will tell you one very important thing to say, each time when the longing to smoke comes. You say it the first time, and maybe notice nothing. You say it a second time, and maybe nothing. Say it a third time, and perhaps something will happen. Say: "I wish the result of this suffering to become my own, for Being". Yes, you can call that kind of wishing suffering, because it is suffering.

'This saying can maybe take force from your animal and give it to Being. And you can do this for many things -- for any denial of something that is a slavery. A force such as this has special results, special emanations.

'Man is man -- he can never be another thing. But he can make his body work for another part of him -- his mind. If it is easy to subdue the body, then the exercise is no good. If the body will lie down at once, nothing happens. The greater weakness the body has, the more labour it does, the more it can give to the mind, and to Being.'

Edit: (I've decided to edit the end of this post. The original summation was done in a hurry as I had to leave the house, and since I hadn't thought it through properly, it wasn't really what I wanted to say.)

So I think G.'s unfinished essay is about the method of creating the magnetic centre. And we got the actual info indirectly through the work of Margaret Anderson, quoted by Ryan.

T.C.