Law of Three

Part of the Casswiki article series Cassiopaean Experiment and Fourth Way

The Law of Three is fundamental to Fourth Way cosmology, where each phenomenon springs from the interaction of three forces. The idea is also central to the Cassiopaean Experiment, where context or consciousness determines alignment in relation to the fundamental duality of the cosmos.

Cosmology

In Fourth Way cosmology, the fundamental law is called the Law of Three, or the law of the three principles or the three forces. According to this law, every phenomenon – from the cosmic to the sub-atomic – is the result of the converging action of three forces:

The active force, also called the Holy Affirming.
The passive force, also called the Holy Denying.
The neutralizing force, also called the Holy Reconciling.

The human mind is geared towards thinking in terms of a single force or at most two. People are generally unaware of the ‘third force’ or ‘third principle’ in a given phenomenon or situation, and as such they are not able to form an objective understanding of it. Rigid [‘formatory’ or ‘mechanical’ thinking](Formatory thinking) tends to only see ‘yes’ and ‘no’, ‘true’ and ‘false’, or ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Introducing the notion of third force as a representative of context or consciousness can broaden the mental process.

Still, we may not give fixed meanings to the three forces. The three forces are active, passive and neutralizing only with respect to the phenomenon at hand. Thus one and the same force may play very different roles in different phenomena and no phenomenon is isolated. The Law of Three deals with the single occurrence, but no single occurrence occurs that is not part of some process. The Law of Seven deals with how a process moves through distinct stages in time.

George Gurdjieff describes the Law of Three and the question of the third force as follows[1]:

Contemporary thought realizes the existence of two forces and the necessity of these two forces for the production of a phenomenon: force and resistance, positive and negative magnetism, positive and negative electricity, male and female cells, and so on. But it does not observe even these two forces always and everywhere. No question has ever been raised as to the third, or if it has been raised it has scarcely been heard.

According to real, exact knowledge, one force, or two forces, can never produce a phenomenon. The presence of a third force is necessary, for it is only with the help of a third force that the first two can produce what may be called a phenomenon, no matter in what sphere.

The teaching of the three forces is at the root of all ancient systems. The first force may be called active or positive; the second, passive or negative; the third, neutralizing. But these are merely names, for in reality all three forces are equally active and appear as active, passive, and neutralizing, only at their meeting points, that is to say, only in relation to one another at a given moment. The first two forces are more or less comprehensible to man and the third may sometimes be discovered either at the point of application of the forces, or in the ‘medium,’ or in the ‘result.’ But, speaking in general, the third force is not easily accessible to direct observation and understanding. The reason for this is to be found in the functional limitations of man’s ordinary psychological activity and in the fundamental categories of our perception of the phenomenal world, that is, in our sensation of space and time resulting from these limitations. People cannot perceive and observe the third force directly any more than they can spatially perceive the ‘fourth dimension.‘

Gurdjieff goes on to describe the Ray of Creation, wherein the three forces of the Absolute meet, creating worlds where the three forces no longer act as one. In a repeating process, the three forces then meet, giving rise to the next order of worlds, wherein the number of forces is doubled. This process proceeds to create a series of seven cosmoses (beginning with the Absolute as the first), where the number of forces acting on a cosmos is also the number of laws to which it is subject. The more laws, the more mechanical the worlds of a cosmos.

Boris Mouravieff, in his [[Gnosis (book trilogy)|Gnosis trilogy]], also relates the three forces to the creation of the world. Emerging with the creation of the Universe, each force represents one of the three conditions conceived by the non-manifest Divinity before the creation of the Universe:

The passive force corresponds to the static condition.
The active force corresponds to the dynamic condition.
The neutralizing force ensures the maintenance or equilibrium of creation.

In the first volume of Gnosis, Mouravieff writes:

Life in the universe is nothing but a perpetual process of creation in every domain, on every plane, and at every step. In addition, for every event, large or small, important or insignificant, an act analogous to the First Creation of the entire Universe is produced, with all proportions maintained. In this act, the three forces act as a replica of the three conditions which conceived the created universe before the manifestation.

Examples

The formulation ‘The higher blends with the lower in order to actualise the middle’ , is clear in the following: the sperm merges with the ovum to create the embryo or alternatively the sexual drive is inhibited, giving rise to ‘sublimation’ or ‘complex’, a teacher relates with a pupil ensuring transmission, etc.

In other examples, the third force is a catalyst or arbiter which determines the outcome of the encounter of the active and passive forces. For example, flour and water become bread only when bonded by fire, plaintiff and defendant have their case resolved only through a judge, the soul in potential asserts itself over the body through the application of the Work.

Work on the self

The Law of Three is of practical importance in self-Work. By studying onseself, one can learn to distinguish the three forces in the functioning of one’s machine. One can also recognize the absense of the third force by inertia in one’s life – by observing that one is stuck. Such observation shows the need for a new element which can enter as the third force. It could be knowledge, it could be work on one’s body or emotions; or, it could be that the need to “pay all in advance” is not being fulfilled, and must be before further progress is possible.

George Gurdjieff describes self-study and self-Work in relation to the Law of Three as follows[1]:

[…] by studying himself, the manifestations of his thought, consciousness, activity—his habits, his desires, and so on—man may learn to observe and to see in himself the action of the three forces. Let us suppose, for instance, that a man wants to work on himself in order to change certain of his characteristics, to attain a higher level of being. His desire, his initiative, is the active force. The inertia of all his habitual psychological life which shows opposition to his initiative will be the passive or the negative force. The two forces will either counterbalance one another, or one will completely conquer the other, but, at the same time, it will become too weak for any further action. Thus the two forces will, as it were, revolve one around the other, one absorbing the other and producing no result whatever. This may continue for a lifetime. A man may feel desire and initiative. But all this initiative may be absorbed in overcoming the habitual inertia of life, leaving nothing for the purpose towards which the initiative ought to be directed. And so it may go on until the third force makes its appearance, in the form, for instance, of new knowledge, showing at once the advantage or the necessity of work on oneself and, in this way, supporting and strengthening the initiative. Then the initiative, with the support of this third force, may conquer inertia and the man becomes active in the desired direction.

Examples of the action of the three forces, and the moments of entry of the third force, may be discovered in all manifestations of our psychic life, in all phenomena of the life of human communities and of humanity as a whole, and in all the phenomena of nature around us.

But at the beginning it is enough to understand the general principle: every phenomenon, of whatever magnitude it may be, is inevitably the manifestation of three forces; one or two forces cannot produce a phenomenon, and if we observe a stoppage in anything, or an endless hesitation at the same place, we can say that, at the given place, the third force is lacking. In trying to understand this it must be remembered at the same time that people cannot observe phenomena as manifestations of three forces because we cannot observe the objective world in our subjective states of consciousness. And in the subjectively observed phenomenal world we see in phenomena only the manifestation of one or two forces. If we could see the manifestation of three forces in every action, we should then see the world as it is (things in themselves). Only it must here be remembered that a phenomenon which appears to be simple may actually be very complicated, that is, it may be a very complex combination of trinities. But we know that we cannot observe the world as it is and this should help us to understand why we cannot see the third force. The third force is a property of the real world. The subjective or phenomenal world of our observation is only relatively real, at any rate it is not complete.

The Cassiopaeans stress the need for giving back in order to receive. Taking without giving eventually results in a blockage, regardless of the amount of energy expended in other ways. Relating this to the above quote, it is an instance of the third force being missing. Giving back can take many forms – it depends on [what is asked for](All to those who ask). In the context of this group, a large part is helping out with our common projects – e.g. discussing and sharing information on the Cassiopaea Forum, editing Signs of the Times to help keep it active as a lighthouse for the world, contributing to other projects – or helping to provide the means which others can use to do so. It can also be a matter of dedication – of not being able to receive more until one puts in practice, or sincerely utilizes, what one has already been given.

Duality, context, and choice

In relation to the fundamental duality of the cosmos, the third force is the context which determines how something aligns with either side. The duality can be expressed in various terms, including:

There is good (the creative principle or STO), evil (the entropic principle or STS), and the specific context that determines which is which. While in a given situation, a particular action may align with one of the polarities, in another situation it may correspond to the other. In any given situation, discerning the context is the basis of making an unweighed choice between the two natures.

Laura Knight-Jadczyk illustrates this in part of her article series “Jupiter, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and the Return of the Mongols”[2]:

There are those who think that truth or lies are always static, that a lie is a lie is a lie and that to be “good,” one must ALWAYS tell the “truth.” However, it is not always that easy. For example, consider France during the Nazi occupation. Undoubtedly, many of those involved in the resistance lied daily and regularly about their plans and activities. What was different about their lies was the INTENT and the SPECIFIC SITUATION. In such a situation, speaking the truth to a Nazi soldier who would use that truth to destroy one’s fellow resistance fighters would be “evil,” so to say, and lying would be “good.” The greater truth that the lie served was Freedom from Tyranny. The “observer” of the situation knew the objective truth that revealing his plans or betraying his brothers would bring their deaths. The reality of the Nazis was based on subjective lies, and by responding to these lies leading to tyranny with an opposite lie that led to freedom was then an effective canceling of the subjectivity leaving the field clear for objectivity. This simple example ought to give the reader much to think about in terms of the socialized belief in a “black and white” exposition of “truth or lies” and “good and evil”.

Attempting to define rigid, context-free rules of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ does not approach any real understanding, and the instilling of such mechanical morality is part of the formation of false personality “Personality (Fourth Way)”). Ultimately, no dogmas can replace the development of consciousness and conscience in guiding the decisions of one involved in the Work. Consciousness allows discernment of the nature of choices, and the development of conscience leads to a kind of universal morality which is independent of cultural values and programming, and which is able to take context into account.

An awareness of context in judging the rightness of actions is an inherent part of the practice of external considering and strategic enclosure.

Another example of the ‘third principle’ in ethics is the Buddhist notion of the middle path. For example, the extremes of asceticism and gluttony can be reconciled to right action by the Dharma, thus moving on from the body-centricity implicit in the original tension between deprivation and indulgence.

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Law of Three

Cosmology

Examples

Work on the self

Duality, context, and choice

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References

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