Center of Gravity

Center of Gravity

Although we all possess all four lower centers, each of us has a center of gravity in one of these brains. That is, one center is more active than the others; it becomes the ruling function of one's own machine, the one that assumes the role of boss over the other functions. At crucial moments, this function automatically takes command.

Center of gravity influences the way we perceive the world and ourselves. An instinctive center of gravity understands reality in terms of energy and sensation. A moving one—spatial relationships, speed, and efficiency. The intellectual center—words and concepts. An emotional center of gravity also moves in a world of energies, but of a different nature than the instinctive center: the energies of other people and their effects on one another, beauty, passion, values. I read these lines through the filter of my center of gravity. To give an example, the different centers understand the word “freedom” quite differently. The instinctive center may think of being free from material cares and the disturbing presence of other people, while the emotional center will see freedom in an unconstrained and deep interaction with others. Almost the opposite. Many misunderstandings arise from this difference between people.

How can we know our center of gravity?

One point should be emphasized: this knowledge is an aid to self-observation, but it isn’t necessary for self-remembering. One can be present without having the slightest idea of the existence of centers of gravity. I say this because the subject can easily be treated as an interesting game, like chatting about astrological signs. Knowing certain characteristics of the machine, such as its center of gravity, is sobering; it is equivalent to drawing the map of one’s own ‘I’s. My center of gravity is part of what prevents me from being present.

To discover my center of gravity I must first have a clear idea of what the various centers do, of their functions. Then I have to observe myself in a neutral way, in comparison with others whom I know well: my family, my friends. I begin to read myself and others in the light of this theory. (The most difficult person to analyze is ourselves, so it can be a good strategy to start with others.)

It helps to write down the differences between people. Why does A always want to travel while B is never willing to leave home? It’s useful to observe what we do in our spare time, our favorite activities, especially those that people around us, our friends or partners, consider odd or disapprove of—in those cases, it’s more likely that our preference for this activity springs from our essence and not from imitation or the wish for approval.

We can also proceed by exclusion and consider which functions in us are weaker. For example, some emotionally-centered people live in an ethereal world, ignoring the signals from the instinctive center, whose task it is to keep us healthy. They forget to eat, they stay up talking to their friends instead of going to bed, and they get sick a lot.

There are strongly intellectual people for whom the emotional center remains an almost unused function, and people with the instinctive center predominant whose intellectual center is reduced to a few formatory concepts. And so on. Each center, then, has its own small, recognizable peculiarities: moving-centered people consider efficiency very important and can’t understand, for example, why anyone would choose a road that “wastes time.” The emotionally-centered among us will try to load the most trivial interactions with emotional content.

A word of warning: arm yourselves with patience, it can take a while.

When we have an idea of what could be our predominant center, we must then consider the level of attention—king, queen, or jack, representing the intellectual, emotional, or instinctive-moving part of each center. When we talk about center of gravity, we are talking about one of these cards. The jack of diamonds, for example, is the instinctive-moving part of the intellectual center. The queen of clubs, the emotional part of the instinctive center.

Some people find it easier to identify their predominant center (I’m a total people-person; I’m definitely emotional, but I don't know if I am king, queen, or jack of hearts). For others the level of attention will be more evident (I’m a queen, no doubt about it; I have a passionate and extreme temperament. But of which center?).

To recognize my center of gravity, I must have a description of each one of these cards, and understand what the level of attention of the king, queen, and jack means for each function. I’ll do this in relation to two centers: emotional and instinctive.

In the emotional center:

Jack of hearts means mechanical attention in the emotional center. Emotion about all that is cute and light. Children, puppies, little hearts, smiley faces, songs. Cheerful, good mood. Curiosity about the small details of other people's lives. Ease in casual and superficial relationships.

Queen of hearts means emotional attention induced and held by an internal or external element, especially people (including oneself). Extreme emotions. Passion, dramatic love, jealousy, anger. Attraction for beauty and ability to produce beauty. Desire to be understood and appreciated.

King of hearts means focused emotional attention. Religious, aesthetic, ethical emotions. Important and solemn decisions. Disciplined emotions that contain an element of intentionality. Perception of the symbolic aspects of reality. Ability to put oneself in other people's shoes.

In the instinctive center:

Jack of clubs means mechanical attention, or absence of attention, in the instinctive center. Our heart beats, our nails and hair grow. We breathe and metabolize food. All this without conscious attention.

Queen of clubs means that attention is drawn by pleasure and pain in the instinctive center. It seeks comfort and physical well-being and tries to avoid unpleasant sensations. Good food, bad food. Perfume, lotions, massage. A sauna, a hot shower, an uncomfortable chair, a hard pillow. Sexual pleasure.

King of clubs means concentrated and planned attention in the instinctive center. Watching without being watched. Perception of illness or health in other people. Search for physical safety and security. This card administers the body's energies; if energy is limited it puts us to bed with a cold.

Suppose one of these descriptions corresponds to a strong aspect of one’s being. One should not jump to conclusions, thinking, “Hey, I’ve found my center of gravity! It wasn't that hard.”

Everyone has, for example, a queen of clubs. We all appreciate a fine wine when we taste one, and in that moment our queen of clubs is evoked regardless of our center of gravity. It may well be that the card is strong in us, but it is not necessarily predominant. To find the leader we have to try them all on, one by one. Also, it helps to remember that each of us has our own particular balance between the centers. One center will be dominant, a second almost as strong, a third in the middle, and a fourth underdeveloped. It depends both on our own essence and on our parents and the environment in which we grew up.

In Fourth Way schools the teacher may reveal one’s center of gravity, or one can ask one’s fellow students for their observations.

Written by our friend, Sergio Antonio, A Question of Presence

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Queen Shouting at Alice, John Tenniel