To Be or Not to Be -An Inner Triad

To Be or Not to Be -An Inner Triad

Gurdjieff said that [wo]man, as a three-brained-being, is a triad of three forces: the mind, the heart, and the body. He further indicated that the heart is always the reconciling force, with the mind and the body continually changing places as the active and passive forces. This is our condition.

What does this mean, in relation to the question of being? How does this inner combination of forces determine our ability to act on the knowledge we have?

My teacher puts it very nicely –“You must find your own presence more interesting than imagination.”

The body, that is, the moving/instinctive centre and its corresponding parts in the other centres, is the generator of imagination and all of its related emotions and identifications. The mind is the generator of the aim to awaken and has the knowledge to set aims, large and small, to that end.

In any given moment, the heart is more interested in one or the other. What is more important to the heart is where my state goes, either higher or lower. Not just in an overall sense, but also on the scale of a single breath. Cravings, aversions, worries, haste, irritations, excitements can all overpower my desire to be present, often burying it so completely, that it is entirely forgotten. Our hearts are literally overrun with the passion, interest, or identification of the moment.

What is most important to me right now? If I am running late for work, putting my shoes on quickly seems quite a bit more important than putting them on with presence. Sometimes, the impulse to hurry burns much more fiercely than the impulse to remember myself. Other times, I am sufficiently emotional about self remembering to arrive late at work with presence.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” -Matthew 6:21

When asked how to become more emotional about the work, Ouspensky replied “By making more efforts.” By setting small aims, small enough that we can manage, the mind slowly ‘trains’ the heart. We will experience moments of presence and we will come to value this state more and more. Eventually, the heart itself will be committed enough to carry us where the mind cannot go. The heart will enable us to Be.

It is simply a matter of finding our own presence more interesting than our imagination.

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Image: Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani