You Have Four Brains, Not One

You Have Four Brains, Not One

In the Fourth Way, we refer to our waking sleep as being full of mechanical behavior. One category of that mechanical behavior relates to the lower or basic functions of humans. (We use the terms brains or centers interchangeably with functions.) You may be alarmed to discover that the human machine has not only one brain, but four brains in the lower self. For self-study, it is necessary to observe and study all four. There is also a sex center and two Higher centers, but this post is only an introduction to the four lower centers.

From the standpoint of biology, human beings have an instinctive center and a moving center whose functions are similar to the functions of other higher animals. The instinctive center governs the internal operation of the body: all anatomy and physiology, including the senses. Whereas the moving center involves the learned physical manifestations, such as all the motor skills, including walking, speaking, etc.

In contrast to these two centers, the intellectual center and the emotional center are not shared with other animals. The intellectual center is the thinking apparatus, covering the realm of ideas and thoughts and the collection of many forms of information. It includes big ideas as well as petty prejudices and biases. The emotional center is the home to feelings and emotions, including perceptions of beauty and the false, fabricated emotions of anger, fear, jealousy, etc. In many people, the emotional center is improperly or under-developed, but has tremendous potential for aiding in self-development.

From this complicated four-brained animal, we find a complex and conflicted organism when we examine ourselves. The four lower centers are the source where the many I’s typically arise, claiming any urge or desire or sensation to be the whole. When I say, I want a scoop of ice cream, it is portrayed internally as if all parts of me want a scoop of ice cream. In fact, it is only a part of my instinctive center that wants that scoop and may have even forgotten that I am lactose intolerant or on a diet. The four centers are not aware of themselves nor of each other in many cases, such is the nature of sleep.

My goal is to observe, study and balance the centers, and how they manifest under different circumstances, to see that each part does its proper function. Shining a bright light on our mechanics is very practical and beneficial. The lower centers contain many bad habits and are not accustomed to being observed. While it is imperative and prudent to put my house in order and to better align the centers to proper functioning, we are in the end more interested in increasing consciousness than in improving the functions. For instance, my Work with the four lower centers must avoid any pursuit of making a perfect machine or Superman. So we walk this fine line of observing, refining and enriching our lives, while also realizing that we must ultimately surpass the lower centers.

Try to observe the four lower centers in your daily life. What do you see and what would you like to know more about? Have you noticed that one center is more dominant than the others?

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Kairos, Roman (after Lysippos)