The Inherent Wave of Being—a Treatise on Metaphysical Humanism, part XVII- God's Fourth Way

Students of Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way will, if they think about this for a few moments, see the very clear analogy between the three forces of Love, Intellect, and Matter, the idea that they produce existence as we know it, and the concept of a “Fourth Way.” The Holy Trinity, acting in perfect concert in its manifestation as Love, Intellect, and Matter, produces the universe as a “Fourth Way” for the manifestation of God — a way in life, that is to say, a way of existing and being. 

The relationship is not a coincidence. Think about it carefully, because what it tells us is that the entire universe is God’s Fourth Way. 

We are participants, in other words, in God’s own search for Being.

Of course the idea that the universe is a vehicle for the self-disclosure of God is hardly a new one. It is, in fact, ancient; yet understanding it from the perspective of Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, a way of self disclosure that combines the three major aspects of self in a harmonious effort that produces a “superior” entity consisting of the three ways, is new. Another compelling aspect of this reasoning is that it conforms to the emergent properties of the material universe and all of its manifestations. Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way is, in its own right, an emergent entity, even though it has not been recognized or referred to as such until now.

 When we refer to the Fourth Way as an emergent entity, what we mean is that the collective action of its constituent parts produce a more sophisticated, more intelligent, and more empowered agency of Being than any one of the constituent parts can be said to produce when it operates on its own. The Fourth Way is, furthermore, emphatically defined as a way in life, that is, a method of investigation and self-disclosure (whether of our own self or a higher one) that is undertaken at the same time one fulfills one’s day to day responsibilities. It does not replace ordinary responsibilities; and it does not require a cloistered existence, withdrawn from engagement, in order achieve its ends. Rather it relies on the engagement itself to produce the material necessary for self discovery and self-disclosure.

 Think on this as we move forward.

Warmly,


Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola Magazine.