Notes on Laws of the Inner Cosmos, part VI: The Law of Symmetrical Entering

…if what is called the “vibration-of-the-density-of-the-elements-of-the-said-medium” has an “affinity-of-vibration” with the said active part of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh, then according to the World-law called “Symmetrical-entering”, this active part blends with the presence of the said medium and becomes an inseparable part of it. And from that moment, the given parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh begin, together with the said elements of the said medium, to represent the corresponding densities required in planets…

Beelzebub’s Tales, p. 171 

The Law of Heteratogetar mentioned in the last post discusses “proportionate results” arising from the impact of impressions on our organisms; this represents an evaluation of the scale of inner vibrations that arise as the result of what we encounter.  

The world law of symmetrical entering, on the other hand, evaluates quality of vibration and its impact on what we perceive. Quality of what's received depends on what Gurdjieff calls an "affinity of vibration." Affinity means a spontaneous or natural liking, from the Latin affinis, related.

What Gurdjieff proposes in this law is an extension of the material he handles in the complex chapter The Arch-Absurd, which describes the taking in and blending of impressions in considerable allegorical detail. The law he iterates here relates to the old folk saying, like attracts like. This may sound contradictory relative to the laws of physics — opposites attract, as with the positive and negative poles of a magnet, which attract powerfully – yet as with so many things, perhaps the matter is not so straightforward. 

In basic psychological terms, this law indicates that within our own inner world, we're attracted to things similar to what we already have. In the sciences, this is called confirmation bias; and everyone is a victim of this in many ways. Our psyche and our soul fear the different, fear the other; of course we are drawn to what we already like, and the more we form what we like in us, the more committed our inner parts become to repetitions of that preference. (Think, if you will, of the effects of the organic kundabuffer.) Change becomes less and less possible as we age and acquire more material. We’re predisposed to acquire what conforms to what we already are, and reject that which is different. My teacher Betty Brown used to warn me about this, insisting that if I stayed stuck in any particular mode for too long it would "become permanent" in me.

This like attracts like thing may sound like a stupidly obvious psychological trope; yet it's one thing to think about it and intellectually understand that we are this way, and quite another thing to actively experience it as a law within the context of our day today and moment-to-moment activity. When Gurdjieff speaks to Ouspensky about seeing the action of laws within ourselves and becoming free of them, he speaks of just such a work in the moment... not of all the theories we apply to the grand context of our grand lives. (fab/not fab.)

The law of symmetrical entering has useful purposes as well as ones that enslave us to the sameness of our day-to-day selves. This is because the good is drawn to the good; and if we form good in our souls, we draw more good to us. In addition, this law can create a feeling of brotherly love between human beings of like mind. (Ahem... not so good if you enjoy drawing evil into your soul. Don't do that!)

Like its other partner laws, this law functions on a molecular level as well as an organic, psychological, and spiritual one. The whole of our being—down to the quanta of which we're composed— encounters external and internal impressions and aligns itself magnetically with them on a constant basis, forming bonds and acquiring food that reinforces our inner direction. In terms of Swedenborg's teaching, we'd say this law is useful in so far as it binds us in a relationship with the good and with others who are good, and dangerous in so far as it binds us with people and situations which are evil.

In terms of organic sensation, the law of symmetrical entering has a powerful effect, because sensation is capable of a finely attuned and organic understanding of just exactly how alike vibrations are. It creates the capacity for a more conscious receiving of impressions, increasing the sensitivity of the body to what enters. As my inner polarity shifts and the needle for the compass of my soul points north towards heaven or south towards hell, with organic consciousness of sensation I'm able to see what direction I am headed in... and perhaps I see how very easily I am attracted to lower things when the rate of my internal vibration is attuned to outer life.

There's a cautionary element in the nature of this law. Take note that Gurdjieff says that blending of symmetrical properties and elements creates entities that are "inseparable;” and that this begins to represent the corresponding densities required in planets. What this means is that our being — our planet — acquires fixed characteristics through these affinities. 

This is akin to what Gurdjieff calls crystallization; and it implies a permanence, an inexorable formation of more of what we are from what we already are. 

May your heart be close to God, 

and God close to your heart.

Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola Magazine.