Centers (Fourth Way)
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In Gurdjieff's Fourth Way teaching, the Centers refer to separate apparatuses within a being that dictate specific functions within that being.
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[edit] Basics
Gurdjieff classified plants as having one center, animals two and humans three.
The Fourth Way refers to the Center of Gravity in reference to whatsoever center for a particular being functions as a driving force of one's actions.
[edit] The Three Basic Centers (Which are also labeled as "Brains")
Gurdjieff's teachings acknowledges the existence of the following three main Centers:
- The Intellectual Centre (or Thinking Center). This center is most easily explained as the faculty of a being which is capable of "logic" and "reasoning". This brain is located in the head.
- The Moving Centre (or Physical Center). This center is most easily explained as the faculty of a being which is capable of regulating all aspects of the observable physical actions of a being. This brain is located in the spinal column.
- The Emotional Centre (or Feeling Center). This center is most easily explained as the faculty of a being which is capable of "feeling." This brain is dispersed throughout the human body as nerves which have been labeled as the "nerve nodes", while the biggest concentration of these nerves is in the solar plexus.
[edit] The Three Moving Sub-Centers
In some representations the moving center is further subdivided into three separate centers. The practice of doing so is usually largely academic, and the reason for this is best illustrated in P. D. Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous. An important part of the Fourth Way understanding is not to label some things "reflexive" or "automatic" amongst the bottom three centers.
- The Moving Sub-Center. This physical sub-center represents the physical faculties of a being that are related to motor functions. The acts of walking, the physical aspects involved with talking, as well as even functions that are considered "reflexive," are all part of the operation of the Moving Sub-Center.
- The Instinctual Sub-Center. This physical sub-center represents the physical faculties of a being that are considered completely involuntary. This does not typically encompass "knee-jerk" reactions, nor what we would typically consider reflexes. A common example of the functioning of this center is the contracting of blood vessels to facilitate the pumping of blood.
- The Sexual Sub-Center. This physical sub-center represents the physical faculties of a being that are related to the sexual functions. This center serves an exceeding complex function in a being, especially relative to conversion of energies within a being. This center is most common amongst the centers of a human being to have experienced abnormal development. The Fourth Way uses the disharmonious functioning of this sub-center to explain a very large array of issues.
[edit] The Two Higher Centers
In addition to the lower centers: Intellectual, Emotional, and Physical (as well as this center's sub-centers), there are two other, higher, and completely separate centers.
These two centers are exceeding complex. The names of these higher centers are: the higher emotional, and higher intellectual centers.
The easiest way to think of the higher centers is for one to consider the other three centers as being separate faculties of one's material body. One can think of these higher centers as being faculties for higher bodies. These two higher centers may be referred to as such because of the bodies they are directly related to, and how those bodies are typically referred to.
- The Higher Emotional Center. This center is a faculty of one's Astral Body. It enables one to have sustained states of self-consciousness, self-awareness, and other deep feelings. It does not replace, nor is it an "upgraded" version of the emotional center, as it a completely separate center. The higher emotional center is not bound by the same laws of subjectivity and automation of the lower emotional center.
- The Higher Intellectual Center. This center is a faculty of one's Mental Body. It enables one to have sustained states of objective consciousness and superior intellect. Nevertheless, it does not replace, nor is it an "upgraded" version of the intellectual center, as it a completely separate center. The functioning of this center is bound by yet even less laws than that of the higher emotional center.
[edit] Subtle Bodies
The Fourth Way acknowledges the existence of four bodies of man, composed of increasingly rarefied matter, inter penetrating one another. The bodies are as follows:
- The Material Body (Normal Human Physical Body). This body is considered the seat of the lower five centers: intellectual, emotional, physical, instinctual, and sexual. The material body's actions are purely automatic and depend completely on the influences coming from outside factors, and its perception is confined to observation in a "subjective" manner. When the material body dies, then it returns to the earth from which it came, and nothing of it remains.
- The Astral Body. This body is considered the seat of the higher emotional center. This body is also sometimes called the "emotional body." Gurdjieff, in his writings, referred to this body as the "Kesdjan Body". This body, by itself is not subject to the laws of automation; that is to say, the astral body is capable of a degree of free will. Also, the perceptions of the astral body are capable of being of an objective nature in matters regarding one's self. An astral body is considered a prerequisite to maintaining a state of "self-consciousness" which is the third possible conscious state of man. The lifespan of the astral body is unknown exactly, but it is far larger than the lifespan of the Material Body due to the fact that it continues living after the death of the material body. It is debatable whether man is born with an astral body or not, however according to The Fourth Way, whether he is born with one or not, average man either does not have one, or if he does, has one in a very immature state, and has no contact with it whatsoever in his daily life.
- The Intellectual Body. This body is considered the seat of the higher intellectual center. This body, by itself is not subject to the laws of automation; that is to say, the intellectual body is capable of a degree of free will beyond that of the astral body. Also, the perceptions of the intellectual body are capable of being of an objective nature in matters regarding both one's self, and things outside of one's self. An intellectual body is considered a prerequisite to maintaining a state of "objective consciousness" which is the fourth possible state of man. The lifespan of the intellectual is also rather incalculable. According to Gurdjieff, an average man does not have one.
- The Divine Body. This body is also sometimes called the "casual body." Gurdjieff, in his writings, sometimes referred to this body as a "higher being body" or "highest being body,". Many aspects of this body are largely unclear. What is known is that this body is in no way subject to the laws of automation. It possesses complete free will. All perceptions of the divine body are in their very nature objective. A divine body can solidify a state of "objective consciousness" in a being which is entirely permanent. The divine body has no lifespan. It is entirely immortal within the confines of the universe. According to Gurdjieff, an average man does not have one. The fact that the divine body is not used as "seat" of any functions of a higher nature (such as the higher emotional, and higher intellectual centers) further demonstrates is drastic departure from anything else in the nature.
