Other talks by Tim White
The MI - FA Interval: Decision

Starting the Octave with a Passive "DO"

A Talk Given by Tim White at Camp Caravan on 8/17/00


Silence (about 2 minutes)

How do we begin? 

How have you spent this moment of silence?  How have you prepared yourself for this talk?  Are you inwardly urging me to “get on with it?”  Have you set yourself an inner exercise and begun to work with that? The way in which we begin shapes the outcome and quality of a cycle of activity. How have you prepared yourself to be receptive to this talk?

I began with a moment of silence because what I wish to talk about today is the idea of beginning a cycle with a “passive DO. ”[1]  Some of you are already familiar with this idea, having worked with it for some years now. You may even have a great deal of knowledge about it. Others may instinctively recognize the sense of it, but would find it hard to put into your own words. And for others of you, the idea of beginning with a passive DO is a new idea that you have not yet considered. Whatever you know, think you know or don’t know about this idea, set all of that aside and allow yourself to be receptive to it, as if it were a new idea.

An enneagram can be used to represent a complete cycle, or the present moment of an event. For example, this talk is an event. Preparing, serving and eating a meal (not forgetting restoring the kitchen to order) is an event. This seminar is an event. Any cycle of activity where a group of people come together to accomplish a task connected with a common aim in the Work is an event. Each of these examples can be illustrated and understood in terms of an enneagram. All events share a common quality, that is, each is a complete cycle of activity that has both value and significance.

The type of event or cycle that we are going to look at today is one that begins with a “Passive DO. ”  A cycle is said to begin with a “Passive DO” when the Denying or Passive Force initiates the cycle or event described by the enneagram. Because DO is the “first” point of the triad that makes up the inner structure of the enneagram it means that the cycle begins with the Denying Force. There are only two triads that begin with Denying Force, the Triad of Identity and the Triad of Evolution. Because I wish to talk about events that allow for transformation, I will be talking about the Triad of Evolution, which moves up the scale of existence as opposed to the Triad of Identity which is static.

With that statement I probably lost about half of you. I know that many of you are not well versed in the language of triads and the enneagram. The key idea to keep in mind as we go along is that we are talking about a cycle that begins with Denying Force and that what we are trying to see is the significance of this in connection with both the enneagram of transformation as well as the Triad of Evolution. To make this idea as clear as possible, I would like relate a story to illustrate the passive DO drawn from my experiences with Camp Caravan.

One day, before we came into possession of Camp Caravan, we spent a cold, gray, rainy morning walking the property. After our tour we gathered next door around the wood stove at Jolly Farm. We had come to a real low point. We were cold and wet, the weather was depressing and the situation in general was nearly hopeless. The owners of Camp Caravan had stopped talking to us. The officials with the state of Massachusetts, who would have to approve the deal, were being difficult and refused to proceed. We had just seen the condition of the property and we were all torn with fear. There was fear that we would get the property and have to do the work, and there was fear that we might not get the property that we felt was really needed as a location for the Village School as well as for our own work.

We were all cold, wet, tired and afraid. Many people began talking about taking a more aggressive approach to resolving our difficulties. Someone suggested that we should hire a lawyer to deal with the state to move that process along. Another person suggested that we should contact some of the other members of the Caravan Society (who owned the property) to get them moving again. Someone else suggested that we should hire contractors to deal with the worst of the demolition and repair work. It was at this point in the discussion that something was said that, for me, went directly to the heart of the matter. What was said was, and I am paraphrasing, “We need to hold ourselves apart from all of this. We need to allow it to be if it is meant to be. We need to allow ourselves to be receptive to the possibility. What is required here is to hold onto our vision of what is trying to come through without trying to force it. ”  For me personally, this changed everything. Somehow, I was able to let go of my negativity and denying, and I was able to choose to become receptive to the possibility. In doing so something in me opened up and I became receptive to and able to connect with the vision of what was trying to manifest. Looking back on the events of that day, I am quite convinced that this idea touched all of us because, from that point on, things began to move forward. While there are many other examples that could be given to illustrate this idea, I tell this story because it was the point at which I came to understand the idea of beginning with a passive DO.

Before I go on to speak about the passive DO and the triad of evolution, I think that I should say a little bit more about triads in general in order to provide you with some background information and a framework for the rest of the talk. I will use Mr. Bennett’s notation for forces and triads and assign the number 1 to the Affirming Force, also known as the Active Force. The number 2 will designate the Denying Force, also known as the Receptive or Passive Force. The number 3 will designate the Reconciling or Neutralizing Force. [2]  These three forces are arranged in groups of 3 to form six fundamental triads.

The position of each force in the sequence of the triad has a much significance as the quality of the force itself. When we use the sequence A – B – C,

A is the Force that initiates the triad by acting on the Force in position B
B is the Force being acted upon by the initiating Force A
C is the Force that represents the result of the interaction between A and B

Regardless of its position in the sequence, each Force always retains its original quality. In other words, the Active Force is always active, the Denying Force is always resisting or receptive and so on. There is one serious limitation to this method of notation for triads. It suggests that triads are linear and temporal, that is that they act in sequence and in time. While this suggestion can be very useful for explaining and understanding some of these triads, it is of little use for understanding others. It is most important to understand that all triads describe relationships that are neither linear nor temporal. Having said this I would like to give a brief introduction to the six fundamental triads.

1 - 2 - 3   Expansion - “The conception and birth of a child is an example of a creative triad. At the moment of conception, the father is active. In gestation, the mother transforms the active impulse. At birth, the child with its first breath is both the result of and reconciling impulse of the triad. ”[3] 

2 - 1 - 3   Evolution - The digestion of food is a good example of this triad. Food is passive when it is eaten. It meets with an active impulse, digestive juices for example and so is transformed to a finer substance. [4]  Both the 1 – 2 – 3 and 2 – 1 – 3 triads, by virtue of ending in 3 are enabled to continue on. [5]                     

1 - 3 - 2   Interaction - The building of a house is an example of a triad of interaction. The active force is the desire for a house. This active force cannot act directly on the materials. There has to be an external reconciliation of the wish to build a house and the passive materials. It is the passive materials that will become the house – that is the result and reconciliation of the triad. [6]

The following triads are neither linear nor temporal…

3 - 1 - 2   Order - “The reconciling force meets with the active force and leaving it unchanged becomes pure receptivity. ”[7]  “The triad 3 – 1 – 2  expresses the reality of the separation of possibility and impossibility. ”[8]  This triad insures that no impossible events occur - hence, order.

2 - 3 - 1   Identity - “Things are passive and cannot transform into a more active condition unless acted upon by an external power. ”[9]  As Mr. Bennett puts it, “A table has one and only one, affirmation, that we might express in the words ‘I am a table – take me for what I am or leave me alone. ’  The existence of a table is a perpetual reconciliation of its inherent passivity with the active part it has to play in the life of man. ”[10]                                      

3 - 2 - 1   Freedom - This is “the working of the Spirit, or Power of God, in and through all that exists. Through this triad, Existence is endowed with value and significance; that is with Love and Freedom. ”[11]

At this point, I would like to introduce one more idea connected with triads from Mr. Bennett’s study of Systematics that will allow us to understand the significance of the Passive DO in more depth. In Elementary Systematics, Mr. Bennett suggested that we could examine any triad more closely by looking at each point in turn with the idea that each of the three forces could be looked at as the initiating force for its own “triad within a triad. ”[12]  That is to say that for each of the three forces that provide shocks in an enneagram, there is a corresponding triad initiated by the force that provided the shock. In this way the Force that initiates a creative cycle forms a subordinate triad at DO. [13]  The Force in the second position forms another subordinate triad, at the interval between MI and FA, initiated by the central force in the original triad. The Force in the last position forms a third subordinate triad at the interval between SOL and LA – the place that Gurdjieff calls the Harnel-aoot. [14]

Because the Triad of Evolution, the 2 – 1 – 3 triad begins with the Passive DO, the “triad within the triad” that occurs at DO must begin with the Second Force. While there are two triads that begin with the Second Force, it will soon become clear that we are looking at a 2 – 1 – 3 triad as a subordinate triad here as opposed to a 2 – 3 – 1 triad. This is because we are looking at a cycle of transformation, or a movement from a lower level of existence to a higher level of existence. Because the Triad of Identity, 2 – 3 – 1 ends with the Affirming Force it is static and moves neither up nor down the scale of existence. It is the presence of the Third Force at the end of the Triad of Evolution, 2 – 1 – 3 that allows it to continue to generate further evolutionary triads that continue to rise up the scale of existence. [15] 

The Denying Force in the first position of the 2 – 1 – 3 triad brings a number of different qualities to bear. The first of those qualities is that of denial. I pointed out several examples of this at the beginning with reference to this talk. It is always the same in any cycle beginning with the Second Force or Denying Force. There is always a measure of resistance or denial in these situations. “I don’t want to sit here or there. ”  “It is too hot. ”  “It is too cold. ”  “This fellow doesn’t know what he is talking about. ”  “He will be talking over my head,” and so on. The aspect of denial in the Denying force has its place and purpose, but in this instance, it gets in the way of our perceptions and our participation in the event. The second quality of the Denying Force is receptivity. Receptivity is acceptance without resignation or apathy. All of you, in some measure, have allowed yourselves to become receptive, to become open, and prepared yourselves to listen. The Second Force, as the force that initiates the 2 – 1 – 3 triad has a third quality although this quality is often not very apparent. This quality is vision or visualization. Visualization is “seeing” an as yet unrealized future that it striving to be. Visualization is the result of the influence of a higher power outside the event. It is the result of a connection with the Third Force of the previous cycle. [16]

A cycle initiated with a Passive DO is one in which we allow ourselves to become “actively passive” – in other words, receptive. This choice to be receptive enables and allows a separation or partition between denial and receptivity within the Second Force. When this happens, receptivity is purified, objections subside and a right beginning can be made. This will only happen when a choice is made to become actively passive. For me this has the taste of assent. When this is accomplished, the action of the Second Force in the first position of the Triad of Evolution takes an aspect of pure receptivity and is able to draw to itself the corresponding and necessary active principle.

The quality of vision that I spoke about does not arise out of the Second Force itself and it cannot be forced or made to happen. It is able to and is allowed to come in only when the second force becomes purely receptive. In the Work a Triad of Evolution begins with a passive DO when there is a real need to be served. It is important to emphasize that this need must arise from outside the present moment of the event, rather than from inside the present moment, that is to say that it must not be a self-serving need, but rather the need of others.

It is remarkably difficult to see need directly - by itself. What we see and experience is a vision of a need being served. Vision of need arises from the action of the third force. It is because we are, in Gurdjieff’s words, “third force blind”[17] that it is so difficult for us to see how the visualization arises or where it comes from. What happens is that we find ourselves in contact with or “touched by” a vision of a need and the way in which that need can be served. A good example of this is in the experience of the chief cook in the kitchen. The chief cook comes into the kitchen at point 2 on the enneagram. The menu is already there; the need of people for a meal already exists. The chief cook makes contact with that need, visualizing point 8 where the meal is being served and eaten. It is the need from outside and not the menu that enables the chief cook to visualize the completed meal. [18] 

In this way of looking at the Second Force, we see that the vision of the fulfillment of a need comes from outside of ourselves as a response to that need by the third force - not as a part of our own imaginations about that need or from our plans to serve that need. We do not conceive or create the need nor do we conceive or create vision or visualization. We are enabled to see and respond to need.

Now that we have established the Second Force as a point of pure receptivity that allows a vision of serving the need that it represents to come in, we are now ready to move on to the quality of the First Force or Active Force in the center position of the 2 - 1 - 3 triad. In order to understand the role of the Active Force in the central position of the 2 – 1 – 3 triad we must return to Mr. Bennett’s idea the each force in the triad initiates its own “triad within the triad. ”[19]  The 1 in the middle position of the 2 - 1 - 3 triad could initiate either a Triad of Involution, a 1 - 2 - 3 triad or a Triad of Interaction, a 1 - 3 - 2 triad depending on the type of active response that is required to serve the need of the Second Force in the first position.

The 2 – 1 – 3 triad that I want to look at today is one in which a person, a group or a community of people in the Work are called to respond to a need in the world. In this particular case, the 1 or Active Force in the middle position of the triad represents the activity of that individual, group or community. This activity, this response will be characterized by either a 1 – 2 – 3 triad or a 1 – 3 – 2 triad. On the one hand, the need may be such that a single person can satisfy it by a direct, personal action, as exemplified by a 1 – 2 – 3 triad. That is to say, the need may be served through someone being active toward some denying force to obtain the necessary result. This is, of course, the way in which we most often try to respond to need in our everyday life and there is nothing wrong with this when it is the response that is required. As a result, for the most part, the action of the 1 – 2 – 3 triad is a solo effort. However, when we are responding to a need in the Work, it is most often required that we find a way to work together.

If we look at the second response, in the form of the Triad of Interaction or the 1 – 3 – 2 triad, we can see that this clearly corresponds to our Work together. The response of an individual or a group of individuals to a commonly perceived need is a manifestation of this triad. It is my feeling that it is the Triad of Interaction, within a Triad of Evolution, that is one of the defining qualities of a real group as opposed to, as Gurdjieff might say, “a group in quotation marks. ”[20]  It is the proper operation of this interaction the marks the transition from group to community. This aspect of the Work, the work of people as communities is very much needed in the world at this time and it is manifested through the right interaction of a group of people in the face of real needs.

There is an aspect of the 1 – 3 – 2 triad, the Triad of Interaction that that is connected with what I said earlier about linear and temporal triads. There are three triads that can be described as linear and temporal, that is that they appear to move through time in a straight line. The 1 – 2 – 3 triad is concerned with outward motion, which is outward from the source. The 2 – 1 – 3 triad is concerned with inward motion, which is returning toward the source. The 1 – 3 – 2 triad yields only lateral motion - neither toward nor away from the source. Mr. Bennett speaks of the movement and interactions of life as a manifestation of the triad of interaction. He also points out that there are interactions that have the power to either slightly raise or slightly lower the level of existence. [21]  As an example of this, he points out that “the building of a house is evidently an upgrading of the bricks and mortar. ”[22]  It seems to me that it is on the level of interaction, that is in the course of life itself, that man is given the field of action that allows him to (slightly) raise or lower the level of existence.

When Mr. Bennett describes the Triad of Interaction, he says that “there is no direct action of the affirming impulse to change the character of the receptivity. ”[23]  In this triad the third force mediates between the two without allowing them into direct contact. A simple analogy for the 1 – 3 – 2 triad would be to say that in a group or community, the Active Force in the first position represents me, while the Denying Force in the third position represents each of the others individually or the group as a whole. Because there is no direct contact between us, that is, I do not act directly on you or vise versa, it is the Third Force that must mediate or bring about a relationship between myself and the others in the group. The degree to which this happens - or more specifically is allowed to happen - determines the essential character of the group at that moment. An example of this on a very low level of organization is where the third force represents the rules in a sporting contest between opposing teams. On a higher level, it is the entry of the Work or 3rd force into the essence of group activity and the individuals in the group becomes of one mind and acts accordingly - without losing their individuality.

The experience of the entry of the Work in the sense of the triad of interaction into a group is something that has a clear taste. I would describe the experience of this using the word “consensus. ”  Rather than ordinary form of this word, meaning agreement, consensus in this case means “a common understanding. ”  At times it takes the form of a realization that everyone is “on the same page. ”  At other times it comes after a long discussion when we realize that what we have been sharing has become a clear, common vision. It always amazes me how often it happens that the initial contact of this common vision touches and is articulated by the least likely person. The presence of the 3rd force in a group interaction is noticeable in a group activity in which everyone is participating without direction because no direction is needed. One sees that in the course of the activity, that which needs to be done becomes clear to everyone without being spoken and all are able to find their place to “plug in. ”  This is in large measure due to a shared contact with the common vision of the need to be served. This is one way that group interactions can raise the level of existence.

Of course, this raising of the level of existence through interaction in a group does not just “happen. ”  Conscious efforts must be made, and all concerned must be working on themselves before and during the interaction in order for it to be maintained and carried through. This process involves all three lines of work. We begin with work on ourselves, recognize and acknowledge the work of others and allow ourselves to be permeated by that which is higher than ourselves.

What then is the result or manifestation of the first two forces in this triad?  What is the reconciliation of the contact between the active force and the receptive impulse that called it?  The 3rd force in triads is often referred to as the will of God. For this reason it is difficult to speak in our ordinary language about what such a manifestation is, as it results in something higher that is not necessarily material. The characterization of the result of this triad is the Triad of Freedom, the 3 – 2 – 1 triad, described by Mr. Bennett as “a purely receptive force drawing a higher action from the individuals and the group and yielded a result in accordance with the will of the higher. ”[24]   Yielding a result in accordance with the will of the higher fulfills or completes the vision and prepares for the next cycle.

At the beginning I said that 3rd force in the third position of a triad was capable of “continuing on. ”  What this means is that triads ending in 3, the Triads of Involution and Evolution, are enabled, by virtue of ending in 3 to continue on in a series of the same type of triad. [25]  1 – 2 – 3 triads continue to expand into further 1 – 2 – 3 triads until they have exhausted the strength of their initial impulse. 2 – 1 – 3 triads are able to provide an impulse to higher 2 - 1 - 3 triads, until the sequence returns all the way back to the source. In the case of the 2 - 1 - 3 triad, it is the power of the manifested 3rd force in the preceding triad to blend with the passive force of the succeeding triad that gives the succeeding triad the necessary impulse to continue to evolve. [26]  The effect of this blending is to allow the separation of the denying and receptive forces in the Passive Force in the first position of the triad. In casting off the denying element, only pure receptivity remains to draw the necessary active force for continuing on.

We have now returned to the original enneagram with which we started. With the completion of this evolutionary cycle it can be seen that there is an impulse present to provide an impulse to blend with the Denying Force, initiating another, higher evolutionary cycle.

T. White

Camp Caravan

8/17/00

(Edited 09/05/05)

© Tim White 2000 - 2009

References:
[1]  Nicoll, Maurice. Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. Samuel  Weiser, Inc. York Beach, Maine. 1996. Pg. 1078.

[2]  Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 93.

[3]  Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 103.

[4] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 103.

[5] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 125.

[6] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 104.

[7] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 120.

[8] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 106.

[9] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 104.

[10] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 104.

[11] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 105.

[12] Bennett, J. G. Elementary Systematics. Bennett Books. Santa Fe, NM. 1993. Pg. 40.

[13] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, WV. 1987.Volume II, Pg. 83.

[14] Gurdjieff, G. I. Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. Penguin Arkana. New York, New York. Pg 754.

[15] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 125.

[16] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 125.

[17] Bennett, J. G. Deeper Man. Bennett Books. Santa Fe, NM. Pg. 103.

[18] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume III. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 69-70.

[19] Bennett, J. G. Elementary Systematics. Bennett Books. Santa Fe, NM. 1993. Pg. 40.

[20] Gurdjieff, G. I. Beelzebub’s Tales To His Grandson. Arkana Edition. Penguin Putnam, Inc. NY, NY. 1999. Pg. 1191.

[21] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. ?.

[22] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 119.

[23] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 116.

[24] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 125.

[25] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 125.

[26] Bennett, J. G. The Dramatic Universe, Volume II. Claymont Communications. Charles Town, West  Virginia. 1987. Pg. 125.