One Saturday late 2018 in Vancouver, I accompanied my friend Tammy to her weekly gathering of what she referred to as ‘Class’. She very much wanted me to join her because this group was super important to her. For me it was the second time I visited her, after a beautiful summer together on the Sunshine Coast, North of Vancouver.

One Saturday late 2018 in Vancouver, I accompanied my friend Tammy to her weekly gathering of what she referred to as 'Class'. She very much wanted me to join her because this group was super important to her.  For me it was the second time I visited her, after a beautiful summer together on the Sunshine Coast, North of Vancouver.

We were fully in the process of getting to know each other more deeply and I was naturally curious about al her activities and interests. Class turned out to be run by Geri de Stephano Webre. It is mostly based on the teachings of Gurdieff, an European mystic who’s name vaguely rang a bell.
For reasons still unknown to me ‘Class’ officially goes by the name OYS, which stands for One Year Seminar. While Tammy attends that for years now. Anyways, I decided to join class as a part of my commitment to be Tammy’s sparring partner in our mutual co development. Since I tried to fit in Class, I struggled to synthesize my understanding of existence with those teachings

Gurdieff’s work is known as the Work. So that was not very informative either. It stands for one’s choice to rise above the limited causality of every day life and reach a more observant perspective of ones own existence while actively trying to get rid of old patterns and blocks that hinder this liberation.

Gurdieff’s Fourth Way is about mastering all those functional centres, plus rising above them, and aligning their energies. All this to rise above the limitations of our current self awareness. It is because of this fourth added observation function that it is called the fourth way. Gurdieff speaks about ‘waking up’. So It is not a way around the other three!

For me, while getting aquainted with this, it was quite an exercise to understand was was meant and to synthesize this with my own learnings.
The somewhat archaic and ambiguous terminology made it difficult for me to get a handle on the concepts. So I was extremely happy to find that my own insights about the distinction between thinking, feeling and doing completely aligned with the three centres as discussed in Class.

I discovered this three-way distinction myself in 1980 when I saw that good information needed to contain three essential qualities: The information had to be understandable, attractive and executable. This resonates with the rational, emotional and practical functions that are represented by the three centres mentioned in the Fourth Way.

These three centres are reflected in de body as a whole: the head does the thinking, the heart is the feeling centre and the lower part moves. As noted Gurdjieff added a fourth way, self observation. The resulting four ways or centres totally align with the layerdness of the brain and with our body image and with the psychological layering of states of consciousness. Our deliberate thinking is seen as aware or conscious functioning. Our emotional function is more subconscious while our movements can be totally unconscious. (Note that all of these views are very simplified representations of the complex reality.) And then there is the superconscious status of self observation. A very interesting concept, because is comes very natural to us, yet is is totally a imaginary state that has no ground in reality.

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Since then this understanding had become widely accepted as an explanation of our different qualities.

The three different functions of our human survival system are not naturally aligned. According to biologists they represent sequential evolutionary results from our survival. The earliest parts are associated with the reptile brain. It is all about the very primal survival functions, like eat, sleep and procreate if things go well. It has no sense of time, only living in the moment, no other memories other then bodily engrained conditioning, like habits or trauma´s.

Sinds iedereen zichzelf mag zijn en verzekerd is van de elementaire steun om gezond het volledige leven te omarmen is de wereld in rap tempo tot bloei gekomen.

Mensen wonen en werken daar waar ze zich thuis willen voelen. Op dat vrije plekje op onze aardbodem leeft men met geest- en bloedverwanten, met één gedeeld belang: Om die plek zo mooi en gezond mogelijk te maken en beter achter te laten voor de nakomelingen.

Dat heeft tot radicale transformaties geleid van de verouderde maatschappelijke structuren. Voor het overgrote deel heeft men genoeg aan de plek waar men het leven viert. En zoekers en reizigers zijn altijd welkom om even bij te komen of te ervaren of ze erbij willen horen.

Oude begrippen als werk en vakantie komen nog voor in geschiedenisverhalen en leiden tot compassie met het getob van de eerdere generaties. In 2035 is dat onderscheid achterhaald. Dat wat gedaan moet worden is evident en iedereen doet wat hij/zij kan. In de verbondenheid van de gemeenschap gebeurt dat vanzelf. In de meest natuurlijke betekenis van dat woord. Zoals we vroeger thuis vanzelf wisten of we van harte meededen of niet. In het laatste geval is er blijkbaar een behoefte die belangrijker is. Dat wordt erkend, gezien en gesteund. En iedereen heeft geleerd helder en open te zijn over behoeften. Deze zijn de universeel gegeven uitgangs-punten van individueel en collectief handelen.

Terugkijkend is de doorbraak van het begrip ‘integrale intelligentie’ het kantelpunt geweest. Veel fundamenteler dan de enorme technologische vooruitgang. Die heeft wel geholpen om de dreigendste ontsporingen van klimaat en ecofalen te hanteren. Het inzicht dat alles intrinsiek en multidimensionaal met elkaar verbonden is, heeft gezorgd voor een heroriëntatie op de mens en alle andere wezens.

Daardoor herinnerden we ons de waarde van de zeer oude tradities die in uithoeken van de wereld nog levend werden gehouden. De persoonlijke en systemische traumatisering kreeg een bruikbare betekenis èn heling. Een noodzakelijk heftig proces met onvermoede uitkomsten.

Nu de mensen veilig werden voor elkaar en de natuurlijke neigingen om te verbinden en te steunen niet langer onderdrukt worden is een overvloed aan mogelijkheden ontstaan. Nadat iedereen die vrijheid uitgeprobeerd had in de meest dolle uitingen kwamen de mensen tot rust en deden ze enkel nog wat echte diepe vreugde en voldoening schenkt: Samen zijn en samen doen. En vanuit natuurlijke economische overwegingen enkel wat echt nodig is. Zoals dat vroeger enkel nog gebeurde in wat men het kerngezin noemde. (NB De kern van het verdeel- en heersmodel van de psychopatisch gevormden onder ons). Nu in 2035 is die harde compartimentalisering overbodig.

Dat leidt tot verrassende veranderingen wereldwijd. De weldadige rust en vrede is in het begin overweldigend, maar gelukkig went dat snel en binnen een paar maanden wil men niets anders meer. Het leven is zo veel eenvoudiger en makkelijker. Omdat er voor iedereen in de basis genoeg is. Geluk is evenwicht en dan is genoeg genoeg.

Wat wonen en werken betreft zijn alle oude vakje en indelingen ook snel verdampt vanwege ingewikkeld en overbodig. Het oude woord ‘bouwvak’ bestaat nog, maar het betekent nu het tegenovergestelde. Bij het zomerfeest worden de beschikbare ruimtes verdeeld in reactie op de ontwikkelingen in de groep. Per levensfase en vanwege persoonlijke ontwikkelingen zijn er verschuivingen. Omdat mensen zich veilig en geborgen voelen bij elkaar wordt er veel meer gedeeld en samengewoond in elke denkbare samenstelling. Allemaal gebaseerd op gezond natuurlijk gedrag.

Zodra duidelijk is wat er veranderd, verbouwd, afgebroken of bijgebouwd moet worden begint de Bouwvak echt. Net zoals het timmerdorp voor jongens vroeger, maar nu in het echt met de hele gemeenschap. De eindeloze zomerdagen worden goed gebruikt om te zorgen dat iedereen er droog en warm bijzit voordat de winter komt. Het is een feest van gezamenlijke co-creatie. Rondreizende bouwvakkers komen langs voor de echt moeilijke klussen. Maar omdat bouwen zo ”open source’ en gestandaardiseerd is, is het zoiets als Lego of Ikea. En er is geen groter genoegen dan als gemeenschap samen aan zoiets moois te werken. Met flinke feesten tot gevolg.

Zoals al opgemerkt in 2021 zijn huizen in wezen van zichzelf. Eigendom is iets van vroeger. Je krijgt wat je nodig hebt. Ook als dat het hele traject van heling en ontwikkeling is dat mogelijk maakt dat je hier de zin en waarde van ervaart.

En omdat iedereen te zo naar zijn zin heeft thuis, gaan mensen enkel op pad (vakantie heette dat vroeger) als ze de wereld willen leren kennen of daarmee zichzelf. Dat gedrag correspondeert vooral met bepaalde levensfasen. Jong volwassenen moeten soms hun ontdekkingsdrang volgen en dat geldt ook voor andere individuele transformatiemomenten. Maar voor de meeste mensen is het niet nodig om aan hun bestaan te ontsnappen. Thuis is het goed.

De eeuwige haast van vroeger heeft plaats gemaakt voor een veel trager en rustiger tempo. Enkel het nodig is dat iedereen reageert op een noodsituatie wordt zichtbaar hoeveel sneller en doelmatiger samenwerking op basis van vertrouwen is. Dan gebeurt dat wat nodig lijkt, vrijwel onmiddellijk omdat iedereen van zichzelf weet hoe hij of zij kan bijdragen. Maar meestal hoeft er niet zo veel. Zijn en genieten. Altijd goed.

Leidsch Dagblad: Elf grote infrabedrijven vinden: We moeten anders over welvaart gaan denken, niet alleen willen groeien | opinie. https://www.leidschdagblad.nl/cnt/dmf20210423_15542710

So I finally got myself a new device to draw with. My old Modbook is forced out of daily use as a result of forced updates that cripple my faithful workhorse. So I gave in and bought an iPad. Only because it can double as an input for my other machines. Now it turn out to be extremely powerful and versatile.
Let’s see if I can upload a sketch:

It all adds up

Currently there is a growing acceptance of some flaw in our economic system. Being born and raised in it, I could not see or understand it. I always only felt uncomfortable with some normal standards. But I felt the mistake was mine. Like I did not have the proper qualities to well… compete.

But now it seems, the real problem with our economy is not only found, but undeniably being diagnosed as a major and fundamental design flaw. And on top of that confirmed with solid mathematics. The diagnosis is already a century old, from 1911 to be precise. It is known as the iron law of oligarchy.

There is a healthier way to get through life together. Simple by assuming that we are all in it together. Like passengers on a boat. And the best way to make the best of it is to unconditionally help each other. In order to be able to do that without constantly being pulled back into old fears is to directly connect heart, mind and soul to gratitude, peace and love.

How this can be done, in a hot topic in many places. It should grow bottom up and needs to be carefully curated by all involved. The natural laws that are expressed in our biological systems should be carefully implemented in the groups we form.

This I believe, while fully aware that it is just that: a belief. My working hypothesis about reality.
And that is the assumption that there is a truth, beyond what we can comprehend. The Truth does exist, me thinks.

But we are limited by our capabilities. We can only perceive so much.
Putting our knowledge together is a great way to know more. That is what science ideally does.
Fighting about who’s view is ‘The Truth’ is way less productive, though…

Since we now use screens to collect and share information, we need our screen to be a versatile interface that can represent our understanding in an agile fashion. We still work with very linear modes of communicating. Naturally by making stories out of our understanding. But we need to use our other faculties too, like seeing from multiple viewpoints to get an in depth understanding of today’s complexity.

Any screen is essentially a 2D frame (X,Y), limiting our view to what the screen can hold. We can zoom in or out. adding a 3rd dimension (Z). A perfect interface would give me what I need to see, from my point of understanding.

When looking at ‘the world’, (mostly reports from others, like ‘the news’ or ‘the media’) I would wish to see exactly the information I need. And in the proper context.
That does not exist today. There are huge wars going on about which representation of the truth is the proper one. With today’s wealth of information in an increasingly interconnected and complex reality, the need for way’s to navigate this is greater than ever.

So I try to define how to make sense of this all in an way that does not cause overwhelm.

So leaping to the concept that resulted from my conversations with Tammy Lea Meyer, I started wondering and pondering on the feeling that we seem to perceive before there is a clear understanding. We seem to posses an intuitive felt sense which perceptions are more coherent than others. When a point seems to ‘make sense’…

So how do I connect the dots? Without projecting my worldview on it? How do I build a better and deeper understanding without adding immediate judgements?
All we have is our ability to notice difference and likeness. And a felt sense of how alike or how different certain coherent perceptions seem to be. So an intuitive relative measure like very different of a bit alike… This is using spatial thinking in a natural way.

As any topic can be associated with an endless array of meaning, we need a representation of ALL those dimensions. When I can sense how two points of coherence relate, I basically create a line between them. That line is the first spatial representation of my understanding. I would need to define/name both points and the quality of their relation. That way I would have defined a dimension.
I could do this for all my sensed understandings and build on that. That way I would have develop to map what I ‘see’, to calibrate my understanding by cross referencing all mapped points in a multi-dimensional space and hence a way to notice what is missing.

The last century we discovered a lot. We learned to exploit the power of machines, industrialization, mass production, chemicals, plastics, computers and the internet.
Fiercely competing among ourselves for mastery and profit we maximized our efforts to grow and develop society to an unprecedented level of consumption and waste.
Within 1oo years we totally changed the face of the planet.
And as we witness today the planet adapts to that influence. Alas in an unpleasant and unforseen way. The depleted resources, ravaged landscapes and ruined ecosystems lead to unstable and volatile climate change. Already 40% of the fauna species is now extinct. The thawing North Pole today is currently totally surrounded by unexpectted immense forest fires. The now dry boreal forest, with all the life in it is defenseless.
Humanity has created big risks for survival of itself and many other species. Life as a whole on earth is under threat.
Like sorcerers apprentices we thought we could do anything we wanted. We created like Gods, but could not foresee the implications and consequences of our creating.
We can never stop iterating between expression and adaption. So now it is time to adapt. What behaviour should humans develop in order to survive?

Observing humanity quickly shows what is lacking. The global warming happens to the whole planet. Yet humans have not yet developed the skills to respond as a whole. Humans always have competed with other species and between themselves for resources.

So now we are forced to learn to collaborate effectively very quickly. Luckily humans are great at adapting. And we do have the technology available. Communication and organizing has never been more easy. But the art of communicating in a effective and generative way is still very much in its infancy. Currently my best approach is learned from Marshall Rosenberg who pioneered Non Violent Communication. That is based on understanding that all we do is driven by our needs. They define all we do. All the rest is strategy.

That perspective allows us to employ the deliberations from our neo cortex, that has been developed and trained well in our society. Strategizing is at the core of modern organizations. This is a great tool at our our disposal.

Thinking about ourself in real needs is the part that urgently needs our attention and energy. Many of us have learnt to survive by denying very basic human needs, like recognition, touch, connection, spontaneity and many many more.
Getting to recognise and acknowledge them is the first step. Unmet needs are very often translated into embodied trauma, so there is a lot of healing and repatterning to be dealt with.

So if we want to survive, we need to stop changing the world around us and change ourselves first, in order to be able to behave as the great family that we factually are.

Universal value would be value that enables, supports and maintains life. As a whole and in all it’s constituent parts. And wholeness seems by causality be forced to sacrifice parts in response to the unavoidable turbulence that is part of life itself. That necessity brings us to reconsider the meaning of value within any perceived wholeness, such as a system. So there seems to be a natural order, a hierarchy of values with the whole of life at its top.

They say it is lonely at the top. But that is only when the wholeness is denied. When other parts are denied or subdued at the honour of the top particle.