Most people operate at what I call the “First Level of Being” without ever questioning their thinking. It’s what’s called “a reactive state”… because they are always reacting to outside stimuli. There can only be limited success and happiness at this level. George Ivanovich Gurdjieff once said, “most people live in a bourgeoisie sleeping state and it’s as if they live in a mansion and only occupy the first floor.” Reacting only limits the range of options one has to move forward with in life. They are like a pinball, forever glancing and bouncing off of whatever comes up, a mere victim of circumstances. At this cursory level of living, one is concerned with what others think, of status and acquiring things, the outside markers of success.
The “Second Level of Being” is what I call 50/50. 50% of the time the person reacts like the totally asleep person above and then 50% of the time they slow down and make a proactive choice, something new and different. It may be as simple as “I see you are angry, tell me about it, is it something I did?” Voila, a new path emerges since due to the law of cause and effect, it has to. Due to some self-introspection, they begin to question life as a reaction and make other choices allowing a new level of success and happiness to manifest. Still, at this level, one is concerned with the things of status and “outdoing” others and with what others think of them. At levels one and two, people are uncomfortable around them, sensing this inauthenticity that they live from and that they are uncomfortable in their own skin. They are asleep to their calling and passion, being robotic about everything in life.
The “Third Level of Being” typically occurs after a shock, a wake-up call, like a divorce, a near-death experience, a firing, bankruptcy, failure of a “grand idea” or a business. Now with more self-study and observation, this level of being is 75% proactive, it’s filled with new choices due to the learning and lessons from the shock. A move occurs to a new town, a new job, a new partner, etc using the old experiences as a foundation… at this level even if “they have turned down a wrong road, they turn back” as the old Turkish proverb says. They are more comfortable in their own skin and others sense this and are comfortable around them. They are more authentic and care less about proving anything with status or material things and care even less about what others think of them.
And then there is the “The Fourth Level or the Fourth Way” as Gurdjieff wrote about. At this level one senses that they are part of ” all and everything and nothing” at the same time. They are one with the force that created this thing, called a “Universe”, only to help us define it. One with whatever flung the stars and planets into space and created the “space” itself. At this level, one is indifferent to the good opinion of others… they could care less what others think. They live from their passion and do every day what works for them. They have no concern for the gathering of possessions and yet most at this level have multiple residences and whatever it is they desire, from the level of “it doesn’t matter if it’s all gone tomorrow.” They know the true place that possessions have…
They come from a deep knowing that nothing outside of them will make them happy and that happiness comes from the inside. “Life is Best Lived from the Inside Out..”, I like to say… and deciding to be happy means truly living authentically. People love to be around them … have you ever heard folks say “I don’t know what it is about (Mary or Bill) … there is just something about them… I cannot put my finger on it but they are just great.” You are sensing the energy that they project of being one with the creative force or the creator of this miracle we live in. They are present in the moment much of the time because they work at it.. they are in a constant state of self-observation and have developed a level of thinking above their thinking. They react to nothing… and pay attention to what shows up in the now. They know that the now is all there is.
I can tell you that the “Fourth Way” is also fleeting and that “it takes a force of will to wake oneself up in one’s lifetime.” It takes work, much like going to the gym, except the neuro gym is more arduous since we do not see the “muscles” of exercise as with weights. The neuro gym builds our muscle for “living.” From this level, we can manifest anything we desire… the business we dream of, the family life of joy and happiness, traveling the world, …etc. It’s just that the “acorn brain” will sound the “retreat siren” often at the first sight of some perceived difficulty… those living at the Fourth Level know not to react and that, anything that appears to be opposite to what they desire, is but the “bloom on the flower”… soon on it’s way out. They persist through the doubt and challenges knowing that what they have planted in their mind’s eye, will appear, just as a sprout in spring.
Anyone living in the first three levels is discouraged at the sound of the “siren” and shrink from their vision thinking “see…I told you it was too grand a dream.” The difference is that at the Fourth Level one knows “who is the thinker of the thought”… and changes the thought back to the inspired vision. Even picturing the outcome daily using the power of imagination. As Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”
Anyone can get to the Fourth Level… the question remains are you willing to do the work? If you go to the gym, you know what I mean.
Which level are you living at?
Gratefully yours,
Steve
* you can learn more about the Fourth Way, the Fourth Level by contacting me at steve@stevelentini.com
