(30.) Maurice Nicoll 1 - The Law of Three (V), (VI), (VII) - pp.115-119
This is number (30.) of our sequential postings from Volume 1 of Maurice Nicoll’s Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky.
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Links to each commentary will be put on the following Contents page, as we progress through the book:
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Birdlip, February 7, 1942
Part V.—In speaking of the Ray of Creation, I wish to connect it with your thoughts in some way. Everyone can admit that the Universe is created and many believe that it is. They say, if they are, for example, religious, that God created the Universe. Also they have heard of the Trinity, if they are Christians, and may or may not have thought about it. In any case, the idea of the creation of the world by God and some vague notion of the Trinity may exist in their minds. But no connection is made. For example, even if they have thought that creation is in some way connected with the Trinity, they do not see the inevitable consequence of Three Wills at work in creation. They merely think that God created everything, as it were, all round Him, like a lot of toys, and that no laws were at work, and although in the allegorical account of creation in Genesis they are told that the Universe was created on successive days, they do not think that any scale is meant here, and that creation is not all at the same level but descends in order of degrees lower and lower. Consequently, they are inclined to think that God's Will is directly in touch with and in charge of everything created. They omit to think of the meaning of the Trinity—that is, the primal Three Forces or Three Wills that bring about creation, and so think that the Will of God reaches directly every created thing. Some religions teach only the Unity of God, such as the Mohammedan religion. The Christian religion teaches the Trinity. The psychological consequences are very great. If people believe only in God, they think that God's Will is done everywhere and in everything, and so tend to fanaticism, persecution, and so on. Not that Christianity can shew anything much different, but at the same time this religion contains the idea of the Trinity, which comes between God and the world. The connection of "God"—or the Absolute—and the process of creation can only be understood through the Trinity or Primal Triad of Three Forces and the derivation of subsequent triads. As an ancient saying puts it: "God is difficult to understand for He is first One, then Three, and then Seven."
To return to the Ray of Creation: the first triad of three forces proceeds from the Absolute and creates the First Order of Worlds, which is under three laws—that is, the three wills of the Primal Triad.
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This is the first act of creation represented diagrammatically. Actually, it is a living process, inconceivable and eternal. By the term World 3 is meant the first level of creation, subject to three laws or wills. This world creates in turn another order of worlds below it which has 3 forces of its own. This is called World 6, because it is under 3 wills or laws acting on it from World 3. This process of creation continues. The next order of worlds therefore is World 12, having 3 forces of its own, 6 derived from World 6 and 3 derived directly from World 3.
In a similar way, three further worlds are created, making in all six orders of worlds or six descending levels of creation below the Absolute, all knit together by laws.
The process of creation halts at World 96, for a reason that will be explained when the Law of 7—or Law of Order of Creation—is given.
World 96, at the termination of the Ray of Creation, is under 96 laws. This world (or this order of worlds) is furthest from the Absolute and under the greatest density of laws. The further the process of creation proceeds from the Absolute, the greater the number of laws.
What it is necessary to grasp is that creation necessarily implies laws, and this arises from the very fact that three forces are necessary for any manifestation. There can be no creation without laws and this means that every created thing is inevitably under laws—that is, nothing created is free.
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Now if we consider this vertical line of Creation, we can see that if we could ascend it, we would pass under fewer and fewer laws—that is, we would gain more and more freedom. Whereas if we were to descend, we would pass under more and more restrictions and so be less and less free. If a creature, a being, is created at the level of World 12, it finds itself under 12 laws, or orders of laws. If it falls to the level of World 48 it is under 48 laws. Man as he is is at a certain level in the Ray. But he is created in such a way that he can change his level upwards or downwards and so pass under fewer laws or more laws.
The next point to consider is that the laws, or forces, or wills, or influences, coming down the Ray have different sources. If we take World 48, we can see that certain laws reach World 48 directly from World 3, some directly from World 6, and so on. That is to say, a being born in World 48 is under 48 laws, or orders of laws, but these laws are not of the same quality—some come from higher levels and some from lower levels.
A man, if he knows how, can put himself under one kind of influences or another kind.
The next point is that creation is forcible—that is, it is brought about by force. It begins with the work of the Primal Triad of Three Forces derived from the Absolute and continues by the reduplication again and
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again of further triads of 3 forces. The ultimate or last point of Creation—World 96—is under many forces. This means enormous forces are locked up in creation. Through the action of the Law of Three the Universe is wound up. Sometimes in nature we can see these forces unwinding themselves, as, for instance, in the element radium.
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Part VI.—We must now view the visible Universe from the standpoint of the Principle of the Ray of Creation. We know that the visible Universe in its greatest magnitude is made up of a vast number of immense star systems of which the Milky Way is one. We must conceive that the first act of Creation is comparable with making a general tenuous formation of all possible systems which are filled in by increasing condensation. This we call World 3: "All possible systems of worlds." Since we wish to find the position of our Earth in creation, we will take next our system of worlds which has separated from the primal mass—namely, our Starry Galaxy or Milky Way: World 6. Out of this we will take our Solar System or Sun: World 12. The Planetary mass formed from the Sun will then be World 24 of which we take our separated Planet or Earth (World 48) from which our Moon is derived (World 96). This is our Ray of Creation. Our Moon is the terminal point of that branch of the total tree of the Universe in which our Earth appears. But as you will notice so far there is no appearance of Man in the Ray.
The whole Ray is evolving. Every part of it seeks to rise higher in the scale of creation. The Moon is not a dead planet, but the youngest point in our Ray.
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Part VII.—Let us try to find some simple illustrations. Any organism or organization reflects to some extent the Principle of the Ray of Creation. Let us take any organized body of people—say, the Army. Let us suppose that the General is at the head, the Colonel next, the Captain next, the Sergeant next, and the soldier last. How many laws is the soldier under? He is under the laws of the Sergeant, who is under the laws of the Captain, who is under the laws of the Colonel, who is under the laws of the General. But the laws of the General can reach the soldier directly; also the laws of the Colonel can reach the soldier directly, and so on. From all this we can see (1) that the part is always under more laws than the whole, and (2) that the laws the part is under come from different sources of origin. Let us continue this brief analogy. The soldier is under the laws of the Sergeant but he may attract the attention of the Captain; he will then pass under the laws of the Captain. He may even attract the attention of the General. In such a case he may pass out of the laws of the Sergeant.
Now let us take the analogy of the Body. The Body is again constructed on the principle of the Ray of Creation. It is an organization
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or organism and all organisms obey the Law of Creation. Now the Body as a whole is one thing. It is then divided into many systems—vascular, digestive, lymphatic, nervous, etc. Each again is sub- divided into groups of parts, until the smallest parts of the Body are reached. This is reaching a part via the principle of the Ray of Creation—namely, of increasing laws. For a rough example, take the muscles of your little finger: they are under their own laws, and then under the laws of the hand, and the hand is under the laws of the arm, the arm is under the laws of the muscular system in general and the muscular system is a part of many other systems which form finally the Body as a whole. This rough illustration is to shew how from the top downwards increasing laws exist, and in this respect it shews the principle of the Ray of Creation—namely, the principle of increasing laws from above downwards. And this, it must be grasped, is in the nature of things—i.e. it is a fundamental law of creation.