Fragments, Chapter 14, pp.288-293 - Reading Club posting 52
This is this is the fifty-second of our weekly readings in Fragments Reading Club from P.D. Ouspensky’s In Search of the Miraculous, where we are gradually working our way through the whole book. Please post comments and questions.
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The enneagram. The law of seven in its union with the law of three. Examination of the enneagram.
"The isolated existence of a thing or phenomenon under examination is the closed circle of an eternally returning and uninterruptedly flowing process. The circle symbolizes this process. The separate points in the division of the circumference symbolize the steps of the process. The symbol as a whole is do, that is, something with an orderly and complete existence. It is a circle—a completed cycle. It is the zero of our decimal system; in its inscription it represents a closed cycle. It contains within itself everything necessary for its own existence. It is isolated from its surroundings. The succession of stages in the process must be connected with the succession of the remaining numbers from 1 to 9. The presence of the ninth step filling up the 'interval' si-do, completes the cycle, that is, it closes the circle, which begins anew at this point. The apex of the triangle closes the duality of its base, making possible the manifold forms of its manifestation in the most diverse triangles, in the same way as the point of the apex of the triangle multiplies itself infinitely in the line of its base. Therefore every beginning and completion of the cycle is situated in the apex of the triangle, in the point where the beginning and the end merge, where the circle is closed, and which sounds in the endlessly flowing cycle as the two do's in the octave. But it is the ninth step that closes and again begins a cycle. Therefore in the upper point of the triangle corresponding to do stands the number 9, and among the remaining points are disposed the numbers 1 to 8.
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"Passing on to the examination of the complicated figure inside the circle we should understand the laws of its construction. The laws of unity are reflected in all phenomena. The decimal system is constructed on the basis of the same laws. Taking a unit as one note containing within itself a whole octave we must divide this unit into seven unequal parts in order to arrive at the seven notes of this octave. But in the graphic representation the inequality of the parts is not taken into account and for the construction of the diagram there is taken first a seventh part, then two-sevenths, then three-sevenths, four-sevenths, five-sevenths, six-sevenths, and seven-sevenths. Calculating these parts in decimals we get:
1/7=0.142857 . . .
2/7=0.285714 . . .
3/7=0.428571 . . .
4/7=0.571428 . . .
5/7=0.714285 . . .
6/7=0.857142 . . .
7/7=0.999999 . . .
"In examining the series of periodic decimals obtained we at once see that in all except the last the periods consist of exactly the same six digits which run in a definite sequence, so that, knowing the first digit of the period, it is possible to reconstruct the whole period in full.
"If we now place on the circumference all the nine numbers from 1 to 9 and connect those numbers which are included in the period by straight lines in the same sequence in which the numbers stand in the period, according to which number we start from, we shall obtain the figure found inside the circle. The numbers 3, 6, and 9 are not included in the period. They form the separate triangle—the free trinity of the symbol.
"Making use of 'theosophical addition' and taking the sum of the numbers of the period, we obtain nine, that is, a whole octave. Again in each separate note there will be included a whole octave subject to the same laws as the first. The positions of the notes will correspond to the numbers of the period and the drawing of an octave will look like the following:
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"The triangle 9-3-6, which unites into one whole the three points on the circumference not included in the period, connects together the law of seven and the law of three. The numbers 3-6-9 are not included in the period; two of them, 3 and 6, correspond to the two "intervals' in the octave, the third is, so to speak, superfluous and at the same time it replaces the fundamental note which does not enter the period. Moreover, any phenomenon which is able to act reciprocally with a phenomenon similar to it sounds as the note do in a corresponding octave. Therefore do can emerge from its circle and enter into orderly correlation with another circle, that is, play that role in another cycle which, in the cycle under consideration, is played by the 'shocks' filling the 'intervals' in the octave. Therefore, here also, by having this possibility do is connected by the triangle 3-6-9 with those places in the octave where the shocks from outside sources occur, where the octave can be penetrated to make connection with what exists outside it. The law of three stands out, so to speak, from the law of seven, the triangle penetrates through the period and these two figures in combination give the inner structure of the octave and its notes.
"At this point in our reasoning it would be entirely right to raise the question: Why is one of the 'intervals' which is designated by the number 3 found in its right place between the notes mi and fa, and the other, which is designated by the number 6, found between sol and la, when its right place is between si and do.
"If the conditions had been observed as to the appearance of the second interval (6) in its own place, we should have had the following circle:
And the nine elements of the closed cycle would have been grouped symmetrically together in the following way:
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"The distribution we do get:
can only give the following grouping:
that is, in one case x between mi and fa, and in the other between sol and la, where it is not necessary.
"The apparent placing of the interval in its wrong place itself shows to those who are able to read the symbol what kind of 'shock' is required for the passage of si to do.
"In order to understand this, it is essential to recollect what was said about the role of 'shocks' in the processes proceeding in man and in the universe.
"When we examined the application of the law of octaves to the cosmos then the step 'sun-earth' was represented in this way:
"In relation to the three octaves of radiation it was pointed out that the passage of do to si, the filling of the interval, takes place within the organism of the sun. It was pointed out in the cosmic octave in relation to the 'interval' do-si that this passage is accomplished by the will of the Absolute. The passage fa-mi in the cosmic octave is accomplished mechanically with the help of a special machine which makes it possible for fa, which enters it, to acquire by a series of inner processes the characteristics of sol standing above it, without changing its note, that is, to accumulate, as it were, the inner energy for passing independently into the next note, into mi.
"Exactly the same relationship is repeated in all completed processes. In examining the processes of nutrition in the human organism and the transformation of the substances taken into the organism, we find in these processes exactly the same 'intervals' and 'shocks.'
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"As we pointed out before, man takes in three kinds of food. Each one of them is the beginning of a new octave. The second octave, that is, the air octave, joins up with the first, that is, the octave of food and drink, at the point where the first octave comes to a stop in its development at the note mi. And the third octave joins up with the second at the point where the second octave comes to a stop in its development at the note mi.
"But it must be understood that, just as in many chemical processes, only definite quantities of substances, exactly determined by nature, give compounds of the required quality, so in the human organism the 'three kinds of food' must be mixed in definite proportions.
"The final substance in the process of the food octave is the substance si ('hydrogen' 12 in the third scale), which needs an 'additional shock' in order to pass into a new do. But as three octaves have taken part in the production of this substance their influence is also reflected in the final result by determining its quality. The quality and quantity can be regulated by regulating the three kinds of food received by the organism. Only in the presence of a full and harmonious conformity between all three kinds of food, by a strengthening or weakening of the different parts of the process, is the required result obtained.
"But it is essential to remember that no arbitrary attempts to regulate food, in the literal sense of the word, or breathing can lead to the desired end unless one knows exactly what one is doing and why, and what kind of result it will give.
"And furthermore, even if a man were to succeed in regulating two components of the process, food and breathing, again this would not be enough, because it is still more important to know how to regulate the food of the third story—'impressions.'
"Therefore before even thinking of influencing practically the inner processes it is essential to understand the exact mutual relationship of the substances entering the organism, the nature of the possible 'shocks,' and the laws governing the transition of notes. These laws are everywhere the same. In studying man we study the cosmos, in studying the cosmos we study man.
"The cosmic octave 'Absolute-moon' has, according to the law of three, been broken into three subordinate octaves. In these three octaves the cosmos is like man; the same 'three stories,' the same three shocks.
"Where, in the cosmic octaves of radiation, the place of the interval fa-mi appears, in the diagram are marked the 'machines' which are found there in the same way as in the human body.
"The process of the transition fa-mi can be represented in the most schematic way thus: the cosmic fa enters this machine like the food of the lower story and begins its cycle of changes. Therefore in the beginning it sounds in the machine as do. The substance sol of the cosmic octave
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serves as the substance which enters the middle story like the air in breathing, which helps the note fa inside the machine to pass into the note mi. This sol on entering the machine also sounds as do. The matter which has now been obtained is joined in the upper story by the substance of the cosmic la, which enters the upper story of the machine, also as do.
"As we see from this the following notes la, sol, fa serve as food for the machine. In the order of their succession, according to the law of three, la will be the active element, sol the neutralizing, and fa the passive. The active principle reacting with the passive (that is, becoming connected with it by the help of the neutralizing principle) gives a certain definite result. This is represented symbolically thus:
"This symbol points out that the substance fa in being mixed with the substance la gives as a result the substance sol. And as this process proceeds in the octave, developing as it were inside the note fa, it is therefore possible to say that fa without changing its pitch acquires the properties of sol.
"All that has been said about the octaves of radiation and about the food octaves in the human organism has a direct connection with the symbol consisting of a circle divided into nine parts. This symbol, as the expression of a perfect synthesis, contains within itself all the elements of the laws it represents, and from it can be extracted, and by its help transmitted, everything that is connected with these octaves and much else besides."