Towards a new vision of the Tetrad

Martin Euser, nov. 2006 Note: this document is a draft version at this stage. All considered input is appreciated! Introduction Having studied a couple of examples of the tetrad in J.G. Bennett's boo s! " #as left #ith an impression that there #as more to this thing. $radition has provided us #ith several %four #orlds& schemes! notabl' (abbalah and $heosoph'! but also )itvan! to name a fe# s'stems of thought. *rom a later date is the #or of Arthur +oung! about #hom " have #ritten a short article. ,ome of this can be found in m' e-boo ! and on m' #ebsite. .erhaps there #as some catal'/ing influence of the deeper0d group that made me coalesce several points into a ne# conception of the tetrad. Ho#ever it ma' be! " started dra#ing a number of tetrads..

1evelopment of the tetrad

$he first basic tetrad concerns the human being:

$his comes from 1ramatic 2niverse! volume 3. " have provided a short explanation of it in postings to deeper0d! #hich " have put in the appendix. Briefl'! vertical line has poles goal 4value5 and fact! hori/ontal is sensitivit' and directivit' 4#hich a.o. have feeling and thought as attributes5.

Next is a further elaboration of the tetrad:

Here " have begun to fill in some blan s. Note that value in the upper part translates as meaning for the personal ego and feeling for the sensitive part left 4%animal part! lo#er ps'che! etc.! not lo#er in function! but in evolution! but that is outside the scope of this article5. $he upper triangle 4above the hori/ontal line bet#een sensitivit' and direction5 s'mboli/es value creation, #hile the lo#er triangle s'mboli/es production! configuration! facts! building! construction! etc.! in short: embodiment.

$he hori/ontal line s'mboli/es intra-ps'chic d'namics! $here is a lot going on here! #hich could fill volumes of boo s on ps'cholog'! biolog'! ps'chiatr'! and so on. $he intra-ps'chic d'namics applies to the #hole of the tetrad 4especiall' upper triangle and lo#er triangle separatel'5. $he hori/ontal line concerns the inner communication bet#een the directivit' at the right and the sensitivit' on the left of the tetrad. +ou'll see a little more of this in the next diagrams:

Here " have indicated a ind of flow bet#een t#o points of the tetrad. "t is further clarified in the next tetrads.

Here 'ou see that sense-data pass from the sensitivit' to the right 4directivit'! personal ego5. $he latter gives suggestions 4%commands&5 to the sensitivit' 4the lo#er ps'che5 in the form of images! thought-forms.

.erception might be called apperception on the right side of the tetrad. Here 'ou see that " got the idea that the vertical line has to do #ith substance 4being!! substance is eternal5 #hich concreti/es in mass-energ' at the lo#est point of the line. $he thought entered m' mind that the threefold 6ill! being! function could naturall' be present or manifesting in each of the %tripods& 4vertices5 as #ell as in respect to each other as a whole. $he next diagram sho#s a bit more of that:

$he left side sho#s reaction: feeling follo#s on a reali/ation of meaning and action follo#s on feeling! perception! no#ledge 4info5 and planning. 7eft side has more of an %event& and temporal character! right side more of a %space& character 4events in mental space!5. "t all #or s together and " have dubbed the process: %intra-ps'chic d'namics&. Another division of the tetrad is along the hori/ontal line: above is concerned #ith values 4%sub8ective&5 and belo# concerns facts 4%ob8ective& stuff! including observable behavior5.

$he last diagram puts it all together: 9an 'ou see the threefold #ill! being! function at #or here:

Appendix
4" started #ith the d'ad fear-courage! and arrived at the reconciling term %observing ego&5 ---begin postings on triad---;ne of the core themes of the Gita is ho# to brea through the state of be#ilderment and fear that Ar8una finds himself in. $here are several interpretations possible of the Gita stor'! but " #ill focus on the ps'chological side. Ar8una is filled #ith fear concerning the situation he finds himself in on the <battlefield< 4his enemies are his relatives5. $he enemies can be seen to reside 0inside0 of himself! i.e. his dar side! his shado#. (rishna 4his Higher ,elf in this interpretation5 issues an admonition to pull himself together! sho# courage. No#! courage can be seen as the polar opposite of fear. $he former is active! the latter is passive 4in the sense of being the victim and let things happen! perhaps flee the scene5. A good example of a d'adic

situation. (rishna teaches Ar8una ho# to brea this state. He must face the situation and use the 0energ'0 of fear to ta e initiative! sho# courage and change the situation! to begin #ith the resolution to do something effective. ,o! #e can sa' that there is this triad: fear-courage-resolution 4or #ill! or control! #hatever label one finds appropriate5. $he techni=ue " 8ust described is so 0effective0 that ps'chiatrists teach it in their programs! li e dr. .aul does. $he third factor is a level of mind that controls the dyad! fear-courage in this example. >' point is that eeping it simple is often the best strateg' in dealing #ith matters. $hat includes the populari/ation of s'stematics. >artin -------------------------------------------------fear-courage-controlling factor. ... 4slightl' edited5 $he latter factor is called <observing ego< b' some and that tallies #ith m' o#n observations. "n order to control fear consciousl' one has to step bac a little of the concrete situation and be able to observe one's personalit' pattern! i.e. the reaction of fear in this case. $hen one can consciousl' 0decide0 to do something constructive! to interfere <as a man< 4or #oman! haha5 and be courageous. " have little doubt that biologists #ould sa' that the neo-cortex controls the limbic s'stem in the latter case! and! 'es that seems to be the biological side of the matter. 6hat the' don't see is the ps'chological side of the matter!namel': observing ego! #hich #or s #ith 4parts of5 the brain as its instrument. ,o! the triad becomes no# formulated as: fear-courage-observing ego. Note that this triad indicates the creation of value. "t seems to me connected #ith freedom and order as #ell 4t#o closel' connected triads! " believe5. "nteresting as it is! " reali/e that the decision involved #ill also influence the environment! so! interaction seems to be involved too. "t seems that multiple triads are activated one after another 4or even simulaneousl'5. ?ealit' is reall' complex it seems.. ... ----end posting on triad-----

-------------- begin of posting on the tetrad-------------------------------------Having established the triad fear-courage-observing ego #e can put this triad in a tetrad. *irst of all! fear is a condition of the sensitivit' 4@A5. "n Bennett's

terminolog'! @A is connected #ith the reactional self. 4"n theosophical terms this is called the animal part of the human being. )itvan called it the lo#er ps'che. $his is valuable to no# for those #ho do cross-correlations of teachings - see m' e-boo 5. ;bserving ego is part of a health' personal ego s'stem. Bennett tal s about this in chapter 3B! vol 3 of 12 4<7evels of order in man5. He rightl' sa's that conscious life is onl' rightl' called so #hen there is a separation of the conscious and sensitive energies. <"n his normal state! man cannot hold these t#o apart! and his consciousness merges into his sensitivit'. 6hen this happens! he loses the po#er to see himself and #atch his o#n activit'<. )er' good stuff! #hich continues for a #hile. "t is totall' congruent #ith teachings of 1e .uruc er as regards the locus of consciousnessCa#arenessCcontrol being mostl' in the animal part 4<astral< part5. $he observing ego can direct energ'. "'ll come bac to this point later. No#! as regards courage! this is rather potential in the initial situation of fear. $he person #ill have had some experiences #ith sho#ing courage! even if it concerns onl' small actions in childhood and later. He is able to recogni/e the necessit' of demonstrating value 4courage5 and " am inclined to place the patternCpossibilit' of demonstrating courage as the goal in the tetrad. $he actual situation or ground is the fourth and last point of the tetrad. Here #e get the sensorimotor point of touch #ith the outside #orld! the #or done! the action! do#n to the molecular level. $here are t#o points " #ant to touch briefl': D. $he six connecting lines bet#een the points of the tetrad E. $he process of demonstrating courage $he first point #ill ta e a little more research. " have established some labels! but li e to hear from others as to suggestions. $he second has been explained before: the observing ego can redirect or reroute energ' from fear to a more health' pattern of behavior 4reali/e a healthier value- this latter #ould be the vertical axis in the tetrad5. "t is possible to dra# some arro#s along the paths in the tetrad. $hese arro#s sho# flo# of energ'! flo# of control! etc.! #hich reminds me of c'bernetic control loops. >a'be "'ll dra# an example later #hen all labels have been sufficientl' thought through. "'m pla'ing #ith some thoughts of: measuring! comparing factual #ith ideal! direction 4<governor<5! and so on! and #ould love to hear 'our thoughts. ,o! an' suggestions as to the connections bet#een the points of the

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