Central Asian School of Consciousness
The teachings of the Central Asian school of consciousness were brought into the Western world by the Russian/Armenian teacher and visionary, George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, in the first half of the 20th century. While studying and traveling for years with a group that called themselves the “Seekers of Truth,” Gurdjieff and some of his companions came upon a man who touched them to the core of their being with his insight and love. The man led them deep into a remote part of Central Asia where a hidden school had existed for countless centuries. After spending considerable time here, Gurdjieff decided to leave and to bring these teachings to the Western world. In doing so, he also drew upon various elements of the Sufi Way (which we will talk about below), not the least of which were the tales and sayings of the fictional “fool,” the Mullah Nasrudin.
The story of Gurdjieff and the Seekers of Truth can be found in Gurdjieff’s book, Meetings with Remarkable Men, which is an account of his life with own mentors and teachers, culminating in his contact with the school.
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Three Eastern Ways
Gurdjieff presented the teachings of the Central Asian school of consciousness to the West as the “Fourth Way,” which requires a little explanation. In Eastern traditions, there are three traditional “ways” of gaining spiritual evolution: the way of the fakir, the way of the monk, and the way of the yogi.
The way of the fakir is the way of the body. It involves physical deprivations and controls in order to develop real Will, beyond our usual small “wills.” For example, fakirs will attempt to remain physically motionless and perhaps in awkward postures for weeks on end, without food, moving only to take water and to breathe. In this way, the fakir’s physical Will is strengthened and honed. The way of the fakir is slow and arduous, certainly impractical, and probably incomprehensible for Westerners.
The way of the monk is the way of the emotions, the way of devotion, the way of faith. The monk (male or female) puts him- or herself in the hands of a higher power and subjugates his or her small wills to the Divine Will through prayer, abstinences, deprivations, mantras, and so forth. In this way, while keeping their eye fixed upon the higher power, the devotee’s emotional Will is honed and strengthened. The way of the monk is faster than the way of the fakir, but is still slow, requiring a lifetime of devotion and usually seclusion from secular life. Again, this is impractical for most Westerners, unless one aspires to a monastic life.
The way of the yogi is the way of the mind, the way of the intellect. This goes beyond Western ideas of reason, rationality, and the scientific method, although yoga is certainly a science. The yogi strives to strengthen the muscle of mental attention through various mental practices, meditations, exercises, and study of ideas. It’s about developing conscious attention and intention. And it’s about detaching from the world of the body and the emotions, detaching from the world of forms and duality, and focusing on the next higher reality—that of unity, beyond all dualities. In this way, the yogi’s mental Will is strengthened and honed.
At first glance, yoga, which many of us think of as being about stretching and exercise, might seem to be more about the body and the emotions than the intellect. (The emotions are controlled through breath and through alternating bodily stretching and compression). However, the aim is to bring the body and the emotions under the control of the mental Will, and this is just the first step of many along this way of the intellect.
The way of the yogi is faster again than the ways of the monk and the fakir, but still takes decades of dedication and practice, again usually in isolation from everyday life. This way may or may not suit the Western lifestyle, although Western-adapted yoga practice has become quite popular in recent times.
As an aside, what come down to us from these Eastern ways through the New Age movement are usually watered-down versions of either the way of the monk or the way of the yogi. However, part of the New Age aim, consciously or unconsciously, has been to hobble together (haphazardly at times) elements of all these ways into more synthesized methods and practices.
Each of the three traditional ways has its merits and its drawbacks. And each is usually embarked upon separately. Given this last point, when one has attained all there is to attain upon one way, it’s then necessary to begin one of the other two ways, but, by that time, there are neither enough years left in one’s lifetime nor the inclination to start another long and arduous journey.
The reason it’s necessary to embark upon the other ways is that each way only develops one third of our Material Nature—either our Physical, Emotional, or Mental Nature and its respective Will. (These terminologies are explained in The S.O.L.A.R Light.) Moreover, each way, when practiced in relative isolation from everyday life, does not prepare us to live in the real world. Given this, when we do return to the world, we can lose everything we gained in isolation, because we have not practiced our deprivations, devotions, and mental gymnastics in the world and around the influences of other people. So, unless we remain forever in isolation after this, which is completely unnatural and artificial, we will be compelled to retrace all our steps, but now within the context of everyday life.
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The Fourth Way
For all the preceding reasons (previous sections), Gurdjieff, drawing upon the teachings of the Central Asian school of consciousness, brought the Fourth Way to the Western world. He described the Fourth Way as the way of the sly man. The essence of the idea was: why go through three separate long and arduous ways, taking more than a lifetime, when one could take a small and potent pill that combines these three ways into one, allowing us to develop all three basic Natures and Wills at the same time and in the midst of everyday life?
In a sense, the New Age movement has been an unconscious form of the Fourth Way, because, somewhere inside each of us is the knowledge that, eventually, we must each develop all our three basic Natures, in tandem and in the midst of everyday life, if we are to evolve to the next quantum of consciousness.
The caveat on the New Age efforts in this direction is that these efforts have been a haphazard affair, largely driven by fad, the “wow factor,” the desire for short cuts, or an impulse to tinker with things that we actually know little about. These efforts are quite the opposite of a consciously prescribed Fourth Way that arises from the wordless Truths passed down holistically through a living tradition.
The Fourth Way is the origin of S.O.L.A.R.®’s aim to assist us in becoming more complete human beings—to assist us in the harmonious development, balancing, aligning, and unifying of our three basic Material Natures: Physical, Emotional, and Mental. The net result of this process is the birth and evolution of our higher Spiritual Nature (which, again, is explained in The S.O.L.A.R Light).
S.O.L.A.R.® founder, Martin Lass, studied in a Gurdjieff school for ten years. His teacher was a student of both Gurdjieff and his chief protégé, P. D. Ouspensky, so S.O.L.A.R.® has a direct lineage to the Central Asian school of consciousness.
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The Sufi Way
A short note about the Sufi Way is appropriate, as Gurdjieff drew a lot from this tradition in his teachings and methods. In fact, although it was never stated explicitly by Gurdjieff, the Central Asian school of consciousness, which Gurdjieff called the Sarmoung Brotherhood, may well have been a Sufi-style school.
Not a lot is known about Sufism in the modern Western world. And it is a little difficult to define exactly what it is without risking misinterpretation. Sufism is sometimes mistakenly regarded as a religion, but, in Truth, it's actually the mysticism and living Way that lies at the core of every spiritual tradition and religion. As a well-known example, the Sufi Way lies at the mystical core of Islam, but the Sufi Way is not Islam.
The Sufi Way represents the direct lineage of the living Way, regardless of the forms this Way has taken over history, religious or otherwise (and, to all appearances, many forms of the Way have been distinctly non-religious). (“Way” is capitalized to make a distinction between this and the aforementioned “ways.”)
The Way is where all spiritual and religious traditions, paths, and ways become One. And the Way is the One Source from which all spiritual and religious traditions, paths, systems, and ways have sprung. Sufi Master Ibn el-Farid (1181-1235) stresses that Sufism lies behind and before systematization; that "our wine existed before what you call the grape and the vine" (the school and the system):
We drank to the mention of the Friend,
Intoxicating ourselves, even before the creation of the vine.
("The Friend" is a Sufi code-word for God/Spirit, as is "wine" in the preceding context.)
The Sufi Way is a living, conscious, and intentional way of life, aimed at living in alignment and unity with the Absolute/Source/God/Spirit/
Love/Truth/Light, beyond the fragmented, conflicting, and rebellious “wills” (personas) of our Material Nature.
(What S.O.L.A.R.® calls "Material Nature," Sufis call “the Commanding Self,” other Eastern traditions have called "ego" or "mind," Jung called "Persona" combined with "personal unconscious," and the West might call "personality," among other things).
The Sufi Way is the origin of S.O.L.A.R.®’s aim in assisting us to live a more conscious and intentional life, living and breathing the teachings rather than studying them habitually and divorced from real life. Without conscious intention and without living and breathing them in our daily lives, the teachings can very easily become empty ritual, devotion, or dogma.
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Egyptian Mystery School
The second school that S.O.L.A.R.® draws its lineage from is an Egyptian mystery school whose lineage extends back unbroken through thousands of years-or should it be said, the Egyptian mystery school, because, although there have been offshoots, this one unbroken lineage has been the source of them all. As with the Central Asian school, this school remains hidden to the Western world, except to initiates.
Its teachings are the inner core of what, on the surface, is regarded historically as the mythology and religion of ancient Egypt. In truth, Egyptian mythology and religion were but the exterior faces of what was and still is the most comprehensive metaphysical and spiritual teaching the world has ever known, comparable perhaps only to that of the ancient Hindus. In some respects, as advanced as it is, modern science is only now catching up with many things that the ancient Egyptian mystery school has known for thousands of years.
Moreover, this Egyptian mystery school's lineage comes directly from an even more ancient tradition, extending back beyond currently available historical records, all the way to the time of the great Avatars or Teachers who walked the Earth at the time of the Earth's greatest Materiality-a time some have called the time of Atlantis.
It has also been suggested that the Egyptian mystery teachings were part of the Sufi Way (suggested by
13th-century Sufi master, Sheikh Shahabudin Umar ibn Mohamed Suhrawardi, in his book, Awarif-l-Ma'rif), which makes sense given the previous assertions about Sufism.
The teachings of this mystery school have been passed down to us through a number of people, some living today, not the least of which is Dr. John Demartini, who is a student of the school.
S.O.L.A.R.® founder, Martin Lass, studied with Dr. Demartini for over ten years in the school, "The Concourse of Wisdom School of Philosophy and Healing" (based in Houston, TX, USA). S.O.L.A.R.® owes much to Dr. Demartini, particularly when it comes to the S.O.L.A.R.® Fusion process, which Dr. Demartini developed and presents under the name "The Demartini Method®," or, formerly, "The Quantum Collapse Process®." In addition, much of the metaphysics that S.O.L.A.R.® presents has come down through Dr. Demartini.
Following Dr. Demartini's lead in terms of taking existing ideas and practices and bringing them to a new level of synthesis and understanding, S.O.L.A.R.® seeks to bring together Dr. Demartini's metaphysics with psychology, physiology, physics, astronomy, astrology, many other such "ologies," alternative healing modalities, the Gurdjieff and Sufi Way teachings and practices, and all manner of ancient and Native traditions, to create everything that S.O.L.A.R.® offers and is about.
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A Living Connection
Although it is true to say that S.O.L.A.R.® is a synthesis of everything previously mentioned, it is more than this, i.e. the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The result is The S.O.L.A.R.® Way. The S.O.L.A.R.® Way is a new form of an ancient, essential, and living teaching—a form designed and intended for today’s world.
With any spiritual way, we begin by following, studying, practicing, and striving to experientially live the teachings that have been handed down to us. At a certain point, though, if we wish to connect directly with the conscious source of these teachings, it becomes necessary to take a further step. It becomes necessary to strive to see the common Truths contained in all ways, traditions, methods, and practices, sifting out these Truths from the illusions. As we do, a larger Picture begins to emerge, not only with respect to the teachings themselves, but with respect to ourselves, our lives, and the world at large.
At a certain point, as this larger Picture emerges and as the magnitude of the Divine Plan becomes apparent, we reach a threshold beyond which we can connect directly with the living teachings—connect consciously with the living Way and with those who have walked this Path before. This is because we now see a greater Truth that encompasses all teachings and traditions, including the spiritual tradition and practice that brought us to this threshold—the threshold where all spiritual ways become the One Way.
At this point and not before, we can begin to talk about carrying on the living Way in the form of a new school of consciousness. It’s this ancient, essential, and living connection that keeps the whole thing alive, that keeps it true, and that honors the ineffable Spirit that resides in each one of us.
Without this living connection, any alleged school of consciousness is simply another exercise in the small wills and personas of our Material Nature (ego, mind) that would have us thinking that our way is the only way and our truth the only Truth, while fancying ourselves spiritually enlightened and superior to others.
Starting a school of consciousness is not a “decision” we make, but something we are called to do—literally called by those who have walked before and who maintain the living Way. There must be a direct and conscious lineage; otherwise, we are simply fooling ourselves. This is the difference between S.O.L.A.R.® and many other apparent schools of consciousness.
S.O.L.A.R.®’s lineage comes through the Gurdjieff link to the Central Asian school and the Demartini link to the Egyptian school.
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The S.O.L.A.R.® Way
The S.O.L.A.R.® Way is the synthesis, culmination, and more of everything previously mentioned; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The S.O.L.A.R.® Way is a living teaching, a living way of life, a living Path toward fulfilling the promise of our infinite human potential—a Path toward the complete human being.
The S.O.L.A.R.® Way cannot be completely defined or pinned down to a “curriculum” or a singular “method.” It’s an unexpected journey of conscious and intentional awakening, healing, and expansion of consciousness. Nothing can be taken for granted. It’s about striking the “bell” of consciousness from all possible angles. It can start, continue, or finish at any point in the “circle,” seemingly at random, but guided by the higher logic of our higher spiritual nature, beyond our lower mental nature’s linear, inherently biased either-or formulations.
It’s not a curriculum in the usual meaning, nor is it a scholastic focus, although there are scholastic elements. It’s a living process. It’s a Path to Presence, but upon a road that’s not fixed or paved in stone, but rather which allows a slightly different route for each person. It represents a constant challenge to wake up, get real, come alive, and live in the moment, in the Now, in Presence.
There are guidelines, but no hard-and-fast rules, rituals, devotions, or dogmas. It’s not a religion in the modern sense, but is deeply religious in the sense that it’s about reconnecting with Spirit, which already lies within us. It’s not solely physical, emotional, or mental in approach, but is a synthesis of all these approaches and more. It’s not psychology in the usual sense, but is a deeply psychological Way. It’s not a self-help program in the usual sense, but it expects us to take responsibility for our lives—to help ourselves.
Although it’s about Healing, it’s not about curing anything, except our blindness and sleep, which, although Serving our physical survival and safety and helping to regulate the speed of our evolution of consciousness, eventually become a roadblock to our higher Quest. It’s not spirituality in the usual sense, but offers a Path to our higher spiritual nature. It’s not a program about achieving material wealth and prosperity, but it’s certainly about mastering the material world as a reflection of the spiritual world. It’s not science in the usual sense, but contains and is supported by science.
It can’t be proven, only walked. It’s a Way, not a solution. It’s a Journey, not a destination. It’s not about cut-and-dried answers, but traces a Path to the Answer. If we think we have succeeded in defining it, in pinning it down, in finding a box into which it fits, then we have lost the Way. It’s no “thing,” but it’s everything.
Confused? Intrigued? Irritated? Good! Your questions are welcome! If we have no questions, then we have no Quest. Questions make our Quest possible, because they open the windows of our consciousness and allow the Light in.
For enquiries and questions, visit the Contacts Page.
S.O.L.A.R.® Presence services—a complete school of enlightenment, healing, and wholeness, of conscious and intentional living, for the 21st century and beyond.
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Copyright S.O.L.A.R.® 2008
