"Trinity and the Law of Three"
"The Metaphysical Lens"
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Guest writer and CAC teacher Cynthia Bourgeault continues exploring Trinity and the Law of Three.
How we see reality impacts the nature of our reality. As Richard often says, “How we see is what we see.”
If you wear glasses, you likely often forget that they’re even there! Only when you take the lenses off do you realize how much your capacity to see is informed by the lens through which you are seeing. When we talk about metaphysics we are speaking of a specific lens by which we have tended to perceive reality. Like glasses that we’ve grown accustomed to but are no longer strong enough, we need a “system update” in our Christian tradition. I believe the Trinity is our necessary new lens.
When we look at the Trinity from a metaphysical standpoint rather than simply a theological standpoint, it’s not so much about persons in relationship as it is about a process by which the world is constructed and maintained.
The vast majority of the world’s metaphysical systems are binary. They work on the principle of paired, equal opposites. We see great archetypal polarities that are somehow held in balance: male/female, dark/light, conscious/unconscious, good/evil, action/being. Our dualistic minds feel comfortable in that kind of binary swing. Binary systems prefer symmetry and come to resolution in stasis or stillness.
My hunch is that Christian metaphysics are not binary—as traditional religious metaphysics are—but ternary (having three parts). This is precisely because of Christ (as Richard will share in a couple weeks) and the Trinity.
Ternary systems have three independent forces coming together to form something new, a fourth thing. Perhaps the simplest example is a braid. You need at least three sections of hair for a braid to hold; the braid is then a new creation. The interweaving of threeness results in something that didn’t exist before. It is not just a swinging back and forth between two old things that were already there, but a drive into a brand new dimension.
While a binary system is by nature stable and symmetrical, a ternary system is asymmetrical and innovative. Unlike a pendulum, it cannot come to equilibrium within its own orbit; it seeks stability in a new plane, through a resolution that is at the same time a new arising. It corkscrews its way through time, matter, form—whatever plane is at hand—in a riot of uncertainty and new combinations, the whole of which is the fullness of divine reality.
I believe that Christianity has, from the start, been a ternary swan in a binary duck pond. Once the ugly duckling has been correctly identified as a baby swan, we begin to see valuable clues for healing the schism between theology and metaphysics and for tapping into a ternary system’s inherent aptitude for dynamism, change, and process. That, I believe, is the real reason for paying more serious attention to this obscure principle of the Trinity.
Gateway to Silence: Behold, I make all things new.[Revelation 21:5]
References:
Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of the Trinity, disc 2 (CAC: 2004), CD, DVD, MP3 download; and
The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three (Shambhala Publications, Inc.: 2013), 6, 64-65, 81.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Tuesday, 14 March 2017: "Trinity as Evolutionary Principle" of The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States Trinity is a dynamic mandala of God’s ongoing creativity.
"Trinity and the Law of Three"
"Trinity as Evolutionary Principle"
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Guest writer and CAC teacher Cynthia Bourgeault continues exploring Trinity and the Law of Three.
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting—it has been found difficult and left untried.”[G. K. Chesterton [1]]
While Richard and I speak in different ways about the Trinity, and no doubt to slightly different audiences, I think we share a common underlying vision. The key to reawakening the power of this primordial Christian symbol, we both believe, lies in shifting the Trinity away from an abstract theological speculation on the inner life of God and re-imagining it as a pattern in the very fabric of reality—a template that is coded into all of creation.
Post-Einsteinian physics demonstrates that life is not static, but dynamic. As our theological paradigm shifts away from a static universe to a universe in perpetual motion, the whole Trinitarian frame shifts with it. Like a key clicking into place, the Trinity reveals itself as a metaphysical code that unlocks theology and science and illustrates a fresh understanding of a creative and contemplative engagement in the world.
For the late theologian Beatrice Bruteau (1930-2014), the Trinity is first and foremost an image of relational unity. The three “God-persons in community,” as she sees it, comprise the prototype and the prerequisite for the expression of agape love—the energy of the Godhead itself. Bruteau builds a detailed case for why threefoldness is the necessary condition for agape love. She goes on to demonstrate why threefoldness is by nature “ecstatic” or, in other words, self-giving and generative. By its very threefoldness, it “breaks symmetry” (a term borrowed from quantum mechanics) and projects the agape love outward, calling new forms of being into existence, each of which bears the imprint of the original symbiotic unity that created it. “It is the presence of the Trinity as a pattern repeated at every scale of the cosmic order,” she believes, “that makes the universe a manifestation of God and itself sacred and holy.” [2]
My own contribution to this ongoing Trinitarian conversation takes up at the point that Bruteau’s leaves off. My goal has been to see whether it might be possible to anchor this necessary threefoldness in a deeper universal principle: the Law of Three.
Understood within the context of a universe in motion, and with the Law of Three as its template, the Trinity becomes a dynamic mandala of God’s ongoing creativity in an evolving universe. It becomes, in fact, the evolutionary principle. The Trinity as a symbol of relationship invites us to trust the relationality of nature itself and to reconsider what we understand about the very nature of love. It is no longer a pre-existent “property” of God, but an emergent property of the whole of creation, joined in that divine dance.
Gateway to Silence: Behold, I make all things new.[Revelation 21:5]
References:
[1] Gilbert K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1910), 48.
[2] Beatrice Bruteau, God’s Ecstasy: The Creation of a Self-Creating World (New York: Crossroad, 1997), 14.
Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, “Trinity: The Evolutionary Principle of Unfolding Creativity,” The Mendicant, Vol. 7 No. 1 (CAC: 2017), 1, 5.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Monday, 13 March 2017: "The Tea Cupboard" of The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States With so many urgent practical issues facing humanity, why waste time with the Trinity?
"Trinity and the Law of Three"
"The Tea Cupboard"
Monday, March 13, 2017
I’ve asked Cynthia Bourgeault, one of CAC’s core faculty members, to share some of her insights on Trinity and the Law of Three over the next two weeks.
With so many urgent practical issues facing humanity, why waste time with the Trinity, a doctrine that most of the world (and even much of Christianity) regards as contrived and irrelevant?
By way of response, let me offer you a story that was told to me by my longtime friend and teacher, the Abkhazian dervish elder Murat Yagan.
In the years immediately following World War II, Murat recounts, he spent time in a remote corner of eastern Turkey. There he became friends with an elderly couple. Life had been good to them, but their one sadness was that they missed their only son, who had left some years before to work in Istanbul.
One day when Murat visited them, the old couple were bursting with pride, eager to show him the new tea cupboard that their son had just shipped from Istanbul. It was indeed a handsome piece of furniture, and the woman had already arranged her best tea set on its upper shelf. Murat was polite but curious. Why would their son go through such an expense to send them a tea cupboard? And if the purpose of this piece of furniture was storage, why were there no drawers? “Are you sure it’s a tea cupboard?” Murat asked. They were sure.
But the question continued to nag at Murat. Finally, just before taking his leave, he said, “Do you mind if I have a look at this tea cupboard?” With their permission, he turned the backside around and unscrewed a couple of packing boards. A set of cabinet doors swung open to reveal inside a fully operative ham radio set.
That “tea cupboard,” of course, was intended to connect the couple to their son. But unaware of its real contents, they were simply using it to display their china.
To my mind, that is an apt analogy for how Christians have been using the Holy Trinity. It is our theological tea cupboard, upon which we display our finest doctrinal china, our prized assertion that Jesus, a human being, is fully divine. This is not necessarily a bad thing. But what if inside the Trinity is concealed a powerful communications tool that could connect us to the rest of reality (visible and invisible), allow us to navigate our way through many of the doctrinal and ethical logjams of our time, and place the teachings of Jesus in a dynamic framework that would truly unlock their power?
It is simply a matter of turning the tea cabinet around and looking inside. I know that there is indeed a ham radio concealed inside this Trinitarian tea cupboard. At a time when spiritual imagination and boldness are at an all-time low and the Christian church hovers at the edge of demise, perhaps now more than ever the time is ripe to remove the packing board from this tea cupboard and release its contents.
Gateway to Silence: Behold, I make all things new.[Revelation 21:5]
Reference:
Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three (Shambhala Publications, Inc.: 2013), 1-2, 10.
"Trinity and the Law of Three"
"The Tea Cupboard"
Monday, March 13, 2017
I’ve asked Cynthia Bourgeault, one of CAC’s core faculty members, to share some of her insights on Trinity and the Law of Three over the next two weeks.
With so many urgent practical issues facing humanity, why waste time with the Trinity, a doctrine that most of the world (and even much of Christianity) regards as contrived and irrelevant?
By way of response, let me offer you a story that was told to me by my longtime friend and teacher, the Abkhazian dervish elder Murat Yagan.
In the years immediately following World War II, Murat recounts, he spent time in a remote corner of eastern Turkey. There he became friends with an elderly couple. Life had been good to them, but their one sadness was that they missed their only son, who had left some years before to work in Istanbul.
One day when Murat visited them, the old couple were bursting with pride, eager to show him the new tea cupboard that their son had just shipped from Istanbul. It was indeed a handsome piece of furniture, and the woman had already arranged her best tea set on its upper shelf. Murat was polite but curious. Why would their son go through such an expense to send them a tea cupboard? And if the purpose of this piece of furniture was storage, why were there no drawers? “Are you sure it’s a tea cupboard?” Murat asked. They were sure.
But the question continued to nag at Murat. Finally, just before taking his leave, he said, “Do you mind if I have a look at this tea cupboard?” With their permission, he turned the backside around and unscrewed a couple of packing boards. A set of cabinet doors swung open to reveal inside a fully operative ham radio set.
That “tea cupboard,” of course, was intended to connect the couple to their son. But unaware of its real contents, they were simply using it to display their china.
To my mind, that is an apt analogy for how Christians have been using the Holy Trinity. It is our theological tea cupboard, upon which we display our finest doctrinal china, our prized assertion that Jesus, a human being, is fully divine. This is not necessarily a bad thing. But what if inside the Trinity is concealed a powerful communications tool that could connect us to the rest of reality (visible and invisible), allow us to navigate our way through many of the doctrinal and ethical logjams of our time, and place the teachings of Jesus in a dynamic framework that would truly unlock their power?
It is simply a matter of turning the tea cabinet around and looking inside. I know that there is indeed a ham radio concealed inside this Trinitarian tea cupboard. At a time when spiritual imagination and boldness are at an all-time low and the Christian church hovers at the edge of demise, perhaps now more than ever the time is ripe to remove the packing board from this tea cupboard and release its contents.
Gateway to Silence: Behold, I make all things new.[Revelation 21:5]
Reference:
Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three (Shambhala Publications, Inc.: 2013), 1-2, 10.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Sunday, 12 March 2017: "The Law of Three Changes Everything" of The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States What if we don’t live in a binary universe, but instead in a ternary universe?
"Trinity and the Law of Three"
"The Law of Three Changes Everything"
Sunday, March 12, 2017
In the United States our politics have devolved into divisiveness and partisanship. Think about it: You feel passionate about your party and your issues. Your co-worker or neighbor backs the other political party with equal passion.
The way we live so much of our lives stops right there. Someone takes position A, and someone else opposes them in Position B; they exist in rivalry and antagonism, world without end. This is precisely the behavior we’d expect in a binary system—a place of “two-ness” in opposition. At best, when we’re finished yelling at each other, we might try to compromise and form some kind of “synthesis” position out of our dueling dualisms.
If the universe is created in the image of the Creator and the Creator is a Trinity, it begs the question: What if we don’t live in a binary universe, but instead in a ternary universe?
This week and next, Cynthia Bourgeault, a faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, will explore the profound metaphysical Law of Three. Cynthia’s exploration of the doctrine of the Trinity paired with the teachings of an enigmatic Armenian teacher, G. I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949), is unique and can help us move forward and get unstuck.
If three-ness captures the essence of the cosmos more than two-ness, it means that we can hold our perspective with earnestness while fully awaiting an uncontrived third force to arrive and surprise us all out of our neat little boxes. Note that this isn’t some mere synthesis of opposition, but something genuinely novel arriving on the scene, a Position C.
The exact form that third force takes is beside the point, nor is it that first and second force suddenly find themselves invalidated in the face of some newer, shinier debut. Instead, the third force redeems each position and gives everyone a valuable role to play in the creation of something genuinely new—a fourth possibility that becomes the new field of our collective arising.
Gateway to Silence: Behold, I make all things new.[Revelation 21:5]
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 92-93.
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Sunday, 12 March 2017: "The Law of Three Changes Everything" of The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States What if we don’t live in a binary universe, but instead in a ternary universe?
"Trinity and the Law of Three"
"The Law of Three Changes Everything"
Sunday, March 12, 2017
In the United States our politics have devolved into divisiveness and partisanship. Think about it: You feel passionate about your party and your issues. Your co-worker or neighbor backs the other political party with equal passion.
The way we live so much of our lives stops right there. Someone takes position A, and someone else opposes them in Position B; they exist in rivalry and antagonism, world without end. This is precisely the behavior we’d expect in a binary system—a place of “two-ness” in opposition. At best, when we’re finished yelling at each other, we might try to compromise and form some kind of “synthesis” position out of our dueling dualisms.
If the universe is created in the image of the Creator and the Creator is a Trinity, it begs the question: What if we don’t live in a binary universe, but instead in a ternary universe?
This week and next, Cynthia Bourgeault, a faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, will explore the profound metaphysical Law of Three. Cynthia’s exploration of the doctrine of the Trinity paired with the teachings of an enigmatic Armenian teacher, G. I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949), is unique and can help us move forward and get unstuck.
If three-ness captures the essence of the cosmos more than two-ness, it means that we can hold our perspective with earnestness while fully awaiting an uncontrived third force to arrive and surprise us all out of our neat little boxes. Note that this isn’t some mere synthesis of opposition, but something genuinely novel arriving on the scene, a Position C.
The exact form that third force takes is beside the point, nor is it that first and second force suddenly find themselves invalidated in the face of some newer, shinier debut. Instead, the third force redeems each position and gives everyone a valuable role to play in the creation of something genuinely new—a fourth possibility that becomes the new field of our collective arising.
Gateway to Silence: Behold, I make all things new.[Revelation 21:5]
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 92-93.
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Resources on Centering Prayer by Cynthia Bourgault
The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice
Cynthia offers insights that can help all of us move deeper into nondual, open-hearted awareness. Order her book at store.cac.org.
Christian Nonduality—Seriously?
In this 1.5-hour video teaching, Cynthia shows how Centering Prayer is a path toward dynamic inner attunement. Click here to purchase the downloadable MP4 video.
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The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice
Cynthia offers insights that can help all of us move deeper into nondual, open-hearted awareness. Order her book at store.cac.org.
Christian Nonduality—Seriously?
In this 1.5-hour video teaching, Cynthia shows how Centering Prayer is a path toward dynamic inner attunement. Click here to purchase the downloadable MP4 video.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Saturday, 11 March 2017: "Trinity: Week 2 Summary" of The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States How long should I pray? As long as it takes you to get to yes.
Image credit: Three Russian Dancers (detail), Edgar Degas, 1895, National Museum, Stockholm Sweden.
"Trinity: Week 2"
"Summary: Sunday, March 5-Friday, March 10, 2017"
People filled with the flow will always move away from any need to protect their own power. They will be drawn to the powerless, the edge, the bottom, the plain, and the simple. (Sunday)
Trinity says that God’s power is not domination, threat, or coercion, but of a totally different nature. All divine power is shared power. (Monday)
The life of faith is learning how to rest in an Ultimate Love and how to draw upon an Infinite Source. (Tuesday)
God’s mystery rests in mutuality: three persons perfectly handing over, emptying themselves out, and then fully receiving what has been handed over. (Wednesday)
“As members of the mystical body, Christians actually partake in the divine nature of the Trinity. We do not merely watch the dance, we dance the dance.”[Carl McColman] (Thursday)
When you allow the flow of substantial reality through your life, you are a catholic person in the truest sense of the word, a universal person living beyond these tiny boundaries that human beings love to create. (Friday)
"Practice: Living in the Flow"
By being observant of your own emotional life and perhaps getting in touch with your own unconscious, you might become aware of psychological blockages to experiencing the Trinitarian dance. Try to feel, especially in your body, when you are tight, emotionally stingy, constricted, and in a withholding state—and when you are “in the flow” without any holding back or reserve. If you cannot distinguish between these two inner states in your own self, you may be able to notice them in others. There are numerous nonverbal cues most of us learn to read very early. Even children can sense the difference between cold and warm people.
The cold person lives from a place of scarcity, invariably protecting and defending what little they think they have or are. A person in the flow neither protects nor guards their inner source, vitality, or emotions—any more than necessary to maintain a needed sense of identity. You can tell when someone is in the flow, when they trust that their very life is given freely; you may see it in their smile.
The natural flow of creative and generative love is largely impossible when we are “sucking in”—when we’re stingy, petty, blaming, angry, playing the victim, or in any way offended. When we’re recounting what people did to us or what they did not do for us, we’re pulling back and sucking in. We need to notice when we’re in this constrictive state right away before it takes hold of us.
I believe that’s what morning contemplation is for: to bring me back in alignment with the Divine Flow so the Infinite Source can once again flow into me and through me. Great love, great suffering, and some form of contemplative practice are the usual paths that help me get my small, false self out of the way and become an open conduit for the gushing stream of abundant life that God always is and that the believer always becomes (see John 7:38).
People often ask me how long they should pray, and I say, “As long as it takes you to get to yes.” If your heart and emotions are still saying “No!” to the moment right in front of you, don’t leave your place of prayer until you find “Yes,” until the flow begins to happen and the constriction (which often feels like pettiness) begins to lose its hold on you. Then you’re abiding in a place of abundance where you know there’s more than enough of you left over, and you don’t need to be stingy, guarded, or hold on to even minor grudges. You can let love flow—to you and through you—toward all the world around you.
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Today Is a Time for Mercy,” December 10, 2015, https://cac.org/richard-rohr-on-mercy-mp3.
For Further Study:
Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: Exploring the Mystery of Trinity (CAC: 2004), CD, MP3 download
Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016)
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TRINITY: The Soul of Creation
with Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Wm Paul Young
The in-person conference is sold out! Over 1,800 people are gathering in Albuquerque this April. If you haven’t registered, join us for the webcast.
LIVE: April 6–8, 2017
LATER: Watch at any time through May 14, 2017
Only $59 per connection! Bring your church, family, or friends together to share the experience. Register by March 31 at cac.org/trinity.
People filled with the flow will always move away from any need to protect their own power. They will be drawn to the powerless, the edge, the bottom, the plain, and the simple. (Sunday)
Trinity says that God’s power is not domination, threat, or coercion, but of a totally different nature. All divine power is shared power. (Monday)
The life of faith is learning how to rest in an Ultimate Love and how to draw upon an Infinite Source. (Tuesday)
God’s mystery rests in mutuality: three persons perfectly handing over, emptying themselves out, and then fully receiving what has been handed over. (Wednesday)
“As members of the mystical body, Christians actually partake in the divine nature of the Trinity. We do not merely watch the dance, we dance the dance.”[Carl McColman] (Thursday)
When you allow the flow of substantial reality through your life, you are a catholic person in the truest sense of the word, a universal person living beyond these tiny boundaries that human beings love to create. (Friday)
"Practice: Living in the Flow"
By being observant of your own emotional life and perhaps getting in touch with your own unconscious, you might become aware of psychological blockages to experiencing the Trinitarian dance. Try to feel, especially in your body, when you are tight, emotionally stingy, constricted, and in a withholding state—and when you are “in the flow” without any holding back or reserve. If you cannot distinguish between these two inner states in your own self, you may be able to notice them in others. There are numerous nonverbal cues most of us learn to read very early. Even children can sense the difference between cold and warm people.
The cold person lives from a place of scarcity, invariably protecting and defending what little they think they have or are. A person in the flow neither protects nor guards their inner source, vitality, or emotions—any more than necessary to maintain a needed sense of identity. You can tell when someone is in the flow, when they trust that their very life is given freely; you may see it in their smile.
The natural flow of creative and generative love is largely impossible when we are “sucking in”—when we’re stingy, petty, blaming, angry, playing the victim, or in any way offended. When we’re recounting what people did to us or what they did not do for us, we’re pulling back and sucking in. We need to notice when we’re in this constrictive state right away before it takes hold of us.
I believe that’s what morning contemplation is for: to bring me back in alignment with the Divine Flow so the Infinite Source can once again flow into me and through me. Great love, great suffering, and some form of contemplative practice are the usual paths that help me get my small, false self out of the way and become an open conduit for the gushing stream of abundant life that God always is and that the believer always becomes (see John 7:38).
People often ask me how long they should pray, and I say, “As long as it takes you to get to yes.” If your heart and emotions are still saying “No!” to the moment right in front of you, don’t leave your place of prayer until you find “Yes,” until the flow begins to happen and the constriction (which often feels like pettiness) begins to lose its hold on you. Then you’re abiding in a place of abundance where you know there’s more than enough of you left over, and you don’t need to be stingy, guarded, or hold on to even minor grudges. You can let love flow—to you and through you—toward all the world around you.
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Today Is a Time for Mercy,” December 10, 2015, https://cac.org/richard-rohr-on-mercy-mp3.
For Further Study:
Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: Exploring the Mystery of Trinity (CAC: 2004), CD, MP3 download
Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016)
-------
TRINITY: The Soul of Creation
with Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Wm Paul Young
The in-person conference is sold out! Over 1,800 people are gathering in Albuquerque this April. If you haven’t registered, join us for the webcast.
LIVE: April 6–8, 2017
LATER: Watch at any time through May 14, 2017
Only $59 per connection! Bring your church, family, or friends together to share the experience. Register by March 31 at cac.org/trinity.
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Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
Center for Action and Contemplation
1823 Five Points Road, SouthWest (physical)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States
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