Choosing Attitudes Intentionally

Choosing Attitudes Intentionally

When the topic of attitudes was recently introduced on our Facebook page, I recalled the inspiring chapters of a book written by a friend and long-time fellow student of the Fourth Way. The book, “Creating a Soul,” was written by Girard Haven in 1999 and is a remarkable resource for practical work on attitudes as well as many other topics of the Fourth Way. The following text is an excerpt from the first chapter of his book, simply called “Chapter I Attitudes.”

“One of the tools our Teacher stresses is that of being intentional. Although it is fairly clear what this means for the moving center, we are often at a loss to apply it to the other centers, this despite the fact that for awakening, at least as we work with it in our School, the emotional and, to some extent, the intellectual centers are far more important. Alchemy, refinement and the appreciation of art are among the tools we have been given for working in this area. All of these require that one bring emotional attention to the moment, which, if not quite the whole of intentionality, is certainly a major component. The problem is that unless one has the right attitude toward this effort, it can not be sustained. Thus, from one angle [perspective] being intentional in the emotional and intellectual centers is only possible if one can be intentional about the attitudes one has.

To choose attitudes intentionally, one must first understand that the intellectual and emotional centers are just as mechanical as the moving and instinctive centers, and so there is no difference between choosing how one moves and choosing what one feels and thinks. In other words, one must overcome the illusion that one’s thinking and feeling are ‘objective’, for if that were true, any change in those areas would be a move away from truth toward falsehood, from objectivity to subjectivity. But once one understands that everything one thinks, sees, feels and does is subjective and is, at best, a very incomplete and partial truth, it is only a matter of practice before one is able to select which subjective view to take. Of course, one must also have a clear understanding of one’s aim, as without an aim there is no basis on which to choose.

One way to do this is to introduce scale, for often something which seems difficult—that is, something with which one is identified—ceases to seem so important when seen from another scale. For example, it is rare that we do anything which will be significant a year or two hence; while at the same time, there is nothing with which we can not work for at least a moment. The trick is to find the right attitude, the right way of looking at it.

The problem is that rather than intentionally choosing attitudes in accordance with our aim, we allow them to happen to us mechanically. In other words, we let false personality choose, and it is quite proficient at choosing the attitudes which promote its aims, beginning with the attitude that our attitudes are correct and we had better not toy with them.”

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” — Shakespeare, Hamlet

To continue with Girard, “Once one learns that attitudes are subjective and can be intentionally selected, the responsibility for choosing falls to the individual. The sort of questions one needs to ask then are not, “How can I work in the face of all this denying force?” but, “Why should I look at it this way? Does it help me toward my aim? Is there some other way to view it that would be more useful? If so, why not adopt that attitude?” Being subjective anyway, we have nothing to lose, but we have our Selves to gain.”

A final key is that one must not believe one’s attitudes. Indeed, one must remember that an attitude is a tool which is being intentionally used for a specific purpose. As soon as one forgets this, the situation reverses and one ceases to be a man using an attitude and becomes instead a machine controlled by that attitude.

In summary, I would recommend the study of attitudes to anyone serious about awakening. More than that, I would recommend experimenting with them to learn how to adopt intentionally those that further one’s aim. For me, this has been one of the foundations of practical work.”

Excerpts from “Creating a Soul” by Girard Haven

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Ira Aldridge, Shakespearean actor, painted by John Simpson