Now that we have outlined the obstacles to higher consciousness, we need to connect them to bodily functions, for it is the body that manufactures and uses the energy of attention. The power and importance of attention cannot be stressed enough. Historically the capacity of certain individuals to focus their powers of attention has produced miraculous phenomena. Our interest here is to develop the ability to focus attention into the present moment, principally through revealing to ourselves how we waste this energy. Through this process we can begin to redirect this energy toward our aim to Awaken.

Our body has several major functions through which the energy of attention operates: they are the instinctive function, the moving function, the intellectual function, the emotional function, and the sexual function. We call these functions centres. Each centre and each part of a centre is a separate brain, having its own voice, its own interests and needs. Remember the idea of being many I's. These centres are where a great many of the I's originate. All the centres, with the exception of the instinctive centre, must learn how to perform their functions. With reference to the distinction between Essence and Personality, the learning that fills our centres from birth costitutes Personality, while the centres themselves are Essence. This is the distinction between the form, Essence, and the substance, Personality.

Each centre has its own energy source and operates on a unique fuel; thus the fuel of one centre might be too coarse or too refined for some other centre. Imagine trying to run a car on coal, or jet fuel, when it requires gasoline. The speed at which each centre functions is determined by the type of fuel it uses. Our intellectual centre is the slowest, analogous to the coal burner. The instinctive and moving centres operate much faster; we can say they use gasoline. The emotional and sex centres burn jet fuel and thus are the most volatile.

The centres, with the exception of the sex centre, can be said to be vertically divided into positive and negative halves. This is experienced as pleasure and pain for the instinctive centre, movement and non-movement for the moving centre, yes and no for the intellectual centre, and like and dislike for the emotional centre. These vertical divisions reprensent our capacity to make discriminations.

There are also levels of attention in each centre. These are the horizontal subdivisions which were described when we touched upon levels of fascination. At the lowest level of attention the centres operate automatically, with little or no attention being needed. This is where we run on autopilot; and it is also where the memory of each centre is located. We call this the Instinctive-Moving level of attention. At the next level, attention is drawn by an external or internal stimulus or object. It is through this part of each centre that the obstacle defined as identification

occurs. This is the Emotional level of attention. Finally, there is the level where attention is held with effort. We commonly know this as concentration. This is the Intellectual level of each centre.

The emotional level of each centre has an interesting aspect to it. When we experience this level we are subject to what is called the Law of the Pendulum. This law states that, however far in one direction one swings, just as far will one swing in the opposite direction. Say we have a craving for watermelon and, giving in to that craving one day, eat three whole watermelons at a sitting. This is the positive swing. What happens next is that we never want to see another watermelon again. This is, of course, the negative swing. Drinking all night and being hungover the next day is another obvious example many of us may have experienced. We will consider the implications of this law and how it affects our personal evolution later on in this chapter.

It is also at the emotional level of attention that what we call excitement or enthusiasm occurs. The infusion of energy from the emotional levels of centres is an important aspect of the role they play. It is through this energy that we have the impetus to start new ventures. It is the push that gets things moving and can be used for our spiritual evolution (although it readily turns into identification).

Each level of attention serves a purpose and has its place, as does each centre. However, as we are, prior to Awakening, we do not utilize our centres correctly. In fact the obstacles to higher consciousness dealt with in Chapter Three are the direct result of the incorrect operation of our centres. We are like a set of electronic components that have been miswired. There are circuits established between various parts of our centres that, when activated, cause the organism to operate inefficiently. As we describe each centre in detail, we will demonstrate just how this "wrong work" occurs.

The idea of centres and their subdivisions is an ancient idea and has been transmitted "word of mouth" down through the ages from initiate to initiate. The knowledge has been hidden symbolically in the deck of ordinary playing cards. The four suits represent the four lower centres as follows: Clubs, the Instinctive Centre; Spades, the Moving Centre; Diamonds, the Intellectual Centre; Hearts, the Emotional Centre. The face cards represent the major levels of attention thus: Jacks, the Instinctive-Moving level of attention; Queens, the Emotional level of attention; Kings, the Intellectual level of attention. The Aces represent each centre as a whole and the remaining numbered cards, when taken three at a time, represent further subdivisions in level of attention for each face card as follows: 2, 3, 4; the Jack: 5, 6, 7: the Queen: 8, 9, 10; the King. The numbered subdivisions require a very refined level of observation and will not be described here.

Using this symbolic scheme, the centres and their major subdivisions will be represented as follows:

The Instinctive Centre, the suit of Clubs, is comprised of the entire body and houses all the other centres. The spinal cord is the "brain" of this centre. Key words for its functioning are "sense" and "sensing". This centre is unique among the other centres in that it does not need to be taught anything. It already knows all it needs to know to function properly.

The Jack of Clubs:

The memory in the Instinctive Centre consists of memories of sensations. We have all had the experience of having an odor evoke memory, or a combination of temperature and humidity remind us of a place we have visited. Through these experiences we can see the memory of the Instinctive Centre, the Jack of Clubs, in action.

The Queen of Clubs:

Here attention is drawn by an internal or external stimulus. This is where the senses are located. We spend a great deal of time in this part of our physical being, seeing, hearing, smelling, and touching. We sense temperature, feel pressure, hunger, thirst, comfort, discomfort and more.

It is through this division of the Instinctive Centre, the Queen of Clubs, that we are captivated by the material illusion. The obstacle called Identification operates through the Queens of all the centres. In the Instinctive Centre we are identified with our possessions because they provide stimulation to the senses. We "become" our clothing, our cars, our houses, our food, that is, we place our identity in them. The Queen of Clubs identifies with comfort and the pursuit of pleasure. We also experience Imagination about physical sensations, comforts and material possessions. We Inner Consider those who have more pleasures and material goods than we do, and we Lie and Talk Unnecessarily in connection with these things as well. Moreover, when some aspect of this part of the Instinctive Centre receives a negative shock, we experience a negative emotion.

There is in most of us a very strong circuit between the Queen of Clubs and the Emotional Centre. If someone steps on our toe it triggers a negative emotion; for instance, we become angry. The jet fuel of the Emotional Centre is injected into the Instinctive Centre, which normally runs on gasoline. The result is some type of explosion. This in turn stimulates a similar explosion in the person who stepped on our toe and we're off into a downward spiral of negativity.

The King of Clubs:

Here is where instinctive attention is directed with effort. The job of the King of Clubs is the preservation of the life of the body. This aspect of the Instinctive function has the capacity to shut down and refocus all the energy of the body for healing. Here also is that part of us that has the capacity to sense danger. It can sense the energy of attention being directed at us, and in fact has omnidirectional awareness, the proverbial eyes in the back of the head. Since it is concerned with the preservation of life, it is identified with money, money being the principle commodity connected with life preservation in a civilized environment.

A heavy intensity is experienced when this part is activated either in us or in others. We experience it when danger is present, and sense it when there is a threat to our physical well being from some external force. We may even have occasion to sense danger when there is no apparent threat. We just get a creepy sensation. Much of what we label as psychic ability comes from the King of Clubs.

The intellectual centre may enter at this point, telling us that what we're sensing is irrational nonsense. This is an example of how one centre can interfere with the work of another.

In the exercise of Divided Attention, it is the King of Clubs that maintains bodily awareness. This is the beginning of a theme that will run throughout this chapter: the Kings of all the centres are those parts of our bodies that we utilize in the effort to Self-Remember. The very sense of omnidirectional awareness that the King of Clubs possesses is the quality of bodily awareness required by Divided Attention. This is why we often experience a higher state of consciousness in moments of danger.

The Moving Centre is the function that is concerned with spatial relationships, our orientation to the physical world. Through this centre we reach out into and manipulate the material realm. It too is located in the spinal cord and is designed to serve the other centres in connection with their needs in the physical environment. When the Queen of Clubs wants food, the moving centre reaches for it. If the intellectual centre wants a book, the moving centre obtains it. Should the emotional centre wish to physically touch someone, it utilizes this centre.

This function is also the place where visualization occurs. Creative visualization is the capacity to see in the mind's eye the things we wish to manifest in the physical world. It is the misuse

of this capacity that forms the obstacle called Imagination. While creative visualization requires effort, Imagination comes upon us automatically. Thus, Imagination is the "wrong work" of the moving centre.

The Jack of Spades:

At the level where little or no attention is needed we have the realm of automatic movements. Much of what we do in our daily lives involves movements of relative unconsciousness. We walk, we reach for things, we drive automobiles, all more or less automatically. After we learn how to perform these movements, we pay little attention to them. This is all the proper functioning of the Jack of Spades.

This level also houses the memory for the Moving Centre. Once we learn some movement we remember it through this part, as in the old cliche, "Once you learn to ride a bicycle you never forget". We remember how to return to places that we've traveled to, or where we placed something in our house, by picturing it in our mind.

In addition to the obstacle of Imagination or uncontrolled thinking, we experience other, subtler forms of inefficient functioning through the Jack of Spades. We leak energy through unconscious movement, which frequently is connected to the Emotional Centre. Emotional tension may manifest itself through toe tapping, fidgeting, restlessness, and unnecessary muscle tension, particularly in the jaw and shoulder muscles.

The Jack of Spades also expresses emotional attitudes through what is called body language. This is another form of unconscious movement connected to the Emotional Centre. Attitudes and unexpressed feelings exhibit themselves through the way in which we arrange our bodily postures. A person sitting with arms and legs crossed is exhibiting an emotionally guarded or closed inner world that may be cautious or fearful, while someone sitting all sprawled out is unfocused, their energies scattered. It is, in fact, possible to shift out of subtle negative emotions by intentionally shifting out of the body posture expressing it into one that expresses a more positive feeling. Actors are aware of this connection between the Moving and Emotional centres when they seek a particular movement that will evoke the called-for emotion within them. We are all actors on the stage of life, yet so often we are unaware of the part we play or how well we're playing it. It is our aim in The Work to become conscious actors.

The Queen of Spades:

Emotional movement is movement that draws our attention. After we have learned a movement, we pass through a period when we're emotional about performing that movement. The best example of this in modern life is when we learn to drive an automobile. Once we pass through the difficulties of learning to drive, there is a period of time when we enjoy driving so much that we want to do it all the time. In fact we might drive so much that we eventually tire of it, experiencing the Law of the Pendulum. Then we experience the negative swing, going from "loving" to "hating" it.

The Queen of Spades also enjoys watching movement. Here we become lost in the fascination of movement. Television, motion pictures, and sports competitions all have this element. We are held entranced by the skilled movements of the performers, or simply the flickering electronic images portraying motion.

Perceptions of movement in our external environment draw our attention out of us. We give our personal power away to this fascination with external stimuli and lose awareness of being in our bodies. We enjoy the forgetting it brings upon us. Here lies a connection between the Queen of Clubs and the Queen of Spades.

The Queens of centres can conspire together to sustain Identification. Our attention is drawn out of us in a state of Identification. It is attracted by stimuli coming in through the senses, the Queen of Clubs. The attention of the Queen of Spades is drawn by the stimuli signaling movement, deepening the trance-like hold the external world has upon us, causing us to forget our inner world.

Remember the example in the section on Identification concerning the person rushing through traffic, identified with arriving at their destination "on time"? Time is movement, the motion of the planet in its rotation and its movement around the sun. In our sleep we become identified with this movement. We suffer from the White Rabbit syndrome. Those readers familiar with the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland may be familiar with the character of the White Rabbit. He carried a large pocket watch and was always rushing around, concerned about being late. "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello-goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He was identified with the future, always rushing off to his next appointment, never experiencing the present moment.

Each one of us is the White Rabbit at one time or another. Some part of our attention is rushing off into the future, furtively looking at our watch, itching to leave while physically not yet in motion. We are experiencing the e Queen of Spades when this occurs. In a state of Self-Remembering there is no time. We can clearly see that time is merely a technological invention to record movement. Yet, in a state of Identification we forget this and believe that time is real.

The King of Spades:

Intellectual movement is intentional movement, attention directed with effort in the realm of spatial relationships. Most of us have had the experience of attempting to move a large object through a small opening, like a sofa through a doorway. Our first attempts may have been through the Jack of Spades, thrusting the sofa at the doorway hoping somehow it would go through. After several attempts in this manner, the next level was to become frustrated (identified and negative, the Queen of Spades), jamming the sofa against the doorway haphazardly. Eventually we stopped, examined the shape of the sofa closely, made an experiment or two, and figured out precisely how it would fit through. In this final stage we experienced our King of Spades.

At this level of attention we intentionally visualize how to arrange a large pile of luggage into the apparently small trunk of a car. We conceptualize plans for a new room addition to our house, or carefully pick up fine china so as not to break it. Here also we learn how to drive a car, ride a bicycle, and perform the innumerable tasks of movement required by our existence in the physical world.

Through intentional movement we also connect to an awareness of our existence in a physical body. When we move automatically, we're not aware of being physical. When we move emotionally, we're driven by Identification and we're only aware of the object of that Identification. When we move intentionally, we become aware of our physical body moving through space, thus facilitating Divided Attention. We can see this in the Martial Arts, particularly Tai Chi, intentional movement that is an art form. Intentional use of the Moving Centre, be it in movement or at rest, is an essential component in our approach to Self-Remembering. Now we have the Kings of two centres participating in the exercise of Divided

Attention and we begin to have a glimpse of an approach to becoming more unified beings.

We now leave behind the centres we have in common with the animal kingdom and enter into the realm of thought. Human beings are thinking animals. The intellectual centre, located, of course, in the head, is the slowest function we possess. This is the "coal burner". We can verify this by attempting to think through a movement. It's an awkward process at best and shows us the extraordinary difference in the speeds of these two centres.

We use this centre to initially learn movements, in conjunction with the King of Spades. Once the movement is learned, however, the Intellectual Centre has no further business in the matter, although it is hard for it to let go. This centre may not trust the Moving or Instinctive centres at times as it requires logic and reason to justify actions. When the Instinctive centre senses unseen danger it has no logical justification; it just knows something is wrong. Should the Intellectual centre interfere at this point, it would constitute wrong work and could endanger the life of the entire organism. In a state of fear the Intellectual centre may interfere with the Moving centre, often with disastrous results. This slow centre cannot comprehend movement. A rock climber stymied on the face of a cliff can become stuck in the Intellectual centre, resulting in paralysis. The climber will only find an answer through intentional movement, not through thought.

The material of this centre is words and ideas. It deals in symbolic abstractions, some of which have connection to the physical world, some of which have no connection to any physical reality. This is where we become lost, disconnected, when we deal in abstractions that have no apparent physical coordinates. One of the themes that runs through The Work is that everything has a

physical existence, even such supposed abstractions as Love, or Faith. When we, through our efforts to elevate our consciousness, begin to become more sensitive, we will be able to perceive the connections between so-called abstract concepts and their physical existence. Until such an occurrence, this idea will remain theoretical.

The Jack of Diamonds:

This division has a special name in this system. It is called the Formatory Centre. It so named such its inability to think beyond established form. It operates in a framework of duality, perceiving the world through pairs of opposites, good and bad, right and wrong, left and right, up and down, this way or that, like a binary computer. Creative thinking is not a possibility for this part of the Intellectual centre, nor is it meant to be. Its true purpose is to serve as a filing system, the memory for the Intellectual centre. It is the secretary whose job is to take notes and messages, record and file information, and make that information accessible to the other parts of this centre. We tend to mistake for intelligence the ability to record information. Our educational system is directed toward this end. It generally does not teach us how to think. So, when the secretary tries to think, it does so in twos, or opposites, and can only regurgitate information.

Remember, this is the level of little of no attention. In the intellect this means we record information automatically. The Jack of Diamonds reads everything that passes before its eyes. It labels or names everything we see, as if to have a word for something is to understand that thing. "What is this called?" it asks. Shakespeare questioned this tendency in the play Romeo and Juliet when he wrote: " A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". When our interest stops with a name we can be assured that the Formatory Centre is manifesting.

Here also are stored thousands of phrases that we commonly use. Most speech is made up of these phrases. Seldom do we intentionally construct our verbal expression one word at a time. (Notice the phrase "one word at a time".) When we are deep in the obstacle of Unnecessary Talking we are mechanically replaying these phrases, like playing tapes we have previously recorded. We will run the tape about some experience that has come up associatively in conversation. We can observe that much social conversation consists entirely of the participants "playing tapes". When we actually observe this happening around us and see it in ourselves we may tend to judge the phenomenon. Remember, we are all in some level of sleep most of the time. To awaken for a moment and observe the sleep of another is a miracle, to judge it is to fall asleep again.

This is an eternal pitfall for the student.

The Queen of Diamonds:

In the Queen of Diamonds we are held in fascination of, or become identified with, thoughts and ideas, or the media through which they are communicated (e.g., books, magazines, newspapers). Our attention is drawn out of us by ideologies, theories, and intellectual speculations. Some few people may even become interested in The Work through this level of the Intellectual Centre. Such an interest would not sustain itself for long, however, unless it were supported by other parts of that person's being, since the Queens of centres are, by themselves, incapable of making the sustained efforts that The Work requires.

The Queen of Diamonds may connect with its counterpart in the Emotional Centre and become a fanatic for a political or religious idea, or it may stay up all night reading a book, even though some other part of our being has to go to work the next day.

This card likes to talk, discuss or debate the ideas it's identified with even though its audience may not be interested, a fine example of Unnecessary Talking. It is the card that enjoys talking about exciting things but has no intention of acting upon them. Many so-called "intellectuals" operate out of this part of the Intellectual Centre.

The Queen of Diamonds is the generator of energy in the Intellectual Centre, as is true for the Queens of each centre. This is its true value. Once we're somewhat able to release our identifications and have our centres and their parts function more in harmony with each other, we can begin to see that the Queen of Diamonds generates the energy of intellectual curiosity that is so essential for the expansion of each individual's mental horizons.

The King of Diamonds:

Here we reach the only place where any real thinking occur. This is the part of us that can pull data out of the Formatory Centre, the Jack, use the energy of the Queen, and arrive at some entirely new formulation. Attention is held and directed with effort at this level, and involves focus and concentration. Intentionality enters here, which frequently manifests as a slowing down in functioning.

The King of Diamonds is not so much concerned with reaching conclusions or rushing to some end result, but takes its time to finely grind the wheels that do have the capacity to arrive at some new level of thought.

For The Work, it is this part of the Intellectual Centre that has the capacity to monitor thought. In the creation of the Observer we must enlist the assistance of all the Kings of centres, for they have the ability to direct the power of our attention, without which we would have no possibility at all of escaping the prison of mechanicality we have constructed for ourselves.

We can use the King of Diamonds to observe Unnecessary Talking, to become aware of the I's that pass through us, to watch the Formatory Centre as it attempts to represent itself as the entirety of our mental capacity. It can even develop the ability to stop thought, at least for short periods.

This is also the level of intellect that has the ability to realize that its true calling is to be in service to the Emotional Centre, especially the intellectual part of the Emotional Centre, the King of Hearts.

We now come to the quickest centre we possess, the Emotional Centre, the suit of Hearts. This is the centre that runs on jet fuel. Its speed of perception is verifiably thousands of times faster than the Instinctive and Moving centres, which are, in turn, thousands of times faster than the Intellectual centre. It is this centre that much of our work is ultimately aimed at controlling, for it is the Emotional Centre which is the driving force in each of our lives.

If we examine our daily lives closely we will come to see that all our decisions have a definite emotional component. We choose on the basis of what we like or dislike, agree with or disagree with, feel drawn to or repelled from. Since there is a definite link between the Emotional Centre and the emotional parts, or queens, of all the other centres, we experience an intrusion of emotional energy into the Moving, Intellectual and Instinctive Centres as they function to make discriminations. This often goes on at an unconscious level, especially among individuals who have a tight lid on their emotions, being therefore, out of contact with them.

This centre's interests revolve around people, the affairs of people and impressions. Its energy of attention can be quite intense,since it operates on a highly volatile fuel. Traditionally in Western culture, this centre has been controlled and suppressed by the Intellectual centre. To be emotional is considered undesirable and out of control, so we've learned to turn our emotions inward, to push them out of our awareness, leaving them to operate in the darkness. This powerful energy, then, operates in us at an unconscious level.

Obviously, for any conscious evolution to occur, the workings of this centre must be brought into the light of inner self-awareness, not an easy task considering the diligence with which we have endeavored to bury our feelings. Any individual wishing to work on themselves will eventually have to come to grips with the emotional issues hidden in their inner world.

It is in this centre also, that we encounter the third major obstacle to higher consciousness, Negative Emotion. A distinction needs to be made here between the manifestations of the negative half of the emotional centre, those of emotional discrimination, and the incorrect workings of the emotional centre that arise as the result of Identification and lead to the wastage of the energy of this centre through the expression of Negative Emotion.

We must establish here that the existence of negative emotions within us is an unnatural state, a conditioning that has been passed down to us, generation to generation. Long-term self-observation will establish that negative emotions occur within us principally through our Identification with the Instinctive Centre, particularly the Queen of Clubs. The more we see this actually happening within us, the greater the changes will be, for the act of true inner observation itself has the power to create change.

The Jack of Heart

Here we have emotional energy evoked with little or no attention being required, as well as the main memory bank for the Emotional Centre. These are the superficial emotions that grease the wheels of ordinary human interaction. "Good morning, how are you!", "How's it going!", "What's up?", "Nice to see you!", "Have a good day!", are just a few of the perfunctory emotional interchanges that mark

our ordinary mundane transactions. They occur, for the most part, automatically, and frequently are bereft of any real intent.

We all "coo" when we see a puppy or an infant, a warm feeling arises in our solar plexus, the physical location of our Emotional Centre, and we may feel soft or slightly vulnerable. These are some of the signs of surface emotional activity.

Most humor involves the manifestation of the energy of this division of the Emotional Centre, or is designed to evoke this energy. This is also the place where we experience crowd emotions, such as those encountered at sports events or in mob violence. Waves of emotional energy can sweep us up helplessly and automatically during these events.

We feel more "alive" when we are experiencing emotional energy, and that level of "aliveness" is determined by just how much and of what quality of emotional energy we're experiencing.

The Queen of Spades

If the Emotional Centre runs on the most intense energy, then the emotional part of the Emotional Centre, the Queen, contains the highest intensity of all the lower centres. This is emotional attention drawn by an object. It was mentioned earlier that the Queens of centres are the generators of energy. Given this, what we might expect from the Queen of Hearts, and indeed what we do find, is an immense amount of energy.

It is in the Queen of Hearts that we experience intense passions, the swings of the emotional pendulum. The fairy tale Alice in Wonderland contains a character named the Queen of Hearts. She is a large powerful woman who is constantly experiencing the swings of the pendulum. Now she loves you and can't let you out of her sight, now you have completely offended her and are condemned to be beheaded. Everyone is terrified of her. It is through this card that we "love", we "hate", and we wage war.

Many of us fear this aspect of our machinery. The consequences of its evocation often do not please us, often cause us a great deal of friction. Remember, in the fairy tale, the Queen of Hearts was greatly feared. Many of the other characters in the tale tiptoed around her hoping to escape her notice.

Almost all that we experience of this level of the Emotional Centre is connected with its incorrect operation. In ordinary levels of consciousness, or sleep, this part is generally self-centered and egotistical, attempting to manipulate the world around it to serve its selfish needs. However, it is also a very powerful organ of perception. The Queen of Hearts has the capacity to perceive the emotional state of those around it, the power to see into things, past surface appearances. When the energy of the Queen is focused through the exercise of Divided Attention we acquire the capacity to penetrate the veil of emotional superficiality by which we are normally surrounded. In this state of awareness the Queen of Hearts has the capacity of entering the emotional inner world of another being and can experience what they are experiencing. This is known in The Work as External Consideration and is a dimension of Self-Remembering. Those adept at this technique appear to have the ability to "read minds", but this is nothing more than accessing an emotional sensitivity that we each possess. It is simply the human machine operating more at peak efficiency.

The King of Hearts

This is the place where we direct emotional attention with effort. It is here that we feel compassion, appreciate beauty, enjoy beautiful music, experience unconditional love. In Alice in Wonderland, the King of Hearts went around pardoning all those the Queen of Hearts had condemned to death. It is the quiet voice within us that can know what is right action in the moment. This is also the part of us that can develop an appreciation for spiritual development, that wishes to evolve, and that understands that the interests of the other parts of the machine, or even the machine itself, may be sacrificed for the aim of awakening.

It is through the King of Hearts that we build a bridge to our Higher Self and its functions. Self-Remembering is an emotional experience of the highest caliber. It is activated when the King of Hearts aligns itself with the other Kings of centres to focus attention into the moment, creating an intense awareness of existing in one's body, within an environment, in the presence of a higher world, or one's Higher Self. Here is where the connection is made, the inner leap from the physical world into the metaphysical. The deepest experience of the moment is an emotional experience. Each moment contains the potential for profound realization. It is the King of Hearts that facilitates this realization.

The moment is always the key, the doorway, the portal to another world. It is the simplicity that this whole work is dedicated toward actualizing, that ability to focus more and more of our precious energy of attention into an ever deeper penetration of the Eternal Now.

The Joker

The Joker represents the creative force, the Sex Centre. The energy on which it operates is of the same caliber as that of the Emotional Centre and concerns itself with any type of creative endeavor, be it the production of children or art. It has no negative half: the discriminations it seems to make actually come from other centres.

The energy of this centre is powerful and volatile, being easily diverted into distorted or corrupted uses. When used in a card game, the Joker is invariably a wild card. The injection of sex energy into life has similiar implications. Chief witness to this is the use of sex energy in media advertising, where it is used to sell a wide range of products including deodorant, beer, chewing gum, clothing ...etc. We are held deep in fascination by our society's misuse of this energy, particularly through the mediums of television and motion pictures. Thus anyone endeavoring to work on themselves must of necessity reckon with this energy and its worldly manifestations. We need to break the bonds of fascination created by it, so for a time it may be nesessary to withdraw from exposure to these media.

Sex energy also operates incorrectly within each of us personally. Irritability, frantic action, and intense misdirected behavior are just some of the manifestations of the incorrect working of this energy.

The wearing of clothing to arouse sex energy in others is an example of Infra Sex, or inferior sex. Infra Sex is the arousal of sex energy without any fulfillment. This term applies to all outward behaviors that are designed, consciously or unconsciously, to evoke the energy of sex and includes clothing, language, body posture, humor and other cultural phenomena.

We see in this the diversion of our attention away from the aim of creating presence in the moment and begin to realize that the world as we know it is filled with a myriad of ways to lose ourselves. Remember, when observing how this operates, to remain in a neutral space that is capable of releasing judgement. Our sexuality was designed to continue the species and give us the "God force", the power of creation. How we use this force is ultimately our choice. The trick now is to consciously choose, realizing that for the most part our choices are made unconsciously.

We must become sexually healthy. In this society this means cutting ourselves off from the hypnotic effects of the misuse of this energy, it does not necessarily mean becoming celibate. This is an individual choice involving several factors and can not be addressed any further here.

For most people in The Work, the normal sexual relations that occur within the framework of a relationship are necessary and useful. Work on oneself in the context of a relationship can be very effective for both parties, especially when both are engaged in The Work. This is not a necessary precondition though. The decision to work on oneself is a uniquely individual decision and cannot be imposed upon another individual. To do so is to court disaster.

This completes our description of the five lower centres, how they operate, their incorrect working, and their relation to the aim of awakening. Through various exercises designed to facilitate self-observation we are able to verify the existence of these Centres, and begin to diminish their wrong work. This is a purification process. The more we study ourselves, the more the

power of attention directed inward affects organic change. Over time it is possible to enable the mechanisms of these lower centres to become more efficient. We will unblock the nerve passageways gradually allowing the flow of more refined vibrations to increase. New sensitivities may awaken in the body, enabling us to perceive our inner and outer worlds in a new way.

All this is a preparation. For when we connect to a higher state of consciousness we also connect to the functions of the Self, the Higher Emotional Centre and the Higher Intellectual Centre.

We may remember those moments in our life when we experienced what we now recognize as a higher state of consciousness. Frequently there came with them an expansion of our intelligence. For a moment we had a deeper insight into some aspect of our lives, a symbolic understanding of something perhaps, that was inexpressible in words. This was the experience of a higher centre. Little is known intellectually about these functions; a few simple theories. The Higher Emotional Centre is said to manifest in the Third State of Consciousness, the Higher Intellectual in the Fourth State of Consciousness.

These centres are said to be in existence and fully functioning just as the Self is, but we can only experience them in the Third or Fourth States of consciousness. When we are living as we normally live, in some level of Second State sleep, a connection to them is not possible. Thus, like consciousness itself, these centres are indefinable and can only be studied by seeking to invoke the state of consciousness in which they become manifest.

Within each one of us one of the four lower centres (excluding the Sex Centre) is more highly developed than the others. This is called a Center of Gravity. This is fairly obvious when we examine the bodies and proclivities of those around us. Some people have a natural inclination toward sports, having a Center of Gravity in the moving centre; we say they are Moving Centered. Others are inclined toward an interest in thought, study and ideas, and are Intellectually Centered. Still others are drawn toward social interactions, have a deep interest in people, are Emotionally Centered. Finally, others have an inclination toward instinctive matters such as food, body building and so forth and are Instinctively Centered.

A person's Center of Gravity determines to some degree the form and structure of their body, and, on the psychological level, determines how they perceive reality. There is obviously much to study here, but to delve deeper into this topic is beyond the scope of this book.

This has been but a brief sketch of the centres and how they operate. There is enough detail here, however, to begin studying the centres and through this study to add more details. The aim in studying the centres is simply to bring attention to them. As we bring more attention to them we begin to discover more and more of their "wrong work". It is through the direction of attention and study that we have the possibility of establishing more "right work". We will begin to conserve energy and bring balance to our lives. As this happens new capacities that had lain dormant until now will begin to appear. We will begin to experience our lives in a different way.

We can see from the description of levels of attention, the Jacks, the Queens, and the Kings, that our body can operate automatically under most conditions. In fact, if we're sincere with ourselves, we observe that there is a drive within us to set up our lives in such a way that it can all run smoothly with little or no attention on our part, so that we can run on Autopilot. We thus live in the Jacks of centres during the week and look forward to the weekends when we experience the Queens of centres; parties, socializing, indulging...etc.

It is also in the Queens of centres that we experience the Law of the Pendulum. It is the mechanism that keeps us living in duality, for as long as we swing back and forth between negative and positive experience we have little or no opportunity to experience the middle. When the pendulum is swinging, and we must conclude that for most of us most of the time it is swinging contiunually, it reaches its greatest velocity when it crosses the dividing line between positive and negative. We hear a lot about "getting centered". That means stopping the swings of the pendulum. This can only be done when we become willing to give up the positive half.

Our machine likes the positive swing of the Queens. Many of us seek for ways to stay in the positive swing of the pendulum and eliminate the negative halves of the Queens, leading to various types of addiction.This is not a possibility. To attain the center requires the "payment" of giving up the positive half of the swing. We engage the Kings of centres reluctantly, when necessary, to learn something new. It is through the use of the Kings that we are able to bring intentionality to our lives. The use of Divided Attention and the attempt to Self-Remember cannot be a part-time, casual undertaking. These qualities must be brought into our daily lives if anything at all is going to happen. We do this by involving the Kings of centres. The Kings have the potential of controlling the energy of the Queens and using it for the creation of presence. The omnidirectional sensing capacity of the King of Clubs, the intentional movement of the King of Spades, the intentional word choice of the King of Diamonds, and the unconditional Love and forgiveness of the King of Hearts all combine to unify us into a moment of presence and have the capacity to transform ordinary mundane existence into living ritual.

In the process of Self-Observation, the Kings monitor the Jacks and Queens, enabling us to initiate the beginnings of central control. The Queens cease being self-serving and become organs of perception, allowing greater access to that vague human quality called intuition.

In this study of centres we see how our misdirected attention forms the obstacles to consciousness described in Chapter Three. We thus realize that in bringing attention to the workings of our centres we begin to diminish their "wrong work" and in so doing diminish the obstacles. As more "right work" is established we release energy and raise our internal vibration, "reaching" for a higher state of consciousness.

Remember, the aim is not to make a perfect machine, but rather to connect to, as an experience, the spiritual being we truly are.

Our aims in developing exercises for the centers are first, to verify the existence of the centers. The idea of being a multibrained being is novel for most of us. Once we have this verificaiton, observing the levels of attention becomes necessary. Our current conceptions may tend to lump all functions together into the same level of attention. It is necessary to begin to see how much of our lives are lived virtually unconsciously. Take a brief time period, like a day, to observe a single subdivision of a centre. Remember to record as significant only those observations which are completely clear. All the rest is dross and is to be discarded. Resist the temptation to analyze. This is, for the most part, useless activity and is a part of Unnecessary Inner Talk. Remember, all exercises are meant to facilitate Divided Attention.

Specific exercises for each of the centres may take the form of some sort of resistance. The Jacks of centres are filled with habitual behavior. To observe this we need to put something in the way of a habit, such as a resolve to perform a simple task in a different way. Other exercises may be simply designed to bring awareness to a particular function. We will give a few exercises here for each of the four lower functions. The Sex Centre is too volitile to tamper with at this stage. The exercises for the lower four centres may at times invoke Higher Centres, or higher states of consciousness. Since we have no reliable access to Higher Centres, no exercises can be given for them.

These are meant to serve as guidelines to be built upon and experimented with. Work on oneself is a creative process. Exercises require almost continual reinvention to be effective over time. What awakens us briefly today becomes tomorrow's habit.

The Instinctive Centre

Both the Queen and the King of Clubs are important elements in this work. Our aim is to create a presence in the moment. We can use the senses to do this as well as that ability of the King for omnidirectional awareness. The Jack does not need to be addressed now. Although some disciplines work with breathing, this is more advanced than the scope of this writing and such work must be done with direct individual supervision.

Exercise 1: When eating, taste every bite of your food. Each moment of our lives is precious. Notice how we tend to "disappear" into our meals.

Exercise 2: Arise at dawn and "taste" the day. Go outside. Feel the air on your skin, look at the sun rise, smell the smells, connect to the daily miracle of creation.

Exercise 3: Take a quiet moment to stop and expand your awareness to encompass the entire room or space you occupy, pay attention to your breathing at the same time. As you become more proficient at this, begin to expand your awareness into your suroundings where ever you are.

Exercise 4: Resist an eating habit. For instance, if you drink coffee in the morning, change to another beverage, or do without.

Exercise 5: Become aware of body posture. Being "centered" involves the body, so adapt body postures that communicate a relaxed calmness. This, of course, affects all the centres, not just the instinctive.

The Moving Centre

Here we wish to develop exercises that give us intentional spatial orientation. Much of our movement is automatic or habitual, so that we move about our environment like sleep walkers. We wish to bring our attention into the moment when we move. This means any movement. What ever activity we are engaged in is worthy of our entire focus, no matter how trivial it is. If someone asks you to pass the salt, do it with your complete attention. The same goes for washing dishes, putting on clothing, combing your hair,...etc.

Putting an obstacle in the path of the Jack of Spades shocks us out of our moving centered habits. Notice how the Queen becomes excited over sports or new "toys". We can also see how the emtional centre connects to the Queen of Spades in the throes of a negative emotion by slamming doors, or by putting excessive energy into any movement. Any effort at intentional movement involves the King of Spades and has the capacity to bring the attention of this centre into the moment.

Exercise 6: Put an impediment in the way of a moving centered habit. Put the kitchen trash can in a different location. Drive to work by a different route, even though it may be less time efficient.

Exercise 7: Walk differently. Use a different step, walk backwards in a department store, this is work on inner considering.

Exercise 8: Walk for a short distance taking each step with conscious intention, like a fire walker, or a person walking on thin ice.

Exercise 9: Watch your hand intently while it performs a simple task. Observe it as if it were the hand of a stranger.

The Intellectual Centre

This is the centre of words and ideas. One of the greatest foes to awakening is the Jack of Diamonds, also known as the Formatory Centre. It is here Unnecessary Talk and Lying may originate. It is here also, that we may become lost in idea, even these ideas. The Queen of Diamonds is a great champion of causes. The aim to awaken supercedes political ideals and causes, especially when they foster identification. People kill other people over such matters. The aim of exercises here is similiar to that in the Moving Centre, to obstruct habits and create intention.

Exercise 10: Choose a commonly used word, and eliminate it from your vocabulary for a day. Some interesting words to work with are "should", "can", "could", "would". Notice how quickly your Formatory Centre will forget the exercise. When you remember it you have the opportunity to construct a sentence with intention.

Exercise 11: Observe the use of automatic phrases like "How you doin'?", or "What's up?." Try replacing them with something else that serves the same purpose but has more intent.

Exercise 12: Stop telling stories from the past. Make efforts to only talk about what is relavant to the moment. Treasure silence when it occurs.

Exercise 13: When speaking, construct your sentences one word at a time, especially when speaking on important matters. Give up rehearsing what to say before you say it. This requires courage and trust. If, instead you generate Presence, you will find you are more intelligent when you do this for the utterance will have been generated from the King, not the Jack, and may, at times, derive from an even higher source.

The Emotional Centre

This is the centre involving people and impressions, or beauty. Exercises here need to be designed to evoke intentionality in our communications and the building of a connection to the idea of unconditional love, which is a property of the Higher Emotional Centre. It is of the utmost importance that we work against habits in this centre, for habits here form the greatest barrier to awakening. Remember, this centre is potentially a powerful organ of perception, but can only become so when it is cleansed of the obstacles of negative emotion and inner considering. We wish to establish also the speed of the emotional centre through observation.

Exercise 14: The Jack of Hearts relates to and comunicates with people habitually. The habits are different for each of us, so, first work is to observe and identify the habits. Then, place an obstacle or resistance in the path of one or more of these habits, in order to begin relating and comunicating differently. This will be work against Inner Considering which originates in this centre. Exercise 15: The Queen of Hearts holds accounts against people, making it impossible to perceive them directly in the moment. Begin examining your relationship to the various people in your life in the context of the accounts you have against them. Most of these things are petty irritations which have built up over time. Work to truly see each person as a new acquaintance each time you encounter them.

Exercise 16: The King of Hearts has the capacity to forgive, both ourselves and others. We tend to be hard on ourselves, and this can be especially true as we begin work on ourselves. Learn to be forgiving on a moment to moment basis. Releasing accounts as they are created enables one to continue to be in the moment anew with the people in one's life.

Exercise 17: Cultivate a taste for beauty. This includes not only the creations of Nature, but also the finest that human culture has to offer, classical music, poetry, opera, ballet, fine food and wine. These all offer a higher level of impression.

Practical Wisdom ©1993-2001 James Westly

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