Inner Work and the Four Qualities
Working with the four qualities (humility, gratitude, compassion, and harmony) is the first step in the journey to our expanded consciousness. These four qualities are also known as humility and the three constructs, because humility serves as the foundation for engaging the other three qualities (the constructs) throughout our continuum of observations. Our interactions are also observations in the context of inner work.
Understanding Our Emotional Patterns
The three key recognitions for the inner work practitioner are:
- emotions are triggered by our observations
- our emotions immediately generate influencing energies
- emotions are the source for thoughts that compose our inner dialogue
An emotional response to an observation may appear positive on the surface. However, if an individual expresses gratitude for a welcome event or condition, the energy expressed through that "gratitude" might still be driven by ego-bias conditioning. For example, the thought generated by the "gratitude" could be boastful, asserting presumed privilege, or declaring greater worthiness over other individuals. In this scenario, gratitude becomes an energetically counter-productive influence. An energy imbalance is created in the unified consciousness field.
When more intense, disruptive emotions are triggered by an observation, such as hate or anger, the resulting thoughts produce an auto-perpetuating inner dialogue. This internal conversation generates more adverse emotions (influencing energies) and will continue to do so until the individual settles their inner dialogue.
At the species level, when the dominant influencing energies are destructive, harmony is absent in human-to-human and human-to-nature interactions. Political, social, and cultural turmoil are the result, and we abandon our obligation to nature and the environment that sustains us.
Breaking Free from Conditioned Responses
The point to all of this is simple: when our ego-bias conditioning holds us in these cycles, we are cut off from the experience of our expanded consciousness. Humility and the three constructs provide the platform for exploring our inner structure and consciousness expansion.
How Do the Four Qualities Work?
The architecture of our inner dialogue is fluid. With each breath, we are both the builder and the space being built. Humility and the three constructs are the quality control aspects of the inner work process—the mechanisms that detach us from our ego-bias conditioning.
The engagement of the four qualities functionally disrupts the Observation → Emotion sequence. This interference occurs because we learn to observe all phenomena with gratitude, compassion, and harmony. Our ego-bias driven emotional responses are no longer in play. At this stage of inner work, humility is the primary stabilizer to ensure the potency of the three constructs.
Gratitude, compassion, and harmony are not functions of "doing." Instead, we express as the energy of those properties—we become gratitude, compassion, and harmony.
The Essential Role of Humility
The role of humility is to minimize the likelihood that any of the three constructs will express from the ego-bias framework. Because we are so conditioned by, and often committed to, our biases, we will experience difficulty transitioning away from the cause and consequence of the Observation → Emotion interactions (see my article, Observation as First Cause, Part 1).
What do the three constructs look like without humility?
- gratitude is demonstrated selectively, when it suits our bias-induced pleasure mechanisms
- compassion will not be freely given, only under conditions that conform to the ego-bias conditioning
- harmony will be experienced as immediate, short-lived gratification
The Ultimate Purpose
With humility as the foundation for the three constructs, and our continued learning of inner work dynamics, we enhance our realization that the four qualities serve a specific function: to improve the quality of our inner dialogue.
This improved inner dialogue becomes the gateway to accessing our expanded consciousness and connecting with the unified consciousness field that underlies human existence.
Part Three will delve further into the relationships between expanded consciousness, the four qualities, inner work, and the inner dialogue.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I begin developing the four qualities in daily life and consciousness practice?
Engaging the four qualities is a conscious effort throughout the continuum of our observations. I express as being the four qualities regardless of what is being observed. If my bias conditioning inserts itself, we don't waste time dwelling on that or attempting to "fix" ourselves. We simply pull ourselves back to the conscious effort and the four qualities. Learning more about inner work dynamics is crucial to the four qualities effectiveness.
What is ego-bias conditioning and how does it prevent authentic consciousness development?
Ego-bias conditioning is the structure of our perspectives, beliefs, and responses to all activity (observations) around us. The ego-bias framework determines how we influence others and the collective consciousness. Our bias conditioning shapes the discrete energies we project into the consciousness field.
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Rob Taylor
Rob Taylor
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