Separation and Naming

We bite on the temptation of the moment. Our minds, our bodies and our hearts get carried away and
cast our Micro-cosmos into chaos.

We call this state identification because it is characterized

by a misplaced sense of identity, by mistakenly calling the
impulse of the moment “I”. But the way down is the same as
the way backup, and it is the same three brains: the Mind,
the Body and the Heart that are the means by which order
in the can be restored Micro-cosmos.

In this tutorial, we will experiment with reversing the fall into

identification. We will return to the Basilica of San Marco in
Venice and examine a lesser-known episode from the
Genesis Creation that is instrumental in this process that of
Adam naming the animals.

And we will set an exercise to name the temptation of the moment throughout as many moments of our
day as possible, separating our Mind from identification through naming.

“We must begin with intellect. Our intellectual center is better developed, or
more under its own control. The emotional center is more irresponsible. So since
we have more command of our intellectual center we have to use it until either
we become more conscious or learn to use other functions more efficiently and
control them better than we do now.” – Piotr Ouspensky

Movements, forms and spatial relationships are the language of the moving center or Body, ideas and
concepts are the language of the intellectual center or Mind; pictures and stories are the language of
the emotional center or Heart.

These three brains are our organs of perception. Harnessed to the aim of acquiring self-knowledge, they
each perceive different aspects of the truth about ourselves.

Left unattended, however, they produce random “I”s that put us to sleep.

Thus, our cosmos is constructed so that the three brains that cast it into chaos are the same three brains
that can restore it back to order. Chaos is their natural state, order comes only with knowledge and effort.
 The tutorial on Identification mapped how inner chaos, or
identification, happens: an “I” from our Body (the moving-
instinctive centers) tempts our Heart and then spreads to our
Mind.

This means that identification has degrees: All my three brains might bite on the temptation of the
moment, Mind, Heart and Body, Adam, Eve and Serpent, or only two of my brains, or only one.

Since we have more control over our intellect center (or Mind), we begin untangling ourselves from the
state of identification using the Mind. We achieve this through naming.

“And out of the group the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every
fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them:
and whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof.”
– Book of Genesis 2:19

We have been approaching the Genesis story of Creation

as a mythological description of the creation of a cosmos.
God is the Master of this cosmos. He creates Adam as
keeper or Steward to help him maintain order and harmony.

To make Adam’s role official, God must empower him and

set him above the rest of creation. God achieves this through
having Adam name all the creatures. The San Marco
mosaics capture this decisive moment, showing the newly-
created Adam – still naked – naming the animals. Dogs,
camels, horses, lions … He looks towards us, as if asking our
help to aid him formulate more names.
To create a governing principle in our Micro-cosmos, a Steward, we will have to follow the same methods.
We will have to name the elements of our inner world.

This is what the second step of the pyramid, the step of Self-Knowledge, aims at. In this respect, naming
our “I”s and grouping them is not just a psychological game or journey of self-exploration. It is a practical
way of separating our minds from the identification of the moment.

Identification, as we explained in the previous tutorial, is a misplacement of the sense of “I”, a misuse of
the name “I”.

Identified, Eve looks at the temptation, not as something

coming from the serpent, but as coming from herself. It is
“my” idea, she thinks; it is “I”.

If, at the moment of temptation, the Mind could call the

temptation by its proper name, then it would dissolve the
misplaced sense of “I” with which the temptation is normally
received. If can name it, it cannot be me.

If we could do this, our Eve or Heart might still bite on the

forbidden fruit, but our Adam or Mind would refuse it.

“We have no means of seeing centers, but we can observe functions: the more
you observe, the more material you will have.
This division of functions is very important. Control of any of our faculties can only
be obtained with the help of knowledge.” – Piotr Ouspensky

I should point out, before formulating this week’s exercise, that naming only separates one of the three
brains from identification, and at that, the weakest brain, the Mind.

The Heart and the Body still remain identified, and because two-third of my being have remained
identified, it is only a matter of time before my Mind, too, will fall back to sleep with them.

Success in naming the temptation of the moment does not eliminate identification. It only achieves a
partial and temporary separation. This is where we start.

To eliminate identification, we will have to get the Heart on our side, which is a different process that will
be discussed in future tutorials.

Last week’s aim was to catch the head of the serpent, the first “I” that intrudes into our efforts. This week’s
aim will be to name it.

When I observe my Body speeding up its movements, I

name it “haste”.

When I observe my Mind milling over a pleasant fantasy, I

name it “Imagination”.

When I observe my Heart criticizing someone else’s

behavior, I name it “judgement”.
And so with “Unnecessary Talk”, “Concern about the future”, “Indulging in the past”, and so forth, slowly
learning the names of my common temptations.

If I do this often enough, then my relation to my three brains begins to shift. My identity, normally rooted
in the three brains, begins to withdraw. I begin to observe my cosmos as God observes his.

My sense of “I” slowly moves to its rightful place to the Master. But the journey of a thousand miles begins
with a single step, and a journey to the Master begins with separation and naming.