The Four Elements Transformation

A Journey through Spirit and Matter

Day 4: Fire
The Will
 An Introduction to Fire
Fire is the highest element in the Four Worlds, and this world is considered to
be absolute, unchanging, fixed and permanent - just like the concept of Truth
we explored in our second day.

There are many connections between Air and Fire, because as it says in the
Bible: The Father and the Son are One

This element may be considered an aspect of our body of consciousness that is

closest to the Spirit which animates all things (aka: God).

Personally, Fire may be understood as the inspiration, will, inner fire, or passion
that burns within us and drives us forward.

For the purposes of this course, we have identified fire with will because it
reflects an understanding of both a higher will, and how that will may be
warped by our personality complex (ego) into a lesser desire.
 As Above, So Below
In our orientation, we discussed how the Four Worlds
manifest from top to bottom, how all things emerge from
the highest world and descend into material reality.

As each element descends, its principles and essential

nature are infused with and into the next one in principle,
until all of them are reflected in the material expression.

This means that there are aspects of Will not just in the
World of Atziluth, but also in Briah, Yetzirah, and Assiah.

We can thus understand ‘will’ a little better, in knowing

that it may manifest itself through any aspect of our body
of consciousness. We have an emotional will, a mental will,
and even a physical will, which often appear as
sensational desires, and in its lowest state, heavy
addictions.
 Our Father, Who Art in Heaven
In the New Testament, Jesus gives a sermon on the
mount, and teaches a prayer known as “The Lord’s
Prayer” which begins: “Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed (whole) be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will
be done.”

If we are thinking about reality as a matrix, this prayer

may be seen as a program we may run internally to
connect with the supreme Spirit.
Similar to the mantra (Aum) we mentioned earlier.
Atziluth, the highest world and its fiery element, is
considered the ‘Divine Masculine’ or ‘Father,’ just as Briah
is considered the ‘Divine Feminine’ or ‘Mother,’ in esoteric
Kabbalistic and Hermetic Traditions.

By praying “Thy will be done,” we invite the Divine Will to

move through us, so that we are acting by the highest
Virtue, rather than our lower, ego-driven desires and
attachments.
 As it is written in the Hermetica…

“The imperfect and impermanent cannot easily apprehend the eternally

perfected.”
 Ways of Experiencing Fire
The “Divine Fire” is so great that it is often considered impossible for us to
truly perceive and comprehend.

We may liken this in our matrix to the Sun, which is 109 times larger than
the Earth and 143 million kilometers away. Yet were we to stare at it for
too long in broad daylight can destroy our retinas and even burn our skin.

Yet, it is the very same power that keeps our planet alive and thriving.

In the same way, it is said that God’s power is so great that He would
burn us to dust if we were to behold his supreme majesty (like getting
up close to the sun).

It is through this cosmic divine power that we may witness the creation of
all things, what some refer to as “the Big Bang.”
 Making Himself Low
In order for us to comprehend the supreme Truth,
God ‘humbles himself’ just as is written in the
Tao, making Fire not just available in the sky, but
on Earth in all its forms, within and without.

This is represented externally by fire and

electricity, and within us as our will to grow and
evolve in every sense.

Archetypal Fire is reflected in all technologies

which its power brings to life (ie. engine or
lightbulb).

These technologies are only made possible

through us when combined with the power of
inner will (influenced and lifted by Divine Will).

We then use man-made technologies to grow and

evolve as a species, towards a greater
understanding and capability.
 The Fire Within Us
We may identify our will by asking:

“What are we the most

passionate about?”

“Where is our inspiration?”

“Are we living from Divine Will

or selfish desires each day?”
 The Fire Within Us
Humans are programmed to desire; the flesh is weak and the heart
is easily prone to corruption… We can act from higher, or lower will.
If we are trying to force our personal will independently of anything
higher, without even looking for a bigger picture, what business do
we have with our own divinity?
A part of our journey is learning to make choices, and identify which
choices are good to make, and which are not. If we choose that
which is good for ourselves and others, the Divine Fire is nurtured.
The inner fire is enacted not just by will, but intention and passion.
 Will and Intention
The root of the word ‘Will’ comes from “to wish, desire; be willing; be
used to; be about to" as well as “mind, determination, purpose;
request; joy, and delight.”

The root of ‘intention’ is:

‘Intendere’ - “to turn one’s attention,” and “to stretch out, reach.”
In this, we may understand Divine Will to be a guiding force which
guides us in the Way, whereas intention is the act of reaching out
and following that guidance.
 Passion
The word Passion originally stems from "the
sufferings of Christ on the Cross; the death of
Christ," stemming from a word meaning "to
endure, undergo, experience," which is a word of
uncertain origin.

In a lesser sense, passion today is often known

as "an emotion, desire, inclination, feeling; desire
to sin considered as an affliction.”

Once more, be see both a higher and lower

expression of the same word.

This etymological evolution is helpful to note

because it reveals to us a deeper understanding
of the Buddhist teaching:

“Desire is the root of all suffering.”

 Corruption of the Heart
In many spiritual teachings, the heart is seen as the
source of love within a person, many other traditions
speak to the opposite being true.

Both the Tao and the Bible speak to this:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and

desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

“Racing and hunting make the human heart go mad.

Chasing treasures hard to get blocks the unfoldment
of the human story.” -Tao Te Ching, Verse 12

When we reconcile all of this, we see why people say

“The heart wants what it wants”, as a justification for
their selfish desires. Yet, this is another place where we
should not ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’, but
heal the heart that it may be pure and good, righteous
and holy.
 The Nature of Suffering
Suffering = “patient enduring of pain, inconvenience, loss,
etc.," and "undergoing of punishment, affliction, etc.," from
Suffer - "bear, endure, resist; permit, tolerate, allow"

It’s interesting that passion by its nature is relative to

suffering, whether in a divine or unholy way. Yet as Christ
demonstrated, Virtue comes from the endurance of
hardship whilst following Divine Will, because it’s through
them that we reach salvation.
Life is hard for all of us at times, yet we were designed to
undergo such challenging times in order to truly learn.
Can not most of us say that, from having gone through
such difficulties at key points, that we wouldn’t be who we
are today?

Suffering itself is not evil… The question is, what are we

suffering for, and why?
 Repentance
A key idea from the Bible which goes along with our hardships, is that of repentance.
Many traditions the world over speak of God as a Judge, stemming back to the Ancient
Egyptians, and that God’s Judgment comes no matter what, where we must account for
all that we did in life.
Repent means: "be grieved over one's past and seek forgiveness; feel such regret for
sins, crimes, or omissions as produces amendment of life.”

And when we pray with the intention of making things right, the Divine Intelligence
acknowledges us in our own acknowledgement, and supports us in creating correction.
We are offered opportunities to make things right, and it starts by humbling ourselves,
and realizing that we have been imperfect.
Most people don’t realize their own selfishness, as self preservation is rooted into our habitual
behaviour very deeply. Haven’t we all met those, or even been people at times where we
arrogantly thought we were completely in the right, yet realized later that we were in error?

It is for this purpose why we must seek the Higher Self.

Higher Will vs. Lower Will
The balance between lower and higher will
demands attention because many of us
follow selfish desires instead of the Divine
Will.

As it is written in the Bible, “The tongue also

is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of
the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets
the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is
itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6)

This returns us to the wisdom of The Word

from Day 2, and our potent ability to create
through Mind and Word.
 Wise Words from Master Elijah
“It is often the case that it’s the devil’s tale that wags the tongues of
men.”
 The Invisible and the Visible
In the Biblical canon, the Son is called the expressed visible image of the Invisible
Father.

The Son is also called the Word of God, and the Father; God.

By these phrases, we may better understand the opening of the Book of John:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

Fire represents the purpose behind all energetic movement that flows through us;
thought, action, and emotion, and as that higher purpose descends, it may become
corrupted with separation within us, and be disconnected from the Divine.

In order for the will of God to reach us fully, we must ‘humble ourselves’ to receive
it, and be in service to it.
 Service
The word ‘service’ draws from
“assistance, help; a helpful act” and
finally “slavery, condition of a slave,
servitude.”

It may be interesting to note that another

relative term here is ‘Family,’ which
etymologically means “servant of a
household,” and also “slave.”

Most people find the idea of being a

slave abhorrent…
 The Paradox of ‘Slave’
Even in the New Age world, the idea that
“the Ego must become Slave to the Spirit”
is present.
(Context is always key!)
If we are able to surrender to the will of
God and not insert our ego (which knows
little), we discover what Free Will truly looks
like.

We may think that we’re free with our 9-5

job and comforts of life, but if we are
doing evil in order to get it, slowly we end
up trapping ourselves from knowing
anything more.
 The Virtual Way, Commentary 54:
On Service & Family

Those who are anchored in service to their families are fixed in the Tao. They
become like a tree with firm roots whose fruits arrive in due season. When children
and grandchildren honor their ancestors, their lifestreams are ‘uninterrupted.’

Staying firmly connected to one's physical family, as well as their metaphysical roots,
helps us not to go astray by providing us the perfect container to practice Virtue.
Family is a true means to measure the progress of the soul while pursuing any
spiritual path. Many may think that the word ‘family’ refers only to our blood
relatives, but an investigation of the etymology of the word reveals that it means
‘service’ or ‘slave.’ In a family, each person has a specific role of service and each
role is interconnected with the other.
 The Virtual Way, Commentary 54:
On Service & Family
A single tree may drop a single seed and in time, produce a forest. So too does peace, love and
authenticity within an individual spread to their family, community, nation, and in time, the whole
world. Our bloodlines are a self contained continuum which is interrelated from the microcosm to the
macrocosm (see v.4). When the child performs service towards their ancestors, they in turn are served
by the Tao.

The Tao is found at the highest levels within the heart of those who serve. The individual who
abandons selfishness in service to others, uplifts their family and nation. We are taught to consider
ourselves as a part of a unified body. When we understand this, we can see how a single act of
kindness can benefit the world at large. We can see in such illustrations how a fractal might be
understood to operate within the matrix.

The shift in a single consciousness can create a ripple within the field. What might start as a small
activity may become a universal movement. In the virtual world, a single thought, correctly applied,
is all it would take to create an entirely new reality.
 A Helpful Analogy
We might think of this concept of
servant and slave in relationship to the
body and it’s cells.
All of the cells serve the body without
question, and when cells decide they
are going to ‘go their own way and do
their own thing’ - that is called cancer.
From this perspective, would a healthy
cell not be a ‘slave’ to the greater
whole?
 Becoming a Servant
In the writings of Saint Paul, he describes the Mind of Christ,
and uses the word ‘servant’ in a very particular way…

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others
better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but
also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ
Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2)
 Tao Te Ching - Verse 7 - Selflessness
Heaven seems constant,
Earth seems enduring.
Therefore Heaven and Earth can be constant and stable;
it is because they do not exist for themselves,
that they may last forever.

Therefore the wise put themselves last and end up ahead.

They renounce their self-concerns, and are held dear by all.

Can you see it is because of their selflessness?

This is how they can achieve anything.

 Tao Te Ching - Verse 7 - Commentary

To be in service means that one fulfills a purpose not fully their own. When we follow
the Tao, we embody Heaven and Earth. The Chinese character used here for Heaven
is 天 (tiān), which can mean both sky and God, as well as referring to nature and
weather.

In serving the Heavenly order, we work towards its goals on Earth, and not our own
selfish desires, and thereby fulfill our greatest purpose. It is only when our wills are
subject to that of the ‘highest will,’ the Tao, that we can infuse every action with pure
love, and transform our world through the Virtue it provides.
 Tao Te Ching - Verse 7 - Commentary
Earth is not just an elemental plane, nor is Heaven solely a spiritual one. From an
alchemical perspective, Earth represents any local action within the material
dimension, and its potential for work is omnipresent. Heaven, then, represents not the
work ‘being done,’ but rather the command which informs the enacting agency. This
information is not a localized agency, but instead exists ubiquitously throughout the
field in a state of equipotential. Such dynamic interplay between force and field allows
for the endurance of the holographic reality because they “do not exist for themselves.”

Lao Tzu says, “the wise put themselves last and end up ahead. They renounce their self-
concerns, and are held dear by all.” In this we may see that through selfless service we
can exist in perfect relation to others, and even the Tao itself. The Tao is happy to lift us
up when we do not attempt to stand in a place above others.
 A Servant of God

When we surrender to the will of God, life becomes more enriched and sacred.
Each moment becomes an opportunity to see Spirit in everything and everyone

This might manifest itself as ‘random acts of kindness,’ charity,

or simply a fresh positive attitude and willingness to participate fully in life.

We realize that life isn’t about personally maxing out our conscious experience
points and levelling up beyond others, but doing good in the world and
participating in the end of suffering, so that all may be free, healthy, and whole.
 ‘What God Wants’
God’s Will is to lift us up to greatness, just as trees rise toward the Sun.

The Kabbalists say: ‘The Meaning of Life is that God wanted to create a creature
and fill it with boundless delight.’ - and we are that creature.
Everything Happens Through Him
Throughout this Course we have discussed
how we ‘create our realities’, especially with
our words.
When we know of this World of Fire, we
see that the Divine is creating ALL things.
When we realize this, there is no
‘independent will’ anymore, and we
become instruments of creation.
When we resolve to be one with the creator,
by humbling ourselves to do His work rather
than our own… everything changes.
What it Means to ‘Have Resolve’

From re- ‘back’ + solvere "to loosen,

untie, release, explain,’

and this is also related to ‘resolution’

and ‘resolute’, meaning "steadfastness
of purpose”.

A synonym for ‘resolve’ is also

‘determination’.
 It All Comes Down to Choice
As we explore in The Virtual Way…

Fear, like gravity, will drag us down if we allow it to. Much like a person
swimming in the ocean, it takes effort to stay afloat. So too, doing the
right thing requires affirmative action. Faith requires application; riding
the fence between two choices never turns out well.
 The Principle of Prayer
Often times, prayer seems to happen in the
direction towards God in an outwardly sense;
even Jesus is prayed to as though he is out in
Heaven somewhere outside of us.

Yet, he himself said

“The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You.”

One way prayer may be more valuable is to

invoke all prayers within - still towards God,
but within, and invite in Spirit to
fully be alive within you.

When we invoke prayer like this, we open our

hearts to miracles, healing, and Truth.
 Bringing it All Together

As you might have noticed, there is in fact a Fifth Class,

bringing the Spirit of everything together.

Once you’re complete on your exercises today, if you are

ready - check out Class 5: Spirit.
Otherwise, come back tomorrow with fresh eyes, and
prepare for the grand finale!
 Exercises
1. Pray: Before doing anything, take a few minutes of silence to pray to God -
whatever that means to you in the highest way you know how, given all that
you’ve explored throughout these four days.

2. Before Journal: Take some time to write about any paradoxes you might find
within you, between what you perceive as higher and lower wills. Explore the
challenges of the paradoxes, and what it might look like to reconcile them
together. Contemplate and write about what service means, and what it
might look like for you to be more in service to the will of the higher Self.

3. Meditation: Use the daily meditation practice alongside this course.

4. After Journal: Now that you’re calm and centered, return to your journal and
free-write what came to you in your meditation. Allow yourself to bring
everything together, from all of the classes across these four days, and how
you have changed. Leave nothing out, write until you feel complete.
 Exercises
When all of these are done, have a look at the resources section today - which
are designed to support you in your next cycle, after the Four Elements
Transformation is Complete.
You are invited to order a copy of The Virtual Way, our new publishing on the
Tao Te Ching. This book and the Four Elements Transformation go hand in
hand, as you certainly might know by now, and will take you even further in-
depth into embodying the spirit of Virtue.
Further, we want to pay it forward and recommend checking out the free-to-
watch show by Angel called “The Chosen,” which follows the story of the
Disciples of Christ, and is without a doubt, our favourite new testament
adaption we’ve ever seen. It’s very worth the watch!
 That’s it for today!
Good luck with your exercises,
see you tomorrow for the Grand Finale!