Working with Polarities: The Law of Three
Duality – An Opposition of Polarities
We live in a polarized world. Our normal, ego-based approach to opposition is to polarize; we choose one side of a duality such as Yes/No, True/False, or Positive/Negative.
Nothing new will ever come from a polarized position. The only possible outcomes are that one side dominates and gives all weight to its side of the polarity, or that both sides try to compromise, each giving up a little or a lot, but neither side getting what they really want.
Triadic Thinking
Triadic thinking, also known as the Law of Three, allows room for each side of a polarity to complement the value of the other. In doing so, it allows for something new to emerge at a higher level.
One way of naming the polarities is to call one pole the affirming (or initiating) force and the other pole the denying (or receiving) force. When we make room for each of the poles, a third force called the reconciling force can bring the system of forces to a higher level. This creates something that could not exist in a polarized form. We can call this a new arising.
Try to separate these names from any emotional preference. Do not label the affirming force as “good” and the denying force as “bad”, or vice-versa. Such judgments make it impossible to make room for both polarities. Each one is right; neither is right without the other.
A physical example of the Law of Three is when two pieces of wood are joined by a hammer driving a nail into the wood. The force of the hammer on the nail is the affirming force. The wood acts as the denying force, resisting the nail, but also receiving and holding it. The reconciling force is the carpenter holding the wood and nail in place and wielding the hammer. The new thing that arises from this interaction is the structure formed by the joined pieces of wood. This structure is of a higher order than the two individual pieces and it can only arise because there is a place for both the affirming and the denying forces. Both are right; neither is right without the other.
What happens if the denying force is missing? To use an example from my teacher, David Walsh, suppose, instead of wood, we try to drive a nail into something completely yielding, like shaving cream. There is nothing to resist or receive the nail; it just goes flying through the shaving cream. Without the denying force, there is nothing to reconcile and the hammer, the affirming force, simply overwhelms the system, leaving nothing but a mess.
What if the affirming force is missing? Suppose you try to drive the nail with a sponge, instead of a hammer. You’ll probably get hurt when the denying force of the wood shoves the nail back into your hand. The system is all denying, no affirming, and nothing moves.
Polarities and the Reconciling Force in the Enneagram
Each space on the Enneagram has a pair of polarities that can be reconciled to create a new arising that transcends both poles. We can characterize the new arising as an aspect of Spirit that is particular to that place on Enneagram. The tension between polarities provides the conditions necessary for the reconciling force to appear, but it does not make the third force appear. Another word for the third force is grace, which can appear when we hold the two poles in contemplative practice.
When we cling to one of the polarities, we become stuck. Rather than the presiding spirit, what manifests are the Inhabitants of that particular space. The Inhabitants are characteristics, such as jealousy, hatred, or fear that move in and occupy our attention. This lack of inner attention prevents us from doing our spiritual growth work or even from acting in the best way for the situation.
Polarity in the Eight Space
The polarities in the Eight space are Rules vs. Tendencies. We all have tendencies of behaviour. The rules or ethics that embody the spirit of our society and culture keep these tendencies within accepted bounds.
We live in a society; we can’t do whatever we want. However, in order to better serve the spirit of the law, it is sometimes necessary to transgress the written rules. This discernment only comes when we understand and live the polarity of Rules vs. Tendencies.
When we hold the Rules and the Tendencies as equally important, the new arising is the Spirit of Will. This Spirit embodies the freedom to choose and the power to act. It allows us to act authentically through our own free choice.
When we cling to either one of the polarities, Inhabitants called “The Obligations” show up. The Obligations might call upon us to brutally enforce the rules and norms of our subculture. On the other hand, we can take the law into our own hands and mete out vigilante justice to those who cross us. By either blindly enforcing the rules or rejecting the rules entirely, we are no longer acting in freedom.
Two Examples of the Law of Three in the Eight Space
We cannot reliably discern someone else’s Enneagram type. All we can see is behaviour, not the underlying motivation for that behaviour. Even so, we can often recognize the characteristics of a particular Enneagram space in someone, even if the person exhibiting them is not dominant in that space.
With that caveat, let’s look at two well-known men from the 20th century that exhibited different aspects of type-Eight energy: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
Dr. King and Che both fought against injustices that they witnessed in the world around them. They both led social revolutions against the existing power structures. Both died at age 39 while fighting for their respective causes. Dr. King was assassinated by a lone gunman; Che was executed by the Bolivian military. Both achieved some measure of their goals, but their respective revolutions were very different from one another. Dr. King chose the path of nonviolent resistance; Che chose the path of armed struggle.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a minister of the Baptist church, led a movement in the United States of America to fight for the end of racial inequality. One tendency in the Eight space is to fight back against injustice. It is much harder to fight back nonviolently. No one is called to be a victim of injustice; equally, we are enjoined not to meet violence with violence.
When Dr. King used the tactics of nonviolent resistance, he made room for both sides of this duality. He tempered his fight for justice with the principle of not meeting evil with more evil. When the two sides of this polarity are held as equally valid, the third force that arises to reconcile them is the Spirit of Will – the freedom to choose and the power to act.
The social change of Dr. King’s Civil Rights movement is far from complete – really, it has barely begun – but his actions were an important milestone on the road to a socially just society. This is a difficult and long road, much harder than the more obvious course of violence.
Che Guevara
Che Guevara began life in an Argentinean middle-class family. During his travels in South America as a young man, Che witnessed many injustices committed against the poor. He became a doctor, but eventually stopped practicing medicine. He came to believe that armed struggle was the only way to prevail against the injustices he had seen.
Che fought with Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution. After the revolution, as part of the new government, he ordered the execution of members of the defeated regime and other perceived enemies. He acted in several ministerial positions in the new Cuban government, but later left Cuba to act as an adviser to revolutionary groups in Congo and Bolivia.
Che adhered to the polarity of justice. Unlike Dr. King, chose to meet violence with more violence. When we do not treat two polarities equally, there is no freedom to choose because there are no alternatives to choose between. The Inhabitants of the Eight space, the Obligations, move in and take over.
Che felt that the revolution couldn’t be maintained without the enemies being punished. Without the surrender of power, or mercy, the old freedom fighters become the new oppressors. There was no reconciliation of opposites. Che did not transform the injustice he fought; he only displaced it.
The Law of Three: The Way Out of Polarization
Nothing new ever arises from polarization. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. showed the way out of this by holding fast to two sides of a polarity, allowing the Spirit of Will to arise. Che Guevara showed how clinging to the affirming force in a polarity simply overwhelms the system with violence.