Welcome to Fourth-Way.com, the website for our syncretic transformational work group.

These are the principles behind our work.

It is possible for humans to go through a process of awakening to their true nature. Because most of us live in Westernized cultures whose mainstreams are skeptical of this possibility, we value association with others who share our vision.

This inner evolutionary process of humans does not depend on time, place or culture. Therefore there is no problem with appropriately adopting the ideas and methods of wisdom traditions from different times and places, which in any case is how all the major wisdom traditions have formed in history. The core of the teaching itself originates outside of history, beyond the influences of time and place.

Reality, the divine, the ground of being, is not labeled with a brand name or tagged with a logo. If it is watermarked it is not reality.

Transformational work takes place in three contexts, in a group, solo, or with an accomplished mystic.

Work can be done regularly with a group. Theory and evolutionary practices are transmitted. The group is a class led by a senior student or at least someone with some experience. The doors to transformation are opened.

Work can done regularly by oneself. Transformation happens slowly over time like water smoothing pebbles.

Work can be done with a profoundly awakened person who can transmit states of being directly, mind to mind through resonance. Transformation happens suddenly like lightning strikes. The group teaches practices which, when engaged on a regular basis, prepare a person to be able to open to a higher influence. While we recognize the danger of egoic individuals exploiting the teacher-student relationship we have confidence both in our discrimination of the profoundly liberated and in our own strength of mind not to be manipulated. Just as when we need to find honest, capable doctors or auto mechanics, we use due diligence in seeking spiritual guidance.

We consider the degree of awakening of the living teachers of a school to be the primary factor in its efficacy. Historical lineage connection in itself does not guarantee real knowledge. Claims to have the only true path or the fastest one are evidence of a commercial mentality.

There is a mystical consensus that the closest language can come to describe our true nature and the ultimate reality of our world is that it has no qualities, it has no parts, it is is beyond time, space, being, and non-being. Therefore it is called transcendental. In both European late antiquity and in Upanishadic India this was termed non-dual reality. Reality is beyond the reach of discursive thought.

The human brain is the most complex entity known to modern science. The beginning mechanisms and processes by which humans can contact this transcendental reality are many. People recover their contact with true nature in stages. Human psychology in each of the many levels of awakening has mechanisms with parts and functions that change over time according to cause and effect. We seek to learn the intricacies of a human's possible mystic evolution so we can efficiently practice toward enlightenment, although the final steps must be beyond any procedure.

It is only an apparent paradox that dualistic, effortful, time based practices can lead toward realization of a reality beyond cause and effect, because unconsciousness and the stages of awakening are merely apparent phenomena. We all know that methods and procedures are effective in producing change in apparent phenomena. The effectiveness of such practices for awakening is well established historical fact and is easily verified in personal experience. Any school that did not engage in some type of procedure or activity to produce change could never even make itself known to anyone so claims to not do so are exaggerated. 

For us the term "fourth way" refers to any way with three characteristics. It does not require renunciation of ordinary life. It applies esoteric alchemical  knowledge of the intricacies of human evolution. It works with the thinking mind, the emotions, and the organic body.