Navigating the Forces that Shape our Lives
We like to think of ourselves as independent, choosing freely what to think, what to value, and what to pursue. But the Work teaches that human life is shaped by streams of influence flowing into us, mostly unconsciously. These influences determine our tastes, our beliefs, even our goals.
To study oneself means to study these influences, to see what acts upon us, and to discern which forces can truly help us develop. In Work-terms, these influences are known as 'A' influences, 'B' influences, and 'C' influences.
Esoteric Christianity (a progenitor of the Fourth Way teachings) amplifies this teaching, showing how these influences define the drama of human destiny. By understanding these influences, we gain a clearer picture of the battlefield of our inner life.
'A' Influences
'A' influences are the pressures and attractions of ordinary life: wealth, fame, power, pleasure, social standing, and political movements. cultural fashions, and so on. They are not inherently "bad." They are the material with which life is woven. But they have one key characteristic: they cancel one another out.
One man pursues wealth; another pursues fame.
One era glorifies freedom; another glorifies conformity.
One ideology contradicts another, and in the clash, both dissolve.
In the Work, it is taught that 'A' influences run horizontally along the line of life, changing history and circumstance, but they do not lead upward. They keep humanity in motion without development, much like ants rushing along their lines of instinct.
'A' influences are sometimes called the General Law, or the Law of Accident: forces designed to maintain the mechanical equilibrium of humanity as a whole. People absorbed entirely in 'A' influences live and die without ever touching their real possibilities.
'B' Influences
Amidst this horizontal current, fragments of another order appear: scriptures, sacred art, myths, parables, and teachings of initiates. These are 'B' influences, "vertical" hints of another dimension.
Unlike 'A' influences, they do not cancel each other out. They all point, however fragmentarily, toward one direction: the higher possibilities of man.
A parable of Christ, even if distorted by centuries of repetition and redaction, still carries a seed.
A myth of Hermes or Osiris, though clothed in symbols, still whispers of transformation.
A genuine spiritual teaching, though rare, transmits a vibration different from the noise of life.
In the Work, the task of the seeker is to recognize and respond to 'B' influences. They often appear in life by accident: a book that falls into our hands, a chance meeting, a word that pierces us. If we listen, a new center begins to form in us: the magnetic center.
'B' influences are "messages from Tradition." They are fragments of a once-unified esoteric teaching, scattered throughout the world. When a man collects them sincerely, they begin to orient his inner compass.
The Magnetic Center
The accumulation of 'B' influences does not yet guarantee transformation, but it creates the possibility of choice. This is the magnetic center, a gravitation in the soul that begins to distinguish between horizontal and vertical, between the noise of life and the meaning of life.
The Work describes it simply: when enough 'B' influences have accumulated, they attract the attention of higher forces. In this sense, the magnetic center is the beginning of the new man, a seed of the Christ-principle being born in the heart.
At this stage, a man is no longer entirely mechanical. He feels the contradiction between the life he lives and the life he longs for. He is no longer content with 'A' influences, yet he has not yet reached 'C.' This is the state of the seeker, the true beginning of the path.
'C' Influences
'C' influences belong to another order altogether. They are not scattered fragments but conscious transmissions from higher levels of being. They come from schools, teachers, and traditions that still carry the intact thread of knowledge.
'C' influences are inaccessible to ordinary man (numbers 1, 2, and 3). They can only reach us if we have already developed a magnetic center. Only then do we find ourselves in contact with a school or a teaching that can transmit them.
Where 'A' influences cancel each other, and 'B' influences hint. 'C' influences direct.
'C' influences are organized, purposeful, and coordinated.
'C' influences are designed not to entertain or console, but to transform.
As a note of warning, it should be understood that authentic 'C' influences come from the true inner-Tradition, the stream of Esoteric Christianity reaching back to Christ and beyond. But there are also false schools, distorted teachings, and influences that appear vertical but in fact pull downward. Thus, discrimination becomes essential.
The Battle of Influences
Seen in this way, human life is a battlefield of influences:
The General Law (Law of Accident) works through 'A' influences to keep humanity mechanical.
The Tradition works through 'B' influences to plant seeds of awakening.
Esoteric schools transmit 'C' influences to those ready for transformation.
The question is not whether we are influenced. We are always influenced. The question is: by what? To live unconsciously is to be swept along by 'A.' To live as a seeker is to gather 'B.' To enter the Work is to receive 'C.'
Modern Reflections
A hundred years ago, 'A' influences came through newspapers, politics, and social conventions. Today, they pour into us through an endless stream: social media, advertising, entertainment, and popular opinions. The horizontal current has become a flood.
The task of discrimination has therefore become harder, but also more urgent. Amid the noise, can we still detect the subtle vibration of 'B'? Can we recognize authentic fragments of the Tradition when they appear? Can we resist the counterfeit 'B' influences: self-help slogans, pop spirituality, and ideological cults that mimic but do not transmit?
As the world accelerates toward crisis, counter-Tradition also intensifies, producing false lights to lead seekers astray. Only a well-developed magnetic center rooted in sincerity can distinguish the true from the false.
Practical Work
How can we apply this principle practically?
Self-observation of influences. Notice what acts upon you each day. What captures your attention? Is it 'A' - news headlines, gossip, consumer desires? Or is it 'B' - a sacred text, a moment of beauty, a genuine teaching?
Strengthening the magnetic center. Collect and remember the moments when 'B' influences touched you. Read them, return to them, meditate on them. They form the nucleus of your true orientation.
Seeking contact with 'C.' If the magnetic center is strong, life will bring you into contact with a school or teacher. Approach cautiously, with discernment, but also with openness. 'C' cannot be forced, but it can be recognized when it appears.
Guarding against counterfeits. Be aware that not everything claiming to be "esoteric" is genuine. Ask: Does this teaching demand work on being, or does it flatter personality? Does it lead to greater responsibility, or to fantasy?
To understand ourselves, we must understand influences. We are not isolated individuals making free choices in a vacuum. We are fields of energy shaped by forces, currents, and transmissions.
The map of 'A,' 'B,' and 'C' influences gives us a tool of discrimination. We extend this by examining its theological stakes: Inner-Tradition vs. Counter-Tradition, awakening vs. regression.
The essence of the Work is this: to cease being passive clay molded by 'A' influences, and to become conscious recipients of 'B' and 'C.' To do so requires effort, sincerity, and vigilance. But the reward is immense: the possibility of transformation, of becoming not a mechanical man, tossed by currents, but a conscious man who participates in the vertical movement of evolution.
The choice is ours. But the choice can only be made consciously.
Pierce!
September 26, 2025