Year Thirteen

Aesthetic Exercises to Accept Judgement and Mirror the Judgement of the World

Presuppositions

The reader may have heard, or formed the impression himself, that judgement is the integrative aspect of the person, combining body, will, mind and soul, and applying them in concert to the world’s challenges, both small and large.  The structure of these Exercises themselves may aid this impression, having judgement as the last phase, as if the cumulative apex of the initiate’s development.  But this is wrong, and it is important to understand why.

The truth in this impression, which observers then extend to places it should not go, is that you cannot accomplish judgement without having at least body and some of at least one of the other preceding categories.  However, you can certainly apply the body without any of the subsequent categories.

The reader may object that even this minimal truth ignores the judgement of the dead, which one can rightly argue is the most exacting judgement¾in all matters, from art to social mores, even though the dead frequently speak through the mouths of the automated living.  But to explore this deeper truth adequately, we would have to emigrate from life, in which these Exercises are firmly placed, to death, a different kingdom with separate laws, and this we cannot do without sacrificing the unity of the initiate’s development and our purpose here.  Furthermore, we have written of that other kingdom extensively elsewhere, and we refer interested readers to those texts.  The reader should not think, however, that we are avoiding death or that there is a gap in the initiate’s training; rather, one always has the choice:  to explore reality through life or death; if the exploration is performed competently, the opposite of the lens used will also be fully present, though differently.  It is a limitation we must accept that we cannot simultaneously explore existence through both lenses with equal clarity, weight and tone.

This minimal truth becomes false, however, when extended¾for the truth is that, once all aspects have been fully explored, they all bear fully on each other; so that, while the body can and often does act without judgement, the body’s existence is richer when all other aspects¾will, mind, soul and judgement¾work in concert with it.  So too all other combinations and applications.

Indeed, it is also true that judgement can be, and often is, exercised without all the preceding aspects adequately in place.  So that some have body, will and judgement, others body, will, mind and judgement, some body, soul and judgement.  The point the initiate should absorb is that when all five aspects are well developed and maintained, each will bring its totality to bear on each other aspect.

Thus, while judgement represents a certain logical progression in development, it is not the culmination of the five aspects, but, in the end, simply one equal aspect among five.  Each aspect is most fully itself when all other fully developed aspects continually inform it.

Judgement is distinct from the other aspects in that it is contextual, critical and compassionate; if one of these attributes is lacking, it is not judgement but something else¾an amputated cousin, lobotomized, mutant.

By contextual we mean that it is applied to a given situation, acknowledging and accepting that situation for the purposes of what is required.  Included in situation are time (not only the present givenness, but past and future), general and particular social mores, laws, individual predilections and orientations.

By critical we mean that it filters all information through all other relevant information and aspects.

By compassionate we mean that it understands and empathizes with the range and depth of the complexities and challenges of the human condition.

If all three of these attributes are present, informed fully by the other four aspects of the person, the initiate can be said to have judgement.  This final phase is devoted to developing this.

Rationale

As judgement is contextual, critical and compassionate, the initiate can only develop her judgement by being actively involved in the world’s problems.  Frequently through the course of these Exercises, she has contributed to these problems; now, for the first time, with the possible exception of the second year of the fourth phase, her energy is devoted primarily to minimizing them.  The initiate should observe this redirection of energy.

Humans, subject to the rhythm and cycle of their bodies, all follow a similar path, although the way they walk this path and what they see on it differs greatly.  This phase is devoted to this path¾both the common problems faced and the many various ways people deal with these problems and with each other in relation to these problems.

Method

This fifth phase is divided into three years:  the stages of human development, justice, and acceptance.  The first and second years focus on informal and formal judgement, respectively; the third year continues the method established in the second, third and fourth phases and completes the aspect by removing the initiate from it in its normal manifestations.

Thirteenth Year:  The Stages of Human Development

In this first year of the final phase, the initiate focuses on judgement in the various stages of human development, twelve in total; they are:

1.       Infant (< 3 months)

2.       Toddler (18 months – 3 years)

3.       Child (5 – 9 years)

4.       Adolescent (13 – 16 years)

5.       Young Adult (early 20s)

6.       Mature Adult (early 30s)

7.       Middle Adult (early 40s)

8.       Late Adult (early 50s)

9.       Young Senior (early 60s)

10.   Mature Senior (early 70s)

11.   Late Senior (early 80s)

12.   Geriatric (> 90)

The initiate should devote each month of the year to each of these specific stages, in the order listed above.  She should work closely with a group of humans, all in or near the bracketed age, focusing on helping them to minimize conflict, increase camaraderie, resolve disputes, and shed light on their troubles and darkness.  In no instance should she offer unwarranted despair or hope, or assume responsibility for their difficulties, unless, of course, particular physical circumstances, obviously present in the early and late stages, necessitate it.  Neither should she sleep with the people she works with.

During this process, the initiate should observe the various capacities for judgement in her peers, the extent to which this develops over time, and contributing factors to this development.