|
The Secret of The Four Triads
When I was in high school, one of my first jobs (where you get a real paycheck, learn who FICA is and why he gets a cut of your money) was working at a magic shop. My job was to do magic tricks for customers who wandered in and, hopefully, get them so intrigued that they would buy the trick to learn the secret. Everyone loved the show, but few were curious enough to pay and learn how to perform the trick. They just moved on. Everyday, incredible, magical things happen before our very eyes--opportunity, happiness, joy, love-- and many of us don’t bother to ask what the secret is to the magic. Why is that guy so happy? How is that couple so much in love? How did that guy get to be so rich? Luck? Hard work? Fate? For years I’ve been looking for answers to these questions. What I’m about to share with you won’t make any cognitive sense, but I do believe it will elicit an emotional response. I want to share with you the mystery behind the Calatrava Cross; the Secret of the Four Triads.
At high end jewelry stores that sell watches, you will find that the most expensive watches in the world are manufactured by the Patek Phillipe Company. (See photo 1) Some of their watches go for over one million dollars. If you flip over some of their watches (See photo 2) or look at the crown (See photo 3) you will notice an interesting cross. This is where the story begins. The year is 1998.
Click picture to enlarge
|
Click picture to enlarge
|
 Click picture to enlarge |
After recovering from a stroke and taking a six month sabbatical,
I decided I would treat myself to a new watch. Since I was young,
I always knew that the finest timepieces in the world were Pateks
and hoped someday to own one. I wasn’t exactly sure how successful
someone had to be in order to own one, but I figured having enough
money to pay for the watch was good enough for me—my wait was
over. From the minute I put on the Patek Phillipe, I could sense
something different about myself. I’m not sure if it was self-confidence,
but I definitely felt more reassured and in control. Over the
next few months, as my health improved, my relationship with
my wife seemed to be at an all-time high and everything was going
remarkably well with my friends, family and business. That’s
when I noticed the cross on the back of my watch. Curiosity led
me to the manufacturer’s website where I read about the “Calatrava
Cross.” Apparently, Patek, one of the founders of the company,
had chosen this insignia to protect each watch and bring good
fortune to the wearer. Nowadays, picking a logo that is recognizable
is nothing new (Nike’s swoosh, Mercedes Benz’ logo, Ralph Lauren’s
Polo), but back in the 1850’s it wasn’t as common. Patek, as
it turned out, was very superstitious. His favorite saying was, “I’d
rather be lucky than talented any day.” So I’m
sure it seemed somewhat odd when he told Phillipe, his partner,
that this Calatrava Cross (used by the Knights of the Calatrava)
would not only protect them, but bring them the success they
desired, to create the greatest watch company in the world. Their
dream came true.
According to company legends, Patek had stumbled
upon the secret of the Calatrava Cross that, up until that
time, had only been known to the Popes!
He discovered that in 1158, Pope Gregory VIII, in a desperate
attempt to fight off the Moors and save Christianity, had commissioned
shepherds from the fields to fight as knights. They were known
as the Knights of the Calatrava. The Pope took the name of
an old Moorish castle that had been liberated (The Calatrava Castle)
and placed it on four fleur-de-lis like anchors that united
in
the center (See photo below) and told the shepherds that the
cross would bring them victory in battle against the superior
forces of the Moors.
Click picture to enlarge
Outnumbered more than ten to one, the Knights of the Calatrava
were still victorious. The Calatrava Cross had truly protected
them.
After Patek passed away, it was rumored that
he left behind a journal (I can offer no proof ). In the journal
was the explanation,
secret if you will, of the power of the Calatrava Cross and how
it’s unleashed. Supposedly, its origin dates back to 2560 B.C.,
and over the millennia its secret came into the hands of the Pope
and then passed on from one Pope to the next. Patek apparently
believed that if he harnessed the power of the Four Triads (Calatrava
Cross) he would find success in life, and immortality for his soul.
What follows are the bits and pieces of what all my research has uncovered on
what the Four Triads are and how to harness their energy. Crazy?
Maybe, but please read on.
THE FOUR TRIADS
1. THE TRIAD OF TIME:
First, there had to be time, the past, present and future. How
we interact with time and use it for comparisons, goals and achievements
becomes critical to our mastery of time. I believe there are
three different types of “time” people--people who live in the
past; people who live in the present; and people who live in
the future.
“Past” People
“Past” people are relatively easy to spot. They
are always reminiscing about some wonderful past period that the
present just can’t live up to. Conversely,
there was some traumatic event that has frozen them in time and won’t allow
them to move forward. While it’s natural to use past experiences as a reference
point to appreciate things we experience today, these past comparisons
are a double-edged
sword. When great things happen to us, it’s important to remember that
each moment of extreme joy eventually passes away. Worse, that great accomplishment,
if relived
over and over, can end up being a rope around our neck if we expect to
keep matching or topping that moment. One of the hardest things for professional
athletes to
do is to let go of their playing days and adjust to the everyday world
that doesn’t
include paparazzi and autographs.
Traumatic events are no different. The “why
me?” syndrome can shatter a person’s
life when a significant tragedy, such as a death, loss of a job or divorce
finds its way into our lives. While most people are hard-wired to eventually
find the
silver lining, not all of us make the transition. Many of us get stuck
on pause and don’t allow ourselves to experience new events. If you’re
always looking back, you’ll never see where you’re going.
“Future” People
“Future” people share a fate similar to past
people in that they spend very little time in the present. They
spend their time fantasizing or dreading the
future. The positive attitude “future” people tend to believe that tomorrow
is destined to be better than the present. These people can be found
everywhere—from
habitual lottery ticket buyers to young people who can’t wait to grow
up. Even your average Joe or Jane can easily get caught up in the idea
that true happiness
is a place
somewhere in the future. You hear people all the time saying “When
I get that new promotion, I’ll be happy. When I get my driver’s
license, I’ll
be happy. When I turn 21…get married…have a new house…a soul mate…kids…I’ll
be happy.” Happy
ends up being a place in the far-off future, just out of reach.
What these futurists don’t realize is that they subconsciously
rule out the possibility of being happy in the present. Happiness
isn’t something that happens;
it’s something you decide
to be. Negative futurists are so consumed with a negative future
that they fail to see the point in living. One suicide patient
I talked to told me “We’re
all going to die anyway. What’s the point?” Many times, futurists
had horrific childhoods and feel that more of the same will be
served up so
let’s quit now. Life is
a game and I don’t want to play anymore. I’ll grant you that life
doesn’t
come with guarantees, but you would probably find it very boring
if it did. Someone
once said, “Life isn’t fair, but that it is unfair to everyone,
makes it fair.” A
life spent worrying about events that may or may not happen is
a life I wouldn’t
wish on anyone.
“Present” People
The “present” people are the ones holding the
Golden Ticket. The smart ones realize that first and foremost,
we are not our past and regardless
of what happened, it should have little effect on how we experience or appreciate
this very moment.
The smart “present” people also realize that we are pretty
lousy at predicting the future and we should not waste much
time worrying
about events that
may or may not become a reality. Don’t let a lot of sunny days
go by that you will never get back.
When you’ve mastered time,
you’ve mastered the moment. You accept an equal helping
of the past and future and plan accordingly; but spend most
of your days being in the moment--loving now, living now, eating
now, exercising
now. You’ve
mastered time when you come to the realization that it’s always “now.”
2. THE TRIAD OF LIFE:
If you’re
lucky enough to have mastered the use of time, you move on to the
second stage—Life. Most people concur that all of us have a mind,
body and soul (soul being a more personal belief). If you’re
going to have a chance of living in Joyville, you need to
recognize that
one of the three parts (body,
mind, soul)
is in charge. Like a pack of animals, there is always the
Alpha that is running the show. Two of our individual parts
will
always be dominated
by the third.
“Body” People
“Body” people are easy to identify (just like past people and futurists). Just
watch someone for a while. Do most of the decisions they
make end up benefiting the body in some way or another? I’ll give you some examples:
Body builders, anorexics, junkies, binge eaters, overweight people, and sun-worshipers.
These are all people who make decisions in their lives that
will
one way
or another
effect their body. In essence, their bodies are calling the
shots. If the body wants food—it gets it. If it wants drugs, to work out,
take a nap, drink alcohol, it gets it. While the mind has some say in the matter,
in the end, the cravings
of the body will win. Body-decision driven people are everywhere.
Just take a look at the number of overweight people in our country and
it
will become apparent
our bodies are making the decisions. In the end, body people
can’t
sustain happiness. Whatever quick fix they get from sun-bathing,
eating too much,
etc., eventually
levels off. Then the body runs this vicious cycle in an attempt
to chase the high. While no one can deny that physical pleasures
are nice, we can’t
allow them to decide how we spend every waking moment. Also,
the body is well aware
that time is its enemy—that someday it will cease to exist—so
it tends to gravitate toward what’s best now and never prepares
for the future at all. This creates an imbalance. While we
have already
learned that being
in the moment is critical
to a happy life, ignoring the future and not spending some
time preparing for it is a recipe for disaster. If you’re
a body person, you will always be chasing happiness and,
even
though you catch
it once in a while, it
will always slip
through your fingers.
“Mind” People
Minders, or over-analytical
people, are also easy to spot. Every decision they make must make
sense. Two plus two must always equal four;
what goes up must come down; if the sun rises in the East, it must set in
the West.
Minders
make
very good accountants, engineers and architects. Anywhere
mathematics can be applied, anywhere logic rules, minders are at ease. Introduce
philosophy,
religion,
emotion and minders are on less stable ground. While living
an objective
life seems practical, there are very few things in this world
that are entirely objective.
Relationships, people, love, joy, sadness, depression are
all hard to put a quantitative spin on. Love is something that defies logic.
Wants,
needs,
passions,
expectations
are far more subjective than objective. Minders spend very
little time smiling unless they can crunch enough numbers to give them a
good reason.
If
all our
emotions are forced to be filtered through our brains,
we’re
going to be left without all the good stuff. Spontaneity,
joy, exhilaration
rarely
can be laid
out on a spread sheet and calculated in advance. Minders
get lost in a web of their own making-- usually watching
the sunset
while
they wait for
the latest
data to come in. Since minders’ self-esteem is logic derived,
they hate to be wrong; hence take fewer chances; hence try
to live safe.
But that’s
where they have it wrong. Life is to be devoured, not placed
in a Tupperware container on
the shelf for safe keeping. The brain also knows it will
someday die and it will always make decisions that protect
its self
interest. Relationships,
bungee jumping,
parasailing will all be avoided because the mind usually
knows that if the body dies, the brain follows. While I’m
not suggesting that everyone take life-threatening risks,
I am saying that
to avoid all risk is the
greatest risk of all. Minders
are rarely happy because the biggest risk is believing in
love, and love is seen as something very difficult, if not
impossible,
to quantify. Minders
tend to
be loners. Without the company of others—without having someone
to bounce ideas off of—our lives quickly lose meaning. It’s
rather sad—in order
for minders to protect themselves, they build barriers, yet
it is these same barriers that
end up suffocating the logic-driven mind.
“Soul” People
As you probably
already guessed, in order to master your life, you must be soulful.
While soulful people have a great respect for the mind
and body, the soul knows it will never die. Believe me, there is
great comfort
in believing
no harm
will
come to you. Decisions are much easier to make when you
don’t
believe your life is on the line. Soulful people have an
inner glow that
lights up a
room. In a
sense, they are people that epitomize love. You’ve seen
the bracelets and bumper stickers that ask the question, “What
would Jesus do?” Soulful
people approach situations and problems in a similar manner
by asking the question, “What would
love do?” In fact, soulful people rarely see anything
as a problem. Everything seems to take the form of an opportunity—an
opportunity to grow, to learn, to remember. Soulful people
seem to know something
we don’t. I guess that’s
why they are always smiling. I once asked all the happiest
people I know in my life
what the heck they were so happy about, and they each tended
to give the same answer. They were just so grateful for
everything and everyone in
their lives,
that they truly saw their lives as blessed. When I pointed
out
that there were certainly things, from my point of view,
that could cause them unhappiness,
once
again they all seemed to have the same response, “It could
always be worse, so I’m grateful.” I’ve always believed,
personally, that happiness isn’t
something that can be bought or rented at Blockbuster.
To see that joy is nothing more
than how we decide to view our lives makes a lot of sense.
You have mastered your life when you realize that how you
feel is only
a decision away—your
decision.
3. THE TRIAD OF AWARENESS:Mastery
of time and life are critical in being a happy, joyful person,
but they represent only part of the puzzle. The third piece
is awareness.
I refer to the
attitude a person brings to the table about the things
they are doing in their life and the goals they strive
for. There
are three
types of awareness
people—the
hopefuls, the believers and the knowers.
“The Hopefuls”
The “hopefuls” seem to believe that they have little control over what happens
in their lives. They can be extremely hard workers, but
believe chance plays an integral part. Hopefuls are fond of saying, “I hope it
works out. All we can do is hope for the best. I hope I get the promotion.
I hope
he pops the
question.” Hope
is a word that should be eliminated from your vocabulary
if you want to strive for a happier life. Every time you use
the word “hope,” you
signal to the world the preferred outcome that you are wishing
for. You also express to
the world
that there is a non-preferred outcome (the opposite of
what you are wishing for). Where hope lives, doubt and regret
are never
be far
behind. If there are
two
things in this world that are love-enders, they are doubt
and regret. Literally, from the time you say the word “hope,” you
relinquish your power to do anything about the situation and
you create a void
of uncertainty.
Love
can live in many
places, but it can’t live in uncertainty. Hopeful people
tend to be followers and not leaders--lambs who follow
the flock
and let life happen instead
of creating a life of their choosing. Even if you live
for the moment and act from your heart,
you can never truly be happy if you can’t elevate your
state of awareness. This is where believers come in.
“The Believers”
To believe in
something is far stronger than to just hope for it. It is a defining
statement, not a wishful one: “I believe it will work
out. I believe it’s the
best choice. I believe I will get the promotion. I
believe he will pop the question.” To
believe in something is not only a form of expression,
but a way to define yourself: “I
believe in women’s rights. I believe in God. I believe
in love.” Believers
tend to live extremely happy lives because they have
chosen to stand for something. While believers are
much more aware
of their
surroundings and
their ability to
change what happens, they still leave the door open
to doubt and regret. When outcome doesn’t meet expectation—watch
out! Believers get very upset! And, of course, expecting
an outcome
is the Achilles’ heel
of believers. They honestly believe that there is a
preferred outcome for every situation.
Leonardo DaVinci
once said, “Experience does not err, it is judgment
that errs in promising itself results.” While believers
are a thousand times better off than the hopefuls,
it is not
until
you come
from a place
of knowing that there
is no “wrong” outcome
will experience lose its ability to inflict pain in
your life. The reality of any event may be undisputable;
its
perception lies solely in your hands.
“The Knowers”
Think about the things
you know. You know the sun will come up tomorrow. You
know we breathe air. You know you are reading these
words right now. To come from a place of knowing is
to exclude any other possibility.
Where there
is knowing,
there is no doubt. Where there is no doubt, there is
happiness. Knowers don’t
have some kind of sixth sense that allows them to predict
the future; it’s
just that knowers know if they do their best, “experience
does not err,” just
like DaVinci said, they have nothing to worry about.
Knowers have the ability to look
at any outcome and find the beauty in it. To knowers,
nothing is good or bad. Either something represents
you or it doesn’t,
and if it doesn’t,
you can let go of it. Knowers know instinctively that
there are no coincidences—what
has appeared in their lives, they created. No one else
is to blame. When something
occurs in a knower’s life they didn’t want, they realize
they must hold onto it with both hands, accept it,
not deny it before
they
can let go
of it. You
can’t let go of something you don’t have hold of.
To know is to master awareness. To know that there
are no accidents,
no coincidences,
and everything
happens
for a positive reason that they are to determine, is
to own knowing. You can hope and believe something
until the
cows
come home, but
it is the
knowers that
run this world because they are the creators of it!
4. THE TRIAD OF CREATION:
For
something to be created, it must first be conceived (thought),
verbalized (word), and put into motion (action). Thought,
word, action (T.W.A.); that’s
how we create anything. There is a saying that
goes, “There
are those who wonder what happened, those who watch
things happen and
those who make
things happen.
This triad is about these types of people.
“The Dreamers”
Ask the graduating
class of Any High School in Any City, USA if they believe they
will be financially successful; over 97% will
say yes. Yet, if you check in on our graduating class 20 years from now,
you would
find
that
less
than 3%
would define themselves as having achieved a high
level of financial success. What happened? It’s one thing to dream it; it’s quite
another to create a plan, tell the world of your plan, and actually do
it. There
is a reason Nike has had
such enormous success with the slogan, “Just Do
It.” It’s
derived from this triad. Nike knows that the longer
you spend thinking
about something,
the more
reasons you find for not following through. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s
most famous speech starts with, “I have a dream…,” but
it wouldn’t
have meant anything if he hadn’t shared his dream
with the world. Look hard at the people around
you—the ones
with a far-off look in their eyes—the
ones you have to snap back to reality to make sure
they are still listening to you. These individuals
(call
them daydreamers if you’d like) are contemplating
a better life, a better existence, but aren’t going
to do anything about it. When you ask them what
they are
thinking, “A
penny for your thoughts,” they always reply, “Oh,
nothing.” The
easiest thing in the world to kill is an idea.
People are so petrified of looking
stupid, they
don’t raise their hands to ask questions; don’t
interrupt the boss with a better way to get something
done. We
are all geniuses
in
one way or another,
but most
of us die after lives of quiet desperation because
we didn’t
speak up, interrupt, raise our hand, or sit down
in the front of a segregated
bus.
A day isn’t something
you have to get through, but a gift that allows
you to dream your impossible and possible dreams
and go
for it.
Dreamers
never get
to see the view from
the mountain top because they see the mountain
as an obstacle instead of a stepping
stone. To dream is beautiful—to be silent is deadly.
“The
Talkers”
I once met a guy who said he was president of
the Gonna Association. When I asked him what it was, he said he
had gone through
life saying “I’m
gonna do this; I’m gonna do that; I’m gonna go
skydiving; I’m
gonna go run with the bulls.” But
he never did it. Dreamers and Talkers are in the
same boat in the sense that they both achieve nothing.
In
another
sense, at least
the talkers
got their idea
out for public consumption but still, in the end,
failed to pull the trigger. I meet a lot of woulda,
shoulda,
coulda people
in
my life. Many of them
have good intentions, but have no follow through— no
stick-to-itiveness. I’ve been
told by many people the biggest failure isn’t to
try and fail, but to fail to try at all. I know
it’s hard
to believe that in the great big scheme of things
one guy can make
a difference,
but
what are we here for if we
don’t at least
step up to the plate? I know that everyone who
comes into this world is on a mission. When we
complete that
mission,
it’s
time for us to go. I believe in my heart that there
are no untimely
deaths, just people who
have fulfilled their
destiny. Death is life’s reward for doing your
job. Keep in mind that even someone who achieves
nothing
can still
be used
as a bad
example. In
their failure, they
achieve—in their lethargy, they teach. People
always ask me why bad things happen to good people.
My response
is, “If
you think it was bad, then you haven’t figured
out the blessing yet.” Most blessings take a while
to recognize. Many times, it takes years to realize
that what
we labeled
as “bad” was
tagged incorrectly. I’m convinced that some of
our greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. No doubt,
if
talkers spent
half as much
time doing the things
they talked about, they would
achieve many more failures. But mixed in with those
failures will be successes that will boggle the
mind. To achieve
success is to
embrace failure. They
are two sides of the same coin. If you want to
achieve true happiness, you have to
spend a little of your time chasing rainbows and
not worry so much about the pot of gold.
Action “The
Doers”
Thought, Word, Action—the three
elements of creation. To act without thinking or
planning can be as dangerous, if not more, than
no action at all. I’m
sure many a drunk driver wishes he had not gotten
behind the wheel. Action for action’s
sake is as impractical as either of the other parts
of the triads are by themselves. To conquer or master this triad,
thought, word
and
action
must
work together.
Get the idea, plan it out, and get the ball rolling.
Achievement is not possible if you don’t eventually stop the meetings,
the training, the preparation and just do it. When you can live your
life in the moment,
use your
heart
as your
compass, be aware that there are no accidents so
that you can come from a place of knowing you are only one step away
from
coming
full
circle—and
that is to take action. To create, to help others
create; to teach, to learn, to be the
student and the master; to be curious, to ask questions;
to be a better person today than you were yesterday; to embrace
change, to cause
it;
to
do at least
one thing every day that scares you in order to
remember all the things you have to be grateful for.
The secret of the four triads is to be present, soulful, knowing and active.
These four elements will take you to one place
and one place only—it
will bring you home to yourself. Once you have
found yourself-- you will have found everything!
DCI has minted heirloom coins outlining the key
elements of the Four Triads emblematic of the Calatrava Cross in
all the precious metals
(platinum, gold, silver), which can be handed down from generation
to generation.
These coins will
serve as a
daily reminder of the principles of the cross
which have brought success and meaning to so many lives.
Click picture to enlarge
For information on purchasing
The Four Triads Heirloom Coin, please go to Shop DCI button or click
here.
by Fred Cuellar
BACK to
Life Articles Index
 |
