A, B, C Influences

Influences are the impressions that are taken in through our senses. The Work teaches that we are affected by three different categories known as A, B, and C influences.  A influences are from life, created in World 48 by its interests, commerce, conflicts, ambitions, laws, careers, mass events, media, politics, and all the personal business of being alive in the world. They have no relationship at all to B and C influences. C influences are very fine energies coming from Worlds 12 and 6, the realm of the Conscious Circle of Humanity. When they are sown into World 48, they are impacted by A influences and thus become B influences. An example is the Bible – divinely inspired, yet written by imperfect human beings. In this way, very high hydrogens (energies) are made a bit coarser so that we can understand and use them. The Work teaches us that this is how mercy comes into being here in World 48. Our three centers – intellectual, emotional, and moving – work with these energies, and the quality of our attention determines how deeply the influences are taken in.

“This is the reason why we work to organize and purify our lower centers for the reception of our higher centers. They conduct C influences from the Kingdom of Heaven within us and guide us toward our full development – individual evolution. The communication coming from the level of the Conscious Circle of Humanity reaches us not in a language of words that we can learn to decipher but in inspiration, understanding, guidance, and direction.”

– Rebecca Nottingham, The Work: Esotericism and Christian Psychology, p. 103