Category Archives: quantum paradigm

See With the Heart 

Once in a seldom, precious while, I come across a YouTube conversation that makes my heart skip a beat, one which grabs my attention so powerfully that I feel compelled to listen again and again, parsing the content word-for-word to let the message completely register and deeply sink in.

Such was the recent exchange between Dr. Joe Dispenza and Russel Brand, You Can Program People To Do Anything. It lasts less than eleven minutes. But it’s packed with vital questions and exciting ideas. I’ll give you the highlights.  

Spoiler alert. To my mind, the upshot is identical with what my teacher told me from the beginning. Something easy to say. Harder to understand. And even more difficult to actually do. That is, SEE WITH THE HEART. 

From my experience as an ethnology researcher (interviewing people and drawing conclusions from what they say), I got in the habit of transcribing conversations. Because I found that of what’s said, we hear only a fraction. Revisiting, listening word-for-word, tells us volumes about what we missed, and why. 

After the third go-round, here’s the gist of their interview, with an added bonus: my own comments. It’s now a three-way conversation. My input is identified either directly as Me or [in brackets].  

I’ll circle back at end to the basic message. Humanity will evolve by learning how to see with the heart. 

Russel Brand: I believe that in order to significantly change the world, we have to find a way of cooperating.  We have to recognize that people have complementary but very different cultural identities. One of our priorities must be to diffuse the culture war. STOP squabbling about the differences between traditionalism and progressivism.  

ME. Yes. “Unity in diversity.” Focus on Center all share in common rather than on the surface of manifestation. Adherence to the Core is the necessary starting point, lacking which, nothing of enduring value is possible. With awareness of the God-within each and every one of us, all IS possible.  

Russel Brand: In a country as vast as the United States, you will inevitably have communities with vastly different views on a range of cultural issues. But in order to make any progress, we’re going to have to start addressing where real [political/ economic] power is centered.   

Me: And, by contrast, where True, ultimate POWER rests, at the CENTER of the Life Wheel. 

Russel Brand:  It seems to me that there is state power in Washington DC. The pharmaceutical industry exerts a huge influence, both financially and politically. Big tech has the ability to create a surveillance state. There’s a high level of infiltration of big tech by various government agencies.  

What concerns me is the challenge of overcoming a hegemony without a counter-hegemony. [We need a greater counter-balance, one sufficient to tip the scales.] 

The old argument was that the only thing that could possibly defeat free market capitalism is some kind of centrist, state-led, left-wing project. 

But with the fall of the Soviet Union, there’s total suspicion and lack of interest in the politics of the old left. People don’t want to be told what to do by any central authority. 

Now. How do we use these ideas about individual awakening to create and coordinate a decentralized, counter-cultural movement that doesn’t sound like it’s being made-up on the spot by people who are just dream catchers? 

Dr. Joe: If you study the neuroscience of culture, we share the same biology. We share the same brain. We have certain universal traits in common. We smile when we’re happy. We frown when we’re sad. We grab a stick with an opposing thumb. Structure and function are highly related. Those are universal traits.   

Then we have our individual traits that make us unique. How the individual brain is wired is our unique fingerprint. 

Culture is what bridges individuality with universality. [A culture is defined by its prevailing belief system, an agreed-upon set of basic values.]  

For the most part, culture is defined by the past: what has worked over generations. And traditions vary by time and place. 

But look at great people in history who changed their culture. Gandhi, William Wallace, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, [Christ].  

They showed people [by their living example of courageous action] that there was an alternative future that they could actually believe or perceive in their mind. 

It’s not easy to do, because you can’t see that future if you’re living by the emotions of the past. [In that state, you walk right by any other option as if invisible, because there’s no neural circuitry in place allowing one to perceive it.] 

What you have to do is, you’ve got to get people out of their resting state. They have to become inspired. [They have to have HOPE.] They have to become enthusiastic — theos — filled with God. 

They have to become motivated. [They have to be stirred. Set in motion. Mobilized.] When they are moved emotionally, then that energy — that positive, uplifting emotion — causes them to see the same future as that leader sees. 

When you get people to see that same future, when they have that same clear intention and they combine that vision with an elevated emotion, you change people’s state of being. 

Now. Get enough people doing that. [Amplify the effect by numbers.] What happens is, you get an emergent consciousness. In biology, emergence is such an amazing thing. When you see a flock of birds flying in the same direction or a school of fish moving together, they appear to be a larger, single organism. 

When you study that principle in biology, you think that there is one leader everybody’s following. It looks like a top-down phenomenon. In fact, it’s not. It’s a bottom-up phenomenon. Everybody‘s leading. Everybody’s behaving in the same way. 

Me: Take, for example, the emergence of Quantum Paradigm leaders, each saying essentially the same thing, but addressing a specific audience in its own language. A short list includes: Dr. Joe Dispenza (who speaks to medical community in the language of science.) There are his cohorts, Greg Bradon and Bruce Lipton. There’s Dr. David R. Hawkins. Tony Robbins. Tara Brach and Eckart Tolle. Marissa Peer and Christiane Northrup. Zach Bush.  Donna Eden and Inna Segal. Nick Ortner and Brad Yates. Mantak Chia and Sadguru. Alana Fairchild & Colette Baron-Reed. Pam Gregory and Bryan Colter. Michael Sandler and guests. Alana Dannan and Michael Salla. Simon Parkes and the Connecting Consciousness community.  

Dr. Joe: This synchronized movement gives the appearance of a larger, unified single organism, one which becomes more sustainable for that species. 

But we have a stigma in our minds. If individuals lead with too much passion, in the end, they’re killed. Whether Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, William Wallace, the consequence of speaking Truth is that you lose your life.   

But the real question is, “What if everybody’s leading?” You just can’t take out everybody. 

Me: Yes! “I am Spartacus.” I am Spartacus.” “I am Spartacus.” 

“I am V for Vendetta.” “I am V.” “I am V.”  Every one of us takes a stand to end tyranny and abuse.  

This attitude/energy is spontaneously, synchronistically arising, especially amongst the working classes and youth in Europe and U.S., as well as in China and Russia. 

Dr. Joe: This is a really important time. [We are at critical mass.] 

The coming emergent consciousness has to be built on principles that people can actually wrap their minds around.  

Right now, the condition of the world, the way things are going, is based on self-interest.  

You can control people when you control their emotions.     

When you control their emotions, you control their attention; and  

     If you can capture a person’s attention, you can capture their energy,  

because where you place your attention is where you place your energy.  

So YOU CAN PROGRAM PEOPLE TO DO ANYTHING  

based on the emotion that they feel.    

And fear is a powerful emotion. 

Fear is abused to lead the general population away from personal sovereignty and freedom, to submitting to an authority figure. 

Me: Healthy, natural and prudent fear has been weaponized to achieve unnatural, ulterior ends – to enslave the masses emotionally, economically, politically. In collusion, politicians, media and big tech control the masses by manipulating their emotions. As a result, many are driven by negative survival emotions – primarily fear juiced by hatred or greed.  

Dr. Joe: So when a new consciousness emerges, it won’t be based on externals [matter changing matter] like diet, crystals, colonics. 

 Me: It will be based on a fundamental paradigm shift, from the materialistic paradigm of empirical science to the holistic, quantum paradigm — the unified field of reality. There will be a shift in basic value systems, away from fear and separation, towards compassion and cooperation.  

Dr. Joe: It’s game time. NOW is when something else –– [deeper, truer] has to be born [re-membered, restored] in human beings that is already INNATE in us. That is the power to organize as a species.  

When we begin to heal one another, inform one another, respect one another. When we begin to shine for one another, stand up for one another, share right information and demonstrate that there are better ways of doing things, the emerging consciousness will arise.  

Russel Brand: I like that answer, Joe. I like it a lot.  

I like that leadership can be shared. Leadership can be cooperative. Indeed, it must be if we’re going to truly create new models. 

And in order to do that, we have to have a shared set of values. And we have to be willing to overcome this current tendency towards extreme divisiveness. 

There is clearly a requirement for us to be able to hold that apparent paradox. In one way, we are insignificant. An individual in limitless space is insignificant. But as a point of attention, all reality is held within my individual consciousness. There is nothing real that isn’t held within the field of my awareness. Therefore, the totality of reality is held within my individual nature. [We are each a fractal mirror of the whole.]  

I like that you talked about visions and visionaries. We can elicit and articulate a shared vision. Then that can be our mandala.   

Me: Exactly. That’s what the archetypal Life Wheel which embodies the Unified Field Theory actually is. A universal mandala. 

Russel Brand: That can be what we head towards together.  

Me: Yes. That which impels humanity towards a better future will be the remembered ability to SEE WITH THE HEART. 

Russel Brand: That’s what I’m really trying to understand. I’m trying to cultivate a sense that you have more to gain from forgiving and loving people on the other end of a cultural spectrum than you have by vanquishing them.  [As Einstein warned, It’s a matter of human survival!!!]

NOW, to be part of this convergent wave of the future, like and share this message of hope to amplify its effect. Let it go viral! I’d be most grateful.

—————————- 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

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Wheels Within Wheels 

Tony Robbins and I go back a long way. His Awaken the Giant Within inspired the creation of the +A Positive Action Press and all that’s followed from it, including the website, rethinkingsurvival.com and a Mind Map envisioning proceeds of books being used to build intentional communities to survive Titanic times to come.  

Now, it seems, we’ve come full circle. I have something of value to offer Tony in return. 

Today’s post is exquisitely timed, occurring exactly during the peak of a rare and powerful triple conjunction associated with major, positive shifts in the world’s collective destiny. And that’s exactly what Tony wanted to talk about with experts on change. 

Neil Howe is co-author of a highly influential book, one that presidents and their advisors have given careful attention:  The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy – What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny 

According to Howe, human history goes through repeated turnings analogous to the cycle of nature’s seasons: a high, an awakening, and an unraveling which culminates in crisis . . . which is where we are now.   

Ray Dalio is founder of Bridgewater, a company that’s managed $235 billion in assets. He’s also author of books on principle, the latest being Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail. 

In interviews with Neil and Ray, Tony begins by pointing out that, in each case, their success is explained by a highly developed ability to recognize patterns underlying apparent chaos.

“Power,” he declares, “comes to those that can recognize patterns.”  

More than that, their recognition is followed by the ability to use their knowledge – to adapt, adjust and expand on what’s available.  

“I don’t care if it’s in music, entertainment, or it’s in business — stocks or the financial world.” he says. “If you can recognize patterns, you can take things that look like chaos and turn them into something that you can predict and begin to perhaps anticipate. Because if there’s one power in life, in business, it’s the power to anticipate. 

“Leaders anticipate. People that lose tend to react.” 

Even further, masters take a third step. They’re innovators. They create positive change, if not in the world, certainly within themselves. 

Now, what could a humble person like me have to offer these giants in their respective fields? Well, a new perspective. It’s a simple but powerful, inclusive model that places the aspects of their collective experience in larger context. I call it the Quantum Paradigm. It’s imaged as the archetypal Life Wheel. Upon it is superimposed the three variables of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory.  

It looks like this:  

It’s the model of self-awareness Tony advocates, only placed within increasingly more subtle, inward levels of the Life Wheel. It images the possibility of fluid diversity on the surface held together in Unity by an unchanging central hub. 

This model was developed as a consequence of working over a lifetime with the venerable I Ching, the Chinese Book of Change. It gives a whole new meaning to the concept of change – one I would encourage Tony and his guests to explore, and the nation of China to remember and embrace.  

In Rethinking Survival, I described it: 

. . .  with the Wilhelm/Baynes edition, I had a version I could relate to. It literally became my teacher. It gave me a whole new concept of how the world really works. Not just this family or that institution or the other county. Not arbitrary and capricious, fluctuating fashions, but the constant anchor over time.  

From it, I could deduce the fundamental energy dynamics of action and reaction which drive relationships, internally at a psychological level, and externally in terms of practical, day-to-day events and their long-term consequences. 

I continued: 

It was an extension of the logic my English teacher Miss Elson impressed on my high school brain. But more. It gave me a map of logical consequences, as inevitable as computer language. “If this, then that.”  

For example, If you kick people, they kick back (if they can) or otherwise resist. If you are kind, you inspire love and trust in others. If you violate Natural Law, nature bites back (your mental health suffers; relationships deteriorate; your behavior becomes erratic and social/physical survival is imperiled). Asian cultures call this “the law of karma.” Its operation is also described in biblical terms: “As ye reap, so shall ye sow,” and “to everything there is a season.” 

I also described the value I place upon this treasure: 

From my point of view, this ancient, timeless science fills a critical blind-spot in Western thinking, lacking which, all efforts are partial and incomplete. Put another way, the glaring absence of this information explains why so much goes so terribly wrong, despite the best of intentions on the part of politicians, priests, coaches and leaders of every ilk. 

Now, Tony insists, “Biography is not destiny; decision is the ultimate power.” And, for eight-thousand years and counting, the Book of Change has been used as the ultimate, premier decision-making tool. Though the process of its use, one learns to ask better questions and get better results. 

He also speaks repeatedly about the primary importance of paradigms. “Your model of the world is what shapes you long term,” he says. “Your model of the world is the filter.” [Unfortunately, “Garbage in, garbage out.”] 

Emotions are too often neglected as the drivers of action. He describes them as “the invisible forces that shape us.”  

So this is my gift to Tony and his guests: an exquisitely simple model that expresses what they already know – have been practicing and separately teaching for years. It is a complete, and accurate QUANTUM paradigm. It places emotion in the middle e=energy level of the Life Wheel.

And more. 

For example, Ray Dalio praises the benefits of a daily meditative practice. He says it helps him quiet the noisy mind, calm his emotions, and access the subconscious level of experience. What’s left unclear is, What is this subconscious level? Emotions only? There’s a critically important, qualitative difference between sub-rational and super-rational levels of consciousness. Nor is this merely a linguistic quibble. 

Another benefit of working with the quantum Life Wheel is this. With all due respect, these experts are looking at cycles of human history that pertain to the outermost, manifest and material m=mass level of experience. But there is more. Historical events are the off-shoots, the projections of subtle energy dynamics.  

The Book of Change, which is a form of astrology, explains the e=energy aspect. So do other forms of astrology that have appeared over time all over the world. Some are lunar-oriented. Some solar. Some literally star-based. 

Whereas cycles of the seasons repeat on a yearly basis, the cycles of a human life range, on average, anywhere from fifty to eighty years. Civilizations endure up to 400 years. Each of these smaller cycles is embedded within increasingly larger ones, like wheels within wheels. Hence the symbology of nested Russian dolls. 

Now, today’s rare and powerful triple conjunction (quad actually, if you include the asteroid Kali) is setting the stage for massive shifts which astrologers anticipate (the magic word) will transform the world as we know it into a changed, unrecognizable place. Most think, in the long-term, much for the better. 

This isn’t the place to get overly technical. Suffice it say that in succession, over the next one to four or five years, each of the slow-moving outer planets that characterize an age will shift signs. One alone is major. Two is momentous. Three is absolutely mind-boggling. 

To accommodate all these changes — most especially the changes in demographics triggered by mass migrations of people, changing the face of every nation — an inclusive paradigm is required. To assimilate a wide-range of immigrants representing every national origin and religious faith, we’ve got to release the old paradigm of separation, competition and conquest. The future needs to adopt a complimentary, equivalent paradigm which transcends old boundaries, honoring the essential humanity common to us all. 

The Quantum Paradigm correctly slices the pie to recognize the difference between friends and enemies. In How Bad People Become Leaders, I show how fragmenting the Life Wheel produces narcissists, criminals and worse. This post explains the ongoing wars experienced throughout history as being driven from the deepest level explained biblically as a war between good and evil: 

In Positive Quantum Paradigm context, the intentions and actions of any person (or group) that destroys its own and/or threatens to annihilate enemy groups, devoid of respect for the inherent sanctity of life, are defined as evil.   

Now, there’s enough in my notes to double the length of this post. But I’m stopping here for now. I conclude with this:  

I urge Tony, Roy and Neil to get behind the collective shift to the Quantum Paradigm. Intuitively, they’re well aware of the variables and operate within it. But it would be a service to humanity for them to get on board with the language and model of the Quantum Life Wheel, be an active force promoting its acceptance.  

The paradigm shift will happen. Definitely. Inevitably. The only question is whether sooner or later, and how smoothly. Their engagement would make the transition quicker and less painful. 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

We’re Never Alone 

In the prescient, 2014 Rethinking Survival, this final section follows Alien Invaders, We’re in a Terrible Mess, Fresh Start, and Einstein’s New Way of Thinking.  

Again, it’s written in the free-association style of who I was at the time. I’m so different now, there’s no point in trying to rework it. I’m letting it stand, for the value it has to offer. 

In the book, all the quotes are footnoted with careful precision. I’ve decided against cluttering this space with scholarly paraphernalia. Most of the references are easily searchable online. If there’s a problem, I’ll gladly supply supporting materials. 

We’re Never Alone: Gladwell’s Giants and Misfits in Perspective 

When Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath came out recently, I had to read it. The subject promised to be a perfect fit with the vision of Rethinking. After all, King David is my ideal: musician, psalmist, warrior and king in one. 

It turns out this book is a perfect example of how sorely the Quantum Paradigm is needed. “We need a better guide for facing giants,” Gladwell wrote.  

I agree.  

Here it is. 

As far as it goes, the book is a good read. What’s lacking is the Quantum Life Wheel to put David and Goliath in context. From this perspective, Goliath was stuck on the surface. Despite his physical size, he was ultimately powerless.  

David, on the other hand, was connected to Center. That gave him the advantage. 

Using this model, we can place the source of David’s strength as well as his strategies and his deadly slingshot.  

Resting in the innermost hub of the wheel was the source of little David’s confidence — the timeless God of Israel.  

His strategies, however, belonged to the dynamic, energy level.  

His prowess as a straightshooter depended on physical strength, visual acuity and years of experience. Those have their place on the material surface.  

In other words, the levels of David’s life were coordinated. They were in synch. Unified. 

If David had drawn a blank on any one of the three levels, he wouldn’t have succeeded then. Nor can anyone succeed today.  

Vision that’s not backed by good plan and technical competence is incomplete. Cunning strategies lacking equal competence to execute them are lop-sided. Without a direct connection with the creative center, all the physical resources in the world aren’t enough. 

There are several reasons, however, why the story of David and Goliath isn’t the best model for coping with adversity today. 

For one, we’re at a very different point in history. We’re at end stage. Civilization was relatively young back then. Different times call for different responses. 

Further, confronting a single foe face-to-face was one matter. The tangled mess of corporate-faced, alien-driven evil which little guys are up against now is a much different threat. Different dangers call for different protections. 

Another point: Gladwell’s subtitle refers to underdogs and misfits. It’s not a good idea to romanticize misfits. Timothy McVey and Charles Manson were misfits. They didn’t fit in with mainstream society, but with good cause. 

It’s the telescoping mistake. Extremes on both sides of the bell-shaped median are lumped together and written off as “deviant.” But spiritual geniuses and murderous psychopaths don’t belong in the same category. 

Further, not all giants are enemies of the people. There are corporate CEOs who treat their workers decently and genuinely serve the public. When I searched my memory banks for a good example, I thought back to Glenn Beck’s billionaire philanthropist friend.  

What was his name?! It took me a couple days to find it. 

Strangely, he doesn’t get much media attention. (Why not is an interesting question!) 

But Jon Huntsman, Sr. is living proof. A corporate giant can be as much a part of the solution as the underdogs. Sometimes even more. 

A web search comes up with several sides to his story. He gained his wealth by climbing the corporate ladder of success. In 1974, Huntsman Container Corporation created the “clamshell” container for the McDonald’s Big Mac. It developed other popular products, including the first plastic plates and bowls. This led to the 1994 founding of the multi-billion-dollar Huntsman Corporation. He continues to expand into new business ventures. 

As a philanthropist, Huntsman has given away more than $1.2 billion to both domestic and international charities. His humanitarian aid includes help to the homeless, ill and underprivileged. 

He holds that the very rich should give not half, as Gates and Buffet say, but a full 80 percent of their wealth to worthy causes. It should be through voluntary choice, however. Not taxation.  

In this, he agrees with Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. His goal is to give away everything before he dies. But this isn’t an easy task. He keeps on making too much money. 

On the personal side, Huntsman not only lost parents to cancer, but is himself a four-time cancer survivor. His response has been to turn adversity into opposite and equal good. The Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City accelerates the work of curing cancer through human genetics. It also focuses on providing humane care to cancer patients. 

Huntsman has been married to his wife Karen for over fifty years. He’s the father of nine children. The eldest son, Jon Jr. is a public servant. He was the governor of Utah, and later an ambassador to China. (Small world.) The second son is a corporate executive who carries on his father’s business. 

Come to find out, Jon Huntsman. Sr. is also an author. One of his books is Winners Never Cheat – Even in Difficult Times. Amazon’s editorial review calls him “one of the finest human beings, industrial leaders and philanthropists on the planet.” His book drills down on “ten timeless, universal values” for business and life. The review concludes that Huntsman’s work edifies, inspires and motivates all of us to model his common sense lessons. 

Timeless? Universal? Common sense? I like it!  

Winners Play By the Rules is another of his titles. This book tells “how to keep your moral compass pointed toward true North — even when those around you are compromising their ethics.”  

True North? Compasses? WOW. There is a positive paradigm shift going on. I am not alone in this. 

Redefining Power 

Gladwell says little guys need to redefine power. That’s what I’ve done in Part Two. True power comes from within. Goliath, who drew strength primarily from the physical plane, was puny compared to the force behind David’s sling. 

Gladwell notes that a single smooth stone to center of Goliath’s head probably destroyed the pituitary gland. He quotes researchers who theorize that the giant had a glandular disorder which explains his huge size. This same pituitary disease would have caused eye problems. That’s probably why a slave had to lead him into battle. Presumably his vision was failing. 

But from a holistic perspective, the same story has a deeper meaning. David’s single shot went straight to the third eye, the ajna center located in the center of the forehead. It correlates with the pineal gland, a close neighbor of the pituitary. In yoga anatomy, this center is associated with spiritual vision. 

David’s projectile put out the giant’s lights. It was poetic justice for an enemy who was closed to inner truth. That was the giant’s weakness. It remains the weakness of bad guys today as well. A single shot is all it takes, when you know where to aim. 

It reminds me of the plumber with a golden hammer. The story is told about a home owner with a flooded basement who makes an emergency call. The plumber comes. Climbs a ladder. Reaches up to the leaking pipe. Takes out a golden hammer and taps. Once. Tink.  

Problem solved. 

Then he gives the owner his bill. That will be $350.  

What? Why? That took less than five minutes!  

The plumber’s answer: “The charge is for knowing where to tap.” 

Bad guys have blind spots. That’s their weakness and the good guy’s advantage. If they’ve cut themselves off from the center, no matter how rich and powerful in the world, or how charismatic at the middle level of energy dynamics, in the long run they’re the losers. 

The middle layer of the Positive Paradigm shows us what’s missing from Gladwell’s book. Applying David’s story to today’s dilemmas falls short without the complete picture. David’s God broadcasts from the center of the wheel.  

Today, noisy competitors are broadcasting from the middle, astral plane. In effect, they jam the air waves, making it hard to hear the still small voice of conscience. 

When religionists comfort us that we’re not alone, they’re telling us a half truth. Christ is broadcasting from the center (even when we can’t hear or won’t do). But there are lots of competing distractions. Some voices mimic good angels, but aren’t.  

My description in Part Two bears repeating here: 

. . . spirits, ghosts, leprechauns, angels and demons or jinn acknowledged by various mystic traditions also reside at the middle level. From here, unseen hands from the “dark side of the force” reach out to derange the minds of power-hungry rulers and undermine political affairs. So long as their invisible influence remains unaccounted for, the failings and depravities of human governments remain mystifying. 

St. Paul described it in his letter to the Ephesians: 

6:12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

This is why the David paradigm can’t be taken at face value. David told Goliath, “God is with me.” But since then, the same claim has been made by numerous demon-driven leaders. Combatants on both sides of every battle want their followers to believe that God is on their side. 

What makes sense in Quantum Paradigm context is that David was with God. He was listening. He “knew” what he had to say and do. And he did it. 

Here’s a time-tested way to know who is who. Ask who’s calling. If it’s Christ broadcasting from the center, or a true disciple, LISTEN. If it’s a voice from the astral plane that won’t acknowledge Christ, then DON’T. Tell it to scram.  

Remember the words of the marvelous cartoonist James Thurber. He drew a panther lounging in a telephone booth with the receiver in its paw. The caption reads: “If it’s a panther, don’t anther.” 

Here’s another way the David and Goliath book breaks down. Gladwell wants to identify ways for little guys to battle big guys. First, not all little guys are good guys. Nor do little guys have to come up with strategies now as if inventing the wheel from scratch. They’ve been codified in cultures saturated in I Ching philosophy for thousands of years. 

The middle level is the realm of the Natural Law encoded in the Book of Change. Energy dynamics are impartial. They work regardless of the user’s motives. For every David who uses strategies to defeat a wicked enemy, there are countless Alinsky clones. 

They’ll use every underhanded strategy in the book to undermine anyone who gets in the way of what they want. Sometimes the motive is sheer greed. They fabricate excuses for confiscating other people’s wealth. 

For every sage like Lao Tze who honored the Tao and wrote the classic Tao Te Ching, there many others also immersed in spinoffs of I Ching savvy whose connection to the Center of the Life Wheel is uncertain.  

Sun Tzu, for example, applied the principles of natural law to describe The Art of War.

Later offshoots include versions like the 36 Stratagems. One has the suggestive title Lure the Tiger Out of the Mountains. This book pairs anecdotes from Chinese history with stories about current corporate practices. It shows how IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and other business giants overcame early odds to beat out the competition. They used the same yin-yang strategies which the advisors to Chinese emperors recommended in the past. 

A more chilling version is Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile: Use the 36 Ancient Chinese Strategies to Seize the Competitive Edge. 

Musashi’s Book of Five Rings is a Japanese approach to strategy. 

In fact, Saul Alinsky comes straight out of this tradition. He could well have taken his ideas from the Asian history books.  

Remember him? He’s the one who dedicated Rules for Radicals to “those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be.” 

Change strategies are variations on the theme: “Extreme yin changes to extreme yang. Extreme yang changes to extreme yin.” 

In others words, giants and underdogs trade places. In this scheme of things, the apparently powerless, like little David, have always had options for turning the tables in their favor. 

Natural law also reminds us of the yin-yang paradox. “Whatever has a front has a back. The larger the front, the larger the back.” As described from personal experience, those who project the most holy image predictably have the most corrupt underbelly.  

Extreme size like Goliath’s is unbalanced. It changes into a liability. One’s greatest strength can be flipped to become one’s greatest weakness. (The same goes for governments, too.) 

So, the David and Goliath story is a useful example that can be applied to current events. On the surface, it may not seem unique. Corporate executives who accept the Japanese maxim “Business is War” practice taking advantage of yin-yang principles to maximize profits and power. 

But here’s the important riddle to solve. What’s the difference between Saul Alinsky and David? What separates Alinsky-clones from Positive Action advocates? 

The answer: Alinsky and his clones are functional atheists. 

Like Goliath, they’ve cut themselves off from the center of the Positive Paradigm Wheel. They may be intimidating or charismatic, but they’re not enlightened. Far from it. 

David, in contrast, linked the levels. He was in harmony with Source. He spoke for it and acted from it. Positive Action advocates aspire to follow David’s example. 

Perhaps it’s time for the good (not necessarily little) guys to take the hint. Mastery of Natural Law can be a good thing. As I’ve labored to demonstrate, in Quantum Paradigm context, it’s not opposed to Divine Law. 

There’s no either/or choice. Nature is integral to the whole. 

Stratagems aren’t good or bad in themselves. There are white magicians and black magicians. Both are adept at manipulating the elements of nature. It all depends on who’s doing what and why. 

Bottom line: it’s a matter of survival to be savvy in dynamics at the middle level of the paradigm. A step in this direction is already being taken. Books coming onto the market now advocate using Alinsky’s tactics to protect and restore what alien infiltrators of both church and state are actively destroying. 

Conversion 

The real beauty of the Quantum Paradigm model is this. It serves as proof that it’s never too late to change. Given the right circumstances, even the most obstinate resistance to the calling of conscience melts away. 

Einstein’s formula of energy conversion applies to changes of faith in both directions. Believers fall away from their faith. The faithless return to the fold. The prodigal son completes the hero’s journey. After trials and travails, much to his father’s joy, he returns home, forgiven and welcomed. 

Here’s a current example of conversion in both directions. 

Matt Morris, known as a Micky Mouse Club member and later as a writer, has captured public attention. He was raised as an Episcopalian. In 2009, reacting against his church experience, he left Christianity. He turned instead to Druidry. a form of nature worship. In 2013, he was actually on the cover of Witches and Pagans Magazine.  

Shortly afterwards, Morris made a sudden about face. It was as if he’d become aware of Christ broadcasting from the center. He wrote in a blog post: 

I’m overwhelmed with thoughts of Jesus. Jesus and God and Christianity and the Lord’s Prayer and compassion and forgiveness and hope and judgment and freedom from judgment and all of the things which made (and make) me feel connected to the Sacred. 

He denied that he’d returned to institutionalized religion. It seems his experience was qualitatively different. He’d made a direct link with the eternal center. 

The biography of C.S. Lewis is another example of conversion. He’s best known as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, a thinly disguised parable of the Christ story.  

Earlier, however, during WWI, horrors witnessed on the battlefield turned him to atheism. Then, eventually, he changed his views. He used reason to reconnect with faith. The world’s beauty persuaded him of the undeniable existence of “Intelligent Design.” 

Nelson Mandela’s story is the most famous example of two-way conversion. Frustrated by lack of results from protesting peacefully against state-sanctioned apartheid, he became a card-carrying Marxist Communist. He turned away from the path of peace to violence. 

When he was arrested as the leader of a terrorist organization in South Africa, Mandela admitted to his crimes. But instead of receiving the death penalty, he was sentenced to life in prison. 

Twenty-seven years in jail became a blessing in disguise. They gave him the gift of quiet time, which he turned into the opportunity to rethink his past. 

Had Mandala chosen to pursue the path of vengeance when he was released from prison, a bloodbath would have followed. 

However, he had changed. He chose the path of love and forgiveness. He became a unifier, leading blacks and whites together to overcome unjust separation of the races. By the time of his death in early December of 2013, Nelson Mandala the peaceful protester and then hunted criminal had become a revered national leader. People worldwide had come to regard him as a saint. 

But always remember: the opposite side of the coin is equally possible. Even those who’ve had a glimpse of the eternal cannot take enlightenment for granted. Many pitfalls and unforeseen dangers lurk along the paradigm’s two-way street. God is constant. Humans are not.  

The night of Christ’s arrest, Peter denied him three times before the morning came, much to his great sorrow.  

Continuous vigilance is a must. 

You Never Know 

In Part One, I described my experience with neatsies — miracles. With the supreme confidence of youth, I traveled safely alone through Europe. There was little planning and less money. But a lot of “luck.” Looking back now, it only seemed that I was alone. Of course, I never was. 

The same hidden hand that guided and protected me throughout has brought me to this point. Just as I wrote The Common Sense Book of Change as an act of faith in 1975, I’m doing the same with Rethinking Survival now, more than thirty years later. The twists and turns on my road — the numerous kaleidescope reversals — were integral to the process. 

Even in this, I am not alone. I was amazed when I recently happened upon the story of another life traveler. He used exactly the same words I have to sum up his experience: “Your never know.” 

In a seminar recorded on video, Master Chungliang Al Huang tells how one thing led to another through a lifetime of unforeseen changes. As a child, he was given a traditional education in all things Chinese. He studied the philosophy of Confucius. He practiced Tai Chi. He mastered the art of calligraphy using an artist’s brush. 

He then came to the United States and became thoroughly American. He studied architecture and worked as a architect. Then one thing led to another. 

A step at a time, he reverted back to the roots of his Chinese origins. He became a dancer; he performed with the Martha Graham troupe. In the 1960s, when Americans were hungry for Tai Chi, he was invited to become an instructor at the Esalen Institute in California. 

He’s become a boundary-spanner, working to link Western and Asian cultures. Just as I fantasized about the possibility of seducing the Chinese into remembering their neglected I Ching roots, he’s working to rescue his native land from the heartless, atheistic influence of current rulers. He literally says,” There’s a paradigm shift going on in China now.” 

Actually, sir, it’s going on worldwide. Everyone everywhere is being called to remember the heart of the perennial philosophy which they share in common. In fact, there’s a Quantum Paradigm shift going on. 

So I must make this small caution. The highest compliment Chungliang Al Huang gives Caucasian members of his audience is, “You have a Chinese heart.” I would answer, “No. I have a universal heart. And so do you. So did Einstein.” 

The same hidden hand that has opened doors of opportunity and taken him on a marvelous journey of change has guided me all my days as well. No country, culture or class has a monopoly on miracles or inner truth. 

David told Goliath, “God is with me.” But it’s more correct to phrase it the other way around. We need to be with God. For with God, all things are possible.  

As long as people everywhere, in every circumstance, continue to focus on the center, there’s hope of human survival. Whatever threatens to block access to the Center must not be allowed to interfere. “Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.” 

This is why it’s imperative to root out the assumptions based on dysfunctional paradigms that tie us in knots. They tear us apart. They drive us crazy. They push us to murder and even suicide.  

We urgently need to recognize and root out false paradigms. To survive intact, we must cleave to the essence of the perennial philosophy.  

The quantum Life Wheel is a snapshot of the essential truth which the world’s great religions share in common. It offers us a way out of global madness. It gives us a means for restoring sanity to our world outlook. 

David and Goliath has one take on the giants of the world. But there’s also another way to think about giants. The reverse, shadow side. The opposite side of the coin.  

Inspired by Awaken the Giant Within, I founded the +A Positive Action Press in response to Tony Robbins’ book. From a Quantum Paradigm perspective, his words take on new meaning: 

If we want to discover the unlimited possibilities within us, we must find a goal big enough and grand enough to challenge us to push beyond our limits and discover our true potential. . . The answer to our current energy challenges will lie in the imagination and resourcefulness of today’s physicists and engineers. And the resolution to our social crises, like the alarming spread of racial hate groups, homelessness, and hunger, can only be addressed with the inventiveness and compassion of dedicated individuals like you and me. 

The threat of evil giants in the world serves to awaken the true giant that resides deep within each of us. That’s the blessing hidden in adversity. It’s the opportunity latent in Titanic Times. 

The Greek Titans, the giants sired by Kronos, survived his murderous envy and returned to claim their heritage. Similarly, there are giants are among us now. It’s time for them to WAKE UP! 

In the face of Titanic dangers bearing down from all directions, remember the stork and cobra cartoon. The snake is winding up the bird’s long, skinny leg, wrapping around its neck in a choke hold. The caption reads: “Never, ever give up.”  

To this, I would add more — essentially other ways of saying the same thing. First, to the snake: “It’s never to late to change.” Second, to the bird: “Never, ever forget.”  

Never forget that, no matter how dark and dangerous life becomes on the surface, God the Creator — the Tao, the Source of all life — broadcasts love, wisdom and hope eternal from the center of the quantum Life Wheel.  

We’re not alone. We never have been. We never will be. 

 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s current working The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

Fresh Start 

This excerpt from Rethinking Survival follows the sections on “Alien Invaders” and “We’re in a Terrible Mess.” To repeat, it’s written in the voice of who I was in 2014, which now feels like a lifetime ago. But the substance is just as relevant to now as it was then. 

Fresh Start 

After facing up to the inescapable proof everywhere around us that our language and idea pools have been corrupted, what do we do about it? Extreme radical measures call for opposite and equal survival responses.  

Scrap everything.  

Clean sweep. Clear the decks. 

Empty the overflowing in-baskets and clutter on the mental desktop. 

Back to the drawing board.   

Religious leaders have abused the teachings, so atheists have been conned into rejecting the fundamentals of the timeless, perennial philosophy altogether.  

Human authorities have violated their responsibilities, so reactionaries have been conned into making the mistake of rejecting all authority on every level. 

Let’s face it. Religious and secular institutions inevitably degenerate. They accumulate baggage over time and drift away from founders’ visions. 

So from time to time in the repeating cycles of history, it becomes urgently necessary to sort out what’s worth holding on to and what not. Do a thorough cultural house cleaning.  

Right now, people everywhere are overdue for a major rethinking of their paradigms.  

Initiate OPERATION RESCUE.  

One individual at a time, take back our most precious asset: our minds. Like tenacious truth-miners, sift through the mud to separate out nuggets of pure gold. 

Hold fast to truth. Fearlessly put the rest behind. Go back to the drawing board. Wipe the slate clean. Start over with a fresh, unmarked deck.  

Rethink organizations by the standard of the Quantum Paradigm. Start with the smallest unit of organization — yourself. Work with what’s possible. Be assured that every little bit helps. “One grain of rice can tip the scales.” 

If this seems daunting, remember, the stakes. They couldn’t be higher: the survival versus extinction of all you love.  

Each contribution affects the whole. Everyone matters. As Einstein warned in “Ensuring the Future of Mankind:”

Each one of us would be at fault if the goal were not reached in time. There is the danger that everyone waits idly for others to act in his stead. 

Remember the scare of thermonuclear war, Einstein’s worst nightmare. In 1962, Kennedy and Khrushchev engaged in a personal ego contest, going toe-to-toe during the Cuban missile crisis. It threatened Soviets and Americans with mutual annihilation. Only at the last hour did they relent. 

We have Khrushchev’s personal letter to Kennedy:  

Only lunatics or suicides, who themselves want to perish and to destroy the whole world before they die, could do this. . . . If you have not lost your self-control, and sensibly conceive what this might lead to, then, Mr. President, we and you ought not to pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied the knot of war, because the more the two of us pull, the tighter the knot will be tied. And a moment may come when the knot will be tied so tight that even he who tied it will not have the strength to untie it. . . 

Lest history repeat itself as world leaders posture and position themselves now, let us urge them to not to replay this potentially deadly sword-rattling scenario.  

Here are recommended positive attitudes for approaching Operation RESCUE: 

1. Gird personal determination to win the inner war that matters most. Put pride and old attachments aside. Let the consequences of failing to rescue your mind along with the rewards for doing it motivate persistence. 

2. Take nothing for granted. Appreciate what you have while you still have it. Remember: it took only nine seconds for one lunatic to blow John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s head away. It changed the world as his family and the world knew it. Two bullets was all it took to extinguish our best hope for the future of democracy and world peace. 

3. Proceed with equal parts courage and trust. Revisit the basic, important life questions carefully. Scrap the old answers. Shed the emotional baggage and prejudices we all carry from personal experience. 

Be willing to look at the world and how one fits into it with fresh eyes. Attachments to familiar beliefs as well as obligations to teachers and family are irrelevant to the TRUTH. So are old animosities. Trust that if old answers were correct and personal loyalties valid, they’ll withstand the test of time. 

4. Focus on the values everyone everywhere undeniably have in common. Following Einstein’s example, learn how to “think like a genius:” 

The scientist or the artist takes two facts or experiences which we separate; he finds in them a likeness which had not been seen before: and he creates a unity by showing the likeness. . . . All science is the search for unity in hidden likenesses. 

Begin with respect humanity’s underlying similarities. Let them be our cause for ensuring human survival. Regardless of national origin or racial background, we’re all endowed with native intelligence and the capacity to reason. 

Barring unnatural distortions, we’re born with the capacity to love life and cherish family. Most people, most of the time, have an innate capacity for compassion, a thirst for truth and profound desire for personal freedom. We also enjoy a good laugh. 

On the cellular level, we’re products of the same DNA pool. Scientists say that all humans trace back to a mere handful of ancestors. It’s testimony to the human intellect to have discovered the DNA code. It serves as a reminder of the wondrous workings of an intelligent Creator. For how could such an extraordinarily intricate, miraculous pattern (much less its reproductive process) be sheer coincidence? How merciful, that we have been allowed this insight into the workings of intelligent design. 

It would be a tragedy for us to forget our common blessings, their single source and the preciousness of life. They should unite everyone everywhere against the destructive schemes of genocidal aliens invaders. 

5. Focus on TRUTH. Give it the benefit of the doubt. If familiar expressions don’t work for you, dig deeper. Or try a better approach. But cleave to the life-sustaining essence which sincere practitioners of every faith have held in common from time immemorial. Communicate from that center. And build community from there. 

Just as each atom has only one nucleus, in Quantum Paradigm context there’s only one core at the center of creation. Logically, over time and in every circumstance, inspired teachings partake of it. If you delve deep enough into the teachings with a sincere heart, you’ll find the same universal source. Since the center is timeless, its TRUTH has always existed and always will. 

There is great power in TRUTH. There’s great power in inspired scriptures to move and instruct us in our ways. This includes the venerable I Ching. The Book of Change instills in the receptive observer a profound understanding of human nature and relationships, the better to lead effectively. 

Likewise, the complete and accurate Quantum Paradigm of Change has the power to serve as a road map. Use it as a guide for anticipating and overcoming troubles. Let it serve as a link to TRUTH. 

Heavy duty bad guys will do whatever it takes to cut humans off from the source of their power. They block inner awareness any way they can. People conned by alien invaders into denying their origins have been castrated, disinherited — cut off from natural power. They’ve been left helpless. 

So be determined to take your power back. This is the deepest meaning of “power to the people.” It’s the foundation of genuine democracy. Never, ever be conned into abandoning the inner source of strength. It’s our hope of ultimate survival. 

Don’t waste precious time and energy quarreling about whose version of TRUTH is best. Life is too short and precarious. Urge leaders to stop squandering natural resources to add man-made disasters to the roster of survival-threatening perils. Call on them to stop squabbling over the ego-illusion of world-dominance. It’s the height of human folly. 

Countless natural disasters are hovering on the edges of history. Indifferent to our insignificant concerns, they’re poised to wipe humans off the face of the Earth. Violent hurricanes and floods, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, comet strikes and increasingly intense sun flares are pending. 

Future generations depend on each of us to transcend our petty animal nature. They demand that we draw upon the inexhaustible resource of inner strength to keep the wheel of life together for their sake. 

In times of great calamities and sorrow, the truly great in spirit will rise to meet whatever challenges may come, sustained by the eternal center within. 

6. Don’t get hung up on language. Don’t be confused by misdirecting spin. Stick to the facts. Don’t let double-speaking truth-twisters insult your intelligence. If you allow them to play on your worst fears, they’ll manipulate you into becoming your own worst enemy. Have a standard for knowing who’s who. If you refuse to be fooled by name-calling, empty labels can’t stick. 

Know friends from enemies by the fruits of their labors. Not by their whitewash excuses. 

Don’t let baggage-burdened labels deter you from knowing what you know. “A rose by any other name still smells as sweet.” On the other hand, noone has a monopoly on the Truth. Don’t let anyone drive you off of “their” turf. Nor do you have to pay dues to partake of truth. 

It’s no accident that Jon Huntsman, Jr., the son of a visionary father described above is now serving as point man for a group called “No Labels.” This organization would benefit by working from the deeper perspective the Quantum Paradigm has to offer. However, they are definitely moving us in a positive direction.  

Here’s how their vision and purpose are described on the website, NoLabels.org: 

No Labels is a growing citizens’ movement of Democrats, Republicans and independents dedicated to promoting a new politics of problem solving . . . We welcome people left, right and everything in between as long as they are willing to collaborate with one another to seek a shared success for America. This new attitude is what No Labels is all about. 

In this spirit, take back the TRUTH. Find common language that works for everyone. So what if false teachers corrupt the teachings? So what if politicians turn timeless truth upside down? Even if horrible things have been done in its name, that’s all the more reason to get back to the original unchanging basics. 

For example, one term atheists might relate to is “Universal Mind.” I’m partial to the term “Creator.” Others choose to call the unnameable source of life the Tao, the Great Father, Holy Spirit, the Buddha or Allah.  

Author U.S. Anderson used “Universal Mind” interchangeably with “God.” Perhaps atheists squeamish about the name God, who defend reason as their means for accessing TRUTH, would resonate with the concept of a Universal Mind. The awesomely powerful human intellect is its miniature and mirror. This is, in fact, an accurate representation of the TRUTH. 

7. The Danger. Don’t let alien agents define who you are. For example, in the November 2013 issue of Esquire Magazine, included an article on “The New American Center.” The web posting put forth a definition of “center” diametrically opposed to the common sense center described here. On the basis of 2,410 registered voters surveyed, researchers generalized that American voters have been shifting on the ideological spectrum.  

They no longer have a comfortable political home or a champion. Of respondents, 49 percent agreed with the assumption-laden statement, “I never put faith in politicians of either party because they always end up disappointing me.” An additional 25 percent indicated that they were neutral. 

This new center is said to agree that those in dire need should receive assistance, but would really prefer that government leave the rest of us alone. Researchers say that the new center wants government to spend less and go easy on regulation. But they’re okay with raising taxes on the rich and on polluters.  

The new center “has had it with the rest of the world.” In particular, it doesn’t want American using its resources to fix things overseas when we have problems at home. 

Researchers conclude: The center is up for grabs. More than one in three of the new center don’t “feel” that anybody in Washington represents them. They are, therefore, “waiting to be found.”  

Those on the Left are somewhat confident that someone in Washington expresses their viewpoints. But more than half of the “Righteous Right” feel that no one speaks for them. This conclusion is, apparently, an open invitation to political chameleons. It tells them how to paint themselves to please this new center, the better to “grab” their votes. 

Oh well. If you’ve read Part One, you already know how skeptical I am of such studies. My graduate school experience with research scientists wasn’t impressive. In that case as in this, the questions themselves were skewed. The way they were framed prevented accurate answers. Here, participant selection also supports pre-drawn conclusions. The opinions of those who opt not to vote are excluded. And as in my own experience, the conclusions not only appear to be foreknown. They seem intended to serve ends of political masters. 

The dangers of media-influenced opinion polls, the precursor of media-selected politicians, cannot be underestimated. Who after all, funds and for all practical purposes owns the media, if not the likes of George Soros, the puppet master himself? 

Regardless of what the agendas for redefining the Center might be, my first remedy is to take back the meaning of “Center.” Let it be defined by common sense in Quantum Paradigm context, not by paid political researchers. The hub at the center of life’s wheel can’t be equated with a political center. Quite the opposite. 

Remember the Karate Kid? Pick one side of the road or the other. Good or evil. Truth or spin. As Mr. Miagi warned, middle-of-the-roaders get “squished like grape.” 

8. The Opportunity. Inherent in endings are opportunities for new beginnings. “After degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows.” 

For one thing, no matter how extreme the danger, we’re never alone. This is so on both physical and metaphysical levels. Just as alien invaders are infiltrating society, there are conscientious souls who know very well what they are up to. They’re penetrating enemy ranks to reroute their plans. They’re also courageously calling public attention to blatant nonsense. 

For example, follow Dr. Timothy Daughtry and colleagues. He’s captured the dynamic of deceptive messaging perfectly: “Whatever you intend, say the opposite.” Here’s a sample from “Liberals Love It When We Fight:”

Helplessness, and not hope, is the left’s real message. . .the uniform message from liberal politicians to minority Americans is that the system is stacked against them, and that their only hope is through electing liberal politicians — not through personal effort. 

So, trust that people of conscience are embedded in the right places to say and do the right things at the right time. Just as invaders’ agents work to undermine humanity, modern-day sages are tenaciously working to expose and defeat their schemes. That’s why it’s imperative to cut across false boundaries. Connect with like-minded boundary-spanners wherever they are to be found. If they’re true to the common sense voice of conscience, they’re humanity’s best hope. Heed them. 

Remember President Kennedy’s final, undelivered speech: 

I look forward to a great future for America — a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purposes.  

I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which will reward achievement in business or statecraft, which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength, but for its civilization as well. 

In this final message, John Fitzgerald Kennedy left behind a legacy of unfinished work and with it the key to a fresh start. We now have the opportunity to complete what his started. Here’s the vision he intended to make real. 

With the tool of the Quantum Paradigm now in hand, we have the opportunity to universalize his vision. Let us urge all nations to balance strength with restraint, wealth with wisdom, and power with positive purpose. 

Kennedy’s death was a comma, not a period. The ideas expressed in the speech meant to be delivered on the evening of November 22, 1963, the date of his death, can still be realized. 

Parallel to Einstein’s unfinished quest for the Unified Theory, the time is right to pick up Kennedy’s fallen flag and move forward using the Quantum Paradigm as the basis of a common leadership initiative: 

. . . our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom. . . . So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. 

Fifty years later, as he foresaw, not just one nation’s future is at stake. It’s an “all or nothing” challenge. So let’s call on world leaders to do something truly extraordinary. Forsake the conflict-driven quest for personal political power. Put it in the service of an even more powerful and truly worthy goal: human survival. Partner in a leadership initiative to fulfill Kennedy’s vision.  

But don’t just sit back, waiting for politicians to wake up. 

Follow Einstein’s advice.  

Don’t build another human institution, a conglomeration of internally conflicted governments. Instead, build an international community of minds. The internet gives opportunities for connecting across limiting, artificial boundaries that Einstein would never have dreamed possible. 

Bloggers, do your best. Put the pressure of public opinion behind a tidal wave of appeals to nation-shapers, wherever and whomever.  

—– 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

We’re In a Terrible Mess 

This excerpt from Rethinking Survival follows the section on “Alien Invaders.” It’s written in the voice of who I was in 2014, which now feels like a lifetime ago. But the substance is just as relevant to now as it was then. 

We’re In a Terrible Mess 

During high school years, I shared a few lines written for Miss Elson’s English class with my brother, David. Marginally impressed, he predicted that I’d end up like the closet poet Emily Dickinson: 

Somewhere, / Somehow, / Something / Is terribly wrong. 

Where to look? / What to fight? 

In Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, he details the mess the United States is in: 

America has been slowly pulled off the course charted for us in Philadelphia more than two centuries ago. Through legitimate “emergencies” involving war, terror, and economic crises, politicians on both sides have gathered illegitimate new powers — playing on our fears and desire for security and economic stability — at the expense of our freedoms . . . 

Making the same point I made much earlier, Beck holds: 

I humbly suggest that our government is once again out of step with the Laws of Nature. The government by, of, and for the people has been turned on its head. It is now a government by the government, of the government, and for the government, the people be damned.  

Beck gets the basic law karma: Actions have consequences. 

However he lacks an in-depth understanding of the dynamic laws of nature. And he needs a functional paradigm to put us (not just the U.S.) right-side up again. He challenges Americans to stretch outside their comfort level. But this requires expanding the array of tools in our repair kit for achieving positive ends. 

Correctly, Beck recommends that we “declare the causes that unite us.” But while I look to the Quantum Paradigm for that foundation, he outlines Nine Principles which only add to the mess. His openly emotional biases are a disservice to his undeniably good intentions. 

It’s important to clarify the points of agreement and difference here. I’ve used the Common Sense concept in my own work for more than thirty years. Especially because he’s become a spokesman for America’s ideals and best hopes, it’s important that I clarify my position. 

We do have universal causes that unite us, but not the ones Beck lists. I’ve limited myself here to answering the first five of his Nine Principles: 

1. “America is good.” This generalization is full of assumptions. It’s too simplistic to be useful. America is not a static or uniform entity. The nation has evolved over time. Its components are mixed. We can love our homeland without having illusions about its unqualified “goodness.” Beck’s tacit premise, that he can single out one (superior) country to the exclusion of others alienates other nations. He’s slicing the pie the wrong way. Everyone everywhere is sometimes and in some ways “good,” in others not.  

In addition, time doesn’t go backwards. Beck’s sentimental attachment to America’s past is unwise. It’s a disservice to the immediate cause of human survival. 

2. “I believe in God and He is the Center of my life.” Sincere truth seekers everywhere hold a variety of beliefs. Not all assign either a name or gender to the Creator. Further, the nucleus of our lives remains the same, whether we acknowledge it or not. Agnostics who say they have no experience upon which to base religious beliefs can still be truth seekers. They’re often decent human beings doing their best as they understand it.  

Though they see things differently, atheists also thirst after truth and have been known to return full circle. 

3. “I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.” 

Fine. But using what methods? The Quantum Paradigm MPI approach, “Be aware of what you are doing and why,” is an excellent start. 

4. “The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.” This is a mish-mash of culturally-conditioned assumptions. First and foremost, individual conscience that depends on the Universal Center is sacred — not family.  

An either-or choice between biological family and governments — as if either were “the ultimate authority” — is unacceptable. Otherwise, where do those raised as orphans or whose experiences of family were damaging and degrading look for authority? What about celibate adults or those who choose not to marry? Or people who abide by communities of choice – their soul families. Do they matter in Beck’s worldview?  

In practice, his grounds for common cause are painfully exclusionary.  

Further, families change over time (as those who’ve been widowed or married more than once are keenly aware).  

It’s the silent source which remains is constant. 

5. “If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.”  This feels good, but it’s way too general. What law — the laws of man, of Nature or Nature’s God?  

This seems to refer to human law. But considering how laws are made today and by whom, that’s dicey. Consider the evolving, punitive tax code, for example. What about the fact that laws are so numerous that you can’t do anything without violating one law or another? And what about our elective, highly politicized [and oft times blatantly corrupt] justice system? 

Principle Five is wishful thinking. It doesn’t match actual experience. Perhaps if Beck thought in terms of the three-tiered wheel, this would be better phrased. Certainly God’s justice is impartial and karmic consequences return to everyone across the board. But that’s a different subject. 

How have we gotten into such a deep mess, so far away from common sense?  

In large part, it’s due to the intentional strategy of polarization. The diversionary tactic of bad-faith bad guys is to confuse people with an overwhelming number of phony half-truths. We’re forced to choose between false, equally unacceptable either-or options.  

The noisy, superficial clash between apparent opposites bombards our senses through the daily news: Republicans versus Democrats. Conservative libertarians versus liberal progressives. Christians versus Jews versus Muslims. Atheists versus theists. Optimists versus pessimists. 

Then there’s the straw dragon strategy. Virulent atheism is a product. It’s accomplished by setting up an illusory bogeyman in order to shoot it down. This is the inherent danger of claiming “divine right” for kings, emperors or tzars. 

Associating kings (or communist leaders, for that matter) with omniscience leads to an opposite and equal mistake. Disillusionment with individual rulers is mistakenly transferred onto authority in general, whether organized religions or governments. Bouncing off of one problem, we’re pushed in the opposite direction into even worse ones. 

To repeat, this misses the point. In Quantum Paradigm context, what authorities do or don’t do is irrelevant to the Creator’s existence. Human misbehavior has no direct bearing on timeless truth. 

Dispensing with an entire belief system indiscriminately — emotionally, bitterly — is like shooting oneself in foot to get rid of a blister. We’re rarely taught the skills to discriminate between distortions — abusive misrepresentations — and enduring, substantive value. The extreme position of “all or nothing” is dramatic but self-defeating. 

Another invader strategy is to blame human suffering on God. In the face of tragedy, people are tricked into believing that God has abandoned them entirely. Numerous popular songs plead with the Creator: “Can you hear me?” To ask is to admit we’ve forgotten about God.  

Of course the Creator is intimately aware of all creation. Better questions would be, “Are we quiet enough to hear? Are we really listening?” 

A great deal of the mess comes from the lack of a complete and accurate paradigm. There are different levels of knowing. It’s essential to prioritize them. Con-fusing sub-rational with super-rational ways of knowing is a major mistake. It’s an alien sleight-of-hand to lump these extremes together and write them off them as “irrational.” 

More of the mess is due to failing to adhere to a common center which serves as the fulcrum between see-sawing extremes. Here the law, “The larger the front, the larger the back,” comes into play. 

For example, extreme rationality generates opposite and equally irrational results. Barring sub- and super-rational alike, atheists who claim to hold the rational high ground can be extraordinary irrational. They come across as angry, rude, intolerant and demeaning. 

Peter Hitchens, for example, describes ironic inconsistencies in the wake of the Russian revolution. As a journalist, he observed that what claimed to be an egalitarian society was in practice highly stratified and unequal. Extreme corruption enriched a handful of vastly wealthy elites at the expense of the masses who lived in miserable poverty. 

Peter’s brother, atheism apologist Christopher Hitchens, who claimed that religion spoils everything, called for a “new” enlightenment. This is nonsense. Light was, is, and always will be light. Reason is necessary, but not in itself sufficient. It’s not all there is. It occupies a middle ground, serving to link the material plane with the center. 

Reason is not qualified to enter into super-rational realms. It cannot be appropriately used to critique what’s beyond it. But it can play an important part. At its best, used with Sherlock-like skill, it’s indispensable for detecting and foiling the schemes of alien enemies. 

Once reason clarifies how we’ve gotten into such a mess — exposing the hostile aliens’ rules and methods — it’s important to move on to the next question. What are we going to do about it? 

How can using the Quantum Paradigm of Change be applied to protect us from evil aliens and lead to positive solutions? 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

Looking in the Wrong Place for Answers

 

A poetic I Ching warning advises:  

Don’t hunt for deer in a forest in which none dwell. 

In plain English, it translates as, Don’t look for right answers where they’re not to be found. 

Let’s start with the most basic, universal question, “Who Am I?”  

If we look to the paradigm of empirical science for answers, they’re, at best, incomplete. Often misleading. And they change over a lifetime. 

I am so and so’s child. At times, I’m so and so’s friend, brother, sister, wife, or husband. Other times, I’m orphaned, abandoned, isolated and alone in the world. 

I’m born rich or poor, or somewhere in-between.  

I’m a farmer, plumber, doctor, lawyer or Indian chief; a housewife, salesman, cook or cleaner. 

I’m a skeptic or believer; an atheist, agnostic, humanitarian, pagan, shaman, sage, Jew, Muslim, Christian, or whatever. 

I’m a democrat, republican, libertarian, communist, iconoclast, rebel without a cause, or whatever.  

And these identities continuously shift over a lifetime. 

For most, biological identity is less mutable. I inhabit a male or female body which gradually ages over time. For all but the most imaginative, sexual preferences remain fairly fixed. 

But these identities are all restricted to the ever-changing surface of the quantum Life Wheel.  

Hidden within these answers is an implicit assumption. My things, my status and others — parents, teachers, community, church, state, or whatever — define Who I AM. Do they? Really? ?  

Is it possible that I have the right – ultimately, a responsibility — to define myself? 

In any case, in the long run, none of the usual answers are satisfying or fulfilling.  

The cabaret singer wails, “Is that all there is?”  

And the soul knows, “No.” What we see is the tiniest tip of an infinite iceberg. There’s so much more to life! None of these ephemeral, physical expressions of the True Self define the Me who I truly AM. 

Attempting to change things for the better inside the trap of the materialistic paradigm is an exercise in futility. To exchange one lifestyle for another, one gender expression for another, a new hairstyle, political affiliation, profession . . . whatever . . . is to look for answers to universal discontent in the wrong place. 

Fulfillment and satisfaction aren’t be found anywhere on the surface of the Life Wheel. Not really. Not in the long-term. 

The deer we desperately seek – our deepest longings, our true heart’s desire – dwell deep within the energy, light and Source levels of the Life Wheel which, in its arrogance, empirical science has ruled out. 

The more spacious, complete Quantum Paradigm is the right place to look for answers to our questions. 

For example, over a lifetime, I’ve struggled with understanding how to define myself as a woman. It was agonizing. I won’t bore you with the pages of details confided into journals over the years. Suffice it to say, going back for generations, the war between the sexes left causalities on all sides. 

Only by redefining myself in quantum perspective have I been able to put old demons to rest, saving the baby of feminine essence from the bathwater of unnatural stereotypes. 

Great compassion for my father and brother, who suffered as much from the oppression of limiting stereotypes as did I, compels me to wish for others what my family lacked. Namely, the awareness that each of us is, in essence, an immortal soul.  

Further, within each of us are the innate potentials to express both yin and yang qualities, balanced according to time, place and situation.  

In comparison, the biological bodies we chose for this particular incarnation are but a tiny percent of the vastness of who we each truly are. 

Even further, empirical science measures IQ. But it has no language for expressing the unique evolutionary path upon which each of us traveling.  I’ve left you some hints in Psychology’s Blind Spot. It’s worth a look. 

From another angle, I spoke to gender confusions in a comment to a locals website. The host was advocating civil unions as a way to keep all sides “happy,” avoiding religious conflicts. I responded:  

“Okay. My pesky muse insists I engage in your marriage discussion. How to do this briefly, clearly & usefully is quite the challenge. But will give it my best shot. 

“Restoring clarity and correctness to human relationships can only be achieved by starting with the basic understanding that everyone, everywhere shares in common the existence of a central, eternal core of divinity. From this point of view, genuine self-respect arises and from it, reverence for all life follows. 

“Secondarily, there’s an energetic substratum which all share in common, the e=energy level of the Quantum Paradigm. Though suppressed by cultural conditioning with grotesque consequences, by nature we all have the capacity to blend and alternate between different combinations of yin and yang: being submissive or assertive, gentle or firm, yielding or solid, nurturing or protective, etc. etc. 

“It’s only at the m=mass level of material tangible expression that souls separate into sexes, presumably for purpose of reproduction (though as Margaret Mead eloquently established in her research, the roles and attitudes assigned and assumed to these differences are not fixed. They vary greatly in different cultures).   

“These basic differences are matter of fact, and can’t be altered surgically/chemically. For example, at a seminar I once attended, Michio Kushi randomly called a man and woman up from the audience to prove this point. He held a pendulum over the head of each. It circled in one direction over the man, in the opposite direction over the woman. 

“Now, both men and women get bent out of shape because limiting either/or gender stereotypes are stifling across the board. The solution, however, is NOT any of the liberal BS which compounds problems rather than solving them. It is to link the levels, allowing for the natural and divine to filter through to and illumine human relationships in the infinitely variable ways they can express. 

“It would be an understatement to say that the radical, extreme separation and conflict generated by misunderstanding and disrespect for feminine essence (on the part of both men and women) is at the root of current dysfunctions . . . from personal relationships up to and including cultural breakdowns.  

“Legalities one way or the other don’t address the real issues, nor can they change what needs to be changed. 

“Amen. 

“PS. The problem with an exclusively rational approach is that, while it may be better than a reactive, emotional approach, it’s still half-assed. It’s divorced from the levels where problems begin and levels deeper still where genuine solutions are found.” 

Once one escapes from the trap of the materialistic paradigm, the field opens wide to infinite possibilities. So I dearly wish every one of you the best in your quest for better answers.  

As a matter of fact, it seems that events are conspiring to push the collective in the direction of quantum solutions. Everything we thought we knew and could take for granted in the material world is relentlessly being swept out from underneath us.

There’s no guarantee that the future will be easy. But it’ll be grand! Because you ain’t seen nothing yet!

Why do I say this? Tune in for the next installment: The Grand Finale. 

 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

Master the Field. Claim the Pearl. 

In my last post, Rethinking Nature in an Unnatural World, I began by saying that the essential Chinese I Ching, the Book of Change, reveals a priceless treasure, “akin to the biblical pearl without price.” 

Overnight, it came to me that I owe you a further explanation of what I mean. I’ve written about Natural Law and the Book of Change from many different angles. So today I revisited past blogs and made excerpts to offer you a more in-depth view of my meaning. 

Before I delve into that, however, let me first mention why the subject is extraordinarily timely. Astrologically, the United States is experiencing its Pluto return. It’s a big deal. Many astrologers are giving it attention. Because it affects not only the U.S. but the world, British astrologer Pam Gregory dedicated an entire video to the subject. 

This return means that, as a nation, Americans are being obliged to rethink who we are, what we truly value, and what we want our next cycle of history to look like. Upsetting political events are obliging citizens to revisit the Constitution and decide whether it’s worth upholding – not just giving it lip-service, but actually enforcing it – going forward. 

It’s time to revisit and welcome the “opportunity” to upgrade the beliefs of the founders. In the Common Sense Book of Change, I wrote: 

 THREE LEVELS OF LAW 

America’s Declaration of Independence names three kinds of law: the laws of man, of nature and nature’s God. The Book of Change is based on the laws of natural change. They emanate from and depend on divine law and serve as the rightful foundation of civil law.  

Clearly, laws legislated in ignorance of or in opposition to natural and divine law are not likely to work out well. Policy makers at all levels would do well to give this point careful thought. 

In Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote about the relationship of divine, natural and human law in a way that inspired readers at the time of the American Revolution to fight for freedom from tyranny. Approaching natural law from the deeper understanding of the ancients could inspire a reinvention of democracy now. 

Sages say that freedom from tyranny begins with dispelling ignorance and overcoming toxic, negative emotions. Inalienable freedom starts with the self-awareness and self-mastery which can be gained by diligent use of the I Ching. 

Restoring common awareness of and effectiveness in harnessing/expressing the e=energy level of human potential would give a whole new meaning to the slogan “Power to the People.”

With that in mind, here are excerpts which explain the importance I place on the ancient understanding of Natural Law within the context of the quantum Life Wheel. Included is a more detailed description of the e=energy level that’s correlated with Natural Law. 

It’s worth your careful attention. 

From The Ultimate Gatekeeper: 

. . . . [The Book of Change] is a book that truly belongs to the world. It transcends, in its essence, the limitations of time and space. Used correctly, as intended, it leads the ordinary mind towards experiences of self-awareness and transformative transcendence.  

Over the years, I’ve grown absolutely certain that the worldwide leadership deficit (and related budget deficits) is explained by an underlying knowledge deficit. For lack of what The Book of Change has to offer, people everywhere remain perplexed as to how and why so much continues to go so horribly wrong, despite the best of intentions.  

Making this compendium of Natural Law — the premier leadership training and decision-making manual in China for thousands of years — widely accessible now is necessary in order to fill in this fatal knowledge gap.  

Mainstreaming this vitally important information is the first, necessary step towards the positive change which many call for, but remain unable to achieve. 

—- 

The extraordinary value of the I Ching is that it reveals the secrets of dynamic Natural Law. Working with its changes opens up personal access to the middle level of the Life Wheel, the “e = energy” layer of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory. 

This middle level of Natural Law serves as mediating, two-directional gatekeeper between the ever-changing surface rim and the universal, timeless center.

You can’t get from here to there and back again, except through the middle “energy” layer which, in Western thinking, is effectively taboo, buried deep within the inaccessible “unconscious.”  

To the extent that the Natural Law of energy dynamics remains a blind spot in the prevailing, linear and exclusively empirical paradigm, we are left powerless to move beyond the surface level of experience. 

To compound the loss, when stuck on the surface, the realm of light and conscience which rests beyond, on the far side of the dynamic energy level, remains functionally inaccessible.  

Only by becoming intelligently competent in managing the subtle energies of the middle level does it become possible for one to travel further inwards for the direct personal experience of not only Light but, even deeper still, its very Source.  

Unfortunately, the middle level is too often clogged with painful memories, negative emotions and repressed, socially taboo urges. It becomes a barrier to deeper knowing. 

For eight thousand years and counting, the Book of Change has served as an indispensable tool for resolving this dilemma. Used as intended, it can restore the unnecessarily “unconscious” to conscious awareness, reopening the levels of human potential so they can be aligned and unified.  

In this context, genuine survivors fit to prevail in today’s increasingly dangerous times aren’t those with the most material wealth, possessions or political power. They’re the ones who’ve successfully navigated the middle realm, reached the far shore of enlightenment and returned to the surface with their new information intact. 

Those who succeed in linking the levels of experience are genius-leaders in whatever fields they choose to engage. They’re the fortunate ones who have acquired the inner wealth necessary to both hear the still voice of conscience and act effectively on the guidance they receive. 

From The Middle E=Energy Level of the Life Wheel 

The middle level is the realm of less tangible but still measurable states of energy, including electricity. More subtly, it is the chi, ki or prana described by Chinese, Japanese and Indian traditions as the life force which animates all living beings. In Greek and Christian traditions it’s known as breath, the psyche. 

These subtle energies influence internal psychological states. As emotions, they drive external human behavior, which in turn affects social/political relationships. Knowledge of these dynamics is essential to personal survival. 

Effective leadership and the quality of life within organizations hinges on the quality of awareness brought to dynamics at this level. Some leaders understand energy dynamics at a gut level as a matter of common sense. However, systematic education would significantly improve results of the decision-making process. 

—— 

When sufficiently purified and mastered, disciplined and intelligently harnessed to positive goals, the middle level fuels what Anthony Robbins calls “unlimited power.”  

These subtle energies explain the possibility of seemingly impossible feats, including the miracles attributed to Moses and Jesus. 

——

In Life Wheel context, the “subtle” energy realm exists between the outer, surface level of matter and the deepest center of unchanging stillness.

As the functional link between extremes, both on the out-going and the in-going paths, it serves as the gatekeeper and mediator between the two.  

“You can’t get from here to there,” except through this middle level of experience.  Cluttering or denying access to it make connection with the Center difficult, at best. 

Historically, Asian cultures are more comfortable with this middle level. Asian healing practices including chi kung, tai chi and hatha yoga use exercise to intentionally circulate, balance, harness and direct subtle energies through the physical body. 

—- 

The middle level is also the repository of karmic information, where the history of past actions is kept, along with a record of debts to be repaid. It’s the repository of short and long-term memories. The composite of emotions — fears, desires and repressed tendencies — are stored here in what Western psychologies call the “unconscious.” It is the stuff of dreams — inspired visions, nightmares and everything in-between. 

The bardo, where (according to The Tibetan Book of the Dead) recently departed souls travel, is located within this level. Spirits, ghosts, leprechauns, demons or jinn acknowledged by various mystic traditions also reside there. From here, unseen hands from the “dark side of the force” reach out to derange the minds of power-hungry rulers and undermine political affairs. (It’s for this reason that disciplines for “cleaning out the swamp” precede introduction to advanced yogic practices.) 

So long as invisible energetic influences remain unaccounted for, the failings and depravities of human leaders remain mystifying. Conspiracy theorists can track the complicated networks of human crime on the surface. But to trace world domination plots back to their lair, one must look deeper. St. Paul described it in his letter to the Ephesians: 

6:12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

—- 

When cluttered and undisciplined, the middle energy level is like a swamp full of alligators. 

Once the swamp is cleared out and the alligators are tamed, however, energetic potentials can be harnessed to worthy goals. They’re like the gas that fuels the car engine, or the pair of black and white horses that pulled Plato’s heaven-bound chariot.  

But easier said than done. The Quantum Paradigm validates experiences which report a dark side to the subtle realm, which the life traveler must be prepared to encounter and survive. Some describe it as “Chapel Perilous” or “the Hero’s Journey.” 

— 

Religionists, moralists and even poets like Edgar Alan Poe warn against exploring the middle realm, portraying it as dangerous, fearful or unclean. However, inhibiting awareness of the energy level cripples efforts to attain self-knowledge. In effect, it slams the lid on libido, the motivating life force.  

Doing so doesn’t avoid dangers. It just banishes this level from conscious awareness. Relegated to the “unconscious” and rendered inaccessible, this part of inner experience festers, more dangerous than ever. Taboos on energy awareness backfires, resulting in mental illness, socially aberrant behavior, addictions and personal tragedy.  

Here are important questions to ponder. Why ban access to the levels of energy and light? Who stands to benefit? Who stands to lose?  

Jung’s observation bears repeating: 

Our time has committed a fatal error; we believe we can criticize the facts of religion intellectually. . . The gods have become diseases; Zeus no longer rules Olympus but rather the solar plexus, and produces curious specimens for the doctor’s consulting room, or disorders the brains of politicians and journalists who unwittingly let loose psychic epidemics on the world. 

Chinese sages, who trod lightly but surely in that middle realm, used the I Ching as their instruction manual. Recently, it’s been correctly called a “spiritual GPS.” Jung understood the potential good that could come from introducing this wisdom to the Western world, where it could be used as an instrument for making the unconscious again conscious, restoring intelligent competence at this level. 

From Paradigms Are a Matter of Life or Death 

Jordan B. Peterson has said, “The most important work that can be done is establishing the relationship between belief systems and the outcomes they generate.” 

I agree. 

It’s useless to tell people to follow their dreams, to be the best they can be, or that nothing is impossible when, in fact, they live in society that enforces a false, limiting paradigm. It’s like paddling upstream without oars in a leaky canoe. 

The only way out of this madness is to restore a complete and accurate paradigm, one that acknowledges the multi-dimensional quality of life – the inherent pattern of perfection – which is everyone’s inalienable birthright.  

— 

People who live in the poverty of a flattened, empirical science belief system are being told by their parents, educators and political leaders, in effect, that they don’t (and shouldn’t) fully exist. That only their physical appearance, social status and material possessions matter.

Wonder why suicide rates are so high? Or that marriages so often end in divorce, that respect for authority is at an all-time low, that government corruption is rampant, or that crime rates are through the roof? (Surely you can add to the list.) 

—- 

The biblical King David exemplifies acting from a complete and accurate paradigm. He acted fearlessly in trust that “God is with me.” With a single shot to the giant’s forehead (not coincidentally seat of the third eye), he brought the monster down.  

David “knew” exactly where to aim. His vision was clearly focused on his target (light). He had the vigor (energy) and physical strength (mass) as well as coordination (unity) to overcome the fearsome obstacle that threatened to annihilate him and enslave his people.  

Other biblical figures at critical points in their hero’s journey are helpful role models. Noah anticipated the flood. Joseph foresaw and prepared for a time of famine.  Moses protected the homes of the faithful when the Angel of Death swept over the Land of Egypt.  

Job is the example of steadfast faith, enduring to the end and being restored, even better than before. Here’s the secret to be gleaned from his story, illumined by the infinity symbol that links the levels of the Life Wheel.  

Job says, “The Lord giventh.” This is the outward, materializing movement from Center to surface of the Wheel.  

“And The Lord taketh away.” This is the receding path of return to Center.  

In all, “Blessed be the NAME of the Lord.” The Logos.  

—— 

Conclusion 

Resolving conflict necessarily occurs one person at a time, and from the inside out. For this reason, however complex and overwhelming world problems may seem, we each have the option and responsibility to improve that which is closest to home: ourselves. By reducing internal conflict within, each of us has the potential, if only in modest ways, to reduce the conflict without. . . . 

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime. 

Patient Heal Thyself 

We’re within orb of the most powerful and life-changing triple conjunction of our lifetime. The last time it occurred was 2,300 years ago, marked by trade and knowledge advances – the by-products of Alexander the Great’s reign.  

This rare, empowering time invites us to think big. How would we like the future to look? Let’s wish greatly for practical ways to bring about positive change. 

Directing my thinking along this line, with the synchronicities my good angels use to get my attention, a marvelous site of remastered Manly P. Hall lectures popped magically into my YouTube feed.  

Over forty years ago, OA used Hall’s book on magic to instruct his small group on the way of the white magician: dedicating life to mastering the Laws of Nature in order to serve humanity.  

Now it has long been foreseen that the coming century will usher in a necessary rethinking of all the professions – healthcare, education, law, economics — you name it – across the board. 

Amongst those, heathcare is an immediate personal priority. So I looked to see what this newly discovered treasure has to offer on the subject. I wasn’t disappointed.

In The Healing Power of Universal Law, Hall compares the ancient vision of healing with modern medicine, hinting at changes to come. 

Ancient healers lived fully aligned with the quantum Life Wheel. They were profoundly connected with Source. They regarded themselves as priests. They related to patients with integrity and compassion; their attitude was one of humility and of service. By their very presence, these radiant beings quickened latent wholeness (health) within those who sought their help. 

Buddhist healers explained it this way. There are three distinct realms of existence. On the surface is the physical level of appearances (mass). Beneath it resides a subtle, unseen energetic level of radiance (Natural Law). Deeper still abides the level of light and universal law (Divine Law).  

According to Hall, the ancients made little distinction between Natural and Divine Law. They believed that physical illnesses are the consequence of living out of harmony with Nature and violating Divine Law. Patients were restored to physical health by realigning the inner levels of their lives. The healer’s job was to facilitate this process. 

To this end, the artists among them created images of healing. They found, for example, that meditating on the figure of a calm, serene deity offering blessings with one hand, holding a jar of universal healing elixir in the other, had beneficial results.  

Many healing sects, says Hall, both Buddhist and early Christian, “prescribed spiritual solutions to health problems, including the practices of meditation, contemplation and relaxation.” 

The healer’s end goal was not to perpetuate a dependent (and lucrative) relationship between physician and patient, but rather to instill in their patients the awareness that they have within themselves the inherent capacity to self-heal. Once awareness of innate, divine potentials was instilled, going forward, they became responsible to heal not only themselves, but others as well. 

This sacred ability is captured in the classic tarot deck. The Magician pictures the power of self-healing. The symbols of nature’s elements (earth, air, fire and water) are all available, spread out on the table. One hand reaches to heaven, the other points to earth. The infinity symbol over head represents the conscious ability to link, balance, and harmonize extremes.  

In contrast, today’s medical doctors have been trained in the narrow assumptions of empirical science. Too often, they’re motivated by status and financial reward. As Hall puts it, they’re “working merely from surfaces,” the same as any “real estate agent or second-hand car dealer.” 

They medicate. They dissect. But questions about emotional imbalance, spiritual disconnect, and their causative relationship to physical disease are outside the medical paradigm. At best, they’re relegated to psychotherapy or pastoral counseling.  

In the short-term, those seeking genuine healing are out of luck. If we prefer not to be medicated or surgically altered, seeing invasive approaches as adding more problems to the first one, where can we look for alternative, integrative approaches — ones which support a self-responsible approach to not just managing symptoms, but addressing root causes? 

Enter Dr. Zach Bush, a fascinating and influential pioneer in the field of medicine. As he evolves, he continues to lead the way towards a much-needed paradigm shift, returning to practices similar to ancient healing.  

To the point, I’ll quote sippets from a recent interview with Danicka Patrick.

Zach: I just closed my clinic, which was a really emotional process for me. Because I had it – my primary identity as a doctor – for almost thirty years. 

Danicka: Congratulations. 

Zach: Thank you. I did it because calling yourself a doctor . . . says, You know what? You all are sick. And I’m here to fix you. I realized I was part of the problem for my patients. My patients can’t actually completely heal because they believed I had their answer. I have to step out of that role to engage with my fellow humans in a bigger way so that they can heal and I can be witness to their healing.  

Danicka: Wow! A total paradigm shift! 

Zach:  We’re finally tapping into something that’s deeper than biology. We have a program we call Journey to Intrinsic Health. It lays out eight fundamental steps towards finding a lifestyle that supports the fundamental biology of human life. It’s very simple stuff. 

[These include relaxation, introspection, and meditation, similar to ancient healing methods.]  

But once presented in the system that allows you to understand your own capacity for biologic thrive-state, it frees you from the list of diagnosis and diseases that you had previously been defining yourself as. 

. . .  when people are drawn to you, it’s not actually for your physical form. Your physical form is the direct result of the tone that’s sung below you.   

. . .  I believe this is our next step of humanity. If we’re going to change our course, we are going to have to see past the 0.001% shell. 

In sum, I’m reminded of the Serenity Prayer: 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; 

 Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. 

The ancients admonished, “Physician heal thyself.” How could anyone quicken others to health who isn’t first whole within himself? It’s unrealistic to expect doctors not trained in the quantum paradigm to confer wholeness (health) on others.   

Yes, it’s unfortunate. But I choose to accept it and move on to what can be changed: ME. 

I choose not to be limited by the limitations others, in their ignorance, would impose upon me. I choose to take responsibility for my own self-healing, and eventually for the well-being of others – even, eventually, through the butterfly effect – for the healing of the planet itself. 

Granted, today’s healthcare industry is entrenched and inflexible. In the short term, there’s not much we can do to change that. But each of us, one at a time, can change ourselves, from the inside out. For my part, I choose to adapt the old motto: 

PATIENT, HEAL THYSELF. 

———–

Patricia West is author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change. She’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime.

HEADS UP! 

Planet Earth has arrived at a powerful, critical point of change.  

Some will experience it as a time of beneficial, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities; others as an intensely painful, disruptive time, loaded with challenges to the familiar status quo. Whether seen as opportunity or challenge will, of course, depend on the eye of the beholder. 

In astrological terms, starting now through mid-August, astral energies are forming an extraordinarily rare triple conjunction with long-lasting effects.  It includes: 

Uranus, futuristic planet of vision and invention,  

the North Node, a point that defines collective human destiny, and  

Mars, the planet of initiative and action.  

It occurs in Taurus, the down-to-earth sign of wealth, commerce, agriculture and food-supply issues. An abbreviated Sabian symbol tells you the precise location’s significance in plain English: 

18° Taurus: DETOXIFICATION. Using cleansing techniques to rid the subconscious of toxic, negative residues from the past. 

The last time this exact combo occurred was 2,300 years ago. Then, it was marked by the world-changing conquests of Alexander the Great. As a by-product of his consolidations, trade routes between East and West were opened. Resulting cross-culture exchanges stimulated major shifts in awareness.  

Perhaps, just perhaps, once again, it’s time for a collective paradigm shift. 

Now I know astrology talk is foreign, even alien, to many. Which is unfortunate. For even predating written history, as a matter of survival, those who lived close to nature watched the sky, observed changes in the weather, and lived in harmony with cyclical seasonal change.   

Why is it so useful?  

Because those who read the signs know to prepare for shocks, storms and earthquakes — be they geographic, social, economic, or political. They’ll be the ones who ride the waves of change, balanced like agile surfers, harnessing the currents of dangerous times to reach a far shore safely. 

Whereas those who are caught unawares run the risk of being crushed by tsunamis of massive change, dragged down and under.  

Which option do you prefer? 

If you’re unclear about the place of astrology in the larger scheme of things, let me reintroduce the Quantum Paradigm. It images the Unified Field Theory which Einstein already had, but for lack of yoga training, missed. Plugged into the archetypal Life Wheel found throughout time, in every culture, it looks like this:  

The Quantum Paradigm is exquisitely simple, satisfying the standard of Occam’s razor — optimal inclusion, optimal brevity. Like a laser, it illumines the field wherever it’s pointed. Since today I’m looking at an astrological pattern, I’ll describe where astrology – whether solar, lunar or literally star-based – fits within the Life Wheel, defining both what it is and what it is not.  

Astrology fits exclusively within the middle, e=energy level of the Quantum Life Wheel. Along with similar ancient sciences of change, including the preeminent Chinese Book of Change, it uses symbolic language to map the dynamics of Natural Law. 

Natural Law (in case no one taught you this in school), is an extension of Divine Law. It’s distinct, neither a substitute for nor a threat to inner light. We experience its influence on the m=mass surface of the Life Wheel as continuous flux.  

For this reason, aware-ones intentionally link the m=mass material level of their personal Life Wheels with the Center. They anchor in the eternal which abides deeper than change to remain stable from within no matter how challenging life on the surface becomes. 

As subtle astral energies radiate outwards to influence the physical, manifested world, applications branch in many directions. For example, leaders in every walk of life query to see the big picture, make wiser decisions and get better results. Therapists read charts to understand personality dynamics and improve relationships. Financial traders analyze transits to anticipate fluctuations in the stock market. Farmers observe the natural dynamics to predict weather patterns. They plant and harvest their crops accordingly to achieve higher yields. 

Then there’s medical astrology. Again, it’s nothing new. Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, regarded it as basic science (a term whose pristine definition is simply “with knowledge”). The ability to read natal charts is essential to correct diagnosis. A quick glance allows the competent physician to recognize the difference between discomforts which are “transit-ory” and those which are chronic, life-long concerns.  

Would you be interested to know, BTW, that COVID came in right on schedule, along with the upheavals resulting from lockdowns and social distancing? Or that the U.S. natal chart reveals what’s called a Pluto return – a “breakdown to breakthrough time” likely to spark revolutionary rethinkings of the nation’s purpose and values? 

Looking ahead, I’ll give you another heads up. Globally, through 2022, everyone everywhere is at the midpoint of massive political challenges. Corruption that’s been going on for a very very long time is increasingly being exposed like never before, the better to be purged and replaced by healthier options. Astrologers who’ve long foreseen this period of purification are rejoicing. Sadly however, many caught unawares are left disillusioned and in shock.  

And according to astrologer Pam Gregory, “We’re just getting started.” She likens the triple conjunction to eclipses, which are also pivot points of change. Eclipses usually come in threes, moving direct, retrograde and then direct again. The most dynamic set of the year completes exactly on November 8.  Uranus, the planet of sudden surprises of all kinds, is a direct hit.  

In the U.S., it just so happens to fall precisely on Election Day.  

So let’s take a collective deep breath and center ourselves. It’s time to put on our observer hats, expect the unexpected, and set the intention to make the best of our “interesting” times.  

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Patricia West’s B.A. is from Oberlin College; the M.A. and Ph.D. are from UW-Madison. Author of The Common Sense Book of Change and Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change, she’s currently working on The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn – in the Same Lifetime, offering a magical antidote to post-COVID trauma and alarming increase in suicide rates. 

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

For reasons quantum and astral, June 10, 2021, is the right and necessary time to publish a collage of ideas with the potential to usher in a better, more hopeful future.

For those new to my work, just for now, please give me the benefit of the doubt. Let the ideas stand on their merit. I’ll post another blog soon giving you good reason to trust the validity of what I say.

In September of 2020, I wrote We’re at Critical Mass. It offered this kernel of hope: “Sages know that when degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows.” Today I’m continuing that thread, expanding on key concepts with the potential to spark that regeneration. A re-naissance, if you will.

I’ll start with a snippet, “Premise,” from Election Integrity is Symptom, Not Cure, written for the valiant band of patriots giving their all to restore integrity to the U.S. election process.

Next, building on that, I’ll give you a picture of the prevailing, dis-integrative paradigm which is generating corruption across the board.

This is followed by the positive solution for restoring inner integrity, world wide. . . one person at a time. This inner integrity is the necessary foundation of enduring social/political stability.

A long-foreseen paradigm shift is in progress. Beginning with current chaos, called by astrologers “the deconstruction of the old order,” there’s a ray of future hope emerging — alternative, possibly better futures.

So. I will quote from the 2014 Introduction to Rethinking Survival, and then give illustrations –– examples of ways to apply the unifying Quantum Paradigm to specific subjects: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, Education, Creativity and Magic.

Please stay with me. This could change the WAY you think forever. Here we go.

PREMISE

Restoring free, fair and transparent elections is NECESSARY to the future of the United States as it continues to evolve. It is NOT, however, SUFFICIENT.

As the visible tip of a deep dangerous iceberg, restoring the process of free, fair and transparent elections is a key rallying point. It’s a vitally important starting place. But . . .

My urgent, ardent prayer is that we don’t stop, satisfied to fix the surface symptom, but instead take the next necessary step by going deep – really deep – to trace the problem of corruption back to its root cause and remedy that. Changes to the curriculum and structure of education will be essential to bringing about enduring, positive change.

Put another way, the election crisis is an acute symptom of an underlying dis-ease. We can welcome it as a screeching alarm. But it’s a just a warning signal, a call to fix the underlying cause — the false paradigm itself. Unless we identify and eliminate the root cause of disease, it will simply mutate, taking on different forms.

Patrick Byrne recently quoted Napoleon as saying, “Ideas rule the world.” An unfortunate corollary is, “False paradigms can destroy the world.”

Now. The trigger of the American revolution was lack of consent of the governed. Then, the issue was taxation without representation. But this was the surface symptom. The deeper, root cause was that the of laws of man, of nature and nature’s God (as eloquently put in the Declaration of Independence), had become perilously out of synch. At odds.

And the same is true today. Although a rigged election and weaponized virus are the triggers, again the underlying problem is the same. The false paradigm of empirical science which rules out the existence of inner levels of subtle experience has fragmented society into a world where the very existence of three interdependent levels of law has been forgotten.

So. I’ll show you the picture of levels of law in synch, followed by the current, chaotic state of fragmentation. Corruption in the way we “think” — entrenched in schools and poisoning social/economic/political and healthcare institutions across the board — is the root problem.

This is hidden danger which must be exposed and corrected in order to restore Unity within and then without, regenerating our personal lives and then the civilization at large.

The complete and accurate Quantum Paradigm, exquisitely simple, meets the comprehensive standard of Occam’s Razor. It is embodied in the archetypal Life Wheel which is equally compatible with ancient mysticism and quantum physics. It is the Unified Field Theory which Einstein intuited, but for lack of yoga training, missed.

[I totally apologize for the quality of images here. The originals are clear, but they translate poorly into the website. Lacking technical support, for the sake of timing and urgency/value of the concepts, I’m choosing to do the best I can given limited resources. Perhaps the Universe is calling prescient co-workers to assist me in completing this invaluable work.]

In the context of the Declaration of Independence, the levels of law look like this:

Now, empirical science says, “What is measurable, tangible, physical, quantifiable, that to which we can apply statistics — only that is real. Everything else is ruled out.”

And that’s a disaster. Here’s a picture of what happens. Denying the existence of inner levels of experience doesn’t change reality. They don’t cease to exist. They’re pushed out of awareness. The pieces fragment. They intersect in part, but not completely. And way out there, isolated and out of reach, is Source. Light. Conscience. Whatever you choose to call it.

At critical mass, this picture of widespread degeneration — with levels out of synch and at odds — explains, among many other things, the current, worldwide leadership deficit.

* * *

Here, from the Introduction to Rethinking Survival, is a description of the healing Quantum Paradigm:

Timeless teachings are the common heritage of all humanity. They aren’t the exclusive property of a particular culture or class. The most powerful ideas are, paradoxically, the most simple. They deserve to be expressed in the clearest language with fewest words possible, free of bias and distortions – accessible to anyone with basic reading skills and an open heart.

This is the premise of the Common Sense Book of Change and now, its distillation in the Quantum Paradigm of Change. Like the venerable I Ching [the encyclopedia of Natural Law,] applications of the Life Wheel are virtually limitless. It’s like a laser beam which, wherever it’s pointed, illumines the field. Both are effective tools for analysis, introspection and decision-making. The Life Wheel, however, is better suited to the short attention span of today’s users.

The Quantum Paradigm is the modern day answer to the ancient question, “What is that, knowing which, all else is known?” It images the axiomatic truth that humans are made in the Creator’s image. Like fractales, the microcosm mirrors the macro. It holds true on every scale of magnitude, from atoms to individuals, from families and nations to solar systems.

In sum: Just as the Titanic’s engineers failed to recognize the ship’s fatal flaw, today’s corporate and political leaders, acting on misinformation, are steering the planet ever closer to the brink of destruction. The Quantum Paradigm offers the hopeful opportunity to rethink our collective future, shift away from the current collision course towards disaster and ensure human survival.

Here are just a few applications relevant to 2021 concerns. In 2014, when they were created, I was in the early stages of blogging. However imperfect, they still reflect ideas worth your careful thought.

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The Path of Reason – 012821

Today’s I Ching answer totally surprised me, though in retrospect it makes perfect sense. I expected consequences of not choosing the Path of Love to be catastrophic. But the Tao is merciful. Eventually, all paths (however different, difficult and long) reunite, meeting at the same mountain top.

In hindsight, I recognized that the outcome of either choice is similar (though the process is not). Why? It goes back to the Great Reconciliation described earlier. Faith leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to faith. Apparently opposite approaches to experience are linked in an infinite loop. It looks like this:

Yesterday’s complimentary post, The Path of Love, focused on today’s full moon in Leo. But for folks closed by education and/or prejudice to the e=energy, middle level of the Life Wheel, that message rings false. They’re too reasonable, logical and intelligent to take stock of such nonsense. Operating on the empirical science paradigm which rules out anything which can’t be measured and quantified, all too many are stuck on the slow, round-about way to wisdom.

The good news for those who sincerely seek truth is that they’ll (eventually) find their way home. For, as it has wisely been said, “That which you seek seeks you.” Love will find a way to get through to the noisy mind, opening even the most hardened heart.

So long as we keep moving, the infinite path will take us home. Hearts closed for whatever reason – be it pride, disappointment, or abuse – can heal. Because it’s a two-way street, facts and faith will eventually align. In God’s time, each leads to the other.

I Ching wisdom confirms that when skillfully balanced, opposite approaches to fulfillment complement and complete each other:

OPPOSITES attract. When they are skillfully balanced, they unite to form a heart with a common center. When they clash, the conflict is destructive. Blending opposites is not easy. Rely on the unity beneath all diversity to bridge the gap. The result will be a creative flowering.

The open, receptive Path of Love is pure yin. In Taoist shorthand, it’s represented by an upward-pointing triangle. The grounded, masculine Path of Reason is pure yang, represented by a downward-pointing triangle. When merged, they form the biblical Star of David, the Hindu Shri Yantra. This particular image appeals to me because the center encompasses its parts.

Without exception, the hexagrams appearing in today’s reading are already familiar from The Lessons of 2020. ORIGIN is the original but dynamic answer to the question, “What is the consequence of failing to choose the higher path?” It reads:

All people thirst to know the roots their ORIGIN. At one level, learning about family and cultural traditions fills this need. At another level, this quest is satisfied by seeking for deeper knowledge. The vitality of all races flows from a single source which never runs dry. Avoid narrow-mindedness.

The starting point of this reading is narrow-mindedness. Often people, though committed to finding truth, are stuck at the level of cultural conditioning. But looking for wisdom on the surface of the Life Wheel is futile. It’s like“hunting for deer in a forest where none dwell.” What’s needed is to shift gears, broaden the paradigm and look deeper, approaching that single source which everyone everywhere shares in common.

* * *

Advice of the fifth line reads, “If you refuse to serve others, your gifts are wasted.” The situation is still one of narrow-minded selfishness. That approach leads to failure and must be released. When advice is heeded and one’s gifts are recognized as being integral to the welfare of the whole, the line changes to Promotion, which reads:

Promotion will come from steady, positive improvement over time. Rising to meet new challenges results in emotional maturity. Advancing on the job puts one in the position to serve those who are in need. Quiet, persistent self-discipline wins the confidence of others. Make the most of opportunities. Avoid hesitation.

Here self-discipline, emotional maturity and service enter the picture and are rewarded with recognition.

* * *

Building on the fifth line’s theme, advice of the top, sixth line reads, “Sharing your gifts will bring blessings and prosperity to many.” Here the benefits of promotion are multiplied to bless others as well as oneself. When the promise of the sixth line is fulfilled, it changes to Gentleness, which reads:

As the wind moves clouds, shapes mountains and stirs the trees, so GENTLENESS has a powerful influence. Quiet, steady gradual actions win respect and cooperation. Find out what concerns the people you work with and speak in those terms. In this way, you can reach their minds. Avoid noisy conflict.

Here, leadership evolves from one who is laughed at, then feared, then adored by the people to the deepest, broadest influence: broadcasting to every mind receptive at the quantum level.

* * *

The final, combined outcome of Origin is Fresh Start, which reads:

Even when it seems that all has been spoiled, it is possible to make a FRESH START. Be willing to face your faults. Find out how to correct them. The situation will gradually improve if you are sincere and work hard. Be sure you know what you want. Avoid delay.

Here, the noisy mind starts at the surface level of drama, conflict and scattered confusion. It takes determined effort to tame and discipline that mind. But if the intention to do so is sincere, clear and focused, gradually emerging from the swamp of chaotic emotions, hurtful relationships and destructive circumstances will most certainly follow.

Collected posts will be published as The Lessons of 2020: Using the Wisdom of CHANGE to Build a Better Future. Look for it on amazon in 2021.

If you’d like a copy of the Common Sense Book of Change, or extras to give others, click here.

To order Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change, click here.

Okay, then. That’s all for now. Talk with you again soon. Take care, all.

The GREAT RECONCILIATION – 012121

Before sharing the story of Abelard, Heloise, and the Great Reconciliation, let me give you a definition. Though often used carelessly, in fact, Reconciliation is an extraordinarily powerful word. It appears throughout the Bible. It’s infused with quantum implications. The Greek root means CHANGE or EXCHANGE.

We are told, Reconciliation involves a change in the relationship between God and humanity or between humans. After a breakdown in relationship, there is now a change from a state of enmity and fragmentation to one of harmony and fellowship.

Another source says, Reconciliation is bringing again into unity, harmony, or agreement what has been alienated.

Going forward, the Quantum Paradigm which embodies Einstein’s intuited Unified Field Theory is the potential vehicle of the next Great Reconciliation.

In the annals of European history, Abelard and Heloise are remembered, like Romeo and Juliet, as star-crossed lovers.

Historians are well-familiar with the highlights of their story. Abelard, a man of the cloth, was Heloise’s tutor. They became lovers. She got pregnant; their affair was outed. Her uncle exacted poetic justice. Abelard was attacked in the dark of night and castrated. The lovers later exchanged letters, but were never reunited.

The low lights of their story are usually overlooked. In fact, Abelard married Heloise. But to protect his reputation as a cleric, kept it secret. He urged her to take monastic vows. She did so, but only under protest. She felt no calling and made it clear she thought having to live a cloistered life was most unfair.

Their sad history is relevant to the ongoing discussion about the Rules of the Knowledge Game because Abelard went on to distinguish himself as one of the participants in “the Great Debate of the Middle Ages.”

That Great Debate was presented with style and passion in a way that remains indelibly imprinted in my mind. During my Freshman year at Oberlin College, Professor Barry McGill — a tall, pencil thin, bespectacled professor of European History — made a lasting impression.He drilled us on the effect pendulum swings between extremes have had on history.

He emphasized dramatically that ideas have great power to alter the course of people’s lives. Philosophers have a profound effect on the forms governments take and how leaders treat their people.

Long before Hegel wrote about dialectics, which in turn influenced Marx, a triad of medieval scholars – St. Augustine, Abelard and St. Aquinas– completed the classic example of contrasting philosophies regarding what can be known, by whom, and how. (The fancy philosophical word is “epistemology.”)

The importance of this debate cannot be over-stated. When the variables of the formula get too far out of synch, dire historical consequences follow. See: History Repeats Itself – Renaissance or Another Dark Ages?

In the middle ages, St. Augustine sat on one extreme of the philosophical see-saw. Abelard sat at the other. The intellectual world was at odds until St. Aquinas came up with the balancing fulcrum. Professor McGill virtually beamed his approval of the solution to the either/or conflict between science and religion. Historians, he told us, called it The Great Reconciliation.

St. Augustine depended exclusively on his belief in God. In his worldview, knowledge is the result of divine grace. His credo: “I believe that I may know.” Faith in God is prior and necessary to human understanding.

In Life Wheel context, Augustine’s primary reality rested at the center of the Wheel and extended outwards from it to encompass the surface of the physical, manifested world.

Abelard took the opposite approach. Man, he held, depends on observable things and direct experience to acquire knowledge. This approach, taken to the extreme, results in the exclusively materialistic paradigm of research science.

Abelard, however, never denied the existence of God. He believed that experience of the world leads the thoughtful man to deduce the necessary existence of God. In Quantum Paradigm context, he started at the Wheel’s surface and pushed inwards to complete the circuit.

It took St. Aquinas to complete the loop. He concluded there is no significant conflict between the two approaches. Knowing is a two-way street. No matter where you start, each position leads to and completes the other. The center and surface are connected in an infinite loop.

Aquinas said, in essence, “It works both ways. Observing the world leads to faith. Faith leads to effective understanding of the world.”

Allow me to point out a relevant conclusion from the sad story of Abelard and Heloise. Today’s exclusively rational philosophers are as sterile as was he. And Heloise’s feminist counterparts, isolated and cloistered, are equally unfulfilled. Just as yin and yang yearn for unity and the fulfillment of creative balance, so also faith and reason depend upon one another for completion.

As Einstein put it, Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.

At the 11th hour of human history, few people have time to learn much less apply the lessons of history. For the sake of simplicity and immediately useful implementation, the Great Debate’s outcome has been summed up in and illustrated in the form of the multi-dimensional Life Wheel.

Here’s why it is critically important to reconnect the surface with the center of the Life Wheel in an infinite two-way loop, joining the material surface with its innermost source:

The renaissance at the end of the middle ages, first in Italy and later in England represented by Elizabeth I’s Shakespeare, were times of paradigm shifts. The origin of universities took place during this time. The rules were in flux. It was fair game to access both sides of the coin. There was no perceived conflict between faith and reason. The result was a time of creative flowering in both the arts and sciences.

Human survival will depend on whether or not there’s a similar paradigm shift now . . . another reconciliation and reawakening to the full spectrum of human potentials, along with the flowering of creative problem-solving in the face of extraordinarily challenging times.

Collected posts will be published as The Lessons of 2020: Using the Wisdom of CHANGE to Build a Better Future. Look for it on amazon at the end of January, 2021.

If you’d like a copy of the Common Sense Book of Change, or extras to give others, click here.

To order Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change, click here.

Okay, then. That’s all for now. Talk with you again soon. Take care, all.

The Middle E=Energy Level of the Life Wheel

The stand-alone I Ching reading for October 22, 2020 is ENERGY. In conjunction with that reading, I’m publishing a bonus blog on the vastly important but misunderstood, overlooked middle, e=energy level of the Life Wheel.

This information was originally published in Rethinking Survival, and again in abbreviated form in the Handbook.

Most is written in the language of the person who I was in 2014, which at end-stage 2020 seems a lifetime ago. I’ve reworked it a bit for brevity and timeliness. I’ve sectioned off bite-sized pieces where some has been deleted.

Most, however, stands for itself. Given the dynamics of 2020’s prior-election chaos, with swirling rumors of drug addiction and treasonous corruption in high places, the following is highly relevant RIGHT NOW. None of it makes sense without the whole picture. So it deserves your careful attention.

e =energy. Much ignorance, misinformation and confusion surrounds the middle, energy level of the quantum paradigm.

Chaos in 2020 is a consequence of this tragic information deficit.

The middle level of the Life Wheel is the domain of Natural Law. The Chinese I Ching, the Book of Change, maps its repetitive, cyclic patterns. This body of knowledge evolved over eight thousand years as sages observed the operations of energy and documented the essential dynamics of change.

Natural Law maps the underpinnings of the physical world. Though invisible, everyone experiences its influence in their lives. Changing seasons occur on all levels in nature. They also repeat on every scale of magnitude in human experience, from the personal pattern of birth, growth, decay and death to the repeating cycles of human history. (Strauss and Howe’s The Fourth Turning is but tip of the iceberg.)

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The middle level is the realm of less tangible but still measurable states of energy, including electricity. More subtly, it is the chi, ki or prana described by Chinese, Japanese and Indian traditions as the life force which animates all living beings. In Greek and Christian contexts it correlates with the breath, the psyche.

These subtle energies influence internal psychological states and drive external human behavior, which in turn affects social relationships. Knowledge of these dynamics is essential to personal survival.

Effective leadership and the quality of life within organizations hinge on the quality of awareness brought to dynamics at this level. Some leaders understand the dynamics of change at a gut level as a matter of common sense. However, systematic education would significantly improve results of the decision-making process.

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Many “sensitives” survive by channeling socially banned, unacceptable awareness into the arts: music and literature, including romance, murder mysteries and science fiction.

Humor provides another outlet for releasing the pent-up emotional tensions which cause illness. The quantum paradigm gives credence to the Norman Cousin’s belief that “laughter is the best medicine.” It validates the healing wisdom of Patch Adams, the paradigm-breaking physician who’s earned international fame for clowning with patients.

Rather than merely releasing pressure build-up, however, yogic practices harness that energy. They integrate the levels. According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the purpose of preliminary disciplines is to to heal the physical body of disease and then correct ignorant character flaws which result in personal misfortune.

The next step is to purify the body-mind of toxic, emotional disturbances which clog the middle level. This enables students to penetrate the so-called astral sheath and prepares them to travel deeper to merge with the innermost source, thus fulfilling the ultimate purpose of life. Incidental powers (siddhis) which sometimes occur at this mid-stage of development are warned against as obstacles: dangerous distractions from the goal of enlightened inner peace.

The power generated at this level is the driving force that allows seemingly ordinary people to perform extraordinary feats of strength and endurance. The mother who single-handedly lifts a vehicle off of a beloved child trapped beneath demonstrates the stored energy potentials which can be released in response to a crisis of Titanic proportions.

When sufficiently purified and mastered, disciplined and intelligently harnessed to positive goals, the middle level fuels Anthony Robbins’ “unlimited power.” These subtle energies explain the possibility of seemingly impossible feats, including the miracles attributed to Moses and Jesus.

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The concept of Natural Law as America’s founding fathers understood it was based on the writing of European philosophers: Rousseau, Locke and Hobbes. Though in some ways similar, for the most part it’s a different subject. In the 20th century, Wetherill reinvented “natural law.” Unfortunately, his valid contribution is distorted by the imposition of an evangelical agenda.

Other than to acknowledge that different approaches to Natural Law exist, they’re outside the parameters of this discussion.

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In Life Wheel context, the “subtle” energy realm exists between the outer, surface level of matter and the deepest center of unchanging stillness. As the functional link between extremes, both on the out-going and the in-going paths, it serves as the gatekeeper and mediator between the two. “You can’t get from here to there,” except through this middle level of experience. Cluttering or denying access to it make connection with the Center difficult, at best.

Historically, Asian cultures are more comfortable with this middle level. Asian healing arts and practices including as chi kung, tai chi and hatha yoga use exercise to intentionally circulate, balance, harness and direct subtle energies through the physical body.

Westerners are beginning to catch up. As international business and educational exchanges increase, Western technologies and Eastern subtle sciences are cross-fertilizing.

Musicians, especially ones educated in the Eastern and Western sciences of sound vibrations, are keenly attuned to this level. Inspired, harmonious music can heal the physical body and uplift the soul.

It’s no accident that Einstein was an accomplished violinist. Or that the biblical David — first musician, later warrior and king — soothed King Saul’s feverish fits by singing to the accompaniment of his stringed lyre.

Don Campbell describes the benefits of performing or just listening to classical music. His title, The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit suggests music’s ability to harmonize and coordinate the levels of the Life Wheel. Research has shown that the effects of music delay or even prevent dementia. Harsh, strident sounds, however, trigger negative emotions and can damage the nervous system.

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The middle level is also the repository of karmic information, where the history of past actions is kept, along with a record of debts to be repaid. In psychological terms, it’s the repository of short and long-term memories. The composite of emotions — fears, desires and repressed tendencies — are stored here in what Western psychologies call the “unconscious.” It is the stuff of dreams — inspired visions, nightmares and everything in-between.

The bardo, where (according to The Tibetan Book of the Dead) recently departed souls travel, is located within this level. Spirits, ghosts, leprechauns, angels and demons or jinn acknowledged by various mystic traditions also reside there. From here, unseen hands from the “dark side of the force” reach out to derange the minds of power-hungry rulers and undermine political affairs. (It’s for this reason that disciplines for “cleaning out the swamp” precede introduction to advanced yogic practices.)

So long as invisible energetic influences remain unaccounted for, the failings and depravities of human leaders remain mystifying. Conspiracy theorists can track the complicated networks of human crime on the surface. But to trace world domination plots back to their lair, one must look deeper. St. Paul described it in his letter to the Ephesians:

6:12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

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When cluttered and undisciplined, the middle energy level is like a swamp full of alligators.

Once the swamp is cleared out and the alligators are tamed, however, energetic potentials can be harnessed to worthy goals. They’re like the gas that fuels the car engine, or the horses that drove Plato’s chariot. They become the generator of what Tony Robbins calls “unlimited power.”

But easier said than done. The quantum paradigm validates experiences which report a dark side to the subtle realm, which the life traveler must be prepared to encounter and survive. Some describe it as “Chapel Perilous” or “the Hero’s Journey.”

There’s much truth to the classic lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The beleaguered prince, haunted by the horrific vision of his murdered father’s ghost, tells his steadfast friend, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Here are three examples of encounters with the dark side. The first has a positive outcome, the second a tragic result, and the third a comic twist.

The most familiar is the temptation of Christ. After forty days and nights spent fasting in the wilderness, he was approached by the devil. All the kingdoms of the world were promised to him in return for bowing down in worship. Jesus answered, “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and only him shalt thou serve.”

The tragic example of temptation is the Faust story, most famously told by the German romantic poet, Goethe. Fed up with the arid emptiness of intellectual life, an aging scholar agrees to sell his soul to Mephistopheles in return for youth, power and the love of an innocent woman. Inevitably, he pays a terrible price.

The third example is the comical but cautionary tale of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, animated as a Disney cartoon, staring (appropriately) Mickey Mouse. In his master’s absence, a lazy student tries to harness the forces of nature to do his cleaning chores. He succeeds in casting a spell on the element of water, but can’t turn it off. He escapes drowning only because the master returns to rescue him.

This third example brings up an important point which deserves emphasis. The Life Wheel’s paradigm is called “positive” because all the components of Einstein’s formula included, balanced, aligned and prioritized. The center is the first and primary core. Energy is subordinate to it. It emanates from this source and returns to it. The surface, though largest in circumference, is but the final and transitory manifestation of the creative process. It depends on the center for its existence and upon the energy level for life-sustaining vitality.

History is full of seekers who get a taste of power and then, tragically, forget from whence it came and to which it must return. They presume to challenge and rebel against the Creator, as if it were possible to usurp the center place within the wheel. They distort the relationship amongst the variables, attempting to turn things upside down. Inversions and perversions inevitably bring harm to those who try to put themselves first, mistakenly attempting to subordinate either nature or nature’s God to the whims and ambitions of human ego.

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Turning off consciousness is far from an optimal option. Inhibiting awareness of the energy level cripples efforts to acquire self-knowledge, much less enlightenment. Religionists, moralists and even poets like Edgar Alan Poe warn against exploring the middle realm, portraying it as dangerous, fearful or unclean.

But in effect this slams the lid on libido, the motivating life force. Doing so doesn’t avoid its dangers. It just banishes this level from conscious awareness. This part of inner experience then festers, rendered inaccessible, relegated to “unconscious” status.

Enforcing taboos on access to energy level awareness backfires, resulting in mental illness, socially aberrant behavior, addictions and personal tragedy. Jung’s observation, quoted in relation to irrational prejudice, bears repeating here:

Our time has committed a fatal error; we believe we can criticize the facts of religion intellectually. . . The gods have become diseases; Zeus no longer rules Olympus but rather the solar plexus, and produces curious specimens for the doctor’s consulting room, or disorders the brains of politicians and journalists who unwittingly let loose psychic epidemics on the world.

The facts of religion Jung referred to include not only the existence of a supreme being residing at the center of and permeating the whole of creation, but also the middle energy level — including the dangers of its satanic potentials — as an integral part of that whole.

Chinese sages, who trod lightly but surely in that middle realm, used the I Ching as their instruction manual. Recently, it’s been correctly called a “spiritual GPS.” Jung understood the potential good that could come from introducing this wisdom to the Western world, where it could be used as an instrument for making the unconscious again conscious, restoring intelligent competence at this level.

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I summed up the repressive attitude of the materialistic science paradigm in the following Essay Sketch:

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Funny how the mind works. For centuries it’s been known that if you tell people not to think of white elephants, they’ll think of nothing else. So, to pervert children, forbid them to think about sex.

Slamming the lid on libido drives it into the inaccessible “unconscious.” While publicly feigning compliance, people thus repressed will privately indulge compulsive sexuality in extreme.

Energy science trains students to be wise/skillful in sexual matters, fulfilling intimate needs without tearing the fabric of their emotional/social life apart or harming innocents. Why aren’t these basics taught in schools, instead of filling young heads with ignorant fear and shame of their bodies and God-given potentials?

Havoc reaped now for enforcing ignorance/silence is sure indicator that long-neglected basics should be top educational priority of Positive Action advocates.

And ask this: Who, if anyone, stands to profit by the results of ignorance?

Many a politician and educator knows this sad truth. It would be instructive to look at the tragic (if predictable) sex abuse scandals which plague the Catholic church through the lens of the quantum paradigm. See Daniel Goleman’s work on “emotional intelligence” (why it can matter more than IQ) for an approach to educating competent behavior at this level of experience.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) looks at emotions from a complimentary perspective. “E-motion” is an energy-suggestive word, suggesting kinetic potential. It’s closely associated with “motives.”

Each of the basic emotions correlates with an internal organ, giving new meaning to clichés like, “My gut tells me . . .” or “It makes my heart ache . . .” In TCM, anger is associated with the liver, fear with the kidneys, worry with the stomach, and so forth. When the physical body is basically healthy and the energies of the internal organs are harmoniously balanced, each is associated with a specific virtue. The virtue of the lungs is courage. The virtue of the liver is kindness. The virtue of the heart is compassion.

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Those denied access to material and social resources are often forced inside. Of necessity, turning inward, they develop and depend for survival upon strengths drawn from the middle and center of the Wheel. It these cases, it expresses as “street smarts.”

At times, material deprivation and hardships yield the opposite and equal blessings of in-sight and emotional fortitude. Other times, however, excessive investment at the middle level results in delusions, latent with the potential for erupting into violence.

In any case, making a virtue of necessity by rejecting the material world prevents completion of the pattern. It can’t correctly be equated with spirituality.

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Cultures which enforce an exclusively materialistic worldview and deny the experience of everything which isn’t tangible and measurable place severe hardships on those whose inner lives are especially active. The Handbook gives ample opportunities to diagnose such imbalances, the better to remedy them.

Societies which deny their citizens practical outlets for harnessing inner energies creatively drive people crazy — to political extremes, homicidal violence, to suicide — or at best, underground.

Many “sensitives” survive by channeling socially banned, unacceptable awareness and longing for self-fulfilling adventure into the arts: music and literature, including romance, murder mysteries and science fiction.

This is a great loss to society. The world would be better off if high-energy, creative individuals were identified as potential leaders, trained and given employment options accordingly.

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