Category Archives: Uncategorized

Do I Understand What You Mean?

I promised this blog to Steven Z. In response to a tweet, he wrote, “I have a possible new article suggestion for you and it’s simply – Rethinking Word Usage.” He continued, “In general, people use ‘words’ that they unfortunately have no clue of their true meaning or origin. I’ll even go so far as to suggest the paradigm of usage has become corrupted on purpose, as a social control mechanism. By whom?”**

After giving examples, Steven Z concluded, “It’s all these subtleties that add up to being where the world is today = lack of awareness.”

On June 17th, I answered back, “Great Message, Steve. I’ve written extensively about this issue. 1) Virtually every key term in the English language has been perverted to the extent that the same word means both one thing and its opposite. 2) Unraveling this “Tower of Babel” factor is essential to communication.

“In fact, I tweeted out today, from The Positive Paradigm Handbook: ‘Axiom Six: Used as a linguistic tool, the Positive Paradigm Wheel promotes clear, accurate and effective communication.’”

Here’s an illustration worth a thousand words, It shows the range of different meanings assigned to the single word, “discrimination.”

062414 Discrim

Here’s a basic explanation of Axiom Six:

Like humanity itself, the English language is also becoming an endangered species. Clear and effective communication can no more be taken for granted than any other aspect of the civilization.

In tracking the meanings of words, their devolution is found to be systematic. In some cases, the same word means not only one thing, but its exact opposite as well. The inherent danger is that people often talk at cross-purposes, thinking they understand each other when in fact they’re missing each other coming and going, only vaguely aware of the disconnect.

It’s worth the time to pay attention to what’s meant by specific words in common use. Working with the Positive Paradigm Wheel explains the dynamics of shifting definitions. The same word takes on different meanings on different levels of the Wheel.

One example is the word “positive.” Webster’s Dictionary lists seventeen (!) different uses. They span the continuum from center to surface, with many gradations along the route. At the core, “positive” refers to that which is absolute, unqualified, and independent of circumstances; that which has real existence in itself.

At the middle, energy level, the term is used describe an electrical valence. As an attitude, positive can mean either confident or dogmatic. At the surface, positive may mean showing forward progress or increase, making a constructive contribution.

As this one example serves to indicate, it’s extraordinarily difficult to communicate so as to be understood as intended. The “Tower of Babel” factor issue is addressed in Rethinking Survival and Conscience:

Tower of Babel Factor

The gift of language sets humans apart from animals. It provides the building blocks of communication. It’s the foundation of civilizations and the necessary glue of cultural continuity.

That being said, humans are the only creatures who rationalize greed, lie to others about their actions and deceive themselves. . . .

That’s quite the opposite of the language I’d learned to love and respect in high school. There, we were taught to regard language as the premier tool of logic. When used with Sherlock-like diligence, applied with the powers of keen observation and heightened awareness, it can solve mysteries — not only detect the crimes of evil-doers and the nefarious plots of national enemies, but reveal the mysteries of life and the universe.

Turned inwards, used with self-honesty, language is an essential tool of introspection used for cultivating self-awareness. For the truth-seeker, language is the necessary vehicle of information both on the inward quest and on the return journey to share its benefits.

** In Rethinking Survival, I’ve also described the intentional perversion of the English language to which Steven Z alludes. However, it’s outside the limits of this particular piece.

 

Don’t Blame the Stars – the Fault is in False Paradigms

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Last week, driving down hilly country roads, listening to the radio, I chanced upon an NPR interview with John Green, author of the wildly popular book — now a movie — The Fault in Our Stars. He said he spent years writing, alone in his basement, going, “Marco, Marco, Marco.” And then, finally, a response: “Polo!”

Green has reworked for Millennials the archetypal story of star-crossed lovers that has resonated with theater-goers ever since Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

In 1970, Love Story, ar tear-jerking tragedy of youthful lovers separated by cancer, was a box office hit.

In 1997, the same archetype catapulted the movie Titanic to world-wide success. Here, lovers rich and poor crossed social boundary lines, only to be separated by calamity and death.

Why is that archetype so powerful? Wherein lies its power to move us? What is the deeper prescient chord it strikes that is common to everyone, everywhere? Because there’s much more to the scenario than just young love and social differences.

It speaks to us at a deeper level. Especially in Titanic, we respond subliminally, not only with a painful awareness of our own mortality, but also an inner foreboding – foreknowledge, if you will — that even as we continue to heedlessly pursue our individual wants, the mother ship of planet Earth is speeding on a collision course towards disaster.

While each individual faces the certainty of physical death, far worse, we’re now faced with the possibility of collective extinction as well.

Importantly, however, Green’s title, The Fault in Our Stars, isn’t taken from Romeo and Juliet. The quote comes from a Shakespearean tragedy about political intrigue, betrayal and assassination: Julius Caesar. The scheming nobleman Cassius tells his co-conspirator: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

On the surface level, Hazel and Augustus, Green’s cancer-stricken protagonists, may regard their cancers as the separating enemy at fault. But just as there are many kinds of physical cancers, there are deeper ones to blame for the larger tragedies that threaten humanity on a planetary scale.

The same ego-driven madness expressed by Cassius drives leaders today too, escalating the advance of wordwide oppression.

According to The Positive Paradigm Handbook, the megalomaniac urges that motivate many politicians and corporate executives are like cancers:

Dysfunctional paradigms result in fragmented policies and unstable governments. . . This happens when toxic, pride-based competition enters into the mix of human relationships. The illusion that one person or group “needs” to seem bigger, better, stronger, smarter or more powerful than the others poisons the waters of life from which all drink.

This prideful attitude breeds insecurities, triggering an opposite and equal illusion of lack, as if the success of others constitutes an insult or threat that must be counter-attacked.

Like cancers which turn the cellular dynamics of the human body against itself, views that violate holistic wisdom turn the parts of the social organism against each other.

In other words, the underlying fault of the tragic story I’m writing about in my secluded author’s corner is another kind of self-destructive cancer. And though it would take a great deal of courage and considerable, ongoing effort, for some, it’s curable.

What is needed is a positive paradigm shift. In Einstein’s words, “We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”

True, grieving over a sentimental boy-meets-girl story is less challenging than facing up to our deepest faults and fears first hand. We are ready to weep for fictional characters when what we’re really crying about is our own inevitable demise. The problem with projection, however, is that shedding tears doesn’t change the facts.

It might well be that emotional romance stories are part of the diversionary media noise being generated to distract away from and cover up impending real life dangers. In the meantime, I am still writing away, like Green going “Marco, Marco, Marco.”

“Polo,” anyone?

Democracy Is a Myth

Another installment of Reinventing Democracy must include my basic conclusion that today, for many reasons, democracy is a myth.

For starters, in Rethinking Survival, I draw on the key observation made by legendary comparative religion expert Joseph Campbell.

In his opinion, current myths (meaning creation stories and paradigms of how the world works) no longer serve us well. He called for a new paradigm, one that allows us to recognize the humanity of people living on the other side of the hemisphere.

Anticipating the Positive Paradigm of Change as the embodiment of Einstein’s long-sought Unified Theory, in The Power of Myth, Campbell wrote, “I’ve often wondered if some of the notions coming out of quantum physics, quantum interconnectedness, don’t express that.”

Historically, a belief in democracy is fundamental to the American world view. However, what I inadvertently proved in my dissertation’s statistical research study is that the existence of democracy in America is also a myth in the slang usage, meaning “false and fictitious.” Excerpts from Rethinking Survival explain.

 

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THE SELECTION PROCESS: Democracy is a Myth

Graduate school years were another mixed blessing. While earning a Ph.D. in Educational Administration didn’t lead to career advancement, it was highly therapeutic: another opportunity to divest myself of unconsciously held programming.

One day I would read in the research literature about the mistakes women new to administration make, being unable to read the hidden cues of old boys’ club colleagues. The next day, I would fall kerplunk, right into the same traps. Ouch! I would read about female stereotypes, and almost immediately find myself playing them out. Aha!

Another upside was the presence of exactly the right people in the right places to tell me what I needed to know to survive. . . . Howard Wakefield, the Department Chairman, took on the role of thesis advisor. His sense of humor and down-to-earth attitude saw me safely through the Ph.D. credentialing process. We spent long hours talking philosophy. Howard was a practicing Christian. He gave me a pocket Bible from the stash he kept in his center desk drawer. I treasured this gift.

The dissertation topic was as challenging for him as for me. Stereotype issues literally hit home. He began to see relationships with his wife and teenage daughter in a new light. But, he told me, it worked both ways. The job of his dreams had been to be a school district administrator.

But he was a short and small-boned. With thick glasses, he didn’t exactly project an athletic image. Muscular football coaches capable of nailing unruly teenage boys to the gym wall were the candidates of choice. He became a professor because, like it or not, that was stereotype he matched.

The Dissertation

Ethnology was ruled out for thesis projects. I was required to use statistical methods in my 1978 Ph.D. dissertation, “Women Principals in Wisconsin Elementary Schools: A Support-Success Theory.” With 99 percent statistically significant results, this study proved that public schools in Wisconsin are an inbred, insider’s closed shop.

No one enters the selection process who hasn’t first been identified and groomed by current school administrators. No one enters graduate school to earn a school administrator degree or applies to the Department of Public Instruction for credentials who hasn’t already been promised a job. The unwritten, informal rules of the pre-selection process require that job candidates mirror the values, beliefs and interests of current power-holders.

Dissertation research surveyed four distinct groups with the same set of questions. Each population had radically different perceptions of the same selection process. Men principals, those who benefit most from the process, responded with a remarkable 98 percent return rate, insisting the process is fair and unbiased.

Men teachers, however, those whose expectations and ambitions had been thwarted, were angry and cynical, certain that the process is stacked and unfair. In one respondent’s words, the chief qualification is “a willingness to screw teachers.”

Women teachers were oblivious to the existence of a selection process. Their mantra was, “I am not aware . . .” Only women principles were ambivalent. As boundary spanners, they had succeeded in being selected, but still recognized bias and injustice in the selection process.

What separated principals from teachers, regardless of gender, was the combined support received in their personal and professional lives. Those who got the most support succeeded accordingly. Those who received little support were least likely to succeed.

Interestingly, my research of the literature found that convenient myths are easily forgotten when they suddenly become inconvenient. A paradigm shift occurs, for example, during war time. When the men are away and there’s work to be done, then women are suddenly seen as perfectly fit to function as factory workers or school principals.

By extension, it’s only when the times make skewed rules of the knowledge and power-distribution game sufficiently inconvenient that the public will become receptive to the Positive Paradigm of Change and Positive Action ways to identify and support more effective leaders.

Applications: the I Ching view recognizes that patterned events repeat smallest to largest. Thus my research findings can be applied to the selection of government officials at every level. It applies to the selection of the CEOs in leadership positions within businesses and corporations. It also applies to political leadership, even on an international scale.

Conclusion: the American dream of a democratic, meaningful choice in leadership is but an illusion. In an informal process that proceeds the formal one, candidates are pre-selected and effectively owned by insiders. The sorry absence of innovative, effective leadership is explained by the documented filtering process which for the most part excludes creative, natural leaders.

What are the long-term survival consequences? To our detriment, the Western linear progressive theory of history puts in-bred leaders operating on dysfunctional paradigms at a loss to foresee cyclical down-turns in order to prepare for them in time.

Ancient Egypt’s pharaoh had his Joseph to interpret warning dreams and oversee the timely storage of grain during seasons of plenty to off-set famine during seasons of drought. Who prepares or listens to such boundary-spanning advisors now?

What’s Most Important – Nature, Nurture, OR . . . ?

The other day, I encountered Ivan Goldberg on LinkedIn. A Chair at Vistage International, his formal title is Executive Mentor and Coach. But it’s his personal handle I find irresistible. He describes himself as an “Enthusiastic Agent for Change, Wise Old Sage, Great Listener, and Author of ‘Leading to Success.’”

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I’m an author of books on change based on the book ancient sages have depended upon for eight thousand years and counting. So I had a hunch that I’d found a kindred soul. I sent an email to find out.

When he accepted my invite, I wrote back: “Thanks for the connection, Ivan– Your blogs look terrific. Maybe you’d like mine as well. Here’s one that’s just been retweeted. Thanks for your great work. All best, Pat West”

Sure enough, he answered me, “Hi Pat. Many thanks for the link. Your blog is certainly more academic (that is a compliment BTW) than mine and is very thought provoking. Hope that you like today’s post on Leadership. Best regards, Ivan”

Being an academic (though also much more), I did my homework. On his website, Ivan asks “Are Leaders Born or Made?” He also answers the question: “It is Nature, Nurture and Much More!”

One good blog deserves another. So I answered back:

“Hi Ivan. Yes, I liked the Nature, Nurture AND More blog. I also liked the ones on motivating and daring to be different. Seems to me that you do in fact have the soul of a sage, and know a thing or two about change. The Chinese don’t have a monopoly on wisdom after all. Now I’m motivated to write you an answering blog on the subject of nature, nurture, and More. I’ll alert you come mid-week, if you like. All best, Pat”

What follows is my response to Ivan’s blog. He concludes, “Is it a matter of nature or nurture?  It is both.  Leaders need to be aware of their inborn abilities and how they can develop them, which is, essentially, an auto-didactic exercise.”

What? “Auto-didactic?!” I can’t resist a friendly tease here. Ivan, who doesn’t really have much use for academics, uses a pretty fancy word that I (the presumed academician) had to look up. Turns out, it means self-analysis. As a noun, it means self-taught.

Agreed. Self-responsible learning and experience are essential. Potential is necessary but not sufficient. However, the wisdom of sages (not the same as academic theories) can make a useful difference. I’ll give one example here using the Positive Paradigm Wheel of Change which is true to the original, the I Ching. This picture talks to the right brain to balance the left-brain discussion which follows.

It places the relationship of nature, nurture and “much more” in prioritized context.

NatureNurtureWheel

For those as yet unfamiliar with the Unified Theory of Einstein’s heart’s desire, let me explain briefly. The model of concentric wheels-within-wheels is equally compatible with modern atomic science, the world’s great religions, and yoga philosophy.

The surface level that corresponds with MASS includes everything tangible and measurable. It’s the realm of empirical science. That would be “nurture.”

The middle ENERGY level corresponds not only with electricity, but with subtle but measurable energies that yogis call “chi” or “prana.” It’s the level associated with DNA, emotions and “gut” feelings. As detailed below, that’s the level of “nature.”

The innermost level of LIGHT is associated with intangibles. That’s the “. . . and Much MORE.”

On the surface, intelligence is measured by IQ. It’s also the realm of human laws and social codes, including morality.

The middle level is the domain of the natural law encoded in the venerable Chinese Book of Change. Competence at the middle level is popularly called EQ – Emotional Intelligence. This is the realm of native virtues, including but not limited to courage, kindness and calmness. Compassion is the balanced composite of intrinsic virtues.

Still further inwards, deeper knowledge is experienced as intuition, sometimes called guidance. Most notably, the New and Old Testaments speak to this level.

At the hub of life’s Wheel, the unchanging center holds the radiating spokes and rim together. This eternal source of life and light is associated with the silent voice of Conscience. The Chinese call it the Tao, the Way which cannot be named.

Here’s how Ivan’s comments on nature vs. nurture fit into the Wheel. The surface of the Wheel is the level of daily experience, which includes on-the-job and classroom training as well as expert mentoring. This is the level of nurture – leadership development.

Even so, depending on what (or whether) they choose to learn from it, experience shapes different leaders differently. (Academics who are heavy on theory but light on experience are understandably frustrating to leaders whose common sense is highly developed.)

The middle level of the Wheel is where some leaders fall short. This is what Ivan calls nature – innate potentials. Leaders may or may not be self-aware on this level. Some trust their gut feelings more than others. A fortunate few, like Mozart, for example, are born already in-formed. But a deficit can be improved by relevant training, especially when reinforced by practical experience.

The innermost level of the Wheel is where more leaders are gun shy. This is the “And MORE” factor. Deeper than either surface nurture or middle level nature, only the most successful are in-formed by intuition (which is different from gut instinct.) Creative change agents regarded as visionaries receive their inspiration at this level.

The center of the Wheel is, by definition, absolute. The other levels emanate from and return to this creative source. The very best leaders are those who focus here and link the hub all the way to the surface. They’re equally competent on all levels in a balanced way. This is the ideal towards which to strive. It’s also the standard for deciding which leaders to follow, and which ones to promote.

In Positive Paradigm context, the three levels radiating outwards from the central hub are prioritized. For this reason, a highly proficient but insensitive and uninspired technician isn’t yet qualified to lead others. An enthusiastic, high energy leader may attract followers. But a charismatic speaker whose ethics are shaky or whose connection to the center is unstable needs work. Wherever there are deficiencies, once identified, they can be corrected. This is the purpose and value of the The Positive Paradigm Handbook.

The relationship amongst the levels explains the extraordinary success of leaders who start with few material advantages, but succeed far beyond many who begin with more.

Scriptures tell us, and the best leaders affirm, “With God, all things are possible.” That is to say, from a strong connection to the center, entire empires can be spun. Leaders who demonstrate the courage of their convictions make up for early social disadvantages through native intelligence, hard work and the not-coincidental luck this generates.

Detractors may doubt the necessary connection between material success, emotional intelligence, intuition and conscience. They ask, “What explains the success of the fabulously rich and powerful men on the planet who, as outspoken atheists, get whatever they want, however they want, with no regard for the harm they cause to anyone who dares stand their way?”

Well, there are many stories about bad deals with the Devil. Satan promises – and for a short time, can sometimes deliver – ephemeral success in the transitory world. But never the lasting peace which comes from following conscience. Disciples of Saul Alinsky, an admitted follower of Lucifer, can deliver worldly success to political organizers (you know who they are) willing to deceive, fragment and exploit the masses they pretend to serve.

But leaders who intentionally live true their conscience and succeed in linking the levels of life are key to a viable future. The rest of us will depend on them to out-think, out-maneuver and succeed long after pretenders with no substantial connection to the center of life have been blown away like dust in the wind.

So here’s my ongoing call to sages world-wide. Unite in the vision of Einstein’s Unified Theory. As he warned us, this “substantially new way of thinking” is a matter of human survival.

 Angel Calling

 

Discovering the Missing Link

This afternoon, as an after-thought, my author-journalist LinkedIn connection emailed me, “On another note, your years living in Europe and your other international travel sound interesting. Must be a good story there. Would love to hear more when time permits.”

As a matter of fact, a section in Rethinking Survival describes the highlights of living in Europe. So I’ll share some of them here.

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EUROPE: Discovering the Missing Link

“If you love your children, tell them how the world works.” — Dr. Phil

According to the people who raised me, the way the world worked was this. If you “pleased” them, then they would take care of you: feed you, house you, pay the bills for your clothes . . . let you live. If you didn’t, they’d disown you, cut you off, write you out of their will. The end. Survival depended exclusively on being very good at pleasing those who controlled the money and the material resources which come from it.

In my case, this was a problem. What pleased one adult didn’t please the next. And what pleased me didn’t necessarily please any of them. It was, at best, a con. Bottom line: I had no idea of how the world really works, only that mine at the time didn’t work for me. When conflicting survival demands came to a head, I had to split. “Get out of town, Tonto. Pronto.”

The year Nixon was elected president, a poster hanging in my dorm hallway said it all. It showed him wearing Uncle Sam’s pin-stripe suit and top hat, finger pointing to recruit. The question posed:  “Would you buy a used car from this man?” My answer was, “No way!” I wasn’t in a position to change the country, so I changed my location. At the invitation to join up with a touring Brazilian chamber orchestra, I left for foreign lands.

Living abroad began the process of divesting the cultural conditioning I’d taken for granted. Being the only English speaker in the group made me rethink communication, getting down to the basics. When it took an effort to find the words, it was amazing how little really needed to be said. Accompanied with suggestive body language and facial expressions. a few words went a long way.

However, I found that change of scene, of language and cultural settings, changed nothing of substance. “Wherever you go, there you are.” In Sandor Vegh’s violin master class, students from around the world agonized over the same dilemmas I thought I’d left behind. They too thought they could escape problems just by walking away – but nothing is so easy.

Nao, a darkly mournful Japanese violist, described the shock of discovering her older brother’s dead body hanging limp in his clothes closet. Chiao, a bright shining extrovert, grieved over love lost. When she beat him to take first place in a violin competition, Alberto chose a less threatening lover as his companion.

My German hosts, who’d survived WWII, however, had much to teach. They didn’t take survival, as I had up to that point, for granted. A cellist friend with whom I stayed in St. Georgen, located in the Black Forest of South Germany, told me her mother’s story. To save her starving children’s lives during the Russian occupation of Berlin after the war, Frau Hass changed from oppressed housewife to heroic protector. In contrast, Herr Petersen, a 75-year-old portrait painter – my Düsseldorf landlord – recalled war time as “the best years.” It was only then– albeit of extreme necessity– that formal, inhibited Germans came out of their shells and actually talked with one another.

For me, the highlight of studies at the Robert Schumann Konservatorium wasn’t the music teachers, but a modest, insightful kinesiology instructor. Frau Lehru wasn’t a musician herself. But vocal and instrumental teachers alike sent students beyond their help to her.

The pianist whose lessons were scheduled the hour before mine told me her story. Herr Dreschel had given up on her as either lazy or untalented. But Frau Lehru diagnosed the real problem — pinched spinal nerves. Recommended visits to a chiropractor worked “miracles.” Elated, she was a “new person.”

I went to her studio and asked Frau Lehru to coach me. Her lessons were wonderful. She saw timidity in my posture and tension in the way I held my violin. She gave me exercises to correct not only my posture, but the underlying attitudes which bent me out of shape.

“Platz machen,” she encouraged me. “Make room! Don’t crowd me!” And, “Auf wiederstand waschen.” Figuratively, Grow upwards. Stand tall under the pressure of resistance and adversity.

In retrospect, it was if she’d reinvented the yogic disciplines which sitar and tabla students are taught in India, where music technique is balanced with breathing and physical exercises. Her gift inspired a change in my career goals. Rather than teach technique, I could help many more musicians by becoming an exercise-and-therapy coach in one, like her. She was much too busy to consider writing about her methods and results. I would do this for her with a book called The Body as Instrument: How to Tune It. (Still later, ratcheting up another notch, I aspired to build schools to facilitate a whole generation of coaches like Frau Lehru.)

Even more influential than people, however, were two books I discovered in Düsseldorf’s International Book Market on Königs Allee. In combination, they substantially broadened my life’s horizons. One was the Wilhelm/Baynes English translation of the Chinese I Ching, the Book of Change. The other was Carl Jung’s autobiography, Memories Dreams and Reflections. This Swiss analyst also wrote the introduction to the Wilhelm/Baynes translation.

I’m now aware of much that’s been written about Jung’s darker side. But in 1970, I resonated with his descriptions of self-discovery. In particular, I related to the story about his quickest cure. A young woman, the daughter of wealthy, stylishly atheistic parents was instantly healed of her neurosis upon learning of her heritage. Her grandfather had been a Talmudic scholar. Though an embarrassment to her parents, he was regarded by peers as a saint. This knowledge gave her permission to know what she “knew,” and released her psychological suffering instantly.

As it happened, I’d just been contacting my grandparents, asking them to write me about their history. I did so because Herr Oswald Peterson, my portrait painter landlord, insisted I was not American. “Who are you?” he wanted to know.

I’d already known that in her youth, my father’s mother, Grandma Ellie West, had a gorgeous soprano voice. What I learned from her letters was that she’d auditioned for John Philip Sousa’s world tour and was invited to join his band as a soloist. But she decided to stay home instead to marry my grandfather, Hub. She heartily approved of my European music jaunt. “Good for you!”

I was fascinated to learn from Grandpa Dave, my mother’s father, that his father came from Russia. He was a “very good” tailor by profession and a Talmudic scholar as well. A-ha. Who would have guessed? It opened a door of new possibilities in my mind.

Because Jung experienced dreams as the winged messengers of key insights, I began paying attention to mine. The dream I remember best was of climbing the third-story stairs of Herr Peterson’s building. He’d never repaired the roof after the WWII, so the top flight led to rubble and open air.

In my dream, however, I discovered a new floor that hadn’t been there before. It was dimly lit and full of draped furniture, covered with cobwebs. As I brushed away the dust, details of this new room began to emerge. It was as if I were entering into a new level of personal awareness.

As for the I Ching, I’d had a hunch about it for a very long time. Dr. Ellsworth Carlson, who lived in Shansi, China during WWII, was an Oberlin College classmate of my parents. When I was nursery school age, he’d bounced me on his knees at Harvard. As Freshman student, I took his course in Asian History at Oberlin. What stuck with me how vast an influence the I Ching had on Chinese thinking for 8,000 years and counting.

In fact, when I left for Europe, I carried only my violin and one small suitcase. Of that, half was filled with clothes and personal items. The other half contained sheet music and one small book: the Legge translation of the I Ching. It made no sense to me. I could barely get through a page or two before giving up. But I kept coming back to it. There was something important there that I had to know more about.

Finally, 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.

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.”

In sum, its 64 permutations map a progression of the AC-DC energy changes which constitute the natural law of repetitive, cyclical change. 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 wrong, despite even the best of intentions on the part of politicians, priests, coaches and leaders of every ilk.

. . .  [an understanding of natural law], the practical, middle (energy) level of three-part experience, is essential to the whole. It’s a sorely missed link in our functional knowledge base. Without wisdom and skill at this middle level of experience, spiritual aspirations cannot be realized nor can political policies be effectively implemented. Ongoing sex scandals which plague high-level military leaders, politicians and Christian clergy give a hint of what’s missing from their training, causing them to fail miserably at great expense to those they should be serving.

Rethinking SCIENCE – Does yours explain all the facts?

 

PositiveParadigmWheel

21. SCIENCE

The achievement of decipherment . . . required painstaking analysis and sound judgment, but at the same time an element of genius, the ability to take a leap in the dark, but then to find firm ground on the other side. Few discoveries are made solely by the process of logical deduction. At some point the researcher is obliged to chance a guess, to venture an unlikely hypothesis; what matters is whether he can control the leap of imagination, and have the honesty to evaluate the results soberly. – John Chadwick, quoted in The Man Who Deciphered Linear B

 

Skinner argued for the intelligent and hopefully humane use of reinforcement theory to direct the course of the individual’s and the society’s development. . . freedom and choice are mere illusions. . . Rogers argued that freedom and choice were not illusory but real phenomena, and that a science that dehumanizes the individual and attempts to control human development paves the way for dictators and despots to move society inexorably toward a totalitarian, Orwellian future. — Kirschenbaum & Henderson, The Carl Rogers Reader

 

The genome alphabet does not tell you the full story. . . we are no way closer to understanding the real questions of life, which are, Do we have a soul? Where do we come from? What is insight? What is imagination? What is intention? What is intuition? What is inspiration? What is creativity? What is knowingness? What is understanding? What is free will? — Deepak Chopra, transcript, Larry King Live Interview

 

THE FRONT

The tacit implication of the first definition, with knowledge, suggests living what one knows, not mere theories or words. With knowledge suggests a full-spectrum continuum of awareness, not just rational thought that blocks off sub-rational experience and drowns out the super-rational music that sings from deep inside.

Unfortunately, the practice of inspired science, religions and philosophy inevitably degenerates over time, departing from the vision of original founders. Sadly, verbal codifications of partial knowledge used as guidelines for decision-making and behavior are poor substitutes for inner experience.

Truth seekers soon become aware that what un-in-formed authorities claim in the name of one system or another isn’t necessarily so.

Einstein’s famous e=mc2 formula is an accepted statement of the two-directional relationship of light, energy, and mass. It’s the physics equivalent of divine, natural and human law. This relationship, known and practiced by Taoist masters for thousands of years, is the logical foundation of an urgently needed comprehensive epistemology — meaning prevailing rules of the knowledge game that set limits on who may know what, and how.

In the comprehensive Positive Paradigm approach to science, the inner energy and light components of Einstein’s formula are approached without sentimentality, religious bias or superstition as simply The Way It IS. This worldview accepts the complete meaning of “science” as “with knowledge,” which includes not only the tangible, measurable objects of the material surface of life’s wheel, but the subtle energetic dynamics and causal origins of all the physical eyes see as well.

Ironically, tragic abuse of Einstein’s discovery may have been a necessary prelude to popular dissemination of holistic sciences. For those who must see something to believe it, an atomic bomb explosion is dramatic proof that releasing energies of a subtle sort can produce very tangible, powerful results.

The potentials for transformation embedded in medical DNA technologies and still deeper within the change sciences that are now being made public after being guarded for millennia as the secret treasures of esoteric inner temples will bring upliftment OR destruction depending on how responsibly and wisely they are used. Let the abuse of Einstein’s inspiration serve as warning.

Our challenge is to use the knowledge implicit in subtle sciences not for economic/political advantage or physical destruction, but for personal transformation that serves the common good, remembering that every leap of faith depends on deep honesty and common sense to ground the fruits of genius in the practical here and how. Science is a blessing when we live with knowledge, incorporating it as wisdom that enriches daily life. Abused as a means to conquer and control, it becomes a curse.

THE BACK

The complement of science is conscience. Empirical science depends on observation of tangible things and on rational thought. Conscience doesn’t. It’s instantaneous knowing, received in stillness. Direct connection with the higher mind/will implies profound responsibility to act as an instrument of greater purpose.

Prejudice and superstition are perversions of science. Rigid defense of rational “science” can take on the characteristics of irrational prejudice. When people’s minds are tainted by the whims of personal ambition, appetites and fears, subject to sensory stimulation without the mitigating influence of conscience, their words may sound logical, their acts appear rational. But they’re not.

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John Chadwick, quoted by Andrew Robinson in The Man Who Deciphered Linear G: the Story of Michael Ventris.. (Thames & Hudson: New York, 2002). p. 14.

The Carl Rogers Reader, ed Kirschenbaum & Henderson. (Houghton Mifflin: New York, 1989.) p. 261.

Depak Chopra, Larry King Live Interview, aired June 26, 2000. cnn.com/transcripts.

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The Positive Paradigm Handbook Will CHANGE the Way You See Yourself

globeThe Positive Paradigm of Change gives change agents a practical method for achieving the positive, long-lasting change which all of us want, many promise, but few are able to achieve.

The Positive Paradigm Handbook will change the way you see yourself and relate to the world – forever. It gives you:

  • a functional picture of how your life really works, and by extension, what moves the people around you.

  • the map for achieving fulfillment, personal happiness and higher love.

  • an instrument for organizing your personal life, making realistic decisions and acting more effectively to achieve intended results.

  • premier tools for cultivating self-awareness, making the unconscious conscious, and mapping goals for personal change.

  • a comprehensive standard for assessing your leadership skills, maximizing this potential, and choosing which leaders to follow.

  • a powerful diagnostic tool for identifying the roots of disease-causing stress and correcting lifestyle imbalances.

  •  profound insight into the causes of discrimination, sexual abuse and PTSD, as well as  how to heal from their effects.

  • a realistic standard for recognizing true friends from mortal enemies.

Ultimately, it gives those who follow through the edge on long-term success, tipping the scales of history in favor of human survival, one person at a time. If these claims sound intense, they are. But they’re well founded.

To be continued. Follow next week for the Seven Basic Axioms of the Positive Paradigm.

Rethinking RESPECT

“The wisdom of the ancients can inspire a reinvention of democracy now.” In this context, RESPECT is the necessary balance to the earlier blogs on FREEDOM and POWER.

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53. RESPECT

Through the text runs a moral thread, which foreshadows the most noble ideals of Confucianism: A respect for the Natural Order, an esteem for self-cultivation, and a sense of social justice.  — Kerson and Rosemary Huang, The I Ching

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As long as companies think of employees as costs rather than assets, they will always be tempted to reduce the costs rather than invest further in the assets by providing safety nets for health care, retirement, and all the things that help people to get through their lives with dignity.  — Autry & Mitchell, Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching

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Our respect for ourselves determines (a) the amount of respect we crave from others and (b) our need to push for control and dominance. . . when you are in a situation when you feel disrespected, it causes a negative response [as if] the outside world, through your ego, is your only source of psychological support or nourishment.  — David J. Lieberman, Make Peace with Anyone

THE FRONT

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Roots of respect mean to look at, or look back on. Webster’s first definition is to feel or show honor or esteem for, to hold in high regard, or to treat with deference. It also means to show consideration for, to avoid intruding upon or interfering with, as to respect others’ privacy. It can mean a deference or dutiful regard, as in respect for the law. Respect is used to indicate courteous regard, as in respect for others’ feelings.

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In the context of Affirmative Action objectives, respect refers to acceptance of diversity in public life, honoring each individual’s dignity and value, regardless of national origin, age, gender or personal beliefs. This implies more than an obligation to pay token lip service to legislation or an attitude of condescending tolerance. It supports the welcoming, embracing view that everyone has something of unique value to offer; that the whole is completed and enriched by contributions from every possible point of view.

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In Native American, Buddhist and Hindu traditions alike, children are taught a reverence for all of life, extending not only to humans, but nature as well. This includes creatures of the animal and insect kingdoms, as well as rivers and oceans, forests, mountains, deserts, jungles and even the air we breathe. Together they weave the fabric of life on earth, and evoke a commitment to maintaining the delicate balance of life-sustaining elements.

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In corporate context, unfortunately, respect takes on the qualities of intimidation, fear of retribution, and enforced loyalty. In the context of inner city gang cultures, respect takes on intense meaning. The slang word “dis” means to disrespect. News stories tell of youth so outraged when strangers show disrespect that they kill for revenge. Their extreme desire for external show of personal respect changes to its extreme opposite, the ultimate show of disrespect for life.

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Sages teach enduring respect for the timeless essence of all traditions, but do not hold onto particular forms of its expression after their usefulness has been outgrown. In Chinese history, the life span of successful dynasties was extended not by resisting change, but by embracing it.

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When barbarians hordes assailed the empire’s gates, royal advisors, knowing that resistance was futile, recommended that the newcomers’ vitality be respectfully assimilated by mutually beneficial intermarriage of races and ideas.

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When paradigms are in flux as new approaches are sought to answer new questions and meet new needs, messengers of change are often shot as if traitors by short-sighted, self-serving gatekeepers of the passing order. This may impede progress, but cannot turn back the clock.

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When the times are dangerous and the need for growth imperative, attempting to inhibit urgently necessary change is as dangerous to the civilization as is attempting to stop a mother’s labor pains once the birthing process has begun.

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If, through our examples, we taught our children self-respect, self-awareness and a fearless respect for life, they’d experience no need to demand respect from others. Then disrespectful behavior would trigger not rage, but rather compassion and a commitment to uplift the ignorant and less fortunate.

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THE BACK

Disrespect is the opposite of respect. Often it’s a product of sheer laziness and inattention. It can manifest as careless word choice or manner of dress. It’s reflected in failure to maintain one’s health, relationships, tools or property. This attitude is passed down through the generations and perpetuated by imitating bad examples.

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The word respect is perverted when used in the context of Mafia-like extortion. It becomes a euphemism for submission due to extreme fear and the illusion of powerlessness. Corrupt governments and organized crime rings which depend on passive acquiescence to stay in power are not respecters of life, nor do they receive of authentic respect.

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Kerson and Rosemary Huang, The I Ching. (Workman Publishing Co.: New York. 1985.)  Preface.

James A. Autry & Stephen Mitchell, Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching. (Riverhead Books: New York, 1998.) p. 186.

David J. Lieberman, Make Peace with Anyone: Breakthrough Strategies to Quickly End Any Conflict, Feud, or Estrangement. (St. Martin’s Press: New York, 2002.) p. 15.

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* See the Conscience Page for a description of the structure-within-structure format of the Essays, an overview of CONSCIENCE: Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide, and an alphabetical list of the Essays.

Rethinking POWER

Because democracy is defined as “power to the people,” the Essay on POWER follows FREEDOM. With the stage set, the third blog – Rethinking Democracy – will summarize personal observations made in Rethinking Survival.

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ESSAY 57. POWER

 

 Nothing under heaven is as soft, receptive and yielding as water.

Its gentleness dissolves the hard, erodes and absorbs the rigid.

Thus, those who bend endure long after the unbending have snapped.

So it is that the low and high trade places, and the forceful loose their influence.

Like water, sages embrace humility to endure,

remaining flexible and responsive to the needs of the time.

This is known by many, but practiced by few.

— Patricia West, Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change

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“The principle aim . . . is to unfold a Tao of economics; it has always seemed to me appropriate to establish and re-establish a truer alignment of political and economic forces with the natural processes and, through the ancient Chinese I Ching, such an endeavour is possible.” — Guy Damian-Knight, The I Ching on Business and Decision Making

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“Part of what goes into acting decisively in any life situation, along with aggressiveness, clarity of thinking, the awareness of one’s own death, is training. The warrior energy is concerned with skill, power, and accuracy, with control, both inner and outer, psychological and physical. . . He has developed skill with the “weapons” he uses to implement his decisions.” — Moore & Gillette, The Warrior in His Fullness

THE FRONT

The root of power means to be able, potent. Webster’s first definition is the ability to do, act or produce. It refers to a specific ability or faculty, like the power to hear. It refers to a great ability to act or affect strongly using vigor, force, or strength. Power is used to describe the ability to control others, or the authority to influence, such as legal authority.

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Power refers to the source of physical energy or mechanical force that can be put to work, like water power. It points to a person or thing having great influence. It can mean a nation which dominates other nations. Power also refers to spirit or divinity. An archaic use implies an armed force: army, navy, or military strength, like air power. In optics, power refers to the degree of magnification of a lens, microscope or telescope.

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R.L. Wing elaborates on the adage, “Knowledge is power,” pointing out the unique advantage gained from focusing the I Ching magnifying lens on daily life. “The power and astuteness that we gain from this universal perspective,” she writes, “can be applied to any of life’s situations.” In addition, “We recognize situations that hold no promise because they are structured in a way that will cause their own downfall.” In other words, knowledge gives us insight to recognize where various choices are likely to lead, resulting is better decisions.

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In Taoist thinking, laws of nature explain why power over time reverts to the people. While drops of water are insignificant, they add up. The momentum driving a tidal wave is formidable. Divided by fear, ignorance, and narrow materialistic beliefs, individuals remain insignificant. Unified in wisdom by common purpose, people become powerful indeed. Leaders, whether a Stalin or a Mandela, ride the waves of time like energy surfers, directing their followers either towards slaughter or towards freedom.

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Great temporal power of itself implies no value. Its effect, whether positive or negative, depends on the context within which it’s used, either consciously or unconsciously, skillfully or incompetently, for good or evil. The results of a warrior’s prowess, military arsenal and self-control depend on how, when, where and why they’re applied.

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For example, in the last century Germany produced both a Hitler and an Einstein. Hitler was obsessed with the occult. He wanted to harness unseen forces to further his goal of world domination. Einstein, on the other hand, searched for the subtle laws of physics. He hoped thereby to discover a Unified  Field Theory which perfectly describes the operations of nature. Had he prevailed, he would have re-invented the I Ching and its off-spring, the Positive Paradigm of Change.

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THE BACK

The opposite of power is powerlessness. Though energy is inherent in every life form, and every individual has the potential to express a unique variation of power, through any combination of external circumstances and personal choices, it can remain latent and dormant, an opportunity lost.

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A perversion of power is malicious aggression. Using force to harm others, even destroying life to steal material possessions or gain political power, violates natural law. In time, harm returns to the abuser in equal proportion to damage done. Herein is practical proof of biblical wisdom, “Justice is mine, sayeth the Lord.”

Snippets from The Positive Paradigm Handbook

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WHY PARADIGMS MATTER

Ideas drive results. People’s beliefs drive their actions.

Actions that stem from a simple, complete and accurate paradigm result in personal fulfillment, harmonious relationships, and economic prosperity.

Actions based on false, incomplete and inaccurate paradigms, however well intended or passionately defended, are the cause of widespread misery, suffering and deprivation.

As detailed in Rethinking Survival: Getting to the Positive Paradigm of Change, a fatal information deficit explains the worldwide leadership deficit and related budget deficits.

In a dangerous world where psychological and economic warfare compete with religious extremism and terrorism to undo thousands of years of incremental human progress, a healing balance is urgently needed.

Restoring a simple, complete and accurate paradigm of leadership and relationships now could make the difference between human survival on the one hand, and the extinction of the human race (or the end of civilization as we know it), on the other.

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The TWIN BASICS of POSITIVE CHANGE

Inside to Out. Individual change begins from the inside and radiates outwards from the central hub of the Positive Paradigm Wheel. Light initiating from the silent innermost center extends outwards. Guidance and inspiration are articulated in language. These ideas, expressed with genius and passionate conviction, drive motivated action that manifests in positive results.

Smallest to Largest. Transformation begins with the smallest unit, the individual. Therefore, the quality of family life depends on the functional integrity of each family member. Large organizations are improved by first improving the quality of family life. Qualitative reform of whole nations is achieved only by restoring the internal integrity of their agencies and supporting business connections.

Einstein’s New Way of Thinking

Human survival, Einstein warned us, cannot be taken for granted. Tipping the scales of history in favor of survival depends on freeing ourselves from the mental prison of limited, delusional thinking:

A human being is part of the whole called “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest . . . This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. . We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.

The Positive Paradigm of Change pictures Einstein’s widened circle of compassion, complete with his magical, magnetic all-encompassing center.

It’s also the answer to comparative religion legend Joseph Campbell’s prescient hint:

We don’t have a mythology for people recognizing the humanity of a person on the other side of the hemisphere. I’ve often wondered if some of the notions coming out of quantum physics, quantum interconnectedness, don’t express that.

In the interests of human survival, the purpose of The Positive Paradigm Handbook: Make Yourself Whole Using the Wheel of Change is to make this new way of thinking as widely known and usefully available as possible.

The Who, When, How, What and Why

Logical questions then follow. Who should use The Positive Paradigm Handbook? When should the Handbook be used and how? What are the benefits? Why is this method of “thinking like a genius” so effective?

Who? The Handbook is intended for self-selected survivors with the heartfelt desire to improve themselves and the courage to rethink their lives. Everyone everywhere with basic English language skills and a commitment to ensuring survival for themselves and those they care for can and should use The Positive Paradigm Handbook.

As the next-generation Book of Change, the Handbook is especially useful to those in responsible leadership positions as well as those who advise them. However, it is equally useful to truth seekers and decisions-makers in every walk of life.

The Handbook should be required reading for young people who need to understand the way the world really works and how they fit in.

When? It’s natural to cling to what’s already known and familiar, especially when it seems as if there’s no better solution to an admittedly bad situation. Many find the possibility of extinction so threatening that they refuse to even think about it.

However, this doesn’t make danger disappear. It just leaves escapists unprepared to face inevitable change. Regardless of what may or may not come, denial, resistance and procrastination are a dangerous waste of precious time.

Once it’s accepted that there is a hopeful and positive approach to facing today’s dangers, the time to work with the Handbook and internalize this worldview is NOW.

What? As the title suggests, the end result of using the Handbook is restored wholeness. The process of comparing one’s immediate personal organization to the Positive Paradigm standard of completeness is a means for recognizing excesses and deficiencies, the better to correct them, thus restoring balance, integration and harmony to the whole. Benefits from using the Handbook are cumulative. Depending on diligence and frequency of use, they increase exponentially.

On the one hand, intentionally aligning and linking the levels of experience will increase self-awareness, improve relationships and lead to effective decision-making. On the other, as beliefs and actions become significantly the less fragmented, the side-effects of stress and related mental/physical disease will decrease accordingly.

Why? In part, working with the Wheel of Change remedies the right- and left-brain imbalances that lead to dysfunctional results. Plugging left-brain language into the right-brain imagery of concentric circles has the balancing effect of stimulating both sides of the brain simultaneously. Further, diminishing the noise of emotional pain and overcoming the dichotomies of either/or thinking opens access to the innermost realms of conscience and the inspirational guidance associated with great leaders and inventive genius.

 

Rethinking FREEDOM

 

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40. FREEDOM

“The natural laws of the universe are inviolable: Energy condenses into substance. A person who neglects to breathe will turn blue and die. Some things simply can’t be dismissed.

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“It is also part of the cosmic law that what you say and do determines what happens in your life.” — Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching : The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu

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“Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh . . . to address the problems facing you. You could stand away from yourself in the past and examine whether your behavior was befitting to a person who tried to serve society.” — Nelson Mandela, Interview, Larry King Live

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“When employees trade love, soul and freedom for maximizing profits, corporations lose their human center, and that’s as deadly for corporations as it is for us. The unhappiness and suffering that trade-offs create suggest that the paradigm is the culprit. We’re using bad software, and it’s distorting our concepts of what’s going on. We need all three together to be creative. When we’re destructive, it’s not because our nature is destructive, but because the trade-off paradigm is destructive to us.” — Breton & Largent, Love, Soul & Freedom: Dancing with Rumi on the Mystic Path

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THE FRONT

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Freedom is the state or quality of being free, implying exemption or liberation from the control of other people or arbitrary powers. It means liberty and independence. It implies exemption from arbitrary restriction or a specified civil right. It can mean exemption or release from imprisonment, or being able to act, move or use without hindrance or restraint. It means being able of itself to choose or determine action freely, at will, implying ease of movement performance or facility. It means being free from the usual rules or patterns. It can also mean easiness of manner, or sometimes an excessive frankness and familiarity.

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Like the words peace, love and unity, freedom is a state attained on the inside first, only then reflected in external circumstances. In I Ching context, freedom is a state of in-dependence, depending on inner resources for guidance, protection and peace. The freedom sages seek is the cessation of negative, involuntary patterns of behavior. Breaking the chains of destructive cause and effect is a function of focus combined with self-correction, forgiveness and atonement (at-one-ment) in positive action.

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Those secure in themselves dedicate their lives to extending the freedom they value for themselves to others without prejudice. Abraham Lincoln, for example, had the soul of a sage. He intuitively knew the basics of magic, and recognized the difference between black and white rules. He wrote, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” As if direct from the Treatise on Esoteric Ethics, Abe delivered a speech in Wisconsin where he said, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith do our duty as we understand it.”

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Yet legal prohibitions cannot end of slavery. Saying and doing whatever one wants as a puppet of blind impulse isn’t true freedom. Seeing through negative filters of fear, pride, or apathy is as limiting as literal blindness. Even in a society that calls itself democratic, to the extent we’re unaware of inner wisdom and the laws of natural change, we’re not really free.

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Soul is like the in-breath of life. Love is like the out-breath. Freedom is the intertwined marriage of soul and love in balanced, rhythmic exchange. When we can’t breathe freely, we slowly starve from within, and wither mysteriously even in the midst of apparent prosperity.

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Breton and Largent, quoting the Sufi mystic Rumi, write, “Whatever we do, we do from our inner compass. That’s free:

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Take someone who doesn’t keep score,

Who’s not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,

Who has not the slightest interest even

in his own personality: He’s free.”

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In I Ching context, the self-mastery attained by thinking and acting consistently from a positive paradigm that’s simple, complete and correct is the most precious, inalienable freedom.

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Nelson Mandela’s life is proof that it’s not circumstances which enslave.

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THE BACK

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The opposite of freedom is imprisonment or slavery. This includes not only external, physical incarceration, but internal, self-imposed limitations. Bad attitudes, negative emotions and self-destructive habits can be as addicting as tobacco, alcohol or drugs, undermining personal freedom.

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Recklessness and heedlessness are perversions of freedom. If a mistrusted authority says not to drink, smoke or drive too fast, for example, the first thing a rebellious teen will do to assert “freedom” is disobey, regardless of the consequences. Sadly, this is the hard way to learn the connection between foolishness and disaster.

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Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching: the Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu. (HarperSanFrancisco: New York, 1992.) #40.

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Nelson Mandela, Larry King Live Interview, aired May 16, 2000. cnn.com/transcripts.

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Denise Breton & Christopher Largent, Love, Soul & Freedom: Dancing with Rumi on the Mystic Path. (Hazelden: Center City, Minnesota, 1998.) p. 7.

 

Rethinking CHRIST at EASTER

May this Easter be a time of miracles and new beginnings.

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Rethinking SEX & TANTRA

Today is a tongue in cheek test of the SEO factor, to find out who is visiting this blog and why. Visitors, are you there? What do you think? Your comments are welcome!

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9. SEX

“Sexual union is physical enactment of the virtue/power, the te of Taoism. It is the resolution of the physical dichotomy of male and female, of self and not-self. Man enters woman while woman receives man. Two bodies become one. Physical separateness is transcended. Each is the completion of the other.” — Ray Grigg, The Tao of Relationships

“Everybody affected by feelings of guilt and shame will have negative feelings about their sexuality. These feelings block the flow of primal life force through-out the entire body. Equally, at a physical level, any negativity toward your sexuality or parts of your body leads to chronic tension in muscles throughout the body. This means that your energy can no longer flow between your Tan T’iens, or centres of Divine Energy. ” — Russell & Kolb, The Tao of Sexual Massage

“If we want to reach our boys and help them develop mature and responsible attitudes towards sex, we need to understand their motivations. As a culture we are much more aware of and sympathetic to the pressures around sexuality girls feel. The confusion boys feel is hidden, hidden under their own masks of macho posturing and under the weight of our misconceptions of toxicity about boys.” — William Pollack, Real Boys

THE FRONT

Roots of sex, discrimination and science all mean to divide. Webster’s definition of sex includes either of the two divisions, male or female, into which persons, animals or plants are separated, with reference to their reproductive functions. Sex refers to the character of being male or female, all the attributes by which males and females are distinguished. It can refer to anything connected with sexual gratification or reproduction, or the attraction of those of one sex for those of the other. It can also refer to sexual intercourse.

The dictionary does not differentiate between sex and gender stereotypes. While the biological differences between human males and females remain constant, their roles and prescribed behavior varies from culture to culture, and within cultures over time.

For example, Margaret Mead, a pioneering anthropologist, challenged the stereotypes of her day both in the moral conduct of her personal life and in the conclusions of her published research. In Coming of Age in Samoa, she reported that the many different ways boy and girl children can be raised will shape their attitudes and relationships into very different patterns.

She described one tribe that taught their children easy-going, accepting attitudes towards sex and raised contented, peaceable adults. In contrast, a cannibal tribe raised fierce warriors by systematically frustrating their infants, hanging them on tree branches to swing unattended, withholding basic touch and caring. Current civilizations resemble the cannibals more often than the peaceable, contented tribe, both in training and results.

Tantric yoga is a discipline which trains students to change sexual impulses from a culturally conditioned detriment to intentional accelerator of personal growth. Its premise is that forbidding people to think about sex has the opposite of intended effect. For centuries it’s been know that if you tell people not to think of white elephants, they’ll think of nothing else.

Slamming the lid on libido drives it into the inaccessible “unconscious.”

While publicly feigning compliance, people thus repressed indulge compulsive sexuality in extreme. Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, sexual deviance has been systematically programmed into the world’s highly educated elite for centuries, making them vulnerable to blackmail and/or public humiliation for their inevitable discretions, placing them at the mercy of puppet masters who wield secret powers behind the scenes.

To prevent such personal/political undoing, energy science trains students to be wise, skillful and practical in sexual matters, fulfilling intimate needs without tearing the fabric of their emotional, family and professional lives apart.

As with communication, power and peace, the purpose and expression of sex evolves as awareness grows. For humans, the sex act begins and ends in the mind, the body’s most erogenous zone. Depending on attitude, it can be experienced as debasing or pure bliss. Sex can be a mating for the purpose of reproduction. It can be a one-sided expression of lust or will to dominate, motivated by insecurity, cruelty or even revenge. It can also be a source of healing, an expression of compassionate love. Comprehensive sex is practiced with reverent understanding that the individual act mirrors the sacred union of opposites.

THE BACK

An inversion of sexuality is frigidity or impotence, the lack of attraction to the opposite sex or incapacity to reproduce. It implies rejection of the creative, reproductive process. Negative role models, unfortunate experiences, inhibiting education or poor health are possible contributing factors.

In mythology, an androgynous person balances male and female aspects from within. If used as an excuse to shun the challenge of relationships, aspiring to this perfect state forfeits the learning opportunities associated with being human. There’s time enough in the hereafter for the even harder lessons reserved for angels.

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Ray Grigg, The Tao of Relationships: A Balancing of Man and Woman. (Humanics New Age: Atlanta, GA, 1988.) p. xiii.

Russels & Kolb, The Tao of Sexual Massage. (Fireside Books: New York, 1992.) p. 55.

William Pollack, Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood. (Random House: New York, 1998.) p. 151.

Rethinking ACTION

One of the 64 Essays on Change is posted each consecutive Sunday. The choice is decided either by requests made on the Contact Page and/or immediate relevance to current events. See the UPSG Essays page for a description of the structure-within-structure format of the Essays, an overview of CONSCIENCE: Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide, and an alphabetical list of the Essays from which to choose.

On the new moon of March 9, 2014, the first of the Essays to be posted was Number 61 on PEACE. It was selected as a timely response to events in the Ukraine. The following Sunday, the very first Essay, CRIME, was selected, followed by its companion Essay Number 18 on MOTIVES.

The final Essay, Number 64 has been selected for Sunday, March 30th, the second new moon in the month of March. It completes a triad that started with CRIME, then MOTIVES, and now, consequent ACTION. This Essay has immediate applications to the progression of world events.

Bloggers have likened Putin’s actions to the strategy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. America’s leaders have been faulted for lacking the ability to think in terms of positive action responses. It therefore behooves everyone, everywhere with an eye to the future, in the interests of human survival, to fill in that void.

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64. ACTION

“Military action is important to the nation — it is the ground of death and life, the path of survival and destruction, so it is imperative to examine it. . . The Way means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“The warrior is always alert. He is always awake. He knows how to focus his mind and his body. He is what the samurai call “mindful.” . . . As a function of his clarity of mind, he is a strategist and a tactician. He can evaluate his circumstances accurately and then adapt himself to the “situation on the ground.” — Moore & Gillette, The Warrior in His Fullness

“We cannot stop the seasons of history, but we can prepare for them. Right now, in 1997, we have eight, ten, perhaps a dozen more years to get ready. Then events will begin to take choices out of our hands. Yes, winter is coming, but our path through the winter is up to us. . . History’s howling storms can bring out the worst and best in a society.” — Strauss & Howe, The Fourth Turning

THE FRONT

Webster’s defines action on a sliding scale of meanings. Taking in the full spectrum as a whole is an eye-opener. Originally it was a physics concept, the state of being in motion. From there the definition changes to habitual conduct characterized by energy and boldness. It changes again to include the effect produced by something (like a drug), or the way organs or machines work.

Action is used to describe the function of a piano or a gun. It shifts to take on the connotation of a legal proceeding by which one seeks to have a wrong put right. It’s the term used to describe military combat. Lastly, in slang it denotes excitement, specifically gambling.

Over a life-time, novelist Earle Stanley Gardner worked to develop a best-seller formula: a virtuous hero whom everyone loves to see in action. The result, Attorney Perry Mason, solves crimes and puts wrongs right in the court of law. He’s a deliberate blending of Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes. Robin defended the betrayed and down-trodden. He took from the rich to give to the poor, helping them stand against oppressors. Sherlock used his highly trained powers of observation and deduction to trace devious crimes to the unseen hand of the evil Moriarty, then courageously drew the villain out to defeat him.

New law students are often grieved to find reality so far removed from fiction. Just so. Gardner knew people bought his books exactly because they longed for what’s missing in their lives. But fiction soothes without solving. The times call for a multitude of Positive Perrys taking positive action every day, here and now.

Movie action heroes also exemplify the intellect-action blend of leadership we miss. To become a Jedi knight, Luke SkyWalker first must train to attune himself to “the force.” Indiana Jones similarly blends the best of right and left brain worlds. Both he and Nazi opponents search out the arc of the covenant, then the grail. The enemy wants the key to world domination; Indy and his beloved father seek “illumination.” They respect the wisdom of ancient times and adventure to recover lost treasures. The I Ching is another of the ancient lost treasures, both used and abused by seekers through the ages.

Unlike these action heroes, intellectuals who contempt practical people and workers who enviously mistrust the educated are equally lop-sided actors. For positive results, scholars and street-smart frontliners must join ranks. Better still, we should each train ourselves like action hero role models to balance self-awareness and action, to live fully effective, each in our own way.

George S. Patton, the general who defeated Hitler’s army, quoted scriptures like a bishop, knew Shakespeare’s verse by heart.

THE BACK

The opposite of action is inaction. This may be appropriate. Those who patiently wait also serve. Other times it’s due to indifference or paralysis of will. Procrastination, delaying action, may be a result of ambivalence. Lack of commitment or conflicting goals and beliefs often work unconsciously to sabotage consistent action.

A perversion of action is hyperactivity, sometimes the result of a chemical imbalance, other times an effort to avoid thinking. Restricting youthful energies, forcing children to sit too long inactive, can trigger rebellion as an extreme and opposite reaction to boredom.

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  • Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Thomas Cleary. (Shambhala: Boston, 1988.) p. 41.
  • Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, “The Warrior in His Fullness,” in The Awakened Warrior: Living with Courage, Compassion & Discipline, ed. Rick Fields. (Putnam’s Sons: New York, 1994.) pp. 29-30.
  • William Strauss & Neil Howe, The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy. (Broadway Books: New York,1997.) p. 7.

The Positive Paradigm Handbook is Coming SOON

HERE’s a sample from the Coming Positive Paradigm Handbook!

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PREFACE

The Positive Paradigm Handbook will change the way you see yourself

and relate to the world – forever.

  • It gives you a functional picture of how your life really works, and by extension, what moves the people around you.

  • It gives you the map for achieving fulfillment, personal happiness and higher love.

  • It give you an instrument with which to effectively organize your personal life, make realistic decisions, and act more effectively to achieve intended results.

  • It gives you premier tools for cultivating self-awareness, making the unconscious conscious, and mapping goals for personal change.

  • It gives you a comprehensive standard for assessing your leadership skills, maximizing this potential, and choosing which leaders to follow.

  • It gives self-healers and therapists a powerful diagnostic tool for identifying the roots of disease-causing stress and correcting lifestyle imbalances.

  • It gives profound insight into the causes of discrimination, sexual abuse and PTSD, as well as how to heal from their effects.

  • It gives everyone a realistic standard for recognizing true friends from mortal enemies.

  • Ultimately, it gives those who follow through the edge on long-term success, tipping the scales of history in favor of human survival, one person at a time.

If these claims sound intense, they are. But they’re well founded.

As a teenager, I was fascinated by the fact that Einstein’s abstract formula, e = mc2, could produce powerfully tangible results — the atomic bomb!

Later, I was even more intrigued to discover that this same formula, when plugged into the concentric circles of the Positive Paradigm Wheel, not only resulted in the Unified Theory of Einstein’s lifelong quest. It was capable of generating equally powerful and practical personal results.

The Positive Paradigm Handbook reveals this Unified Theory and supplies the tools needed to start thinking like a genius. By internalizing this method, making it your own by repeated use, your life will be changed in ways only dreamed of before. Virtually endless in its practical applications, it can be pointed like a laser beam to illumine every field of endeavor.

The Handbook is the bare bones take-away from Rethinking Survival. The author’s personal background, academic credentials, research and experience are described in Getting to the Positive Paradigm. But here, what matters is simply that it works and that owning it is a matter of personal survival.

Based on the foundation of the earlier books on change, The Positive Paradigm Handbook goes directly to the heart of personal, practical application, here and now. The purpose of working with the Handbook is to ingrain Einstein’s “substantially new way of thinking,” which, he said, is required “if mankind is to survive.”

In a world seemingly intent on fracturing experience into smaller and smaller niches, the Positive Paradigm provides an urgently needed counter-balance, applying an opposite and equal weight in a unifying direction.