Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide 

PREFACE 

The 2000 millennial year title of the 64 Essays was The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide. It came from a brainstorming session with a business consultant for marketing The Common Sense Book of Change. She was unfamiliar with the I Ching. 

We went back and forth with questions and answers about its use and value. Finally, she sat back and blinked. “It sounds like the ultimate personal survival guide,” she concluded.  

She’d hit the nail right on the head. She got it! 

However, before she drew me out with her questions, I’d taken my answers to her valid concerns for granted. Others were likely to have similar doubts. 

So a further step was necessary. A follow-up book was required, one which would lead others to draw the same conclusion that she did. It had to dispel myths and misconceptions which prevent this gravely misunderstood and underrated treasure from getting the international acceptance it so richly deserves. 

I’d become certain that the worldwide leadership deficit (and related budget deficits) are 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, even despite the best of intentions. 

It seemed urgent to clear the decks. Making this compendium of Natural Law — the premier leadership training and decision-making manual in China for thousands of years — widely accessible now 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. 

Fourteen years later [now 24], I find myself in the same predicament. How does one shake up the sleeping public? What will it take to make people worldwide aware of how important this information is, and how gravely we’re at risk due to its absence? 

As a possible solution, I returned to The UPSG. In the process of updating the Introduction, I had an “Aha” moment.  

In the text, I’d made the conscience connection: The I Ching is called The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide because it refers to ULTIMATE timeless wisdom. This wisdom is accessible on a PERSONAL level, facilitating inner and outer change, one person at a time. This change gives us the edge on SURVIVAL, influencing who will survive, how, on which levels of experience. And it’s a GUIDE that helps put us in resonance with the ultimate inner guide — conscience. 

Taken out of context, however, the title left The USPG open to misunderstandings. It could be misconstrued as suggesting that the benefits of working with the I Ching come from the book itself. However, no physical book, no matter how inspired or useful, is correctly called an ultimate survival guide. Books are just material things. 

Conscience alone is the ultimate survival guide. The value of using The Book of Change is that it leads the individual back to personal conscience. It serves to reconnect the user with the eternal center which resides at the hub of the quantum Life Wheel.  

Exactly what is meant here by “conscience?” As with each of the 64 Essay terms, definitions of “conscience” have devolved over time. Here, the word refers to the pristine meaning of the term, associating it with “inner light.” 

In I Ching context, Conscience is associated with the innermost center of the quantum Life Wheel. This yoga-compatible model, as detailed in Rethinking Survival and summarized below, layers the variables of Albert Einstein’s famous formula, e = mc2. 

Einstein’s view of conscience was consistent with I Ching use. He regarded an enlightened person as one liberated from limiting selfish desires, who has turned instead to aspirations of transcendent value. Einstein described the experience of an “inner voice” that brought him closer to the “secrets of the Old One.” 

Essay 12 on Values gives a snapshot glimpse of the word’s appropriate use: 

Conscience not only puts us in touch with our own uniqueness; it also connects us with the universal true north principles that create quality of life. 

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

This middle level serves as mediating, two-directional gate-keeper between the ever-changing surface rim and the universal, timeless center. You can’t get from here to there, except through the middle layer which, in Western thinking, is effectively taboo, buried in the inaccessible “unconscious.” 

To the extent that Natural Law is a blind spot in the prevailing, linear and exclusively empirical paradigm, we are left powerless to move beyond the surface level of experience. The realm of light and conscience which rests beyond, on the far side of the dynamic energy level, remains functionally inaccessible. 

Moral codes promoted by religionists or politicians are sometimes equated with conscience. But they’re no substitute for direct experience. Only by becoming intelligently competent in managing the subtle energies of the middle level is it possible to travel further inwards for the immediate, personal experience of inner light. 

When the middle level becomes clogged with painful memories, negative emotions and socially taboo urges, it becomes a barrier to deeper knowing. The Book of Change is indispensable as a tool for restoring the unnecessarily “unconscious” to conscious awareness, so that the levels of human potential can be linked and unified. 

In Quantum Paradigm context, survivors who prevail in 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’ve acquired the inner wealth necessary to both hear the inner voice of conscience and act on the guidance they receive. 

Q. & A. 

As yet, an exclusively materialistic. linear paradigm continues to generate the dysfunctional results experienced in every aspect of personal and public life. The powerful benefits to be gained from shifting to the more inclusive Quantum Paradigm are blocked by so-called authorities and experts who are highly invested in the limited and limiting empirical science paradigm. 

The I Ching is misrepresented with numerous assumptions and prejudices which have effectively kept this critically important information in the shadows. Answers to some of the most familiar doubts are listed below: 

  • Question: What does an ancient book from a foreign land have to do with me, here and now? 
  • Answer: Everything. As the compendium of Natural Law, the I Ching is neither time nor place-bound. It speaks to the questions we all ask about the human condition. For over 8,000 years, with good reason, it has endured as the foundation of Chinese healing, governing and military arts alike. No equivalent exists in the West. It fills a fatal gap in the way we think. 

  • Question: If it’s so important, why isn’t it taught in schools? 
  • Answer: Good question! Probably because the objections raised here are taught as assumptions instead. 

  • Question: Isn’t the Book of Change unscientific – just hocus pocus or New Age superstition? 
  • Answer: Like any other wisdom tradition that has endured over time, the I Ching has inevitably been subject to misuse. This doesn’t, however, reflect on its inherent value. This compendium of Natural Law is so highly sophisticated, in fact, that Western science is just beginning to catch up with it. For example, in the 1800s, Leibniz acknowledged that its mathematical foundations long preceded his calculus. The single and broken lines of the hexagrams are analogous to binary-digital computer code. Further, as described elsewhere, its 64 hexagrams are analogous to DNA structure.

  • Question: Is the I Ching a sacred book, like the Bible? Is it part of a religion? 
  • Answer: Yes and no. Taoists, Buddhists, and Confucians, despite their differences, all hold the I Ching in highest regard. It is used to connect with deity, on the one hand, and consulted for practical advice regarding every aspect of daily life, on the other. Sacred is in the eye of the beholder.
  • Question: Is The Book of Change pagan and therefore off-limits to Christians? Does it contradict or oppose the teachings of the Old and New Testaments? 
  • Answer: There is no conflict. Natural and Divine law are two different but interdependent levels of the quantum Life Wheel. Pagans by-pass Divine law, choosing to worship nature instead. In contrast, sages observe and work with the laws of nature, the better to serve humanity by serving the divine. Both the Old and New Testaments show an understanding of nature which is compatible with the I Ching worldview. 

  • Question: Can the I Ching be fully understood or appreciated without knowledge of the Chinese language? 
  • Answer: Hindu’s have a similar attachment to the exclusive value of the Sanskrit language, Jews to ancient Hebrew, and Muslims to the original language of the Koran. However, the Source of truth is beyond language. Its cultural expression at a particular time and place varies, but the basic essentials are necessarily the same. As translations into English and other languages continue to improve, this will become increasingly apparent. 

What is the I Ching? 

The Book of Change is a text that consists of 64 interactive, six-lined graphs — hexagrams — placed within the matrix of a circle, a square, or both. In combination, they map of the Natural Laws of change. Each graph is assigned a name represented by a Chinese pictograph. Translations are comparable to Plato’s perfect Ideas. 

The 64 hexagrams represent the bare bones of the life process. They are to Natural Law what basic axioms are to geometry. The open and closed lines the hexagrams are a convenient shorthand used to represent alternating energy valances. A broken line stands for negative (yin) energy (chi). A solid line stands for positive (yang) energy. 

For example, the hexagram for Awareness, looks like this:  

Each hexagram is like the common denominator of a math equation. Each reduces expanded, complex relationships back to their most simple, recognizable form. No matter how complex or convoluted specific variations on the basic themes become, all experience can be reduced back to these fundamental dynamics. Over time, meanings have been associated with each of the hexagrams. These, in turn, have been elaborated upon by a succession of interpretations.

Because the hexagrams are universal, they can be applied to virtually any discipline. For example, one version of I Ching correlates the hexagrams with DNA discoveries. There’s a medical diagnostic version. Da Liu correlates his 64-form practice of healing tai chi with the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. Another version applies the readings to Jungian psychology. A constitutional law professor at Yale University has published a commendable version. Yet another correlates the hexagrams with meditative Taoist practices. Other versions reflect on the order of family and social relationships, on successful business practices, and on the conduct of war. 

The basic readings are descriptive and informational only. There is no moralistic or prescriptive bent. The content is observational and practical: If this, then that. For example, if one squanders resources during times of prosperity, then times of adversity will follow. If one is respectful towards others, then they will be moved to behave respectfully in return. 

Using the interactive Book of Change is a powerful way to get in touch with the native common sense (conscience) we’re all born with, but too often forget under the pressures of hectic daily life. It is used first to increase self-understanding, then to create harmony between the inner world of self and outer world of others. 

There are many ways to select the relevant hexagram. All involve approaching the book with a quiet, open mind, analyzing the current situation, framing a question regarding that situation and then finding its answer. These methods are described in The Common Sense Book of Change. 

Whichever method is used, it yields a hexagram which represents the immediate moment. Each hexagram, however, has the potential to mutate. This is because any one or any combination of the six lines can change into its opposite. This produces one or more new hexagrams. 

The “direction of change” reading associated with the mutating line(s) indicate which level(s) are kinetically active and what the possible consequences could be. This information is regarded as a warning, which heeded, may influence future results. 

The correlation between actions and predictable consequences is called the Law of Karma. In biblical terms, this law is expressed as the familiar warning, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” It is the practical basis of ethics. It underscores the wisdom of the advice, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Because actions do, in fact, inevitably return in kind. 

Among other things, the I Ching works like a cosmic clock, telling us the time. In the Old Testament, King Solomon expressed the natural, rhythmic alternations of time in poetic form: 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: 

A time to be born, and a time to die; 

a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 

A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together; 

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

A time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak; 

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 

Working with the Book of Change puts its users in touch with these pulsating, alternating rhythms of life. It connects them with inner knowing – call it intuition or conscience – that anticipates approaching changes, the better to prepare for what is to come. It serves as a reminder that our lives change like nature’s seasons. Fall follows summer. Spring follows winter. It lends perspective to the current times and what is likely to come next. 

Historically, the I Ching has been held in the highest regard throughout Asia for over eight-thousand years. Its cultural influence has been roughly equivalent to that of the Bible in the West. Leaders in philosophy, religion, healing, government, business, martial arts and the military were all trained from this single, universal text. It is still widely accepted as the basic manual of relationship dynamics and effective decision-making. 

How to Approach the I Ching 

The I Ching offers a comprehensive understanding of how the world works. It doesn’t, however, fit neatly into the usual book categories. It can be approached as an historical document or philosophical tract, but is far more than that. It can be used as a self-help book, but is more than that too. 

Above all, it’s a practical decision-making tool based on a comprehensive science. It challenges us to jump outside the narrow boxes within which we’ve been taught to reason, to qualitatively change the way we think. 

The method of working with the I Ching requires stilling the mind and entering the receptive, meditative state in which inspirational thoughts become available. As such, it is an invaluable compliment to the practice of any religion. 

Why Use the I Ching? 

In an age of ever-accelerating, sometimes bewildering change, working with the I Ching helps its users remain focused on the basics. Ephemerals on the surface of the quantum Life Wheel inevitably pass away. Social customs continue to change. Old friends move on or prove fickle. Jobs disappear without warning. Fortunes are lost over night. Buildings are blown out of the skyline.  

Loved ones leave or pass away. If we neglect ourselves long enough, even health becomes precarious. 

The more chaotic the uncertain world becomes on the surface, the more personal balance depends upon the opposite and equal anchor of inner strength, accessed with the help of timeless wisdom. The I Ching serves to remind us of the constant within change. It grounds us in unchanging reality, the better to sustain the courage and confidence required to endure and prevail during tough times. 

Working with the I Ching gradually changes the way we think, intentionally linking the levels of experience. It disciplines us to ask better questions and to be receptive to answers which extend beyond the parameters of empirical science.  

The I Ching advises, “It is futile to hunt for deer in a forest where none dwell.” Issues which can’t be solved with rational logic, money, mechanical engineering or brute force, soften and open in the light of inner wisdom.  

As such, The Book of Change is an invaluable life companion for everyone facing ongoing personal changes in a rapidly changing world. Its premise is the assurance that even when social, economic and political chaos seems staggering, taken one instance at a time, there’s always hope.  

The world at large is an unmanageable unit. But by focusing on the smallest unit closest to home, oneself, one needn’t be overwhelmed or paralyzed. Whereas forcing change on others is a violation of free will, one can always — especially with the aid of wisdom tools like the I Ching — change oneself. 

The important first change is not image or behavior, but more fundamentally, one’s vision of life’s potentials and the way to transform from within. The rest follows. It is, after all, possible to change the hearts and minds of others through one’s example. Perfected, one individual’s life can have a ripple effect that emanates outwards in all directions across the boundaries of time and space. Buddha and Christ both demonstrated this. 

Who Benefits from working with the I Ching? 

Natural Law is written in our hearts, in our very DNA. It is equally available to everyone with open ears and a ready willingness to hear. Those able to think with uncluttered, childlike simplicity resonate most easily with the I Ching call to conscience. 

Often, individuals at a cross-roads in life, where they suddenly find themselves in unfamiliar territory or it seems as if they have nothing to loose, take new interest in a book that helps them navigate life’s passages with dignity and grace. 

Importantly, the Book of Change isn’t the exclusive property of highly-educated people, nor of a particular gender, age-group, culture, class, time or place. It’s an indispensable basic, a valuable teacher to everyone who chooses to make themselves whole. 

A caveat: it’s not those who understand, but those who also follow through who benefit most from the value The Book of Change has to offer. Its concepts may be relatively easy to comprehend. But they’re not always easy to put into practice. 

Working with the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching requires the time to pause and reflect. It’s not like fast food that can be taken in at one gulp and then forgotten. 

But it nourishes on many levels. Its benefits are cumulative and enduring. Returns on the investment of time and effort made are exponential. 

Over time, I’ve come to understand that the I Ching’s value is measured by the quality of focused attention, self-honesty and positive intention with which it’s used. Those who dismiss it, who “believe” it is superstitious nonsense, fulfill their expectations. As such, this vastly powerful book has its own fail safes.

Context 

In Rethinking Survival, discrimination, violence and sexual abuse are linked to an information deficit. The Natural Law codified in the Book of Change: 

. . . fills in an information gap. It’s the missing link in our knowledge banks. In a complete worldview, the dynamic law of change occupies the middle level. It links the outer material surface with the innermost center. You “can’t get from here to there” except through that middle layer. 

This explains why many leaders, even with the best of intentions, go terribly wrong. When authorities operate from an incomplete paradigm, they’re blind-sided. Lacking what has been mainstreamed as “emotional intelligence,” they can’t identify the place where things are messed up. When they take a left-hand turn, they don’t understand why. Worse, they don’t know how to return to the positive path. 

Here’s the context: Laws of nature emanate from the Divine. It’s a mistake to romanticize (or demonize) nature. It’s a worse mistake to worship nature in place of the Creator. But being competent at the practical, middle (energy) level of three-part experience is essential to the whole. Again, it’s a sorely missed link in our functional knowledge base. 

The “subtle” energy realm lies 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 unavoidable gatekeeper and mediator between the two. “You can’t get from here to there,” except through this middle level of experience. 

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 politicians and clergy give a hint of what’s missing from their training, causing them to fail miserably at great expense to those they claim to serve. 

Using a well-familiar example from American history, here’s how I expressed the place of Natural Law in the Introduction to The Common Sense Book of Change: 

THREE LEVELS OF LAW. The American 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 negative emotions. True freedom starts with the self-awareness and self-mastery which can be gained by diligent use of the I Ching. 

I had this in mind when critiquing Affirmative Action, and in formulating Positive Action alternatives to achieve the valid goals of misguided legislation bound to trigger backlash. 

Overcoming Fear of Change 

Lacking the balancing anchor of that which is beyond change — that which puts short-term change in perspective — people stuck on the surface of the Life Wheel become fearfully addicted to the familiar. 

But resisting change doesn’t prevent it from occurring. It only leaves the fearful unprepared to meet change when it inevitably arrives. They’re perpetually behind the eight-ball, left out of “luck,” a day late and a dollar short. 

Addressing unnecessary fear was a large part of my incentive for bringing the Quantum Paradigm to the public. It speaks to those who struggle in dark, doing best they know how as they continue to live lives of “quiet desperation.” 

They intuitively know, as I did earlier, that somewhere somehow something is terribly wrong. But they too don’t know where to look, or what to fight. 

They feed insatiable appetite with all the wrong foods. They take vacations to escape from angst, but in the wrong directions, and wake up afterwards, hung over and broke. They hunger and thirst, but things of the world do not satisfy.  

27. GROWTH

People seek help according to what they need for their own growth.
Unless hunger is fed with the right food, no amount of input will satisfy.
To understand others, watch how they nourish themselves. Nature provides for all.
Leaders promote those who have the ability to serve many. Avoid greed.

Conclusion 

Although The Book of Change is held in highest esteem by philosophers of every nationality, as well as the followers of the world’s enduring religions, the I Ching is not a religion. It is a map, expressed in binary mathematical code, of Natural Law. It explains not only the observable patterns of natural events, but also repeating cycles of dynamic personal life, social systems and nations throughout history. 

In its essence, the perennial Book of Change is timeless. It continues to help thoughtful users tap into the source of universal wisdom which all enduring spiritual, religious and healing traditions share in common. It resonates with a fundamental inner core of experience which, despite apparent diversity, all truth traditions share in common. It therefore has the potential to link people of good will across the globe with a basis of shared understanding. 

Whether the context be therapy, spiritual practice, personal introspection, or practical decision-making, working with the Book of Change is the quintessential method for cultivating mindfulness and self-awareness. It enables users to move beyond the theory of their personal philosophy and into its practical applications in positive action. 

As such, this book which touches the heart of all religions, is the universal key sought by religious scholars. It embodies The Perennial Philosophy of Aldous Huxley, the common thread which links all human experience. 

Rethinking VALUES in 2024

In watching Watching JFK Jr. Birthday Celebration, it seemed clear that this noble soul is “here for a time such as this” to remind us all of our core values.

In rereading Essay 12 on Values, I’m reminded to be aware that whatever time left is precious, and to use it wisely.

12. VALUES

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, quoted by Sarah Ban Breathnach in Simple Abundance

Conscience not only puts us in touch with our own uniqueness; it also connects us with the universal true north principles that create quality of life. We can use conscience to align our values and strategies with principles, ensuring that both the ends and the means of our mission statement — both the contribution and the methods used in making the contribution — are principle-based. — Stephen R. Covey, First Things First

All this turning away from one another is terrible for our souls. When we live in a world in which ethical and spiritual goals have been excluded and ridiculed, we find the human spirit shrinking with disastrous consequences. Selfishness and cynicism are bad for our physical and psychological health. . . On the one end of the continuum, people approximate the extreme of caring only for themselves. On the other end, people begin to approach the biblical ideal; seeing every single human being as created in the image of God, and hence as infinitely precious and deserving of our care and respect. — Michael Lerner, The Politics of Meaning

THE FRONT
Value has the same root as valor, meaning strength.

Webster’s first definition pertains to money. It means a fair price for something sold or exchanged. It refers to the worth of a thing in money or goods at a certain time, the market price. It describes purchasing power.

Value means whether a thing or idea is regarded as more or less desirable, useful, or important. It points to that which is esteemed for its own sake, having intrinsic worth.

Value also pertains to social principles, goals or standards held or accepted by an individual, class or society.

In music, value is related to timing: the relative duration of a note, tone, or rest.

What a person holds in esteem defines his character. Whether a person consistently acts according to these values is the measure of her integrity. Living congruent with beliefs and promises affords peace of mind. Ignoring beliefs or violating commitments tears individuals, businesses and communities apart. We sicken and fail mentally, then physically, one at a time and then collectively.

Used divisively, “family values” is a polarizing slogan that stirs up political animosities. It places moral assumptions above the timeless values of wisdom and heart-felt compassion. In The Bible Code, Michael Drosnin observes that the family of man has fragmented into competing religions whose extremist leaders would rather destroy the planet than share the holy city of Jerusalem. According to him, placing the values of pride, ownership and sheer hatred over love of life signals the end of times.

In contrast, in I Ching context, moderation is esteemed as the greatest social value. For example, R.L. Wing’s version of Hexagram 15, “Moderation,” observes: “The enlightened person reduces the excessive and increases the insufficient. He weighs the outside world and bring about equality.”

Thus, to react with extremes of hatred towards those act hatefully endangers us all. Reacting with extreme fear to end-stage prognosis poisons the quality of whatever time remains. I Ching wisdom would call us to center and balance, moderating cultural conditioning with self-confidence and self-discipline. Where there is insufficient love and trust, they must be restored. Where there is excess fear, panic and resistance, they must be reduced. If the span of life, whether individual or collective, be short, then the value of each moment left is so much the greater.

Wisdom traditions regard survival in terms of soul, not body alone. We do our best when we focus not on the fact that we eventually die, but on how we use our allotted time on earth. Then, every day becomes a precious opportunity to earn what Elizabeth Kübler-Ross calls a “good death:” safe passage to the beyond with our life-work accomplished — lessons learned and commitments fulfilled.

Increasingly dangerous times heighten the sense of urgency and value placed on making the best of every day. Prophecies simultaneously warn of the end and promise a new beginning for those who live the law. The Bible Code can be read as yet another wake-up call, a reminder that the time to put our lives in order is NOW.

Mortality is a given. Experiencing immortality, however, is a choice. We can either follow the sleep-walker’s path to oblivion or value I Ching wisdom, heeding the DNA Bible code written in our hearts, remaining alert and awake to hear and do whatever it takes to ultimately survive.

THE BACK
Opposites of value include scorn, contempt, and rejection. Closing off awareness of connection results in failure to honor life. By denying creative potentials in ourselves and others, we underrate and debase our collective worth.

Overestimating the worth of money, status and physical beauty is a perversion of value. Unthinking acceptance of others’ opinions as more important than personal health, integrity, or self-esteem has a corrupting effect, resulting in puppet-like behavior. Portfolio value can vanish overnight; the soul’s worth is eternal.

A Pivotal Time

GONG!!!!! 

Today, March 20th, 2023, strikes a gong of new beginnings on increasingly larger scales of magnitude.  

  • First, it’s a New Moon, the first day of a 28-day lunar cycle.  
  • Second, within four hours, it enters the spring equinox, regarded by astrologers as the first day of the zodiacal New Year. 
  • Third, within three days, Pluto, planet of transformation, changes sign, entering Aquarius, regarded as the abode of inspiration, innovation and upheaval. In sum, its duration lasts some 284 years. 

The New Moon is located at one degree of Aires, the first sign of the zodiac. The Sun and Moon lead an impressive line-up of planets and asteroids in the same sign, adding up to a powerful alignment of Mars-ruled energies. In the higher octave, it’s a great time for courage, initiative and vigorous, positive action. In the lower octave, look for irritability, belligerence and outright conflict. 

In the higher octave, in the northern hemisphere, the entry of spring bodes a season of renewal and hope after a dreary winter. In the lower, we’re in for lots of rain, mud and windy bluster. 

With Pluto entering Aquarius, we can expect, though not necessarily over night, radical social, economic and political change. Astrologers, for example, point to the French and American revolutions, which occurred early on during Pluto’s last stay in Aquarius. In the higher octave, it supported the overthrow of oppressive rule by monarchs in favor of individual rights and freedom. In the lower octave, it witnessed cruel bloodbaths, massive dislocations and widespread suffering.  

Compounding the affect, the United States is currently going through its Pluto return. It’s a time of massive rethinking. In this case, being in the second house related to values both social and economic, great shifts in how the nation sees itself and intends to evolve are already in the works. 

It’s a momentous, pivotal moment in time, either for better or worse. How will YOU use it? 

My greatest fear is that, as a nation, the US might fail to learn from the lessons of history and simply mindlessly repeat the same old mistakes, yet again. For example, the revolution in France gradually devolved back into tyranny. Napoleon, who at first was welcomed as a hero, eventually crowned himself emperor — tyranny dressed in new clothes. 

Similarly, in the United States, the values enshrined in the Bill of Rights have devolved and are currently under siege. Cloaked in liberal rhetoric, the oppressive influence of socialism has undermined its institutions — from education and healthcare to the government and military, dangerously undermining the values for which the founders fought. 

My dearest hope is that we will learn from the lessons of history and do the Pluto thing better this time around the astrological block. Much better. 

This time, let’s seek freedom from the inside out, rather than the other way around. Let’s do it more mindfully. Less violently. 

Words matter. A lot. And freedom in particular is a powerful word, much used, less often understood.   

In the year 2000, I wrote a collection of 64 essays based on the premise that, over time, the value words of the English language have devolved to mean both one thing and its opposite. The Tower of Babel Dilemma. All too often, we miss each other coming going, using the same words, but meaning very different things, sadly unaware of the disconnect.  

From the I Ching, the Chinese Book of Change, comes the awareness that in duality, there are two sides to every coin. Thus, for each of the value words explored, one section was called “The Front,” while a contrasting section was called “The Back.”  

Here’s part of the exploration of FREEDOM, which we would do well to revisit at this powerful, pivotal time of change: 

THE FRONT 

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 irresponsibility, easiness of manner, or sometimes an excessive frankness and familiarity. 

Most people fail to recognize that, like peace, love and unity, freedom is attained first on the inside as a state of mind and being, only then authentically reflected in external circumstances.  

In I Ching context, freedom is a state of in-dependence, depending primarily on inner resources – rather than undependable, imperfect mortals — 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 deliberate self-awareness, forgiveness and atonement (at-one-ment). 

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.” 

In any case, while human laws might change outer appearances, they cannot change the underlying attitudes and beliefs that drive slavery. Nor is saying and doing whatever one wants as a puppet of blind impulse true freedom. Seeing through negative filters of fear, pride, or hatred is as limiting as literal bondage.  

When its people are disconnected from inner wisdom and out of touch with nature, though a society may call itself democratic, it isn’t truly free. 

THE BACK 

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

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. 

This time around the repeating cycles of history, let’s be mindful that we have free will, and use this pivotal time of new beginnings as the opportunity to choose wisely. Let’s learn to live in the higher octave, and get better results for ourselves, our loved ones and for the collective community. 

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.     

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. 

An Extraordinary Opportunity

In duality, as a Law of Nature, hidden within every danger is an opposite and equal opportunity. In today’s intensely dangerous times, if only we can see and reach out to catch it, at the center of the ferris wheel ups and downs of current events rests the prize of an extraordinary opportunity. 

This came to me today (Friday, October 20, 2022) as a special message for our Chinese friends, who’ve shared with the world the treasure of the preeminent I Ching, The Book of Change.  

It came about as the result of making a personal query. I’ve been coughing up karmic hairballs to release and heal for a few weeks now. This morning (one can hope), had to be the climax and finish of that process. 

I tell you about it because I recognize that my personal experience parallels the collective one. My individual process of releasing karmic cycles in order to make a clean fresh start could well serve as a catalyst for a larger-scale healing of long-held grudges between China and the Western world. 

The personal story involves the suicide of my cardiologist father, William Kirby West, in which opioid addiction played a part. In dream state this morning, I became aware that an ancient repeating cycle of karma was involved. I was at risk of playing it out once again. But this time, by recognizing the potential danger, I had the opportunity to break the cycle. Release it. Let it go and be healed forever. 

What then flashed in mind was the parallel between my risk and a news clip I’d seen the day before. It featured a collage of the faces of thousands of Americans who’d died of fentanyl overdoses. It filled a full wall, representing not only their loss, but the ripple effect of suffering experienced by their families and friends. 

Connecting the dots still further, I recognized that the U.S. border crisis that’s flooding the country with fentanyl imported from China is part of their revenge, tit for tat, for what had been done to them during the Opium wars. In an earlier century, European pirates and profiteers caused a demoralizing plague of addictions in China. Holding this grudge, they’re revisiting that plague on Westerners now. Round and round the cycle of retaliation, revenge and pay-back goes. 

But it’s time to STOP it. Now. We have an extraordinary opportunity to recognize the repeating pattern and heal this suicidal no-win dynamic NOW.  

In the 3D materialistic paradigm of competition, conquest and control, Chinese overlords imagined that their land was the center of the world. Their pride was bruised beyond measure when that bubble of illusory superiority burst. They’re challenging the U.S. as if to grab back their perceived rightful place in the world as its central dominant “force.” 

But in 5D quantum reality, this is tragic nonsense. Control is a non-issue. Only God, Source, Tao, the Creator (however you choose to name it) – certainly no race, no nation, no gender, no religion — is at the Center of the ferris wheel of life: 

In the Unified Field Theory, encompassed in the archetypal Life Wheel, we have a complete and accurate reality map that supports universal change from the inside out. In shifting to this Quantum Paradigm world view, we have the extraordinary opportunity to finally, at last, come to understand and live by the awareness that everyone, everywhere is made in the image of Creator, endowed with the same creative potentials. 

It’s time to give up the addiction to power, dominance and control. To forgive mistakes made in ignorance. To let go of an unfortunate past in order to focus on the extraordinary opportunity to heal and make manifest the potentials of a brilliant, hopeful future. 

We have nothing of true value to lose, and everything to gain. Time is precious. Human survival is in the balance. Let’s go for it NOW! 

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.   

FROM a BETTER PARADIGM to BETTER LEADERSHIP & a BETTER FUTURE 

Two radically different voices came to my attention today, in combination heralding the hope that perhaps the times — just maybe – are finally ready for a paradigm shift which could ensure human survival. 

The Quantum Paradigm of which I speak is, of course, the subject of Rethinking Survival. It’s the Unified Field Theory which Einstein intuited and actually had, but, sadly, for lack of yoga background, missed. Embodied in the archetypal Life Wheel which spontaneously appears throughout time, throughout all civilizations, it looks like this: 

This Unified Field Theory pictures a reality where all parts of creation are interwoven and interdependent. As such, this inclusive reality map is one which everyone everywhere can relate to and agree upon. It is equally compatible with scriptures and science, bridging the gap between them. 

This elegantly simple yet complete reality map meets the Occam’s Razor standard: maximum inclusiveness with greatest brevity. 

Working with the Quantum Paradigm empowers the “substantially new manner of thinking,” which, Einstein said, is necessary “if mankind is to survive.” 

As I wrote earlier: 

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’ve acquired the inner wealth necessary to both hear the inner voice of conscience and act on the guidance they receive. 

Ultimately, survivors who prevail in 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. 

This complete and accurate paradigm will replace the fractured, materialistic paradigm of empirical science which rules out the existence of everything but the outer, m=mass level of human experience.  

Empirical science, with disastrous consequences, banned the inner levels of e=energy (emotion) and c=light (intuition) from conscious awareness. In the extreme, it cut humanity off from awareness of the common core which all share in common, call it God, Source, Creator, Tao, or Conscience, as you will.  

Earlier, I wrote: 

I’ve become certain that the worldwide leadership deficit (and related budget deficits) is explained by an underlying knowledge deficit. For lack of a complete and correct life map – paradigm, if you will — people everywhere remain bewildered as to how and why, even with the best of intentions, so much continues to go so horribly wrong. 

To the extent that the inner levels of energy, intuition and conscience are blind spots in the way people think, leaders are left powerless to move beyond the surface level of experience. The realms of light and conscience which rest on the far side of the dynamic energy level, remain inaccessible. 

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

Now, today’s first voice of hope for a better future is that of man of Japanese American descent. Robert Kiyosaki is author of the popular Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and more recently, Capitalist Manifesto.  In an interview where he Makes Bold Predictions about the Economy, Kiyosaki connects the dots between useless “education,” dangerously weak leadership, and increasingly hard times. We need better leaders, he insists. 

On the premise that better education is key to reversing the current downward cycle, he’s written books on how the economy really works. [Keep the pristine definition of the word in mind. “To educate” means to “lead from darkness to light.” Note that “LEAD,” the essence of leadership, is inherent in that definition.] I would add, we also need to restore the wisdom of the I Ching, the Book of Change to the curriculum, as the compendium of Natural Law — the way the world really works.

The blessing in disguise, according to Kiyosaki, is that danger creates opportunity. To survive, people must stretch and improve to meet the challenges they face. He gives the example of being a war zone pilot. His life expectancy was thirty days. “The more dangerous the mission, the better you’ve got to be.” [I would add, and the more accurate and complete the map you’re flying from.] 

Today’s second voice of hope for a better future is that of a woman of French descent. Elana Danaan is author of A Gift from the Stars, and more recently The Seeders. She underscores the importance of actively taking personal self-responsibility, rather than passively waiting to be rescued by saviors. She writes: 

Humanity must take responsibility for itself or Humanity can never grow. . . Humanity must not miss the opportunity to rise up and loudly proclaim, “I do not consent [to tyranny].” 

She continues: 

The time to kneel is over. It is time to stand up, humans of Earth. It is time to embrace who you truly are. And you are quite exceptional! 

To which I would concur. In fact, the Life Wheel — the quantum paradigm of a better future — gives credence to the biblical vision of humans as made in the image of God, whole and complete. It is time to remember who, in potential, we truly are. It is our responsibility – by command – to be perfect, like the Father. 

Re-member Who You ARE

I’ll keep this message short and sweet. 

The most important things always are, don’t ya know. 

Two very different messengers recently gave pretty much the same advice. What I’m adding today is a method — one to help you implement what they recommend – make it real in your every day life. 

In a recent interview, David Icke summarizes his prescient 30+ years of writing, leading up to his recent book, one that takes his ideas to the next level. 

In brief, The Trap describes the mess humanity is in – how we got here and why. Most importantly, he gives us the key to release. Springing out of the trap is marvelously simple – in theory. “Remember who you are.” As he describes it, focus on this awareness: “I am all that is, ever was, and ever can be having a human experience.” 

That’s the short story. The long version is well worth a careful listen. Or two. Or three. 

This conclusion repeats, coming from a different angle and very different source. The message is essentially the same. “Know who are. Own your magnificence.” According to the Kryon — an interdimensional being channeled by Lee Carroll — it’s the way out of madness. Echoing biblical wisdom, he echos, “You are made in the image of God,” whole and complete, nothing less. 

For those who’d prefer a more upbeat version of this timeless truth, think back to the story of Lambert, the sheepish lion. He was raised believing he was a helpless sheep, likely prey to wolves – especially those in wolf’s clothing. Fortunately, under attack, just in time to save the day, he suddenly remembers who he truly is: A fierce lion, courageous protector of the flock. 

Now here’s what I have to contribute to this message. A method. Re-member who you are. Put the fragmented pieces of your life puzzle back together. Align and link them.

Every one, everywhere is born inherently perfect and complete, in the image of God. The quantum Life Wheel pictures the archetypal pattern of potential, repeating on every scale of magnitude, smallest to largest, atoms to solar systems. It images the truth of inner integrity, the unity of humanity, and the divine union of the individual with Creative Source. 

Sadly, for many reasons, alternatively explained by Icke, Kryon and biblical sources, we’ve forgotten who we truly are. We’ve become horrifically fragmented, to which current events give tragic testimony. 

But here’s the good news. With the vision of wholeness kept firmly in mind, reinforced by the commitment and intention to take those fragments and re-member them, it is possible to release ignorance, illusion, dross and restore pristine wholeness — one person at a time.  

It’s a simple breathing method, what some call chi kung (qigong, or breath work).  

Visualize yourself with all the levels of your energetic being (chakras) centered and aligned within the archetypal Life Wheel. 

Then focus on deep, even breathing. On the out-breath, release everything invasive, toxic or diseased, all fears, worries and distress. On the in-breath, breathe in peace, love and light. 

Add a sound, riding on the breath. On the out-breath, hear or say the name Jeshuah. Surrender of who all you are, returning to Source. This is the simple yet profound path to enlightenment recommended by Dr. David R. Hawkins in Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender.

On the in-breath, chant or think the name Ha Mashia. Receive and be anointed by blessed light entering in through the top of the head at the crown center, flowing like warm liquid honey, like radiant chi descending through each chakra, one at a time, then flowing through the nervous system, eventually filling every cell and atom of the body. 

Repeat. Embed this experience deep into your psyche.

Let this be your meditation. Re-member who you are. 

Amen. 

Why This, Why Me, and Why NOW? 

Much to my surprise, The Way of the Sage went its own way.  

Much of what I originally intended to say was left unsaid.  

For example, I planned to follow through on my earlier invitation to Sage Robbins.  

In an Open Letter to Tony Robbins, I observed that the not-coincidental pun on his wife’s name nominates her as the logical and ideal person to try out and report back to him on the validity and benefits associated with this ancient, tried and true, universal method of decision-making – the book accurately described The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide. 

I intended to tell her that the Common Sense Book of Change is intentionally free of the usual elitist and gender assumptions (“the superior man”). No one is excluded from the opportunity to be truly noble, genuinely wise. 

I wanted to tell her that this small book makes timeless wisdom available to truth seekers — whomever, wherever — free of distortions. There’s no overlay of cultural bias. For this ancient wisdom treasure is, in its essence, timeless. Universal.  

I intended to appeal to her natural, maternal instinct to educate and protect our children, now and into the future. I would have invited her to join me in giving this small book to the world as living proof that women too have the potential to become peaceful warriors as well as sages. 

But, as I said, The Way of the Sage took a detour. Immediately after publishing it, however, I became aware that it was just the first installment.  

Overnight, I received the content of a second installment. Again, it didn’t include the originally outlined facts and details. Instead, something else, equally unexpected, emerged.  

This time, I was called to explain these Three Whys.  

  • Why this subject?  
  • Why me? Why am I the right person to address it? And,  
  • Why this subject and me NOW?  

The Three Why’s aren’t necessarily separate. They blend and interact. But I’ll do my best, as briefly as possible, to sort it out for you. 

——————————————————— 

WHY THIS? 

As stated earlier: 

What I’ve been given in trust to share with the world is a re-vision of timeless wisdom, clear and simple in form, suited to the needs of the times.  

The form is two-part, consisting of a mutually reinforcing map and a manual. One is an overview, a snapshot of quantum reality. The other, with good reason, has been called The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide.   

For many reasons, some explained below, the future ahead is going to be majorly unfamiliar. However positive pending changes will ultimately prove to be, at the onset they’ll be perceived by most to be fearful and threatening.  

In that context, the Sage’s Way of Wisdom – embodied in the combo of the Quantum Paradigm Life Wheel and the Book of Change, are going to be the resources we can turn to and depend upon. They’ll guide those open to change, helping them travel safely through the challenges of a global shift, one day and one situation at a time, so they don’t crash and burn, don’t fall victim to cultural shock.  

These wisdom tools offer the option to see changing times as the rare and precious opportunity they are to practice the Phoenix Response to change: to die to the old not through suicide, but in order to be reborn into something new and better in the same lifetime. 

In combination, this map and manual hold the answers to humanity’s collective prayers for: 

  • Truth.  
  • Freedom, first within, then without.  
  • Peace, first within, then without.   
  • Harmony and health.   
  • Loving, supportive relationships at home, in the community, and in the world.   
  • An end to confusion, conflict and corruption.  
  • An understanding of how the world really works.  
  • A return to simplicity and goodness.   

And there’s more. So much more. Even the legendary Confucius, accomplished as he was, wished for an additional 75 years of life in order to study and increase his understanding of this endlessly profound science. 

Among many other things, the I Ching works like a cosmic clock. It forewarns of danger and nurtures the inner strength to cope with and outlast inevitable shocks and adversity. 

Supporting commentary could easily be supplied, but this short post isn’t the place. For now, Trust me. It’s true. It’s all true.   

As for the complimentary Quantum Life Wheel, although apparently simple, it satisfies the inclusive standard of Occam’s Razor. The implications of its embodied Unified Field Theory are universal. Its applications are endless. Here’s just one suggestive example: 

————————————————————— 

WHY ME? 

Long story short, my life has been a wandering path that has, over time, seeming miraculously, as if all were preordained, given me access to the broad range of information that had to be integrated. I’ve been uniquely called to collect the mosaic pieces of various wisdom traditions and intuitively known how they fit together, forming the unified picture presented here.  

Again, this isn’t the place to go into scholarly detail. For now, please trust me.  

But why the physical me? So many reasons, it couldn’t have been anyone else. It’s not just my name which, like Sage’s, nominates me for the role. It had to be West. I’ve been cautioned not to lose myself in eastern traditions, but rather to serve as a bridge, to integrate them into western civilization.  Life has fashioned me into An Instrument of Light.

And it had to be my gender. Women are the ones for whom the system works least. They’re the ones most qualified to address its blind spots and serve as change agents — of necessity, to be “the early adaptive.” More importantly, my gentle yin nature — my persona – speaks to the crying need to restore respect for the receptive, nurturing yin qualities of human nature, lacking which our civilization has degenerated into its current condition of critical mass. 

As for scholarly qualifications, I spoke to this in The Qualification That Matters. 

On the one hand, does it really matter who the messenger is? It’s the message that counts. If the truth of what I say resonates and the results work for you, the message speaks for itself. It stands on its own merit.  

On the other hand, if you really believe that the messenger matters, then truth be told, the best of what I know comes from personal experience.  

Which isn’t to say I haven’t paid my dues. I’ve earned the traditional academic credentials to string behind my name. (B.A. in history and philosophy from Oberlin College. M.A. in English and Ph.D.in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.)   

But in this light, they don’t much matter. In fact, most of what I learned in schools later had to be unlearned. 

The qualification that genuinely matters here is that I have a good teacher. A really, really good teacher. And that we have your best interests at heart. 

The one we called Old Avatar was a uniquely advanced soul. Lao Tze best describes his vast, but subtle influence. “The presence of true masters is only suspected.” His Universal Mind permeates the quantum field. Those open to his magic respond and all is done. Truth seekers automatically tune in to him, broadcasting from the far side — Tony Robbins included. 

Tony Robbins and I are connected through OA.  It works both ways. I was attracted to Tony’s Awaken the Giant Within. This website was, in fact, inspired by his challenge. Conversely, much of what Tony teaches reflects how well he’s tuned into OA. For example, OA’s MPI (Motive-Purpose-Intent) standard permeates his work.  

—————————————- 

WHY NOW? 

Long story short, astrologically, the times are ripe and ready. Without going into technical detail, suffice it to say that planet Earth is approaching a time of massive change. Where before, things weren’t possible, they’re quickly becoming inevitable. 

As described in Wheels Within Wheels, we’re in the midst of an extraordinarily rare triple conjunction that last occurred 2,300 years ago. It was marked by the massive economic and cultural shifts that followed from the conquests of Alexander the Great. It’s that huge. 

We’re at critical mass. I, along with others born for such a time as this (including General Michael Flynn and Patrick Byrne), are doing our best to avert a destructive civil war intentionally being provoked by dark side minions. Were they to prevail, it would take civilization back to the dark ages.  

This escalating tension is scheduled to be kinetic, escalating all the way up to the November 2024 election.

Using this foresight in combination with wisdom tools, we can steer our planning and behavior. We have the ability, potential, opportunity — actually a divine calling — to collectively tip the balance in favor of world peace.  

Let’s choose life. Let’s choose the Way of the Sage: respecting all of life and practicing peace, first within, then without.  

So much to say. So little time. So little space.  

But for now, until the next time, be well. All best.  

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 Quantum Solution: What the Ancient’s Knew About Our POTENTIAL Future. 

The Way of the Sage is the Hope of the Future 

In ancient times, sages – wisdom seekers who practiced Taoism — first sought to know, then to live in harmony with the primal source of love, light, and power: the all-pervasive yet unnamable Truth they called Tao – the Way. 

The WAY embodies the hero’s journey of set-backs, discoveries, tests and triumphs as well as a fundamental attitude – one of good will, service and respect for all of life. 

What about now? How has it come to pass that today, most have lost their way . . . that in a world flooded with information, we’re starved for simple, life-sustaining wisdom? 

This has been my lifelong question, my search and path of discovery. I’m here to share with you what I’ve found. There IS a way home – for those sufficiently disillusioned of the world, who are ready to change and remember who they truly are. Always were. Always will be. 

It is as if inside of me there dwells a sage-like Chinese soul, born with an ancient memory of forgotten wisdom and a predestined calling to return it to the world, when and as the time is ready and right.  

What I’ve been given in trust to share with the world is a re-vision of timeless wisdom, clear and simple in form, suited to the needs of the times. 

The form is two-part, consisting of a mutually reinforcing map and a manual. One is an overview, a snapshot of quantum reality. The other, with good reason, has been called The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide.  

Wherever you start, each leads to the other. 

But I must take you on a detour. Please stay with me. 

Originally, I planned to fill in the details of a meticulously outlined post – one fully factual and true.  

But it didn’t satisfy me. An inner nudge warned, “Speaking through and to the head isn’t enough. ” 

So I asked in my heart, “How do I speak to the hearts those who read? What is the way to communicate the wonder and value of this wisdom, make it real and desirable?”  

I asked my Self, “Please. Help me translate the verbal language of the head into the feeling knowledge of the heart.” 

What came to me is the vision of a wish-granting angel hovering over planet Earth, listening to the chorus of humanity’s cries floating up to heaven.  

WHAT DO THEY PRAY FOR?  

Truth. Freedom.  

Peace, first within, then without.  

Harmony and health.  

Loving, supportive relationships at home,  

in the community, on the job, and in the world.  

An end to confusion, conflict and corruption. 

An understanding of how the world really works. 

A return to simplicity and goodness.  

And sure enough. The universal answer to humanity’s collective prayer — the gift that the Blessing Angel comes to bestow — is always the same. 

The second answer that entered my heart is the memory of a favorite fable. It starts with a bratty, demanding princess who wants it all. She threatens the royal chef with his life. Either give her what she wants, or he dies. 

She craves the most delicious food in the world. It has to be both hot and cold, light and dark.  

As a matter of survival, he creates the food that satisfies her desires. And that is how the hot fudge sundae came to be. 

Just so. The mutually reinforcing pair of wisdom tools — the Book of Change and its spin-off, the quantum Life Wheel — are the hot fudge sundae of universal wisdom traditions. They satisfy in all respects.   

Can I adequately support these claims? It would take a lifetime. And a library of books. 

And how have I come to know that all I tell you here is true? First and foremost, it comes from personal life experience. God willing, I’ll share my story in one of the myriad books on the drawing board: Who I AM to Say: A Journey of SELF-Discovery. 

Second, what I know and say comes from a lifetime of research, all of which, given the time and opportunity, I could, as the hope of future generations, document in an unending series of blogs compiled into books, one bite at a time. 

But for now, until the next time, be well. All best.  

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. 

Open Letter to Tony Robbins 

Dear Tony, 

During the past week, something unpleasantly strange and highly unusual happened on your Tony Robbins YouTube channel. 

In this open letter, I’ll tell you what happened, why it upset me so much, and – most importantly — the reasons why not only you but your followers really need to know about it. 

It started on Monday, August 1st, when I watched your interview with Ray Dalio on the Changing World Order, how countries rise and fall, and what the cycles of history can teach us now. The description box included your words,  

“Power comes to those that can recognize patterns.” 

Now, I’ve been saying exactly this for a very long time. The subject is dear to my heart. Naturally, I immediately wanted to know your point of view. 

As I listened, I was on fire. I paused to enter one, two, three, four and then five comments.  

Next began a sequence of events. First, all but one of the five comments disappeared. Then, a message with your name on it, in your channel, was pinned to my one remaining comment. 

 In a nutshell, (though it took a day to recognize it), a punitive hacker with ulterior motives is policing your channel.  

The pinned reply with your name – Tony Robbins – gave a phone number for me to call.  

What appeared in my email looked like this: Pinned Tony Robbin十l{7O7}86IO5l4 replied to Pat West’s comment.   

Pinned Tony Robbin十l{7O7}86IO5l4  

msg me directly,⤴️ 

My first response was to be Thrilled!!! 

OMG. Tony Robbins is interested in my comments. He wants to know more!!! This is a dream come true, and with perfect timing.  

Naturally, I quickly responded to what I naively believed was an invitation from Tony himself. The texted conversation, still in my phone, looks like this: 

(Monday, August 1.  7:49 p.m.) 

Me: Hello Tony. This is Pat West. I’m responding to your pinned message. What would you like to speak about? 

X: Hello Pat, nice to have you here. 

Me: Likewise 

X: Before that I’d like to know how long you have been following my channel? 

Me: You’ve been a major influence for many years. My website was based on reading your Giants within. Have been following you ever sense.  

X: Let’s text on my business signal messenger. I have alot I’d like to share with you. You can download signal messenger it’s a private messenger That’s my business line (817) 385-7454. Let me know when you do. 

That’s when things turned south. There was no such app on my phone. I dropped my plans for the next day, intent on getting that app and continuing the conversation. I emailed a friend, explaining the “opportunity” and asking for her help: 

Hi Terry, A most wonderful and amazing opportunity has knocked on my humble door. But it would sure help if you have the time to be of assistance. 

I just remembered the quote I used to conclude a book I wrote. Turns out to be very true: “You can rest assured that if you devote your time and attention to the highest advantage of others, the Universe will support you, always and only in the nick of time.” R. Buckminster Fuller   . . . . And it really is just in the nick. 
 

. . . tonight — which happens to be the exact date of the most powerful energy in 2,300 years — [Tony] pinned an answer to my comment saying to text him. We had a brief exchange. He seemed to like my responses and wants me to continue the conversation in a message app that I do NOT have on my phone and don’t know how to install. 
 

I didn’t hear from her right away. Impatient, I called Quintin, the tech I work with at the Computer Doctors. He wasn’t available. The next morning, not to be defeated, I took a cab to U.S. Cellular. The agent there was helpful, but dubious. Some message apps mess phones up, he warned.  

When I finally heard from Quintin, he showered cold water on my hopes. He sees this kind of scam frequently. It set off all his alarm bells. 

So, once inside the app, I challenged the pseudo-Tony. “Are you for real? I’ve been warned this is a scam. Give me something of substance, or I will delete the app.” 

Silence. App deleted. 

I went from soaring with hope and joy to crashing in embarrassment, disappointment and bewilderment. Why? Why? 

How and WHY would someone hack the Tony Robbins channel? Why would anyone go to the trouble of deleting my comments? Why would an imposter represent himself as Tony and pin a reply to my comment? And why, oh why, would anyone, playing on my dearest hope of connecting with Tony, lure me into loading an app apparently designed to mess up my phone? 

Where’s the method in apparent madness? It took me a while to calm down and sort it out.  

No doubt, it had to do with the substance of my comments.  

Fortunately, I saved them. The one allowed to stand, apparently the one regarded as least offensive, was this: 

The venerable, Chinese I Ching, the Book of Change, has mapped the patterns of Natural Law that influence cycles of human life, organizations and civilizations for thousands of years. This scratches the mere surface of what sages have known for eons. Why not return to the basics? 

[BTW. Had it been the real Tony, I would have pointed out that the not-coincidental pun on his wife’s name, SAGE, makes her the ideal person to try out and report back to him on the validity and benefits associated with this ancient, tried and true, universal method of decision-making – the book accurately described The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide.] 

 

Here’s one of the deleted comments: 

Astrologers have much to say about historical and economic changes. We’ve reached a critical point that’s now occurring for the first time in 2,300 years, the time of Alexander the Great.  See  rethinkingsurvival.com/2022/07/16/heads-up/   

Another was this: 

Tony, you’re asking the right questions of the wrong person. Correctly seen, paradigm shifts are not about 10-year economic trends, but about major shifts in belief systems. Martin Luther, for example. Or Christ. 

As for the China issue, in the future, we must persuade them to return to their roots, their heritage in the I Ching, and a world view where everyone everywhere shares a divine center in common. I will have to write you a post on this. Please look for it on my website, rethinkingsurvival.com. I’ll call it Wheels Within Wheels. 

These last two, however, were probably the seriously offending ones.  

Good Lord, Tony. What’s going on is a paradigm shift, as Kuhn well knew. Powerholders with a vested interest in a dying order are, predictably, defending the deep state like animals backed into a corner. Patriots want peace, not war. It’s the deep state that’s desperately engineering civil war, provoking patriots beyond measure, hoping for excuses to inter them in Nazi-like FEMA camps, exterminate opponents as if to prevent the wave of the future. (The fate of Jan 6 political prisoners is a warning example intended to intimidate/discourage freedom seekers.) 

Contrary to the media version of Jan. 6 events, evidence is mounting that it was a diversionary tactic staged by Pelosi et.al. It prevented a timely investigation into election fraud that, had it been allowed to proceed in an orderly fashion as intended, could have prevented what has proven to be a disastrous Biden administration.  

Most importantly, wars cannot be correctly analyzed without a wheels-within-wheels, correct and accurate Quantum Paradigm. The wars we see on the public stage reflect the deeper war going on between good and evil.  

And finally this:  

Tony, for a correct perspective on what’s going on politically in the U.S. you urgently need to get in contact with, follow AND support the work of The America Project. It’s founded by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. His CEO is Patrick Byrne, former founder/CEO of Overstock.com.  See https://americaproject.com/ 

Bottom line: Here’s proof that the same thought police at work throughout social media, banning truth tellers and shutting down sites that challenge the prevailing false narrative, are also infiltrating channels and altering content! 

Now, once I recognized the scam, and called it out, the pinned message disappeared, and one (only one) of the deleted comments reappeared. Which tells me that the hacker continues to surveil and manipulate comments to your channel. 

Not good! 

So I decided this rare, unique time is too precious to waste. I’m going to turn this disappointment around, change it into a genuine “opportunity.”  The fact that my words had sufficient truth to signal forces of the dark side to retaliate is evidence that I’m on the right track. My ideas DO deserve the attention of Tony, Ray AND their followers.

In fact, the messages deleted might well be exactly the ones the world most needs!

Therefore, my message to you and Ray Dalio stands.  

Further, I need to ask. Do either of you have attorneys on board, charged with protecting your intellectual property? If so, I urge you to have them track down the two phone numbers I was given, first to text, then to message. These thought police are criminals! They need to be outed and dealt with appropriately. 

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. 

Open Letter to Ray Dalio 

Dear Ray: In response your interview with Tony Robbins, I humbly have a different perspective to offer on the subjects of principles and patterns of change.  

By means of introduction, let me say I’m not a kid. (You’re 72 years of age. I recently celebrated my 77th year.)  

So, I’m as senior in years and experience as are you, albeit (for better or worse) I count my wealth in wisdom and inner strength, not dollars.  

That being said, at the end of Wheels Within Wheels, I mentioned that there was enough material left in my notes for a post double in length. I now feel compelled to start here where I left off. 

Just a brief recap before moving on to new territory.  

  • 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. 
  • . . .  experts are looking at cycles of human history on 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.    
  • Today’s rare and powerful triple conjunction 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.   
  • Most importantly, wars cannot be correctly analyzed without a wheels-within-wheels, correct and accurate Quantum Paradigm. The wars we see on the public stage reflect the deeper war going on between good and evil. 

Tony applauded your ability to recognize patterns. ““Understanding patterns can give you the ability to create greater quality of life for yourself, for your family, etc.” 

You responded, “I needed to study history to understand not only the patterns, but more importantly, the cause and effect behind the patterns.” 

To repeat, that’s exactly what the I Ching has to offer: 

It gives an in-depth view 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.  It is a map of logical consequences, as inevitable as computer language. “If this, then that.”    

Again, it seems that you’re looking for patterns in historical events which occur on the surface of the life wheel, not appreciating that they reflect dynamics going on at deeper levels. 

For this, we need a larger viewpoint, the one embodied in the venerable Chinese I Ching. As the compendium of Natural Law, it speaks to the dynamics of the middle, e=energy middle level of the quantum Life Wheel. 

This book represents the distillation of wisdom accumulated over 8,000+ years of collective experience. Were it returned to a central position in school curriculum, where it belongs, there’d be no need to learn things the hard way, reinventing the wheel of fortune in the school of hard knocks, as you’ve had to do.  

One additional point: I humbly suggest that there is an important difference between principles and basic axioms. Here’s one list, detailed earlier as Seven Axioms of Positive Change. It deserves your careful consideration: 

  • A complete and correct paradigm is key to personal well-being and success. 
  • We are each a world complete, containing the potentials of the universe. 
  • Unity and Diversity Are Necessary Compliments. 
  • The consequences of action are inevitable; those who respect the Law of Karma succeed. 
  • History is neither linear or progressive, nor can human survival be taken for granted. 
  • Used as a linguistic tool, the quantum Wheel of Change promotes clear, accurate and effective communication. 
  • With a correct paradigm, practical methods and useful tools, you can make yourself whole. 

Also central to Natural Law is the premise that there are two sides to every coin. “Whatever has a front has a back. And the larger the front, the larger the back.” As a consequence: 

Appearances can be deceiving. Often times intentionally so! 

This concept applies directly to two subjects you spoke of: the market crash of 2008 and the January 6 storming of the Capitol. In both cases, a festering underbelly of corruption was at work, skewing the natural flow events. 

In both cases, Patrick Byrne speaks volumes to the corruption driving the surface appearance of events.  

From 2005, Patrick Byrne, then CEO of Overstock.com, was warning that the vast amount of corruption on Wall Street (naked short-selling) would make a market crash inevitable. Only after the 2008 crash did former detractors reluctantly agree he’d been right all along.  

As a survivor of that battle, he’s again serving on the frontlines of a similar scam. As the mountain of facts continues to rise, again proving him correct, he’s being validated in his warning that election fraud occurred on a massive scale in 2020.  

Further, though you repeatedly state that “January 6th is right out of the populist playbook, in other words, fighting for power,” a Life Wheel perspective deeper gives meaning to your point.  

Mounting evidence shows that Jan. 6 was a diversionary event orchestrated by House Speaker Pelosi and implemented by feds who infiltrated the ranks of Trump followers. It prevented an early investigation into election fraud that, had it been allowed to proceed in an orderly fashion, could have prevented what as proven to be a disastrous Biden adminstration. The disgraceful, unconstitutional treatment of Jan. 6 political prisoners is an intentional warning meant to intimidate patriots.  

Adding insult to injury, the false narrative of Jan. 6 is being exploited as a media circus to divert attention from valid issues. It’s outright evil. 

Bottom line: Powerholders with a vested interest in a dying order are, predictably, defending the deep state like animals backed into a corner. It’s the deep state that’s desperately attempting to engineer civil war. They’re provoking patriots beyond measure, looking for a pretext to inter them in Nazi-like FEMA camps, exterminate opponents as if to cancel the wave of the future.  

Once again, there’s much more that could be said. But I will stop here for now. 

In conclusion, for a correct perspective on what’s going on politically in the U.S., I urge both you and Tony Robbins to contact AND support the work of The America Project founded by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. His CEO is Patrick Byrne, founder and former CEO of Overstock.com.  See https://americaproject.com/ 

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. 

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. 

Aliens Among Us 

This post serve as the first follow-up to The Grand Finale, where I described the massive shift in global self-identity to being introduced by a powerful triple conjunction. 

Please note: the aliens referred to here are not illegals at America’s southern borders. I’m referring to extraterrestrials from outer space.

What follows is a prescient section from the 2014 book, Rethinking Survival.  

ALIEN INVADERS 

In the 1980s, when the Affirmative Action legislation described in Part One was a subject of hot debate, one commentator made an astute observation. If foreign enemies had wanted to undermine the United States, they would have designed exactly this legislation. Valid goals — the window dressing – were buried in burdensome regulations and punitive economic sanctions. Rather than bringing people together, it was alienating, causing an opposite and equal backlash. 

Alien invaders infiltrating Planet Earth, weakening humans to eventually take over and enslave them, is a familiar theme in science fiction. For example, in his various incarnations, Doctor Who — television’s time traveler — continuously detects nefarious alien plots and rescues heedless humans from annihilation. 

Current events indicate there’s considerable truth cloaked in that science “fiction.” Starting with the premise that hidden alien enemies are covertly scheming to undermine humanity, ask, “How would they set about to destroy us?” Logically, they’d create chaos, setting everyone at each other’s throats. They’d trick humans into mutual self-destruction by stirring up dissension and fragmenting their governments. 

As discussed in Part Two, the Old Testament and yogic scriptures both maintain that we’re made in the image of God. Each individual mind is a complete miniature of the Universal Mind. When open, receptive, and aligned, everyone everywhere mirrors the wisdom and potential power of the Creator. 

Therefore, it’s an absolute priority for evil aliens to attack the mind. Their agents will do whatever it takes to pollute your mind. They confuse it with false paradigms. They clutter and distract it with the ongoing media circus. Every doubt planted in your mind, causing you to forget who you are, to disbelieve in your ultimate origins and creative potentials, is a victory for the dark side. 

To totally undermine humanity, atheism is a must. The unifying beliefs which hold families and nations together and fortify them in times of adversity must be destroyed at all costs. 

Again, how would this be accomplished? 

For one thing, language which makes communication and community-building possible would have to be polluted beyond repair. In Part Two, this ongoing process is described as the Tower of Babel factor. 

In the English language, for example, every value word has devolved to mean both one thing and its opposite. So people often talk at cross purposes, unaware that they’re missing each other coming and going.  I call it The Tower of Babel Factor.

Timothy Daugherty nails this tactic from the radical adversarial-political play book. They have nothing of substance to offer and unacceptably destructive intentions to hide. So the political left uses language “not to communicate ideas, but to create a kind of rhetorical fog that obscures real issues.” 

Alien agents are masters of double-speak, the child of deception and second-cousin of spin. A good example is given by Wayne Allyn Root, who writes about the lessons learned together with Obama at Columbia on “How to Destroy America from Within:” 

The plan taught us to hide your true intentions (in other words — lie, misrepresent, commit fraud) . . . A key component of the plan involved fooling the voters by calling yourself “moderate” and a “uniter,” even though you are a radical Marxist. We were taught to never admit what you really believe in. It involved demonizing your opponents, calling them “evil, greedy, extreme, radical, and terrorist.” Look in the mirror and call your opponents the very things you are. 

He continues: 

Why the lies? We were taught at Columbia that “It’s for the greater good” and “We know what’s best for those people” and “The ends justify the means.” 

Next, by every means available, alien agents would strive to pollute the idea pool. Make access to the law impossible and simple truth seem complicated. Because ideas have consequences, introduce false beliefs with predictably disastrous results. 

Then evil aliens would systematically destroy trust, the cement of human relationships, at every level of organization.  

How? Make deceit the political norm. Convince people that no one’s motives can be trusted. Demonstrate that no one’s words can be believed. Make it “common knowledge” that no one’s actions, however apparently innocent and well-intentioned, can be taken at face value. 

Diversions would be a must. Rile the public with non-issues to distract them from very real dangers. Using lame-stream media shills, manipulate the masses with the weapons of psychological warfare. Insult them with the lie that they’re not okay. Sell them on the belief that they’re helpless “victims” of oppressors who must depend on tough guys to rescue them (and pay the heavy price of obligation at the voting polls). 

Agents of invading aliens would rationalize their lies, sanitizing them as public relations and expedient strategy. It would seem that Edward Bernays, Woodrow Wilson’s advisor and model for Nazi propagandists — the so-called “father of spin” — was a foremost henchman of the invading aliens. If so, Saul Alinsky was their number one point man. The cockroach (opps, coach) of community organizers, most notably Obama, but Hillary Clinton too, was a self-proclaimed radical. 

In a twist of our poor abused language, Christ was rightly regarded as “radical” in his day. He would be today as well (in the original meaning) were he to walk among us now. Compatible with the Quantum Paradigm worldview, “radical” meant “going to the foundation or source of something; fundamental.” 

That’s a far cry from Alinsky’s extremist meaning of “radical.” He was intentionally the antithesis of Christ. In the front page of his book Rules for Radicals, Alinksy quotes patriot Thomas Paine (modestly) side- by-side with . . . himself. First, Paine: 

Let them call me a rebel and then welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul . . . 

Then Alinsky: 

Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to . . . the very first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer. 

Associating himself with Paine, the champion of common sense, was a misleading pose. By his own admission, Alinsky was not a patriot. He was in league with the dark side that masquerades as light. He didn’t just make a whore of his soul. He apparently sold it outright, not for a kingdom, but for paltry influence. 

It seems as if Alinsky’s particular Faustian pact involved not only selling his own soul, but also seducing gullible followers over to the dark side. It wasn’t enough for him to “suffer the misery of devils” alone. He was intent on bringing as many as possible down to join him in that suffering. 

The seductiveness of Alinsky’s virile double-speak is extraordinary. He was well aware of the risks involved in using emotionally charged language. He defined “power” in a chapter called “A Word about Words.” He denied abusing language. But his awareness of language issues didn’t stop him from doing it. 

His logic is so twisted that a critique would have to move line-by-line to unravel his spiderweb of tangled assumptions. The attempt would be like wading in quicksand. A Jesuit-trained logician would be hard-pressed to come out clean. Yet Rules for Radicals is sometimes made required reading for impressionable teenagers. 

In contrast to Alinsky’s take on power, here’s part of Essay 57 on Power from The Ultimate Personal Survival Guide: 

According to 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. But Leaders, whether a Stalin or a Mandela, ride the waves of time like energy surfers, directing their followers towards either slaughter or freedom. 

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. 

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 to discover a Unified Theory which perfectly describes how the Universe works. Had he prevailed, he would have re-invented the I Ching.  

In contrast, Alinsky, with no logic or explanation whatsoever, dismissively rejects the idea of natural, organic evolution:  

The significant changes in history have been made by revolutions. There are people who say that it is not revolution, but evolution that brings about change – but evolution is simply the term used by nonparticipants to denote a particular sequence of revolutions as they are synthesized into a specific major social change. . .  

Here’s how Alinsky uses the “power” word:  

The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away. . . . In this book we are concerned with how to create mass organizations to seize power and give it to the people. . . We are talking about a mass power organization which will change the world . .[emphasis added.] 

Note the use of the “royal we.” This is a megalomaniac talking. He wants to change the entire world. His attitude is towards power holders is openly aggressive. He doesn’t just want to take what they hold. He wants to seize it.  

To violently “change the world” by means of a “mass power organization” makes no positive sense. Further, history tells us that repeatedly, when power is seized from one set of Haves, it merely passes to another set of worse ones. Never, ever has it been “given” to “the people.” 

The pretext of creating a mass power organization for the purpose of seizing power in order to give it to “the people” is highly suspect. Unholy radicals mobilize “the people” as pawns to their own ends, hypocritically masking self-serving motives with phony idealism.  

Has the current jet-setting, golf-playing community-organizer-in-chief, for example, empowered anyone other than himself and his cronies? People be wary! 

In the first chapter, Alinsky stated his exact purpose, namely to coach those who “want to change the world” from what it is “to what they believe it should be.” In I Ching context, this assumption-packed premise is an extraordinary feat of tragedy-fraught hubris. an comprehend what, in its entirety, the world — the elephant — really is?

What human could possibly be so foolish as to think she is qualified — on the basis of one puny view — to judge what it should be? Alinksy’s rules extended an invitation for blind mortals to jump in feet first where good angels know far better than to tread. 

Second, who really understands change? Many bandy the word about. But it’s a profound science of which few have in-depth knowledge. Confucius dedicated a lifetime to understanding the dynamics of Natural Law encoded in the perennial Book of Change. Never in his wildest nightmares could he have anticipated anyone daring to force the world to conform to personal preferences.  

As a small example, in Part One I described the disastrous consequences of attempting to manufacture change. In this case, a local CEO meddled with the internal dynamics of Ross Perot’s EDS Federal in Madison, triggering unpleasantly unforeseen results. 

So, for starters, the “belief” that anyone can change the world from what he ass-umes it is to what he ass-umes it should be is unspeakably misguided. Building on this false premise, Alinsky then fueled the undermining alien arsenal with a full battery of destructive tactics. In essence, political radicals should feel “free” to violate the ten commandments. The ends (getting what you want) justify any means. 

His version of social change is engineered by stirring up conflict. Use fabricated information to bear false witness against inconvenient neighbors. (Herman Cain’s character assassination is one of countless examples.) Alinsky advocates scapegoating, not unlike the dynamic which propelled Nazis to power. Create the illusion of an outside enemy as the way to unify your base. (How is that for the ultimate double-speak? Conflict is the opposite of unity.) 

Divide and conquer. Pit each group against the others. I can almost see alien puppeteers behind the scenes clapping their hands in glee over Alinsky’s contribution to escalating worldwide conflict. It matters not to them which side wins. Let Sharia law advocates, members of Putin’s Eurasian Union and American exceptionalists squander their precious resources duking it out. If they destroy each other and no one’s left, so much the better. 

What seems comical in the context of ant and elephant fables isn’t so funny when played out in human history. It’s bad enough when local gurus play God or men like Frank Lloyd Wright turn to lenient pagan gods. (See Part One.) It becomes horrific for humanity (members of every class alike) is when leaders like Mao, Lenin and Stalin slaughter untold numbers of civilians. They destroyed prevailing religions only to turn the State into a God. They ransacked houses of worship to fill their own coffers. 

Alien invaders delight in cheating. They stack the deck, gumming up the works with false information driven by dysfunctional paradigms. If you accept the game and its rules as alien agents define them and proceed to rebel against uncivil authorities, mindlessly hating and resisting, YOU LOSE. (Alien invaders win.) 

If you give all your attention to what other guys are doing wrong, playing the role of contrarian, YOU LOSE. (Alien invaders win.) 

If you quit on humanity and live only for yourself, leading a life of self-centered indulgence, YOU LOSE. (Alien invaders win.) 

If you persist in thinking narrowly in terms of political interests and institutions, not human survival, YOU LOSE. (Alien invaders win big time.) 

The only chance of winning — ultimately, surviving — is to demand a new, clean, unmarked deck, one with all the cards. In other words, make a fresh start based on an accurate, complete Quantum Paradigm. 

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. 

Whole-Brain Thinking 

This excerpt from Rethinking Survival follows the sections on Alien Invaders,  We’re in a Terrible Mess, and Fresh Start. 

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. 

Einstein’s New Way of Thinking 

Barring biological deformity, everyone everywhere is born with the ability to Think Like Royalty. Einstein exercised this privilege. Using time-tested methods, with discipline and determination, so can the rest of us.  

Partaking of our universal inheritance is a matter of individual self-control, not controlling anyone else. 

The secret to becoming a genius has been known for thousands of years. Yogis call it Raja Yoga. “Raja” is the Sanskrit word for “king.” “Yoga” means “link” or “union.”  

Modern medical researchers correlate ancient teachings with brain science. Breath control methods balance, harmonize and stimulate the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This links the inward and outgoing qualities of intuition and reason. It unites artistic with mathematical aptitudes. It completes the circle of yin and yang. It makes of a half-brain a whole person. A new Adam. 

On rare occasions, it’s possible to get the same results naturally or by accident, without being able to articulate the dynamics that explain one’s good fortune. Both sides of Einstein’s brain, for example, were fully operational. 

He was a born boundary-spanner. He was an accomplished violinist and philosopher as well as a physicist. Smoking cigars probably gave him some of the benefits of deep breathing. But to the best of our knowledge, at least in this lifetime, he never took yoga classes. 

For most of us, however, systematic discipline and interdisciplinary studies accelerate the process. Why is it so important to link the hemispheres of the brain? What’s the ultimate spiritual benefit? It opens up the two-way street of the “highway to heaven.” 

As imaged in the Quantum Life Wheel, it links the outer world of daily experience with the inner world of inspiration and guidance. It gives one the capacity to both hear and do. It makes philosophers of kings, and kings of philosophers. The best of both worlds are combined to achieve Aristotle’s ideal of a philosopher king. 

This heightened human ability actualizes the scriptural promise, “With God, all things are possible.” The emphasis is on “with.” Lacking Divine Connection, human existence remains incomplete, an empty shell of unfilled dreams. 

The ability to think like a genius isn’t a guarantee that life will always be peachy, however. In his wisdom, God the Father doesn’t always gives his kids whatever they want.  

We can always ask. But we may not always like the answers. Nor, from our limited perspective, can we comprehend them. 

But the facts of life remain the same: it’s a two-way street. 

Living on the surface, blocking out conscience and ignoring the center has awful consequences. So does rejecting the world. There’s hell to pay for turning the responsibility for government over to others. Survival depends on balancing and coordinating the hemispheres of the brain, and on linking the three levels of Creation. 

Listen! 

In high school, I wrote this angst poem: 

Somewhere, / Somehow, Something / Is terribly wrong. 

Where to look? / What to fight?” 

Revisiting it in the ’80s, I added: 

Have I called not loud enough, 

Searched not far enough? 

And then an answer: 

In shouting you missed it. 

You listened not quiet enough. 

Still later, in 2000: 

Look no further. / No need to fight, / when you’re focused 

on what’s eternally right. 

The Quantum Life Wheel images the viable, inward way out of endless revolutionary cycles which only replace one set of tyrants with another. Clever social theories and angry rhetoric make matters worse. On the surface of the wheel of fortune, attempts at qualitative change are futile. The key is missing. It lies within. 

Daily life is often fragmented and noisy to the point of being life-threatening. Those who intend to survive need to step away from the fray to start over with a quiet attitude of truth seeking. 

They will need to be armed with courage and willingness to follow where their conclusions lead. 

This requires the ability to ignore distractions. Cultivating mindful quietness is essential. This is one of the benefits of working with the Book of Change or the next generation Quantum Life Wheel as a decision-making tool. 

Atheist intellectuals who depend exclusively on reason put themselves at risk. They’ve forfeited their native inheritance. They’re so busy running around inside their heads that they get no deeper. By blocking out inner levels with denials, they’ve become deaf to the still inner voice of conscience.  

But survival depends on the ability to LISTEN! Really listen.  

There are many resources describing the process of meditation. Initially, dwelling on artifacts, pictures or mantras may help quiet the noisy mind. But going really deep requires more. It entails summoning up the courage to quiet the physical senses and delve deeper yet. 

Use The Quantum Life Wheel as a Measuring Stick 

The Quantum Paradigm offers a contemporary approach to thinking in a holistic, integrated way. Here are a few basics: 

  • No either – ors. A valid worldview satisfies both head and heart, intellect and intuition. If a belief system offends reason, it’s not complete. If it offends the heart, lacks compassion. or is counter-intuitive, that’s also not the comprehensive, positive way. 
  • No more dividing the world into all good or all bad, white collar versus blue collar, jocks versus nerds, saints or sinners. 

Humans on Planet Earth are complicated mixes of contradictory qualities that surface in different ways at different times over the course of a lifetime. So: 

  • No hero-worshiping. No scapegoating. Give the benefit of the doubt. Give people a chance. Hope for the best. 
  • Keep the open mind, not closed. Relax. Take a calm approach. Work for the pinnacle overview. Work for moderation, with respect for all sides. 
  • Step back from the noisy, conflict-generating approach. Truth-seeking is not a fight or a contest. It’s a search for what’s helpful and hopeful. 
  • Look at the world around you with the fresh eyes of a curious child as Einstein did. Connect the dots. Look for underlying similarities. Ask, How do things work? 
  • KISS. “Keep it simple, stupid.” Back to the truly basic, with an attitude of humility. 
  • Thou shalt not adulterate. Don’t accept only what’s convenient and reject the challenging. Don’t tamper with the facts or the teachings, and never ever be tempted to spin (i.e., deceive either yourself or others). 

At this point in time, the world’s belief systems have been adulterated, distorted and misrepresented. So accept that familiar, comfortable beliefs are bound to be an admix. They’re approximately thirty percent TRUTH to seventy parts dross. Make it your responsibility to choose wisely: 

  • Cleave to the best. Leave the rest. Never, however, be conned into quitting. Don’t throw the precious baby out with the dirty bath water. Dig deeper than vested interests in ego and nationality-turf. Where human survival is concerned, there are no patent rights. 
  • Don’t act on the false premise that because knowledge is power, it’s okay to hide it, hoard it, and make people pay out the nose for your version of it. Depend instead on the truth written in your heart, into your very DNA. The rest will follow. 
  • Let go of intellectual pride. Release the baggage of fanatical attachments to one’s own ways and aversion to everyone else’s. Think deeper than social constructs. Both divine right and class struggle theories are man-made, self-serving static. They distract away from the heart of truth. 

Seeing through the filters of fanatical extremes is blinding. They’re generated at gut level, not from head or heart. So: 

  • Settle down. SHUT UP! Think. Really think. Then ask, “Where am I centered?” If from the gut, look higher. GO DEEP. Like a truth explorer, travel to where the right answers are to be found. 
  • No more us-versus-them, aligning with allies (right or wrong) and rejecting outsiders on the basis of national-political affiliation. 

We’re all at risk on the same endangered planet. If the misguided Titanic sinks, we all go down.  

The real enemies are the alien invaders and their agents. They’re embedded in every land, in every organization and every class, clandestinely working to undermine conscience and steer the human species towards extinction. It takes a quiet focused mind to recognize who’s who. 

We’re never alone. But both sides are broadcasting. Be sure you’re tuned in to the survival station. 

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.