Tag Archives: Life Wheel

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. 

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Wheels Within Wheels 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It looks like this:  

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

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

In Rethinking Survival, I described it: 

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

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

I continued: 

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

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

I also described the value I place upon this treasure: 

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

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

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

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

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

And more. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

My Legacy

In a world turned upside down, the seven-year-old me walked hand-in-hand with Mom down the plush carpeted aisle of Buffalo’s Temple Beth El and took a seat half-way down what seemed like an enormous high hall. We’d come to say Kaddish, the prayer honoring the dead, for William Kirby West. My father.

This cold snowy city was a far cry from sunny Tuscon, where my parents took me to Unitarian kindergarten class. Christmas was the best. Older kids, blindfolded, whacked away at a green/red/yellow-ribboned pinata. When it spilled its candy onto the floor, younger ones (like me) rushed in, gleefully grabbing as much as little fists could hold.

In contrast, temple was a solemn place. Complying with ritual words, “Will mourners please rise,” Mom stood. Wooden. Lipsticked, foreign face. A tear rolled down her cheek. I squeezed her hand.

The congregation, in unison, repeated Israel’s ancient words of faith, awakening ancient memories in my soul.

The child-me experienced the resonant sound of the Shema as visceral, magical music. Over a lifetime, I’ve continued to visit and revisit this timeless call, adding layer upon layer of meaning and appreciation.

A few day before my 76th birthday, in the winter, grieving time of life, I question. What legacy am I given to leave behind?

In today’s fractured state, with the world at critical mass, is there is a Way to keep the ancient faith that sustained our forefathers alive — a vibrant Way to hand it down to future generations?

Or will it pass away, dust in the wind?

Shall we lament over all that’s passed away? Or, like the mourners who’ve repeated the life-affirming Kaddish for thousands of years, shall we acknowledge our small part in the Creator’s divine plan, restoring harmony and peace to our lives.

A key likely to make the difference is the Unified Field Theory intuited by Einstein, equally compatible with Torah, Yoga and modern physics.

Here’s a simple picture of what I mean. It shows the integrating dynamic of all-encompassing, infinite LOVE linking the Shema’s levels of heart, soul and might.

That’s the short version.

Before my time’s up, God willing, I’ll elaborate, doing this simple concept with its many implications and applications – spiritual, psychological, social, political — due justice.

May you choose LIFE, dear reader, and go all in, supporting what you love with all your heart, soul and might.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PREMISE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Miracles We Shouldn’t Take For Granted – IC – 121020

“At times when it seems as if one’s resources are exhausted, care must be taken to soften the harmful effects of DEPRESSION.” Until today, this reading was woven into the fabric of 2020.

But we’ve finally reached a turning point. Not coincidentally, December 10th is the first day of Hanukkah. At the low-ebb of winter darkness, it begins the eight-day holiday which celebrates the miracle of light.

It’s not just an ancient holy day. It tells a timeless story that repeats over and over throughout the cycles of time, December 2020 being one of them. Humanity has been around this curve before. Wisdom traditions serve to put current events in perspective.

In this week, the inner, eternal light which miraculously sustains us during hard times is celebrated. Historically, Judah Maccabee and his group of rebel followers recaptured the stolen Temple of Jerusalem. The story goes that afterwards, when it came time to rekindle the Lamp of Eternal Light – the Menorah – there was only enough oil to last one day. But, miraculously, the flame continued to burn brightly until more arrived – a full eight days later.

The threat of oil running out and the flame going out is the essence of Depression. Resources seemed to be exhausted. But . . . with a little help from friends. . . the light endured, uninterrupted.

But that’s not the only similarity between the past and present. Once again, a center of civilization, in this case the White House, is threatened by a hostile (deeply, darkly covert) take-over. Then as now, the enemies of freedom oppress the practice of religion.

And a small, self-described “rag tag” team of protectors led by Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Michael Flynn is valiantly defending the Constitution, giving their all to reclaim their country’s mantle as a beacon of light to the world.

We’re not taught to look to the timeless Book of Change for answers to our deepest questions. That’s why I’ve been bringing the book to you. Through the end of 2020, bi-weekly posts have been intended make what was once unfamiliar now familiar.

COMMUNITY is the original but dynamic answer to today’s question, “What should we be aware of NOW?”

Interestingly, a pattern similar to the last reading which moved from Restraint to Determination repeats today. Again, three lines of the hexagram change, with emphasis on the mental and spiritual levels of the Life Wheel. It begins:

Commitment to COMMUNITY is a necessary part of individual growth. Choose leaders who can express common goals with clarity. They will know how to assign work according to ability so that all prosper. In the harmonious community, Creative Power expresses through the skillful work of individuals. Avoid all selfishness.

The miracle of a harmonious, prosperous community is necessary to human life. Today, divisions are enforced in the name of a health crisis weaponized to political ends. Dangerously, when social distancing and religious suppression take hold, the blessings of community can not be taken for granted.

As traditional social structures continue to fail us on many fronts, it’s natural seek out friends and form groups with common interests. Pastor Joe Fox, for example, speaks of MAGs (Mutual Assistance Groups). At Shofar Mountain, he leads an intentional community.

* * *

Advice of the 3rd line reads, “When motives become unclear, mistrust grows. Restore clarity in time.” When careful thought is given to clarify motives and reestablish trust, this line changes to Clarity:

Cultivate CLARITY. Listen to the pure and childlike voice of your inner being. Even if this results in new and unexpected experiences, you will benefit. Take joy in being true to your Self. Modified by consideration for others, this will give you creative abilities. Avoid fearful attachment to the familiar.

End-stage 2020 is a time to remember our basic values. We’re called to rethink how community is created and sustained.

And, Yes. In this uncertain time, survival will depend on following conscience wherever it leads. Attachment to the past is futile. Trusting in the promising potentials of an unknowable future is the best way to get through current confusions.

* * *

Advice of the 4th line reads, “If you have become isolated, understand why and correct yourself.” When heeded, the line changes to Family:

Inside the FAMILY one learns to play out given roles. This makes later success in roles on the job and in the larger community possible. Clearly defined relationships make communication easy. Respectful cooperation with others earns trust and acceptance from the human family. Avoid roles not suited to your nature.

Taoists and Confucians agree that well-ordered families are the basic building blocks of community. These families need not be nuclear or biology-based. Wherever people come together around common purpose, shared values and love of life, they become family.

* * *

Advice of the 6th, top line reads: “Work for a larger purpose, either alone or with others.” Once an overview of the big picture is careful considered, and purposeful plan of action is chosen, we’re read to get to work in all ways. At that point, the line transforms:

Day and night replace each other in endless cycles of CHANGE. The same Natural Law generates flux in human events. The unprepared see change as a threat, but the well-prepared face the unknown calmly. They know that after degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows. Welcome the new. Avoid short-sighted fear.

Indeed, We’re At Critical Mass, as stated in the first post of this series. But the miracle of regeneration is at hand. The extraordinarily powerful eclipse season we’ve entered begins not only a new 20-year cycle, but also ushers in still longer-range changes (depending on how it’s calculated). Rick Levine, for example, says:

. . . this upcoming conjunction is part of the Great Mutation Cycle, one-quarter of the 800-year Grand Conjunction Cycle.

This is HUGE. It can’t be understated.

Now, as in during Columbus’s exhausting first voyage, there’s no turning back. But for those with the vision and spine to Stay the Course, the risk, wait and work will be worth every bit of of the effort.

* * *

The composite end result of Community’s changing lines is realistic, not rosy. A New Era is struggling to be born. We are at the earliest stage of a process which must be played out, step-by-step. There will be inevitable Problems along the way:

When a new life is struggling to emerge, there will be PROBLEMS in the beginning. Seek help from people whose ideas and methods can help to create inner and outer stability. Take an active part in the growing process. This will help you to define your own identity. Avoid helplessness.

The Idea which I urgently recommend as the foundation for a better future is the Quantum Paradigm imaged in the Life Wheel. It is the complete and accurate reality map upon which sages and scientists can agree. It embodies Einstein’s intuited Unified Field Theory, placing each the three variables of his famous formula at increasingly deeper levels of experience.

The life-altering change of this fundamental paradigm shift will move civilization away from the fragmenting, limiting empirical science, restoring original wholeness.

Change your paradigm. It changes the way you think and the way you see the world. First the shift will change your personal life. Then, on the wings of butterflies, it will affect lives clear across the globe.

In a Unified world view, each of us is inherently okay. No one can take your inborn divinity away. Simply not possible. Nor can anyone take away the God-given okayness of another fellow human being. (The challenge remains, of course, that by abusing the gift of free will, our own bad choices blight the gift of inner light.)

The Method associated with the quantum Idea is working with the Life Wheel to make our scattered lives whole again. In combination, they give us a means to heal fractures, first within, then in the larger world around us. Restoring light to the world in this practical way would be a miracle indeed. The one I live and pray for.

To make the most of this opportunity, may we each accept that we are all children of God, and choose to live our daily lives in that light.

Stay the Course or Face the Consequences – IC – 120720

Resolute Determination to stay the course is the final outcome of today’s dynamic I Ching reading. When so many of us feel lost and at sea, December 2020 is a time to muster our native true grit.

In the October 12th reading, I quoted from Columbus’s Journal of the First Voyage:

Here the people could stand it no longer and complained of the long voyage . . . The Admiral cheered them as best he could. But was useless to complain.

His mind was made up. He was determined, with God’s help, to go forward. That resolute Determination to stay the course is magnified in today’s reading.

Even though much we took for granted is falling away, hope remains. The future remains in our hands. We’re entering the powerful eclipse season long foreseen as the positive beginning of a New Era.

HOWEVER — this decisive energy shift is only an opportunity. The final outcome of 2020 is not fated or cast in stone. It remains undecided, to be shaped by both our decisions and the actions we take during this pivotal time in history.

This is NOT a time to be pessimistic, shrug our shoulders and quit. That would give victory to the regressive, dark-side forces of history.

Just ask yourself, “What if Columbus had given in to nay-sayers and turned back then.”

And now, “What would be the consequences of failing to support President Trump as he stands firm and tall in the face of the criminal, communist-driven attempt to steal his decisive and well-earned victory?”

Columbus was rewarded for his Determination with the discovery of a whole New World. Today’s call for true grit has potential consequences every bit as life-changing for everyone across the globe.

At end-stage 2020, it’s Now or Never.

RESTRAINT is the original answer of today’s question, “What do we need to be aware of NOW?”

Interestingly, the bottom three lines which represent the physical world remain static. However, the top three lines which represent mental and spiritual levels of the Life Wheel each change. So, right now, even if world events seem beyond personal control, our attitudes remain open to change. It begins:

Exercise RESTRAINT in your actions. Seek the company of people who can advise on the best way to use your resources. The skills you have learned earlier can now be used to benefit others. Multiply the benefit of what has already been done by sharing results. Avoid careless waste.

Current events threaten to peak in an explosive outcome. So it’s critically important during this waiting period to exercise self-control. Think carefully about how this advice apply to your personal circumstances.

* * *

The advice of the 4th line is, “Channel your energies constructively. Rewards will be realized later on.” This expands on Restraint. Patience is added to the mix. With that awareness kept in mind, Restraint changes to a higher form as Self-Possession:

Great leaders demonstrate the SELF-POSSESSION to remain true to what they know is right despite all hardships. They act gently but fairly with others. Because they are consciously in harmony with the source of Creative Power, they express ideas brilliantly. Avoid false pride.

Here, the element of leadership is introduced. Conscious awareness, brilliant communication and Divine Connection are supported by consistency, humility and fairness.

* * *

The advice of the 5th changing line reads, “Deal with negative forces indirectly. Open battles are too risky.” This is variation on the theme, “Resist not evil; persist in the good.” That advice being heed, the line changes to warn of Frustration:

External factors you may not even be aware of will cause FRUSTRATION. New projects will not work out now. This cannot be avoided. Arguing will not influence those who could help. Your choice is either to wait patiently or to leave the situation. Pay attention to details. Avoid major commitments.

We’ve seen Frustration already. It supports the view that early December is a time when unknowns are at work behind the scenes. Right now, election outcomes are, for the most part, in the hands of legislators, courts and politicians. Once again, Patience is recommended.

* * *

Advice of the changing line in the top, 6th place reads, “Listen to the voice of conscience. You will be guided.”

“Be still and know, I AM GOD.” Trust that the leaders who have your interests at heart will be guided through the thickets of corruption, as will all who pray for them and hope for the best. With this advice heeded, the outcome is Peace:

When the forces of nature unite in profound harmony, heavenly PEACE fills the earth. Lives blossom. Prosperity increases. Easy communication makes it possible to under-stand one another. This leads to cooperative efforts that will be fruitful. Tranquility follows fulfillment of life goals. Accept life’s blessings gratefully. Avoid disorder.

No matter what immediate earthquakes lie ahead, the hope of Peace remains, first within and perhaps, eventually, in the world.

* * *

The composite of the upper three changing lines of initial Restraint results in Determination, the same virtue demonstrated by Columbus at an equally critical point in history:

If you approach the situation with DETERMINATION, you can now overcome problems that have held you back in the past. First be sure you do not contain the external problem you are working to eliminate within yourself. Then sincerity, cheerfulness and self-confidence will bring success. Avoid solving problems by force.

In other versions, this hexagram is called Resoluteness. It draws on the Inner Strength integral to the last reading. Even though hard to see, in fact December 2020 is a time of rare opportunity. We are challenged to overcome past problems, first by cleaning out our inner swamps and then by mustering the courage to end corruption of the political swamp.

Criminals at every level put their faith in their false assumption of collective cowardice and willful blindness. December 2020 offers the rest of us the golden opportunity to prove them forever WRONG.

They will prevail only if we give in to intimidation and passively surrender, handing over to them the inalienable power which belongs to we the people and, ultimately, to the Source of Creative Power which abides eternal at the center of the Life Wheel within each of us.

Don’t let criminal elements fool us ever again. Now is the time to wake up! Know to whom true power belongs. Be willing to reclaim it and use it responsibly during the all-new twenty-year cycle that begins on December 14th. (Stay tuned!)

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

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

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

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

Resist Not Evil. Persist in the Good. – IC – 112620

As a Law of Nature, resistance within ourselves (tension and denial) is mirrored in the what we get back from others. It’s counterproductive, inside and out.

What’s the solution? Think of a Chinese finger trap.

This elegantly simple tube is woven from bamboo. Put one finger from each hand inside. It becomes a trap. The natural instinct is to struggle to get out. But the more you resist, the stucker you get.

The way out is to relax. By eliminating tension, the bamboo eases. You easily slip free.

Resist not evil. Persist in the good. is a great motto. It honors the law, Whatever you focus on, you magnify. That’s why the Bible instructs, Whatsoever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and good report, think on these things. (The flip side: Give zero attention/energy to what you don’t want in your world.) It’s another way of saying, Take the best, leave the rest.

This dynamic is perfectly captured in the Star Wars clash between Luke Skywalker and the Evil Emperor. When the young Jedi comes full force at his enemy in rage, his dark energy feeds the dark lord. “Good, good.” Luke gets free of the emotional trap by relaxing, sheathing the red saber, and escaping.

Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel published Resistance (At All Costs): How Trump Haters are Breaking America in the last month of 2019, just in time to set the stage for 2020. Seen through the prophetic lens of Resistance, widespread election fraud and Constitutional crisis look inevitable.

Strassel argues that in its obstruction of President Trump at any cost, all-out Resistance has become dangerously reckless.In their frenzy to oppose the president, Trump haters are undermining our foundations:

From the FBI’s unlawful counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, to bureaucratic sabotage, to media partisanship, to the character assassination of Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s foes have thrown aside norms, due process and the rule of law.

Book reviews are less neutral:

  • It ties together all the attacks on Trump since before he was even elected. Aided and abetted by a compliant, complicit, lazy media. And bureaucrats and politicians willing to ignore or overturn every rule there is. All with the aim of reversing a valid election by the American people.
  • It’s a book about why we should stop destroying American democracy to achieve partisan revenge.
  • Strassel debunks the junk that the Resistance and the media shouted at us,buzz phrases, blatant lies, attacks on persons,misdirections, etc. all of these that were used in their attempt to unseat D. J. Trump from his legally elected position as president of the U. S. A.
  • The histrionics have been mind blowing. The endless rage unfathomable. Particularly from a party that defines itself as “tolerant” and “inclusive”.
  • Petty party differences and personal animosities toward Trump are moves by short game players. If the DEMS gain power, the stakes are higher than petty dislike of Trump. . . . the RESISTANCE (the alternative to Trump) is worse than if Trump were actually guilty of all DEMS toss at him.
  • Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you should be terrified with what’s going on under the cloak of night. It is destroying our nation and our republic.

Resistance ends with a call to action, “the only action that is left to us” – the 2020 election, and all elections after that. It’s a slow process, it will take years, or decades but in the end that’s the only means we have to affect a change for the better.

CAVEAT: Strassel’s olive branch of hope is based on a big IF. If future elections were free of rampant deception, censorship, and vote tampering. . . there would be hope of change for the better.

Fortunately, her view that there’s no other hope is only half-true. On the flip side, whatever the political outcomes on the surface of the Life Wheel, first and foremost, each of us has the option and responsibility to change 1) our beliefs and attitudes, 2) our actions and 3) the quality of our personal relationships. Change happens from the inside out, and one person at a time.

We’re not taught to look to the Book of Change for answers to our deepest questions. That’s why I’ve chosen to bring the book to you. Through the end of 2020, these bi-weekly posts are intended make what was once unfamiliar now familiar.

COMPLETION is the initial answer to the question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” The CSBOC version reads:

Perfected actions reach COMPLETION. From this balance, however, new elements spring forth which create future imbalance. In this way, the cycles of nature are continued. This is not cause for sadness. Perfection lies in the whole life process, not in the beauty of a single peak moment. Avoid rigid attachment.

We are at end-stage not only of 2020, but of the cycle of American history that began with ratification of the Constitution. Thanksgiving day gives us cause to pause and reflect. Hardships we face at this time of unraveling and reset, though very different from those the pilgrims faced, are just as intense. Yet they found reasons to celebrate and be grateful then. So should we now. As one Strassel reviewer reminds us, Instead of letting hatred define our times, we should thank God we can call America our home.

Yes, everything familiar has fallen away. We have so many losses to grieve. Freedoms. Fortunes. Confidence in leaders. Family. Friends. The American dream is dying if not already dead. Yet resistance, clinging to what is gone, would leave us stuck in the past. Wisdom calls us to focus on opportunities ahead. The future is ours to create.

* * *

In his version, Jack Balkin, a Constitutional Law Professor, lists key words describing Completion: Maintaining equilibrium / Nipping problems in the bud / Preventing deterioration / Watching carefully.

* * *

Advice of the Bottom Line reads, “ Don’t become lax when things go right. Remain constantly aware.”

We arrived at a Constitutional crisis by taking freedom, prosperity and community for granted. We fell asleep at the switch (or maybe were hypnotized).

It’s taking a train wreck to wake us up. The challenge now is to stop blindly taking the extraordinary blessings of life in America for granted. Instead, be profoundly thankful for the protections against fraud and corruption which the Founders, in their wisdom, built into the Constitution. Commit to preserving them at all costs.

* * *

When the warning is heeded, the line changes to Resistance, the subject of Strassel’s book. It reads:

Look within yourself for the cause of RESISTANCE from others. If you are closed, they will not cooperate. The situation will open up when your mind becomes open. Seek the company of people who can help you overcome mental blocks. Do not blame others for your problems. Avoid untimely actions.

Resistance is a consequence of refusing to recognize 2020 as an end-cycle year of completion.

Here, I Ching wisdom points to the quantum reality that all experience is generated from the inside out, and from smallest to largest. To understand political resistance, understand that it starts within the minds of individuals programmed to a fractured paradigm. They’ve been educated into a false reality that rules out the inner levels where emotional intelligence, compassion and conscience reside.

Here’s an added irony for you. Resisting the resistance doubles troubles which are best solved by a meditative approach to problem-solving.

* * *

In Balkin’s book, Resistance is called Obstruction. Key descriptors include: Trouble / Hardship / Looking inward / Self-reflection / Surmounting the obstacles within.

He observes:

When faced with obstacles, we should not lose courage, but remain calm, redirect our attention to our spiritual development, and wait for conditions to improve.

Not coincidentally, in the margin next to this advice I noted: “Resist not evil. Persist in the good.

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

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

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

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

To Think Like a Genius, Link the Levels – IC – 111920

Q. Why the interest in genius at this time of chaos and confusion?

A. America’s divisive state is testimony to the crying need for creative problem-solvers.

We need to educate ourselves and then bring up a next generation able to SEE what’s gone so terribly wrong, and what to do about it.

So what is genius? Is creative brilliance a rare gift granted only to a special few?

Or is genius, as I believe, an inborn, God-given potential equally available to everyone. Every-one, that is, willing to do the work and make the sacrifices needed to fulfill their innate potentials.

Q. Okay. If I’m a potential genius, how do I get from here to there?

A. Yogis have long known the way. Breathing is the simple answer.

Breath is the vehicle of the soul, the psyche. It animates us at birth. It’s the single constant always with us right up to our last minute on earth. We can breathe unconsciously. Automatically. Or we can do it consciously, and in the process link the levels of the Life Wheel — mind, body and spirit. Breath unifies the quantum field.

Yoga in a nutshell.

Einstein’s New Way of Thinking explains:

The secret to thinking like a genius has been known for thousands of years. Yogis call it Raja Yoga . . .

Modern medical researchers correlate ancient teachings with brain science. Breath control balances, harmonizes and stimulates both hemispheres of the brain. It unites artistic with mathematical abilities.

Now Einstein was a “natural.”

On rare occasions, it’s possible to get the same results naturally, without needing to understand the dynamics that explain genius. Both sides of Einstein’s brain . . worked together.

He was an accomplished violinist and philosopher as well as a physicist. Pipe smoking probably gave him some of the benefits of deep breathing, though to the best of our knowledge (at least in this lifetime), he never took yoga classes.

Two recent books explain yoga’s magic in the familiar language of science. One is Patrick McKeown’s The Oxygen Advantage: Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques. Even better is James Nestor’s 2020 bestseller, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art.

Thinking like a genius, “journalist James Nestor traveled the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.” He says:

There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.

Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head.

Disturbed breathing and the image of a fragmented Life Wheel go hand-in-glove. Cognitive dissonance, the narcissist’s signature, is the frequent mark of public figures. Their words and actions don’t match. Not even close.

Here’s a basic test of whom to trust. Who is consistent, word and deed? Who is not? I’ll have more to say about this in future posts. Look for Half-Brained Is Half-Assed.

We’re not trained to look to the Book of Change for answers to our deepest questions. That’s why I’ve chosen to bring the book to you. Through the end of 2020, bi-weekly blogs are intended to serve as an introduction, to make what was once unfamiliar now familiar.

INSPIRATION is the initial answer to today’s question, “What should we be aware of now?” The Common Sense Book of Change version reads:

When minds are moved by INSPIRATION, nothing is impossible. Misunderstandings can be cleared up, problems solved and hardships overcome. Inspired speakers can move others to acts of heroism by well-chosen words. Reminding people of their common goals and deepest desires gives them the courage to continue. Avoid unkindness.

In-spire means to breathe in. When we’re tense and hold the breath, we cut ourselves off from Source. Relaxing and taking a deep breath reconnects us with the Force.

Inspiration is the signature of genius – the crying need — the critically missing piece — in today’s public arena. All sides seem stimulated by conflict. “Game on!”

While engaging in battle for a just cause is vitally important, in equal measure — to keep ourselves and the Union together – we also need to honor the opposite of side of the coin. Take time to pause, reflect and be grateful for the blessings we too often take for granted, which everyone on all sides are risk at risk of losing forever.

***

Constitutional Law Professor Jack Balkin’s version of the I Ching calls Hexagram 58 Joy. These are its key attributes: Giving and receiving / Communication / Integrity/ Inner stability / Inner Peace.

He comments:

When people take joy in each other’s company, they are willing to make sacrifices for each other. Difficulties seem to melt away. Troubles seem smaller and less threatening. When people feel supported and encouraged, they are willing to take on even the most difficult tasks. Thus, joy has enormous power. It brings people together, moves them to do great things and bestows success on their efforts.

***

In the CSBOC, advice of the bottom line reads: “Maintain an attitude of joyful self-confidence. This will attract success.” When the advice is heeded, the line changes to Depression:

At times when it seems as if one’s resources are exhausted, care must be taken to soften the harmful effects of DEPRESSION. Whether the cause of depression is mental, emotional or economic, do not despair. The time will pass. Use hardship to develop inner strength and calm. Avoid negative thoughts.

Stress, fear, and anger disrupt natural breathing, making us sick. And basic breathing practices — in-spiration — are known to heal (drug free) countless diseases, including depression. This relief alone makes economic hardships more tolerable and creative solutions easier to find.

***

Balkin’s version calls Hexagram 47 Oppression. Its key attributes include: Exhaustion / Being restricted / Hardship / Adversity / Inner affliction / Dried up / Impasse.

He comments:

Kun is indeed a difficult hexagram, but the law of change is always in operation. Periods of oppression and exhaustion contain the seeds of regeneration and renewal. At the very darkest moment the light is almost ready to shine again. Even so, it is not easy for people who are in the midst of oppression to understand and believe in this enduring truth. Dealing with oppression is a great test of a person’s character.

It’s almost as if presumptive leaders assume us deplorable Hobbits exist to be oppressed and drained, are so stupid that we’re fooled by the lies they spin, and so weak that we’ll cave under intimidation. But we’re neither stupid nor weak. And by Natural Law, they’ll inevitably reap the ugly consequences of their presumptions.

In sum, at end-stage 2020, those who would survive looming oppression must draw upon the inner resources of latent genius. By intentionally linking the levels of the Life Wheel, we’ll prevail by restoring the common sense which is everyone’s birthright.

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

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

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

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

Can You Hear Me? – IC – 110520

“Holy crap!” (Excuse my language.) Puzzle pieces were coming together with rapid fire speed!

Early November 30th, the blue moon already in full affect, I sat up knowing I should check out Jack Balkin’s version of SACRIFICE, the final outcome of today’s reading.

When I wrote the Common Sense Book of Change, all the readings came easily. All except one. SACRIFICE. I rethought it for the second edition, and revised it again for the third.

And I’m not the only one who’s had trouble getting it right.

That’s why, when a media celebrity dared psychoanalyze the Bible, I questioned his skewed view of Abraham’s call to sacrifice. In Rethinking Sacrifice, I responded with a more comprehensive, Life Wheel understanding:

[Sacrifice] is the essence of the challenge offered in Exodus. “Return unto me and I return unto you.” It emphasizes travel on the inward path from surface to center of the Life Wheel, releasing attachments to ephemeral possessions, limited opinions/identities, and outgrown lifestyles.

I pointed out that definitions of sacrifice, like virtually every value word in the English language, span the continuum, black to white and everything in-between. The language has been adulterated. I’ve called it The Tower of Babel Effect. The following quote could not be more timely, given current events:

. . . even people with the best of intentions use the same words to mean very different things. They miss each other coming and going, only vaguely aware of the disconnect. . . Instead of being used as a means for unifying human beings, language is often degraded into chaotic paralyzing noise – a weapon for stirring up animosities, division and confusion.

(NB. I’ve expanded on the limitations of good intentions elsewhere. Bottom line: lacking the underpinnings of a complete and accurate paradigm, they easily slide down the slippery slope that leads to the dark side. It’s worth your time to consider.)

To the point here: inverted definitions are used to excuse slave trafficking, pedophilia and worse:

Pagan sacrifice of children and animals is irrelevant to the meaning of Abraham’s test. At issue is the difference between transcending pain for the sake of higher love versus selfishly destroying life (whether with physical, verbal and/or psychological violence) to get what one wants here on earth.

Anyway. As I was saying. It was very early. . . 1:30 a.m. My brain synapses were firing at triple speed. I was remembering that at the time he published The Laws of Change, Jack Balkin was Knight Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School.

Balkin’s hefty, scholarly work is a wonderful resource, one which complements my small, easy-to-read version. No doubt his appreciation of Natural Law profoundly enriches his applications of the Constitution to current events.

In any case, my mind was busy connecting the dots that link Common Sense advocates over time – from Tom Paine’s book, Rudy Giuliani’s website and the Taoist approach to the Book of Change. In short time, I published a bonus blog, What Happened to Common Sense?

On a different note, President Trump spoke in Wisconsin (my home state) on November 2nd. An event within the event resonated with my post, What Happened to Unity, where I wrote:

God and the good angels are broadcasting loud and clear. But it’s hard to get through. The message is being jammed, the signal blocked.

What happened in Kenosha? The podium mike failed. People couldn’t hear. Trump improvised. He joked, turning it into a game. As technicians struggled to get the sound system working, the President shouted to the crowd. “Can you hear me?” “Can you hear me now?” They bantered back and forth til the problem was solved.

The following morning a Mike and the Mechanics tune Silent Running popped into mind. Great song. Prescient. I looked it up on Youtube and found I’m not the only one who thinks so. One comment asked, “Does anyone else feel this song has significance right now?” It got 407 likes and 55 replies. It’s worth a listen and a watch. Here are the lyrics:

Balkin’s perspective is Confucian, meaning he’s primarily interested in human behavior and social order as it manifests on the surface of the Life Wheel. In contrast, a very different version, The Taoist I Ching translated by Thomas Cleary, focuses on yogic practices associated with the middle, e=energy level.

So, for today, I though you’d find it interesting see three versions – just a taste — set side-by-side. With U.S. election results up for grabs, this is the reading for October 5, 2020.

TRAVEL is the initial answer to the question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” It appeared last time as a changing component of the November 2nd reading. In part, the CSBOC version reads:

In dealing with strangers exercise careful self-control. Talk little. Listen much. Learn from everyone who has information to share. Avoid dangerous exposure.

(Before sacrificing much of today’s original content, I initially had a paragraph here about the the famous saying, “Keep your powder dry.”)

In the Balkin version, TRAVEL is called The Wanderer. He comments:

You are in a period of transition. Things are not yet certain, and it is not yet clear how you fit into them or what your identity is supposed to be. The text compares your situation to that of a wanderer who is traveling through a strange land.

Cleary says of Travel:

You should not remain attached to the realm you pass through. If you are concerned with externals, you forget the inward; by pursuing ramifications you abandon the root.

The changing line in the second place advises, “Moderate careful behavior will win the respect of your leaders.” When advice is heeded, it changes to a second outcome, which in the CSBOC reads:

A balanced relationship between the individual and the whole is achieved through service in the spirit of SACRIFICE. Changing selfishness to compassion and acts of kindness builds bridges of mutual trust. Unselfish giving benefits everyone involved, helping the community to overcome obstacles and dangers. Avoid twin dangers: selfishness and self-denial.

The Balkin version calls it The Caldron, or Ding. Descriptive terms include:

He comments:

A Ding is a sacred vessel, normally made of bronze, in which ritual foods were prepared and cooked during religious ceremonies.. . Through this ritual, people purified themselves and rededicated themselves to spiritual ends.. . Ding teaches that you can transform yourself and your world IF you do so not for selfish ends but in pursuit of something valuable.

The Cleary version calls it The Cauldron:

The comment:

Producing illumination through following an initiatory process, the mind becomes daily more humble while illumination increases. . . When empty and illumined, that enlightenment illumines all, and the mind cannot be moved by the vagaries of wealth and status.

The classic Wilhelm/Baynes translation uses the word Ting. It hints of secret teachings:

There is in man likewise a fate that lends power to his life. And if he succeeds in assigning the right place to life and to fate, thus bringing the two into harmony, he puts his fate on a firm footing.These words contain hints about fostering of life as handed on by oral tradition in the secret teachings of Chinese yoga.

This image, suggestive of the “initiatory process,” supports hints of yogic meaning. It associates the material cooking vessel with the lower energetic center (dan tien), the place where basic materials are combined, transformed and then circulated throughout the system. Markings, front and back are changing I Ching hexagrams.

In sum, today seems to be a time of transition, best used to digest, assimilate and transform raw elements to a higher purpose.

Let this be food for thought to those with ears to hear.

Back to What’s Basic – IC – 102620

An unseasonal storm crashed through the area overnight. Violent thunder and lightening interrupted my plans to watch the final presidential debate. I had to turn off the computer.

Echoing a recent post on DISTURBANCE in the Force, the Universe was sending a message. What was it?

The crash bang storm was on the mark. But the reading on the drawing board for today begins with its opposite, GENTLENESS.

Then, preparing breakfast, I stopped in my tracks. “That’s it!”

Leaving food untouched, I turned the computer back on. Looked up Steve Bannon at Citizens of the American Republic and sent a direct Twitter message.

Now, why the interest in Bannon? Steve is attuned to the wisdom of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy-truer-than-fact. He’s shouldered the Hobbit role of faithful Sam, loyal friend of Frodo, the ring wearer – a/k/a President Trump.

They’re emerging as the heroes foreseen by the Tao Te Ching. Passage 18 describes the critical mass humanity has arrived at . . . yet again.

Without asking why, I did as I knew I should, writing:

STEVE: Pay attention. Harris & Biden are expendables; must ask “Who is using them, to what long-term end?” A multi-level chess game is in play. To succeed, look deeper, see whole picture. All best.

Since plans for this morning were shot, I checked out his website. The term “disruptor” caught my attention.

What’s that? The internet tells me disruptors bring innovations to technology or how service is delivered. Computers replaced typewriters, etc.

Trump defenders see themselves as disruptors of the entrenched swamp’s corruption. Back to the basics upon which our Republic was founded. Integrity. Decency. Faith.

My job? Emphasize that their disruptions go far deeper than political misconduct. They’re throwing a wrench in the UN’s goal of world-domination. Still deeper, they pose a threat to the dark forces driving 2030 plans to dehumanize the planet.

Point out the problem with their strategy. While their extreme-yang warrior approach is vitally necessary, it’s not sufficient. It exposes but cannot heal 2020 madness. The facts of systemic corruption are just that. Mere facts.

To a culturally conditioned public (politicians and media included), ugly acts simply don’t compute. Nor is it enough simply to get rid of ignorant puppets who know not what they do.

In the long-term, what needs replacing is the underlying, false paradigm that drives corruption. The operating system, if you will.

The significant change, shifting gears, is a return to the timeless basics represented in the Unified Field Theory, to the archetypal Life Wheel which embodies a paradigm equally consistent with enduring religions and quantum physics.

It maps the deeper levels of the chess game which underpin the war for human survival, the fight to which Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Sebastian Gorka et. al. have, in essence, pledged their fortunes and sacred honor. They know they’re fighting for more than just for a presidency, or even a way of life. Our very souls are on the line.

To win this war, defenders must focus on what ultimately matters. Remind the world not only of what’s wrong, but of what’s really at stake. Above all, urge followers to listen to their hearts. Remember the love on every level. Love of God, of family and of country.

Point to the proof. Huge crowds roar out their LOVE for President Trump, while Harris-Biden events are duds. We sense, deeper than deep, that he loves the U.S.. They don’t, and we the delorables, the Hobbits in the trenches, sense that too.

First and foremost, we must restore a complete and accurate paradigm – one that gives us permission to know and be true to who we truly are. Were we to continue operating on a false paradigm that rules out inner levels of the Life Wheel, we’d remain at the mercy of the destructive, dark and hidden agents driving politics and human destiny.

And that cannot be.

The I CHING READING

GENTLENESS is the initial answer to today’s question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” We’ve already seen it twice as a final outcome. In essence, it confirms the importance of appealing to people’s hearts as the healing yin balance to combative, yang disruption.

The bottom line’s warning is, “Don’t act without a clear purpose. Make a decision. Stick to it.” With fidelity to purpose, the line changes to FRUSTRATION, another theme that repeats throughout 2020. It reads in part:

External factors you may not even be aware of will cause FRUSTRATION. New projects will not work out now. This cannot be avoided. Arguing will not influence those who could help.

This reflects the interference of invisible players lurking beneath the surface of the multi-level chess board.

Appropriately, the second line’s warning reads, “Examine your situation most carefully. Be aware of hidden motives.” Know that major players with destructive intentions – like the Evil Emperor in Star Wars — are manipulating behind the scenes, hidden from public view.

This line changes with another confirmation that the way out of 2020 madness is NOT by matching conflict with more of the same, but instead with calm, gentle action:

Completion is the result of gradual, step-by-step DEVELOPMENT. A calm attitude and gentle actions will bring steady progress leading to success. The only way to establish yourself now is to let things develop naturally. Giving in to strong feelings and acting on impulse would defeat your purpose. Avoid hesitation. Avoid haste.

The combined outcome is FAMILY, with its emphasis on respect and cooperation –yet another 2020 theme:

Inside the FAMILY one learns to play out given roles. This makes later success in roles on the job and in the larger community possible. Clearly defined relationships make communication easy. Respectful cooperation with others earns trust and acceptance from the human family. Avoid roles not suited to your nature.

The end goal is harmonious relationship with the entire human family. This reading is so value-rich that, to do it justice, I had to publish a self-standing bonus blog, Family, Community and Organization.

Bottom line: There’s intense pressure – coming from all levels – to destroy core unity. It starts with internal consciousness and extends outwards to breakdown the family unit and then social organization. What’s the consequence of this breakdown? Who wants it?

Do you? If not, what are you willing to do about it? When?

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

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

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

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

At-one-ment – IC – 092820

Getting ahead of the story again, PEACE is the original outcome of today’s I Ching reading.

It isn’t the peace one usually thinks of, merely the absence of inner conflict or world war.

Far more, it’s the profound joy of wholeness, experienced when we’re deeply at one with ourselves and with the world.

It’s the state of being that arises when the pairs of opposites – yin and yang, heaven and earth, male and female, black and white, mind and body — are harmoniously balanced. This was the vision of seers, described in Hexagram 11:

When the forces of nature

unite in profound harmony,

heavenly PEACE fills the earth.

It’s the perfect message for today . . which “just happens” to be Yom Kippur, the high holy day of atonement. At-one-ment.

Is inner peace actually achievable? If so, how can we reach this blissful state?

Through repentance.

Before you balk, first check out the following definition. By my count, in two brief paragraphs, the key word CHANGE repeats nine times.

Repentance fundamentally means to change your mind about something. It has to do with the way you think about something. You’ve been thinking one way, but now you think the opposite way. That’s repentance — the changing of the mind.

. . . Repentance is a decisive change in direction. It’s a change of mind that leads to a change of thinking that leads to a change of attitude that leads to a change of feeling that leads to a change of values that leads to a change in the way you live.

Now, this isn’t a theological tract. Nor am I a theologian. Nevertheless, the implications are worth considering.

Given the amount of conflict, pain and suffering going on in the world right now, change doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Scientists and psychologists agree that our thoughts and beliefs create our reality. Creating a different, better reality starts with changing how and what we think.

In a world at critical mass, change has become a matter of survival. Einstein put like this:

By definition, atonement involves admitting sins, meaning “mistakes.” Sin is simply missing the mark, being off-target in our thoughts and actions. It’s focusing exclusively on the surface of the Life Wheel, out-of-alignment with the inner levels of experience. It’s being unaware of Source and acting without conscience.

So IF repentance consists of recognizing and correcting mistaken thoughts, words and deeds, THEN the reward of realigning daily experience with the inner levels of the Life Wheel is Wholeness. Unity. Peace, first within, then without.

Hint: working with the Book of Change is an excellent way to start changing the way one thinks. (It certainly was for me!!)

It gives us a practical way to align awareness and actions with the larger reality of the Unified Field.

We’ve not been trained to come to the Book of Change for answers to our deepest questions. That’s why I’m bringing the book to you. Let these bi-weekly readings serve as an opportunity to make the unfamiliar familiar.

The original answer to the question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” is:

Profound peace is the gift of this holy day, Yom Kippur. Heart-felt repentance opens the door to at-one-ment. This option stands in stark contrast to what’s going on in the world right now. The final warning, “avoid disorder,” gives caution to widespread unrest.

Which is probably why today’s Peace doesn’t last; two changing lines result in a very different outcome. In the notebook, the changes look like this:

The changing line in the 3rd place reminds us, “Nothing remains the same.” The familiar world as we knew it, which we mistakenly assumed would last forever, disappeared in 2020. And it’s not coming back.

So we’re warned, “Avoid decay by changing with the time.”

Holding on to familiar beliefs and focusing with regret on what’s been lost is a prescription for suffering.

Our old ways of thinking got us to the point of critical mass. Clearly, familiar beliefs weren’t serving us well. So changing our fundamental beliefs – especially about change itself – is critically important now.

Creating the new, better world we want for ourselves and our children depends, a la Einstein, on improving the way we think.

For those who heed the warning to change with the times, the 3rd line becomes ADVANCE:

Shifting to a complete and accurate paradigm reaps rewards across the board. It’s especially important for leaders to understand this.

Next, the changing line in the 5th position focuses in on leadership. “The way to lead is to serve without pride.”

From long observation, seers knew that leading with ego-driven agendas ends up causing grief for everyone involved. That’s why, in the I Ching world view, leadership is seen in terms of service, not power or control.

For those who adhere to I Ching leadership practices, the 5th line changes to:

Today’s path of repentance and atonement — the one that leads to PEACE — requires clarity, confidence, courage and determination.

Patience is a key virtue in the I Ching armory. Like Peace, it stands in sharp contrast to the fear-and-hate-driven energies tearing the world apart right now. It’s a counterbalance to insanity. Let the practice of calm, kind patience be a healing salve to our gaping wounds.

Finally, the outcome of combining changing lines in the 3rd and 5th places is:

LIMITS brings us full circle back to the blessing of this holy day: At-one-ment: PEACE.

“To find peace within, reduce desires.”

Again, I’m not a theologian. But my first take is that the advice of LIMITS resonates with the teachings of attained seers throughout the ages.

It wouldn’t hurt for you to think through the applications of all this to your own way of thinking, acting, and ultimately, to the feedback you’ve been getting from the Universe.

I’ll be publishing collected readings as The Lessons of 2020: Using the Wisdom of CHANGE to Build a Better Future. Look for it on amazon in January of 2021.

If you’d like your very own copy of the CSBOC to work with, to answer your own unique questions at your own convenience, or want extras to give others in need of insight, solace and support, it’s available here. : )

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

Invitation To Simon

Last night (12-16-19), reading through Simon Sinek’s recently published The Infinite Game gave me the hope, even confidence, that he has both the nobility of soul and common sense to welcome and actually champion my complimentary book, You Are Already Enough! How Would Your Life CHANGE If You Really Believed It?

I’m extending an open hand to him, as well as to James P. Carse, whose Finite and Infinite Games inspired Simon’s book. This is how I expressed the invitation in emails sent earlier today:

Hi Simon and Mighty Team! The archetypal Life Wheel (Golden Circle) is at the heart of my work. To your vision I contribute yoga sutras, quantum theory and (YES) the intuited Unified Field Theory (consciousness factor included) which Einstein already had, though didn’t know it. Balanced with your work, mine has the potential to alter the direction of history in a positive direction. I am not on Facebook. So I will post a blog – Invitation to Simon – on my website – https://RethinkingSurvival.com – with details. It’s not a rival approach, but rather an urgently necessary compliment in need of champions! All best. Pat West

Everyone is welcome to check out the detailed description of the Life Wheel offered Here.

However, below, I will let a few of variations of the Life Wheel stimulate your imaginations. Hint: The positive applications and benefits of accepting it whole were foreseen by Buckminster Fuller.

Here, for example, is the Life Wheel applied to unified Cooperation versus superficial Competition. It pictures the Why, How and What levels of the Golden Circle as well as their equivalents expressed as the variables of Einstein’s formula: mass, energy and light.

Survival

In that picture, I refer to the integrated, Unified Field Theory as our Hope for the Future. That is no small or empty claim.

Another variation places yogic energy centers within the quantum field of experience. The lowest centers correspond with the physical body, the m = mass level of the Wheel. The middle centers fit within the e = energy level. They have to do with e-motions. The heart. As you go higher, the throat center correlates with verbal intelligence. Going higher still along the scale towards the c = light level is intuition.

10. Energy Centers within Life Wheel

Energy center distinctions are important. Every level of perception plays an important part in overall awareness. However, intuition is of a higher order than a gut feeling. Enlightenment is qualitatively different from heart-felt desires.

A final suggestive image pictures what happens when empirical science rules out the inner levels of experience – those which can’t be observed, measured, and quantified. We’re left experiencing our lives as a hollow, empty shell.

Feelings and conscience don’t cease to exist, however. Rather, they’re driven underground. I call the dynamic “fracture.” In The Infinite Game, Simon describes the consequences of fractures as splits, and observes how the dynamic ruins business organizations.

14. Fractures & Epidemics

So here’s my invitation. For the future well-being of all, let’s join forces to tip the balance in favor of cooperation over competition, to restore wholeness and fulfillment over fractured self-destructiveness.

To Save the World, First Save Yourself

The implications of teen climate activist Greta Thunberg’s UN speech are at the heart of this post.

“We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, ” she warns. She’s probably right, but for all the wrong reasons. In fact, OA confirmed predictions of a pending Near Extinction Level Crisis (NELC) in posts to his short-lived website, appropriately called OldAvatar.com. 

But, what about all the wrong reasons?

Well, let’s see. Of all the looming natural and human disasters competing to destroy the planet, where do her specific fears fit in (if at all)? Could it be they are an intentional distraction from valid, urgent issues? Can the United Nations fix any of the very real dangers (or is it part of the problem)?

And how plausible is it that an autistic 16-year old pawn, coached by handlers, reading a scripted message, gets to lecture a gathering of world leaders with an angry, guilt-ladened message: “We will never forgive you.” (A moot point if we’re going extinct.)

Not to mention that there’s a whole lot of virtue signaling going on, meaning that behind the front of an undeniably worthy cause with which we all must agree (saving the planet for the sake of future generations), not-so-hidden agendas combined with the toxicity of her presentation skew the message.

Despite the implied unity in the organization’s handle, United Nations, it seems to me that this drama is pushing yet another fracture onto the world stage. The future generation is being pitted against its elders.

Yuppers. All the ingredients of big trouble brewing. What to do about it?

Let me switch gears for a moment. I’ll get back to this in good time.

blessing tap sized.

Now, OA’s way of showing me affection was to gently tap the center of my forehead. This blessing always made me smile, received as a kindly reminder to focus. “Get smart.” “Remember who you are.”

When we spoke of commitment, he tapped my heart. His formula was Head + Heart = YES.

And so it was. And IS.

I believe Dr. Joe Dispenza, Gregg Braden and folks at the HeartMath Institute would call this balanced unity of spirit “head-heart congruence.” It is the foundation of inner wholeness and resilience, the key qualities they recommend for thriving in this polarized “time of extremes.”

Head-Heart Congruence

Expressed another way, this modification of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory expresses inward unity as it extends outwards through the quantum field, informing all relationships. The seven levels of being are aligned, activated, in synch and in balance.

Wheel2

Here’s how the Book of Change sees Unity:

IC 8 UNITY.jpg

Further, Essay 60 on Unity brings both inner unity and doubts regarding the United Nations into focus:

I have always felt that one of the simplest and most apt metaphors for an organization as complex as the United Nations is the Rorschach inkblot test. What one person sees as the hope of a world free of war, famine, poverty, and disease, another interprets as a global boondoggle comprised of uncaring civil servants threatening the cherished concept of state sovereignty. — James Holtje, Divided It Stands: Can the United Nations Work

In contrast, it quotes Martin Luther King, Jr.:

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

Another quote focuses on the unity of creative genius:

The scientist or the artist takes two facts or experiences which we separate; he finds in them a likeness which had not been seen before: and he creates a unity by showing the likeness. . . . All science is the search for unity in hidden likenesses. — Jacob Bronowski, quoted by Todd Siler in Think Like a Genius

Essay 60 continues:

Effective, consistent action depends on an integrated concept of self and a comfortable relationship of each part with the whole. Therefore, thinking carefully about what unity means — as well as what it doesn’t — is a necessary prelude to ultimate success in life.

It points out the benefit of harmonizing practices like those taught by Dr. Joe Dispenza and Gregg Braden:

The motive, the “why” of psychologies and meditative practices is the same: to unify fragmented, antagonistic functions of mind, personality and behavior. The purpose, the “what” they plan to accomplish ranges from personal self-mastery to inner peace and/or functional relationships.

. . . Once one is focused and all the facets of inner energy are coordinated by a single-minded purpose, the pieces of life’s mosaic fall into place, forming a coherent picture.

It also places unity within the larger context of the Life Wheel:

External diversity complements inner unity. The core of life’s concentric circles, like the hub of a wheel, remains still as the outer rim revolves, constantly changing and in motion. Meridians, like spokes of a wheel, link center to surface, connecting and organizing the wheel of life in a dynamic unity.

And concludes with this warning:

Regimentation and conformance are perversions of unity. Though nature flourishes in diversity, and like snowflakes, each individual is a unique variation of its kind, in extreme social contexts variations are suppressed and punished. While this unnatural state might be appropriate to unnatural situations like war, it’s antithetical to personal well-being.

In this context, we have the picture of a fragmented Life Wheel, which may well be the greatest collective danger facing our planet right now. Pretty scary stuff, if you ask me. Reminds me of the bad old Hitler days. We don’t need a repeat of that, thank you anyway.

Disunity

So, where’s the hope? Is there an antidote?

Healers of all persuasions agree: it depends upon each of us restoring unity within. For people content to remain fractured within themselves, in denial of unredeemed personal problems and fiercely committed to saving face at all costs, are in no position to save the world. As Covey said, “First things first.” As the ancients taught, “Physician heal thyself.”

Only by achieving at least a modicum of wholeness, by being committed to the effort to restore head and heart coherence, can we have a unifying affect upon the world around us.

Saving the world, one person at a time, must start with having the courage to be Self-Aware; to have the common sense not to be taken in and over by propagandists; to live true to the true science: Conscience.

Because, in quantum reality, the butterfly effects of self-healing are immeasurable. Each personal victory, however small, has a ripple effect across time and space, changing future outcomes for the better. This (not legislation or political posturing) is how we give genuine hope to future generations.

And so it IS.

Phoenix - sized

What You See Is What You Get

This post continues the threads, “If You Love Your Children . . .” and “. . . Tell Them How the World Works.”

Tragically, schools have been being co-opted by ideologues who promote the false belief that the way to end human suffering is to destroy unjust social structures. This brainwashing poses a grave danger to young people. It is more likely to end human life on the planet than to end suffering.

In thinking how to best counter destructive lies, I recalled these lines from Essay Sketches on Positive Action:

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET.

Life is whatever you choose to make it.

I also remembered the words of a mentor at the Wisconsin School Board Association. Shaking his head, Senn Brown told me, “You are ahead of the times.”

Well, as the song goes, “Something’s lost but something’s gained in living every day.” Though I was already on track, I’ve learned a bit since then.

In If You Love Your Children . . , I described Dr. Peterson’s advice for withstanding unfairness and suffering. It’s summarized in 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos:

Essentially, his book advises people to “man up.” All of us have the potential to be much better than we are. Before criticizing the world, our first responsibility is to improve ourselves with discipline, carving out meaning in our lives as a bulwark against the chaos of life’s inevitable hardships.

Certainly this is excellent advice for coping with circumstances, literally standing on the circle’s rim.

But there’s much more to life than circumstances experienced on the surface. And the origins and solutions to most of our problems lie hidden beneath that surface.

For positive solutions to current circumstances, we have to look deeper. We need to remember the fabulous inherent inner resources whose very existence is denied by believers in shallow, exclusively materialistic science who give us permission to know only that which is tangible, measurable and quantifiable.

In contrast, the wisest among the teachers of any other time and place than our immediate circumstance have consistently told us that we are far more than a physical body.

The rules of this deeper wisdom are summed up in The Positive Paradigm Handbook: Make Yourself Whole Using the Wheel of Change. It lists Seven Axioms which compliment and complete Dr. Peterson’s 12 Rules. They give depth to his assertion that all of us can be much better than we now are.

Consistent with its predecessor, the Book of Change, The Handbook holds:

  • Dysfunctional paradigms tie us in knots. They tear us apart. They drive us crazy. They push us (first individually, then collectively) to murder and even suicide.
  • To survive intact, we must cleave to the essence of the perennial philosophy. The universal 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.
  • Peace and positive change necessarily begin one individual at a time, and are accomplished from the inside out. So long as dysfunctional paradigms put individuals at war with themselves, general ignorance will continue to escalate into worldwide conflict.

The Seven Axioms, along with basic corollaries, are based on the multi-dimensional, two-directional Life Wheel that looks like this:

levels of law - sized

These are the axioms:

AXIOM 1.  A complete and correct paradigm is the key to personal well-being and success.

AXIOM 2.  We are each a world complete, containing the potentials of the universe.

AXIOM 3.  Unity at the center and diversity on the surface are necessary compliments.

AXIOM 4.  The consequences of action are inevitable; those who respect the law of karma succeed.

AXIOM 5.  History is cyclical, not linear or progressive; nor can human survival be taken for granted.

AXIOM 6.  Used as a linguistic tool, the Life Wheel promotes clear, accurate and effective communication.

AXIOM 7.  With a correct paradigm, practical methods and useful tools, you can make yourself whole.

book header bird

Here is how I would apply these axioms to answer the radical student’s question to Dr. Peterson about unfairness, alienation and loneliness.

Taking up where I left off in “ . . Tell Them How the World Works,” I mentioned creating images to illustrate written text. This is important, because words function in the analytical (yang) left-brainer mode, while pictures speak to those of us who function primarily in the creative non-verbal (yin) right-brainer mode.

What you do or don’t see, through which ever side of the brain you favor, depends on you. If you’re fortunate to have both sides active, balanced and cooperating harmoniously, all the better.

To refresh your memory, a primary excuse ideologues use to rationalize overthrow of the established order is “thrownness:”

. . you’re a certain race and you’re born with a certain level of intelligence. You’re born in a certain culture with a certain language and in a certain socio-economic class and with a certain degree of attractiveness. And those are all things that are handed to you.

As Dr. Peterson paraphrases their argument:

The talents and catastrophes of life are by no means equally distributed. From the perspective of the standards of human justice and perhaps human mercy as well, there is something intrinsically unfair, unjust about the structure of existence itself.

Here is my picture of the catastrophes that result from living exclusively on the surface, ignorant of the workings of our inner universe. Both center and middle levels of life are repressed to comply with exclusively materialistic rules of the knowledge game.

As an aside, let me emphasize that suffering of the natural world is magnified and twisted beyond recognition by the unnatural, unnecessary overlay of ignorance humans add to the mix.

Unfair-sized

What do you make of it?

At first glance, it makes me think of PTSD victims, suicidal drop-outs, violent protesters and serial killers. At second, it reminds me of Pastor Joe Fox’s survivalist advice. “If you believe you are helpless, that whatever you do makes no difference, that there’s no hope, it’s true.” Believing it makes it so.

To name just a few who rose above harsh circumstances – What if Nelson Mandala, born black in an apartheid nation and incarcerated for dozens of years, had acted on this world view? Or Anne Frank, who hid in an attic from Nazi oppressors until betrayed, and died at age 15 in a concentration camp? Or Helen Keller, left deaf, dumb and blind after an early disease?

In contrast, here’s a picture of life completed by inner wisdom. Mandela, Frank and Keller drew on these resources to overcome harsh circumstances. So can each of us. The image gives new meaning to Dr. Peterson’s repeated advice, “Go deep!”

Life is Mysterious

It reminds me of Solomon’s words, “To everything there is a season.” In a complete world view, through the times friendship, love, work and conflicts, the full spectrum of emotions is in-formed by self-aware introspection and, at the deepest level, the abiding stillness of inner peace.

Based on this world view, I would ever so briefly suggest that each of our present circumstances is the result of a long history of past actions. And our futures depend upon the choices made and actions we take NOW.

Also, as concluded in If You Love Your Children. . . :

What if (like Christ born in a filthy stable) you came here on a soul mission, given challenges perfectly matched to your unique calling – perhaps life lessons to be learned? What if life is complex and mysterious, but inherently just? It’s quite possible.

Phoenix - sized

But this is plenty to absorb for now. Another set of pictures shows an alternative, wisdom response to life’s suffering. But it will wait.

Closing where I started today, my School Board Association mentor, Senn Brown, told me I was ahead of my times. He said this because I warned out of the gate that Affirmative Action legislation missed the point. Not only was it unenforceable. It would trigger inevitable backlash.

I’m one of Camille Paglia’s generation. Toxic, irrelevant universities could not contain creative thinkers. She told Dr. Peterson her peers dropped out, overdosed and disappeared off the radar.

But I chose a less traveled path. Though having no illusions about the University, I completed the Ph.D., committed to earning the credential required to build relevant schools which DO meet students’ needs.

Deeper still, I held fast to the belief that relevant sciences and teachers are still available to those who sincerely seek them. And in that I was not disappointed.

I continue to write, sustained by the hunch that the day is soon coming when I and the times will finally come into synch.

In any case, you might find the rest of the Essay Sketch I opened with interesting:

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET. Life is whatever you choose to make it. Make cultural heroes of people who pride themselves on their ability to beat the system and stand above the crowd — eager-to-please imitators will strive to replicate that model.

What would the world be like if, instead, value were placed on good will, friendship and cooperation? Not leveling, mind you. Communist experiments in China and Russia have proven that starving personal initiative doesn’t work any better than the everyone-for-himself approach.

Try the middle road. Give Positive Action a chance, and see what you get. Start small, with what can be done in your own personal life and inner circles. The ripples will spread in all directions.

Angel Calling