A Zen Master said,

“The ‘practice’ is like traveling along a big circle…….Does not matter much where on the circle you are.  What is ‘”critical” is that you don’t get stuck.  Keep moving.”

Zen has it’s roots planted in the seventh limb of the Eight Limb Path of Yoga.

Dhyana is translated as absorption in deep meditation.

The eighth and final limb is called Samadhi.  Translation: bliss/enlightenment.  It also means to see without thought.

Samadhi is union with Source.

Without argument, we (humanity) are at a tipping point.

It is quite apparent we are “up against it.”

Global warming, Radical Islamic Terrorism, Cyber Insecurity, Economic Instability, North Korea, Iran, Russia, China, GMO’s, abortion, pollution, toxins, rogue viruses, racism, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding….Need I go on?

I am writing this blog series because I am convinced that human knowledge by others of the information contained within is essential to healing ourselves and the divide we, all of us, are experiencing with others, even family members.

Twenty five years ago I took a “self-improvement” course called Lifestream.  Fantastic information and experience.

As with all of these types of courses they have the tendency to congeal into a type of cultish thing as people experience great influxes of Light by connecting with others, sharing, inquiring into different ways of looking at things and Aha moments.

They want more.

Most people who go through these types of courses are not happy and looking for answers.

Things have not been going well or are not working.

In the Rochester, NY area it tended to attract a lot of people in recovery.

Oh, the affliction of addiction.

I can’t remember the exact connection, however, Buckminster Fuller was introduced in the course work.

Buckminster Fuller (Bucky) was one of the most important 20th century thinkers, innovators and inventors.

I have read a few books of his but there is one that has been very important for my inquiry into why I am here?

What is my purpose?

Why me?

What’s it all about?

Bucky’s book is called CRITICAL PATH.

It is a big, detailed and comprehensive book.

Bucky writes long, extended, run on sentences and he makes up his own words.

For some reason I ate it up.  I read through the whole book once.

I re-read the Foreword once a month.

The word “sin”  means to “miss the mark?”  It comes from Archery.

The Cause always contains the Effect,

And the Effect always Contains the Cause.

In the Yellow Brick Road presentation I am going to use Bucky’s Foreword to Critical Path to “Corral” the “maps of the territory”

“The OK Corral.”

Remember, It ain’t pretty.

Will humanity repeat it’s past mistakes or are we at a “tipping point” and, perhaps, it will be a happy ending after all?

Bucky’s writing is in bold.

My commentary is in italics.

May we” travel” together like Dorothy and her friends in The Wizard of Oz as we take the trip.

There are good witches and bad witches.

There are people you can trust and there are thieves and deceivers.

There are good times and bad.

There are unexpected mishaps and there are fortunate events.

There is a season for this and a season for that.

There is illusion and there is what is real.

And it is all about the journey back home;  To “Source.”

Ayn Rand said in her book ‘Atlas Shrugged’ ……”If you question your results then check your assumptions.”

Awakening, enlightenment, realization. healing all happen when one is able to see beyond their assumptions.

Assumptions are not bad or good.

They are blocks when unconscious.

They can be powerful “channels” when applied with consciousness.

————————————–

In 1998 I was living in Boca Raton, Florida and got a job as a sales representative for a debt consolidation company.

My job was to contact clients who had responded to an advertisement for debt help, gather their information to determine if they qualified for our program, send them out the required paperwork/client agreement, receive back the signed paperwork and first payment and send them to customer service.

The sales department was small.

I fast became good at the job.  I thought I wouldn’t  because, in the past, I had such fear when I tried to prospect or present.

My business acumen is more in systems and procedures, training assessment, development, implementation and facilitation.

At the time, a lot of people were in credit card debt.  Interest rates were high. Economy had slowed.

The company was poised for growth.

The internet was just beginning to emerge and that was opening up even more opportunity.

Week 6 into the job I signed up the most amount clients in the room.

I was the top sales “dog” that week.

I sensed an opportunity here.

Worked hard.

Got to the office at 6am and often did not leave until 8pm.  Even worked Saturdays.

About a year prior to this I had started to read Ken Wilber.

Ken is one of the most prolific thinkers, authors and presenters of our time.

Pure genius.

Read his book, ‘A Brief History of Everything” and others.

The big book……..  The one that synthesized everything Ken was writing about, at that time, was encapsulated in his book  ‘Sex, Ecology, Spirituality; The Spirit of Evolution.’

This is the book that really introduces and explains, what would become his most important work….Integral Theory.

Ken describes his four quadrant theory of how everything in our universe evolves.

I learned about lines of development, states of development, stages of development and quadrants of development.

Ken, like Bucky, is hard reading.

Again, I soaked it up.

I read Sex, Ecology and Spirituality three times.  It’s 800 pages long.

As a training developer I knew that one could apply training in three general areas:

1.  Impart Knowledge.  One can hear about something or read a book about something or become aware of something.  A trainer can do this through lecture, reading assignments, etc.  This is the awareness stage.  It is the “waking up” stage in the training process.  It is understanding “the game” that is being played.
2. Skill Development.  One can learn the skills necessary to do the job.  How to use the computer, how to read the presentation, how to work a tool.  One understands more deeply what is learned after knowing about it.  This is the exploration, inquiry, learning, intellectualizing, testing, illuminating stage in the training process.  Always some skill to learn or hone.  Professional athletes are constantly practicing and honing their skills.
3. Cognitive approach; Attitude.  There is an optimal mindset for approaching a job or task.  A trainer can introduce and enhance this attitude.  This is the stage of Mastery and Transformation. It is really “getting it”.  The attitude we wanted to hire and train was one that was positive, solution-oriented and directive.

Exploring and understanding  Ken Wilber’s work and his Integral Theory I now had a deeper understanding of how these three areas of training could be applied in the systems and procedures of the debt management business.

As I was realizing success as a sales rep. I got an itch to write a Systems and Procedures and Training Manual for the Sales Department.I had designed and produced The Franchise Training Manual for Microtel  Corp. …….I could do this.

I locked myself in my room for a weekend and pounded out a 20 page Manual.

I even had clip art and it was in color!

I subtitled the manual

The Yellow Brick Road.

Gave it to the owner of the company to look at.

That day he took me off the phone and made me Director of Training for the sales department.

He wanted me to hire, train and develop consolidators using the Training Manual.

We went from 10 sales reps to 80 in 12 months.

Here is a 20 minute video of Ken Wilber introducing Integral.

He battles an Immune Deficiency Disease that sometimes affects his speech.

Struggling a bit here.

As we go through Bucky’s Foreword and my commentary keep an open mind.  The path of healing and recovery requires persistent and continual attention.

Kind of similar to managing Type 1 Diabetes.

You ignore it for awhile and it will get away from you.

One thing I have learned is that there is no coercion in spirituality.

This means everyone must do their own work.

Another can only guide or show the way.

We are each here to do our own work and achieve unity that way.

I know that this path of inquiry is not for everyone.

“Now The Inquiry of Yoga.”

           Patanjali Sutra 1

This presentation is for the spiritual aspirant or someone seeking a way to explore possible higher perspectives and ways to achieve transformation.

The Yellow Brick Road is an introduction to the path of healing and recovery.

To engage with “it” requires two things:

First, one must be able to suspend one’s beliefs.  While doubt is the opponent it is also the quickest doorway to spiritual growth.  Belief is not what is needed in today’s world.  Belief is concretization of the abstraction which is a symptom of psychosis and schizophrenia.

Second, one must have the ability to suspend one’s disbelief.  It is really the same thing.  Disbelief is belief in disguise.  Disbelief creates and sustains illusion and results in delusion.

“The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he does not exist.”