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disintermedation Last updated on March 20, 1999
The Map and the Territory:Sport psychology as practiced by some focus the mind into spirit and makes connections with more than ordinary capacities. Since individual with greater capacities, confidence, control, calmness in the zone - win - people pay attention. It is a relationship with higher, greater, deeper, meaning - it is not a doctrine but a practice.
The territory is an experience, it is a known reality and relationship - people take the map for the reality - the doctrine for the practice - the guide as the experience - Wisdom and Religion is not the map but the territory - not a degree or doctrine but the good, the true and beautiful as we become different from what we think we are A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.Socrates (469–399 B.C.), Greek philosopher. Quoted in: Plato, Phaedo sct. 68c–69d.Socrates did not leave a written record of his teaching because he found that ideas and process were turned into dogma and doctrine. Great ideas are a process of intellectual and spiritual growth not a set of laws or recipes. It is a quality of being and understanding not just lesson plans and information transfer. Wisdom is a personal and collective connection between universals, understandings about the intrinsic or indispensable properties of things that serve to characterize the most important ingredients; the crucial elements in each time and place. Individuals and each society needs to develop its own relationship with the inherent, unchanging nature of a thing or class of things. Without knowledge we wander around without an anchor. A society needs wisdom to guide the growth of a good society and true values. So while the understands are relative the good, the true, and the beautiful are absolute.
The important point is that there are universals out there but we only can know them darkly as through a mirror - and our understanding is influenced by time and place. So while the universals remain unchanged the knowledge of them is relative. For example in science - the nature of the universe remains what it is. We as a species have improved our knowledge of the natural world. So while our knowledge and understanding changes the truth remains the same. Scientific wisdom is a method of sorting out impressions, observations, and ideas with training and discussion so we can pick the best from the rest.
The collection of good ideas becomes the base for further analysis and exploration.
The scientific method is an ongoing relationship between a social process and external universals. We have a need to understand because it reduces uncertainty and increases power. When there is no rational explanation we turn to magic which produces a sense of false control but emotional benefits. Storms and death bring out prayers.
The Spirit is a ongoing relationship that exists with a incorporeal entity and can not be put into a bottle or into a doctrine.Plato took the teaching and used dialogs in an effort to maintain the open nature of intellectual and spiritual growth. He started a school where a person strives, by the help of dialectic, to start in pursuit of every reality by a simple process of reason, independent of all sensuous information—never flinching, until by an act of the pure intelligence he has grasped the real nature of good—he arrives at the very end of the intellectual world. Platonic educational and spiritual process spread within the Hellenic world and by Alexander’s empire. Mixed with other ancient beliefs Christians became the dominate middle eastern cult that spread to the Western World.
The Sufi tradition has many Platonic elements mixed with oriental practices. In Christian doctrine Individual responsibility for analysis, difficult learning, thoughtful contemplation, rigorous education was replaced by the miracle of faith alone. Jesus believed it was too hard, too much to expect ordinary people to work on their own salvation in their own way and spiritual growth has handed to them s a gift.
The romantic attachment with the universal - the love of GOD - was made quickly and powerfully by an act of faith.
The wondrous, marvelous, miraculous powers of faith working within a doctrine became deep down, deep-rooted, ingrained to the culture.
The modern world rejected the fundamentals of Christian belief. Secular humanism made the modern world possible - democracy, liberalism, science and technology rejected magic, superstition, old emotional faiths with new powers of logic and reason. In correction to popular belief, America would not be a modern republic based on fundamental Christian principals. It was Greek and Platonic thought called Deism ( and Masonic ) that guided the American Revolution and individualism. Some pragmatic materialist rejected religion altogether and lost their way among quick fixes to the human condition.
The good, the true and the beautiful can not be forgotten or short changed.
The information age is an age of science and technology. It is moderate, rational, practical, materialist, without great leaps of faith and dogmatic ideologies. But it can not be wise - good or beautiful without a relationship with universals. We need a new Platonism especially the wisdom of knowing that there are ideal forms as an absolute and eternal reality of which the phenomena of the world are an imperfect and transitory reflection. A technological Sufi method of relationship with the love of GOD is one approach. Super environmentalism is another with God and God’s nature.
The tradition has three paths - 1.) Yoga with contemplation, introspection, self-examination, self-communing, INTRINSICALITY transcendental meditation, TM mind beyond matterPlatonism - dialogs and examination of assumptions as in schools of education and psychology. Mind over matter - Outward bound, Gestalt and Zen - physical and spiritual training by direct action and practice, mind as part of matter. 4.)
The fourth way tries to bring these methods together - not the yoga or monk or magician but a whole greater than based on the sum of the parts or synergy.Http://www.wiredbrain.com/program.htm
The group (no larger than 30) meets from 9 AM to 9
PM in a large empty carpeted room with windows. The members bring ( or
are provided with ) exercise type mats and sitting pillows. There are six
smaller meeting rooms for groups with tables and chairs. The members are
divided into groups of less than 7 by personality types. Each day follows
the same time frame:
(A) 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM - Toning (Yoga Shalom) and
basic bioenergic charge and discharge. A song or two (Such as "Amazing
Grace"), OHM and breakfast. The members make their own meals of simple
foods and eat in groups.
Introduction to exercise A-groups
DAY 1 form groups using personality styles, Day 2, Bioenergics: Day 3, meditations: Day 4, Hypnotism: Day 5, Wake up pay attention.
A-Group Work) 10:30 to Noon group meeting: FEELINGS PATHOS
A1 Morning Activities: -
Feelings (first day) A2 Creativity (second day) A3 Personality (third day) A4 ( reason ) A5 ( beyond reason) A: set of activities on innovation and creativity. (10:30 to noon)
Noon to 1:00 PM Lunch and group reports
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM Nap and meditations - Introduction to Exercise B-groups B.
B-Groups) 2:00 to 3:30 PM Second Group Meeting PROBLEM SOLVING -LOGOS
B1 Afternoon Activities: Problem solving B2 Communications B3 Systems B4 General systems B5 Wholes
A set of activities on problems solving, conflict resolution, and communications (2:00 to 3:30 PM)
3:30 PM to 6:00 PM Reports on exercise and:
MOVIE
TIME, The Last Wave, Meeting with Remarkable Men - Discussion and reading
of tales and myths - The methods of learning to learn - the inter-writing
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM evening meal and discussion
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM Exercise C group meetings ETHICS
C1: Evening Activities: Values and choices C2: Morals C3: Goals and missions C4: Character C5: Control, powers, sex and passion. B: a set of activities on what matters, choices, goals, values and needs, wants, passions and control. Last days include gestalt and psycholodrama plays and "hot seat" exercises.
8:30 PM to 9:00 PM Songs, dance, social activity rap up -
INSTITUTE OF HUMAN RESOURCES 225 Robinson Road New Smyrna Beach (P.O. Box 2176) FL 32069 (904) 428 7924
Human Potential Training and Education: This is a unique
and highly successful program of human development. Participants learn
how to integrate their personalities, solves personal problems and develop
more powerful interrelations with others. There are thirty-three steps
in four levels. The
fee is $1000 a day plus expenses flat fee for any size group up to 30.
The cost over 30 people this is very resonable $35 a day for up to 5 days
= $175 or so. Materials other than the workbooks are extra. ( The Workbook
is not included with the fee)
Who should attend? | Anyone who wants to live a better
life and gain control over their lives will benefit from these programs.
Counselors, teachers, supervisors, parents, religious people, couples,
students, just interested people. The Teacher (Guide) is Peter E. Pflaum,
Ph.D. who has twenty years of experience and practice with his unique system.
Others will enrich the Yoga, and other special methods (Zen).
SYNERGY SEMINAR: THE BODY - Summary: Stage one: The
practice is to work directly on the stoppages - the blocks - then rational
thought can begin to solve problems - not before. People didn't talk their
way into blocks and can't talk themselves out of their problems. The words
such as; centered, balance, grounded, mean something in practice. You do
it, not talk about it. The Way to Vibrant Health by Alex and Leslie Lowen
is based on the process of increasing the life force. New energy is released
by proper respiration and metabolism. The new energy is great for lasting
weight control. The mind and body are identical, one is a reflection of
the other. How you feel effects how you think and how you think effects
how you feel. ( Norman Cousins interesting book on Health - Bill Moyers
series on public T.V. Benison on Stress are good examples.)
Level One (Steps 1 to 9) Each session contains a warm up, a lesson from a 350-page workbook, individual and group exercises.
The Exercises - getting loose - getting the energy flows unblocked. 6.)
The expressive Exercises and Gestalt - Feelings (mind - the body) 7.) Sexual exercises (optional) massage and setting up a regular schedule. 8.) Autogenic - relaxation techniques 9.) Meditation and Imagination * Alexander Lowen, Bioenergetics - (Harper & Row) a form of Gestalt - Autogenic and other names (Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer by Pelletier, Kenneth) and Wilhelm Reich - Every "Shaman" I know has a simple and direct approach. Emotions are feeling - feelings are NOT thoughts - they are physical. (Thoughts exist in the brain but I am talking about the fight/flight syndrome, a series of body reaction to emotions, This has been called the Stress syndrome - )
The "real" world is an illusion created by social norms, language, advertising, political interests, etc.
The real world is in our dreams. For those who don't know, this is hard to believe but when known is obvious. Did you ever have a tightness that you only identified when it let go? You say, I didn't know it was so tight. You get used to being in knots, off balance, out of tune. Stress and
THOUGHT control: Level two - getting control of your thoughts
The seven habits of Effective People (Stephen Covey) 15.) Biofeedback - nutrition - advanced exercises (Yoga) 16.) Getting unstuck - independence - freedom from reactions 17.) Yoga (Shalom) Love - cloud - visualizations and breath 18.) No Fatigue, no sore muscles, perfect posture, the sounds 19.) Introduction to Zen and the art of paying attention>
The President - social conventions - et al. How do I know? I don't. You have to practice - gain body knowledge - and feel what you feel. How do we treat the problems and the world - by practice - by example - by doing - not talking? We will work directly on the emotional base of behavior and the nature of being.
STUDIES
ON THE WAY - the path of knowing Level three - The path to knowledge 20.)
The world of illusions and /images 21.) The Aesop fables and Sufi tales
- the three levels of knowledge. Reading and meditations 22.) Morals, character,
independence - beyond self - loves 23.) Total experience - peak experiences
Discovering Values: To learn new values you will experiences new feelings
or remember feeling you have forgotten. 24.) See twice - Peter Weir's " The
Last Wave" - Rhino-Home 25.) Wallace's " The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca,"
(In paper reprint from Random House about $10) read it, twice? This will
be our introduction to the dream world. 26.) Steven Halpern - Music Halpern
Sounds, Visualization of the perfect self - 27.) Relaxation tape - to take
home 28.) Yogi Shalom - Charles Schoelen, a set of tapes. The first one
is on LOVE, then the rock, the cloud and other meditations. 29.) Herrigel,
Eugen ZEN (Zen in the Art of Archery). The Method of ZEN (McGraw-Hill)-
and/or OM Creative Meditations - by Alan Watts - (Celestial Arts, MillBrae,
CA) Electronic Education Program P.O. Box, Mill Valley, CA 94941 A couple
of Sufi books - THE ANSWER IS
MAGIC:
Level
four: THE DREAM TIME - 30.) Out of touch - The dream world - reality -
illusions When people have profound psychological problems - the general
belief is that you need to deal with the emotional basis as the cause.
While there are many theories of Psychological practice, we focus on direct
experience - by exercises and psychodrama, rather than analysis, talking
or running away. To help someone with a stutter you practice the stutter
until it is under control. We are going to learn mind control. Certainty
for our Time: 31.)
LAWS
OF PHYSICS: Imagine the atom; the core of particles held together by great
force, the fields of electrons vibrating in their courses. The electrons
can only operate in certain fixed Quantum, they can be in only certain
ways in relationship to each other and the nucleus. These fixed ways allow
for chemistry. The elements can combine with Certainty depending on the
fixed nature of physics. God cannot do things against his nature. The laws
of nature are not imposed from outside but reside within the nature of
things. 32.) SCIENCE: The ways the elements combine, the very order of
the Cosmos itself defines the possible. Science and technology are doing
the possible. The difference between alchemy and chemistry, astronomy and
astrology, is the knowledge of the possible. Knowing, something of the
ways of nature is knowledge. 33.)
IDEOLOGY:
The evil and false pride that people have when they think their ideas are
equal to the ways of nature. The ways of the universes exist in a grain
of sand. The natural processes in a drop of water are infinitely more powerful
than any human belief. Science endeavors to put our beliefs in tune with
reality. The electrons change their quanta in fixed patterns. They do not
move through the intermediate space. We cannot go from here to there without
passing through the intermediate space. Particles do not conform to our
concepts but we try to understand the reality as best we can. 34.)
FALSE
PRIDE: It is a source of evil and false pride to foolishly believe our
ideas of nature are just relative. The " anything goes approach" and "do
you own thing," encourages the belief that anything is possible. We must
live with the really possible not in illusions and fancy. The covenant
is the fixed law of nature where possible becomes real. Reality is the
wisdom of Gods' creation, his own presence. Human wisdom shrinks before
the infinite. The unity of all things appears in the billions of stars
and atoms, the Eternal essence. I am God, you are Gods also is a rather
special way. We are perfect in harmony with the universe and nothing, a
small spark outside the rules of nature. Is there a contradiction here
- our ideas are not reality - so how can we know God? 35.) REMEMBER - The
particles of corporal existence do not have a personality. Reality is not
confined to man. If we are transformed into vanquished space and are no
longer self but a new being, we can come close to looking into the face
of God. If this is not clear it is because it is very difficult to express.
The truth is said often and many different ways but while many hear only
a few, listen. 36.) It is difficult to explain to the Bat who lives only
at night and avoids the bright sun what shadows are like. Maybe sometime
in your life you knew you were in tune - had certain knowledge of being
- Being just what you are,
MASLOW
in the Further Reaches of Human Behavior explored this aptitude. He called
it transcendence, beyond self to being or B values. He said it gave life
meaning and purpose. Effective people knew the meaning of B-values and
therefore had focus and energy that created a successful life. Beyond self.
So simple and so hard. Can you explain to the blind about the colors of
the world? The drunken, desire their drunkenness and do not desire the
truth. If is not this or that: then what is it? 37.) The Perfect Truth:
To go from the possible (the ways of nature ) to the essential is the spring
of reason. First we gain true perception and then a sense of being and
passing through and beyond personality to real character. We can be worse
than beasts, fiends, stones or storms - we have the avarice, envy, pride
opposes knowledge. We do not overcome these by an act of will but by rites
of passage. In Joseph Campbell's hero with 1000 Faces, these "all too human"
passions and monsters are passed in the mythical journeys in the underworld
(clearly a representation of our reptile unconscious minds). The Hero emerges
from thinking and feeling to being and knowing. 38.)
BEING
READY: There are few shortcuts. If you love God, God will love you. You
are beloved, the union with all exists in you and all around you. In pure
obedience, there is true freedom. When you are master then you are slave.
You are the sweet fruit in the shell, ready to ripen, the suns warm beams
has put us into the right stage of life. Our estate is prepared and we
are ready. 39.) If this is obscure to you, it is meant to be clear. The
vail of metempsychosis passes and you sees clearly the obvious - AH HA!
The circle is complete, I am what I am, and feel good about it. (Union)
The seal is broken and the secret reveled - it was here all the time but
you weren't looking, you did not listen, I guess you were too busy with
more important business. Faith and peace, and eternal wisdom are not so
important? They require truth and justice and cannot be used for personal
gain. They have no market value. 40.) The dream that becomes reality is
in the union of mystic lore and the way. The doors are open, are you ready
for no-existence. If you give up existence you will find it. If you cling
to the things of life, you cannot pass this way. That is the myth of the
"grateful dead." To win you must surrender, to triumph, give up. You all
know that. The phantoms pass away, nothing but the truth remains. The Secret Garden," only 57 pages - A Dutton Paperback)THE
UNION Comes when the possible have passed its ordered limits and become
the essential - science has become knowledge and certainty. (This is beyond
40 and me at the moment). Who firmly grasps the mystic meaning of the union
of possible and the promise of the essential has a higher wisdom than plain
mortals. More is less, far is near, we are no longer afraid of our own
shadows, the fire has no terror and the book of changes. (To be continued
- Mahmud Shabistri "
"Mankind's
moral sense is not a strong beacon light, radiating outward to illuminate
in sharp outline all that it touches. It is, rather, a small candle flame,
casting vague and multiple shadows, flickering and sputtering in the strong
winds of power and passion, greed and ideology. But brought close to the
heart and cupped it one's hands, it dispels the darkness and warms the
soul." James Q. Wilson
The Ancient Ways of Knowledge (Sufi)
There
are four paths to understanding your full capacities as a human: The wagon
is the body (one). The horses are the passions, the driving force
The driver is the mind (three) and the master-passenger is the soul(two).
and
spirit. (four) Seven colors for stages of awareness.
The Magician
( The
Wagon) BLUE (Sensual) Progressive Relaxation - Autogentics - "Body Knowledge"
- bioenergics and deep relaxation - learning
to
feel the "life force" - become fully aware of the body, and your real material
nature - WAKE UP! Getting in touch with your natural powers of intuition,
and perception - the keys to good heath; Nutrition - Exercise
The LoverPath Two:
The
Horses) YELLOW and RED (Loving and Passions) Self-Hypnosis, reprogramming
and dream work - Biofeedback and New techniques free the emotions and passions
that are the "driving Force";(
The keys to good relationships and mental health.Understand
the animal nature. WAKE-UP the free energy that now is wasted in blame,
guilt, shame. Center renewed strength through love, compassion, hope and
union - WAKE-UP your power to have compassion for yourself and love for
others -
Path
Three: The Mind
( The
Driver) RED to BROWN (passion to grounding) Meditation and visualization
- Open the Imagination - Yoga, Tantra - the
Science of Breath - focus of the mind - Spiritual nature - PAY ATTENTION -
Zen - WAKE-UP to your powers of concentration and focus - the keys to contentment and satisfaction - success in the tasks of life Coping Skills -
Assertiveness
- Thought Stopping - LETTING-GO
The CommanderPath
Four:
The
Master - Dominating Self)(
WHITE
Union- GREEN mystic, BLACK passing-on - CLEAR passing-into the light, you
will experience enlightment. You will get in touch with more of yourself.
You will improve your relationships with others. You will be successful
in the tasks of life. You have learned to control the horses (passions),
you have learned to take care of the wagon (the body); the driver is awake
and sober (the lucid brain) - now you are master of all your spirit -
You
are in COMMAND. You have learned Self-observation;
Self-remembering
You
have been here before and you will return again
Benefits:
The
exercise will help you to observe and understand your own feeling, character,
and gain more control of your own life.Understanding
created by this class will create an autogenetic response leading to better
self-management Techniques. This experience will help you think and feel
much better. It will help you relax and reduce stress. You will learn how
important and valuable it is to integrate the mind, body and spirit.
These
sessions will create a feeling of pleasure, joy, and over all well being.
You
will become a calm and relaxed person - with rejuvenated body sensations,
you will see more clearly, you will have clear and focused thinking. You
will experience cheerful thoughts, you will have a more healthy body, you
will be joyful of spirit, you will be full of energy, you will have clear
goals, you will experience less self-destructive behavior. You will straighten
up your thinking. You will release your energy that has been tied up in
internal feeling of guilt, blame, accusing others and yourself. You will
be able to forgive others as the cause of your problems and pain. You will
become aware of these negative feeling of shame, fear - these negative
feeling will be replace by positive feeling of trust - security - certainty
- patience - inspiration - You will become a calm focused person. People
will want to be with you. People will love you. You will know true intimacy
- love and union, mind, body and spirit. You know true intimacy - love
and union, mind body and spirit; beyond any desires, passions, need, wants,
YOU
ARE PERFECT -
Book:
The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, Davis, Martha; Eshelman,
E.R.; McKay, M.; New Harbinger Press
Note on prices: Average cost = $1000 a day plus expenses
COURSE OUTLINE
PFLAUMP@freenet.scri.fsu.edu
RE:
Notes from The Secret Garden:
Mahmud Shabistari, (E.P. Dutton & Co, 1974)
Sufism
is not a religion. The Sufi practice is a the science of man, or the "Science
of Certainty." In most societies, most of the time, the Sufi could not
find acceptance or a
fair
hearing. Any ideas that were not devoted to the service of the state and
the prevailing ideology were regarded as not only odd but dangerous treason,
and was feared as subversive. The Moslem cults, the brotherhood, and many
others are mixtures. Will the real Sufi please stand up.
Sufi
cloaked their teaching and activities in the outward garb of religion.
The ability to pretend and remember what is image and what is real, is
a critical Sufi art - but many cults came to believe the outside as inside.
Sufis focused on cultural pursuits which in authoritian societies allows
certain freedoms and contacts with different people.
The
Persian-speaking Sufi's dominated the classics, which became convert Sufi
textbooks.
The
public forms of Sufism are imitations. The desire for fantasies led to
groups and activities that are popular and acceptable to the dogmatic climate.
Imitation Sufis abounded. Scholars and the public are naturally confused
on what is true Sufism and what is mystic popular imitations.
The
Christians have the same problem - the unreal imitations of Christ and
popular but weaken practices. A belief that some cult has a special way.
Spain
became a Sufi center in the Middle Ages, and still in the south reverberates
in songs and stories. The spread of Culture from Spain and the Renascence
brought Sufi practice to Europe. The Freemasons were partly based on these
traditions.
The
Sufi have a special science in psychology and the study of man. All Sufi
activity in the West until after WWI was private. Sir Richard Burton only
saw imitation cults and did not know of the small private non-cultist Sufis.
The
Russo-Armenian philosopher Gurdjief published the first western text about
a origin in Central Asia with links to the distant past, early forms of
Christianity and the monasteries in the Hindu Kirsh. Ouspensky, a disciple,
transmitted these ideas in lectures, demonstrations, and books.
Dr.
Maurice Nicholl and Dr. Kenneth Walker used the psychologically-oriented
to attempt a system of practice. The authors of the Bloomsbury group brought
Sufi ideas to literature which continues today by many writers - Borges,
Lesing?, (many more).
The
true Sufi potential was largely untouched. Sufi does not have authority
figures, a or a set of customs or habits. It is more open than Zen and
even more difficult to fix in place. Hadrat Sayed Idries Shah in the major
book " The Sifis" brought light to the confused situation. His work has
brought the Sufi tradition back into focus for the West. The all too human
desire to have a talisman, a messianic figure who would transform the world
is not true Sufi but many cults still seek such a ideal. Idries Shah would
not confine himself to closed groups who thought they had key to wisdom.
The
desire to feel special, to have secrets, ceremonies and special knowledge
is not unique to these Sufi cults. It is tribal.
Poets, scientist, professors of literature and physics, anthropologist claimed something of value in Idries Shah's work. Serious sociological journal found the ideas of prime importance in solving current human problems in advanced societies. It's vital importance to education and learning became the Society of the Understanding of the Foundation of Ideas (1966).
So what is Sufi - first you find a Guide -
Copies of the SYNERGY JOURNALS sent by request: wiredbrain@earthlink.net Peter E. Pflaum Ph.D. , Headmaster GLOBAL_VILLAGE_SCHOOLHOUSE 225 Robinson Road, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169 (904) 428+7924
