 |
|
Be the Best You Can Be The Newsletter of the Natural Leadership Centre: Spring 07 Achieve greater goals than you currently imagine possible How Do You Win the Right-Wrong Game? Hi [FirstName], We’re sending this again because there were some problems with the navigation links. Sorry about that. I hope this makes it easier to read. The theme for this issue is the age-old dilemma of how to discern right from wrong and where does the truth fit in.
Best wishes, Paul If ‘religion is the opium of the people’ (Karl Marx) then is Humanism the Prozac? Throughout history, science and religion have been fighting each other over whose world view or paradigm is the truth. Yet, neither religion nor science is ‘the truth’. They are simply variations on the ways people attempt to understand a higher truth that is at once entirely present and simultaneously unknowable with the senses, the ego and most of the perceptual equipment we have available. In my book (Why talk to a Guru? When you can whisper to a Horse) I spend a lot of time looking at traditional biblical interpretations of 'the purpose of life' from a more concrete perspective. This kind of present-moment, non-judgmental perspective we learn from horses helps discern 'truth' from mere 'right and wrong'. Perhaps this illusive purpose many of us seek is about how to stop hating and killing each other for our different ways of perceiving the same thing. Horses and the natural, non-human world share the common thread that runs through existence. But they do not share the ego process that makes us both human and inhuman. When we look at things just the way they are, several things line up: we discover a truth within us we can live by, we can step free from issues and addictions, we can achieve greater goals than we currently imagine possible and we can be the best we can be. In this way, all dogma becomes unnecessary – not only religious, but also scientific. As well we know in the art-science of human potential, what we believe becomes our personal ‘truth’ – regardless of its validity or our degrees and qualifications. So if we want to know, say, God, then it behoves us to first believe in the possibility. This leads us to seek the evidence and thence the experience that is right for us according to our level of spiritual evolution. The converse also works. If we choose to believe in ‘no-god’ then the same evidence verifies this for us. Similarly, all our limitations, issues and addictions are thus products of our ego and its belief systems. Via the reticular activating formation in the brain, our beliefs programme our subconscious to filter OUT and reject all evidence contradicting them and zero IN on and hungrily adopt any evidence that even vaguely appears to support them. War, hatred, disease, crime and unending poverty are some of the consequences of polarising seemingly contradictory belief systems into ‘we’re right’ and ‘you’re wrong’ – something the ego loves to do. Peace, love, trust, respect, understanding and abundance are the consequences of rising above the ego’s desperate and futile need to be ‘right’ by making others ‘wrong’. How Horses Help: the only way to win is not to play! As Rumi, the Islamic mystic and poet said: “Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field – I’ll meet you there.” That’s the field where our horses graze and play. But horses have no need to play those ego games. They ascribe no value to our ego needs for approval, importance, power and validation from others. That’s why they are such invaluable sources of accurate, honest feedback. Such a clear mirror for when we are being true to ourselves. To even begin questioning the validity of our beliefs requires a fundamentally higher awareness of the ‘true self’ than the ‘people’ kept in psychic slavery by those seeking power and control over society and the world. In a letter I recently got from the British Humanist Association, they claim 17 million in the UK share their belief system – that, they are convinced, is a higher ‘truth’ than religious belief. They have a noble intention: to stop the unfair influence religious belief has over the way our society is run. They believe that science is truth. That science offers a better way to understand the meaning of life. That religious belief is unnecessary. But, like religion, science and mathematics is not truth either, just (to some, equally compelling) opinion with different validation criteria. While it seems there are precious few simple truths in life, there are six billion opinions – one for every person on the planet. Gathering large groups sharing the same opinions does not make something true – it just promotes irrefutable evidence to shore up the belief system - often used as weaponry for more psychic violence and wrong-making. The cool thing about developing communication skill with horses is that they don’t care about opinions either. Only ‘what is’. Either your intention is clear or it isn’t. They don’t judge that. They don’t make it right or wrong. So where is our world going? Will we emerge from an era where - masquerading as truth - superstition, misunderstanding, deletion and distortion of spiritual scripture into religious dogma is now replaced by the same misunderstandings, deleted and distorted into scientific dogma? Will the priests in flowing robes and mitres simply be replaced by scientists in gowns and mortar boards? Those peddling their dogma are blinded by the illusion that it is only others who have delusions and dogma, only others are a cult. Or will we take a leaf from the horse’s bible, stop judging and look at life just the way it is? Those with the ancient, traditional dogmas as their ‘god’ are notorious for not being open to new ways of seeing. Are the new Humanists prepared to lead the way to more open dialogue? Or do they also want the people to stop critically examining their philosophies of life and just nod off to their brand of tranquilliser so they instead can control the world? When we look at things just the way they are, several things line up: we discover a truth within we can live by, we can step free from issues and addictions, we can achieve greater goals than we currently imagine possible and we can be the best we can be. In this way, all dogma becomes unnecessary – not only religious, but also scientific.How Do You Avoid the Right-Wrong Trap? When coaching, rather than ask for right-wrong/good-bad/ better-worse feedback statements, it’s often handy, to give clients ‘1-10 scales’ to report their experience neutrally. If we’re not careful though, we can still fall neatly into the trap of judging the result versus observing it. Horses don’t judge. It's either black or it's white. Either you’re clear and you get your intention through - or you don’t. So, if 10 is the ideal, is ‘9’ better, worse or about the same as ‘2’? It depends. if you're jumping a chasm: ‘2’ is the same as ‘9’, you fall! Only ‘10’ means success. It's the old saying ' 99% is a bitch, 100% is a breeze. Avoiding this subtle trap starts way up the front end of an intervention. It helps to be very clear from the outset, what the scale is really there to evaluate. And the winners of the free HAT session are: The first two out of the hat were Agata Wiatrowska from Germany and Jack Reed from Community Planet, California (very interesting website). The first UK-based person was Petra Evers. Feeling generous, I have offered all three the opportunity of a free session. July witnesses the first outing for the newly designed, 3-day version of the HAT (Horse Assisted Transformation) Practitioner training. The programme is full with participants from Germany, Finland and Australia as well as the UK. A 5-day intensive is planned for September this year. Contact me if you’re interested. A 2-page feature and book review were published in Rapport Magazine, the primary organ of the ANLP. The promotional-priced ‘taster’ day for Rapport readers is already nearly full. But if you contact me soon, if it’s not yet full, you can also come along for £95 + VAT – that’s 4th September, 2007. EAHAE (European Association for Horse Assisted Education) Conference This year’s conference is to be held in Vienna, Austria and promises to be outstanding. We kick off with a special tour of the famous Spanish Riding School. I am privileged to be giving a talk on the opening day. There are several pioneering, international speakers and workshops. And great food and company. Check it out here. For more information about this newsletter or simply to ask a question you are welcome to contact Paul@horsejoy.com |