The Process of the Middle Way

A PSPBlog reader and I recently had a conversation like many others that we’ve shared. He will occasionally call and simply give me a keyword or concept and I will try to provide some insightful comments. This last conversation was about what he called the Middle Way. The concepts of Bollinger Bands and the Moving Average (view video) which we discussed in a previous Post provided me with an immediate avenue to explore his keyword(s) for the day – the Middle Way. Towards the end of our conversation I had the pleasure of hearing him say that as a result of the analogies and comments shared he could better understand some of the things that have been happening in his life recently. That, after all, is the hope of this Blog. That is, to share something that might assist all of us to gain understanding and insight into that which will make a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us. To Create Peaceful Space!

Our conversation ended with the observation that there is a difference between the Concept of the Middle Way, and the Process of the Middle Way. He suggested this topic for the Blog. The Concept of the Middle Way or the Middle Path is basically to avoid the extremes in everything. The Process of the Middle Way is about being sensitive and responsive the signals and signs that indicate when you are approaching an extreme. If you reviewed the earlier Post then we can go on from there and say that there are shifts in your energy signature that signal to you if and when you are going off your path (moving outside of your Bollinger Bands). And of course, one of the reasons for you to strive to stay in Peaceful Space is so that you are always alert to those subtle signals that often whisper to you or appear fleetingly. Lets see if our stock market analogy can hold up when we apply it more deeply to the human experience. We will probably have to do this in parts. Hope you will tag along and add your comment! We'll discuss the extremes first, the things that happen around the boundaries of your path. Lets talk first about sudden upward movement (sudden success). If we are going to have sustainable success then we have to set a strong foundation to support the measure of our success. Sudden upward movement occurs with and without the necessary foundation. As you strive for success in whatever way that you define it, it is helpful to remember that life is process and everything in the universe is subject to the Law of Vibration - everything experiences its ebb and flow; its waxing and waning, that includes your life journey and process.

When the price of a stock moves or jumps outside of its upper band (positive change in price), one of two things can happen. The upper band may move upward to embrace the new (higher) price, or the jump may be too big (or too fast) for the mood of the market and the price will move or fall back down, inside the band (sometimes very dramatically). Sudden upward movement is not uncommon in the human experience. She was going nowhere, moving fast enough to be going backwards. She had a past with no observable benefits and her path was more narrow than that navigated by a colony of ants. Her future was a dark abyss beyond the reach of light. She breathed only in those moments when she could sit at her makeshift art table and draw. And then one day, someone saw her art, her talent, her soul and suddenly her life changed. Sudden upward movement! Many people have experienced sudden upward movement because of their natural talents in the arts, music, athletics, dance, mechanical or technical skills, intellectual rigor, or a sincere heart and gentle spirit coming to the attention of others. Then there are those who experience sudden upward movement based on a less substantial foundation, winning the lottery for example. An individual who has no real plans for how they would manage and use their good fortune is like a stock price move that has jumped way outside of its upper band and there is no support for that higher price in the market. Both the price of the stock and the individual’s good fortune are likely to crash.

If in those moments when she could breath our young lady also imagined a bright future in spite of the darkness, if she read magazines and books about being an artist and learned all that she could, if even in the midst of hopelessness she formed a vision of what she would do and how she would do it if ever… – dare she hope, then when that moment of sudden upward movement occurs, her path may open and the upper and lower boundaries of her path will rise to embrace the change in her life. But, if she could not see through the darkness, if she failed to prepare and imagine, then with all her artistic talent she will nonetheless feel outside of her element, she will unwittingly activate her Fight-or-Flight Response in her social interactions, and will likely have negative energy experiences even while experiencing temporary or modest success. If she knows that she is unprepared for the change, the sudden upward movement, then she should also be prepared for some setbacks and negative experiences to come through that crack.

Lets assume that our young lady was prepared and achieved success. What shifts in her energy signature would be signals to her (or to you) that she is heading for a fall? Remember, as Dr. M. points out in the Handbook, everything about every individual is present in their energy signature and your energy signature is always transmitting, affecting the universe. Success can change your energy signature in both positive and negative ways. If the shift is positive, no problem! You Create Peaceful Space as you move ahead. But what are the signals of a negative shift in energy signature emanating from sudden success or an inability to handle or manage the level of success that one achieves? What are the signals or cracks that are predictive of a retraction or fall in the life of the individual? The signals will show up as expressions of the Fight-or-Flight Response manifesting in the attitudes and behaviors of the individual. The signals will also manifest in the body-mind because of the biochemistry of our basic instincts and emotions as outlined in the Handbook. They will also emanate from the individuals energy signature and feel evident to anyone who is sensitive to the quantum experience of life. Can you guess some of the signals?
To be continued:

Living in alignment with the Prime Directive

is a choice to which everyone should be invited!
You have been invited!

Create Peaceful Space! 
Trust Your Process!

Peace, Love, and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol. I 

Our Ancient Way of Being In The World

Have you cried recently? Watching or listening to news of the suffering of others over the past few months (or years), have you felt that mounting pressure in your chest, a pressure filled with emptiness? Have you felt that shift in your respiration, the sudden lack of strength, the emergence of moisture in your eyes, and the final release? Or perhaps you got all the way up to the threshold of release but forced yourself to hold the tears and the pain inside. I watch men do the later all the time when they are being interviewed on the news about some horrific or painful event. I’ve witnessed it up close and personal as well. Of course, women do this also but much less than men. I think one of the reasons people hold back is because for many men and women the pain, fear, frustration, anger, denial, alienation, and guilt that they live in everyday is so great that they are afraid to let go. Afraid that if they let go, if they give in to the release they will empty themselves of all will to go forward in the face of what they have seen and experienced in the world. So they deny the pain, suppress the tears, and harness the energy of those painful feelings to move forward one more day. And in so doing, they also escape the pain of criticism. (see Handbook)

When the Mysterious Dr. M. shares the fragments found by the Riri Enia that describe the angry and violent history of our species, he was pointing to a fork-in-the-road. A point in the journey of our family when we would (must) by circumstances or by fate, come to realize that this world cannot be governed by the Masculine Principle of Mind alone. The current angry, abusive, dehumanizing, isolating, destructive, and self-destructive condition of the human family has emerged because rationality without the guiding influences of the Feminine Principle of Mind is an imbalanced state. The Handbooks describes the tension between the Masculine Principle of Mind and the Feminine Principle of Mind in terms of the dynamic push and pull between our innate (in women) and nurtured (in men) Peaceful Space Response [PSR] and our Fight-or-Flight Response [FFR].

If you have shed a few tears for others recently or felt the urge then you should feel good about yourself (females and males). Those feelings and tears of empathy and compassion are a clear indication that the Peaceful Space Response is still alive in you. It means that it is still alive in our species and that there is hope that the human family can recover from our destructive disorientation. In the ancient dawn of our species females nurtured males into the Peaceful Space Response. Since competition was more functional to the survival of male genes than cooperation the PSR was not an innate, gene based characteristic for the survival of males. But it was increasingly necessary for the survival of the gene pool of the group. It was because of this nurturing by females of the Peaceful Space Response in their female and male children that our ancestors were able to live in accordance with the Prime Directive and thrive in Peaceful Space, as Dr. M. points our in the Handbook.

The right and left hemispheres of the brain, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, the right eye and the left eye must cooperate with each other. Cooperative systems eventually become interdependent AND interdependent systems must cooperate for their mutual survival. This is the rational and underlying message in the Prime Directive. Our ancient ancestors understood (on some level) the important role of nurturing the Peaceful Space Response into the children, especially the male children while they were still young, before puberty. They understood on some level that the driving forces of male nature could undermine the welfare of the group and therefore of the children. We see the results of an imbalance manifest in our world today. I also believe that many men are beginning to see what the patriarchal imbalance has reaped for our species and are ready to embrace a more balanced way of being in the world.

The Prime Directive offers a simple guiding message for nurturing of the Peaceful Space Response in our children. Cry for them and then do something! Teach them that their innocence need not be lost, painfully surrendered to a cruel world of denial and facades, and a cruel way of being in the world - angry, hostile, selfish, materialistic, phony, and mean. Teach them that their magical view of the world and their intuitive sense of its wonder, beauty, and unity are not childhood fantasies but a message from the distant past when their ancestors choose to live in alignment with the Prime Directive and to live in Peaceful Space. Teach them that they can choose to advance our species into the knowledge and wonders of this earth and the mysteries of the universe with the Prime Directive and the commitment to Creating Peaceful Space as their guides.

Living in alignment with the Prime Directive

is a choice to which everyone should be invited!
You have been invited!

Create Peaceful Space! 
Trust Your Process!

Peace, Love, and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol. I 

Resource: Some of you might enjoy some of the writings of Jeremy Griffith for a further understanding of the evolution of human anger.

Being On Path: Bollinger Bands

Are you at all familiar with technical analysis in stock trading? No! That's OK! I'm sure you will be able to understand this Post with no problem at all. Technical Analysis is a way of looking at a stock based upon a statistical analysis of the relationship between changes in price and other variables like volume of sales verses purchases. There are a number of technical analysis tools. One tool is called Bollinger Bands. It might be helpful to view the brief video before reading on. While viewing the video clip picture the path laid out by the Bollinger Bands as a metaphor for Your Path in life. Imagine that the price movements of the stock are the consequences of the choices that you make each day of your life. Don't worry about understanding the trading details of the video. Just get the general concept! (view now)

The Bollinger Bands set out the boundaries for the natural movement of the particular stock based upon its own unique characteristics. Running between the two boundaries is a moving average of the price that defines its central path. Are you seeing the analogy? If you look at the Bollinger Bands for different stocks you will see that each stock has its own unique path characteristics at the same time that they also exhibit a number of common traits. It is the same with you and me. You have a Path in life that is uniquely yours. And there are boundaries to what will feel like it fits in your life, on Your Path and that which feels foreign and out of place, out of alignment. In the video the presenter points out that when a stock price pushes outside the boundaries defined by its Bollinger Bands, a significant change can be expected. Likewise, when we act too far outside the natural boundaries of our unique nature we create the conditions for significant changes, positive or negative.

Note that if the Bollinger Bands and Moving Average are trending upwards over time, the downward fluctuations in price do not override the general upward trend. Often, when we are striving to attain some goal or realize some dream and we experience a setback, we give up thinking that it is a sign of failure. But as the Bollinger Bands show there is a natural oscillation (up and down, back and forth) even when we are making progress over time, even when we are being successful. The question you need to ask, the observation you need to make is, how is your life trending? When a stock price pushes too far beyond the upper boundary of its bands, we can expect a contraction. Why? Because the universe is constantly seeking balance (the center line). To be successful you have to build on a strong foundation. If you build or grow too fast it creates a crack in your natural boundaries and a contraction will occur. When the stocks price pushes too far below the lower boundary of its bands, we can expect a new opportunity for growth because total failure is a possibility but not a probability. It is like bending you knees and pressing yourself against the earth so that you can jump higher than every before. Everything vibrates! Everything has its ebb and flow! (The Kybalion)

Not only can we apply Bollinger Bands to individual stocks but we can also do a technical analysis on the entire NY Stock Exchange, or the S&P 500. Likewise, the Bollinger Bands analogy can be applied to you and me as individuals and to the human family as a whole. The Prime Directive of the Human Family is like the Bollinger Bands or natural boundaries for our interrelated, interconnected, and interdependent journey in life. The call to Create Peaceful Space is the ideal Moving Average of the human choice set. Right now, in this particular moment the trend of the Bollinger Bands and Moving Average of human choices is downward.

• If a stock price moves down, but the Bollinger Bands are still trending upward over time we expect a recovery in price. 
• If the will of the people is strong, the spirit of the people vibrant, and the desire of the people is the universal good, then the bad decisions of a few do not represent a real threat to the upward movement of humanity over time (the price moves down but the trend is still up). 
• If all technical indicators are trending downward the forecast for that stock is poor, very poor. 
• If the will of the people is weak, their spirit broken, and the desire of the people is selfish self-interest then the bad decisions of the few are sure to annihilate the dreams of the people.

The Prime Directive and the choice to Create Peaceful Space can be your signal lines for the intuitive analysis of Your life and Path.

Living in alignment with the Prime Directive

is a choice to which everyone should be invited!
You have been invited!

Create Peaceful Space! 
Trust Your Process!

Peace, Love, and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol. I 

Promoting a Prime Directive for the Human Family

When I think about the adventure we've undertaken it certainly occurs to me that some people will consider the idea of a universally accepted Prime Directive an unattainable ideal, and perhaps it is. But my instincts and best thinking tells me that the rewards of pursuing that ideal are far better than the consequences of not striving for its achievement at all. Besides, it is not like some other very smart people don't have the same idea, that is promoting a global prime directive. Billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives have been sacrificed to achieve their version of a prime directive for the human family.

Where PSPinc's Prime Directive states that we (humans) should seek pleasure and avoid pain for ourselves and others, their prime directive states that they should seek pleasure and avoid pain for themselves and let others take care of themselves. And in their world, the greatest pleasures are to be derived from the accumulation of profit, prestige, and power. The pains to be avoided at any cost are poverty, lack of enviable status, and powerlessness. Those who are not successful under their prime directive are viewed as resources and materials to be used in the attainment of their goals and the reconstruction of our world. You know I don't like getting into this kind of in-group versus out-group discussion (us vs them), but I didn't create this reality. I was born into it and like you, I chose to come at this time. So if my Ori speaks truth to me, I feel that I should speak truth to you. That's the example that Dr. M. set for us in the Handbook.

PSPinc's Prime Directive states that we should convert negative energy into positive energy through our conduct in the world. Their prime directive states that both negative energy and positive energy (good conduct and bad conduct) should be used to keep the masses in confusion, desperation, and competition with each other so that they can not see a way to be anything but negative, hostile, and alienated from each other. It is sad to see how far we (humans) have fallen backwards as our technologies and sciences have advanced so far forward. This divergence makes for a very problematic future.

PSPinc's Prime Directive states that we should nurture life and struggle against death for the welfare of the planet and the coexistence of all living things. Again, their prime directive takes us in a completely different direction. Their prime directive states that they should nurture profit and power for the short-term benefit of themselves, their families, and their associates regardless of the negative impact on other humans, animals, or the planet itself.

My hope is that (with each new event, personal observation, or news story) each of you will come to truly understand that we are already engaged in a struggle to establish a prime directive for the human family. Their prime directive is articulated in the reassuring language of Capitalistic Democracy, Rugged Individualism, Market Freedom, Individual Rights, and the like, but these ideas veil hidden agendas. Our Prime Directive is articulated in the simple message to Create Peaceful Space. 10 Selfish & Unselfish Reasons For You To Create Peaceful Space.

Again, let me remind you that I am not talking politics in my comments. I'm talking about the choices that people make because of the weaknesses in our nature and because of the ideologies and philosophies to which we attach ourselves. Advocates of these competing prime directives know that ultimately, if the future is to be theirs, they must get the children (all of the world's children) to internalize their ideal. As I think more and more about the Peaceful Space Project and its mission, I realize more clearly how important it is that someone invite you to choose one prime directive over the other. I have to ask you openly and honestly to consider the seriousness of the situation and to choose to act. Don't expect to be a spectator during the greatest drama to be acted out in all of human history. Do something! Say something to someone! You alone may not be able to change the world but you can certainly change something about the world. Start by changing something about yourself - negative to positive, passive to active, observer to participant and then, be ready (always ready) to help someone else in their process.

Living in alignment with the Prime Directive

is a choice to which everyone should be invited!
You have been invited!

Create Peaceful Space! 
Trust Your Process!

Peace, Love, and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol. I