Introduction

This book is in many ways a history of a group of people as they mutually explored the path to inner vitality and life. The methods, results, explanations and philosophy were developed and confirmed over ten years by hundreds of normal working people in a quiet rural area in Connecticut. Many of the people who have contributed very heavily to this book have moved to various places in the United States and many are in turn involved in new groups. The teachings of the book if they can be called that, are not new, but rather are presented in a fashion suitable to our group in the US and in the twentieth century. The book is a product of the efforts of everyone in the group. Most of the subjects discussed in this book were the outcome of prolonged discussions and debates. It would be impossible to begin to list the contributors to this book and it is the hope of this group that the ideas presented herein stimulate further thinking by the readers and further evolution of our great society.

The group had its origin in the days when meditation first became popular, but lessons were expensive and support groups were limited. Local schools and churches cooperated with the authors in offering a Western version of meditation through "Adult Education" classes and eventually about ten percent of the community participated. A book was written and published called "American Meditation" and a central group was formed with people interested in further pursuit of self development techniques. Members of this core group now called "The Personal Development Center" started many other groups devoted to teaching related subjects such as yoga, stress management, healthy pregnancy and natural child birth, and holistic health whose experiences also contributed to this book.

The Eastern techniques for mastering the self were the first to be studied. A great deal of dedication was shown as middle aged and mostly middle class Americans attempted to find the meat in such practices as the Tibetan heating breath, the Chinese Ch'an alchemical transformation using concentration and breath control, the Pranayams or breath control of India, the Zen Koans or unsolvable riddles of Japan, the Sufi dances of Islam, and the chants of the world's major religions. As the practices were mastered and understood, comparisons could be made to Western Science and the Judaic/Christian practices.

Gradually, the heart of the ancient practices which had become buried under religious dogma and traditions, became clear and could be examined in modern scientific terms. Religion took on a whole new meaning as its role in the evolution of Man started to unfold. Improved and updated practices led to increased understanding of the self, and it became possible to fit Man and his role in the world into a vital model. This model, though novel, seems to express eternal truths.

The Organization

The book is written to stimulate and organize rather than to provide cold facts. The reader is expected to formulate his own concepts, definitions and descriptions and not to rely upon the authors' words. The value of the book lies in the subjects of discussion and not in their elucidation. A proper setting for the reader is to assume that many of our models and explanations are wrong and you, the reader, must bring a proper perspective to the printed word. The authors are not as concerned with being correct as being stimulating.

The first section of the book is a series of short expressions or aphorisms which hopefully can be expanded in the reader's mind as he contemplates them. The second section of the book adds text to the aphorisms in the words that the authors have found useful within our own groups.

The third section consists of text relating to the concepts of vitality in the East and in the West. An emphasis has been placed on the role of vital energy within the Christian framework since the Christian culture is so fundamental to our society.

The fourth section contains models for discussing altered states of consciousness; (1) dreams and (2) an imagined projection of the self into the future as one sits at a console of a super TV set which allows one to fully experience the feelings of the main actor.

A glossary of terms is provided as well as a list of books for further reading upon various subjects.

Language and Sexism

This book uses the language and terms found acceptable within our community and represents a compromise between cultures, age groups, sexes, professions, religions and philosophies. Language is a problem in exploring new concepts and feelings and readers should be cautious about their own preconceived definitions which might clash with ours.

One of the current problems in our culture is sexist language and concepts. The majority of the world's religions are very male oriented or founded upon the hypothesis that females do not have a soul or do not have the independence of the males in the eyes of God. Unfortunately our modern language usage reflects this viewpoint.

In this book we will use "Man" in the original mystical connotation and the older accepted masculine forms of address to refer to people in general. This approach appears to have been used by the early Gnostic movements which supported the equality of the sexes in opposition to the churches of their time. The word Man comes from the ancient term "Manus" which means mind. Man was considered different from the rest of the animals because of his mind, his distinguishing attribute. Mind was given a masculine gender in the early languages while nature and wisdom was given a feminine character.

Many writers today shun the word man in favor of the word person in order to avoid sexist language. The problem with this practice is that "person" comes from "persona" the Latin word for mask which early actors wore to portray the role they were playing. A person is therefore only a role which an individual plays. Broad usage of the word person in place of the word man therefore would actually reinforce sexism since it would seem to deny the fact that to most people sex is a conditioned role which they put on much as an actor puts on a mask. This book attempts to go behind the mask to the inner manus.

We have found that sexual energy is androgynous and can be redirected to increase the unique mental and spiritual powers of individuals. The goals of this book are to integrate both the female and male characteristics of an individual and to transmute the sexual energy.

(Lest one still be concerned with sexism), Exercises are given in this book which involve sexual muscles, nerves, and sensations. It should be noted that no differences in experiences have been reported by the hundreds of people of both sexes who have worked with them. The majority of the old religious or spiritual writings speak of the conversion of sexual energy to a higher energy and we hope to introduce this concept in the light of modern experimentation and knowledge. The challenge in this book will be to give up biological, psychological and sociological concepts tied to your own sex and to find the vitality operating behind the mask.

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