as numbers, theological symbols, and even parts of the human body. Lacking computers, our
ancestors used coded languages like Hebrew to convey a lot of information in a relatively small
place. I found nothing mystical or mysterious about it, just an incredible degree of efficiency that
translated to a savings of about 25 percent of time and space when compared to English, not
counting the coded value. Today we buy computers but in the past all one needed was the
linguistic keys to unlock embedded meanings. Of course, few possessed all the keys.
Writing my book turned out to be much an effort in applying the standard coding, as taught in
Qabalah, as it was in discovering coding keys that were lost. Though I learned a comprehensive
system of tension-relaxation while in the monastery, I decided to devise my own using the
twenty-two characters of Hebrew. Besides directing the attention to a part of the body, some of
the characters had a breathing rhythm coded into it as well. Despite some success in unraveling
codes describing seals and breathing rhythms, I doubt the ancient Hebrews practiced
tension-relaxation; but apparently their highly efficient language did.
Such effective modalities as eye exercises, breath regulation, and tension-relaxation appear to
be challenging the relevancy of conventional treatments in psychology. There is less reason to
go to a mental health specialist for a variety of ailments when these cathartic procedures can be
learned at no cost and practiced at home.
Another challenge to standard mental health practices comes from science fiction writer L. Ron
Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. A longtime opponent of psychiatry, Hubbard
proposes an alternative treatment: psychological “auditing” sessions for relief from haunting
aliens. Scientologists believe that seventy-five million years ago a galactic ruler named Xenu
deployed H-bombs and murdered billions of drugged beings whose souls now inhabit our
bodies, necessitating our shelling out thousands of dollars to auditors until we are “clear” of the
aliens—a scenario reminiscent of the belief that by purchasing indulgences from the Catholic
Church we extricate ourselves from the consequences of sin. Scientology’s beliefs, like those of
the Catholic Church, while giving lucrative names to the human condition, explain nothing about
the psyche and how it operates in society.
Hubbard’s Xenu hypothesis, departing radically from psychological theory, lends itself to
pranayama treatment modalities since the alien souls, even if they existed, would have no
recourse but to manifest in our bodies as nervous energy patterns. But a Scientology auditor,
characteristically employing a lie detector during treatment, would be unable to tell the
difference between patterns influenced by upbringing, environment, reaction to trauma, or
Xenu’s aliens, suggesting the Xenu story is superfluous to the sublimation of harmful habits. Far
from representing a breakthrough in mental health, the financial success of Scientology’s
methods, say cult experts, is symptomatic of a social disease spread by a bait-and-switch ploy
that takes advantage of the believer’s low self-esteem and turns over the psychiatrist’s job not to
the individual, where it has always belonged, but to unlicensed mental health practitioners
insulated by laws protecting freedom of religion.
Equally challenging, the science of intuition’s impact on sociology can assist in replacing
religious institutions that have assumed authority in this sector of society. The theory of self
asserts that people who interact frequently with one another begin to share physiomagnetic
patterns, giving rise to the admonition that company is stronger than willpower. Identification
with others on a global scale, or even in a nation as large and diverse as the United States, is
unlikely in the presence of divisive social institutions. To assist citizens in relating to at least the
widest group possible, some feel the federal governments should oversee only those things to
which everyone in the nation identifies. For example, due to the lack of a monolithic social
sense of self in America, a small federal government, preferable to the present large one, could
be in charge only of defending the country, protecting its citizens and the environment,
maintaining infrastructure, and supporting community life. On the other hand, the federal
government might implement laws and perspectives that inculcate an identity broad enough to
pervade not only all Americans but the entire world. Either way, gorvernments with broad reach
have a responsibility to nurture the expansive self. Individual communities in the mean time, in
recognition of the fact that the societal sense of self varies from place to place, might then be
entrusted with overseeing their particular version of social systems, fostering expansive
education, serving the needs of the elderly, supporting universal health care, and distributing tax
revenues. In the end, the structure of government is secondary to the spirit of fostering
expansive citizens able to identify with the entire human race.
Political parties, especially those based on extreme ideologies, also function much like religious
institutions, making it difficult for members to question candidates since loyalty to a party
supersedes the commitment to the expansive self. Further, each of the two major political
parties in America and elsewhere reflects, at best, only half of the theory of self’s view of a
government’s objective. On the right, people want small government and instinctively know that
big government can be wasteful, bureaucratic, and tyrannical; on the left, people want social
solidarity and instinctively know that without it individuals will suffer at the hands of multinational
corporations, commerce, and opportunists exploiting the banking system. Both of these
perspectives are equally valid and equally corruptible by herd mentality. But decentralized
power such as in a community, not a centralized political institution, is the best source of order
because community members can more easily identify with one another. Where discrimination
based on race, sexual orientation, or economic stratification imposes limits on the communal
sense of self, the larger communal unit is right to reestablish the rule of law reflecting a larger
self. Otherwise communities, practicing self-rule, would also expect citizens to take a more
responsible role in their own governance; sap power from centralized political institutions and
the favoritism it eventually bestows on the wealthy and particular political families; and respect
differing perspectives and lifestyles, learn from one another’s mistakes, and exchange ideas
along with goods and services.
An additional social institution that can be reevaluated from the vantage point of the science of
intuition is marriage. Churches exert considerable influence over marriage, beholding it as a
divine institution. Defending the sacredness of marriage, however, often translates into
sanctification of a fixed and biased view of marriage, sexuality, and gender roles affecting the
societal sense of self by generating narrowing patterns of guilt, repulsion, and
self-righteousness. Once the term “marriage” is understood as an arrangement requiring
periodic reassessment to suit an evolving culture, societal attitudes toward it will begin evolving
as well. Finally, when the ideal of the larger self is in place, dictating who can socially contract
with whom will be unnecessary.
For example, monogamy is sometimes viewed as a sociological attempt to regulate the instinct
of sexual aggressiveness that would otherwise perpetuate matings outside the pair bond.
Philosophers like Arthur Schopenhauer, however, considered it inevitable for most men and
women in progressive societies to seek multiple sex partners over the course of a lifetime;
likewise, certain cultures, especially along the coast of the Alaskan archipelago and in portions
of the Himalayas, practice polyandry without ruinous consequences. In the final analysis, the
form a marriage takes is irrelevant to the emerging societal sense of self as long as the
configuration does not cause personal turmoil for the adults or their progeny involved. At best,
marriage as an institution assists in expanding the sense of self from an individual to a
partnership and community identity.
Religious opposition to same-sex marriage places yet another burden on the societal sense of
self, for it fails to account for naturally occurring gay impulses. Physiologically, every human
body has both male and female poles, with personality and sexual orientation reflecting a blend
of both and sexual repertoires stimulating the respective erotic zones. Examples of male
(positive) and female (negative) poles include the left and right hemispheres of the brain, the
right and left sides of the body, the penis/anus and clitoris/vagina/anus, the medullar and
coccygeal plexuses, and the front and back of the body. This might explain why left-handedness
is commoner among gays. As a result of this polarity, the motions of energy and awareness
during sexual activity are generally the same regardless of a partner’s gender. And
magnetically, bodies exhibiting sexual attraction are magnetically heterosexual regardless of the
genitalia involved. Thus, while the theory of self advises periods of continence and fewer
children in order conserve considerable nervous energy and social resources, the theory does
not caution against stimulation from a particular gender. By contrast, today’s societal prejudice
known as homophobia mirrors a religiously induced fear of expressing our inherent male and
female attributes. So strong is this fear worldwide that millions of African women every year
suffer through religiously prescribed genital mutilation because of a superstition that deems a
woman’s male parts, like the clitoris, an impurity to her femininity.
Social practices, like social institutions, impact strongly on the sense of self. The practice of
eating more red meat than our evolution expected, for example, produces an aggressive pattern
in the body by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system.21 Among human beings having no
other viable source of protein and who hunt for their food, this pattern is advantageous for it
ensures the arousal necessary to secure enough food for their survival. But among human
beings who do not need to hunt animals, overconsumption of red meat contributes its part to an
aggressive drive manifesting as anxiety, ill health, protein poisoning, and physical violence
toward others—as in war, domestic violence, or cutthroat business practices—and ultimately
toward oneself. Many eventually embrace a vegetarian diet because of the inhumane killing,
potential health problems, and aggressive tendencies associated with heavy meat eating, while
others become vegetarian because of the strain on the environment and the annexation of
enormous tracts of land incurred by irresponsible grazing practices that do not properly mimic
the way herd animals evolved. The motivation in each instance may or may not be guided by an
expansive sense of self. Narrower ambitions, such as adopting vegetarianism to secure
membership in a particular group, would actually establish a physiological magnetism that
obstructs intuitive awareness. In fact, intuitive scientists might be called “propertarians,” or
people who merely eat what is proper for their bodies. To them, dietary choice is both a
biological and sociological consideration arising from intuitive knowledge of an expansive self.
A social practice more associated with religious mandates and currently attracting heated
debate is the opposition to abortion. Pro-life religionists oppose the practice because of the
sacredness they project onto a fetus’s hypothetical soul, causing them to equate abortion with
murder. But murder implies the presence of violent thoughts and reactive emotions that narrow
the sense of self, hence abortion cannot be called murder unless the mother acts on violent
patterns in aborting her unborn and the unborn actually has social rights. Other pro-life
enthusiasts who subscribe to the idea of a fetal soul equate abortion with killing since it entails
discarding the organic matter associated with fetal life. But these individuals see nothing wrong
with removing a tumor or discarding cow parts, vegetables, or other forms of life.
Ultimately, the accuracy of calling abortion killing or murder depends on the underlying assertion
about whether or not fetuses are human beings with social rights. Since rights are
commensurate with social responsibilities, of which fetuses have none, we cannot say that
fetuses have any rights in society. As for the theological idea of the soul, the concept of
innumerable human souls appearing seemingly out of nowhere at conception is superfluous to
the theory of self, which postulates that everything intuits a self of the one infinite substance of
awareness, or God, in accordance with its capacity. Nor does the theory of self consider the
fetus a human being, because it is not yet capable of intuiting an individuated sense of self—the
hallmark of being responsible for one’s actions in the world in general and society in particular.
Just as seeds cannot be called trees until they burgeon forth with trunks, branches, and leaves,
the ability to intuit an individuated sense of self depends on the presence of an individuated
breath regulated by an autonomous nervous system, something a fetus lacks. A newborn,
though, attains a degree of individuation with its first breath, simultaneously shouldering the
responsibilities that come with individuation—the first being to continue to breathe. Indeed, past
traditions, including Judeo-Christianity, link inception of the human soul with the breath. In
Genesis 2:7, God breathes the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, imparting to Adam a “living
soul,” something he presumably did not have before. Also, neshamah, Hebrew for the human
soul, comes from the verb leenshom, to breathe; and the Hebrew word ruach means both spirit
and wind. The word spirit, from the Latin spiritus, is cognate with inspiration. And the Sanskrit
prana, meaning energy, is used throughout ancient Indian texts to connote breath, mind, and
even the self, whose intuited presence in the cerebrospinal plexuses is made outwardly
apparent by its investment of nervous energy in respiration.
The theory of self sheds further light on the social practice of opposing abortion by maintaining
that when the lives of different beings are equally at risk, favoring the one with more intuitive
capacity invites the potential for more self-expansion. From this point of view, the life of a
pregnant woman would be valued more highly than the life of her fetus. And both points make it
clear that the theory of self places abortion considerations solely at the feet of women, who for
purposes of self-expansion must retain power over their bodies. Women alone, it seems, are
responsible for determining all things pertaining to their bodies, including when and whether to
have children, because such determinations influence their sense of self. Moreover, forcing on
any woman the shift in awareness that comes with childbearing is not only socially destabilizing
but sometimes deadly.
From the perspective of the science of intuition, any social institution or practice can potentially
function to narrow the self by triggering physiological patterns laden with limitations imposed by
history or culture, a dynamic characteristic of every juncture where the self meets society.
Suppose, for instance, a friend in academia tries to convince you to earn a degree. Your
receptivity to this physiological trigger would validate your friend’s identification with and
glorification of academic credentials. However, despite the promise of a future blessed with
more knowledge and happiness if you enroll in the degree program, you would be required to
accept the authority of an institution that demands your respect, outranks you as an individual,
and harnesses your awareness to particular studies. After earning your degree, you might
continue narrowing your energy patterns by speaking highly about your new credentials and
attempting to persuade other people to get accredited, even if it’s likely to drive them into debt.
The self meets society not only in academia, which triggers the intellect, but in cults triggering
the emotions, social clubs triggering the senses, as well as political parties and military
conscription triggering the will forces. In all these potentially addictive arenas, societal forces act
on the sense of self by way of a powerful magnetism—a “sociomagnetism”—that can easily
cause a person to be more like a product of her social milieu than an active participant in it.
Sociomagnetic patterns, like physiomagnetic ones, take up residence in the body, where they
produce magnets of awareness that define the societal sense of self.
Individuals can break free of this sociomagnetic conditioning by generating physiomagnetic
forces of their own. Liberation from the societal sense of self not only expands one’s identity but
introduces the possibility of becoming a formidable force for social change. Ultimately, spiritual
aspirants who counter pervasive sociomagnetism in this way may become freethinking social
revolutionaries, through progress easily tracked using Technique 12.
TECHINQUE 12
From Sociomagnetism to Social Activism
Sociomagnetic environments barrage the body with a constant stream of information about how
to “fit in”—how to keep thoughts, feelings, and behavior aligned with the necessary expectations
and therefore in support of the status quo. These types of environments, whether educational,
medical, corporate, political, economic, or religious, are all centralized, their power and authority
arising from physiological patterns harbored by millions of individuals. Entry into any one of
them, invariably fraught with adjustment difficulties, contributes to the development of a societal
sense of self, a perverse narrowing of personal identity.
If you are strongly influenced by sociomagnetic forces, you are likely to become disempowered
and eventually conditioned, feeling distanced from the natural world and your own intuitive
potential. Through the practice of intuition, however, you can replace this sociomagnetism with a
refined personal magnetism by centralizing power in your spine. Once you have built up this
power, the influence of centralized institutions crumbles and is at last seen for what it is:
cerebrospinal energy distanced from individuals on a massive scale. Better yet, you become an
active participant in your world, perhaps even a freethinking advocate for revolutionary change.
To gauge your progress in evolving from sociomagnetism to social activism, trace your current
level of awareness according to the following nine steps.
You feel vulnerable to other people’s expectations, emotionally defenseless, and too helpless to
change your situations with other people. Your sense of self has been narrowed by social
conditioning.
With increased intuitive awareness, you find that the underlying exchange between human
beings is not intellectual, emotional, materialistic, or other societally endorsed conduits, but
rather magnetic.
Through the practice of energy control, asceticism, and sensory introversion, you discover an
inherent potential to expand your sense of self.
You start exercising your personal power by extending the idea of self that was distorted by
social conditioning. Toward this end, instead of directing forces outward toward a ruling minority
you direct them inward toward your spine and brain.
You notice that intuitively expanding your sense of self minimizes the magnetic influence of
societal forces on you and simultaneously heightens your physiomagnetic capacity to assist
others in their expansion of identity.
You view centralized institutions, intent on promoting a narrow self, as obstacles in the journey
toward an ever-widening spiritual identity for yourself and others in society.
You consciously stop distancing yourself from your spirituality, observe your interests
broadening, and perceive yourself as the self of humanity.
You choose a new role in society, freed by the knowledge that you are no longer stamped with
the magnetic birthmark of sociological concerns and that what you are exchanging with others is
the magnetism necessary to intuit the infinite substance of self.
You recognize that your freedom from sociomagnetic conditioning has removed any remaining
vestige of perceived antagonism between nature and humanity and revealed their underlying
unity of purpose: expansion.
Let’s say I grow some food on the self-reliant Whirlwind Community farm. Having excess, I
carefully store some and locally sell the rest in return for cash, goods, or services. Community
members and I eat the food and work to produce more food in a self-sustainable manner,
composting all waste and recycling it into the agricultural system. All of the above could be
reduced to the motions of atoms, but doing so isn’t very informative or provide much insight. If
we compare it to the procedure of living in the suburbs, shopping at a centralized grocery store,
and sending all waste to landfills and sewer systems, the distinction in sustainability becomes
clearer, not to mention in the formation of personal relationships to the land and other people.
But what if that distinction hid an insightful perspective that informs the sociomagnetic
development of self-awareness?
Just as atoms are involved in both of the above scenarios, so is physio and social magnetism. I
may pay with cash or barter with food for a particular good or service, but effectively I am
entering into a social contract based on an agreed-upon currency. That currency may appear
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