A Theory of Life
I still remember when I was about 13 years old, and a bully named Rudy, accompanied by his friends, were beating the shit out of me, and I was too terrified to fight back. I could feel everything inside me, the very embryonic sense of myself as a man, being CRUSHED.
But they made a mistake.
They shamed and hurt me to the point that I was no longer afraid of being hurt. Or even dying. I made a decision that I would rather die than be shamed and humiliated like this.
So I put down my schoolbooks and walked out into the middle of Washington Boulevard, near Crenshaw, and stood on the double yellow lines with cars and trucks whizzing past me, honking at the insane kid with tears streaming down his face. And I looked at the astonished Rudy and his friends and said with deadly calm: “come out HERE and do that.”
He looked at me, and saw his death. He knew I was going to push him in front of a car if I could. And he blinked.
I walked the rest of the way home, tears drying on my face, and knew I’d found something very different. A place I’d read about in books and articles. A clarity on life and death, and the value of honor. In that space, I could not be defeated: I could only be killed. And somehow understood that the door to a very special kingdom had opened.
And knew I would spend the rest of my life, if necessary, to learn how to get back to that space, on command. That, I knew, was the secret to the life I dreamed of.
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One piece of this puzzle became a hypothesis: that, while life is too complicated to “figure out,” that the individual components of it CAN be mastered, and in doing so, IN BALANCE, the unconscious mind begins to grasp the entire pattern.
A secondary hypothesis is that there are patterns, strategies, that have worked for generations, and when we choose them carefully and overlay them, they provide valid maps.
That the Hero’s Journey and the Chakras are quite powerful in this sense. And books like “Think And Grow Rich” that study hundreds of successful people and extract the common aspects, attempting to organize them into “recipes” anyone can follow to get results similar to those of a master chef: just imitate their belief systems, strategies, and use of physiology and BANG, you make the same dinner.
I experimented enough with these that I now have them in the category of “theory”, and have for decades.
Now, I’m looking at creating my own pattern, based on experiences in writing, marriage, martial arts, and shamanism. And the MAGIC Formula is my best bet. Someone stuck in a descending spiral (making no forward progress while growing older) is ALWAYS lacking in one of the five areas.
FIREDANCE is a graduated process to bring these things together. At this moment its more of a hypothesis: still needs more testing, which you fine people are helping me with. If you want to try the experiment, here are the first two levels as they exist today, June 19:
WHITE BELT. The 5MM breathing. If you aren’t doing this, I will assume you are stuck in your head, trapped in your ego shell, and I cannot help you. Without some anchor to your survival drive, you’ll rattle around in your head or get stuck in your fears, afraid to swing at the ball or even get up to the plate.
YELLOW BELT. After 5mm for 2–6 weeks you’ll know if this path will help you. THERE ARE OTHERS. PLEASE FIND ONE…or come along with me. Create goals in each of the three major areas (3 Centers) in alignment with the Three Gates. Use the MAGIC formula to be sure you have no weak links. Standard goals might be: double energy, increase income by 50%, and loving yourself as you find love. Three Centers, Three Gates, and “Escape suffering, embrace joy, and give service.” JOINT MOBILITY, T5T.
So start with “White belt” and work with the “Yellow Belt” aspects until you feel confident. When you do, announce that you are ready…and come on the Saturday Zoom meetings so that I can talk you you about where you are and what you are experiencing. PUBLISH YOUR RESULTS. This is how I test, and gain clarity.
I need your help!
Namaste
Steve