Radical NLP, Mythology, Spirituality, Leadership, and other Change Technologies

#195 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 10 – Sergey’s Perpetual Learning

RCG — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:00:14 +0000

Certain threads run consistently through our lives and define both who we are and how we relate with the world. For the most part we remain unconscious of these threads that define our life story. This is a journey of becoming conscious of some of these threads and in the process the listeners becoming aware of their life stories.

Today, we explore Sergey’s ways of learning fast and furious:

Clean slate
Patterns of learning
Examples from AI and martial arts
“How a car works”
The why and how

#194 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 9 – Mahipal and his sense of Contribution: Drawbacks

RCG — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:00:34 +0000

Guilt vs. Duty
Scale and hierarchy of helping
When not to help

#193 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 8 – Mahipal and his sense of Contribution

RCG — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:00:39 +0000

What is contribution, and why contribute
What happens when Mahipal sees someone in need of help
Examples from

Gundappa uncle and freedom struggle
Grandpa helping schools and hospitals
Sensei Sastri contributing to kids lives
Osho helping people experience freedom

Nature, National Park Services, Whales
Dayaa – the micro-gifting concept

In Response to – Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals?

Mahipal Lunia — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:48:31 +0000

Existential Depression In gifted Individuals | Radical Change Group

In response to an article and comments on a posting at RCG - http://www.radicalchangegroup.com/2009/03/03/existential-depression-in-gifted-indiviuals/comment-page-1/#comment-925

About 3 years ago I first posted this article on RCG as it rang very true to me at many levels. I have had first hand experience in my life and also seen this pattern in the lives of some people who have been close to me. What got me to write is that most of the focus has been on depression, and not any on how one makes peace with it, and move through those turbulances to arrive at calmness, peace and perhaps happiness and joy as well.

A lot of us come into a relationship with our story, with our own mutations, with out own “the world does not understand me.” And this only fuels the downturn IMO, what is required is the notion of relationships and moving the locus both within and without simultaneously, more in it later.

My own existential depression took many turns, including times when I locked myself away for extended periods and th basic questioning of everything in life and the meaning/lessness of it all. I have resisted responding to this thread on RCG for a very long time. However I decided to write and share with this group inspite of my own fears.

A lot of people see being so called gifted as a boon, and able to see/surf patterns as great thing – what they usually mean is how they could/would capitalize on a “marketable skill.” However I think many of you here on this thread know and understand that the gift can really be a BIG CURSE.

The meaninglessness arose in may ways because of that ability to see patterns far beyond oneself, and realizing our insignificance and our inability to “truly shape things.” and was further fueled by not seeing how others cannot see how things will fold out. And when they do fold out that way, it only seems to piss people off even more.

This lead to going into a deeper shell, in order to “act normal” and just live. And I discovered that’s not always easy nor is it advisable. After many years of trying to remain hidden and/or hide the gifts, i realized that the curse is in not accepting it. And yet i now understand that going into that darkness was critical for one to be shaped. Its the darkness and roughness around us, that IMO has the greatest power to cause shifts within us and our psyche. Disowning it only causes turmoil – and depression is only the beginning of the symptoms from my perspective. The trick is moving from disjoined to be joined, from falling part to falling together (as a friend pointed to me not too long ago), from being a clumsy swan on land to landing in our element and becoming majestically graceful. Easier said than done!

The journey from being disconnected to connecting is a profoundly moving, painful and yet rewarding one. the shift that had to happen in me was seeing what can this gift be applied towards, an aim far greater than myself, and in the service of a principal far greater than self.

I spend atleast a few years unable to make sense of things, and/or make peace with myself.This started a journey of “escaping from reality” in order to find some moments of what i thought were solace or peace. But there is no escape from, there can only be “escape into reality” and “escape through it.”

The interesting question now begins is how does one make this transition. What i found was i needed to find ways to get out of my mind and get deeply into the body proper. My training in Martial Arts was wonderful however it was known, meaning i was at home with it. I needed to find contexts where i am Uncomfortable and its unknown. Dancing and theater proved to be starting points on this journey for me. The clumsiness i discovered was refreshing, and started the journey of getting to know reality anew from a very different way/perspective.

Yet the biggest challenge still remained – that of “connection.” This has been the hardest one. I have been fortunate to have a bunch of really really smart friends. However this is a small tribe. And in many ways we are/were at the same frequency and same disillusionments. The hard part was building connection to a greater story for Self, and including other people very different from you into it.

This is a very specific intelligence IMO, a very different way of being and connecting in the world. A useful model to think about this is 8 circuit brain by Timothy Leary, and specifically studying the circuits 4 and 8. Its easy to get into an intellectual spin with it, but makes most sense to experiment and be disciplined about it. I started seeking contexts where i knew nothing about and started the process of starting learning with new groups – the learning ability (my curse now became my ally). this process of “co-learning” and “co-creating a project/s” became the means of learning to build those threads of connection with a wider group.

I am still in this journey to form those connections more deeply and am learning that the meaning in life and meaning in our gifts come from “deep significant relationships” – and when i say relationships its not just with other people, but also with our work, our community and most significantly our relationship with our “renewed and effervescent sense of self.” And then the final mile the relationship building with the noself/void.

What has helped a lot along on this journey has been a few very specific things. They all allowed me to oscillate between the within and without and learn to see/build a relationship between the two. This takes the focus away from my small world towards OUR LARGE WORLD.

Spending a lot more time in Nature, climbing and wilderness awoke something anew again while sharpening my acuity and connection with nature
Reading a lot less – went from reading about a book a week to less than a dozen a year, and slowing down on reading so much after years of reading voraciously it was hard to give up
Learning to listen intently and more importantly not solving other peoples problems, and just being there – believe me this harder than it seems
Meditation – nothing comes close to building a close relationship with the void/noself. (Circuit
Touching reality – this somatic/sensual way of knowing the world is critical in coming to terms with reality in the here and now, when this reality is more important than abstractions
Somatic disciplines – finding and creating space just for yourself, where the body and its movement become the prime instrument of meditation. Try ecstatic dancing or deep personal theatre as medium

This has been an incredibly hard piece for me to write, and yet its important IMO to start this journey of connecting beyond safe boundaries, so here we are my friends my piece on this in 1st person. And i would suggest you try listening to the series called “POSITIVE DEVIANCE” on this website. my friends and I have approached some of these issues and our ways of working with it.

I remain open to your thoughts, views, and your approaches for moving out that realm of existential depression….

#192 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 7 – Sergey – Efficiency and Organizing: Drawbacks

RCG — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:00:05 +0000

Today, Sergey will talk about the drawbacks of his efficiency and organizing:

Efficiency vs. effectiveness
Loss of surprise
Trees and the forest
Loss of control – what happens

#191 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 6 – Sergey – Efficiency and Organizing

RCG — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:00:02 +0000

Today, Sergey will talk about his efficiency and organizing:

Fish in the water analogy
Organizing and fixing for fixing sake
Efficiency to open time up for creative pursuit
Syntax, sequence of efficiency

#190 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 5 – Arman & Lisa – Travel Living: Drawbacks

RCG — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:00:34 +0000

Today, we have a Anman and Lisa talk about the drawbacks of their Travel Living:

Leaving behind simple comforts, hobbies, things
Depth of relationships
Different meaning of the community

#189 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 4 – Arman & Lisa – Travel Living

RCG — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:00:50 +0000

Today, we have a Anman and Lisa talk about their Travel Living:

What is travel living
How does it psychologically change you
Letting go of attachments
Who’s it for

#188 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 3 – A Connected Vision of Life with Mahipal : Potential Drawbacks

RCG — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:00:19 +0000

What are you missing out on?
Is it hard to find friends and peers?
Are common paths in life closed?
Are you missing out on an easy and comfortable life?
What about details? Does small picture suffer?

#187 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 2 – A Connected Vision of Life with Mahipal

RCG — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:00:06 +0000

Vision of our Planet.
What is greater than Self?
Where is the boundary of “I”?
What is the horizon of the vision?
How do you see people with opposite perspectives?
Do you have a special relationship with animals and plants?
Messiah complex.
Where is the humanity heading?

#186 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 1 – Overview

RCG — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:00:25 +0000

Why we are doing this – reveal yourself or be invented by the World
The 9 stories of our lives
It’s all about you

#185 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond, part 19

RCG — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 20:43:30 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

In today’s last episode in the series we cover the following topics:

Moving from programs to no programs
Practices to arrive at no programs
Honorable closure for this stage of Radical Change Group
Intro to forthcoming incarnation of RCG

Summer Break

Mahipal Lunia — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:57:58 +0000

Hello Everyone,

We are taking a small much deserved summer break after publishing over 180 recordings and will be back with our recordings in a few weeks.

It has been quite a journey for us along the way, and the RCG trio are taking some personal time to relax and reflect on whats next! So while we are on the break we are paying attention to some of the other things we do -

Arman is travelling the world, doing his contact improv workshops and starting his gaming company in Russia

Sergey is dancing deep into 5 Rhythms , editing his movie from Siberia and working on his next movie project

Mahipal is working on the educational non profit and spending time climbing mountains again

We will be back soon, and if you have some ideas/thoughts on what you might want to see us explore in our metalouges let us know..

cheers

Mahipal, Sergey and Arman

#184 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 18 – Nature of Reality

RCG — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:00:53 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Nature of Reality & knowing the spirit
Something is real
Nothing is real
Everything is real
How do you know it
Clash of experience and book
Flexibility

#183 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 17 – Religion & God

RCG — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:00:27 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Engaging the Spirit: Religion and God
Definitions of God
No god, one god, many gods
God at the level of culture
Mismatch of personal and cultural bias
Moving between biases

#182 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 16 – Ed Hall – Time, Space, Context

RCG — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:00:36 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Ed Hall: Time, Space, Context – Introduction
Time
Moving between cyclical & linear time
Space
Context
Can it be changed?

#181 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 15 – SD Levels 4-8

RCG — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:00:27 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Levels 4-8: Structures

#180 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 14 – SD Levels 3-7

RCG — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:00:52 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Levels 3-7: Power

#179 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 13 – SD Levels 2-6

RCG — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:00:18 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Levels 2-6: Relationships

#178 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 12 – SD Levels 1 & 5

RCG — Sun, 29 May 2011 15:00:36 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Levels 1 & 5: Survival, Time & Consumption

#177 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 11 – Spiral Dynamics Overview, part 2

RCG — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:00:29 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Orange
Green
Yellow
Turquoise
The Four Axis

#176 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 10 – Spiral Dynamics Overview, part 1

RCG — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:00:13 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

What is SD
Beige
Purple
Red
Blue

#175 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 09 – Options / Procedures

RCG — Sun, 08 May 2011 15:00:05 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Definitions
How is it relevant
Calibrating
Deeper levels
Authority for procedures and options
Moving from one to the other

#174 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 08 – Action Orientation

RCG — Sun, 01 May 2011 15:00:05 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

How do we understand it
Characteristics of people with strong goal or problem orientation
What happens when you are forced to switch
Moving between the orientations

#173 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 07 – Preferential Awareness

RCG — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:00:38 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Preferential Awareness Filters (people, activities, location, thing, information, etc.)
Definitions
Examples
How it is useful

#172 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 06 – Time Orientation

RCG — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 15:00:18 +0000

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Time Orientation (Past, Present, Future)
Definitions
Exercises
Using time orientation

#171 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 05 – Match / Mismatch

RCG — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:00:15 +0000

” Meta-programs in general are programs that create, control or make decisions about programs, such as when and how to run them, preferred and unpreferred programs, and strategic choices of fall-back or alternative programs.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) uses the term specifically to indicate the more general pervasive habitual patterns commonly used by an individual across a wide range of situations. Examples of NLP meta-programs include the preference for overview or detail, the preference for where to place one’s attention during conversation, habitual linguistic patterns and body language, and so on.

Related concepts in other disciplines are known as cognitive styles or thinking styles. “- From the Wikipedia

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Examples of our own metaprograms
Processing common piece of news
Two extremes
Matching & Mismatching
Exercises

#170 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 04 – Towards / Away

RCG — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:00:33 +0000

Related concepts in other disciplines are known as cognitive styles or thinking styles. “- From the Wikipedia

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Metaprogram: Towards / Away, Proactive / Reactive

#169 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 03 – Internal / External

RCG — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:00:36 +0000

Related concepts in other disciplines are known as cognitive styles or thinking styles. “- From the Wikipedia

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

Metaprogram of Reference Systems: Internal / External
Figuring out the metaprograms
Moving between the metaprograms

#168 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 02 – General / Specific

RCG — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:00:29 +0000

Related concepts in other disciplines are known as cognitive styles or thinking styles. “- From the Wikipedia

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts. This series starts with podcast #167.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

What are metaprogramming spectrums
Metaprogram: Generalization / Specificity
Why they are important
How to shift along the spectrum

#167 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 01 – Introduction

RCG — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:00:13 +0000

Related concepts in other disciplines are known as cognitive styles or thinking styles. “- From the Wikipedia

In this series of conversations we extend the notion of Metaprograms beyond NLP with many other streams of thoughts.

Today’s episode includes the following topics:

What are metaprograms
Programming & Metaprogramming
Memes, programs & metaprograms
Why study metaprograms
Where metaprograms exist
Social programs
Sources that influenced this series

#166 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 9

RCG — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 15:00:46 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Jeremy Taylor is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, who has worked with dreams for over thirty years. He blends the values of spirituality with an active social conscience and a Jungian perspective. Founding member and past president of the Association for the Study of Dreams, he has written four books integrating dream symbolism, mythology, and archetypal energy.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

On Group Size for Dream Work
Rik’s Dream
Rik’s Dream Analysis

#165 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 8

RCG — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:00:48 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Dream Group Process
Social Action Example – Overcoming Racism

#164 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 7

RCG — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:00:19 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Difference between Child and Adult Dreams
Arman’s Dream

#163 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 6

RCG — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:00:00 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Dreaming Asleep or Dream Coming Into Life
Integration

#162 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 5

RCG — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:00:03 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Why We Don’t Remember Some Dream Details
Why Do We See Others Clearer Than Ourselves?
Irresponsibility as a Brain Function

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (The Movie)

Sergey — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:15:32 +0000

Is officially released on YouTube. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a thoughtful point of view that is worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9WVZddH9w

#161 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 4

RCG — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:00:08 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Step Back To Shamans vs. Adding to Modern Science Mind
Spiral Dynamics Refresher
Spiral Dynamics and Dreams

#160 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 3

RCG — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 15:00:29 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Changing the World & Close People with Each Mutation
Closest People as Biggest Enemies – Bright Shadow Projections
Taking Unconscious Into Consideration
Is Dream Work Diagnostic? Message to the Opponents

#159 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 2

RCG — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:00:17 +0000

We are continuing a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Personal & Transpersonal Dreams
Food for Gods, Ego & Archetypes, Conscious Sacrifice
Jung on Religious & Spiritual Paradox
More Shocks from Jung
Leadership Cultivation – Limiting Opportunities

#158 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 1

RCG — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:00:20 +0000

Today we are starting a series of talks on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor.

Special thanks to Rik Ganju for introducing Jeremy to the Radical Change Group team, and for participating in the conversations.

In this episode:

Introduction to the series
Jeremy Taylor introducing himself
On Nightmares

Holiday Announcement

RCG — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:00:37 +0000

As the holiday season approaches here in the United States – as well as in many other parts of the World – we are pausing our regular stream of podcasts for 3 weeks till January 9, 2011.

Happy holidays, and see you next year!

#157 The Way of the Warrior, part 7 – Change and Learning

RCG — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:00:17 +0000

We are honored and humbled to continue our conversation on the Way of the Warrior, this time with Vilaire Sensei and Sastri Sensei. Vilaire Sensei, Menkyo Kaiden is the presenter of the system in this generation, and Sastri Sensei, Menkyo Kaiden is the headmaster of the Indian Branch of KAR, and senior advisor to both the Kita Yama and Mountain View Aiki dojo.

Change that happens over years
- If a student does not feel a difference over a few years, then I as a sensei have not done my job
- Spiritual enlightenment depends on the indiviual
- Outsiders notice your growth before you do
- I am not here to be a good person, I am here to be a good teacher, to teach what I know
- People told me not to teach, but I choose to teach
Learning this art leads to
- Total confusion for a few months,
- After 6 months confidence starts to come from within, not from drilling toughness into you
- After about 30 months, training atleast 4 hours a week – you become atleast a little proficient in the art, atleast 20% of the syllabus of the art
- After that it grows from there, but you have to work a lot, atleast 4 hours per week of constant study
- Don’t come to my dojo to make friends and hang out
I am an instructor, not your trainer and there is a huge difference
Before Kaze I was not a humble person, always ready to go for a fight
- The art and Vilaire sensei made me a humble person
- How Sastri Sensei met Vilaire Sensei
  - The head instructor is mopping the floor
  - No order given, and the instructor leads the way on “how to be”
  - Transformation from an animal to learning to be a humble human
- Change comes from how the system teaches the instructors to behave and how to transmit
- The true student wants to learn whats on the other side of the wall, even when my body is not allowing me to go there
- Knowledge is infinite – there is no end, I wont see the end of it even in 10 lifetimes – this makes me humble
- I don’t care about wearing the kaiden/red-white belt – I don’t need it
- One learns one is a nobody
- A true student of the art evolves every single day
- One discovers ones own greatness, ones own basic goodness
Mahipal running into Sastri Sensei
- How Mahipal met Sastri Sensei
- Lessons in humility – sastri sensei takes Mahipal down and the journey begins
- I cannot keep this with me, it has to be given away, and only when I am giving this away is there some kind of peace
Senseis give so much
- Sensei sastri promises 3 years of his life
- Some of you will make it, some of you wont
- The intensity of the tests
  - My time with the students is limited
  - I even taught them menkyo techniques for their black belt tests
  - Did not want to leave my students as half baked martial artists
  - My students pushed me everyday and I would push them – my students made me a better instructor
  - Training on Christmas day, no breaks, keep coming back to learn more
- One you get your oku iri from me – you should be able to hold your own in any school
- The system evolves you
- If I did not fight, I would have a splitting headache – I had to fight, I had to throw that punch
- You need to fight so that you don’t lash out at someone else
- I am not a coward, I just don’t want to fight

#156 The Way of the Warrior, part 6 – Humility and the study of Art

RCG — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 15:00:56 +0000

The kindness and gentleness of this art
- Sometimes kindness means killing effectively
- As a sensei you are a commanding officer,
- A special bond is sometimes created with “some students”
- I have gained a family by being an instructor of this system
- Not everyone reaches graduate school nor do they need to, people leave school at different parts/levels
Enjoying the art you practice is critical
- Art was not designed to be liked, it was designed to be what it is
- Commercial schools change based on what people like
- We don’t depend on teaching the art to survive, we do other things, and come to the art for other reasons
Difference between warrior schools and other schools
- Warriors don’t worry about life and death, they do what they have to do
- Fighting for a cause, not for profit
- We study it because we see the beauty involved in the knowledge we are learning
- We look at ourselves and discover “my god, I am different now”
- Warrior art, philosophical living
- Learn humility, learn how to be human
- In some parts of the world they will hunt you down if they find out you are a martial artist
- Fighting is for babies, if you think sparring makes you tough you are in for a rude awakening
- Need to learn how to deal with real violence
- Guns don’t kill, you need to be able to pull the trigger – that requires training
- You don’t become a true warrior by being a keyboard martial artist
- Don’t come to learn from us if you just wish to learn how to defend against that onetime you may be mugged
- You cannot bypass violence, it part of human nature
- We deal with true violence to reach our highself

Holiday Announcement

Mahipal Lunia — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:37:16 +0000

This is a holiday announcement – it is the thanksgiving weekend – in the United States, and we are skipping an episode this week. We will resume our weekly podcasts again next week.

Sir Ken Robinson – Changing Paradigms in Education

Sergey — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 19:18:21 +0000

Ken argues – and quite convincingly – that our current education system is hopelessly outdated, and what is the direction we need to change it to bring the best in an individual – not to conform one to the system. The animated condensed version of the talk:

And below is the complete original lecture:

#155 The Way of the Warrior, part 5 – Evolution and Approaches

RCG — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 15:00:28 +0000

Think evolution, we don’t live like the samurai of the 18th century
- Fortunate to have an instructor who was a military man first and a martial artist next
- Like the bootcamp, you are going to hate me
- Not here to make Kaze Arashi Ryu popular, warfare is complicated, it can make you crazy
- Warfare is not based on weight categories and/or sport, being a warrior is about taking on whoever shows up in front of you
- True warrior is all about “surviving when the odds are against you”
- Reality of warfare, most people who practice sword do not even think about decapitation, they hide the real use so much they forget what and why they practice the sword
- I don’t want to own a school or operate anything, I just want to teach
- I wish I did not lose money teaching it, but that’s the way it works
Military is voluntary, and they make many promises
- You show up through the door I will teach you, no promises made
- Any idiot can kill, we teach how not to be killed and learn other things along the way
- Opening up other avenues – your inner selves
Distintions between different school
- Warrior schools, mixed martial arts and mcdonalds studios in malls
- I don’t want to talk about other schools, I will stick to what I do
- You cannot compare classical to jazz to rock and roll, each one has its place
- Different schools/traditions exist because people have different tastes
- Mixed martial arts is like having warfare without having warfare
- Kaze fits best where “real violence exists”
- I don’t take Kaze to avoid a mugging, but there is something greater emerges in the process of learning
- We go as close to true jutsu as possible
Experts are not born by watching, you need to be engaged
- Critics are easy to find, practioneers are hard to find
- When you fight there is no pity
- When you are in war, you cant say I will just shoot this guy in the leg, you are fighting for life
- We teach our students to be kind, compassionate, being true to yourself
- Our students are always looking to help another person, save animals etc
- Live in both worlds – where cruelty and softness exist
- The art made me, the praise should go to the art, when my students praise me I give the credit to the art
- Don’t be someones vomit, you want to learn come and get on the mat
- Its about becoming a balanced human being, and the instructors impart knowledge of martial arts and the philosophy of life

#154 The Way of the Warrior, part 4 – Tradition and Teacher

RCG — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:00:17 +0000

What is tradition
- Does not have to be old to be tradition
- Knowledge passed on from one person to another
- Tradition is based on principles not time
- Name does not matter, what you do/execute matters
- Don’t let famous names guide/misguide you
- Art is only as good as its presenter, and for this generation I am the presenter (Vilaire Shihan)
- Whatever I have done I have done from my heart, soul and spirit
- Fame is almost inverse of the art I do
- A small tradition, less than 188 students worldwide, and this is by choosing
- The knowledge we have been passing down is so special, and its not easy to duplicate at all – one can try and are free to do so if people please
- There is nothing to defend the system, it can stand on its own
- Is my samurai greater than your samurai ??
- Whose fame or skill is carrying the system/art
- The question should be “have I started where my teachers have stopped and are my students ready to surpass me”
True teacher
- Must expect your students to be better than you
- This art does require a certain amount intelligence
- I hope and pray my students are better than me
- I am NOT important, the art and expression is the important thing
- Don’t memorize, but analyze the techniques – its not monkey see, monkey do
- Don’t be bogged down by tradition or history – what is important is who are you and what can you do
- Its not how good your teacher is, the question is how good a student are you to learn
- A relationship based on respect is important to really learn
- Pay attention to what your heart tells you abut your teacher, not what the world says he is
- You are free to go and learn anywhere, if you find something better than what I have to offer, you can please leave and leave me alone

#153 Swimming with Dolphins – Passion – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 16

RCG — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:00:23 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Paul has been researching writing, and speaking to groups for over 20 years about the processes of profound change. He is a globally traveled speaker and seminar leader on futuristic, human development, change and other topics. He received his Ph.D. degree (with honors) in human capital and economic development from Colorado State University in May, 2008.

His 1,500-page dissertation is entitled “The Superhighway to Serfdom: How False-Social-Norms Marketing is Hijacking the American Dream.” He is a co-author (with Dudley Lynch) of the books The Strategy of the Dolphin: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World, which has become a best seller, and Code of the Monarch: A Guide to the Real Global Business Revolution. He is also the author (with his wife, Susan) of the book Name Your Passion: A User’s Guide to Finding Your Personal Purpose.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

How do I know what my gift is?
What is the story that we are moving into?
- Each world view has its own mythology
- Moving from one world to the next through the narrative
Myths for each of the value systems
Surprises

#152 Swimming with Dolphins – Passion – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 15

RCG — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:00:39 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

Passion
- Doing what you love
- Doing the way you love to do it – a good context
- Need to do it where it is needed – finding the right place
- "If you feel good at work, you are not doing your work" – the social myth to overcome
"The Secret" fad
- Envisioning is only half the story, you have to take action
- "I love a good breakfast, but I don’t like to make it". Try lying in bed manifesting it.
Attributes of the winners – people who have successively lived being on purpose
Bigger than self

#151 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 14

RCG — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:00:14 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

Conscious consumption & investment
- Let’s all agree to work less
Cooperation
- Punishing the non-punisher
Manipulation of symbols
- Any codification and shorthand is a gross overgeneralization
- Breaking the power of symbols – going to process thinking
Linear & Systemic Thinking
- Majoring in minor things
Decision making & decision systems
- Cannot make a true transformation without entering the people’s map first
Knowing your board of directors
- Life is more complex than we would like it to be

#150 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 13

RCG — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:00:35 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

Value Systems & Power
Architecture & Power
- The tallest building indicates the prevailing power
Motivation for Transition
- It has to be painful enough where you are, and the pleasure of where you want to go must be high enough in order to motivate you to endure the pain of the transition
- Learned helplessness – after some point, people give up
Power of Narrative

#149 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 12

RCG — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:00:51 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

Religion – Fundamentalism
Corporate and Military
Media

Stories of Our Lives

Mahipal Lunia — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:37:53 +0000

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

#148 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 11

RCG — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:00:50 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

Economy
- If we work less, we may have higher quality of life
- From deadlines to lifelines
- From maximizing profit to maximizing value
- Spreading ideas
Power
Holy and Unholy Trinity: Economy, Religion, Politics

#147 Swimming with Dolphins – Mirror Neurons & Social Capital – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 10

RCG — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:00:09 +0000

We are continuing our Swimming with Dolphins series of conversations with Dr. Paul Kordis. Check back to the complete series.

Today’s conversation touches upon the following topics:

Social Capital
- Economic ladder
- Social capital – doing business is a social process
- Context and environment is important
Mirror Neurons
- Empathy – mixing rich and poor makes rich want to help, if only not to feel the poor’s pain
Rapport, Brain and Autism
- Rapport – maching & mirroring – it’s a tool, the difference in application
- Autism – a disfunction of mirror neurons
- Monkey moving the cursor
Disconnect of empathy in our society
- Manipulation is not always bad

#146 Embodied Mythology Series 15: The Holy Grail with Paul Rebillot, part 3

RCG — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:00:26 +0000

We are continuing our conversations with our teacher and friend Paul Rebillot on the topic of the Healing Theatre – the combination of acting and drama, mythology, gestalt therapy, and rituals. For more information about Paul and his work, please visit his website – Direct Impact Creativity.

In this episode, Paul continues the discussion about the myth of the Holy Grail.

The topics covered in this talk are:

Levels of Spiritual Quest
Which myth is right for me?
What is a myth?
Multiple cultures
- The American myths

#145 Embodied Mythology Series 14: The Holy Grail with Paul Rebillot, part 2

RCG — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:00:41 +0000

In this episode, Paul describes the structure based on the myth of the Holy Grail.

The topics covered in this talk are:

The Structure
"What’s troubling you, my uncle?"
- Instead of giving an answer, ask a question
- Instead of solving each other’s problems, listen and make it possible for them to solve it
- Giving power to the person, rather than power over them
Staying present
Accepting the Symbolic

#144 Embodied Mythology Series 13: The Holy Grail with Paul Rebillot, part 1

RCG — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:00:13 +0000

In this episode, Paul tells the essential parts of the myth of the Holy Grail.

The topics covered in this talk are:

The Holy Grail – Parsival and his Mother
King Arthur
The Grail Castle
The Great Knight
Healing of the Wound
The Sacred Feminine

#143 Embodied Mythology Series 12: Rituals of Transformation with Paul Rebillot, part 2

RCG — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 15:00:06 +0000

In this episode, Paul explains the structure and design of Rites of Passage, or the Rituals of Transformation.

The topics covered in this talk are:

How do you know it’s time for the rite of passage
- Putting "blood" (life) back into the ritual
Lack of rituals in the modern society
- There are no rituals for crossing age thresholds – people want to stay young and don’t appreciate their own age
Making rites of passages in everyday life

What is Life All About – The Dalai Lama speaks

Mahipal Lunia — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:07:12 +0000

A fanatastic series of conversations with His Holiness at Delhi University

The Dalai Lama, What is Life all About,

#142 Embodied Mythology Series 11: Rituals of Transformation with Paul Rebillot, part 1

RCG — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:00:43 +0000

In this episode, Paul explains the structure and design of Rites of Passage, or the Rituals of Transformation.

The topics covered in this talk are:

Rites of Passage – Example
- Ways of leaving the "nest"
- Suffering is being stuck at a passage
Structure for creating rites of passages
- Ritual is dying to the old and being born into the new
Boy becoming a man – one of the aboriginal rituals
- How did you find out that there is no Santa Clause?
Various rites of passages
How do we construct these rituals?

Saying good-bye to the past
Symbolic act of ending the past
Going into the no-man’s-land
Crossing into the other side, being who they are. Trying something new behavior in the new place.
Group gesture to complete the ritual

Greal link if Mythology fascinates you – Meet the Gods

Mahipal Lunia — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:21:42 +0000

Welcome to Godchecker – your Guide to the Gods

We have more Gods than you can shake a stick at. Godchecker’s Mythology Encyclopedia currently features over 2,850 deities.

Browse the pantheons of the world, explore ancient myths, and discover Gods of everything from Fertility to Fluff with the fully searchable Holy Database Of All Known Gods.

www.godchecker.com
Technorati Tags: mythology, meet the gods, god checker

Culture Wires The Brain

Mahipal Lunia — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:36:50 +0000

More evidence of the BioPsychoSocial model for development is what needs to be studied.
Patterns exists and influence at the level of self, Self, Culture/Enviornment, and the relationship between the indiviual and the environment. We are working on a series right now exploring the meta-programs-patterns that govern our experience of the world.
Any suggestions, thoughts ideas (above and beyond the normal so called NLP Meta Programs) are welcome

Culture wires the brain: A cognitive neuroscience perspective

There is evidence that the collectivist nature of East Asian cultures versus individualistic Western cultures affects both brain and behavior. East Asians tend to process information in a global manner whereas Westerners tend to focus on individual objects. There are differences between East Asians and Westerners with respect to attention, categorization, and reasoning. For example, in one study, after viewing pictures of fish swimming, Japanese volunteers were more likely to remember contextual details of the image than were American volunteers. Experiments tracking participants’ eye movements revealed that Westerners spend more time looking at focal objects while Chinese volunteers look more at the background. In addition, our culture may play a role in the way we process facial information. Research has indicated that when viewing faces, East Asians focus on the central region of faces while Westerners look more broadly, focusing on both the eyes and mouth.

Technorati Tags: Brain, NLP, Meta Programs, BioPsychoSocial, Clare Graves, East and West,

Lost in Translation

Mahipal Lunia — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:36:57 +0000

An interesting article on something most of us intuitively know and many of the NLPers and linguists have for long shown, along with the work of Ed Hall!

Fasinating read coming to the MSM (mainstream media)

Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? Do they merely express thoughts, or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express?

Take “Humpty Dumpty sat on a…” Even this snippet of a nursery rhyme reveals how much languages can differ from one another. In English, we have to mark the verb for tense; in this case, we say “sat” rather than “sit.” In Indonesian you need not (in fact, you can’t) change the verb to mark tense.

In Russian, you would have to mark tense and also gender, changing the verb if Mrs. Dumpty did the sitting. You would also have to decide if the sitting event was completed or not. If our ovoid hero sat on the wall for the entire time he was meant to, it would be a different form of the verb than if, say, he had a great fall.

In Turkish, you would have to include in the verb how you acquired this information. For example, if you saw the chubby fellow on the wall with your own eyes, you’d use one form of the verb, but if you had simply read or heard about it, you’d use a different form.

Does Language Influence Culture? – WSJ.com

Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? Do they merely express thoughts, or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express?

Take “Humpty Dumpty sat on a…” Even this snippet of a nursery rhyme reveals how much languages can differ from one another. In English, we have to mark the verb for tense; in this case, we say “sat” rather than “sit.” In Indonesian you need not (in fact, you can’t) change the verb to mark tense.
Related Video

* Yes We Can Learn English

* Learning a Language Online

* Keeping Cajun Alive

In Russian, you would have to mark tense and also gender, changing the verb if Mrs. Dumpty did the sitting. You would also have to decide if the sitting event was completed or not. If our ovoid hero sat on the wall for the entire time he was meant to, it would be a different form of the verb than if, say, he had a great fall.

In Turkish, you would have to include in the verb how you acquired this information. For example, if you saw the chubby fellow on the wall with your own eyes, you’d use one form of the verb, but if you had simply read or heard about it, you’d use a different form.

Technorati Tags: WSJ, lost in translation, cognitive research, linguistics

#141 Embodied Mythology Series 10: Personal Myths with Paul Rebillot, part 2

RCG — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:00:34 +0000

In this episode, Paul is describing his approach to designing new structures from Personal Myths.

The topics covered in this talk are:

Identifying with every character in your myth
Variety of Shadows
Moving between roles
A story from Hero’s Journey workshop
- Example – Baba Yaga story
Feedback about the structure
Common patterns in the structures

#140 Embodied Mythology Series 09: Personal Myths with Paul Rebillot, part 1

RCG — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:00:32 +0000

In this episode, Paul is describing his approach to designing new structures from Personal Myths.

The topics covered in this talk are:

Personal Myths
- How to create your own structure
Trip to Epidavros (Greece)
- The sacred path of healing
- Illness means being out of harmony
- Healing process:
  - Going to the temple, dream, meet the priest, get diagnosed
  - Take care of the body
  - Go to theatre – to experience catharsis, take care of the soul
  - Go to a temple and re-integrate the God inside themselves
The workshop structure
- The body is the temple of the soul. Fool’s dance – meditation on the myth in the body.
- Dramatizing the myth – playing the roles, with interaction
- An initiation
The Minotaur story
An initiation
- Brings it to here and now.
Create your own structure

#139 Embodied Mythology Series 08: Death & Resurrection with Paul Rebillot, part 2

RCG — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:00:29 +0000

In this episode, Paul is describing the structure called Death & Resurrection.

The topics covered in this talk are:

The Awakening
- Bathing with perfumed water, to awaken the senses
- Sensorium – different kinds of smells, senses, getting loose
What actually dies is a role
- "Growth stops when we avoid pain" (Fritz Perls)
- Create your ideal parent to heal the part of you that was retarded (not developed)
Reparenting process
- Story about a school teacher of problem kids
- Reincarnation Game
What happens to people after the workshop
A Sci-Fi Story

#138 Embodied Mythology Series 08: Death & Resurrection with Paul Rebillot, part 1

RCG — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:00:42 +0000

In this episode, Paul is describing the structure called Death & Resurrection.

The topics covered in this talk are:

What does Death & Resurrection mean?
- A catapillar turns into a butterfly
- Christ
- Feeling of body falling apart to come back together again (martial arts)
- Total loss of control. When you confront death, there is nothing you can do except experience it
Why would you want to experience Death & Resurrection?
- First, the willingness to give everything up
- Idea of Phoenix – letting go of everything
- Confront your death, and resurrection will take care of itself
Stanislavsky approach
- Best actors put themselves into what they are doing
- "As if true" technique
- As if in four days I’m going to die
- What do you need to do to go into the death as an accomplishment
The three centers – body
- Body – connecting to the physical world
- Meditation in nature – "Death is certain. It comes without warning. This body will be a corpse."
- "The Body Mass" – in the evening, touch every part of your body and say good buy to all the parts.
- Next morning, make up wills and give out their posessions.
Relationships – saying good-bye to everyone
Last day of life
- Give a gift to yourself
- Write your own funeral
- The 7 most important things in their life to say good-bye to, and 3 things they are glad to get rid of. Bring 10 symbols for those.
- Burning everything and watching the smoke rise to the next life
- Every day people have to be more and more silent – essential silence, only say what’s needed
- The last supper – lifting the silence
- The Last Breath process, the moment of Death. Taking turns.

Holiday Announcement

RCG — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:00:17 +0000

This is a holiday announcement – it is the week of the 4th of July – the Independence Day in the United States, and we are skipping an episode this week. We will resume our weekly podcasts again next week.

#137 Buckminster Fuller – Conversations with David Neenan, part 2

RCG — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:00:38 +0000

We are continuing our conversation with David Neenan about Buckminster Fuller.

David Neenan is the creator of the pioneering Archistruction(R) process for planning, designing, and managing building construction projects. As president of The Neenan Company, he has combined leading-edge information processing and design methods and innovative "people" approaches to reengineer how the construction process works from conception to completion. His company uses the Archistruction methods to design and costruct office, medical, retail, and light industrial buildings for clients throughout the Rocky Mountain region from offices in Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs. David is also a nationally recognized seminar leader, keynode speaker, business consultant, and the author of books such as "Evergreen" and "No Excuses: be the hero of your own life". He has produced his "Business & You" and other seminars in Colorado, Hawaii, California, Texas, Vermont, Taiwan, Sweden, Moscow, and Siberia. He and his wife, Sharon, live in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Topics covered in this episode:

The Lake Michigan Dialogue
- Not everyone can learn from hard experiences
- The only way to learn is to hang in there. Resilience is the key.
- You don’t belong to you, you belong to the Universe
- The "Guinea Pig B": what can one pennyless person do on behalf of the humanity?
- Best technology was used for "killingry", instead of for "livingry"
- The Universe is a perfect balance of tension and compression
Bucky’s principles in Business – Synergistics
Excuses and responsibility
- What can I do about?
- I didn’t do it
- Everybody else is doing it
- I couldn’t help it, I had no choice
- God told me to do it
- I couldn’t help it, I was afraid
How Bucky died
- "Call me trimtab"

Paul Ekman’s Taxonomy of Compassion –

Mahipal Lunia — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:31:25 +0000

Paul Ekman’s Taxonomy of Compassion

By Paul Ekman | June 21, 2010 | 0 comments

The renowned psychologist offers a lesson in emotional intelligence.

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This month, Greater Good features videos of a presentation by renowned psychologist Paul Ekman on “Darwin, Compassion, and the Dalai Lama.” In his talk, Ekman reveals the similarities between Darwin’s and the Dalai Lama’s perspectives on compassion, and he provides an overview of different forms of compassion, ranging from the most elementary to the most exceptional and heroic. Many writers group these phenomena together, explains Ekman, without realizing they’re talking about different things.

Below is a guide to understanding what these varying forms of compassion are and why they’re so important.

Emotion Recognition is the easiest—the sine qua non. It’s knowing how another person is feeling. Most people don’t need to be taught it, though people with Asperger’s, autism, or schizoprenia do. Realize that the torturer needs emotion recognition: to know how you feel doesn’t imply whether I’m going to try to relieve your suffering or inflict it, or just have no concern. But if I don’t know how you’re feeling, everything else just falls by the wayside.

Emotional Resonance is what Bill Clinton does: “I feel your pain.” I distinguish between two types of resonance: Identical Resonance is when you realize that someone is in pain and you actually physically experience that same feeling yourself. But when you say, “Oh, you poor baby! I’m so sorry you’re feeling that way. What can I do to help you?”—that’s Reactive Resonance.

Everybody loves people who resonate; resonance is crucial to our relationships with our loved ones. But if you’re like my daughter, an emergency room worker in San Francisco’s only trauma center, if you feel other people’s pain for 8 or 12 hours a day, you’ll burn out. The Dalai Lama says he feels others’ pain, but just very slightly and just for a few seconds, then it passes.

Not everyone resonates: There’s reason to believe that people with anti-social personalities don’t resonate, but they’re able to act as if they resonate, because they know other people like it, and that allows them to manipulate others.

Nadia Zwierzchowska

Familial Compassionis the seed of compassion, planted through the caregiver-offspring bond. It raises very interesting questions about people who were brought up without a single caregiver, or were brought up with a parent who had a very distant attachment. What is their capacity for compassion? Both the Dalai Lama and Darwin would say that they’re going to have problems—without the seed, the flower won’t grow.

Global Compassion was exemplified by the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. People around the world extended assistance to strangers, of different races and skin colors. Now, we know that not everybody has it—a lot of people acted, and a lot of people didn’t. How do we cultivate global compassion? I consider this one of the most crucial questions for the survival of our children and grandchildren, because the planet won’t survive without global compassion. We’ve got to try to see what we can learn from those who have it without training.

Sentient Compassion is when you extend feelings of compassion toward cockroaches, toward any living being. We don’t know whether people who have global compassion have sentient compassion. But my hunch is that if you’ve got sentient, you’ve got global. The Dalai Lama and Darwin agree that sentient is the highest moral virtue.

United States Navy/Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Smith

Heroic Compassionis like altruism with a risk. It has two forms: Immediate Heroic Compassionis when, without thought, you jump onto the subway tracks to rescue someone. It’s impulsive.

Considered Heroic Compassion isn’t done impulsively; it’s done with thought, and it can be maintained for many years.

Kristen Monroe, a political scientist at the University of California, Irvine, has done a study of people with heroic compassion, and here are her criteria for it: 1) you must act—not just think about how good it would be to act; 2) your goal is the welfare of the other person; 3) your action has consequences for that person; 4) there’s a good possibility your actions will diminish your own welfare—you’re putting yourself at risk; 5) and you have no anticipation of reward or recognition.

Again, we know that some people demonstrate heroic compassion without training. How’d they get it? What can we learn from them that will allow us to help other people develop it?

THANK YOU !!!

RCG — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:42:53 +0000

We want to thank all of our listeners, and all of our collaborators today as we have kind of hit a major milestone today. We never thought this project would come as far as it has or take the shape it has taken.

So we stand here somewhat proud, and yet very humbled that a small group, following its shared vision has managed to reach a goal far beyond its initial sights and its impact far greater than we had imagined.

Yes it feels great today for we have

Reached 500,000 downloads of our material
We have published 136 shows on various topics
Downloads from over 100 Countries
Our topics of exploration have spanned various streams including but not limited to Neuro Linguistic Programming, Spiral Dynamics, Gravesian Levels, Mythology, 8 Circuit Brain, Leadership, Martial Arts, Dance, Theater, Shamanism, Positive Deviance, Somatics, Buckminister Fuller………

And we want to thank all of you our listeners for helping us reach this with no marketing or push, but the growth has been completely by self discovery and word of mouth. We also want to thank all our collaborators in helping this project take shape. Our thanks go to -

Sensei Srini Sastri - Menkyo Kaiden, Kaze Arashi Ryu for “Way Of the Warrior” Series and so-so much more
Late Paul Rebillot – For being such a wonderful mentor in our mythology studies and the “Embodied Mythology” series
Late Richard Roberts – For bringing Joseph Cambell’s work even closer to us than we could have imagined
Gabrielle Roth & Kathy Altman – who continue to teach us how to dance to our own beat and the “5 Rhythms” series
Paul Kordis - Best selling author, Friend and collaborator, someone who writes and embodies the work of Clare Graves in the deepest possible ways and “Swimming With Dolphins” series
Marshal Thurber - For sponsoring our initiation into the world of Bucky Fuller, Positive Deviance and Super Learning – and the “Positive Deviance” series
David Neenan – Inviting us into his Business & You world, and unique mix of existential living and contribution and his series on “Bucky and Transformation”
Antero Alli - For the multiple Paratheatre experiences, and the series on “8 Circuit Brain” and “Archetypes Crossing” Series
Ismana Carney – For her graciousness at Esalen and the series on “Earth As Sacred Text”
Maniko – For helping us see how voice and dance merge, and the series on “Alchemy of Voice” series
And a few more Unnamed Mentors and friends who though remain behind curtains have helped shape us and our lives

And above all THANK YOU TO ALL OUR LISTENERS and all the emails and feedback you have sent to this project. We stand in awe, and with humility as we cross the milestone of HALF A MILLION DOWNLOADS!!!!!!!!!!

Amusing Ourselfves to death

Mahipal Lunia — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:54:37 +0000

orwell, huxley, stuart mcmillen,

#136 Buckminster Fuller – Conversations with David Neenan, part 1

RCG — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:00:03 +0000

We are happy to have David Neenan again in our studio, this time talking about Buckminster Fuller – a truly renaissance man of the 20th century.

Topics covered in this episode:

Introduction to Bucky
Abundance
- The collapsing dome story
- Simple concepts, but they are not easy
- If they are lost – help them, but if they are losers – don’t
- Miopic kindness and wise kindness
Communicating with mood
The Four Points of Bucky
- 1. Integrity
  - Human beings are patterns of integrity
  - Tell the truth – not the absolute Truth, but your own truth of the moment
- 2. Daring
  - Dare not to go with the crowd, but go with your own ideas
  - Standing up against the crowd – one of the biggest principles
- 3. Network
  - Acceleration of Technology towards Abundance
  - "You are network. Declare it, live it, learn to be with others, and grow from it".
- 4. Love
  - Stay with your integrity, dare to go with your own mind, network with other people of like minds, and love comprehensively.

#135 Positive Deviants 18 – Modeling Deviants, part 2

RCG — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:00:37 +0000

We are concluding our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Two Kinds of Modeling – Others and Self
Three types of modeling others – an overview
Indirect Modeling – Osho
Direct Learning – Absorbtion – Sensei Sastri
Eclectic Modeling – from many sources – RCG
Modeling Self
Concluding remarks

#134 Positive Deviants 17 – Modeling Deviants, part 1

RCG — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:00:12 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Modeling Deviants
What is Modeling
Why model deviants
Unique challenges in modeling deviants
When to Model Deviants

#133 Positive Deviants 16 – Making of a Deviant, part 2

RCG — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:00:25 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Reminder of the last episode
Abundance, doing more with less
You Are the Project
Listening with an Open Mind & Continuous Learning
Showcase Your Strength

#132 Positive Deviants 15 – Making of a Deviant, part 1

RCG — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:00:14 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Making of a Deviant
Comeback is Critical
Finding your passion
Getting Help from the Future
Exploring small niches

#131 Positive Deviants 14 – Impact of a Deviant, part 2

RCG — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:00:45 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Bottom-up deviants – grassroots
Dangers of being a deviant

#130 Positive Deviants 13 – Impact of a Deviant, part 1

RCG — Sun, 09 May 2010 15:00:16 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Staying true to one’s vision
Impact of a deviant
Top-down deviants

#129 Positive Deviants 12 – Deviant’s Life Cycle

RCG — Sun, 02 May 2010 15:00:07 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Deviant’s Life Cycle
5 Stages of an idea
- Fringe
- Edge
- Realm of the Cool
- The Next Big Thing
- Social Convention
Deviant’s Journey

#128 Positive Deviants 11 – The Fluid Nature of Deviancy, part 2

RCG — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:00:08 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Net Consequences
Motivation – fear vs. hope
Examples of Deviant’s Fluidity
Moving from one kind of deviance to the other

#127 Positive Deviants 10 – The Fluid Nature of Deviancy, part 1

RCG — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:00:11 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

The Fluid Nature of Deviancy
The Four Spheres of Influence
Lenses for Evaluating Deviants
Division vs. Integration
Status Quo vs. Evolution

#126 Positive Deviants 09 – The Curse of the Blessed, part 2

RCG — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:00:15 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover:

Effects of not dealing with challenges

#125 Positive Deviants 08 – The Curse of the Blessed, part 1

RCG — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:00:25 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

The Curse of the Blessed
Gifts come with curses

#124 Positive Deviants 07 – Deviant Qualities, part 4

RCG — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:00:26 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Checking the Edges
Low Regard for Social Conventions
Radical Change Group Takes the Deviancy Test

#123 Positive Deviants 06 – Deviant Qualities, part 3

RCG — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:00:57 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Recap of Previous Attributes
Rapid Cognition

#122 Positive Deviants 05 – Deviant Qualities, part 2

RCG — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:00:17 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Seeing Holes vs. Net
Moving Towards, Not Away

#121 Positive Deviants 04 – Deviant Qualities, part 1

RCG — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:00:37 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Deviant’s Qualities
Passion
Moral or Social Purpose

#120 Positive Deviants 03 – Nature & Nurture, part 2

RCG — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:00:38 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Shaping Environment
Nature & Nurture Together
Spiral Dynamics
Recommendations
Closing Thoughts

#119 Positive Deviants 02 – Nature & Nurture, part 1

RCG — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:00:45 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations on Positive Deviance (the first episode is podcast #118). In today’s episode we cover the following topics:

Nature & Nurture
How Deviants Come To Be
Nature
Nurture

#118 Positive Deviants 01 – Introduction

RCG — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:00:59 +0000

We are starting a new series of conversations in our attempt to bring several streams of thought aimed in the same direction. This direction is the notion of Positive Deviance. A Positive Deviant, also known as an Outsider, or an Outlier, is a person who in one way or another is above the norm. In the course of the series, we will explore many different definitions, views and angles on positive deviancy, whan makes deviants and how to recognize them, what it takes to be a deviant, the effects of deviants on others, how deviants come about, and how and what we can learn from them.

Today’s episode touches upon the following topics:

Introduction to the topic
Definition of a deviant
Mutants
Today’s deviants are tomorrow’s norm
Deviants are feared
Dangers of being a deviant
Is it a choice?

Goodbyes are never easy, and yet they do come as both ends and new beginnings

RCG — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:08:22 +0000

Goodbyes are never easy

These past few months have not been easy, as we have had to say goodbye to two good friends and teachers. Both of them enriched our lives with the magic of mythology and brought alive the Heroic Quest that would have otherwise been much more a theoritical and academic exercise. Words fail to do justice for what magical worlds these wonderful teachers, mentors and friends opened for us.

We are profoundly grateful for having had Paul Rebillot and Richard Roberts in our lives. And with sadness we mourn both their deaths, but with joy remember their lives, their contribution and their generous spirit with which they shared their learnings, not just with the founders of RCG but with the world at large

Both of them opened up their voices and hearts to RCG and made the only recordings they have available to the world at large. Their wisdom and generous spirit has touched thousands of lives worldwide and will be both missed and deeply treasured.

Richards & Paul has been for a long time battling their health issues and now are rejoined with the great spirit. They leave behind an array of students whose lives have been touched, transformed and enriched due to their presence.

We have had the unique honor and privilege to have been participants of the last workshop Paul did, and soon after he took ill. We will remember and treasure the wit, wisdom and above all the kind heart of this wonderful friend and teacher and the evenings we spent enthralled by his stories and learning his structures. He also introduced us to Gabrielle Roth and the work of 5 Rhythms which has had a significant impact on our lives. We will continue to bring some more of his recordings to the world at large through RCG and hope that his voice will find fertile ground where the saplings of new heroic quests emerge. This way his contribution will continue to live..

Richards gave us his time, his private recordings and many an insights into topics as diverse and esoteric as ESP, Seth material, Tarot, the Egyptian mythos, magick besides the magical encounters with Joesph Campbell. He brought Campbell to life, and made him even more a part of our lives. For this he will also have our profound gratitude.

As we lay our friends and teachers to rest, we realize that its never easy to say goodbye, and it leaves a kind of void that is hard to fill. And yet these goodbyes are also hello’s to a new world for both the departed and those still here. We wish that the journeys that Paul and Richards are now on finds happiness, peace and above all love.

And as once Paul told us “the caterpillar must become the butterfly” we will look to continue our quests in the becoming… and with love and fondness remember the enchantment both created for us, and hope to pass it on to the next generation.

Thank you Paul, thank you Richard – You both made this a richer world.

with love and gratitude

RCG

#117 The Earth as a Sacred Text – Conversations with Ismana, part 5

RCG — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:00:04 +0000

We are concluding our series of conversations with Ismana Carney – a Jung-based Earth-centered shamanic therapist. In these talks, Ismana explores with us some basic and very important questions through the eyes of a person deeply connected to Nature, Jungian psychology and shamanic traditions.

From the website of Terra Lucida Institute: Ismana Carney’s work is grounded in Carl Jung’s approach to dream work, archetypal, and Nature psychology, and cultivating the soul via Earth-centered rituals and therapeutic shamanic practices. Ismana teaches college and university courses in comparative world religions with a special emphasis on the mystical traditions. For the past two decades Ismana has also been involved both professionally and personally with Native indigenous tribal communities and their cultural and spiritual traditions. Ismana is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on Native American cultural and spiritual life.

In today’s episode:

Living in a relation with nature
- Everything is alive
Men’s and Women’s paths
Maturity
- What is a Mature Woman? Man?

#116 The Earth as a Sacred Text – Conversations with Ismana, part 4

RCG — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:00:39 +0000

We are continuing our series of conversations with Ismana Carney – a Jung-based Earth-centered shamanic therapist. In these talks, Ismana explores with us some basic and very important questions through the eyes of a person deeply connected to Nature, Jungian psychology and shamanic traditions.

In today’s episode:

A Hawk Story
Understanding the Language of Nature
Changing our languaging
- We are of the Earth, not on the Earth

#115 The Earth as a Sacred Text – Conversations with Ismana, part 3

RCG — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:06 +0000

In today’s episode:

Society and Love
- The Great Soap Opera
Discovering Your Nature through Nature
- Jung: story of the egyptian scarab beetle
Learning the Language of the Nature
Interpreting the Meaning of the Nature’s Language

#114 The Earth as a Sacred Text – Conversations with Ismana, part 2

RCG — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:00:45 +0000

In today’s episode:

Decisions & Purpose
Biological Perspective
Heart and Love

Haiti Earthquake

Sergey — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:18:09 +0000

A rare powerful earthquake has destroyed the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, left the country in chaos, practically without police and government, and the survivors are relying on the foreign aid for the basic survival needs – food, water, safety, medical help.

We are shaken by the news, and are passing the word to all our listeners and readers to help the people of Haiti with what you can. The RCG founders have donated from their personal funds to “Doctors Without Borders”. Many more organizations are listed in a CNN article – a very much needed and concrete way to make a difference.

#113 The Earth as a Sacred Text – Conversations with Ismana, part 1

RCG — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:00:31 +0000

Today, we are starting a fascinating series of conversations with Ismana Carney – a "Jung-based Earth-centered shamanic therapist", as she describes herself in the introduction. In these talks, Ismana explores with us some basic and very important questions through the eyes of a person deeply connected to Nature, Jungian psychology and shamanic traditions.

Here are the topics covered in this episode:

About Ismana
- Ph.D. in depth psychology
- About 40 years on a spiritual path
Value of a Shamanic Path
Balance with Social Necessities

Radical NLP, Mythology, Spirituality, Leadership, and other Change Technologies

#195 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 10 – Sergey’s Perpetual Learning

#194 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 9 – Mahipal and his sense of Contribution: Drawbacks

#193 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 8 – Mahipal and his sense of Contribution

In Response to – Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals?

#192 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 7 – Sergey – Efficiency and Organizing: Drawbacks

#191 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 6 – Sergey – Efficiency and Organizing

#190 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 5 – Arman & Lisa – Travel Living: Drawbacks

#189 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 4 – Arman & Lisa – Travel Living

#188 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 3 – A Connected Vision of Life with Mahipal : Potential Drawbacks

#187 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 2 – A Connected Vision of Life with Mahipal

#186 Patterns of Fate and Destiny, part 1 – Overview

#185 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond, part 19

Summer Break

#184 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 18 – Nature of Reality

#183 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 17 – Religion & God

#182 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 16 – Ed Hall – Time, Space, Context

#181 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 15 – SD Levels 4-8

#180 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 14 – SD Levels 3-7

#179 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 13 – SD Levels 2-6

#178 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 12 – SD Levels 1 & 5

#177 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 11 – Spiral Dynamics Overview, part 2

#176 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 10 – Spiral Dynamics Overview, part 1

#175 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 09 – Options / Procedures

#174 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 08 – Action Orientation

#173 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 07 – Preferential Awareness

#172 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 06 – Time Orientation

#171 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 05 – Match / Mismatch

#170 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 04 – Towards / Away

#169 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 03 – Internal / External

#168 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 02 – General / Specific

#167 Metaprograms, Metaprogramming & Beyond 01 – Introduction

#166 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 9

#165 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 8

#164 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 7

#163 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 6

#162 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 5

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (The Movie)

#161 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 4

#160 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 3

#159 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 2

#158 Conversations on Dreams with Jeremy Taylor, part 1

Holiday Announcement

#157 The Way of the Warrior, part 7 – Change and Learning

#156 The Way of the Warrior, part 6 – Humility and the study of Art

Holiday Announcement

Sir Ken Robinson – Changing Paradigms in Education

#155 The Way of the Warrior, part 5 – Evolution and Approaches

#154 The Way of the Warrior, part 4 – Tradition and Teacher

#153 Swimming with Dolphins – Passion – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 16

#152 Swimming with Dolphins – Passion – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 15

#151 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 14

#150 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 13

#149 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 12

Stories of Our Lives

#148 Swimming with Dolphins – Power – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 11

#147 Swimming with Dolphins – Mirror Neurons & Social Capital – conversations with Paul Kordis, part 10

#146 Embodied Mythology Series 15: The Holy Grail with Paul Rebillot, part 3

#145 Embodied Mythology Series 14: The Holy Grail with Paul Rebillot, part 2

#144 Embodied Mythology Series 13: The Holy Grail with Paul Rebillot, part 1

#143 Embodied Mythology Series 12: Rituals of Transformation with Paul Rebillot, part 2

What is Life All About – The Dalai Lama speaks

#142 Embodied Mythology Series 11: Rituals of Transformation with Paul Rebillot, part 1

Greal link if Mythology fascinates you – Meet the Gods

Culture Wires The Brain

Lost in Translation

#141 Embodied Mythology Series 10: Personal Myths with Paul Rebillot, part 2

#140 Embodied Mythology Series 09: Personal Myths with Paul Rebillot, part 1

#139 Embodied Mythology Series 08: Death & Resurrection with Paul Rebillot, part 2

#138 Embodied Mythology Series 08: Death & Resurrection with Paul Rebillot, part 1

Holiday Announcement

#137 Buckminster Fuller – Conversations with David Neenan, part 2

Paul Ekman’s Taxonomy of Compassion –

Paul Ekman’s Taxonomy of Compassion

Resources

THANK YOU !!!

Amusing Ourselfves to death

#136 Buckminster Fuller – Conversations with David Neenan, part 1

#135 Positive Deviants 18 – Modeling Deviants, part 2

#134 Positive Deviants 17 – Modeling Deviants, part 1