January 2007 Newsletter
Subject of the Month
Last month got us excited about a new film that we had been given exlusive rights to pass along to our readers. Recently, Phil had the honor of interviewing John Demartini, an instrumental figure connected to the movie, The Secret. Below, you can read part one of the interview. Next month, we'll be posting the second part of the interview.
Dr. John Demartini, THE SECRET, and Transforming the World
A One on One Interview
Part I
On November 2nd Dr John Demartini appeared as a panel guest on The Larry King Show called “Beyond Positive Thinking.” In a highly simplified explanation the panel discussed how people could truly alter their reality through techniques presented in the world-wide film phenomena, The Secret. Saying that these techniques are based upon true science and not fantasy, the panelists discussed the notion that each person has the scientifically proven ability to alter their physical, mental and emotional reality in order to manifest their own desires. From curing diseases, finding soul-mates, the perfect job to attaining wealth, no aspect of one’s life is beyond the capacity of the mind, with the help of the Universe, to manifest its desires. The show was a success; a second show was presented on November16th and subsequent shows on the same topic have been planned.
After the show I wrote an article for The American Chronicle and several blogs which asked the question, “If this information was accurate, why do people live such miserable lives?” As a life long student of mysticism I firmly believe in the principles discussed on the show and presented in the film and, for that matter, presented in my co-authored book, WAKING GOD. However, I felt that a key topic was missing in the discussion and my article went on to present my own theories as to the greatest impediment that confronts humanity in utilizing these principles (See 11/6 article at www.americanchronicle.com). The article was read by Dr. Demartini and his publicist, Cloud Nine Marketing and I received an email from Cloud Nine asking if I wanted to do an interview with John. Who could refuse? On November 22nd I talked with John for about an hour. He was at a Las Vegas hotel and was preparing for a seminar he was going to give that evening.
I did not want to ask John questions that would be a repeat of those on The Larry King Show. Nor did I want to delve deeply into his early childhood or reiterate his biography that can be readily found on his web site www.drdemartini.com/ . For those who have yet to experience his magic I will simply say that John is a millionaire. He is an international speaker, author and business consultant. He heads the Demartini Foundation and The Concourse of Wisdom School. According to his web site he was told at the age of six that he had a learning disability and would never read, write or communicate. John obviously walks his talk and creates ‘his’ own reality.
I was looking to focus on the issues I raised in my article about the show -- What has kept The Secret from being utilized by all? The principles upon which it is based can be traced to the ancient mystery schools of the Egyptian and Mayan civilizations. Why have only the few had access to this wisdom? Why is it coming to light now? What are the obstacles that seem to prevent all from creating a new life of happiness and harmony? My first question to John was whether or not there was a single moment in which he decided that the “normal” way of doing things was not right for him? Was there any particular person or book that altered his way of thinking and sent him on a new path of thought? John indicated that there was no single event or book that he would classify as the impetus for his personal transformation. Instead, over twenty years of study into philosophy and cosmology led him to discover a set of common concepts, ideas, laws and patterns that were universally accepted ‘truths.’ He said, “I devoured ‘ologies’ and any book that dealt with positive thinking.” At the age of 18 he read the works of Gandhi and decided to embark upon a self-monitored effort to change his own thought behavior. Four times a day he checked to see if his thoughts were more positive and he made every effort to make them positive. After two years he came to a startling conclusion that did, in fact, create his own paradigm shift. Over the two year period he discovered that his thoughts balanced between positive and negative thinking. Despite his efforts to always stay positive, over time there was always a balance. His conclusion was that the laws of the universe would always be fulfilled and that indeed, there is always a plus for every minus, every action creates an opposite reaction. He indicated by embracing both we are working in concert with the universe -- the key being how to find the benefits accrued from both sides of the coin. As a personal clarification let me equate this to the idea waking and sleeping. You may want to be on the ‘go’ all day and accomplish much, the plus side of life. You may then view sleep as negative since it interferes with your desire to do other things. We all know that it is during sleep that body regenerates itself and so what appears negative on the surface is actually beneficial. The same could be said for illness which is the body’s way of telling you that some aspect of your being is not in balance and needs correction. The dis-ease, as they said on the show, may appear negative but actually can become positive if one makes the effort to correct the imbalance and to prevent it from occurring again. John said that in every aspect of nature and in life there is the build up phase and the destroy phase and yet these phases also occur simultaneously. He said somewhere on earth it is winter, somewhere it is summer. Cities are being built and others are in decay. Life is a balance and the key is to discover how both sides of this building and destruction can be of benefit.
I asked John what he felt were the greatest impediments for people as they tried to use the principles in The Secret. In other words, for the average guy on the street what is going to prevent them from creating their own reality? John said that, ‘there are seven primary fears that immobilize people and the first one is the fear of breaking the moral and ethics of some spiritual authority…The subordination to perceived spiritual authorities and the fear of breaking the rights and wrongs, or morals and ethics of that (perceived authority) stops people.
The second one is the fear of not being smart enough, not having a degree, not having the intelligence and not being imaginative enough.
The third one is the fear that you’re going to fail at it. I don’t want to start because I know I’m going to be a failure.
The forth one is the idea that I won’t make money at it, it costs too much money or I’ll lose money doing it.
The fifth one is the fear of losing loved ones’ respect
The next one is the fear of somehow being rejected by the general audience, people in society. Are you crazy, what are you doing, this is stupid, and this is ridiculous.
Last thing is the fear of ill health, death or disease -- you don’t have the body to do it, the looks, the height or strength to do it, the energy, and the vitality.
And those seven fears make people lie to themselves about what they really want. They immobilize themselves.”
John went on to say that people set up fantasies that are not what they truly want and that are not aligned with the laws of the Universe. These fantasies will not manifest and then people get discouraged and go around discouraging others. And so the endless cycle of unrealistic desires dashed lead to the notion that people do not have control of their lives.
The issues was raised as to whether or not a person can just sit in a room and manifest their true desires without having to take any action. John indicated that “you have to work your butt off -- you’ll have no ass when you are done.” He said that you cannot only imagine what you want or just visualize it without taking any action to bring those desires into reality. When people ask him how he got where he is today he reiterates that he had to work his butt off also. The people that persevere are the ones that get results. He added that there is no doubt that when the mind is clear and precise and inspired this assists in the process but to visualize is a small piece of the puzzle unless accompanied by action.
PART II OF THE INTERVIEW WILL APPEAR IN FEBRUARY'S NEWSLETTER
Waking God on Location
This month, we're on location in Chich'en Itza, Mexico. The information offered here comes from MysteriousPlaces.com.
Deep within the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala and extending into the limestone shelf of the Yucatan peninsula lie the mysterious temples and pyramids of the Maya. While Europe was still in the midst of the Dark Ages, these amazing people had mapped the heavens, evolved the only true writing system native to the Americas and were masters of mathematics. They invented the calendars we use today. Without metal tools, beasts of burden or even the wheel they were able to construct vast cities across a huge jungle landscape with an amazing degree of architectural perfection and variety. Their legacy in stone, which has survived in a spectacular fashion at places such as Palenque, Tikal, Tulum, Chichén Itzá, Copan and Uxmal, lives on as do the seven million descendants of the classic Maya civilization.
The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.
Around 300 B.C., the Maya adopted a hierarchical system of government with rule by nobles and kings. This civilization developed into highly structured kingdoms during the Classic period, A.D. 200-900.
Their society consisted of many independent states, each with a rural farming community and large urban sites built around ceremonial centers. It started to decline around A.D. 900 when - for reasons which are still largely a mystery - the southern Maya abandoned their cities. When the northern Maya were integrated into the Toltec society by A.D. 1200, the Maya dynasty finally came to a close, although some peripheral centers continued to thrive until the Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century.
“Every so often, a new and sensational idea causes humanity to question the fundamental principles of our existence and being and catalyzes the notion that not everything is as it appears. In the new and exciting novel, Waking God, American University Alumnus Philip Harris and co-author Brian Doe take a look at a series of these groundbreaking and revolutionary ideas and tickle our imaginations through a journey of discovery and meaning that enlightens one on the very foundation of morality and truth.
"Waking God, which arrived in bookstores last July, is a story of biblical conflict and otherworldly intrigue, in which fantasy and science fiction meet the time-honored traditions of spiritual discourse and conspiratorial essence guides the act. The story focuses on the adventures of Andrew, a Bostonian scholar of theology and comparative religion, who in his quest for greater knowledge and a unified theory of religious understanding comes across Mara, an illustrious personage of beauty and secrecy. What is extremely special about this particular Mara is that, although she’s just twenty-one years old, she has lived seven very different lives.
"Andrew realizes that Mara is the girl that he has seen in his dreams for quite some time, and he begins to understand that his meeting her, which correlates with the dramatic upheaval of a major world religion and his subsequent trip to Rome, might be of sacred significance. Mara’s later abduction by a secretive organization that had sought her capture since her birth causes Andrew to have sense of concern that is later superseded by his own kidnapping. Andrew then begins a personal quest to understand the circumstances of his newfound experiences are.
"In this thriller, which goes on to explore the origins of the human race and its connections to supernatural phenomena such as aliens, deities, ghosts, demons and the physical fabric of reality, Harris analyzes many components of our global heritage and spiritual beliefs. He later recollected these to write the novel, Waking God.
"It was as a special education at a school in upstate New York; Harris met Doe, who is also an English teacher. They taught classes together and developed a friendship that continues, as evidenced by their most recent collaboration which they wrote at the New York school. The events of 9/11 deeply affected Harris, making him reflect on the dangerous consequences that can result from religious extremism. He combined this idea, as well as his sentiments that many religious institutions are detracting from their messages of higher spiritual fulfillment for humanity in order to fulfill selfish ends, into a novel which seeks to call humanity to open its eyes as to the current state of affairs.
"Harris earned his Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Political Science through what was then known as AU’s School of Government and Public Administration. In addition to his writing, he has worked for the government, including his position as the Rural Policy Coordinator for the Federal Regional Council of New England, and his appointment to a Carter Administration commission on national rural policy. His latest work, A Maine Christmas Carroll, is a remake of the 1843 Dickinson classic and centers on the tribulations of adolescence. “A Maine Christmas Carol” will be released on Dec. 12
"Doe is also the author Barley and Gold, a 2001 release that examines the trials of living life, and also how best to confront the past.”
Howard Perlman, Staff Writer for the AU Eagle Metro/National Section, Article Head: Book by Alum Asks Profound Questions, The Eagle Online 10/12/2006
(http://media.www.theeagleonline.com/media/storage/paper666/news/2006/10/12/2006/TheScene)
