Mastering Mastery
The notion of “mastery” has taken on its own mystique, an aura of unattainability that lives on some sort of barely imaginable pedestal above us. We think of Zen Masters and Tom Brady, Pavarotti and Simone Biles. They each certainly exhibit admirable mastery, but I want to explore our own personal relationships to mastery in a way that can be much more empowering than just admiring cultural heroes.
The first thing that comes to mind is my one year-old granddaughter, who has just mastered walking. She built up through sitting, crawling, climbing, and teetering to finally toddling around without even thinking about it… in order to do other things — find Easter eggs, harass the cat, explore the world.
My online dictionary tells me that,
“Mastery is the comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment.”
This hints that mastery is related to the level or the goal we aim to attain. (I am not talking about mastery “over” someone else!) Mira has accomplished walking on two tiny feet to get from here to there… for a larger purpose.
She’s already thinking, comprehending, and beginning to work on talking. In a few years, she’ll hop on a little bike and soon thereafter will have “mastered” balancing a two-wheeler. Then she can ride places… for a larger purpose.
In the non-violent martial art of Aikido, which I trained in and taught for 15 years, a black belt is awarded to someone with prodigious skills who is considered by the Sensei (teacher) to be a “serious beginner.” Prior colored belts and the subsequent ten levels of “Yudansha” (black belts) are all meant to acknowledge different levels of mastery.
Sports were my first spiritual path, not because I chose them for that, but because my passion for play, teamwork, being in the zone, and honing a craft made them irresistible for me. I had colleagues who went on to play on the professional tennis tour (ATP) and in the national hockey league (NHL), but that was not what interested me. To have a chance at doing that, I knew I would have to dedicate my entire life to one primary activity. I was more interested in a broader life and a deeper knowledge of the principles that were in common to different sports, as well as to martial arts and dance.
Looking back now, I see that my passions and dedication took me to an expert level in each of these activities:
- Tennis
- Ice Hockey
- Aikido
- Sailing
- Skiing
- Table Tennis
- Windsurfing
- Soccer
- Karate
- Water Skiing
- Scuba Diving
- Pool
In retrospect, the greatest value that I was obtaining from these activities, besides the camaraderie with colleagues, was that I was learning how to center my energy, focus my mind, channel my emotions, project my intention, and be resilient and endure in whatever I was doing.
I recently sat down and made a list of the most important teachers who have impacted my life in memorable ways. There are currently 60 names on that growing list. After decades of impassioned learning, I’ve come to the conclusion that the most important thing to learn is how to learn. The most important thing to master… is mastery.
So, then I looked at the next higher level of focus for me in my learning, to identify the critical issues and functions that I have spent my life mastering.
I came to realize that my pattern was first to dive into learning the skill, make sure I was evaluating my progress in the real world of competition, examination, or simply facing worthy challenges. Then I would end up teaching the craft to others and ultimately my understanding would be deepened by needing to figure out how to teach others to teach that particular art.
Here’s the list, beyond sports:
FG — Mastery of Critical issues and functions
Sports
Music
I found drumming irresistible as a teenager and ultimately played in 3 different rock bands — later moving on to classical guitar.
Consciousness
I spent 30 years actively training and teaching in the Consciousness Movement. I was fascinated by Zen meditation, yoga, plant medicine, self-hypnosis, bio-feedback, memory, training, speed reading, tantra, and many more glimpses into the ephemeral world of non-physical realities.
Emotions/Communication/Conflict Resolution
I spent six years training in communication and conflict resolution and then worked as a professional in the field for 25 years. Even in elementary school, when people were arguing or fighting, I would say, “This isn’t necessary.” But I didn’t know how to show effective alternatives. My frustration with conflicts around me finally put me on a dedicated path to learn the difference between thoughts and feelings, the difference between accurate and inaccurate communication and the natural dynamics of the cycle of emotions.
LifeBalance
I was working so hard on creating a successful startup in Silicon Valley in the 80s that one morning I looked in the mirror and was shocked at what I saw. I said inside, “You’re killing yourself.” So, I committed to restoring balance in my life and then ended up teaching my course on LifeBalance to other executives.
Science/New Physics/Unified field
Cosmic and Atomic geometry
My childhood passion for the rigor and wonder of math and science led to frustration with the institutionalized, false limitations of physics, chemistry, and cosmology, so I branched out on my own for the rest of my life, found like-minded colleagues, and began to discover what I was really looking for. Those results are depicted in the THRIVE films.
New Energy
My burgeoning understanding of the new physics and atomic geometry led to a fascination with new energy access, and I have reported extensively on those breakthroughs as well.
Global conspiracy — GDA (global domination agenda)
Health
When I discovered that new energy devices were being confiscated and their inventors were being threatened or killed, that’s what woke me up to a larger, suppressive conspiracy going on in every sector — finance, food, health, media, governance etc. When I followed the money in each realm, it led always to the same individuals, groups and secret societies with a clear agenda for destruction, depopulation, and global control.
Spirituality/God
Universal Morality
As I looked at the larger picture, it became clear to me that humans have been fighting over differing views of God and Morality throughout recorded history. So, I looked to apply the same investigative methods and cosmic principles to realizing how to transcend these illusionary differences.
Economics — Free market
Investigating how the principles of sovereignty at the core of the Universal Morality would apply to economics, I was thrilled to discover the work of people like Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Hans Hoppe and others who made it clear that aligning with moral coherence provided a community the economic prosperity, as well as the security, that leads to happiness.
Whole systems solution strategies (in all 13 Sectors)
My work with the Sector Solutions Model was an effort to show that all of life is a unified whole, and the answer in every sector is whole systems.
AI Ethics
With the emergence of artificial intelligence, and both the wonders and potential horrors that it brings, my next project was to bring clarity to the relationship between ethics and AI.
Operating manual for a thriving humanity
The next major project is the one in which I am still immersed — to embody in a book and chatbot the necessary awareness and tools to provide an actual “operating manual” for a thriving humanity. Stay tuned!
People sometimes ask how I have mastered so much. The simple answers are that first, I’m old (78), so I’ve had many decades to explore and second, I refused to join the military to go and kill people in Vietnam, and instead I dedicated my life to finding the way of peace for humanity, so others would not be faced with such a lose/lose tragic choice. That commitment has helped keep a strong wind beneath the wings of my learning.
In the rearview mirror, the unfolding of these passionate pursuits seems to lead coherently from one to the next and build upon each other. Usually at the time, however, I just felt like I was responding to an insatiable curiosity within and the need to solve a critical challenge — for me, my family, my community and my species.
Each of these pursuits has taught me vital skills… that serve my larger purpose — to learn each day more and more to live in the light of truth and love and share with anyone interested what I discover about how to thrive.
I invite you to reflect deeply (and share in the comments!):
- What is mastery to you?
- What have you mastered?
- What are you working on mastering?
- What do you think humanity needs to master in order to survive and thrive?