Reference: “All It Is” Chapter 14: “3 Primary Interactions”
Monday, January 9
Walton: As I hinted at yesterday, today’s and yesterday’s chapters, when combined, will be the primary tools you use to examine practically everything in your life. The previous chapters spent most of the time explaining “What” the Human Systems are, and the construction behind those systems. But the two chapters on the Primary Motivations and the Primary Interactions focus on the “How” you use the information that you previously learned.
David: That makes useful sense. You can learn facts and figures about stuff from birth until death, and not be a bit wiser about what to do with any of the information. So I am finally glad that we are getting down to the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of actually doing something with all that information.
Walton: As we covered yesterday, every action that you take for any reason will be driven by some kind of programming that you have established earlier in life. Those actions will either help you avoid something potentially painful, pursue something potentially pleasurable, or just take you totally out of the judgment and evaluation loop. That is where you get to simply experience the pure perception of something within your environment or within yourself. Was there anything special on the page of last night’s homework that attracted your attention more than anything else?
David: Yes indeed! Right at the front of the chapter, the three pictures of the martial arts people was pretty interesting to me. I didn’t understand right away why they were labeled with those three particular terms. But some small degree of understanding eventually came to me as I went down through the specific descriptions of each type of interaction. Any chance you could share some inside pointers on why those pictures match those labels?
Walton: With the PTP materials, we don’t get into any specific physical practices of the martial arts. But because there are three basic categories of those skills, they do closely match what I refer to as “the flow of energy”. And that particular short phrase pretty much defines everything else in this chapter about the three primary human interactions. What do you know about the martial arts at this point in time?
David: Well, I know the names of some of them, and a few friends who tried to show me some moves, But since most of the people I know were using the martial arts as vehicles for fighting or physical means to oppose someone, I never got that interested in getting deeper into the subject or the practice of that martial art.
Walton: Without getting into specific moves or labels about what the martial artists are performing, each of the three methods in which one person’s energy directly confronts or attacks another person’s energy, the overall focus is whose physical energy will dominate in a meeting between the two people. In the first picture to the left, it is a lot of hitting, pushing, punching, use of legs and arms and actually the whole body as a weapon of attack against an opponent. And each attack is supposed to inflict pain in order to reduce the opponent’s ability to counter attack. The winner of the contest is allegedly the one who has neutralized his opponent’s flow of energy. Totally!
David: And it usually involves a lot of grunting noises and screams as each attack is either transmitted or received. Apparently Resistance methods appear more dramatic with the inclusion of screams and shouts!
Walton: Those dramatic sounds usually occur whether they are necessary or not, almost as if the act of resistance requires not only physical contact but also scary sounds and noises! Karate, kick-boxing, and taekwondo are several of the labels of this type of Resistance engagement. Moving on, what do you notice about the middle picture above the word Assistance?
David: Well, the one guy isn’t directly pushing his fist or hands or feet at the other person. He has simply grabbed him and is flipping him over his back.
Walton: Tell me what you discern about the flow of energy between the two people. Since many outfits are called “Gi’s”, let’s use that label for the two opponents.
David: It appears to me that the person in the white gi has simply grabbed the person in the blue gi by an arm or a leg, and is then attempting to project him over his back. His movements are not based on kicks or punches, but rather twisting and turning, grabbing and throwing.
Walton : Tell me where you see in the flow of energy in this scene.
David: My logical guess is that “Blue Gi” was running toward his opponent. “White Gi”. But instead of being pushed to the side, White Gi simply allowed Blue Gi to proceed in that same direction. However, Blue Gi’s path was slightly altered by flying over the back of White Gi. I suppose you could say that White Gi assisted Blue Gi in reaching his destination, except for the simple alteration of his course of movement! His flow of intended energy!
Walton: All very good observations. That is the primary focus and fashion behind the martial art called Judo, or Jiu-Jitsu. You don’t directly attack a person with a forced resistance movement of their energy flow. When you move or twist your own body, you assist your partner in reaching a goal that matches the path of their original energy flow and intention. It causes much less pain to the physical body, doesn’t require as much emotional display through grunts and screams, and if professionally done, neither party is injured in the process of this confrontation.
David: The third picture, the black and white one, seems pretty weird, because I’ve never seen that type of interaction before. What is it called?
Walton: This field of the martial arts has a variety of names, based on the language of the practitioner. In order to obtain an exact pronunciation, you might have to learn Japanese or Chinese or some other Eastern language. The picture on the page is of the Aikido master, Morihei Uyeshiba. Other “martial artists” using this type of “energy flow” have a style they call Chi Kung, or Yiquan, or some combination of oriental syllables similar to those. Tai Chi would most likely fall into this category as well.
David: Now I am getting really fascinated by this relatively unknown field of martial artistry! Why is it in a category of energy flow called “Allowance”?
Walton: First of all, let me introduce another word to you that means pretty much the same as our word “energy”. That word is “Chi”. And it is the flow of Chi between the practitioners of Aikido or Chi Kung which demonstrates the art of Allowance. The most important, and primary difference with these martial arts, is that they are not based on direct attacks or loud noises or causing pain or control of the opponent. It is more related to allowing both participants’ energy to flow more freely, and never with a violent emotional attachment connected to it. The eastern idea of Chi is something that you need to spend a lot of time learning about in the future. When you talk to a person who is arranging items in your house, they are focusing on the art of Feng Shui to direct Chi from room to room. Chi is energy.
David: Any energy? All energy? It’s just really one of the hidden secrets that is emerging out of your PTP program? The flow of energy within and without every human being? No matter what their Primary Motivators are, or their Primary Interactions? It is all about energy flow between people? If so, wow! That simplifies practically everything we have been studying so far. Whether it is called Chi or energy flow, in order to learn how to become more awake and aware of the world around us, we better get on board and start studying the properties of that flowing energy, regardless of the label that the different languages place on it!
Walton: That little paragraph of yours is one of the most astute things you have mentioned to me so far! Yes, the search for simplicity is based on learning about energy flow, not only outside of yourself, but within yourself! Except for the fact that we have a few more chapters to cover, I could say that you have practically graduated from the program by expressing the energetic connections between us all. From now on, we have just a bit of fine tuning!
David: Do you happen to have a few more samples or examples that demonstrate this same thing but not necessarily in the world of combat and fighting and martial arts ?
Walton: Certainly! I thought you would never ask ! Let’s start by going down the Interactions page to the example of a classroom. A typical school classroom.
David: Ugh. Those were a mix of some very ugly, but also some creative days as well. Glad I am past them now.
Walton: We can cover this fairly quickly, since it seems like you have experienced first hand quite a variety of teaching methods in school. Correct ?
David: Yes, oh Mighty Master Mentor! Blast me back to the past!
Walton: Regardless of the subject that you were supposed to be learning in a classroom, there are some teachers who choose to believe that they are in total control of everyone who walks in their door. If it comes down to a “right or wrong” situation, they will always insist that they themselves are the ones who are right about something. The students will always be the ones who are wrong about something. That is a very obvious and blatant demonstration of the Resistance method of operating a classroom. You probably did not like those teachers!
David: Nightmares until this day!
Walton: Next up are the Assistance method teachers. They would control and assign the lessons, and as you and your fellow students worked on those lessons, the teacher would come over to you and assist you with any problems that you had, and actually direct you toward the answers. Kind of taking control of the output, but not in any kind of mean spirited right or wrong way to reach that answer. They wanted you to move in a particular energetic direction with whatever information they were teaching, and they would mix the hands-off and a hands-on approach. They very often would talk a lot, engaging you, and trying to gently remind you about the rightness or wrongness of the work you’re doing. They weren’t bullies, but they were still controllers. Very much like in the judo martial art where the one opponent controlled the movement and flow, and actually the flight of his opponent in a direction that they both mutually chose to travel.
David: My Science and English teachers had those skills. But not the Math teachers!! Or the coaches!
Walton: Finally, there is the rarest of teachers in very few classrooms. They knew the objectives of learning that were expected from you in the time frame that you would be in their classroom. Perhaps they simply made a long list of the goals of learning expected, maybe spent a few moments of instruction each day giving you some tips and tricks on how to reach those educational goals. But for the most part they stayed back out of your way and allowed you to learn, perhaps to struggle a bit with the information, in order to complete your assignments.
And if you happen to be too lazy to necessarily do the work that you knew would be required of you, these teachers also lovingly allowed you to fail the class! Not their fault. Your own choices led you to these moments. To not get a chance to be involved in extracurricular school activities. You might not get to play ball on Friday night! But, according to the Allowance teacher, you were given all the information you needed to succeed on time. And they allowed you to use that time wisely, or to make mistakes in your judgment and not complete that work. You were in control of your destiny. If you wanted to ask them a question, you could. It was up to you to accomplish the educational goal that was set out for you at the beginning of the school year. There was no presence of a strong set of right or wrong activities in that classroom. They would keep the room peaceful for the sake of all of these students within the room. But they weren’t there to argue with you, or to control you, or to force you to do anything that you didn’t choose to do on that particular day. They watched.. They waited.. To see if you would choose to be successful. No force used to get you to complete the school district’s learning objective. And you passing that class. Allowance.
Tell me whether or not you had any teachers like that in your years of elementary or junior or high school.
David: Yes, only one that I can place in that Allowance category of instruction. Junior year in High School, American Literature, loved Thoreau and Emerson. I passed that class with a good grade, a valuable set of life lessons, and a smile.
Walton: You were very lucky then. Maybe 10% or less of teachers fall into that unique category. But then again, it is the same with humans. Allowance is the form of energy flow that you will see the LEAST amount of as you go through life. Most humans, as I mentioned a few days ago, are Trance Ants, following the dirty depressing road of Resistance.
David: You mentioned earlier that the energy interactions are both external, like in the case of a classroom, but also internal. What did you do mean by that?
Walton: Although my answer to your question could seem very complicated, for now let’s keep it simple: in the classroom of your own life and creation, you are both the teacher and the student. The information you need to learn about is currently stored in your brain, your memory. And you will find many times where you are wrestling with your own thoughts and feelings and memories and opinions and beliefs. And yet each of those is also a source of energy that is going to try to influence you and how you choose to live your life. You set up the conflicts, you set up the system of right versus wrong, and you are fully in control of the decisions you will make as to which direction of energy you prefer at any given point in time at any given situation and process.
David: Example, please? And keep it simple for now!
Walton: I will do you one better; scan down the Interactions chapter page until you get to the heading called “How the Three Primary Human Interactions Relate to Each Other.” And the sentence that starts with the words: “The learning process usually occurs between two or more people, but….”
Right after that “but,” therein hide the keys to your answer about “internal” energy flow interactions. “But,” I am going to Allow you to study that on your own, and then get back with me if you have any questions!! Of course, don’t forget to make a general pairing connection between Resistance Energy and the motivation of avoiding pain, Assistance Energy and the primary motivation of pursuing pleasure, and Allowance Energy with a primary motivation of pure perception of the world around you.
You will be studying your own very thoughts and beliefs, and some of them will conflict with others. You have “…created two opposing beliefs.” Your own “internal resistance.”
And, for good measure, read the story at the end of the chapter, about the student who went to his Guidance Counselor for some “Assistance!”
I now Allow you to leave the classroom for the day, to ponder, to wonder, to wander, to plunder, to blunder, to flounder, to meander, and to tear your thoughts asunder!!
David: I am just a poor boy, weak and weary. But I shall find the Chi in Me!! You shall see!
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!! Sayonara, Sensei! See ya later, Wally Gator…
*****
FP: I think that the various Martial arts are cool examples of the three energy interactions.
Walton: They present a direct stimulus/response demonstration of energy flow. And the results of that flow. See if I can summarize, briefly, I promise!
Walton: Love to see that!!
FP: Resistance blocks or disrupts energy flow. Assistance supports energy flow. And Allowance is the simple observing of energy flow.
Walton: An “A+” on your final exam!! And recognize that words, actions, even thoughts – all can be categorized as energy flow. Every movement, at every moment of life, is energy seeking to flow in some direction.
FP: And my responsive choices affects that flow.
Walton: Two for two!! The most efficient energy flow is the path of least resistance.
For the human (or mouse), slow movement, relaxed movement, rounded movement, aware movement are all essential ingredients.
For your grand prize tonight, how would you like to hear a little story about one of the people I met on my early travels? As a matter of fact, the person who taught me many of these principles about the martial arts and energy flow ?
FP: Are you kidding me? How could you NOT tell me such a really cool story ? Let the tale of the traveling trails begin!
Walton: For now, you are only going to get the quick overview. There will be future discussions later for the details. As a matter of fact, I predict that there will be a moment in time, soon possibly, when you might actually meet this person yourself!
FP: Heart be still! Waste no time! Let the story begin…
Walton: His name was Bodhi Bob.
FP: For real?? Bodhi Bob? Just Bob??? What a letdown…
Walton: That’s one of the special things about these special folks. They even like to keep their names simple, along with everything else involved in their own Search for Simplicity. So anyway, Bodhi Bob lived in a deep dark cave up in the mountains of Montana. I have no idea how long he had lived there before I met him, or even how old he was. He was a person who was difficult to figure out, mainly because there was nothing that needed to be figured out. A simple man in a simple place. The closest metaphor I could use is that he was “energy incarnate.” So it was only natural that he would teach me about energy flow and human body movements that could influence, increase, and direct this energy flow. Outsiders would call it miraculous. He just saw it as what it is and what it does.
FP: Obviously I am totally fascinated, and am begging to ask tons of questions. But since you said I may actually meet him directly some day, I will hold off on that interrogation for now.
Walton: Good idea, because, for now, that is the only background I’m going to give you about him personally. But since you have been such a patient little companion for so long, I will share a quick overview of some of the exercises he taught me! You think you might be interested in that?
FP: That is an obvious question that has only the ultimate obvious answer! Let’s get started.
Walton: So Bodhi Bob taught me a series of three primary energy-based exercises that he calls the “Infini-Chi Three.” I will quickly describe all three of them, but we will only practice one of them for now. While I share the quick details, get yourself all limbered up and ready to move around and do some simple exercise and stretching.
FP: Shiver me timbers, I’m gonna get limber!
Walton: The first one of the three “Infini-Chi Three” exercises he calls the “See-Saw Side Stretcher.” For that exercise, you simply stand perfectly straight with your feet slightly apart, ground yourself in a relaxed manner, hold your arms out to the side very straight, and your whole torso becomes a see-saw, swinging slowly up and down, from side to side, tilting as far as you can, keeping your body center grounded, without falling over. In the beginning, just swing slightly. As you continue, swing further and further each time. Always perform these actions slowly, always focus on your breathing. None of these three exercises are designed to achieve some kind of great physical goal. This is simply a very complete limbering and grounding and centering exercise. That is the “See-Saw Side Stretching” exercise.
FP: Am I doing it properly? Is this as simple as it seems at the start?
Walton: You will soon find out, every one of his exercises starts very simply. Then, as you develop an ability at it, you continue to stretch just a little bit further and further into the exercise, always moving slowly and deliberately. But definitely extend your body further and further into each stretch and movement.
FP: Cool enough! What is the second one called?
Walton: It is called the “Toroidal Breathing Tree.”
FP: And what, pray tell, is a toroid?
Walton: It is a very intriguing mathematical shape. Here, I will draw the basic idea of a toroid for you, because your body is going to duplicate the movement that this shape suggests. You are going to do a slow forward bend, bend your knees as well, and act as if you are scooping up energy from the ground. Then as you inhale, you’re going to lift that energy straight up in front of you until you have raised that collected energy up to a place that is way over your head.
FP: Bend, scoop, inhale, lift energy over head. Okay?
Walton: Great! And then, finally, as you exhale, you will release all that energy to the area surrounding you. Very much like a tree pulls up energy from the ground, extends it outward, and then the tips of the branches bend down, allowing the energy to descend back to the Earth. You are becoming like a tree, pulling up energy from the earth, having it fill you on the inside, and then releasing that energy back toward the Earth. Much like the Toroidal shape: a movement like a cycle of energy flow. The breath is important, but we will get into the detail of breathing and timing at some other point.
FP: Mind already blown with these two allegedly simple exercises. What is the third, and final block-buster!
Walton: Bodhi Bob calls it the CoreStar Bubble Ball. I am going to do this exercise along with you, and once again, we will start small, and increase our movement as we progress. Are you ready?
FP: Ready to blow up and bounce that big bubble ball!
Walton: As before, feet side by side, grounded on the Earth. If you are familiar with the shape of the Infinity symbol, it is like the figure 8. In the beginning of this exercise, you’re going to make small “infinity symbols” by moving just your waist and hips in the figure 8. Follow me. While repeating this movement, you are slowly going to extend your arms out in small figure 8 circles surrounding both sides of you. Every movement is involved in the Infinity symbol, or the figure 8. Somewhat like a “flying with your arms” motion. Eventually, as you progress, your arms should swing further out, further back, further forward.
FP: Flying like a free bird meets a helicopter!
Walton: Pretty accurate visual combination. It almost looks like your arms are flying around you in ever-increasing sizes of figure 8’s. Don’t forget to keep paying close attention to your very center, a place located right in the middle of your torso. Yes, even your tiny torso. This location is called your “core star”. The core star is the very center of all this energy. And you are simply swinging and swishing it around you as you continue to make these circular types of motions. Ever expanding, always slow and intentional No need to ever speed up. Focus on your center, and feel your arms and body swinging around in that same simple familiar shape. Figure 8’s, Infinity symbol pattern. Now … do you think you have it down?
FP: Sure! Swing that energy flow, round and round! Up and down!
Walton: So now, you and I are going to continue the same exercise for just a few minutes longer. Breathe in deeply, exhale deeply, and focus on the core star at the very center of your constant, hypnotic movements. I will be right here beside you, making the same motion you are. Close your eyes if it will help you focus.
{After a few moments of both of them being very quiet, FP opens his eyes and notices that Walton is no longer beside him. He suddenly stops moving himself. With a quick exclamation, he blurts out ….}
FP: Hey! Where did you go? What just happened?
Walton {unseen}: I am still right here beside you, still doing the core star bubble ball exercise. Why? Why do you ask?
FP: I can’t see you! I can hear you, but I no longer see you!
Walton: Well, guess what! I have heard that that is one of the interesting facets of reaching a very advanced and focused energetic stage with this exercise. The energy is flowing so smoothly and completely around you, it’s almost as if you totally blend with the world of energy, floating freely around and around in infinite circles of movement. So, my advice, little wannabe energy master, is keep moving, keep having fun, and we will see each other again when we next happen to see each other again ! Good night!
FP: {he obviously stops what he is doing, and stands very still. He can only mouth the word “Wow.” Then he hums a little bit to himself in wonder. He continues to mutter statements like “Far freaking out, man! This is some crazy cosmic stuff! What a long strange trip it has already been, and is still going to be! Wow again! And with those final words, Franklin quietly shuffles off to his familiar and comfortable home in the rafters of this wonderfully simple sacred holy sanctuary.}