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Chapter Five
Spiritual Awakening

Overcoming the fear of death is valuable because it frees one from other fears. Fear of death prevents people from taking risks that could lead to profound fulfillment and happiness. Sometimes insignificant fears such as fear of being embarrassed or rejected grow out of the larger fear of death.

Many people are afraid to live and afraid to die; they are caught in a futile trap. So, where does this fear come from? It comes from the traditional mind—a mind closed to new concepts, ideas, and knowledge. The traditional mind keeps one hopelessly trapped in illusions and hoaxes, from which debilitating fears arise. By transforming one's mind from the traditional mind to the perfect mind, one gains a new way of thinking. With that new way of thinking, one can eliminate irrational fears, small or large. What are the rewards of curing the fear of death? One can continuously advance toward the accomplishment of one's goals—regardless of the obstacles in front of oneself. One can take calculated risks. One can accept failure without berating oneself. Finally, one can experience abiding happiness while remaining free from worry and anxiety.

A valuable life comprises psychological health and productive work; all other values spring from this base. One's health, well-being, financial status, and relationships flow from a healthy psychology and productive work. When one is psychologically healthy, one can (1) determine one's needs and desires, (2) make appropriate decisions, and (3) take action to fulfill one's needs and desires. In essence, one can plan and then live a fulfilling life—a life proper for human beings.

Why do so many people miss a life of superb fulfillment? The anticivilization is the reason why most people miss an incredibly fulfilling life. It mystifies the mind of every child. And it leads every adult into confusion. Those who attempt to think clearly by taking college courses in philosophy get the exact opposite of clarity. Unintelligible courses in skepticism, pragmatism, rationalism, and empiricism impede students' ability to understand reality. Additionally, some psychotherapists convince patients they are obsessed with their mother, father, sex, or feces.

Today, one is alone in one's struggle to achieve mystic-free psychological health. One might even be verbally attacked for striving to become mystic-free. But mystic-free psychological health is the prerequisite for a valuable life. Is a valuable life worth the effort? Yes. The rewards outweigh the effort. One may struggle for a few months or years to achieve a mystic-free psychology. But when one does become mystic-free, one will move into a life of genuine power, prosperity, romance, and fulfillment.

After much studying, thinking, visualizing and planning, one's mind becomes filled with ideas. A great way to clear one's mind and look at its contents is to write them in a personal journal. Moreover, entering the contents of one's mind in a journal is therapeutic. After doing this, one's mind feels fresh, clear, and unburdened.

One can use a personal journal to (1) clear one's mind and (2) look at its contents objectively. After emptying one's subconscious, one feels ready to absorb new knowledge like a dry sponge is ready to absorb water. And when one's ideas are in front of oneself, one can develop the valid ideas and discard the erroneous ideas.

The key to gaining maximum benefits from this concept is to let everything out without judging or withholding any thoughts. If certain thoughts make one feel frightened or embarrassed, one can keep those to oneself or discard them. But one first needs to let everything out and then look at what is in front of oneself. After one has emptied the contents of one's subconscious into a journal or other format, one can proceed to analyze, judge, correct, discard, or expand the material.

Order emerges from chaos. Many highly successful individuals went through times of immense chaos. As these individuals experienced unbearable failure, they endured those times of confusion and pain. But in each instance, chaos eventually yielded to a new order that opened up the way to astonishing—even mind boggling—success and prosperity. For example, Anthony Robbins went through a chaotic period in his life when much of what he did went wrong. Then, after continuing to move forward in his effort to succeed, the chaotic period vanished. This resulted in a new order that culminated in millionaire wealth, perfect health, exciting romantic love, and deep happiness. Don Lapre, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, and many others experienced a similar situation.

The point here is this: when one is experiencing times of seemingly uncontrollable chaos, one has to keep moving forward. If one continues to move forward and exercise self-discipline—even if one has to break into completely new areas of business—one will probably outlast the storm of chaos. When the chaotic storm subsides and a bright new order emerges, one's life will shine like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

A prime benefit that comes from journal work is self-healing. The act of emptying the contents of one's subconscious onto the pages of a journal is almost as therapeutic as de-repressing buried feelings and emotions. Plus, the ability to see the contents of one's subconscious in front of one's self is a value. One can spot contradictory ideas, confusions, inchoate ideas, erroneous thoughts, as well as valid ideas. Because journal work is intensely personal, it requires one hundred percent self-reliance. And that no-escape self-reliance is the key to all self-healing.

Journal work does offer other benefits, such as working out key ideas, developing new knowledge, and keeping track of one's all-important character development. However, the point here is to use a personal journal to improve one's psychological health.

Fantasizing is a fact of conscious life and cannot be condemned as destructive. Fantasies can be a valid source of creative material used in various work, such as in writing, painting, and music. Fantasies can also be an important part of a person's sexual explorations. However, fantasies can be harmful. If a person acts on an unrealistic fantasy, the person will probably suffer. Or, a person might use fantasies to escape the constant effort required for personal success and prosperity.

Fantasies comprise two categories: (1) realistic fantasies and (2) unrealistic fantasies. Unrealistic fantasies consist of imagining things that violate the laws of reality, i.e., the laws of physics and mathematics. Such fantasies can never be brought into reality because they contradict reality. An example of an unrealistic fantasy is living without ever consuming food or breathing air.

Realistic fantasies consist of imagining things that do not exist but can theoretically be brought into reality. An example of a realistic fantasy is a person who is broke becoming fabulously rich and then fulfilling his or her greatest desires.

Unrealistic fantasies are generally a waste of time and should not be acted upon. They are like illusions: they are not necessary for human life. However, unrealistic fantasies can spark radically new concepts and ideas. They can provide brand-new perspectives on situations and problems. Such fantasies combined with reason and logic can be the source of major breakthroughs as exemplified by Einstein's theory of relativity.

In summary, when one has unrealistic fantasies, one needs to remain aware they are unreal and refrain from acting on them. Realistic fantasies, on the other hand, can be a wellspring of original, creative ideas—as well as a vehicle for relaxation.

Succeeding in an endeavor is thrilling. The rewards of a successful venture can be intoxicating. But while success is a universal desire, it can and does lead to the complacency trap, which is insidious.

When one is succeeding on a large scale, one sometimes has the feeling, "I can't do anything wrong." Such feelings can easily lull one into the complacency trap. The complacency trap exists when one believes one cannot fail. Thus, one gives up the constant, hard-driving effort that was responsible for one's success. One becomes complacent with one's status in life. The subconscious equivalent to this feeling is, "I'm going to take it easy now; I deserve to." When that happens, one has fallen into the complacency trap. What is the result? One can easily fall behind in life—way behind—to the point where catching up to one's previous level of success seems impossible. One can even fall below one's pre-success lifestyle.

The viable alternative to falling into complacency or "resting on laurels" is exerting constant effort, which abiding prosperity and happiness demand. And the key to exerting constant effort is to engage in productive work that one enjoys.

Og Mandino certainly has a talent for reaching people through right-brain integrations. Those who listen to his audiocassettes can emotionally experience the ideas that Og communicates. Yet, in Og's nonfiction audiocassette program, Secrets for Success and Happiness, he omits the essence of success and happiness. He does not identify that productive effort—guided by uncompromised honesty—is the essence of success, happiness, prosperity, and power.

Og certainly cannot include every attribute that leads to success in his audiocassette program. No one can do that. This would require an entire encyclopedia—and it still would not contain every attribute of success and happiness. But not identifying the essence of success and happiness in Og's audiocassette program can leave listeners ignorant of the keys to achieving abiding success and happiness.

What is the essence of success and happiness? The same thing that is the essence of power and prosperity: productive work guided by unyielding honesty. That's it. There is nothing esoteric or mystical about the essence of success and happiness. Yes, other things, such as romantic love and family, can bring success and happiness to oneself. But they are not a sufficient cause of success; nor are they a necessary cause. In fact, if a person strives for these without exerting productive effort backed by unyielding honesty, he or she will probably fail. Fortunately, this person can always decide to exercise the necessary cause of success and happiness.

Other conditions, such as friendships and esthetic pleasures, can and do increase one's happiness. But they can never replace productive effort guided by uncompromised honesty, which enables a person to capture limitless success and happiness.

Some authors assert that one can raise one's self-esteem through self-suggestion. They claim that one can increase one's self-esteem simply by telling oneself over and over, "I like myself." This sounds good and seductively simple. Yet, in reality, self-esteem—like any other major value—requires conceptual thought, rational plans, and productive action. Genuine self-esteem is an important accomplishment that takes time to develop and increase.

Doing some things in a competent manner will provide oneself with a temporary boost of self-esteem. Developing a valuable new skill will also give oneself a temporary boost of self-esteem. But quality human survival requires a deep, rich, growing self-esteem. That is to say, one needs to be growing in self-esteem on a regular basis to ensure happiness and contentment with life. One needs to grow in self-esteem across the entire span of one's life—from one's childhood and teenage years to the end of one's life.

Many people are clueless about the requirements for genuine self-esteem. Thus, they deal with effects rather than causes. In the short-term, this seems easier; in the long-term, it is always harder. There is no substitute for earned self-esteem. And the primary source for earned self-esteem is rational thought combined with productive work.

Personal development teachers such as James Allen, Dorothea Brande, Anthony Robbins, and Deepak Chopra teach their students about the necessity of waking up to life. These and similar teachers stress that true happiness comes when one wakes up to life. Many of their ideas about this subject are valid and inspirational. Yet, none of these authors provide their students with the live-action mechanism to wake up inside one's own body.

Why did every personal development teacher in history fail to reveal the live-action dynamic to wake up to reality? They never revealed that dynamic because no one explicitly identified it until now.

What is the mechanism that enables one to wake up to reality? What is that live-action dynamic called? It is called the perfect mind. And it comprises reality-based principled thinking. By understanding and developing it, one will wake up not for a few hours or days, but for the rest of one's life.

Personal development authors who proffer such ideas as "wake up and prosper" and "awaken the commanding master within" provide motivation that eventually wears off until the next dose of motivation. Many of these authors do provide great inspiration. However, none integrate their ideas with the fundamental alternative of human beings: life versus death.

The perfect mind, by contrast, integrates every action with the fundamental alternative of human life. And once a person develops the perfect mind, he or she wakes up for the rest of his or her life. Yes, the perfect mind is the live-action mechanism to wake up to life. Once one develops it, one will step into unlimited knowledge, growth, happiness, and fulfillment—forever.

The destructive influences of earth's anticivilization, along with personal errors, commonly impede the process of children growing into independent, mature human beings capable of living apart from their parents. A common myth is that if a person physically moves out of his parents' house—even far away from his parents' house—then he is independent of his parents. But the crucial separation between child and parent is psychological, not physical.

Parents invest a lot of resources into raising their child. Psychological and emotional attachments grow as values flow back and forth between parent and child. For example, a mother who coddles her infant receives warm, loving responses from her child that make the mother feel good and loved. Likewise, the coddled child feels secure, comfortable, and happy to be handled with such loving care.

In many cases, when the child grows into an adult human being, he or she becomes dependent on one or both parents. Also, parents can become dependent on their child. In either case, this dependency is not healthy or normal. The role of parenting is to produce mature human beings who are capable of leading their own lives, independent of anyone else—independent of parents, siblings, spouses, friends, bosses, and so on. To be sure, these people may add value to an individual's life. But to be fully human—to be a rational adult human being—a person needs to survive by the work of his or her own mind, not by the control of other people.

A complete breaking away from one's parents is not easy; it does not happen unthinkingly. Instead, this requires conscious effort on the part of the young adult. The key to breaking away from one's parents is not to start a fight and then abandon them. The key is to make rational plans for becoming a unique human being and then implement those plans. Open discussions with one's parents can be helpful in making the transition from dependency to independence.

Becoming psychologically and materially independent from one's parents is not always easy. But it is necessary to achieve lifelong fulfillment and happiness.

Nearly everyone has heard the metaphor about being a big fish in a little pond versus being a little fish in a big pond. Why do some people choose to remain a big fish in a little pond? The answer is that these people choose to avoid the effort required to compete in a much larger "pond".

When a person remains a big fish in a little pond, he or she does not have to go beyond his or her comfort zone. He or she does not have to take risks. And he or she does not have to exert the hard effort that is required to evolve into a bigger person. In short, he or she does not have to grow.

When one explicitly chooses to go from a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond, one knows that one will have to exert high effort. One is willing to exert the necessary effort and endure the growing pains that such a move demands. One also is willing to take rational risks. Implicitly or explicitly, one knows that growing equals life and stagnating equals death.

This process of moving from a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond does not end after one or two "moves". Instead, it is a continual process that has no limits. In other words, a person can grow forever into new realms of business, prosperity, relationships, and fulfillment.

Many popular authors have a left-brain writing style. Some authors have a right-brain writing style. Very few authors have a whole-brain writing style.

Consider articles in newsmagazines. Many of these, such as the ones found in Forbes and Fortune magazines, have a left-brain writing style. That is, these articles incorporate facts in a linear, logical format. Data and information are analyzed, and ideas flow from one idea to the next, then to the next, and so on. This is a classical left-brain writing style. Many nonfiction books, newspaper articles, and magazine stories use this writing style.

Next, consider books about love and sex. Such books typically have a right-brain writing style. These books do not flow in an analytical, logical format. They usually are more creative, emotional, even artistic. Facts and ideas are presented in a much broader context; right-brain writing is more abstract and widely integrated. This kind of writing style conveys a wide range of thoughts, feelings, and images in relatively few words.

Finally, consider a whole-brain writing style. Imagine the synergy that comes from uniting a left-brain analytical/logical style with a right-brain creative/abstract style. Like a nuclear fission explosion, the output is infinitely greater than the input. A whole-brain writing style creatively unites a vast realm of information and ideas that is truly breathtaking. The amount of material covered in a book employing a whole-brain writing style is astonishing.

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko is a classic example of left-brain writing. It consists of hundreds of pages of data, information, and ideas, which can be condensed to a few pages of concise tables and conclusions.

Sex for One by Betty Dodson is a classic example of right-brain writing. It consists of a widely integrated, artistic view of love and sex. Yet, it lacks significant data, information, and ideas to anchor its content to reality—thereby preventing the author from breaking into new realms of knowledge about love and sex.

Perfect Mind/Perfect Body by David L. Hunter is an example of whole-brain writing. It encompasses a super-wide range of knowledge: science, philosophy, religion, psychology, criminology, personal development, history, literature, government, politics, law, economics, business, and relationships. Anchored in the facts of reality and assembled via principled thinking, this work reveals intoxicatingly new concepts, ideas, and knowledge for discovering the next level of conscious life.

Imagine a race of life. In such a race, contestants run for 50 years. In order to complete the race, they decide to pace themselves for the long-term.

Several years into the race, many runners discover that because they exerted high effort during the early stages of the race, they can take it easy and still finish with a respectable position. Those runners decide to give up the intense effort they previously exerted. They succumb to laziness. They take vacations, go on fishing trips, tour the world, indulge in art, food, and sex—as a full-time activity. They rationalize that they already put in the necessary effort required to come out ahead of most others in the race.

In the final analysis, most of the runners in this fictional 50-year race succumbed to laziness. Those leading the race figured they had such a large lead that they could go on vacation for over a decade and when they return to the race, they will still be leading it. Those in the middle of the race figure they too can easily relax and go on vacation for many years at a time. When they come back to the race, they will still maintain their middle status. And the runners at the back of the race exert such low effort that they have essentially been on vacation since the start of the race.

Using this story as an analogy for the real world, one can see what happens to most people. They exert high effort during the early part of their life. They exert tremendous effort while learning to walk, talk, read, write, ride a bike, and so on. Then, many of them go on to college to learn a profession. This provides them with material trappings such as a house and car.

These people also get married and have children. But around age thirty, they stop exerting the high effort exemplified by young children. Such people figure they exerted enough high effort; now they can survive in a low-effort mode for the rest of their life. In short, these people stop exerting high effort while succumbing to laziness. Their adult lives slowly transform into boring routines. Some turn to promiscuity, others turn to drugs or alcohol. Many just go through the motions of living.

In reality, human nature requires the exertion of high effort throughout one's entire lifetime, not just during one's early years. This is the only way to experience abiding prosperity and happiness. Succumbing to laziness, whether overtly or covertly, delivers stagnation, failure, and death. Exerting constant effort delivers prosperity, health, and a happy life.

Children exert tremendous effort while learning how to walk, talk, read, write, and grow into an adult. As young adults, they often continue this high-effort mode to get a college degree and a good job. They usually get married, get a house, have children, and then stop exerting the intense effort they previously exerted. In short, most adults give up on the intense struggle to live successfully. They learn that after just twenty or thirty years of high effort, they can live comfortably for the rest of their life.

But what really happens to those who stop exerting the constant effort that success, prosperity, and happiness demand? There are a few alternatives. Some people align themselves with religion and manipulate fraudulent notions to live without producing values. Other people align themselves with government and use force to live without producing values. Still others become parasitical dependents who cash in on government handouts so they, too, can live without producing values.

For example, one person who stops exerting the intense effort that comprises a fulfilling life might become a minister. A second such person might become a politician. A third such person might become a welfare recipient.

The particular lifestyle each of the above persons adopt is different. But these people share a common trait: they all stopped exerting integrated effort. Thus, to survive, they go into a value-draining mode. This culminates in unhappiness, envy, hatred, psychological death, and then physical death.

The intense competitive pressures inherent in life demand that living beings compete for survival. The alternative is to perish. Conscious beings feel that competitive pressure in business, love relationships, and other areas.

To compete for survival, power, prosperity, and romance, conscious beings need to exert constant productive effort. There is no viable alternative. As soon as a person stops exerting constant effort, the competition begins to pull away from that person. This occurs despite what others say.

Exerting constant productive effort is never easy or automatic. And to continue exerting high effort across decades—throughout one's entire life—requires a key attribute. That key attribute is the will to live.

Children come into the world with the will to live. They exert tremendous effort across the span of many years. They learn how to walk, talk, ride a bike, read, write, and so on. But, tragically and unnecessarily, many of them lose the will to live. As they grow into adults, they live without the intense passion and drive necessary to grow into ever-greater realms of achievement and happiness.

What happens after a person loses the will to live? Such a person usually coasts through life without making something great out of his or her life. This person misses the profound happiness that is available to everyone but experienced by few people. Profound happiness does not arise from consuming goods, such as houses or cars. It arises from producing ever-greater values for other people and the society in which they live. A person who loses the will to live typically exists in a state of mediocrity or "no man's land." Then this person dies, never experiencing abiding prosperity and deep inner fulfillment.

Today, this condition is unnecessary. With the Perfect Mind/Perfect Body breakthrough, anyone can revive his or her self. Anyone can—at nearly any age—regain the will to live. And once one does that, he or she will never lose it. He or she will quickly grasp that giving up on life is an illusion that promises an easy, effortless existence. In reality, surrendering the will to live does not lead to an easy, effortless life. It leaves one in terrible pain, anxiety, and depression. Giving up on life means that one loses control over one's life. Clever people then move in with their deceptive machinations to take control over those who give up on life.

By developing the perfect mind, anyone can regain the will to live. One will then rediscover inner motivation for achieving one's greatest desires. And when the thought of "giving up" arises, one will be armed with the mechanism that banishes such life-destroying notions. That mechanism is the perfect mind—the reality-integrating mind. And now, everyone—from youth through adults—can develop that mind. Those who develop the perfect mind will recapture and permanently retain the will to live. They will fulfill their greatest aspirations.

Most people live and die without ever knowing the intense struggle inherent in conscious life. When people give up on life, which usually begins between ages five and eight, they do not experience the intensity of conscious life.

How do people survive without exerting intense effort? The anticivilization provides them with a low-effort life. And just what is the cost of this anticivilization "gift"? Death—quickly, mercilessly, within a few decades after physical maturity.

But those who participate in free competition—in business, art, romantic love, or other competitive arenas—must and do exert high effort to succeed. Such a competitive environment is the closest thing Citizens of Earth have to the Civilization of the Universe.

Anyone who does participate in unrestricted competition knows the battle that must be fought on all levels and from all fronts. This person understands that "taking it easy in life" is a foolproof prescription for letting competitors surpass him or her. This does not imply that a high-effort individual is paranoid. In fact, just the opposite is the case. Only those who are exerting integrated effort can experience genuine calmness and relaxation because they know they are earning their survival. Those who do not exert the high effort needed to succeed in a freely competitive environment can never really feel calm or relaxed. They know, at least subconsciously, that they are not putting forth the integrated effort needed to produce more values than they consume.

Today, perhaps ninety percent of the world's population does not exert the high effort needed to live successfully in every area of life. Thus, they never experience the intense struggle needed to survive independently in a freely competitive environment. Perhaps ten percent of the world's population exerts the high effort needed to live successfully in every area of life. If so, then just a fraction of the population knows the intense struggle of life.

People let others worry about the intense struggles inherent in conscious life. People can simply get a job, or get married, or get the government to create protective regulations in order to keep one's life easy. But in reality, conscious life is not easy—it never has been and it never will be. The inviolable principle here is that conscious life requires continuous productive effort. When one tries to avoid this immutable principle, one automatically avoids the intensity of life, along with the intense pleasures inherent in life, such as romantic love, sex, ecstasy, and happiness.

There is a difference between the conceptual faculty and psychology. The conceptual faculty is man's thinking mechanism. Psychology is man's inner life. To best understand this distinction, one needs to carefully look at each of these.

The conceptual faculty is primarily concerned with epistemology, which is man's method of thinking. The conceptual faculty is the tool to identify and integrate reality. It lets man function at the abstract level of consciousness—far beyond the reach of all other animals. The conceptual faculty encompasses the conscious mind and the subconscious. In essence, the conceptual faculty derives material from the senses, forms concepts and thoughts, and files this knowledge in the subconscious for later use. This is how man thinks rationally and controls his surroundings.

Psychology, by comparison, is primarily concerned with self-esteem and emotional issues. Psychology deals with the mental health of the individual: What is going on with the person's inner life? Does he have genuine self-esteem or does he have a pseudo self-esteem? Does he experience a full emotional life or does he repress his emotions out of his awareness?

To survive as an independent human being, a person needs to develop the conceptual faculty. This enables the person to direct his or her own life. Those who develop the conceptual faculty take control of their life. They get in the driver's seat of their own life. This is the ultimate survival dynamic for conscious beings.

Besides developing the conceptual faculty, one also needs to develop a valid psychology. This means building genuine self-esteem and learning how to deal with one's emotions. How does one build genuine self-esteem? Through consistent productive effort, by producing more values than one consumes. When one consumes more values than one produces, one inevitably becomes psychologically unhealthy.

As for emotions, one needs to conceptualize their nature. Emotions exist to experience happiness and move away from destruction. One needs to acknowledge and experience—rather than repress—one's emotions. Also, acting on one's emotions is almost always harmful. By learning how to rationally deal with one's emotions, one can achieve perfect emotional health.

In summary, the conceptual faculty deals with thinking, while psychology deals with self-esteem and emotions. The conceptual faculty enables man to survive; valid psychology enables man to enjoy life.

There are varying degrees of dishonesty, as well as varying amounts of destruction that arise from dishonest actions. Dishonesty ranges from infrequent lies to purposely integrated dishonesty. While certain careers contain hoards of dishonest people, such as politics and journalism, anyone can be dishonest. Why? Because being honest or dishonest is a choice: each person chooses to be honest or dishonest every day of his or her life.

The following table reveals four levels of dishonesty and their commensurate level of destruction to oneself.

Justice is an immutable law of reality. As such, justice inevitably prevails. In the widest context, people get what they deserve. Those who use dishonesty ultimately incur destruction as a result of their own harmful actions. Reality avenges dishonest people.

The more dishonest a person is, the more he or she loses his or her capacity to experience genuine power, wealth, and happiness. People whose livelihoods require integrated dishonesty lose their humanity; they become humanoids. Such people have abandoned the value-producing essence of human beings. They have to fake value and good will. Underneath those facades, however, lies an agenda to ravish innocent producers around the world. In short, these dishonest people destroy themselves and everyone else.

There are varying degrees of honesty and varying amounts of benefits that arise from honesty. Honesty ranges from concrete-bound honesty to undivided honesty. While certain careers contain many honest people, such as business and science, anyone can be honest. That is because being honest or dishonest is a choice.

The following table reveals four levels of honesty and their commensurate level of benefits to self.

The more honest a person is, the more he or she gains the capacity to experience genuine power, wealth, and happiness. People whose livelihoods arise from undivided honesty become super-powerful and soar far beyond traditional man. Such people embrace the value-producing essence of human beings. They emanate genuine power and good will. In reality, these honest individuals profoundly benefit themselves and other people.

As revealed in Genuine Power (David L. Hunter, 1996), convictions are at the base of one's knowledge. From these convictions, man generates thoughts and actions. The problem is that many people form irrational convictions early in life. Later, as they grow into adults, they experience uncertainty and frustration in thought and action.

In order to gain abiding success and prosperity, one needs to discard irrational convictions and replace them with rational convictions. Sometimes irrational convictions arise from innocent childhood errors. Other times, irrational convictions arise from one's fears, hatreds, wishes, and non sequiturs. By replacing invalid convictions with valid convictions, one will be on solid ground—epistemologically speaking.

The following table reveals several irrational and rational convictions.

Illusions abound in the upside-down world. Philosophers create anti-intellectual doctrines, social intellectuals generate good-sounding illusions from such doctrines, and citizens become enmeshed in a web of hoaxes. Today, nearly every adult lives in a grand illusion: the anticivilization. Thus, adults falsely believe that conscious beings are mortal, sex is sinful, and self-sacrifice is noble.

These illusions are inherent in an upside-down world—a sick world that is out of control. In reality, volitional conscious beings are immortal, sex is beneficial, and self-sacrifice is ignoble.

Those who are caught in anticivilization illusions cannot be persuaded or convinced that rationality is the route to limitless power, prosperity, romance, happiness, and immortality. Each person who depends on illusions for comfort is not open to reason. Thus, trying to convince such a person to dump illusions for reality is futile.

Like everything else, the anticivilization has an identity: a hoaxed world of dishonesty and death that keeps everyone hypnotically trapped in a dead-end world. How can anticivilization illusions be conquered? They can be outcompeted—in business, careers, and personal relationships. Stark competition can and eventually will outcompete all the illusions, hoaxes, and con jobs of the last three millennia.

In other words, one cannot convince other people to dump their illusions. At best, they will look at one as if one is weird. At worst, they will attack one for being rational. Each person has to remove his or her own illusions, sort of like learning how to walk: something no one else can do for another person.

When will people eradicate the illusions and hoaxes inside their head? When will people rid themselves of Platonic con jobs that have chained one hundred generations to a dark cave? When? The dawning of the Civilization of the Universe will render illusions and hoaxes uncompetitive. Those who remain crippled with illusions and mysticism will not be able to compete for power, money, love, and happiness. They will not be able to survive with irrationality. Each person will begin to recognize this fact upon the arrival of the Civilization of the Universe.

At that point—when people begin to realize that their illusions no longer serve them—they will begin dumping irrationality. This will happen slowly at first. As the first few people dump their irrationality and illusions to capture immortal prosperity and happiness, others will take notice. Other people will figure out that they, too, need to de-mystify themselves in order to capture limitless prosperity. This will culminate in a chain-reaction event: an explosion of prosperity, romance, and excitement unknown to those in the anticivilization. And that prosperity explosion will unfold a rational civilization right here on planet Earth.

Man is the only being on earth that has the ability to control or direct his consciousness. That ability is called volition or free will. Volition requires effort from the individual to direct his or her consciousness.

There are three basic levels of consciousness, which are listed below.

Human survival requires that the individual use full consciousness much of his or her waking hours. In order to survive, prosper, and experience abiding happiness, one needs to bring one's consciousness into full focus. In this state of full consciousness, one can increasingly elevate one's values, personal relationships, and other aspects of one's life. Over time, with full consciousness, one can increasingly control reality to benefit oneself and other people.

Functioning at full consciousness requires high effort. One raises the level of one's awareness by using one's volition to enter into full consciousness. When functioning at full consciousness, one can understand what is happening in all situations concerning one's life. One can also use one's consciousness to determine the best actions to take to gain maximum advantages in every situation. Also, only in this state of full consciousness can one exercise undivided honesty, which yields startling success and prosperity to human beings.

There are times when one properly functions at neutral consciousness. For example, when one is viewing a painting, listening to music, or cuddling with one's romantic-love partner, one need not be in full consciousness. In these and similar situations, one can properly function at neutral consciousness while taking in pleasurable sensations from a beautiful painting, song, or love partner.

An important point regarding neutral consciousness is that one still has to exert effort, albeit low effort. Why? One still has to remain aware of one's external and internal environment, but one does not have to integrate this data with everything else one knows. Nor does the person in neutral consciousness need to look at all the possible implications of, say, a sculpture. One can simply enjoy looking at the artwork. But by using low effort to remain aware of one's environment, one is always prepared to shift into full focus should the need arise. That need could come from unanticipated problems, opportunities, and other sources.

Finally, unconsciousness requires no effort at all. This is, obviously, proper during sleep. Being unconscious does not require that one exert effort. One simply releases or lets go of one's mental focus and then falls asleep.

Clarifying the various levels of consciousness lets one increasingly understand the appropriate level of consciousness for different situations. Context does determine which level of consciousness is appropriate for a given activity. However, generally speaking, full consciousness is required for creative work, neutral consciousness is valid during passive activities, and unconsciousness is appropriate for sleep.

In the non-living world, no entity has the need for self-esteem; inanimate objects simply exist as a combination of matter and energy void of consciousness. In the biological world, no entity except man has the need for self-esteem. Non-conceptual entities—from the smallest plants to the largest apes—exist in an avolitonal state: they lack the ability to develop conceptual thoughts and self-esteem.

Human beings are different. They need self-esteem, and they need it desperately.

Self-esteem is a psychological need of human beings like food is a physiological need of human beings. Self-esteem is the feeling that one is worthy of living—prosperously and happily. Man cannot move forward in life without self-esteem. The person who does not develop genuine self-esteem inevitably conjures up a pseudo self-esteem.

Genuine self-esteem is an effect. Its cause is not the great ideas one has, the moral character one develops, or the effort one exerts in life, although these will raise one's self-esteem. Genuine self-esteem arises from consistently producing values for oneself and other people. Defaulting on consistent value production erodes one's self-esteem. And no one can give another person self-esteem through praises or other means. Moreover, one cannot perpetuate self-esteem from past accomplishments.

Pseudo self-esteem is a desperate attempt to hide one's deep feelings of worthlessness. Defaulting on one's responsibility to continuously produce values culminates in the need to conjure up pseudo self-esteem. Often, the person with a pseudo self-esteem grossly inflates his or her worth or value, first to self and then to others. Pseudo self-esteem is a fragile barrier to protect the void in the soul of those who never evolved into a mature human being: a fully conceptual, value producing adult.

If a person fails to develop genuine self-esteem, the person feels compelled to hide this failure with a pseudo self-esteem. He or she cannot live without self-esteem. A person without self-esteem would probably commit suicide.

Those with healthy self-esteem typically escalate value production to benefit everyone. Those with pseudo self-esteem usually escalate value destruction to harm everyone. There is no neutral ground regarding this psychological issue: a person either has self-esteem or a person fakes self-esteem. And one cannot always tell by physical appearances which person has self-esteem and which person fakes it.

For example, one person who smiles very little and participates in very few in celebrations may appear to have little or no self-esteem. Yet, such a person may be profoundly happy, fulfilled, and have high self-esteem. This person might experience the emotion of happiness far more often than he experiences sadness. Another person, by contrast, may smile constantly and actively engage in every celebration available to him. Yet, such a person may in fact harbor a profound hatred of self and life. This person might experience the emotion of sadness far more often than he experiences happiness.

A common trap regarding self-esteem consists of reversing cause and effect. For example, a man might seek to win the love of beautiful women with his irresistible charm. Such a person might then attempt to boost his fragile self-esteem by bragging to others about his romantic conquests. This is an example of reversing cause and effect: the cause is attracting a lover; the effect is self-esteem.

In reality, human beings generate self-esteem by continuously producing values that others need or want and voluntarily purchase. By doing so, one will earn genuine self-esteem, along with wealth, power, and happiness.

Every human being wants money, sex, power, and happiness at some point in his or her life. Some people have these things; many do not. To be sure, the loser's world—the anticivilization—prevents ninety five percent of the population from getting these values. But what is the force that drives people to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to capture these values? The answer is motivation.

Motivation is the key to understanding what drives the human organism to achieve. There are two primary forms of motivation: internal and external.

In external motivation, fear of others or a desire to live up to other people's expectations motivates a person. With this type of motivation, the person looks outside himself or herself in order to sustain effort. Not surprisingly, such motivation is short-lived. Being motivated by external agents gets old very quickly. And the potential for backlash is high: a negative outcome can result in resentment toward the external source of motivation.

External motivation abounds in the anticivilization. In a world where integrated thinking is rare, people seek to be motivated by others or they seek to motivate other people.

Internal motivation, by contrast, is natural for volitional, conceptual beings—for human beings. Internal motivation is a part of self-reliance: a person relies on his or her own thinking, judgment, and motivation. Of course, motivation is one of the first attributes of human beings that the anticivilization squelches. In fact, the anticivilization not only destroys motivation, but it undermines rationality, productivity, honesty, and valid law. By illicitly placing burdens on every child, such as compulsory education, the anticivilization drains young people of their internal motivation to grow, achieve, and live the life they were meant to live.

Regarding internal motivation, a person exerts effort not because of what someone else will think or say. Internal motivation drives a person to achieve because the person wants to succeed for personal reasons. A person may have decided that he or she values wealth, for example. Thus, that person would work incredibly hard to become wealthy—not for external reasons, but because this is what he or she wants. This type of motivation, once acquired, can last a lifetime—even in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances. Thomas Edison was internally motivated, as was George Eastman, William C. Durant, and John Jacob Astor.

If the anticivilization smashes internal motivation, how can one become—and remain—internally motivated? The key is to leave that absurd world behind by entering the Civilization of the Universe. In the rational Civilization of the Universe, all people are naturally motivated. The strategy of destroying other people's motivation and advantages is incomprehensible in the Civilization of the Universe. That is because the Civilization of the Universe is a winner's world where everyone benefits by the success of other people. In that rational world, when one person succeeds in bringing a value into society and becoming rich, everyone else benefits from that newly created value. Thus, the virtuous dynamics of economics and positive peer pressure in the Civilization of the Universe foster internal motivation.

External motivation is usually short-lived. Internal motivation can, if rational conditions exist, last a lifetime. And nobody can give another person internal motivation; it is entirely self-created. Every baby was internally motivated to the extent he or she wanted food, comfort, attention, and love. By recapturing the child-self buried inside one's psyche, one can re-experience that internal motivation. And if one nurtures this motivation, it will remain with oneself for the rest of one's life.

Can philosophy describe the ideal woman? At first glance, philosophy seems unrelated to such a task. But upon closer examination, one realizes that philosophy can describe the ideal woman.

The goal of Ayn Rand's novels was to describe the ideal man. She succeeded with Howard Roark from The Fountainhead and John Galt from Atlas Shrugged. Her literary writings reveal the ideal man in action. Her philosophical writings reveal the soul of the ideal man: rationality, reason, self-esteem, independence, integrity, and honesty.

Yes, philosophy can describe the ideal man. It can also describe the ideal woman. What are the key elements of the ideal woman? The ideal woman would:

• Have a fully developed conceptual faculty. She would have an honest integrating mind.
• Have a developed moral character. She would be a rational, principled, and just human being who functions through undivided integrity and honesty.
• Hold a benevolent sense of life. She would view the universe as good and the individual human being as the highest value.
• Continuously engage in productive work. She would produce more values than she consumes.
• Have genuine self-esteem. Her rational mind combined with her productive work would enable her to continuously grow in self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Be independent. Using her own mind and personal initiative, she would achieve her self-chosen values.
• Be healthy. She would be physically fit through regular aerobic exercise and her diet would comprise protein adequate, carbohydrate-moderate, low fat meals.
• Avoid self-destruction. She would avoid sugar, alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, drugs, promiscuity, mysticism, prayer, manipulating others, lying, theft, and murder.
• Have the capacity for romantic love. Her mature, fully developed self would be the base from which she can give and receive sexual-romantic love.

The above nine elements reveal little about the ideal woman's physical appearance. To be sure, she would be beautiful. But particular physical attributes—such as hair color, eye color, skin tone, and body shape—would be a personal choice that varies among men and cultures. The key here is this: the ideal woman would be very attractive, both physically and spiritually.

What are humanoids? They are people who have removed their human nature: honesty and productive effort. Thus, they are destructive agents programmed to destroy human beings, their values, their economies, and their societies.

Why does a person become a humanoid? To prosper greatly without exerting the requisite effort to produce objective values for other people.

How does a humanoid survive and prosper? A humanoid survives and prospers by rising to the top of society. By removing honesty and productive effort from his or her soul, a humanoid rockets to the top of society as a politician, theologian, bureaucrat, lawyer, partial judge, establishment intellectual, media personality, or fake businessperson.

In what kind of an environment do humanoids thrive? Humanoids thrive only in an anticivilization, such as the one now infesting planet Earth. Humanoids cannot thrive or survive in the rational Civilization of the Universe.

The following chart reveals the evolution of humanoids.

Born as a human being
¯

Exerts honesty and effort as a child
¯

Succumbs to dishonesty and laziness
¯

Learns to use mysticism to obscure reality
¯

Becomes dependent on mysticism to conceal one's dishonest/lazy self
¯

Develops the criminal mind to survive both physically and psychologically
¯

Becomes a self-made humanoid

What are mature human beings? They are people who have developed their human nature: honesty and productive effort. Thus, they are productive people who continuously deliver values, wealth, and life to everyone.

Why does a person become a mature human being? A person becomes a mature human being to capture quality survival and permanent prosperity¾physical, mental, emotional, financial, and material prosperity.

How does a mature human being survive and prosper? A mature human being survives and prospers by exerting constant honesty and effort to produce objective values for other people. By incorporating honesty and productive effort into his or her soul, a mature human being continuously produces goods or services that other people need, want, and voluntarily purchase.

In what kind of environment do mature human beings thrive? Mature human beings thrive in the rational Civilization of the Universe, which is now coming to planet Earth. Mature human beings do not thrive in the irrational anticivilization.

The following chart reveals the evolution of mature human beings.

Born as a human being
¯

Exerts honesty and effort as a child
¯

Rejects dishonesty and laziness
¯

Understands how people use mysticism to obscure reality
¯

Rejects mysticism in self and in other people
¯

Incorporates unyielding honesty and productive effort into one's soul
¯

Develops the business mind to survive both physically and psychologically
¯

Becomes a mature human being

Philosophy and literature ultimately control everyone. From Plato to Charles Dickens and beyond, wide-scope prose has a powerful influence on everyone whether they know it or not. Most people have a blend of good and bad philosophy built into their soul. To appear normal in an anticivilization, people accept the good with the bad regarding philosophy and literature. A close examination of a man's soul will reveal his philosophic attitudes.

Take, for instance, Ted Turner, who gave a billion dollars to the United Nations. He proclaimed, on a national television show titled Greed, that while creating jobs and wealth is good, giving away wealth is even better and nobler. He has done both of these to a large extent. Yet, he still asserts that philanthropy is more virtuous than producing values, jobs, and wealth.

Like essentially all human beings today, Ted Turner has a mixture of Platonic and Aristotelian elements built into his soul. Turner's Platonic elements consist of altruism-driven charitable activities. Turner's Aristotelian elements consist of market-driven value-and-job-creation activities.

While nearly everyone has a mixture of Plato and Aristotle elements in his or her soul, each person has a different ratio of these elements. Some people tilt more toward the Plato side; others tilt more toward the Aristotle side. Humanoids have removed all traces of Aristotelian influences from their soul. Advanced Man has removed all traces of Platonist influences from his or her soul.

The real power in conscious beings comes from removing the negative—removing the Platonist elements from one's soul. Once one does that, one leaves behind self-doubt, anxiety, unhappiness, misery, poverty, and ultimate failure. Abiding harmony, prosperity, and happiness become one's predominant experience.

The following table reveals the Plato and Aristotle elements residing in nearly everyone's soul. One can use this table to eliminate the negative and expand the positive.

The primary concern for each person is life versus death. That is, will one survive or perish? Conscious decisions implicitly or explicitly take this issue into account. For example, one's decisions about a job, career, spouse, and money directly or indirectly relate to the issue of survival. The implicit question in conscious decisions is, "will this advance or threaten my survival?"

In a post-modern, technologically advanced society, most people do not have time to think about survival in every action they take. The idea of life versus death is a concrete, basic issue, while many things in an advanced society are abstract and complex.

Each human being naturally comes equipped with a survival mechanism. That mechanism resides in his or her conscious mind. But it has to be triggered in order to work for the individual. Once triggered, the individual clearly spots those things that threaten his or her life and those things that advance his or her life. Anyone whose survival mechanism has been triggered acts in his or her own rational best interest. (Reference: the Neo-Tech Matrix)

What triggers nature's survival mechanism? Widely integrated knowledge triggers nature's survival mechanism. Valid knowledge logically derived from objective reality is the key to triggering one's own survival mechanism. For example, Perfect Mind/Perfect Body reveals key knowledge that triggers nature's survival mechanism.

Those who do not trigger nature's survival mechanism are lucky to make it to old age. They can function and survive in society. But they think and act with various degrees of mysticism and self-destruction. For example, those without their survival mechanism triggered wallow in religion, the God concept, mystical beliefs, pseudo sciences, hypnosis, the occult, sugar, alcohol, drugs, gambling, and so on.

Those who trigger nature's survival mechanism quickly take control over (1) their own life and (2) nature. They actively differentiate the good from the bad—values from disvalues—prior to taking action. With their survival mechanism triggered, they uncompromisingly act in their own self-interest. Attacks from others get left in the dust as the survival-oriented person extirpates all harmful elements from his or her life.

A person who has triggered nature's survival mechanism within self openly rejects harmful elements. Those life-diminishing elements include religion, the God concept, mystical notions, irrational beliefs, laziness, dishonesty, low-fat/high-carbohydrate diets, promiscuity, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, gambling, praying, closed-circle thinking, blaming others for one's defaults, scientific frauds, political rip-offs, IRS/DEA-type engines of value destruction, socialism, communism, initiatory force, and fraud.

In short, those with their survival mechanisms triggered move into survival/prosperity modes—always increasing their mental, physical, emotional, and financial well-being. They continuously advance in prosperity, romance, and happiness.

Many people live and die without ever fully conceptualizing the self. What does this mean in practical terms? This means that many people go through life without a fully developed self.

Conceptualizing the self is not easy or automatic. If a person has not gone through an explicit process of conceptualizing the self, the person simply does not have a fully developed self. The person is aware of bodily sensations, emotions, memories, and so on. But this person lacks an independent, volitionally developed self.

Man's unique characteristic is his conceptual faculty: his capacity for abstract thinking with concepts, ideas, and, images. Thus, only man can use this faculty to conceptualize his person and the world. What are the benefits that come from a fully conceptualized self? These benefits include (1) the ability to understand any situation, (2) the ability to know every aspect of oneself, (3) the ability to know what one wants and how to get it, and (4) the ability to predict and control the future for immense riches.

To fully conceptualize the self, one needs to conceptualize one's:

• Thought processes (one's method of thinking)


• Emotions (one's feelings)


• Values (things one needs and wants)


• Virtues (one's moral qualities)


• Convictions (one's fundamental thoughts about life)


• Principles (one's abstract generalizations that guide one's life)


• Purpose (one's all-encompassing objective that one strives to achieve)


• Goals (one's purpose broken down into achievable steps)


• Plans (one's strategy for achieving one's purpose and goals)

Conceptualizing the self requires a lot of self-knowledge, time, and effort. But, the rewards are worth the effort. The alternative—not conceptualizing the self—results in a life directed and controlled by external authorities: politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, bosses, spouse, relatives, emotions, immediate perceptions, nature, the weather. One cannot achieve the moral purpose of human life—happiness—by being controlled by external entities. But, by developing the self and controlling one's life, one can capture abiding happiness. One can also discover genuine power, limitless prosperity, great relationships, exciting romance, and profound fulfillment.

An effective way to develop the self is to conceptualize one aspect at a time. For instance, one can conceptualize one's values. What does one need and want, and in what order of importance? Conceptualizing one aspect of the self makes conceptualizing other aspects noticeably easier. This is because each aspect of the self interrelates with the others; the self is an integrated whole. The fully conceptualized self is a unified entity. And it is a mighty powerful entity—the most powerful entity in the universe...more powerful than gravity, electricity, nuclear energy, and super computers. In fact, the developed/unified self is the controller of these forces of nature.

Each human being enters the world as an infant with an undeveloped faculty of awareness. Soon afterward, each infant begins to perceive things in his or her environment—see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things. Within a year or so, the toddler begins to conceive things; he or she begins to understand things in conceptual terms.

As the child conceptualizes more and more of reality, he or she becomes conscious of self, others, and the world. The child's psychology also begins to develop and the child becomes a unique individual. At this point, the child begins to experience his or her spirit, which is an integration of mind and emotions. The spirit is not mystical. It is real, and it is experienced through the dynamic interaction between one's mind and emotions.

If a child continuously exerts honest, productive effort, his or her spirit soars as he or she grows into an adult. Conversely, if a child defaults into dishonesty, laziness, or destructive effort, his or her spirit dies as he or she grows into an adult. In this way, each person makes the decision to have (1) a soaring spirit, i.e., an exciting emotional experience, or (2) a dying spirit, i.e., a deadened emotional experience.

The decision to exert honest, productive effort or default into dishonest, destructive effort or laziness is made by every human being every moment of his or her waking hours. This inescapable fact applies only to human beings. Other animals lack a conceptual consciousness that is needed to choose between being honest or dishonest, effort-driven or lazy, productive or destructive.

Those people who consistently choose to be honest and exert productive effort experience the exalted state of a soaring spirit. Those who choose to be dishonest, lazy, or destructive experience the miserable state of a dying spirit.

For example, listen to popular economists Arthur B. Laffer and John K. Galbraith. Both went to Harvard University together and both were economics professors. But Arthur B. Laffer chose to be honest and productive throughout his life while John K. Galbraith chose to be dishonest and destructive throughout his life. As a result, anyone can listen to audiocassettes by these two people and quickly realize that Laffer's work is rational, benevolent, and beneficial while Galbraith's work is irrational, malevolent, and harmful.

Arthur B. Laffer advocates the reduction of taxes, inflation, and government controls in the economy to set business free, which leads to prosperity for everyone and society. Listeners can sense the soaring spirit in this man as he advocates these rational ideas. John K. Galbraith advocates the increase of taxes, inflation, and government controls in the economy to restrain business, which leads to poverty for most people and society. Listeners can sense the dying spirit in this man as he advocates these irrational ideas. Such a contrast clearly differentiates a soaring spirit from a dying spirit.

A fundamental choice human beings face all their waking hours is to be honest or dishonest. No one can escape that choice.

Being honest is not easy or automatic; it requires rational thought and effort. Using fully integrated honesty—a new concept in earth's anticivilization—requires principled thinking. Reality-based principled thinking lets one understand anything in existence and see the logical conclusion to things in advance. From that position of prescience, one can assess any situation with objectivity. One can then use fully integrated honesty for immediate and long-term benefits.

But why would one want to exert the effort required to be honest throughout one's waking hours? Why go through the trouble? Why not just default to dishonesty?

The reason why honesty is superior to dishonesty is primarily a practical issue, not an ideological issue. True, being honest is moral/ethical and being dishonest is immoral/unethical. But the bottom line is this: most people will not be honest in order to be virtuous. Rather, they will be honest because it is the most efficacious mode for living successfully...and it is the only way to live happily.

As for dishonesty, people will eventually abandon it because, in reality, it is a dead-end. Its very nature makes it a dead-end: dishonesty is the process of faking reality to gain a value. But every action that seeks to fake, evade, or "create" reality must be doomed to failure by the law of non-contradiction. Ultimately, the only way to "succeed" via dishonesty is by destroying/murdering human beings. Fidel Castro understands this, as did Pol Pot, Hitler, and other criminal-minded leaders throughout history.

As a rational civilization overtakes earth's anticivilization, the dead-end nature of dishonesty will become obvious to everyone. In a system of public ostracism, protection-only government, objective laws, and valid justice, garnering "advantages" via dishonesty will become tougher than ever. Eventually, fully integrated honesty will make dishonesty—even purposely integrated dishonesty—obsolete.

From the perspective of a rational civilization, which has yet to exist on earth, the honesty versus dishonesty issue is incomprehensible. Advanced conscious beings living among the Civilization of the Universe would not choose to be dishonest any more than they would choose to use tarot cards or crystal balls as a means to gain knowledge. Such approaches would be tantamount to suicide—economically, socially, and personally. The dead-end nature of dishonesty would be self-evident to advanced conscious beings: they would clearly see the schizophrenic insanity of trying to advance by faking, evading, or otherwise contradicting reality.

The anticivilization severely stifles the development of consciousness. Those who evolve into the most potent form of consciousness—honest integrated thinking—are attacked from every angle. This happened to Aristarchus, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Rockefeller, Gould, Helmsley, Gates, and others. Of course, those who evolve into wide-open integrated thinking have the ability to outcompete and possibly collapse the rickety anticivilization. The criminal mind fears this and relentlessly works to destroy any threats to its force-backed anticivilization.

The consequence of squelching consciousness is that people fall into the memorization or specialization mode—a narrow range of awareness compared to integrated thinking. And neurosis arises from these modes.

Neurosis results from the inability to competently deal with reality. Without being able to effectively deal with reality, the individual cannot advance in open-ended value production. This leaves one feeling bewildered and helpless.

While locked in the memorizing or specialized mode of consciousness, the individual just cannot handle the ever-increasing complexities of life in an advanced society. New knowledge flows in from every angle, new technology floods the market, competition heats up, and society itself becomes increasingly complex. Those who fail to evolve into the integrating mode of consciousness give up their dreams, believing life is futile.

Life is not futile. It is a superlative experience...when one breaks into honest integrated thinking.

People who experience various degrees of neurosis have not discovered integrated thinking. They cannot possibly compete with people who integrate knowledge. The key for such people is to shift from the unintegrated mind to the integrated mind. Fortunately, the Perfect Mind/Perfect Body breakthrough shows people how to shift from the traditional mind to the perfect mind. This shift not only provides a dramatically new life experience, i.e., clear, powerful thinking, but it guarantees one's survival and prosperity via limitless knowledge. That limitless knowledge enables one to overcome any problem in any area of life to experience increasing prosperity and happiness.

Neurosis merely hinders one's ability to overcome problems; it leaves one in a truncated life. But today, with the discovery of the perfect mind and body, neurosis is finished. As people evolve into Advanced Man, competitive pressures will force everyone to abandon neurosis, memorization, and specialization in order to discover integrated thinking. And that will greatly boost prosperity on earth—far beyond anything known in today's anticivilization.

As the new millenium arrives, Perfect Mind/Perfect Body will be the catalyst that drives everyone into powerful minds and healthy bodies. People will leave neurosis behind forever as they evolve into Advanced Man and capture richly rewarding lives.

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