Dictionary.com’s entry for percent explains the etymology:

Percent  is from the Latin adverbial phrase per centum  meaning “by the hundred.” The Latin phrase entered English in the 16th century. Later, it was abbreviated per cent.  with a final period. Eventually, the period was dropped and the two parts merged to produce the modern one-word form percent.

So, while “per cent” eventually became “percent”, it appears that in the-world-according-to-Microsoft, New Zealand is stuck in a time-warp, and has not adopted this modern one-word form…

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Introduction

Hi everyone. Earlier this year Jay Ray (whom some of you will know from the talks she has given here, or the courses she has run) asked me to co-facilitate a 12-week Psychosynthesis Self-growth course with her. This has caused me to reflect on my Self-growth journey, so this is what I will be talking about tonight.

I see Self-growth as a natural journey that we are all on. However, if we can become conscious and aware of the journey we can get more out of it, and make the whole process more interactive and enjoyable!

So, what exactly do I mean by Self-growth? Basically, the Self, as I understand it, is the ‘I’ – ‘us’ as an individual. The part of us that makes us unique; that part which is with us throughout our life’s journey, from the time we are born to the time we die. It is the constant when our body changes through age, injury, or disease; or through our emotional highs and lows, and with our changing thoughts and beliefs.

The ‘growth’ part of Self-growth I believe can be summarised as an increasing capacity to deal with life – all the experiences we have, positive or negative. We are able to do this through increased Self-awareness, the skills we learn or develop through trial and error, and the wisdom and understanding we can gain through reflecting on our experiences.

As I said before, I see Self-growth as a journey, so the rest of my talk tonight is a brief sharing of some of my journey of Self-growth. As the journey begins at birth and ends at death I am only part way along my life’s path, however this still encompasses many years of experiences, learning, and hopefully some understanding and wisdom! Bearing this is in mind I will cover a few of the concepts that I have found of use to me personally.

Self

As I’m talking about Self-growth it feels right that I should talk some more about the Self. We become Self-aware at some stage as we grow through childhood and adolescence. This is awareness that we are a Self and there is an external world of ‘other’ – that is something other than our Self. However, for much of our life we may not be fully aware just what it means to be a unique individual. In society, cultures, and families we may lose a lot of our awareness of Selfhood, and be lost amongst the collective belief of groups, families or partners. We may begin to view our Self as being the primary role we take in our family or job. Perhaps we are a father, a mother, a boss, or a worker. How often do we actually stop to think that we are, underneath it all, a “Self” first and foremost, and our role or job is secondary to that?

We may spend most of our time and energy thinking, feeling, and acting for others. While there are appropriate times for this, such as caring for young children, there are times when it isn’t appropriate. It isn’t appropriate when we’ve lost the awareness that we are a Self – a unique individual who is here to have his or her own life’s journey.

In our society it is often looked down upon if we put our Self first. We may be called selfish. However, what I am talking about isn’t being selfish, nor is it being selfless. It is a happy medium between the two. To me, selfishness is a rejection of others and their needs, and to a degree a lack of understanding of our own needs – as by being selfish it often means we are not meeting our needs effectively at all.

At the other extreme, being selfless we can give away huge amounts of energy to others who may happily take, take, take, from us without giving back and then discard us when they’re done.

By meeting our needs to the best of our abilities, but conscious of the needs of others, we can always seek to find an ‘And’ where everyone’s needs can be met in a mutually beneficial way, while retaining the right to look after our needs first and foremost. To me, the happy medium is to know our own boundaries and limits, and to feel comfortable with saying “no” to others when need the energy for our Self. I don’t believe we can really be of true service to others unless we take good care of our Self, our needs, and have respect for our Self and our boundaries.

Sub-personalities

At some stage we are all out of balance from the Self. We may find ourself in two minds about doing something, such as dilemma over taking care of our needs, and taking care of someone else’s needs and wants. Psychosynthesis, and some other systems, talk about this type of thing as sub-personalities. I was introduced to this concept several years before I had heard of Psychosynthesis.

To understand the concept of sub-personalities I was told to imagine the crew of a ship, with the Self as the captain. The crew help maintain the running of the ship, but if a mutiny occurs, then the captain is thrown overboard and the crew do whatever they want.

If we are not fully aware that we are a Self, the Captain of our own ship, then it is easy for other parts of our personality to assume control and fight amongst each other for control of the ship. We all have sub-personalities, and it isn’t that some are good and others are bad, it is just that they are either working for us, or they are out of balance. Sub-personalities are all trying to meet our needs, but in limited ways, and often they don’t cooperate with each other – it is their way, or no way.

Our sub-personalities always come in pairs, and as opposites of each other. One will generally be stronger, or more active, than the other – or we may only be aware of one, as the other may work in our life in much more covert and hidden ways. Often we will alternate between two sub-personalities, either rapidly (such as when we are in two minds about something), or over a longer period of time, and we may feel it is a ‘mood’ we’re in.

For me, two of my main sub-personalities are an Achiever, and an under-Achiever. The Achiever will work, work, work, with a belief that more is better, and almost always for an unachievable goal, such as trying to get ‘everything’ finished tonight! The under-Achiever just thinks, “What’s the point?” and gives up before starting. Most of my way through school I identified with the under-Achiever, just doing the bare minimum to get by. In fact, it wasn’t until my second year of Psychosynthesis training that I realised that I did actually have the Achiever sub-personality also! Once I was aware of both these aspects, I became aware of the battle which goes on, even now, such as when I prepared this talk, with one not really wanting to be bothered, putting it off until the last minute, and the other one wanting to write down all the concepts and skills I’ve learned and impossibly cram them in to this talk.

The important thing I have learnt though, is that neither these parts of myself are wrong or bad. They have their good points – the Achiever is what gets anything done. The under-Achiever reminds me to take time out, and relax! Both of them are mechanisms for coping with life, and the important thing is to develop a new way of doing things, which is either completely new, or a combination of the best parts of both the sub-personalities. In this case it may be working in a focussed manner for shorter periods, and allowing myself to take plenty of breaks and relax.

Beliefs

As mentioned our sub-personalities are all strategies we have developed for coping with life. Sub-personalities are based around beliefs of how to meet a need. The under-Achiever may be based around a belief that things just aren’t worth doing. The Achiever may believe that it has to work hard – and it’s not what it’s doing, just the fact that it is seen to be working hard.

As well as being the at the core of our sub-personalities, our beliefs shape our whole life. They are like lenses through which we view life. Some of us may have rose-tinted lenses and believe life is all-good! Some of us may have other lenses that warp and distort like fairground mirrors, and we may see life as a hassle, an endless struggle between each crisis.

Everyone once in a while I have found my beliefs shaken up, and I have to struggle to work out where I am going in life, and what is important for me. Thankfully this happens less so, now that I’ve taken the time to learn new skills for dealing with life. An important one has been learning to be flexible with my beliefs. Even if my beliefs are challenged by someone else, I can agree to differ, and don’t always feel the need to argue that my belief is correct and they are wrong.

However, from time to time I am still surprised with what beliefs I hold that I am unaware of. Many of them aren’t life changing when I realise that I believe a certain thing, but it is a reminder that it is from beliefs that I live my life, and it is from these beliefs I act, often unconsciously. A belief makes something a certain way. When I think about these kind of beliefs I often reflect on something from my teenage years, when my sister came home from a friend’s house and announced that we hang our toilet paper the wrong way on hanger, that the loose end of the paper should be facing the wall! Not a big deal really, or is it? I’ve mention this ‘belief’ to various people and almost everyone has a preference, and sometimes the preference has brought them into conflict with others who prefer to hang the paper the opposite way. So really, how many beliefs do we hold – unconsciously – which bring us into conflict with others or our environment? I’ll leave you to reflect on that in your own life. You could also look at this within society, cultures and religion – how are ingrained beliefs leading to actions which don’t actually meet our needs effectively?

Higher Self

Okay, as I begin winding up my talk, it feels right to talk a little about the “Higher Self” – which is an extension of the Self. Many of you will use the term “Spirit” to talk about a powerful, loving energy you allow into your life for guidance and healing. This for me is our Higher Self – or at least our Higher Self is the part that lets us connect to the Universal Spirit to facilitate our Self-growth, Spiritual Development, Healing, and life’s journey. Just as we all have a Self, we all have a Higher Self. Our Higher Self is our best teacher and best guide for our journey.

I first began looking for a teacher, or teachers, to guide me along my journey when I was in my late teens. I have learned from many, and sometimes the lessons I learned the most from them were unexpected and due to a clash of beliefs or some other conflict, which sometimes has lead to a parting of company. Always my search was for an external teacher who could tell me what I needed to know – although I didn’t usually know what it was I actually needed to know!

I now believe that our best teacher is in fact our Higher Self. If we are unaware of our Higher Self it will indeed lead us into experiences, and to teachers, from where we can learn. Even if we are aware of our Higher Self, it will still lead us into the experiences we need to learn from, and may still lead us to interact and learn from ‘teachers’ as this may be the quickest way to learn. However, by being aware of what our Higher Self needs us to do, we can make the process more efficient, and more conscious. It is about allowing ourselves to be guided along our life’s path in a more orderly fashion, seeing the sites we need to see rather than becoming lost in the wilderness and lurching from daily-grind to crisis.

However it is our Higher Self that is the only teacher who can truly assist us in our inner life, in balancing our sub-personalities, and making the big decisions we need to make. My being open to our Higher Self (and building the belief that we do indeed have a Higher Self) we can begin to reclaim responsibility for our own lives, reflect on our experiences, and grow to fulfill our potential as a unique Self.

Conclusion

My journey has lead me to an understanding that everything in life can provide some kind of teaching for us. A cue for us to reflect on, much in the same way we can get a tarot reading (or single card) to allow us to get a different perspective on our life at present, or in the near future. I believe that when we become more aware of our ability to reflect on ‘meanings’ in things and events around us, the more coincidences we will notice, and many of the events and occurrences in our life will see very timely.

For instance, last night I decided to watch an episode of the Sci-Fi comedy ‘Red Dwarf’. It just so happened that the episode was entitled “Confidence and Paranoia”. Very timely when I was preparing to give this talk this evening! The basic plot of the episode was that the main character was sick and his hallucinations had become “real” and two men had arrived onboard the spaceship, one representing his confidence, the other his paranoia. In Psychosynthesis terms the two “hallucinations” were sub-personalities. They were the opposite of each other, and both extremes. One was over-confident, cocky and believe the main character could do no wrong, the other was his worst critic saying he was good for nothing. This is a good example of sub-personalities and how they work, and very timely for me as I still have a bit of an inner battle when it comes to public speaking, one part of me confident I can do it, the other paranoid about standing up in front of an audience and talking.

Well, this has been a brief look at some of my journey along the spiritual inner path of Self-growth. Thank you for listening, and I hope you got something out of it for yourself.

* * *

For more information on Psychosynthesis you can check out the following websites:

• Psychosynthesis Online
• Psychosynthesis Books
• Psychosynthesis – Two Not 2
• The Will Project

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Update – 12/1/2012: After getting home and connecting my phone to the WiFi, the Kindle app no longer recognised the book I was reading. There is only one Android device on my Amazon Kindle account, and removing and logging in again on the Kindle app is not fixing the problem.

This afternoon I installed the Kindle app on my Android-powered phone. I wanted to have a quick look at a book I bought earlier, and at work I don’t have access to WiFi to download it to my Kindle. I had to sign in to the app a couple of times, as the app kept crashing (the Android build on my phone isn’t the most reliable). When trying to add books from my Kindle archive, the book would download, but then I got an error message that said “invalid item”, and to click the button to remove it from my “On Device” books.

I did a quick search and found a web page that detailed other users who have had similar problems. For them, back in early 2011, it seems to have been a fairly major fault in the Kindle app itself. However, one suggestion was to go to the “Manage my Kindle” page and remove the Android device(s), and log back in. In my case, this turned out to be correct. When I looked, I had two different Android devices listed. So, I removed them both and signed back in to the Kindle app. Since then, I’ve been able to download and view my books on the phone. Now… why did I buy a Kindle?

For background information, check out the discussion Kindle App issue.

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The process of researching this topic has been an interesting one. It seemed that it would be easy to find information on the Twelve Cycles of Truth if it formed the basis for the Iroquois Confederacy. However, it didn’t take long to discover a distinct lack of information on the Twelve Cycles of Truth, while finding a vast amount of information on the Iroquois Confederacy.

It initially came to me that perhaps the person promoting the Twelve Cycles of Truth did indeed gain their information from an oral tradition, as it is acknowledged that there are no complete or exhaustive writings on Native American teachings.

Likewise, I considered that Carlos Castaneda is also highly likely to have made up his stories, yet much of his philosophies are coherent with teachings from various sources. I’ve seen it suggested that much of his philosophy derives from others such as Gurdjieff. So, Castaneda is promoting reasonable (in my opinion) philosophies based around a fictional teacher (Master) and fictional events, to illustrate his points on magic. As a willed suspension of disbelief is an important function of the magical process, writing about magical and spiritual teachings in an easy to read, fictional, way helps get the message across by stimulating the imaginative side of the brain.

However, checking further into the person promoting the Twelves Cycles of Truth, the only good reviews of her works seemed to come from people who had been recommended her books and hadn’t read them yet.

I discovered a whole web site devoted to exposing people who are ripping off the teachings of the Native American cultures, mainly for profit. Jamie Sams, who seems to be the only person claiming the Twelve Cycles of Truth to be traditional teachings, comes from a long lineage of people promoting concepts and beliefs that have never been part of any tribes cultural treasures, and often making a lot of money from it.

This, at very least, seems to be highly disrespectful to the cultures they claim to represent. Then, their only recourse at defending their claims is to counter that the tribes are only angry because they don’t want their teachings made public (implying that the tribes are in fact racist towards the Europeans who are lapping up the pseudo-native teachings).

Although I haven’t read any of Jamie Sams’ books myself, if the information reported about them was correct, then I couldn’t accept her teachings as being in any way authentic or useful (to me). For instance it is claimed she has created a 12-month lunar calendar (perhaps to fit with her Twelve Cycles of Truth), when most (if not all) native peoples, worldwide, have a 13-month lunar calendar. Likewise, if it is true that she promotes various acknowledged frauds, such as the ‘crystal skulls’ teachings, and the ‘medicine shields’ and is a member of the Wolf Clan (which has many alleged fraudsters operating under its banner), then it makes it incredibly difficult to take her Twelve Cycles of Truth seriously at all, especially as she doesn’t seem to be living them in the slightest.

All this information is compounded by the fact that the authors of the book The Paradigm Conspiracy (which from my cursory readings of it appears to be worth some consideration) have based the structure of their book on the Twelve Cycles of Truth, and relate that these Cycles formed the basis for the Iroquois Confederacy. It seems that no matter how much research is done, it is possible to overlook untruths because we identify strongly with them, and desire them to be the truth.

So, it is from this knowledge that I write my thoughts on how the Twelve Cycles of Truth correlate to the Buddhist teachings on the Twelve Link chain of causation, and how, along with the principles of Psychosynthesis, a model can be constructed providing a method through which Western Society can heal.

To be in the spirit of things, I will consider the Twelve Cycles of Truth on their own merit, free of any claims of falsity, or validity, although must state that from my research I cannot find any point of evidence that they formed the basis of a working model in the past. The merits of the Iroquois Confederacy stand on their own, including that they are acknowledged as helping inspire the Constitution of the United States of America, which in turn gave rise to the charter behind the United Nations. At the heart of the Iroquois Confederacy there is the respect for the sovereignty of each and every person (man and woman alike) and an aim of averting conflict through effective communication (to achieve peace).

Having written this, new information has come to light, in the form of Jamie Sams’ Sacred Path Cards book – so I have now skimmed through one of her books. It doesn’t change my impression that much of what is passed off as Native American teachings is done in order to make money (not to genuinely promote Native teachings, or even relevant spiritual teachings in the guise of Native teachings). It does give an insight that Jamie Sams’ claim of the Twelve Cycles of Truth being the basis for the Iroquois Confederacy has been blown out of proportion (most likely by the authors of The Paradigm Conspiracy). It seems likely they wanted a 12 fold structure for their book and chose the Twelve Cycles of Truth as this, perhaps reading into Sams’ statement that the Cycles formed the basis for a very powerful (empowering) and successful form of Democracy.

Jamie Sams’ brief statement on the Twelve Cycles of Truth is a little ambiguous, and I can actually read it two ways. She writes, “Our intention follows the Iroquois Peace Confederacy Tradition that uses the Twelve Cycles of Truth to bring peace.” (Card 18 – Whirling Rainbow, Sacred Path Cards)

To me, this could mean her intention uses the Twelve Cycles of Truth, or that the Iroquois Confederacy uses the Twelve Cycles of Truth.

Okay, so the validity (or “truth”) of Jamie Sams’ claims leads me to another issue. What is “truth”? Is there a Universal Truth that the Twelve Cycles refer to, which each of us needs to be aligned with in order for a peaceful world? Or is truth rather subjective?
To me, both answers are correct to some degree. Truth is mainly subjective when viewed by us as an individual, and it is our personal truth that we must express, as it is our individual purpose and identity in this incarnation.

So this led me to ask, what does truth mean?

The words truth and troth both stem from the Old English word for loyalty, firm, trustworthy. Further back, the words true and tree are related etymologically. Via their Germanic lineage trewam (tree) and treuwaz (true) they extend back to the Indo-European root deru- or dreu- referring to wood, and hence firmness. This therefore gives the word truth a meaning of “something firm”. It is said that the word Druid derives from the root words dru- and wid- meaning “strong seer”. (Etymological notes were researched via www.dictionary.com)

This sits well with me personally. I get the sense that truth (for me) is our personal truth, and what we feel strongly about in our expression of our own uniqueness. It is a loyalty to our Self via the expression of our Self, our expression of our own unique Tree of Life, and that in turn we are strongly connected with the Universal Tree of Life. It is the expression of our own unique essence as provided by our Higher Self – our Higher Self perhaps being our essential truth (and us as an individual the potential of expressing it).

The Twelve Cycles of Truth are: learning the truth, honouring the truth, accepting the truth, observing the truth, hearing the truth, presenting the truth, loving the truth, serving the truth, living the truth, working the truth, walking the truth, being grateful for the truth. To me, this all relates to the various aspects of expression of our own personal truth.

Each of the Twelve Links is dependent on the one after it:

Ignorance is dependent on Karma; Karma is dependent on Consciousness; Consciousness is dependent on Name and Form; Name and Form is dependent on Six Sense Fields; Six Sense is dependent on Contact; Contact is dependent on Feeling; Feeling is dependent on Craving; Craving is dependent on Grasping; Grasping is dependent on Becoming; Becoming is dependent on Birth; Birth is dependent on Old age / Death; Old age / Death is dependent on Ignorance.

Francesca Freemantle sums up the Buddha’s view of worldly phenomena by saying, “The Buddha described all worldly phenomena as having three characteristics: impermanence, suffering and nonself. We suffer because we imagine what is not self to be self, what is impermanent to be permanent, and what, from an ultimate viewpoint, is pain to be pleasure.”

These fits well with Psychosynthesis as we understand people tend to strongly identify with various things external to themselves, or with sub-personalities, so are not centred within their own Self. Material things are seen as permanent and lasting, as perhaps are such things as reputations and how powerful we become (how much power we exert over others). When acting from sub-personalities various concepts are considered right, or noble (and we should therefore find them pleasurable), such as being an achiever (doing a lot), struggling to achieve things the ‘tried and trusted’ way, rather than re-evaluate its effectiveness and worth, and whether a new and better way could be achieved. There is the soldiering on when we are ill, or being a “hard man” and continuing to play on in a game of rugby even though we are in pain and perhaps aggravating an already serious injury.

In my understanding, an aim of Buddhism is to allow one to break free from the distortions, and find one’s true Self (Buddha nature). So breaking any of the links of the Chain of Causation assists one in breaking down the illusions. In Psychosynthesis we talk about clearing away blockages, synthesising sub-personalities and becoming more aware and centred in the Self.

This then is a connection between the Twelves Cycles of Truth and the essence of the Twelve Link Chain of Causation. Ultimately there is a truth relating to expressing our own truth, by becoming aware and acting from our True Self. The two are coming from different viewpoints. The Twelve Cycles of Truth are about expressing the truth, whereas the Twelve Links of Causation describe processes that obscure or distort the truth – the truth being an expression of one’s True Self.

To me, expressing the truth of each individual’s True Self will be the core of any model which can help the Western world heal and bring about the necessary change for a sustainable society that lives in harmony with the environment rather than trying to fix the things we keep breaking, or fix the things we don’t understand (which aren’t broken).

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) people embodied this in their recognition of the sovereignty of each individual. The Great Law of Peace contained three principles (although I find two of them repeated in various sources, the final one is varied depending on the source).

When making decisions under the Great Law of Peace, the Three Principles are:

Righteousness: meaning that the good of all the nation (which is viewed as a family) must be taken into account, and the needs of seven generations to come. This would effectively mean that decisions would have to offer viable solutions for the next one to two hundred years.

Power: meaning that the power of the people must be maintained, including the equal sovereignty of men and women. It also means the people acting in accordance with what is best for all, ie. United in their decisions. This is the ultimate in democracy, power to the people, for the people, by the people. It is important to recognise this is not power over, which is what the current paradigm and current regimes embrace.

Peace / Health: Peace fits in with the fact it is the Great Law of Peace, so is included first. Basically the Law is around maintaining peace at virtually any cost. If people are willing to work towards what is best for everyone then this is easily achievable. As a last resort a nation (or person) is entitled to use reasonable means protect themselves. Health is related to peace, in that a healthy mind, body and spirit (and emotions!) create a healthy individual. This leads to a healthy society that promotes peacefulness and well being of all individual members of the society.

There is much more of great worth that the Haudenosaunee people had within their Confederacy, which fleshes out the common law and rules. The proof is in the pudding, and the common Law allowed six nations (originally five) to co-exist and put an end to constant warring and cannibalism.

I believe this model can still work. It, however, needs a commitment from those involved to actually live the principles, which I believe can be summarised in terms familiar with Psychosynthesis practitioners.

Self-responsibility is necessary to maintain one’s health and personal power. Being in touch with one’s own needs and emotions, and preferably one’s own Higher Self. One needs to be working towards living their own truth, their own purpose in life. While in line with their Higher Self they will be acting in the best interests of all involved.

One needs to work towards good health, especially emotional health, which is a part of Western Society, especially amongst men, which is in desperate need of healing and renewal. When one is in harmony within they are able to be more in harmony with the external world also.

There has to be a willingness to practice forgiveness and unconditional love of self and others, accepting that we are human and will make mistakes.

The most important thing for inter-personal relationships, whether in partnership, community, or nation is open communication and a willingness to work together to find solutions to problems that meets the needs of everyone best. In Psychosynthesis this is finding the “And”.

Ultimately, I believe it is the only way the world can go if we want to sustain it (and our human race) for any reasonable length of time. At current rates we are serious damaging the planet, and destroying societies and lives through our actions. We need a global shift in consciousness allowing people to move into a new way of thinking where all citizens of nations can genuinely participate in the governance of their people. This is achievable, I do not doubt it, but until (collectively) we are willing to let go of the model of power over and allow a model of self empowerment to be our guiding principle for attaining peace things will not change.

However, on a not so gloomy note, I believe the implementation of any of the principles, even partially, by groups, societies, or nations, will began a process of healing which will allow the necessary changes to take place.

* * *

For more information on Psychosynthesis you can check out the following websites:

• Psychosynthesis Online
• Psychosynthesis Books
• Psychosynthesis – Two Not 2
• The Will Project

No related posts.

The bulk of my research on General Systems Theory has been from the book General Systems Theory – An Introduction by Lars Skyttner [1]. Most of the quoted principles and elements of General Systems Theory and related subjects are from this book. My other main source was Psychosynthesis – A “Systems” Psychology by Molly Young Brown.

On researching the topic of General Systems Theory (GST) I quite quickly came to realise that there are many elements that form important laws and principles regarding systems. Likewise, many people have differing views on exactly which laws and principles are the essential ones. It is the different views, and different models of systems that allow General Systems Theory and Psychosynthesis to sit well together. It has been suggested by the likes of Molly Young Brown that Psychosynthesis could be seen as the Systems model of Psychology. Also, Psychosynthesis has developed into divergent expressions from its early formulation by Roberto Assagioli. Along the way various people have added components of Jungian psychology, Gestalt concepts and practices, and various teachings on co-dependence. As such, Psychosynthesis shows itself to be a highly adaptive system, the core elements remaining, while new ideas and processes being added as required.

General Systems Theory, and Systems Thinking has developed and evolved over time, tracing common ideas and concepts back to early philosophies. In more modern times, Operational Research struck me as an important forerunner to General Systems Theory. Operational Research can be summed up in three main elements (my comments follow each point):

• It is not necessary to understand everything, rather to have it under control. Ask what happens instead of why.

This fits in extremely well with Psychosynthesis therapy. We don’t need to understand everything going on in our life, but we need to have a certain amount of control that allows us to function to a level we are happy with. As a therapist, this principle is even more relevant. We do not need to understand everything about a client. We don’t need to ask why they are angry, or sad, rather what was going on to make them like that? Asking why is something that keeps us in our thinking space and cut off from our emotions and learning to actually understand. I will expand on this a little more latter when I discuss General Systems Theory and its similarities to Psychosynthesis with regard to looking at the relationship between things.

With regards to having things under control, Psychosynthesis, through the process of identification and dis-identification allows a person to gain more control of their life. It is considered that whatever we identify with we are control by, and whatever we can dis-identify with we can control. By the process of identification and dis-identification we can begin to find out what is happening, gain some understandings, and achieve a certain amount of control in our lives.

In my own process: this is something I’ve begun to accept and work with, not asking endless questions, or weighing up all the options in my head. A mentor of mine once described the process of over-rationalising and over-intellectualising everything as “head wanking” which is quite a suitable analogy. It doesn’t really achieve anything, although may lead to a measure of excitement (in this case in one’s head). It is not grounded in reality or living in the now. It may provide self-pleasure to think about one’s intellectual capacity and achievements but it tends to solve nothing (and often achieves nothing).

Likewise, learning to dis-identify from feelings, emotions, body, and mind, allows me to find a calm and centred space where I am not at the mercy (so to speak) of stormy emotions or constant chatter within my head.

• Do not collect more information than is necessary for the job. Concentrate on the main consequences of the task, the small details may rest in peace.

The collection of endless amounts of information, to me, fits in with the analytical, rational, logical, thinking parts of a person. Trying to find out all the information surrounding a task ends up becoming mindlessly time consuming. A certain amount of information is necessary to discover what is required. In Psychosynthesis the main consequences could be seen as our feelings. If we concentrate on our feelings, and only gather enough information to get a sense of what was or is going on that is causing us to feel a particular way, we can indeed leave the small details to rest in peace. We can follow a path of the feelings, considering them as suppling the bulk of the important information, and pad it out with enough description to get an understanding of what relationships between things are causing the various states of being to arise.

Likewise, I believe this fits in with a bottom-up approach, rather than top-down. An organic process can arise where the base (roots) is built and the overall structure is built upon this (trunk) and branches out as required (branches / growth).

• Solve the problems of today and be aware that pre-requisites and solutions soon become obsolete.

This fits in very well with the concept of being present (living in the ‘Now’). Essentially we need to take care of problems that are affecting us at the moment. In our Psychosynthesis therapy sessions we generally start looking for an entry point of something that is happening at present (rather than use the thinking processes to find something from the past to work on, which may lead to avoidance of what is actually more important). We also constantly update our information and focus by asking what feelings are present throughout the course of a session (or what we are feeling in response to any given situation in our day to day life).

Psychosynthesis also teaches that just because something once worked, and was our chosen solution, it doesn’t imply it will work in the future or continue to meet our needs. In fact, it is the failure of repeated patterns and beliefs of our sub-personalities that we often find ourselves unhappy, or worse still, in crisis. This is because sub-personalities only take into account one need and generally have very limited scope for meeting that one need. These patterns and beliefs were generally started and made fixed and inflexible when we were very young (generally under the age of 7 or 8 years old). Sub-personalities may have met our needs, as children, but as we have grown into adulthood we often find that the solutions they offer are obsolete, and not in line with what are present day problems are.

In my own process: I have now done a reasonable amount of work with sub-personalities. I have learned that many of my past actions, and the motivations behind them, have been failing me for years, and worse still leading me into crisis. My biggest learning of recent is about an unrecognised Achiever sub-personality that means I over-commit myself trying to take on too many things and achieve too much. This is repeatedly leading me into ill health now, leaving me feeling drained and out of energy. It is by being aware that the old solutions, offered in the main by our sub-personalities, are obsolete that I’ve learned to find new ways to meet needs, and learn to recognise what my needs actually are!

An important similarity between Psychosynthesis and General Systems Theory is illustrated in a quote from Skyttner’s book: “Systems thinking expands the focus of the observer, whereas analytical thinking reduces it.”

This is to me a very important part of Psychosynthesis. Our aim is to expand the field of consciousness, to allow us to better understand the various aspects of the sub-conscious and how they affect us. There are two main ways that Psychosynthesis can assist someone in expanding their focus. The first is via the process of dis-identification. Once we have stripped away our identification with the thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations surrounding our state of being, or stepped outside of our sub-personalities into the self (or another sub-personality) through dialoguing we are able to begin to see a bigger picture. This is expanding even further through contact with the Higher Self, which we use to see the bigger picture from a holistic point of view, outside of the duality and subjective experiences of our sub-personalities.

I believe that it is analytical thinking that keeps us trapped in our problems, and stifles our growth. In therapy, it can lead to an awareness of what our problems are, but seldom, it seems, able to truly see the bigger picture, and find a holistic solution to allow us to grow and move on. This to me is the downfall of psychoanalysis. It has the risk of keeping one trapped within the logical confines of the thought processes, where everything seems pretty much black and white. There is little scope for true creativity or expanding the focus to find a holistic solution outside of what is already known through analysis.

Skyttner also writes: “Synthesis does not create detailed knowledge of a system’s structure. Instead it creates knowledge of its function (in contrast to analysis). Therefore, synthesis must be considered as explaining while the scientific method must be considered as describing.”

This illustrates a very important difference between synthesis and analysis. I believe that Psychosynthesis, through its various processes, allows us to explain the things we need to understand. Bringing about an understanding is very important, whereas, to me describing something leaves us with knowledge only. In the Qabala the sphere of knowledge is pretty much an illusionary sphere. It is located below the supernal (transpersonal) spheres where wisdom and understanding reside.

Another important similarity between General Systems Theory and Psychosynthesis is found in the use of analogy. Skyttner relates that “analogies are explanations done by relating something not yet understood to something understood” and that this can be promoted to achieve integration. Psychosynthesis makes extensive use of analogy and metaphor to allow us to work on a symbolic level within the sub-conscious. For instance, the process involved finding an “And” (synthesis between polar opposites) can be best related through analogies. Even describing the “And” process we can show that it is set apart from “Either” / “Or” logic. For instance we could illustrate the “And” principle by giving two statements:

1. You can have either a piece of cake or a biscuit.
2. You can have a piece of cake and a biscuit.

People tend to understand this quite easily. We can then set about with further analogies to what we are trying to achieve within the sub-conscious with a further example of finding an “And” within a group of people:

Imagine a group of people attending a workshop. The facilitator asks what time people would like to take an hours lunch break at, and no consensus is forthcoming. So, the facilitator says, well, how about we take an half hour break now, and another half hour break later? In our imaginary example here, people are agreeable to it, so an “And” has been found.

So, now, having established an analogy for the “And” principle, we can begin to explain how the “And” can be used to synthesise opposites within our psyche. A diagram can be drawn to give a visual analogy to the principle:

By drawing the triangle, we have given a visual analogy that the “And” can be seen as a point of intersection between the “Either” / “Or” options. We can further go on to explain that the “And” can be the best parts of the options, or it can be something entirely new outside of our current knowledge of the matter.

What is important to convey is that the “And” has effectively widened our focus and brought about a synthesis which transcends the limits we faced with the “Either” / “Or” options.

In my own process: Analogy is important to me. Analogy helps explain things by showing the relationships between something unrelated. To help me understand sub-personalities I was once given the analogy of a captain and his ship. The captain can be seen as the self, and the sub-personalities as the crew. If the captain is not in control then the sub-personalities are basically in a state of mutiny and will hijack the ship to try to meet their own ends.

Another important systems thinker mentioned by Skyttner is Hegel (1770-1831). The important points of Hegel’s in relationship to Systems are as follows:

• The whole is more than the sum of the parts
• The whole defines the nature of the parts
• The parts cannot be understood by studying the whole
• The parts are dynamically interrelated or interdependent

This fits in well with the Psychosynthesis concept of the psyche as represented by Assagioli’s Egg Diagram. A person is more than just a sum of memories. A person is more than their thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, and body (as recounted in the Disidentification Exercise). The Higher Self, which can be seen as the pattern behind our being, defines the nature of the whole and ultimately this defines how the parts are through life experiences guided along a personal path of self-growth via the Higher Self. We cannot understand our sub-personalities, emotions, thoughts, feelings or bodily state via looking at the whole person, but we can see that each is interrelated and interdependent. There is a constant interplay (often given an analogy of a dance) between such things as our feelings, our sub-personalities, and even our relationships with other people and beings.

Hegel is also well known for his dialectic process, which has a lot in common with synthesis and the “And” principle. Hegel used the terms thesis, antithesis and synthesis. He believed all that the human mind always moved in a process of contradiction and reconciliation. This started at an initial belief, moved to it’s polar opposite, and was ultimately transcended by a higher conception that involves (in part) both of the opposites. In turn, this synthesis becomes the new thesis for finding an antithesis to achieve yet another synthesis.

This is most echoed in Psychosynthesis with sub-personality work, where the weaker, polar opposite of a sub-personality is found, and the two worked with to achieve a synthesis (“And”) between the two. It is acknowledged that at some point this new sub-personality will be worked with, it’s polar opposite found, and synthesised.

Skyttner states that “in General Systems Theory on of the basic assumptions embraces the concept of order – an expression of man’s general need for imaging his world as an ordered cosmos within an unordered chaos. A consequence implicit in this order is the presumed existence of a law of laws which in turn inspired the name of the theory.”

Psychosynthesis is a system and model by which we can view and understand an ordered inner cosmos while still acknowledging and recognising what we currently perceive as unordered or chaotic. The processes of Psychosynthesis can in-turn allow chaotic and unordered inner parts to come together via synthesis and become more ordered and functional (for us). A lot of this I believe has to do with expanding the focus of one’s inner world.

A good analogy I once read on the topic of self-discovery was comparing understanding the self with observing the Sun by watching a mirror on the ground, and never looking at the sky. The focus of the mirror only allows a certain amount of information to be understood. For instance on cloudy days the Sun cannot be observed at all, so it appears that this thing (the Sun) is a rather chaotic thing which only comes and goes in some unknown pattern. However, if our focus is expanded, and we actually turn to face the Sun, we may observe many more things, and likewise, from a higher vantage point (analogous on an inner level with connection with the Higher Self) one may observe that the Sun is present whether or not the sky is cloudy, and perhaps from a higher perspective again (of the whole galaxy) one sees that the Sun is actually the central point and it’s rising and falling through our sky is in fact illusionary; that in fact the change in the position and transit of the Sun is caused by the rotation and orbit of the Earth instead.

Skyttner gives the currently accepted principles of General Systems Theory as having derived in the main from Ludvig von Betanlanffy (1955) and Joseph Litterer (1969) and several others. They are summarised by Skyttner as follows (with my commentary under them):

• Interrelationship and interdependence of objects and their attributes – Unrelated and independent elements can never constitute a system.

Psychosynthesis looks at the individual and society, as both have relationships with each other. Psychosynthesis principles can be used to explain interactions between individuals as well as the inner relationships and dependencies.

In my own process: To me, it is this recognition of relationship and interdependence that has been one of the most insightful and useful things in my own self-growth. I find that a recognition that we are all in relationship to each other (within groups, society, and nations) is important to realise. We are social animals. There is also a recognition, for me, that we need to have healthy inner relationships (between parts of our psyche) to have healthy relationships in the outer world.

• Holism - Holistic properties not possible to detect by analysis should be possible to define in the system.

Psychosynthesis considers many properties within the psyche (and the group mind) that other psychologies doesn’t. The best example would be the concept of the Higher Self. While it is possible to increase the connection with the Higher Self through various techniques and construction of new beliefs, many psychologies would just deny the possibility from the outset, as there is no supporting data there to start with. This leads on to the point that many transpersonal qualities may be unknown from the start, and only present themselves when the focus is expanded and the bigger picture considered. The Higher Self, in many ways is a holistic property of the individual. It encompasses the entire individual, and gives rise to new properties not observed within the parts – the transpersonal qualities. These include such things as reconciliation of opposites (the “And” / synthesis), and unconditional love and forgiveness. These qualities can in turn be used within the other parts of the psyche to achieve integration, change and growth.

• Goal seeking – Systematic interaction must result in some goal or final state to be reached or some equilibrium point being approached.

Psychosynthesis tends to not promote what many self-development or psychological systems would consider goal setting. This is partly semantic, as there are goals within Psychosynthesis, such as the synthesis of sub-personalities. However, the goals tend to be conceptual in nature rather than a fixed outcome, thereby allowing freedom and flexibility for the outcome to manifest in an appropriate way for the individual.

Again, the reaching of an equilibrium point could be considered to be the “And”. A point of synthesis is reached, which in turn can become the starting point for a new pattern to emerge and eventually be transformed or transcended.

I consider it import to reiterate one of the statements from operational research, to “solve the problems of today and be aware that pre-requisites and solutions soon become obsolete.” So while the goal is to solve the problem, there is no fixed solution that is trying to be achieved (which may be a wild goose chase).

An example of a non-fixed goal for society could be the discovery or manifestation of a new, efficient, clean, and safe form of energy. A fixed goal would be the creation of a water-powered motor, which could potentially turn into a fruitless goal, or unachievable with current understandings. To the contrary, it may also become the end solution if the non-fixed goal path had been taken.

Other goals within Psychosynthesis, depending on how much the individual chooses to undertake, include finding unfolding one’s life purpose. Again, this isn’t fixed, and can change, given that what one needs to be doing is what one’s Higher Self needs one to be doing at that time.

Within a therapy session the goal could be stated to be bringing about some shift of change in the individual, at very least giving them a little insight into one of their issues or problems. The goal of on going therapy sessions is to help the person find their centre (Self, or ‘I’) and perhaps find connection with their Higher Self (in some form) to allow them to become empowered to overcome issues for themselves. This again is highly flexible, and is not about a planned, step-by-step, goal.

In my own process: I find it a relief not to set myself virtually unachievable goals! I believe that our needs are best met by finding our centred space (the Self) and being aware of our emotions and feelings, and acting from this space. By being in the Self, we are open to the flow of energy, information and guidance from our Higher Self, which allows us to make better decisions than simply relying on the known facts. I also believe that trying to dis-identify with the outcome and making a decision but accepting that the best outcome will come from it, rather than a set outcome opens life up to be a wonderful, exciting place full of mystery and learning. There is less disappointment, because I am not identified with the outcome and full of desire for it. I may desire the attainment of a concept, but I will remain open to what the actual outcome is. For instance, I may decide I need employment to earn some money to pay the bills. But I will be open to what comes up, not fixed on working in the computer industry, or refusing to be a factory worker. My current job is something I’d never considered in the past, filing records, but it pays as well as my last job as a computer technician and I am in a reasonably harmonious work environment (from my own perspective).

• Transformation process – All systems, if they are to attain their goal, must transform inputs into outputs. In living systems this transformation is mainly of a cyclical nature.
• Inputs and outputs – On a closed system the inputs are determined once and for all; in an open system inputs are admitted from its environment.

These two points overlap to a greater or lesser extent with what I have to say next, so will be covered together.

This again fits very well with Psychosynthesis, which after all is about transformation via synthesis. A specific transformation process integral to Psychosynthesis teachings is “The Will”. The Will is the part that transforms choice into action, and again is best illustrated via a descriptive analogy:

Hold your hand out in front of you. Think about dropping it, and what it will feel like. Make the choice to drop your hand. Visualise dropping your hand back to your side. Imagine that it is by your side again. Now, drop your hand.

As is illustrated (and you can try it for yourself to get a feel for it) the process of making thinking about doing some, choosing to do something, and even visualising something does nothing without a transformation process, which in Psychosynthesis is defined as Will.

Another important transformation process in Psychosynthesis is the process by which we interact with our environment in general. Assagioli wrote that the process goes from Sense, Feel, Think to Act, showing a process by which inputs to our senses (and inner sensations) give rise to feelings, which in turn we can think about, before going into output mode and acting.

In a more modern expression of Psychosynthesis, the process is changed slightly, to Sense, Feel, Act, then Think. To me, this fits better with the process of an open system, as Think becomes a process of feedback into the system to update our actual knowledge (more a reflective process of analysis once action has already occurred).

So a brief description of this transformation process becomes:

Inputs:

Senses (hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling) and Inner Sensations

Processing:

Feelings and emotions arise from the senses and sensations

A choice is made dependant on how we are feeling

The process of The Will is invoked (a subsystem)

Output:

Action in accordance with our choice

Feedback:

We reflect on how the choice and action has affected us, and whether it met out needs. This may lead us into other processes, such as working with the Higher Self, to discover ways which would better meet out needs.

An example is we have the sensation of hunger pangs, which give rise to us feeling hungry. We make the choice to eat an apple and go ahead and do so. We then consider whether or not that has cured our hunger, or do we want to eat something else.

• Entropy – This is the amount of disorder or randomness present in any system. All non-living systems tend toward disorder; left alone they will eventually lose all motion and degenerate into an inert mass. When this permanent stage is reached and no events occur, maximum entropy is attained. A living system can, for a finite time, avert this unalterable process by importing energy from its environment. It is then said to create negentropy, something which is characteristic of all kinds of life.

Psychosynthesis recognises a cyclic process of life. While life can be sustained for a period of time, and maybe extended via healthy living (taking care of one’s bodily, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs), eventually this causal (personal) life comes to an end. So while the process may be unavoidable, life is finite, and something that we can learn to accept and cherish rather than fear and try to avoid.

For some within Psychosynthesis and Transpersonal Psychologies it is considered that it is only the lower, personal, parts of the psyche that are in fact transitory in nature, and the transpersonal parts of us, such as our Higher Self, will remain after our current existence is over.

Whether or not this is accepted, the processes of unfolding one’s Self through Psychosynthesis means a recognition of the finite time we have in this incarnation, and therefore leads to being able to work with this knowledge to fulfil our life’s purpose.

• Regulation – The interrelated objects constituting the system must be regulated in some fashion so that its goals can be realised. Regulation implies that necessary deviations will be detected and corrected. Feedback is therefore a requisite of effective control. Typical of surviving open system is a stable state of dynamic equilibrium.

I have covered the process of feedback above. However, as far as regulation of the individual goes, Psychosynthesis has much to offer. Via working with a process such as the “And” one can start to achieve equilibrium between the various parts of the Psyche. Becoming more aware of one’s Self and in touch with feelings and emotions allows a greater degree of regulation within the psyche. Feedback could be considered discovering (by whatever process is worked with at the time) what needs are not being met, or could be better met by finding new ways to meet them. Feelings can be considered the most reliable for of feedback we receive (on an inner level) as they instantly alert us to what is going on. Thinking on the other hand, can be a good method of feedback for reflecting and mulling over what has been going on. Thinking is limited however in that we are limited to known facts. To go beyond this we need to go back to the feeling level, and work with the energies associated with the Higher Self to gain an holistic understanding of what is going on, and what we need to be doing to best meet all our needs (rather than meeting only one or few needs).

• Differentiation – In complex systems, specialised units perform specialised functions. This is a characteristic of all complex systems and may also be called specialisation or division of labour.

It can be easily recognised within Psychosynthesis that there is a division of the psyche, as a complex system. Various distinct areas are defined, such as the body, mind and emotions. Various parts of the psyche are defined as the Self, The Higher Self, and sub-personalities. The body for instance contains most of our sensory inputs, and contains the brain, considered to be where our mind exists. The mind, for the main part, provides us with our rational faculties of thought and reason, as well as the lower instinctive parts and drives. Within the individual there are also the feelings and emotions which have importation specialised roles, alerting us to what is currently going on for us. For example, if someone is encroaching on our space, and overstepping our boundaries we may feel angry, or perhaps frightened, depending on the specific circumstances. This is separate from our thoughts, as logically we may be thinking, “but I shouldn’t feel angry (or afraid)”. Perhaps we have children, and they are intensely seeking our attention, running around, being noisy and jumping on us. We are trying to prepare a meal, and become angry when they won’t settle down and allow us to do the work we have chosen to do. So our specialised area of emotions says “Boundary violation… switch on Anger”. On the other hand, our mind has a different set of data, and we say to ourselves, “but they are just kids, I shouldn’t be feeling angry with them, they’re just playing”. I use this only as an illustration of the different specialised facultie, and won’t attempt to unravel or explain the situation or what could possibly be done to actually solve it!

• Equifinality and multifinality – Open systems have equally valid alternative ways of attaining the same objectives (divergence) or, from a given initial state, obtain different, and mutually exclusive, objectives (convergence).

This state is something else I believe relates to some import areas of Psychosynthesis. For example, being open to possibilities and creative solutions via the Higher Self, Psychosynthesis recognises that there are many equally valid alternative ways of attaining something. These will vary from person to person, or from time to time, dependant on any number of factors and the choices we make at any given time.

As for obtaining different and mutually exclusive objectives from an initial state, this would fit well with the creation of sub-personalities within the psyche. Sub-personalities come about to meet a need, and develop around one single belief which becomes more and more fixed over time due to repeated experiences with trying to meet the need. Sub-personalities tend to be mutually exclusive as they attempt to meet only one need, the only way they know how, at the exclusion of any other sub-personality. They always have a polar opposite, with one sub-personality being more dominant and the other suppressed or repressed or just under-developed and ‘weak’.

It is the up to the processes mentioned above to work through what is needed to best meet all needs, the recommend way being via working with the Higher Self to find one of the many creative solutions!

The most important factor between General Systems Theory and Psychosynthesis I found was the defining of a system as things and how they relate to each other. In Psychosynthesis we talk about the relationship between Self and other, as well as the inner relationships between the parts of the psyche. On the level of looking at personal relationships, groups, societies, cultures and humanity itself, the relationship between beings is for me one of the most important aspects to consider. It is perhaps the reason why we are here, to experience things as a human, such as the relationships between ourselves and other beings.

[1] General Systems Theory – An Introduction is no longer in print. It has been replaced by General Systems Theory: Problems, Perspectives, Practice, also by Lars Skyttner.

* * *

For more information on Psychosynthesis you can check out the following websites:

• Psychosynthesis Online
• Psychosynthesis Books
• Psychosynthesis – Two Not 2
• The Will Project

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Because of the number of sites I wished to move (15+) I decided that there must be an easier way. During plugin development I’ve gained the skill and confidence to export and import the entire WordPress database, so I knew it was possible to

The examples shown in this article are for web hosts using CPanel software, such as Hostgator (aff – You can get a 25% discount using this coupon: HGSIGNUP25) and domains registered through GoDaddy (aff – $7.49 .COM domains). You can follow the process outlined below for WordPress installations that were set up by Fantastico, but take note that you will no longer be able to uninstall through Fantastico. The website/domain moved in this example is my English Language Help website.

Assumptions:

1. You are running a self-hosted WordPress website.
2. You are using your own domain name, and you are keeping the same domain name.
3. You have access to a control panel on the web server.
4. You have access to phpMyAdmin (or equivalent).
5. You have access to an online file manager (or equivalent).

Preliminary steps you may wish to take:

• Log in to the WordPress administration area

• Apply any core, theme, and plugin updates.
• Delete any spam comments.
• Delete any logs in plugins such as Redirection by John Godley.
• Run any cleanup and optimisation plugins such as JortK’s WP-Cleanup.

Old Web Server

1. Login in to the control panel on the server where the website is currently hosted.

2. Go to the phpMyAdmin area and select the database for the WordPress installation you are moving.

3. Export the complete database as .sql (you can zip it to make is smaller). e.g. xxx_wpenghelp.sql.zip

4. Go to the File Manager area and select all the files and directories for the website you are moving.

5. Compress these files into an archive, e.g. englishlanguagehelp.info.zip

6. Download this archive of your WordPress installation.

New Web Server

7. Login in to the control panel on the server where the website will now be hosted.

8. Go to the domains area of the control panel and add your domain name, e.g. englishlanguagehelp.info

9. Go to the MySQL Databases or Databases Wizard area and create a new database and user, as per the WordPress Famous 5-Minute Install process.

10. Go to the phpMyAdmin area and select the new database for the WordPress installation you are moving.

11. Import the SQL file, e.g. xxx_wpenghelp.sql.zip.

12. Go to the File Manager area and upload the compressed archive of the WordPress installation files, e.g. englishlanguagehelp.info.zip

13. Extract the files from the archive.

14. IMPORTANT: Edit the wp_config.php file. Add the new database, database username, and database password details.

Domain Registrar Control Panel

15. Log in to your domain registrar’s control panel.

16. Update the name servers for your domain, pointing them to the new web host.

That’s it. Now all you have to do is wait for the changes to the name servers to propagate across the web. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24-48 hours.

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Solution: Open the Adobe Premiere project file in a text editor such as Notepad++. It is actually an XML document.

Then do the following search and replace:

Find: <FieldProcessing>0</FieldProcessing>
Replace: <FieldProcessing>2</FieldProcessing>

Save the file, and the project is now set to “always deinterlace”.

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I recently found this deck of playing cards for sale in a ‘dollar’ store here in New Zealand. So while the cards pass the Chinese ‘Engrish’ test, there is a far bigger problem. Can you pick what it is?

(front)

(back)

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Ok, day one with the new phone went well. I need to get used to the onscreen keyboard, and I have found a few annoyances  related to specious apps. Aside from that, it is easy to use and handy for checking email over the wifi network.

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