The headline on the flyer says:

The META-Physics of Health and Healing

Part of the flyer reads:

“….is sure to challenge even the most astute metaphysician while being delivered in laymen’s terms…”

Uhmm, yes, we like that, and also figure it’s something many (yes, many) in this world need nowadays — a message of self-accountable, self-responsible healing from a guy who talks straight, keeps things refreshingly real, and has no agenda for needing to sound or BE seen under any untouchable spiritual label.

Yep, with Paul Chek… what you see is what you get! He says what he means, and means what he says.

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As Heather and I are about to drive 40-minutes south, on I-5, to Ashland, Oregon, to meet Paul in person and have lunch with him and his business partner, we can’t help but think about the GREAT class of teachers out there who step beyond the boundaries of normalcy and affect change by being blunt, outspoken, and brutally honest about life — their life and the lives of people they guide and counsel.

Paul, and many other candid, no hype, no BS tough love teachers like him (Osho was one as well, by the way) essentially force us to deal directly with our results, and aren’t necessarily the most sought-after authorities on self-empowerment.

Yes, they should be (and I’ll get into that in minute)… but, they’re not!

Why ?

Well, it’s easy, really… the majority of us exploratory humans who look to discover things about ourselves still want to slurp down a few spoonfuls of feel-good Chicken Soup For the Soul caliber insight BEFORE we even think about chewing on the steak of self-accountability and deep spiritual turnarounds.

Let’s face it, even though we know that a few yearly doses of “bad medicine” will cure our own self-induced, hideous habits of self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors, who really amongst us wants the after-taste?

Rose-colored glasses really are great… the world really does look brighter and cheerier through them.

And, maybe — just maybe — we figure if somebody says something like this….

“we’re the sickest, most diseased, and most philosophically inept group of people we’ve ever been… and we’ve gotten comfortable writing and reading about spirituality, instead of doing it…” ( from the top interview clip below )

… the glasses will keep us from being part of that group!

But DO THEY?…

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More Paul Chek interview clips

( click the play arrow TWICE to activate )

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So, instead of wondering what part we may play in such a candid, uncensored assertion, we say to ourselves:

“Nope, ain’t me… not part of that group. I’m forgiving, tolerant. I’m on path of higher-level enlightenment. I’m charming, people love me, and I love them. I stay in the moment and am spiritual because, well, I inspire, enliven, awaken, and make a difference in the world… because I don’t pay attention to depressing, negative, or disharmonious things.”

Yeah, great! Sounds beautiful… but, how’s that working for you? (If this is you, you’ll know it.)

When it comes to the part we play in our own evolution, our own prosperity level, and how much we really hold ourselves accountable for our own RESULTS (i.e., Am I really getting and doing what I say I want to get and do?), I’m reminded of one of the most powerful 3 words I’ve ever heard.

It comes from one of the many featured mentors inside our Multi-Media Manifestation Portal.

This particular mentor, whose name I’ll keep private (our FAQ section explains why we don’t reveal all the names of the mentors archived in our portal), expands on this in detail in his interview with us. So, here, I’ll just give you the three words, and then give you my own commentary on what they could mean:

Behavior Doesn’t Lie!

Yep, think hard about that (read it again several times if need be).

Some teachers say that if you want to change your outer world, dive deep into your inner-world. But, here’s the rub… and what I pretty much feel people like Paul Chek, Randy Gage, Dr. Dov Baron, James Ray, Leslie Fieger, Pete Siegel, and more, have been saying in their conversations with us (hey, what am I doing… I just revealed some of the mentors in our portal! That’s okay, though… because that list doesn’t even scratch the surface of the quantity of interviews waiting for you inside)

[ as it applies to the personal YOU and not the impersonal WE this time ]

You can’t really go inward with honesty UNTIL you first own up to (view with clear lenses or “admit”) the “stuff” that’s going on in your outer world.

To put it another way, neither you, nor I or anybody else, should be diving into the swimming pool of ‘core level transformation’ until you/I/we FIRST take a shower and see the ‘dirt’ falling from our body.

It’s a subtle distinction, but well worth thinking about. Wanting to change your perception to change your reality is one thing, but trying to do it while ‘faking out’ your view of real-world experiences and truth is another.

We only believe what we practice. Anything else is just talk.

And, if we’re not practicing (or living) the exercises and inner-world insight that are passed down to us from teachers we cling onto (some of us in a more clingy guru-ish way than others) — the very same “stuff” that we spout off to others, like we’re some all-knowing powerful seer of wisdom — then we’re not walking our talk.

And, if you’re not experiencing what you’re consciously trying to get… uhmmm, yeah, I see a complete other blog post on that coming down the road

Or, better yet, just dive into the wealth of shocking, controversial, critical-thinking based, brilliant recorded conversations we have waiting for you inside the Multi-media Manifestation Portal.

Speaking of critical-thinking, I’m often asked if I can give an example of just what this kind of skill-set is supposed to look like in action.

The intellectuals in our community certainly understand some of the key points around what it means to confront life.

And, if you’re part of this group of people who like relying on reason and common sense over emotion and wishful-thinking, then you can contrast the critical-thinker with the passive, non-critical thinker.

The latter is:

> The person who takes a simplistic view of the world.

They see things in black and white, as either-or, rather than recognizing a variety of possible understanding. They see questions as yes or no with no subtleties.

> The person who takes takes an egotistical view of the world.

They take their facts as the only relevant ones. They take their own perspective as the only sensible one. They take their goal as the only valid one.

So, swinging this back around to the active, Critical Thinker, you’ll find:

> A person who recognizes emotional impulses, selfish motives, nefarious purposes, or other modes of self-deception.

> A person who does not take an egotistical view of the world.

They are open to new ideas and perspectives. They are willing to challenge their beliefs and investigate competing evidence.

> A person who is incredibly open-minded.

They evaluate all reasonable inferences; consider a variety of possible viewpoints or perspectives; remain open to alternative interpretations; accept a new explanation, model, or paradigm because it explains the evidence better, is simpler, has fewer inconsistencies or covers more data.

This is just the short and skinny overview!

There’s much more that can be written about this. So, in the interest of wrapping this post up and closing out the thoughts of its title ( “Counterculture Heroes or… ?” ), let me give you a VIDEO example of a Critical-Thinker in action.

This is by a man who was cool, smart, dirty, and relentlessly funny.

Most articles, blog posts, and tributes to George Carlin have him labeled in some way or fashion as this irreverent, anti-establishment, foul-mouthed, social renegade.

Sure, those are all very fine and accurate titles and descriptions of him; however, I’d like to give him a little more credit than that and honor him for the impact he really made:

Showing that it’s absolutely okay and effective to be a humanitarian through raw comedy that makes you “think”!

Yes, the bottom-line on George is that he, in my opinion, was the best ’sociology/critical-thinking’ teacher to come along and affect change for a wide audience.

How did such a seemingly grumpy, foul-mouthed man, affect any kind of change worth mentioning?

He used humor to lower your defenses and open your mind, then added penetrating questions (often unstated) to get you to think for yourself. Carlin wasn’t about normal. He was about raw social commentary, civility and ethics.

Yes, his material was funny and exaggerated but, at the same time, came from someplace genuine. You don’t make fun of something unless it bothers you. If it bothers you, that means you care, and caring means you have a level of respect for something which is being anything but irreverent.

And, George really can’t be considered counterculture either, because his material was always about popular culture, always about established society. And a key element about any established culture, idea, dogma, or way of thinking is the need (and right) to critique it. If we’re to improve on anything, we must analyze it, debate it, toss it around some.

George did that very well.

Never was there a man that could make you both laugh, think, and even question the way we look at the world, the words we use, and the little things we know about but still don’t notice… er, at least in the way that good ol’ Carlin made us notice.

Last week, I lost one of my longest standing heroes. I’ll miss him!

“There’s no present. There’s only the immediate future
and the recent past.” - George Carlin

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