How to Get Out of Your Own Way

Register for The Metaphysics of Treating, Livestream Dec. 6

 

by John and Esther Veltheim

"Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon;
How much it can fill your room depends on its windows."
-- Jalalludin Rumi

Once upon a time, or so one of the stories goes, Andronicus of Rhodes, himself a philosopher and Aristotle's editor, was busy creating an anthology of the collected works of Aristotle. On this particular day, some one hundred years after Aristotle's death, Andronicus found himself scouring through a voluminous, untitled manuscript. The only clues he had to a title was Aristotle's reference to "four books, being on 'first philosophy', 'first science', 'wisdom', and 'theology'."

Andronicus was perplexed. Aristotle had given his four books no all-encompassing, defining title. "Where, within his vast body of work, are these books meant to go?" Andronicus decided upon a practical solution. He placed them right after Aristotle's books on Physics and he called them tà metà tà physikà biblía or "the books that come after the [books on] physics." Henceforward, Aristotle's four books became known, collectively as Metaphysics.

Despite Andronicus's simple, practical solution, Roman scholars later misconstrued and mistranslated the Greek to the Latin word "metaphysica" meaning "beyond the physical." Others, seeking to understand the placement of Aristotle's teachings within his anthology decided that metaphysics signifies "those [works] that we study after having mastered the sciences that deal with the physical world." Yet other commentators subscribed to the idea that metaphysics describes "the science of the world beyond nature"--the science of the immaterial.

There is a Cosmological or Special aspect of metaphysics that relates to studies of the nature of time and space; body-mind; causality; free-will; natural theology; change; and so on. And there is what is called General metaphysics which is ontological in focus; the study of being; the first cause of things; things that do not change. The deconstructive principles of BreakThrough make it a system that is ontological in focus. Hence, BreakThrough's byline "from becoming to being."

Not surprisingly, considering this little word's lexical start in life, there exists to this day no universally agreed upon definition of metaphysics. It is a word that evokes both fascination and bewilderment and is prone to colorful and sometimes fear-engendering interpretations. This is one of the reasons why, until now, I have tended to use the generic term philosophy in my classes instead of specifying metaphysics. It has long been clear to me that before I use the word metaphysics, this provocative little word needs a course unto itself; a course dedicated to metaphysics as it relates to our work.

In naming my new course I realized the time has finally come for this word of mysterious origins, itself pointing to mystery, to be given a place in our BodyTalk lexicon. This course is a key one because IBA's entire body of work is rooted in metaphysical principles. This is most especially the case for BreakThrough and the subsequent evolution of BodyTalk and all its modalities.

Essentially speaking, the work you do with BodyTalk defines you as a metaphysician. This sentence, I know, might well wreak havoc in the minds of those of you who have particular religious convictions. If your understanding and connotation of metaphysics is one that conflicts with your religious beliefs, understandably the last thing you want to hear is that your beloved BodyTalk has anything to do with metaphysics. For others, the word "metaphysician" might equally well engender excitement in those of you wanting to give yourself a mysterious, exotic sounding title. And to others, that title might throw you into profound feelings of self-doubt and confusion. "Perhaps I really have no idea what I am actually doing or have been doing all this time!"

These are just some of the reasons I feel it is timely for us to engage in a conversation that puts the mysterious concept of metaphysics into perspective. Because metaphysics has as eclectic an array of definitions as it does connotations, my focus in this course will be to put forward a working understanding of the metaphysical principles that underpin the IBA's evolution and its teachings. I will focus most specifically on understanding metaphysical principles in practical terms as they relate to BodyTalk.

Here are some of the topics I will be covering in terms of The Metaphysics of Treating:

--The metaphysical principles of the Protocol.
--The way the "me" concept becomes the major cause of stress in society, and a major factor in disease and mental anguish.
--Ways to explain and work with the time/space paradox.
--Ways to understand the differences in religion, culture, philosophy, so that there is no conflict.

And here are some of the questions I will be addressing:

--If we don't have free will, then do our actions matter?
--If we are just observing formulas in BodyTalk, are we actually doing anything?
--If changes occur just by truly observing and listening to a person, do we even need to treat them?
--If I was scheduled to do a distance session and forgot, yet the person still felt the shifts, do I still need to do the session? What role am I playing?

IMPORTANT: This is the only time this class will be taught live.

The prerequisite for attending The Metaphysics of Treating is IBA Membership.