Conversations For Transformation: Essays Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

Conversations For Transformation

Essays By Laurence Platt

Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

And More

On Getting Younger

Alston Park, Napa Valley, California, USA

February 11, 2018
"Years fell from his face."
... Professor William Warren "Bill" Bartley III, Werner's official biographer, in chapter nine called "True Identity" in part III, "Transformation", of "Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man - The Founding of est"

"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."
... Roger McGuinn and The Byrds performing Bob Dylan's My Back Pages

"Then he waited, marshaling his thoughts and brooding over his still untested powers. For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next.
But he would think of something."
... Arthur C Clarke embodying Star-Child in the closing words of the grand finale of "2001: A Space Odyssey"
This essay, On Getting Younger, is the eleventh in a group of twelve embodying ideas from Movies: It is also the third in a trilogy on Healing:

In an infamous conundrum from physics, it's postulated that if we leave Earth traveling at the speed of light, we'd return before we left  - in other words, we'd get younger. Since there's still a ways to go before we'll routinely commute to work over the Golden Gate Bridge at the speed of light, the conundrum remains a postulate only. In the absence of lightspeed travel, getting older is 1,000% assured, getting younger is impossible, and I'd have zip to say in this essay. But if we look at how we colloquially  consider being young, and how we colloquially consider getting older, and what we colloquially consider is s'posed  to happen as we get older, then if we bring transformation to bear on what's s'posed to happen as we get older, getting younger isn't only possible:  it's plausible, likely, and it's even to be expected.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke Inspired by The Sentinal by Arthur C Clarke © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - 1968
Star-Child in 2001: A Space Odyssey - The Movie
As a young person I (like any young person, I assume) developed my own frames of reference (opinions, attitudes, interpretations etc) all of which were consistent with my worldview, and with which I was righteously satisfied. I had already assumed the whole idea is for a young person to develop all the above (ie it's incumbent with growing up). What I didn't get until much, much  later was I'd laid down the frames of reference and worldview I developed, over and on top of an open, unprejudiced  way of being with the world. In other words, my carefully sussed out  frames of reference and worldview actually got in my way of, then totally shut down, my ability to see the world openly.

With transformation comes the startling ability to remember our frames of reference and worldview are self-created. In other words, with transformation comes the ability to not remain stuck with any particular frame of reference or worldview, since they were all arbitrarily self-created anyway. The world can then be seen, once again, in an open, unprejudiced way - through the eyes of a child  if you will. Isn't that a near textbook-definition of getting younger?

The impacts of our self-created frames of reference and worldview, are also physical  shapers - which is to say they have a direct correlation with our physical being (that's no surprise actually, since they take root and are stored in our bodies), altering not only our posture  (which is sometimes more than painfully obvious) but our health as well - the notion of which, if not already fully included in contemporary medicine, is at least considered by it to be a major factor contributing to disease.

The impact of transformation on health and posture, without any effort or stretch of the imagination, is (the only word which is appropriate here) miraculous. I'm not being overly dramatic either: it's simply the stone-cold truth. By now it's no secret that transformation impacts, interferes with, and interrupts factors which inhibit radiant health, and which accelerate growing older. This impact, interference, and interruption in turn, promotes health and growing younger.

I'll be sixty eight this year. Both my eyesight and my hearing are getting younger. No, really they are! I no longer need reading glasses in the way I always needed them. Until recently, I was fully resigned to wearing reading glasses to read anything. One day a text message beeped in. Without thinking, I flipped open my phone, and read it. Just like that. It took me a full minute to realize I had read it without wearing my reading glasses. After a classic double-take, I said "Wait a minute  ... no reading glasses? Wow!". I've had a spontaneous 80% recovery of reading vision. I've had a similar experience with hearing. Some years ago I acquired hearing aids (I needed them) diligently replacing their batteries weekly. A few months ago when their batteries died, I forgot to replace them. Three more weeks went by before I even realized their batteries were dead. I've stopped using hearing aids. I've had a spontaneous 85% recovery of hearing. It seems both my eyes and my ears are getting younger. Here's my question: could the metaphysical  affects of transformation resulting from us opening ourselves acutely to possibility, have a bodily  counterpart in opening both our eyes and our ears acutely to the physical universe and the world?

Wait! Is that even possible?  Colloquially, this getting younger  may be what's not s'posed to happen as we're getting older. Regardless, it's happening anyway. And I wonder (more to the point): through the eyes of a child, wouldn't this indeed be what's really  s'posed to happen as we're getting older? I mean wouldn't it?

There's more: there's the way we listen as we get older. As for the possibility of it (listening) getting younger, first tell the truth about listening: you've stopped listening, you don't listen, you've never listened, and you never will listen, yes?

<aside>

Prior to the onset of transformation, it's likely you only listened that which you're already hearing.

This distinction epitomizes the already always listening. The already always listening is the subject for another conversation on another occasion.

And if you think that's a typo which should be corrected to say "your" already always listening or "my" already always listening or "our" already always listening rather than "the" already always listening, no that's not it: the already always listening isn't personal.

<un-aside>

With transformation comes the possibility of really listening, arguably for the first time ever. Do you remember the way you listened bed-time stories? Wide-awake? Wide-open?  Enthralled? Alert? Fully engaged? Man! You listened so attentively that new worlds  showed up for you, yes? That's listening through the ears  of a child.

It's what's available with transformation. This is the possibility of getting younger.

Background soundtrack: Johann Strauss: The Blue Danube Waltz - wait for 5.24M download

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