Simultaneity
Simultaneity
Lion Goodman
Yes, at this very moment
there are women in labor,
babies being born
children dying of starvation,
and laughter.
Oceans are crashing on a thousand shores
the sun is glaring down on deserts and glaciers
the moon is full, and new.
Animals are prowling for food,
fires are raging
it is raining.
At this very time,
uncountable plants are growing, flowering, seeding, and dying.
Insects are buzzing, mating, feeding, flying and crawling.
Sands are shifting in the hot desert winds.
A trillion lives are being lived right now, each one unique, just like the others.
All beings are breathing,
in and out, simultaneously,
out and in…
Zen monks are sitting in the here and now,
Priests are praying for our salvation,
and mystics are holding the world together with their concentration.
Every human activity is happening now:
healing the sick, teaching the young, gathering food, drinking water,
creation and destruction
cooking and eating
crawling and running
watching and waiting
fighting and hoping.
Tools are made and used to carve raw matter into forms.
Earth is moved. Calls are made.
Goods are made and packaged, sold and stored, shipped and stored, bought and used, tossed and buried once again within the earth.
Food is cooking over fires of wood, of dung, of coal, of gas,
of electrical heat, of nuclear fuel rods generating steam.
Great tall trees are being felled right now,
Cattle are grazing
Sheep are giving birth to new lambs for the slaughter.
Billions of chickens are laying eggs
Birds of a feather are flocking together.
Blackberries are being picked right now,
placed in bowls and baskets,
staining fingers, mouths and aprons.
And thousands of couples are coupling right now
as I write and as you read,
Rocking with the passion and the urgency of life upon life.
People are dying now,
some in pain and some in peace.
In every moment there is suffering –
mountains of pain, the cries and whispered sobs,
the lonely and alone.
And always, there is laughter somewhere,
pleasure and peace.
A new idea is appearing for the very first time upon this blue ball,
and thousands of ideas are blooming anew, as if for the first time, in new minds.
Each of the trillion beings who are awake right now feels their own life as if it is the most important – and they are right.
What will you say the next time someone asks, “What’s happening?”
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Course Management
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The Four Gateways
This course draws on many teachings from a wide range of sources in order to offer a pathway of learning and growth that will lead to a more fulfilling life.
We draw on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to help form the basic structure of this course. Maslow’s Hierarchy (also known as his Pyramid) describes needs shared by everyone from physiological needs for survival to self-actualizing needs for self-expression and manifesting a sense of purpose.
The course is presented in four sections that progressively address needs at each level and provide teachings, tools and exercises that help deepen participants understanding of themselves and how they can transform themselves to meet these needs. Each section is a gateway to deeper learning and growth.
| Gateway | Name | Purpose | Maslow Level | Key Skills |
| #1 | Waking Up | Develop deeper self-awareness | Safety and Survival | Mindfulness |
| #2 | Cleaning Up | Develop deeper self-acceptance | Community and Connection | Social Skills |
| #3 | Standing Up | Develop healthy self-esteem | Self-Esteem | Emotional Maturity |
| #4 | Showing Up | Manifest self-actualization | Self-Actualization |
Background
In 1943, Abraham Maslow introduced a way of seeing humanity. He was interested in what motivated people and described the essential needs that all people share, the most important of which was the need to survive, to be able to breathe, eat, sleep and simply exist. As I write this in mid-March, 2022, millions of people in Ukraine are simply trying to survive the onslaught of the Russian army. Some are trapped in the city of Mariupol in south eastern Ukraine, surrounded by Russian artillery that has pounded their city into rubble. They have no food, no water, electricity and are desperate to simply survive.
Millions of their countrymen are displaced from their homes and moving westward through Ukraine into the neighboring countries of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. They have lost their homes and their livelihoods but at least they are being offered food and shelter along their way. They feel the chaos in their lives and are desperately seeking safety… a stable place to live, work and get on with their lives.
These two groups of people are existing in the first two levels of Maslow’s Pyramid, the Survival and Safety levels. Once they find a stable place to live, they will restart their lives, reach out to family, friends and fellow countrymen as the connect and build their own community, manifesting what Maslow described in his third level of needs: Connection.
Over time, many will heal the wounds of war and find a meaningful life in a new home. They will seek and find a sense of meaning that will arise from the work he does and the relationships they will build. Maslow described this group as seeking Self-Esteem.
In the Ukrainian war there have been many heroes, but a single person who was a comedian who mocked the president of Ukraine and then became president himself. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become a world-wide hero as he has defied Russia’s Putin and organized a resistance that is irritating Putin more than Luke Skywalker pissed off his father, Darth Vader. Zelenskyy found something within himself that has inspired him to become to become a modern day David to Putin’s Goliath. Zelenskyy has found Self-Actualization, the top level of Maslow’s Pyramid.
This course is about navigating the road-blocks and rubble of your life and helping you along the path to self-actualization.
Next Offering & Cost
The next offering of The Four Gateways will begin on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 6:30 PM Pacific Time. We will meet at the same time every two weeks for a total of ten meetings.
The course costs $750 USD if paid in full before the course begins. If you want to spread the payments over time, you can pay $200 to register and $200 at the beginning of June, July and August for a total of $800.
The enrollment in this offering is capped at 10 participants.
Click Here to register.