Werner Talk PDF

Comments welcome 1 30 May 2013
Harvard Business School Negotiation, Organizations and Markets Research Papers
HARVARD NOM UNIT RESEARCH PAPER NO. 11-067

BARBADOS GROUP WORKING PAPER NO. 11-01
Mastery in Living
What It Takes
(PDF file of PowerPoint Slides)
Originated 16 April 2010, Originally posted 16 January 2011, Updated 30 May 2013
WERNER ERHARD
Independent
werhard@ssrn.com
MICHAEL C. JENSEN
Jessie Isidor Strauss Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, Harvard Business School
mjensen@hbs.edu
JOSEPH J. DIMAGGIO, MD
Director of Research and Development, Landmark Worldwide
jdimaggio@landmarkworldwide.com
FAIR USE: You may redistribute the URL for this document freely, but please do not post the electronic file on the
web. We welcome web links to this document at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1720884
We revise our papers regularly, and providing a link to the original ensures that readers will receive the most recent
version. Thank you for doing this, W. Erhard, M. Jensen, J. DiMaggio.
Versions of some of the material in this presentation are found in a leadership course (Being a Leader and the
Effective Exercise of Leadership: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model) authored by Werner Erhard, Michael
C. Jensen, Steve Zaffron, and Kari Granger. Versions of some of the material presented in this paper are also found
in the consulting and program material of the Vanto Group, and in certain programs offered by Landmark
Worldwide, and are in part based on or derived from the work of an international, interdisciplinary group of
scholars, consultants and practitioners working under the name of The Barbados Group. The ideas and the
methodology created by Werner Erhard underlie much of the material.
Copyright 2010-2013. Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved
Abstract
Note that this paper is a copy of the slides presented in a talk for the general public. That talk
and this paper present a way of accessing life, living, and who one is for oneself, based on
studying masters (e.g., master athletes, master physicists, master physicians, and master
educators).
Like masters of any specialized area, while masters of living are innately ordinary people, they
do perceive and comprehend life (experience life) the world, others, and themselves
differently than most of us do. As a result, they interact with the world, others, and themselves
differently than most of us do. And, it is the way in which they interact with life and with
themselves that makes them extraordinarily effective in dealing with life while enjoying an
exceptionally high quality of life. This paper spells out the way masters of living access life,
living, and themselves, and does so in words that make mastery in living accessible to the rest of
us ordinary people.
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to the following people:

For their support with the writing and development of the slide deck: Sandra Carr, Haley
McNamara Cohn, Miriam Diesendruck, and Gonneke Spits
The Barbados Group (an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars, consultants and
practitioners) for the rigorous questioning of some of the ideas presented here, and for their
important contributions to developing and refining those ideas
A special thanks to the Japanese Graduates of the programs of Landmark Japan for ten years of
in situ (live application) testing, development, and reporting on the long-term impact of the ideas
presented here, without whom this material would never be as fully developed as it is
For their support in the presentation of the ideas as expressed on slides and in effective
interactions with the participants, and in addition with the last three, the highly workable
translation into Japanese: Yamada Shigeto, Jerome Downes, Fukushima Yumi, Chigira Yoko,
and the members of the Landmark Japan Translation Team
The authors are solely responsible for all errors or incompletions in this work.
Disclosure Statement
Jensen has received financial support from the Harvard Business School Division of Research.
Erhard and Jensen are associated with the non-profit Erhard-Jensen Ontological /
Phenomenological Initiative (from which the authors receive no financial benefit other than a
reimbursement of travel expenses when dealing with the Initiatives activities). The purpose of
the Initiative is to stimulate and support research into and the application of the ontological /
phenomenological perspective on human nature and behavior, and the impact of such a
perspective on life, living, and self. Various management consulting and public program delivery
firms (some from which Erhard and Jensen derive a financial benefit) utilize some of the ideas
presented in this paper in their consulting activities or programs. DiMaggio has received
financial support from the division of Research and Development of Landmark Worldwide.
Mastery In Living
What It Takes
From Public Presentations by Werner Erhard

In Tokyo, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Montreal
May, November, December 2010 and August 2011
Authors: Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Joseph J. DiMaggio MD

Originated 16 April 2010, Updated 30 May 2013
FAIR USE: You may redistribute the URL for this document freely, but please do not post the electronic file on the web. We welcome web links to
this document at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1720884
We revise our papers regularly, and providing a link to the original ensures that readers will receive the most recent version. Thank you for doing
this, W. Erhard, M. Jensen, J. DiMaggio.
Versions of some of the material in this presentation are found in a leadership course (Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership: An
Ontological/Phenomenological Model) authored by Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Steve Zaffron, and Kari Granger. Versions of some of the
material presented in this paper are also found in the consulting and program material of the Vanto Group, and in certain programs offered by
Landmark Worldwide, and are in part based on or derived from the work of an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars, consultants and
practitioners working under the name of The Barbados Group. The ideas and the methodology created by Werner Erhard underlie much of the
material.
Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
The Way You And I
Will Work Together
Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 28-May-2013
3 THE WAY WE WILL WORK TOGETHER
What You Hear Tonight

Will Be Mostly All New For You
Because what you hear tonight will be mostly all new
for you, a good deal of what is presented will be
counter-intuitive that is, in conflict with what you
have come to believe. (When what we have come to
believe is shared with most others, it is sometimes
referred to as common-sense e.g., three centuries
ago the belief that the sun goes around the earth.)
Because what we do tonight will be new and quite
challenging, I request that you work along with me.
In other words, please dont just listen. Look for
yourself at what is being said, and think for yourself
about what is said. Please ask questions and make
comments when you have them.
What One Believes Is Not Necessarily True

It is one of our human foibles that we sometimes
believe things that are inconsistent with our actual
experience. That is hard for most people to accept.
Nevertheless, while we are generally unaware of it,
we often take what we strongly believe to be an
actual experience when in fact it is only a strong
belief.
Were we to give ourselves an opportunity to get in
touch with our actual experience (without letting what
we believe color our experience), we would see that
there are cases where what we believe is
inconsistent with our experience inconsistent with
life as life is actually lived.
What One Believes Is Not Necessarily True

Later tonight we will provide you with an opportunity
to discover something that you believe so strongly
that you confuse what you believe with your
experience which experience you will see is
actually contrary to what you believe. And when we
do, it will shock you into a new relationship with life,
and with yourself.
What is presented tonight is not based on belief or
theory, rather it is drawn from life as life is actually
lived, and it is also informed by and consistent with
neuroscience and cognitive science research.
How To Deal With What Is In Conflict With

What You Currently Believe
Because what is being presented tonight will be
challenging, I will read out-loud each of the
sentences on the slides, and I request that as I read
what is said on a slide, you read along with me
silently to yourself.
When you hear something that is counter to what you
believe, rather than dismissing it as nonsense and
simply persisting in what you believe, check it out in
life as life is actually lived to confirm in your own
experience whether it is valid or not. See if what is
presented is consistent with life as you actually live it,
even if it is in conflict with what you currently believe.
Do Not Believe Anything Presented Tonight

When the evening is over, if you cannot personally
confirm in your own life as you actually live life
anything that has been presented, leave it behind.
By contrast, what you have confirmed in your own
experience now belongs to you it is yours. It is not
something you learned from someone else (received
knowledge), rather it is something you have
discovered for yourself.
Glossary Of Terms
On the next few slides

I will explain what is meant
by three of the specialized terms
you will hear tonight.
1. Conversational Domain
2. Way of Being
3. Way of Acting
What Is Meant By The Term
Conversational Domain
And Its Relation To Being A Master
10 GLOSSARY CONVERSATIONAL DOMAIN
What Makes Certain People Extraordinary

There are certain people who seem to be
extraordinarily effective in dealing with the stuff of life
and who enjoy an exceptionally high quality of life.
Most of us believe that there is something extra
special about such people. The truth is that people
who master life are ordinary people just like you and
me.
What Makes Certain People Extraordinary

While people who master life are innately ordinary,
they do see (experience) life and comprehend
(make sense of) life differently than most of us do.
As a consequence, they interact with life the
world, others, and themselves differently than most
of us do.
And, it is the way they interact with life the way
they interact with the world, others, and themselves
that makes them extraordinarily effective in dealing
with life while enjoying an exceptionally high quality
of life.
What Is The Source Of Being Extraordinary

For Such People
What allows such people to experience life (the
world, others, and themselves) differently than most
of us do is that they experience life through a unique
conversational domain.
The world of mastery is constituted by a unique
conversational domain (linguistic domain), from
which a master experiences life, comprehends life,
and interacts with life.
What Is Meant By Conversational Domain

By conversational domain, we mean for example in
the case of a physician,
the kind of specialized terms that are networked
together in a specific way
to form the specialized linguistic domain through
which a physician perceives, comprehends, and
interacts with the human body.
It is the perspective generated by this conversational
domain that is the source of mastery for a physician,
and is required for the expert practice of medicine.
As is obvious from this example, such conversational
domains (linguistic domains) once mastered have
enormous power. Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 21-April-2011
What Is Meant By Conversational Domain

While it might not at first be obvious for you, a
plumber also becomes a master plumber by
perceiving, comprehending, and interacting with the
world of plumbing through a set of specialized terms
(for example, the names of different kinds of pipes,
joining materials, plumbing fixtures, plumbing codes,
and practices) that are networked together in a
specific way to form the conversational domain of the
world of plumbing for a master plumber.
Mastery is a product of having mastered a
specialized conversational domain (linguistic domain)
from which to perceive, comprehend, and as a result
interact with whatever one is a master of.
Being Knowledgeable Versus Being A Master

You and I may understand what we read in
magazines like Scientific American or New
Scientist about physics or cosmology, but to be a
physicist or a cosmologist, we would have to master
1) the set of specialized terms, that are 2) networked
together in a specific way, to form 3) the specialized
conversational domain of physics or cosmology.
In fact, while you or I might be able to follow a given
field, to be a master of anything a master teacher, a
master welder, a master economist, a master auto
mechanic, a master historian, a master musician, in
fact a master of anything you or I would have to
master the conversational domain that constitutes
whatever we are committed to be a master of.
Being Knowledgeable Versus Being A Master

Please do not go past this slide until you are clear
about the example of what makes a person a
physician (or a master of anything); that is, until you
are clear about the following:
What makes a person a physician is the way that
person perceives and comprehends, and as a result
interacts with the human body which way of
perceiving, comprehending, and interacting is the
product of that person having mastered 1) a set of
specialized terms, that are 2) networked together in a
specific way, to form 3) a specialized conversational
domain. This is true not only for a physician, but for a
person who is a master of anything.
The Conversational Domain for

Mastery In Life
As is the case with a master physician or master
plumber, the conversational domain for mastery in
life is also made up of specialized terms that are
networked together in a specific way to form the
linguistic domain through which a master sees,
comprehends, and interacts with life that is, with the
world, others, and himself or herself. That is what
tonight is about.
Tonight is about you creating for yourself the
conversational domain for being a master in life
that conversational domain that allows you to
experience, comprehend, and interact with the world,
others, and yourself, as a master.
Finding What Is Said In Your Own Experience

Tonight I will support you in creating this
conversational domain of mastery for yourself. We
will work together so that you are left actually
dwelling in this new conversational domain in a way
that opens up the possibility of your perceiving,
comprehending, and interacting with life as a master.
In order to accomplish this, it is important that each of
you be able to actually find what we are speaking
about in your own experience. That is to say, dont
just follow and understand what is being said, rather
find what is being said in your own experience so that
what is being said actually belongs to you
otherwise, it is just another theory.
Summary: What Is Meant By

The conversational domain for mastery in life is made
up of
specialized terms that are
linguistic domain through which a master
perceives, comprehends, and interacts with
life
that is, with the world, others, and himself
or herself.
Way of Being
21 GLOSSARY WAY OF BEING
What Is Meant by Way of Being

In this conversation, what is meant by Way of Being
is what is going on with a person internally. It is
made up of some combination of that persons:
1. Mental State (their attitude or state of mind)
2. Emotional State (their feelings or emotions)
3. Bodily State (their body sensations, and internal
bodily functions)
4. Thoughts and Thought Processes (and that
includes memories that might be present)
In other words, a persons Way of Being is
what is going on with them internally in a given
moment or in a given situation.

In any moment, or in any situation, you may not be
noticing (paying attention to) your attitude or mental
state, or your feelings or emotions, or your body
sensations, or your thoughts.
However, if you do take the time to notice (pay
attention to) what is going on with you internally, you
will see that in each moment or in each situation, you
do in fact have some combination of 1) an attitude or
mental state, and 2) feelings or emotions (the
combination of mental and emotional state we
sometimes call our mood), and 3) body sensations,
and 4) thoughts. One of these aspects of what is
going on with you internally may be more present for
you than the others, nevertheless they are all there.
Your Way of Being Is

What Is Going On With You Internally
It is important to remember that in this conversation
what is meant by Way of Being is what is going on
with you internally. Your Way of Being does not
include what is going on for you externally outside
you, out there in the world.
Although you certainly perceive what is going on
outside you, what you perceive is out there in the
world, external to you. For example, when you see
someone, you dont experience them as inside you.
In short, in this conversation your perceptions are not
part of your Way of Being. Your Way of Being is
what is going on with you internally, not what is going
on for you outside you, out there in the world.

It is also important to remember that your Way of
Being is what is going on with you internally moment
to moment, or situation to situation.
While you may have a typical Way of Being, the fact
is that your Way of Being (your mental and emotional
state, your bodily state, and your thoughts) changes
from moment to moment, or situation to situation.
Even though you may have a typical Way of Being
You, no one is always being their typical Way of
Being. If you look into your own experience, you will
see that there have been times you have had a Way
of Being that was not like your typical Way of Being.
And, when that happened, you were probably even
surprised by you being that way.
You Are Not
Who You Know Yourself To Be
26 WHO YOU KNOW YOURSELF TO BE IS JUST A WAY OF BEING
Who You Know Yourself To Be

Is Just A Way of Being
About what we might call your typical way of being,
that is who you take yourself to be, or who you
know yourself to be, that is just a way of being.
While we all think that we are a certain way (the way
we wound up being), that way of being is just the way
of being that we have resigned ourselves to. That is,
we think that we are like this or like that, but the way
we typically are is nothing more than a way of being.
In summary: You are not who you know yourself to
be, that is, you are not who you think you are.
Who you know yourself to be, who you think you
are, is nothing more than a way of being.
The First Critical Point About

Being A Master In Life
One critical point about being a master in life is
getting yourself clear that who you have known
yourself to be is not who you are. Who you know
yourself to be is simply one way of being that is
available to you, and you are not stuck with that way
of being.
In order for tonight to be powerful for you, you must
be willing to question that who you have known
yourself to be, might not be who you actually are.
You must be open to the possibility that you might not
be who you think you are, and be wondering what
you might discover tonight about who you really are.
An Example About Master Leaders From

Leadership Guru Warren Bennis
In interviewing more than 40 top leaders in business and
the public sector over the past three years, we were
surprised to find that all of them young and old were
able to point to L experiences that had transformed them
and had become the sources of their distinctive leadership
abilities. L
For the leaders we interviewed, the crucible experience
was a trial and a test, a point of deep self-reflection that
forced them to question who they were L It required
them to examine their values, question their assumptions,
hone their judgment. And, invariably, they emerged from
the crucible stronger and more sure of themselves and their
purpose changed in some fundamental way. (Bennis and
Thomas, 2002, Crucibles of Leadership p.3 - emphasis added)
Summary: What Is Meant by Way of Being

Your Way of Being is made up of some combination
of your:
1. Mental State (attitude, state of mind)
2. Emotional State (feelings, emotions)
3. Bodily State (body sensations, and internal
bodily functions)
4. Thoughts and Thought Processes (including
memories)
In other words, your Way of Being is
what is going on with you internally from moment to
moment, or situation to situation.
Confirm In Your Own Experience

What We Have Said About Way Of Being
Even if you already understand what we have said
about Way of Being, please dont go on to the next
blue colored slide until you have confirmed in your
own experience that at each moment, whether you
are paying attention to it or not, you have a Way of
Being (something going on with you internally).
Confirm that your Way of Being is composed of 1) a
mental state, 2) an emotional state (the combination
of these two states is sometimes referred to as our
mood), 3) a bodily state, and 4) thoughts (includes
memories).
A suggestion for doing this is on the next two slides.
Try It Out For Yourself

Begin this exercise by sitting comfortably and quietly,
and with your eyes closed. Try to stay that way until
you complete this exercise.
When you are comfortable and quiet, give yourself a
chance to get in touch with your body. If you look
through your body location by location, you will notice
certain sensations in certain locations in your body
that you were not noticing before but were
nevertheless there as a part of your Way of Being
(what is going on with you internally). Do this now.
When you have done this, you have confirmed for
yourself that your Way of Being includes body
sensations. (this exercise is continued on the next slide)
Try It Out For Yourself

Next, notice what thoughts you are having (may
include memories). You will notice that there is an
uninterrupted flow of thoughts, one thought after the
other. Do this now.
You have now confirmed for yourself that your Way of
Being includes thoughts, paid attention to or not.
Next, notice your mood (a combination of your mental
and emotional states, or notice each of these
separately). For some people this takes a bit more
work. If you have any difficulty, ask yourself, What is
my mood, attitude, or outlook on life right now?
You have now confirmed for yourself that your Way of
Being includes mood, or mental and emotional states.
What Is Meant By The Terms
Action or Way of Acting
34 GLOSSARY WAY OF ACTING
What Is Meant by Actions or Acting

A persons Actions or The Way A Person Is Acting
is meant in its everyday meaning. That is, Actions
or Way of Acting means the way a person is
behaving or what they are doing.
We could say that the way a person is acting
(includes speaking) is the way they are dealing with
life (the world, others, or themselves). In fact, your
only way of impacting the world, others, or yourself is
by acting.
Remember that acting includes speaking (this
includes speaking to yourself about yourself), and
speaking also includes what is said by your actions
(as in the saying actions speak louder than words).
Action Is Our Only Access To Impacting Life

As we said earlier about the importance of action:
L it is the way they [masters] interact with life the
way they interact with the world, others, and
themselves that makes them extraordinarily
effective in dealing with life while enjoying an
exceptionally high quality of life.
It is important that you get clear for yourself that your
only access to impacting life is action. The world
does not care what you intend, how committed you
are, how you feel, or what you think, and certainly it
has no interest in what you want and dont want.
Take a look at life as it is lived and see for yourself
that the world only moves for you when you act.
Summary Of The Four
Specialized Terms We Have
Covered So Far
Please note that we will keep summarizing as

we add new terms to the conversational domain
of mastery. Reviewing what has already been
summarized and then adding the new terms is
required to get the new terms fully incorporated
into the conversational domain.
1. What Is Meant By
The conversational domain for mastery in life is made
up of
perceives, comprehends, and interacts with
life
that is, with the world, others, and himself
or herself.
So far we have explicated the following specialized
terms: Conversational Domain, Way of Being,
You Are Not Who You Think You Are, Way of Acting
2. What Is Meant by Way of Being

Your Way of Being is made up of some combination
of your:
1. Mental State (attitude, state of mind)
2. Emotional State (feelings, emotions)
3. Bodily State (body sensations, and internal
bodily functions)
4. Thoughts and Thought Processes (including
memories)
Your Way of Being is what is going on with you
internally from moment to moment, or situation to
situation. (This does not include what you perceive
out there in the world, external to you.)
3. The First Critical Point About

Being A Master In Life
One critical point about being a master in life is
getting yourself clear that who you have known
yourself to be is not who you are. Who you know
yourself to be is simply one way of being that is
available to you, and you are not stuck with that way
of being.
In order for tonight to be powerful for you, you must
be willing to question that who you have known
yourself to be, might not be who you actually are.
You must be open to the possibility that you might not
be who you think you are, and be wondering what
you might discover tonight about who you really are.
4. What Is Meant by Actions or Acting

A persons Actions or The Way A Person Is Acting
is meant in its everyday meaning. That is, Actions
or Way of Acting means the way a person is
behaving or what they are doing.
We could say that the way a person is acting
(includes speaking) is the way they are dealing with
life (the world, others, or themselves). In fact, your
only way of impacting the world, others, or yourself is
by acting.
Remember that acting includes speaking (and that
includes speaking to yourself about yourself), and
speaking also includes what is said by your actions
(as in the saying actions speak louder than words).
What Is The Relation Between The Way
You Act and Your Way of Being?
On the next series of slides

we will discuss
the way in which your Way of Acting
and your Way of Being
are related to each other.
42 WAY OF BEING AND ACTING
Your Way of Acting And Your Way of Being

From moment to moment, your way of acting and
your way of being are consistent with each other.
Said more fully, your actions are consistent with
(are appropriate to) some combination of your
attitude or state of mind, your feelings or emotions,
your body sensations, and your thoughts.
That is, your actions and what is going on with you
internally are consistent with each other. For
example, when you are acting confidently, you are
also likely to be feeling confident. And, when you are
acting with hesitation, you are likely to be feeling
unsure.
Your Way of Being and Acting

As we said, from moment to moment, your actions
and way of being are consistent with each other.
For example, if you are feeling annoyed with your
boss, but you have the thought that it would be unwise
to express your annoyance, your actions (not saying
that you are annoyed) are likely to be consistent with
your thoughts. But, the muscles in your face and gut
are likely to be consistent with your feelings.
As we have said, there will be a consistency between
1) some combination of your mental state, emotional
state, bodily state, and your thoughts, and 2) your
actions.
Confirm For Yourself That Your Way of Being And

Acting Are Consistent With Each Other
While we may notice our way of being before we act
(at least our mood or thoughts), when we act we are
most of the time either so focused on what we are
doing, or on automatic when doing it, that we dont
pay attention to what is going on with us internally
(our Way of Being).
To confirm or not that your Actions and your Way of
Being are consistent with each other, check it out in
your own experience.
Do this by getting in touch with your memory of a
situation in which you acted in some way.
Confirm In Your Memory That Your Way of Being

And Acting Are Consistent With Each Other
If you work at it, you will locate in a memory of acting
some aspects of your internal state that were present
while you were acting in that way. And, you will
notice that some combination of the aspects of your
internal state were consistent with your actions.
An easy example is remembering a time when you
spoke harshly to someone. You should be able to
notice in that memory that while you were speaking
harshly you also felt angry or frustrated.
As we said, your way of acting and your way of being
are consistent with each other.
While Your Way of Being and the Way
You Act Are Consistent with Each Other,
Your Way of Being
Does Not Cause Your Actions
Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 30-May-2011
47 WAY OF BEING DOES NOT CAUSE ACTION
Neuroscience Research: Your Way of Being

That our Actions are consistent with our Way of
Being has allowed most of us to believe that our
Actions are caused by our Way of Being.
That is, most of us believe that some combination of
our attitude or state of mind, and/or our emotions or
the way we feel, and/or our body sensations, and/or
our thoughts (what we decide to do) cause us to act
in the way we do.
However, neuroscience research has shown that our
Way of Being does not cause our Actions.
Neuroscience Research: Your Way of Being

Neuroscience research has shown that the neural
patterns in our brain that give rise to our Way of
Being and the neural patterns in our brain that give
rise to our Actions are always networked together.
(Clancey, 1993, p.5, and Hawkins, 2004, p.157)
That is, our Way of Being and our Way of Acting

come together as though one thing.
If you clasp your two hands together by interlacing
the fingers of one hand with the fingers of the other
hand, you have a metaphor for networked together.
Notice that one hand does not cause the other hand,
and yet they both move together as though one thing.
Decisions to Act Are Not the Cause of Action

We all believe that we act because we decide or
choose to act. That is, we think that we decide
(make up our minds) to act in a particular way, and
that decision causes us to act in that way.
Neuroscience research makes it clear that this simply
cannot be true. (Libet 1993)
For example, in experiment after experiment
neuroscience research has shown that the specific
neural pattern in our brain that gives rise to a
particular action is already activated as a readiness-
potential tenths of a second before we make the
conscious decision to act in that way.
Decisions to Act Are Not the Cause of Action

In other words, the physical action is networked
together with the thought or decision to act that way.
The decision does not cause the action, in your
brain the neural pattern that causes the action and
the neural pattern that causes the conscious decision
to act are networked together that is, they arise
together as though one thing.
Just like the belief that the sun goes around the earth
because it appears that way to us is wrong, the belief
that our Way of Being causes Our Way of Acting
because it appears that way to us is also wrong.
A Fallacy: Your Way of Being

Causes Your Actions
The belief that our attitude or state of mind influences
or causes the way we act is a fallacy.
The belief that our feelings or emotions influence or
cause the way we act is also a fallacy.
The belief that our body sensations influence or
cause the way we act is another fallacy. (The pain
you feel when you put your finger on a hot stove
happens after your nervous system has already
caused you to pull your finger away.)
And finally, the belief that our decisions influence the
way we act is also a fallacy.
What Appears To Be Going On Consciously

Contrasted With What Is Going On In Our Brains
It looks to us like our Way of Being causes our Way
of Acting because when we are in a situation that
calls for action, at a conscious level we have the
thought (decide) to act in some way, and then we act.
This makes it look to us like the decision comes
before the action. That is what leads us to believe
that our Way of Being causes our Way of Acting, and
that belief is so strong it makes it difficult for many
people to consider anything contrary to that belief.
However, what is going on in our brain that generates
our conscious thought to act and generates our
physical action happens in a very different way than
the way it appears to us at a conscious level.
What Is Going On In Our Brain

When we are (our brain is) confronted by a situation
that calls for action, our brain activates at an
unconscious level a readiness-potential neural
pattern for action that is the neural pattern that will
cause the action we will wind up taking, and our brain
activates this readiness-potential neural pattern for
action tenths of a second before activating the
neural pattern that causes our thought or decision
(way of being) about acting in that way. This has
been confirmed and reconfirmed many times in
neuroscience research starting with Benjamin Libet in
1993.
What Is Going On In Our Brain

But, because our brain fires the pattern of neurons
that causes our conscious awareness of a decision to
act before it fires the already existing readiness-
potential pattern of neurons that causes our action, it
appears to us as though the decision has come
before the action. This leaves us with the illusion that
we act because we decide to act.
In other words, the neural pattern that will cause you
to act in the way you wind up acting has already
been formed as a readiness-potential neural pattern
tenths of a second before you make any decision to
act, and it is that already existing pattern of neurons
that causes your action not your decision to act.
The Front Of Your Hand And The Back Of

Your Hand Come Together As One Thing
Your Way of Being and your Way of Acting are like
the front of your hand and the back of your hand.
While you can distinguish the front of your hand from
the back of your hand, you cannot separate the front
of your hand from the back of your hand the front of
your hand and the back of your hand come together
in one package.
Likewise with your way of being and acting. While
you can distinguish your way of being from your
actions, it is as though a persons way of being and
acting are one thing they come together as one
package, that is they arise together.
Confirm For Yourself That What You Decide

Does Not Cause You To Act
Because it appears that your Actions are caused by
your Way of Being, confirming that what you decide
does not cause your actions is a bit difficult, but try
out the following:
Do you always do what you intended to do? If not,
intending does not cause you to act. Do you always
do what you decided you would do? If not, deciding
does not cause you to act.
Decide to jump up in the air and see if having made
that decision causes you to jump up in the air.
Remember The Water Bottle Demonstration

You will remember during the talk the demonstration
of an empty plastic water bottle suddenly being
tossed without warning at one person and then
another. You will remember that the people a bottle
was tossed to said that what they did to deal with the
bottle coming at them was not preceded by any
decision, or even thought about what to do they
simply acted. Afterward they told us the following: If
the bottle moving through the air occurred for them
as catchable, they found themselves putting their
hands out to catch it, but if it occurred as uncatchable
and coming at their face they found themselves
putting their hands up to block it. No figuring out or
deciding preceding the action was involved.
Summary Of What We Have
Covered So Far
59 SUMMARY
Summary So Far
So far we have explicated the following specialized
terms:
Way of Being
You Are Not Who You Think You Are
Way of Acting
While Your Way of Being and Your Actions Are
Consistent With Each Other, Your Way of Being
60 SUMMARY
Summary So Far
1. The world of mastery is constituted by a unique
conversational domain (linguistic domain), from
which a master lives and interacts with life.
As is the case with a master physician or master
plumber, the conversational domain for mastery in
life is also made up of specialized terms that are
linguistic domain through which a master perceives,
comprehends, and interacts with life that is, with the
world, others, and himself or herself.
61 SUMMARY
Summary So Far
2. While you may have a typical way of being, and
may even be resigned to that way of being, that is
just a Way of Being, it is not who you are really.
You are not who you know yourself to be, that is,
you are not who you think you are. Who you know
yourself to be, who you think you are, is nothing
more than a Way of Being.
This is the first critical point about the way a master
experiences life.
62 SUMMARY
Summary So Far
3. While your Actions from moment to moment are
consistent with some combination of the aspects of
your Way of Being in those moments, your Actions
are not caused by your Way of Being (what is going
on with you internally) your Actions and your Way
of Being come together as one package, that is they
arise together.
Your Way of Being (what is going on with you
internally) and your Way of Acting are networked
together and arise as though one thing.
63 SUMMARY
The Second Critical Point

For Being A Master In Life
First, there are two things to remember that were
pointed out earlier in the talk.
1) Our only access to life is action. The only way we
have of impacting life is by acting. It is action, and
only action, with which we interact with life (with the
world, with others, and with ourselves).
2) What makes a master a master is simply the way
he or she interacts with life. It is the way that a
master interacts with the world, with others, and with
themselves that makes them extraordinarily effective
in dealing with life while enjoying an exceptionally
high quality of life.
64 SUMMARY

When most people want to improve or want a
breakthrough in their effectiveness in life or in their
quality of life, they work on what they believe causes
their actions namely, their way of being (they work
on their mental state, emotional state, bodily state, or
their thoughts or thought processes).
For example, they attempt to improve their attitude,
or they work on their emotional intelligence, or go on
a diet to change their body, or they try to think
positively, or commit themselves (tried by most
people at least every New Year with New Years
resolutions).
65 SUMMARY

While most people think that the way they interact
with life is caused by their way of being (what is going
on with them internally), a master is clear that his or
her way of being and acting come together as one
package, that is they arise together one does not
cause the other.
That your Actions are not caused by your Way of
Being (your mental state, emotional state, bodily
state, thoughts and thought processes) is the second
critical point required to be a master in life.
66 SUMMARY

When you are clear about this, the question naturally
becomes:
Given that my way of being does not cause my
actions, rather my way of being and acting arise
together as though one thing, what is the source of
my way of being and acting?
Before answering this question we need to get clear

about three more specialized terms we will use in the
answer.
Glossary Of Terms
On the next few slides

I will explain what is meant
by three more of the terms you will
hear tonight.
1. What You Are Dealing With

2. Occur
3. Correlated
What You Are Dealing With
69 GLOSSARY WHAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH
What Is Meant By
What You Are Dealing With
What You Are Dealing With includes:
1. The circumstances on which you are acting.
2. The circumstances in which you are acting.
3. The way in which you occur for yourself
in acting on whatever you are acting on
in the circumstances in which you are acting.
Before we leave this section, get clear for yourself
that when you are engaged with life there is nothing
else to be dealt with. Those three things are all that
there is.
1. Circumstances On Which You Are Acting

The circumstances on which you are acting are the
circumstances that you are intending to impact with
your actions.
For example, if you intend to impact someones
performance (produce a breakthrough in that
persons performance), the circumstances on which
you are acting are the actions of the person whose
performance you intend to impact.
Of course, when you are acting on something, there
are also circumstances in which you are acting on
that something.
2. Circumstances In Which You Are Acting

The circumstances in which you are acting on
something are the circumstances that make up the
environment or surroundings in which you are acting
on whatever you are acting on.
In the example of acting to impact someones
performance, the circumstances in which you are
acting are for example, the nature of your relationship
with the person whose performance you intend to
impact, and might also include your boss watching
what you do to produce a breakthrough in that
persons performance.
3. The Way In Which You Occur For Yourself

The way in which you occur for yourself is the way
you (your way of being) shows up for you as a part
of the situation in which you are acting.
(Remember that the situation in which you are acting
includes whatever you are acting on and the
circumstances in which you are acting, as well as the
way in which you occur for yourself.)
In the example of acting to impact someones
performance, the way in which you occur for yourself
could be that your mental state is one of uncertainty,
and your emotional state is one of feeling a bit angry,
and your bodily state is one of tension, and your
thoughts are ones of he is not committed to
increasing his performance and he doesnt listen.

It is important to be clear that here we are speaking
about your internal state (your way of being), but in
this case specifically as the way in which your
internal state (your way of being) occurs for you as
part of (integral to) the situation you are dealing
with.
Saying the same thing in another way: We are
talking about some combination of your mental state,
emotional state, bodily state, and your thoughts and
thought processes as part of the situation you are
dealing with. This is different from the way we
talked about your internal state (your way of being)
earlier tonight when we talked about it independent of
(not as part of) a situation you are dealing with.

It is important for you to be clear about the difference
between these two perspectives on your Way of
Being.
Earlier tonight we spoke about your way of being as
nothing more than your internal state that you might
or might not be noticing, and here we are speaking
about your way of being (internal state) as a part of
what you are dealing with.
Summary Of
What Is Meant By What You Are Dealing With
What You Are Dealing With includes each of the
following:
1. The circumstances on which you are acting.
2. The circumstances in which you are acting
on whatever you are acting on.
3. The way in which you occur for yourself
when acting on whatever you are acting on
in the circumstances in which you are acting.
Summary Of
What Is Meant By What You Are Dealing With
On the following slides we will always put the term
the circumstances you are dealing with
in quotes to help you remember that
what you are dealing with always includes
1) the circumstances on which you are acting,
2) the circumstances in which you are acting on
whatever you are acting on, and
3) the way in which you occur for yourself when
acting on whatever you are acting on in the
circumstances in which you are acting.
Occur
78 GLOSSARY OCCUR
What Is Meant By Occur

What we mean by occur is:
The way in which the circumstances you are dealing
with register (exist) in some way for you whether
you take note of it (are conscious of it) or not.
More rigorously, what occurs for you is what is going
on out in life. That is, what occurs for you is 1)
objects and situations out in the world, and 2) other
people and yourself out in the world all these
occurring as a whole (a holistic unity).
Note that when you are engaged with life, you occur
as an interactive part of the whole, not as something
separated from (distinct from) the whole.
79 GLOSSARY OCCUR

Earlier we spoke about your Way of Being (what is
going on with you internally) as something separate
from the whole, but here we are speaking about the
way you occur for yourself out in life as part of the
whole, and that is a different perspective on you
different than what was meant by your Way of Being.
Also, please dont think of occur as being another
word for perception. Perception is a neuroscience
term and occur speaks about what shows up for
you as-life-is-lived by you.
80 GLOSSARY OCCUR

When we speak about The way in which the
circumstances you are dealing with occur for you
we mean the way in which each of the following
registers or shows up for you (either consciously or
unconsciously):
1. the circumstances on which you are acting
2. the circumstances in which you are acting on
whatever you are acting on (your environment or
surroundings)
3. the way in which you show up for yourself in
those circumstances
81 GLOSSARY OCCUR

To repeat: The way in which the circumstances you
are dealing with occur for you includes not only
1. the way in which the circumstances you are acting
on occur for you, but also includes
2. the way in which the circumstances in which you
are acting on whatever you are acting on (your
environment or surroundings) occur for you, and
3. also includes the way in which you occur for
yourself in those circumstances the way you
occur for yourself is another part of the
circumstances that you are dealing with.
Correlated
83 GLOSSARY CORRELATED
What Is Meant By Correlated

At the most basic level, correlated means
connected in some way. That is, if one thing is
correlated with another thing, these two things are
connected in some way.
However, what we mean by correlated is a very
specific kind of connection.
What Is Not Meant By Correlated

First, if you have studied statistics, please note that
by correlated we do not mean a mere statistical
correlation. (If you havent studied statistics and
dont know what this means, dont worry about it.)
Second, the special kind of correlation (connection)
that we will be speaking about is not one of cause
and effect. In short, the connection between the two
things we will be speaking about that are correlated
is something other than cause and effect.
What Is Meant By Correlated

By correlated we mean a specific kind of connection
between two things. It is like two things that are in-
a-dance-with each other. Or said more rigorously,
two things that are interrelated by being naturally,
necessarily closely connected mutually arising.
In summary:
What is meant by correlated as we will be using the
term is: two things that are interrelated by being
naturally, necessarily closely connected. Or in
everyday language, two things that are always a
match for each other. Or more visually, two things
that are in-a-dance-with each other.
Now we are ready to answer
the question:
Given that your way of being and acting

arise together as though one thing,
what is the source of your way of being
and acting?
87 THE SOURCE OF YOUR WAY OF BEING AND ACTING
Gaining Access To The Source Of

Mastery In Life
The answer to the question What is the source of
my way of being and acting in life? opens up the
possibility of being a master of life.
We always have an explanation for the way we act
and the way we are, but those explanations rarely
give us any access to the source of our way of being
and our way of acting. As a result, we go on pretty
much the same as we have always been and have
always acted especially if we are arrogant about it.
That you discover for yourself the answer to the
question What is the source of my way of being
and acting in life? is absolutely critical to your
being a master in life. Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
Gaining Access To The Source Of

Mastery In Life
Listening to the question or reading the question so
that you understand the question will not give you
access to discovering the answer to the question in a
way that makes any difference to your way of being
and acting. The answer you get from merely
understanding the question will not provide you with
access to the source of your way of being and acting.
As the Zen Master said to the man whose head he
held under the water in the small lake in the Zendo
after the man asked to be enlightened, When you
want enlightenment as much as you wanted breath,
come back.
The point is, you have to be asking the question.
The Beginning Of The Source

Of Mastery In Life
Can you see that if you have access to the source of
your way of being and acting, that allows you to
create ways of being and acting that are effective and
at the same time nurturing for you.
Discovering the answer to the question What is the
source of my way of being and acting? gives you
access to living a created life.
So, I request that right now you silently actually ask
the question What is the source of my way of being
and acting?, and ask the question the way you
would if you were profoundly interested in the answer
and ready to work for the answer.
What is the source of
my way of being and acting in life?
The Source Of Your Way of Being And Acting

The source of a persons way of being and acting is
that their way of being and acting is correlated with
the way in which the circumstances they are dealing
with occur for them.
Using the meaning of correlation that we went over
earlier: The kind of connection between your way of
being and acting and the way in which the
circumstances you are dealing with occur for you is:
Your way of being and acting is naturally,
necessarily closely connected with (interrelated)
with the way in which the circumstances you are
dealing with occur for you.

Or saying the same thing but in different words: Your
way of being and acting is always a match for (in-a-
dance-with) the way in which the circumstances you
are dealing with occur for you.
To repeat: Your way of being and acting is naturally,
necessarily closely connected with (interrelated, in-a-
dance-with) the way in which the circumstances you
are dealing with occur for you.
An Experienced Professionals Perspective

Professor Daniel Wolpert of the University of
Cambridge Computational and Biological Learning
Lab puts it this way:
We have a brain for one reason and one reason only
thats to produce adaptable and complex
movements. L I believe that to understand
movement is to understand the whole brain. And
therefore its important to remember when you are
studying L cognition, sensory processing [the
way the circumstances you are dealing with occur
for you], theyre there for a reason, and that reason is
action. (Wolpert, 2009 - emphasis added)
More Neuroscience Research: Way of Being

And Acting Is Correlated With The Occurring
If you would like more research evidence that action
is naturally, necessarily closely connected with
(interrelated with, in-a-dance-with) the way in
which the circumstances you are dealing with
occur for you, in Appendix A there are quotes of
research findings from each of ten referenced
sources.
As an indication of what those sources have to say,
on the next two slides there are five short quotes
from those references.
The Quotations From The Research

Perceiving [the occurring], thinking [what is going on
with you internally], and moving [action] always occur
together as coherent coordinations of activity
(Dewey, 1896/1981a). (Clancey 1993, p.91)
His [man's] perception [the occurring] is dynamic
because it is related to action ... (Hall 1966, p.115 -
emphasis added)
It is in fact essential to recognize that the

possibilities of action subtend the perceptual
process [that is, the way the world, others, and you
yourself occur for you] ... (Delevoye-Turrell et al. 2010, p.236 -
emphasis added)
The Quotations From The Research

conscious visual experience [the way the world
occurs for you] presents the world to the subject in a
richly textured way ... [which is] especially apt for L
real world activity [action]. (Clark 2001, p.496)
In sum, neurophysiological evidence at both the
single-cell and cell population levels suggest shared
coding for perception and action: L neural processes
that blend sensory and motor features. (Hurley 1998,
p.415 - emphasis added)

For example, if the way a situation you are dealing
with occurs for you as threatening, both your way of
being and your way of acting will be correlated with
(responsive to) the situation occurring for you in that
way (as threatening). On the other hand, if the way a
situation you are dealing with occurs for you as an
opportunity to excel, your way of being and acting will
be correlated with the situation occurring for you in
that way (as an opportunity to excel).
As we said, your way of being and your actions are a
natural correlate of (responsive to, in-a-dance-with)
the way in which the circumstances you are dealing
with occur for you.
Putting It All Together Short Version

Your way of being and your actions (both arising
together as though one thing)
are naturally, necessarily closely connected with
(in-a-dance-with, interrelated with)
the way in which the circumstances you are
dealing with
occur or show up for you.
Putting It All Together Fuller Version

Your way of being and your actions (both arising
together as though one thing)
are naturally, necessarily closely connected with
(interrelated, always a match for, in-a-dance-with)
1) the way in which the circumstances you are
acting on, and 2) the way in which the
circumstances in which you are acting (your
environment or surroundings), plus 3) the way
in which you occur for yourself in those
circumstances
all occur or show up (register in some way)
for you.
The Shortest Version

The source of your way of being and acting is that
they are a correlate of
dealing with
occur for you.
Even Shorter and Even More Pointed:

The source of your way of being and acting is
dealing with
occur for you.
Access
To The Source Of
Your Way of Being And Acting
102 ACCESS TO THE SOURCE OF YOUR WAY OF BEING AND ACTING
Access To Your Way of Being And Acting

As we have said (shortest version),
the source of your way of being and acting is
the way the circumstances you are dealing with
occur for you.
And, language gives you access to the way in which
the circumstances you are dealing with occur for you!
Specifically, the way in which the circumstances you
are dealing with occur for you
is sometimes constituted in language,
and when it is not, it is at least colored and
shaped by language,
and is in any case always accessible through
language. Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
Confirm For Yourself That Language

Influences The Occurring
Take the time now to look around you at the things
and people in what is currently occurring for you.
While you dont normally attend to it, if you think
about it you will notice that there is a story or an
interpretation (something said by you or another)
related to this or that thing or person that shapes or
colors the way in which those things and people
occur for you.
And, the same thing is true about the way you occur
for yourself that is, there is a story or an
interpretation (something said by you or another) that
shapes or colors the way you occur for yourself.
Putting What We Said On The First Slide

Of This Section All Together
You have something powerful to say about your way
of being and acting in life because
your way of being (what is going on with you
internally) and your way of acting
is naturally correlated with the way in which
the circumstances you are dealing with occur
for you, and
that occurring is either constituted in language
or is at least shaped and colored by language,
and is in any case always accessible
through language.
Language Is Your Access To

Your Way of Being and Acting
Your choice of language (what you say) about

the circumstances you are dealing with
provides you with actionable access to your
way of being and acting in life.
An Experienced Professionals Perspective

It is not things in themselves that trouble us, but our
opinions of things. The Greek philosopher Epictetus
Dorothy Rowe, psychologist and emeritus associate
of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, speaking about
the above quote: In other words, it is not what
happens to us that determines our behavior but how
we interpret what happens to us [the way it occurs for
us]. Thus, when facing a disaster, one person might
interpret it as a challenge to be mastered, another as
a certain defeat, while a third might see it as the
punishment he or she deserves. Crucially, the
decisions about what to do follow from the
interpretation each person has made.
(Rowe, 2010 - emphasis added) Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
In Other Words, What Dr. Rowe Is Telling Us

The way life occurs for you is a result of what you
have to say about life.
And, your way of being and acting in life is a result
of the way life occurs for you.
Saying the same thing more fully:
The way the world, others, and you yourself occur

for you is a result of what you have to say about the
world, others, and yourself.
And, your way of being and acting is a result of the
way the world, others, and you yourself occur
for you.
Substituting The Phrase The Circumstances

You Are Dealing With for Life
The way you choose to speak to yourself and others
about the circumstances you are dealing with
determines the way in which the circumstances you
are dealing with occur for you. And, your way of
being and acting is naturally correlated with (in-a-
dance-with) that occurring.
Substituting The Phrase The Circumstances

You Are Dealing With for Life
Saying the same thing more fully:
The way you choose to speak to yourself and others
about 1) the circumstances on which you are acting,
and 2) the circumstances in which you are acting, plus
3) the way in which you occur for yourself in those
circumstances, determines the way in which each of
those occurs for you. And, your way of being and
acting is correlated with that occurring.
The Impact Of Language On The Way In Which

The Circumstances Occur For You
As an object, the wall in the room you are in exists
independent of language. All you can do with
language is to get your words to match the object out
there hard, impenetrable, unmoving.
However, about a situation you are dealing with,
difficult for example, exists only in language. There
is no difficult out there. Difficult is an interpretation in
language. The facts of the situation you are dealing
with are as they are. By contrast, difficult is an
interpretation or a story that becomes your context for
dealing with the facts of the situation. Of course,
situations can occur for you as difficult, but do so only
because you say so. Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
What Is Difficult?
When someone says that what they are dealing with
is difficult, I sometimes take a page out of the Zen
Masters handbook and say, Ive never seen that.
Bring me some difficult so I can see it.
Of course difficult does not exist in the circumstances
themselves difficult exists only as an interpretation
constituted in language. The circumstances are
whatever they are what we might call whats so.
When you add the interpretation difficult that
becomes the context through which you attempt to
deal with whats so.
Whales exist in a challenging environment, but I
doubt that for whales life ever occurs as difficult.
A Quote From Stanford University

Cognitive Scientist Lera Boroditsky
It turns out that if you change how people talk, that
changes how they think. If people learn another
language, they inadvertently also learn a new way of
looking at the world. When bilingual people switch
from one language to another, they start thinking
differently, too.
And if [in an experimental setting] you take away
[interrupt] people's ability to use language in what
should be a simple nonlinguistic task, their
performance can change dramatically, sometimes
making them look no smarter than rats or infants.
(quote continues on next slide - emphasis added)
A Quote From Stanford University

Cognitive Scientist Lera Boroditsky
All this new research shows us that the languages
we speak not only reflect or express our thoughts, but
also shape the very thoughts we wish to express.
The structures that exist in our languages profoundly
shape how we construct reality [the way in which
what we are dealing with occurs for us]L
Language is a uniquely human gift. When we study
language, we are uncovering in part what makes us
human, getting a peek at the very nature of human
nature. As we uncover how languages and their
speakers differ from one another, we discover human
natures too can differ dramatically, depending on the
languages we speak. (Boroditsky, 2010 - emphasis added)
In Other Words, What Dr. Boroditsky Is Telling

Us Is Consistent With What We Have Said
Language has power!
Language (what you say and what you listen to)
impacts the way in which the circumstances you are
dealing with occur for you. And, your way of being
and acting is naturally correlated with the way the
circumstances you are dealing with occur for you.
This means that language (what you say and what
you listen to) gives you the power to shape and direct
your way of being and acting in life.
In short, what you say about life powerfully
determines your way of being and acting in life.
The Difference Between
The Facts And
Your Interpretations And Story
About The Facts
116 FACTS CONTRASTED WITH INTERPRETATIONS AND STORY
The Difference Between Facts And Story

You have no dominion over what is going on with you
internally, it just happens to you. On the other hand,
the one thing you have complete dominion over is
what you say and what you listen to. And, we just got
clear that what you choose to say and listen to
impacts what is going on with you internally and your
actions.
However, in what you choose to say and what you
choose to listen to, it is critical to be able to
distinguish between the facts of the circumstances
you are dealing with and any story about or
interpretation added to the facts of the
circumstances you are dealing with.
The Difference Between The Facts And

Your Interpretations And Story About The Facts
About the facts of the circumstances you are dealing
with, you have no choice. But most people confuse
their story about and interpretations added to those
facts as facts themselves, which they most definitely
are not. When you treat your story about and
interpretations added to the facts of the
circumstances you are dealing with as though they
were a fact, you make of that story and those
interpretations something you have to deal with like
they were facts about which you have no choice.
In other words, you are no longer dealing with the
facts; you are now attempting to deal with those facts
all tangled up with your interpretations and your story.
The Difference Between Facts And Story

While you do not have a choice about the facts of
the circumstances you are dealing with, you do
have the power to distinguish between 1) the facts
(what is actually so independent of language) and 2)
any story or interpretation about those facts.
Such stories or interpretations are especially
pernicious when for you they occur as part of the
facts, and as a result have become a part of what you
think you have to deal with. If you are going to be a
master in life, it is critical to start distinguishing
between the facts of the circumstances you are
dealing with (what is actually so independent of
language) and any story or interpretation about those
facts. Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013

You must look honestly and critically at the
circumstances you are dealing with so that you are
able to separate for yourself what the facts actually
are regarding the circumstances you are dealing
with and what stories or interpretations have been
tangled up with those facts.
When you have done this, you can release yourself
from the disempowering grip of the story and
interpretations when treated as facts you have to
deal with by simply recognizing them as nothing
more than story or interpretation.

If any aspect of the story or interpretation empowers
or enables you in dealing with the facts, as long as
you dont confuse them as a fact, you can keep that
story or interpretation present for yourself along with
the facts.
More importantly, when you have distinguished the
facts of the circumstances you are dealing with from
any story or interpretation about those facts, you
have the opportunity to use language to create a
context from which to view the facts in a way that
leaves you with power, freedom, full self-expression,
and peace of mind in engaging with and taking on
the circumstances you are dealing with.
The Way A Master Uses
The Power Of Language
Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 30-May-2011
122 THE WAY A MASTER USES THE POWER OF LANGUAGE
The Way A Master Uses The Power Of Language

The access provided by language to ones way of
being and acting is the third critical aspect of the
power of those who are masters in life.
First, masters distinguish between the facts of the
circumstances they are dealing with (what is so
independent of language) and any story or
interpretation added to those facts.
Then, they use language to create a context for the
circumstances they are dealing with so that the
circumstances they are dealing with occur for them
such that their naturally correlated way of being and
acting is one of power, freedom, full self-expression,
and peace of mind. Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 30-May-2011
123 THE WAY A MASTER USES THE POWER OF LANGUAGE
Masters Use Honest Thinking

If this sounds anything like positive thinking, that is
not what we are speaking about. What a master
does is honest thinking, where without any story or
interpretation the facts of what is being dealt with
(what exists independent of language) are
confronted, thought about, and spoken of, as they
actually are.
However, for a master this is coupled with the use of
language to create a context (what exists only in
language) for those facts that allows the master to
see possibilities that empower and enable the master
in effectively dealing with those facts while
maintaining a high quality of life.
Summary Of What We Have
Covered So Far
125 SUMMARY
1. Mastery: A Unique Conversational Domain

The world of mastery is constituted by a unique
conversational domain.
This conversational domain is made up of
networked together in a specific way to form a
experiences (perceives), comprehends,
and interacts with life
that is, with the world, others, and
himself or herself.
Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 29-April-2011
126 SUMMARY

That is what we have been doing tonight
introducing specialized terms that we have been
networking together to form a unique conversational
domain a conversational domain for being a master
in life.
Mastering a conversational domain opens up a world
for the person who masters that conversational
domain. For example, people who master the
specific conversational domain that constitutes
medicine, or plumbing, or physics, or management,
open up the world of medicine, or plumbing, or
physics, or management for themselves.
127 SUMMARY

The world that we opened up for you in this program
is the world of mastery in life.
Your mastering the Conversational Domain that we
presented tonight
makes it possible for you to be out in life,
out here where life actually happens,
and where you need to be
to be a master in life
instead of having your attention on
and living your life like what is
important in life is what is going on
with you internally.
128 SUMMARY
4. The Source Of Your Way of Being And Acting

The source of your way of being and acting is that
your way of being and acting is naturally correlated
with the way in which the circumstances you are
dealing with occur for you.
And, the way in which the circumstances you are
dealing with occur for you is sometimes constituted
in language, and when it is not, it is at least colored
and shaped by language, and is in any case always
accessible through language.
In summary, the way the circumstances you are
dealing with occur for you is accessible through
language. Thus, language provides actionable
access to your way of being and acting.
129 SUMMARY
5. Masters Use Language

Through the use of language, a master shapes and
colors the way life occurs for (is experienced by) that
master.
Like all of us, a masters way of being and acting is
naturally correlated with (is in-a-dance-with) the way
life occurs for (is experienced by) that master.
What makes a master a master is that a master uses
language to shape and color the way life occurs for
(is experienced by) the master so that his or her
naturally correlated way of being and acting results in
an extraordinary effectiveness in life, and a high
quality of life.
130 SUMMARY
You Can Be A Master Of Life

Fortunately, language, with its power to shape and
color the way we experience life (the way we
experience the world, others, and ourselves), is
available to every one of us.
Of course, once one is dwelling in the conversational
domain that opens up the possibility of mastery (the
possibility we have created together tonight), one has
to experiment with and practice using language to
shape and color the way life occurs such that ones
naturally correlated way of being and acting results in
being effective in life, and with a high quality of life.
If one lives from this possibility, and does experiment
and practice, that is available to any of us. This is
called achieving mastery through live and learn.
131 SUMMARY
A Caution
As we said, what we have discussed tonight is not
about positive thinking (what we might call woo-woo
thinking). That is, what we have discussed tonight is
not about glossing over, or attempting to see what you
are confronted with in life more positively than it
actually is (and by the way, equally woo-woo, not
more negatively than it actually is).
A master sees what he or she is confronted with as it
is, without embellishment one way or the other. What
makes a master a master is what we earlier termed
honest thinking coupled with a context the master
creates through language that allows the master to see
possibilities in whatever he or she is confronted with.
132 SUMMARY
A Caution
The other thing to watch out for is fantasy thinking
(more woo-woo thinking). Specifically fantasy
thinking is wanting (wishing for) something that has
no possible reality when looked at from the
perspective of being-in-the-world.
You dont need to know how to get there, but there
has to be in the realm of the possible when looked at
from the perspective of being-in-the-world.
Fantasy thinking is illustrated by an old joke which
appears on the next slide.
133 SUMMARY
A Caution
Two brothers are confronted by a room full of horse
shit.
One brother walks away from the room to seek
something with more possibility for achievement.
The other brother gets into the room with a shovel
saying with all this horse shit there must be a pony in
here someplace.
Every once in a while, there is a pony buried in a
room full of horse shit, and if you like the odds, go for
it. But honest thinking about what you are confronted
with is likely to leave you with more possibility and
power.
A Personal Experiment
To Reveal A Masters
Source Of Power
A Note To Our Readers: In the public talks this
experiment was done as a real-time back and
forth interaction. What is on the coming slides
is designed to give readers an opportunity to
conduct this experiment on their own with no
such interaction. To be able to do the
experiment by reading it, you actually have to
be doing it to get anything out of it not just
reading it and thinking about what you read.
135 A PERSONAL EXPERIMENT
A Personal Experiment Here and There

If with my back to you I ask, Where are you?, you
are likely to say, Here. If you check this out in your
own experience, you will find that no matter where
you might be located in the world, where you are for
yourself is here.
Alternatively, if I am looking around for something,
say a book that is laying around someplace in the
room you and I are in, and I say, Where is the
book?, you are likely to point to where the book is
and say, There. In fact, if you check this out in your
own experience, you will find that no matter where
anything in the world other than you (including other
people) is located, where it will be for you is there.
No Beliefs Or Theories Rather Confirm In Your

Own Experience Whatever Is Proposed
This whole experiment must be done rigorously, or as
is the case with any experiment it will lead to a false
conclusion.
That is, as we go along dont believe anything said,
rather verify in your own experience anything
proposed or investigated before it is established for
you as being so.
When we say verify in your own experience we
mean as you experience life as life is lived, not some
thought or belief you have about the world, others, or
yourself. You dont verify the way life is by looking in
your head, life doesnt happen in your head.
No Beliefs Or Theories Rather Confirm In Your

Own Experience Whatever Is Proposed
Next we will give you an opportunity to check out in
your own experience where you (what you are
referring to when you say I or me) are located for
you, and where everything else in the universe
(including other people) is located for you.
Confirm In Your Own Experience That Where You

Are Is Here, And Everything Else Is There
While that you are located here and everything else
is located there may at first seem trivial, I propose
that later in this experiment you will see that this
fundamental assumption about here and there
shapes and colors the way in which you experience
you and everything-not-you.
Right now, take the time to check out in your own
experience if it is a fact for you that where you (what
you refer to when you say I or me) exist is here,
and where everything else exists is there.
Remember that what we mean by check out in your
own experience is not what you think or believe, but
the way in which you experience life as life is lived.

The one thing you have to watch out for in
conducting this experiment is when you treat yourself
as though you were two people namely, a you in
the present that is referring to a you that existed in
the past or will exist in the future.
On the next slide, we will give you an example.

For example, in response to someones question you
might reply Ive been there or I will be there
(referring to a location where you were in the past or
will be in the future). In either case, the you who is
speaking in the present is for you here and the you
that you are imagining in the past or the future,
because this is not you but a recalled or imagined
you, was or will be there.
When you were there in the past it was here for you,
and when you get there in the future it will be here for
you. The real you is always here.
Before going on, confirm this for yourself.

The other thing you have to watch out for in
conducting this experiment is when you treat
something not you (lets call it X) as being here
that is, located where you are.
In such a case, you might point to something that is
close to you (X), and say, X is over here.
However, if that something (X) is not for you here
where you are, you are likely to point to that
something and say, X is there.
The point is, that we sometimes treat things that are
close to us as being here where we are, that is here
with us. Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 14-April-2011

After seeing that the apparent anomalies that we just
explained ultimately wind up with you here and
everything not you there,
if you check it out in your own experience,
you will find that for you
what you are referring to when you say I or
me is always located here,
and everything not you is for you always
located there.
The Second Step In This Personal Experiment

Now that we have established and you have
confirmed in your own experience that you (what you
refer to when you say I or me) exist here, and
everything else exists there, we can go on to the next
step in this experiment.
Please pick an object that you can see right now, or
even better a person. (For the balance of this
experiment we will refer to the object or person you
are seeing as X.)
I know that it seems obvious that if you see X you
experience seeing X; but humor me, and now please
do confirm for yourself that you do experience
seeing X, and that X is not here for you, it is there.
The Third Step In This Personal Experiment

O.K., so far we have established that you (what you
refer to when you say I or me) are here, and that X
is there, and that you do experience seeing X.
The third step in this experiment is to establish where
your seeing X is happening. Please answer the
question, Where is seeing X happening?, and
respond by pointing to where your experience of
seeing X is happening.
You verified that you do see X, but where is seeing X
happening for you? Like many people, you might
point to your eyes. And, if I asked you if you mean
that your experience of seeing X was happening for
you in your eyes, you would say, Yes.

But if you seeing X were happening in your eyes, X
would be about 2.5 centimeters high and wide (the
size of your retina), and X would be upside down
(because the lenses of your eyes invert the light rays
coming into your eyes), and X would appear curved
with no depth (because your retinas are two-
dimensional curved surfaces). In any case, if we could
examine the pattern of activated rods and cones on
your retinas, it would look nothing like what you are
seeing. There is no little X located in your eyes.
Moreover, if seeing X were happening in your eyes,
since you have two eyes, you would see two Xs about
7 centimeters apart. Do you experience a little X in
your eyes? No doubt the answer is No.

Considering this, and after you have had the
opportunity to confirm for yourself that your
experience of seeing X is not located for you in your
eyes, I now ask you the same question again.
Please answer the question, Where is seeing X
happening?, and respond by pointing to where your
experience of seeing X is happening for you.
Like many people do, you might now point to your
head. And, if I asked you if you mean that your
experience of seeing X is happening for you in your
brain, you would say, Yes.

But if your experience of seeing X were happening in
your brain, X would appear to you bounded by the
size of the average human brain: 10 by 14 by 7
centimeters. Moreover, the network of activated
patterns of neurons in your brain (as seen in fMRI
studies) that gives rise to your experience of seeing
X looks nothing like X. (In fact, if there was a hole in
your skull, and a pencil was pushed through your
brain, you would have no experience of that.)
More pointedly, if you actually look at your
experience of seeing X, it will be absolutely clear for
you that you have no experience up in your head of
a smaller version of the real X that is located out
there. You dont experience seeing X in your brain.
There Is A Difference Between

An Explanation And What It Explains
This is not an argument against the fact that your
experience of seeing X is caused by a network of
activated patterns of neurons in your brain prompted
by photons of light activating rods and cones on the
retinas of your eyes. Of course it is. By the same
token, your experience of seeing X is not happening
for you in your eyes or in your brain. In this
experiment we are not looking for some mechanistic
(naturalistic) explanation of your experience of seeing
X, no matter how valid.
What we are asking about is the way you actually
experience life. In short, we are examining life as
life is actually lived. Copyright 2010 2011 W. Erhard, Landmark Education LLC. All rights reserved. 14-April-2011
The First Critical Point

To Be Gained From This Experiment
What we have opened up so far in this experiment is
an opportunity to get clear that most of us are not
clear where our experience of the world, of others,
and of ourselves in the world is actually happening.
In other words, we often encounter life through some
theory or belief, rather than encountering life as it is
actually lived. As a result, we attempt to
comprehend (make sense of) life as it is
encountered through these theories or beliefs, rather
than comprehending life as it is actually lived. And as
a consequence, we interact with life (the world,
others, and ourselves) from these theories or beliefs,
rather than interacting with life itself.
The First Critical Point

To Be Gained From This Experiment
A master encounters life as it is lived, and as a
consequence deals with life as it is lived, rather than
dealing with life through the filter of some theory or
belief.
It is not that a master has no theories or beliefs,
rather a master holds his or her theories, beliefs,
knowledge, and memories, above himself or herself
so to speak, so that they dont act as a filter, but
illuminate what is encountered. (Philosophers call
this bracketing.)
As we go on through this experiment, you will see for
yourself the power of encountering life as it is lived.
Completing The Third Step

In This Personal Experiment
This time when I ask you to point to where your
experience of seeing X is actually happening, dont
go into your head to figure out the answer. Rather,
do no more than just experience seeing X, and
before you have the chance to get stuck in what you
believe, point to the location where your experience
of seeing X is actually happening. Try this out right
now!
I suggest that if you put aside what you think you

already know about seeing, and just be with your
experience of seeing X, you will point to what you
called there where X is!
Completing The Third Step

Of course, until you get in touch with the actual
experience for yourself, this is just another theory
but it is no theory when you get in touch with the
actual experience for yourself.
In actual practice, with some people it takes a few
more trials, but so far with more than 3,500 people in
live interactions, given enough trials, each ultimately
responds, often with a look of incredulity, by pointing
out-there, where their experience of seeing X is
actually happening for them.
Surprisingly, as life is actually lived, where seeing the
world and others actually happens for us is where
what you call out-there, and not where what you call
in-here (where you have said that you are located).
What We Have Discovered

In This Experiment So Far
1. There is a difference between life encountered
through some theory or belief as contrasted with life
encountered as life is actually lived.
While we often encounter and comprehend life
through some theory or belief, it is possible for us to
encounter and comprehend life as it is actually lived.
And as a consequence, it is possible for us to interact
with life (the world, others, and ourselves) as life is
actually lived, rather than as life is interacted with
when encountered through some theory or belief.
What We Have Discovered

In This Experiment So Far
2. Our experience of seeing the world and others
actually happens for us what you have called out
there, not as you might have believed in here.
In fact, as lived, no matter with which of our senses
we perceive the world or others, our experience of
what we perceive happens out there. For example, if
you touch something, while you will feel your fingertip
being pressed on, you will notice that your
experience of what you touched is out there, not in-
here inside your finger. Right now, try this out for
yourself.
As you have now verified for yourself, you seeing X,
and you feeling what you touch, happens out there.
But We Have A Problem!

At the beginning of this experiment you said that
where you are located is what you called here. And,
you said that X is located what you called there.
Yet, later in the experiment, you verified for yourself
that where you seeing X actually happens is what you
called there, not here where you said you were.
But if you are in here and not out there,
and yet where you seeing X happens is out there
(where you have said you are not),
you have a big problem.
In short, this would mean that your experience
happens somewhere other than where you are.
Obviously, that just cannot be true.
But We Have A Problem!

If you were actually located here, how is it possible for
you to be there where you seeing X actually
happens for you?
Or asked in another way, if you are located what you
call here and not there, how is it possible for you to
be out there where you seeing X is happening?
Clearly, there is something puzzling going on here.
Are You The Thing You Take Yourself To Be?

When life is examined as life is actually lived, the
interpretation (belief or theory) that you are here and
not there where X is (and by the way where life
actually happens) shows up as a problem.
You will remember that earlier tonight we asked you
to consider that you may not be who you take yourself
to be. Maybe, you are not some object (albeit with
special properties) that like all other objects has a
location, either here or there.
While there is certainly something located here,
maybe it is not you. Maybe the only thing here for
you is that thing you are referring to when you say I
or me, and maybe that is not who you are, really.
Who Is It That Has Your Experience Of You?

Who is it that experiences what you are referring to
when you say I or me?
Perhaps the who that experiences what you are
referring to when you say I or me is who you are,
really.
In fact, the you that you refer to when you say I or
me is nothing more than one of the things that shows
up for you in the who you are really.
Maybe who you really are is not some object located
here.
By the way, the object or person you were looking at in
the beginning of this experiment (X) was also one of
the things that showed up in the who you are really.
The Resolution To The Puzzle!

Maybe who you are really is the clearing (the
space) in which X, and by the way all of the rest of
life, shows up including that thing you call I or
me.
You do show up for yourself, dont you?
You will undoubtedly confirm in your own experience
that you the you that you are referring to when you
say I or me does show up for you. This is
commonly called self awareness.
In any case, what you are referring to when you say
I or me does show up for you, with all the rest of
life, in the clearing for life that you are.
Out-Here
Maybe who you are is not located in here with life
located out there. Rather, as life is actually lived,
who you are is located where what a master calls
out-here out where life (the world, others, and
who you are referring to when you say I or me)
actually happens for you.
This is where a master lives: out-here, living where
life actually happens.
As lived, you are the clearing in which the world,
others, and the you that you refer to when you say I
or me, show up for you. And to bring us back to
where we started in this presentation, your actions in
that clearing are correlated with the way in which
what is in the clearing occurs for you.
Your Brain And You

This is consistent with the way our brain functions. At
the highest level of functionality the brain generates a
world (past, present, and future), and functions in that
world to survive and adapt in that world. Or more
precisely, at the highest level of functionality the brain
generates a world constituted as networks of
activated neural patterns of perception and functions
in that world as networks of activated neural patterns
of action.
But you are not your brain. Life as lived is not
networks of activated patterns of neurons. Life as
lived happens out-here. And that is where masters of
life live out-here.
You Have A Choice

You can, as most people do, automatically (that is,
without examination) take yourself to be and live as
though you are located in-here, with all else in life
located out there. However, maybe Socrates was
right when he said, The un-examined life is not
worth living.
Alternatively, with your experience of realizing
(examining) that you actually perceive the world,
others, and what you refer to as I or me, not in-
here, but out-there (as you first called it), you are
not stuck in here you have a choice.
The Choice
You can go on choosing to take yourself to be and
experience living in-here, with life out-there.
Or, based on your experience (examination) of where
life actually shows up for you, you can take yourself
to be and experience living out-here where life
actually happens.
Taking A Stand On Who You Are: A Clearing

You the one for whom life shows up out-here
are not located either here or there.
You, the one for whom life shows up out-here, are a
clearing the clearing in which life shows up. That
is, you are the clearing in which the world, others,
and what you refer to when you say I or me show
up. As Martin Heidegger, arguably one of the two
greatest philosophers of the twentieth century, put it:
being for a human being is being-in-the-world.
(Heidegger, 1927)
By taking a stand on yourself as out-here, you will

actually experience yourself being out-here, and
interacting with life where life actually happens.
Taking A Stand On Who You Are: A Clearing

That is the stand that a master takes on himself or
herself, and that is what allows an ordinary person to
function as a master.
It is from this stand that a master encounters life. It is
from this stand that a master experiences,
comprehends, and understands life. It is from this
stand that a master interacts with life. And that is
what makes a master a master.
The Truth
Which is true, I am in-here or I am out-here? Neither
is true as a matter of fact.
It is a fact that most people live the unexamined
assumption that where they are located is in-here
with everything else located out-there. However, it is
also a fact that given a chance to get beyond their
assumption and get in touch with their actual
experience, they will find that their perception of the
world, others, and what they refer to when they say
I or me is actually happening for them out-there
where they said they are not. That is, as lived, life
shows up in the clearing that one is out-here.
But to say that either in-here or out-here is the
truth is not true. Neither is to be believed.
A Declaration:
The Stand You Take On Yourself
That you are located in-here with life out there, or
that you are located out-here where life actually
happens, is not something one gets right.
While for most people I am in-here is at first nothing
more than an unexamined assumption, in the face of
the facts, one must choose. And, what one chooses
is nothing more than, but also nothing less than, a
declaration a stand one takes on oneself.
Whichever choice declaration, the stand you take
on yourself it will determine the way you encounter
and comprehend (make sense of) life, and as a
consequence the way you interact with life.
In Summary
We are not arguing that one of these (being in-here
or out-here) is right and the other wrong. Rather we
are saying that you have a choice.
People who practice being aware of where their
experience of objects and situations in the world, and
of other people in the world, is actually happening,
report a breakthrough in their effectiveness in dealing
with the world and with others.
In addition, the access one has to I or me is
greater when your relation to I and me is that I
and me show up in the clearing you are. This
allows you a certain detachment from your automatic
way of being that leaves you free to be.
Try It Out And See What Happens

Is this just an attempt at some clever arcane
philosophical argument, or does it actually result in
raising your level of effectiveness and your quality of
life to that of a master in life?
You wont know until you experiment with it and see
what happens for you.
We are all on automatic in our belief that we are in-
here, so for a while you must stop from time to time
throughout the day and actually get yourself in touch
with your experience that what you are encountering
in that moment is experienced by you out-here. It is
especially important to do this when what you are
encountering is another person.
170 SUMMARY

If for the next few months a few times each day
you actually practice noticing where your
experience of perceiving life really happens,
you will train yourself to be out here.
You will notice that your experience of seeing does
not happen in your eyes or brain, and that what you
hear doesnt happen in your ears, and that what you
feel doesnt happen in your fingers.
Your experience of what you see, and what you hear,
and what you feel, will all be out here. So you (the
one seeing, hearing, and feeling) must be out here.
171 SUMMARY

With practice you will find yourself actually starting to
live out here where life actually happens.
When you are practicing being out here, what is
going on with you internally will stop being who you
are for yourself. As a result you will have much less
attention on, and be much less bothered by, what is
going on with you internally. And, you (the you that
you refer to when you say I or me) will simply be
one of the things that shows up for you in the
clearing for life that you actually are.
172 SUMMARY

This will assist you in getting clear that you are not
what is going on with you internally (your Way of
Being), and support you in not treating what is going
on with you internally (your Way of Being) like it is
more important than life. Your Way of Being will just
be what is going on with you internally. So What!
As a result of practicing being out here, you will start
being more effective in life, and start experiencing a
higher quality of life. You will discover that you have
more power than the person you have known
yourself to be.
Who you actually are is: Out Here!

As you do this practice, it will become evident that
who you are is the clearing in which life shows up.
And, if you do this practice from time to time
throughout the day, after a while for some within a
week and for others within a month or two you will
find yourself naturally being out-here in life.
You will find yourself with the world, others, and what
you call I or me occurring for you as they are,
without your knowledge or previous experience
filtering what you encounter. Instead, you will find
that your knowledge and previous experience so to
speak illuminate what you encounter.
This is mastery. Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
174 RESEARCH ON THE SOURCE OF YOUR WAY OF BEING AND ACTING
Appendix A
Action representations can be viewed as a
component of a predictive system that includes a
neural process, which simulates through motor
imagery the dynamic behavior of the body in relation
to the environment (Grush, 2004; Jordan, 1995;
Wolpert et al., 1995). This view suggests that the
presentation of a visual stimulus [the occurring] may
evoke automatically a potential motor action L
(Jeannerod, 2003) (Delevoye-Turrell et al. 2010, p.224)
Appendix A (Contd)
The data presented in this chapter underline the importance of
processing visual information [the occurring] in relation to one's
action possibilities L It is in fact essential to recognize that the
possibilities of action subtend the perceptual process of the
basic organization of the external world. This is similar to the
sense of spatiality developed in phenomenological philosophy
by authors like Heidegger, Husserl, or even Merleau-Ponty who
suggested that 'locations within space are not to be defined as
objective positions in relation to the objective position of our
body; rather, they inscribe around us the variable reach of our
intentions or of our movements' (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). L In
line with this perspective, we have provided in the present
chapter arguments suggesting that motor representations may
be viewed as a component of a predictive system that includes
a neural process which simulates through motor imagery the
dynamic behaviour of the body in relation to its environment.
(Delevoye-Turrell et al. 2010, p.236)
Appendix A (Contd)
Since Berkeley's famous essay on vision, theorists of perception
have defended the idea that the experience of spatiality proceeds
from an interpretation of sensory information through reference to
the possibilities of action (Berkeley, 1709[1985]). ... According
to [Merleau-Ponty (1945)], locations within space are not to be
defined as objective positions in relation to the objective position
of our body; rather they inscribe around us the variety of reaches
that our limbs can produce. Space is thus not uniform but
depends on our past experiences about opportunities, effects
and costs of acting in a given environment, with our own body
parts (Previc, 1998; Proffitt 2006b). L It is also necessary to
consider that possibilities of action may subtend the process of
constitution of the perceived external environment. Indeed, in a
social context, it seems necessary to define those spatial areas
that surround our body according to the specific possibilities of
functional interactions with objects and/or individuals within these
areas. (Delevoye-Turrell et al. 2010, p.218)
Appendix A (Contd)
To help bring the claims of the actionist [one who holds the
position that L perceptual consciousness depends constitutively
on perceivers practical grasp of the significance of movement
and action for perceptual experience (No 2010, p.245)],
sensorimotor view, into focus, and to get a feel for its significance
and reach, lets consider a well-known but poorly understood
phenomenon: the effects of inverting or reversing goggles. L
Individuals who wear the lenses for lengthy periods of time, and
who are made to engage dynamically with the environment
around them as they do so, eventually recover normal perceptual
experience (Kohler, 1951; Taylor, 1962). Such individuals
experience the position and layout of things as they are, even
though they continue to wear the reversing goggles, and L
continue to receive inverted patterns of stimulation. Once again,
how things look depends less on the discrete, individual, intrinsic
character of stimulation, than it does on the way that stimulation
is governed by patterns of sensorimotor contingency. (No 2010,
p.246 - emphasis added) Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
Appendix A (Contd)
According to the sensorimotor or, as I shall call it,
actionist approach, perceiving is an activity of
exploring the environment making use of this kind of
knowledge of the sensory effects of movement.
(No 2010, p.245)
L seeing is an exploratory activity mediated by the

mastery of the sensorimotor contingencies. (No and
ORegan 2002, p.567)
conscious visual experience presents the world to

the subject in a richly textured way ... [which is]
especially apt for, and typically utilized in, the control
and guidance of fine-tuned, real world activity
[action]. (Clark 2001, p.496 )
Appendix A (Contd)
L having a perspective means that what you
experience and perceive depends systematically on
what you do, as well as vice versa. (Hurley 1998, p.86)
His [man's] perception is dynamic because it is
related to action - what can be done in a given space
... (Hall 1966, p.115)
Integration of Perceiving and Moving and Higher
Order Serial Organizations Is Dialectic Coherent
Subprocesses Arise Together Not Via Linear
Causality or Parallelism: Perceiving, thinking, and
moving always occur together, as coherent
coordinations of activity (Dewey, 1896/1981a).
(Clancey 1993, p.91) Copyright 2010 2013 W. Erhard, M. C. Jensen, Landmark Worldwide. All rights reserved. 30-May-2013
Appendix A (Contd)
These global patterns of neural activity are at all
times locked into both sensory and motor patterns of
input and output. These findings are interpreted to
cut against computational accounts of olfaction as
requiring decompositional structure and context-
independent symbols (Skarda and Freeman 1987,
pp. 172-73, 184, etc.; Freeman 1991, pp. 36-37, 41,
etc.).
In sum, neurophysiological evidence at both the
single-cell and cell population levels suggest shared
coding for perception and action: that the contents of
both perceptions and intentions can depend on
neural processes that blend sensory and motor
features. (Hurley 1998, p.415)
181 REFERENCES
REFERENCES
Bennis, Warren G. and Robert J. Thomas. Crucibles of Leadership.
Harvard Business Review, September 2002
Boroditsky, Lera. 2010. Lost In Translation. Wall Street Journal. 23 July
2010.
Clancey, W.J. 1993. Situated action: A neurophysiological response to
Vera and Simon. Cognitive Science. V 17, 87-116.
Clark, A. 2001. Visual experience and motor action: Are the bonds too
tight?. Philosophical Review 110: 495-519.
Delevoye-Turrell, Yvonne, Angela Bartolo, and Yonn Coello. 2010. Motor
Representations and the Perception of Space: Perceptual Judgments of
the Boundary of Action Space. In Perception, Action, and
Consciousness: Sensorimotor Dynamics and Two Visual Systems, eds.
Gangopadhyay, Nivedita, Michael Madary, and Finn Spicer, 217-242.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hall, E.T. 1966. The Hidden Dimension. New York: Anchor books.
Hawkins, Jeff, with Sandra Blakeslee. 2004. On Intelligence. New York,
NY: Henry Holt LLC.
Heidegger, Martin. 1927. Being and Time. Trans. Joan Stambaugh. 1996.
Albany: State University of New York Press.
182 REFERENCES
REFERENCES
Hurley, Susan. 1998. Consciousness in Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Libet, Benjamin. 1993. Neurophysiology of Consciousness: Selected
Papers and New Essays. Boston MA: Birkhauser
No, Alva. 2010. Vision Without Representation. In Perception, Action, and
Consciousness: Sensorimotor Dynamics and Two Visual Systems, eds.
Gangopadhyay, Nivedita, Michael Madary, and Finn Spicer, 245-256.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
No, Alva, and J.K ORegan. 2002. On the Brain Basis of Perceptual
Consciousness. In Vision and Mind: Selective Readings in the
Philosophy of Perception, eds. No, Alva, and E. Thompson, 567-98.
Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Rowe, Dorothy. 2010. Liar, liar: Why deception is our way of life. New
Scientist. 21 June 2010.
Wolpert, Daniel M. 2009. Fred Kavli Distinguished International Scientist
Lecture at the Society for Neuroscience meeting: Neuroscience 2009, as
quoted in the Kavli Foundation Newsletter,
http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/smart-moves-daniel-
wolpert-motor-control-and-brain, accessed on 28 December 2010.

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Comments welcome 1 30 May 2013

Harvard Business School Negotiation, Organizations and Markets Research Papers

HARVARD NOM UNIT RESEARCH PAPER NO. 11-067

The authors are indebted to the following people:

From Public Presentations by Werner Erhard

Authors: Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Joseph J. DiMaggio MD

What You Hear Tonight

What One Believes Is Not Necessarily True

What One Believes Is Not Necessarily True

How To Deal With What Is In Conflict With

Do Not Believe Anything Presented Tonight

On the next few slides

What Makes Certain People Extraordinary

What Makes Certain People Extraordinary

What Is The Source Of Being Extraordinary

What Is Meant By Conversational Domain

What Is Meant By Conversational Domain

Being Knowledgeable Versus Being A Master

Being Knowledgeable Versus Being A Master

The Conversational Domain for

Finding What Is Said In Your Own Experience

Summary: What Is Meant By

What Is Meant by Way of Being

What Is Meant by Way of Being

Your Way of Being Is

What Is Meant by Way of Being

Who You Know Yourself To Be

The First Critical Point About

An Example About Master Leaders From

Summary: What Is Meant by Way of Being

Confirm In Your Own Experience

Try It Out For Yourself

Try It Out For Yourself

Action or Way of Acting

What Is Meant by Actions or Acting

Action Is Our Only Access To Impacting Life

Please note that we will keep summarizing as

2. What Is Meant by Way of Being

3. The First Critical Point About

4. What Is Meant by Actions or Acting

On the next series of slides

Your Way of Acting And Your Way of Being

Your Way of Being and Acting

Confirm For Yourself That Your Way of Being And

Confirm In Your Memory That Your Way of Being

Neuroscience Research: Your Way of Being

Neuroscience Research: Your Way of Being

That is, our Way of Being and our Way of Acting

Decisions to Act Are Not the Cause of Action

Decisions to Act Are Not the Cause of Action

A Fallacy: Your Way of Being

What Appears To Be Going On Consciously

What Is Going On In Our Brain

What Is Going On In Our Brain

The Front Of Your Hand And The Back Of

Confirm For Yourself That What You Decide

Remember The Water Bottle Demonstration

The Second Critical Point

The Second Critical Point

The Second Critical Point

The Second Critical Point

Before answering this question we need to get clear

On the next few slides