Section Zeta Lesson Three: Implications For Education  Developing The Public "Mind"  Just as the government must facilitate the needs of body, it also must assist in the establishment and ongoing development of a common public mind. Public transportation, technological, and commercial infrastructures can unite individuals physically, but it is through public education that they are united in thought and action. Public education provides the essential communicative pathways which transmit and enhance culture in the organized, purposeful manner. Mass consciousness exists without public intervention, but it can be guided away from limitations and developed to its maximum value potential with enlightened approaches. As a top priority, the public mind must embrace and instill the basic self understandings within citizens to begin purposeful development of each individual mind.  There can be a thread of agreement allowed to run through the whole of public education. This thread can be a collective understanding that the subjects of the education system are capable of far more than is currently presumed and that the only restriction to unlimited development is the application of limiting possibilities.  Self-development is the most critical purpose for humanity to discover at this time, given the dogmatic assertion of science that survival is the only life purpose. The admission that "natural selection" evidences pre-determined direction will bring the next wave of official progress. But it is self evident that humans, by virtue of this natural capacity to remember and learn, have the dual purpose of self-development. Learning allows adaptation to any external challenges far better than waiting around for genetic mutations. It will also allow deeper understandings to unfold concerning why such mutations occur and how they can be consciously controlled.  The "survival" instincts attributed to the human race can not, by themselves, explain the accelerated progress observed in recorded history. This process strongly suggests that a second, more intrinsic element is present and has its roots in a quality beyond mere body and mind. That quality, when finally recognized by science, will be identified as Spirit.  The public mind is at present a loose conglomeration of conflicting bits of natural and cultural knowledge, attitudes, trends, and values, steered by the scientific community and limited by governmental defensive safeguards. External legal controls, and prepackaged value judgments become incorporated into educational approaches as educators scramble to balance conflicting ideals and offer "official" information. This problem is compounded further with the recent explosion of available information which often competes with---and wins out over---official declarations. As a result, the public mind presently flounders and individual minds are left with conflicting and limited guidance.  As long as there is conflict and competition, there will be a variance in what is accepted and taught. This is particularly true in the arena of metaphysics which has little if any standing in the scientific and academic community. It would take the discovery of an impressive body of information outside of the accepted paradigm to alter the current mind set in the educational field. Might this material serve that purpose?  This situation will continue until there is an enlightened awakening to the emotional patterns of human nature which expose the inner guidance, the divine system of self regulation that drives all purposeful learning. The line must be drawn between information that promotes versus the destructive path. The relative nature of reality, information, and individuality must be embraced. For the mind is not a vessel to be filled with useless facts and figures, but a receptive canvas whereupon each of inch individual life unfolds, with experience and spiritual evaluation as the brush which colors, shades, defines, and creates meaning. Such a natural portrait brings forth the most beautiful and complete expression of the innate value potential, symbolic of the most purposeful rewarding and most expansive life experience. This approach satisfies the recent request of the Dalai Lama to enhance education of the mind with "education of the heart".  Educational institutions such as the War College and the infamous training school at Fort Benning, Georgia must be closed down. We are beginning to realize that there is something called 'Emotional Intelligence', which is made up of more than cold facts and reasoning. It includes instinct and intent. As it becomes more appreciated, we will move toward a new level of learning.  Creative Experiential Learning Vs Receiving Judgments  A fundamental change in educational approach involves understanding the nature of judgment. As we now know, the mind has no capacity to make judgmental evaluations, due to the unrestricted nature of free will. Likewise, the creative nature of mind leads to unique, individual realities which will unfailingly replicate themselves in physical experience---slivers and all. For this reason, the mind is not designed to simply accept and absorb the conclusions and experiences of others, such would violate free will. Memory is as fluid and creative as reality. Historians are beginning to recognize that any given account of historical events is colored by the perspectives of the day and that as such, history is not fixed. This understanding, taken to its natural conclusion beyond the limitations of space time, recognizes that the power of mind is always in the present moment and to clog it with unnecessary limits defeats the very purpose of the creative physical existence.  The mind alone cannot make judgments. It is the body, through feeling, that evaluates. The mind, thinking it can "judge" by itself, is what Jesus meant when he said to "judge not" and what the bible meant by the "fall" when Eve bit of the apple from the tree of "human knowledge of good and evil". The mind can not judge or invent evaluative knowledge that works without emotional guidance. Also, the creative nature of mind has a direct impact on our physical reality, for better or worse. Even memory shares this quality and can recreate the past to our liking, should we choose to do so, and we do. This is what is meant by the virtue of "living in the NOW".  An enlightened educational approach must rest upon the trial-and-error nature of experiential learning rather than the one-way teacher-to-student flow of information. At present, many systems waste a huge amount of time and squander the potentials of great minds by failing to recognize the natural cycle of action, evaluative feedback, and adaptive learning. Boredom, loss of passion for discovery, acceptance of meaninglessness, and angry acts of rebellion are all symptoms of systems that fight the natural propensities of purposeful self-development. Many so-called "learning disabilities" would be far less debilitating if natural experiential, interactive, trial-and-error learning were allowed to occur.  The grading system of most educational institutions rewards those who best absorb the thoughts and undisputed facts of the authority figure in the room, the instructor. Yet, it is those whose spirit compels them to repel this system that are punished by it. Interactive participation and an opportunity to exercise one's creative quality will always outweigh passive non-resistance in the learning process.  The emotional system will continue to reject much of what is offered under the present systems, for the spirit fights to keep the mind free for its own creative sake. Of course, this is not to say that the idea of sharing the experiences of previous generations is not valuable and necessary. For the mistakes of the past can offer a wealth of strategic information. But it is to say that each individual must pass any incoming information before the spiritual adjudicator. The spirited mind seeks to find the patterns within the stories, the meaningful transitions, and feeling experiences emphatically and intuitively shared. The only way to discover innate values is by sharing experiences in such a way that vicarious feelings alert the mind of the personal interest or aversion to any given experience. Long-term learning comes only from impressing the mind of its duty to discover and create strategies that bring long-term pleasure and avoid all but learning pain. It must first be allowed to self-direct and create in order to evaluate and correct its work.  The student who is caught between accepting the instructor's or the text book version of truth and his own instinctive understanding of same, will find that going with the latter will result in his/her being rejected from the learning institution, or at least being "downgraded" for the effort. The making of mistakes should be a built-in opportunity and considered essential to the learning process. In other words, the current "grading" system is counter-productive and leaves little room for "doubt and reflection" on behalf of the student.  With this essential information in place, enlightened educators will focus far more on how to understand and embrace the natural learning and self-regulation process. In fact, they will distinguish immediately between mental value judgments and emotional evaluations, truly willful gems and conditioned slivers, and help individuals find and resolve existing judgmental slivers they may already hold. They will instill with mantra-like constancy the understanding of the experiential learning cycle of "motive, action, outcome, evaluation, and correction". They will provide active, expressive opportunities to learn why things hurt and why they feel good, and how each feeling holds meaning at each step of this ongoing cyclical process, as they evolve evermore complex understandings of themselves, their world, and their purposes within it.  In other words, the best instructor will teach individuals how to best use their emotional bodies to learn and expand the Spirit. In this way, mental limitations imposed by prejudicial thinking will eventually be recognized for its limitations and the "limitlessness" of human nature will be encouraged and rewarded, not just in school but in life.  Classroom hours will be spent in far more interactive cooperative, experiential processes, and far more outer excursions and hands-on activities will take place. Meaningful transitions will be embraced and celebrated as abilities and boundaries expand, but without long periods of separation between grade levels. Opportunities to contribute will abound from the earliest ages, wherein peer counseling, tutoring, and mentoring allow mutually beneficial exchanges, skill modeling and plenty of practice communicating, negotiating, and creatively expressing. Public education can provide the safety-net for any citizen who may seek escape and solace from any ongoing situation of violation.  It might be time for educational institutions to formulate their own "Mission Statement". Much as that term is maligned, it would help to give focus to the purpose of what a properly educated person can and should be. Educational perimeters can be expanded when barriers between those in the learning process are removed and those who think they have learned something can be exposed to those who need to learn and both can benefit and grow.  There will be constant focus upon the natural developmental track that each human being proceeds along. It will stand in stark contrast and constant comparison with the wrong track of survival's competitive defense. There will be encouragement and opportunities to attain the highest and broadest level of self-development and self-expression. Trust will develop through the organized, synergistic, cooperative support networks wherein humans help each other along. All forms of resistance and defense are well known as roadblocks to long-term reward and students offer one another structured support with feedback when defenses are displayed in any form.  Because today's grading system rewards those who conform and comply with the line of information and the method of delivery, those who benefit the most from this erroneous method of indoctrination will also be its greatest defenders. Those who are given the lowest scholastic marks, will generally lack the self-confidence and support to question those who defend and support it.  Such an educational environment will provide the common understanding and acceptance of the uniqueness of each person's reality and the sharing of perspectives with the goal of broadening each person's self-concept to include perspectives, needs, and purposes of others. This inclusion can range from anything from merely respectful, nonjudgmental detachment which allows very different individuals to respect each other's willful choices from a safe distance; to compassionate tolerance for varying developmental levels which foster cooperative interactions; to creative compassion wherein action choices pull vastly different individuals together in common cooperative developmental and expressive exchanges.  The greatest educational experience can come from the honest sharing of perspectives, based on individual experiences. Once we get beyond judgment, the method of involvement will be regarded as that which is appropriate to each individual and his/her comfort zone. The only basic ingredient essential in the mix is tolerance.  The Scope of Public Education  The enlightened self-understandings will suggest immediate changes in the scope and structure of public education. The educational institution can play a primary role in ensuring the just conditions of equal empowerment. Thus, its scope must expand to ensure as many avenues of unifying developmental experiences and expressive opportunities as possible. This will involve cooperative purposeful structured interactions with the economic marketplace and all other social institutions. Government can play a leadership role in terms of setting policy, structures, and initial funding, but eventually the educational systems can be run by unified networks within private enterprise.  The concept of allowing private enterprises to handle the educational responsibilities of a society is not that foreign. The best schools are often those identified as private schools and tend to stay in business because they are able to compete with public schools of like kind, even though those who sent their children to them, were required to pay for the privilege out of their own pockets. But to create a level playing field, all schools (like businesses) should be private in nature, so no schools would have the financial advantage of being "free".  First and foremost, an enlightened educational system must embrace each and every citizen--- with equal access at any and all ages. Access to unifying and empowering information and developmental opportunity is the best form of cooperative, preventative defense against a tremendous amount of individual and social pain. At present, the prohibitive economic dividers against equal access to educational opportunity have squandered a huge percentage of creative value potential.  If every citizen, regardless of age, had an equal opportunity to acquire a quality education, whereby the expense of such would be available to public funds paid to private institutions, which could collect those funds only if they prove capable of supplying and accomplishing the educational needs of each respective student. Schools would compete for students just as car manufactures compete for customers by producing the best product for the dollar. The presumption is that the better a society is equipped, the better it functions.  Another obstacle is the institutionalized belief that development is one dimensional, automatic, and stops at some magical age of adulthood, perhaps at age 18. In fact, if adequate emotional development is not in place by such an age, then it is all the more essential to offer educational support. Each and every individual who roams the streets of any village in the world, driven by corrective pain rather than being pulled by purposeful pleasure is symptomatic of this need. The world has not only been deprived the synergy of many ingenious offerings, but has been dragged further down, defending itself against the resulting competitive criminal approaches to basic need fulfillment created by injustice and emotional isolation.  Given a choice between learning a trade or acquiring insights into the meaning of life, versus being forced to adopt creative and daring means of survival which can lead to incarceration, the former will tend to be the likely choice. Universal education can provide a door to the positive alternative. The expense of "policing" a society is better spent in educating it. The most fundamental goal of public education is to provide orientation and practice into the workings of one's self and the workings of the world in general. With enlightened education, each individual is awakened to his or her own purposes, value potentials, rights and responsibilities, and provide opportunities to develop and freely pursue them in any manner of willful choosing. It will find incredible success in engaging the inner self-regulating mechanisms and pulling individuals toward their value fulfillment with the positive emotional reward of connected, esteem building, meaningful, creative experiences.  Eventually, awarded degrees (such as BA, MA or PHD) could be replaced with Certificates of Knowledge in particular fields of learning. Thus, each particular accomplishment would add to the individual's self esteem and allow him/her to pursue their own area of interest, regardless of what that interest might be, so long as it contributed in some way to the betterment of society.  The most successful structures will be those designed to accomplish the maximum opportunity for need-meeting, those that offer hands-on ways to meet the six universal needs and embrace the purposeful development within each experience. These experiences will facilitate understanding of universal needs and foster the cooperative respect for the needs of all others as well as crystallize understanding of how each feeling signal offers corrective guidance.  Educational institutions which equip their subjects with the broadest possible level of understanding of themselves, society and the universe beyond, and which supply them with the skills to function in a positive manner, are playing the essential role for which they exist.  This would include the earliest possible recognition of the connection and emotional universality between humans and foster cooperation, tolerance and compassion for the choices and errors of others. It would honor the inherent value potential in each human being, respect that the creative power lies in the present moment, and create an urgency for it to manifest itself in the world. It would make the mind aware of how esteem is earned through purposeful development and expression, and not through defensive superiority of belittlement, idle indulgence, family connections, materialistic competitive consumption, or empty external praise. It would release the mind from its chains of bondage, teach it to remove any existing slivers, and set it free to create.  So much of our intellectual and emotional energy is wasted in maintaining delusions about the measures of value that have little to do with inner spiritual development. These false perceptions may offer enhancements of self-worth to some, but too often do so at the expense of others. A uniformly rising tide raises all boats equally, regardless of size or stature.  The Structure of Public Education  This expanded scope can be facilitated by added structures which network individuals and groups and remove as many isolated conditions as possible. Public education would blend both purposeful self-development and self-expression. The expressive, experiential component can be facilitated by student networks throughout all age-levels who offer guided support to one another through structured community service requirements. Such roles as school bus helper, playground negotiator, cafeteria litter patrol, nurse assistant, art assistant, peer counselor, office assistant, language helper, math helper, etc., can all be structured into the daily educational experience. A shifting schedule of assigned roles can allow students to engage in varying levels of challenge and explore areas of interest that dovetail with the real-world of marketplace resource exchange.  Erasing the barrier between trade school education and preparatory schools for higher learning by allowing students in all school systems to play out roles of responsibility in all walks of life, will not only raise their level of experience in the world beyond schooling, but will help to reduce an elitist attitude in future societal roles.  At the earliest ages, this provides immediate understanding of how the interactive resource exchange occurs and engages the emotional system in the context of cooperative interaction. This affirms immediately that when one takes, one gives back to the best of one's ability, immediately embracing the esteem of being an active, contributing part of a cooperative whole. To the youngest students, each can pass equally through a set number of diverse "jobs" wherein they all gather a wide exposure, begin to feel attractions in special directions, and recognize that equal opportunity implies equal value, no matter what dividers might otherwise exist. Such experiences can bring positive emotional rewards at even the most tedious and "lowly" of jobs. For the feeling of connection and contribution alone can embrace even the most isolated individuals when they recognize their value and the rewards of contribution.  The best method of democratizing a society is to begin at the earliest possible stage where individuals must begin to have social contact in some formal setting. The educational field is such a setting. What the young learn here, they will carry with them into their adult lives. Adult society will function more or less smoothly, depending on what lubricants have been worked into the early social patterns.  A wide variety of such community service jobs should be offered at each age level, with more variety and diverse levels of challenge offered as the students progress to higher grade levels. This flexibility can provide opportunities for many levels of ability, interest, learning styles, backgrounds, and individual inclinations as well as encourage the taking on of increasing levels of challenge. Such community service structures can also provide significant manpower and resources to enhance learning without equally dramatic cost increases. Higher level students' regular structured learning would include assisting in the education of lower level students in cooperative resource. This can provide big-brother/sister mentoring and unions which can fill voids within family structures as well as provide enriched learning experiences for both parties.  The point and purpose of education would then move beyond the regular teacher/student relationship to a blending of student as teacher, applying that which is learned through the process of passing it along to others at an earlier stage of the learning process. Younger students would find role models to emulate and older students would develop a sense of responsibility toward others in society who wish to better themselves. The ramifications of such practices would have long term win-win consequences, both for individuals and society as a whole.  As the educational scope broadens, so can the actual structures utilized within the educational process. Interactive networks within and between all public and private need-meeting organizations can facilitate synergistic benefits and profitability for all concerned. For example, if it were to begin at much earlier ages, public education could provide quality, structured, enriched environments in lieu of day care for working parents, with emphasis upon early emotional engagement, self unity, and cooperative trust. This could provide safeguards which could dramatically reduce the isolating effects of family dysfunction as well as provide enrichments for the most fertile developmental periods. Likewise, senior citizens could share their wisdom and find purpose instead of isolation. Transitional housing, hostels and even long-term living arrangements can be incorporated into the educational network to provide the open-armed welcome social embrace of safe escape from situations of injustice and violation. Similar interactions with the judicial system can provide far more successful rehabilitation than can incarceration alone.  The very process of developing educational opportunities (whether they be in the role of teacher or student) in all areas of life could result in moving the more disillusioned from a life of despair to a life of promise and achievement; on toward the establishment of family and financial stability.  Once education is extended to individuals of all ages and circumstances these community service jobs can include actual apprenticeships and positions within the public marketplace. Within a continuum of complexity, the community service jobs can simply transition into established positions structured for the purpose within and throughout the larger community under the educational umbrella. Temporary, transitional, educational positions pave the way for gainful employment into private professional relationships.Open door education could facilitate adaptation to life-changing events, offer ongoing retraining, and offer opportunities for career changes at all ages.  While these transitional experiences are already taking place in present-day society, too often there are periods of genuine financial hardship experienced in the gaps between one stage of life and another. Refining the educational process along the lines suggested in these Lessons would go a long way in minimizing those hardships and keep society in a more stable state.  Interim systems of transferable monetary vouchers wherein students seeking any form of education can participate in interactive apprenticeship programs which provide labor in exchange for hands-on experiential learning. These specific "educational" jobs, designed for specific and myriad skill levels would offer increasing levels of challenge throughout the resource marketplace. Such strategies not only can balance the needs of all, but can accomplish mutual profitable benefit. Such cooperative structures could first be supported through tax breaks to participating businesses and alignments with non-profit charitable organizations. Eventually, such guided educational opportunities could be interwoven and solely supported by private enterprise.  Private enterprise can be moved toward a position of financial sponsorship when it can see that its vested interest is benefitted. A business that needs a study supply of trained and capable employees, will see the financial merit of helping to develop same. If tax incentives are the means through which a corporation is so motivated, this can serve as the instigating factor. Again, this can be a win-win situation. Companies that now hire lawyers and accountants to avoid paying taxes, could waive the expense and further experience the rewards of being philanthropic while improving their public image.  For example, each business could structure 20% of its work force to interact with the educational system to an equally valuable percentage of tax benefit. Hotels and living complexes that participate in educational safety-net housing would enjoy similar tax benefits or subsidies. Eventually, the wisdom and benefits of such cooperative interaction will eliminate the requirement of monetary exchange , for they will become integral profit enhancing parts of the resource marketplace, naturally improving upon existing systems and filling social voids. The ultimate governmental role would be only to provide the structural guidance of educational policy and to ensure the maximum avenues of educational opportunity are established. Just and equal empowerment is the ultimate educational goal.  Business can be brought to this point of enlightenment by those who can begin to see that long-term profit and financial security is based upon a balanced investment in human resources, leading to realization that all potential customers are employees and vice versa. It can become apparent that a trained, educated and employed society will keep the wheels of business humming. Government can and should play the role of leading the proverbial horse to the water, while convincing it of the merits of taking a drink.  Such a structure would far more validly align with human need, purpose, diversity and biological justice. It would acknowledge and facilitate the ongoing nature of self-development, acknowledge the long-term rewards of cooperative interaction and not confuse equal empowerment with equal result. It would celebrate and encourage individual proclivities and offer multitudinous avenues of opportunity most suited to any particular destiny path. It could prevent the continuing contraction of public education and replace musical and art programs that have gone by the wayside and aggressively increase all avenues and opportunities for creative expression. Rather than try to force individuals into narrow molds, such a structure would honor and encourage the diversity of thought and expression necessary to drive purposeful evolution. A society's individual successes need not be tied to levels of productivity in the area of goods and services. Some of the contributions to the general well-being can and should come in the areas of the arts, for this is also necessary for a well-balanced civilization. Just as corporations get tax breaks for their financial contributions to public radio and television, so such could get the same financial incentives for assistance to educational institutions which sponsor special studies in art, music and theater.  The additional work force from community service and training programs can also resolve unaddressed problems at their source, ultimately replacing many existing corrective social programs through successful prevention of the emotional disunity that creates most every social ill. It can even eventually replace much of which now goes into prisons and in global competitive defense, and shall remain the cornerstone of good government---indeed the foundation of civilization.  The pouring of government money into social welfare programs may seem like a good idea on its surface, but experience has suggested that it often tends to condition people to a state of dependence which ultimately is detrimental to the spirit. Because this financial aid is so minimal, those on the receiving end often seek other means of support beyond the confines of the system, a system that then punishes their efforts to help themselves.  Such systems which attune all individuals to the way life works, the way body, mind, and spirit each offer united and unfailing guidance, and provide the maximum amount of interactive opportunities can allow all people to understand and passionately follow the bliss that will manifest the maximum progress along the destiny path.  To take the bold steps in this indicated direction does require an enhanced faith in the innately positive nature of the human family. Some evidence is beginning to emerge that the potential of these broadened solutions is there and that maintaining a balance in financial areas can compliment balanced growth in human areas, as well.  Early and Elementary Education  The earliest education should provide the enrichments which can allow hungry minds to flourish and the development of complex and balanced brain structures. The earliest school years will focus upon emotional attunement and early mental development as discussed previously. These are the spiritual fundamentals which must underlie all methods of transferring important cultural knowledge---teaching the standard reading, writing, and arithmetic. By combining these principles with early learning opportunities which exploit the brain's plasticity, incredible learning can occur---which includes dormant multi-lingual, musical, and artistic talents, and manifests dazzling potentials and creative inclinations which would boggle the present day public mind.  Educators are well aware that the learning of a language, for example, is easier at the earliest stages of learning. Creative opportunities in music and art are also ready for tapping at this early stage. When educational systems can layer the 3 "R's" upon a program of creative expression, the long-term result is an overall stimulation of the learning experience that lasts well into adulthood.  Spiritual understandings can be presently instilled without upsetting any existing doctrines which separate church and state, if the emphasis remains upon biological self-regulation of the dual-self model (body and mind). But one major change will be understanding that experience and emotional feedback are the best teachers, and the purpose of self-development insists upon an open, liberal, and individually designed mindscape. The idea of mind control, sheltered protection, censorship, and the filling of an empty vessel with "the right ideas" is quite limiting. Instead, classrooms will offer safe and structured real world interactions that immediately orient the child to their ability to control their own destiny. No legitimate controversy need arise from practices which facilitate cooperation, connections, empathy, respect, responsibility, and self control.  Universal principles of positive human relationships, devoid of the accouterments of dogmatic belief systems, can compliment the learning process and teach individuals that they can play a major role in creating the successes in their respective lives. How they feel about what they do can serve as the appropriate guiding factor to behavior. Guilt need not be programmed so deeply that it causes emotional problems later on. In truth, it need not be a "program" at all. Mistakes can be viewed as a part of the learning process and not something resulting in eternal punishment.  Curriculums, exercises, cooperative projects, field trips, stories, presentations, "job" experiences, and routines will seek to instill basic self-regulatory information, an empowered sense of unique value potential and willful perspective; an equal, universal, sense of belonging within a welcoming world; awareness of life along purposeful developmental paths, and the evaluating role of feelings. Contrasts will be made continuously between the right track of purpose and the wrong track of deadly habits. Mistakes become laughable growing pains and opportunities.  The greater the level of enjoyment associated with the learning process, the less resistance to the idea of learning. This is bound to have beneficial, long-term effects on an individual's life experience. Confidence is built by doing and much learning is meant to be a process of trial and error. Without a recognition and appreciation of the latter, there can be no lasting progress.  Providing an unwavering cultural expectation of mutual acceptance for all human mistakes as inevitable to the learning process, combined with communal agreement to support each other to make corrections, can build cooperative trust, empathy, and mutual respect, as well as minimize defensive responses which might otherwise become habitual. Making a clear distinction between meanness and kindness and emphasizing the feelings produced from both strategies will minimize the competitive and isolating defensive and offensive actions. Humorously contrasting effective communicative techniques with ineffective ones, both verbal and nonverbal, that contrast feelings of giver and receiver can foster solid expressive skills and awareness of how others' perceptions might vary. Enjoying ongoing repetitive cyclic experiences where plans are carried forth to completed outcomes will instill the understanding of how keeping organized and on top of all challenges keeps the stress and pain of unfinished business at bay.  Each instructor must keep the level of kindness in the learning environment at the maximum whenever possible. Nothing is more distracting and demeaning than the cruelty of one's peer's. Meanness is not only detrimental for the recipient, but it is also a harmful habit of conduct that results in negative experiences later on in life. We have already begun to see and understand the dire consequences of indifference to the "bully" mandate in our schools.  Recognizing the role and power of fear and anger as signals of deficit states that need immediate correction, and how they lead to hurtful defenses can keep even the youngest children aligned to the purposeful path. Offering clear understandings of how self-deception, even little white lies, are actually methods of defensive escape which create painful distance instead of enhancing happy connection. Play-acting scenarios which demonstrate tit-for-tat morality and vividly depict how lies always bring pain in the end can help curtail the development of many common deadly habits. All such self-regulation information will foster the emergence of natural morality and allow the unfolding of the higher feeling signals of trust, confidence, compassion, pride and courage, and prevent learned shame, guilt, arrogance, or hatred.  Plays and cartoons with a moral point can benefit those in the learning process, particularly when those "points" are a subject of guided discussion. In an environment where truth is encouraged, trust is bound to follow and, with it, a whole series of positive feelings and experiences.  People are always characterized as good, yet necessarily subjected to human learning error as the price paid for free will. Violations are treated as learning mistakes. Positive inducements are used to open inner motivations, and withdrawal of pleasure is used when corrections are necessary. Intimidation, ridicule, corporal punishment, and any form of negative, pain inducing motivators are contradictory, and even destructive to an evolving sense of value and cooperative trust. They demonstrate a lack of faith that the child can exercise self-control and are contrary to purposeful self-development.  In a positive learning environment, the subject is given the necessary instruction to perform a task. He/she is then allowed to attempt that task and, if an error is made, shown the correct way and encouraged to repeat the effort until the task is mastered. The rate of learning is not held against the subject and no social stigma is attached to the time or effort needed to achieve a particular end.  It shall be readily acknowledged that grownups can make mistakes too, and neither teachers---nor parents---are ever excluded from the feedback process. Indeed, children have much to teach their elders about openness, spontaneity and discovery. The absence of blame and the presence of empathy shall allow exploration of alternative choices to any traditional approaches. Habit patterns from dysfunctional homes can be discouraged through "time-out" isolations where the child feels the loss of companionship and the benefits of cooperation, but the belief behind the behavior is discussed as well. Drawing comparisons and constant references to how each action puts one either on the right track or the painful path can quickly reorient the mind to the spiritual feedback cycle.  Intellectual arrogance is an example that teachers and adults too often set forth. If learning is to be held up as a virtue and goal, then a willingness to learn should be something taught by example. Those who come from a less than conducive environment can be helped by those with an opportunity to spend an extra amount of time in one-on-one communication and empathy. This can be built into the teaching curriculum and made an essential part of the process.  The daily routine will be punctured with many hands-on, interactive projects and activities. There will be an emphasis on problem solving, puzzle completion, artistic creation, musical appreciation, and every form of experience through which meaningful patterns can be discovered. Recognizing patterns and rhythms within sound and light will create neural synapses which recognize and intuit patterns of meaning. Experiencing plenty of both linear and gestalt patterns will unite and strengthen the dual hemispheric functions within the brain. The most balanced form of thinking is that which results from a complimentary relationship between those respective qualities of the left and right brain. It should be noted that there will likely be a tendency of any child to lean toward one side or the other. However, this need not be judged to be good or bad in any way, but as natural as tending to be right or left handed.  Reading and other exercises with vivid imaginative visual imagery and powerful emotional resonance can stimulate untold brain networks which would otherwise lie dormant, and open young minds to many of their highest capabilities. Physical movement, vocalizing, and the broadest variety of new and diverse activity experiences can all maximize physical, as well as mental, and spiritual health. Curriculums will include regular, fun, and actively shared dreams and detailed images of what children want to become in the future, how they want to live. Dramatic role playing or otherwise depicting or sharing the most exotic of fantasy potentials are "games" with very powerful and very real positive effects upon the developing mindscape, and the realities created.  Any activity which helps an individual exercise his/her creative potential, particularly that which puts into play the imaginative capabilities, is essential to reorienting and putting into practice the act of forming one's reality. While being introduced as imaginative play, it can be taught as a natural tool in a reality which is a product of one's inner world.  There will be regular and diverse treks into nature to explore and discover meaningful patterns and dispel fearsome myths. Resonating with nature and feeling a sense of belonging can rapidly facilitate respect for and attunement to the inner abilities and guidance. Pattern recognition is the most awe-inspiring within nature, wherein the mathematical precision of natural processes and cycles inspires the highest faith in the integrity and intelligence within creation, which transcends to the self as part of that creation. Children need never fear, but to respect the power of nature. They can find both safety and power in discovering the night sky, witnessing the foraging of nocturnal creatures, planting seeds in the dirt, being drenched by rain, and whipped by wind. Such exposure develops a healthy sense of unwavering faith, connectedness, and respect for the goodness and power of nature.  A respect and appreciation of the universal laws reflected in nature can only serve to ingrain a willingness to protect one's environment to the fullest degree. Once nature becomes less feared and more respected, the urge to exploit it will diminish and nature, itself, will adopt a greater role of protector instead of destroyer. Playing in the rain is even healthier for children than swimming in a chlorinated pool and certainly more spiritual.  As self-development unfolds in the context of freedom, power, and connection, the self concept of each child naturally expands to enfold an ever broadening range of "'others". Empathy and compassion deepens as the pains and pleasures of others are vicariously experienced. Competitive games of win-lose superiority will lose their allure, as the truly cooperative nature of playing by the rules and taking turns is recognized. Acceptable forms of competition will be those that pit any child against only himself as additional motivation to continuously better his skills and abilities. Win-win solutions are encouraged within all interactions, and activities structured to demonstrate that when someone a child cares for has any success, that success feels good to both. This vicarious pleasure indicates a healthy connection while the pain of jealousy or guilt is recognized as an indicator that further self-development is necessary.  To refute an often quoted sports icon, "Winning is not only not everything, it is not even the only thing." A game of golf played with one's self as the only opponent is far healthier than a game of professional football where the ultimate prize is little more than financial security or a loss thereof. Sports develop character only when they bring out the best in children, that being a willingness and understanding that all benefit from individual success.  Early education can instill freedom and empowerment to create within the context of trust and cooperative connection in ways that can release humanity from its chains of survival-level competition. It can rapidly usher a far more civilized, cooperative state of existence.  For a system to change from what it generally reflects today to what it can reflect tomorrow, requires a paradigm shift in the general thinking of the adult world. Unfortunately, since the adult population is generally less open to non-traditional perspectives, it sometimes takes a major upheaval to stimulate that "shift".  Intermediate and High School  As each grade level is completed, higher levels of both freedom and responsibility are to be the rewards of such rites of passage. At these older ages, children are ready to absorb more abstract and symbolic concepts, although the experiential and interactive strategies shall continue. The emphasis becomes providing a myriad of structured opportunities for students to independently manage, and learn from their experience---to try their wings and get support, corrective advice, and encouragement when they make learning mistakes or "fail". Cooperative empowerment is enhanced by more challenging and diverse opportunities to create, express, build esteem and be able to find meaning in each experience to further hone the budding mindscape.  Because peer pressure can be such a positive or negative force in the learning process and because it is often reflected in the outward appearances and manners of the young, great emphasis should be put on allowing the learning activity to take place as publicly or privately as circumstances can dictate, while keeping the supervision and encouragement of the learning process intact.  The most enlightened structures will allow for a blend of short-term and long-term goals which will allow the student to advance at any pace possible. Such advancement comes with the completion of structured challenges and within the broad array of experiential opportunities to test one's wings. There shall be no limits externally placed upon the desires and efforts when accountability and success is demonstrated, nor should there be judgmental sanctions placed upon paths which might meander or need additional time to recover from previous limits or deficits.  So much emphasis is placed on keeping the learning pace as uniform as possible, that the heard instinct becomes predominant in the minds of the students and the educators as well. Instead of emphasizing the achievements, it is the failings in particular areas that end up getting most of the time and attention. It should be recognized that the learning process is as diverse as the individuals indulging in it.  Curriculums in traditional middle and high schools can build upon the earlier base with the finer and evermore complex points of the divine spiritual feedback system as well as share all forms of cultural knowledge and experience. All delivery of cultural knowledge can then be accomplished without the normal pitfalls of force-feeding facts, figures, and prepackaged judgments which are quickly forgotten, but rather emphasizing the dynamic patterns of human adaptation and creative change. All "information" should be acknowledged and treated as conditional, to be offered as potentials which might be useful upon the purposeful path at some point. Instilling the necessity of the complete openness of mind, how value is relative to the universal needs, and individual value potentials will be far more effective. Tolerance for the choices of others will lead to a natural state of open friendly banter, feedback, mutual respect, and agreement to disagree while remaining truly open to all potentially rewarding information and strategies.  The history of human progress is the history of creative response to the challenges of the time. Such successes (or failures) serve to point future generations in a constructive direction. Specifics are less important than patterns of behavior and sensing the experience of the times in a memorable manner which holds meaning in the mind of the student for an extended period of time. Just as perspectives vary, so do creative solutions. The sharing of perspectives in an atmosphere of open-mindedness is the key to a full and complete educational experience.  Job opportunities, direct and vicarious learning experiences, and general curriculums could revolve around the purposes of body and mind, the conflicts between them, the innate defenses and distorted mindscapes, and the deadly habits they create. Dramatic play-acting of undesirable as well as purposeful experiences can instill the preventative gut-level understandings of how short term pleasure can bring long-term pain, and develop life-giving habits which will endure short term pain to gain long-term purposeful pleasure.  Here is where the arts and theater are essential to a completed education, as they serve as an opportunity for those in the learning process to identify with the problems of their own time and how the solutions they elect to apply to them can continue to reverberate throughout their lives. Such plays can be written, directed and performed by any and all who wish to participate. Then, they can be evaluated for their learning content.  The mind's evolving ability to recognize and intuit meaningful patterns will become ever more adept as deeper patterns within nature and within the mathematical and logical harmonies rise within the conscious awareness. Mindscapes freed from time consuming slivers, create realities and further developmental experiences which can instead expand upon themselves in astounding ways.  True creativity, when pointed in the direction of enhancing the quality of life in a harmonious environment, can produce results which can be expansive in nature.  At these stages, the complex emotional signals are deciphered and each feeling tone is seen in the context of self-development and self-expression as well as the complex emotional patterns of others. Clarifying the two good and bad life tracks can expand to include the stages of human evolution and how living within purpose naturally brings one from the survival level, to the being state on to the transcendent destiny potential. The specific pitfalls (cognitive distortions, deception, resistance, and revenge) of the wrong track of defensive responses become more complex, as students begin to grasp the higher level of the directive to "judge-not". Exercises which give plenty of experience with uniqueness of other's reality, and how honest intimacy builds and deception breaks down trust and communication can prevent a myriad of painful learning experiences in the real world. Developing specific expressive communication skills, win-win persuasion and conflict negotiation can foster success in all real-world interactions.  It is so much more effective to build these learning concepts into the process at the earliest stages, than to try to alter behavioral thinking patterns that are set in place, although this, too, can be successful, if and when the older generation begins to understand the value of creating a more enlightened environment.  This is also an appropriate age to discuss relationships and family life, love and its pitfalls, and the lifelong developmental path. Sharing and discussing biographical life experiences of historical and current public figures (both successful and the infamous), can offer emphatic resonance to the tenacity needed for overcoming challenges, and the clarity needed in avoiding treacherous choices. Blame-free sharing and contrasting of parents' individual and generational challenges with levels of potential value fulfillment can both foster respect, forgiveness, and ways to hold fast to and accomplish the highest of dreams.  The family environment, for better or worse, is and can be a positive part of the learning experience. For such to be the case, it must be viewed from a detached perspective in an environment where judgment is replaced by discernment. All experiences have educational value in showing the merits or adverse consequences of an established pattern of living. While thought patterns are often passed on from one generation to the next, there are always opportunities to keep the best ideas and leave the rest to the dung heap of history.  Reinforcing the equal value of each unique spirit in each structure and interaction will ensure that all students are embraced within the community of humanity through an enlightened public mind. With such a mass consciousness, the kinds of isolating and violent outcomes of fear and anger which exist now as scourges upon humanity will become virtually extinct.  We know from recent history what the consequences can be when some reflect their sense of isolation through violent means. The simple removing of the weapons of such violent expression can not resolve the problems nor remove the causes of negative activity. A shift in attitude and policy must begin to be explored by both educators and parents, alike. This should begin as soon as possible.  Continuing Education  The most valuable structural change in public educational systems would be to ensure that each and every citizen has the opportunity to continue on to the maximum level of education desired, free of economic obstacles. When the government prioritizes its structures around the human needs and ceases squandering its resources on conflicting strategies and competitive defense, its first and foremost priority will become ensuring all citizens---of all ages---organizing educational opportunities. When the networks are in place with private enterprises, the transitional community services, projects, apprenticeships, and internships are established under this umbrella, the costs will be far less than might be suspected. This will not only allow any student to progress through to the PhD level, but it will also allow returning students of all ages and situations.  Most educators and economists would agree that the greatest boon to the American economy following World War II was the GI bill which enabled returning veterans to acquire a free college education. This educated class then went into the work force and benefitted the entire society. Had the program continued for veterans and non-veterans alike, illiteracy could have been nearly eliminated in the country. Just the curtailing of some defense programs (such as "star wars" for example) could initiate such a policy and could easily be paid for with a modest tax on the recipients over a later period of wage learning.  With enlightened understanding of the biological self-regulation system, the academic community can overcome the need of separation between church and state by acknowledging the emotional process as a feature of the third self-component of spirit. At the college level, the body-mind dual model of self can be fleshed out to contain the highest levels of meaning and implications which might formerly have been relegated only to religious discussion and found objectionable in the lower levels of public education. The separation being made between spirituality as attunement to the natural inner guidance, and religion being any specific set of beliefs in a supernatural higher power outside of the self, will more than adequately draw the necessary line between church and state. It would also acknowledge within the theory of evolution that consciousness indeed underlies all matter rather than being a product of it. This would liberate frustrated research scholars who are now forced down wrong-minded tracks of inquiry which only allow the public confusion and social pain to build.  The initial step of transcending the church-state block in the field of education is one that would be essential to any program of higher learning and universal education. Organized religion must face this issue by giving proper credence to the spiritual qualities innate in the human framework and accept it is the variance in perspective which leads to compartmentalizing of spirit and which results in different religions, and nothing more. Then the true nature of spirit and its relationship to consciousness can cease to compete with the scientific perspective.  The acknowledgment of conscious intention within natural selection will open many new areas of study wherein the inner self-regulatory system leads to the unfolding of the transcendental inner sensitivities and abilities that now lie dormant. There can then be experimentations with the boundaries and focus of consciousness that will unite and resolve many existing conundrums such as mechanical versus quantum physics. When the secrets of the mobility and connectedness of all consciousness begin to unfold, there can be tremendous breakthroughs in the approaches to space and time travel that cannot otherwise take place with physical technology alone. The universe cannot be understood until such inner pathways are utilized. As emotion becomes understood as the basic physical manifestation of spirit in pleasure and pain, it will allow the mind to open its intuitive pathways to more direct energy/information which resonates with the unmistakable validation of universal joy.  The current "limitedness" of thought in the area of physical/mental connection and it's relationship to emotion and spirit continues to result in a mechanical view of the universe we occupy, not just from the depth beyond the stars edge, but back to the sub-atomic level of our own physical bodies. Our very state of health is distorted by the ignorance of the potential power of mind. Our chemical/surgical attitude toward the practice of medicine, for example, has left us nearly financially drained and chronically ill. With physical and mental health so limited, so also is our potential for growth.  In such a structure, scientific academicians at the college level would take the reigns of the ongoing development of the public mind. Their activities and findings will not be limited to dusty unintelligible journals, but will be shared through many avenues of communication as the private media become aware that good news can help reduce the horrors of shocking violence of present headlines and televised stories. These networks will provide continuous updated self-developmental information to the public and directly to policy makers which would weigh much more heavily than the desire of special interests.  Shared knowledge is contagious, especially if it is of a positive nature. Further, a society not constantly bombarded by the negative, can get beyond the normal mentality of perpetual fear and anxiety and begin to function at a more creative level and in a ubiquitous fashion.  The structural opportunities for learning specific technical skills and job training will ensure that justice is attained wherein each citizen is rightfully enabled to join in the resource exchange marketplace in any way that the spirit directs. Unique lifestyles, work schedules, and need-meeting approaches are not only tolerated, but actively encouraged throughout the entire structure. The most creative and visionary contributions will be actively facilitated and valued within such a system so that entities such as Albert Einstein need not squander precious life hours in boring classrooms or menial jobs in order to simply meet survival needs. Special think-tanks, artist communities, and other such structures will be encouraged to allow the most fertile and synergistic ground for fine minds to flourish. Likewise, special recovery communities shall serve those needing the most assistance. All structures will promote maximum value fulfillment and the most direct and personally rewarding destiny path for all citizens.  The concept of leisure can be redefined and expanded to the realization that such can produce many positive results when directed at problem-solving and producing works of art and literature which benefits society as a whole. It took the depths of an economic depression to produce an atmosphere where artists and musicians could enjoy financial security while they contributed to society. Today, that state is much more precarious and our society, as a whole, suffers as a result. It is time for us to reevaluate our priorities.  The educational system will be the crowning glory and the hope for humanity as the facilitator of cooperative defense and mindful development. We can now turn the discussion to the implications that enlightened self-understanding bring to concepts of mental and physical health.  Would that these concepts of "Enlightenment" reach the mainstream of our communication system. The challenge comes in removing the prevailing "bushel basket" which now covers them. Would that this "light" serves that purpose.  Table of Contents