Abraham Maslow, a pioneer in positive and transpersonal psychology, devoted much of the last decade of his career to the study of the peak experience. He noted that athletes in the zone, mystics recounting moments of enlightenment, artists when under the influence of their muse, and everyday persons at their ethical and humanistic best appeared to share a common state of consciousness. In synthesizing their reports, he noted that the same 14 BE-values were invariably used to capture the spirit of that consciousness (wholeness, beauty, goodness, aliveness, etc.). What might the world be like if these values dictated human behavior? Maslow posited that humanity would be operating at its optimum. He named that world Eupsychia. He made some brief forays into the world of business and management to promote the spread of these values. His untimely death in 1970 cut short that mission. This book picks up where Maslow left off. The focus is widened to include any context in which a person or individuals are getting in the way of their own excellence (operating at less than peak) and choose to elevate and illuminate their behaviors. The author has benefited from the writings and direct lessons of literally hundreds of spiritual guides, some famous and some obscure. He has read, re-read, marked up, reflected on, and practiced much of what is presented in hundreds of books, from Hermes to Wilber. He is well versed in Jewish mystical thought and practice. And yet, he insists, it all comes down to these 14 values, experienced and lived. The rest follows. Peak experiences will happen. Insights will be commonplace. Happiness and joy are certainties. The something beyond will make itself known. Drawing on these values, one will be optimally positioned to self-evolve and be a positive force for radical change in the world. What about love, compassion, and other positive qualities? The author submits that the 14 are sufficient to capture them all. Much as the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), coupled with black and white, represent all the essentials for the painter's palette, the 14 BE-values combine to produce all the soul and spirit needs. Isn't love, for example, adequately expressed and experienced through wholeness, completion, truthfulness, goodness, aliveness, beauty, and so on? Add faith to the mix and it is all nicely ready for execution. A process called BE-value exploration is presented in detail. It consists of six steps that guide an individual or team from a challenge to inspired action items for tackling it. This process was not designed for "technical" challenges that involve moving physical components or electronic bits into new configurations. It works exceeding well, as is discovered with practice, for most situations where individuals or teams are performing at less than peak and intend to do something about that. A pair of resources is provided for each of the 14 BE-values: a BE-value Script and an associated Inspiration Sheet. They are essential elements of BE-value explorations. The scripts can also be used on their own for self-study and spiritual growth. Two additional resources are available for deeper explorations: The Eupsychian Assessment Tool is provided as an Appendix. This tool is useful for in-depth assessments of most situations in which personal or group behaviors are getting in the way of excellence (as defined by peak experiences). The results of the tool are a rich set of ideas for improving the situation immediately and suggestions for which BE-values to use for in-depth exploration. In a second Appendix, a mandala is provided for each BE-value. As with the scripts, the 14 mandalas can be used to deepen problem-solving explorations or on their own as meditation tools for self-study and spiritual growth.
About the Author: Barry Kibel, Ph.D., is a lifelong student of esoteric psychology and spiritual traditions, particularly Jewish mysticism and self-inquiry. He has held faculty positions at Howard University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Barry is a principal contributor to SEED, a pioneering, nonprofit venture with the mission of guiding social programs to grow their businesses and increase their impacts. Over a career that has spanned five decades, he has devised diverse planning and design tools and evaluation instruments to support the transformational work of not-for-profit organizations and governmental institutions. Barry holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in city and regional planning. He is author of Simulation of the Urban Environment, Success Stories as Hard Data, and numerous professional publications.