sWimming wIth pEnguins

Ever swim with hundreds of penguins?. . . .It's a trip for sure.


Some memories from my trip. .

We visited some of the finer Joberg establishments, and all I can tell you is that Seagram's mixed drinks are crap, and will cause a major hangover. . . the sugar I think. . . unlike a good Guinness-Tequila combination, which is far healthier.

I managed to convince Nuno to drive away just as Rodney was reaching for the door handle of the car one night. . .let him catch up, and then hit the gas again, etc. Does that ever cease to be endlessly entertaining!? . . . .but Rodney scored payback later on Nuno, finding a creative use for jumper cables. It's Africa, ya know?

On my last night in Joberg we went to a place called the cantaloupe, and had a good time. At some point during the festivities I ceased enjoying a few pints of Guinness and discovered I had magically received a full bottle of tequila which I was carrying around with me? I believe the alcohol gnomes blessed me that evening. . . .I am happy to say I woke up with no hangover. All things in moderation.


On Thursday we flew to Capetown. Capetown is beautiful. Awesome beaches, mountains, music, Art, just a really excellent piece of land. I would like to thank Steve and Evi for being fantastic hosts. Also thanks to Luca, Dante, Rip, and Suzy. . . .Suzy is a very bright dog who spent a considerable amount of time under my bed. Evi is a fantastic cook, and I have gained some weight. She is also quite a healer, although it may not feel like it at the time! Yes, there where needles in my finger.

Great food and wine nightly on the African Coast. . .it's a tough job I have, but I play through.

I found out that just a few days before I arrived a small granny had been eaten by a large white shark on the beach there. She was going for her daily swim, and it hit her once, and then came back and took her whole. It spit out only red bathing cap, which was found later.

Apparently the talk on African talk radio had it that a few of the Capetown recidents where planning on fishing with glass filled chickens in order to get pay back on the terrible shark. Proof positive that you can find George Bush supporters even in Africa!


Too many good times to relate from Capetown . . . . some highlights where the large Boulder Beach, which is stunning.

Swimming in the Ocean with hundreds of penguins.

Petting a Cheetah.

Getting to practice my African accent endlessly.

Cindy Lauper, (ask Rodney about his dance).

Martial Eagles which can kill a cheetah or small lion with one strike.

Amazing skies lit up with thunder and lightning storms, on a warm Summer evening.

I could go on. . . . . .

Africa is a continent everyone should at some point see for themselves. Honestly, if it wasn't for the breathtaking landscape, warm beaches, beautiful animals, endless art galleries, music, sun, food, and friendly people, I could probably live in Capetown myself! : )


Have a good thanksgiving!


They are trying to tell me something?!


They say they have elected me to be the King of the Penquins!


However first I must defeat a challenger, the prince of the royal Penquin family!


I am outclassed and must give the job of King of Penquins to my worthy opponent. I feel he probably knows more of this life, and the ins and outs of penquin politics better then I do though, so it's ALL good.


What more could one ask for?


Gorgous girl!

Sometimes I will lay in the ocean, staring up at the sky, and I remember something deeply within myself that I cannot believe I had lived my whole life having forgoten. And then she looks at me and I forget it again. Don't we just spend far too much time fixing each others costumes. Seems like a friendly thing to do, but it's really pretty subversive.

Have a happy thanksgiving ALL.

Back from aFRicA!

Well I returned home from Africa late last night. What a great trip! Huge thanks to Chico for being a fantastic host, as well as to Steven & Evi, and everyone else.

If you have sent me an e-mail and not recieved an answer yet, I will be returning it all in the next few days. I will also update the BLOG in the next day or so with a post about my trip, as well as some possible pics.

I recieved a lot of response regarding the teacher post.

The trip came together in such a way that the theme of teachers and teaching took center stage. I have a lot I want to share regarding this as time goes by.

Almost all the response was highly positive, and much of it from school teachers in various parts of the globe. This was nice to see and read.

I recieved only one negative e-mail. I don't blame the writer of the e-mail, as I honestly don't think they understood the spirit of the message I am trying to convey. And I do wish teachers the best in future dealings. Teaching has to be one of the worlds hardest porfessions, and they have my sincere respect.

Below is part of my response to this e-mail. I will post regarding the Africa trip, and more thoughts, within the next few days. . . . .


"You wouldn't believe the crap we have to go through. Our students are not willing participants. They did not sign up for the class unlike MMA/BJJ students."

I understand that very important distinction.

"We have 32+ teenagers in our classrooms."

I hear you.

"Many who can't read/write properly (don't get me started on the failings of the elementary school)."

Better not, I hear that criticism of teachers is looked on poorly by some.

"You want us to foster the creativity and not be "controlling" or "petty". I work with several great teachers that bring out amazing abilities from their students."

I have no doubt, this is why I did not say all teachers. Of course, I was specifically speaking towards the bad teachers.

"You need to realize that you can NOT let the student determine the curriculum/daily lesson. If you asked my sophomores what they wanted to do you would get from 99% of them: 'Can we have a free day'."

Yes, I would refer you specifically to schools, teachers, and methods that do allow he students such freedom, and do produce remarkable performance in the students. There are many out there today, and hopefully, many more to come as the future marches on.

"The real issue is parents. They don't a) Know how to discipline their child b) don't have/want to spend the time to help them read, learn, etc c) Care."

Wow, I guess I should could just remark: before you criticize you need to spend a day with one and see "how the shoes fit". But then again, I do not know if you have ever spent Years with certain children day in and day out, night and eveing. So I could not really comment on your experience level there.

"This year is a turning point. My students have more apathy than ever before. My colleague has had 2 students tell him in front of the class that "I don't care" when he was trying to impart some information (with his high tech multi-media smartboard device mind you). I could go on and on but you understand my point."

I have to ask whether you really feel this last Year really was some sort of turning point in the collective generations of children and their behavior. Or is it perhaps due to you, and your possible outlook or perception?

And have you considered that possibility?

"You are more than welcome to come into my classroom anytime you are in Phoenix. Maybe you need to write about how parents are poisoning society when they are not qualified to raise their children."

Is it be better to judge parents, as opposed to judging teachers?

And if so, how so?

Or is better to possibly consider alternative methods for either, and discuss those in context, rather then judging anyone?

And if are discussing better methods, or alternative methods, based on the need which is evident in that some teachers, or parents, or insert any category here, perform poorly, would we then be guilty of judgment? Or is it rather a conversation which could promote positive change?

Just some thoughts. Enjoy the day.

-Matt Thornton

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... ........ .....

On another note, a friend sent me this and I found it quite moving:

Subject: I wish you "enough"

At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane's departure and standing near the door she said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough.

Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy." They kissed good-bye and she left.

He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?"

Yes, I have," I replied. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing. Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever
good-bye?" I asked. I am ill and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral," he said.

"When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'.

May I ask what that means?"

He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone. He paused a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more. When we said 'I wish you enough', we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them. He continued and then, turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough Hellos' to get you through the final 'Good-bye'." He then began to sob and walked away.

My friends and loved ones, I wish you ENOUGH!!!

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire lifetime to forget them.

The poison of teachers. . .

This trip to Africa has been good in more ways then one.

First, it's always beautiful to see old friends again. But secondly, many vague thoughts and ideas that have been with me for Years seem to have come to the surface in the last few days, and found their way into cohesive concepts.

Most recently I have been giving much thought to my role as a teacher, a role many of us share. And my ability, or inability to help various people at various times. Which can be endlessly frustrating, even heartbreaking.


As I travel I have noticed that as I land in different nations I am required to fill out a form which usually has a box marked: profession. For simplicity I usually write, teacher. But over the last few Years or so I have also noticed an unsettling feeling in my stomach as I write that word.

It's been from my experiences growing up, the experiences of many of my friends, and the experience of observing my own children within the modern school system, that the profession of "teacher" itself tends to attract people with serious 'control' issues. As well as people who have a tendency towards power games of the pettiest sort.

Every profession has it's "types". And if we accept the premise that life is for learning, then every profession has it's lessons, and so it's types drawn to those lessons. This is not a bad thing. It's just the natural process.

But the negative is that in the process those who are the least able to fight back against the bullshit, pettiness, and tyranny, young naive children, are often most exposed to it. Through their contact with these poison teachers. In that sense I would offer the premise that many teachers do far more HARM to children, then good. And most children, being born with an innate sense of creativity, intelligence, and beauty, would be FAR better off without these teachers.

Here is an excellent quote from the book I mentioned before, "teaching as a subversive activity":


"But the fact is that many teachers are fearful of life, and incidentally, of children. They are pompous and precious, and are lovers of symmetry, categories, and proper labels. For them, the language of real human activity is too sloppy, emotional, uncertain, dangerous, and thus altogether too unsettling."


Now, as the country swings towards an ignorant, childish, fundamentalist phase, the creative process, arts, real intelligence, and critical thinking, is being replaced by dry memorization, robotic conditioning, and oppressive patterns. If this continues it will without a doubt place the USA outside of the competitive mainstream for future generations. Especially as we enter an era where creativity, and information become the dominant commodities.

But within our spectrum of control I believe we have some immediate solutions. . .

1) Get our OWN houses in order.

If we cannot, or will not, recognize these tendencies towards control, and power issues then we should not teach. We should especially avoid small children who are most susceptible to the damage that poison teachers can cause. Instead we need to face these issues within ourselves and then begin moving into a more progressive teaching paradigm. Otherwise we will most certainly pass our own virus onto the younger generations, as we have always done. And that has to stop.

2) Parents need to recognize the petty teachers and take kids out of those environments immediately.

Testing, and carrot-stick mentalities need to be shunned for what they are. . . .the poison fruit from the tree.

And the more creative, progressive, and healthy approach of PAW (Play As the Way) needs to take precedence. As a new generation of healthy, loving teachers takes over and changes the way the education system is viewed from top to bottom.

False values  which are passed on through outmoded models of "success" to children, sports stars, wealth, physical appearance, and force of will, need to be replaced with their counterparts found in REAL values . . . .community service, wealth as modeled through the sharing of love, and intimacy of relationships, creative intelligence, and gratitude for what is present NOW.

3) We need to recognize the FACT that the greatest lessons and impressions made on he human mind and nervous system come from the character and structure of the environment itself. Not the curriculum, lesson plan, or teacher.

4) THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE.

"The medium is the message implies that the INVENTION of a dichotomy between CONTENT and METHOD is both NAIVE and DANGEROUS."

5) The LABEL is NOT the process.

The word is never the thing itself. The tendency born of FEAR to label, map, catalog, and plan the learning and creative process of the human mind and body needs to be thrown in the trash can where it belongs once and for all.

The INQUIRY METHOD must take precedence. . . it works you over in an entirely different way. Activates different senses, attitudes, impressions, and perceptions. And it generates a better, more potent form of creative intelligence.

6) Everything must be done with LOVE.

By love I don't mean a sloppy, sentimental form of emotional need which is designed primarily to make the teacher feel better about him/her self.

By love I mean absolute SINCERITY. Probably the hardest thing in the world for most people drawn into the teaching profession to activate. As well as clarity of intention, and FULL AWARENESS to the PRESENT MOMENT itself.

All of which is impossible if the teacher goes into it with a pre-conceived blueprint that is born prior to the need itself arising! That by it's very nurture makes any real connection or true communication impossible.


I DO think it's possible to create a HEALTHY, CREATIVE, learning environment. One where the teacher abandons all petty power struggles, and control issues, and where students are encouraged to let their OWN INTERNAL beauty, intelligence, creative nature, and divine self, shine it's brightest. I think it's possible, and I think the comparison between teaching models will produce extraordinary results.

I have to say that in every class I teach I seem to find that the teaching is replacing the teacher. Rather then ME DOing something, or offering something, I find instead that I am simply sharing something that was already present, and was never MINE to give in the first place. How can I take any credit for that? In that environment we learn together, and amazing results seem to occur within every hour.

The irony is, for me to DO that, I have to completely LET GO. . .my controls, plans, and ideas, need to ALWAYS take a back seat to what the present moment dictates. The ensuing results always surpass what the mind could have created in advance.

I plan on taking some time to work PRACTICAL methods of the INQUIRY method at the next Camp in March, and look forward to the results.

There is NO judgment in ANY of the above stated words, although I fully recognize it may seem like there is. That's because there is really is NObody to judge. It was just a series of patterns, being adopted and passed on, from body to body. But if we hear, see, or glimpse another way, a freedom from that old paradigm, then don't we have a responsibility to grab our boards and try and ride that wave?

And in love, tell as many fellow surfers about the swell that is now coming in.

When I started SBGi I did not follow in anyone's tracks, or model old ideas. Together we created something that is unique. And in that we have assembled the most creative and diverse staff I have ever seen. My sincere admiration and love for the family of SBGi is beyond question. And now it's time to move forward again by creating a teaching model, and environment which is new, fresh, and allows the FREEDOM which is needed for every individual member to shine to his or her fullest potential. It's moving NOW, and together we can work as a team. . . .but always remember, TRUE teamwork begins ONLY with this question. . . .HOW CAN I HELP. . . a question that has to be said in absolute sincerity. If it's not, then it will certainly fail. . . .but only ALWAYS.

Now it's time to catch that wave and let Aghora take her rightful place.

greetings from AfricA . . .

I arrived on Sat morning after a VERY long series of flights. It had been a good 35 hours since I slept as I don't sleep on planes.

For those of you who have sent me mail while I have been gone, I am having real trouble with my e-mail here. So I will return all e-mail when I get home on the 25th of Nov, no worries.

I had some excellent reading materials with me on the plane this trip. Among them was a book recommendation from some friends called 'Teaching as a subversive activity'. Those of you with the Org know I have been recommending the book 'Coaching for performance' as required reading for SBGi Coaches for the better part of seven Years. And I can tell you know that this book is going on that list as well.

No teaching or coaching book has been as on the money with my thoughts and opinions regarding the subject as this one was. It's now covered in my notes, and highlights.

As we landed I had an epiphany regards an segment of drills which could bring home the reality of experiential learning, and the inquiry method. It came to me in about five minutes, would involve the whole seminar, and take about an hour to complete. I also thought it would be huge and powerful experiment. So I intend to teach it as a segment at the Spring Camp on March 26th.

I should note that when ideas like that happen, they just happen. There is not, and cannot be any plan, desire, or credit for it. The best that can be said for my part in the process is that I write it down on paper as it arises. . a transcriber, nothing more. And that is not said with any sense of false humility. . .it's just something I realize as truth regarding the creative process, and I am sure you as the reader have realized the same thing at times. The creative process takes place through us, not from us.

That morning Rodney told me I was scheduled to teach a three hour Coaches class. We thought I arrived Friday, and that would have given me a full day of rest before teaching. But we were in error. So a few hours later I was teaching the class, still minus sleep. Of course it worked out perfectly, and the first two hours were done SOLELY with the Q & A format. No notes, no curriculum, and one of the best classes I remember teaching in recent Months.

After about two hours the Jits questions where exhausted, and so I decided to take the last hour and try the series of exercises on experiential-inquiry coaching that came to me on the plane a few hours prior. It was an experiment, and it was great. I really think the message, and distinction in the teaching and coaching paradigms was brought home in a whole new way to those present, myself included. And so I can tell you absolutely that we will do the exact same thing at Spring Camp, and I think we will all enjoy ourselves.

I wont talk about the specifics of the excercises because I believe that will dimish the effect they will have at the time. The results will be FAR greater if nobody is allowed to prepare in advance.


Later that evening I was able to get to sleep after soaking in a really large and cool claw foot tub that's in my room. A nice feature to have in Africa.

As I wandered off into sleep that night I experienced a really terrible dream. As with most things i find so disturbing, it was not because of anything being done to me in the dream, but rather because of things i was doing in the dream, without any sense of concern or thought, for the others. I wont go into detail, but it disturbed me so much I woke from it at about 6am in a certain panic.

My early morning hours where totaly consumed not with what the dream meant to 'me'. . .doesn't that always strike you as a kind of egoic pursuit in the superficial?. . .but instead on why do we have such dreams? Where do these dreams come from? And why does my dream self seem ok with such actions? This really bothered me the most.

I guess it bothered me because of those actions within the dream. . .but also because it was something that is very rare for me, a dream which is so auspicious that it was imperceptible from reality, until you reach the waking state.

For the rest of the morning I sat with that, it was quiet, and a good state for me.

Then I realized something. . .

1- Dreams are automatic and effortless, and as such, they have to be the product of karma* as much as the waking experience is. *(the important point being that Karma is never PERSONAL, obviously)

2- Dreams come about involuntarily and end automatically. As such, no duty could be on the sleeper of the dream, me, to make any effort.

3- Experience in some dreams can appear as real as the waking state is. But while we feel the reality of the dream experiences while dreaming, once awake we look at them as unreal.

AND . . . the really beautiful part. . . . . . . if we experience a different reality from waking* (Turiya) we may see the unreality of those experiences we called "reality" previously, just as clearly. Not due to faith, belief, or dogma. But rather solely due to first person experiential fact.

So I walked out of my room that morning saying bring on that impersonal karma to be played out through the dream state. . . . . . . it really is ALL good.


A few minutes later I was in a car headed for the seminar. The seminar was the largest I have had here in Africa, with about 75 people on the mat ready to go. We had a great time.



That night we rented 'The Razors Edge'. . .the classic novel re-made as a movie in the 80's with Bill Murray. It's been a few Years since I saw it last, and it was even better this time. Certainly one of my top ten movie picks of all time.

Then I slept WELL, and woke today well rested.

Welcome to Africa!


Questioner: When we get a dream we emerge out of it without any effort on our part. If this life is a dream, as it is said to be, then how is it that we are called upon to make efforts to end the dream and wake into jnana?

Ramana: In a dream you have no inkling that it is a dream and therefore you don't have a duty to get out by any effort. But in this life you have some intuition by your sleep experience, by reading and learning, that life is something like a dream and therefore a duty is cast on you to make an effort and get over it.



"In religions other countries are paupers and India is the only millionaire"
-Mark Twain

Headed to aFrIcA. .

Headed to Africa today. It will take roughly 33 hours or so from doorstep to doorstep, but it's a small price to pay for seeing the beauty of this tiny spinning globe.

I'll leave with a thought.

What makes anything sacred, the only thing that makes it sacred, which the fundamentalists don't understand? And is that bad? If it's ALL just mechanism. . .where is the room for ANY form of moral judgment? And when you realize that level, do you feel like a rug has been pulled out from underneath you and there is no floor.


And a great quote from Mark Twain:

"If a man doesn't believe as we do, we say he is a crank, and that settles it. I mean it does nowadays, because now we can't burn him."

Feed your head

The information is out there.

Just remember what the huka smoking catapillar said.

i know millions of intelligent Americans are extremely angry and depressed at the moment. There is nothing wrong with that. i don't want to dwell to much on politics in the BLOG, except to say simply that we all really know what's right. And we all really know what's wrong. Despite what we may tell ourselves, or distract ourselves with, we know when we have betrayed ourselves.

There is nothing on earth more dangerous then a population of people that is both ignorant and fearful. History has shown us this time and time again, but it's a cycle we return to regardless.

So in closing i will leave you with the below stated truisms, and remember to enjoy your day, despite the goverment. i know i will.

Wow...

Isn't technology great?! The new website should make navigation much smoother. The 13th Gorilla Press update is truly HUGE. It may be a few Months before we do a new Gorilla Press update. But sections of the new website such as competition team, promotions, etc, will be updated regularly. So keep checking back. We will place hot links for all the new updates at WHAT in the gorilla press page.


Regards this BLOG however I plan on updating it on at least a weekly basis, perhaps even daily when I can. So check back here regularly for all the latest news, information, and just random thoughts I may post.