THE PRIMAL STATE
The immediate goal of Zookinesis training is to re-experience the primal state – the biological state of consciousness. At this level of awareness the world you experience is very different and you have more power. You understand the connection of your consciousness to that of all other people and all living things. You instinctually know how to use those connections.
The development of civilization seems like an effort to escape this primal state of consciousness and develop one based on the thinking mind alone. In the effort to “evolve” culturally, we have abandoned the primal state. The philosophy of Zookinesis suggests that the development of the thinking mind should not be a substitute for the “primal mind” (or “Body-Mind”) but that both can be fully functional and work together.
From the perspective of the thinking mind we are each separate from each other. When you operate from the primal mind it is startling to discover that the power of the connections of consciousness between people makes the thinking mind’s perspective of separateness a very shallow perspective indeed.
By a “connection of consciousness” I don’t mean that we talk together and hear each other’s opinions. I mean that consciousness itself is not separate within each individual but forms a continuous flow which activates all living things. The consciousness in you is the same as the consciousness in a squirrel, but of course each species and each individual uses this force differently.
Once you can actually perceive this, by entering into the primal state, then you have much more power in your life. You can understand other people better. You understand the dynamics of how to channeling the force of consciousness through the physical body. You understand that many physical problems arise from problems with these dynamics.
Perhaps most importantly you see that your fundamental identity and power as a human being does not come from your opinions and behavior patterns. These are not you. Your power comes from maintaining the connection between the primal state and the “cultured state”.
We have made the mistake of trying to culturally evolve away from animals. But our nature, as this human animal, is to develop both our thinking and our biological health. Zookinesis, which is a Taoist training, describes two forces which continually interact to empower our lives. One force is consciousness or “attention”. It is pure awareness. The other force is creativity. When the thinking mind, which is really a set of patterns, has too much power, then our lives become too patterned and we feel trapped.
When creativity and attention are balanced, then we can see our situation in life in many ways and choose which perspective has more power.
In the primal state for our species there is a balance between the scientist or religious purist part of us, who knows everything as absolute fact, and the story teller who understands that the way we see the world is a reflection of the stories we believe in.
For a primal state human stories can change, and he seeks those stories that empower his life and the lives of those around him. He is not afraid of the stories of other people.
But everything starts with re-experiencing the primal state. From this state of balance, the fixed ideas of the mind and the story telling of creativity can play with each other.
Once you see the world through “primal eyes” then you truly comprehend what a huge part of our lives we have lost. You understand that many of our emotional problems and bad feelings are just a reflection of our deep inner loss of the primal state.
With the primal state returned, we become more creative, adventurous and willing to create a grand, powerful story of who we can become.
Fortunately it is not difficult to achieve this state. With proper training, progress is steady and new worlds constantly open up before you. In my classes I have to be careful not to let the students spend too much time telling me about the new experiences they have had that week. Although I love to hear about these things, I feel that I am being paid to teach them and want to spend as much time actually training them as possible. Yet it is wonderful to hear about their increasing joy for life and the great improvements in their lives. They now seem “fully human”. Instead of battling against the world, they now can see that their life situation is a result of their internal dynamics. By gaining creative control over those dynamics they gain control over their lives.
Zookinesis gives them the nuts and bolts of how to do that.
