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A Brief Introduction to the Understanding of the ‘Template’
In this third edition of Topaz it is important to say something about reference to the 'template', which is frequently used in these articles and indeed appears in the title 'The Template Network'. So what is the Template? What is meant when we use this word? Obviously it will only be possible to give a brief introduction in this short article. The concept of 'the template' has arisen and come together as a result of many years of research by the members of the Template Network.
Another example was given by a woman interviewed recently on the radio about the treatment of women in certain parts of the world, who spoke with great passion of the need, not for Western values to be imposed, but for 'a new template of human rights' to be worked out. A further example is a forum that took place in England recently concerning 'a new template for children's education'. So the concept of 'template' carries the idea of objective and external reference criteria to do with the design, premise or cause of things. The above examples give something of the first sense that we wish to convey. But, in terms of the philosophy and research of the template network, we perceive the notion of 'template' constitutes a much deeper fundamental feature of all life in the universe. * * *In the Template Network, we hold the proposition that everything that exists, whether man made or naturally existent, comes out of or derives from a template of some kind. Examples of this truth are... the seed which carries the template from which a flower or a tree grows, in the same way that the architect's plans are the template from which a new building can be developed. Nothing exists or can exist without its template of fundamental design. And the template of anything is determining of its character, nature and purpose. It is exactly the same with the design of the human, which is derived from a template that has the same constituents for every human being. What makes the human template so unique are the inherent possibilities for creativity, freedom of choice, self determination and consciousness. And because of this, each individual has the potential, in his or her own unique way, to personally develop to many levels of intelligence, art and capability, which is the fundamental aim of the researches and education pioneered by the Template Network. * * *
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Genesis chapter 1 verse 26. Alongside this is the shared motivation of an extreme dissatisfaction with many of the conventional explanations of the profound questions of life and living that are offered by the 21st century and the legacy of the Industrial Revolution - in other words a dissatisfaction with the current template that governs human life and human education, behaviour and understanding. All the varied and diverse articles that appear in the Topaz Magazine describe projects and activities conducted by members of the Template Network with the above views in mind. And collectively they make a powerful case that something could be so much better for human life than the 21st century template of mental and social conditioning. * * *We have recently passed through the second millennium, and the last century has been the bloodiest period of 100 years by far in human history. Yet there are many people today who vaunt modern civilisation as the apex of human development. We believe that many of the ancient or so-called primitive civilisations knew of and respected the concept of some transcendent pattern that offered harmony and purpose to human life - and many today would hold the same conviction.
Modern science often attempts to make everything human-centred from a scientific perspective, whilst reducing the human to being merely a cipher or an accidental occurrence in the greater scheme of things without any sense of the realms of higher 'unseen' intelligence and spiritual purpose, meaning and location. The human race in the 21st century is departed and isolated from these natural sources of guidance and intelligence, in exactly the same way as 20 years ago personal computers functioned as individual units conducting activities on a stand-alone and isolated basis. Today the arena has been revolutionised by the establishment of the Internet. A single computer is now integrated into a vast web of information and resources unimaginable 20 years ago. This presents an excellent analogy to the natural connection potentiality of the human to the 'internet' of unseen intelligence that exists in Creation, from which they are meant to draw guidance and belonging. In the absence of these understandings and knowings in the template of modern life, people are increasingly forced to live on the outside of themselves and are prone as never before to torment by doubt and frustration. They are often unable to find any settlement either in themselves or in the face of the impending threat of what awaits their children in the future. And yet little is done other than the relatively ineffective appeals of those few people who see it but can do nothing about it.
It is true that we have the facility today of some extremely clever technologies and medical science has given us a measure of control over some deadly diseases. But what about natural and/or latent human skills and the development of these, without resort to engineered results outside the human faculty itself? And what about diseases that are a direct result of the unnaturally stressful human condition within which people have been forced to live, including the disastrous affects of our technological society upon the planetary ecology and weather systems, such as rising sea levels, shortages of water and famine?
While this dramatic increase in population levels has been happening (and in part because of it), modern science has equipped the human with awesome powers to attempt to modify and change aspects of our environment, both external and internal, in a way that would have seemed not only impossible but also terrifyingly undesirable to our ancestors. But the question is 'Will modern science be able to use this power to solve the consequences of its own exercise?' "Both Watson and Crick have said that the idea that drove them on to the unravelling of the structure of DNA was antireligious. They wished to show that vitalism was wrong, there was nothing special about life and no need for God." Bryan Appleyard Today scientists increasingly have to admit that they often don't understand what they are doing or what the consequences will be of their tinkering and experimentation. At the same time science has tended to persuade us that religion or any sense of spirituality is folly and offers nothing in the way of guidance or ethics to help us wield this power. Indeed many respected commentators on life today make the case, directly or indirectly, that the human race is out of control, lost and confused. "In a technological age we acquire an increasing grasp of the means to our ends and a decreasing grasp of the reasons why we should pursue them." Roger Scruton.
And the terrible events of September 11th in America simply underline this reality and have penetrated people's psyche and psychology with devastating effect. Life is suddenly perceived to be vulnerable, certainties are shattered and security is compromised. We have never had to face this level of challenge and the we are woefully unprepared to cope with it. "How fragile we are." Sting Where are we to turn? Can we really believe that some minor modifications in current scientific capabilities or the application of certain restraints, of a voluntary or legal nature, will work or will make any difference? Does it have to go deeper - much, much deeper than that? From our template researches we believe we have some unique and invaluable insights and tangible revelations to offer into these crucial issues. There can be no doubt any more that these issues will determine the quality of our future and our children's future and perhaps our very survival as a species. * * *Lastly, here are three of the fundamental overviews that come from the practical philosophy of the Template Network:
* * *
We all enter this world in the same way - miraculously - it is part of the template of the human design. We find ourselves here. We open our eyes as a new-born child and are presented with a great multiplicity, a vast irrational cacophony of signals, sounds, lights and sensations, out of which we make our lives and what we perceive to be rationality and reality. Thus begins the quest in the child to discover, naturally by instinct, its inherent template from which to make satisfactory rationality and life for itself. The expression of this basic passion and motivation is the deepest mystery of all and results in the uniqueness and individuality of each and every human being who has ever lived. This never-ending quest into the unknown is presented to our consciousness every waking moment of our lives and is truly a miraculous and awesome blessing from Creation to the human being. These ideas have motivated us to discover the natural education and development that we can rise to in the pioneering of our opportunity, and this has resulted in the opening up of many areas in our research projects and results. The Topaz magazine tries to portray some of them and represents an expression of our gratitude to that great Template of Creation purpose and intelligence that gives us each day the extraordinary gift of life and consciousness. Terry Gloag |
| Copyright © 2001-2021 The Template Foundation, all rights reserved. |
Terry Gloag, BA (Oxon), has been teaching and promoting the work of the Template
Network internationally for the last fifteen years. He is a selfemployed international
lecturer and consultant.
By way of initial location, Webster's Dictionary defines the term 'template'
as 'something that establishes or serves as a pattern, an overlay'. And the
idea of a template is commonly illustrated by reference to the DNA molecule
in the nucleus of a cell, as 'a blueprint, code or formative pattern for life'.
It would be true to say that one of the main common denominators and starting
locations which bind together the members of the Template Network in their lives
and their work is a supreme belief in the unique greatness of the human design
and its determining template. This extends to an awe and respect for whatever
great purpose created this template, as the source, pedigree and potential of
each individual human life within the ecology derived from the greater Template
of Creation itself.
"Human
kind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever
we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things
connect." Chief Seattle 
"Tolkien
thought the modern age had robbed the world of its mystery, its morality and
its sense of meaning. If he could have thrown it back into the fire where it
was forged, he would have done so gladly. The power of his strange and troubled
book lies in the fact that a great many of us wish, or half wish, that the One
Ring encircling us all could be unmade, and lament the fact that it cannot."
Andrew O'Hehir (reviewing the film of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings)
And
perhaps the most devastating of all is the population explosion which is exponentially
increasing. At the end of World War II there were 2 billion people on this planet,
in 1980 there were 5 billion and current projections are that there will be
9 billion in the year 2032 - in the span of one human lifetime the population
will have more than quadrupled.
"We
feel that even when all possible scientific questions have been answered, the
problems of life remain completely untouched." Ludwig Wittgenstein