The Human Template
I believe it might help to begin this with a simple definition
of what is meant here by the 'Human Template', and then to open up why this
has become a central and passionate pursuit for myself, and many people around
the world today.
A simple way of understanding the Human Template is to consider it as the 'inside
story' of the natural design of a human, from which its true character and qualities
are revealed. To understand it, is to know oneself, and to find the real freedoms
in living...
What we are, by design
Living a life in our times and trying to make sense of things can be very challenging
to us all. How on earth is anyone to make sense of a thousand different theories,
ideologies, dogmas and hypotheses that surround us at every step? Confusion
and antagonism abounds throughout all spheres of life, and many people cry out
for some simple guidelines of sanity within all this. So where to begin...
Every human being on earth is born from exactly the same template. And that
template that we are includes a body, a mind, an instinct, an emotion, a soul
and a spirit, with the highest faculty of any living thing on earth, which is
the faculty of consciousness.
It's awesome, and when you think of what a human life can do in its sheer scope
of versatility, skills, arts, feelings and the unlimited capacity to know and
understand, it's clear that we already live inside an extraordinary world of
the most beautiful designs. And these natural designs and the ways they work
are our natural 'roadmap' of life.
Through the live research and discovery of the natural design and ways of our
human template, we can begin to understand what we are, how we are meant to
work and go on, and why we are given life in the first place.
As a simple example, through this approach it becomes clear to see that the
human is not templated to be violent, for violence heats and destroys the natural
systems inside both ourselves and others. The human was not templated to harm,
for that takes away from life, especially ones own. The human was not templated
to be a slave to machines or passing fashions or perversion, for we are born
free.
And when you look into the eyes of a baby, you absolutely know that the human
was templated to be clean, searching, kind, not harsh.
Above all the human was templated to seek out its purpose for living and to
fulfil it in its own unique way, for we are all absolutely unique, from our
experience to our very fingerprints.
Personal Development
This leads to the fact that because the human can create - with new ideas, new
feelings, produce and actions - we are the only creatures on earth that can
'template' originally, or create newly, which means that we have the vast opportunity
and power and responsibility of change.
True change is a matter of personal development, from the natural template
that we are, and this characterises the central pursuit within the Template
Network.
So for example, when you read in this magazine about the original work of Thea
Kreeft and Jeroen Brons with children in Holland, you see their concentration
is upon the natural growth patterns of children; "We
have found that the natural process of learning invites an accompanying development
of inner qualities. This development will help children to feel motivated about
their own lives and their participation in society." (Thea Kreeft).
This conscious growth of qualities is fundamental in personal development,
at every stage in life. It's like a 'coming home', to the qualities that are
endemic in our design - like care, constancy and the unbridled urge to discover.
Another example of this is the almost universal love of
music, in people of all nations, endemic in what we are drawn to as humans.
Later in this issue you can read about the pioneering work of musician Jonathan
Ofir in Denmark, who with his trio of players work on themselves as the "first
instrument", tuning themselves before the violins and other musical instruments.
As he writes, "Our mission is to find the value of what we have already
got".
A further example here is the article in this issue from Anna Hannon of the
international women's group 'Feminenza', which as she
writes is "pioneering a new template for women". This again has arisen
from the personal development pursuit which she examples by stating that, "within
this endeavour we are aspiring to develop what we perceive to be a higher level
of personal growth to which we give the term 'Lady' '" - then contrasting
this with the levels and titles 'Female' and 'Woman'.
So personal development is the most natural starting place in living, for it
is an inherent urge and longing and love, to grow, to refine, and to change
- templated in our very character as human beings.
It is this pursuit that is fundamental to all that we do, and in all that you
will read in the articles that follow. And it carries the spirit that Ghandi
brilliantly characterised: "Be the change that you want to see in the world".
* * * * *
So this pursuit of the human template that we are is one of great personal
development, and promotes the simple first step of recognising that we are a
purposeful design, that can be liberated by our own will, as we re-discover
the natural passions and curiosities of life that were often overflowing in
us when we were young...
Why do we have five fingers of different lengths, what is the soul and the
spirit, where do we go when we go to sleep, what is colour, what is my true
nature, what kind of a person do I want to be...
These questions propel us headlong into the real unknown of life, and the natural
worlds of feeling and understanding by which we grow. For the human template
that we are, infinite in its possibilities, is a mirror image of the great universe
we live in.
Mark Ballabon B.A. (Hons)
Mark Ballabon is an author, composer and international lecturer, involved for
many years throughout the Template Network.
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