A hazy, warm summer morning, August 1985, I was driving my way through the hills of West Virginia’s northern panhandle. The narrow, uneven road was tortuously winding, I thought, as I maneuvered my car alongside Wheeling Creek—first lost, then re-oriented, now seemingly lost again. Why in the world would a Pennsylvania college student risk traveling to a remote farm, where a meeting of philosophers—all perfect strangers to me—was taking place over the next two days? I held no long list of answers to that question, and it was so unlike me, a socially backward and naïve 22-year old small-towner, to take “risks” of this kind. This, of course, was the beginning. This was the long shot of a lifetime, which ultimately allowed me to take steps to change my self …
That fateful visit led to my first meeting with Richard Rose, the man who assembled the Albigen System from the ground up. With its practical methods for Self discovery, the Albigen System contains down-to-earth advice for those with the ears to listen. Many systems have different ways of expressing similar ideas. At the core of each authentic system are methods which indirectly or “accidentally” cause the seeker to find, or become, the Truth. Through my own personal analysis, I have tried to extract some of what I consider the important points in the Albigen System:
- Retreating from error—Know that a system that postulates an end result encourages belief rather than doubt; acceptance rather than a search. Know also that the mind is capable of fulfilling desires, and prefers the creation of end results over the labor of introspection. A true system is one which retreats from untruth—we remove erroneous concepts or beliefs which oppose direction, and temporarily adopt new ones until we can move on with improved intuition.
- Maintaining a “clear head”—On which thoughts are we spending most of our mental time? Is it the family, our job, our daily survival? Paranoia, power, or popularity? Know that such small details command attention, and that dwelling on such thoughts is defined as “useless mental preoccupation” in relation to Attention.
- Consistent and consecutive action—We need to develop reminding habits and stick to them no matter how much we rationalize or how foolish these habits seem. Know that the fluctuating moods and attitudes will become negative or hopeless toward the Path, and that unshakeable determination during such times will maintain our “vulnerability to Grace.”
- Self-delusion—Are we rationalizing energy or opportunity away? What part of us regrets non-action? Know that the mind outwits the anterior, observing Self.
- Judiciously exercising the will—Know that “right” meditation involves turning the internal head away from distracting thoughts, and permitting entry only to those ideas which we voluntarily choose to admit.
- Lifestyle—Know that the door remains open when the “right” code of conduct is adopted.
The Albigen System does not provide formulas for “attaining.” It merely provides ways and means for self-definition, to better understand ourselves and others. An individual does not reach for magical Absolute states of mind. The seeker instead incessantly asks, “Who am I?” Only thus do we create an opportunity for a massive accident that will change our perspective once and for all.