The Rishis Blog

Hal Riney passes away

Unless you're in the advertising industry you've probably never heard of Hal Riney, who just passed away at age 75. But if you watched television during the 1980's and 1990's you know his work. He is the creative guy behind the Saturn car campaign (remember the Saturn "family reunion" in 1994?), the 1984 Ronald Reagan reelection ads (remember "It's morning again, America"?), and Bartle & Jaymes wine coolers (remember "and we thank you for your support"?)

While advertising is 100% subjective, it does tie into flow and flow blockages. Advertisers can't make you buy something you really don't want, but they can get you to override flow and logic.

Take Saturn. Riney's campaign for Saturn made the company seem like baseball and apple pie, and that it was the car every loyal American should buy since they were made in Tennessee. So people rushed out to buy them thinking they were buying a great American product that would keep Americans employed.

Fast forward a few years. Any automotive expert today will tell you Saturns were poorly designed and built, and were ultimately unreliable (a friend of mine spent $1,600 on simple repairs one time). In fact, a mechanic I spoke with wouldn't even work on used Saturns since he said it was putting good money after bad. Worse, Saturns had nothing special versus the foreign competition other than their no-haggle affordable pricing.

Now I'm not saying everyone who bought a Saturn had flow blockages, but other than the fixed pricing and friendly staff there really were no logical reasons to buy one. And ironically ALL the reasons people were buying Saturns (support America, inexpensive transportation, etc.) no longer apply today. Most Saturns are now made in Europe, not Tennessee. GM has said no Saturn will be made here in the future. Plastic door panels, a Saturn trademark, are nowhere to be found. And the Saturns are much more expensive and certainly not value priced. A Saturn Sky convertible can easily top $30K. The good news is today's Saturns are much more quality built and more reliable than their predecessors.

Hal Riney knew all this about Saturn before he came up with his ideas, and he also knew he had to focus on a flow blockage approach rather than compare the car to superior competitors. Because Saturn's target market - those looking for a reliable, well-built regular car - were not getting what they wanted.

I know there are many happy Saturn owners out there. But I also know a large number of 1990 - 2005 Saturn owners were not looking at the car as much as looking at what their flow blockages were telling them to see. And I must fully admit I considered a Saturn in the early 1990's and was 100% taken in by the marketing.

Oh, if you think I'm bashing Saturn let me tell you that I'm seriously considering a Saturn Astra as my next vehicle, and that has nothing to do with advertising.

This post not yet rated

More on the Hollywood theme. There was a movie that came out last year called "This Film Not Yet Rated" that discussed the movie rating system in America and how truly flawed it is.

The reason I bring it up is that it is actually a good example of how flow blockages are often culturally dependent.

You see, the film's purpose is to show how the ratings system is indeed flawed. The MPAA (the ratings people) sells itself as presenting a fair and unbiased way to rate movies based on their content. But the reality is much different and is nearly 100% susceptible to peer pressure, perceived cultural mores, and similar flow blockages.

For example, the ratings board voted to give one movie a PG-13 rating until a "ranking member" with ties to the industry didn't like the film and insisted it get an R. Likewise, the ratings board finds violence to be wholly acceptable at virtually any rating level, but once drugs (or perceived drugs) or sexually is introduced suddenly the movie is at least a PG-13 if not NC-17. Ironically, if smoking is featured in a movie it is totally disregarded as far as ratings even though nicotine is the most addictive substance you can put in your body. So you get perverse scenarios where a film is given a G even though virtually every character is smoking yet if those same characters smoked pot or were sexual the movie would get an PG-13 or worse.

It's just more proof that what people think of as morality or full of sin are simply things that are based on whatever the current culture states. Want more proof? In Europe movies are essentially rated the exact opposite. Violence is cause for a higher rating whereas sexuality is not.

Another Hollywood example

As part of their Easter celebration Turner Classic Movies was showing a variety of films about the ministry and the story of Jesus. One of these was a was called One Foot In Heaven from 1941. The story revolves around an medical intern who suddenly, after spending tons of money on medical school, decides to become a minister and lived an impoverished life.

At the beginning of the film the producers go out of their way to list all the leading priests and minsters of the day who approved of this film, the implication being this is the way America should look at religion and God.

But the film ends up being a case study in flow blockages. It starts out by Frederick March, the minister, making racist statements about "savage Indians", clearly indicating that God does not approve of them. HIs wife's wealthy family is appalled that he would give up being a doctor to become a Methodist minister. They are portrayed as being wrong, especially when they suggest he could at least become an Episcopal minster as they were Episcopals.

Then the movie follows him through various parishes and the problems with each one. One parishoner says the minister's sermons aren't full of enough sin talk. Another female congregant is complaining that a family isn't "Christian" enough because they don't know the Bible by heart. And so on.

The point is the movie, obviously created as a guide to "moral living",is to set rules and regulations for what is right with God and what isn't. At one point they read a Methodist guide to proper living that includes such things as never listen to music or dance as it is sinful in God's eyes. And, not surprisingly, every member of his various congregations is white, another implication of whom God approves of and whom God does not.

None of which is based on reality. In fact, Hollywood itself proves that "approved by God" is open for discussion as it was promoting several Catholic-based movies around the same time. And Catholic priests can't marry and have children like Methodist ministers, so who is approved by God?

It may sound funny to mention old Hollywood in this context, but it brings up points still relevant today. Yesterday the Pope made his annual call for world peace on Easter, yet continues to spend the rest of the year proclaiming who is damned by God and how no one but a Catholic will get into heaven. How can one expect peace by condemning all those not like him? And other religious leaders follow the same route, each claiming that they are the only way to God. Colonel Gaddafi of Libya said last week that the Bible was forged because it didn't mention Muhammad even though the majority of the Bible was written before Islam or Muhammad existed.

That's why it's so important to understand your flow and be aware of flow blockages masked as flow.

Losing my mind

I was in this great philosophical discussion on Saturday night, something I haven't done in a long time. Among the members of the group was an avowed atheist. His essential claim was, while we are still capable of learning, humans had essentially reached their apex. I stated that since we used only 10% or so of our brain there was a lot more room for growth.

The interesting thing was he stated that scientists/brain experts had proven we do, in fact, use 100% of brain and the 10% claim was a myth perpetuated by the media and others. The Rishis have always said 10%, so this claim of his was intriguing to me.

After much discussion I realize that we were talking about two entirely different things. He was talking about the physical brain and I was talking about the mind. And then it dawned on me why a lot of people don't understand their own flow - they are only looking at the physical, the obvious, and assume that is all there is. And when they stay in this way of thinking they can't really grow, and only look to their immediate surroundings for answers.

Flow is not something that is tangible, and certainly can't really be measured by science. In fact, using existing scientific measurements it probably doesn't exist. But it does, and everyone deep inside knows it does.

Come hear The Rishis at the New Living Expo

The Rishis will be co-lecturing with Mary Electra at the New Life Expo in San Francisco April 25th at 6 pm. Come hear The Rishis discuss the wonders of 2008, and then stop by our booth.

For more information on the New Living Expo, check out www.newlivingexpo.com

David Weber & The Rishis

Flow vocabulary: Resentment

One festering cause of flow blockages is resentment. I say festering because it is something that can linger for a long time and never be resolved. In flow you are your most successful, so there is no need for resentment at any time. If resentment does pop up, it is a clear warning that something is wrong.

Sometimes it can be a “good warning” that immediately advises you to remedy the blockages. For example, although I seldom feel resentment I do instantly get the feeling when someone has wronged me over money. Case in point: A few years ago I was working with a business partner who owed me money. He sent a check that was $3,000 short. I called him up and queried about it, and he told me he “forgot” but refused to pay. Well, resentment immediately built up and I took action and remedied the situation. My flow would simply not let this issue stay unresolved. I found out later on this guy was a crystal meth addict and was high most of the time, which explained his bizarre behavior.

Some things can’t be resolved as easily. If you had resentment towards a parent and then that parent dies you have no way of fixing the issue in person. But the resentment will prevent your flow, so you need to reconcile your resentment and move on after resolving it. And, of course, oftentimes the resentment has nothing to do with the other person, but with your own flow issues.

I knew people growing up who resented rich people no matter who they were, but the reality was their flow blockages stemmed from their own internal issues with money and success than with the rich people they resented.

Scandal and flow

The Eliot Spitzer scandal (he's the governor of New York caught paying high-class prostitutes) underlines another concept in flow, something The Rishis have talked about extensively.

Spitzer was Attorney General of New York prior to being governor and was notorious for bringing Wall Street and other industries to justice for their alleged misdoings. In fact, a lot of industries breathed a sigh of relief when he became governor as he wouldn't focus his energies on prosecution.

But he was overzealous on every issue, including prostitution, and that should have been a clear warning to people that something might be wrong. You see, when people go too far on an issue it often means they are compensating for something. Yes, "fighting evil" is noble, but to become obsessed is a flow blockage.

I saw this when one of the prosecutors in the Charles Manson trial spoke at my college. You could tell the trial and the Manson family in general had consumed his life, even (at the time) 20 years later.

Flow is about being your most successful at everything you do, whether being an attorney general or being married. There obviously is a reason Spitzer sought out prostitutes, and that reason has to do with flow blockages. For if he was in ideal flow the mere thought of hiring a prostitute (or having an affair) would seem foreign since his marriage would be successful.

Although we'll never know, deep inside he may have wanted to be caught. Flow blockages can create extreme devastation, and that often is damage we simply can't control due to the law of negative attraction.

Flow lesson from a talk show

The Rishis actually mentioned this at their talk on Friday night so I thought I would post it on my blog.

The other day I was watching Maury, one of those tacky talk shows. If you know anything about the Maury show you know that he specializes in paternity tests (he popularized the phrase "You are the Father!").

The reason this relates to flow has to do with one guest he had. This woman was engaged to this man who allegedly got another woman pregnant. The first woman said "I've been praying every night that the baby isn't my fiance's" and that's what struck me as strange.

You see, when you pray it is energy you are putting out, but that energy must be directly to the right thing. The paternity of the baby was set, meaning all the prayer in the world wasn't going to change the result one way or another. So the praying was useless.

Ultimately prayer is not needed at all, since God (universal energy) is flowing through you 24/7 so you are, in essence, praying to yourself.

But if you do pray it must be for things than can be changed or affected, versus things that "positive energy" cannot alter, like the preset paternity of the child.

Hear The Rishis live tonight!

Come here The Rishis live tonight in Los Gatos at Inner Journey bookstore. The topic will be language and vocabulary in the Flow Era. Come learn how words and concepts are changing as humanity itself changes.

For more information, go to www.inner-journey.com or call me direct at 650-341-7645

David Weber & The Rishis

Of ankles and flow

So Sunday I'm enjoying a perfect day in the San Francsico bay area. I decided to take Miele for a walk with friends on the Stanford campus. Everything was fine until I feel into a hidden hole in the grass. I twisted my ankle and can now barely walk.

When things like this would happen in the past I would get really angry and think I was being punished for something or that I was doing something wrong in life. Now I know sometimes things DO just happen and there isn't any set reason. So I am doing the flow thing: I know that this is not a permanent condition, I know that I will soon be able to walk after the swelling goes down, I know that I will still be able to do my work, and I know not to push my body otherwise it won't heal.

It sounds logical but the old me would have gotten so stressed over such a setback that I prolonged the healing process, not to mention making everyone around me upset.

It's a funny way to think about flow, but it is a good lesson in it. Especially since the same flow process applies to any type of surprise situation.

David Weber & The Rishis