About the Word

Foundation: The base of ground level, that which can be built upon. The word foundation comes from the word "found" which means to originate or establish. It, in turn, comes from the Latin word fundare, which is derived from the Latin word fundus, which means bottom.

Three Brief Portraits

In February of 1982, Stephen Crane was the sole survivor of a sailboat incident in the Atlantic Ocean. Adrift in a small rubber dinghy, he had neither food nor water to keep him going while he waited for rescue. He floated, devoid most days of hope, subsisting on rainwater and a fish he caught, until rescue finally came, 76 days later, earning him the world's record for being adrift in a raft. "I stopped thinking after the first week or so," he recalls. "Each day ran into the next. I didn't think, I didn't feel, I didn't hope. I just survived."

Survival of a different kind became an issue for Agnes Weatherby, a woman whose husband of 53 years died of cancer, leaving her a stunned widow. "I always thought I would die first, because I was five years older," she says. "I never thought it would be me left behind." But she was, and Agnes found herself in a breathtaking state of grief she had never imagined possible. "I cried all day long," she remembers. "And I couldn't sleep at night. The knot in my stomach made it impossible to rest. I wanted to die. I prayed to die. But I didn't. Somehow, I survived."

Doug Fletcher also suffered a loss. An avid camper and hiker, he felt comfortable in the wilderness and so was unprepared for a rare attack by a black bear. Charged while hiking along a peaceful trail, the bear swatted Doug in the side, instantly breaking three ribs and opening a bloody gash in his side that took 43 stitches to repair. "I should have been killed," he points out. Instead, instinctively, he dropped to the ground and played dead. "I remember, now, learning about this trick in grade school," he says. "But I didn't think about it then, I just did it." Looking back, Doug is amazed that he didn't scream, or run, or do any of the other things one would expect in a moment of blind panic. "This was no carefully thought-out move," he insists. "I didn't think, I didn't feel. I just dropped like a sack of cement and stayed put. I don't even remember wondering if the bear would still attack. I was in pure survival mode...and it must have worked, because I survived."

No one questions that we humans have an amazing capacity for survival. It is, clearly, one of our most valuable traits. And, yet, reversed, it can cause no end of trouble. Consider these three:

Doreen is a young woman currently serving time in Federal prison for mail fraud. She was arrested while on her way to a hearing that would have freed her; however, on the plane, she attempted to steal money from the woman seated next to her. "I don't know why I did it," she says. "I just seem to fuck myself up."

Kathy, while not in trouble with the law, is no happier than Doreen. She has been married four times, and marriage number four is in trouble. "I am just attracted to the wrong kind of men," she says. "I keep picking these guys who turn out to be physically abusive. How can I tell? They look and act normal when I meet them, and while we're going out. But then I marry them, and the black eyes and bloody noses begin."

Ken holds the record, in his high school graduating class, of having had the most automobile accidents. While most of them occurred while he had been drinking, he has had several accidents while sober. "I get distracted," he explains. "I'll suddenly be compelled to change the station on the radio, or I'll drop my beer, or an important paper will get caught in the wind and I'll have to catch it before it blows out the window. It's always something, but why do these things always happen just when the driver ahead of me decides to hit his brakes?"

What these people, survivors and would-be non-survivors, have in common, are situations involving their first Systems, that of Foundation.

At A Glance 

Importance of Foundation

One's Foundation affects (and is affected by) areas of

• Survival
• Career
• Order
• Home

These items are related. A homeless person is likely to also be experiencing issues of survival--where is the next meal coming from?--a lack of career, and little order to his or her life.

We start with Foundation...literally. When we are but a single fertilized cell, one spot on that cell is the point of Foundation. The cell's first division occurs at that point. When gestation is complete, that spot, divided just once, has become the first center, located at the balls of the feet.

As a System, Foundation is the anchor of the self in space-time. Our spirits may be eternal and multi-dimensional, but each physical lifetime needs an anchor and this is it. The soul originates and establishes itself in the physical world through that part of the body which connects to all of itself and which connects to the Earth. The feet are the bottom upon which all the rest of the body rests and are the connection to the world. 

As we walk, we continually make and break this bond to the Earth. This act of connecting and reconnecting creates a mobile Foundation that seeks balance. When our Foundation is under-energized, we can find ourselves making choices that are actually contra-survival, choices that throw us off-balance. On the other hand, when extreme survival issues come, energy can be drawn from all the other systems, so that survival can be assured. That's why, in so many survival cases, the survivors report a lack of thinking or emotion. When Foundation draws energy to itself, it will not be denied; there's no energy left for flight (third system), panic (fourth system), or even fulfilling one's higher purposes (sixth system). Until the need for raw survival is past, all else is put on hold.

I AM

The active intelligence that creates statements of Foundation is in the form of I AM.

Whenever we begin a statement with, "I AM...", it is our Foundation speaking. "I am happy, I am rich, I am bad with numbers, I am an awful cook..." Listen carefully to your I AMs, because your Foundation will maintain the reality they declare.

Thus, if you find yourself saying something negative about yourself, pause and try to put the statement in perspective, Instead of saying, "I am always late," try, "Perhaps I have often been late in the past, but from now on, I AM always on time." Phrasing it this way will set up the intention you desire, and help to initiate the change in your behavior.

Of course, one positive statement can't undo a lifetime of negative statements! But, every time you proclaim yourself in a positive way, you help to make yourself become, more and more, the person you want to be.

Another consideration is that some people see as negative, aspects of themselves that others see as positive. You may believe you talk too much, for example, when in reality others appreciate your ability to communicate. You also may have bought into your culture's value judgments regarding neutral traits, like being left-handed, a member of an ethnic group, or gay. If "I AM left-handed" seems like a negative statement to you, practice saying it with pride.

The important thing is that you tally your traits and find pride in them all. Nothing weakens your Foundation more than withholding energy from it due to judging harshly traits that need no judgment at all.

Example Statements

Inner Aspect of the Physical Body

The first Inner Aspect is the Physical Body, itself. Alone of the combination of Inner Aspects and Fields, the first is the only one that is entirely coincident: The Physical Inner Aspect (the Body) is the same as the Physical Field (also the Body). And yet, there is a difference: The Physical Inner Aspect is the inside of the body, the part that only surgeons see. Moreover, it is the idea of the body, more than the body itself. It is, therefore, the genes—the body’s DNA pattern (genome), which may have built into you a tendency to diabetes or sickle-cell anemia.

It is also the condition of the body. Are your teeth and gums healthy? Your blood vessels brittle with plaque? Your bones dense or spongy? Your joints lubricated or painful? Are you host to unfriendly parasites like cold viruses, roundworms or athlete’s foot, or resistant to such invaders?

Unhealthy Inner Aspect

Since the Physical Body Inner Aspect is the DNA pattern, genetic diseases are the result of a weakened or unhealthy First Inner Aspect. Obviously, such deep-rooted problems are difficult to cure; but as the First Inner Aspect is strengthened, they can be found to be less troublesome.

The bones provide structure to the body, and that makes them targets, also, for more fleeting Inner Aspect symptoms. To speed healing of these, and to lessen the likelihood of breaking more bones, follow the guidelines for improved health detailed below.

Physical illnesses, especially transitory ones, are often signals of issues that you have ignored. It is possible to use physical symptoms to help figure out the underlying issue (which can then more easily be addressed). Books that list physical symptoms and their metaphysical causes include:

• You Can Heal Your Life, Louise L. Hay
• The Symbolic Message of Illness, Calin V. Pop, M.D.

Energizing the Physical Inner Aspect

Most of the advice your mother gave you when you were growing up is still useful. You do need eight hours’ sleep; because there are more negative ions in the air in the hours before midnight, sleep before midnight is healthiest for you. You need to avoid sugars and artificial ingredients; eat nutritional food—not too little, not too much—and drink plenty of pure water. And, yes, you need to spend at least twelve minutes a day on light physical exercise.

Physical Body as a Field

The first Field is also the Physical Body. As a Field, it is the Body others see: Your face, hair, physique. While it can be expressive, as we’ll see later, much of the communication actually originates in other fields. Still, your voice and body language either reinforce—or contradict—what others perceive, subconsciously, in your Fields.

While the First Inner Aspect deals with your actual health, your First Field deals with your physical appearance, which can include the appearance of health, but also includes other physical attributes that others can see by your appearance or actions: race, complexion, sexual orientation, handedness, build, dexterity, and so on.

As we learned in Workshop Zero, all things are made up of energy; and all energies have unique frequencies or wavelengths. Matter is also a form of energy, as described by Einstein. It simply “vibrates” at or has a lower frequency than other forms of energy, such as light or magnetism.

By itself, the body is perfect, pristine, just as you would want it to be. At the perceptual level of “life on Earth”, the body can seem damaged or in possession of less than optimal health. (At deeper perceptual levels, All is One and always perfect.) These effects appear to hit the body from “outside”. The important thing to note in this regard, is that no outside force can reach the Physical Body without first passing through the other eleven fields that encompass it, like nested eggs.

With that in mind, consider than much of what seems to “hit” the body from outside, may originate in the Fields themselves. As we progress through further Workshops, we’ll see how these effects can be identified and corrected before physical dis-ease occurs. The Physical Body’s health and wholeness simply reflects, to the visible world, the health and wholeness of the encompassing Fields.

Exercise 1-b

Write down four Physical Body Field I AM statements (referring to aspects of your physical person that others can see to look at you), Mark statements that indicate attributes of which you are proud “F+”. Mark statements that indicate attributes you'd like to change with “F-”. You may leave neutral attributes blank.

An Unhealthy Physical Body Field

A weak Physical Body Field does not mean illness; it is expressed as embarrassment or sensitivity regarding the way one appears to others. If you worry that others find you too fat, thin, pale, dark, blonde, etc., you are actually experiencing a weakened Physical Body Field on an energetic level.

There are many people who are considered "obese" by the medical community, who are neither embarrassed, inconvenienced, or made ill by their weight. They have a strong First Field. So do Black persons who are proud of their heritage and serve as shining examples to everyone, not just other Black people. A person with a weakened First Field may experience prejudice or bigotry where another person who looks much the same, but has a powerful First Field, does not.

So, a person with a weakened First Field will often try to hide the aspects they've identified as "the problem" from others. A person who loves to swim but refuses to appear in public in a bathing suit, or a gay or lesbian person who remains "in the closet", has a weak Physical Body Field.

Energizing the Physical Body Field

There are two simple, but important, steps, to improving the health of your Physical Body Field.

First, cultivate a realistic expectation of how people appear. The media intentionally presents unrealistic images by casting a disproportionate number of people who are thinner and more regular of face than are present in the population as a whole. They do this because there is a great deal of money to be made in selling pills to thin people to gain weight, other pills to fat people to lose weight, hair curlers, hair straighteners, and Prozac to everyone who imagines they aren't as cheerful as they've been made to believe they should be.

This doesn't mean you must never wear fashionable clothes, a wig, or platform shoes. Any decorations you make to your body are perfectly fine as long as you made them for yourself. If you prefer curly hair and weren't born with that trait, go ahead and curl it if you like. You can tell whether you are doing these things for yourself or for others, based on what you do when there's no time to make the adjustment. If you'd rather miss a meeting than appear outside your bedroom with straight hair, you are not curling it for yourself.

The second step is to study the history and origins of whatever attribute of yourself embarrasses you. If you are embarrassed at being Asian, Black, Native American, White, obese, rail thin, blonde, Polish, Irish, American, a Lakers fan, or whatever--make a point of studying others with the same label. Look at the history, contributions, Learn to see whatever you "are" with neutrality. If you have been particularly ashamed of some aspect of your heritage or being, you may need to first balance that with pride, before you can achieve neutrality; and that's fine.

The best attitude was probably best stated by Oscar Hammerstein in Oklahoma!, where the Aunt Eller character sings,

"I ain't sayin' that I'm better than anybody else,
But I'll be danged if I ain't jest as good!"

Foundation as a System

Each of us is the combination of all our attributes. Each System arises from its Inner Aspect and Field. Therefore, the First System is the product of your internal physical attributes and how they are applied to or interact with the "real world".

Put simply, your First System manifests as your identification with your career, hobbies, or affiliations.

When you say, "I AM a Boy Scout", or "I AM an Independent", or "I AM a bricklayer", you are expressing the energy of your First System, Foundation. Notice that, as you make these statements, your inner physical abilities and your appearance to others come into play. Boy Scouts wear uniforms; members of political parties tend to voice their positions to others; bricklayers require physical stamina to do their jobs.

Also, as Foundation refers to one's means of survival, it's appropriate that one's career choice comes up as an I AM statement. Someone at the less-preferred end of the spectrum might say, "I AM Homeless". While such a person may not think of that as a "career choice", it certainly speaks significantly of the manner in which that person survives--as does, "I AM a multi-millionaire."

Exercise 1-c

Write down four System-type I AM statements. To the right, mark the labels of which you are proud with "S+" and the ones of which you are embarrassed with "S-". Neutral statements may remain unmarked.

An Unhealthy System of Foundation

A person whose Foundation System is under-energized, will be one who doesn't enjoy his or her job; who is not respected for the work he or she does; who gets poor work evaluations or is even underemployed or unemployed.

Energizing Your Foundation

Because each Field/Inner Aspect/System combination is interrelated, strengthening any one results in the strengthening of all. Having a strong Foundation means your survival skills, job prospects, ability to organize, and so on, will also be enhanced.

Think about the people you know who are successful in their jobs. Don’t they usually seem to be in good physical health, as well? Sure, they can afford to join a great gym now...but it’s likely they were in good shape first. These things work together. As health is enhanced, so are one’s prospects...and that makes it easier to enhance one’s health even further.

Only twelve minutes a day spent in light physical exercise will do wonders for your health, outlook on life, and just plain ability to cope.

In addition, massaging the epicenter from which your Foundation System projects is a good way to energize your Foundation. We recommend doing that daily.

Finding Your Foundation

Referring to the Systems chart in Workshop Zero, please note that the parabolic plane for System One is associated with the feet. The Center for System One is located on the balls of the feet; moving the feet therefore distorts the shape of this field. (That's why it's better to sit with feet flat on the floor, especially while meditating.)

Reflexology

When we were formulating the ONA theories, it seemed likely that, if the foot were the Foundation Center, and the physical body were the "Foundation Field", then the foot itself ought to reference the entire body's health in some way. Of course, it was obvious that, to some extent, this is true: If your feet hurt, your whole body feels terrible. However, upon investigation we discovered that there is a science in which the foot's reference to the entire body has been found to be literally true. This science is called Foot Reflexology. 

In Foot Reflexology, it has been found that there is a spot on each foot that corresponds to a spot in the internal body. That is, one spot references the liver, another the spleen, another the tongue, and so on. When pressure is applied to that spot (by a finger, for example), if the referenced body part is experiencing health problems, the spot hurts. No place on a healthy foot should hurt when pressed by a finger; so the answer is to continue to apply pressure to the spot, massaging it until it hurts no more. This may take more than one session. However, when the entire foot can be massaged without discomfort, the physical body will be perceived as healthy. 

It is possible for a person to perform Foot Reflexology on him/herself. You may also have someone else do it. If you can't reach your own feet, try putting a marble on the floor and rolling your foot around on top of it.

It isn't actually necessary for the practitioner to know what the spots represent; just massage all painful ones until the pain subsides. If the pain doesn't subside, however, it might be a good idea to see a doctor and have the indicated body system examined. Towards that purpose, we reproduce here a common Foot Reflexology chart:

Exercise 1-d