shimmer

I really love Free Will Astrology by Rob Breszny. Now there's a guy striving to live in beauty and delight.

Recently, Rob published his new book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, and lately he's been including excerpts in his weekly newsletter. I like Rob's work and intend to buy this book, so I want to give him a little plug here. Here's the excerpt I received today, along with my always inspirational horoscopes.

WHAT IS THE BEAUTY AND TRUTH LABORATORY?

The Beauty and Truth Laboratory is an ever-expanding web of think tanks and mystery schools devoted to exploring pronoia. Since I launched the prototype in October 2001, 12 other branches have sprung up in basements, barns, and bedrooms all over the world: eight in North America and others in Amsterdam, London, Florence, Italy, and Sydney, Australia.

All of these, including my own in Marin County, California, are similar in spirit to pirate radio stations. They're not registered, incorporated, or licensed, and Goddess forbid that they should ever become the canonical hubs of a franchise.

That doesn't mean I eschew power, authority, and wealth. My own branch of the Beauty and Truth Laboratory is stationed in a garage next to the house I rent on the seedy outskirts of suburbia, but I'd have no problem moving to a more expansive location, like say, a conference center on a 100-acre compound in an idyllic place that the original inhabitants of this continent regarded as a power spot. And I'd love it if this book sold a million copies, or if Beauty and Truth Laboratories were as common as 7- Elevens in 10 years.

On the other hand, I'm happy with whatever blessings life conspires to bring me. If it's to my and your ultimate benefit that this book reaches no more than 10,000 wise guys and riot grrrls, I will celebrate that outcome.
And my garage-based laboratory is fine just the way it is, with its sloping floor and row of tiny windows darkened by the exuberant persimmon tree outside. The modesty of its structure is a constant reminder that the most important aspect of my work is building the Beauty and Truth Laboratory within me. As I prod my imagination to nurture ever-more detailed visions of love, compassion, joy, freedom, beauty, and truth, I'm better able to spot and name all those good things in the world around me. I also become more skilled at creating them.

My humble headquarters brings another advantage. It encourages me to regard everywhere I go as a potential extension of the Beauty and Truth Laboratory. My experiments aren't confined to the hours I spend in the solitude of my ivory tower, but also spill out into the fertile chaos of daily life.

On one epiphanic occasion, an eight-lane highway at rush hour turned into a temporary Beauty and Truth Laboratory. It was just a few days after my return from the Burning Man festival, where the dream of the Laboratory had hatched. I was driving on 101, the artery that bisects Marin County just north of San Francisco.

As I cruised at 65 mph between Larkspur and Corte Madera, a blonde in a Jaguar convertible with the top down passed me on the right. Perhaps distracted by the chat she was enjoying on her cell phone, she suddenly zipped in front of me. After hitting my brakes to avoid rear-ending her, I honked my horn to express my annoyance.

In response, she careened back over to the lane she'd been in before cutting me off, then slowed down and waited for me to catch up. I avoided eye contact at first, but finally looked over. Quaking with agitation, she was flashing me a middle-finger salute and a mad face as fierce as a Tibetan demon. Her car was veering closer to mine. I wondered if she might she actually crash into me on purpose . . . .

To read the rest of "WHAT IS THE BEAUTY AND TRUTH LABORATORY," excerpted from PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia, go here: Beauty and Truth Lab. You can't buy the book directly from Rob, but can purchase it from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or my favorite independent bookseller, Powells.com.

Posted by Jean on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at 9:01 AM | Permalink