ATP Articles
Article 4

The 'science' and integration behind ATP
by Ted P. Attreides

Albert Einstein said "the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them".

That is the reason why the development of the exclusive ATP Self-Discovery Program represents a quantum leap beyond even the most advanced self-help programs available today.

It is based on a new, highly integrated level of thinking which is represented by two complementary elements: an integral vision and an integral practice. Because both of these components of the ATP program are so new and unique, I would like to briefly explain what these two terms mean, and how they are specifically applied in the ATP Self-Discovery Program.

An integral vision is a vision that endeavors to be comprehensive, balanced and inclusive. It is a wholistic vision that honors and embraces the apparently conflicting interior and exterior approaches to knowledge: from physics to spirituality; biology to aesthetics, sociology to theology, psychology to metaphysics and much more.

Therefore it is a vision that when applied to human development, includes matter, body, mind, soul, and spirit.

An integral practice is the practical component of an integral vision. It anchors all of these factors in a concrete and 'down to earth' manner, so that they do not remain merely abstract ideas and vague notions. An integral practice therefore includes and exercises more aspects of the being simultaneously, making it far more likely for one to transform to the next higher level of development.

Thus I will begin by first sharing with you how the development of an integral (or complete) vision is applied in the unique ATP program.

In order to apply an integral vision in the 'real world' to achieve transformative positive development, the interior world (subjective) known by many names -- consciousness, awareness, mind psyche, idea-- must be properly integrated with the exterior world (objective) which is also known by many names -- material, empirical, biophysical, brain, nature.

Otherwise any development that occurs will be partial and incomplete.

Moreover, these interior and exterior worlds are further subdivided into interior collective and exterior collective.

The interior collective world (cultural) is known by many names such as ethics and morals, worldviews, culture, intersubjective meaning, appropriateness, etc.

The exterior collective world (social) is known by names such as social systems, environmental networks, techno-economic structures, systems theory, etc.

Thus this integrated vision is reflected in four sides, four different approaches, four important dimensions needed to accurately describe the depth and scope of its wholistic character.

Therefore as they apply to human beings, these four important dimensions refer to the interior and exterior of the individual and the interior and exterior of the collective. Significantly, all four of these sides are interwoven; they all mutually affect each other.

In other words, none of these can be reduced to the others without serious distortions.

In the ATP program, these four dimensions are reflected in the tetrahedron which is the central part of our logo. The tetrahedron is composed of 4 equilateral triangles, a base and three upright triangles. As applied to our discussion here, the 4 sides of the tetrahedron can symbolically represent the 3 sides of the interior and exterior of the collective and the exterior of the individual, resting on the interior of the individual (self and consciousness) which forms the 'base', the foundation, which holds the 'structure' upright.

It is important to realize however that many cultures in the world have intimated this 'tetra-interactive' reality in the number 'four' -- as in their references to the 'four faces of God', and their stone temples which visually represent four faces looking in four different directions (for example the Four Faces of Brahma Temple in Angkor -- Thom, Bayon, Cambodia)

An incredibly well-thought out and modern representation of these four dimensions was created by the integral philosopher Ken Wilber in his "Four Quadrant" model, and is available in several of his books including the book "A Brief History of Everything" from Shambhala Publication Inc, 1996.

The important point to remember here, is that this bigger and more complete vision must involve all four dimensions of your being and therefore must include physical, mental, emotional, social, cultural and spiritual components in its approach, in order to claim to be integral or wholistic.

Naturally, the question most people have at this point is, how did we implement this integral vision in the design of the exclusive ATP Self-Discovery program?

The one year ATP program is taught in 12 monthly lessons which are presented in 4 to 5 weekly sessions of about 10 pages each.

It is a program based on a wholistic integration of the four important "intentional", "behavioral", "cultural", and "social" dimensions we just discussed.

What follows is a brief example of the practices that have been included in the ATP program representing each of these four important dimensions:

1. Interior World (subjective/intentional): Lifepower 'charger' breathing, bioenergetics, cognitive exercises, visualizations, affirmations, sacred self-transcending sexuality, adopting a conscious philosophy of life, subtle practices, bare-attention, self inquiry, and non-dual practices.

2. Exterior World (objective/behavioral): Exercise and physical fitness routines, core lessons on practical use of super nutrition and diet, use of life-affirming supplements including vitamins/minerals, optimum wellness practices, and inducement of theta and delta brainwave states of awareness through multiple modalities (including brain/mind machines).

3. Interior Collective (intersubjective/cultural): Making relationships with family friends and coworkers part of one's growth, practicing love/compassion in relation to others, decentering the ego-self, volunteer work, etc.

4. Exterior Collective (interobjective/social): Exercising educational civic and political responsibilities in social settings, practicing responsibilities towards the environment and the planet, etc.

Naturally, this new type of integral vision is very rare if not impossible to find in most self-help programs and courses, regardless of cost or time invested.

Most of these tend to emphasize partial and incomplete approaches such as single emphasis on optimum health, or meditation or psychotherapy and so on and so forth. Therefore a large number of intelligent and well-meaning individuals spend many years pursuing these less than complete approaches with minimal results and worse yet, very unbalanced constitutions.

Here's an example of this point, one can take the spiritual line alone (lets say meditation practice) to a very high level, but neglect the psychological and interpersonal lines -- so after years of practice they can still be egoistic or socially inept, or have addictions they cannot control.

On the other hand, the more wholistic and integrated the approach the quicker and easier you tend to see results and make positive transformations, and the more satisfying these are to you -- since that is the character of our multi-dimensional nature.

But having an integral vision that includes these four important dimensions is only half of the story of ATP.

You see possessing a 'map' (a model) that is all-inclusive and wholistic is not enough; that map by itself could not transform people. It would not!

What we also need is a way, an easy daily practice to assist an individual to make such transformative changes in their life. Thus the ATP Self-Discovery program not only provides an integral vision, but it also provides the 'missing link': an integral practice -- a practice that actually exercises body, mind, spirit and heart not only in self, but in culture and nature too.

However it is in this application of an integral vision in a daily practice -- in the 'real world' of careers, families, children and everyday responsibilities -- where we separate a true integral practice from the pretenders.

What I mean is that it is not enough to simply inform people to read a book or two, to pick a few favorite (yet separate) practices form the multicultural smorgasbord, and to practice these for an unspecified amount of time towards some nebulous unfolding of the potentials of the bodymind.

Certainly that's not the model we use in educating individuals in Academic Institutions, or Business Corporations, the Spiritual Traditions, the Martial Arts and other areas.

For example, in higher education, university students have much flexibility in picking subject courses that they're interested in, and yet there is an existing pre-set pattern that represents the given degree requirements. Students are asked to take these requirements in sequence, in a graduated and progressive fashion, in order to achieve integration in their chosen field of study.

The same holds true in the progression to black belt levels in the Martial Arts; in the paths of the Spiritual Traditions; in Corporate Business mentoring, etc.

Therefore the ATP program focuses and represents such a sophisticated and responsible approach.

It offers 12 integrated lessons which are practiced in a wholistic lifestyle of seven specific components.

Naturally these seven components allow lots of freedom, versatility and room for individuality, and yet they're also progressive, safe, and realistic and successfully guide individuals towards genuine transformation.

Here's a brief description of the ATP seven lifestyle practice components:

1. An integrated worldview -- presented in the form of short essays which propel you way ahead of humanity's current consciousness, with what are called "orienting principles." There are 12 such core-lessons, and the easy to do practices associated with them, and they save you many years and hundreds of hours of experimenting with dead-end concepts.

2. Diet/Supplement Components -- presented in the form of small gradual changes which synergistically contribute to super nutrition, enhanced life-force potential and dramatically improved energy levels, health, vitality, and longevity.

3. Daily Exercise -- presented in the form of integrated principles and physical fitness routines to link mind and body together for life long health, fitness, and vitality.

4. Mental/Emotional Elements -- presented in the form of simple, easy to do exercises and commentaries which help develop personality, mind/brain cognitive skills and emotional openness/maturity through the newly discovered 9 mind/body sciences.

5. Spiritual Development -- presented in the form of progressive and unique exercises, meditations, stories and authentic teachings which focus on completion through enlightenment, maturity, and connecting with the Higher-Self.

6. Relationships -- presented in the form of practical approaches to using relationships to further personal growth and the growth of others, while simultaneously clearing the obstacles between ourselves and others.

7. Life Projects -- presented in the form of realistic and common sense principles and opportunities to explore personal relationships with the biosphere.

Importantly, as you'll notice from our free one week preview (presented on the website) these 7 wholistic lifestyle components are not rigid and separate subjects. The 'science' behind these components is based on the proper sequence of integrating the 12 monthly lessons together, so each practice can 'ramp-up' and accelerate the positive, life giving effects of each monthly lesson, so these effects can become cumulative and multiplied as each month progresses.

These 'accelerated' effects occur because these 7 components are actually very interrelated and connected by multiple strings of near -- invisible waves, streams, types, etc., which sometimes are below the conscious level of an individual.

For example, there are different states of consciousness like waking, dreaming, sleeping, meditative, altered, etc and different types of consciousness such as personality types, gender types, etc.

Through these flow levels of development as in the eight levels or waves of the Spiral Dynamics model, and various lines or streams of development such as cognitive, moral, emotional, kinesthetic, spiritual, etc.

These are affected by different brain states and organic factors such as alpha, beta, theta, and delta brainwaves, production of endorphins and certain neurotransmitters, etc.

Finally they are impacted by various cultural factors, for example the importance of community, culture and relationships as a means of learning and transformation; and also the effects of the social system, as in the current technological/economic base, responsible relationships with nature and environment, etc.

Most importantly, all of the waves, streams and states do not navigate themselves, but are navigated by the self. This self (or self-system or self sense) attempts to coordinate or balance all of the components of the psyche.

In other words, the self attempts to integrate the various waves, streams and states that are present in the individual. This self is not a monolithic entity, but rather the center of gravity of the self system with acts to bind the multiple waves, states, streams, and realms into something of a unified organization.

Therefore this leading-edge practice is more fluid and intricate than most people imagine. It resembles a live concert symphony playing the most beautiful music you've ever heard; the melody of positive transformation-- with the self as the music conductor.

In summary, as you can see, these 7 integrated lifestyle components, combined with the sequential and graduated learning matrix of the 12 monthly lessons, makes the exclusive ATP program very likely the most advanced Self Discovery Program in the world.

I want to emphasize however that individuals interested in participating in the ATP journey of self discovery, do not have to study deep Integral Theory, or memorize the various waves, streams and levels of development, or spend hours of studying -- unless they feel they want to do that.

In other words, the detailed descriptions I presented in this article are not 'requirements'

that anyone would need to memorize further in order to qualify for this course of study.

They are simply explanations of the 'background', as it were, of the wholistic integration between an integral vision and an integral practice as reflected in the ATP program.

Thus integral and wholistic does not mean complex and difficult when applied to the ATP life practices in the 'real world'.

In fact, I'm always amused by the feedback from most new members who tell me how 'simple and easy to use' the ATP lessons appear to be both in the language used and in their realistic approach to life.

As the famous Bruce Lee once said: "Simplicity is the last step of art and the beginning of nature".

Therefore please take a few moments and explore this easy to do, natural yet integrated program, and all its many benefits as described in detail on the pages of this website.

You will be amazed at what you find there...