clothes, emotional logjams disappear (oct. 11, 1978)
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8/13/2019 Clothes, Emotional Logjams Disappear (Oct. 11, 1978)
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48 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1978
Clothes, emotional logjams disappearB y A R T H A R R I S
Th e Wash ing ton PostB I G S U R , C a l i f. — G r a d -
ua t io n ceremonies for Ber-nie Gunthe r ' s 5-day , 29 0seminar , F rom Sex to Su -perconsciousness , have ad -journed to the ba ths .
"Ooooooooooooooooh , ' 's ighs a den t i s t f rom For tLee, N.J., as he s l i the rs
into the ho t communa l tub .A n L .A. spec ia l educa t ionteacher s t rokes the nape ofhis neck, fondles an ea rlobe. A veil of s team, riseso ff th e wa te r , so f ten ing th eexpressions of de l igh t onthe eight faces sharing theb a th . They look as sweetand con tended as anyoneRaphae l ever painted.
"I had people touchingeach others ' naked bodiesb efo r e anyone else in this
business," boasts G u n t h e r ." I 've a lways been out land -ish."
Five days ago, when theba the rs a r r ived h e re ' a t t heEsa len I ns t i tu te to loosenup emot iona l log jams , theyw e r e s t r a n g e r s t o e a c hothe r an d themselves. A ndn o w? W e l l , th e c lothes ar eo f f ; everyone is becoming
his own best f r iend . A f u l lmoon dances l ike a m i l l iond ia mo n d s over a d a r k b lue ,u n d u l a t i n g Pac i f i c , a n d theCo s mic Caterer has servedup a b a n q u e t o f stars.
" C a l i f o r n i a i s w o n d e r -f u l " exc la ims a b a t h e r .
"We 'd be out laws backHas t ," says ano the r . "Butt h e y ' r e 25 years b ehin d . ' .W e ' l l t r y a n y t h i n g o u the re ; we' re living on theedge...
N a r a n h om e recipep t a n takes o f f ugly fat.
The N a ra n Plan c an h e lp you lose poundsof unsightly fa t r i g h t in y o u r own home.
T h i s h o m e re c i p e we i g h t - c o n t r o l p la n i s .ea s y t o fo l lo w a n d c o s t s little. G o o y o u r
d r u g s t o r e a n d a s h f o r t h e N a r a n R ed u c i n gP la n . T h e w h o le p la n i s in c lu d e d in e v e r y
p a c k a g e . T he d i re c t io n s ar e right o n t helabe. Pour t he liquid Into a pint b o t t l e
a n d a d d e n o u g h g r a p e f r u i t j u i c e to fill th ebottle. T a h e t wo t a b l es po o n s f u l t w i c e ad a y a s n e e d e d . T a k e t he v i t a m in s u p p l e -
m e n t included a n d f o l l o w t h e l o w c a l o r i e
w e e k l y fo o d m e n u .Your first pu r c h a s e s h o u l d s h o w y o u a
s im p le e a s y wa y lo lose bu lk y f a t a n dh e lp re g a in s l en d er m o r e g r a c e f u l c u r ves ;re d u c ib le po u n d s a n d i n c h es o f e x c e s s fa t
' s h o u ld d i s a ppea r f r o m n ec k . chin. a rm s ,
hips, a b d o m en , c a l ves a n d a n k le s . I f youar e n o t c o m p l e t e l y s a t i s f i e d with y o u r lirst
p u r c h a s e j u s t r e t u r n t h e e m p t y c a r t o n f o r
y o u r m o n ey h a c k . F o l l o w this e a s y w a y
en d o r s ed b y many w ho h a ve tried t h i s p la nto h e lp b r in g b a c k a l lu r in g c u r v e s a n d
g r a c e f u l s l e n d e r n e s s . N o t e h ow qu i c k lyb l o a t d i s a ppea r s , ho w m u c h b e t t e r y o u
f e e l . M o r e a l i v e , y o u t h f u l a p p e a r i n ga n d a c t i ve .
AOVT
George L eonard, 55, for-m er Look editor and a Bos-well of human po ten t ia l , isf l a t on his be l ly , worminghis way th rough the Tun-nel of Fear.
A d v e n t u r e s like the Tun-nel of Fear ar e designed topu t th e c l a s s in touch w i t hthe i r inne r essence. T het un n e l is ac tua l ly a h u m a n
g a u n t l e t of s e e k e r s w hopo un d , p u m m e l an d f rus -t ra te th e c r a w le r as he a t -tempts to belly through tothe o the r end . The mora l :t ha t l i f e just isn' t fair .
In 1961, Michael Murphydrove down to Big Sur wi thpsychologist Dick Price tocheck out 375 ac res ownedby Murphy ' s la te g r a n d f a -the r , a ' Sa l inas doc tor whoonce d r e a m e d of tu rn ingth e rugged , coastal p a r a -"dise into a European-stylespa.. '
M u r p h y t a lked h is g r a n d -mothe r in to g iv ing Esa len ac h e a p , l o n g - t e r m l e a s e( u n t i l 2017) — essentially sohe cou ld pursue h i s co l -leage d a l l i a n c e ' w i t h East -ern mys t ic i sm, psycho logyan d philosophy. When his
g r a n d m o t h e r d i e d , t h eprope r ty went to M u r p h yan d assorted re la t ive s — int r u s t . She re fused to hando v e r t h e l a n d w i t h o u ts t r i n g s .
"You 'd jus t g ive i t tos o m e H i n d u , " s h e o n c e
Washington Post Photo
Bernie Gunther, conductor of the five-day, $290 seminar From Sex to Superconsciousness at Esalen Institute in
Big Sur, Calif., says I've always been outlandish. The institute is no longer a way-out outpost.
sniffed."She w a s n ' t f a r o f f , "
l a ug hs M urphy, 47 , a le anlong d i s tance runne r whotakes l i t t le active part in
Esalen these days .T o h i s n o n p r o f i t s a l o n
c a m e w e s t e r n t h e r a p i s t sfascinated w i t h m i n i n g t hee a s t e rn d i s c i p l i n e s , a n dv a r i o u s y o g a p r a c t i c e swere incorpora ted in to tra-di t iona l repe r to i re s of dig-
g in g ou t the emot ions . Itw as at Esalen tha t gesta l tp s y c h o l o g y f i r s t s h o o kh a n d s w i t h K u n d i l i n iYoga .
P u r v e y o r s o f v a r i o u st h e r a p i e s w e r e f o r e v e rd uel in g over ho w best topeel the emotional onion-skin. Non-Freud ian r iva lse x p e r i m e n t e d d a i l y w i t hsome new technique , theyf rquen t ly sho t f rom the hip
This person can sellyouyour new car,finance your newcar,or lease you a new car.
All in one place.He's your nearby Chevrolet, Pontiac. Oldsmobile. Buick. Cadi l lac or
CM C Truck dea le r . When you're shopping for a new c a r . pay him a visit.
O n ce you find the mode you want, mention the words. G M A C
Financing . Y ou ' l l bea m a z e d at what happens n e x t .Your CM dea le r can arrange the car financing and.fmancing for the
c r e d i t life and disability i nsura nce right in his showroom. Monthly payments
ca n be arranged. With theG M A C Plan, he can m a k e it possible for you to get
into your new CM ca r and drive it a w a y .
Or m a y b e you're interested i n l e a s i n g a n e w c a r . Y o u r G M d e a l e r c a n
a r r a n g e thai too.
G M A C Financing t a k e s the running around out of car buying. G M A C
Fi nanc i ng s av e s you time and trouble. G M A C F i nanc i ng . Another good
r e a s o n to visit your G e n e r a l Motors d ea l er .
GMACFINANCINGCHEVR OLET/PONTIAC/OLDSM OBILE/BUICK/CADILLAC/GMC T R U C K
— and o f ten a t each o ther .Fr i tz Perl s , th e beloved
and fea red godfa the r o fgestalt, o f ten accused Wil lSchutz , the Adam of en-counter groups, of sp read-in g s u p e r f i c i a l i t y i n theform of " ins tan t joy."
" He wa s jus t j e a lous ofm y g a i n i n g p o p u l a r i t y , "says Schutz .
No single path to explor-in g the self was deemedThe Way, a l though Esa lenha d its experiential b i a s .Behaviorists ' view o f ma na s a M r . S t i m u l u s - R e -sponse was discounted ( toom e c h a n i c a l ) , a s w a sF r e u d ' s o b s e s s i o n w i t hh u m a n pa tho logy. Psychesweren ' t s i ck , s i ck , s i ck , bu tj u s t f i n e , thank you .
Esalen's B ig Daddie s fel tt ha t so-called normal peo-pl e we re capab le of theecsta t ic or "peak expe r i -ences" mys t ics have l ongdescr ibed. Only th e properc o m b i n a t i o n o f ingred ien t sw as needed to make th ingshappen , and th i s usua l lycons i s ted o f e s t e r n - s t y l emed i t a t i o n combined wi thp h y s i c a l e x e r c i s e . T h ef ocus wa s o n deve lop ing th e" B o d y - m i n d " — t h e m i n d ,th e body and the emotions,toge the r .
To harmonize the Body-m i n d , i t was necessary tos t r ip away repressions, an da n u m b e r o f f l e d g l i n gtherapies evolved, not theleast among them bioener-g e t i c s , a b o d y t e c h n i q u ethat focuses on open ing upthe body's energy centersr o ug hly cor re sponding toth e chakras o f eas te rn t r a -dition.
" W h e n y o u ' r e d e a l i n gw i t h b locked e n e r g y , al -m o s t a n y t h i n g ca n h a p -pen ," says N ew Y o r k e r
A l a n Schwar tz , w ho com-bines gestalt with bioener-get ics . "Some people wouldbreathe three times and gor igh t up the wa l l — s t a rk ,r a v i n g m a d — o r h a v e a norgasm on the spot.
O f course, E s a l e n ' s I f -I t-F e e l s - G o o d - D o - I t a t m o -s p h e r e n u d g e d t h i n g sa lo n g . " I f you give people al i cense to do th ings theyhave neve r done be fore ,you ' re go ing to get a verypow erf u l v ib ra t ion ," saysEsa len p re s iden t Ju l i an Sil-v e r m a n . "I t w as an e m o -t i o n - c h a r g e d e n v i r o n -m e n t . "
N o w a d a y s , a v i s i to r is asl ike ly to e n c o u n t e r a gov-e rnment bureau cra t a s theg i r l nex t door , a movie s t a ras a g roup o f French tour -ists in sex therapy.
So b s to r ie s abound , as do.tales of renewal .
St range rs ar e in t roducedto Esalen ' s favorite pieceo f ev idence — an th ropo lo-g i s t Gregory Ba te son , 74 , askeptic w ho came he re todie. So far, he hasn' t suc-ceeded.
I t i s h a r d l y w h a t t h elearned old man expectedw h e n he a r r ived s ix monthsago. Doctors had diagnosedl u n g cance r .
Esa len w as seeking a res-iden t g randfa the r , a n d Ba -teson f it the bil l . A f o r m e rUn iv er s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a re -g en t f a m o u s for his "dou-b le -b ind" theory of sch izo-p h r e n i a , a u t h o r ,p h i l o s o p h e r - a n d e x - h u s -
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band o f M a r g r e t Mead , Ba-teson w as invited t o l ive inF r i t z Perl s ' old residencew i t h his wife , Lois, andtheir 10-year-old dugh te r tos a m p le th e nur tur ing en -vironment, the health foodand the baths .
He is a gentle hu lk of am an with a long beak nose,tw o missing front teeth, atwin k le of p e r m a n e n t be-musement a n d a penchantfo r wear ing loa fe r s wi thoutsocks. The daily doses ofaffect ion he rece ives ar es t a g g e r i n g . B e a u t i f u lwomen a re forever shower-in g h im wi th kisses, an dyoung men vie to sit at hisf ee t . He doesn' t quite knowwhat to m a k e of his suddenlongevity.
"I ju s t don' t feei pa r t i cu-l a r l y l i k e d y i n g t h e s edays, he grins . "They 'vebeen pumping me f u l l ofwheat g ras s j uice ."
More typical of the peo-p l e h e r e i s a f o r t y i s hw o m a n n a m e d B a r b a r awh o s ays s he c a m e t o Esa-le n a f te r f l i r t ing wi th su i -cide . She has f ound solacew o r k i n g i n t h e g a r d e n
here .A f t e r scu t t l ing a 30-year
marr iage fo r ano the r man ,t h e n d u m p i n g th e o the rm a n , s he considered "dr iv-ing west on Ca l i f o rn ia 1" —t h a t i s , o f f a c l i f f . S h eyearned to be hugged, tookest, then c a m e to Esalen tolea rn how to "stop p layingmy o ld games.
A s k e d w h a t s h e h a slearned, she looks up f romp u l l i n g weeds , mops he rb r n w w i t h a m u d d y ha n dan d says, "Some weeds ar el ike peo ple ; they hur t yourback. I 've learned to lovem y weeds ."
Once a y e a r , the NewJ e r s e y den t i s t comes toEsa len to w o r k up couraget o d r o p b u r d e n s o m ef r i e n d s . A f t e r w a r d s , h e
s tops a t tend ing d e n t a l so -c i e t y m e e t i n g s , t a k e s t ob ur n in g incense in the of-f ice an d feels closer to hisw if e a nd k ids . "Af te r a cou-ple of weeks here , I 'm nota f r a i d o f th ings I though t Iwas a f ra id o f ," he says .
Th e 70-odd beds in mote l -m o d e r n d o r m i t o r i e s a r ebooked months in a d v a n c eby p r imar i ly w h i te , mid-dle-class seekers who canaf f o rd $220-$335 for five-dayi n t e n s i v e s a n d a l l t h es p r o u t s t h e y c a n e a t .H eal th c a r e p ro fe ss iona lsc u r io us about a l te rna t ivemed ic in e s e m i n a r s m i n g l ew ith lawye rs , bus inessmena n d A r m y b r a s s s e k i n gv en t i l a t i o n . A f t e r y e a r s inthe red, Esalen has t igh t-ened the reins; last year 's
$150,000 ope ra t ing p r o f i tw as p lowed back into thegrounds and work-scho la r -ships.
There ar e workshops onTranscendenta l R u n n i n g ;Taoism; L iv ing ; Hypnos is ;B l a c k D a n c e ; P l e a s u r e ;Sen s ua l i t y ; F e a r , Panic &Vuln er a b i l i t y ; T u n i n g In ;le tting G o & Ge t t ing Eve ry-t h i n g ; M a s s a g e , a n d s of o r t h . Techniques deve -loped here long ago enteredth e marke tp lace .
In fac t , th e c u r r e n t g l u tof self-help, f rom holistichea l th to pop the rap ie s ton o u v e a u a d d i c t i o n s l i k er u n n i n g , h a s E s a l e n t ot ha n k for i ts early role asTH E laboratory fo r NewA ge social scientists. It was
pe rhaps i n e v i t a b l e t h a t af e w m ad scientists w ouldemerge to vie for the do l -la r s an d m i n d s o f loya l re -cru i t s .
Cr i t i c s in h u m a n p o t e n-t i a l ' s h igh society s n i f f tha tEsa len i s no longe r thefrontier , bu t a boring sett le-m e n t . I t may wel l be themains t ream, but i t ' s no tyet so middle-of- the-roadt h a t everyone wants t he i rf r i e n d s and ne ighbors toknow they spent their vaca-tion here.
"I t w ould ru in us ," sa idthe wi fe of an e lec t ron icsexecut ive who fea red he rhus b a n d w ould lose his jobif the i r name s a w p r i n t ." I t ' s sad , bu t tha t ' s the wayit is . You say, ' E s a l e n , ' a nd
t h e y t h i n k , 'O rgy, loose ,e r o t i c . ' "
"Sure, we've been se l l ingth e s a m e ol d s t u f f f or a longt i m e . S o w h a t ? " s a y s S i l -v e r m a n . " E s a l e n is l ike ach i ld tha t ' s gone th roug hado le sence and reached i t sl a t e 20s. L i f e isn' t t he s a m eas at 16. A f t e r a w h i l e , yo ul o o k r i d i c u l o u s c r a w l i n ga r o un d in a c r i b . "