Temperology: Manifesto of a Middle Class
Author: Sergey Kronin
Published in Moscow, Russia 2008
ISBN 978-5-902713-03-6
Translated fragment
Introduction.
Moscow. Autumn. Evening. A drizzling rain. From the window of the car the city is dazzling by its resplendence. Everything is beaming with live scintillating light: glass of the shops, coffee bars, roofs of the cars and windows of the houses are glaring. Splashes of different colors are dancing on the wet cars. Even the asphalt seems to be a bright luminous alley that is shining internally.
But in front of me a heaven-high colossus has arisen, it's a mystic silhouette of Triumphal Arch. Beyond it, to the left and further one may see a bright spire of Poklonnaya Mountain (the Bowing Mountain). It is not a secret that there are several "cultic" places in Moscow, which are world known symbols: Red Square, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and Poklonnaya Mountain… Though, most of people can hardly understand the real concern and significance of that place, which architecture, engineering and tasks completely correspond to all canons of the ritual temple complex. Moreover, its monumentality and grandiosity may be compared with temple complexes of the Ancient World.
So, it is not occasional that the "public" activity of the Open Temperological Institute (further OTI) is occurring exactly here, less than in hundred meters from Triumphal Arch, at the Victory Square, 1. Exactly here a historic lection that will be imprinted in thesaurus of human thought is to be presented tonight. Poklonnaya Mountain and a prospect to Triumphal Arch fit ideally for this event of great importance, as if they are emphasizing and complementing the significance of the moment
I am turning from the Kutuzovsky prospect to the parallel street and placing a car into a parking space in 3 meters from entrance to a monumental building of Stalin's time among the cars of the students who have already arrived to the lecture. I am glancing at my watch: it is ten minutes before the beginning, there is time.
I am deliberately taking a full pack of cigarettes, opening it up and stilly starting smoking. At that moment I'm recollecting myself to the contemplation of huge bronze sculptures of roman warriors like they were refuging from the rain in the alcoves of Triumphal Arch. Their appearance is full of nobility and tranquility. It seems that and they will move in a minute…
I am crushing out my cigarette and dismounting from a car ignoring the drizzling rain. I am stopping and ranging my eyes round Kutuzovsky Prospect. The picture of bright lights in combination with evening shades is spellbinding by its mystic beauty. Raindrops, practically planing in the air, are making the face fresh, lying down on the sleeves and laps of the long leather coat like strasses are making it as a mystic or martial cloak from some "fantasy". Being wrapped in sparkled coat I am looking for a while at the silhouettes of roman warriors trying to prolong the consciousness of grandness of the moment. Soft east breeze is starting to blow causing a tingle in the face by cool raindrops that were only increasing impression of other non-Moscow reality.
Well, it's time to go now. I'm making few steps to the room that is full of bright light, fresh heady air of new furniture, paint smells and something else, this scent of new good repair. I am passing fifty steps along the long resounding hallway, echoing to each step, and entering into the large lighted lecture hall. There are high four-meter ceiling, bright ground and walls, combined of yellow and blue materials with glittering pieces, large windows with the view to the Kutuzovsky prospect and sparkling legionaries, quite comfortable chairs with collapsible tables…Before the white board there is a professional camera on a tripod for making a film of the forthcoming lecture. Everything is ready to start.
The guests are lively talking about something. They are standing in the far corner of the hall and I can not hear the topic by which they are captivated. I am hearing their laugh; seeing how they are arguing something with ardor. They are not noticing me during their discussion and I am taking off my coat, folding it and throwing it on the free chair. I'm taking a sit and looking on from a distance: the "blood is being up in discussion. It's interesting if the disputers are awaking to the fact that today they are becoming the part of the history themselves. And were those people who have heard firstly from Einstein about his theory of relativity either from Freud about birth of psychoanalysis or from Mendeleev about his Periodic Table even awaking to the same? Yes, today is the great moment to which I have been going more than ten years. I was always admiring the thinkers of the past Volter, Lomonosov, Kant, Tsyolkovsky. But could I ever think that it was me and no one else at present time, it was me who would make such a major contribution to the ground of public thought! The contribution is a real jolt of fresh air for most humanitarian and social sciences of modern world.
Looking on the auditors I was buried in memories of the past. Many years ago it seemed that nothing looked like that moment. I grew up in an intellectual advantaged family in Moscow. My father worked in the General Staff, mother headed a department in a secret research institute. As all children I was going to the kindergarten, playing in yard, studying at ordinary school. Being at the 8th school year I passed all exams and entered the Experimental School with physics and mathematics specialization that was organized by the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. In the school I headed the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) Committee and was busy with different activities - olympiads on physics and mathematics. Once I won the Moscow Physics Olympiad organized by the known science magazine "Kvant". I remember that chief editor came personally to present me diploma. Then at "odd moments" I won a Chemistry Olympiad in "Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys"(MISIS) and my school received an official letter with information that I was admitted to the institute ahead of time. Meanwhile I was having time to go in for judo, participating in Moscow and international competitions. At the moment of finishing school I had already the title of Candidate for Master of Sports in judo.I didn't send my application to the MISIS. After school I admitted upon crazy competitive examination to the one of the best faculty of Moscow State Technical University n.a. N.E. Bauman (MSTU) and graduated with specialization "Robotics systems of special assignment".
The most difficult years of Perestroika fell on my studentship. Even the "bauman's" double maintenance allowance wasn't enough and all students had to "wangle". In the same student group there were getting well together the businessmen, gangsters, poor students and those who were working in commercial booth. At the second year of my studying I associated with quite a lot of businessmen of those days from Moscow and other regions of Russia, organized a small fabrication, kept several outlets at Moscow markets. However, it didn't distract me to study, to enter judo and sambo competitions for MSTU team, to go to the sport training assemblies and to live it up.
At the end of my studying at the university I chummed up friends with chief of a large firm and offered me to work in his company with a crazy salary at that moment (only official part of salary was in ten times larger than salary of ordinary manager). As far as it was very stormy time and the company consisted of former military officers I had a rifled weapon license. So, at the firing ground not far from the Moscow I caught to fire all sorts of small arms even the models of which ordinary man didn't have a notion and that didn't show in movies. I had a private driver, came around many cities of Russia, and participated in life of "new Russians". At that period I got my own apartment, lived in affluence and had very good career opportunities. I know that a lot of people were envious of me. It was interesting but stormy time.
And suddenly for all my acquaintances I gave up such successful life and in actual fact I took a leap in the dark. I worked a short while in Ostankino on TV program "The Time", then I came to the fund market at the beginning of its birth in Russia, than I worked in the Moscow State Technical University, reading lectures on valeology for "peanut" for a wonder of people around. Several times I was offered to return to the "socially successful life", but I rejected. Instead of it I went to the Psychological faculty of the Moscow Pedagogical State University then to the Psychological faculty of the Moscow State University, doing a lot of other things that confounded my old fellows who could not explain my lifestyle. In 1998 I opened my first "Center of communicative technologies" which was the start of official history of Temperology.
Well, there is an objective explanation of my "luckiness" at university and after studying there, my strange behaviour after quitting the fat job; and these reasons are quite clear for reasonable man.
The fact is that at the second year of my studies I got engrossed with things that people called "abnormal". Then everything that was "beyond the bounds" was regarded as superstition at best, and as unscientific things that can not deserve attention of a judicious man. That's why even my friends didn't know about my "hobby". At the end of my studying at the MSTU I have got stable results which could be defined as extrasensory or "magic". After graduating from the university I was continuing deep research of "unusual" fields of human thought. I was spending all my spare time reading books on this field, studying works of philosophers, modern scientists and thinkers of the pas, constantly practising new knowledge carrying out rather riskful experiments. When I definitively understood that "business lifestyle" distracted me I refused it.
There is no denying, it was a risky step. No one could guarantee me that after my go to these "metaphysical and philosophical fields" I would score success and not join the ranks of thousands hungry "searchers-losers" in our society. I was aware that going this way I could not expect anyone's support. From the other side, such situation was not new for me. At the university I had to make similar decisions and never regretted it. But I was extremely interested in this experiment on own life because its triumph would be not in money or prestigious position but in very perception of life. I have seen the worth of that challenge: either to achieve in that field something grandiose, or to fall down the bottom of society – to become an ordinary person with extrasensory perception, manager or clerk (all these are equal) in order simply to earn my daily bread and waste all my life on buying things. This state though is a bottom for me only. The great majority of people are living in such way, executing someone's absurd instructions, making both ends meet and having no guess that the "grey insensate daily routine" is not a norm of life but its bottom. That's why the most awful thing was to be in such "daily pottering" without ray of light and way out, that kills not anything in abstracto but man's individuality itself. I came to office that was situated opposite the American Embassy at the Novinsky Bulvar and said good bye to the command and colleagues. Their eyes were full of misunderstanding asking "You don't have enough money, do you?" I had enough money but I wanted full life.
Next several years I was formally on the list, but this "work", though it may hardly be named so, didn't distracted me to tend to my own affairs. I surrounded myself with books, sitting in the libraries, then came up the possibility to work with people and I was already getting "stunning" phenomenal results. As usual, the "clients" were telling about the "wonderworks" and the stream of clients was always increasing. But it wasn't my aim. I was burying myself in scientific and "pseudoscientific" literature scrupulously studying everything that concerned psychology, parapsychology, philosophy etc, I was trying to find in different directions and methods of "human studies" the answers on my questions. It is natural that I was more interested in modern working schools and centers which were declaring this research area as a leading one. I was disappointed, on closer inspection most of them every time was turning out purely the beautiful cover, one say "phoney", no more than "beautiful sign".
So, by the 98th year of the XX century the moment came, when I thrown off all that scientific as well as "unscientific" drivel and created my first training method in the field of communication on the basis of my own observations. During half a year I was testing it and then declared the opening of my own training center which spice was the applied energetics. It's funny, but in next 10 years in other directions there wasn't created anything not just exceeding but even nothing of the kind of that energetics. Meanwhile, it was only the first step for Temperology…
Now, if one looks at all that has been done during past period he finds that the colossal volume of done work is actually fenomenal. That is the volume of work of middle-sized research institute at the same period of time. An average man, possibly, does not see anything extraordinary here, but he is just an average man. He does not think that research institute is financed and supported by administrative structure; and it is engaged in it's own "scientific activity" without distractions to the day-to-day business. He doesn't think that hundreds of people are working in research institute. Though, we (me and two my assistances*) could make this colossal work under our own steam without any help and support: simultaneously to the scientific direction we could organize everything to be fully self-sufficient. Knowledge allowed us to receive means with minimum expenses of time and energy, enough for financing of new researches, renting auditoriums, paying some bills…
*(From 1998 Ayna Solntseva and from 2002 Irida Tyunnk. For today I consider only these two persons as real specialists in Temperology. I don't mean the EFSI trainers and knowledge of "public" part of Temperology but "admission" to the deeps of the discipline, the heart of philosophy. In substance the whole system was built exactly with these two persons. Of course, there were intermittently appearing and disappearing different people, but as Stalin was saying "party is reinforced by purging it". This law concerns Temperology as well – "we are not the bead-house that is open for anyone who wants" (Stalin). I think that any reasonable man who has graduated serious High School does not need explanations concerning meaning of having all deep of professional knowledge. Meanwhile, I hope that there will be more people about whom I'll be able to say that they really understand Temperology, it means they are not the "users" only)
All receiving means were invested in publishing books, brochures (publication costs of each of them may be compare with cost of a new car), buying outfit, paying taxes and more other things that the scientists, who are working in state scientific organizations and busy in science only, do not think about. That's right the system of our knowledge has been forming in far from "tender" conditions and was tested not only by time. Its consistency was proved from position of social and economical viability. I am proud especially of the last moments: in the first place I am proud that we were not thrown to the thoughtless earning money, the second is that system does not have and never had any sponsors who dictate how it should be looked like – the system is independent.
We have proved by our activity itself the right to be engaged in what we want to be engaged to, and talk in a way as we see fit. Today, if one think about the conditions in which the system was developing, one may wonder and be delighted with the thing that even the EFSI Basic Program, being created in such field test, includes 150 hours of extremely compact, rich, unique, new material that has no analogy. Moreover, our learners do affirm that this material is very valuable for life, practical and actual! If it would be given all full-fledged material as in academic form – 1000 hours won't be enough. Let alone that most of it wasn't included in a program.
Furthermore, the following thing elates and should be noticed: the whole material is not conspectus from books of some authors or manuals. All methods are new, breakthroughs, this material you may not find anywhere else. Common man with his undemanding taste is indifferent to the "freshness" of knowledge which he puts into his head that he gets. He doesn't anything wonderful in uniqueness. Perhaps those who don't understand themselves do not need explanations concerning difference between compilation and innovation. But the intelligent man knows that acquirement of new innovative knowledge is a great piece of luck. It is no coincidence that struggle for possession of fresh knowledge is going in various activity spheres. May be that is the reason why the most of participants in the OTI (Open Temperological Institute – note of translator) seminars have higher rank than ordinary manager or employee. Or may be because of that fact that, providing our development ourselves, we are always talking in same language with people who's obligation is in decision making and who is responsible for staff and organization
Of course, the participants of seminars are given only the "tip of the iceberg". Come to think of it, only the minimal set of compact, most necessary for life, new material averages 150 hours! And it is oriented not to the losers who are seeking for exculpation but towards people with good education who have achieved position in society. It is the audience that is extremely exacting about the quality of acquiring knowledge, able to analyze, reason. The audience that does not bear demagogy, pseudoscientific drivel, theories detached from life. And special for that audience was created complete institute course!
During these years we have been passing many different situations: there were difficult periods, very difficult but there were quite good as well. But despite period the lectures were going, books were publishing, and system was building... Though, after this not at all easy partway I am rebuked for objection to some ideologists of other directions or "businessmen from the science". Let's face it: I think my attitude is understandable; my attitude to those who is sitting on one "method" or even one "technique" by years making display of their allegedly "system". One may remind those who are working in state room, using material from "hackneyed" school-books by decades, changing nothing in their lives, never hazarding anything, living grey lives those who have a sea of unsolved problems. I mean those who have never been torn by the real life stream but think that they are distinguished for their knowledge of human fates and teaching other people what shall they do. I do not mention compilers and plagiarists which contain the majority in each field. What can say! While building of the system we have acquired "combativity". Our knowledge has been multiply tested in real twists and turns of real life. Such my attitude is may be similar to the attitude of combatant officer to the reasoning of rear general. For the material itself that is given to the students, I am sure that it is not allowed to retell people the material of the "second freshness". First of all to this effect there is an academic education for "specialist" training and a heap of schoolbooks, books, video etc. Those who want to study "hackneyed" methods may listen and watch it.
I remind that during the system development there have been a lot of advisers and "soul mates". One of them was obtrusively explaining how to organize training business, the other was calling the same trainer as they are and comparing our "methods". I could not explain neither the first one nor the second that I was engaged in something very different from business and trainings. I do not earn money by teaching, that's why system widening at the expense of quality does not stand in my plan. There were several offers from officials and businessmen to partially finance the system. It was made, though, with predatory-market approach: "I will finance the research, but all system will be mine". The last one were insensible of the term "intangible assets", so they didn't see benefit from the equal alliance. To tell the truth I was feeling outrage from that position to the thing that I am engaged to.
And today is the day when I must say to myself bravely: once I have ventured and taken a dare to leave the proved fields and fling myself to the unknown sphere, and I won. There were years, time and strengths well-spent. Moreover, I spent these years with a full life that would be principally impossible if I was occupied myself with other activity. There were both travels and grandiose parties, and innumerable romances. I have had time even to change for wives. I was getting new friends, heap of interesting projects was organizing. There is a true phrase in one ancient book that if you throw yourself completely to unknown, the "prize exceed all expectations". Now I can speak about the new, enormous, grandiose and most importantly very necessary for society school of thought; moreover about the new filled state of life that everyone can get. So today is my "Victory Day". It is a big pleasure to be aware that once you have "thrown yourself to the dark" without knowing the future and what to expect and that's it – a Victory.
Meantime the audience not even guessing about my thoughts and state of a winner was continuing the lively discussion of something. There were representatives of different social groups. Such open dialog has been presenting e at the EFSI temperological lectures even many years. There is no wonder when a deputy minister communicates with a chief department of a small company, and young common manager with a head of a large-scale enterprise. They are having enough exciting topics and common interests that do not concern social roles and engagements.
Generally, at the EFSI seminars from the very beginning it has become a custom that it has been not considered respectable to name own post, position in society. I think that such "boundary-spanning" is very useful. First of all from position of Temperology the most important thing is not so much the position in society of a man as his individuality – development, intellect, sense of humor. Our learners quite often become good friends and continue communicating beyond the seminars. I remember that during more than a year some of them were gathering every week end in the personal holiday house of one of participants nearly related to the Council of Federation(of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation- note of translator).Many of them were staying there for some days for having a rest. They are helping each other to solve business problems, finding life's companions. Other words, OTI besides the other things is a place were is possible to know intelligent, developed people practically from every social group.
For some reason our students are surprised when after several lessons they occasionally see a familiar face on TV, - people who were studying together or are studying. I remember constant stormy discussions by the learners of speeches of the high ranked officials. Their use of the EFSI techniques, especially from the First course was evidential. Though they use techniques not always in correct way, they were learning it, perhaps due secondhand. But it proves useful. During last years there were a lot of different interesting moments, meetings, and acquaintances. When people are getting along with each other despite of position in society, it makes me sincerely glad.
The participant distracted my mind from my thoughts; they noticed my appearance and finishing their talk began to seat. In two minutes they are ready fro the lecture. I sustained the pause, at last when guests concentrated their attention on me, and began seminar. More precisely, the audience began it themselves.
"I've got a question!"-asked a man from the first row, while other participants were calming down. "Concerning existent spiritual and psychological schools. As I understand there are not a lot of them which are worth, no more than 5. But there is a numberless quantity of different trainers, lecturers of some "obscure" training centers. What is attracting people to this nameless "legion"?"
"The fact is that there are such terms as "spiritual growth", "spiritual development" and "spiritual entertainment" – I began to answer, while participants were taking their worksheets, dictaphones. "Spiritual entertainment is a mode to fulfill own time, own leisure. Some people go to the football game, the other in cinema, the third to the theatre, the forth are "walking" from one school to another, from one training to another. They are interested not in knowledge itself but in current emotional state, feelings, interconnection. Simply speaking they need someone to fill their leisure, give a theme for discussion. Everything is very momentary and formal. Participating in trainings and seminars is not bad form of leisure. There is a large audience that spends time in that way. So, the large systems and as you have called the "nameless" systems are oriented to satisfaction of this audience's needs, by the way the most mass audience. It's a sort of a development and "self-cultivation" game, but at the bottom – entertainment.
Spiritual growth and development are not for entertainment. The fact is that both of them are a real work, often hard work. Moreover, when a man tries to conceive something new, even whole his organism is feeling not very comfortable states, a sort of stress. The thing is that whole viewpoint system of a man, all his neural networks "begin to move" in the literal sense of the word. Remind yourself at the university. In order to understand new information you had to apply force and what a hard work has had to be done. But man is developing only through getting over self. There can not be serious development without efforts, easy and cheerfully.
It's clear that a common man won't strain himself without strong reason, though it isn't concerned with welfare. But it's in fashion to "develop" today. So most of people are "simulating" development as they are able. Meantime, any inner change is inevitably reflecting in actual life of a man. According to actual fact there are no changes in life of those who are "entertaining" themselves, as they are not changing themselves: such they are coming to study, the same they are going away. It is no more than illusions. And I am not speaking about the "spiritual growth": it is not enough to comprehend information; it ought to live on idea. It's utopia for the most of people because spiritual growth needs a colossal inner work.
So now there is a peculiar industry of "spiritual entertainments". Benefit is similar as from discotheque."
"Ok, it's clear! But why do not people understand that?" – asked participant. He was not exactly unsatisfied by the answer, simply at the lessons he was being distinguished by special "curiosity" or as the saying goes "keenness of mind".
"For wishing to understand something, moreover, for real understanding there are not enough of boring only or fashion for certain type of recreation. There should be a reason that forces to change something in life. Majority of people are suffering from the mere lack of emotions: boring, loneliness, sameness of routine life. Today everyone is established socially, more or less. They are adapted to life, have certain sufficiency. People objectively barely want to change something in themselves and their fate. Then, it sounds paradoxical, but today not a little part of people even with high education is handicraftsmen at best. Quite often they are simply ignorant people. It's not a secret that most of people enter the high schools for the certificates of degree but not for knowledge. Even the government admits such terrible situation in high education, when a man has diploma and displays absolute absence of elementary knowledge. So, as a result there is a primitive and naïve mind of a man with "high education" who has no idea what means "brain work". It is all the same to him - lectures either on philosophy, ufology, physics…But I will not delve into the issue of today egregious ignorance of certificated specialists. I'll just add one thing. Those may be considered as strong individualities who improve themselves not because "life has enforced", but they understand that if there is no development the life is empty and aimless.
So, let return to the issue of today lecture. I have a special meeting today. As a matter of fact, I am resuming what have been done during these years. And all that have been done I am joining under the unified name – Temperology. About the name and why it is so I will tell later. Let's make an overview of the system now.
Let's summarize. The EFSU Basic Program that has being taught more than 10 years include 49 topics. Topics only! 424 themes are considered in the process of the course. There are not only questions and definitions: techniques, principles, methods…Just think over this number!
The system is based on 78 fundamental discoveries which were made and systematized by us only. It's a great deal! In comparison' I'd say the following. For example, NLP has "rapport", "anchoring", "visualization", "meta programs", and "eye accessing" as a one of topic of meta programs. May be there are something else that I've forgotten, but all their techniques and methods are built on a listed basics. There are 4 or 5 of them. In Temperology there are 78! When I say that it is me who have done it, people are feeling a shock. It's amazing! Lomonosov could make and discover a lot, Leonardo d Vinci could create many things and that is normal, nobody is wondering. When I say that it was me who did it, people are wondering and asking: "Where can I read about it?" Funny! Where was it possible to look at the periodic table of the chemical elements before Mendeleev? So, in this place is possible to read the other things that are not described in Temperology. It's a joke. One girl was asking me too insistently where from I know "all" of this. I answered that I had read a book SFERO* (SergeyI.Kronin "SFEROConception:Of the Rules on the Formation of OccasionsMoscow:SFERO Publishers, 2006) It seemed she didn't understand the humor but then she gave deep thought.
There is one more important moment. Temperology does not depend on anyone. All was done by own means. Own knowledge and ideas were used. There is no "group" of co-authors, investors, sponsors, supporters. As you see it's similar to the is result o
