On 13 October, 2010, the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as the First Presidency, issued a letter regarding the dangers of so-called "self-awareness" groups. Since then, we have encountered members of our faith who have cited this letter as an excuse to oppose the Life Level System. We have heard the objection that the Life Levels and PeasantWatch are exactly the kind of "self-awareness" enterprises that we have been warned against. We want to assure you that this is not the case, and so below we have included a copy of the letter from the First Presidency, followed by our response to it. Admittedly, there are more than enough religious references in our response to qualify it for Peasant Faith, but we feel this is important enough to post it here as well. We appreciate your understanding of the necessary religious overtones, and we hope this will alleviate any concerns you or those you know may have on this topic.
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
We have repeatedly warned of the risks inherent in participating in so-called "self-awareness" groups sponsored by commercial enterprises that promise heightened self-esteem, improved family relationships, and increased spirituality. It has come to our attention that some of these enterprises continue to express or imply Church endorsement, thereby attracting members of the Church to their programs.
The Church has not endorsed any such enterprise. We warn that these programs are not in harmony with Church doctrine or gospel principles. Church members should not participate in groups that:
1. Challenge religious and moral values.
2. Advocate confrontation with spouse or family members as a means of reaching one's potential.
3. Imitate sacred rites or ceremonies.
4. Foster physical contact among participants.
5. Meet late into the evening or in the early-morning hours.
6. Encourage open confession or disclosure of personal information normally discussed only in confidential settings.
7. Cause a husband or wife to be paired with other partners.
Once again, we counsel members against participating in such "self-awareness" activities.
Signed by the First Presidency:
Thomas S. Monson
Henry B. Eyring
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
First and foremost, you must understand that we couldn't agree more with the words of this letter. Though you may not believe it yourself, we believe these three men are real Prophets, Seers, and Revelators, and when the Holy Ghost prompts them to speak, the words they say are as though they came directly from God Himself. But just like the Bible, church, certain edible substances, sexual relationships, and many more things, Satan can take anything and twist, pollute, and pervert it into something it was never meant to be. This is exactly what he has done with this letter. Know that we cannot blame the First Presidency any more than we can blame Moses for his teachings being so regularly misunderstood. But we can and should explain further, so as to give Satan less room to use this as ammo for his own evil purposes.
To continue in the same order as the letter, we have always referred to the Life Level System as a "self-development" system, which couldn't be more different from these "self-awareness" groups. Though the terms are similar, "self-awareness" groups deal with strengthening the superficial, while our "self-development" system (and we can't speak for any other self-development systems) is all about improving one's innermost self, even changing one's own nature, in order to beautify everything in a person's life from the inside out. Consider the image below as a representation of "onion layers" so-to-speak within every individual:
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
We have repeatedly warned of the risks inherent in participating in so-called "self-awareness" groups sponsored by commercial enterprises that promise heightened self-esteem, improved family relationships, and increased spirituality. It has come to our attention that some of these enterprises continue to express or imply Church endorsement, thereby attracting members of the Church to their programs.
The Church has not endorsed any such enterprise. We warn that these programs are not in harmony with Church doctrine or gospel principles. Church members should not participate in groups that:
1. Challenge religious and moral values.
2. Advocate confrontation with spouse or family members as a means of reaching one's potential.
3. Imitate sacred rites or ceremonies.
4. Foster physical contact among participants.
5. Meet late into the evening or in the early-morning hours.
6. Encourage open confession or disclosure of personal information normally discussed only in confidential settings.
7. Cause a husband or wife to be paired with other partners.
Once again, we counsel members against participating in such "self-awareness" activities.
Signed by the First Presidency:
Thomas S. Monson
Henry B. Eyring
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
First and foremost, you must understand that we couldn't agree more with the words of this letter. Though you may not believe it yourself, we believe these three men are real Prophets, Seers, and Revelators, and when the Holy Ghost prompts them to speak, the words they say are as though they came directly from God Himself. But just like the Bible, church, certain edible substances, sexual relationships, and many more things, Satan can take anything and twist, pollute, and pervert it into something it was never meant to be. This is exactly what he has done with this letter. Know that we cannot blame the First Presidency any more than we can blame Moses for his teachings being so regularly misunderstood. But we can and should explain further, so as to give Satan less room to use this as ammo for his own evil purposes.
To continue in the same order as the letter, we have always referred to the Life Level System as a "self-development" system, which couldn't be more different from these "self-awareness" groups. Though the terms are similar, "self-awareness" groups deal with strengthening the superficial, while our "self-development" system (and we can't speak for any other self-development systems) is all about improving one's innermost self, even changing one's own nature, in order to beautify everything in a person's life from the inside out. Consider the image below as a representation of "onion layers" so-to-speak within every individual:
"Self-awareness" groups, activities, enterprises, or anything else deal strictly with improving the "External Possessions" layer. They make grand promises that you will get whatever you want, urging you toward whatever actions they believe will get you your desires best. They ignore skills, morals, and intentions and settle for bizarre behavior, claiming that it will somehow seep down to your inner-self. Like building a house by starting with the roof, nothing could be more backwards.
On the other hand, "self-help" groups, books, and seminars usually deal with the next two layers down, helping you become more virtuous or knowledgeable as a means of improving your life. Though not usually referred to as "self-help", most religions also deal with these two layers in their beliefs (Knowledge) and their values (Virtues). Prominent Latter-day Saints like Steven R. Covey, Hugh Nibley, and James E. Talmage have written and spoken on such topics, and have unabashedly categorized many of their works as "self-help". Even the late Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church before Thomas S. Monson, wrote books like Way to Be that has the category "self-help" written on the back above the bar-code.
But the Life Levels and PeasantWatch are more than "self-help" -- that is, they go deeper than that, which is why we have referred them as "self-development". As said on the top banner of the main PeasantWatch website, the purpose of PeasantWatch is "To improve human nature itself, using tools never before used, particularly Life Levels and Light of Ar." This means that the aim of the Life Levels, Light of Ar, and PeasantWatch in general, is to change human nature first in order to ripple outward and change every part of life for the better. It's an approach that goes from the inside out, or from the bottom up, rather than the other way around. Going back to the house analogy, instead of starting with the roof like "self-awareness" groups do, or starting with the walls or the foundation like "self-help" books do, we're starting with the materials to make the foundation, walls, and roof better. We keep every layer in mind, but we place priority on internal development, rather than superficial growth, because the first will cause permanent improvement in every layer above it, not the other way around.
Going on -- PeasantWatch, Life Levels, Light of Ar, or anything else we may do are not, have never been, and will never be "commercial enterprises". As for what we promise will happen as a natural result of taking part in these things, the promises listed in this letter and similar things are also promised in good, worthy organizations, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints itself! No, we are not saying the Church is hypocritical -- only that promises such as these are not bad in and of themselves. The question is, what is our motive in saying that the Life Levels will improve every other part of you? Since we are not commercial and not after making any sort of profit, then what are we after? To be perfectly and religiously blunt, we are after the exact same thing that Jesus Christ and His Church are after: To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
We do not and will not ever express or imply that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorses us in any way, but rather, we want to make it crystal clear that we endorse the Church in every way we can. We believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be true and the only Church which Jesus Christ personally leads. You may not believe that, which we can accept. But we hope that as we all let go of our differences, look openly and objectively at all truth, let it be of any topic and come from whence it may, then we will learn of all truth together! We are not saying that the Life Levels are some new kind of gospel or something, but instead they are like a huge neon sign, covered in blinking lights, in the shape of an arrow pointing to the Source of all Truth. What is that Source and what can be found there? I could tell you, but the Life Levels are all about guiding you to find out for yourself -- which a million books, sermons, and blog posts about the Truth could never accomplish.
As for the seven bullet-points listed in the letter, we will continue to go through them in order.
1. PeasantWatch is dedicated to building religious and moral values. Some who have misunderstood what Life Level 4 is thought it no different than Life Level 1. This is a terrible mistake. An LL4 person keeps the regard for others they gained in LL2, and the firm commitment to beliefs that started in LL3, and then they add onto that an all-consuming thirst for Truth, which opens them up to Reality as it actually is. Understanding how Reality really is brings in a flood of religious and moral values, and can practically catapult a person into even better ways of being. Challenging important values goes against everything we're doing and everything we are.
2. We believe that Jesus Christ taught that "he that hath the spirit of contention...is of the devil". While confronting someone else about an important issue can be both difficult and beneficial, we never take on a difficult task just because it's difficult, and we always avoid the dark feelings contention brings. This isn't to say that we shouldn't "reprove betimes with sharpness", but we certainly do not advocate confrontation of any sort for its own sake, believing that it will somehow help us reach our potential. Only becoming more Godly will help us reach our potential, and we do that by raising our Life Level.
3.-5. We don't and won't do any of these things. It's about as simple as that.
6. The only personal information that may ever be discussed is one's own Life Level, or in other words, where they currently are in their personal development, and that is only ever discussed with that person. One's Life Level, being their core of why they do what they do, is intensely personal, and we make sure that that is understood with everyone we talk to, should it ever come to that. But no, we do not encourage open discussion of any private information, whether with us or anyone else. We do, however, encourage deep reflection and application of true principles and how they relate to the specifics of one's own life (and such specifics stay between them and God). That way anyone who desires to grow and is willing to go through what they must to repent and change can do so without our interference.
7. We especially don't and won't do that, either. To find out our stance on spousal and family relationships, go here.
Likewise, were we able, we would counsel everyone against participating in such "self-awareness" activities. But all we can do is share what we know and help each other grow from the inside out.
On the other hand, "self-help" groups, books, and seminars usually deal with the next two layers down, helping you become more virtuous or knowledgeable as a means of improving your life. Though not usually referred to as "self-help", most religions also deal with these two layers in their beliefs (Knowledge) and their values (Virtues). Prominent Latter-day Saints like Steven R. Covey, Hugh Nibley, and James E. Talmage have written and spoken on such topics, and have unabashedly categorized many of their works as "self-help". Even the late Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church before Thomas S. Monson, wrote books like Way to Be that has the category "self-help" written on the back above the bar-code.
But the Life Levels and PeasantWatch are more than "self-help" -- that is, they go deeper than that, which is why we have referred them as "self-development". As said on the top banner of the main PeasantWatch website, the purpose of PeasantWatch is "To improve human nature itself, using tools never before used, particularly Life Levels and Light of Ar." This means that the aim of the Life Levels, Light of Ar, and PeasantWatch in general, is to change human nature first in order to ripple outward and change every part of life for the better. It's an approach that goes from the inside out, or from the bottom up, rather than the other way around. Going back to the house analogy, instead of starting with the roof like "self-awareness" groups do, or starting with the walls or the foundation like "self-help" books do, we're starting with the materials to make the foundation, walls, and roof better. We keep every layer in mind, but we place priority on internal development, rather than superficial growth, because the first will cause permanent improvement in every layer above it, not the other way around.
Going on -- PeasantWatch, Life Levels, Light of Ar, or anything else we may do are not, have never been, and will never be "commercial enterprises". As for what we promise will happen as a natural result of taking part in these things, the promises listed in this letter and similar things are also promised in good, worthy organizations, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints itself! No, we are not saying the Church is hypocritical -- only that promises such as these are not bad in and of themselves. The question is, what is our motive in saying that the Life Levels will improve every other part of you? Since we are not commercial and not after making any sort of profit, then what are we after? To be perfectly and religiously blunt, we are after the exact same thing that Jesus Christ and His Church are after: To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
We do not and will not ever express or imply that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorses us in any way, but rather, we want to make it crystal clear that we endorse the Church in every way we can. We believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be true and the only Church which Jesus Christ personally leads. You may not believe that, which we can accept. But we hope that as we all let go of our differences, look openly and objectively at all truth, let it be of any topic and come from whence it may, then we will learn of all truth together! We are not saying that the Life Levels are some new kind of gospel or something, but instead they are like a huge neon sign, covered in blinking lights, in the shape of an arrow pointing to the Source of all Truth. What is that Source and what can be found there? I could tell you, but the Life Levels are all about guiding you to find out for yourself -- which a million books, sermons, and blog posts about the Truth could never accomplish.
As for the seven bullet-points listed in the letter, we will continue to go through them in order.
1. PeasantWatch is dedicated to building religious and moral values. Some who have misunderstood what Life Level 4 is thought it no different than Life Level 1. This is a terrible mistake. An LL4 person keeps the regard for others they gained in LL2, and the firm commitment to beliefs that started in LL3, and then they add onto that an all-consuming thirst for Truth, which opens them up to Reality as it actually is. Understanding how Reality really is brings in a flood of religious and moral values, and can practically catapult a person into even better ways of being. Challenging important values goes against everything we're doing and everything we are.
2. We believe that Jesus Christ taught that "he that hath the spirit of contention...is of the devil". While confronting someone else about an important issue can be both difficult and beneficial, we never take on a difficult task just because it's difficult, and we always avoid the dark feelings contention brings. This isn't to say that we shouldn't "reprove betimes with sharpness", but we certainly do not advocate confrontation of any sort for its own sake, believing that it will somehow help us reach our potential. Only becoming more Godly will help us reach our potential, and we do that by raising our Life Level.
3.-5. We don't and won't do any of these things. It's about as simple as that.
6. The only personal information that may ever be discussed is one's own Life Level, or in other words, where they currently are in their personal development, and that is only ever discussed with that person. One's Life Level, being their core of why they do what they do, is intensely personal, and we make sure that that is understood with everyone we talk to, should it ever come to that. But no, we do not encourage open discussion of any private information, whether with us or anyone else. We do, however, encourage deep reflection and application of true principles and how they relate to the specifics of one's own life (and such specifics stay between them and God). That way anyone who desires to grow and is willing to go through what they must to repent and change can do so without our interference.
7. We especially don't and won't do that, either. To find out our stance on spousal and family relationships, go here.
Likewise, were we able, we would counsel everyone against participating in such "self-awareness" activities. But all we can do is share what we know and help each other grow from the inside out.
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