Introduction: This is first in a series of articles in which I want to explore some of the differences between worldly groups and other-worldly (spiritual) groups… such as an ITC (instrumental transcommunication) research organization… specifically, a group like INIT.         — MM

Founding members of INIT, the International Network for Instrumental Transcommunication, 1995 (l-r): Mark Macy (usa), Tony Broad (gbr), Hans Luethi (che), Jules Harsch (lux), Irma Weisen (fin), Juliet Hollister (usa), Sonia Rinaldi (bra), Theo Locher (che), Maggy Harsch-Fischbach (lux), Guenther Emde (deu), Nils Jacobson (swe), Fritz Malkhoff (deu), Claudius Kern (aut), Ralf Determeyer (deu), Jonathan Marten (gbr).

I got the idea for this  series of articles from an unlikely source… a book called Live from New York about the popular comedy TV show Saturday Night Live.

I read the book last month, and it made me start to wonder….

The producers, cast and crew of SNL aired their first episode in October 1975. Comics, actors, and writers came and went over the years, using their raw, collective wit and emotion (only a week of polishing for each show) to reflect and magnify and lampoon the complex American character as it evolved through the turbulent times of the past 40 years.

Through it all, and despite a few bad seasons, the program survived, stirring up laughter that lit up the world.

Today the show is still going strong.

By contrast, our afterlife research group INIT (International Network for Instrumental Transcommunication) came together in 1995, we enjoyed a rich series of unprecedented, mind-boggling miracles, and then five years later, as conflicts began to spin out of control, the miracles ended and the members huffed off in their separate directions. No laughs there.

So it got me thinking, first of all, could we learn anything about group longevity from groups like SNL… key ideas about mission or motivation or management or funding or humor or egos or personalities or anything else that might apply to a group like INIT?

Then I wondered, is it fair or even reasonable to compare a spiritual research group to an irreverent comedy revue?… or to any group that flourishes in entertainment or politics or business or science or finance or industry or some other worldly pursuit?

After all, a spiritual research group like INIT is not a worldly pursuit. It’s other-worldly… and there’s a world of difference.

• ITC relies on a bridge or communication gateway to finer realms of existence where collaboration and trust are the rule, and where earthly drama is a disturbing alien force.
• Hormones and egos rule the roost in most worldly groups, but they disrupt the resonance needed in an ITC group.
• The doubts and fears and desires that invariably surface in most worldly groups and friendships will spoil the mix in an ITC group.
• A friendship with a spirit group like Timestream can only be based on trust and good will with a sprinkling of discernment. No toxic doubts or fears or festering animosities, or the friendship will quickly end….

Gradually it coalesced in my mind: the idea that this could be an enjoyable, insightful series of articles… comparing various worldly groups (political, business, entertainment….) to purely spiritual groups… especially ITC groups of the future that will foster working relationships with bright, subtle minds in more finely spun realms of existence.

• How can we foster the noble human qualities that will help us rise to the occasion?
• What can we learn from typical human collaborations to help us keep our savage side in its place… behind the scenes?

Or, maybe more important and certainly more poignant…

• Is it possible to sustain the lifespan of an ITC research group amid the inevitable outbursts of savage human motivations… which seem to be an inexorable part of our human constitution?

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Also in this series (What an ITC Group Could Learn From Other Groups)…

1 intro   –  2 Prologue   –  3 Saturday Night Live   –  4 The United Nations  –  5 Spy agencies  –  6 Disney  –  7 Religion  –  The ancients  –  The INIT experience  –