Provincetown author reinvents civilization
Banner Daily Update Thurs. Nov. 22
By Sue Harrison
Banner Staff
Bob Gebelein of Provincetown says that the threat of nuclear annihilation back in the mid-‘50s made him turn his back on civilization and begin a quest for a plan for a new civilization based on different beliefs and principles.
“I set out to design a new civilization and I succeeded,” he says.
His process and conclusions are in a new book, “The Mental Environment (Mostly About Mind Pollution).” Gebelein is holding a book party from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday at Napi’s, 7 Freeman St., Provincetown.
He says that culture has taken wrong turns, often from believing lies perpetrated by government, organized religion and even one’s peers. The hippie generation, for example, put aside many preceding searches for enlightenment and replaced it with drug-induced altered states, he says. Their big mistake was in tossing out psychotherapy, he adds.
It is only through psychotherapy that some people are able to reach psychological age of maturity, Gebelein says. “Even then, it’s not automatic, you have to work for it.”
To arrive at his own worldview, Gebelein says he used three tools, psychotherapy, withdrawal and dream analysis. By withdrawal, he says he means a literal stepping back into a quiet place to spend time in solitude where ones own ideas can begin to come out. Cape Cod in winter is an excellent place to practice withdrawal, he says.
For the dream analysis part of his therapeutic transition consisted on utilizing a self-steering program. “I asked myself, what if my interpretation is wrong?” The answer, he says, is that the dreams themselves will correct the wrong turn.
The most important thing his book has to offer is a path the regular person can understand and follow. It talks about mind pollution which he categorizes as inaccuracies as well as outright lies.
“Every high school junior and senior should read this book to prepare for the assault of college, assaults from the religious right, scientism and post modernism,” he says adding that Democrats should read his book for the part on political character assassination.
“It’s a basic course in what not to believe and why not to believe it.”
The book is available at amazon.com or by mail from Omdega Press, PO Box 1546, Provincetown MA 02657.
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Nov 22nd, 2007