Pollard - The golden sequence: a manual for reclaiming our humanity

Table of Contents

Thank you to:

My mom and dad, Lesley-Anne and John, for bringing me into the world, and loving and supporting me to be me.

Shon Tomlin, my partner in crime, for the countless hours of dedication and discipline to make this book accessible to everyone. I couldnt have done it without you. I love you, Little Buddy.

My agent, Bill Gladstone, for going with your gut, and Melissa Ambrossini, for introducing me to Bill.

My editor, Leah Wilson, and the whole team at BenBellayou are a dream to work with.

Snowy Zhang, for all the hours of back and forth to make the illustrations so special. Melissa Morgan and Alec Longmuir, for connecting us to Snowy. Andrea Sun and Tara Lazar, for helping us with translations to Chinese.

Maharishi Pandit Baskaran, for your radiant presence with me while writing in India.

Peter Cooper and Suparna Bhasin, for all your love, support, and shelter over the years.

Radek and Helen Sali, for your generosity and your belief in my work.

Skye Tippler, for your reliable and insightful opinions.

Veronica Chambers, for your wise council in helping me find my writing voice.

Cheryl Herbst, for your belief in me and dedication to 1 Giant Mind through the years. You kept the door open for me here in the States.

Lisa Stadnykova and Scorpion Computer Services, for their connections and guidance.

All the past and current team at 1 Giant Mind, for your dedication to our mission of bringing meditation to the world.

All my students, for your courage embodying this teaching and bringing it to life in such unique and magnificent ways.

All my dear friends who generously gave of their time, for their heartfelt perspectives that have made this book what it is.

And finally, all my teachers. I am blessed and privileged to have learned from you and I am honored to a bearer of this wisdom and continue passing it on down the line.

Its with the deepest love and gratitude that I bow down to you all.

JONNI POLLARD is best known for bringing meditation to the mainstream through his organization, 1 Giant Mind; its Learn Meditation smartphone app; and its Meditation Teacher Training Academy. As one of the top-rated meditation apps, 1 Giant Minds Learn Meditation app has taught hundreds of thousands of people worldwide how to meditate.

Jonni is a meditation teacher and mentor to entrepreneurs, CEOs, political leaders, public figures, artists, health practitioners, and everyday people. Born and raised in Australia, he resides in New York City with his wife and daughter.

O ur world is in a precarious state. We are witnessing today humanitarian, environmental, and social crises that stem from the ever-increasing dehumanization in our rapidly changing world. By dehumanization, I mean the reckless compromise or straight-up ignoring of what we as humans need to be well and flourish as a species in harmony with our natural worldall in the name of profit and greed. And although this cauldron has been bubbling for a while, now it really feels like its about to hit a boiling point, spill over the edge, and make a big old mess.

The signals of crisis are clear as day: violent regime changes, raging wars, and the displacement of millions of people; crashing economies, corrupt governments, and corporations; environmental depletion and the degradation of vast natural lands and resources; mass rallies and protests all over the world, not to mention the global mental health crisis. It can feel like we are hopelessly sitting on the sideline watching it all unfold. This, in my opinion, is the greatest misconception of humanity.

This book sets out to make a powerful case for humanitys innate power to effect change in the world through our instinct to love. Connecting with this instinct is the most powerful and important response possible to our current human crisisa crisis we all play a role in and carry equal responsibility to address, because the primary problems we face on earth right now are human created. If you feel a desire to significantly contribute to our worlds challenges, you must first reclaim your power to overcome fear and learn to embody the deeper truth of your humanity.

The Golden Sequence technique is a practical way of cultivating our power to become the change we individually and collectively need right now. It teaches us, step by step, how to let go of our conditioned defenses and connect with a deeper power of love and wisdom that is always inside us. Only then will we have the intelligence and confidence to reinvent the way we live to cultivate greater connection, growth, and belongingthe key ingredients for lasting fulfillment.

In my teaching practice, before students can connect with their deeper nature of love in a stable way and experience lasting fulfillment, they must confront the reality of their suffering, hold themselves accountable for their part in it, and be willing to move into it in order to move beyond it. When we learn to surrender into our suffering and accept our feelings, the suffering ceases and what we are left with is less pain and deep insight about how to free ourselves of our pain completely. Only by recognizing what traps us in suffering can we free ourselves from it.

At the core of this crisis is a socially ingrained ignorance and denial of the immense responsibility we have for each other, the earth, and ourselves, and of our power to contribute to the world in a way that sustainably supports the good of all.

In Western society and culture, we are more connected to each other than ever through social media and mobile communication, yet we feel increasingly disconnected and isolated. Even though we have all this wonderful technology and software to automate and streamline so many things that used to take days and even months to accomplish, we are working harder and longer than ever before. We are more stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed than ever. Stress-related anxiety, depression, and ill health are rampant.

Our capacity to adapt to the relentless demand to keep up is rapidly waning, as that demand has a radically negative impact on our bodies and minds. We are witnessing a mass stress-induced burnout of our nervous systems, immune systems, and overall cognitive function. The struggle that this pressure of life creates has so distorted our perspective of reality that we struggle to find real connection and meaning in and for our lives.

To add to this already very challenging situation, we are drowning in marketing, whose sorcery of deception leads us to believe that we arent enough as we are and that we must have things we dont need. We are coerced through divisiveness into dangerously extreme polarities and entrenched in blame and victimhood. And we have become stuck in the belief that the worlds big problems are all too big and too hard to do anything about. We are so completely overwhelmed by the pressure of modern living, so preoccupied just with coping