The idea of marketing tends to have a poor reputation among the human service circles where most of us psychosynthesists reside. This is probably because it is not our nature to boast about the helping services we provide. We tend to be more attracted to solving the presenting problem than developing a publicly palatable image. So naturally it annoys us to know that billions of dollars are spent each year projecting images and sounds that will lure others (not us) to buy bubbly sugar water and faded jeans. We see this as money which could better be spent solving real human problems. Following John Franklin's last issue article and conference presentation, where are the wise kings and queens (business executives) and warriors of pure heart (advertising spin doctors) in our media-saturated lives?

I agree that marketing, like any concept or process can be and often is abused. But psychosynthesis training shows us what can be distorted and shadowy, can also be transformed and purified. Nothing needs to remain frozen in a single state of known existence. More importantly, our perception of things need not remain frozen in a single state. As John Franklin noted, psychosynthesists have been working overtime to evolve their biological species category from homo-sapiens to "homo-spiritus" and in the process have developed an inherent neurosis called "forma-phobia" -- a fear of physical and earth-related forms, including money, commerce and for our purposes -- marketing. As we develop our personal and organizational wisdom, we must not let what others do soil our attitude toward the marketing process which actually, in its best light, is the simple and sacred act of listening and responding. Consider this self-proclaimed metaphysical definition of a marketing plan:...a deliberate and intentional plan of how an entity, be it of an individual or an organization, can most efficiently contribute its inherent and unique talents to the service of its larger community.

This may not sound overtly metaphysical, but as we analyze the marketing tasks, what comes into view is a process which is respectful, attentive, responsive and in an ongoing way more nurturing and parental than combative and warrior-like. Indeed, of the four steps of marketing identified below, we psychosynthesists are already very familiar and comfortable with several parts of each.

First we must identify our inherent and unique talents. This is a listening phase -- an honest self-reflective process of stepping back and identifying my unique talents as a person or organization. Doesn't this sound like and look like a disidentification exercise? Searching our personal and organizational inner-inventory to see all that is hidden there? This is the phase of marketing we are already very good at. We can easily name our favorite gifts of psychosynthesis: subpersonality theory, mental imagery techniques, spiritual psychology model, the transcendence/immanence paradox, indeed the disidentification exercise itself. Good marketing must begin with good self-analysis.

Step 2 involves a sort of generalized self-diagnosis. Here we must borrow a skill from the psychoanalyst and identify some broad categorical labels for these our various talents. Although our talents are unique, in what known broad category can they be placed so that others might more easily find and use them? Here you can think either like a diagnostician, or a yellow pages organizer.This is a common sense skill that asks psychosynthesists to give earthly form to their heavenly tools and skills. It is however also a form-giving task, and except for Tom Yeomens, who has labeled his work "spiritual psychology," our "formaphobia complex" has prevented us from doing this well.

Step 3 move us from the focus on "self", to listening and responding to the "we". Step 3 puts us directly into the community-building process. We begin with a community needs assessment. Who in my community needs my organization's unique talents? What other groups of individuals or organizations are involved in the broad categorical areas I identified in step 2, which might benefit from using the unique talents of my organization? These are our publics, or our target markets. We all have some general ideas here (psychology, religion) but we must become more specific than we have been. For example, what specific aspect(s) of psychosynthesis do you believe would improve the way a psychologist could be a better Freudian? Or Jungian? Or behaviorist? What specific aspect(s) of psychosynthesis can help a person be a better Catholic? Jew? Muslim? These are the type of very grounded and obvious questions we must answer if we are to get beyond the homo-spiritus stage.

Step 4 is another form-giving step. Oh-nooo! In what form can I contribute these talents to the community? How can I shape my talents so that my identified public will readily see its value in improving its life? Or its work? Here again, psychosynthesists have shown great resistance to translating their transpersonal concepts into user-friendly shapes and sizes. And as we stand guard over our self-imposed purity, other less understanding organizations and individuals busily coopt psychosynthesis concepts in a form which often minimizes rather than maximizes their potential gift.

Good marketing calls upon the most honest and highest parts of ourselves to identify how we can most effectively serve our community. Good marketing requires a systematic and periodic review of both the organization's talents and the community's needs. It is an on-going and organic process which encourages the mutual exchange of energy and ideas for the good of all. Good marketing is good and well managed public relations. Viewed in this way, doesn't marketing seem spiritual/metaphysical and downright beautiful?

It seems to that the psychosynthesist's struggle with marketing is a perfect applied example of psychosynthist's struggle with the current struggle over the design of the egg-diagram and the concurrent transcendence/immanence controversy. It is the part of marketing about giving form to the ideas and concepts of psychosynthesis that halts most psychosynthesists dead in their tracks. Here the marketing process moves from inner work of disidentification to the outer work of identification -- giving physical form to ethereal and abstract ideas. We have all worked long and hard to escape our own personal prisons of over-identification with earthly paradigms, so much so that we have never even considered deliberately engaging in the identification, form-giving process that marketing calls for. The very real (but controllable) fear of crystallization and distortion paralyzes us.

No one wants to be the one to risk soiling our pure ideas, getting our psycho-spiritual tools tarnished and dirty. And yet isn't this what tools are for -- to help things grow? Are we to forever be afraid to have our fertile and pregnant concepts give birth and take physical form for fear that the off-spring might develop a deformity, a handicap, and become only a half truth? A tainted essence? Not turn out the way we had planned?

Like the cycles of nature, and the evolution of Coca-Cola's logos and bottle design, marketing is an on-going and ever-evolving process. The form we put forth today, is not expected to serve the community of tomorrow. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be thoughtful. NOW, doesn't the marketing process sound like an interesting metaphysical challenge for us psychosynthesists to engage in? Let's start sorting and shining up our tools.

We've got work to do.