The Institute Page #8

didn't seem like such an awful thing.

Like, you know, if we put an end

to a cult that's potentially

ruining people's lives, you

know, let's do that.

Hello.

Hello!

How may I help you?

I'm here for the

prescreening.

And your name, please?

Mark.

Mark Ellis?

Mm-hmm.

Plus one?

No.

Okay.

Do you have a twin?

No.

Oh.

Please have a seat...

...on the cushioned chair.

All right.

Now...

This is a very straightforward

process.

Mm-hmm.

I'm going to ask you a few

questions.

We're gonna take some readings.

And then I'm going to show you a

video.

How does that sound?

Sounds good.

All right.

The first thing we need to do is

get you wired in.

All right.

It's a completely painless,

noninvasive procedure.

Just lean your head forward.

Thank you.

Are you left- or right-handed?

I'm right-handed.

I need your left index

finger, please.

- Please put your attention here.

- Mm-hmm.

- What's your name? - Mark Ellis.

- Where were you born, Mark?

In Walnut Creek.

Where do you live now?

Martinez.

How long have you been

participating with the

institute?

For about two years.

Have you ever experienced a

lucid dream?

Yes.

Have you experienced a lucid

dream within the past year?

I think so, yeah.

Within the past six months?

Hmm... Maybe not.

Are you dreaming now?

I don't know.

Have you ever experienced

dj vu?

Yes.

Have you experienced dj vu

within the past year?

Yes.

Within the past six months?

Yes.

Past three months?

Maybe.

All right.

I'm going to show you a video.

There's no right or wrong way to

experience this video.

However, it is extremely

important that you give the

video your undivided attention.

Do you understand?

Yes.

Is that it? - I don't know. Is that it?

- I don't know. Is that it?

- That concludes our

prescreening process. - Thank you.

Enjoy your day.

Enjoy your weekend.

All right.

Thank you very much.

So, I did get one of these.

It looks like a flower bud...

pretty cool, though. Well, that's it.

I'm done.

Hello.

Hello.

Good to see you.

Your name again, please?

Mark.

Mark. Your last name?

Ellis.

Mark Ellis?

Did you dream last night?

Yes.

Excellent.

Are you ready for today's event?

Yes.

Perfect.

Welcome, Mark.

Thank you.

So, the day of the seminar, a

lot of us had our bio-force

globe things.

The EPWA was going to give us

the power to take down the

Jejune Institute.

We would all do jazz hands,

and Commander 14 would show up.

Maybe even Eva would show up.

And hooray, we're the triumphant

ones, you know?

Go get drunk. I don't know.

I see you.

I'm glad you're here.

I'm glad you're all here.

I'm here.

We're here.

Aren't we?

We are here.

I am Antoine, and welcome to

socio-reengineering 2011.

Welcome to

socio-reengineering 2011,

brought to you by

the Jejune Institute, LLC.

Thirty-two years ago, the very

first socio-reengineering

seminar took place at

Slide Ranch retreat center on

the dramatic coastline of

Marin County.

Once a decade, we have

continued on in the tradition

established at that first

monumental event.

Today, you are here to

participate in that legacy.

Of many beautiful things to

emerge from that historic weekend,

there was a particular

union established.

It was the romantic connection

between institute researchers

Ezra Logan and

Mrs. Toni Hapuis, which

continues to burn brightly to

this day.

From this cosmic spark, a child

was conceived that weekend by

the name of Antoine Logan, a

shining light in the movement.

Antoine became a young

protg of Octavio Coleman,

Esquire.

Spending his formative years

under his close tutelage,

today, we will have the

singular pleasure of

experiencing Antoine Logan in

all of his

vision, strength, and wisdom,

as established through his

careful application of the

Jejune method.

Feel your body.

Feel the gravity as it pulls you

to the ground.

We are material.

We are full of judgments.

Fall in love with what's

possible.

Synthesis allows us to plow

forward and to do the hard work

of really learning about each

other, which moves to a place we

call "high performance. "

The layers of our personality

are predictable.

We call it armor because when we

hold on to how we see things,

when we hold tight to our

habitual world view and

opinions, we become quite rigid.

Often, our character armor, that

habitual way of seeing and

operating, gets in the way of

becoming who we need to be.

The wisdom body speaks in these

sorts of games, you know?

He had us do these

deep-breathing exercises and

going, "mmm. "

And apparently... I wasn't there

to witness this... but

apparently we took a bathroom

break, and he was standing at

one of the urinals going, "mmm. "

There was a break, and after

he came back from the break,

they were setting out glasses of

hot water.

And we're like, "Oh, my god,

this is like when they're gonna

make drink the Kool-Aid.

Like, maybe this is... maybe

we've been, like, fooled all

along.

Maybe this is a cult, and we're

all about to die. "

Oh, some of you brought

something with you.

Take it out now.

Take it out.

It's okay.

It's okay.

He just kept on trying to get

us to put the balls in the

water.

He's like, "Put them in your

cup. "

And we're like, "No!"

'Cause inside, we're like,

"We're on the EPWA side. "

Like, we can't betray them, you

know?

But eventually people started

putting the tea in the water.

I put mine in and immediately

regretted it.

I was like, "God, I let them get

to me. "

The key in that moment was I

didn't resist their resistance.

My unflappability helped seduce

some of the weaker ones into

putting their orb into the tea.

And it helped provoke the more

strident participants into

greater and greater levels of

resistance, which became a

comedy in itself, to the point

where someone says, "Why should

we do it?"

And I say...

Because that's how we make tea.

And everyone got it, because the

laughter rippled through the

room.

And in that moment, even despite

themselves, everyone got the

comedy.

I don't know.

The absurdist truth cut through

the levels of reality, and

suddenly the game merged with

the present moment.

Alter egos merged with real

identities, and everyone had a

laugh.

Ahh!

Mmm.

# There's a party in the house,

and we'll be rocking tonight #

# So, bring your body

with you, baby,

and I'll make you feel right #

# It's a freaky celebration

of a natural kind #

# And the pleasure

you'll experience

will blow your mind ##

I participated in all of the

dancing and rolling around on

the floor and stuff.

There was a moment where we

had a video conference with a

dolphin, and everyone acted like

they knew what he was saying,

or at least everybody on the

Jejune Institute staff.

The seminar ended with all of

us getting under three big

parachutes and doing one of

those group exercises where you

bring the parachute up and let

it fall down and bring it up and

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