The Elevator Pitch
We cannot change the world without changing the people in it – but we wade through a so-called “human condition” that most of us understand painfully little; we are trapped in characters we cannot even see (yet alone escape from) which keep us far less happy, peaceful, connected, fulfilled, and present than we would truly wish to be. The universe has tasked us with breaking free from the constraints of this character, and discovering the truer, richer, more authentic self that waits beneath.
The human condition as we know it can be transcended, and perhaps must be for us to build the world of peace and harmony we quietly long for. This transcending of everyday consciousness is usually the business of religion, spirituality or psychotherapy, but I believe we must update our understanding on these matters and recognise a universal spiritual path, approachable via a vast array of methods and approaches, connected together under a new, universal map of the human condition. The Art of Breaking Character is my effort to contribute to this effort.
Just as there are many ways to paint a painting, or write a song, there are many ways to break character (Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, songwriting, exposure therapy, Jungian analysis, mindfulness of breathing, mantra meditation, psychedelic therapy, breathwork retreats etc.). Therefore, breaking character is an art, and teaching it as such must become a priority for us as a species.
The Book and Wider Project
The Art of Breaking Character is my attempt to document everything I learn whilst walking my own path of healing, individuation and awakening. I am compiling my insights (along with the insights of others) into a book which entitled The Art of Breaking Character Volume I.
My hope is for this book to be a springboard for me to take my ideas out into the world and see how they interact with people, so I can refine them, and continue on my mission with sharper and more actionable insights to share.
Of longer term interest for me is to contribute some understanding towards the progress of a wider intellectual, religious, and academic reconciliation. By describing the spiritual path as universal, and approachable in many different ways – whilst taking the time to learn and apply what specific religious and spiritual traditions teach – I hope to develop a wider project that stems far beyond the scope of just a book (or series of books). The ultimate goal, therefore, of The Art of Breaking Character is to help bring about greater harmony for the species as a whole by establishing a shared understanding of what religion, philosophy, psychology, spirituality and science all mean, and how they are ultimately inseparable from each other.
The Book
The book – The Art of Breaking Character Volume I – is written in the form of aphorisms – discrete, stand-alone points ranging from a few words to large paragraphs. Examples can be found on the homepage of this site. I will be posting more of these on the site regularly, as well as reading them aloud on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
It is organised by topic, and at present contains over 100 topics such as: morality, beauty, religious experience, the fight against unconsciousness, the shadow, the anima, repression, resistance, surrender, faith, projection, paradox, polarity, the world as consciousness, the Organism of Reality.
The book will make use of a ‘traffic light system’ where green, amber and red mark the different degrees of difficulty for the various aphorisms in the book. This will allow the book to be both accessible and welcoming, whilst also being appropriately precise and technical in language where necessary. I hope, then, that readers can keep the book as a companion for them on their spiritual journey, going back through the text when they have mastered a certain level of difficulty and are ready to contemplate the next stages of insight.
The book will differ from traditional spiritual texts in having a distinct autobiographical component. Even where at times it seems like I am declaring myself to have arrived at final knowledge on incredibly deep subject matter, I plan to make clear at the start, and throughout the text, that I am simply offering the best of what I believe I have come to understand to those who are interested, and particularly that I am sharing ideas which have helped transform my own life and my own thinking.
I feel called to make this book as compelling as possible, to maximise its chances of contributing to the well-being of people all over the world and the possibilities of future harmony for our species. As such, I have begun reaching out for various types of help with the book whilst I am still in the process of being written. My hope is to make the book a great collaborative effort.
In case it isn’t obvious already, I am trying to make my perspective on these things as much a presentation of the wisdom that is already present, if scattered and obscured, in the collective. Though I cannot help but draw from my own direct life experience in writing the book and building the project, I am constantly seeking to meet new people from all walks of life so I can understand more and more the plights, struggles, and emotional lives of others, and the wisdom they have accrued from their own path. In this respect what I aim to make public in The Art of Breaking Character is gradually becoming less and less an expression of my own thinking, and more and more a kind of “highlight reel” in which the most insightful and most powerful insights and practices wisest are simply curated and tied together philosophically by myself.
In this way what begun as my own philosophising becomes refined by the challenges, perspectives, and wisdom of the collective — hammered into shape by resistance, polished by dialogue, and ultimately made stronger, clearer, and more useful than anything I could have created alone.
Support
If you wish to offer support to the project, here are some ways you can help. Please get in touch in any of the following ways, or any ways not mentioned, please get in touch by emailing robby.french11@gmail.com:
- Direct feedback on the writing
- Feedback on the book’s structure and layout
- Research help – finding historical/political/scientific examples/evidence to back up points I make (these will go in the footnotes at the bottom of the pages so as not to disrupt the clean simplicity of the raw aphorisms.)
- Finding the right illustrator for the book (there will be illustrations and diagrams within the text – and I want the book to be stunningly beautiful both inside and out, and in every way)
- Offerings of quotes from other spiritual teachers, philosophers and psychologists (these will go within the text to break up my own writing)
- Direct financial Donations (follow the link to see what this money will be used for)
- Help finding the right literary agent and publisher
- Help with social media presence/promotion and general online presence to build an audience for the book and ideas prior to publication
- Feedback on this website
