So by now you are no doubt thinking - mate, there’s not a lot ‘different’ happening here.
Contextually it's necessary to remember all ‘belief systems’, even the most well known, are plagiarisms of some kind, so we can’t not be too harsh judging John Dalhoff, without dissecting more closely his writings,looking for all his influences and inspirations.
John Dalhoff was in many ways, a creative master - genius, of sorts.
Idiosyncratic may be, but undoubtedly Dalhoff and his wife, were the master personal motivators of their day, more than mystics.
The skeleton of Zenith Applied Philosophy may well the works of L. Ron Hubbard, but the flesh was all John E. Dalhoff’s.
His creation was unique in many ways.
The following is Wikipedia’s ‘spin’ : ‘ZAP has a world view which is a combination of Scientology and Eastern Mysticism’.
The problem with this definition is, Scientology is actually easier to ‘pin-down’ compared to a broad-term like ‘Eastern Mysticism’ (encompassing diverse beliefs like Taoism,Gnosticism, Buddhism, Sufism etc)
Buddhism, for starters, seems directly at odds with Z.A.P’s ‘life is for winners’ attitude.
In my opinion, the references to Buddha in his ‘John Ultimate’ declaration is there merely to add an element of intrigue & to bolster his credentials.
Another adjective that is used to pigeon-hole Z.A.P on Wikipedia is Gnostic - this also, I struggle with. Gnosticism teaches that humans have divine souls, and I found no evidence of this in my research.
On the plus side of the ledger, Wiki did refer to Z.A.P as an organisation, rather than a church, sect or cult – personally I've always found it hard to tell the difference!
It’s therefore necessary to take a look at the ‘insides’ of John’s creation, and look for the unique features (gadgets?) he installed.
Here’s some of these ‘features’ I’ve located as best any outsider can, so we can all try to get to grips with Z.A.P.
Giving them one mercenary definition would be doing them an injustice, and in my opinion – frankly an impossibility.
‘Expansion Law: You can’t break even. There is no such thing as zero acceleration. Quantum Expansion can show-up weaknesses, which can then be tackled”.
This is from a Physics lecture-room & not some spiritual guru living in a remote Nepalese cave. The theory of an expanding universe is familiar to most & ‘zero acceleration’ is one of Einsteins, famous field equations.
In his teachings we encounter ‘in-house’ terminology & concepts like CES, SEC and VIP.
C = Careful (out of control, governed by your emotions)
E = Effect (unwilling, effect or victim of circumstances)
S = Serious (will not say that life is a game)
S = Keep it simple stupid
E = Enjoyable (get into the flow of what you are doing)
C = Command
V = Valuable
I = Important
P = Priority
We encounter talk of ‘multiplexity’.
On one side of the coin, Dalhoff wants us to postulate on the rather oxymoronic maxim “It’s better to be correct than right” then in the next page he supplies us with a profound self-composed decree like “ The sky is not the limit: touch the sky & keep going”.
Redefines the term ‘nomenculture’ to be the lexis of an activity.
Amongst his work there are simple, pertinent life lessons, come adages - as well the more ‘deep & meaningful’.
Examples of his ‘self improvement’ mantra:
“Never Assume’ (termed ‘Defensive Driving’) where students are told ‘have as much conscious knowledge of things as possible”.
“Troubles stem from lack of information”.
“Urgency seems to shrink time”.
“A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing”.
“We should all be students of life”.
“Be Organised”.
“The more data a person has, the better a person can get along in life”.
“Lean whatever possible by first-hand observation”.
“Take responsibility for your own state first”.
“Take on only the right amount”
“Happiness is a byproduct of function, purpose, and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war.” [William S.Burroughs]
Part of the Z.A.P ‘Basics of Success & Happiness’ Course, we find happiness defined as (a) a by-product of success (b.) creativity (c.) not a pleasure, but a victory (d.) depends on having a purpose.
Dalhoff appears have had a copy of Burroughs’s work ‘Place of The Dead Roads’ lying around, or be intimately familiar with the American novelist’s works.
Not that Burroughs’s, was not the only literary facet - poetry was another incorporation.
Dalhoff re-produced Max Erham’s, 1926 poem ‘Desiderata’, and had it pinned in poster form on the study-room wall. Students, examined its content, were asked to interpret it’s ‘meaning’ and learn from it.
And if you are going to use the term ‘philosophy’ in your title, it’s hard to get away without referring to 'the great-man' himself' – Socrates.
“The unexamined life is not worth living” [Quote given as part of ‘The Mechanics of Study' Section]
On the topic of philosophers, there are references to Hegel’s ‘Stages of Development’.
Even American Football Coach, Vince Lombardi’s famous ‘pep-speech’ also crops-up in amongst the study material “Winners never quit, quitters never win”.
The challenging concepts of ‘The Cycle of Ruin’ and ‘Cycle of Progress’ are part of his coinage, along side ‘The Cycle of Action’ which mimics that of Scientology.[Refer Gallery for the specifics, it’s a dissertation in itself, breaking them down]
We see the mosaic of ‘multi-valued logic systems’ in all their glory - then daft stuff like “War games can be better for your health”.
There's the Darwinian notion "Survival is a major high-tone goal".
Dalhoff wanted all his students to ‘Speak your truths boldly’ which bears a resemblance to a passage from ACTS (4:29) “speak your word with great boldness’, in which Peter seeks Gods conviction.
Indeed, to this outsider, the ‘numbering system’ for Z.A.P material is identical to what one sees in the Old and New Testaments – but then again, so is Scientology’s.
Dalhoff, encouraged ‘money management’.
Personal Budgets, expenditure limits, savings, investments – were all things he taught as part of ‘the overall package’.
He counsels students to ‘confront reality’.
Wants them to start running a diary.
In his library he must have had a teachers manual of some kind , as he defines ‘the characteristics of a good student’ using as the widely used definition of (a. ) willingness to learn (b.) willingness to unlearn.
With low enough awareness you may succeed in becoming 'stuck in a win' because losses are no longer under real inspection". Zarb Law Says:"How to get stuck in a win"? Get stuck in a tiny universe!" [Quote of the month December 1982]
To summerise.
In some ways Z.A.P’s ‘ideology’ was well ahead of it's time.
Their defense in their long-running business battles & high-profile court cases with local Trade Unions, in the early 1980’s, were mounted based-on their personal belief in ‘individual freedom’ meaning that (a.) an individual should have the choice to join a
These are now two basic tenants of New Zealand Industrial Law, and something Kiwi’s now take for granted.
They wanted a ‘flat tax’ regime (refer Tax Reduction Integrity Movement poster in the gallery) and personal responsibility, rather than State responsibility.
TRIM sponsored & distributed thousands of car bumper stickers with the motto ‘Lower Taxes through less Government’.
Intensely individualistic - ‘morphed free marketers’ - if you will.
Despite their detractors, a bundle of adverse publicity - Z.A.P was successful, and still has long-term believers.
To survive 30 years, it must have had to provide ‘something’ – especially, as it was not a cheap exercise to attend classes.
So how does anyone bring this veritable smorgasbord of beliefs & influences together?
I am reminded of a game show contestant, bouncing about a perspex box, trying to garnish as many $100 notes as they can in 30 seconds as they all frantically blow about them. No matter how many they throw-under their shirts – when the blower stops - there will always be more left they they could ever grab.
I leave it to the reader to make their own conclusions, and also seek the input from those who undertook study to enlighten us further.
There are literally thousands who did so.
There is more to John Dalhoff’s teachings than I can ever hope to cover, nor clarify. .
Clearly, I am but ‘scrapping the surface’ as best I can.
