So tonight Lucy had quite an experience actually. And yesterday we went to see a movie and one of the female characters said to the Pierce Brosnan character, Thank you for saving me. And Pierce Brosnan didn't hesitate.   That was one line. It was worth the whole movie. Just for one line. Because he did seem to save her and it took her a while before she just, her heart just broke open and said, Thank you for saving me. But the answer was dazzling.  It's really like the spirit or you could say Jesus or Holy Spirit or whatever.  Wow. Thank you. That's amazing. That's there. You talk about walking on the tightrope and doing the highway act and then the net underneath.   And this movie really shows that there aren't really any options when it comes down to Awakening. It's an amazing movie in the inevitable nature of Awakening. You think? Yeah. I was just sharing with David. At some point I was being asked by seemingly older people out there, Why? How did you do this? Why are you so young? Why? Because we were on the same path. How did you do it? What's the secret? What's the key? And I said the key was that I never had an option. I never had a choice. I never had a false idea that I have a choice. I have options to choose from. It was only one way and it's happening and either you go with it or you go with it. And you don't like it too bad. You're still going.  It's like too bad. That doesn't change anything. Up you go further. Like I said, there was never an option to stop or pause or delay or choose something else. It was just really a very direct path. And it's like I always feel like there was always feeling like I'm not asked. Like I don't have a choice. I was never like, oh, what do you think? It's like I'm not asked. It's just happening something like beyond control. And this movie, Lucy, really demonstrates that we do talk about a decision maker making a choice and choose again. And this movie shows this is beyond the choice. This is beyond choosing. This is really there is no choice, period. And it's just the matter. Well, do we want to know if like if we truly if we truly want to know, then this is it would be shown it would be demonstrated. Like and so this is this is a movie of like it's really demonstrated of like demonstration. A symbol of the mind that is ready to just like take a direct path, take a direct ticket without detour without delay. Like a delay is not an option there and just go straightforward and even fear is not an option. There isn't even in this movie there isn't even fear. It's like what is it? What is fear? Like any anything that's in the way about in the way of it, that would be a delay. Even like talking about like, oh, well, what about fear of God? It's almost like that's that just waste of time, you know, talking about it in a way that it's like that would be a delay because it's like I always say the fear is not that there's blocks on the way. The the real fear arises when the mind actually realizes that there are no blocks and the way is clear and you can just go and nothing is holding you back and it's like whoa. And so, yeah, so it's exciting. And it's like and like, yeah, it's like a good demonstration. It just like it could be this direct. And I think, you know, and this is it like that's like what it's like to me it feels like for those who like on the on the path or have been on the path of a course of miracles like with the three questions you kind of get a chance. You know, like there's a passage about the last and answer question and and and Jesus says with the three, you can still change your mind. You can go back and forth and it's like and Jesus lets you do the dance and it's like, yeah, play with the choice play with the option like I can choose. It's like I can like kind of get in touch with I get in touch with the power of the mind, right? It's like so and then but once the fourth question hits, it's like this is where you have no choice. And it's like if you say yes to that, then it's a direct path and it's almost like to me this is what it looks like. Once you've said yes to the last unanswered question and the last unanswered question is do I want to know that what I've denied because it is the truth. And to me this is a representation once what it looks like and just how fast and direct and this is where the choice falls away and everything else just falls away. This is everything that we've learned up until then just simply falls away and yeah. Yeah, let's look at that last unanswered question really to four questions. Three of them you can change your mind, one it's unequivocal, there's no going back. Do I want to see what I deny because it is the truth? Do I want to see what I deny? What was denied? Light, love, Christ's vision. This world was the denial of light, of abstract light, of love, eternal love, of divine happiness. That's what this is. Do I want to see what I deny? Is it my desire to see with Christ's vision? And you'll see as you go through this movie that time and space will literally seem to reverse and then implode. Big Bang was seemingly an explosion. It will literally implode. And beyond the implosion is just the light. It goes all the way. It's almost like this movie is an answer to the prayer. Do I want to see what I deny because it is the truth? Now, there's all these metaphors and of course the miracles and some of you have been using that pathway. Maybe some of you have used a number of pathways and there's all kinds of aspects in there about time collapse and choice and on and on and on and on.  Listen, tonight we're going beyond that. It's time to throw the bubblegum out. It's a little stale. I went all the way to China and met all these Chinese students and it's interesting to go to China and they're asking all these deep profound experiences about the Course in Miracles. They've been into non-duality. Of course, China has for centuries. They had read Disappearance of the Universe. They had read all the authors. They had read my stuff. And they were asking questions like, listen, if you emphasize the script as written, you take that line out of the workbook the script is written and you emphasize it. Disappearance of the Universe. Art and the Purse are ascended masters. They're talking to Gary about collapsing time and not needing to have certain scenes appear. The script is literally shifting the script around with the mind and decision points. Which is it? I like the Chinese. Come on, let's get to the cut to chase. Can you change the script or not? Is it written? Is it destined? Is it predetermined or can I, you know, we have some miracles and we have some rearrangements of time and space and not have to play out certain scenes, prevent certain things from happening with my miraculous choices? Or is it done? Is it set?  And some of you know, like the story with Eckhart Tolle, the park bench experience, a relatively rare experience where there's this blazing kind of shift of mind and then everything seems to change in awareness. Life is not experienced the same after that moment.  But that's like a flash. Well, Eckhart had that flash in the park bench but that was what? Years ago. He's been talking and talking and talking since that park bench experience and everything. Now Lucy's going to have a flash and time is very limited after this flash. It's going to come to a close in a hurry. It's just, we're not talking years, we're talking hours. This is such a powerful, profound flash into the inevitability. That's a great word. Inevitability. She's going to flash into that. And the Course does talk about the borderline but it says all the decisions have already been made. That again kind of points to the scriptures written. All the decisions have already been made. All these decisions inform what to do, where to see, you know, what to practice. All these things that seem to be a myriad of decisions are already made. It's almost like you get to a point with such a major flash that you're in the tractor beam and you are getting beamed up and there ain't nothing you can do to stop it. You've gone too far to the egos terms. You are in the tractor beam and you'll see in this movie, there's one point where she, the crystals in the pouch, the blue crystals in the pouch, once they seem to get released into her bloodstream, you'll see at that point you can feel the inevitability of it, of the awakening. And then, no, nothing is really a decision to her from that point. You don't get the feeling that she's making decisions. We're trying to feel into something. Trying to, like, just, okay, let me feel in. You know, it's like, it's straight up, it's inevitable. It's done from then on. It's like, she knows she's gone already. It's like the feeling is like, she's already gone. It's just a matter of how long is the residue, right? How many hours, days, it's just she's gone. That's done. So it's that kind of, yeah, that kind of, like, you know, that, like, really like a true, true awareness. Like, in the course, Jesus said, like, the world was gone, undone, long time ago. That's why it's all of the past. It's like, do you want to know? It's like, who was, like, that kind of, it's like, it's gone. We're not, like, we're not here. We're gone from here. It's like, we're not talking. This is not where we're communicating. Like, the other day I looked, I was talking to David and it was just a simple question. I just looked, he just came from somewhere and I'm talking to David and all of a sudden I just had this flash and things disappeared and I was like, oh, we're not here. It was a clear realization. We're not here. This is not, like, we're, like, we're gone. This is not where we're talking. This is not the communication. This is not, this is just the after effect of that decision to really to know the truth. And it's like, and it's not, like, you can't stop it. It's done. It is done. So, yeah. Jason said during the afternoon moving it was kind of, he's kind of lit. It was looking at deferral and going really deep into what's underneath the deferral and all that and then starting to just touch into the involuntary nature of the miraculous. He told me that's kind of where he left it. He said, and, you know, Nikita and Jason and David will take it from there. We get into the taste of the involuntary nature of the miracle. And so you might say, yeah, this is really, this is what it is. It's, it's this, there's no hesitation when the inevitability hits him. It hits, it hits strong. It hits hard. And there is absolutely no hesitation after it hits. After it hits your mind, then that's the end. You know, we should, Confucius say, evil hesitates is lost. And when you are hit with this, you are found. You are definitely not lost. And you definitely don't hesitate. There's no hesitation in this. This is like the tractor beam and the tractor beam got you. Effectively it's over. There's no wiggle room. You can't say to God, it's not quite now.  That's Richard Linkletter who's done some of the boyhood, some of the movies. He puts himself as an animated character there at the end and he tells the story, you know, where basically it comes down to all of time is basically God saying, are you ready to know you are, to be one with me, to be one with the universe, to be one self? And all of time is the mind saying, no. That's what time is. Every second, no. There was a little hand going, oh, no. That's what time is. Time is a sequence of notes to all of life. Jesus tells us history would not exist. You didn't continue to make the same mistake in the present. No. And then awakening is? Yes. Yes. You see that, that's the end of time. One unequivocal, yes, as Nikita was saying, not like the first three questions where you can try to do it. No, yes, no, yes. That's pretty pregnant, it's pretty split. You've got to know yes, but to actually have a yes, an unequivocal yes, a final yes, desiring, I am this, desiring light, desiring love, fully, let that night be single. Jesus said, let that night be single, let that vision be single. Only the vision of Christ is single. There's not a human perception that's single. By definition, it's fragmented. It's seeing pieces, it's seeing parts, it's seeing the tapestry, all the different parts of the tapestry, but this is what time might be single. And the other thing is you can see Lucy at the very beginning, she seems like human, she's like a regular human being at the beginning, where she has some fear. And then, boom, after it hits, she's fearless.  Is anyone sitting here? You can, but my drink's sitting here. Can you coexist with the drink? That has to be a yes to the whole universe. It's just one way of coming into the atonement. But basically, she seems very human, and then, boom, when it hits, it's not human. That is not human after that. Humans hesitate, she doesn't. Humans think they've got years to live, she doesn't. Humans feel they've got free will, meaning free choice in the world, she doesn't. You know, it's like really strong. And that's why it's really, this is a very strong movie. We might, we'll have a movie at night too, because if you watch this and you can't sleep tonight, we are going to set up an automatic movie with my commentary in the middle of the night, when you're not able to sleep, so you can come and go, ooh. If we have to finish you off in the night. That's kind of a cool idea too. We'd play Solaris at night time, most likely from 12. It's with David's commentary. So the whole thing is, I think it's three and a half hours, and this is like, I feel like this would be a bonus, and I think it'll be playing from like 12 a.m. to like what, 4 a.m. or something. So it'll be playing in the gathering room, so everyone who doesn't, who can't sleep, they can go in and really watch this movie. It's a deep, deep, deep movie. And I said like, this would be like a bonus.  So I really urge everyone to take that trip, because I'm taking that trip with David's commentary, it's like, you'll feel like you're taking actual trip to Solaris, and you'll feel what it actually feels like.  You're slowing down at LST, right? Yeah, yeah. So, we're going to play tonight for sure. Tonight we'll play Solaris in the gathering room, and it's just going to play at, or here, or in the gathering. Next to the kitchen. Yeah, next to the kitchen here.  It's all over the flashlights.  Yes. Yeah, I just wanted to say, like, I saw that commentary with David earlier in the summer. I don't even exactly know what I watched, but I just know that since then it's been like my favorite movie or commentary. It was so profound. It's amazing. It's a trip. It's like taking a trip out of this world, because we're talking like, you know, we're going beyond this world. And so watching that movie with the commentary, the feeling is like you're taking a trip out of this world, and this is what it looks like. And it's just, I mean, it's amazing. Do take that trip. Like really take a trip. And it's like even, like let's say, allow it even for three and a half hours. Allow it just like to really surrender to it. Imagine you're on that ship. And be very present with everything that's going to show up in your mind. Just be very present. And I was saying actually, you know, because it's unconscious. We may not even know what's going to show up, because it is really, truly unconscious. And it's like I was saying, it's like with David, like where I'd be sitting there, right, at a table, and they'd be like, oh, this turbulence. And I wouldn't even know what it is, because it's so raw. And I was telling to someone, I'm like, well, of course it is. It's like being around Solaris all the time. Yes, things are going to come up in a very raw way, because it's like for release, because the light is like in your face. The light is so close. So, yeah, and it's just like, and you know, and just allowance, just allowance, just a very deep allowance to do that. Like again, just a deep invitation to do this, and this is just for that. And it's like at night, his wife came to him and then watch her comes to you at night. And then watch her comes to you at night, but it's like be aware, but like be totally, you invited them. It's like this one kind of waited to show up. It's just like with that, like have it be with that kind of attitude, like this is not random. And it's just, see who shows up, what shows up. Yeah, this is called, what shows up. See who shows up, what shows up. Yeah, this is called, we're giving you the wake up. This is a wake up call with eye candy. We're going to do Scarlett Johansson and then George Clooney. So, you've got two shots tonight. Follow Scarlett or follow George. It's eye candy, even if you're drowsy. It's, you know, it's, it'll hold you. And then go for, then just give your way over completely to it. Because there's a part with George Clooney and Solaris, where he's wondering what exactly happens at night of Junior Solaris and his friends is, I'd lock your door. He says, I'd lock your door. And at one point he says, I could tell you what's happening, but that wouldn't really tell you what's happening. Because it's not speakable in words, but you can still get it. So really with Lucy, there's two tries tonight. One, you can go with Lucy right now. That's the short version.  And one way or the other, you want the Holy Spirit to get you tonight. Yeah. With one of these two. Oh, yeah. You think? Oh, great. I swear. Because I guarantee you, if you just give yourself over, you will never hesitate. You will never have a hesitating decision to make. Again, isn't that relaxing? To reach the end of this, trying to figure out what to do, how to handle all these problems, how to handle your bills, how to handle relationships, how to handle your emotions, can be quick. Can be very, very, very quick. Is it one? Yeah. Yeah, very, very strong. Very strong. This is my favorite movie now. So, it's the most awesome movie. Yeah. And really, that would make a very short movie fest for you. Tonight, you can bring it actually quickly. I don't need any additional movie watching. Which is really good. It's quick and painless. And then it's over. And the only other reason we had a movie fest is we just threw some other things in there. Just in case. Just in case. It's the same thing as Jesus starts out. It's a very simple course. Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. It's like, get it? Good. And then there's like 600 more pages. And it's the same thing. It's like, this is it. That's all there is really. Lucy. However, there might be some more movies. Yes, our... Tonight, we're just doing one lesson from the course. And I don't even know if we have a course book in here. We used to do it when we got one here. Tonight, we're doing... With Lucy, we're doing... Let's see, I don't know that lesson. Tonight, we're doing... Which one is it? We're doing tonight. Oh, it's lesson 139. I will accept atonement for myself. What does Jesus say about decision and choice? Here is the end of choice. This is the start of the lesson. Lesson 139, I will accept atonement for myself. Here is the end of choice. For here we come to a decision to accept ourselves as God created us. What is choice except uncertainty of what we are? Ah, there is no doubt that is not rooted here. There is no question but reflects this one. There is no conflict that does not entail the single simple question, what am I? Wow. Yet who could ask this question except one who has refused to recognize himself. The only refusal to accept yourself could make the questions seem to be sincere. The only thing that can be surely known by any living thing is what it is. From this one point of certainty, it looks on other things as certain as itself. Uncertainty about what you must be is self-deception on a scale so vast its magnitude can hardly be conceived. To be alive and not to know yourself is to believe that you are really dead. To believe that you are really dead. For what is life except to be yourself? And what but you can be alive instead? Who is the doubter? What is it he doubts? Whom does he question? Whom can answer him? He merely states that he is not himself and therefore being something else becomes a questioner of what that something is. Yet he could never be alive at all unless he knew the answer. If he asks as if he does not know, it merely shows he does not want to be the thing he is. So that's why we're saying you can dive into it. It's not really a matter of time. There are high fives on the mountain and that's the top of the mountain, the end of choice. So really we're just doing less than 1.39 tonight. When I went to sleep last night my cell phone was on alarm and when I woke up this morning it was on that page. On my cell phone. I saw whenever Tendari's eyes get really big and their mouth flies open maybe she's going down to the Breva Hall with Lucy tonight. Just go with Lucy. Go with Lucy. Don't go back. Wherever she's going you want to go too. And notice how the ego wants to judge her pathways. Sometimes at the beginning she uses a gun. It sits quick. It's really quick. More and more she doesn't even need the gun as she goes along. There's no need for guns. There's no need for guns. She's gone. Yeah. It's a funny thing. It's almost like defenseless although you wouldn't even think of that. It's like taking those off for a gun. It's like there's total awareness that there's nothing on the way. There's nothing on the way. And I look at it like there's a really great scene of her driving. It's like Quentin driving and she's driving like a different way. So like against the one way. Against the one way street. Yeah, against the one way street. And she knows that there's nothing on her way. She knows there's a full awareness that she's not trying to maneuver. And it's like and be a good driver. And she knows that there's literally nothing on her way. And so yeah, there is no accidents, no nothing. And that kind of awareness. It's like the way is clear. There is nothing. It's like yeah, it's amazing. And we'll start the movie here because we know you're ready. Salivating. Salivating. It's kind of fun because it brings a lot of things together. Like sometimes you know you hear things about near-death experience, research. I call it near-life experience because it's all about opening to the light. But has anybody ever heard of like parapsychology? You know it's been around for quite a few decades. And psychic abilities. Yeah, let's name some. Call it out. Name some psychic abilities. We're audience. We're audience. Telekinesis. Telekinesis. Four-dollars. Four-dollars. Four-dollars. Remote viewing is another one. Channeling. Channeling. Omniscience. Yes, omniscience. Okay. Now let's just have fun watching Lucy because these sometimes are called supernatural abilities. Supernatural. They don't call them supernatural. They call them supernatural. Why do they call them supernatural? Because a lot of human beings go rogue. I don't know about that one or those. But Lucy's, she goes through the whole gamut. She, all these so-called supernatural abilities are very, become increasingly natural to her, including transcendence, you know, which is not an ability. It's just what is. Inevitability. It's inevitability. It's not ability. It's inevitability. So that's another fun thing about this is because she's pretty rapidly goes through all of these abilities that are studied in parapsychology. Psychokinesis ability to like move objects. Oh, she's moving more than objects. She'll end up moving all of her. Here's our transcendent being, joining us. We're going to have Lucy tonight and then we're going to show Solaris with my commentary in the middle of the night for those who can't sleep. Helen has just arrived. It's a movie. It's a lesson 139. I will accept atonement for myself. Movie night. Okay. So now we can close. Helen is in now. And so we can close the doors and the gates. All these state patches. The world these state patches are being closed. I don't know. We could end up pausing at certain points. We probably will. There's some points that are just like, oh, so good. Juicy, juicy. Yeah, yeah. I think it's okay. Hold on to your hats. Cosmos is going by. Cosmos. Coswhisper. I am the same. That's the closing song. It's the credits. At the end of the credits you can see that Coswhisper come up in the credits. I hear you have his name. I hear you have his name. I think we've had that song somewhere I haven't played around here. When she touched fingers were loose. It never mind you that picture that's famous like God on the cloud and Adam on the beach. Oh, yeah. This is the end of the chapter. The same is coming. Sistine Chapel. What was the song at the end? Coswhisper. They didn't film the credits. You could do a little search. Coswhisper. I hear Coswhisper. I am the same here. We played it the other night at the dance party. Yeah. I heard that at the dance party. It's almost got like a tribal. An ancient tribal sound to it. Amazing. It's kind of fascinating too if you go back to the beginning of the movie when you first hear the Morgan Freeman character talking about, you know, life was given us so many billion years ago. It starts off, I think he's talking like a single neuron. And then he says it gets interesting when there's two. And that's when they show all the, that's when they show all the movements of all the creatures and everything. So sometimes, you know, we talk about the movement of life, the movement of life, but guess what is also an illusion? Movement. Movement. Life actually doesn't move. Spirit doesn't move. You know how we go, oh, the spirit moved me. You know, that's, that's not, that's in the fact that's seeing the illusion for what it is that there's actually never been any movement ever or change. Remember, spirit is changeless. Eternity is changeless. So, so change is the illusion. And change is synonymous with time.  They're all the same. They're all the same. One, this doesn't move. There's no place to move. Place is a concept. People sometimes will say, where do we exist in the cosmos? There is no location. That's, that's time and space are the same illusion. We were asked at the beginning to talk a bit about space. We talked about time, time, time. This movie had a lot of time, but actually space is the same illusion. It's a segment of imagination. We talked about that quite a bit. Just all imagination. One thing I thought about, about the name, they chose for the leading character now. Years ago when they said they had discovered the first mother of the whole human race, they named her Lucy. Yeah, and it says exactly. We got to see her. Yeah, I just, yeah. Kevin's here too. I think after this movie came out, I mentioned the other day that, that Kirsten and I wrote some writing something. Maybe you could come up here, over here and I can just give you the microphone. Kevin, my gosh. He sees so many things in these movies. I think I saw it one or two or three times when I read an email from Kevin and I was like, whoa, he saw so much in this movie. It just went on and on and on. The symbology, you know, seeing, you probably have to see it by age 50 times. Come. Come up, come up. Skip this, but this is our enlightenment night, so. Can we have a little more? This is like unwind in the court. Unwind your mind. There we go. Yeah. Yeah, there were a lot of details that were noticed that seemed significant in the movie when I saw it. But right now, just when you're just talking about where could spirit go, where could oneness go and movement, I've been really feeling that recently is just movement at all. But I'm also wondering about creation too. I was wondering if you could maybe talk about creation and then movement, but maybe there's another sort of movement that's possible, or I don't know. You know what it says in Genesis, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. What we're starting to see is the heavens are creation, but not the heavens like in the sky somewhere or somewhere in the cosmos, but that's like the eternal oneness of spirit. And so that's creation. And it seems they have qualities like we call radiating or extending, but even that radiating and extending doesn't involve movement, because movement is a time-space construct. There has to be coordinates or objects or things in relation to each other. That's what movement is. It's things in relation to others. Like they've studied, for example, Einstein. A lot of scientists, recent scientists even, have studied black holes and they find an amazing gravitational field in black holes. It's much, much stronger than earth, like way, way more stronger. So things that we take for granted as far as weight, like how many pounds do things weigh, or when astronauts go to the moon, there's less of a gravitational pull, so we can see the astronauts bouncing up high and seem to just dance across the moon's planet because there's not so much. But gravitation is tied into the perception of time and movement, and so it's all part of like a relative cosmos that has no creation or no existence at all. It's, I think, Jesus does say at one point in the course he calls it a vast illusion. It's like gas, meaning applying to the cosmos. All these, we're still discovering, scientists are still discovering galaxies and more galaxies and more galaxies. It seems to be infinite, but it's actually finite. Just like stars, you know, we used to have love songs, as long as the stars shine in the heavens, I will be loving you. Now we know that just gas is burning out, and we're finite. So if anybody tries to convince you that I love you as long as you're stars in the heavens, turn it down, and turn it down. Say, that's finite. Is that the best you can do? Bring me higher love. A eternal love is love without end. That's all you could ever be content with because that's what you were created as, is eternal love. So everything that we call the cosmos is finite. It's kind of interesting too, when we talk about this motion stuff, because I love these quantum physicists now that have like literally mapped out the cosmos. They say the big bang happened, and then instead of being this thing that's in motion, it's this static thing, it's like a photo. And it depends on where you are inside the photo, that the illusion of where you seem to be in terms of evolution or whatever, like inside of it. But it's actually static. It's like this flat static thing. They've even got a shape of the cosmos. It's kind of cool to see the shape of it.  It's like the whole cosmos is there. It's an amazing thing. And then it says from inside of it, it seems like it's in motion. Inside of it, it seems like it's still happening. But it's not. It's really over and done. It's like a photo. It's literally that flat, that static. It's not dynamic at all. Dynamic seems to imply movement, force. So you could say that's the final frontier. That's really the undoing. When you say, I'm growing. I'm evolving. My life is in constant motion and movement. No.  Everything's a lie. Birth is a lie.  Evolution is a lie. Did Darwin have it right? No. Did the creationists, so-called the Bible, God created the heavens and the earth and Adam and Eve's story and all that? No. No, no, no. And this is what I meant when I told Suzanne one time and she asked me, can you describe enlightenment? I said, oh, it seems to me. Damn, damn, damn, damn, ah. And the ah is just seeing that it's much to do about nothing. All of it really. But it's so funny.  I mean, the number of times I'm thinking what you're thinking is crazy to me. It's so interesting. Next month, September 24th, is the Jewish New Year. And it's five, seven, seven, five. And I looked last year and I thought, where's the zero? You know, what's the zero? And it turns out that the zero in the Jewish calendar is the moment Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise. And so it's the moment of eating of the tree of good and evil. It's like the tree of that knowledge. And so time starts with judgment in the Jewish calendar. And I thought that was so cool. And I thought, ooh, it's alliance with course and miracles. At least in my mind. There it is. See? Such wisdom. Time starts with judgment. They're more synonymous. There's another word we can say. Death, motion, judgment, time. It's judgment. Yeah. We're seeing it's all the same. And she did say that at one point. She said when she was talking about all the different things that seemed to be going on, really, she was just saying, everything is the same. Because it's all time. That's the sameness of all things. It's time. And time isn't real. So all things were the unreality of all things. I'm saying that. I just realized something else too. That's great. I love it. I just love to see what this is. I weep to the left and there's Kevin's face. That looked like Lucy, really. It's your whole face. You smile, your eyes, your cheeks. Tell us. All right. We're talking about time. But the scene when everything's being unraveled and when she's in Times Square and gets blasted from the back, there are a lot of little posters or signs that were posted all over either electronically or street signs. And one of them was, we've got your back. So that kind of felt to me like the Holy Spirit, once you release yourself to it's bringing the mind into full awakening. And it just goes. It's also brain tonic and street cleaning right next to each other. So that's kind of like the brain, the whole idea of like a conditional system. You have to go back and freeze it. Yeah. And then the Times Square, I mean just like the sense of a square in a box and being in form, in the defined form, not abstract. Times Square. Yeah, Times Square. It literally is Times Square, but it's being done there. And then also when you say Time, like the big X that was there for like maybe half the scene in Times Square is like Times, you know, like multiple times, but also the Roman numeral for 10 and like 1 and 0, kind of, it's like some, like reality and nothing, it's still reality. There's no solution to this thing. And then just with words, Lucy is derived from the Latin word for light and then Pierre Del Rio is like rock of the river. And for some reason I got the sense of like river of time or the illusion of motion. So there's this rock, this sense of like an entity that's existing in this flow of, you know, sequential time or whatever. But then the light comes in like almost by grace or beyond logic and lifts it out of all that it knew before.  But he can't go beyond, because it's still within time within the river, but at least the rock got loosened and maybe it's going, but then, yeah, he gets a hint of it at the end when she says I'm everywhere. But I don't know time, that just kind of reminds me of that. Kevin, I'm lost to the rock. What was the rock? That was his name? Yeah, his name was Pierre, which means rock, Del Rio, rock of the river. And Lucy means light. Lucy was the light, and he was the rock on the rock of the river. River being motion, rock kind of solidity, and Lucy, light. Which again, that's what it came to. Everything kind of imploded. You can see the gases before the formation of the planets and kind of the streaming gases kind of like coming from the big bang, kind of radiating outward as a big bang from an explosion. And this was like an implosion. You could see them moving in the other direction. Like the gases all coming and imploding together. And the molten lava, like that we have in Hawaii right now, that's underneath the formation of the crust in the world. You know, it was just reversing everything, kind of taking it back. Time goes backwards. Talk about a regression. That's like an ultimate spirit regression all the way to the I Amness. I am everywhere. Everywhere? My favorite line. And we've had movies where we'll also see transcendence. His wife's asking Johnny Depp character, where are you? And he said, almost at the beginning, that's the only difference. And she's asking, where are you? After he has transcended the body, and he says, I'm everywhere. That's the experience we're going for. It's coming through, streaming through on the big screen. David? I'm everywhere. When Lucy kissed here, was her words safe to remind me? As a reminder? So, coming to mind, did she want to be reminded of her purpose or to all humanity, because of the conversation she had with the Morgan Freeman character initially, to the knowledge, to share it, to give it, what was his words exactly? To pass it on. Right, so it was a reminder, sort of like a mission that she had in a way, that she wanted to give, like it was motivating her. I know we've talked about the expansion and to wake up, and about 100%. But she also was why she created the computer to pass it on. And so he was like that symbol for her when you say the rock. I don't know, it was such a simple kiss. It wasn't French kiss, it wasn't a juicy kiss, it was a wet kiss. It was just like a contact kiss.   You know, when you're saying sweet dreams and you have a little kiss. It was kind of a quick, soft kiss. But it wasn't really romantic. That's what was interesting. And as a reminder, I just think a reminder of the simplicity, the softness. I think it was like, I really feel like it was a holy relationship expression. It was like, for a reminder. He was trying to, he was thinking, am I needed anymore? He was hoping she was going to say no. I was really afraid. It was freaking him out. I can't even say that in the car. But it was such a soft, simple kiss as a reminder. It was just another, I think, light use of symbols. It wasn't a neediness kiss. And there's so many of you she wasn't trying to get anything for sure. So there was no motive to get anything. And it was kind of a brief one too. It wasn't meant to make something. Arouse or make something continuous in time.  Or a kiss to have a prolonged kiss. It was really, it was kind of a short, sweet reminder. Things were okay. Like a calming kind of thing. Like to calm his fears. Or love. Simple love. A simple expression of love. That's what I was trying to get at. I actually had a kiss like that just recently. A total stranger. And it's the most incredible thing that ever happened. Well not the most incredible thing that ever happened. You're close. And it was after some body work, right? But it went beyond that. And we were just doing this eye gazing. Just total eye gazing. And then the moment happened. There was all of the things you just described. It was not sexual. It was just so sweet. So soft and so light. And just like, what was that? That kind of... And he said, it was a reminder that you can have this all mixed. It's the same word, reminder. It is. You can have this all mixed. Because it's a reminder that you can have this 24-7 all mixed. Because we were just in this deep... No, it was beyond words. I didn't think I was ever going to tell anyone that. I never had it. So this moment. I feel like I had my mouth open the whole movie. I didn't even know what was going on. Yeah. Yeah, it's almost like some kind of transmission where you're... If you're in the tractor beam, that's what we were saying. Just go with a lissy. And you're like... You're just adorable. What other words can we come up with? There's none. You're just transparent and adorable.  Our more fun mind. Yeah. I witnessed him when he first walked in the door here. He was like... And he probably thought the same thing we did. I said, adorable. Just adorable. That's how he walks through the day. Yeah, I just felt like... Yeah, with all that whole movie. I just felt so... No, I just... I had a whole movie. Especially right from the get-go. It was so profound. I wasn't sure what... I'm not sure I had any thoughts, really. Other than I felt this fear of awakening. Stuff like coming up. This is like... I feel like being carried or something right now. But it was... At the same time, it just... I kept feeling like joy from it. I don't know. The only word that's coming to mind is profound or deep. The same thing with Solaris. No words, really. Nicholas told me one day. He said, Today I fully expect to wake up. I live every day in full expectation that today is the day I'm waking up. I thought that was amazing. Like, not tomorrow, not... Not sometimes. Today is the day. Today is my day. It always feels like that. Yeah. I could talk about Nicholas like knowing lots of you from our encounters in different parts of the country and the world and hearing your stories and... Yeah. And everyone, you know, it's like... Everyone to me is just... is just that reflection of... of that union, that love. Because it is swift. When I first talked to you, Nicholas, I think we did a Skype call. We were up in, was it Quebec? At university. He was right in... enrolled in university. And it was just a symbol of being in what they call higher learning in this world. And now he's into music, movies and mysticism. Yeah. Some higher learning. And he's not institutionalized anymore. I don't think... Although some people will say the one that's not institutionalized, but they don't really know the essence of it. I feel like I can't even remember the beginning of the festival. Yeah, time. At all bars. Yeah, and I was also... I was sharing at the... I was sharing at the lunch... Maybe yesterday or the day before, camera. That... I couldn't even see the point in me going to class, because before class I'd be watching movies with you and other people. And then I'd go to class and be like, okay, okay. And then right after class I'd be washed again, because I'd keep watching videos. Other guys just point like that. Other guys just... I'd spend the whole class and be like, I'm on, put next. I just... I just didn't speak to me anymore. I'm trying. I mean, it's still... Yeah, I... I just... Even with my email, I just wanted to be in a space where I could kind of let it all go. And I was just kind of scared to do it at school. Seemingly by myself. So this has been... It has been just a big blessing to me. So, thank you. Thank you. I love you. So much. Just let it all go. Our evening movies, Solaris. It's... Solar is, light is. It seems to be the point of everything. Lucy, life. Solar is, light is. What? These are our movies we ended with. It's like the comic, Cosmic Humor. What if... One track modern. Light. Lucy, light, and then Solar is, light is. So in case you didn't get it with light, then follow-up movie tonight is Light Is. It's really good. It's going to be hilarious. I'm down again. I've watched a lot of still-in-the-movies. It's called Life's 32. Okay. Steve's giving away all of our secrets and we're live for the whole universe. Tell the FBI. They'll never find us. We're just light. We're moving too fast. It doesn't really exist. That's right. There is no FBI. I can't find it. This is our Cosmic Humor, though. I know. Isn't it great? No private thoughts. I'm just trying to be more... That would be unwinding. Unwinding. Okay, we'll all get pajamas and we'll meet at the jail down there. It's a shame. Everyone wears striped shirts. They're really funny. BYOB. It's all for the unwinding. It is. It is. That's the best part. We just... Oh my gosh, we just love you all so much. It's just so much fun to be in here. It's like we're having an ongoing party. Yeah. And everyone's just chipping in with their joyful spirit. Wearing their big glasses. That's great. Big cleaning glasses. She's ready for the 3D movies. That's great. That's okay. Oh my gosh. Okay. The pajamas, the whole thing. Thank you. There you go. Since we put these flowers up, maybe that's a good plan. Yeah. Some of you remember that from the movie Fest Chrissy was in hearing her... In PJs. That was a beautiful symbol. There she is in pink PJs again. That's just like... Okay. We love you. If you can sleep. Sweet dreams. If you can't. It's okay.


The U.S. Naval War College is a Navy's home of thought. Established in 1884, NWC has become the center of Naval seapower, both strategically and intellectually. The following issues in national security lecture is specifically designed to offer scholarly lectures to all participants. We hope you enjoy this upcoming discussion and future lectures. Good afternoon and welcome to our first issues in national security lecture for this academic year. I'm John Jackson and I will serve as the master of ceremonies for today's event. I'd like to note there are a few of us enthusiastic here in the building and also a large group in online with Zoom and we welcome both groups. To open our session I'd like to turn the microphone over to our new Provost Dr. Stephen Mariano for his welcoming remarks. Provost. Thank you John and welcome everyone. Yes, I'm Stephen Mariano. I'm the new Provost here at the Naval War College and on behalf of Admiral Chatfield who's currently traveling. It's my pleasure to welcome you all here this evening and also welcome David. Thank you very much for being here. Every day our students have the opportunity to hear from world-class scholars and study the most pressing security issues of the past, present and even future. In short we wanted to provide all of you with similar opportunity. Consequently the purpose of the issues in national security lecture series is to provide intellectual stimulation to the broader naval war college community. Opportunities to those of you that might not be able to attend our academic programs. What started as a program for spouses and significant others has grown because it became so popular. We enlarge it to audiences throughout the community to the staff and other employees across the base. We hope that these lectures give the participants a taste of what the students receive every day and so today you'll see the first offering on the menu for the 2022-2023 year. We kick off the series with one of our most knowledgeable speakers Professor John Maurer who will introduce us all to the brilliant work by one of our founding fathers, Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan. One simply cannot understand the U.S. Navy or naval power in general without understanding a bit about Mahan or is it Mahan. Now I'm a retired Army officer so it's my duty to point out that Admiral Mahan was the son of Dennis Hart Mahan who I'm sure we'll probably hear a little bit about. He was a celebrated military theorist, civil engineer and professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1824 to 1871. But regardless of your affiliation, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coastie, Government, Civilian, International, Fellow, Faculty, Staff, Intern or Spouse, we hope you enjoy the talk this evening and continue to talk about it and the other lectures throughout the year long after they're over and long after the Q&A sessions are finished. So thank you all for attending and I'd like to give my personal thanks to the Johns, Jackson and Maurer. We appreciate it and have a good evening. Over the 2022-2023 academic year we will be offering 16 lectures from some of the best scholars in the world, folks here on our resident faculty. This is intended to share a portion of the experience as the Provost has explained so that you have a feel for what the students are being exposed to and I've challenged several of you already to take notes and then go home and ask your student if they know that fact.  So we do include spouses, significant others, War College Foundation members, international sponsors and people from around the world who watch us via Zoom and we're very pleased to have that happen. So this is the schedule and it's an eye test so I won't attempt to go through all of it but normally we're on Tuesday afternoons. The next one will be Space and National Security Professor Burbach and it may very well be that the Artemis I mission which is an unmanned mission going around the moon will take place before that lecture or it could get postponed again. Either way we will talk about space and national security. The conflict in Ukraine obviously is critically important to all of us. We'll be talking about that global climate etc. Then we'll take the winter break, come back we're going to talk about humans versus machines. Professor Tim Schultz will talk about the Arctic number of other issues, China, women, peace and security. I will do my drone pitch one nation under drones indivisible with liberty and justice for all and then we'll have a final two sessions after the spring break and then wrap it up with a season finale. So it's a great opportunity for people to learn. We will not give you any academic credit however we will award certificates of participation for those who attend 70% of the lectures. That's 11 out of the 16 so keep track of the ones you attend and if you'd be interested in getting that certificate we'll make that possible for you towards the end. So after today's discussion we'll take about a five minute break and then we'll reconvene for the family discussion group discussions and we will do these most weeks where we'll have people from naval station Newport and other support organizations brief all of you on issues of concern. We're going to talk about schools and other sources today so if you'd like to stay on please feel free to do that. Okay mom and the main event during the presentation it follows our virtual participants should feel free to ask questions using the chat function on zoom and we'll recognize questions here in the audience and then we'll also take questions from our virtual participants. We ask that you use the microphone that's in front of your chairs if you're going to ask a question so everyone can hear you and our virtual participants can hear as well. This evening lecture will introduce you to one of the most important officers in U.S. naval history. Alfred there Mahan I never can get that served as the second president of the naval war college an officer in the United States Navy he fought in the American Civil War and held commands both at sea and ashore during his long professional naval career. The college's founder Admiral Stephen B. Lewis brought Mahan to Newport to serve on the faculty and present lectures on strategy and naval history. He subsequently turned these lectures into best-selling books on the influence of sea power upon history. These histories are widely considered the most influential work of non-fiction written by an American author during the 19th century. In addition to his histories Mahan wrote extensively about international rivalries of his day involving the great powers. Professor Maurer will briefly examine Mahan's writings about world politics and great power strategic competition drawing out parallels that exist between his era and our own times. Professor John Maurer serves as the Alfred there Mahan distinguished university professor of sea power and grand strategy at the college he previously served as chair of the strategy and policy department. The author and editor of numerous books and articles his next book coming out next month from the U.S. Naval Institute Press is entitled The Road to Pearl Harbor Great Power War in Asia and the Pacific. I'm pleased to pass the podium to one of the most one of the smartest and most eloquent speakers which I am not Professor John Maurer. Good afternoon everyone I am going to speak as John said about Alfred there Mahan that's the correct pronunciation he told people that's how you pronounce his name Mahan was the second president here at the Naval War College his books and articles achieved for him an international standing recognized as a writer on history he was president of the American Historical Association his books on history also garnered for him honorary degrees from major universities around the world Oxford Cambridge Harvard Yale again recognized as a great historian but he also also wrote about international affairs and world politics his articles his articles on international strategic matters were sought after by the public and also by leaders so today I'm going to talk about the time in which Mahan lived the navy in which he served the country the United States place in world affairs and also the international environment of his time well the influence of sea power upon history published in 1890 by the Boston firm Little Brown it's important to note that this book started as lectures here at the naval war college for students in the old school house across the way now the museum of the naval war college by the way Mahan tried to pedal this book to several publishers who turned him down he was frustrated by that I've never had any of my books turned down so I have never had that experience not true I just lied to you on stage anyway he was frustrated by this and in fact he almost gave up in the attempt to publish his book but instead he persevered and eventually the publishing house of Little Brown took up the publication of his book they took a risk there wow did they do well in signing Mahan the book became an international bestseller and has been in print ever since again one of the marks of a classic book if you remember from your high school teachers is what stand what makes a book a classic a work of art a class it has withstood the test of time just think about that 1890 to our own time Mahan's books are still in print and read well what's the influence of seapower about the first sentence of the book lays out what the story of seapower is about it's largely as he says a contest among great powers rivalries ending in violence culminating in war this is a very stark stark view of international relations that countries are destined almost inevitable to become rivals of each other that the international system is marked by these intense rivalries that lead to war again this stark view of international relations is one that we would like to avert our gaze and say it can't possibly be these struggles for power won't won't occur again at the end of the 19th century when he was writing many pointed and said great power war it's impossible the world economy is too knit together war between great powers would be economic suicide the victors will not come out of such a struggle even better and better in any way than those that have lost the struggle Mahan is taking a stand against that he's saying that ancient rivalries wars from the ancient world the ancient Greeks lucidities these will be played out again into the future his books are meant to be a warning a warning about the dangers in the international environment and so the very first sentence of the influence of seapower really grabs you gets your attention right up front that that's the story has to tell a story of war of rivalry of international jealousies well what about the college where he came to be professor of strategy and second president well its founder was steven b loose noted noted exemplary officer in the navy of his time served in the civil war while in the civil war he took part in a number of campaigns but one campaign was to work with general Sherman his Sherman marched through the south through Georgia and then up north through the carolinas loose would hold conversations with Sherman he was so impressed by general Sherman Sherman could outline the history of the future he could tell how operations were going to unfold he predicted almost to the day when the confederate fortress city of charleston would fall loose was so impressed by Sherman and his knowledge of operations and strategy that he thought that anyone who is in the service of the armed forces needs to have that education be able to be like Sherman able to predict to see the history of the future well that is one of the motivations that he had for establishing the naval war college which as he wrote said should be a place for the study of war statesmanship related to the prevention of war again we would call this is a place to study war but also questions of international relations as well well he brought mehan to be the professor of strategy here and assigned to him to deliver lectures and so mehan spent a year in new york city using libraries to put together his lectures that eventually became his books on the influence of sea power now one of the reasons why loose chose mehan to come here to be a professor of strategy was because mehan already had a reputation in the service as being an intellectual officer he had already published a book about the u.s navy in the american civil war a book called the gulf in inland waters he had also written an article for the u.s naval institute proceedings about naval education the role of education for a naval officer but another factor as was highlighted by the provost was that his father was a celebrated legendary professor of engineering but also we would say operations and tactics many of the civil war generals studied operations under denise hart mehan and so loose looked at the younger mehan and thought he's going to be for the navy like his father had been for the army that educator of sherman and grant mehan himself in his autobiography said that no doubt he was chosen because it was hoped that some of his father's ability to be a great teacher would rub off on him well the influence of c power upon history the first volume came out in 1890 and as mentioned mehan already had a long service career he graduated from the naval academy right on the eve of the american civil war and was thrust right into the operations of the american civil war so he saw war firsthand well what are some of his teachings on strategy well it's important that mehan wanted to highlight the importance of strategy he called strategy what the queen of military sciences he highlighted in his writings in his lectures he said that this is what determines strategy determines the outcome the outcome of war a country armed services can win battles and yet still lose the war if the strategy isn't sound and he wanted to highlight that to the officers that he was educating the fundamental importance of strategy and indeed the college's reputation since behance time to the present day rests on the education strategy that we offer here well the book was right away a sensation uh in the united states and around the world one of the first reviewers was theodore roosevelt future president of the united states look what he wrote distinctively the best most important and by far the most interesting book on naval history produced in many a long year again what does mehan show the practical importance of the study of naval history it's not naval history for its own sake it's for the application of history to understand better current affairs current problems and again roosevelt is highlighting that who wish to estimate and use a right the navies of the present again mehan is a historian but he's also trying to instruct instruct those students in his charge those that read his books about the importance of history for understanding today's problems well uh theodore roosevelt wasn't the only person to be taken by mehan's books kaiser villhelm of germany read the books kaiser villhelm was the grandson of queen victoria of britain uh he spoke english fluently uh he uh told an american correspondent friend of his that he's not just reading mehan but he's just devouring it the book is that good he's trying to learn it by heart again here at the naval war college we want our students to learn mehan by heart again it's a first-class work he says and all of its points it's as it translated into german and it's aboard all of his ships and again his captains and officers are constantly quoting it he says to his american correspondent by the way over the museum there is a copy of the influence of c power upon history the german translation uh over in the museum urge you all to go over the museum to get a sense of the college's history but you can also look at this translated volume of mehan's work again villhelm villhelm of germany the emperor was very much taken by mehan's work but it's not just mehan's generation that generation of theodore roosevelt and kaiser villhelm but also a younger generation as well who read mehan you can see winston churchill on the right there this is from august 1941 a summit meeting off the coast of newfoundland uh the atlantic conference just as the us is emerging getting ready to emerge into the second world war president roosevelt had a meeting with winston churchill winston churchill was a reader of mehan he actually met mehan in 1911 when he was first lord of the admiral bank and told mehan that he was reading his latest book on naval strategy uh we know this because mehan wrote to his publisher of that book naval strategy it said the first lord of the admiral was reading my book it must be really important how about that uh churchill later in life would say there is no greater thinker on naval strategy than mehan another person who read mehan was franklin d roosevelt the future president of the united states during the second world war you cannot understand churchill and roosevelt's strategy in the second world war without understanding the influence of mehan upon history uh roosevelt as a boy as a teenager was a given a copy of mehan's influence of c power upon history as a present from his mother he was smitten he loved the book he read everything that mehan wrote if you're looking for christmas presents for your children or birthday presents you can give them a copy of mehan's works uh roosevelt by the way wanted to put together a collected collection of mehan's writings and edit them that was one of the goals he had set for himself when he was no longer president after roosevelt passed away his wife elinor was asked by a journalist what what books did your husband read what books were most influential in shaping his intellectual map and without missing a beat elinor roosevelt said he was always quoting and talking about alfred fair mehan again roosevelt roosevelt franklin d roosevelt was a close student and as you'll see in a moment uh also corresponded with mehan but behind these two great political leaders you see two naval officers on the right admiral harold betty nicknamed stark chief of naval operations at this time uh naval war college class of 1923 where he read mehan and you can go to the archives you can see his strategy uh and policy paper and in that you can see where he quotes mehan next to him admiral urnis j kink who would take over as chief of naval operations during the second world war uh naval war college class of 1933 again you can look at his strategy paper where he quotes mehan again these officers in residence here who would be the great naval leaders of the second world war they studied mehan well what about the navy of mehan's time talked about the college and its influence on future leaders what about the navy well this is 1893 this is the front line strength of the navy a squadron of cruisers going off to european waters to show the american flag and the flagship is the cruiser uss chicago mehan was tasked to be the captain of the chicago the flagship of the squadron uh mehan didn't want to go he wanted to stay here at the naval war college and continue his pursuits of writing by the way his writings were quite lucrative to him and if you look at mehan's papers you see he could count every penny that came in he was very much interested in royalties well he didn't want to go to um to go off to europe to uh uh be captain of the chicago but he was told by the head of navy personnel commodore ramsey it's not the business of a naval officer to write books naval officers go to see mehan and his autobiography said he resented this but he agreed it was the duty of naval officers to go to see and so he went to see as the flag captain of the squadron aboard the chicago well the admiral of the squadron admiral urban a famous naval uh hero of the american civil war uh he and mehan did not get along and urban wrote a fitness report of captain mehan and this is some extracts from it mehan's interests are entirely outside and he cares but little for the navy i asked my students would you like to have this as your fitness report he's not a good naval officer again not observant with regard to the ship's welfare or appearance and he doesn't inspire confidence in any way in fact the first few weeks of the chicago's crews positively discreditable mehan's interests in the service literary work oh my goodness mehan's a geek he's a geek yeah he's not really interested in the service in any other way by the way mehan bitterly resented this fitness report that he was given and contested it well mehan and the college their reputation rests together by the early 1890s the college had been around for almost a decade and some of the navy's uniform leadership said the college was a good experiment loose set up something but it's not worth the resources that are being spent upon it what do officers do during their year in residence at newport well they go to the casinos off belview avenue they have a good time but but they really don't learn anything of importance again commodore ramsey's view is that you should be at sea with ships not on land studying history well they went to the secretary the navy hillary herbert and convinced him that the naval war college should be closed down a worthy experiment gave it a shock but ended well herbert uh aborted a steamship to go from washington up to newport with the intention of closing down the college as he was leaving washington one of his aides handed him the influence of sea power upon history and said sir read this so while traveling steaming north to newport he read the influence of sea power upon history this is what he wrote to mehan in 1893 this book is worth all the money that has been spent on the naval war college changed herbert's mind he intended to abolish the college when he left washington but now he's going to do all in his power to sustain it one of the definitions of power is to change somebody's mind they want to do one thing and you convince them to do something opposite from what they wanted to do that's real influence that's real power this is a case of the power of words of mehan's writings it is also no doubt the case too that the secretary of the navy was reading the reviews that were coming out about mehan's works and also that mehan aboard the chicago and the european tour he was being faded by everyone he met kaiserville home he met queen victoria he met the prime minister of great britain they all were claiming him as a great writer with publicity like that the secretary of the navy no doubt not just reading the books but seeing that mehan's work was striking a responsive chord there was something to it and again it was a product of the naval war college so the college has survived down to her own day what about the nation the united states of america in mehan's time well first again recognize it's the aftermath of the american civil war the bloodiest war in american history here's a painting of the battle of spotsylvania the blue against the gray the north against the south the union against the confederacy horrific struggle marked by some new technologies iron clads the monitor and the virginia fighting off hampton roads showing that the future was going to be with iron and steel not wood a famous painting making peace that hangs in the white house it shows president lincoln meeting with his top generals grant and sherman toward the end of the war an admiral david dixon there again we would call this joint operations the final campaigns of the war how to bring this war to an end you see in this beautiful painting there the rainbow the promise of the future that what has stricken the united states in this civil war won't ever happen again what a beautiful painting it is and lincoln listening to his generals and admiral about how to conclude what we would call war termination bring an end to operations well another painting generally the famous general of the confederacy the best general surrendering to general grant at apomatics courthouse in april 1865 again the generation that mahan lived through the horror of the american civil war in the aftermath of the war how do you bring the country together the country is now united again by war it is the united states of america united strong central institutions are needed to keep this country together not have a break apart in political polarization well in addition to that how do you economically knit together the country so you have great infrastructure uh projects like the building of the railways across the united states linking together the country economically as well as war has linked it together politically here you see a famous work of art from 1872 by john gas the brooklyn it shows columbia the female personification of america america's manifest destiny she's traveling across the country from east to west from the ports the cities you can see the railways being built uniting the country together you can see too what is she doing she's laying the internet there with cable and in her hand she has a schoolbook yes information is going around being transported across the country but to make sense of that information you have to have educated people again public education is so important for educating a populace to understand the environment in which they live again education is part of uniting the country together again this is a sense that america recovering from the civil war has that destiny that great future ahead of it well to understand a time it's useful to look at the music of the time what are people singing well we didn't have an official national anthem in the hands time that only comes in the 1930s with the star-spangled banner at this time the most popular patriotic song is columbia the gem of the ocean and so join with me now as we sing the verses of columbia the gem of the ocean oh columbia the gem of the ocean you're not singing oh well again look at the words here again the red white and blue banners make tyranny tremble an ideological aspect to american life again these banners again the country has gone through a storm but now there's victory adorning columbia and again that flag proudly floating before her the union the union forever the country's knit together again army and navy forever three cheers for the red white and blue we don't hear this song as much anymore do we john sometimes we do and the band will play it but but again it's not as popular as it was at its own time and again this really does take you back to an earlier time of american history again a sense of confidence belief in our flag well behind those sentiments there are realities of power the united states is becoming a great industrial nation and here you see a painting of the bethlehem steelworks one of the biggest steel uh plants in the world the bethlehem steel plant produces more steel than the whole all of british steel plants in the united kingdom just one factoring the united states is growing as a great industrial power already a great uh as the railroads are opening up the lands of the midwest a great agricultural power producing surpluses of grain to export around the world but also becoming a great industrial power as well at this time uh poll kennedy the Yale historian and here's a photograph of him when he was at the current strategy forum here a few years ago on the stage right here of sprue and sort of torrent in his famous classic book the rise and fall of great powers he gives measures of economic strength of the great powers and here's one of his tables uh it's about energy consumption how much energy does a country produce and consume in a year that is one measure of a country's industrial strength and what you see is that at the time of mahan's publication of the influence of sea power upon history the united states is moving past britain as the world's leading industrial power britain was the pioneer of the industrial revolution the end of the 18th in the beginning of the 19th century britain's like the boast that they were the workshop of the world well now the united states is emerging as a great industrial power on par with the workshop of the world but fast forward a bit on the eve of the first world war what you see is that the united states its economy its industry is greater than the industry of britain and germany combined before the first world war by the beginning of the 20th century over a hundred years ago the united states is already an economic superpower the united states position in the world has been undergirded by american economic strength from the beginning of the 20th century down to our own time the united states has this powerful industrial agricultural technological economy that makes it world class a world leader we don't have military forces of the first rank but we are certainly the leading economic power in the world by the time of the first world war at the same time that mehans books on the influence of sea power coming out to showcase america's industry and technology there is the great columbian exhibition of 1893 in chicago and here's a painting of this world's fair that was put on in chicago here's a photograph inside the main hall where you see american industry being trumpeted general electric westing house tesla all there all there being shown to the world the united states has emerged as an industrial giant along with britain at this time again this coincides with mehans book on the influence of sea power upon history well at this great exhibition a historian by the name of frederick jackson turner delivered a paper that is famous about the closing of the frontier in it this is a so-called closing the frontier thesis which is that from the time of columbus down to 1893 well there's been four centuries of the new world being colonized developed and a hundred years from the time of the constitution but now the frontier is gone the country's been knit together but there's no more land to expand a period of american history turner says is ending in the 1890s again it coincides the turner thesis the closing of the frontier with mehans writings on the influence of sea power upon history by the way the world recognizes that the united states is this great economic power at the time of the columbian exhibition the two leading world powers britain and france upgrade their diplomatic legations in washington to full embassies for the first time britain and france recognized the united states as an equal an equal that deserves an embassy a full embassy well the 48 what next with the closing of the frontier well mehan gives the answer whether americans want to or not they have to look outward because the united states is so strong as an economic power we're influencing the rest of the world the growing economic production of the country demands that the united states have a more global view of the world the united states is too important and of a player a player it is caught up in the whole global environment well this was a period of rising great power tensions uh and competition well what do we mean by that well the leading world power at the time was great britain the british empire uh britain rested its position in the world as a world leader rested on its economy you see a gold sovereign there with britannia the female personification of britain sitting the trident a symbol of dominance at sea in her hand an olive branch peace peace through strength and beside behind her what do you see a warship a british man of war in 1897 at the jubilee for queen victoria her yacht went by a line of battleships economic power naval power together what mehan calls sea power ruled britannia but at the beginning of the 20th century britain is being challenged by other rising great powers again here's britain's position uh at the beginning of the 20th century one quarter of the world's land mass one quarter of the world's population is governed by britain the home islands the great dominion to the north in canada when you look at the british empire it stretches from new zealand australia holdings port and holdings in shanghai hong kong singapore south asia all the way down to south africa in many ways the british empire is an indian ocean latoral empire that in population is where the center of gravity is britain is the greatest power in asia at the beginning of the 20th century well who are the rising challengers well here's a photograph that shows the two most important challengers for world power to britain theodore roosevelt and kaiser vilhelm both these avid readers of alfred thayer mahan this is a photograph taken by the kaiser's court photographer of german army maneuvers in 1910 and you see theodore roosevelt and the kaiser on horseback in conversation the kaiser's photographer took these photographs and then sent them to uh uh to president roosevelt who had just left office this is 1910 a year after he has left office in 1909 uh president roosevelt won the nobel peace prize for helping to settle the russo-japanese war of 1904 1905 a case study that we study in the intermediate level course here at the naval war college well after he left the presidency he went to europe to accept the prize but also went on a lecture tour in france and in germany while in germany the kaiser said come to my german army maneuvers in may of 1910 well here's another photograph and here's the caption vilhelm the colonel of the rough riders lecturing the chief of the german army that's the kaiser's hand by the way that he's written underneath this photograph that he sends to former president roosevelt here's another photograph you can see the black armband on the kaiser because his uncle edward the seventh had passed away today of course the funeral for queen elizabeth uh the second uh here's the caption underneath can you read that i know pity the historians we have to read the handwriting again the kaiser is fluent in english well here's what he wrote total agreement about the general maxims of life and policy between america spelled with a k and germany this is what he's writing to roosevelt but we know that this is wrong there is no total agreement about general maxims in life and policy between these two rising great powers these two rising great powers will become bitter enemies and fight two world wars against each other again mehan writing in his time about changes in power balances writing to war what he writes about is the rise of german power and the threat that this poses to britain and in the long run if germany is successful to the united states as well well mehan he was an advocate of a big navy why well the united states in his view is like britain it's an insular country it's surrounded by major bodies of water the atlantic and the pacific so it's in the interest of americans to understand the importance of the navy our position in the new world as an island state demands that we have a powerful navy to protect us again what is it what are the seas like well in a very famous passage mehan says when you look at the seas you have to think of it as one a great highway a wide common today strategists talk a great deal about the commons the maritime commons the aerospace commons information domain a great power has to dominate these domains these commons if they don't if they don't they'll be losers in war and again you have to combine your strengths in different domains to get full strategic effects again that the seas are a wide common a great highway and hence how do you get the united states the atlantic pacific can be a highway for invasion how do you come to dominate the maritime the sea common well that command of the sea equals what mehan calls an overbearing power on the sea in wartime you want to drive the enemy's flag away the enemy can appear on the seas except there's a fugitive you have such command such dominance not a hundred percent but so much that when the enemy does come out onto the seas they're only coming out as a fugitive and again controlling what he calls the great common to close that highway to your opponents that's the goal of a navy in wartime to close that highway that common to your adversary and also controlling in such a way that you can use it for whatever purposes you have in mind well from a hand to the american people it is every danger that the united states faces can be best met out there over there at sea you need to have a powerful navy to keep wars dangers as far away as you can president bush the younger he liked to say that he wanted america's wars to be away games not home games well that's what mehan is talking about as well and again a cartoon of the time now columbia garb as the statue of liberty lady liberty she's protected our hemisphere our country is protected and what is protected in a fleet of battleships first class navy that's what you need to protect yourself in this world against envious other great powers they can see that powerful navy there it will deter them from challenging you the way to protect the new world from the old is to have that powerful navy again the caption let it be written so it can be read how do you want to write it in steel firepower unpowerful fleet mehan teacher or propagandas well of course that's a false dichotomy false question he's both he is a teacher educating students here at the war college but also wider audiences the american public and leaders as well he wants to reach a wider audience and he is a propagandist in fact he's often thought to be one of the most successful propagandists that the united states has ever had arguing for a larger role for the united states in the world and also to go along with that you need to have a powerful navy if you want to be a world power you have to have a powerful navy well mehan wasn't sure the american people were ready for this and this is why he is a propagandist trying to educate the public he said that a peaceful economic gain-loving is not visionary they can't see the dangers that are out there they're content making money doing well but vision that's what's required for adequate military preparation yeah there might be no danger now but it's out there in the horizon these changing power balances can lead to war kaiser's germany is getting stronger it's building up its navy it is a threat to the existing international order again popular governments democracies we would say they're not generally favorable in peacetime however necessary democracies declare war and then prepare for war rather than prepare for war and avert or deter war mehan was a firm believer in the old roman adage that if you want peace prepare for war well one of the persons who corresponded with mehan was franklin d rooseville a young franklin d rooseville who was assistant secretary of the navy the number two civilian position in the navy during the administration of woodrow wilson franklin d rooseville wanted mehan this influential writer on policy affairs to write about the need to keep the united states fleet concentrated before the panama canal was built so roosevelt wrote to mehan and asked him to write articles about the importance of keeping the navy concentrated in peacetime to deter potential adversaries again what did roosevelt write to mehan he says your voice carries more conviction with the public and leaders than anyone else at this time this is a 1913 14 on the eve of the great war well so what what does this mean for us today what does it mean for us today these stories that mehan told about great powers fighting in the 18th and early 19th century how does that work for us today what can we learn from that from his histories of the influence of sea power well mehan is read today in china where chinese leaders officers are very much under the influence uh here's one translation of commentary on mehan the u.s benefited from what mehan's theories of sea power again the united states pushes forward moving forward at island chains expanding that strategic depth out to sea and moving into the rank the world's first powers greatest powers again if you want to be a world power great power the first rank you need a navy of the first rank as well again if you want to have influence on the global stage you'll have to have the powerful navy as well sometimes when i speak my slides are put into the passages of mehan as you can see translated into chinese characters again a wide common well robert kaplan the famous journalist author commentator in public affairs writes today the chinese they read the mehan the chinese are the mehanians now why because china's leaders want the their country to move into the first rank of world powers mehan laid out a blueprint in their eyes for the rise of american power in the world at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century its leaders internalize mehan's message china reading mehan today trying to internalize that to think about the future so what does mehan have to offer us today well that stark reality of mehan's works and the influence of sea power upon history it's troubling for us if mehan we're here today what would he say well he would say that while history doesn't repeat itself there are certain patterns of history that put the united states in china uh on a path a collision where these two powers vying for world leadership are likely to clash again that's the somber message that mehan has for us today thank you very much so my question is and this is coming from our army perspective there's a lot of focus on attendance at army war college you're pretty much not going to make full kernel if you don't attend army war college or equivalent and it's a very competitive process to attend and at least from my perspective it seems that for the navy there seems to be a lot of this bias of still wanting officers to be line officers on ships as opposed to spending time in this academic setting so i just i'm just curious from that was a big surprise growing up in the army culture where going to war college is like the pinnacle of your career and then having that exactly as you described what mehan faced a hundred years ago seems to be a somewhat of a reality today and i was just wondering kind of what your thought process on that is well it is certainly the case when you look at the second world war overwhelmingly the naval leaders that took part in the atlantic and in the pacific were all graduates in residence of the naval war college where they did war gaming but also they wrote major papers thesis on strategy and on what we would call operations and so when you look at admirals like admiral king and admiral stark that i highlighted but also nimitz sprowence sprowence was here as a student then a member of the faculty before going on to home flag command so the great leaders of the second world war were great well they studied here at the naval war college now that doesn't mean that what we did here there were flaws in the education that was here if you look at some of the war games that were played here there were wars between britain and the united states were played out here and we had war plans by the way for fighting the british empire you know i've highlighted the danger from germany and the us fighting each other but there was also the possibility in these power transitions that britain and the united states might afford each other the other thing is in the interwar period many thought we would never fight again in europe we did that in the first world war we went over there that's another song i could sing but that war didn't seem to change anything and so the naval officers here were very much like the american public writ large which is we will never fight another great war in europe so there's no need to think about how you fight submarines like we did in the first world war so so i would highlight the importance of the education here in the interwar period for creating the officer corps that were to lead the navy in the second world war and triumph to get that victory at sea so why do you think there's such a culture difference i guess today between sort of an army perspective and a navy perspective when it goes to attending the war college yeah and this culture that you talk about was something that was also evident in mehan's time when you read mehan's influence and see power upon history he talks about how naval officers don't want to study history what is it henry ford said history is bunk well that that was pretty much an attitude that navy officers had winston churchel when he took over his first lord of the admiralty he wanted to make sure that british naval officers went to a war college and they didn't want to do that over there either and in a memorable passage he says the purpose of a war college is to take captains of ships and turn them into captains of war now our the army on the other hand is more connected to thinking about operations and strategy and studying from the past and what you can learn to apply to the future whereas navies tend to be more focused on the technology ship handling so they are different cultures in that in that sense i have found by the year through the years of teaching here that the officers who often gravitate to mehan our air force officers because again it's a command of the aerospace commons you need air superiority to win your wars if you don't have air superiority your ground and naval operations won't go anywhere so that's a very mehanian message you know command the maritime commons to be able to win on land you know air force officers can take to mehan mark do you have any questions from zoom are there any other questions here in the auditory yes sir so based on mehan's book influence of sea power how do you think he would view the the industrial capacity that exists now in the united states for production of sea power sea vessels and for he would be very much concerned about what he would see as an erosion of an industrial base and the ability to produce ships of all kinds weapons in general i mean that's part of the message of the influence of sea power upon history is that the elements of sea power depend upon economic strength and in industrial age you need to have industry and so countries have to build up their industry their technological base so he would be in favor of supporting those things that enhance your ability to build technologically sophisticated weapons whether they be ships aircraft whatever so there there's an important connection there between that economic base and the ability to have military power and that in peacetime it's often not recognized how important that is and then war happens and you try to build it up quickly but what happens if the war is relatively short you're in trouble yeah he would be very concerned about that yes well i think that concludes our discussion if you'd like to be out in the parking lot at the end of the event here we're going to be selling john mower's greatest hits uh where he will sing all of those songs he wanted to break into today yes thank you john uh let's hear it uh for our wonderful speaker