10,000 HOURS TO MASTERY Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan LESSON 4 THE PATH TO MASTERY

“Technical skill is mastery of complexity, while creativity is mastery of simplicity.” (Erik Christopher Zeeman)

3 PATHS TO MASTERY There are typically three paths to mastery, and many false paths. Beware those offering easy mastery, for it is an illusion.

PATH 1: GENERATIONAL Jethro mentored Moses. Moses mentored Joshua and the elders of Israel, who shepherded God's people. Joshua mentored the other army leaders. God gave the Ten Commandments originally to the newly named leaders of the tribes. These elders in charge of groups of 10 used the Ten Commandments to shepherd their flocks. Generational mastery is often part of family tradition. The student may have little choice. This can be seen in sons who are automatically enrolled in the same career paths as their fathers.

PATH 2: SELF-DIRECTED MASTERY Often seen in computer prodigies, self-taught musicians and entrepreneurs. The deep meditative skills of Zen become instinctual. Self-directed mastery involves a God-given gift (also known as “genius”) intersecting with an opportunity, resulting in productive obsession. When mastery or genius intersects with obsession, obsession loses its negative connotation.

PATH 3: MENTORSHIP The third path to mastery is the most common, mentorship. Mentorship can be seen throughout human endeavor and legend, from craftsman and apprentice to sensei and student to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. The path of mentor and mentee often follows Joseph Campbell’s “heroic cycle,” in which the aspirant to knowledge goes on a journey of self- discovery. The mentee begins in a state of innocence but impotence, powerless to affect events.

MENTORSHIP (CON’T) He then moves into learning and humility, where ego must be set aside in the face of all he does not know. From there, he moves to knowledge and the temptation that comes with it. That experience leads to a loss of innocence and entry into the “real world,” where he sees that everything gained must be paid for with an equal sacrifice. Finally, the student emerges as a master, transformed. The mentor-mentee dynamic highlights a reality: mentor becomes tormentor.

LETTING GO True mastery requires suffering and sacrifice. On this journey, the old ways and old self must be set aside. The learner must let go of his or her old life and embrace the new way. Mastery is as much about letting go and humbling oneself as it is about the development of new skills and the enhancement of knowledge. At some point, the student will confront the teacher out of pride and disbelief in the teacher’s wisdom.

LETTING GO (CON’T) The journey to mastery is akin to the Buddhist doctrine that letting go of attachment is the key to reaching true fulfillment. Consider Jesus’ path. He passed from innocence to knowledge, then as the Messiah was forced to surrender control of all that he was and be slain. Only by enduring this trial could he be reborn and come fully into his mastery as the reborn Son of God. Sacrifice, self-abasement and the abandonment of all one once held dear are essential.

2 PIVOTAL CHOICES The path to mastery will present the student with two moments of pivotal choice. The first is the choice to believe that the disciplined, long-term approach that requires 10,000 hours is the right choice. The student who fails at this choice and takes the shortcut will not achieve mastery. The second is the choice to persist past the low point when it seems that all the hard work has been for naught. In everyone’s path to mastery there always comes a time when mastery seems beyond hope. Then choice to press on is omnipotent.

10,000 HOURS TO MASTERY Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan LESSON 4 THE PATH TO MASTERY