In this interview Roy Posner, president of Growth Online, describes the history of Growth Online; including how it got started, what its purpose and vision is, and where it might be headed in the not too distant future. Created July 2002. Updated May 2008.

Growth Online: Welcome Roy.

RP: Thanks!

Growth Online: OK, so why did you start Growth Online?

RP: Well, let's start with a little background.

For years a number of close friends of mine have been involved in a group called The Mother's Service Society (MSS), located in Pondicherry in South India. They are a progressive, new age think tank, who have taken the ideas of Sri Aurobindo, the Indian sage and visionary, and have extended them into many fields of life. For over thirty years they have been doing ground breaking work in applying Sri Aurobindo's ideas in such diverse fields as education, literature, science, business, economics, social development, amongst others. It is really revolutionary what they have come up; unprecedented in my opinion in the annals of world thought. I believe they are literally hundred years ahead in their thinking.

Well, back in 1975 I worked as a sales representative for one of the Society's affiliate businesses, Mere Cie imports. A year or so later I formed my own company called Kenroy, which became a distributor for the Mere Cie product line in Northern California. Needless to say I also got involved in the principles of Sri Aurobindo, and specifically to his ideas extended to the field of business, which were developed by Mother's Service Society. And so I made an initial attempt to apply these ideas at Kenroy. The overall approach at the time was called "The Consciousness Approach to Business Management."

Growth Online: So how did the business make out?

RP: Not too well I'm afraid! To put it bluntly, we failed. We ended up making too many fundamental mistakes. Had we seriously applied the principles of consciousness that were at our disposal, we might have weathered the storm. But in reality we didn't really utilize the consciousness approach in the daily operations of that business. We just never got around to it; as we were too caught up in the running of the business. I know that sounds absurd since I created the company in the first place as a basis for these consciousness approach teachings.

Still, it was a great experience. We helped pioneer a number of products along the way. And I learned a lot about myself and life.

Gradually I moved on and got involved in the computer boom of the 1980s. In the early 1990s, I founded GuruSoftware, where we developed computer software applications for businesses and government, and also provided computer software training services. Since we had developed software applications, and were also conversant with the ideas developed by Mother's Service Society, I thought that perhaps we could develop a software program for personal growth. I also conceived of developing a similar program for business growth; to help accelerate businesses profitability and growth. Both would be based on the insightful and profound ideas developed by MSS.

So around 1995 we created an initial version of the Evolve! personal growth software, and put it out as a free download. However, at some point it became clear that Evolve! was not an optimally conceived program.

Growth Online: Why was that?

RP: In the case of Evolve! we realized that we simply did not have the fundamental understanding of what really causes people to grow and develop -- i.e. what were the forces, powers, and processes that come into play that enable people to grow and evolve. We had a some inkling, some of the key factors, but not an integral understanding.

Perceiving my interest in developing Evolve!, several friends of mine at The Mother's Service Society invited me up to have discussions on the key factors that enable people to grow and evolve at their offices in Napa, California

So every Saturday for two months or so in the summer of 1996 we began discussions on many of profound fundamental principles of life that MSS had developed over the years. The idea was that this knowledge could possibly be used to develop a new version of Evolve! or used for some other pursuit. In any case they were surely interested in helping me understand a number of key principles related to personal growth and accomplishment.

Also, at the time the web was fast becoming a reality; so we thought we could perhaps develop a web-based version of Evolve!. We also bandied about the idea of developing a "growth center," where we could present a number of these profound ideas about the workings of life in an easy, accessible format for the viewer.

So we gathered together every week or so, and had some very enlightening and intense discussions. Out of our attempt to understand the true nature an makeup of the individual; what enables success and achievement in life, and what are the factors that enable us grow and evolve, we developed with a core set of guiding principles.

After a half dozen or so meetings, we came up with an astounding array of answers, as well as many unanswered questions, including a lack of full understanding of the process by which people grow and evolve. In essence, we could not agree on an underlying schema or model or first principle that underscored the ideas that we had bandied around. We had not yet found a Unifying Theory, if you will.

On the other hand, I personally benefited greatly from the discussions, since my associates knew a heck of a lot more that I did at the time. Perhaps the most important result was that I now understand 10 or 20 fundamental principles of life that could aid in developing a future version of Evolve!, or at least could be the basis for articles that could be developed on a personal growth web site in the future.

Growth Online: Can you share with us any example of these principles?

RP: Yes. One core principle was the notion of "inner-outer correspondence." That is, life on the outside is a reflection of your inner condition. Then there was the phenomenon of "Life Response," which is  an extension of Inner-Outer Correspondence. That is, if you change some aspect of your being within -- such as a wanting attitude -- then life on the outside suddenly responds in kind; e.g. with a new promotion, or money coming to you from out of nowhere, or the sudden fulfillment of your heart's desire This subtle unfolding of life obviously transcend our normal perceptions of what is possible, how cause and effect interrelate, and the nature of space and time.

In fact, Life Response would become my obsession in the following years, culminating in my book, 'The Miraculous Phenomenon of Life Response.'

Growth Online: Any other ideas you can share?

RP: Yes, there were quite a few; many very profound.

One very key topic was "The Process of Personal Growth," which is the idea that there is a fundamental process by which people accomplish, create, as well as grow and evolve in life. If we learn that process, follow it in our lives, then we quickly can bring about great success and achievement in life -- even instantaneously as a response from life.

Growth Online: What is that process?

RP: The process of personal growth and accomplishment is simple actually. You have a vision of what you want to achieve, you aspire deeply for it to occur, you gain the sanction of your will and emotions to make it happen, you organize the best strategies to make it come about, and then carry them out with a persevering effort, while applying your skills and best attitudes along the way. When you do that you will achieve your goals, and then some, as life will tend to respond positively from all quarters!

This is by the way the same fundamental process of creation in the universe. I.e. the process by which a universe of forms came about from a Divine source. I.e. some Creator source conceived of a universe of forms to extend its own divinity, organized it through a supernormal means, which led to the development of energy that became the source of all forms of that force in the cosmos.

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Growth Online: That sounds more like metaphysics that life principles.

RP: Aren't they one and the same? That is, the deepest principles of life relate back to original ideas of a Higher Reality. These principles of how life works, unfolds are expressions of, extensions of that Higher Reality. (ep)

Actually all of these principles, these "life truths," -- inner-outer correspondence, life response, the process of creation, and all -- are interrelated, because underneath they are unified in yet higher principles of life, such as the Oneness of being. These are what we would consider spiritual principles.

So you can see we were already knocking on the doors of the spiritual domain, which has to be at the root of any fundamental understanding of any type of growth and development -- personal, business, or social growth and development.

So for me these were stunning ideas, rooted in the deepest mysteries and secrets of life. I had already had a connection with the spiritual life, but now I was learning a number of new principles of life, magical principles, that reflected the spiritual realm in a practical way. I see now in retrospect that the key to any real understanding of personal growth was to tie these life principles that I absorbed at these meetings with the spiritual principles that underlies all existence. Every day we are making more and more of these connections at the site, and presenting them to our readers.

So shortly after these meeting concluded I took these principles of life and turned them into a number of the topics you now see at the site. Inner-Outer Correspondence, Life Response, and the Process of Creation and Accomplishment are themes we consistently return to at Growth Online, along with dozens of others.

Also, in the process of trying to explain these principles of life we were also trying include practical examples of them; of people's real world experiences of these ideas for our audience. So at first I began to think about how my own experiences related to these principles, and observed my own actions and inner status. On a daily basis I observed my actions, feelings, and attitudes, and associated them with the principles of the site. I also observed others. As a result I came up with a number of incidents and experiences that illustrated the principles to our readers. I then also queried my friends, colleagues, even people on our mailing list, and asked them to send me their own real world experiences. A number of individuals were very cooperative; and their experiences proved to be absolutely wonderful! These experiences of others proved to be the key practical examples illustrating the principles at the site. And it's been these real world illustrations that turned out to be the single great strength of the site. A number of people have commented about this aspect of Growth Online.

(pause) So the great challenges for me then was to clearly explain the concepts and principles, describe real world stories that demonstrated them, and try to convince people that the miraculous results described in these experiences was credible and a fact of life. After all I was expressing ideas so extraordinary, so startling new, that I had to express them in a way that would not only be mentally interesting, but practically useful and believable. The accumulated real-world experiences of others I think did the trick.

You can say that all of our "lab work" of experiences in the field proved our hypotheses. Then we invited others to learn these ideas and practice them in the field, in their lives as well. A number of people have done so, and are reporting back to us with some of their wonderful results.

Perhaps the most important change we've noticed is that many people now have a very different orientation towards life. They see things in a new way, from a new inner, perhaps we can call it a spiritual perspective. They are looking out into the world with fresh eyes.

In any case that that is how Growth Online got its start!

Growth Online: How were you able to give people something practical, and at the same time not turn them off with claims of miracles?

RP: Yes, that has been something continually in the back of my mind. We didn't want to seem like, in too obvious a way, that we were offering something miraculous to our rational readers; even though at the heart of these principles is something astounding, since the workings of the inner life, of the spirit, is filled with powers that defy all of the normally accepted notions of logic, of space and time. We didn't want to turn off those logical, rational people who simply wanted a few tips on how to live a more successful and happy life. So we danced between these two extremes at first; the practical on the one side, and the powers of infinite accomplishment, of instant life response, rooted in spiritual truths, on the other.

Growth Online: So what did you eventually do?

RP: I just gave in! Though I wanted to present ideas related to accomplishment, success, and happiness in a more traditional way, I saw that it was not going to work. Instead we took the approach that these astonishing ideas that enable life response, which result in what we call "instantaneous miraculousness," was a fact of life. They could be explained both rationally and logically, even though they confound all of our normal views of what is rational logical. Over the years many of my friends have had such experiences, and we understood why. So did I to a large extent. But as we further explored the underlying causes of phenomena like life response, and then started accumulating this wealth of real world experiences from our associates and friends, the evidence became too compelling to avoid presenting it at the site. So such phenomena as inner-outer correspondence, life response, the Force, and others began to have an even greater presence at the site, and we were no longer bashful about emphasizing the miraculous results.

And this even extended down into the more traditional areas of personal growth. Even within more traditional personal growth topics, such as the importance of improving one's attitudes, or the importance of personal organization, or the importance of direction and determination to succeed in life, we referred to these instant life responses that resulted. That's what the evidence, the real world experiences of people suggested; and we were going to tell it like it was.

I was therefore determined to bring this evidence to the general public, and yet explain it rationally, touching on the causes, and even the spiritual principles behind these themes. The goal was to inspire others to change aspects of their lives, so they could have similar experiences; and move to higher states of awareness, accomplishment, success, achievements, joy, and delight in life. And many have!

Growth Online: To return to your narrative of how things developed at the site. After you got the principles from your meetings on personal growth, you decided to develop the 20 or so topics. Then what happened?

RP: Yes, we took up the development of the ideas and accompanying personal experiences in earnest. The first thing we did was to develop a number of the topics for the personal growth section of the site. The topics on Inner-Outer Correspondence and Life Response (You Can Make Life Respond) joined essays that included The Power of Attitudes, The Power of Organization, The Hidden Patterns of Life, The Great Secret: The Force and many others. Recently we added a new one that I really like, called The Power of Living in the Depths, which explores how we need to move into and live our daily lives from our deeper inner consciousness so that we can function much more effectively in our daily lives. It is in this essay, along with the one on the Force, where we are opening up the portals of the spiritual domain of life to our readers.

(pause) However, at the beginning, when we first formed Growth Online, and perhaps even today, the topic on attitudes (The Power of Attitudes) is perhaps the real key topic at the site, in that it is the entry way of self-discovery and self-awareness for a lot of people. Everyone can relate to the relationship between our attitudes and the way we succeed or fail in life. It is old as time itself. If you just look around today it's become pretty common to talk about positive attitudes. You hear these discussions around the office, as well as in the public lexicon. So attitudes was a natural topic for us.

For years we had seen that one's attitude towards others, towards life, towards one's self, was reflected in what an individual's level of success and happiness in life was. People could easily see the relationship, because in life we are confronted by our limiting or negative attitudes all the time.

We suggested that if you make a serious change in your attitudes, your condition in life would dramatically improve. In one sense this doesn't seem to be such a great revelation; many people know this or sense this, or have even experienced it in their lives. However, again, what was our unique slant was our assertion that life would literally instantly respond, from any and all corners in the globe, to shedding a limiting attitude. For instance, a person changes an attitude, and instantly, within two minutes, someone would call on the phone with good news about more money; or more or better work would suddenly come their way; or a job offer would appear for that individual from seemingly out of nowhere; or some unexpected good news or fortune would suddenly arise. Our unique slant was that we were able to relate the changed attitude to an instant, abundant, extraordinarily positive life response. That is what people are reacting to when we read their comments. This excites people very much.

In our terms it's really one's "higher consciousness" that brings these greater results. As we change the inner, that is our inner life, we connect more intimately with the world around us; which is in essence an expression of the principles of harmony and unity of purpose. Those principles exist because they reflect the inner oneness of life, rooted in the spiritual essence that we all share; that link us together in various ways. So an attitudinal change vibrates out to the world around us, and enables a chain reaction to related events, people, and places, that springs back as a positive, instant result. This is the spiritual basis underlying the life response phenomenon, enabled by having higher attitudes in life.

So this perception moves us out beyond normal experience of life, to the edge of the supra material and the spiritual domain. It suggests that there are powers in the universe that defy our normal comprehension; and yet we have the opportunity to understand them in full; logically and conceptually; just as a scientist does! We have thus bridged two world; the supraphysical, spiritual domain to the empirical evidence in the extraordinary experiences of these individuals.

So I think that what made the sight unique was the fact that we had begun to uncover not only the fundamentals of personal growth -- improved attitudes, higher skills, better organization, more energy, more focus, and so forth -- but we had begun to uncover the hidden and secret patterns of life, the mysteries of existence, rooted in the spiritual forces and powers of the universe.

(pause) This then naturally opens up even greater questions about life, such as why and how this universe came to be; how we humans came about, what are the myriad parts of our nature and makeup, and where are we heading to, evolving towards; and, then finally, what is the ultimate potential and possibility of the human race. So now we were really hitting on the big issues of life; ones that had consumed us for the previous twenty five years; ones that we had studied through the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and others.

I felt that we could now presenting a new world view that the world was ready for. It was the right time to act, to put up the site; and put it all on the line; from the mundane and practical examples, to the mysteries of inner-outer correspondence and life response, all the way to the spiritual powers that are waiting to be tapped into.

Growth Online: It sounds like you learned quite a few things about the inner life, and now had a vehicle for presenting it. This effort and learning process must have had some effect on you personally?

RP: Yes, of course. After all one of the key focuses of my life is to grow as a person, so that I can become happier and more successful and more connected to the deepest aspect of life, to the spirit, the Divine. As I put together these ideas on the web, I reflected on the occurrences and circumstances in my own life, as they reflected these principles and ideas. As I collected stories from others over time, demonstrating and supporting the ideas, the concepts became clearer and clearer to me. As we say at the sight, they have moved from mental conception of an idea to life perception and even sensation of the experience of that idea.

Now I recognize these phenomena much often when they occur. I see my weaknesses, my limited tendencies; which means I am more conscious of my failings, which makes it much easier to change things. I am also much more conscious of the relationship between my inner self and the world outside myself; I see more clearly the connection. It is almost fun to see this relationship! Constantly, little miracles are occurring; or what others would call miracles. Actually they are not miracles; they are normal life that we fail to see!

(pause) The only question for me is how much am I really dedicated to these ideas in the course of my every day life. Am I really making the daily effort to be aware of these phenomena in life; am I really sincere about this interest in improving myself? That is up to me; as it is up to the visitors of the site, who can learn about these deeper secrets of life, and can then apply it in their own lives.

One can learn the secrets to infinitely greater happiness, success, accomplishment, and fulfillment; however it is up to us to sincerely apply it, and make it an integral part of our every day lives.

Growth Online: That is quite moving.

So what else can you add about the history of Growth Online?

RP: Well first of all we expanded on the scope of what growth and development could be for Growth Online. We went from personal growth and development to business growth and development, and then to social growth and development.

Mira International, a management consulting firm in in Napa, California has done remarkable work in the area of business growth and development. They have taken the deep insights developed at Mother's Service Society and have incorporated them into their work for their clients. Out of that work has come a number of books from Mira, including The Vital Difference and The Vital Corporation: How American Businesses Big and Small Double Profits in Two Years or Less. I believe Mira has discovered the root causes of business growth and profitability, and has revealed the key triggers of corporate success. Specifically, they have revealed in these books what a business is fundamentally made up of; what is the real "soul" of the business; and how one can use this soul power, which is the company's vision of that which it want to become and the business values it subscribes to, to enable it to rocket to the top of its field.

As you can see there is a nice parallel between the business and the individual. We began to see a parallel between the growth processes and ultimate possibilities for the business and that of the individual.

Growth Online: Which is what?

RP: Which is, the deeper one goes, or the closer one gets to the source of being, the more power the individual or company has; which releases a stupendous energy to create and accomplish and be joyful in the world. For an individual its a connection to one's higher consciousness that is reflected as accomplishment, success, and delight of being. For a business it is the connection to its deepest purpose and highest values that energizes it, which expresses as vastly accelerated levels of growth, profitability, market share, social admiration, and so forth.

So we decided to incorporate a number of the business growth insights described in Mira's books in the business growth part of the Growth Online site. Topics such as the power of business organization, the power of business values, the importance of customer satisfaction and delight, and of being in tune with developments in society, were all developed and put up at the site.

(pause) One topic that was particularly interesting to me is the one where we suggest that if the company wants to really succeed, then the owners themselves need to grow and evolve as individuals. There have been so many instances where my colleagues have gone into a company only to find out that the problems were not due to lack of organization, or limiting products, or their non-responsiveness to the marketplace, or lack of capital; but due to the limitations of the leaders of the company, who needed to overcome their limiting perspectives, judgments, attitudes, and opinions. Once they made an effort to change themselves, everything would start moving in the right direction for the company. So with this insight we see how business growth ties into personal growth of the individual.

Then there is Growth Online’s social growth and development area. If you go to the Mother's Service Society site, you will see that they have been doing truly pioneering work in the area of social development. Once again utilizing Sri Aurobindo's insights into the nature of development, of the processes that enable social entities and society to grow and thrive, they have been able to look afresh at the fields of economic and social development, and come up with profoundly new and creative insights into why societies progress and develop. Like their insights into personal and business growth, their insight into social progress is truly revolutionary. This is perhaps their greatest achievement. 

So it was only natural to incorporate these fundamental ideas about social development into our site. Based on MSS's many papers and presentations to important world bodies around the world, we have developed some interesting articles on the history of humanity and human development. There we discuss how society has come to be what it is today, and where it is headed in the future. For example, in one of the articles we describe the various stages of human development down through history – including a physical stage of survival, a vital age of expansive interaction and world travel, and the currently emerging mental age of man, marked by freedom, democracy, and individual self-fulfillment. We even point to a future spiritual age, which I believe is what will begin to emerge in the 21^st century, once the mental stage has more fully developed.

Again we utilize Sri Aurobindo's profound insights into human evolution, as well as his insights into social development as a reflection of a spiritual evolution of society. We also utilize his insights into the processes of development, to uncover the secrets to the processes by which society evolves to higher and higher states of consciousness over time.

Members of MSS, through their affiliated organization, The International Center for Peace and Development (ICPD), have presented a number of these ideas and principles on economic and social growth and development to important gatherings and forums around the world. Their work has been sponsored by everyone from the United Nations to the highest government officials in India, Mexico, and elsewhere. I believe their breakthrough work and practical insights are worthy of a Nobel prize.

Growth Online: But why would your viewers be interested in this type of information?

RP: A very good question! I think that most educated people are interested in fresh new insights into where the world is headed, where society is heading. I think they are intrigued by commentaries on such topics as what is the purpose of the Internet in social evolution; or what is the real meaning of money in the world; or what are the current conflicts indicative of in human evolution, and what are the possibilities for solution based on the processes and events that are unfolding in the world.  MSS and ICPD have given us a wonderful understanding of how undercurrents of social forces and powers, that we are mostly unaware of, have created the present conditions and situations in the world. They have revealed the hidden processes that are at work, and have illuminated for us the keys that can enable us to accelerate social development in the future; so the scourges of poverty, disease, and war disappear; so all parts of society can prosper greatly; so families can be happy; so life is a wonderful, joyous experience; so people continually reach their full potential. So we've incorporated a number of these insights as well.

So our interest has been to bring to the public the deepest insights of personal, business, and social growth and development. To see the processes at work; to see the hidden currents, forces, and powers at work; to learn how to utilize these aspects in our lives to release the infinite potential of life that is there just below the surface of things; just beyond our normal perceptions and levels of awareness in life.

Growth Online: You've got lots of ideas at the site, but is there something a little more emotionally stimulating to make us pay a visit?

RP: You bet! We've really tried to make the site more diverse; where you can interact with the site in different ways; some ways more educational and intellectual, some ways more stimulating and fun.

I remember taking a walk with a friend of mine who is a principal at Mira International, who suggested that if we were ever to develop a personal growth program or site, we should make it stimulating and entertaining; even humorous and funny! people want to be entertained when they learn. So we've taken that approach at some parts of the site.

The best example of this is the online adventure called Evolution 2000: The Journey of Life. Using a little bit of very simple Flash animation and interactivity technology, we guide the user on a journey around the world, on a kind of spiritual mystery tour. Although, on the one hand, the purpose of the adventure is to make people aware of some of the unique concepts of the site, such as the Life Response phenomenon, we also created it purely as a vehicle for an entertainment adventure. 

I think the story is fun, playful, mysterious, and dramatic. It's kind of a science fiction story that along the way confronts the mysteries of life. You travel around the world trying to fathom one or two great mysteries that you are presented with, and then you are subtly pointed to the fact that a fuller understanding of these mysteries can be found at Growth Online. That was the point of the adventure; to create real characters and mysterious situations that bring out one or two of our key principles, that the user would discover, and then, if he wished, he could learn about the concept in greater depth. For instance the phenomenon of instant "Life Response" was clearly one we had in mind from the start. 

Also, we've made the story international, incorporating characters from different cultures. It's important that the site appeal to people of different backgrounds and perspectives. After all we say that Growth Online is a service to the world community.

By the way, if you don't want to go through the whole story in Flash format on-line, you can simply download a 20-page storyline in Microsoft Word format. II think people will really enjoy reading it. We've had a real nice response form our readers.

Growth Online: Any new features you've added to the site lately?

RP: Yes, very many. Perhaps too many!

Growth Online: Could you describe a few?

RP: Well, first we added a search engine so you can find information at the site. There is so much at Growth Online, it could literally take months, if not years to study everything there! One friend of mine described the site as "an entire universe"! So the search engine narrows the topics down to what the user is interested in. It’s a very handy tool to find what you want across hundreds if not thousands of pages of content.

Speaking of which. In terms of content we have recently added a number of very important new features, including the Interviews Series, the A New Way of Living Series, and the Growth Online Knowledge Base

Well the Interview Series you already know about, because this interview is one in a series of interviews on what we hope are topics that are fascinating to the readers. A few of the interviews are very long, such as the recent interviews I did called Who Am I?, and another called The Future Evolutionary Individual and Collective Life on Earth. But it’s in these discussions that we really let it out in terms of the intellectual underpinning of the site; of what we really want to ultimately communicate at the site at the site; particularity as it relates to how we can grow and evolve as individuals to a higher status of consciousness and awareness in life.

I would invite readers, who have a little patience and intellectual curiosity to go through a few of the interviews they might find interesting. For example, in the Who Am I? interview we explore, from a number of interesting perspectives, just who we really are as human beings. It was an exhausting but challenging and rewarding endeavor to bring this information to our readers, but I think it was well worth the effort. It really touches close to the fundamental insights and spiritual “first principles” that are at the root of Growth Online.

Then there's the article on the future evolutionary individual and society, which does the same, and more so. Actually in developing this interview we really wondered if people were ready for this, because the information revealed there takes us into a totally new perspective of life, with insights into a potential future existence for the individual and life on earth. Some might even call this “futuristic spirituality.” I believe it’s a vision of the future evolutionary possibility and potential for the human race based on the vision of the Indian seer and sage Sri Aurobindo. I invite those individuals who are interested in the distant future of humanity, and in particular of a spiritualized humanity, to take the time and read the interview.

The second area we have developed -- one that I am perhaps most proud of and involved in (circa 2007) is the A New Way of Living series. Here I have developed ~125 short essays on personal, spiritual, business, and society's growth and evolution. Again, influenced by the Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo, I have attempted to present some startlingly fresh, new insights into the human condition, and the future evolution of life on earth. Whereas the Interviews series are spontaneous expression of thought on issues -- particular of spiritual evolution -- A New Way of Living addresses the day to day methods of personal growth, evolution and transformation for the individual and society.

Finally, the most recent approach to content that we are offering at Growth Online is the Online Knowledge Base. Behind this ever expanding knowledge base is a big database of information which includes hundreds of mini-statements that we are continually writing down about all aspects of life, plus references and links to all of our articles, inspirations, and interviews. This enables the user to find highly relevant content based on a search that is done. It's a little bit like Hermann Hesse's Magister Ludi (The Glass Bead Game) where the character is trying to gather all the knowledge of the world into one place. The Online Knowledge Base is all of the knowledge of Growth Online in one place. It enables the viewer to type in a keyword from among hundreds we have indexed, and find directly related information on that keyword throughout the site. So you can type in the word World Unity and find dozens of mini-statements on the topic, as well references and links to articles or portions of articles, inspirations, and interviews on World Unity that we have developed at Growth Online. This is a very exciting undertaking for us. It is also very very ambitious! It is probably the "frontier" of the site; where we are aspiring to provide the knowledge of life to be accessed as easily as withdrawing money from an ATM! We hope this knowledge is worth more than gold!

Growth Online: That is ambitious! I hasten to ask; anything else?

RP: Aside from the content of the site, we have started a number of other initiatives. First of all we now call our site Growth Online: Answers to the Major Questions of Life. That's a pretty ambitious statement, so we have to back it up! In that light we have created a special page where the key questions of life are asked, and then are answered through links to related pages where the answers essentially reside.

Also, we have developed a Personal Assessment and Business Assessment area, where the viewer can assess themselves or their businesses via a built in Microsoft Excel component. Once they get a tally of their scores, they see where they are doing poorly, where they need to improve themselves or their businesses, after which they can go to specific corresponding pages which tells them how to improve themselves in that area. It’s a wonderful part of the site. I invite anyone to take the little assessment of themselves or their business and see very quickly what part of their lives or their businesses can be improved. Then, right there, get the custom information you need to improve yourself in that wanting area. What could be simpler?

So you can see we are going down many different paths and trying out many different approaches. We will see which ones are the best; which ones people respond to. That’s the real litmus test for us; our reader's response.

Growth Online: It sounds very ambitious!

RP: Yes, it is. Maybe we're in it over our heads! I don't know! I really do feel that everything that has emerged has been part of an organic process; an unfolding that seemed to take a natural course, based on something a reader suggested, or an event in the life of Growth Online, or some sudden inspiration, or simply as result of our aspiration to get the profound information at the site in the hands of the reader in the best possible way. Since we have yet to find the best single way, we have tried a number of different approaches!

I must say that for me personally results are the real litmus test of our success. Results in the form of more and more people coming to the site; results as people really learning from the site and seriously using it in their daily lives; and results when our viewers become more successful, more energized, more joyful, more conscious as a result of implementing the ideas in their lives. In the end our service is to provide the insights that lead to the higher consciousness of our viewers.

Growth Online: But how will Growth Online itself benefit?

RP: How we ourselves at Growth Online will benefit is hard to say; other than having the satisfaction of the joy of having others benefit from this knowledge. If more and more people come and benefit, that will give us ever-increasing pleasure. We’re hoping at some point that something breaks out in some way; that moves Growth Online to a whole new level of success; to a whole new level of visible results. At that point we will be truly practicing what we preach; "walking the talk" as they say.

So is there something ultimately that you want to tell the audience about your intentions for Growth Online?

RP: Yes, it is this: Why spend a lifetime going through the labyrinth of life, with all of its difficulties, wrong turns, confusion, conflicts, only to end up but a little bit ahead of where you are now  -- if you are lucky! Why not learn and understand the processes by which we grow and evolve now. Doing so will make you much more conscious of what you are and who you are. That gives you a great starting point for the rest of your journey in life.

Then with this roadmap of life in your hands, you can easily take your life to any level of accomplishment, success, or joy that you wish to, because you have come to understand the forces and methods that release the infinite, where there was only a finite before. Instead of spending a life wandering through a desert of ignorance, or unconsciously meandering, haphazard through life's labyrinth of ups and downs, and the extremes of pleasures and pains, one can have access to a roadmap of truth and knowledge that gives you the direct path to accelerated achievement and success, deep inner peace and spiritual connection, and rapturous joy and delight of being. What would otherwise take a lifetime to attain, can be found very quickly by following this roadmap of knowledge and wisdom. 

Finally, I believe that the greatest benefit of Growth Online is that we offer those who seek it a roadmap of the inner life. This is the path that leads to the greatest accomplishment, the greatest joy and delight; the thing that gives the deepest purpose and meaning to one's existence on earth. It is on this path, of the inner life and spirit, that we come face to face with the infinite possibilities of life.

Growth Online: Thank you, Roy.

RP: Thank you! I hope this helps our readers understand why we started Growth Online. We hope these practical and sometimes startling ideas will lead to the deepest fulfillment, success, and joy for our visitors! 

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Related Articles:

-Roy's lifelong association with the teachings of Sri Aurobindo

-Origins of Growth Online Page

-Brief biography of Roy Posner

 

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