the pharaoh foundation

the pharaoh foundation does not exist except as an idea.
yet, an idea is a power, a power of unimaginable
consequences in the right hands and guided
by the right hearts.

snail mail address available, when necessary

e-mail: hermit@tiac.net

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the pharaoh foundation is to create unusual educational opportunities for adults, so as to prepare them to participate in the advancement of human civilization through means an ordinary university education does not provide.

The pharaoh foundation adopts as its model the ideal of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, in that the "leader" of society was both a "king" and a "priest". This idea is also repeated in the Platonic ideal of the "philosopher king".

By this ideal, we do not mean to suggest that modern democratic political leaders, as well as business leaders, should be both imperial and religious, but rather that individuals seeking to accept responsibility for the advancement of human civilization need to recognize that to truly contribute to such a goal requires the cultivation of unusual qualities. No one is any longer born into such a life path. And to aspire to this, and succeed, demands an extraordinary effort.

It is the desire then, of the pharaoh foundation, to aid individuals who want to achieve something in the realm of social evolution. Such individuals should not feel it is necessary to aspire to office, but rather only to want to prepare to play a leading role in one or more of the realms of human endeavor. However, for such aspirations to succeed, there must be a source leaders turn to, outside themselves, which forces them to face the difficult and often personal questions, whose answers mean the difference between success and failure. To turn to such a source does not mean to sacrifice personal freedom, but rather to understand that there are teachers who are willing to serve the ambitions of those who find it necessary to lead.

The above is the purpose of the pharaoh foundation. The means to achieve this purpose can be stated quite simply, in what follows.

One must become a generalist. One may start out a specialist, and may even continue to grow in a particular chosen field. Yet the knowledge of a specialist carries a great danger; the necessity for a narrowness of vision. Concentrated knowledge builds walls; and leaders, in any field, need to see around corners and over walls. They need to see through the conceptual confines that specialization creates. But, most especially, they need to see through the biases of those who they would advise and serve.

For each individual the process of becoming a generalist is different. Basically, what is required is the balanced cultivation of the ability to know the truth, to create beauty, and to do the good. Inwardly, in the life of soul and spirit, every individual is gifted with the possibility of striving toward such experience, because every individual is given the possibility of a balanced unfolding of three universally human qualities: reason, imagination, and devotion. It is through reason that we come to know truth; it is through imagination that we come to create beauty; and it is through devotion that we learn to do the good.

This process is not a course of study, although study may be a part of it. The ordinary university, in providing its most general or liberal education, strives to teach what is called "the cannon" of Western Civilization: the works of the great thinkers and artists who have preceded us. At the pharaoh foundation the task is to discover in one's self those passionate impulses of the spirit which first drove those who created our current civilization. It is not knowledge which is sought after, but that skill in the life of the soul which is only won through the experience of the individual struggle with the fundamental riddles of human existence. Through this process we teach not what, but how.

As a consequence, the student/graduate becomes the most effective and essential social architect for the renewal and regeneration of our civilization, because he/she acquires the capacity to see through the limitations of the hidden assumptions of the time and of the culture, an insight which is the fundamental key to all progress and growth for any human community.

Participation in the life of the pharaoh foundation is initiated through first communicating with the resident faculty. A dialogue is opened, and everything proceeds from there. At present, our services are not free, although the financial means of the student are taken into account in establishing the individual fee schedule. Payment is always made after the service has been rendered. The initial dialogue is free. The payment for the second is only made before the third dialogue is to be commenced. In this way, only if satisfaction is given to the student, and the student has sufficient confidence in the teacher so as to desire to proceed, is payment called for. As it will often be the case, we are also open to students who simply want to sample for a time such an approach. No long term commitment is expected.

In addition, to what is essentially an educational mission, we do offer consulting services on a similar fee basis. Where an individual or an institution desires the considerations of an experienced generalist, this service can be provided, by either resident faculty, or graduates, in accord with the needs of the requesting party.

In a like manner the pharaoh foundation, through its faculty and graduates, is available to give lectures, or to facilitate gatherings for whatever institution may desire this or similar services.