There is a lovely group that meets every Sunday morning at 10 am in Vernon that was founded on the teachings of Ahmsta Kebzeh. Kebzeh is an ancient spiritual tradition which has been preserved in the Caucasus Mountains. It is an applied science of processing the human being. The process is that of awakening and developing latent human faculties under divine grace and guidance. 

This past Sunday the sermon was given by a long-time member of the group named Lucy. She did an amazing job highlighting the truth of the way things are. 

One of the points hit home by Lucy was the idea of not just believing but truly knowing. It is interesting that one of the most famous quotes by Carl Jung happened on a televised interview after he was asked if he believed in God. He replied, “I don’t need to believe, I know” (Jung 1959). His reply caused some furore at the time and, in the decades since, it has been quoted by many – such as Richard Dawkins who cites it as an example of faith (Dawkins 2006).

Lucy's impactful sermon focused on the idea that we really do not know the depths of who we actually are. What Lucy is pointing to is the process of Self Inquiry. The great sage Ramana Marhashi (1879-1950) taught that by the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ The thought ‘Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts and, like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then there will arise Self-realisation. 

Lucy's talk was powerful and direct. She stressed that we must develop our full potential to be a complete human being.

"Let the music come out of us, be creative and live an abundant life" - Lucy, Vernon Kebzeh 
 
This wonderful talk on Sunday morning set the tone for the day and made the sky more blue. The day continued and The Toronto Blue Jays went on to force Game 7 after beating the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Sunday night.

Lucy's thoughtful talk was still ringing in the mind as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said during an interview after the game with Hazel Mae of Sportsnet -  “I’m born ready and I want it all for this city". It makes one wonder, what exactly was born, who was born, and born from what? 

Winning isn’t everything, voracious Vince Lombardi used to say, it’s the only thing. But what if Lombardi was wrong? What if other things mean more, last longer, have more significance than victories, not only in life but also in the particular lives of the people who play the games?

This is the heretical premise of the thoughtful and entertaining movie “Moneyball,” based on the equally iconoclastic bestseller by Michael Lewis. Starring Brad Pitt in top movie star form, it’s a film that’s impressive and surprising.

It’s a surprise because “Moneyball” is that rare sports movie that doesn’t end with a rousing last-second victory or a come-from-behind celebration. Fittingly for a book its author calls “a biography of an idea,” it deals not only with wins and losses but also with the quixotic quest of a man who wanted to revolutionize a sport, someone who was willing, in Lewis’ words, “to rethink baseball: how it is managed, how it is played, who is best suited to play it, and why.”

That man was Billy Beane, charmingly played by Pitt, the provocative general manager of the Oakland Athletics whose unconventional ideas about what a team with limited resources could do to compete with profligate powerhouses like the New York Yankees continue to infuriate the sport’s traditionalists. 

It’s not for nothing that “Moneyball” starts with a quote from Yankees star Mickey Mantle: 

“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.”

Wait, what!?  

That is exactly what Lucy said on Sunday morning!  

The Emily Dahl Foundation 
October 2025