Dr. Fred Smith is the founder of Raise the Level of the Pond, a not-for-profit spiritual organization, author of Conscious Concepts, and builder of this web site.
CHILDHOOD
Frederick James Smith was raised in a small town in Montana. He received a typical Roman Catholic upbringing, attending a local Roman Catholic grade school, where his training for life was mostly religious and performance oriented, rather than spiritual and internal. His school performance was adequately in the "B" range. He spent a lot of time day dreaming, both in school and out, nothing dramatic, just a lot of mind-time. His mother, who had pet descriptions for each of her children, called him "My little dreamer". His parents were supportive of his "dreaming", but had few skills with which to deal with their son`s "inner space", and his upbringing remained mostly task oriented. In 1957, Fred enrolled in the local, all boys, Catholic High School, where the teachers were members of the Jesuit Order. The curriculum contained demanding academics, and the behavioral expectations were high. In addition to religious training, spiritual concepts were emphasized, to which Fred had a natural attraction. Still, testosterone levels were often high, and social skills sometimes low, so that he found himself in conflict with most schoolmates, teachers, authority figures, and some of his friends and neaghbors, with uncomfortable frequency. As with most teenagers, he regularly assumed that the blame for the conflicts lay with his adversaries.
THE DAWNING OF CONSCIOUSNESS
In spite of these frequent conflicts, Fred still often found time for "inner space" and reflection. One day in 1958, when he was 15 years old, during a quiet and reflective time, he suddenly realized that the common factor in these conflicts was HIMSELF. He was astonished. Thoughts came flooding in and, as he evaluated them, Fred came to several startling conclusions:
1) He had participated in the development of most of his conflicts with others; 2) The rest of the world was not always out of step; 3) That inner processes influence external behavior; 4) He had, at least some, control over his inner processes; 5) He noticed that this period of reflection and discovery was accompanied by a tremendous feeling of Freedom; 6) He realized that this feeling was the result of inner processes, not external behavior. At THAT moment he decided to make "inner exploration" a major part of his life, a part that remains major today. This discovery of the extent to which owning his inner processes could influence his life was a delightful and pleasant experience, and continues as it expands.
EXPLORATION
Later he would begin to sort out which inner processes were mind, which were brain, and which were spirit. Since that time he has constantly studied in the fields of religion, spirituality, psychology, metaphysics, and eventually, medicine. He became a Doctor of Medicine and, after receiving his M.D. degree, specialized in the field of Medical Neurology, which deals with the Brain and Nervous System, and worked in this field in private practice for twenty years. While practicing medicine, he expanded and refined his understanding of the brain and how the mind and spirit operate through it, learning through his interaction with thousands of patients and their families.
THE DELIVERY SYSTEM
Dr. Smith has developed personal TOOLS that have worked well for him, which he calls "Conscious Concepts". He has organized five of these TOOLS into a teaching curriculum called "A Rediscovery of Free Will", arranged in the same sequence that he teaches his students, face to face. His students have found that understanding the interconnection of spirit/mind/brain, and how they sometimes affect the body, to be very useful, and valuable daily. He found that exploration of the inner self is: Practical in daily life; Easier than most people make it; Simpler than most people make it; Produces unexpected freedom; is Easy to teach; and is Easy to learn, with the teaching TOOLS. Dr Smith has withdrawn from the formal practice of medicine in order to share his understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, on various topics, with individuals, groups, and over the Internet, with the intention of reaching a wider audience than would be otherwise possible. His journey has led him to be ordained as a minister, symbolic of the union of scientific and spiritual knowledge. He founded RAISE THE LEVEL OF THE POND, a not-for-profit spiritual learning center, dedicated to the promotion of "inner" growth, in as many individuals as are ready to receive it. It is a source of gratification to Dr. Smith that his students so often pass on that which they have found to be of benefit and value. 111702
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