Chapter 9

Freedom
“Expressing one’s full Freedom and God-given rights
helps to preserve and protect the God ideals of our
United States constitution. This means protection and
hope for the rest of the world. Putting God first allows
us to have that Freedom. The Freedom to do that, put
God first, is the most valuable Freedom we have.”
– Stanley El

Stanley El, President and Founder

The National Society of American Business Owners
Woodbury, NJ
www.nsabo.wordpress.com

Sdescribing who and what Stanley is. I experience him as a

tanley is Mr. Extraordinary! Words cannot come close to

Master of Freedom and many universal Laws of Life. As you

read this chapter pay attention to the vibration you feel as you
connect with his Presence.

Z: The first question I want to ask you is: How would you
define the word Freedom?

Freedom ~ 169
 Stanley: You know, it’s one of those funny things because I
grew up with this understanding of freedom being based on…
I’ll call them human rights; human rights that the government
gives us. The freedom to work, get a job and buy property and
those kinds of things. Today, freedom means a lot more than
that to me. Because it’s…we have this energy in us called Life
that comes from God. The purpose of being in this world is
to express the fullness of God. So to me freedom is just that…
having the right, the privilege, the honor to allow God’s Life,
God’s Perfection to express through you without interruption
from outside forces or even your own human consciousness.
So that’s how I look at freedom today. The individual’s obliga-
tion to become one with the Presence of Life in them; to allow
that to flow through freely and express It’s Perfection.

Z: Ok. And we appreciate that’s a perspective that you’ve

come through or come to, through your life experiences. So I’d
like to ask what were some significant experiences or incidents
that helped you come to this perspective? I’m thinking particu-
larly earlier in life if there’s something between the ages of 12
and 21 years old. What were some significant experiences, that
you can recall, related to freedom?
Stanley: Ok. For me, the best way to answer that is to
start with how I originally thought freedom was, again based
on human rights. I grew up in the Moorish Science Temple
of America and our families were, the adults around us were
always telling us that we were sons and daughters, children of
God and we should be on this planet living just like that. And
that was instilled in us from the time…gosh, we could un-
derstand the English language. The Moorish Science Temple,
they always talked about the Higher Self. God or Allah, the
term was used. So that part was instilled in us. At the same

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time, socially speaking we always had…my father was in
business, he was independent. Had a lot of aunts and uncles;
everybody seemed to have some kind of something going on
where they were independent of a regular job, and could con-
trol themselves.
That independence kind of led us to grow up in this way
that as early as possible you were working; doing stuff on your
own. But, it also had a different effect because you were always
taught that you had this independence and you were a child
of God. I took it literally. I know everybody else was doing the
same thing, but I can’t speak for how they took it. But, I took
it literally.
So every time that I would run into an issue; whatever it
was…whether it be personal issues or problems as a child I
would always get down on my knees and pray to God for as-
sistance. It seemed like every time I did that I got answers, and
permanent answers. I think at a very young age I asked God
to give me…to make me smart in school. I wanted to be smart
in school. Well, I ended up being a straight “A” student all the
way through high school. (chuckles) And I knew that…I had
prayed for that. So it wasn’t one of those things where I just…I
may have had the intellect or whatever it was, but I knew that I
asked that and I’ll always remember that. It was answered.
By the time I was eight years old I was actually, not only a
good student in school, but doing other things outside. Work-
ing independently; making my own money; and stuff like that.
Getting involved in study, U.S. History on my own. Actually
at the age of eight, I was doing things like sending letters to
the capitals of every state in the United States Chamber of
Commerce; and asking them to send me information. I never
thought about what I was doing at the time. But that was some-
thing I wanted to do. And they responded.

Freedom ~ 171
 All of the state capitals, all the states in the United States
were sending me information about their state, from their
Chamber of Commerce… demographics and programs and
this, that, and the other. That went on for a long time. I was
real big in that kind of stuff and U.S. History; security like the
CIA and that kind of stuff. I think it all was just me acting out
whatever was happening within me at the time. Because I re-
ally didn’t know, I was just doing it. I was experimenting with a
lot of things that were way beyond the average 8 year old or 10
year old or 11 year old. I don’t think anybody knew it. People
just knew I was kind of a “bookworm” kind of person, but I was
also very artistic in the sense that I would draw images. I loved
to put together presentations and making them look beautiful
for school. That went with me right on through high school.
On the other side of that I began…probably around 11…12
years old…having different kinds of experiences. I would have
this dream…and this really goes back farther than that…I would
have two dreams consistently…and they went on for years. One
is me walking down the street at night picking up pennies. It
would be street lights and I would pick up this penny under ev-
ery street light. And that just was the dream. I would walk to the
next street, pick up the penny. Walk to the next street light, pick
up the penny. And that was the dream for my entire youth.
Then the other dream was me jumping up and down out-
side. You know, I’d jump in the air. Go up a couple of feet and
come down. Jump up in the air…go up a couple of feet and
come down. Jump up in the air higher, come down. Then I
would take flight. Well those two dreams stayed with me al-
most my entire life…until I became an adult. I always thought
they were kind of interesting because the feeling of flying was
real. And the lights where these places were…it was a bright
light like I was actually outside.

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 Around 12 to 13 years old, I began to have another type of
experience. I would be laying down, so called dreaming, yet
the dreams would be in full time. Unlike in normal dreaming
where it might be future-past or some strange situation. If I’m
sitting in this chair and I fall asleep, I’m dreaming that I’m sit-
ting in this chair. I thought that was strange.
That’s when I really started to get involved with metaphys-
ics; metaphysical studies. And it wasn’t a conscious thing. Now,
I want to make that clear. It wasn’t that I knew there was this
thing called metaphysics out there. I was always reading stuff
that was, like way far out, philosophical stuff. I didn’t know
that’s what it was called. I just ended up…books would float
into my hands. I never bought any of this material. It was al-
ways…some how, the books would get to me. And ah (pause)
I would read them.
Same with the metaphysical stuff. The philosophical stuff
was first. Then the metaphysical stuff started appearing. And
one of the books that I…first came across was called Don Juan
by Carlos Castaneda. He was a fellow that went down to South
America, Mexico…went somewhere with the Indians and got
involved in all of these spiritual teachings that they had…and
would have all these way out experiences. Well, those “way out”
experiences were matching with what I was experiencing.
So I began to understand that there definitely was some-
thing beyond (slight pause) what I was seeing and what I would
call the physical outer world that we are used to every day. At
a very, very early age; and started to kind of investigate more.
Now mind you, my investigation didn’t go very far. I didn’t
go to book stores or there was no computer to do internet
searches. It was just me in my mind thinking, contemplating
these things; that there’s more to it. Of course, that combined
with the early teachings in the Moorish Science Temple that

Freedom ~ 173
you were a child of God and this, that, and the other. Things
were becoming more and more real to me, in terms of the un-
derstanding of whatever it was beyond. Because there were
always stories being told when I was little about the Prophet
appearing, disappearing; people walking through walls. I was
even taught that at an early age that if you believed enough you
could walk through walls.
So my teenage years I was out there. Still a normal teenager,
you know, but behind the scene in my own isolated way were
all these experiences happening where these teachings were
coming to me and I would sit and contemplate these things. As
problems or situations would pop up, I knew where to go. In
my mind, that same God that I’d prayed to for good grades in
elementary school was going to be the same God that I went to,
to address these problems. And that continued.
It continued and became more of an active pursuit in my
outer consciousness, if you ever want to call it that, to try and
do more of those transcendental types of things. What I mean
by that is, (chuckles) may sound strange to you, but, like astro-
traveling. You know, taking yourself out of the body. Well, I
actually started trying to do that stuff around 13, 14, 15 years
old. I’d lay myself down and try to send myself out in space.
And ah…you know…from what I could tell, I wasn’t really go-
ing anywhere; but (chuckles) it was kind of a cool thing to do.
(laughs a lot)
Actually, I had two buddies that blended into the same
kind of thinking and we would all start to read the same kind
of books. Again, the books would just show up. We weren’t go-
ing out to stores buying them. Somebody would have it in their
house. Somehow, somebody would get a book from somewhere
and we would sit down and read these things and share them
and boom…you know, we’d try stuff out. You know, our medi-

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tation…I was always around fasting and those kinds of things,
because we were basically brought up vegetarian. Our diets were
pretty much that kind of a diet. These others things were just me
and my friends that really became more of trying to try these
outer world transcendental type of activities like you know…
astro-travel and sending your mind…visualizing space…trying
to look through walls…you know, strange stuff. But for teenag-
ers at our time, it was cool stuff to sit around and try to do.
I graduated [from high school] at 17 years old. I decided not
to go to college. I’d gotten accepted at a couple of schools, Rut-
gers University for Business Administration and Point Park for
Architecture. I was very artistic but I was always very much in
business type stuff. College prep…kind of thing. My tests were
actually 50-50. It was 50-50 in terms of artistic ability and busi-
ness administration. In any case, I didn’t go with either one.
What I ended up doing was going into business with some
friends of mine that all graduated around the same time. We
started an entertainment promotion business. In the course of
doing that, all of us were kind of in the same realm of believing
in this impossible stuff…this invisible stuff. Every one of us…
there were eight of us. Even though we were at different ages,
we all had kind of the same beliefs.
We ended up buying the book “Think and Grow Rich.”
Each one of us had a copy and we read it on our own. We’d get
together every Monday night and go through this ceremony of
reviewing the chapters of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon
Hill; and then exercising it as a group. We did that! As 17 year
olds, we started this business with a strobe light and a turn-
table. By the time we were 19, we had the largest discotheque
in the state of New Jersey.
We were working seven days a week. We had enough
equipment to do at least three locations at one time. Lights

Freedom ~ 175
and sound, I mean the whole bit. We were working our way
up to the point of doing tours. We got picked up by Delight
Record Company’s national promoter. He was taking us dif-
ferent places, New York and this, that, and the other. We also
had friends that were going to college and they started hiring
us to do things. We ended up touring the North East corridor
through the college circuit. Of course, we attributed it to this
exercise [Think and Grow Rich], because it just took off! That
was pretty much it.
It was those kinds of experiences at early ages that kind
of (pause)…told me that we had…every individual had some
kind of connection with some greater Power. And if giving at-
tention to that, It would flow. And It did. We had the testimony
of it. Now, at that time, we were starting to see the manifestation
of it. Other elements did definitely intervene. It seemed like…I
was the only one who really held firm to that because…I guess
it was 19 when I had my first kind of crisis; personal crisis.
We were successful at what we were doing with business,
but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled as an individual. I remember get-
ting home one night; we always worked through the night. It
was the wee hours of the morning. I’m walking around and I
expressed this to God, and said: “Look, basically I want to do
whatever your will is.” And it was one of those, you know, cry-
ing kinds of things where I just needed to have that connection
with God and be able to fulfill His will. And that to me was…
what was happening inside of me that wanted to make that
connection real. I wanted to know that I was fulfilling, con-
sciously, whatever desire or plan God had for me. I submitted
my entire life to Him, totally.
At that point, everything changed. By the time I was 21, I
was out of that group doing other things. Getting involved in
the industry…really, really starting to stretch out in the meta-

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physical teachings and information and the people who were
involved in that. All of that accelerated its pace.
I tried working a regular job and going to school for college.
None of that happened. I spent a month in a commercial art
school…had the job for a summer and all that went away. For
3 ½ years after that point, I just focused on doing as much as
I could to learn as much about what it is God wanted me to do.

Z: Wonderful. What were the major lessons from those ex-

periences?
Stanley: The major lessons?

Z: Yeah, you gave us…I really like that you gave us the
chronological view. You could go back to any one of those and
say: what were the major lessons that came out of any of those
experiences?
Stanley: The biggest lesson was that I and every individual
have a direct connection to a Higher Source. At that time I
called that Source God. Today, I call that Source The Mighty
“I AM” Presence. At that time, and during that course of time,
God and the connection was there. I knew I could do things
that were literally impossible, in the normal sense and course
of things. And I did them!
For example, after not working or holding a job for 3 ½
years I’m back at home living. My father is: “Boy, you need to
get a job.” (laughing out loud) Because I wasn’t really getting
involved…I was doing the entertainment stuff making a little
bit of money but I wasn’t really out there pursuing it. I was
more interested in getting into myself and understanding what
was going on. What we had achieved and how to move this
thing forward at that level. With this connection that I’d made
a commitment to. And I know that by keeping that connection
I could do anything.

Freedom ~ 177
 When my father said to me I need to get a job, I looked
him in the eye. And this was unheard of, in our culture, grow-
ing up as a Moor because you were always told to respect your
parents and your elders. I looked at my father and said: “I will
do what I’m going to do. I know what I’m doing and I’m going
to do it.” He didn’t say one word and left me alone…(chuckles)
and from that point on, never mentioned it again. I went back
to doing what I was doing.
Now, I was doing positive things except that during that
course of time I’d gotten involved in the performing arts. I was
doing dance; African-American dance, modern dance, jazz…
eventually advanced into bally. I was an artist doing a lot of art
work. Painting murals in people’s homes, you know. Designing
flyers, commercial stuff like that. Martial arts that I’d started
at 17 accelerated because a lot of Buddhist, Hindu teachings
was coming through that. That was actually helping me to
understand a lot more of where I was going because of those
teachings.
Somebody gave me a book called: “Krishna: The Supreme
Personality Godhead.” This thing was almost 3 ½ - 4 inches
thick. It became my regular study because it was talking about
the supreme personality, this being that had this ability to do
all these phenomenal things. I was into that thing like… you
know…it was the (pause) very breath I breathed. I was in it
everyday. (chuckles) Because it was something I thought I
needed to understand. And it was tapping into some of these
experiences that I was having.
The biggest lesson out of it was to keep that connection.
I was doing it consciously. I got a job one time, Zayd. It was
working at a newspaper doing ad layouts. I went to the job…
ah, this lasted about a month. Didn’t really care for the job,
even though I wanted to have the experience. I had an inven-

178 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

tory of things I needed to learn, to do what I wanted to do. I
knew what I wanted to do. Always did! And I was pursuing it
through this connection that I had.
I went to this job and decided that I didn’t want to do this
anymore. The whole thing with newspaper deadlines and all
that kind of stuff. So I left the job knowing that there wouldn’t
be an issue going to the next level. I had to let it go because
I was not comfortable there. In my mind, the wisdom was:
“Why are you here, if you don’t want to be in the job. You are
holding this job up, keeping it away from someone who would
enjoy having this job. You have no right to be here if you don’t
want to be here. Open that job up for somebody else.” I said:
“Ok, that’s what I’m going to do. If that’s the logic, then I’m
out of here.”
Within a week, I got a call from a national company to
come in to work, making 15 bucks [an hour] as a freelance
artist full-time. Within six months of that, I went to the Vice
President of the company and said: “Look I want a full-time
job on payroll as staff.” He said: “Fine, you’ve got it.” Within a
week of that, I bought my first condominium; (laughing) first
piece of property.
Now granted, for 3 ½ years prior to that, I had no regular
job. It’s not like I had an application to put jobs down I had
worked for 3 ½ years. I was just doing the stuff that I men-
tioned. That one month the newspaper was the first job I had
and I walked out of that job and got picked up and within six
months of that bought my first piece of real estate.

Z: So what was that about?

Stanley: It was about that connection. You asked me about
the lesson. The lesson was trusting that connection that I had so
much that I was willing to use that wisdom…of course I knew

Freedom ~ 179
I didn’t like that first job. And I said: “Look I’m holding it up.”
I trusted that Presence to put me in the proper place by follow-
ing the wisdom of the Law. The Law says: “Look, Stanley you’re
not comfortable here. You don’t want to be here. You’re holding
it up. You don’t want to be here if you’re holding this job up
for somebody else. Leave it for somebody that would enjoy this
job.” I trusted that Presence to put me in the right place and
boom…done it. Walked and it took care of me…bam.
I ended up being at Chein Industries, a national company,
in the art department there. They were a manufacturer of toys,
house ware products, giftware products, that kind of stuff. I
went in there as one of their, you know…a designer and ended
up being the Senior Designer and Assistant to the Vice Presi-
dent, by the time I’d gotten done.
I still applied it because even before I’d gotten there, I’d done
things like I met my wife for the first time. She came and lived
with us for a while. She was trying to find a job. She came to me
one time and she said: “Look, we need to have some money com-
ing in.” I said: “That’s not an issue. Come with me.” Hopped in my
father’s car; rode down the highway. Pulled over to this restau-
rant; walked in and asked for the owner. This is how the Power
of the Presence [of God worked]. I was this confident about this
connection with God because I had these experiences all of my
life. I walked in this place, I said: “Is the business owner here?”
He said: “I’m the business owner.” I said: “We want a job.” He said:
“What can you do?” I said: “We can dance.” (chuckles) He said:
“Show me!” He put money in this juke box; my wife and I danced.
He hired us to teach ballroom dancing, right on the spot.

Z: Wow (laughing)
Stanley: (laughing) I looked at my wife and said: “See that’s
not an issue. It’s not about the money.” (laughs) It happened

180 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

that quickly. She said something like: “We need to have mon-
ey coming in.” I said: “Come with me.” We got in my Dad’s
car; drove down the highway; and it happened that fast. It was
done. (chuckles)

Z: That’s great…Any other lessons Stan?

Stanley: Well, you know. There are some other lessons. That
is the biggest one and always will be the biggest one is to keep
that Presence first and keep that connection open because that’s
what sustained me and continues to sustain me to this day.
But the other lessons are (pause) that in the course of main-
taining that connection, you will find the greater responsibility
you are willing to take on, the greater the pressure. You have
to become accustomed to that pressure because if not other
people would call it problems or barriers and limitations. It’s
really not that at all. It’s pressure. Pressure, as I learned, is a
natural Law. It’s a kind of resistance.
It’s like when you want to be a champion athlete, you’ve
got to get out and train hard and this, that, and the other. I
learned that in the martial arts, you’ve got to work for it. If you
want to be a black belt you’ve got to get to that point. You’re
going to have to battle some black belts to become one. And
that pressure causes you to want to really dig within yourself
and discover this newness and this greatness about yourself in
your core. There’s no limit to that, if you’re willing to stand up
to it. Like anything else, if you work at it, it becomes easy at
some point. But, that’s when you know you have to become
alert because the minute that thing becomes easy you’d better
be on your guard. That’s the other lesson. You’d better be on
your guard. If things are starting to look rosy, you’d better go
out and do something else to put some more effort; to apply
your self to a greater extent.

Freedom ~ 181
 Because, you know, there’s this phrase that says only God
is great. (pause) Well when you want that greatness you have
to think in terms of, if God is the greatness that’s out here, it
requires a tremendous amount of effort to get to that level of
(pause) God Dominion, if you want to call it that. Where God
can truly express Himself fully through you. And you have to
be practical and think to yourself: “Am I really applying my-
self to that level?” Well, no you’re not! (chuckles, then laughs
a lot) And everybody can answer that question the same way.
Because if you’re asking the question, you obviously have not
achieved that God Dominion. (longer pause)
That’s where I had to be honest with myself and continue
to apply myself, regardless of what the things were around me.
And it’s to the point where…it does come to that point. For
everybody out there that has made major contributions to hu-
manity, they all had to look at themselves in the mirror and
basically stare…whatever…I’ll call it death for lack of a better
word…stare death in the face. Not that they were always being
threatened by their life, but something calls them to the carpet
and says: “Look, it’s either all or none.” No matter how good
they are. No matter how high they’ve gone. They all have come
to that point where Life says: “It’s either all or nothing.” And
that’s a test.
It’s a test of the athlete that wants to be a champion. The
athlete that wants to be a champion knows that: “I have to give
it my all.” “I can’t skip any steps, because once I become cham-
pion, everybody’s coming after me.” So this process is support;
to go through every step; to put forth that pressure to know
every step of the way to that championship so that when I get
there I can maintain that position.
That’s everybody on this planet that wants to achieve
anything worthwhile. Those throughout history have…gone

182 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

through that same process of achieving. They take on greater
responsibility. They have paid their dues in order to handle
that responsibility. And they take on greater responsibility.
And at some point should their desires to serve mankind be
such, Life says: “You are the Master!” “You have demonstrated
your ability to master Life.” And the heavens open up. You have
there the Buddha’s, the Jesus’, the Ghandi’s. Those folks in the
world that have conquered it all…and without a dime in their
pockets. Major contributors to mankind; and without a dime
in their pockets.

Z: Are there any other lessons?

Stanley: (laughing out loud) Well…there are some other les-
sons in terms of responsibility. I learned that we have to take on
greater responsibility regardless of who you are. I say that in terms
of youth. One of the fallacies our youth are dealing with today. Is
that, you have to do this and you have to do that and you have to
do this to be successful; to be happy in life. Go to college.
Well, it hasn’t been proven true. Because all the adults you
hear that are now…in control if you want to call it that…that
are running industry and government have gone to college and
haven’t created a better world than it was when they were chil-
dren. If you look at the outer, we still have poverty. The only
thing that we can look at truly that may have advanced, that
still has not gotten rid of poverty is technology. Tell me…tech-
nology has advanced leaps and bounds. We still have poverty.
So something isn’t clicking.
With all the intellectual people that we have in the world
we still haven’t figured out how to get rid of poverty; how to get
rid of wars; how to get rid of disease. I feel that’s largely based
on the fallacy that we have to get all of this intellectual, educa-
tional [academic] type of experiences as opposed to looking

Freedom ~ 183
within ourselves and applying ourselves based on handling
greater responsibility.
Because once you get into yourself, you realize that expe-
rience is really what you become. You’re the culmination of
everything that you’ve experienced in life. Well, that being the
case and you consider that you are that accumulation of life ex-
perience; you should be brilliant. You should be a God being.
But our attention is directed to the things outside of us. The
things…the material things. Get a job. Buy stuff. Retire and
buy more stuff. You’re enjoying life. You’re going to retire. Well
that hasn’t proven to make people happy at all. It has proven
that we can accumulate things. It has done that. But accumu-
lating those things are only temporary…ah…points of, I guess,
emotional satisfaction. That’s all they are. You’re just feeding
your emotions for a moment. Then you’re back to your depres-
sions and your drudgery and those conditions of the world.
No one has proven those things to make you happy. There-
fore, we have all those generations that have gone by and we see
our youth, at this point now, facing these issues. Well, look “I got
things.” “I’m a teenager.” “I got cell phones.” “I got calculators.”
“I got computers.” “I got all this stuff.” “I got the internet.” “I got
music.” “I got widescreen TV’s.” “And…I g-o-t p-r-o-b-l-e-m-s.”
They also have something that we may not have had grow-
ing up. And that I see, I have to say see…because it’s them, it’s
not me…I’m looking back. I’m looking at our young people to-
day and I’m seeing them really crying…striving for something
inside of them to come through. That they can anchor into,
because they can feel it.
They don’t want what the adults have. They got the stuff.
But, when they look at that individual called adult, they don’t
want that. They see unhappy people telling them, by their ac-
tions, that they have to go to college, go to work and retire,

184 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

when their too old to enjoy it and wither away and die. The
young people don’t like that picture. They’re rebelling furi-
ously. The rebellion is not so much rebellion in a negative way;
there’s something inside of them that knows better. And they
want that. And it’s called Freedom. Its Freedom based on the
God within them wanting to express and experience Perfec-
tion. All this stuff in the world will never allow a young person
or an individual to do that. (Silence)

Z: Is this just for young people?

Stanley: No, it’s not. I’ll qualify it by saying. Everybody’s
creative. Meaning that all the stuff we have out here; all the
education that we have; if it does not allow you to express the
ideas, the ideals, the principles, the ethics, the morals that you
feel within your own heart (silence) then you’re never going to
be happy. You might as well just pack up your bags.
That’s what people are doing. (chuckles) Not literally pack-
ing up their bags. But the average adult today is in a conundrum;
in a sense that their saying: “Well, you know I’ve got to work
because of my benefits and my retirement. Now I’m not happy
in my job. I don’t see my ideas implemented. I don’t have the
freedom to create and express these things that are within me,
but I’ve got to do this. Well, in other eras and in other places in
the world…where you are bound to do things you don’t want
to do, they call that slavery. They also call it communism. Be-
cause you are relying on things outside of yourself, to sustain
you. (silence)
In America, where your constitution, our constitution says
you have the freedom to prosper; you know life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. Those kinds of things and we have a
constitution to protect the right to allow us to do that. It’s not
based on these things. It’s based on that [God] Presence inside

Freedom ~ 185
of you. That’s why this country accelerated and advanced so
quickly. At one time, and we still do, but at one time we lived it.
And the entire world benefited from it.
Five thousand years prior to that constitution there was
very little progress on this planet. People need to understand
that. And look at that issue. The fact, that they were carting
stuff by mules in Moses’ time and they were carting things us-
ing mules and donkeys and horses in Colonial times. Why is it
that from 1787 to whatever time…a hundred years after that…
200 years we’re putting people on the moon? How come all of
a sudden we’re able to do that and it wasn’t happening in any
other nation anywhere else? (pause)
Cause there’s something about it. And it has to do with
that constitution and the fact that they acknowledged God
first, instead of the King. And gave people the right to pursue
God; their God Dominion in this nation. Which means that
the creativity…all that creativity is…that is the essence of God.
God creates. The Creator! That Creator exists within every in-
dividual. And this nation was designed to allow that Creator to
express Itself through every individual. And we are living the
benefits of that today.
Now we have an obligation, if we want to see this world
continue to prosper, to make sure that happens with our young
people. And the way to do that…the most effective way to do
that is to allow that Presence to express Itself through us, so
they can see that Light expand. The adults need to come out of
the closet…that believe in God and accept the word of God as
their own and show the young people that…that’s what Life is
all about. And we’ll all be happier for it.

Z: Yes. I bear witness.

Stanley: (Laughs out loud)

186 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

 Z: Were there any key relationships through this journey
that come to mind?
Stanley: Absolutely! And I’ll start with family. The first one,
we talked about me. The next connection…the strong relation-
ship…me and God, then it’s family and God. You know, it’s
funny, Zayd. I put up a website…it’s my background. I’m start-
ing to put together my story on this website. One of my quotes
that I put up on this thing is: “Family is a group word.” (chuck-
les) That’s it! (laughs out loud) You know, group. We need to be
reminded of that today. Family is a group word. It’s not you, me,
that other person. It’s all of us together. It means being together;
doing things together; you know, all that kind of stuff.
Well, somebody saw my quote and responded. It was kind
of neat, because she…I guess was inspired and wrote the word
family and she broke the syllables down. Fam – i – ly. Then,
she rearranged them. The rearrangement ended up being I
AM FLY. Then she went on and she put I AM Flying. Then
she went: I AM Flying means I AM FREE. (laughing out loud)
I was like: “Whew. That’s powerful! We’re going to post that
comment!” (laughing out loud, both of us)
Matter of fact, when I talked to her later, I said: “I was look-
ing at your phrasing and how you did this thing.” She structured
it…in a structure, a pattern. I said: “You know, I looked at it and
I saw something I never saw before.” I saw the fly before, you
know, I am fly. She took it to the point of I AM Flying which
means I AM Free. But, I saw for the first time, and she didn’t
see it. I saw FLY rearranged to create the word LYF – Life. I AM
Life is in the word family.
Outside of the connection with God; that being the first
and most important relationship is family. God put family to-
gether for a reason. I value it. I value highly my marriage…my
relationship with my children because they allow me to excel

Freedom ~ 187
and experience things that I would never be able to do within
my own self. Because there’s a reflection there…There’s a state-
ment by Beloved Master Jesus that says: “The world is a mirror
that reflects what you put out.” That is so evident within your
household, with you family. It’s unbelievable (laughs out loud).
I think we ignore it. I think today especially…there are so many
divorces, this, that. and the other.
That’s based on what the Ascended Masters say, they say:
“People avoid others because they can’t control themselves.”
(laughs out loud) In a family, in a household, you are forced to
deal with yourself. (Laughs out loud) So instead of dealing with
themselves, accepting the responsibility of self-development,
self-leadership, self-esteem, self-control, self-correction – WE
DIVORCE. And that’s the worse thing you can do.
One of the principles of the constitution…because the
constitution was designed to protect the family…is…actually
about family. They felt that the strength…Well, it actually says
it right here, I have it in my hand now. “The core unit which
determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore,
the government should foster and protect its integrity.” That’s
because the family is (pause) largely a home, a house of God.
When you think in terms of a house of God, it really…you
have a Temple, the body as a Temple. You bring people together.
You start to represent something greater than that. Government
stems from the structure of a family. You’ve got people working
together…should be working together in cooperation. You set
up rules and regulations. You have a stronger unit. You can do
more together as a group than you can separately. That’s what
families represent. It’s extremely important that families work
together and cooperate together and so forth.
That relationship is as valuable as the one with God. If you
can do that happily and harmoniously…outside of your direct

188 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

connection with God that is probably one of the greatest ways
of showing praise and gratitude to God; to work real hard to
maintain a happy and harmonious household.
The benefits are limitless because in that exercise, in that
training and experience. If you can do that in your own house-
hold, where you get really challenged the most because they
know your “hot buttons” and everything. (chuckles) You can
certainly handle everything once you leave that door. That’s
why I feel a lot of children who have broken households; they
don’t have the benefit of the direct experience of developing
within that dynamic of a household and a family. Therefore,
they’re less prepared when they walk out into the rest of the
world. (silence)
How do you learn to deal in groups? Now you’re out with
somebody who doesn’t have [that experience]. In a family you
can get away with a lot more. I can have an argument with you,
if you were my brother, and the next day we’d be out party-
ing together. Out there in the world…ah ah, I don’t think so.
(laughs out loud) “You’re not part of my family. Guess what
I could be partying with you and setting you up for the next,
whatever it is. That’s the benefit of having family. We all know
that. We all know that with family you can get away with things
because that’s family. That’s Love. We’ll forgive a family mem-
ber anytime before [we forgive] what happened with someone
else. I don’t care how good your friends are; they’re still not
your family.

Z: That’s right!
Stanley: And you can prove that. Let one of their family
members show up. It could be your best friend, something will
happen. I’m sure people have had the experience and there has
to be a choice made whether it’s family or them. Well, guess

Freedom ~ 189
what? Best friend, I love you, but this is the deal. This is where
the line gets drawn.

Z: Excellent! Were there any other relationships that were

key to helping you learn and develop this perspective around
Freedom?
Stanley: Yes. I would say being in business almost all my
life. My relationships with business owners. I came to appreci-
ate being independent. It started with being an artist, really.
And having the freedom to create things and watching ideas
manifest from…just out of the blue. An idea would come and
end up on a piece of paper, on a canvas, or on a design. Work-
ing the dancers and watching all these creative people just do
things that were out right phenomenal. Then I realized there
was even a higher level to that because artists were expressing
themselves and allowing people to enjoy it. Get a lift emotion-
ally, spiritually, and so forth.
What business owners were doing through their creative
expression was providing (pause) for our future. (pause) And
that put me in a whole different level of respect for freedom
and independence. A business owner has the ability to draw to
him or herself resources and support that no one else can. To
put something together in terms of the business, to provide for
people to sustain themselves and pursue their God Dominion.
And they couldn’t do it themselves.
I have a whole different respect for individuals who decide
to become business owners. Because of their ability to draw like
a magnet resources and support, people and all kinds of things
out of thin air. An idea, just like a traditional artist would do
except they’re moving people and machinery and produce and
an idea. All those things that nature itself seems to just come
together behind one person’s desire to provide what they feel is

190 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

an idea they have so that people’s lives can be enriched. That’s
powerful to me.
I’ve had relationships with literally hundreds of business
owners since being a child up to now…it may even be thousands
because of what I’ve done with the newspapers and the radio.
Reaching out, touching people, getting responses and all.
I feel that’s a big part of what this country is about. When
you say independence. I really feel that the business owner
today is the pure representative of the scope of what indepen-
dence means and how far reaching it can be. It can go around
the globe. I feel these independent business owners are also in
the practical sense probably…the way I would put it is through-
out mankind’s history we’ve always had these spiritual people
that would show up. We call them Saints, call them disciples,
call them Buddhas, call them whatever you want. But, there
was always someone they connected to who would champion
their cause and bring the people together. That person applied
the Law to allow the people to come together to become in-
dustrious and so forth and so on. Well, I looked at that person
as an entrepreneur. Because they were able to marshal these
people and get them to pull together, and build and plow and
all those kinds of things.
That’s what I see happening today. I see you have a spiritual
movement going on but yet you have these people who have
these ideals and principles, who are called business owners.
Who are able to marshal the resources and to make it available
to people who have the desire to build and inspire and enrich
lives and express their creativity. I give that to business owners.
They’re the ones that allow the produce to get from the farms
to somebody’s plate or table. Without them having the abil-
ity to do that, it wouldn’t happen. Because those at the farm
who are harvesting, they’re not the ones that are making that

Freedom ~ 191
transportation work. They’re not the ones that are getting it to
the market to allow the product to be packed and shipped and
doing all those things.
I feel the responsibility of a business owner is key. I feel
that today we have drifted away from the core principles of
the constitution. We are being forced back into them. In the
sense that business owners have to now live with a lot of things
around them that they really didn’t bank on, in terms of the
resources they have access to. There seems to be a lot more
players now because we have a global economy. The dynamics
are that those who have are thinking, “I want to keep mine to
my own self,” rather than spreading the wealth.
That’s causing grassroots business owners to say: “Wait
a minute. What’s going on? The pie is not getting bigger, it’s
getting smaller.” The resources on the planet have not got-
ten less. There’s still the same amount of real estate. The
same abundance is in the United States; here and now, more
so than when the Founding Fathers were here. There are
parts of natural resources in this country that have not been
touched. We started shipping stuff out, bringing produce in
from other countries.
It’s not that we lack the real estate and the resources to
manufacture or harvest that produce. We’re still relying on
other countries to do it because the labor is cheaper. We still
have oil in our lands; in the United States as much as they have
in Asian countries. But, their labor is cheaper.
So, we’re dealing with a lot of things that we weren’t bank-
ing on that’s causing us to have to look within ourselves. I feel
that’s going to be a very positive movement and direction of us
gaining more of our spirituality or independence in this coun-
try. I think we’re being forced back to those core principles. We
do not, in the United States of America, have to rely on outside

192 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

resources, outside of this country, to enrich this country and
take it forward. We don’t have to do that.

Z: As you’re talking about Freedom. You’re talking about

responsibility and entrepreneurship, Business Owners. In your
experience what would be the most important or dominant
principles, values that would make a new business owner suc-
cessful?
Stanley: Your timing couldn’t be better. Back in 1996, when
I founded The National Society of American Business Own-
ers (NSABO), I pretty much based its principles around the
constitution. Actually I have a list of principles. I call it “The
Principles of American Business Ownership Development.” It
is the method that I’ve developed since 1984. I used it in my
consulting and marketing business and so forth and so on for
years. It was proven and I refined it. Then, as I said in 1996,
founding the NSABO, I just brought those principles to the
surface, I have them here. There are a total of 12 principles.
The first three are:

1. That all mankind are created equal by God for the pur-
pose of pursuing and expressing Perfection.
2. America is the birthplace of Freedom allowing us to
pursue the highest ideals of Perfection.
3. Business owners have a tremendous influence on others,
including family members, the communities, business
associates and fellow citizens.

An example of that is someone can have a vending cart

selling apples. They can hire an employee to work and sell the
same apples; same hours of the day, right across the street. Well,
guess what? Who has more power still? The business owner!
(laughs)

Freedom ~ 193
 And that person has as much power as Motts Apple Pie
people, because they’re a business owner. They can call a sup-
plier of apples and get the same respect as the owner of Motts
Apple Pies, because they’re business owners. That’s how much
influence they have. But, they need to understand that. They
need to understand that’s a responsibility. And that because of
the position they have influence, they can make things change.
They can walk through a room and depending on their attitude
they can cause people to be inspired, very productive or ruin
their entire lives, ruin their whole weekend. That’s something
which they are responsible for. The next principle:

4. Business owners as a group of individuals with high ide-

als, morals, values and ethics given a single focus could
dramatically heighten the state and progress of America
and the world.

This was demonstrated in our American industrial, fi-

nancial, technological and information revolutions. The next
principle:

5. Business ownership is a career

One thing I’ve found over the years is that when you be-
come a business owner, you’re not thinking “Well, I’m going
to go to school and become a business owner.” Somehow you
just happen to start a business. I’ve heard people say there’s no
place to go to school to learn to be a business owner. Up until
the National Society of American Business Owners (NSABO),
really there wasn’t. We’re not that well known yet, as far as tra-
dition goes. It’s not like, oh, “I’ll go to school to learn at the
NSABO.” It’s not that at all. But the reality is, business owner-

194 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

ship is a career, a profession…and here is the principle. It is a
way of life that must be continually developed into mastery as
with any other professional craft.
You’re a lawyer. Guess what? You have to go to school for
law, pass the bar and this, that, and the other. But, if you’re the
boss who owns the law firm; guess what? That’s a whole differ-
ent ball game. You have a greater responsibility than the lawyer
that you hire. That is a profession, being a business owner,
though we’re not structured that way.
That’s one of the things that NSABO is addressing, to get
the word out. Look, you need to focus on the skills of business
ownership and develop them. Regardless of what direction…
whether it is law, food, restaurant, whatever it is. Business own-
ership is a career. You need to learn what that means and the
implications of it. The next one:

6. Ownership means responsibility. Anyone who takes re-

sponsibility for their actions and influence is accepting
ownership.

That broadens the scope of traditional business ownership.

That means that an individual who is working for somebody,
who takes the responsibility of caring for that place, can have
the same feeling of ownership as the actual business owner that
invested all the money.
That is something that was taught to me when I was grow-
ing up. That if I work for somebody, I can look at that job, at
that business as my own. Why would I do that? You know, it’s
not my business. I’m not getting any of the profits. Well, let’s
think about it. If I accept the place where I work, the com-
pany, as my own business; how would I treat it? Would I trash
the place? Would I abuse the resources? No. Like that business

Freedom ~ 195
owner, I would see it as an investment. I would put all my Best
into that thing.
I would apply my work ethics and my energies to it be-
cause; guess what? I might leave this place one day and what
will I have on my resume if I treat it as my own. What kind of
recommendations would I get if I treated it as my own?
If I abuse it, there’s a chance I might not get the next job I
want to get. I might not get the next opportunity to advance
up the ranks. That’s where, in corporate America, I feel the
position of “intrapreneurship,” that whole philosophy came
from. There are people who have said to themselves: “Look,
I’m treating this as my own.” “This is my time going into it; my
energies going into it; I’m going to max this thing out.” They
become just as viable to that business as the owner himself,
even though technically they don’t own it. But the benefits are
still there. So we need to look at the opportunity that we have
of taking responsibility in the business. Treat it as your own.
I say this to students in high school: “Look, this school
is yours. You own it. These people work for you.” They look
at me and they go: “Ah, what do you mean? Why would we
want to do that?” Well, think about it. You have copiers; you
have computers; you have libraries; you have equipment; you
have gymnasiums; you have teachers that have expertise. If you
treat it like your own and you r-e-a-l-l-y treat it like your own:
What would you be like? (pause) This is yours. Make it what
you want. If you use it to your advantage…Oh my goodness…
Imagine what young people would look like; if they treated it
like their own?
You’re not going to trash your mp3 player or your home
computer. And that’s part of the principles. Accepting full re-
sponsibility for individual actions taken; makes that individual
a business owner. The next one is:

196 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

 7. Business ownership development requires discipline,
initiative, and courage.

Because you’ve really got to stand up against the things that

want to draw you off. There’s always somebody who sees you
doing good and they think to themselves: “Well, I don’t want
you doing good cause it’s not me. And you might get more than
I have.” And they’re going to try to pull you off. You’ve got to
have the courage to stand up against that. Next one:

8. Creativity

[This] is something that everybody has and not everyone

will claim they have it. There’s no way you can survive in this
world without creativity. God is creating. God’s in you. Guess
what? The Creator is in you. Create! The next one:

9. Training and a commitment to sound principles.

That commitment to sound principles is kind of where we

are today, in terms of our constitution and our government
and society. To get away from those sound principles of moral-
ity and ethics and religion and spirituality is insane. You don’t
want to get away from those things.

10. Ownership is exercising one’s independence.

The freedom to pursue and express Perfection. Expressing

one’s full Freedom and God-given rights helps to preserve and
protect the God ideals of our United States constitution. This
means protection and hope for the rest of the world. It’s not like
the rest of the world doesn’t know it. Because to this day, re-

Freedom ~ 197
gardless of what people in our country, our own citizens think
about this country; there are more people trying to get here
than any other nation on this planet. Still.
The last two principles are:

11. Our obligation to Life is to serve all Life by pursuing

Perfection. Expanding it and protecting the Freedom to
do so.

Again, that’s getting back to the example of understanding

that you are a person; a business owner is a person that has
influence. You are also an example and that’s why it’s a respon-
sibility. You might not think you’re an example, but people are
watching you because you’re a business owner. You stand out. I
don’t care who you are, whether you just have a vending cart…
you’re working from your computer outside of your home, or
inside your home. You’re still going to draw more attention
than the average person.
For whatever reason, I know there’s something greater than
that. Something more spiritual about it that I couldn’t explain.
They have some spiritual aspect to them that allows them to
become a magnet to draw people to them; and get the respect
for that. So you have to be careful with it.
The last principle is:

12. Universal laws, natural laws, as claimed by the found-

ing fathers, govern all activity throughout the entire
universe.

There’s no such thing as the laws of success here, don’t ap-

ply in India; or in Africa; or some remote country. The same
universal laws of life here, exist everywhere else on the uni-
verse. (pause) That concludes the principles.

198 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

 Z: Excellent! Ah man, WOW! Two questions…one is: Is
there anything else you want to say about Freedom?
Stanley: I pretty much said it all. I’m sitting here contem-
plating. I always want to make sure that people understand,
our first commitment: “Thou shall have no other God before
Me.” That it is putting God first. That allows us to have that
Freedom. The Freedom to do that, put God first, is the most
valuable Freedom we have. (laughs out loud) And we should
do it constantly. That would be it.

Z: That’s the perfect place to stop. WOW! (chuckles) Man

this is something brother. I thank you so much for this. My
feeling is its going to help a whole lot of people. This is some-
thing far beyond what I think it is because it’s being ignited and
driven by the God Presence, The God Power. I’m convinced.

Freedom ~ 199
 Key Insights on

Freedom

Freedom is just that…having the right, the privilege, the

honor to allow God’s Life, God’s Perfection to express
through you without interruption from outside forces or
even your own human consciousness.

Freedom is the individual’s obligation to become one with

the Presence of Life in them; to allow that to flow through
freely and express It’s Perfection.

Every individual has some kind of connection with some great-

er Power. And if giving attention to that, It would flow.

The greater responsibility you are willing to take on, the

greater the pressure.

We have to take on greater responsibility regardless of

who you are.

Freedom to create and express these things that are within

you.

Dealing with yourself. Accepting the responsibility of self-

development, self-leadership, self-esteem, self-control,
and self-correction.

You can do more together as a group than you can separate-

ly. That’s what families represent. It’s extremely important
that families work together and cooperate together.

One of the greatest ways of showing praise and gratitude

to God is to work real hard to maintain a happy and har-
monious household.

200 ~ 7 Self-Leadership Practices to Freedom and Power

 Appreciate being independent and having the freedom to
create things and watch ideas manifest.

Desire to provide what you feel is an idea you have so that

people’s lives can be enriched.

The desire to build and inspire and enrich lives and express
their creativity.

Accepting full responsibility for individual actions taken

Decision points from this chapter:

▶ Decide what you don’t want to do anymore
▶ Decide to become

Key Relationships and Roles of Influence

• Father – example; support
• Aunts and Uncles - examples
• Friends – study group, business partners
• Wife – support; partner
• Family – cooperate together; experience more
• Business owners – examples; influence; demonstrate
high ideals and principles

What do these key insights, decisions, and relationships

mean to you, for your personal development?

How can you apply these key insights, decisions, and rela-
tionships to enhance the development and growth of your
children, co-workers, or employees?

Freedom ~ 201