This Path represents the determination to do something about the required change. If it is real and sincere, it will expose the conflict in the ways one relates to the world. Ambition is necessary, but insufficient; it must not just address behaviour in a particular circumstance, but the beliefs and models we hold that dictate the choices we make. All the ambition and bravery in the world won’t help you to get to Antarctica if the only ship goes from Tasmania, and you have an ethical problem about going to the Island State of Australia.

The Key shows a Tower struck by lightning, and the inhabitants forcefully ejected. This is the way the world works. If you think you can achieve your ambitions without sacrificing who and where you are now, you are dangerously deluded. And, if you want ‘the Pearl of Great Price’, you have to be prepared to surrender everything that you have and are, in order to attain it.

Ambition and courage are necessary to effect change but, by themselves, insufficient. ‘Peh’ means ‘mouth’; we have all met people who talk big, but do little. Don’t be ‘all mouth’; empty cans make the most noise.

This Path will be investigated more closely in the essay on Attractors and Models. For now, the important thing to recognise is that, as we grow, we accumulate methods of dealing with the world – ‘models’, and these are filed away for later use. The more often they prove useful, the easier they are to resort to. But this does not mean that they are the best solution, or never in contradiction with another equally strongly held view. Someone can be a devout Christian on Sunday (or Jew on Saturday, Muslim on Friday, etc.) and behave like an atheist the next morning, without noticing the contradiction. As we move from one model to another in response to external stimulus, we interpret the world according to that model. This is a survival tactic. For example, say I have a strongly held belief that threatened animal species should be preserved at all costs. That’s fine sitting at home in front of the TV; I can make a donation to an appropriate charity, and do some good in the world. But say you are in one of the wilder parts of India, and you happen to have a loaded rifle in your hand, just as a tiger leaps out of the jungle and charges towards you.

At a more domestic level, the same thing can happen every day. The decision to quit smoking can be quite sincere and determined at the time; but, faced with a long day of stress at the office, a traffic jam on the way home, a bad headache and your partner phoning to ask you to call in at the supermarket and buy some panini, you might well be tempted to add a packet of Dunhill to the shopping list. A different model of behaviour takes over; perhaps not a good one, but, at the time, a necessary one.

The Key (amongst many other things), shows two trees; one is designed to look like the sort of tree you might find in the garden, the other has the Sephiroth incorporated into it. These represent the two checks you have on your model. Does it agree with the natural world around you? Does it conform to the understanding you already have?

The model we are using to describe our situation can range from a vague ‘wishful thinking’, or ‘dreamlike imagination’, through ‘hoping for the best’, ‘best guess’, ‘belief without evidence’, ‘experience that seems to apply’, to ‘absolute certainty’. Obviously, the results of our work with Qesheth will be influenced by the degree of accuracy of our model. If we believe we can get to Antarctica by standing on our heads and yodelling, Qesheth is going to do a lot of work for no result. It might be the only way you can think of, but hitting your head against a brick wall to cure a headache needs a bit of thought – is it working? Are you any nearer your goal than when you started? Patz (ץפ) means ‘to be dispersed, scattered’. This is what happens to our efforts if we do not keep our eyes on the goal.

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What is the goal of your behaviour change? If it’s giving up cigarettes, then it might be your own health, or that of your family, or your bank balance, or the inconvenience of standing outside in the cold at work, or having to leave your non-smoking mates in the pub, or a combination of these and others. If you keep that goal in mind, be fully aware of what you are doing in order to achieve it, and remember the reward for your efforts, it will create the pressure you need to get Qesheth to work.

Sometimes we try and do things to win the respect of others, or because we think ‘it’s the right thing to do’. In these cases, there may be little or no reward for your efforts – and you will find the change proportionately harder to achieve. Unless there is nothing in your heart and mind except to fulfil the expectations of others, there will be a conflict inside you that cannot be resolved.