David Breashears and the Inner Master
August 24th, 2008Welcome to SeekingTrueNorth.com! Here you will find information about our book, the authors, and an interactive forum discussion about Seeking True North. Of course, if you came to buy the book, you can go directly here.
SeekingTrueNorth.com is the blog of authors Tim Walther and Erick Erickson. You
can search the blog entries by category at the bottom of the left-hand Sidebar to find out
more about the book, the ongoing adventures of Tim and Erick, and their businesses Grand Dynamics and Erickson
International. We also highly encourage you to visit our forum where
you can read and add commentary about Seeking True North and the application
of all the models, methods and tools! Please subscribe to the RSS feed for future updates.
Tim Walther and Erick Erickson
A couple weeks ago I went for a walk in Grand Teton Nationonal Park up to Lupine Meadows. It was the first time back in the mountains since my fall on Mount Moran. It was a beautiful walk and my ankle felt great. I went with Holly Baade and she had never been into the park - it was sweet to see the never-ending grin on her face. A couple miles in is a natural spring called horsetail falls. Its called that because the hollow horsetail plant is what is used to draw the water from the spring into your bottle. We stopped and Christian Scantelicis, a long time friend and Exum Mountain guide, was grabbing a drink after finishing up the Grand Traverse with a client. Just then a man approached with a sizable pack and he had an experienced, yet calm demeanor to him. It’s funny, the people you run into in Jackson Hole. Jackson attracts accomplished and successful people from many walks of life. Christian introduced us and the man’s name was David Breashers. I recognized the name and knew he was a famous mountaineer and film-maker, but I couldn’t remember any other specifics. David was on the way to climb the Grand Teton with other famous climbers Conrad Anchor and Jimmy Chin. The climb was a fund raising effort for Save Tibet and they were guiding a few notable clients including the Niece of the Daili Lama and the editor for the NY Times.
We began talking and after a few moments we all realized that our conversation was just beginning. Insights flowed as we talked about David’s experience working with organizations and business leaders, and we interwove topics psychology, business and philosophy seamlessly. One phrase that David shared which stuck with me is the “Inner Master.” To me the Inner Master refers to internal structures which guide us in thought and action. Our inner master is the combination of our ego and internal sense of what is important and provides our interpretive interface with the world. The greatest challenge is to know oneself - and for our Inner Master to be at peace. I wonder, what does my inner master tell me? What inner thoughts and desires no longer serve me? One tool I have found to help me discover those questions is The Witness. The witness is your third eye - your ability to perceive those thoughts and actions from outside yourself. By paying attention to the continuous thoughts that flow through us we can re frame and direct our focus toward those things that serve us - and the greater good of the world.
As time went by it came together for me and I realized that David Breashears was the man that, among other things, created the IMAX Everest Film. In May 1996 he was on Everest when the tragic storm hit. His team stopped filming to rescue the climbers, 8 of which died on the mountain. David’s best-selling memoir High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places (Simon & Schuster) documents his life as a mountaineer and filmmaker. You can read more about David at http://www.davidbreashears.com/about.html
The timing of David’s appearance was impeccable and the conversation was a delight. It was great to hear David talk about the Seeking True North model and its applicability to his experiences in life. Thanks David, for the walk - and insightful talk.
Tim
