Evolution
The quest for a more meaningful and fuller life led founder and facilitator, Dr. Leo D'Mello and his team to form the Academy of Self Actualization to search, study, research and experiment and formulate the Fuller Life Wholeness Program.
Some early influencers include psychologists, Kurt Goldstein who held the view that, it is the organism's master motive, the only real motive: "the tendency to actualize itself as fully as possible is the basic drive… the drive of self-actualization. Carl Rogers who similarly wrote of "the curative force in psychotherapy - man's tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities... to express and activate all the capacities of the organism and then finally to Abraham Maslow, who brought in the study to prominence through the 'hierarchy of needs' theory where he believed that the final 'actualization' of the full personal potential takes place after the basic and mental needs are fulfilled.
Maslow studied various historical figures, whom he believed to be self-actualized, including Albert Einstein, Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Eleanor Roosevelt and Jane Addams.
Inspired by the Biblical promise of Jesus Christ that he has come to give us a life and life in all its fullness (John 10:10), the quest for the fuller life or a life of self actualization began as early as 1989 for Dr. Leo D'Mello and his team. The search led through a study of scriptures, of human interactions and experiments and a study of various psychologists.
Notably, Kurt Goldstein who held the view that , it is the organism's master motive, the only real motive: "the tendency to actualize itself as fully as possible is the basic drive...the drive of self-actualization. Carl Rogers who similarly wrote of "the curative force in psychotherapy - man's tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities...to express and activate all the capacities of the organism and then finally to Abraham Maslow, who brought the study to prominence through his 'hierarchy of needs' theory where he believed that the final 'actualization' of the full personal potential takes place after the basic and mental needs are fulfilled. Also worth mention are the notable psychologists, who have worked on the innovative frontiers of American education.
Maslow studied various historical figures, whom he believed to be self-actualized, including Albert Einstein, Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Eleanor Roosevelt and Jane Addams. He profiled self-actualized people as having the following profile:
- Efficient perceptions of reality
- Comfortable acceptance of self, others, nature
- Spontaneity
- Task centering
- Autonomy
- Continued freshness of appreciation
- Profound interpersonal relationships
- Non-hostile sense of humour
- Peak experiences
- Detachment, solitude
- Democratic character structures
- Discrimination between means and end, good and evil
Dr. Leo D'Mello and team set out to study more contemporary 'self-actualized' people like Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Fr Tony Demello and also historical figures like Gautama Buddha, Zen masters, Yogis, etc. The study threw up some very stimulating realities; that people who have not necessarily passed through all the hierarchical needs have still willed themselves to do a quest for self actualization and indeed some even possessed it. This is where the spiritual wisdom stepped in to be the catalyst to stirring up people to live more authentic and fuller lives.
The Fuller Life™ Program evolved through various stages of encompassing spiritual wisdom, scientific discoveries and practical experiences. The Academy of Self-Actualization continues to study various facets of a man's body, mind and spirit and how a better awareness and authentic living experience can trigger the organism's code to self-actualization and a Fuller Life.