"UnCommon Scents"
An Evening with Horst

October 16th, 2002

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "universe". He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. We must widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of Nature in its beauty.

-Albert Einstein

SJA along with Pathways and Noetic Marketplace co-sponsored the evening seminar "Uncommon Scents: Mind & Body, Life & Death, Health & Wealth" with featured speaker Horst Rechelbacher, a business leader, environmentalist and founder of Aveda Corporation. Held at the Continuum Center October 16th on 26th & Hennepin in their comfy basement, some 60 people in attendance sat in a relaxed living room like atmosphere complete with abundant pillows and sofas as aromatic scents of various Aveda oils permeated the air.

Jane Barrash, Executive Director of the Continuum Center - an organization dedicated to the exploration of human consciousness and human capacity - provided a telling introduction about Horst. "He has ideas that are a little bit out of the mainstream . . . bigger ideas of life and death . . .[he's] an example of people who do good with what they got . . . and one of the most non-linear people I know." She wasn't kidding. Casually dressed and speaking warmly at ease with an affable Austrian accent, Horst would arbitrarily jump from one subject to another, seldom making any connection in between. Yes, we were left hanging. Yet, his conversation always piqued your interest as well as your funny bone. From his work philosophy - "don't tell me, show me" to his playful irreverence - blatantly "giving the finger" gesture (Hey, for a Buddhist, the middle finger means "finger of oneness"), this self-made entrepreneur is in a class of hard earned success all his own.

"Terrible in school," at the age of fourteen, he dropped out after the eighth grade. Deciding to work, he became an apprentice for a hairdressing salon in Austria. He concluded that Austrians are "stylist-oriented people - totally bureaucratic - demanding good services or they turn their back on you." Never forgetting that "good services" work ethic, he emigrated to the United States by the age of 21. Insisting that his mother couldn't stand the chemical smell in beauty products, he decided he would create an all new chemical-free product with pure ingredients found in nature. Eureka! Aveda was born.

Horst's business philosophy for success all about collaboration. "I can't stand working one on one. [There is] no reflection. The system of business today is designed to fail because the majority of employees do not take ownership. I'm interested in cooperative business where people own the business." He insists he is not a teacher but a forever a student in need of dialogue. "I mirror myself in you and you mirror yourself in me. I never make a decision without help from the group. I reflect myself on you because you are my customer." In working with a democratic process with his company, he insists that as a group they come up with the idea for a product together "from a collective decision." With all products, together "we package it, test market it, take the group input and put it on the shelf."

THE GARBAGE TRUCK NEEDS TO BE EMPTIED

Horst believes that people have "a common need to empty themselves because they have a need to reflect." The first thing we do when we go to the office is get our coffee and talk to our co-workers. The work doesn't start right away. We need to be with our friends and unload first. "People say I leave it up to you, but what they really mean is I don't know how to tell you." This happens because we have programmed so much information into our bodies that we soon combust and must reach for a release.

Horst feels that people don't listen to each other but rather "they listen through their sensory accumulations." The most difficult thing in life is communication. We must learn how to be with bliss in our selves. Only then can we truly communicate with each other.

One way to do this is through meditation. Through our daily lives we get knocked out from outside experiences like free-radicals and sensory overload, never getting in touch with our bliss, only experiencing the pain in our lives. We have to recode ourselves by getting in touch with our inner selves. Horst can be found meditating in a private closet where he begins releasing as much breathe as possible until his breathing becomes slower and slower until it almost stops. Then you become completely still. To the point of being without thought. It's in this quiet moment where you begin to recharge because you are now in touch with your soul, your healer. You become one with yourself. "We need to create oneness." Horst has even taken his meditation to the point of a ten day silence. Like a rebirth for him, he says in order to sustain this long period "I don't read, I only write. Because when you read, you have to program."

Michael Reinbold, a continuing web reporter, freelances as a writer and banquet caterer. A passionate believer in SJA's mission of social justice and collaborative ministry, Michael is an SJA Choir member, mass reader, Team Oz AIDS rider and Grace House volunteer cook. With an extensive background in theater, photography and fundraising, he relishes all aspects of the arts, staying fit and inspiring and working with people.
Three key factors for us to live in harmony in the world are to achieve patience, democracy and enlightenment. He suggests, "To have patience, we must work on our selves." To achieve democracy, everyone must have "the right to know what's going on in the world." And to obtain enlightenment, we need "a light heart where the heart is not heavy." In describing his universal vision for mankind, Horst offers a natural chain that occurs between us: "It starts with a thought and then taking [that] into action. This action becomes the teacher. You and I partner in exchange. Right or wrong goes into bliss or pain. Good versus bad. Bad becomes an opportunity to make good." Hence, the healing begins.
Peg LaSota comes from a photography background. She now works in the digital world, computer instruction, and with "videography" and the restoration of family films. She is enthusiastic about capturing family memories and preserving them digitally. Along with that, her time is spent with her family and her love for learning Spanish, piano, recorder.....and of course singing with the choir!


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