Dear Jack and all,
Yesterday morning I was intrigued to note a quote from the bible (Romans)
in our Parish newsletter exhorting us to 'submit to the governing
authorities'. This quote had followed on from the story of Jesus saying to
'Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is
God's'. Our Parish priest apparently interpreted this to mean that we had
both secular and spiritual responsibilities. It is easy to see how this
interpretation could result in subservience to what might be called 'The
Vampire Archetype', a tyrannical regime in which an elite few or one at the
top of a hierarchical governmental structure impose their will upon those
many upon whom they depend, whilst declaring their independence of these
many, their 'host'. My feeling is that there are many such tyrannical
regimes at large in our modern world, not least in our educational
Institutions.
So the questions that occur to me are as follows:
1) Who or what are the governing authorities?
2) What is meant by 'submission'?
In 'inclusionality', the awareness of space as a vital physical presence (a
'holeyness') within nature, inseparable from energy-matter, leads to an
understanding of universal dynamic form as the product of an
ever-transforming relationship between what we might call 'electromagnetic
information' (equivalent to 'Word' or 'Light') and 'space' (equivalent to
'Void'). The latter is infinite relative to the former. The former
'informs' - gives shape to the latter. The fundamental nature of both these
universal ingredients, which I liken to the solute (information) and
solvent (space) of a natural 'solution' is mysterious. They form what I
think of as the fundamental 'indeterminate couple' that comprises the
composite nature of nature (i.e. nature as 'togetherness' rather than
'unified whole').
If we represent information as 'I' and space as '-', we can represent this
couple as
- + -
where '+' is 'I' crossed through (not crossed out!) with space.
Hence we have a symbol of the 'Trinity' as a universal couple that combines
infinite space with finite informational 'lining'. This couple is
fundamentally 'incomplete' and hence capable of relating dynamically over
scales from microcosmic to macrocosmic. So we can generate an infinite
series:
- + - + - + - + - ....etc
where '-' always both envelops and is included in 'I'.
This links to the concept of the 'complex self' as a coming together of
inner and outer spaces through an intermediary bodily lining: a 'self' that
has both 'local' and 'non-local' aspects combined through its body. The
complex self is simultaneously both 'individually' distinct and
collectively 'together', without contradiction. Our neighbourhood is the
outer aspect of our inner selves.
By contrast, where space is 'excluded' from matter, as the cognitive
illusion of our eyesight may lead us to believe, then the 'body' represents
the separation of inner from outer.
We then have:
- I -
Which is at the heart of the 'either/or' objective logic based on the 'law
of the excluded middle' that leads to the notion of an external 'authority'
or 'force' that is imposed on objective bodies to bring about their
movement (i.e. the basis of Newtonian mechanics).
In these terms, for me, 'submission' implies 'attuning my personal agenda
with my living space' and 'holding openness', rather than imposing closure
between my individual 'self' and 'others'. I try to bring this sense of
submission into my educational work with others as a facilitator of
learning rather than dictator of learning.
Please note that this is my 'personal' interpretation, and underlies my
personal 'spirituality'. I do not wish to impose it on others or use it as
a basis for rejecting others' heartfelt beliefs.
Best
Alan
--On 01 July 2005 09:44 +0100 Jack Whitehead <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I'm hoping that we will return to this thread on spiritual practice as we
> develop the review phase of the seminar. If anyone has an explanation of
> their educational influence in their own learning and/or in the learning
> of others that expresses and communicates their meanings of the
> 'spiritual' , as a motivational/explanatory value or principle in
> educational influences in learning, do please add this to the archive of
> explanations.
>
> I know Je Kan Adler Collins is working on this issue from a Buddhist
> perspective and I sent on to him yesterday a piece by Joanna Macy at:
> http://www.dharma.org/insight/2001a/macy.htm
> I went into this url this morning to find the message:
>
> "What you are looking for
> Is no longer there.
> Change is like this." !
>
> (i think you might share my mixture of frustration and laughter)
>
> i experience my own spirituality as a flow of life affirming energy. In
> the following addition to our archive:
>
> "Living Educational Theory and Standards of Judgement: A contribution to
> the debate about assessing the quality of applied and practice-based
> educational research", at:
> http://www.jackwhitehead.com/monday/c12805.htm
>
> In this account there is a visual narrative that helps me to express (and
> I hope communicate) my meaning of the flow of life-affirming energy. Here
> is the extract I'm thinking of:
>
> "Expressing and representing inclusionality
>
> I am using the following 45 second video-clips to communicate my
> experience and meaning of inclusionality. The clip is from a gathering on
> the 18/12/02 in the Department of Education of the University of Bath, to
> celebrate the graduation of Jackie Delong with her doctoral degree.
> Jackie is the person in the right hand corner. At the beginning of this
> video-clip Peter Mellett is setting the scene for a piece of music by
> Django Reinhardt and Stefane Grappelli, playing Minor Swing. He is asking
> the group to listen attentively to the moment after the final note when
> both men express themselves in a way that Peter believes is a shared
> affirmation of having created something that satisfies them both.
> Margarida Dolan, the person in the foreground with her back to the
> camera, asks the question, 'But how will I know if this is the final note
> if I haven't heard the piece before?' In the seconds that follow there is
> flow of energy in the laughter and expression of pleasure from
> individuals in the group that opens channels of communication across
> self-boundaries in sharing the pleasure. I characterise this energy as a
> life-affirming energy that is consistent with Bataille's idea of
> assenting to life up to the point of death.
> The flow of pleasure through the laughter is co-created in the sense that
> Margarida responds to Peter and we all share in the laughter of a group
> who gathered together to celebrate Jackie Delong's accomplishment of her
> doctoral thesis.
> http://www.jackwhitehead.com/pmjd181202400.mov (11.63 MB) "
>
> What Mohamed said about 'submission' in relation to spirituality
> resonated with me. I experience my expression of the spiritual value in
> the flow of life-affirming energy, as freedom that connects with
> compassion and pleasure.
>
> Love Jack.
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