Yes- one of the things that I am very upset with Sartre and Camus - in
a world wherre no one could begin to imagine Bin Laden and the
fundamental Bushian Christianity and Gush Emunim Judaism - is that they
have not made it very clear that Atheist, Secular Existentialism (what
I like to call Philosophies and Psychologies of Existence) is a
religion in its own right. But one that we are ought to embody as a
living theory of an individual's ontology, embodied epistemology and
education and ethics, rather preach demagogicaly as propositional
theories.
Quoting Alon Serper <[log in to unmask]>:
> Pip- Hanukkah is not really a religious festival: It is not mentioned
> in the old testimoney and is not a YomTov: namely, people still work.
> It is more of an ethnic, nationalistic festival. Something that for
> me, very personally, is all (the two, ie., organised religion and
> nationalism/ethnicity) part of the same ontological insecurity and the
> need of the indvidual to come up with something ontologically securing
> and sustaining for him/her, to protect him/her against the harsh
> reality that he/she is definite and is going to die, perish and be no
> more - a non-dasein. Alon
>
> Quoting Pip/Bruce Ferguson <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> Hi all
>> Thanks so much, Alan. This, to me, is true wisdom and inclusionality. The
>> recognition that Paula demonstrates in this post, that worldviews can be
>> 'both/and', recognizing ways that some Western scientists see the world, and
>> equally (alongside that) demonstrating that indigenous peoples have their
>> own, equally valid, and often extremely illuminating, alternative ways of
>> seeing the world.
>>
>> I will have to 'google' this writer and see what else of her and her
>> people's wisdom is available!
>>
>> It rather reminds me of a paper (I think, though memory may be playing me
>> false here,) from Mandawuy Yunupingu, an Australian academic and aboriginal)
>> entitled "I have in my hands both ways" which I read many years ago, and
>> demonstrated how he had benefited from both Aboriginal and Western ways of
>> being educated.
>>
>> Season's greetings to all - happy Hanukkah to Jewish readers, happy
>> Christmas to Christians, and enjoy the break to those for whom this time of
>> year doesn't have particular religious significance!
>> Love/Arohanui
>> Pip
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BERA Practitioner-Researcher
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alan
>> Rayner
>> Sent: Friday, 15 December 2006 11:17 p.m.
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Educational
>>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Just resending this in case it did not get through to All.
>>
>>
>> Warmest
>>
>>
>> Alan
>>
>>
>>
>> --On 15 December 2006 01:50 -0800 ted lumley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> dear cherry and all,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> cherry, i agree with you with respect to ‘the fit’.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> the ‘method’ that is described starting from “the teacher of the integral
>>> yoga’, is in my view, very much in concert with ‘inclusionality’.
>>> meanwhile, i feel less comfortable with the (east) indian introduction
>>> of this method by way of ‘the guru’, than i do with the north american
>>> ‘indian’ way of introducing it; i.e. by demonstrating that, with a little
>>> prodding, anyone can discover it in the dynamics of nature, and by elders
>>> in general (not necessarily shamans) nudging their children to discover
>>> it. the following is an excerpt from paula underwood’s (native)
>>> discussion of the ‘native american world view’, and for me, it replicates
>>> the ‘God Light’ integral yoga method without having to go the ‘guru’
>>> route. you can assess for yourself whether ‘the same method’ is
>>> implied; (the ‘Whole’ refers to a ‘dynamical one-ness’ rather than to a
>>> object/material ‘whole’);
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> When hunting, Hawk sees Mouse . . . and dives directly for it.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> When hunting, Eagle sees the whole pattern . . . sees movement in
>>> the general pattern .
>>>
>>> . . and dives for the movement, learning only later that it is
>>> Mouse.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> What we are talking about here is Specificity and Wholeness.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Western science deals from the specific to generalities about the
>>> whole.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Indigenous science begins with an apprehension of the Whole, only
>>> very carefully and on close inspection reaching tentative conclusions
>>> about any Specificity. Indigenous science is based on a profound
>>> immersion in and awareness of the whole circumstance. Rather than
>>> mistrusting personal experience, Indigenous science has learned to thrive
>>> on it. The standards for personal honesty are excruciatingly exact and
>>> taught from earliest childhood. Educational structures like the Vision
>>> Quest have as one goal coming to terms with accuracy outside of or devoid
>>> of your own assumptions or the assumptions of your society. The idea is
>>> that you are always--if you are wise--moving toward enhanced accuracy.
>>> You will never entirely arrive at complete accuracy, but you are
>>> constantly trying to move in that direction.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As to the efficacy of Indigenous science, let me give you one
>>> example.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Since universe is Energy, part of the process of understanding, at
>>> least as I experienced it, is to learn to "see" flows of energy and
>>> specificities of energy. Both are necessary. Because, you see, Universe
>>> is both Whole and Specific. Western science is beginning to understand
>>> this through explorations of theories about particle and wave. Both the
>>> particle/particularity/specificity of Universe and the wave/flow of
>>> Universe were aspects I was encouraged as a child to apprehend and
>>> understand. I was asked to "see" the "dancing points of lights" and then
>>> to apprehend the shift from location to flow. Much of shamanic practice
>>> has to do with developing the ability to enter and use this shift. So
>>> when I read that the Western science of physics was looking at
>>> particle/wave theories, I had no trouble with that at all. Instead of
>>> being startled or surprised, I was given a wonderful gift--the ability to
>>> communicate more easily some of the things I learned in the shamanic
>>> process of understanding Universe.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To the extent that Universe is Whole, location/time
>>>
>>> is irrelevant. To the extent that it’s Specific,
>>>
>>> relationship is a better construct than either time
>>>
>>> or location for purposes of accurate understanding.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The process of Indigenous science allows you to learn about and to
>>> experience the flow of Energy through Universe. You quickly come to
>>> understand (well, maybe it takes a while) that Universe has a kind of
>>> binary on/off structure, which can certainly be stated as particle/wave.
>>> In the particle state, particles can be understood in terms of
>>> "location." But "location" requires a point of reference which is more or
>>> less fixed in relation to that particle.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Tell me now, where is that point of reference? Are you not also
>>> moving?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The Indigenous scientific approach understands Universe--or All
>>> Things--as constantly in motion. Even the particles are "dancing,"
>>> already moving toward the flow state. Since everything is in motion all
>>> the time (oops, time is irrelevant!)--since everything is constantly in
>>> motion, any location is in constant flux in relation to everything else.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Ah . . . in relation to!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "All Things, All Things are Related" is not just a charming chant,
>>> designed to put you in touch with "all your relations," it is a profound
>>> evaluation of the nature of Universe.
>>>
>>> . . .
>>>
>>> In my tradition you get mind puzzles a lot. One of the questions that my
>>> dad gave me as a mind puzzle was, What is the sound of one hand clapping?
>>> When I discovered that is also a Zen question, I was delighted. I'm
>>> reasonably confident that they come from the same source. I spent months
>>> trying to come up with an answer, and I came up with all kinds of
>>> different things. My father would say, No, that's not really the sound of
>>> one hand clapping, that's . . . Then, No, that's not really the sound
>>> either. And finally , he suggested to me the kind of clue that you get
>>> under this pedagogic structure?Maybe Eagle has the answer. And I knew
>>> immediately he was right, because of course Eagle would understand the
>>> sound of one hand clapping.
>>>
>>> As with all his suggestions, I taught myself. This process is called
>>> go-and-be-Eagle. You become Eagle in your mind and heart, and look at the
>>> world from Eagle's perspective. As a result of that, you may come up with
>>> an entirely different concept of what the answer might be, which, limited
>>> to this body, you could not have come up with, because this body doesn't
>>> work that way.
>>>
>>> In this pedagogic tradition, nobody tells you what to think or how to
>>> process information. Instead, you discover it for yourself, you keep
>>> discovering it for yourself. And only at the other end of this long
>>> process of self-discovery would my father say, That's another generation
>>> that's reached that conclusion. In this case, however, he said that my
>>> answer was a whole new answer, that he knew of eight others, but that was
>>> a whole new answer to the question. He didn't tell what the other eight
>>> were at the time, and I won't tell you what mine is now, because if I
>>> did, that would prevent you from ever discovering it for yourself.
>>>
>>> The basis of learning, the basis of the pedagogy, is to cease preventing
>>> people from learning things for themselves. This way of thinking, what
>>> goes on in here, can really be taught from the inside out. When it's
>>> taught from the outside in, someone else comes between you and yourself,
>>> and that's not considered a wise idea. That's the tradition. [
>>> www.goodshare.org/ecoethic.htm ]
>>>
>>> * * *
>>>
>>> with respect to questions of ‘direction’ (where things or ‘flow’ ‘are
>>> going’) and ‘center’ (how we, the asserting agent, fit into the
>>> evolutionary dynamic), we usually apply these to the realm of the
>>> specific. they have no meaning in a space that is fluid energy. there
>>> are no centers and we cannot say where the flow is going since everything
>>> is relational. if we thought that things were ‘going somewhere’ then
>>> the concept of ‘future’ (arrival somewhere) would come into play, but
>>> pure transformation in a fluid-energy-flow sense has no ‘direction’, it
>>> is a spatial accommodation that is reciprocally complemented by the
>>> actualizing of ‘productive potentials’ (creative potentials, assertive
>>> potentials).
>>>
>>> The idea of how Universe functions that comes out of my tradition, and I
>>> hear echoes of it in other Indian traditions, is that Universe is Space
>>> which contains Energy. Energy of its nature moves. As it moves it
>>> produces Change.
>>>
>>> In the Western world we call that Change time?past, present and future.
>>> But the idea is that it isn't time at all. It is Change?it was, it is, it
>>> will be.
>>>
>>> In one of your papers on Perennial Wisdom [she is talking to the Noetic
>>> Sciences group] it says that the Native tradition is nature-focused. I
>>> would like to modify that a little. I would like to say that Indian
>>> traditions are nature-inclusive. You do not see man and nature as
>>> separate from each other, but you see yourself in the context of an
>>> interrelated whole instead.
>>>
>>> so, ... there is a geometry here that, to me, is very similar to that in
>>> the ‘God Light’ presentation, although ‘the light’ in ‘god light’ is more
>>> akin the the ‘light’ in ‘Bud light’, ... i.e. god is more in the flavour
>>> of nature and birds singing than in heavy duty mysticism, though i think
>>> there are common implications in both the east indian and north american
>>> indian belief systems with respect to ‘spirit’ and ‘soul’ (being one with
>>> space but in a unique way).
>>>
>>> i think what i don’t like about ‘gurus’ is implicit in alan’s talk about
>>> the achilles syndrome etc. i would call it ‘the burden of
>>> sovereignty’. i think it is a needed, but unsettling thing, to become
>>> aware of our ‘sovereignty’ being illusional. there are no ‘causal
>>> agents’ in real life, therefore there are no ‘teachers’ in real life.
>>> when it comes to understanding (eagle learning rather than specific
>>> knowledge or ‘hawk learning’) there can only be ‘tricksters’ that do a
>>> dance or ritual that tickles you into being ‘healed’ or ‘enlightened’.
>>> that is, of course, the way of the zen master.
>>>
>>> i think that nations can get the ‘achilles syndrome’ and i think that
>>> canada used to have it, and that it was a good thing. but now we are
>>> busy trying to show how ...with military and pushing others around, ..
>>> (how one demonstrates sovereignty,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> the lights are flickering, ... third storm in a week! and the power will
>>> almost certainly go out, so i will send this now.
>>>
>>> love,
>>>
>>> ted
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> __________________________________________________
>>>
>>> From: Cherryl Martin [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 6:33 AM
>>> To: 'A.D.M.Rayner'; 'BERA Practitioner-Researcher'
>>> Cc: 'Alon Serper'; 'Jack Whitehead'; 'Marie Huxtable'; 'Ted Lumley'
>>> Subject: RE: Educational
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear Alan and All,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I received this newsletter, copied below, yesterday. The way it speaks
>>> into the issues you have raised in your last e mail Alan is incredible.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Busy now ? but will write later
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Love Cherry
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> __________________________________________________
>>>
>>> Welcome To The God Light, If you are a new Member. There is a spiritual
>>> get together in the chat room daily at 9pm London GMT.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [Image: "Right-click"] ? Every so often we bring to you wise souls that
>>> have taught spirituality upon this earth. This time we bring to you Sri
>>> Aurobindo an Indian Guru ( Meaning heavy one in English ) was born in
>>> Calcutta on 15 August,(1872-1950) and educated at a Christian convent in
>>> Darjeeling. At the age of seven, along with his two brothers, he was
>>> sent by his Anglophile father to England in order to receive a "British
>>> Education". Returning to his homeland at age 21, he worked for some
>>> years in the public service, while learning from scratch the languages
>>> and traditions of his own culture. He was prominent in the struggle for
>>> independence against the British, and spent a year in prison. Whilst in
>>> prison he had a vision of the Divine, which assured him that India would
>>> attain its independence and that he could leave the movement to devote
>>> himself to the spiritual task. He retreated to the French colony of
>>> Pondicherry, where he would be safe against the British, and set up an
>>> ashram. There he became an important philosopher, yogi, and teacher and
>>> developed he called Integral Yoga, the yoga of the whole being. He was
>>> joined by his co-worker and fellow Adept Mirra Alfassa, who later became
>>> known as The Mother. For the remainder of his life Sri Aurobindo worked
>>> tirelessly for the transformation of the world, the yoga of the earth. A
>>> prolific writer, he produced a total of twenty-nine volumes, including
>>> such classics of spirituality as Savitri, The Life Divine, and the
>>> Synthesis of Yoga. He spent many hours each day writing replies to
>>> letters from disciples, some of which were later collated and published.
>>>
>>> ? The Teacher of the integral Yoga will follow as far as he may the
>>> method of the Teacher within us. He will lead the disciple through the
>>> nature of the disciple. Teaching, example, influence, -- these are the
>>> three instruments of the Guru. But the wise Teacher will not seek to
>>> impose himself or his opinions on the passive acceptance of the receptive
>>> mind; he will throw in only what is productive and sure as a seed which
>>> will grow under the divine fostering within. He will seek to awaken much
>>> more than to instruct; he will aim at the growth of the faculties and the
>>> experiences by a natural process and free expansion. He will give a
>>> method as an aid, as a utilisable device, not as an imperative formula or
>>> a fixed routine. And he will be on his guard against any turning of the
>>> means into a limitation, against the mechanising of process. His whole
>>> business is to awaken the divine light and set working the divine force
>>> of which he himself is only a means and an aid, a body or a channel.
>>>
>>> ? The example is more powerful than the instruction; but it is not the
>>> example of the outward acts nor that of the personal character, which is
>>> of most [Image: "Right-click"] importance. These have their place and
>>> their utility; but what will most stimulate aspiration in others is the
>>> central fact of the divine realisation within him governing his whole
>>> life and inner state and all his activities. This is the universal and
>>> essential element; the rest belongs to individual person and
>>> circumstance. It is this dynamic realisation that the Sadhaka must feel
>>> and reproduce in himself according to his own nature; he need not strive
>>> after an imitation from outside which may well be sterilising rather than
>>> productive of right and natural fruits.
>>>
>>> ? Influence is more important than example. Influence is not the outward
>>> authority of the Teacher over his disciple, but the power of his contact,
>>> of his presence, of the nearness of his soul to the soul of another,
>>> infusing into it, even though in silence, that which he himself is and
>>> possesses. This is the supreme sign of the Master. For the greatest
>>> Master is much less a Teacher than a Presence pouring the divine
>>> consciousness and its constituting light and power and purity and bliss
>>> into all who are receptive around him.
>>>
>>> ? And it shall also be a sign of the teacher of the integral Yoga that he
>>> does not arrogate to himself Guruhood in a humanly vain and self-exalting
>>> spirit. His work, if he has one, is a trust from above, he himself a
>>> channel, a vessel or a representative. He is a man helping his brothers,
>>> a child leading children, a Light kindling other lights, an awakened Soul
>>> awakening souls, at highest a Power or Presence of the Divine calling to
>>> him other powers of the Divine.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [Image: "Right-click"]
>>> We have opened a new Spiritual Book store which holds thousands of
>>> spiritual books. Enter the The God Light store. [Image:
>>> "Right-click"]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> __________________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: A.D.M.Rayner [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> Sent: 14 December 2006 9:01 AM
>>> To: BERA Practitioner-Researcher
>>> Cc: Alon Serper; Jack Whitehead; A.D.M.Rayner; Marie Huxtable; Ted
>>> Lumley; [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Educational
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear Alon,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm responding from my home computer, which the BERA server rejects, so
>>>
>>> perhaps you or Jack or Marie could forward this on to the others?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Yes, I like 'ings' too.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Flows are 'dynamic relational', always with reciprocal inner (concave)
>>> and
>>>
>>> outer (convex) distinguished and coupled through intermediary aspects
>>> (e.g.
>>>
>>> when 'I walk across a room', there is a reciprocal reconfiguration of the
>>>
>>> inner space that my skin outlines with outer space that my skin inlines',
>>>
>>> just as there is a flow of water around a boat that reciprocates its
>>> forward
>>>
>>> passage). They do not involve the movement of a spatially dislocated
>>> object
>>>
>>> from A to B as a linear progression in a Euclidean 3-dimensional
>>> framework
>>>
>>> (this being a dimensionally collapsed view of Nature, with space and time
>>>
>>> abstracted as empty outsiders). They involve the reciprocal coupling of
>>>
>>> concave and convex domains in non-linear (curved) energy-space.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Insofar as flows have 'purpose', this is to sustain dynamic equilibrium,
>>> via
>>>
>>> a continual 'living' process of 'attunement' or 'harmonization' (in
>>> physics,
>>>
>>> called 'resonance'), as when a hurricane transfers heat from tropical to
>>>
>>> temperate latitudes (note that a hurricane cannot be considered as an
>>>
>>> 'object' independent from the atmosphere of which it is a dynamic
>>> inclusion,
>>>
>>> anymore than a human body can be considered as an object independent from
>>>
>>> Nature). So, the Severn Bore, for example, is quite different from the
>>>
>>> Kiekergaardian bore; it is a flow form that sustains dynamic equilibrium.
>>>
>>> And so are you and I.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Below I am pasting in some writing from Chapter 9 of 'Natural Inclusion',
>>>
>>> which develops some of these themes in relation to management and
>>>
>>> educational practice.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Incidentally, I have just come across a book by Petruska Clarkson called
>>>
>>> 'The Achilles Syndrome: Overcoming the Secret Fear of Failure' (1998,
>>>
>>> Element Books). It describes my personal distress, arising from my
>>> childhood
>>>
>>> and adolescent experience of 'education', and my associated 'Achilles
>>> Heel'
>>>
>>> or 'Secret Flaw', perfectly (also alluded to in my novel, 'Design Fault',
>>>
>>> see http://people.bath.ac.uk). It contains the following, telling
>>> sentence:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Another important reason for the prevalence of the Achilles Syndrome are
>>>
>>> the inadequacies, deficiencies, absurdities and cruelties of our
>>> educational
>>>
>>> systems"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If ever there was validation of the need for living educational theory,
>>> this
>>>
>>> is it.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Here are seven characteristics of the 'Achilles Syndrome' (linked also to
>>>
>>> what is more popularly referred to as 'Impostor Syndrome', but I think
>>> the
>>>
>>> Achilles version is deeper and more Archetypal). All apply well to me.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 1. A mismatch between externally assessed competence or qualification and
>>>
>>> internally experienced competence or capability, leading to feelings of
>>> 'I
>>>
>>> am a fraud';
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2. Inappropriate anxiety or panic in anticipation of doing the relevant
>>>
>>> task;
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 3. Inappropriate strain or exhaustion after the task;
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 4. Relief instead of satisfaction on completion of a task;
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 5. Inability to carry over any sense of achievement to the next
>>> situation;
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 6. A recurrent conscious or unconscious fear of being found out, and of
>>>
>>> shame and humiliation;
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 7. A longing to tell others about the discomfort but the fear of being
>>>
>>> called weak or unstable. This sense of a taboo adds to the strain,
>>>
>>> loneliness and discomfort
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> You might find the following passages of Chapter 9 of interest also in
>>> this
>>>
>>> light. I think they're also very relevant to Marie's work with
>>> 'giftedness',
>>>
>>> and how giftedness is abused in our current systems, leading to the
>>>
>>> predominance of 'concrete blockheadedness'.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Warmest
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Alan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Inclusional Implications of the Boundless 'Fifth' Dimension: Curing
>>> Cosmic
>>>
>>> Cancer
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Perhaps it was unwise of Mother Space, in her everywhere-Divine Wisdom,
>>> to
>>>
>>> enable any of her diverse local expressions to become aware of its
>>> awareness
>>>
>>> of itself. But if there is to be creativity at all, any possibility of
>>> life
>>>
>>> and evolution, maybe such possibilities must also be entertained. The
>>>
>>> trouble is that such a form of expression could develop a Mind of its Own
>>> to
>>>
>>> declare itself an independent entity and so make an enemy of its
>>>
>>> neighbourhood, setting the scene for invasion of its birthplace,
>>> determined
>>>
>>> to take over vacant possession.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Maybe it was this declaration of independence, through an ever-hardening
>>>
>>> belief in its own free will or purely internal purpose as 'first cause'
>>> of
>>>
>>> its own actions, associated with its ability to make absolute judgemental
>>>
>>> choices, that brought about the Fall of One such a form from Merciful
>>> Grace.
>>>
>>> The difficulty lay in its declaration, as an abstraction of its Mind
>>> alone,
>>>
>>> not the actuality of its inescapable inclusion in interdependent
>>>
>>> relationship by and of All, space included. For, by no stretch of
>>>
>>> imagination is this form truly able to act or be acted upon as a superior
>>> or
>>>
>>> inferior object independent from its dynamic situation. It cannot be an
>>>
>>> absolute, independent singleness. Every man like every form is no more
>>> and
>>>
>>> no less than a transient island of flow, connected through and undersea
>>> with
>>>
>>> every other, a distinct identity but never a discrete entity.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The declaration of independence was the product of a partial and
>>> idealistic
>>>
>>> vision, which led this one such form mentally to Box reality securely and
>>>
>>> paradoxically in a finite, three-dimensional Euclidean frame stretched to
>>>
>>> infinity, whilst vaunting its own free agency. By the end of the second
>>>
>>> millennium CE, life in this frame was painfully overheating. Was there no
>>>
>>> escape from the pressure cooker? What could this form do about it? Could
>>>
>>> this form, for so long the World's plunderer now save the World from
>>>
>>> depredation? What kind of transformation would such a noble act of rescue
>>>
>>> take? Would it be some wondrous new technology and/or legislation, of the
>>>
>>> kind that this form was so good at inventing, again and again, in the
>>> nick
>>>
>>> of time, as crisis loomed? Then there could be some great collective sigh
>>> of
>>>
>>> relief, followed by a return to die-hard habits to await the next crisis
>>> of
>>>
>>> exploitation. Or, perhaps, as one of Man's star mathematical performers
>>>
>>> suggested, it was already too late: it was now time, through the ultimate
>>>
>>> technological fix of space travel, to move on like a virus to other host
>>>
>>> planets, leaving the wasteland of His own vacant possession behind.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But there always was, is and evermore shall be a loophole: a window into
>>> and
>>>
>>> out of the solid confinements of the 'Adverse Square Law', through which
>>> the
>>>
>>> unbounded presence of space everywhere melts all into coherent, fluid
>>>
>>> dynamic relationship. An eye of the needle through which to ask not how
>>> to
>>>
>>> shift the world from a disastrous course, but how to help the world
>>>
>>> transform our sense of individual, active-reactive self-identity into
>>>
>>> receptive-responsive neighbourhood. A loophole at the intersection of
>>>
>>> Vertical ('I') with Horizontal ('-') outwardly recurving planes, to form
>>> an
>>>
>>> electrogravitational centre of inference: a centre of dynamic balance in
>>> the
>>>
>>> core and spread through the surfaces of all tangible, primarily
>>> non-linear
>>>
>>> form, a zero-point source and receiver of all through all, distributed
>>>
>>> everywhere. A core of pure spatial relationship, continually
>>> reconfiguring,
>>>
>>> and hence utterly different from the fixed-point control centre of
>>> Euclidean
>>>
>>> geometry upon whose illusory existence so many principles of human
>>>
>>> governance have been founded. One place and many where apparently
>>> opposing
>>>
>>> sides are conjoined and transformed into complementary dynamic partners
>>> via
>>>
>>> the inclusion of light in darkness and darkness in light, in vastly
>>> unequal
>>>
>>> proportion. One place and many corresponding with the notion of 'space'
>>> as
>>>
>>> the '5th element' in Hindu philosophy, which both includes and is
>>> included
>>>
>>> in the 'melted elemental forms' of 'Earth, Air, Fire and Water': a
>>> boundless
>>>
>>> 'fifth' dimension transcending the three-dimensional singularity of
>>> frozen
>>>
>>> space and extraneous time.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Once 'seen with gravitational feeling', this boundless dimension utterly
>>>
>>> transforms and revitalizes understanding of how we may manage our lives
>>> and
>>>
>>> living space in a loving and sustainable way. Here boundaries are
>>> understood
>>>
>>> as co-creative, co-created zones of differentiation, mutual respect and
>>>
>>> complementarity, not severing divides between conflicting sides in
>>>
>>> opposition. It is the implications of this transformational understanding
>>> of
>>>
>>> our natural, dynamic human neighbourhood for the way we may live in
>>>
>>> harmonious, respectful, co-creative evolutionary relationship that I wish
>>>
>>> now to consider in this opening ending chapter.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The Vitality of Imperfection - From Abstract Concrete Blocks to Natural
>>>
>>> Evolutionary Neighbourhood
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As may be apparent from previous chapters, I think that the notion of
>>>
>>> evolution by natural selection is an oxymoron, a paradoxical 'concrete
>>> block
>>>
>>> evolution'. When we accept and work with this notion, we assume the role
>>> of
>>>
>>> obstructive 'concrete blockheads' intellectually out of touch with our
>>>
>>> feeling, receptive-responsive hearts. It is a truly compassion-killing
>>>
>>> notion, Hell-bent on replacing natural, fluid-dynamic diversity with
>>>
>>> concrete monoculture. It is a model of cancerous degeneration, not
>>>
>>> co-creative innovation. Set within an abstract, 3-dimensional Euclidean
>>>
>>> frame, a cubical cubicle filled to completion with independent cubical
>>>
>>> singularities, it leads inexorably to the notion of an ideal form of
>>>
>>> individual 'unit of selection' - the 'fittest' competitor within a
>>> rigidly
>>>
>>> walled niche. This in turn gives rise to the idea of perfecting
>>> individuals
>>>
>>> by selecting out those traits that don't conform to a prescriptive set of
>>>
>>> standards - an idea that has become deeply entrenched in human
>>> educational
>>>
>>> and regulatory systems. It comes inevitably with an intolerance of those
>>> who
>>>
>>> in one way or another are judged by fixed standards to be 'not good
>>> enough
>>>
>>> - 'imperfect' in some way. Such intolerance can lead to great cruelty
>>> and
>>>
>>> great distress as we impose rationalistic notions of perfection and
>>>
>>> imperfection upon others and ourselves in a conflict-ridden anti-culture
>>> of
>>>
>>> discontent, as I described in Chapter 1. We actively seek out, punish and
>>>
>>> attempt to eliminate whatever we find fault with, whilst glorifying what
>>> we
>>>
>>> perceive to be flawless in a culture of blame, shame, claim and gain.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Not only is this concrete block view of evolutionary perfectionism deeply
>>>
>>> distressing to those judged not good enough, but its rigidity results in
>>> the
>>>
>>> exclusion of the enormous creative possibility of bringing diverse,
>>>
>>> complementary relationships to bear as we navigate the ever-transforming
>>>
>>> world of our natural, fluid dynamic neighbourhood. It is radically
>>>
>>> counter-evolutionary; a bastion set against change other than its own
>>>
>>> proliferation and concomitant destruction of diversity. It makes no sense
>>> in
>>>
>>> an ever-reconfiguring, non-linear, space-including context where the
>>>
>>> evolution of one cannot be dislocated from the evolution of all, and vice
>>>
>>> versa.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> There is therefore very good intellectual reason for feeling
>>> compassionately
>>>
>>> that what we might deem in a perfectionist framework to be a design fault
>>> in
>>>
>>> human nature, our vulnerability and proneness to 'error', which comes
>>>
>>> through the inclusion of space - darkness - in our make-up, is actually
>>>
>>> vital. It is an aspect of our nature that enables us to love and feel
>>> love
>>>
>>> and so work co-creatively in dynamic relational neighbourhood,
>>> celebrating
>>>
>>> and respecting rather than decrying our diversity of competencies and
>>>
>>> appearances.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Correspondingly I think there is a need for us to grow beyond the
>>> obsessive
>>>
>>> perfectionism that is evident in our present educational and
>>> administrative
>>>
>>> systems, governed by fixed, objective, rules, regulations and standards.
>>>
>>> There is a need to recognise that there can be no such thing as an ideal,
>>>
>>> fixed, individual form that all can aspire towards. Evolutionary
>>> perfection
>>>
>>> can only be a property of all in dynamic relationship, not one in
>>> isolation.
>>>
>>> The exception that seeks to rule can only create turbulence, not
>>> perfection.
>>>
>>> Our educational and administrative systems need to help us learn how to
>>>
>>> flow, by including and loving the very source of irregularity that makes
>>> us
>>>
>>> imperfect as independently performing objects but perfect as dynamic
>>>
>>> relational - receptive and responsive flow-forms. The standards that we
>>> tend
>>>
>>> to encase ourselves in need to be allowed to come alive: to flex and
>>>
>>> transform as ever-reconfiguring guide-linings in our ongoing evolution.
>>> In
>>>
>>> this way we can be naturally intelligent neighbourhoods, not artificially
>>>
>>> intelligent, concrete blockheads.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> So, how can such ever-reconfiguring guide-linings be formulated and
>>>
>>> communicated through our educational and administrative systems? What
>>> kind
>>>
>>> of leadership is required? Is the very idea of leadership one of the
>>>
>>> die-hard habits that keep us stuck in concrete?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Powerboat Leadership and Sailboat Craftsmanship
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> There is a form of leadership that does not call for a careful, creative
>>> and
>>>
>>> reflective consideration of possibilities viewed from all angles by all
>>>
>>> concerned. Rather, it demands conformity with its own vision and
>>>
>>> specification of destination. In the absence of others' agreement, it
>>>
>>> carries on regardless with whatever action it has planned, convinced in
>>> its
>>>
>>> own mindset that this is the 'right thing to do'. Any leader of this ilk,
>>>
>>> whether elected by a supposedly democratic majority or not, considers him
>>> or
>>>
>>> herself to have a prerogative to do what they know to be best for the
>>> world,
>>>
>>> regardless of context. Moreover, by exercising their moral imperialism in
>>>
>>> the face of opposition they demonstrate the strength of their authority,
>>> a
>>>
>>> resolve that historical narrative will, they imagine, in due course
>>> affirm
>>>
>>> and celebrate. But events often don't exactly turn out as predicted. The
>>>
>>> real life and death situation on the ground is far more complex and
>>>
>>> non-linear than envisaged. The effects of intervention in complex
>>> situations
>>>
>>> aren't so certain in the long run. The ensuing tragedies are never more
>>>
>>> heart-rending than when a leader decides to declare war upon his
>>>
>>> neighbourhood.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This is a style that I think is all too commonly the sole form of
>>> leadership
>>>
>>> recognized in human organizations: a product of prescriptively definitive
>>>
>>> (rationalistic) thinking and action that places deterministic power at
>>>
>>> control centres or hubs. It amounts to what might be called
>>> authoritarian,
>>>
>>> dictatorial, proprietorial or, as my friend Ted Lumley puts it, powerboat
>>>
>>> leadership. It entails leadership towards a set destination of a fleet of
>>>
>>> individuals that have declared themselves independent of their natural
>>>
>>> situation by dint of strapping an outboard motor of technology on their
>>>
>>> backsides, which creates one Hell of a wash of collateral damage for
>>> those
>>>
>>> caught up in their turbulence. It is the kind of leadership provided by
>>> some
>>>
>>> so-called experts, gurus, presidents and ministers whose actions
>>> primarily
>>>
>>> serve individual self-interest, whereby an individual or elite lays down
>>> the
>>>
>>> law or 'codes of conduct' for others to follow, regardless of
>>> circumstances.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Personally, I would hate to provide, or be accused of providing this kind
>>> of
>>>
>>> leadership, even though I have found it to be expected of me as a
>>>
>>> professional academic responsible for initiating students and
>>> non-academics
>>>
>>> into 'good theory and practice'. There is another style of leadership, or
>>>
>>> perhaps more aptly, craftsmanship, that I do, however, feel more
>>> comfortable
>>>
>>> with and indeed aspire to, as a cultivator of creative space for myself
>>> and
>>>
>>> others to air our views and benefit from shared experience. This is what
>>>
>>> might be called Arthurian (after King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
>>>
>>> Table), co-educational, non-proprietorial or, as my friend Ted Lumley
>>> puts
>>>
>>> it, sailboat leadership. Such craftsmanship is based on learning through
>>>
>>> experience how to attune with natural processes, in a way that others can
>>>
>>> learn from. This is what I try to bring to my role as a University
>>> educator.
>>>
>>> I have found through experience that all students except those relatively
>>>
>>> few most fearful for their qualifications and future prospects come to
>>> love
>>>
>>> and greatly appreciate this approach as a source of guidance for their
>>>
>>> creative and critical development.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Now, as the supposedly 'United Nations' of humanity contemplates its
>>> 'next
>>>
>>> steps', in the face of seemingly global environmental crisis, the
>>> question
>>>
>>> of which, if either, of these forms of leadership is wiser seems very
>>>
>>> important. Here, it is not a question necessarily of 'which is better?'
>>> in
>>>
>>> an 'either/or' sense, but how can these styles best be balanced? I accept
>>>
>>> that pragmatically, given the current predominantly concrete mindset of
>>> our
>>>
>>> culture, there may need to be at least some 'powerboat' leadership by way
>>> of
>>>
>>> technology and legislation to help us on our way. But I would want to
>>> ensure
>>>
>>> that it doesn't become exclusive and is balanced by a good and perhaps
>>>
>>> increasing dose of 'sailboat' leadership.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> How does anyone in this situation who seeks leadership or has leadership
>>>
>>> thrust upon them, see their role? Do they see themselves as
>>> co-cultivators
>>>
>>> of creative space for wise enquiry? Does they see themselves as Directors
>>>
>>> and Proprietors of organizations? Is wise leadership something definable
>>>
>>> that we can be instructed about via the 'right kind of training' in a
>>> real
>>>
>>> or virtual Institution? Is wisdom perhaps identifiable with love, some
>>>
>>> indefinable presence that we can open ourselves to and co-cultivate?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I want now to explore in general rather than specifically detailed terms
>>> how
>>>
>>> different perceptions of leadership, power and geometric influence affect
>>>
>>> approaches to three kinds of life management. These respectively set out
>>> to
>>>
>>> regulate, apply and mimic living processes.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>
>>> From: Alon Serper <[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>> Sent: 13 December 2006 17:21
>>>
>>> Subject: Re: Educational
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Alan - I would replace the ed to ing - namely, detached to detaching;
>>>
>>> fixed to fixing: And space to one's subject of interest:
>>>
>>> Conceptualising and approaching human existence and the human subject
>>>
>>> in my case. 'Biology and ecology, human relationships?' in your case?
>>>
>>> Otherwise I fear we abstract into a theory of all theories.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I still think life has to flow somewhere: A clear purpose and
>>>
>>> intention. Otherwise it is just a big Kierkekaardian bore. The idea
>>>
>>> of just floating in space with no clear purpose and direction scares
>>>
>>> me. Anyone can flow somewhere in space: What is important to me is
>>>
>>> where it is flowing to. I am not sure the question of fixed static or
>>>
>>> flowing and transforming is an issue anymore, at least not in my field
>>>
>>> of interest and purpose. The living/transforming has won. I believe
>>>
>>> the question now is flowing where?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My point is that poetry can and should be used for scientific analysis.
>>>
>>> Poetry is aesthetic but why, for what purpose: And how is it
>>>
>>> epistemological and educational, convincing and coherent?!. Alon
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Quoting Alan Rayner <[log in to unmask]>:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dear Alon,
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>> I very much like this emphasis on the artistic and lyrical as a vital
>>>
>>>> inclusion of any deep enquiry into the fundamental nature of human life,
>>>
>>>> taking you beyond the realm of detached objectivism. I feel that the
>>>> story
>>>
>>>> of how you are transforming your originally purely analytical
>>>> perspectives
>>>
>>>> by this means exemplifies the transition from fixed to living 'standards
>>>
>>> of
>>>
>>>> judgement' and could provide the basis for a highly creative and
>>>> original
>>>
>>>> thesis. I might liken this to 'ice melting through becoming receptive to
>>>
>>>> warmth', 'salt dissolving into solution through exposure to water' and a
>>>
>>>> 'seed germinating into a flower'. There is this vital transition from
>>>> the
>>>
>>>> crystalline or latent form to expansive fluid form, a transition which
>>>> is
>>>
>>>> not the 'annihilation' that positivistic thinkers may fear. In terms of
>>>
>>>> 'inclusionality', I see this transformation as arising most
>>>> fundamentally
>>>
>>>> from the dynamic embodiment of space as 'immaterial presence', opening
>>>> the
>>>
>>>> door to the creative possibility of unfixed, non-Euclidean geometry.
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>> Warmest
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>> Alan
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>> --On 13 December 2006 14:49 +0000 Alon Serper <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>>> Dear All,
>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>>> I was watching Federico Fellini's 'La Strada' yesterday: An incredible,
>>>
>>>>> classic, poetic and artistic film but not so much educational or
>>>
>>>>> epistemological with no clear message and insight, other than the usual
>>>
>>>>> Fellinian anti Church messages. And certainly not analysis. It is
>>>>> full
>>>
>>>>> of artistic symbols (e.g., sea).
>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>>> I am using it to reflect on the difference between poetic and artistic
>>>
>>>>> and epistemological, phenomenological, educational and analytical that
>>>
>>>>> uses poetry and art.
>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>>> I have been drawn to art in my heuristics of human existence so as to
>>>
>>>>> analyse and delve inside it as an educational exercise and rebelled
>>>
>>>>> against my original training that told me to leave the poetic and
>>>
>>>>> artistic for the analytic, empirical and scientific.
>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>>> I transformed myself from being a very cold, impersonal scientist to an
>>>
>>>>> artist of human existence. I am overwhelmed this transformation.
>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>>> My intentions are still educational and epistemological though as a
>>>
>>>>> psychologist and the constructor of my heuristics of human existence.
>>>
>>> Alon
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>
>>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>
>>> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/584 - Release Date:
>>> 12/12/2006
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> No virus found in this outgoing message.
>>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date:
>>> 13/12/2006
>>>
>>
>
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