Dear Friends,
If we ask someone to describe their life, sometimes what we hear is that their life is actually their job. They describe their job and their routine to us. Or, if someone has kids, we hear that a big part of their life is their kids, etc. It’s not very often that we perceive our lives as a whole, as a structure in which not just the things that we are doing now count, but also our whole past and our aspirations for the future. Our experiences as a child count as does our experience of the present, and perhaps most important of all is our experience of the future. If we see time as a linear development, like in a calendar, where the past becomes the present and the present turns into the future, then our future has not yet arrived. But, perhaps time is not as linear as we assume. Perhaps if we see our present as a fundamental part of our future, we may realize that it is in what we construct today that we will live in tomorrow...
…………………
Reading from Letters to my Friends, Letter 4, six
6. Image, Belief, Look, and Landscape
Let us suppose that one day I go into my room, and I see the window. I recognize it, it is familiar to me. I have not only a fresh perception of it, but also acting in me are my previous perceptions of it which, converted into images, have been retained within me. Suddenly, I notice a crack in one corner of the windowpane. “That wasn’t there,” I say to myself, on comparing the new perception with what I retain from my previous perceptions. And I also feel a sense of surprise.
The window of previous acts of perception has been retained in me, but not passively as in a photograph, rather actively, in the way that images function. What has been retained in me operates in the present with respect to what I perceive, even though the formation of those retentions pertains to the past. In this way the past is always present, always being updated.
Before entering my room I took it for granted, it was a given, that the window would be there in good condition. It was not that I was thinking about it, but simply that I was counting on it. The window itself was not explicitly present in my thoughts at that moment, rather it was co-present. It was within the horizon of objects contained in my room.
It is due to what is co-present, to this retention that is updated and superimposed on the perception, that the consciousness infers more than it perceives. And it is in this phenomenon that it is possible to see the most elemental functioning of belief. In this example I would say to myself: “I believed the window was in good condition.”
If upon entering my room I had seen phenomena proper to a different field of objects, for example a motorboat or a camel, this surrealistic situation would have seemed unbelievable, not because those objects do not exist but simply because their location in my room would be outside the field of my co-presence, outside the landscape I have formed that acts within me, superimposing itself on every single thing that I perceive.
Now then, in any present instant of my consciousness I can observe the inter-crossing of what has been retained and what is being futurized in me as they act co-presently and in structure. In my consciousness, the present instant is constituted as an active temporal field of three different times. Here things take place very differently from the way they occur in calendar time, where today is separate and distinct from yesterday or tomorrow. On the calendar and on the clock, now is different from no longer and from not yet, and events are ordered one after the other in a linear succession that I cannot claim to be a structure, but is rather a subgroup within a complete series that I call a calendar. I will return to these ideas again when we consider the themes of historicity and temporality later on.
For now, let us continue with the previous notion that the consciousness infers more than it perceives, through its use of what comes from the past as retentions, superimposed on present perception. In each look or act of looking that I direct toward an object, what I see is distorted. This is not meant in the same sense that modern physics explains our inability to see the atom or wavelengths that lie above or below our thresholds of perception. What I am referring to is the distortion related to the superposition of the images of retentions and futurizations on perceptions in the present.
Thus, when I contemplate a beautiful sunset in the countryside, the natural landscape that I observe is not determined by and in itself. Rather, I determine it, I constitute it through the aesthetic ideal that I hold. And the special peace that I feel gives me the illusion that I contemplate passively, when in reality I am actively superimposing numerous of my own internal contents on the natural object itself. This phenomenon holds not only for the present example, but for all looks that I direct toward reality.
…………………
So we see that in every moment the past and future are influencing my look towards things and other people. The past is not “behind me” and the future is not simply “not here yet” because they both affect me, working through my beliefs, through images in my head, through a direction in my life. They influence my present and how I understand and integrate the things that are happening to me now. If, for example, I believe that everything that happens to me has the ability to teach me something about myself, if I have this direction in my life, then I will deal with difficulties very differently than would someone who had another direction in life.
Very rarely do we perceive our life as a whole structure: past, present and future. The direction of our life is given by the future and not by the past or present and in order to understand this whole structure, it’s useful to work a little on this theme of the future.
Guided Experience -- Repetitions.
REPETITIONS
It is night time. I am walking along a poorly lit street. It's quite narrow like an alley. I cannot see anyone. Through the haze I can see a distant light. My footsteps resound with an ominous echo. I walk faster because I want to reach the next streetlight quickly.
When I reach that streetlight, I observe a human silhouette. The figure is about ten feet away. It is an old woman whose face is half-covered. Suddenly, in a broken voice, she asks me what time it is. I look at my watch and say, "It is three in the morning."
I walk away quickly, and again enter the haze and the darkness, wishing to arrive at the next streetlight which I can make out in the distance. When I reach it, again I see the same woman. I look at my watch which shows that it is 2:30. I begin to run towards the next streetlight, looking back over my shoulder. I can see that the silhouette just stands there as I get further away. I reach the next streetlight still running. The silhouette is waiting for me. I look at my watch. It is 2:00.
I begin to run faster, completely out of control, passing streetlights and old women until, exhausted, I stop in the middle of the street. I look at my watch, and see the face of the old woman reflected in the glass. I understand that the end has come...
In spite of all this, I try to understand the situation, and I ask myself over and over, "What am I running away from... What am I running away from?" The old woman's voice answers me, "I am behind you and I am in front of you. What has been will be. But you are very fortunate, because you have been able to stop and think for a moment. If you can resolve this, you will be able to get out of your own trap." (*)
I feel confused and tired. Nevertheless, I still feel there must be some way out. Something makes me remember many situations of failure in my life. I begin to remember the first failures of my childhood. (*)
Then, I remember the failures of my youth. (*)
Then, I remember my more recent failures. (*)
I realise that in the future, failure after failure will continue to be repeated. (*)
All of my defeats have had something similar about them, and it is that the things I
wished to do were not orderly. They were confused desires which ended up opposing
each other. (*)
Even now, I discover that many things that I desire to achieve in the future are contradictory. (*)
I don't know what to do with my life, and nevertheless I want many things in a confused way. Yes, I am afraid of the future, and I do not want to repeat my past failures.
My life is paralysed in this narrow, foggy alley, stuck between the pale glow of streetlights.
Suddenly, a light goes on in a window, and someone shouts to me, "Do you need anything?"
"Yes!" I answer. "I need to get out of here!"
"Oh, no... You cannot get out alone."
"Then tell me how to do it!"
"I can't, and if we keep shouting we are going to wake up all the neighbours, and one doesn't play games with the neighbours' sleep! Good night."
The light goes out. Then the strongest desire arises from within me: I must get out of this situation. I realise that my life will change only if I find an exit. The alley, apparently, has a meaning, but in reality it is nothing but a series of repetitions from birth to death. It is a false meaning, running from streetlight to streetlight, until at some moment my strength is finished forever.
Now I notice to my left a signpost with arrows and letters. The arrow for this alley indicates: "Repetitions in Life." Another indicates: "Denial of Life." The third is "Construction of Life." I remain in reflection for a few moments. (*)
I take the direction indicated by the third arrow. As I leave the alley and go out onto a wide and brightly lit avenue, I experience the sensation that I am about to discover something decisive.(*)
Exercise:
Reflect about the different stages of my life. What was the most important thing in each one? What did I direct my life toward in each one? What is the actual direction of my life now? Discussion in the group.
Monday, June 8, 2009
A NEW FUTURE
Dear Friends,
The current society is on the edge of an abyss while another society is taking shape in the sensitivity, behaviour and in the consciousness of ever-growing human groups.
In order to avoid that the world plummets into barbarism before another world has the chance to be born, it is necessary to unite all the people who feel the need for a profound change in a great project of personal and social change.
Discussion:
- Do I feel the need for a profound change in society, values, and relationships between people?
- What can I do to contribute to make this happen?
Guided Experience: The Time Machine
Interest: What we believe about the future is a belief, not a fact. The future has not been decided yet, but it is built through our choices. Nonetheless, our beliefs about the future, whether positive or negative, condition our way of thinking, feeling, and acting. For this reason, it is important to have faith in our future, in the future of the people around us, and in humanity in general. This will make us, as well as those around us, live better and it will increase the possibilities that such a future really happens.
Guided Experience: The Time Machine
My friend and I are part of a group visiting the most advanced technological research centre around. The guide leads us through rooms and laboratories, explaining to us in simple terms the research in progress, and the progress made. (*)
My friend and I lag behind to comment on the devices. Suddenly, a smiling old man appears before us. He has long hair and a beard that's white as snow. He must be one of the scientists, since he is wearing a white smock with a name-tag on his chest that says: "Faith Engineer". I feel that we've already met, but I couldn't say when or where. (*)
The old man invites us to follow him; after a moment of hesitation we obey, going up a staircase and then along a corridor until we reach the entry to a laboratory. The old man puts his hand on a lighted plate, and the heavy metallic door opens with a sigh, to close on its own once we have entered. (*)
The room is very large and well-lit, and it doesn't have other exits or windows. I observe a wall covered with highly sophisticated equipment. The screens show graphics in various colours, and the panels shine with moving lights. Strange buttons and controls defy our imagination. In the middle of the room there is a kind of big, white egg mounted on a platform, made of plastic, steel, or some other unknown material. I see that this capsule has an entry hatch with a small window. (*)
The old man explains that this is his "toy", the most advanced research of the time, and he invites us to try it. My mouth drops open: I wasn't expecting something like this. Nonetheless, I realise that it is a unique opportunity. I could solve a problem that worries me, and learn something that is worth knowing: what is the future of humanity? What will the outcome of these difficult times be? Will things get worse or better? (*)
I decide to try. I tell the old man, who nods and invites me to take my place in the capsule. Then he closes the hatch and we communicate through an intercom. I am comfortably seated in a kind of padded chair that fits the edge of my body. I put on a strange pair of gloves and a helmet, inside of which there is a kind of curved television screen. For the moment, I only see a white light, and I realise that everything is connected to the lab's equipment. (*)
I feel a vibration throughout my whole body, and for a moment, I feel a pleasant sensation of mental change disorients me. Then a scene starts to take shape: people and places, known and unknown, appear and move around me. I am not sure if I am only perceiving it or if I am really there. I see confusion and uncertainty everywhere. I am aware of the growing unemployment and the misery of millions of people, of mental illnesses, of drugs and suicide. I see the increase in crime mixed with the economic crisis, the social tumult and the wars. Individualism is rampant, and people take refuge in ever smaller "islands" or in meaningless search for pleasure. I see all of this whirlwind without being able to do anything about it. (*)
How far away am I from my time? What period am I seeing? Thousands of people celebrate in the main square of an unknown city while fireworks rise into the dark sky and a giant screen announces the coming of a new year. I realise that this is the end of the old; we have touched the turning point. (*)
While I continue to spy on the future, I notice things that I missed before, absorbed as I was by the negative stuff. I see Life that agitates everywhere, among the rubble of the old, destroyed world; I see ordinary people who move towards each other, holding hands and then opening themselves up to others with a new solidarity. I intuit that a new sensitivity is developing simultaneously all over the world in a chain reaction that is gaining strength. A new meaning is rising, and the darkness is dissipating. It is the end of the human being's infancy -- the end of the violent pre-history. I see how new bonds are formed. Positive events, unthinkable until now, start to happen, until the heritage of humanity is finally divided among everyone. It is the dawn of a new era, the dawn of the universal human nation. (*)
I am moved by this indescribable scene, and from the bottom of my heart, expanding in all directions, something good is freed, that brings me beyond my old being. I let myself go in this experience and all the forms melt in a pure light, in a silence without time. (*)
I take off the helmet, the gloves, and the rest. When I get out of the capsule, the old man says: "Now, if you will excuse me, I must leave you. By the way: now and always, everything depends on the choices you make." He says good-bye with a nod of his head, and quickly goes out. After a brief hesitation, we also leave. At the bottom of the stairs we meet our group's guide, who asks us with reproof: "Where did you disappear to? I looked for you everywhere!"
"We were upstairs, in the laboratory of the Faith Engineer," my friend explains.
"Come on! I know all the scientists in this place, and there is no one with that name. In addition, the upper levels only have empty rooms, that will be assigned to future projects."
"Oh yeah?" my friend and I say together. Then we break out laughing. The guide looks at us as if we are crazy, then he slowly steps back, turns, and nervously goes away from us to return to the group.
We follow him and rejoin the others. Thousands of questions buzz through my mind, but my heart is swollen with renewed faith, strong and positive, ready to spill over into everyday life. (*)
Scepticism
Scepticism comes out in a pessimistic attitude towards life and the future, in the negation of the possibility of changing and resolving situations. The sceptic usually acts as though they are rationally superior to those who look for new paths, and he or she degrades and ridicules the searcher's attempts by pitting "it's not possible" against hope.
Discussion:
- What effect does the scepticism of others produce in me, in particular when it is aimed at something important to me?
- Do I ever take on a sceptical attitude towards other proposals and initiatives? How do I feel when that happens?
Guided Experience: The Ascent
Interest: The problems that come up when one tries to make images "rise" indicate the anguish of not being able to reach an objective and worry about an uncertain future. Being able to move these images can help orient behaviour in a positive direction.
THE ASCENT
It is daytime. I see a house, and enter it. Slowly I begin to climb some stairs. I reach the second floor and continue to go up until I am on a roof terrace.
I see a metal spiral staircase. It does not have a protective handrail. I have to climb it to reach a platform on top of a water tank. I go up the staircase calmly.
Now I am standing on top of the water tank. Its platform is quite small. The whole structure I am standing on shakes in the gusting wind. (*)
I go near the edge. Down below me I see the roof of the house. I feel pulled by the empty space, but I calm myself and continue looking. I let my gaze wander over the landscape. (*)
Above me there is a helicopter which lets down a rope ladder. The rungs of this ladder are made of wood. I grab hold of it and put both feet on the lowest rung. The helicopter slowly begins to ascend. Below me I see the water tank becoming smaller and smaller. (*)
I climb up the ladder until I reach the door of the helicopter and I try to open the door, but it is stuck. I look down. (*)
The metal door slides open. A young pilot reaches out and gives me a hand. I enter the helicopter, and we begin to ascend very rapidly.
Someone announces that the engine is failing. I hear the sound of grinding machinery. The rotor blades become stuck. We begin to lose altitude faster and faster.
Parachutes are passed out, and the two pilots jump out into space. I am standing in the doorway. We are falling dizzily.
I decide to jump. I fall out facing downwards. The acceleration makes it hard to breathe. I pull on the release cord, and the parachute opens in a great white sheet above me. I feel a strong jolt and a bounce as the parachute brakes my fall.
I have to try to land on top of the water tank. Otherwise I will fall into some high-tension electricity cables, or else into some pine trees, whose top branches are waiting like upturned needles. I guide the parachute by pulling on the cords. Fortunately, the wind is helping me. (*)
I fall on top of the tank, and roll towards the edge. The parachute covers me. I untangle myself from it, and see how messily it falls.
I get to my feet again, and slowly begin to go down the spiral staircase. I reach the roof of the house, and descend the stair to the second floor. I continue to descend until I reach the first floor. I do so without hurrying. I am on the ground floor of the house. I go towards the door, open it, and leave.
HUMAN INTENTIONALITY
Framework:
Since human value is so central to us, it is interesting to clarify what we understand makes us human. Also our particular values because there are many human characteristics that although they are valuable they are not exclusives to us.
For example: feelings. They can be something very noble, but they are not exclusive, we share them with plenty of species. Let's see together examples of feelings in animals. (Brainstorm of examples)
Now let's see intelligence. No doubt, our specie can be very intelligent, but we also find very clever animals. Examples? (Brainstorm of examples)
It is now the turn of social organisation. We organise ourselves in many ways, but animals organise themselves. Examples? (Brainstorm of examples)
But, there is a capacity which belongs to us, which is exclusive, and that is our ability to change and to transmit change historically, the capacity to learn from previous generations and the examples of others, and to transform personally (ourselves and our body) and socially (changing the society in which we live). We all know the changes we can perform on our own body, from glasses, acrylic teeth, vitamins, artificial organs, and.... (Examples). We also know the changes we have performed in our social organisations (matriarchy, patriarchy, kingdom, democracy, dictatorship ... examples).
Human Beings are defined in Letter 4 as: " historical beings whose manner of social action transforms their own nature." This is opposed to a current of thought which has led to such discrimination and violence against many human beings, which proposes that certain things are "natural", such as wars, inequality etc, or part of human "nature" (as though human "nature" was the same as an unchanging natural law such as gravity)
This huge capacity to change, this human intentionality, is today partially asleep since it is been used by a few people to convince many people that their effort is so little, and that it means nothing. But if we look into our own experience, we will discover that that potential is still alive and needs to flow.
Individual Work.
Each one looks for an example in his/her own lifetime when something considered as "impossible" or difficult considering the age or the circumstances it was performed in was achieved, and when they achieved something that was considered impossible by others.
Exchange:
Each one comments on his/her own "impossible" achievement.
Individual Work:
In order to rescue this "asleep" potential, each one makes a list of the priorities for this week, emphasising his/her best quality to carry them out and giving proper value to their own intentionality.
Proposal:
Find a personal situation of lack of communication, violence or injustice (among family, work, friends, etc.) which I have decided to change this week by exercising my intentionality.
The current society is on the edge of an abyss while another society is taking shape in the sensitivity, behaviour and in the consciousness of ever-growing human groups.
In order to avoid that the world plummets into barbarism before another world has the chance to be born, it is necessary to unite all the people who feel the need for a profound change in a great project of personal and social change.
Discussion:
- Do I feel the need for a profound change in society, values, and relationships between people?
- What can I do to contribute to make this happen?
Guided Experience: The Time Machine
Interest: What we believe about the future is a belief, not a fact. The future has not been decided yet, but it is built through our choices. Nonetheless, our beliefs about the future, whether positive or negative, condition our way of thinking, feeling, and acting. For this reason, it is important to have faith in our future, in the future of the people around us, and in humanity in general. This will make us, as well as those around us, live better and it will increase the possibilities that such a future really happens.
Guided Experience: The Time Machine
My friend and I are part of a group visiting the most advanced technological research centre around. The guide leads us through rooms and laboratories, explaining to us in simple terms the research in progress, and the progress made. (*)
My friend and I lag behind to comment on the devices. Suddenly, a smiling old man appears before us. He has long hair and a beard that's white as snow. He must be one of the scientists, since he is wearing a white smock with a name-tag on his chest that says: "Faith Engineer". I feel that we've already met, but I couldn't say when or where. (*)
The old man invites us to follow him; after a moment of hesitation we obey, going up a staircase and then along a corridor until we reach the entry to a laboratory. The old man puts his hand on a lighted plate, and the heavy metallic door opens with a sigh, to close on its own once we have entered. (*)
The room is very large and well-lit, and it doesn't have other exits or windows. I observe a wall covered with highly sophisticated equipment. The screens show graphics in various colours, and the panels shine with moving lights. Strange buttons and controls defy our imagination. In the middle of the room there is a kind of big, white egg mounted on a platform, made of plastic, steel, or some other unknown material. I see that this capsule has an entry hatch with a small window. (*)
The old man explains that this is his "toy", the most advanced research of the time, and he invites us to try it. My mouth drops open: I wasn't expecting something like this. Nonetheless, I realise that it is a unique opportunity. I could solve a problem that worries me, and learn something that is worth knowing: what is the future of humanity? What will the outcome of these difficult times be? Will things get worse or better? (*)
I decide to try. I tell the old man, who nods and invites me to take my place in the capsule. Then he closes the hatch and we communicate through an intercom. I am comfortably seated in a kind of padded chair that fits the edge of my body. I put on a strange pair of gloves and a helmet, inside of which there is a kind of curved television screen. For the moment, I only see a white light, and I realise that everything is connected to the lab's equipment. (*)
I feel a vibration throughout my whole body, and for a moment, I feel a pleasant sensation of mental change disorients me. Then a scene starts to take shape: people and places, known and unknown, appear and move around me. I am not sure if I am only perceiving it or if I am really there. I see confusion and uncertainty everywhere. I am aware of the growing unemployment and the misery of millions of people, of mental illnesses, of drugs and suicide. I see the increase in crime mixed with the economic crisis, the social tumult and the wars. Individualism is rampant, and people take refuge in ever smaller "islands" or in meaningless search for pleasure. I see all of this whirlwind without being able to do anything about it. (*)
How far away am I from my time? What period am I seeing? Thousands of people celebrate in the main square of an unknown city while fireworks rise into the dark sky and a giant screen announces the coming of a new year. I realise that this is the end of the old; we have touched the turning point. (*)
While I continue to spy on the future, I notice things that I missed before, absorbed as I was by the negative stuff. I see Life that agitates everywhere, among the rubble of the old, destroyed world; I see ordinary people who move towards each other, holding hands and then opening themselves up to others with a new solidarity. I intuit that a new sensitivity is developing simultaneously all over the world in a chain reaction that is gaining strength. A new meaning is rising, and the darkness is dissipating. It is the end of the human being's infancy -- the end of the violent pre-history. I see how new bonds are formed. Positive events, unthinkable until now, start to happen, until the heritage of humanity is finally divided among everyone. It is the dawn of a new era, the dawn of the universal human nation. (*)
I am moved by this indescribable scene, and from the bottom of my heart, expanding in all directions, something good is freed, that brings me beyond my old being. I let myself go in this experience and all the forms melt in a pure light, in a silence without time. (*)
I take off the helmet, the gloves, and the rest. When I get out of the capsule, the old man says: "Now, if you will excuse me, I must leave you. By the way: now and always, everything depends on the choices you make." He says good-bye with a nod of his head, and quickly goes out. After a brief hesitation, we also leave. At the bottom of the stairs we meet our group's guide, who asks us with reproof: "Where did you disappear to? I looked for you everywhere!"
"We were upstairs, in the laboratory of the Faith Engineer," my friend explains.
"Come on! I know all the scientists in this place, and there is no one with that name. In addition, the upper levels only have empty rooms, that will be assigned to future projects."
"Oh yeah?" my friend and I say together. Then we break out laughing. The guide looks at us as if we are crazy, then he slowly steps back, turns, and nervously goes away from us to return to the group.
We follow him and rejoin the others. Thousands of questions buzz through my mind, but my heart is swollen with renewed faith, strong and positive, ready to spill over into everyday life. (*)
Scepticism
Scepticism comes out in a pessimistic attitude towards life and the future, in the negation of the possibility of changing and resolving situations. The sceptic usually acts as though they are rationally superior to those who look for new paths, and he or she degrades and ridicules the searcher's attempts by pitting "it's not possible" against hope.
Discussion:
- What effect does the scepticism of others produce in me, in particular when it is aimed at something important to me?
- Do I ever take on a sceptical attitude towards other proposals and initiatives? How do I feel when that happens?
Guided Experience: The Ascent
Interest: The problems that come up when one tries to make images "rise" indicate the anguish of not being able to reach an objective and worry about an uncertain future. Being able to move these images can help orient behaviour in a positive direction.
THE ASCENT
It is daytime. I see a house, and enter it. Slowly I begin to climb some stairs. I reach the second floor and continue to go up until I am on a roof terrace.
I see a metal spiral staircase. It does not have a protective handrail. I have to climb it to reach a platform on top of a water tank. I go up the staircase calmly.
Now I am standing on top of the water tank. Its platform is quite small. The whole structure I am standing on shakes in the gusting wind. (*)
I go near the edge. Down below me I see the roof of the house. I feel pulled by the empty space, but I calm myself and continue looking. I let my gaze wander over the landscape. (*)
Above me there is a helicopter which lets down a rope ladder. The rungs of this ladder are made of wood. I grab hold of it and put both feet on the lowest rung. The helicopter slowly begins to ascend. Below me I see the water tank becoming smaller and smaller. (*)
I climb up the ladder until I reach the door of the helicopter and I try to open the door, but it is stuck. I look down. (*)
The metal door slides open. A young pilot reaches out and gives me a hand. I enter the helicopter, and we begin to ascend very rapidly.
Someone announces that the engine is failing. I hear the sound of grinding machinery. The rotor blades become stuck. We begin to lose altitude faster and faster.
Parachutes are passed out, and the two pilots jump out into space. I am standing in the doorway. We are falling dizzily.
I decide to jump. I fall out facing downwards. The acceleration makes it hard to breathe. I pull on the release cord, and the parachute opens in a great white sheet above me. I feel a strong jolt and a bounce as the parachute brakes my fall.
I have to try to land on top of the water tank. Otherwise I will fall into some high-tension electricity cables, or else into some pine trees, whose top branches are waiting like upturned needles. I guide the parachute by pulling on the cords. Fortunately, the wind is helping me. (*)
I fall on top of the tank, and roll towards the edge. The parachute covers me. I untangle myself from it, and see how messily it falls.
I get to my feet again, and slowly begin to go down the spiral staircase. I reach the roof of the house, and descend the stair to the second floor. I continue to descend until I reach the first floor. I do so without hurrying. I am on the ground floor of the house. I go towards the door, open it, and leave.
HUMAN INTENTIONALITY
Framework:
Since human value is so central to us, it is interesting to clarify what we understand makes us human. Also our particular values because there are many human characteristics that although they are valuable they are not exclusives to us.
For example: feelings. They can be something very noble, but they are not exclusive, we share them with plenty of species. Let's see together examples of feelings in animals. (Brainstorm of examples)
Now let's see intelligence. No doubt, our specie can be very intelligent, but we also find very clever animals. Examples? (Brainstorm of examples)
It is now the turn of social organisation. We organise ourselves in many ways, but animals organise themselves. Examples? (Brainstorm of examples)
But, there is a capacity which belongs to us, which is exclusive, and that is our ability to change and to transmit change historically, the capacity to learn from previous generations and the examples of others, and to transform personally (ourselves and our body) and socially (changing the society in which we live). We all know the changes we can perform on our own body, from glasses, acrylic teeth, vitamins, artificial organs, and.... (Examples). We also know the changes we have performed in our social organisations (matriarchy, patriarchy, kingdom, democracy, dictatorship ... examples).
Human Beings are defined in Letter 4 as: " historical beings whose manner of social action transforms their own nature." This is opposed to a current of thought which has led to such discrimination and violence against many human beings, which proposes that certain things are "natural", such as wars, inequality etc, or part of human "nature" (as though human "nature" was the same as an unchanging natural law such as gravity)
This huge capacity to change, this human intentionality, is today partially asleep since it is been used by a few people to convince many people that their effort is so little, and that it means nothing. But if we look into our own experience, we will discover that that potential is still alive and needs to flow.
Individual Work.
Each one looks for an example in his/her own lifetime when something considered as "impossible" or difficult considering the age or the circumstances it was performed in was achieved, and when they achieved something that was considered impossible by others.
Exchange:
Each one comments on his/her own "impossible" achievement.
Individual Work:
In order to rescue this "asleep" potential, each one makes a list of the priorities for this week, emphasising his/her best quality to carry them out and giving proper value to their own intentionality.
Proposal:
Find a personal situation of lack of communication, violence or injustice (among family, work, friends, etc.) which I have decided to change this week by exercising my intentionality.
THE HUMANIST MOVEMENT
Dear Friends and Humanists
THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN NATION
Framework:
According to our concept of human being, the most important time is the
future. We are the only specie that is able to change, to project and to build a
better future for our children and ourselves (something that no tiger or
elephant can do).
But this better world is not built out of nothingness; it starts with the dream of
each one, with a hope, with a desire. Then, due to the marvelous translation
that the consciousness makes, those desires are transformed into images and
those images into action (if they are defined and placed precisely).
To deeply change the world is nothing new for human being and many times in
history great changes were made, for example: abolition of slavery, inventions
that were considered impossible until then (such as flying, etc.) and many
others.
Examples from participants.
As humanists, we are building the Universal Human Nation. We seek not a
uniform world, but a world of multiplicity: diverse in ethnicity, languages and
customs; diverse in local and regional autonomy; diverse in ideas and
aspirations; diverse in beliefs, whether atheist or religious; diverse in
occupations and in creativity. And we want a world in which, the human being
will be the central value, and this value will be translated in all ambits of life,
from health and education to social organisation.
Individual Work:
But, what is interesting for us today is to see the aspirations at a more personal
level. To discover some of them, each one will write two columns: in the first
column you'll write the aspirations that you have for yourself and for your own
family, in the second, the dreams or aspirations you have for humanity.
Exchange:
Each one reads the column of dreams for humanity. Afterwards an aspiration is
chosen and agreed upon by everybody.
Then, (with the help of the orientator) the necessary steps to achieve such
objective are defined: How many people should promote that aspiration, in
order that it becomes a project, how would possible supporters be invited, what
steps would a project of that size need, what indicators will allow us to know if
we are getting closer to the objective, etc.
Proposal: Each one defines their participation in the activities and a calendar is
made.
Faith in the Possibility of Change
Framework
Five Levels of Faith
We live in a society that does not meet the aspirations of the great majority of
its people. Deep inside, the majority of people would like things to change in a
profound way -- for themselves and for society in general. Some people want to
do something towards carrying out that change, while many others do not have
faith that such change is really possible. Even social activists might find their
faith wavering at times. If we do not have faith in the possibility of change then
we become inactive or our actions lack strength.
We can say that there are five possible attitudes or states of mind we can have
about this faith in the possibility of change:
1. Negation: you believe change is not possible.
2. Doubt: you think maybe change is possible, but you don't do anything to test
it out.
3. Search: you want to believe that change is possible and you do small things
to verify this possibility.
4. Belief: you believe change is possible, regardless of the arguments or
reasoning justifying this belief.
5. Certainty: You have the certainty, sometimes based on experience, that
change is possible.
These states of faith are variable, as is the intensity within each level. These
states can be consciously worked on, reinforcing their level and intensity,
according to each person's interest and experience.
Faith and the Future
Each time one loses faith in oneself or in someone else or in a situation, the
future becomes closed and this gives us a sensation of suffering. The future
becomes closed and what is lost is faith.
Exercise 1
I close my eyes and try to remember the best moment of my life. I remember
the moment when I felt in myself a great strength.
In this exercise, you remember a certain faith in yourself, in another person, or
in a particular situation. You find yourself with the possibility of doing things,
your chest expands and your breathing becomes pure and ample. There can be
a luminous image of the situation or of the relationship. Where there is future,
things can be done: one can count on others and there is a great force.
Exercise 2
I now remember the worst moment of my life. I remember that situation or
relationship that left me feeling weak or insignificant, without faith in myself or
others.
In remembering this time, the breathing becomes heavy and intermittent. The
future has been broken, we cannot do that which we were thinking, we have lost
faith in ourselves, in others or in the situation. The future has been cut. We
remain frustrated or resentful or disillusioned.
Individual work
Look at a current situation or relationship that is important to you. Which of
the "five states of faith" are you regarding this situation? Imagine giving this
situation more faith and more future. What happens? Where does the faith come
from in this instance?
Proposal
Continue working with the situation or relationship identified above on a daily
basis. How does working with strong images of an open future re-enforce your
faith in this situation or relationship?
Related reading: The Meaning of Life from Silo Speaks.
(please see attached file)
INTERNAL FORCE
"We cannot do anything if a force that is barely visible in people anymore is not
awakened within us. It is necessary to make our internal force grow. That same
force that moves mountains. There is a force that unites, one that gives us
direction, one that shows us that we are bigger than what we believe.
We can feel crushed by the system, crushed as well by what happens to us every
day, by necessity. We are not ants, we are not whiners, we are not a numerical
statistic. We are an extraordinary being, a being which stood up one day on
two legs, reaching for the sky, and which has not yet finished their journey.
We are much more than everything we see.
There could be within you a profound force.
There could be within you something very big.
In all of us there is something very big.
What is this force, how does this force grow inside of people? Is it a force which
stays within us, is it a force that is communicated between people?"
Exercise:
· There is a great force within each of us that expresses itself mostly in the
crucial situations of our life.
· Remember a very difficult moment in which we found an energy inside of us
that we never even suspected we had.
· In some situations when we feel united with another, our force becomes larger.
· Remember some of these situations: how did we feel?
Guided Experience: The Voyage (short version)
(A member of the meeting reads the Guided Experience and the other
participants follow the story with their own images. At the asterisk leave a gap
of 12 to 15 seconds. The participants can listen with their eyes shut or open,
which ever helps them follow the experience best).
I continue climbing up the mountain path. I come to a rock wall and I begin to
climb it, wedging my hiking boots into the footholds. Pressing my back against
one side, I lever myself up with one elbow and my other arm. Slowly I inch
higher until I am able to climb more easily and I reach the plateau. I stand up,
and an endless prairie stretches before me. It is evening, and the last rays of
the sun escape in varied hues.
I see a luminous disk hovering high overhead. Circling around, it begins to
descend. The disk lands close by. Moved by some inner call, I approach it
without hesitation and enter inside.
As though propelled by a giant sling-shot, we shoot straight upward into the
sky. Directly ahead I see a single point of golden light, which steadily grows
larger. We go towards it and enter into it.
Suddenly, we stop, landing in an open area. I leave the disk and see a figure,
apparently human, whose face I cannot see. This being extends a hand toward
me, in which I see a radiant sphere. I begin to approach, and in an act of
complete acceptance, I take the sphere and place it on my forehead. (*)
In total silence, I feel something new coming to life within me. A growing force
bathes my body in successive waves as a profound joy fills my being. (*)
Somehow I know that even without words this figure is speaking to me, saying,
"Return to the world with your hands and forehead luminous." (*)
And so I accept my destiny, returning to the disk, the stars, the prairie, the
rock wall and my people. Filled with light, I return to the hours, to the daily
routine, to the pain of humanity, and to its simple joys.
Exercise: Write down a sample introduction meeting to the Humanist Movement
that you could give tomorrow. What are the main points about the Movement
for you? What does it mean for you? Why are you here? Why do you think others
should be? What do you want to express?
THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN NATION
Framework:
According to our concept of human being, the most important time is the
future. We are the only specie that is able to change, to project and to build a
better future for our children and ourselves (something that no tiger or
elephant can do).
But this better world is not built out of nothingness; it starts with the dream of
each one, with a hope, with a desire. Then, due to the marvelous translation
that the consciousness makes, those desires are transformed into images and
those images into action (if they are defined and placed precisely).
To deeply change the world is nothing new for human being and many times in
history great changes were made, for example: abolition of slavery, inventions
that were considered impossible until then (such as flying, etc.) and many
others.
Examples from participants.
As humanists, we are building the Universal Human Nation. We seek not a
uniform world, but a world of multiplicity: diverse in ethnicity, languages and
customs; diverse in local and regional autonomy; diverse in ideas and
aspirations; diverse in beliefs, whether atheist or religious; diverse in
occupations and in creativity. And we want a world in which, the human being
will be the central value, and this value will be translated in all ambits of life,
from health and education to social organisation.
Individual Work:
But, what is interesting for us today is to see the aspirations at a more personal
level. To discover some of them, each one will write two columns: in the first
column you'll write the aspirations that you have for yourself and for your own
family, in the second, the dreams or aspirations you have for humanity.
Exchange:
Each one reads the column of dreams for humanity. Afterwards an aspiration is
chosen and agreed upon by everybody.
Then, (with the help of the orientator) the necessary steps to achieve such
objective are defined: How many people should promote that aspiration, in
order that it becomes a project, how would possible supporters be invited, what
steps would a project of that size need, what indicators will allow us to know if
we are getting closer to the objective, etc.
Proposal: Each one defines their participation in the activities and a calendar is
made.
Faith in the Possibility of Change
Framework
Five Levels of Faith
We live in a society that does not meet the aspirations of the great majority of
its people. Deep inside, the majority of people would like things to change in a
profound way -- for themselves and for society in general. Some people want to
do something towards carrying out that change, while many others do not have
faith that such change is really possible. Even social activists might find their
faith wavering at times. If we do not have faith in the possibility of change then
we become inactive or our actions lack strength.
We can say that there are five possible attitudes or states of mind we can have
about this faith in the possibility of change:
1. Negation: you believe change is not possible.
2. Doubt: you think maybe change is possible, but you don't do anything to test
it out.
3. Search: you want to believe that change is possible and you do small things
to verify this possibility.
4. Belief: you believe change is possible, regardless of the arguments or
reasoning justifying this belief.
5. Certainty: You have the certainty, sometimes based on experience, that
change is possible.
These states of faith are variable, as is the intensity within each level. These
states can be consciously worked on, reinforcing their level and intensity,
according to each person's interest and experience.
Faith and the Future
Each time one loses faith in oneself or in someone else or in a situation, the
future becomes closed and this gives us a sensation of suffering. The future
becomes closed and what is lost is faith.
Exercise 1
I close my eyes and try to remember the best moment of my life. I remember
the moment when I felt in myself a great strength.
In this exercise, you remember a certain faith in yourself, in another person, or
in a particular situation. You find yourself with the possibility of doing things,
your chest expands and your breathing becomes pure and ample. There can be
a luminous image of the situation or of the relationship. Where there is future,
things can be done: one can count on others and there is a great force.
Exercise 2
I now remember the worst moment of my life. I remember that situation or
relationship that left me feeling weak or insignificant, without faith in myself or
others.
In remembering this time, the breathing becomes heavy and intermittent. The
future has been broken, we cannot do that which we were thinking, we have lost
faith in ourselves, in others or in the situation. The future has been cut. We
remain frustrated or resentful or disillusioned.
Individual work
Look at a current situation or relationship that is important to you. Which of
the "five states of faith" are you regarding this situation? Imagine giving this
situation more faith and more future. What happens? Where does the faith come
from in this instance?
Proposal
Continue working with the situation or relationship identified above on a daily
basis. How does working with strong images of an open future re-enforce your
faith in this situation or relationship?
Related reading: The Meaning of Life from Silo Speaks.
(please see attached file)
INTERNAL FORCE
"We cannot do anything if a force that is barely visible in people anymore is not
awakened within us. It is necessary to make our internal force grow. That same
force that moves mountains. There is a force that unites, one that gives us
direction, one that shows us that we are bigger than what we believe.
We can feel crushed by the system, crushed as well by what happens to us every
day, by necessity. We are not ants, we are not whiners, we are not a numerical
statistic. We are an extraordinary being, a being which stood up one day on
two legs, reaching for the sky, and which has not yet finished their journey.
We are much more than everything we see.
There could be within you a profound force.
There could be within you something very big.
In all of us there is something very big.
What is this force, how does this force grow inside of people? Is it a force which
stays within us, is it a force that is communicated between people?"
Exercise:
· There is a great force within each of us that expresses itself mostly in the
crucial situations of our life.
· Remember a very difficult moment in which we found an energy inside of us
that we never even suspected we had.
· In some situations when we feel united with another, our force becomes larger.
· Remember some of these situations: how did we feel?
Guided Experience: The Voyage (short version)
(A member of the meeting reads the Guided Experience and the other
participants follow the story with their own images. At the asterisk leave a gap
of 12 to 15 seconds. The participants can listen with their eyes shut or open,
which ever helps them follow the experience best).
I continue climbing up the mountain path. I come to a rock wall and I begin to
climb it, wedging my hiking boots into the footholds. Pressing my back against
one side, I lever myself up with one elbow and my other arm. Slowly I inch
higher until I am able to climb more easily and I reach the plateau. I stand up,
and an endless prairie stretches before me. It is evening, and the last rays of
the sun escape in varied hues.
I see a luminous disk hovering high overhead. Circling around, it begins to
descend. The disk lands close by. Moved by some inner call, I approach it
without hesitation and enter inside.
As though propelled by a giant sling-shot, we shoot straight upward into the
sky. Directly ahead I see a single point of golden light, which steadily grows
larger. We go towards it and enter into it.
Suddenly, we stop, landing in an open area. I leave the disk and see a figure,
apparently human, whose face I cannot see. This being extends a hand toward
me, in which I see a radiant sphere. I begin to approach, and in an act of
complete acceptance, I take the sphere and place it on my forehead. (*)
In total silence, I feel something new coming to life within me. A growing force
bathes my body in successive waves as a profound joy fills my being. (*)
Somehow I know that even without words this figure is speaking to me, saying,
"Return to the world with your hands and forehead luminous." (*)
And so I accept my destiny, returning to the disk, the stars, the prairie, the
rock wall and my people. Filled with light, I return to the hours, to the daily
routine, to the pain of humanity, and to its simple joys.
Exercise: Write down a sample introduction meeting to the Humanist Movement
that you could give tomorrow. What are the main points about the Movement
for you? What does it mean for you? Why are you here? Why do you think others
should be? What do you want to express?
Dear Friends and Humanists
Proof,
UN asks Bush,
"What proof do you have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction?"
Bush replies, "We kept the receipts."
UN asks Bush,
"What proof do you have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction?"
Bush replies, "We kept the receipts."
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