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?