Wed 27 Nov 1996
The Aesthetic Experience
.
Sun 08 Dec 1996 15:04
Rebecca went to the airport today.
It's been a while since writing to you guys last, but this is nice.
Often, I write in pen, on my notepads.
Well, I have a speech to write.
love,
Colin
I like this little computer.
I always want that insecurity
CON
SCIOUSNESS
d
-the new forum-
create a society conducive to
the development of
the human skill
change our world
change ourselves
we meet------------------------------
we meet to work on human concerns, our immediate and personal questions-
we meet for no other reason than to be together
the focus this quarter is the continuation of our focus on experiencing
the best way of being, and, the best way of being together.
my personal goal is to develop an understanding of a new way of
teaching that is not teaching at all. I envision the acceptance of a
consciousness development curriculum for people of any age and
situation. The premise being: we like to act in ways which make us
truly happy; by exploring the nature of our own happiness, we can act
more often in ways which make us truly happy. by working on these
questions, we can come to an understanding of the nature of the
question.
The world changes if the individual changes. Individuals will act in
the best possible way for their own selves if they have an
understanding of what is best for their own selves. If each individual
acted in her best interest, many of the problems we have today would
not exist. The only difficulty remaining is an understanding of what
our best interest is. This is not a difficult problem if only we start
working on it.
The best way of acting is different for each individual. While some
might enjoy watching a football game and others might like to go
camping, the nature of all activies which individuals enjoy is the same
on the individual level. We are all members of the same species; we
have a common biological nature.
Some individuals are better at acting in their best interest than others.
If we can create a society in which each individual is encouraged to
work on these questions openly in herself and with others, each
individual will change. Each individual will act in her best interest
more often and more effectively. The greater the individual's
understanding of what makes her happy and what makes other people
happy, the more effectively she will be at acting in the right way.
Many activities which we consider problems: high consumption of
material goods and the effects of this consumption (e.g. the endless
list of detrimental effects of the personal automobile), drug use,
violence, crime, divorce, teenage pregnancy, lonliness, wondering what
to do with one's self,
would be reduced in a society in which the individuals are encouraged
to try to understand the nature of activities which produce well-being
in themselves and others.
The work of those who have done the most work, and the best work, as
evidinced by the beauty of their own lives, should be made easy to
find, and perhaps freely distributed.
I want to start a study of what happens to individuals who so question,
my hypothesis is that:
these people will have more beautiful lives than those who do not,
they will not act in ways which harm others
they will live in ways which are sustainable
they will be content
they will do great things by virtue of their concentration
they will achieve the sustainable high.
they will be dissatisfied with much of how society is
If all people so question, and work with eachother on these questions,
we all will not be dissatisfied with our society.
Many people have been concerned about the loss of values as religions
and cultures lessen in importance. This is not a problem as long as
each individual is encouraged to develop a defensible value system,
based on a consideration of her own experience and the experience of
others.
--
my current understanding of experience which is most in my best interest (to be challenged)
--
to facilitate this work, I would like to encourage the thought of this
group as not simply a discussion and exploration of being group, but
also a group to whom we can present our papers, speeches, artworks,
musical compositions, scientific research, etc, informally or formally.
I have found that being required to do papers and give speeches has
been a huge catalyst in my development of an understanding of my
reality and a course of action for me to take.
While conscioussness d is an informal group, I would like to suggest
that we have an informal requirement that all who want to call them
selves a member of consciousness d present at one of the meetings a
significant example of their work. This could be an artwork, a
scientific research study, a musical composition, a work of fiction or
poetry, an essay, a book, or a speech, or can you think of something
else? We can record these works and publish them somehow, or not.
in conclusion,
let's do it-
create our own world.
.