One of the participants, recalling what had been said at the last dialogue meeting at the Swanwick Centre, brought up the question as to what it might mean to embody the emptiness or nothingness that K considers of such central importance in human transformation and wholeness. This topic was instantly embraced by the group, and […]
We began by reading the entry in The Book of Life for July 26, entitled “Follow the Movement of Suffering”. This text had been excerpted from Chapter 7: On Suffering, in the Questions and Answers section of The First and Last Freedom, pp. 168-171. The longer excerpt referred to the case of someone suffering because […]
The facilitator was asked to make an introduction about K and the teachings, as there were two new people, a young couple, in attendance. This brief introduction was much appreciated. The facilitator then explained that normally such meetings would begin with a reading of one of the daily K quotes from The Book of Life, […]
We began by wondering whether there is a fundamental question that serves as a core issue in our lives. One participant offered that the most fundamental question concerned the meaning of life; another wondered why there is so much cruelty and sorrow in life; a third said that for her it was asking what she […]
We meandered about for a while until we somehow came up with the subject of nostalgia which, according to its etymology, from Greek nostos ‘return home’ + algos ‘pain’, which was used to translate the German Heimweh, means acute homesickness. (I am afraid I may have confused this meaning by translating nostos as ‘old’, meaning […]
The conversation began with a consideration of K’s notion of consciousness as the repository of the universal history of humanity. This modulated into a general consideration of the attempt by humanity to cultivate a set of values as a way to transform itself. One of the participants, who seemed to be something of a religious […]
We began with the topic of hope. One of the participants had seen a recently released interview with Jane Goodall for a Netflix series entitled ‘Famous last words.’ The interview had been made to be shown only after her death. At one point the interviewer had walked out of the room, leaving her alone with […]
This afternoon, from 15:00 to 16:30, we held our Sunday dialogue on the south lawn of the main house of the KECC Swanwick Centre. There were some 14 of us in attendance. After the introductions, we began by exploring the question of our universality as human beings. This corresponds with K’s fundamental statement that we […]
With cooler weather and only intermittent sunshine, we met for the first time in several years in the exquisite living room of the main house. This was a delight for everyone and a first for most of us. We began the meeting with a few minutes of silence. Afterward, several participants mentioned that the beauty […]
The meeting began with a few minutes of silence and a suggestion to give attention to one’s breath during the silence. Afterwards, several participants said they appreciated the “quality” of the silence, noting that there was a sense of relaxation in the stillness, especially since some had driven to the meeting in heavy and noisy […]