Swanwick Star Issue No. 12 (2019)
Reflections on the Self
Reflections on the Self Dialogue Group
Meeting October 20th, 2019
Present: 8 members: 3 apologies
There have been a number of absences throughout the summer so that some members were meeting again after 4 months, others were not present. The fluctuating nature of the group was commented on along with a question around a sense of separation and how to become reconnected?
Lynne opened the group by commenting on and reading from the first two pages of the chapter on “Freedom,” where K declares that “Freedom does not imply choice.”Applying this to our mutual situation of voting in the federal election tomorrow it seemed pertinent to look at his statement “ You choose according to your temperament, your desire, your pleasure. You are faced with the question of whom to listen to, whom to follow.” Whom to chose indeed!
It was suggested from the outset that we cannot really dialogue about Freedom, our topic of the month and last chapter of the book, as though it were, in itself, a topic. We can only look at any situation, for example, the election, and ask if we are approaching it out of freedom, for K is clear that freedom is at the beginning.
When are we not free? This involved again going into conditioning.
Some members of the group, rather painfully and slowly, took this up as others listened. It was not clear that many had given much attention to the chapter or using it for self inquiry as was the original intention of this group.
We returned many times to the need for paying attention in the immediacy. Are we currently in a state of separation or in a state of inclusion/communion? If not, who it not?
Is it possible to attend to all points of view, seeing that every one is only partial? What is our experience of the whole? Does action arise all by itself from that?
It was acknowledged that Freedom is synonymous with unravelling Conditioning, otherwise we assess things from our conditioned and partial standpoint, negating other views in the process and taking ‘sides.’ There were comments abut the nature of partisan political rallies.
We moved to the topic of confusion in making choices, any choices, and K’s point of view on this, ie “is it possible to be still in the midst of confusion ?”was gone into with examples. To attend to confusion is not in itself confused.
Two other members drew our attention to sections of the chapter which were of interest and which we looked at.
As well the topic of the nature of conditioning, including biological conditioning was suggested and augmented the dialogue.
The main understanding today was that freedom could only be now, in the act of complete attention, which means communion. What is it that separates us, here and now and within society? Examples were given of faulty attempts at inclusion ie with regard to sexual fluidity, which, in the end, through multiplicity of choices ( 72 now reported on facebook!) end up creating further separation and alienation. Similarly with alternative pronouns.
Much of our looking oscillated between the world at large, ie society and our own ‘world’ including presence in the group on this Sunday afternoon. Everything which we can comment on in the world can be also seen in ourselves. There is no greater take away than this!
LW
