Phase 1 - January 15th

Session 2:

Links to the Webex recording of the session are available to logged in participants here.

Purpose:
Our second session will build on our efforts from last week and during the week to develop a clearer picture of where we are and where we are going. In a very real sense the entire focus for Phase 1 is to progressively come to a better and better understanding of this question. Our "point of departure" will be the immediate experience of "Like and Dislike".

Approach:
We'll continue developing our "word-picture" (the monad) of a normal human being, but we will ground this development in the real experience of our own personal likes and dislikes in order to stay connected to something beyond mere words, something closer to reality. For the moment we will simply become familiar with what we mean by the phrase "like and dislike", and distinguish likes and dislikes from deeper essence desires or even deeper aspects of "chief feature". Our approach will also involve sharing of what we have seen, seeing that we are all in the same boat... together, and seeing that we can help each other.

Preparation:
In moments of self-consciousness begin to see where you are manifesting exactly as you wish to be, and also times where it hasn't been as you wish to be. One way to do this would be to create a list of likes and dislikes for each center (moving, instinctive, emotional, intellectual). Try to see and actually state where each of these likes and dislikes originated in order to become more familiar with them. Then, without changing anything, try to see if you are the master of likes and dislikes (this can certainly be the case) or whether your likes and dislikes control you (also likely at times). Again, don't try to change anything... just observe.

Study of the "Word Picture of a Normal Human Being", which we created in session one can help, especially as we will be developing this picture much further in the coming weeks. Also try to get a clear visual image (memory) of the so called "road map" for this phase, because this will act on us as a constant mental reminder of what we are trying to understand, and where that understanding is leading.