We meet on alternate weekends, at varying times depending on participants' schedules, to strengthen the bonds of friendship and stimulate self-inquiry. We employ a variety of techniques including writing, meditation, and questioning each other regarding the previous Monday discussion and other topics. Other activities include viewing and discussing videotapes and going on outings. A meal and socializing often precede or follow the informally-structured session.
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Discussion Meetings
The Philosophical Self-Inquiry Discussion Group meets on alternate Mondays at the Carnegie Library in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh (Schenley Drive at Forbes Avenue). Meetings begin at 6:00 pm and run until the library closes at 8. Meeting locations within the library may vary. The security personnel at the library entrance will know the location.
Those curious to learn more about themselves are invited to air their views
and hear what others have to say on the discussion topic in an atmosphere of
friendly investigation. Meeting guidelines.
Monday, January 23, 2012:
HOPE
A specific instance of feeling hopeful; "it revived their hope of winning the pennant"
The general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled; "in spite of his troubles he never gave up hope"
Promise: grounds for feeling hopeful about the future; "there is little or no promise that he will recover"
Expect and wish; "I trust you will behave better from now on"; "I hope she understands that she cannot expect a raise"
Someone (or something) on which expectations are centered; "he was their best hope for a victory"
Be optimistic; be full of hope; have hopes; "I am still hoping that all will turn out well"
United States comedian (born in England) who appeared in films with Bing Crosby (1903-2003)
Intend with some possibility of fulfillment; "I hope to have finished this work by tomorrow evening"
One of the three Christian virtues
"When we think of hope … we have to think of looking in other directions than we have been looking." ~ Sherwin Nuland, TED.com talk "On Hope"
> Is there a direction other than where you've been looking?
Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D., is a clinical professor of surgery at Yale University, where he also teaches bioethics and medical history. He is the author of ten books, including How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter, which won the National Book Award and spent thirty-four weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.
Have you been horsing around with your spiritual development?
We'll be doing something a bit different this summer.
The retreat will be held on a friend's horse farm.
Individual presentations, group discussions, and workshops …
combined with some farm work and time for silent contemplation.
for more information.
2011 Annual Fall Intensive Retreat "Casting off Illusion"
Sunday-Friday, Nov. 13-18
Objective: Find complete & permanent X (Truth, Love, Security, Satisfaction, Reality, Being, etc.)
Direction: Within
Objection: Yes, but ... how do I go, sink or dive within?
The tiger's in a cage...
An opportunity arises, and he jumps
Headlong into freedom,
Only to find himself trapped again
By limitation.
The tiger or the mouse
Discovers there's always been a means of egress
Behind him, back through the projection
Off self and other, into
True Freedom.
for more information.
2011 Annual Summer Men's Intensive Retreat "The Next Step"
Sunday-Friday, Jun. 19-24
"Group Retreat"
Like a bus ride …
Waiting for the bus, it finally appears
We're carried along faster & farther than our own energy would carry us
It offers certain comforts, maybe also some interpersonal frictions
But the ride ends, becomes a memory
It may be the last bus ride …
All experience disappoints, leaves us unfulfilled.
How did life's bus ride get you to where you find yourself?
What is your life-objective?
How would you evaluate your progress-to-date?
What is your next step?
Individual presentations, group discussions, and workshops … combined with plenty of time for silent contemplation and nature walks....
FELT DIMLY in the soul, by world-man unconceived;
Unknown Goal of all yearning;
The Fullness that fills the inner void,
Completing the half-forms of outer life;
The Eternal Beloved, veiled in the objects of human desire;
Undying, Timeless, Everlasting;
Old as Infinity, yet ever new as upspringing youth;
Pearl beyond price, Peace all-enveloping;
Divinity spreading through all.
"Blown-out" in the grand conflagration of Eternity,
Death destroyed as a dream no longer remembered.
Life below but a living death,
Nirvana the ever-living Reality....
~ From Franklin Merrell-Wolff's "Nirvana"
for more information.
Tied Up In Knots?
Once an earnest beginner in the pursuit of Tao came to visit Lao Tzu. As soon
as Lao Tzu saw him, he asked, "Who are all those people whom you have
brought with you?" The disciple whirled around to look. Nothing there.
Panic! Lao Tzu said, "Don't you understand?" This only added
confusion to his panic. Lao Tzu then pressed him to tell him what was ailing
him. The disciple said (to use the version of Thomas Merton):
"When I don't know, people treat me like a fool. When I do know, the
knowledge gets me into trouble. When I fail to do good, I hurt others. When I do
good, I hurt myself. If I avoid my duty, I am remiss, but if I do it I am
ruined. How can I get out of these contradictions? That is what I came to ask
you."
Lao Tzu replied: "A moment ago I looked into your eyes. I saw you were
hemmed in by contradictions. Your words confirm this. You are scared to
death, like a child who has lost father and mother. You are trying to sound
the middle of the ocean with a six-foot pole. You have got lost, and are
trying to find your way back to your own true self. You find nothing but
illegible signposts pointing in all directions. I pity you."
The disciple asked for admittance, took a cell, and there meditated, trying
to cultivate qualities he thought desirable and get rid of others which he
disliked. Ten days of that! Despair!
"Miserable!" said Lao. "All blocked up! Tied in knots! Try to
get untied! If your obstructions are on the outside, do not attempt to grasp
them one by one and thrust them away. Impossible! Learn to ignore them. If
they are within yourself, you cannot destroy them piecemeal, but you can
refuse to let them take effect. If they are both inside and outside, do not
try to hold on to Tao – just hope that Tao will keep hold of you!"
John C.H. Wu,
The Golden Age of Zen
Meeting Guidelines
The meetings serve as forums for discussing issues related to
self-inquiry and self-definition. This is a tricky proposition – using the mind to understand the mind. To expedite the process, a facilitator directs the discussion.
Typical meeting formats are round-robin style, where participants have an
equal amount of time to air their views. The object of this airing is to help
each person clarify contradictions, tracing them back to prides and fears
that cloud our mental processes. One of the ways of doing this is a friendly
mode of challenging, or confrontation, not of the person but of his or
her assumptions, beliefs, values and ethics. The facilitator is not to be
confronted, as this disrupts the flow of the meeting.
A successful interchange relies on the cooperation of all participants and
their willingness to "play the game." No one should preach or be
subject to preaching. As much as is humanly possible we should try to:
Listen actively, without interrupting, maintaining a felt connection with
the speaker.
Keep the focus on each participant in turn, avoiding the temptation to
shift the attention to ourselves – either out of a desire to rescue the
person from tension or a desire to be the center of attention ourselves. When
such a shift occurs, the facilitator or other participant should point it
out.
Try to understand the speaker's point of view and challenge him to
question his own thinking, not argue with him or try to sell our views.
Monday, January 23, 2012:
HOPE
"Group Retreat"
Meeting Guidelines
