May 25, 2009: Choosing our Name
From SolSeed
Notes from Previous Calls: http://solseed.org/Group_Experiences
Dial-in Number: 1-218-936-4700 Participant Access Code: 815066
Contents |
May 25, 2009 @8pm PST
- Opening Words - 5 mins
- Check in - 10 mins
- Topic 1: The Untethered Soul - 15 mins
- Topic 2: SolSeedName - 5 mins
- Topic 3: Roots and Flowers - 10 mins
- Logistics / What's next / homework / assign next call - 10 mins
- Closing Words - 2 mins
Opening Words - (5 mins)
http://solseed.org/SolSeedCreed/CallAndResponse Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.
"It is the time I have wasted for my rose-- "said the little prince so he would be sure to remember.
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose. . ."
"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
Check in and Reflections (10 mins)
Shelley: was just thinking about The Little Prince as one of the books to buy for a new baby Mark: will buy Brandon & Shelley a copy Brandon: Bringing "excited about" and also in a bit of a funk due to hard problem at work. Paul and Alysia Krafel (The Upward Spiral) are coming to Sol 2009. Brenna: I bring a listening ear -- hear people's reactions to the book. Ben: News that Lion will be at Sol 2009 for the 2 wkend days. I'm trying to understand my own reactions to this book that we're reading. I've written down a lot of it. [_We_ are interested.] Mark: I bring myself and a sense of renewal. Renewing contact with the group, sense of purpose, planning for the future. Shelley: enjoyed beach cleanup, happy about having this conversation built into my life in a structured way
Topic 1: The Untethered Soul (15 mins)
Chapters 8-11
- Ben: Middle of pg 96: If you follow this path, the only action you ever take is to relax and release.
pg 97: persistently . . . conciousness: you are just there. Does he mean that if you have persistently centered consciousness that you don't ever do anything?
- Brandon: This is the opportunity to be conscious of where your allegience lies. Is your fundamental allegience to the Ben-Body-Sack-of-Skin ("Sin" ha ha) or to the Awareness that sits behind and sees everything?
- Ben: Awareness never does anything -- so how is that powerful?
- Brandon: It allows you freedome -- no longer locked into the psyche's and world's events/drama. You can just notice the drama and decide whether to engage it or whether to just "be aware" of it and chuckle at it.
- Ben: I do see freedom when you're detached from your neuroses, but I don't see freedom if you're not doing anything ever, detached from everything going on in your brain.
- Mark: Do you agree that your conciousness is centered in your brain, physiologically? (yes) That part of you that is listening/observing/evaluating
. . .
- Ben: This book fits with all of your preconceptions, but not with mine. Listening/observing/evaluating requires thought, as far as I can tell.
- Mark: The book isn't intended to be a scripture/Torah.
- Ben: You guys want to discuss the book, but then the call turns into you guys trying to persuade me of something. I've had enough of making you do that.
- Brenna: I come at life from a Christian standpoint. Because of what I believe in, I'm not worried about how it's going to turn out. I just go to the source and take it away. I kind of get the book at times and other times I don't. I can sometimes make the book fit my frame of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, sometimes not. I want Jesus and the Holy Spirit to direct my thoughts. I have a hard time b/c I do believe we have the power of choice and freedom, but what you're putting in affects the choices you make. I have a hard time thinking the power comes from within myself other than just the power of choice.
- Brandon: That's a small power if you're trapped in your personal drama. Jesus helped people get out of that and make their choices from a more powerful place.
- Shelley: It should be possible to translate concepts like "we try to get the mind to reshape the world to protect the psyche from pain" into Christian terms.
- Mark: Connection to something much larger than yourself--could be called the Kingdom of God--a place where we can feel love, freedom, connection
- Brenna: Some Christians choose to "live abundantly," which includes meditation along with prayer. What you choose to focus on determines "what comes out."
- Brandon: These conversations are an "appetizer" for deeper discussions of "Who are we?" at Sol 2009. Not enough to get a deep sense of shared understanding, but they're getting us ready.
Topic 2: SolSeedName (5 Mins)
Consensus after discussion: We all ranked The SolSeed Society as our favorite.
Brandon
- The SolSeed Society
- We are SolSeed
- My SolSeed Community
Shelley/Mark:
- The SolSeed Society
- The SolSeed Community
- SolSeed
Ben:
- The SolSeed Society
- The SolSeed Movement
- The SolSeed Community
- Brenna's preference.
1) The SolSeed Society 2) The SolSeed Community 3) Our SolSeed Community
Mark ? he's not ok
Top Picks So Far:
- The SolSeed Intentional Society
- Brandon: This is my preferred term b/c it doesn't allow preconceptions (and invites further inquiry?).
- Brenna: If approaching it from outside, I'd be like "That doesn't sound like my kinda thing!"
- Shelley: Sounds overly intellectual, exclusive, pretentious
- The SolSeed Radiant Society
- We are SolSeed
- Part of the creed :)
- My SolSeed Community
- The SolSeed Community
- Mark: Like "the Christian community" -- need not be limited to one place
- Shelley: Would like this better if not for the lack of alliteration...
- Our SolSeed Community
- The SolSeed Society
- Mark: SolSeed Society has the alliteration -- attractive. I am averse to joining a movement. I know there are people who like to join movements, but I don't. It doesn't attract me.
- Ben/Mark: But "movement" does call us to action -- and it might filter out the luke warm people b/c it is a call to action.
- Shelley: Sounds less personal than Movement
Brenna
- The SolSeed Movement
Discussion:
- Brenna: "Movement" is like something that happens and then it ends. Prefer not to use this name.
- Ben: Wouldn't the name "Society" have this same problem -- an "end" once the Society is formed?
- Brandon: "Movement" sounds like a slow process of things happening, not a structure
- Shelley: How would this look to someone encountering us for the first time?
- Brandon: And what does each name call us to become?
Logistics / What's next / homework / assign next call (10 mins)
Homework: 3 chapters per week to finish by Sol 2009
- Shelley will check w Bob and Boni re: calls meeting needs or not; also sign up for Sol 2009
- Shelley invite Todd and Casey to Sol 2009
- Next time Untethered Soul Part IV, Chs. 12-14
- Brenna: get barak and silas to sign up
- Brenna: get Brooke and sydney to sign up
- Ben: Send info about Sol 2009 to my parents; try to talk to friend Lewis about it
- Brandon: finish inviting all the folks on my list
Next Call
- Facilitator (brandon)
- Opening/closing words (Ben)
- Summary and reminder email (Brenna)
- Topic ideas (Markie)
- Permaculture (sustainable agriculture and life in general)
- Purpose of the roots (avoiding bias toward the flower)
Closing Words (2 min)
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. [i.e. the one who doesn't listen to Michael A. Singer] --George Bernard Shaw
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and sickness, to riches and poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another. --Richard Bach (Illusions)
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. --Elizabeth Kubler Ross
