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 12 Apr 2010 @ 15:12
(The following is a response to several inquiries in the past few months)
Wiki sez:
"Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a process developed by Marshall Rosenberg. It is a way to communicate with greater compassion and clarity. It focuses on two things: honest self-expression — exposing what matters to oneself in a way that's likely to inspire compassion in others, and empathy — listening with deep compassion. One central tenet of nonviolent communication (also called "compassionate communication") is that everything a human being does (whether benign or hurtful) is an attempt to meet their human needs. NVC postulates that conflict between individuals or groups is a result of miscommunication about these needs, often because of coercive language or manipulative language (e.g., inducing fear, guilt, shame, praise, blame, duty, obligation, punishment, or reward)." [link]
Sounds good? Alright. What's new? (Actually, can there be anything new on Communication, Science and Sanity after Korzybski???)
It seems that social customs in our times is at such a low level that people rush to register for a course in behaviour adjustment that should be plain obvious and the (very!) good news is that the movement actually finds a lot of followers and 'certified trainers'. Communications, on the Internet in especially, occurs mostly in a vicious and poisonous mode and those who claim to 'educate others' are often the worst culprits in expressions unworthy for educated people.
The success of a course like that makes one wonder, though. How come one needs a seminar to learn what should be the 'norm'?
Theory and praxis are two things and even though there are models of communication more concise and encompassing (spare me the long list, plz!), and 'training the basics' and APPLYING it in daily life is priceless.
Again, any decent mode communication can be found compatible with the rules of NVC, called fittingly the OFNR process model, so by all means, I encourage everybody to become a CVNC Certified Trainer as well.
Wiki sez further:
"The NVC model has three or four steps depending on the mode of use.
1. Observation
2. Feelings
3. Needs
4. Request (optional, depending on mode)
The two modes of use of the NVC model are
1. empathy, including both self-empathy, and empathy for another, and
2. honest self-expression, including "please" (request) and "thank you" (gratitude)"
[end of quote]
This is great, when applied. Yet some of the crucial parts of miscommunication are missing: failure to answer-up (acknowledge) in an adequate timeframe, jumping abstraction levels, and interruption of a communication in process.
Of course, if we would integrate those two points into the OVNR, most TV talk shows would be classified as 'violent'.
How can one learn obviously sane behaviour patterns?
Skywork, a group process to access the collective subconscious layers, often called the 'morphogenetic field', is based on the rules above, including the 'expanded model', plus a few others. We can witness and testify how the basic sanity of communication in action. We can SEE, FEEL, and UNDERSTAND that a sane communication is a crucial part in solving problems, whether in individual problems or group conflicts. Skywork APPLIES these principles, plus a few others, to do this and in the process the participants can incorporate them into their own strategies and patterns of success in life.
In other words, instead of TALKING about it, Skywork group processing is the faster route to actually ADAPTING the principles of sane communication in daily life.
(The first, immediate comment to above:)
My friend Bruce [link], one of the most Korzybski [link] experts I know of and his official biographer (stay tuned for the release in 2010!!), lauded&upgraded my blurb thus:
"The problem with old wisdom is to make it new in one's life and practice. What makes wisdom timeless is that it is always timely."
mx: Amen! More >
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 11 Apr 2010 @ 13:50
...continuing some notes from the last BLOG entry, where I talked about Nordenholz's [link] musings about the fine (?) line between the mundane and the divine, I should outline how he arrived at his contemplations, at least according to his reasonings in his book 'Scientologie', published in 1934.
Instead of a raw translation of his condensed formulation of the character of mathematical formulas, I'll rephrase his line of thought anew in modern English:
Nordenholz perceived all individual life forms as splits from a unified Whole. The way the first split occured then gave the pattern of all subsequent splits and he described its parts in his 'Axioms of Scientologie' as a triad with the whole and the part linked by the phenomenon of the split. Without using the word 'fractal' [link], coined by Mandelbrot in 1975, he described the continuous re-application of this split as the structure of the world as a whole and in its parts.
When and how the 'first split' occured was not the object of Nordenholz's description of the 'eternal process' of the world's 'volutions', exvolutions followed by involutions.
What he described though in the process is at first glance consistent with the Vedic philosophy (which probably reached him via his idol Schopenhauer), but he also provides a clearer characterization of HOW the split worked.
In the beginning of the chapter 'Total Afformality, A-Conscientiality, A-Worldliness', of the book 'Scientologie' in the 1934 edition, he states the result of the initial individuation/separation as TURNING ITSELF AGAINST its SOURCE.
This creates the worldliness and, from the view of worldliness, the RISE OF THE CONCEPT OF GODHEAD (German 'Gottheit'), a concept that only and only has sense because of this very split, says Nordenholz.
This reminds us Augustinus and medieval (German) philosophers of course and the impact of their philosophy of the 'original sin'. In German, 'Erb-suende' is the inherited separation (old-german 'sund') between God and Man. And for Nordenholz, indoubtedly familiar with these concepts, 'all religion is characterized by the effort to close the initial gap'. And, in this light, 'Scientologie' for Nordenholz was of course, the 'religion of all religions', as it proposes that the very same phenomenon of the split itself, which he called the Second Axiom of Scientologie and in short 'mediation' (in German itself) may be used to RE-INTEGRATE what was broken, split apart.
For this and other purposes he introduces two different characters of consciousness: 'Bewusstheit' and 'Bewusstsein' of which only the latter is commonly used in German.
The first describes the transcendent existence of consciousness, non-individuated as Nordenholz would say, the second in consequence being the 'Conscious-Beingness' after the separation.
Nordenholz implies in this chapter that the manifesting consciousness 'turns itself against' its source, thus creating the split. This describes roughly what I called in the Concur theory 'an inversal' which occurs at every level of descendence from the transcended to the manifested.
What is interesting to note, is that a contemporary fellow philosopher (of Nordenholz), equally an ardent admirer of Schopenhauer, tried to do away entirely with the concept of 'Consciousness', stating that there it truly is a 'process' and not a 'state'. To this avail he created the word 'Bewusst-werdung', the 'becoming of conscious(ness) in contrast to 'being conscious' as a definite state of mind (cp. Georg Grimm, 'Die Lehre des Buddho' ('The Teachings of the Buddho'), published in 1915, badly translated into English in 1926 and available as 'The Doctrine of the Buddha' here: [link] What assistance could come out of Nordenholz's contemplations for a modern-day-truth-seeker?
Hubbard 'Scientology' restated the Nordenholz Axioms in this aspect (knowingly or not (who would be the judge?) as the triad of 'as-is / alter-is / not-is'
, very interestingly resonating Nordenholz' concept of 'Auflehnung' (antivolution) as 'not-is' against the 'Godhead' of the Whole (as-is) as such. Nordenholz seems to imply that through the consciousness of this split, salvation would be achieved.
Looking back to the post-Vedic Indian philosophers we find a corresponding idea particularly clear in Patanjali who taught that only through 'redoing the splits of the whole into polarities' (together forming the primal triad of the 'Gunas'), the impurities ('doshas') of ALL THREE are being cleaned. Continuing relentlessly until all such splits are cleared on MUST, so Patanjali, arrive at the ORIGINAL split, an act which would unite ('yoga') the Being itself with that from which it split, its original godhead. More >
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 31 Mar 2010 @ 15:08
we're immersing a lot in pure aesthetics these days.. to the point of boredom..
fortunately, a bold lightning flashed up the skies over Angra dos Reis (Brazil) and I made my first foto of a lightning bolt (actually, I cheated, I had a video camera running and extracted a frame).
Perception is a Detection of Differentials, I wrote 10+ years ago (see [link] ) and peakstates of aesthetic perception are no different: no matter how beautiful, in the end there is the danger of becoming boring.
And, yet another point of attention these days: what is the line between the 'most beautiful feeling' and the sensation of 'exaltedness'?
Few philosophers dare to give an opinion about that, let's try Anastasius Nordenholz:
At the end of the chapter ' Total Afformality, A-Conscientiality, A-Worldliness) 'Scientologie', 1934 edition, Apologetik,III, part E, pg 107 re-print available at [link] ), after summarizing his Platonic/Bohmian world view, he wrote:
"Again we are faced with the contrasting of twofold Being, the World-Being and the As-such-Being. The communication between the two, this is task that the image of the Godness within the Consciousness acomplishes.'
Here, and in the following, and final, chapter in general, Nordenholz goes beyond the (compatible) concepts of Plato's word of shadows and David Bohm's 'implicite order' ( [link] ).
He does that by specifying the 'mechanism' of the connection of world-beyond and world-right-here-now using the triad of the 'Axioms of Scientologie' in the highest possible realm, that what was postulated in the Vedas as
atman - bodha - sattva
Going back to our initial question: we could define the marking line between exaltedness (Nordenholz/German: Erhabenheit) and 'pure aesthetics' a la Adorno as the 'awareness of the supreme triad in action while contemplating a worldly shadow'.
Amen. More >
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 23 Mar 2010 @ 04:31
If triads follow the principle of a fractal universe, their interrelationships should be by consequence, a fractal triangle.
A tree of relative seniority containing the most important triads has been constructed by Ed Dawson (an excerpt has been attached at the bottom of the drawing).
In the triad-representation here we can see how the fractalization (in this tree from right to left) is transferring to an INVOLUTION within the fractal triangle. Unlike a Sierpinski triangle that evolutes into its evolutions, we INVOLUTE into the center gap because the SIDES of the newly created triangles define the NEW triangle.
An interesting question pops up (once again): are the triangular relationships really involutionary or are they evolving from the inside out. Meaning, is 'volition' or 'pure will' the RESULT of human evolution or was is the starting point of a DEVOLUTION?
This is indeed THE FUNDAMENTAL question of all philosophies and religions! More >
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 20 Mar 2010 @ 18:45
From Frater Otto's texts:
(On Motivated Willpower and Unconditioned Volition):
[quote]
...the True and Complete Human is able to raise a 'will'. A will which has not been motivated by others nor pressured by Meme's of groups. A will that was never created by others and is not being maintained to please or satisfy anyone else. This 'will', let's call it 'unconditioned volition', raises out of the sea of consciousness like a giant whale. Visible only for a short time, it soon sinks back into the depth of the ocean of awareness. The waves generated by this appearance survive for a short time as seemingly 'unmotivated willpower'. Then, the human mind invents or allocates a reason WHY it must exist and assumes a purpose for something which was originally unconditioned, not-motivated, without predecessor, new-in-itself, and not a restimulation of anything prior. THIS SPONTANEOUS VOLITION NOW is the quality that the True and Complete Human is able to bring about, and be it only rarely and spontaenously. Being subject to the manupulation around us, it rarely is being recognized even the moment it occured and it quickly subdues to be 'rational' when in fact it was entirely 'irrational', or better 'arational', not needing any justification for its existence, nor purpose, nor an end...
[end of quote..] More >
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 11 Mar 2010 @ 17:55
Far from making a joke, a pack of Brazilian self-acclaimed intellectuals attacked Brazilian's President as being analaphetic and unable to speak correct Portuguese. In the end it turned out to be a joke but the joke was on them as Lula's choice of words was not only legitimate but even intelligent as I will show below.
However, the problem lies deeper than using a certain word or not. It is symptomatic for a mental, oops, intellectual illness, it is a SYNDROME. One could simply focus on the obvious part and call it 'literal thinking'. But this would easily be dismissed as pertaining only to autism. In reality, an autist DOES conceive outside the framework of words but does not abide to the 'domestication process' that commands people to abstract from words the same way that had been determined by the current 'society'.
In a larger sense, 'literal thinking' also describes the inability to conceive a thought outside a pre- and other-determined frame of words. In other words, to 'think outside the box'. Rigid language thus keeps people captured within a limited range of possibilities and, Heavens forbid they would step beyond those boundaries of the mind. Don't even think of it!
Let's look at languages that are less rigid than Portuguese: the English of the United States is notoriously open to newly constructed expressions and even allows for 'inventing' new words, be it from scratch or through combinations of existing words like 'brunch' (= BReakfast plus lUNCH). It's no news that the American people were world leaders in innovation during the last century even though the vast majority of them is still at the 'literal level'.
The German language provides another example of linguistic flexibility: agglutination. The former communist regime of Eastern Germany wanted to export their fabrications of angels for Chrismas trees without internally referring to religion. They created the new word 'Gefluegelte Jahresendfigur' - a 'figure with wings for the end of the year'.
Back to the pack of predatory journalists in Brazil: they just can't confront the success story of a Northeastern metal worker becoming president. Whenever he speaks in public, they are hunting for some signs of illiteracy and they had a feast when Lula declared the other day: "tenho o casco duro", claiming it should be 'casca dura'. But the class of journalists of Brazil that is hunting for Lula-bloopers outdid themselves in their own smartness:
not being a Brazilian, it took me less than 2 minutes on the Internet to find out who's right and who's wrong!
This is silly, of course, but it comes to show that preconceived thinking combined with literal thinking makes anyone a fool of himself. To add shame to injustice, the same journalists and bloggers that blasted Lula for alleged 'erroneus Portuguese', took down their own pages ridiculizing Lula faster than you can say 'casco duro'.
Where is Google here - to conserve this outrageous, shameful behavior of the Brazilian mass media? Like in the recent case of an accident in Sao Paulo, they quickly remove any links to whatever is not convenient to the wannabe rulers and enemies of the Brazilian president, doing their part in local politics without the official status of a lobbyist. But Google's links (or non-links!) are in part controlling the Memes of the world and in this case local politics. Something that should seriously be looked into on a larger scale!
In any case, Lula, a 'simple' 'Nordestino', from a formerly poor and underdeveloped region of Brazil, rose to power in an unprecedented way and despite a massive mass media campaign of lies, unproven allegations and badmouthing in general. It was in the context of these shameful maneuvers that he stated that he survives these attacks of the mass media because of having a 'thick skin' as we would say in English.
Here is a little Portuguese lesson for the Brazilian mass media who claims that 'casco' should be 'casca' and only an illiterate person could mix those up:
'casca' - the shell of an egg, the rind of a tree
'casco' - the hull of a ship, the hoof of a horse, the shell of a tortoise
So, dear reader, what did Lula mean? That he's like an egg or a tree?
For me the message is clear and it prompted me to engage in some interesting musings about Lula's archetype: one thinks of a metal worker as an Ogun-type person. But Lula changed his career from a worker to being an advocate for workers as a syndicalist and then, much to the surprise to Brazilian Elitists, he went on to become President of Brazil. And reelected. Wow! What a shock it must be! And what a strange way to go for an Ogun! Isn't this a classic, THE classic, path of Shango?
Let's look for clues in Lula's words, not just of the other day but along the past years of presidency and we can see an old warrior carefully scheming his way amongst his own enemies, deflecting all attacks by a strong shield while maintaing his heart soft, warm, and intact, the way of the turtoise (sic!), and, after the storm is over, having the last laugh! What archetype would that be?
(Note: one can find the answer, of course, in the book 'Your Personal Archetype' (by Ed, Aaron, and myself), but you can also find it on the Internet if you sift long enough through all the trash&jewels that's out there about archetypes, Orishas, Archons, Devas, you name it). More >
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 10 Feb 2010 @ 18:50
For some time now I wanted to map out the contect of modern day Ifa.
At the same time I want to revive the concept of 'Ifa for the 21st Century', a project from the early 2000's and very useful for 2,3 years but shredded when I was traveling/working so intensely that I hardly answered my e-mails.
Recently I found MindOMO [link] , a mind-mapping software that is easy to use and share/collaborate.
As a first map, I posted above mentioned map. Whoever finds some errors, has suggestions, or wants to on or off this map, please mail me or leave a comment to this post.
Ifa for the 21st Century Mindmap: [link]
Standard Disclaimer: I don't necessarily endorse every of the links, especially those that are NOT explicitly using Ifa but provide a branch of a holistic approach (which for necessarily includes the energy and archetypes of Ifa). I do not receive any compensation or favor in listing or not listing a certain provider, organization or author. More >
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 24 Jan 2010 @ 15:22
Rest-in-Peace, Fabienne Cherisma, whether you 'stole' the printed painting from a rightful owner, or whether you saved a piece of beauty from its destruction in the rubble.
Whether deliberate shooting (something usually called murder but the mass media prefers some other wordings) or whether it was a tragic accident. Maybe nobody will ever know the exact truth of it.
But we should not only support the people of Haiti materially but also look at the damage inflicted by those who brag now of coming to 'rescue'.
The 'rescue' of the World Bank is clear: make a loan with concise political conditons attached to it and get paid back handsomly later with fat interest and interest on interest.
Behind the scenes, more from a global viewpoint, literally, another question looms:
Why are the United States trying to destroy the well-being and happiness of other countries?
And, more general, whence came, the contra-meme of 'not permitting others to be happy'?
'Technically' we could 'explain' this contra-meme as a result of what we call the 'decay scale' but this seems to put the cart before the horse. It assigns words to circumstances and pretends thus to 'explain' them, very much like Dawkins' Extended Phenotypes, in the end running around in circles and arriving at the 'conclusion' that humans would be animals.
In this line of reasoning, was it the color within the painting that caused the girl to run off with the printing and should be blame the phenotype of the color pink for the tragic event?
In any case, may the events in Haiti prompt many to reflect another time about what really provides the true worth of a human existence. More >
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 6 Jan 2010 @ 14:04
The German language has a unique wording for the inner conflict when having to choose from a selection of offers: 'die Qual der Wahl', the 'suffering of choice'.
We can choose from 5 baby doggies with a Rottie daddy and a German Shepherd mummie and 3 puppies with a German Shepherd daddy and a Rottie mummy..
And, HOW MANY of them?
If it were for Anthony, we'd take them all, of course, plus their five elders sisters, and all of the pure bred Rotties next door, plus all their friends and relatives, OF COURSE...
Dear Reader: May your choices be as vast and ample as ours in 2010 !!! More >
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 25 Dec 2009 @ 15:00
while grandson Anthony starts taking his newly won bicycle apart and I torture everyone with a new flute that I was 'gifted', along with demo and instructions, many went without a gift and some won a lot:
Brazilian's president Lula granted 50k square km to the indigenous population which will expand the native's territory to 12,5 percent of Brazilian's territory, over 1 Million km^2. Sounds good, if the mining and deforestation in those areas would stop, of course, too. Much better certainly than the US of A which 'boasts' 2.3% of its territory to be 'Indian reservations'.
Finally, Santa Claus gave a lot of free snow and ice to the Europeans and the Northamericans and something to think about, or should I say 'feel about'?
Happy Christmas to everybody from the whole gang here in the jungle :)
------------------
Addendum Xmas Gifts, Dec 25th:
- Lula, in a Christmas nite blitz, also established healthcare and retirement for the 'people of the streets', the homeless. [link]
- free book (in portuguese) along with free music from various sources, 2nd installation of a virtual book project of Investigative reporter Claudio Tognolli [link] More >
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Max Sandor Official Website
