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Group
Journal
 On
this page we keep some running notes of our past gatherings, including
what we discussed and explored.
December
14, 2006:
Today's gathering, held earlier
than usual due to the holidays, was attended by David Newman, Mark
Siskel, Daniel Strain, Ariel Thomann, Ron Titus, and new visitor,
Meagan. After the usual silent period of contemplation and meditation in
the chapel, a wonderful discussion was held on the issue facing many
Humanist communities right now, regarding how we interact with our
superstitious or faithful neighbors. Much ground was made in
communicating what is, and what is not, meant by 'respect' and how this
affects our willingness and ability to act to affect positive change in
the world. These discussions were part of an overall assessment of the
new article by Daniel called "The
Humanist Contemplative" available on this site now.
Ariel also mentioned his article "Of
Cherries And Pumpkins" which has also been added to this
site, after having appeared in the latest Houston Freethought
Alliance newsletter.
November
16, 2006:
This gathering didn't take place
as usual. It seems people were distracted by the approaching holidays,
and the date had been moved to avoid Thanksgiving. In addition, the
Rothko Chapel was hosting a interfaith Thanksgiving ceremony. The
ceremony included representation of Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu,
Jain, Judaic, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian peoples. Perhaps next year
the Humanists can be a part of the ceremony as well. The next
Contemplatives gathering will be moved two weeks prior to the usual
date, to the second Thursday of the month (December 14th) instead of the
usual forth Thursday. Hopefully this will put the date far enough away
from the holidays to work for people. Perhaps in January we might think
of trying some other meeting locations, such as Memorial Park or perhaps
a visit to the fine arts museum. We might also look into a format change
during discussion, where each person is asked to bring a short reading
that seems inspirational or informative to them in their current life
circumstances, to be read aloud and then discussed. All of this will
need to be discussed with the group to reach a consensus.
October
26, 2006:
After a silent period in the
Rothko Chapel, the weather was rainy so Mark Siskel and Daniel Strain
regrouped at the House of Pies to discuss Mark's experiences regarding
other groups and the concept of exploring our feelings and going from doing
to being.
From Daniel:
I have been considering something
more focused for our group - perhaps a program, or a collaborative
effort at exploring the concept of the Humanist Contemplative
more directly. One idea might include a joint blog or a forum to develop
and log these ideas.
Concurrently with
this, I'd like to see us touch more specifically on our personal
challenges and goals, as opposed to some of the more abstracted nature
of our discussions, which are veering more toward theory than
application. All ideas and comments are welcome.
September
27, 2006:
This gathering was attended by
Tom Brucia, Burt Greenfield, Mark Siskel, Daniel Strain, and Ron Titus.
After a nice time in thought and meditation, we had a wonderful
discussion about our views, recent considerations, and our lives, and
before we knew it, we had stayed past our usual time of 7:30pm. Burt
expressed his enjoyment of meditation, which he hadn't engaged in for
many years. Topics included the need to change pace in life once in a
while, deciding when to act and when not to, thoughts on pantheism and
our connection with Nature, the nature of consciousness, and more. Check
back here soon because individuals may be including their thoughts as well.
Daniel has made a post on his blog that addresses some of the things
touched on, and can be read by clicking HERE.
August
24, 2006:
Daniel was the only one who could
make this meeting and notice was unfortunately sent out late. However, a
summary of some thoughts considered can be found at Daniel's philosophy
blog, which can be read by clicking HERE.
July
27, 2006:
Mark Siskel, Ron Titus, and
Daniel Strain attended our second gathering. After a contemplative
period inside the Rothko Chapel, we discussed several different topics.
These included how one can better increase their experience of living
life to the fullest and what that means; the value in being as
opposed to doing; the notion of our internal judgments and how
they effect our happiness; and dealing with self-discipline. Picking up
on a thought expressed by Sheila Finch and others at the recent Ideas
Club, we also briefly discussed the idea of the Humanist narrative -
both in terms of the history of humanistic thought, as well as the use
of parables to personalize Humanist ideals.
June
29, 2006 (first gathering):
The Humanist Contemplatives Club held their first gathering on Thursday, June 29, 2006. They met at the Rothko Chapel, an ecumenical chapel used by many different types of groups. Attending were Tom Brucia, Mark Siskel, Julie Strain, Ariel Thomann, Ron Titus, and myself (Daniel Strain).
The group chatted a bit outside the chapel until everyone arrived, at which point we went inside for a period of silence. Inside, the Rothko Chapel is a large, tall room with high nearly-solid black paintings on all four walls. In the center are benches arranged concentrically. The space is very quiet and the sensation it generates varies from person to person. We all sat silently for a period of 30 minutes, which each of us spent however we liked. Some of us read, others relaxed and thought, or meditated.
After that, we went outside, sat on the grass under a tree, and had an informal discussion on what we had just been doing, general ideas about humanist spirituality is, and ended by discussing what we’re looking for in this club and why we came.
Tom had been reading Lao
Tse, the Chinese Taoist philosopher, during the silent period. He discussed Lao Tse’s observation that rigidity lends itself toward death while flexibility and a yielding gentle nature is adaptive and lends itself toward life, using the simile of dead tissue to living. This seemed to me, in some way, to touch on an aspect of what we are attempting with the contemplatives.
I brought attention to the group of an article in The Humanist by Jeff Nall which I thought we all could relate to, and said that I planned to try and reach out and network with other Humanists outside of Houston who share a similar focus as ourselves.
Ariel sat thinking during the silent period and reported that, during that time, he ceased to be aware of the ringing that he normally experiences in his ears. He also explained that one could control one’s own body in ways not often appreciated.
Mark said that he had been wanting to explore the feeling-side of Humanism and Tom made the astute observation that Humanism, if it is about humans, should include all of what it means to be human – and that means not solely addressing the rational and the analytical, but also the emotional and the introspective.
Ron expressed his thoughts on how much the role of ritual had been a part of his life when he was a priest, and how his own rituals still play a part. He explained that prior to his leaving the faith, he had always thought God was with him, answering him in a two-way conversation. But after leaving those beliefs behind he had to get used to being alone. Then he realized that, if someone had been answering him all that time, then that someone must have been himself. Ron noted that the role of the hermit and the monks, in spending time alone, is actually a practice in listening to themselves. Ron illustrated the point with the example of the Tom Hanks film
Cast
Away, in which Hanks’ character is stranded alone on an island, and creates a fictional character out of a volleyball named Wilson. He grows to need this fictional character as someone to speak with and listen to. Of course, all along, he is speaking to himself. I was reminded of many eastern philosophies which instruct us to learn to be aware of own thoughts. Perhaps this indicates an important utility to spending time listening to ourselves.
Tom concurred and expressed a desire that the Contemplatives Club allow us to simply make observations about ourselves and engage in deeper self-exploration, without the continual need for everything to be practical and immediately applicable to some rational task - much like a diver might explore the ocean below without necessarily needing to capture the fish for some immediate use. Ariel had said that, while loners are often painted as bad people, some people simply desire time to themselves and are comfortable in this.
Conversely, however, Mark noted that, to him, spirituality is about being connected to other people – making a difference in the lives of others. He had wondered at some point about his own contributions and was then made aware by a friend that he had indeed made a difference in the lives of many people. I noted that we all probably make a difference in ways more subtle and profound than we generally realize. While self exploration would seem an undeniable element of spirituality, this notion of connectedness seems an important part of spirituality too. Perhaps the self and community are two equally important sides of human spirituality?
In wrapping up with our thoughts on the club, Ariel noted that Confucianism didn’t start out as a religion, but simply as people discussing the philosophies and issues of their time. These referred to the needs of human beings in this life. I was reminded by Ariel’s words, not only of ancient Greek philosophy with its focus on living well, but also of
Gautama (Buddha), who also expressed a desire to focus on those things which matter to living in this life, and not on the purely metaphysical, which he said “[had nothing] to do with the fundamentals of religion”.
We all agreed to get together on the fourth Thursday of each month. The next gathering will be July 27th at 6pm, also at the Rothko Chapel (although we may vary location and activities from time to time). Anyone who is interested is always welcome to show up!
Please see the Participate
and Contact
pages for more information.
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