some thoughts this morning

[Guest guest]

Hi Gang,

 

I have some thoughts I'd like to share about recent threads here. As

many of you know, I am in the process of losing my job as an assistant

professor because I didn't submit any grant proposals during my first

two years of tenure. (I was occupied developing curriculum, and frankly

I didn't get into a tenure track until I was already burnt out on

research.) Anyway, I want to make two points with this as context.

 

first (and a minor point), Wim said recently "One cannot go wrong when

one stays close to nature... it holds the secrets to the highest

spiritual truths... (scientist and physicist and philosophers are

rediscovering that as well.)" I want to remind us all that it can be

a mistake to think of groups of people as monolithic structures. So to

say "scientists" are rediscovering nature is possibly misleading. I

would say "some scientists are rediscovering nature" This is, I believe

true. In fact, I believe this is true of myself. While my career in

science may well be coming to an end, my identification with the process

will not. Science is a useful enterprise, so I will be a scientist for

awhile yet. (or perhaps better phrased, I will be a person who uses

scientific thought processes when appropriate, because I am not a

scientist, but one who uses science as a tool) But, I am reconnecting

with my inner self and seeing that the mind is a tool best used in

service of the heart, not the other way around. So, I don't mean to be

chastizing Wim for his phraseology at all here, I just mean to remind us

that people are varied and diverse irregardless of the labels we like to

use to categorize them.

 

The second point I would share that arises from my experience is that

there are agreements that people make to allow society to function

within this diversity, and that honoring those agreements can in fact be

useful, even though we are seeking a direct understanding that there is

no separation from each other. When I first learned that my appointment

was ending, I was insulted. I thought to myself, this is a rejection of

me, Mark. But it's not. It's simply an acknowledgement that I did not

follow through on my agreement to submit grants. I agreed to the rules

and then I violated them and was asked to leave. If I had followed the

rules, I would have stayed. No judgement of me involved at all. It's

my egoic self that attaches a personal meaning to the event and cries

boo hoo. (and I have done a LOT of that, trust me.) So, Angelique (you

wonderful being you), by being a member of HarshaSatsang, you have

agreed to the rules (which may be ambiguous, but I suspect you

understand them just fine - you are obviously an intelligent human

being). If you get called for violating them, it is not an indictment

of you, just of the way you interact with the group who collectively

agreed to the rules. The rules differ greatly from list to list, which

gives the lists some flavor. That's a good thing.

 

So, from this point of view, any personal "hurt feelings" by Angelique

are Angelique's responsibility and Gloria and Harsha are struggling to

interpret the rules they have set in a fair and reasonable way, which is

their responsibility.

 

Love, Mark

ps I think God is an anarchist.

ps God save the Dean, he ain't no human being... Anarchy!!!