A Cocktail of Unity

Written by Kamyar Saturday, 07 February 2009 11:29

Here are the ingredients of a Unity cocktail:

1. A short letter by Francisco J. Varela titled "Why the mind is not in the head." It consists of 5 small paragraphs, but the message, if truly understood, can change the way you perceive everything. Here is a quote:
   

   ... the basis of mind is the body in coupled action, that is, the sensory-motor circuits establish the organism as viable in situated contexts. Form this perspective the brain appears as a dynamical process (and not a syntactic one) of real time variables with a rich self-organizing capacity (and not a representational machinery). So in this sense the mind is not in the head since it is roots in the body as a whole and also in the extended environment where the organism finds itself.

2. Last night I watched a documentary titled Heima. It takes you through a beautiful musical journey in Iceland. It's an amazing blend of humanity, nature, culture and sound. I think, music is a universal language, and not only within humans. It can also connect us with the natural world and the whole universe.
3. Love Until it Hurts is a short and insightful answer by Ken Wilber. He talks about feminine way of mysticism and it's difference with a masculine way.

I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

A Symphony of Life

Written by Kamyar Friday, 06 February 2009 18:55

It's Friday, 8 o'clock in the morning and I am sitting in Mamzar park in Dubai. First I go through the list of the music in the iPod. Reaching at the end of the list, I decide to put it back in my pocket and just sit, pay attention and write what ever comes to my mind.

Once focused, there are tens, maybe hundreds of birds singing all together. Pigeons, Doves, Crows and many other kind of birds which I don't know their names. It's an uproar of excitement. When sitting at the same place at night time, there is only the sound of crickets. But now it's different. The space is filled with excitement and energy. There goes a dialogue in my head:

The Capacity to Connect to the Self (part 2)

Written by Kamyar Tuesday, 03 February 2009 20:08

On the previous post, I started to explore a possible answer to the question 'What is education for?' The answer was: education for building the capacity to make authentic connections. To make it clear, I provided an example for what I mean by authentic connections. In this post I will think loudly on whatever comes to my mind about the first level of authentic connections: connection with the self.

In Theory U, Otto Scharmer distinguishes two different selves. The first self is what we have become so far, including our past experiences, knowledge and feelings. The second self-which is written as Self with capital S-is our highest future possibility. In other words, the best that we could become. An authentic connection with the self will happen when our first self meets our authentic Self; when we connect to our highest future possibility. Through that connection we identify a goal for our life.

Building the Capacity to Connect (part 1)

Written by Kamyar Saturday, 31 January 2009 19:23

What is education for?

Our answers to this question can build the foundation for defining the characteristics of educational institutes for a more sustainable future. This post is the introduction to a series of personal reflections on the question: what is education for? These writings should be considered as an act of loud thinking, in order to crystallize the concepts. Any suggestions or comments from the reader will help the process. Therefore I encourage you to drop a line in the comments on any thoughts or personal experiences regarding the subject.

The first answer to be explored will be: education for building the capacity to make authentic connections.