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Dare to Live Guiltlessly

Café-Salon Philosophique #3

December 6, 1997

No. of Participants: 15

Bubb's Café - 30th & Baseline in Boulder Colorado.  The event is held every first and Third Saturday of every month

Host and moderator for this event is Samuel Avital one of the world's greatest mime artist and "provocateur extraordinaire".

Hello everyone! Café-Salon Philosophique met once again for the evening's discussion, ("What is Guilt?"). Samuel began the evening informing Salon goers that the originator of Café Philosophique, Marc Sautet now have a new website in French called "Le Cabinet de philosophie". Café-Salon Philosophique, of Boulder, CO, USA will be listed there soon.

A revised edition of, "What is Café Salon Philosophique?' was presented to emphasize the importance in creating a comfortable space for people to gather to explore topics and feel free to express themselves without surveillance from any outside authority figures. HA! HA! We were also reminded to stop and be considerate of others by practicing "The Art of Listening."

Café participants were then asked to share why they chose to come to the Café Salon. One participant stated, "I'm here because I like the topics." Another "saw the ad in the paper and was ready to explore more about himself further." Others stated, "curiosity," "to share," "new friends," "an interest in philosophy," "My history with Samuel," and "it's fun to be with like-minded people."

So what is guilt? Participants started the evening with exploring the religious aspect of guilt by relating to "the original sin" of the Bible, "the scene in the Garden of Eden" and eating of the "forbidden" fruit from the tree of knowledge. One participant shared the experience of being at a baby christening and thinking of the illogical paradox of the priest christening a newborn baby and asking the Father, God, for forgiveness for the baby's "original sin," when in fact a baby is the purest form of a human being and the closet thing to the interpretation of God.

The group was then asked to distinguish the difference between shame and guilt. Some felt shame to be continuous and a reaction through emotions in response to guilty actions or other forms of embarrassment. American Heritage Dictionary defines shame as, "a painful emotion caused by a strong sense of embarrassment, unworthiness or disgrace." Samuel shared with the group that in his upbringing, he learned that the greatest sin is the one who inflicted shame on another person. In Hebrew, sin is defined as "missing the target".

Guilt was described by the group as, "an internal private thing, restrictive causation for feelings of separation, aloneness, and dishonesty with the self." Another felt guilt was "self imposed" - creating your own problems and situations where none exist. American Heritage Dictionary defines guilt as, "responsible for wrongdoing, a sin, misconduct.

So from where does guilt come? Guilt is brought about through control and manipulation imposed by outside authority figures such as religious orders, the government, media, families, friends, etc. Anything that can distract one from their own thoughts, beliefs and values produces "sheep consciousness, sleepwalking, mass hypnosis." One loses the ability to think and do for themselves. Fears of "what ifs?" paralyzes and makes one inactive and nonparticipative in life. "One doesn't dare to be different by thinking and doing for oneself." So we don't change. We continue to live unhappy lives because we don't understand how to create our own happiness.

The next question considered was, "Could we possibly conceive living as a totally, guiltless being?" And "What is guiltlessness?" Through the sharing of experiences, it was concluded that in order to be guiltless, one must establish their own set of values, beliefs and attitudes. One must follow the heart and use instinctual "gut feelings" (intuition) in order to steer towards leading a more happy, productive and satisfying life.

The general consensus was that with age and maturity, many people begin to establish new values, beliefs and attitudes of their own. But it was also realized that this can be easier said than done. The mind and body must be retrained to think and do anew in order to truly achieve a new state of being.

Café-Salon participants vocalized that guiltlessness can mean, "I'm good, freedom, nirvana, peace and innocence." It also means "no blocks or barriers." The key to removal of blocks or barriers is finding the way around it, over it, under it or through it. To dissolve or absolve perceived blocks of barriers.

With the concepts of guilt, shame and guiltlessness well established, we were then asked to think and share ideas on how we could change ways of living with our so called, "perceived guilt". Some suggested, "stop blocking the action of the body with thinking," "stop trying to please everybody else," "develop your own interest and talents," and "learn to think for your self."

One must develop a conscious attitude towards rediscovering the body. The mind and body must be retrained to work freely and incorruptibly like the workings of nature. One must re-familiarize themselves with The Breath - The source, the root and route to love. Breathing increases the flow to all systems and assists in expansion of the physical body. It leads one from a state of tension and contraction to a state of expansion and relaxation. Taking a few moments each day to become aware of how the breath can expand and relax the body can relieve a lot of stress.

One must also re-familiarize themselves with the skeleton. The word in Hebrew for bone is "Etzem" also meaning for the self. One must love themselves enough to return back to the self, the inner source - the bones, the structure in which we live and move with in this world. The bones (marrow) are where the spirit lives. Miracles are born from the bones - health, peace of mind, freedom of movement, freedom from disease, happiness, joy. The place of remembrance.

One must rediscover and expand the senses. One must get reacquainted with the true nature of the body and discover how it really works, functions and moves in order to abolish "perceived" blocks and barriers and to truly experience the joie-de-vivre! BodySpeak™ exercises and techniques can help you do just that! If you are interested in discovering more about your body, please call Samuel at (303) 661-9271 for more information on upcoming workshops and/or private consultations.

Beginning time for Café Salon Philosophique is now 7:00 p.m. The next meeting is Sat, December 20, 1997. The topic for discussion will be: "Do miracles exist? What is a miracle? Are "we" miracles? Do we "make" miracles? See you there! And please invite your friends.

Reported by Alessandra

"Samuel brings awareness to the soul of people and gives the artists who work under his direction the need, dedication, and love for the world of silence and the beautiful art of movement."

 

- Marcel Marceau, BIP 1961

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About LCDS

LCDS is an independent school for self-discovery through the human Arts.  The school offers seminars and workshops teaching the concepts of Theater, Mime, and Movement.