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The Human Condition

Café-Salon Philosophique #49

December 4, 1999

No. of Participants: 13

Topic for Discussion: "The Human Condition"

Samuel welcomed all to Café and began the evening's discussion by asking the following questions, "How do we free ourselves from conditioned behavior?" "How do we break the chains to be our selves?"

The world tends to dwell on the negative rather than the positive. People create problems where none exist. The masses of people have been formed, structured and shaped by socialism, through schools, churches, government, and the media, etc. We do not learn to think creatively for our self.

"Very few teachers will tell you to be your self," says Samuel. "We are told what to do, and how to do it." The dogma of religion wants us to believe that there is a god outside of our self. Teachings are based on shame, guilt and fear of "hell and damnation" for living a "sinful" life, as determined by whom? People learn to live with fear, suppression and depression. Is that living?

The various forms of government "work" to rule, manipulate and control every aspect of our life and behavior by legislating rules and regulations. Why does Society tolerate such conditioning? The original idea of our "founding fathers" was for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! Over-legislation has constrained and confined our freedom.

What kind influence are today's schools on our young people? What kind of an "education are they receiving?" Do parents stop to consider, "Who is teaching my child? What are they learning? Is the intelligence and imagination of my child being actively stimulated through the classroom experience? Are my children enjoying learning, or are they bored?"

The emphasis in education is on the practical, the logical, the scientific. Children learn that television, videos, the internet, cell phones are "a must." The creative process of learning gets lost. The true artist "within" lies dormant, undeveloped, lost in the shuffle.

Kids are herded from one class to another to meet the "demands" of the next teacher's assignments. And then, of course, there is the built in formula of "stress:"

A GOOD GRADE = MY INTELLIGENCE

By who's standards? What is intelligence? Is what I am learning really necessary to live in this world? Do I needed to be "graded for what I learn?"

Commercialism, advertising, marketing, the media conditions us to think "we need" or "got to have" everything that is offered to us from the "world of goods."

The rapid development and expansion of internet services has made people expect "instant" results. The time of "general delivery" is almost passé. Who knows, maybe even two day or overnight delivery services will be obsolete in a few years.

The "hurry, scurry" of the human race continues to escalate. Stress is added upon stress, is added upon more stress! When is the pretentious facades going to collapse? Will Society's people ever be able to drop the masks, leave behind the many cloaks? It seems we tend to take living and relating to all forms of life for granted.

Our privilege of freedom and choice are often times misused and abused. We learn to compete, manipulate and control, rather than living from a creative aspect. Conditioned behavior makes people run on "automatic." It doesn't take much intelligence to "follow the crowd" in all events of our life. Of course, we rationalize and justify "following the crowd," and continue our learned behavior. We think we are honest with our selves, but are we really? Are we open to change?

One needs to be open to "letting go" of learned beliefs, ideas and attitudes. Think positively, instead of negatively. Try to find the good in every situation. We need to laugh at the "predicaments" we get our self into, THEN, find the way out! AND, we need to learn not to react in situations by making a "mountain out of a mole hill."

In order to do this, one might find it beneficial to seek guidance from a teacher who will lead one towards a new way of thinking and doing. Assist with unconditioning learned behaviors, attitudes, values and beliefs. Very few people truly know how to think for themselves, let alone, be open to conscious learning both physically and mentally with a willingness to change. New space must be created to allow time for discovering new things about our self and the world.

We must free ourselves from limited time frames. "Take a break" from the hectic, crazy-paced world. Oh sure, we think we are free and not "racing" against the clock, but that's what we do. We are slaves to time, the calendar and the notion of "the aging process."

Again, I would like to emphasize that this occurs because of the way we are conditioned to think from the time we are little. We learn to think and do everything "automatically," which is easy. Doing things automatically, though, doesn't consciously activate, stimulate, or expand the mind and body intelligence.

We say "we are bored" and "don't know what to do with our selves," when we slow down from the crazy, hectic pace of life. But, if we are really honest with our selves for a minute, we are lazy. No matter how many words we spout out about changing, when it comes to direct action, we don't do it. There's a certain comfort in familiar routines.

So then it seems, we "choose to be slaves pretending to be free, stuck in time."

Our attempts to uncondition human behavior are often times defined by tools of a "finite" nature, such as, practicing spiritual meditations, attending retreats, doing rituals, mantras, and "talking alot." With these finite tools, we "try" to "capture" the essence of the infinite and spiritual aspect of our self, rather than seeking from our own "inner space" of silence. We often times don't take the time or make the commitment for doing such though.

We repeat and quote realizations of other individuals and the "enlightened" ones rather finding our own realizations. Samuel calls this "parroting." To change and uncondition our way of thinking and doing, we must discover our own creative power by listening to the small inner voice and seeking a teacher who will guide you to be your own authority in life.

DARE TO DROP THE PRETENSE! SHED THE MASKS!

Change your way of thinking. Expand your mind and body intelligence.(See What is BodySpeak™? )

Our next Café meeting will be held at The Taj restaurant, December 18, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. The Taj is located in the Basemar Shopping Center at Baseline and Broadway. Bring a good topic! Invite your friends!

"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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P.O. Box 745
Lafayette, CO 80026

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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.