IP discussion area

Aqua wrote: '' The past doesn't exist'' >> ''He's not saying that the past didn't happen'' Now you get me wondering :blink:

The trick is the "doesn't." He didn't say that it never existed, just that it doesn't exist now. From my understanding at least.

' The past doesn't exist'' >> ''He's not saying that the past didn't happen'' Now you get me wondering :blink:

The thing to remember is that the "past" didn't happen, an event did and remains in your mind. The past isn't something that happened, but is an illusionary time frame we attempt to give to something that occurred...

steamboat28 wrote:

Oneiros wrote: I'm really glad this is a thread because I am having a lot of trouble listening to those Joseph Campbell interviews...mostly because of Bill Moyers lol.

Bill does seem to miss the point every once in a while. Is there anything specific giving you trouble?

lol Yeah, usually Campbell has to guide him along or he doesn't really follow. I'm listening to lesson 3 and he's just distracting. I might try reading the transcript instead.

Oneiros wrote: I might try reading the transcript instead.

I did this, instead of watching the videos. I found it much easier to figure out because I could easily just reread a section or look back quickly if I got confused.

I do both ...

Watching the video, there are parts that speak out at me. But I can't hold in my active memory what grabs me, so I'll then get out the book and look up the section they were talking about. The text is a little different (and I find it a little more complete) discussion. It holds together well in the televised interviews, but the televised version was certainly abridged -- probably for time constraints.



I'm working on the "Message of the Myth" again ... This is quite stimulating.

See, it's interesting for me. I hate reading. I have ADHD, and I don't medicate, so I oftentimes squirm at the thought of reading a book. It's not that I won't do it (I do it for class all the time). But, when given the option, I'll take an audio book or a video.

To be honest... I don't have to pay attention to the sound to really take it in. I just kind of have it on while I'm doing something else (like surfing TOTJO), then afterwards I can probably summarize it pretty well. On a second go around, I fill in the holes if I need to and it's just as good for me.

We all learn differently. We're all different types of people.

I watched the video.

One of the things I really appreciate about the IP is that it caters to different learning styles by offering you a choice of how you'd like to take in the information. On the VARK learning preferences , I score a multimedia preference for Aural (audio), Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic with a highest score in Aural (16, 11, and 12 respectively).

That's why I'd choose the audio versions of stuff for it.

But that's not what this was actually about. Campbell and Moyers are a delightful pair, but I think Moyers frustrates Campbell sometimes because he asks questions that listeners might ask which quite frankly, miss the point on many occasions. I don't remember what part/section of the interview it was, but at one point it sounded like Campbell was about to go

My first time around with the Campbell lectures I fell asleep... frequently, lol. It wasn't until I sat down and watched the videos the second time around earlier this year while retaking the initiates program that I was able to see the enthusiasm and twinkle in the old man's eyes, after that I was hooked....

I think I waffled a bit on if I wanted to finish it or not. Then I decided I need to have structure in my life and I had dallied long enough.

I treated every lesson in the ip like a lecture that I really wanted to be a part of (which of course I did) I would listen/watch the video, write notes as I went a long and as I processed each lesson I would write it down. I love learning and really focused hard. However I also would say if I didn't really like something even though I understood the meaning of the lesson. I still have that same notebook and am using it now for apprentice lessons.

I think that's one of the reasons I am now a teacher, I love learning new things, experiencing new things and challenging my thoughts/ideas/ideals and I really enjoy healthy debate. I hope I can only pass that excitement on to my students.

Forgive me if I am backtracking, but I would like to spend some time talking about Aqua's question regarding Watts quote on the illusions of the past and future. Here we wont talk much about whether he was right or wrong or what he met, but rather the implications of the quote. Not what does it mean, but what does it mean for me

There are two ways that we respond to the past which can be detrimental to our living in the now. The past may either fill us with shame or fill us with a sense of deep longing. Both times we often begin to think about the past with statements that begin with "I wish..." like "I wish this or that did not happen" or "I wish I could go back and experience this or that". The future has a similar tendency. It may fill us with anticipation or with fear and dread. In response, we become anxious or worry and we may often begin to look toward the future with statements that start with "I hope..." as in "I hope this or that thing happens" or "I hope this or that thing does not happen.".

Like many have said before me, the problem with these thoughts about either the past or the future is that we cannot accurately paint a picture of the past nor can we accurately predict the future, so we deal with what we remember or what we project, and our thoughts about either of these things are by no means perfect. But they can cause all sorts of problems

To get to the root of it all, I think we'd do well to ask us "what has living in the past or living in the future brought us?" Because, though we may not be victims of this, there are certainly millions of people around the world that are. They chase a dream and relive a nightmare. Its also easy to get caught up in that sort of an existence and not know it! So returning to the question what has living in the past brought us?
Living in the past can often produce or reproduce feelings about past events such as shame, guilt, self-doubt, and self-hatred. I'm not going to suggest that these are right or wrong feelings to have. That is up to each person to determine, but I am afraid I have no better verdict for the future.
Living in the future has produced this fast paced rat race we seem to be engaged in currently. It creates a lack of attentiveness, feelings of stress and anxiety, a feeling (sometimes) of inadequacy and a competitive relationship with our fellow man. Again, not going to presume to make any judgements as to whether these things are right or wrong.

However, in looking at what I have described, is it not liberating to know (or at least consider) that the past and future are illusions created by the mind? This allows us to not have to be held prisoner by our past or our future. In understanding that they are both illusions, we strip the power from the emotions generated by them. Furthermore, we understand that we have no power to alter them. That is to say the "dent in the chair" cannot be fixed anymore than the grey hair that I will have when I am fifty. We have neither to be afraid or ashamed then and so we can truly live.