2017-12-23 NSSAT - On Courage
Channel: Pierre Grimes and the Noetic Society
Date: 2018-03-11

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 Pierre Grimes and the Noetic Society -- 2017-12-23 NSSAT - On Courage
[The following are just my brief notes I made while also filming and participating.  I missed a lot, especially around JulieH and Nancy's interaction. Please send any better notes to me if you take them, and I will gladly replace my own here. Thx. Also, this 'NSSAT' talk was held on Sunday, 12/31, rather than 12/30. -JS] PG asks JeffS (me) about how things were going after a midwifery talk we did last week, and I responded with how much easier and different my piano practice is going since then. PG then asks JeffS to 'up his game' and what challenge he would like to try next, then?  LISP (Scheme) and, later, writing/teaching (especially regarding the neoplatonists) come up as possibilities, and each are explored. [The book mentioned which teaches recursion via a functional computer programming language (LISP/Scheme) and via a unique question/answer writing style, is The Little Schemer by Daniel Friedman. ISBN-10: 0262560992, ISBN-13: 978-0262560993] This leads in to a discussion of the neoplatonists' and their lack of understanding of Plato himself -- as evidenced by their lack of consensus. PG: Is there a way to read Plato that is in principle not interpretation? On what basis can you say that Plato himself must be interpreting Parmenides? (!) Principle idea: Parmenides' own hypothesis (of the One-Self, i.e., hyp1, the first hypothesis).  And his Logos . Republic also carries the same idea: What after all is the One-Self? JH suggests JS teach anthropology of philosophy/self. PG asks JH for the effect studying the Parmenides has had on her. Why not JH teach meditation? "The Self aware of the non-Self" When you are meditating, are you aware of the Self meditating? (If yes, then it is not a high level of meditation because you are not at that moement being yourself.) PG to Nancy: Why do you need to meditate? Barbara and JeffS on "the old self" and usefulness of the Logos in playing the piano Barbara refers us to the Guardian article on Byron Katie, "Just ask yourself, is that thought really true?" and B. Katie's four questions one can ask about one's stressful thoughts: Is it true? Can you absolutely know it’s true? How do you react, what happens, when you believe the thought? Who would you be without the thought? Inability for most people to describe their actual experience.  Thus, most autobiographies not worth reading for this reason.  We pressure Pierre to name any that he has   liked, and he cites Muktananda's, and Autobiography of a Yogi (Paramahansa Yogananda). More info: http://noeticsociety.org