July 2022 / More
Free Subscription NoticesKEEP THEM COMING If you're not seeing your TAT Forum new-issue email notices in your in-box, check your spam folder and other folders that your email client may be putting mail into. Gmail, for instance, now automatically places emails from Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn into the Social tab, while most email marketing campaigns find their way into the Promotions category. When you whitelist an email address in Gmail, this ensures the email shows up in your Primary Inbox rather than other tabs. You'll also get a notification on your device or desktop when you receive an email in your Primary Inbox, unlike emails that go into the Promotions category.
Whitelist an email sender in Gmail
Primary inbox vs. Social, Promotions, etc. => [I don't use Outlook or Yahoo mail, but here's what I've read about whitelisting with them. Please let me know if any of these examples are incorrect or outdated—Ed.]
Whitelist an email sender in Outlook:
Whitelist an email sender in Yahoo mail: |
Convictions & Concerns
TAT members share their personal convictions and/or concerns
Acceptance
Yesterday [at a group retreat at the TAT Center] I took a walk, and the path was covered with leaves. I thought about how I don’t know where I am on my spiritual path, or if I’m even on one. There was a tree root protruding from the ground, splitting the leaves like Moses in the sea. Below the root I could see the ground, where the path was: tracing my roots back to see where I was going and where I came from. Other metaphors came to mind during the walk: at one point, I saw the TAT Center, the place where I (physically) came from and wanted to get back to. I thought I saw a shortcut, but I ended up taking the long way. When I realized this, the thought arose that what I wanted was to complete my walk, not just finish it.
What do I really, really want? If I don’t know that, ANYTHING I do to try and get it will only be helpful by coincidence. I need to improve those odds. But how?
A retreat participant mentioned yesterday that one way of finding out what I want is looking at what I actually do (not what I think I do). And what I actually value, not what I think I value. Based on my feelings and observations of my life experience, my answer to what I really, really want is acceptance.
Here are the feelings and life events that led me to that.
In our retreat group activity, one category was “interests and favorite things.” And I remembered the summer after my freshman year volunteering on a potable water project in Honduras. Every couple of nights, we would sit in a circle and our group leaders would facilitate a “check-in” where we would share what we were thinking and feeling. I was so into it. I’d never been part of a group that did that. You can see part of the reason why I gravitate towards things like group retreats.
More recently, I’ve been watching a YouTube series called “The And.” On The And, two people take turns asking and answering a series of personal, intimate, and often emotional questions.
When I think about what I enjoyed about the Honduras check-ins and The And, a word that comes to mind is vulnerability; a willingness to be honest. And that honesty, I believe, requires acceptance.
It’s a clue to what I really, really want. Another clue came in a dream. At the time of the dream, I was having issues with my supervisor at work. I looked up to him as a sort of role model, and had some resentments about not getting enough of his attention. Then one night I had a dream, and in the dream I got a better perspective for all the different obligations he had to all these different people at work and at home. And the message I got was, “everybody’s doing the best they can.”
I think putting that idea ("everybody's doing the best they can") into practice involves a form of acceptance. One of my main motivations for starting a spiritual path, at some level, was that I wanted to exceed what I thought of as other people's flaws. But then at some point I saw that some of the same qualities I wanted to fix about others were true about me. So accepting others was not so different from accepting myself.
But seeing myself requires acceptance. When I read After the Absolute, I was inspired by the image of Richard Rose portrayed in that book. I wanted to live my life like he lived his. But looking at my actions, I can finally see that I am not an unrelenting, uncompromising spiritual cowboy. In fact, my life decisions reflect an image much less impressive to me. This was difficult to accept.
I also learned about acceptance from being accepted. One thing I love about my partner is her ability to talk frankly about topics I thought people were supposed to avoid. She has accepted me even when I let her see things about myself I thought of as fundamental flaws. I feel accepted.
Spiritually, I have a new perspective on acceptance. I was on a different retreat where I started having bodily vibrations and an image of “thought” fighting with “Presence.” What I saw was that thoughts had a million grievances, but that Presence was just unmoved through all of them. It was just there through it all. It accepted everything. And Presence was actually at the core of thought. Maybe acceptance is a key to finding that Presence, and walking the path to completion that takes me back home.
~ Thanks to Brett S., who is working on a book about becoming a spiritual seeker. Photo from pixabay.com.
Please email Reader Commentary to the
.
Return to the main page of the July 2022 TAT Forum.
TAT Foundation News
It's all about "ladder work" – helping and being helped
Downloadable/rental versions of the Mister Rose video and of April TAT talks Remembering Your True Desire:
"You don't know anything until you know Everything...."
Mister Rose is an intimate look at a West Virginia native many people called a Zen Master because of the depth of his wisdom and the spiritual system he conveyed to his students. Profound and profane, Richard Rose was not the kind of man most people picture when they think of mystics or spiritual teachers. Yet, he was the truest of teachers, one who had "been there," one who had the cataclysmic experience of spiritual enlightenment.
Filmed in the spring of 1991, the extraordinary documentary follows Mr. Rose from a radio interview, to a university lecture and back to his farm, as he talks about his experience, his philosophy and the details of his life.
Whether you find him charming or offensive, fatherly or fearsome, you will not forget him, and never again will you think about yourself, reality, or life after death in quite the same way.
3+ hours total. Rent or buy at tatfoundation.vhx.tv/.
2012 April TAT Meeting – Remembering Your True Desire
Includes all the speakers from the April 2012 TAT meeting: Art Ticknor, Bob Fergeson, Shawn Nevins and Heather Saunders.
1) Remembering Your True Desire ... and Acting on It, by Art Ticknor
Spiritual action is like diving for the Pearl beyond Price. What do you do when you don't know what to do or how to do it? An informal discussion centered around the question: "What prevents effective spiritual action?"
2) Swimming in the Inner Ocean: Trips to the Beach, by Bob Fergeson
A discussion of the varied ways we can use in order to hear the voice of our inner ocean, the heart of our true desires.
3) A Wider and Wilder Vision, by Shawn Nevins
Notes on assumptions, beliefs, and perspectives that bind and free us.
4) Make Your Whole Life a Prayer, by Heather Saunders
An intriguing look into a feeling-oriented approach to life.
5+ hours total. Rent or buy at tatfoundation.vhx.tv/.
(This is a complete listing of local groups. See the main page section for just the groups with recently updated information.)
New listing for Aiken, SC:
Looking to start a self-inquiry group ... finding like-minded people to talk about Richard Rose and his teachings either online or in-person in a home setting ... to question what it means to find our true selves.
~ Email
.
Update for the Amsterdam, NL Self-Inquiry Group:
The group is not holding meetings currently, but email
for information.
Update from the Central New Jersey Self Inquiry:
Our group is now meeting every other Sunday at 6pm eastern time. The topic of our most recent meeting: In almost all spiritual traditions, reaching the final "goal" means eliminating the "I", the "Sense of Self", or the "Ego". And to do so, for most people it means generally weakening this "I" gradually till it disappears.
~ For meeting info: facebook.com/groups/429437321740752.
Update from the Central Ohio Non-Duality Group:
The Columbus, Ohio self-inquiry group, now known as the Central Ohio Non-Duality Group, has continued to meet virtually on Tuesday evenings at 6:30PM during the Coronavirus pandemic. Please email one of the people's names below if you wish to get a link to the meeting. Meeting format involves discussion of topics of interest to seekers and often bridges from the concerns, questions and interests of the core members in attendance into the topic which we intend to discuss. We look forward to the easing of restrictions to the point where we feel comfortable meeting again in person.
~ For further information, contact
,
, or
.
We're also on Facebook.
Update from the Dublin, Ireland self-inquiry group:
We meet every second Wednesday on Zoom. We are working using two different approaches. The first is the standard confrontation approach of people giving an update on what was coming for them in the previous period, in terms of their path. The second is the distribution of a piece in advance for reflection. We will continue in this vein for the time being, using either a general update or a piece for reflection shared in advance.
~ Contact
for more information.
Update from the email self-inquiry groups:
The Women's Online Confrontation (WOC) group consists of weekly reports where participants can include:
> What is on your mind?
> Any projects that you want to be held accountable for?
> Responses to a selected excerpt (in the previous report).
> Comments/responses/questions for other participants.
A philosophical/spiritual excerpt with two or three questions is included in each report.
Based on what we share, participants ask questions to help get clarity about our thinking.
The intention is to help each other see our underlying beliefs about who we are.
One rule we try to adhere to is not to give advice or solve problems.
The number of participants, to make it work efficiently, is between 4 and 7 including the leader.
Currently we have two men's email groups. They (the weekly exchanges, not the participants :-) function like slow-motion self-inquiry confrontation meetings, which has its pros and cons. We alternate by asking each other questions one week then answering them the following week. Participants provide brief updates of highlights from the previous week and optional updates on progress toward objectives that they use the reports for accountability on.
Both the women's and the men's email groups welcome serious participants.
~ Contact
or
for more information.
TAT Press publishes Anima's and Art's book: Always Right Behind You: Parables & Poems of Love & Completion.
Update from the Gainesville, FL self-inquiry group:
The Alachua County library reopened its meeting rooms on July 5th, and we were the first group to meet after the reopening.
We decided to change our meeting day from Sunday to Saturday, at the same time as previously (2 to 4 PM). Our first meeting was on July 10th, and subsequent meetings are scheduled for alternate Saturdays with an occasional extra week between meetings due to holidays or the TAT meeting schedule and our group's associated retreats.
~ Email
or
for more information.
TAT Press publishes three of Art's books: Solid Ground of Being: A Personal Story of the Impersonal, Beyond Relativity: Transcending the Split Between Knower & Known and Sense of Self: The Source of All Existential Suffering?
Update from Galway, Ireland:
Tess Hughes is starting a women's group on Wednesday evenings, 7pm Dublin time, using Zoom.It will begin mid September. Sessions last 90-120 minutes usually. Anyone who's interested in joining can contact
.
TAT Press publishes Tess's easy to read, profound This Above All, the story of her journey of Self-Discovery.
Update from the GMT Support Group for Seekers:
We meet every Sunday gmt 18.30, live on Google Meet. Rapport and confrontation, talk and exchange.
Someone mostly brings a theme, like a text, poem or whatever to set the mood. Then 10 minutes of silent rapport after which everyone gets their turn on the "hot seat" for 10-15 minutes—the group listens to what the person has to say about the theme then asks friendly questions—depending on how many participants we are. The questioning is aimed at providing material for self-inquiry. There have been sessions in which we just chatted, but that is more the exception.
~ Contact
*
The GMT support group group held a
weekend intensive retreat in West Sussex, UK on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 12–13.
On the weekend of 12-14th November a small number of people gathered for an in-person spiritual retreat in West Sussex
U.K. The aim was to foster a spirit of friendship and provide a face to face retreat for TAT interested European folks with the
theme of ‘Make Your Whole Life a Prayer’.
Tess Hughes joined us via Zoom and Peter O. made a moving talk about his life and spiritual path. Freddie L. offered a very
powerful guided meditation, we conducted Harding experiments, rapport, and it was a great opportunity for discussion and a
deepening of friendship. We hope to run another similar retreat sometime next year.
See "A Seeker-Organized Weekend Intensive Retreat" for feedback from participants including a poem by one of them.
~ E-mail
for more details.
Update from the Greensburg, PA self-inquiry group:
I am meeting every Saturday morning with three of my former Greensburg SIG group participants who are into non-dualist paths, such as Adyashanti and Mooji. There is also another participant, a professional psychologist who is interested in eastern philosphy and who wasn't in my SIG group but makes a great addition to our proceedings. These fellows are sincere seekers. We spend our time discussing our respective paths and comparing notes. Our new venue is a place called the White Rabbit Cafe in Greensburg. I'm hoping that the lull here has ended and that we're ready to be more dynamic again.
~ Contact
if interested in local self-inquiry meetings.
An update from the self-inquiry group in Houston, TX:
The backyard patio meetings are now moved to Zoom meetings, which take place at 4 pm on Saturdays. There are 3 active and inspired participants right now. Topics vary from Mr. Rose's writings to "What is on your mind?"
~ Contact
for more information.
"Ignoramuses Anonymous" blog
Ignoramuses Anonymous is for seekers to explore questions together…a fellowship of seekers for whom ignorance of the absolute truth had become a major problem. It started as a blog for Pittsburgh PSI meeting members back in 2009. Welcoming discussion on the path.
To get notices of new posts, you can subscribe by RSS feed or by
email.
See the 2020/11/28 post:
Four-day isolation retreat at TAT Center, with photos and YouTube clips.
Update from the Lynchburg, VA self-inquiry group:
We have been meeting on Thursday evenings from 7pm—8:30pm, online, via zoom. Norio Kushi, Paul Rezendes, and Bob Harwood are consistent guests. We've also had some other interesting characters show up from time to time. Topics come from readings or questions brought up by our members. These are sent out, along with the zoom invitation each week. Recently we posted some "considerations" for joining our group:
** Try to frame your comments as questions to Norio, Paul, or Bob. Draw these questions from you own experience rather than generalities. Maintain attention and discussion on the question rather than philosophical musings.
** Question other participants, in the spirit of group-assisted self inquiry, but without attempting to lead them to any particular conclusion or bring attention to yourself.
**Allow for and attend to the silence and the space that is always present. When you aren't speaking, see that as your role—to hold that space.
**Question, in yourself, the use of personal story-telling and quoting others—though sometimes both are helpful and appropriate.
**Consider the way in which you are listening. Does it have a quality of acquisitiveness or openness?
**Continue to question your own intention for coming to this meeting and let that guide any comments/questions/discussion.
~ Please contact
or
if you're interested in being on the email list.
Update from the New York City self-inquiry group:
The New York City Self-Inquiry group meets by Zoom every Monday from 6-8 PM EST. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3098361863?pwd=anY5OFlMT0pNMld6VXJDb0Z2SjY0UT09. For those joining by phone, the number is +1 929 205 6099 US (New York), with Meeting ID: 309 836 1863, and Passcode: 895478. More details, as well as our weekly discussion topics, are available on our MeetUp page (link above) and via email at
.
|
|
Update from the recently listed Online Video Confrontation Group:
The Monday Night Online Confrontation Group is going strong with a core group of participants and room for a few more. Now meeting at 7:30 pm EST (previously at 7 pm), using the online video conference platform from Zoom. The goal of the group is to practice confrontation/group self-inquiry.
~ If you're interested, email
or
.
Isaac and AJ interviewed Art Ticknor on their Plant Cunning Podcast series, where they "invite herbalists, ethnobotanists, farmers, mages, fungi experts, community organizers and all kinds of other interesting people to the microphone to share their wisdom and experiences with us": Self Realization with Art Ticknor.
|
|
Update from the Portland, OR self-inquiry group:
A small group of us meet most Sundays at a coffee shop. The format for our meetings is to give each person 20 minutes or so to talk about whatever is coming up for them in their practice and to answer questions from the others.
~ Email
for more information.
Update from the Raleigh, NC Triangle Inquiry Group:
We're continuing with Zoom online meetings for now--first and third Tuesdays of each month.
Interested?
~ Email
for more details.
Update for the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area TAT Center:
Bob Fergeson spent a year as resident teacher before returning to Colorado in March.
Mark Wintgens continues as our chief-seeker in residence and invaluable caretaker. He is looking forward to hosting retreats and meetings for local group members as well as all TAT seekers. And TAT is looking forward to the possibility of hosting the August 2021 TAT meeting at the Center.
~ Email
for information about the TAT Center.
Update from the Richmond Self Inquiry Group:
There isn't a Richmond self inquiry group at the moment…it never really got off the ground. I'm considering a few different approaches for round three, but it'll be at least a few months away before that takes form.
~ Email
for information about future meetings and events.
Update from the San Francisco Bay area self-inquiry group:
See the Shawn Nevins interview by Iain McNay of Conscious.tv, kicking off the publication of Shawn's book Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment.
~ Email
for information about upcoming meetings and events.
TAT Press publishes Shawn's Images of Essence: The Standing Now, which features his poems with photos by Bob Fergeson, The Celibate Seeker: An Exploration of Celibacy as a Modern Spiritual Practice, Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment, and Hydroglyphics: Reflections on the Sacred, which features his poems with photos by Phaedra Greenwood.
Update from the Washington DC Area Self-Inquiry Discussion Group:
[This group was previously listed as the Rockville, MD self-inquiry group.] We've been meeting monthly at Rockville, MD Memorial Library. While the library is closed for public health reasons, we're participating more in a weekly online book club. Forum readers are welcome to participate.
~ For more information, please email
or see the website http://firstknowthyself.org/virtual/.
Return to the main page of the July 2022 TAT Forum.
Inspiration & Irritation
Irritation moves us; inspiration provides a direction
Response to "Everything You Believe is Wrong!"
I think the piece in the June Forum, "Everything You Believe is Wrong!" is well-written, and the topic—questioning beliefs in the relative world, with discussion of Rose and Blavatsky—is a great one. I just think it's important that the authors not over-stretch their claims in a way that could undermine their arguments. I saw at least two places where I think they might've done that:
1. "The reality is that rather than serve the people, governments—driven by the greed and sociopathy of the psychopaths who run them—seek to literally make the lives of their people ever more wretched, and to, yes, kill as many of them as possible, or failing that, to shorten their lifespans as much as possible, to 'thin the herds' of humanity."
I think this might be a bridge too far in terms of what the authors can/can't prove. To me, it's a strong claim to make in passing without any discussion for how the authors arrived at that conclusion. Which people are the target of government killings? All people? People who disagree with the government? Racial minorities? Anyone who isn't rich or in government? Some people in government? I think the lack of specificity undermines the claim.
Similarly, I don't think this sentence validates itself:
2. "FACT: In the last few years, while the rest of us were locked down, fired, driven out of business, forced to wear toxic masks, dying alone, committing suicide, and generally being made as fearful and miserable as possible..."
I'm not sure that a lot of these things can neutrally be considered as facts. First, who is "the rest of us"? Does "the rest of us" include some, all, or none of TAT Forum readers? If a reader doesn't feel "as fearful and miserable as possible" does that contradict the authors' "FACT"? After all, it's someone else's feelings. If a Forum reader wasn't "fired" or "driven out of business" does this contradict the "FACT"? Along the same lines, I'm not sure how the authors are using the word "toxic." The first definition for toxic in Webster's is "containing or being poisonous material." Are the authors claiming that Covid masks contain literal poison? If so, is it all Covid masks? Just the N-95? Or do they mean figuratively toxic? I think these kinds of ambiguities make it hard to call their claim a "FACT."
I've highlighted two places where I think the argument of the authors could be stronger. I think there are more. I haven't checked their citations but I think that could potentially be another pitfall, depending on the integrity of the sources. Generally what I read in the Forum doesn't have sources because people are writing from direct experience. If the authors have direct experience with things like government killings or feeling fearful, it might be interesting to hear about it.
I think the authors’ point about the first half of The Albigen Papers (I haven’t read Blavatsky) being devoted to questioning our beliefs about society is a good one. My understanding of Rose’s purpose in doing that is to get people to doubt everything; all beliefs. It sounds to me like the authors may doubt certain narratives but accept others. My understanding of Rose’s advice to “doubt everything” is that I shouldn’t stop when I think I’ve arrived at a better/truer/different conclusion. That new version should also be the subject of healthy doubt, acknowledging I know nothing for sure, unless and until I arrive at an Absolute Truth that is Self-Proving. The rest, I think, is questionable.
~ Thanks to Brett S.
Return to the main page of the July 2022 TAT Forum.
On Conspiracy Theories
I heavily studied conspiracies between 2010 and 2012 and feel I learned a lot about why society falls so far short of what it should be capable of achieving. I'd sum it up as: people obsessed with power do seem to succeed sometimes in reinvesting that power to gain relatively more power for themselves, instead of for some higher principle. There seems to be no natural check on that mechanism in civilizations in general, as there are always more strangers ready to be fooled by sociopaths, and so conspiracies of elites are an endemic force in complex human societies.
If conspiracy reporting is simply relative truth, why did it get so much of my attention for so long? Beyond the bigger question of why is society so screwed up, I see four less conscious reasons.
First, I found the willingness of some people to dedicate themselves to seeking the relative truth in the face of at least potential danger a little inspiring. Their motives of course aren’t pure, they’re almost always making money off this, or at least getting something for their ego out of it. And in terms of how it inspired my thinking, it acted more like a koan about the corruption of humanity's potential than about seeking the Truth of my Source.
Secondly, for a while, it also served as a branch of psychological self-study of how my will and beliefs may be hijacked by other people. How much of what I value and believe is a hypnotic suggestion which serves some selfish interest of some power-obsessed people? If I get chills from the national anthem at a sporting event, who benefits the most? A couple of books on hypnosis that Rose recommended can probably go a lot of the way to that psychological value.
Another reason is that the conspiracy out there is an echo or a misinterpreted higher intuition about the conspiracy within: that my mind is running a conspiracy against me. It’s trying to convince me that I am this limited person who was born and is going to die and that what really matters is this super important, very special separate individual. In moments when I get more honest, I can admit that I’ve been wasting my life because I don’t even know who this is at the core of this experience. God might have the whole world in His hands. So every day the mind is conspiring to prevent the truth from getting out.
And finally, a psychological payoff: I’m procrastinating taking responsibility for my life, and if there are people out there trying to control my life, then that contributes to that voice that is trying not to take responsibility. That is a basic maturity thing, and whether or not any of these theories are sometimes true, I had an ulterior motive of putting off deciding to take the reins of my own life in some way.
In 2012, as the marginal benefit decreased, I decided to turn my head away from this relative study. It had become obsessive, an addiction that was draining my attention and interfering with my other goals. I felt that my highest life objective was not to remove this kind of moral corruption, and so staying on top of the latest was far too energetically expensive.
I think a big issue is that the non-mainstream media, like other media, still encourages content creators to get more eyeballs on the page. And the more emotional rise they can get out of their audience, the more advertisement click conversions they can get, and the more profitable their news business. So even if the content was sometimes intuitively a home run, it had a high energy cost.
Additionally, my favorite content creator news analysts eventually failed to maintain the same level of intellectual precision I was trying to approach the subject with. They had logical inconsistencies in assertions over time that they didn't bother to address. This suggested the latest material was similarly not fully checked. In the long run, logical implications and predictions that didn't hold true eroded my trust in their next assertion.
In summary, I heavily studied this subject for 3 years and found it one of the most exciting rabbit-hole studies of my life. I found it fascinating because it went a long way to answer a puzzling question I'd had as a child, why there are such bad things in the world like war, slavery, crime, and poverty when people can be good? Furthermore, it was inspiring to see others so dedicated to seeking truth, it lead to increased psychological self-knowledge, it echoed my intuition there is a Self, and it probably fed into my fear of owning my mistakes. Ultimately the lack of pure motives of the content creators combined with other desires rising in importance led to it being too costly for me to continue the study, and I consciously turned my head away from it.
*
~ Thanks to Dan G. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Return to the main page of the July 2022 TAT Forum.
Did you enjoy the Forum? Then buy the book of favorite selections from the first 7 years of publication!
Beyond Mind, Beyond Death
