SELF AWARENESS
Self-awareness is the animate fountain, the well-spring of consciousness. It is the font or spring of two forces in never-ending play: the separation and synthesis of consciousness. It is based in the ancient philosophical expression 'solve et coagula', (Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis). This belief that consciousness contains a dual form (attachment and non-attachment) can be traced back to the philosophies of both the East and the West. In the East, the balance favored 'non-attachment', or renunciation and asceticism, which has evolved into the Hindu and Buddhist practices of seeking enlightenment. In the West, the balance favors 'accumulation' and 'attachment'. Through the use of technology (resulting from another kind of enlightenment), we acquire wealth and resources in a never-ending cycle of expansion and development. The question will be how to bring these apparently opposing forces into balance and motion for successful engagement in occupations, relations and life. Through exploration of the academic and personal objectives of this course, we will seek to understand the bases of our motivations: who or what rules our lives? This course utilizes a combination of reading, lecture, discussion and multimedia.
Self Awareness- Preface & Table of Contents
G. I Gurdgieff: Meetings With Remarkable Men: Film by Peter Brook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Jgk1pNMus
Spring Summer Winter Fall and Spring Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_T6U_GrXRk
Home: A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU
The Tao Te Ching:
http://www.duhtao.com/translations.html
The Meyers-Briggs Personality Test online:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
