Spiritual Endeavour: Dark Night of the Soul – 4
[Exploring Life] When we receive an education we are placed into a system of prerequisites that have been determined by an amorphous agency. By definition, education is an experience that is predetermined, imposed, rigidly structured, and bound to a self-reinforcing system of evaluation. The essence of the education system originates in automation, mechanization, generalization, and [...]
Creative Resilience: The Art of Authenticity
[Exploring Life] We live in an age of instantaneous global communication. We also live in an age of mass somniloquence. Each of us secretly desires the intimacy and art of a deeper more compelling conversation that authentically explores the alluring mystery of being alive. When we engage in authentic conversation we explore and exchange our [...]
Nature of Belief: Escaping Cultural Confinement
[Exploring Life] Culture may be viewed as a universal tendency for people within stable geographic populations to create sets of beliefs, values and expectations that serve to create a sense of social coherence. It may be that culture is an offspring of the innate human need to belong. Perhaps culture originated as groups of people [...]
Spiritual Endeavour: Learning to Trust the Flow of Ancient Rhythm
[Exploring Life] We are immersed in a culture that confuses education with learning. More precisely, we ritually submit ourselves to courses that have been prepared by someone else and trust that the instructional delivery these courses will inspire learning. In a bizarre twist, we sometimes incorrectly think of education as being synonymous with learning. Learning [...]
Spiritual Endeavour: Dark Night of the Soul – 3
[Exploring Life] One important outcome of a dark night of the soul, if it is ever attained, is what St. John of the Cross refers to as spiritual purification. A basic premise in the dark night is that both our senses and our spirit must be cleansed in order to purify the soul, and therefore [...]
Education: Losing Your Element
Do schools kill creativity? This is the opening question of an interesting interview with Sir Ken Robinson, an “expert” on creativity and innovation. The answer is deceptively simple: “Yes, of course they do.” Though this may sound somewhat sarcastic, the reality of schooling is the systematic obliteration of the individual including their creativity, and their [...]
Mental Clarity: Mindful Learning
[Exploring Life] In Mindful Learning, Ellen J. Langer describes mindful learning as “the simple act of drawing distinctions” with specific reference to learning. She draws a distinction between mindful and mindless forms of learning. Her work focuses on the integration of the Buddhist concept of awareness (or mindfulness) with modern conceptions of learning, which are [...]