Cassiopaea Forum Reading Workshops - Public

[Arwenn]

Hi everyone,
Here’s the meeting ID for the Au-Asia-Am meeting. We will start in 55 minutes.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Meeting ID: 835 8687 7275
Passcode: 4nuFri

See you soon!

 

[Ryan]

Hi everyone,
Here’s the meeting ID for the Au-Asia-Am meeting. We will start in 55 minutes.

Sorry folks, another meeting ran overtime! I’ll be probably about 45 minutes late!

 

[Keit]

Just a note that I also will be 10 minutes late.

 

[Arwenn]

Hi everyone,

Here are the links for the recent Aus-Asia-Am group discussion on The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive by Laura Knight-Jadczyk.

Here's the video of the last meeting
The audio
And the folder
And the slide show

We will read the rest of Chapter 1 for our next workshop on Saturday at 7 pm Sydney AEDST time (GMT+11).

See you all then!

___________________________________________________________________________________________
Below are the links to what we discussed:

Cs Session 2 May 1998

Q: Who created the legends of the Holy Grail and Joseph of Arimathea bringing it to a) France, or b) England? Who was behind the creating of this group of legends?

A: Not a group of legends.

Q: Why was the 12th century the focal point for the propagation of the grail legends, the troubadours, the whole thing?

A: Beginning of "Renaissance."

Cs Session 30 October 2021

Q: (Pierre) I have a question: Were the genetic modifications induced by the Black Death virus the main cause of the Renaissance?

A: Not main, but contributory.

Q:(Laura) Well, what was the main cause?

A: 4D influences of a psychic nature.

 

[Pecha]

Hey y'alls,

The Am-EU group finishes the chapters 8-10 of William B. Irvine's A Guide to the Good Life on January 5th. Luis has collated the Video and Audio for this meeting.

I've attached the mind map below in both PNG & PDF form. For readability, I've also printed the mind map in bulleted form here:

Chapter 8 - Meditation: Watching Ourselves Practice Stoicism

• Seneca advises periodic meditation focusing on events of our lives, how we responded to these, and how we should respond to them in a Stoic way.
• Questions to ask oneself during the meditation:
  1. Did something disrupt one's tranquility?
  2. Did one experience anger, envy, and/or lust?
  3. Why did the day's events upset him?
  4. Is there something one could have done to avoid these happening again?
  5. Are we periodically engaging in negative visualization?
  6. Did we take time to distinguish between things we have control/no control over (and everything in between)?
  7. Are we careful to internalize our goals?
  8. Have we consciously practiced self-denial?
• In addition to these periodic meditations, Seneca also advises to actively play both roles of participant and spectator. This helps to create a Stoic observer within that watches and comments on our daily lives.
  • In that same vein, Marcus advises to examine each action we do, find our motives for doing these, and assign an object value to it. Are we governed by our reason? He also states that becoming careful observers of other people's actions is very useful, for we can learn much from the mistakes of others.
• (Laurs): Gaby's post in the I Ching thread, it says not to attach outcome to fortune or misfortune. What you do with it is the only thing that matters.
• (RedFox): The brain likes to make up narratives
  • (Luis): Like Laura's eclipsing of realities, need to be aware of the duality of our lives. When we are helping others, are we doing it for ourselves in the end?
  • (Turgon): The Tao Te Ching (Chinese philosophy book) is a middle pathway. It teaches not be attached to anything while also doing what's needed.
• As one practices Stoicism, Epictetus says that one may find that negative criticism will not hurt our feelings. Conversely, we may find ourselves to shrug off any praise that comes our way. Epictetus believes that admiration from others is a negative barometer for a practicing Stoic. "If people think you amount to something, distrust yourself".
  • Other signs of progress include:
    1. Not blaming, censuring, or praising others.
    2. Not boasting about ourselves or what we know.
    3. Blaming ourselves and not external circumstances when our desires are thwarted.
    4. Less desires due to mastery over them.
    5. To see oneself as "an enemy lying in wait" rather than a friend whose every desire must be satisfied.
    6. Experience less negative emotions, making room for more positive ones.
    7. etc.
  • For the ultimate proof of progress as a Stoic, we must wait until we are faced with death. As Seneca states, this is the only way to show that our Stoicism has been genuine.

Chapter 9 - Duty: On Loving Mankind

• In Marcus Aurelius' Mediations, he states that the gods have created people for duty, just as bees do bee work, and a figs do fig work. For Stoics, the primary function of a human is to be rational.
  • Through reason, one discovers secondary functions, such as being designed to live and interact with others in a mutually advantageous way. As Marcus says, "fellowship is the purpose behind our creation". Thus, a human was made to be both rational and social.
  • To fulfill this social duty, one must feel concern for all mankind--for one's people. Have a goal of "service and harmony of all", and to do so quietly and efficiently.
• It is nearly impossible to avoid dealing with annoying people, and it's suggested that we don't shy away from them, but rather work towards the common welfare.
  • Despite Marcus' clear disgust for other humans, he still didn't turn his back on them. This adherence to social duty, brings one closer to living the good life.
• (Turgon): When someone is not pulling their own weight, I tend to take on more of the work and end up in negative mental states.
  • (Luis): The Fear of the Abyss (?) book addresses this well. Castaneda's petty tyrants--we can apply the five attributes of warriorship to this. It seems very complimentary.
  • (RedFox): You flip it around, and ask what does it say about oneself? Look at the positive aspect. Has been through this before and seems to help.
• (Luis): One of the most important objectives that Castaneda says to work on is removing self-importance.
• (?): This came up in our past meetings on Logocracy. Psychopaths in our world is a given so we need a whole lot of knowledge to deal with them. Maybe we can find a use for them in a Logocracy.
• (Laurs): Going back to what Marcus felt, Caesar said something similar in that humans are fickle.
• (Bluefyre): Thinking about the romance novels, they lived by duty rather than love and respect. It has its place as the first rung on the ladder. Duty has a grim feeling to it. Choosing to do something should have some element of joy to it.
  • (Luis): A sense of purpose may be better word, but there's also a duty there.

Chapter 10 - Social Relations: On Dealing with Other People

• In performing our social duties, one will inevitably run the risk of others disturbing one's tranquility. Epictetus advises one to form "a certain character and pattern" for ourselves when we are alone. Then when we are with others, we "should remain true to who we are".
  • Another is to be selective in who we befriend--to avoid being friends with those whose values are corrupted lest it affects us. Conversely, it's advised to befriend those who share Stoic values, and learn what we can from them.
• Epictetus also advises to be circumspect in our conversations with others. When one finds themselves in a group where they talk about eating, drinking, and of other people, it is good to either be silent or divert the discussion to something better.
• When others annoy us, a tactic that Marcus writes about is to contemplate our own shortcomings, which aims to increase empathy and tolerance towards another's faults.
  • Our annoyance of another will be far more detrimental to us than whatever that person is doing. As Marcus states, controlling our thoughts about others is a way to lessen the negative impact of others on us.
  • The world will always have these kinds of people, and they do not choose what faults they have in many cases. Some cannot help it. To expect otherwise is like "expecting a fig tree not to yield its juice". This concept can be called "social fatalism".
• One of the biggest risks in one's dealing with annoying people is if we begin to harbor feelings of hate towards them. "If we detect anger and hatred within us and wish to seek revenge, one of the best forms of revenge on another person is to refuse to be like him".
• The Stoics advocate reservations and control over sexual urges. There can be a great destructive power around sex and caution must be used as to not let it turn into something that will control us. Despite this, Stoics advocated for marriage--a loving union where both try to "outdo each other in the care they show for each other".
• (II Matto): The possible tension with external considering. When I'm with Italians, there's a temptation to partake in eating pasta despite trying to eat keto.
  • (Mari): A similar situation has popped up when choosing to break someone's heart or try their cake.
• (Mari): Shares post by Laura on sex and marriage.
  • (II Matto): In the Wave, I remember that there's an energy exchange in sex.

General Notes

• Beware of Indian scammers
  • (Mari): Try calling your provider and asking them to block third party calls to your phone. Not sure if that's for USA phone companies too.
  • (RedFox): Maybe it's best to expect that all phone calls coming in are scammers.

For Next Meeting - January 12th, 2025

For our next meeting, we'll look to possibly cover the following two chapters:

• Chapter 11 - Insults: On Putting Up with Put-Downs
• Chapter 12 - Grief: On Vanquishing Tears with Reason

See y'alls tomorrow!

 

[Il Matto]

I really do appreciate these summaries Pecha, thank you.
Looking forward to seeing you all later