Events

This talk considers Bohm’s view of the self and the observer in the light of the recently published Bohm’s letters to Jeffrey Bub. (C. Talbot ed. (2020) David Bohm’s Critique of Modern Physics. Letters to Jeffrey Bub, 1966-1969. Cham: Springer).  Bohm’s view is influenced on the one hand by the situation in quantum physics, where the role of the observer is an important topic.  But there are also influences from his discussions with Krishnamurti. According to Bohm the plain fact in the mental domain is that observation is going on, but there is no separate observer inside the mind, who would be “doing the looking”.  Is this view plausible and consistent, and how does it relate to other contemporary views of the self?

The eighth conversation in this series will be on Wednesday August 23, 2023 with Mauro Biglino. Our conversation will orbit around “the literal translation of the Bible and the oldest secret in history”.

David Bohm was a physicist and an explorer of mind who probed deeply the question of what might bring about a transformation of consciousness in the individual and in society as a whole. Such a renaissance he perceived could arise as humanity awakened to what he termed orders between and beyond, new orders of cognition within which thought would operate in a movement subtle and creative. One approach that he brought to opening this understanding to others was to bring attention to how new orders of perception may be formed by bringing together and transcending orders already present.

There was “a linguistic turn” in Bohm’s thinking, particularly as a result of interaction with Donald Schumacher.  Among other things this led Bohm to propose a new language mode, the rheomode which gives the verb a central role in language structure.  In this session Bohm’s proposals will be considered and critically examined.

There was a time when understanding was unified and spoke to our inner wholeness. This initial vision was lost, leading to a bifurcation of nature that has impeded human flourishing. In the medieval hilltop of a Tuscan town, we will seek to explore and experience the underlying wholeness that was initially present in the spirit of the arts, the scientific mind, and the sense of the sacred.

A Pari gathering/retreat for members of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) plus family and friends will be held in Pari, Tuscany from September 9-16, 2023 (Saturday to Saturday).

The format will be a combination of closed AA and NA meetings and meditation, and some open meetings which everyone can attend.

The ninth conversation in this series will be on Wednesday September 13, 2023 with Tanya Luhrmann. Our conversation will orbit around “belief, experience, and how things come to feel real to people”.

The tenth conversation in this series will be on Wednesday October 18, 2023 with Luca Possati. Our conversation will orbit around “AI and psychoanalysis”.

In this online series we will revisit Galileo’s book, The Assayer, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of its publication this very month of October.
Written as a letter in a controversy about the nature of comets, such a foundational text in the history of modern science deserves to be more widely known and read. It contains one of the first and clearest articulations of the scientific method, the famous claim about the mathematical intelligibility of nature, and Galileo’s emphasis on epistemic humility in the face of dogma and authority. Remarkably, in the book we also find Galileo’s programmatic exclusion of consciousness from the purview of science, whose consequences we are still wrestling with today.

Across the broad span of wisdom traditions, one encounter is of key significance: some direct access or contact with the ground of being.

Even in this secular age, dominated as we are by the materialistic, reductionist paradigm of western science, these transcendent experiences still occur, even amongst members of the scientific community.