People engaged in the arts undergo a long training to refine their skills. Most of them engage in their work with a great degree of passion. It is for these reasons that I find that their sensibilities about the consciousness of the entire body are sometimes more developed that the average. This ability to touch the deepest levels of psychophysical consciousness may explain why art and music and theatre have always been of such significance to the human race. Art and music make manifest, by bringing into conscious awareness, that which has previously been felt only tentatively and internally. Art, in its widest sense, is a form of play that lies at the origin of all making, of language, and of the mind’s awareness of its place in the world. Art, in all its forms, makes manifest the spiritual dimension of the cosmos and expresses our relationship to the natural world. This may have been the original cause of that light which first illuminated the preconscious mind of early hominids.
David Peat
NEW THIS MONTH AT THE PARI CENTER
What Is Consciousness?
with Richard Baker Roshi, Valerie Hardcastle, Basil Hiley, Bernardo Kastrup, Gary Lachman, Iain McGilchrist, Roderick Main, Paavo Pylkkänen and Beverley Zabriskie
June 5 – 27, 2021
9:00 PDT | 12:00 EDT | 17:00 BST | 18:00 CEST
A major online event with a renowned team of scholars and experts in the field of Consciousness. Despite millennia of analyses, definitions, explanations and debates by philosophers and scientists, consciousness remains puzzling and controversial, being ‘at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives.’ Perhaps the only widely agreed notion about the topic is the intuition that it exists. Join us for what promises to be a challenging and controversial series as our ‘connoisseurs of consciousness’ tackle the ‘hard question.’
Join us for our big June event and meet a terrific line-up of experts and scholars in the field of Consciousness.
For more information: https://paricenter.com/event/what-is-consciousness/
PARI PERSPECTIVES
The June issue of Pari Perspectives will be available to our members in the first week of June. The theme is ‘Synchronicity’ and is based on the ‘Synchronicity: Mind and Matter’ online event that we held in March. Many of the presenters have contributed an essay including Roderick Main, Richard Berengarten, Leslie Allan Combs, Shantena Sabbadini, Remo Roth, Yuriko Sato—all thinkers in the field of Synchronicity. In addition, we welcome the new voices who have important contributions to make. In addition, our ‘More Perspectives’ features two articles on music. For quite a while we have been looking for people who could write knowledgeably and interestingly about music and we’ve finally found them—musicians Dr Donna Coleman and Bevan Manson. We hope that they will present—speak and play for us—at future online events. Become a member and have access to all issues of Pari Perspectives.
Join our Community now and become a Friend of the Pari Center!
FREE ESSAY
Our free essay from the latest issue of Pari Perspectives is Prof. Roderick Main’s ‘Meaning in Synchronicity.’ He begins by saying: ‘One of the major implications of the disenchanted worldview that still underpins most scientific and academic discourse in the modern Western world, if not globally, is that the physical world, the world so spectacularly comprehended by science, is fundamentally devoid of meaning.’
Roderick is Professor in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies and Director of the Centre for Myth Studies at the University of Essex, UK and author of a number of works on synchronicity.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
WATCH RECORDING: HOPE AND DELUSION
At our May monthly Community Call Robert Norris, independent researcher, spoke on the timely topic of ‘Hope and Delusion: Critical Storytelling for Difficult Times.’ As Robert says: ‘Hope has a curious story to tell. It reminds us of the wealth we carry within us, but also of how easily we are persuaded to give it all up.’ It’s well worth watching if you missed the live session at the link below.
WATCH THE FREE RECORDING
WATCH RECORDING: FLICKERING REALITY
On May 2 we welcomed Dr Kevin Lu, Senior Lecturer and Director of the MA Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK. He was the latest presenter in our ‘Flickering Reality’ series, a monthly get-together of the Pari Center community to discuss films and TV series that are thought-provoking, philosophical and take risks. His presentation entitled ‘Persona: Masks that Conceal, Masks that Reveal’ is freely available at the link below.
WATCH THE FREE RECORDING
EPISTEMIC JUSTICE
Today’s session completes Part 1 of ‘Epistemic Justice’ with Dr Baba Buntu. Over three sessions in May, Dr Buntu’s compelling examination of the ‘Physical’⏤Skin, Presence and Representation⏤from an African perspective, has undoubtedly been instrumental in opening the minds and hearts of our participants to the African worldview.
One participant writes, ‘Using evocative questions and images, engaging around both the mind and lived experience, Dr Buntu opens the potential for understanding at a deep and enduring level.’
We now encourage you to sign up for Part 2 of this inspiring and challenging series when Dr Bantu examines:
The Cognitive
June 16 – Violence: What is the script of violence, beyond physical aggression?
June 23 – Economy: How do we manage a world where ‘to have’ is a privilege?
June 30 – Leadership: Is there a universal script for how to lead?
FOR MORE INFORMATION
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE PARI CENTER
Membership Campaign 2021
HELP US CARRY ON THE WORK OF THE PARI CENTER!
We ask you to please consider becoming a Friend of the Pari Center. By so doing you will be helping the Center to extend the work of David Peat, to continue with its established events and projects, and to start new ventures.We need your help and support!
DONATIONS
The Pari Center was conceived as a haven of peace and gentle action in a world increasingly gripped by crisis and turmoil. It is a place dedicated to the idea of the wholeness of knowledge; the arts, science, ethical values, community and the sacred, all coming together within the ambience of a medieval village.
This year because of the global emergency we are unable to offer our annual seminars and events. Nor will we be able to re-activate our residential programme for people from the many disciplines who wish to work together or independently in a creative environment. All our activities are on hold until next year.
The Pari Center, a not-for-profit organization, could not exist without the generosity of our supporters, sponsors and friends. We are now asking if you would donate even a small amount that will help support us financially and enable us to continue our work through these difficult times.
We thank you sincerely.
The Pari Center Team
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