Expanding horizons

This morning low slung sunlight peeped in the south windows of my cottage. I noticed and noticed the noticing. There was a subtle and short-lived waft of joy. This was rooted in gratitude for having been programmed in such a way that I notice and celebrate those things.

And then there was a thump in the lobby as the mail arrived. It was Lesley Riddoch’s 2013 book “Blossom – what Scotland needs to flourish”. So far I have read only the introduction but it is predictably feisty. She notes the contemporary profusion of parochial xenophobia and the need to surmount it. She also sees the need for the various categories of Scottish people to expand their horizons.

I worked as a curriculum development advisor to the Ministry of Education in Belize in 1988-92. The Social Studies working group was inspired by the thought of helping students to develop expanding horizons. The more progressive teachers felt that this would help students to recognise and counter the imperialism of American media productions which were becoming widespread. The alien TV culture had begun to devour local traditions. I have not been back and cannot therefore say whether that tide was stopped.

I have been concerned with expanding horizons leading to better ways to be human since the 1960s and in the past few years I have blogged about the concept many times. The following set of annotated links covers the main ideas which include the Ken Wilber vision of ‘No Boundaries’

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Better ways to be human: “By comparison all things shine. I had little to complain about from a childhood in small, coastal towns in the NE of Scotland in the 1950-60s. From upper working class roots I made it to University where I studied Biology. By the late 1960s I had committed to zero population growth and to finding better ways to be human. I then gravitated towards 'education' and lived and worked for many years in various parts of the tropics. Forty years later I am back in the NE of Scotland as a freelance consultant/ landlord/ recluse and I am still trying to figure better ways to be human.

http://dodclark.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/better-ways-to-be-human.html 

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Insane mystics?: “Are the mystics and sages insane? Because they all tell variations on the same story, don't they? The story of awakening one morning and discovering you are one with the All, in a timeless and eternal and infinite fashion. Yes, maybe they are crazy, these divine fools. Maybe they are mumbling idiots in the face of the Abyss. Maybe they need a nice, understanding therapist. Yes, I'm sure that would help. But then, I wonder.” [Ken Wilber]

http://dodclark.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/are-mystics-and-sages-insane-because.html

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Unexamined: “For a meditator the goal is to focus attention on the breathing and to have it stay there. If mental proliferation kicks in then this is noticed and attention is gently returned to the breath. Again and again. The path is made by walking. Be still and know. Then you are in a better position to examine your life and make it worth living?”

http://dodclark.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/unexamined.html

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Spectrum of consciousness: Ken Wilber (1979, 2001) No Boundary, eastern and western approaches to personal growth. (2 diagrams)

http://dodclark.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/ken-wilbers-spectrum-of-consciousness.html

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renunciation is in our plastic genes: “In western capitalist countries the individuated and selfish Me is the reified centre of attention. But this is unlikely to lead to evolutionary success because humans are social animals who need family and friends to survive.”

http://naesaebad.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/renunciation-is-in-our-plastic-genes.html

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I wish us well as a new nation.

Let the sunshine in!