I’ve been keeping a hand in TSK over the break by reading Love of Knowledge from the beginning. A sentence in the Introduction (page xli) (on the subject of how direct confrontation with the self really doesn’t get us very far),  provides a beautiful summary of what we are doing in our class:
“The analysis and exploration undertaken here, however, do not call for this kind of confrontation. Instead, they loosen the hold that the self has on knowledge, and offers the self a new kind of freedom, based on the love of knowledge and the joy that comes through inquiry.”
I find this clarifying about our program’s emphasis on studying how the self operates and it’s limitations: it is not to eliminate the self but to inspire it to a higher calling. I suppose a difficult issue still remains: is the self interested and willing to step aside where necessary?
Michael
i’ve been staying active as well, reading out of several TSK books, as well as writing lots and lots of poetry…if anyone wants to check it out, it is posted on my blog…
http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com/home/dh_hr278g/cciforum.dreamhosters.com/tags/tsk/
Thanks for responding to my post, Jack. When I read it I felt that you were pulling the discussion in a different direction than the one I was hoping to travell along. I was thinking that our studies would gently nudge us into healthier understandings, which in turn could provide for refreshed attitudes and behavior. However you introduced the issues of motive, change, and even “radical action”. My “self” immediately thinks: “Surely that’s someone else’s department. I’ve already changed enough.” When I look back at my past , I can see several phases of healthy change (from which I still benefit), for which the impetus usually came from outside. Perhaps I made an initial decision to change my circumstances (for instance attend a retreat, or participate in a TSK online class); but then I count on outside influences to operate on my old conditioning. You seem to be holding up the possibility that voluntary self-observation and inquiry can directly stimulate the energy needed to embark on a path of transformation. The final sentence in Chapter Nine of “Love of Knowledge” suggests a way to explore this issue, even if our starting point is satisfaction with the way things are:
“The prospect for transforming human destiny may already be implicit in the first real question we ask.”
Perhaps I will ask myself why I need to change and whether I really want to do, be, or know anything new before I die. — Michael
Thanks, Michael, for keeping the ball rolling. The question of motive seems to have two parts. First, are we ready to change, because we are not satisfied with the way things are and we realize they could be different? Second, do we see clearly enough into the structures of the self (and accept what we see) that we are prepared to take radical action.
What’s really nice about that quote is that it shows that the self has something to gain from (as you put it) stepping aside.