I like very much the Marilyn Nelson quote about poetry, and the whole notion of to "... listen to what it brings out inside of you." The whole idea of bringing forth something precious from within is also reflected in starker terms in The Gospel of Thomas, logon:70 "If you bring forth that which is within you, it will give you life; if you do not bring forth that which is within you, it will kill you".
It points to the whole of life as a process of revealing and unfoldment, and the intriguing thing is that in the same manner as we would never expect a chrysalis to become a butterfly, so also that which is hidden within us, when brought forth, can transform into something so 'gloriously unexpected' that we are left in awe and wonder.
Which brings me to the subject at hand -- a communal café pondering on the subject of Negative Subjective Experiences (NSE's). What if, in similar manner to a gestating Chrysalis becoming a butterfly, so also a gestating NSE becomes something wonderful in our lives, a step on the journey towards fulfilling an unexpectedly wondrous potential?
Such an idea is of course, as noted, counter to the trend in the last few decades of "thinking only postive thoughts" -- which we see now can result in 'toxic positivity'. Delving into NSEs requires courage to go through the emotional pain barrier, requires facing lots of 'dark nights of the soul', and requires a reliable map through the inner jungle. Glad to say that the Synchronosophy Map is at hand, and emerging week by week. 💜
Thank you! Your question "What if..." reminds me of what Rilke said about dragons, “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
I think that is truly the essence of Synchronosophy.
Thanks Veronika for this essay. I like that phrase communal pondering, which speaks to me of quiet deep discussion over Moroccan mint tea.
It reminds me that when I lived in Montreal, before I was married, I had Moroccan friends and we got together often over beautiful glasses of mint tea and talked and argued and laughed. It wasn't communal pondering, but it was camaraderie with old friends.
Somehow we became estranged (not my choice), I do not remember why, over some trifles, I would imagine, but I have the memories of the discussions and the mint tea. It does induce a slower mode of discussion.
And speaking of colours, blue is my favourite, not royal blue, but sky blue, where the birds fly and the falcons and eagles soar.
How lovely. Yes, drinks and food are such an important part of conviviality and our communal being... thank you for sharing this beautiful memory with your friend over Moroccan mint tea. Moroccan mint is the only mint I grow in my garden too. It's the best for tea and many dishes.
And thank you for sharing a blue poem too!!
It often trips me up at communal gatherings where so many people get bogged down in discussions about ingredients of the food (is it vegan? is it glutenfree? does it have this or that spice in it...) It takes the joy out of the communal pondering and focuses on our differences...
Which brings us right back to our topic of negative subjective experience...
I wonder what all this contemporary food segregation is about...
I too have noticed of late the focus among some people over food. Not only for health purposes. It is indeed a type of segregation where people form identities. It becomes almost religious. I cringe when food becomes a means of separation. Food Apartheid?
This is not how I view food, which is to bring people together.
Totally! Food Apartheid is a great word for it. I mean, allergies are one thing. But to eat (sometimes really crappy processed) vegan food (for example) and get on a high horse about it is quite another. As if we didn't have enough food problems in the world...
It is a way people form identities, and to make other people feel bad about 'lesser food choices'. Following the familiar destructive pattern of anthropocentric supremacy
And breathing makes it all possible! The breath plays an important role in grasping the moment where so much of poetry and beauty live and dwell and have their Being.
Thank you Veronika. I am a fan of Maria Popova’s writing and Krista Tippet’s On Being too. Brilliant doors to the universe. That’s the same way I feel about poetry and I love your quotes. “Poetry consists of words and phrases and sentences that emerge like something coming out of water. They emerge before us, and they call up something in us. “ I feel you do that with your words and how you take them down to their roots and their origins and original meanings. In doing so you open something up inside of me. I would call that poetry and you a poet. Thank you!
My question comes back to consciousness and what part of consciousness we all share. Can you shed some more light (lights) on consciousness. I find when I write poetry something from my unconsciousness speaks loudly enough for it to then become visible again. It’s as if some thing that I forgot has been remembered. It was not new. More so revealed, and uncovered.
I think you're right. We get so bogged down in thinking of 'poetry' etc. as literary categories. But poetry is really something else "Like something coming out of water," as Marilyn Nelson so beautifully said. That applies to my writing too. Not just the wordcasts. All my writing! Thank you for bringing this to my awareness!
The question about consciousness can only be answered by differentiating between 'small c' and 'Capital C' Consciousness. In Synchronosophy I am writing about Consciousness as the source of everything. We share all of it. It is us and we are it.
When you ask about 'part of consciousness', in synchronosophical language that would be called 'awareness'. Our awareness is continuously moving between light and darkness, the known and the unknown wilderness.
The Noctarine doesn't differentiate between 'conscious' and 'un-' or 'subconscious'. There is only the familiar, bright, awake side of Consciousness on one hand, and the dark wilderness alive with apparently 'dormant' creatures on the other. Both are ultimately connected with the collective oneness. But through the Inner Wilderness this connection appears to be stronger because we haven't yet nailed it all down by what we think we know.
I always understood Spirituality is being aware of being. That hidden awareness or what I called the invisible, becoming visible. I always stumbled over the “unconsciousness” part. I totally resonate with how you put that. That big C consciousness to me represents “spirit” not of a religious sense, but that essence that we all share. Stardust. That part of source that flows through all of us. Can you go deeper on the small c consciousness?
Spirituality as 'being aware of being'. ~ Great definition!
The trouble with the word 'consciousness' is that it is used by different people in very different ways. The concept of 'unconsciousness' was suggested by Freud, I think (or perhaps he called it 'subconsciousness') and picked up by Jung ('collective unconscious'). Before that 'unconscious' was used in medical terminology for when someone fainted or lies in a coma.
People sometimes also say they are 'unconscious' during sleep. In my mind this is absurd. Consciousness is very active during sleep (key word 'dreaming') it's just not in daytime waking mode.
There are also plenty of testimonies of people under anesthesia witnessing their own surgery etc. Which suggests that Consciousness can be experienced by the human mind in different modes. Consciousness itself is not something we can switch on or off.
Which brings us to small 'c' consciousness. This is the term I use for the conventional definition by neuroscience according to which 'consciousness is a phenomenon produced by the brain'.
The way I use big C Consciousness is in alignment with the ancient Vedic science of mind, where 'Consciousness is everything'. Used in this way, Consciousness represents wholeness, which includes essence, of course. Consciousness (used in this way) is not part of the source, IT IS THE SOURCE.
It's all a matter of definition really. (see also chapters 10-12 of Synchronosophy and my wordcasts on the Conscious Clan)
Thank you so much for asking these further questions, Jamie!! These detailed differentiations are essential, if we want to understand who we are and how we function. Please keep asking, if anything is not clear. It's a complex and difficult to grasp topic, and it's entirely possible that I haven't explained it very well.
Wonderful clarity Veronika. I ask as this so called “consciousness” is a most misunderstood term along the lines of “love” and “poetry”. Once we get those three words to “come out of the water” we find ourselves at their intersection. Your writing is contagious and definitely a door to a revealing. Bless you 🙏❤️
what baffles me is how intelligent people (I mean neuroscientists, right?) can go on for decades banging on with the same old question: 'how does the brain produce consciousness?' and never get an answer, because 'consciousness is this mystery'.
Don't they know that the right question always leads to an answer?
Or it leads to another question lol! Science needs to read more poetry indeed. We can never trade mystery for mastery. Maybe the brain is just a big antenna? Maybe it just picks up the signals of source? Better yet -maybe it’s sending them out.
Sometimes the meaning of the word gets lost, and with it that meaning and understanding. We forget, and move in circles. Looking outside for what’s always existed inside. Far more than historians we need synchronosophologists! 🫵🏻❤️
This can only be entered into through the human heart. The brain is through the senses whereas the heart connects to the universe. Emotions are still part of the brain whereas the heart generates feelings. Our breath changes when we view or read living art forms-it begins the process of opening up the heart which connects to the infinite where Cosmic Consciousness is Self-realized.
What an energizing cup of tea! I thoroughly enjoyed this engagement and was especially happy to hear @bertus in the conversation. As soon as those ultramarine hues hit my eye, I thought of his own deep explorations of color and loved hearing how he’s encouraged students to “paint something ugly.” This idea thrills me and even more so, the possibilities that lay dormant within it.
I also just read a thought-provoking essay this morning by @sarahfayauthor where she explores the nuanced importance of silence in conversation. We are so conditioned to exercise the talking part of communication but true to the Symbiocene system, of course, the spaciousness around conversation is just as powerful and intimate as the words. I loved thinking about this as I read about your “communal pondering” and listened to (and between) the dialog shared thereafter.
Yes, me too! Bertus was the first to drop in this morning. A delightful start to our communal pondering. I also remembered his recent ultramarine explorations when preparing this café session.
And thank you for picking up on the silence (mentioned by Marilyn Nelson too). That is, as you say what provides the spaciousness, space for the all important breath, as Elizabeth points out. Silence is such a fascinating topic in itself. I haven't read Sarah's essay yet but it's a verbiont I am dancing with at the moment myself.
Hi Veronika! I wish I could've stopped by on Saturday, but alas, life had other ideas for me. Anyway, I love this exploration... so many things came through me!
First the color, the Lapis Lazuli. I have a piece of it resting on my desk that is so striking. I'm a huge fan of Maria Popova, but hadn't read that piece... thank you for sharing! This part "we love to contemplate blue — not because it advances to us, but because it draws us after it." feels especially worthy of pondering.
Which brings me to the idea of communal pondering, which I also think is quite delicious. I've written previously about the strange power dynamics that are often present in teacher/student relationships, and I think opening a dialogue this way is a beautiful shift. Not only because it invites everyone to participate in the conversation fluidly, but because it addresses the underlying belief many people have about authority and their right to be heard and seen. This is a beautiful space you've created. I'm grateful to be a part of it 🦋💙🖌️
Oh no worries! Seriously!! The whole idea of these Café Sessions is that they are available and open at any time. Life happens, we all live in different time zones and have projects, relationships, other plans etc...
Thank you so much for popping in and throwing your thoughts into this blue space of communal pondering.
You got it! If we want to practice living and being in community, we need to throw out all concepts of hierarchy, top down authority, beliefs in your truth versus mine, and all that jazz. I am so happy see you here, and hear that you enjoy this little ultramarine corner of our substack community. (I'm enjoying your red space too ❤️🔥🍎🍓🎈)
Thanks for this post, Veronika! I love the idea of communal pondering, and I think we're doing a lot of that on Substack right now. And the first picture is stunning!
Plunging in the ponder with a simple practice from my past workshops in colour. I asked people to choose colours they didn't like and use them to make something ugly. No need to say it wasn't a very popular practice. But I found it brings an amazing widening when I genuinely try not to pick what I like but to work (just for that session) with the least likely, and deliberately avoid to make it pretty, or beautiful.
Such a powerful little exercise. And so similar to your practice...
Ohh, thank you Bertus! What an interesting, inspiring idea! I have never thought about doing this (well, painting is not my primary medium ~ yet) but I can totally imagine that it brings out ~ as you say ~ an amazing widening.
We are collectively so focused on working with the good/ beautiful/ positive/ likeable etc. towards perfection, that most people completely miss this rich other resource available to us.
The series I did on colour that has gotten more depth after reading your essays. Total fan of Goethe's take on the colour relations. He knew it was his best work....
I must say, I am quite shaken by how you have linked this all into a whole. Really hope this communal pondering will take an ingoing form...
That's wonderful to hear! I am excited that reading my work is inspiring yours!!
Yes, the idea of these Café Sessions is that they remain open ~ on an ongoing basis ~ where anyone can drop in any time and engage with the communal pondering. In that way it's different from a webinar. The idea came to me when pondering how I could make my work a little more interactive (rather than this one way monologue of 'feeding' readers with a chapter each week.
I'm so glad you are picking up on the essence of this virtual café.
(I am adding the comments in edited and curated form into the café session above, as you can see)
I like very much the Marilyn Nelson quote about poetry, and the whole notion of to "... listen to what it brings out inside of you." The whole idea of bringing forth something precious from within is also reflected in starker terms in The Gospel of Thomas, logon:70 "If you bring forth that which is within you, it will give you life; if you do not bring forth that which is within you, it will kill you".
It points to the whole of life as a process of revealing and unfoldment, and the intriguing thing is that in the same manner as we would never expect a chrysalis to become a butterfly, so also that which is hidden within us, when brought forth, can transform into something so 'gloriously unexpected' that we are left in awe and wonder.
Which brings me to the subject at hand -- a communal café pondering on the subject of Negative Subjective Experiences (NSE's). What if, in similar manner to a gestating Chrysalis becoming a butterfly, so also a gestating NSE becomes something wonderful in our lives, a step on the journey towards fulfilling an unexpectedly wondrous potential?
Such an idea is of course, as noted, counter to the trend in the last few decades of "thinking only postive thoughts" -- which we see now can result in 'toxic positivity'. Delving into NSEs requires courage to go through the emotional pain barrier, requires facing lots of 'dark nights of the soul', and requires a reliable map through the inner jungle. Glad to say that the Synchronosophy Map is at hand, and emerging week by week. 💜
Thank you! Your question "What if..." reminds me of what Rilke said about dragons, “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
I think that is truly the essence of Synchronosophy.
Thanks Veronika for this essay. I like that phrase communal pondering, which speaks to me of quiet deep discussion over Moroccan mint tea.
It reminds me that when I lived in Montreal, before I was married, I had Moroccan friends and we got together often over beautiful glasses of mint tea and talked and argued and laughed. It wasn't communal pondering, but it was camaraderie with old friends.
Somehow we became estranged (not my choice), I do not remember why, over some trifles, I would imagine, but I have the memories of the discussions and the mint tea. It does induce a slower mode of discussion.
And speaking of colours, blue is my favourite, not royal blue, but sky blue, where the birds fly and the falcons and eagles soar.
Sky blue is so very true.
It is my kind of deep hue
To soar where there are so few
If we only knew what is true
How lovely. Yes, drinks and food are such an important part of conviviality and our communal being... thank you for sharing this beautiful memory with your friend over Moroccan mint tea. Moroccan mint is the only mint I grow in my garden too. It's the best for tea and many dishes.
And thank you for sharing a blue poem too!!
It often trips me up at communal gatherings where so many people get bogged down in discussions about ingredients of the food (is it vegan? is it glutenfree? does it have this or that spice in it...) It takes the joy out of the communal pondering and focuses on our differences...
Which brings us right back to our topic of negative subjective experience...
I wonder what all this contemporary food segregation is about...
I too have noticed of late the focus among some people over food. Not only for health purposes. It is indeed a type of segregation where people form identities. It becomes almost religious. I cringe when food becomes a means of separation. Food Apartheid?
This is not how I view food, which is to bring people together.
Totally! Food Apartheid is a great word for it. I mean, allergies are one thing. But to eat (sometimes really crappy processed) vegan food (for example) and get on a high horse about it is quite another. As if we didn't have enough food problems in the world...
It is a way people form identities, and to make other people feel bad about 'lesser food choices'. Following the familiar destructive pattern of anthropocentric supremacy
And breathing makes it all possible! The breath plays an important role in grasping the moment where so much of poetry and beauty live and dwell and have their Being.
Thank you Veronika. I am a fan of Maria Popova’s writing and Krista Tippet’s On Being too. Brilliant doors to the universe. That’s the same way I feel about poetry and I love your quotes. “Poetry consists of words and phrases and sentences that emerge like something coming out of water. They emerge before us, and they call up something in us. “ I feel you do that with your words and how you take them down to their roots and their origins and original meanings. In doing so you open something up inside of me. I would call that poetry and you a poet. Thank you!
My question comes back to consciousness and what part of consciousness we all share. Can you shed some more light (lights) on consciousness. I find when I write poetry something from my unconsciousness speaks loudly enough for it to then become visible again. It’s as if some thing that I forgot has been remembered. It was not new. More so revealed, and uncovered.
Thanks
Jamie
I think you're right. We get so bogged down in thinking of 'poetry' etc. as literary categories. But poetry is really something else "Like something coming out of water," as Marilyn Nelson so beautifully said. That applies to my writing too. Not just the wordcasts. All my writing! Thank you for bringing this to my awareness!
The question about consciousness can only be answered by differentiating between 'small c' and 'Capital C' Consciousness. In Synchronosophy I am writing about Consciousness as the source of everything. We share all of it. It is us and we are it.
When you ask about 'part of consciousness', in synchronosophical language that would be called 'awareness'. Our awareness is continuously moving between light and darkness, the known and the unknown wilderness.
The Noctarine doesn't differentiate between 'conscious' and 'un-' or 'subconscious'. There is only the familiar, bright, awake side of Consciousness on one hand, and the dark wilderness alive with apparently 'dormant' creatures on the other. Both are ultimately connected with the collective oneness. But through the Inner Wilderness this connection appears to be stronger because we haven't yet nailed it all down by what we think we know.
I always understood Spirituality is being aware of being. That hidden awareness or what I called the invisible, becoming visible. I always stumbled over the “unconsciousness” part. I totally resonate with how you put that. That big C consciousness to me represents “spirit” not of a religious sense, but that essence that we all share. Stardust. That part of source that flows through all of us. Can you go deeper on the small c consciousness?
Spirituality as 'being aware of being'. ~ Great definition!
The trouble with the word 'consciousness' is that it is used by different people in very different ways. The concept of 'unconsciousness' was suggested by Freud, I think (or perhaps he called it 'subconsciousness') and picked up by Jung ('collective unconscious'). Before that 'unconscious' was used in medical terminology for when someone fainted or lies in a coma.
People sometimes also say they are 'unconscious' during sleep. In my mind this is absurd. Consciousness is very active during sleep (key word 'dreaming') it's just not in daytime waking mode.
There are also plenty of testimonies of people under anesthesia witnessing their own surgery etc. Which suggests that Consciousness can be experienced by the human mind in different modes. Consciousness itself is not something we can switch on or off.
Which brings us to small 'c' consciousness. This is the term I use for the conventional definition by neuroscience according to which 'consciousness is a phenomenon produced by the brain'.
The way I use big C Consciousness is in alignment with the ancient Vedic science of mind, where 'Consciousness is everything'. Used in this way, Consciousness represents wholeness, which includes essence, of course. Consciousness (used in this way) is not part of the source, IT IS THE SOURCE.
It's all a matter of definition really. (see also chapters 10-12 of Synchronosophy and my wordcasts on the Conscious Clan)
Thank you so much for asking these further questions, Jamie!! These detailed differentiations are essential, if we want to understand who we are and how we function. Please keep asking, if anything is not clear. It's a complex and difficult to grasp topic, and it's entirely possible that I haven't explained it very well.
Wonderful clarity Veronika. I ask as this so called “consciousness” is a most misunderstood term along the lines of “love” and “poetry”. Once we get those three words to “come out of the water” we find ourselves at their intersection. Your writing is contagious and definitely a door to a revealing. Bless you 🙏❤️
Beautifully put.
and thank you so much for a lovely compliment 💖🙏
what baffles me is how intelligent people (I mean neuroscientists, right?) can go on for decades banging on with the same old question: 'how does the brain produce consciousness?' and never get an answer, because 'consciousness is this mystery'.
Don't they know that the right question always leads to an answer?
They should read more Rilke!
Or it leads to another question lol! Science needs to read more poetry indeed. We can never trade mystery for mastery. Maybe the brain is just a big antenna? Maybe it just picks up the signals of source? Better yet -maybe it’s sending them out.
Sometimes the meaning of the word gets lost, and with it that meaning and understanding. We forget, and move in circles. Looking outside for what’s always existed inside. Far more than historians we need synchronosophologists! 🫵🏻❤️
This can only be entered into through the human heart. The brain is through the senses whereas the heart connects to the universe. Emotions are still part of the brain whereas the heart generates feelings. Our breath changes when we view or read living art forms-it begins the process of opening up the heart which connects to the infinite where Cosmic Consciousness is Self-realized.
Elizabeth! Indeed 🙏❤️ It is “cuoreosity”- the heArt of being. Thanks so much 💗
So little said yet so much revealed!!
HeArtfulness 💗
PS. I never knew you did that interview! I’ll dive into that this morning as well.
hope you enjoy it. That's why I mentioned it here. I wasn't sure how much it had reached 'my substack'...
What an energizing cup of tea! I thoroughly enjoyed this engagement and was especially happy to hear @bertus in the conversation. As soon as those ultramarine hues hit my eye, I thought of his own deep explorations of color and loved hearing how he’s encouraged students to “paint something ugly.” This idea thrills me and even more so, the possibilities that lay dormant within it.
I also just read a thought-provoking essay this morning by @sarahfayauthor where she explores the nuanced importance of silence in conversation. We are so conditioned to exercise the talking part of communication but true to the Symbiocene system, of course, the spaciousness around conversation is just as powerful and intimate as the words. I loved thinking about this as I read about your “communal pondering” and listened to (and between) the dialog shared thereafter.
Yes, me too! Bertus was the first to drop in this morning. A delightful start to our communal pondering. I also remembered his recent ultramarine explorations when preparing this café session.
And thank you for picking up on the silence (mentioned by Marilyn Nelson too). That is, as you say what provides the spaciousness, space for the all important breath, as Elizabeth points out. Silence is such a fascinating topic in itself. I haven't read Sarah's essay yet but it's a verbiont I am dancing with at the moment myself.
Hi Veronika! I wish I could've stopped by on Saturday, but alas, life had other ideas for me. Anyway, I love this exploration... so many things came through me!
First the color, the Lapis Lazuli. I have a piece of it resting on my desk that is so striking. I'm a huge fan of Maria Popova, but hadn't read that piece... thank you for sharing! This part "we love to contemplate blue — not because it advances to us, but because it draws us after it." feels especially worthy of pondering.
Which brings me to the idea of communal pondering, which I also think is quite delicious. I've written previously about the strange power dynamics that are often present in teacher/student relationships, and I think opening a dialogue this way is a beautiful shift. Not only because it invites everyone to participate in the conversation fluidly, but because it addresses the underlying belief many people have about authority and their right to be heard and seen. This is a beautiful space you've created. I'm grateful to be a part of it 🦋💙🖌️
Oh no worries! Seriously!! The whole idea of these Café Sessions is that they are available and open at any time. Life happens, we all live in different time zones and have projects, relationships, other plans etc...
Thank you so much for popping in and throwing your thoughts into this blue space of communal pondering.
You got it! If we want to practice living and being in community, we need to throw out all concepts of hierarchy, top down authority, beliefs in your truth versus mine, and all that jazz. I am so happy see you here, and hear that you enjoy this little ultramarine corner of our substack community. (I'm enjoying your red space too ❤️🔥🍎🍓🎈)
Yes yes yes!!! How synchronous ;)
I am laughing because I'm meeting with a friend today to embark on a new creative project and we'll be talking all about colors.
Thanks for this post, Veronika! I love the idea of communal pondering, and I think we're doing a lot of that on Substack right now. And the first picture is stunning!
Absolutely. Substack is an amazing space and opportunity for communal pondering.
Plunging in the ponder with a simple practice from my past workshops in colour. I asked people to choose colours they didn't like and use them to make something ugly. No need to say it wasn't a very popular practice. But I found it brings an amazing widening when I genuinely try not to pick what I like but to work (just for that session) with the least likely, and deliberately avoid to make it pretty, or beautiful.
Such a powerful little exercise. And so similar to your practice...
Ohh, thank you Bertus! What an interesting, inspiring idea! I have never thought about doing this (well, painting is not my primary medium ~ yet) but I can totally imagine that it brings out ~ as you say ~ an amazing widening.
We are collectively so focused on working with the good/ beautiful/ positive/ likeable etc. towards perfection, that most people completely miss this rich other resource available to us.
I must try this some time.
So many wonderful similarities in our themes...
The series I did on colour that has gotten more depth after reading your essays. Total fan of Goethe's take on the colour relations. He knew it was his best work....
I must say, I am quite shaken by how you have linked this all into a whole. Really hope this communal pondering will take an ingoing form...
That's wonderful to hear! I am excited that reading my work is inspiring yours!!
Yes, the idea of these Café Sessions is that they remain open ~ on an ongoing basis ~ where anyone can drop in any time and engage with the communal pondering. In that way it's different from a webinar. The idea came to me when pondering how I could make my work a little more interactive (rather than this one way monologue of 'feeding' readers with a chapter each week.
I'm so glad you are picking up on the essence of this virtual café.
(I am adding the comments in edited and curated form into the café session above, as you can see)
Ongoing form (not ingoing)