JOH 10/31

So, so ...

I missed the session and it felt quite weird, felt as though I slipped waaaay behind. The class discussions regarding these twisters REALLY helps me sink root. Anyways, the slides were good to review and I am hoping to riff a tad about one statement found in the reading and the slide:

"It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being which determines their consciousness." (37)

Reading and considering this quote, initially, feels like a case of the absent center - I'm not quite sure where the front is, where the door is, but I'd like to climb inside. I admit that I have been one to feel as though my consciousness drives my experience or being - that I am living from the INSIDEOUT. I like that comfy place, however now this Marx character is trying to flip the switch on me, tell me that I am a product of my social circumstances. I definitely dig taking another look at the situation - we shall see.

I see two schools in this expression:

One believes that out of thought comes reality/perception/material substance. At this school, my perspective, where I focus the heat of my concentration, decides the life I will experience. If I believe that I will be financially successful, for instance, and I focus my intentions, my life's work, my imagination, my muscle, mponderinges, my intelligence, etc., on said goal, I will ultimately experience what would be called "financial success". At this school, I will get what I truly ask and work for. Period.

The other school states that my present circumstanceses constitute the soil from which my life will be cultivated. If I am on welfare as a child, having to receive food stamps, government checks, and free lunch at my public school, I am programmed to perpetuate this level of consciousness, regardless of my desire or intention to change my economic standing. I will grow infirm vegetationon, I will not blossom, I will not produce, I will not be abundant.

The swing in this consideration is the idea of consciousness. On one hand, I'd like to believe that I have the power to create that which I desire albeitit through hard work and great focus. In this situation, my consciousness is independent of my existing circumstances, as I have the power to focus on and alter my known reality. On the other hand, it could be somewhat easy to see principles of energy at work in the premise that the existence of one's consciousness within an economic reality of lack creates momentum that is destined to continue, until some greater energy interrupts its progress.

Riffing is good - sometimes rich in nutrient goodness, other times high fructose emptiness. Either way, it's time well spent.

See you when we see you ~