The “Other” Unthought: Quantum Implications in Jazz for an Interconnective Humanistic Resonance Theory (original) (raw)

Living in the Moment, The Jazz of Life: An Eternal Question

Jazz has a unique character and history that finds analogy in matters of life and death. Its spontaneous and courageous aspect provides compelling models for leadership and social creativity and has a procreative capacity that imitates the eternal cycles of birth and extinction. Jazz’s transformative quality allows reinvention and reinterpretation of old and new forms and can inspire the creation of shared convictions. Its ebb and flow through mentors and griots is a model for preservation and sustainability. Yet, jazz’s emphasis on the moment recalls the brevity of life, the importance of living life to its fullest and the inevitability and finality of death. Deeply embedded in its philosophy and culture, are the historical lessons for transforming adversity into freedom and joy, and for discovering a synchronistic rhythm that makes meaning of “man’s inhumanity to man.” The Buddhist principles of non-violence, dialogue and compassion are the foundations of jazz and form the basis of human life’s highest integrity.

Toward a Peaceful and Creative Coexistence through Empathic Recognition of Our Inner Universality

http://peacestudiesjournal.org/volume-8-issue-2-december-2015/ Our world is facing unprecedented conflicts in cultures of violence. Largely drawing on Daisaku Ikeda’s work as a starting point, this inquiry stresses the recognition of our inner universality, a mutually creative coexistence shared with the universe that can reawaken our inherent symbiotic, altruistic motivations as the next step in establishing the peaceful coexistence of human beings. Whether or not we are aware of it, these symbiotic, altruistic motivations constantly renew themselves as we strive to nurture and elevate our empathic potentials, simultaneously deepening the inherent humanity that defines our human integrity. Social interactions that form the basis of this deepened integrity spring forth independent of ideology, interactions that are the antithesis of war. Throughout history and time war has been the response to a set of ideological differences where the present is continuously sacrificed to some utopian non-existent future. Five conceptual alternatives to the political and economic ideologies heretofore sustaining war are proposed, alternatives that embody the spirit of inner universality, along with contemporary applications in practice. Supporting the premise that dialogue enriches new understandings of inner universality, I conclude by offering the dimensions of a new dialogue.

A Path Towards Wholeness: Identifying the Experiences of Clinicians Who Practice Psychotherapy and Nichiren Buddhism

This research studies the experiences of clinicians who practice Psychotherapy and Nichiren Buddhism. Five people were selected from four countries, New Zealand, England, America and Japan. The study seeks to understand some aspects of where both practices overlap and what they say about transforming human suffering. The study utilised the hermeneutic phenomenology. This methodology is underpinned by philosophies which are the most suitable for exploring and interpreting the clinicians’ lived experiences. The study has revealed three central themes: Compassion for oneself – being true to oneself, a determined effort to help others, and a wholehearted commitment to life. These themes describe an inner transformation of the self as the starting point of transformation in the environment. The study discusses the participants’ process of engaging with inner conflict and cultivating compassion. The participants’ experiences suggest that our vulnerability is not seen as an obstacle against compassion, but rather as an opening into compassion and wisdom. The study explores how our individual inner transformation can make a positive impact on our immediate environment and society.

Death: Stepping Outside the Traditional Frameworks and Limitations

Humanity is on the threshold of recognizing the fundamental error in its view of life and death. Both death as well as active life is necessary to the vital formation of a larger, more essential whole. In this paper, I apply the sociology of knowledge and change as it pertains to death and focus on ways in which we can step outside its traditional frameworks and limitations. I also discuss topics related to death such as birth, aging, sickness, and war, and examine cultural differences in attitudes toward death. I offer varying perspectives including the Buddhist view and from these draw implications and conclusions. I apply the lenses of contemporary social scientists such as Edgar Morin, Kenneth Gergen, Edward Stewart, Milton Bennett, Mary Catherine Bateson, E. Doyle McCarthy, Philip Slater, and Piotr Sztompka. To these I add other relevant passages from the writings and speeches of key thinkers on the topic of death, in particular, Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, and educator, Daisaku Ikeda. To construct a more humanistic and sustainable view of life, it is first of all crucial to establish a culture which perceives death in its larger living context as but one cycle in the expansive eternity of life.

Reflections on My Dissertation, My Life, and Our Readings

This paper begins with a summary of my dissertation topic as currently envisioned: a comparison of three theoretical frameworks (Nichiren Buddhism, neuroscience, and archetypal cosmology / depth psychology) from the standpoint of their efficacy in elucidating and supporting the possibility of inner-motivated, self-directed, personal transformation, understood as a creator of social change. Course readings (by Bateson, Bernstein, Gergen, Morin, Slater, Stewart and Bennett, and Sztompka) and a video (by Curtis) are discussed and compared, and their usefulness in helping me perceive and assess my own, socially-created approach to my dissertation, and to my life, is considered. Keywords: Buddhism, social construction, pragmatism, pragmatic fallibilism, feminism, social transformation.

Chanting Buddhas: Ritual and language in a lay Nichiren Buddhist organisation

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of members of one West London district of the Nichiren Buddhist organisation called Soka Gakkai International (SGI). I focus my research on the practice of chanting daimoku and gongyo, a daily ritual of reciting the title and excerpts from the Lotus Sūtra, the core text of Nichiren and other Mahayana Buddhist traditions. The efficacy of this ritual, and how its effects are experienced by SGI members, is explored from several interrelated vantage-points, notably: the role of intention, the language of the practice, the relationships engendered through chanting between SGI members and the rest of the organisation, and their own self-perceptions and empowerment. Through this investigation, I argue that the efficacy of the practice is experienced consistently as success through a collectively self-fulfilling process of adapting either the wish or the attitude of the practitioner, through a positive reconceptualisation of “failure” as further “challenge” for self-development. This thesis also explores the authority of the text of the Sūtra itself, which is realised through the vocal ritual, and it illustrates how knowledge is supplemented by the other textual materials of the writings of founder Nichiren Daishonin and SGI President Daisaku Ikeda.

On the Path of the Buddha: A Psychologists' Guide to the History of Buddhism

The first chapter, authored by the three editors, On the Path of the Buddha: A Psychologists' Guide to the History of Buddhism is a brief history of Buddhism and psychology. It takes a sweeping, broad-brush approach to the extremely complex subject of Buddhism’s history, emphasizing the growth of theories with shared commonalities between the two disciplines. The chapter presents Buddhist doctrine, practice, and a short review of the most well known Buddhist systems including Theravada and Mahayana, and Vipassana, Tibetan, Zen, and Nichiren. Practices such as mindfulness meditation, Tara Ropka therapy and chanting are also reviewed. Finally, an analysis of Buddhism as it is practiced in the West today is presented, with its implications for psychological praxis.

Hierarchies of Actualization and Mission Driven Creativity

This paper begins by examining domination as something human beings have “inherited" through recursive processes that can potentially be altered through creation and implementation of new myths. Applying Riane Eisler's model of "hierarchies of actualization" to the concept of egalitarian mentorship and mutual empowerment (based on giving and caring), there follows a discussion on how when such ethical considerations are present, creativity flourishes as do conviction and human capacity. Driven by a heightened sense of mission toward the happiness of humanity as taught by exemplary mentors, human beings become more capable of inspiring and enhancing their own lives and those of others. Exploring the partnership template in my own daily life, I conclude with how I see myself modeling partnership in the future. Examining my own lived-embodied experience and how it has brought me to value life as well as discover in music and my voice a powerful vehicle for delivering my message, I propose to contribute to an evolutionary consciousness that can ultimately transform myths of fear and domination to myths of life and partnership.