This post is in response to Jelena Soljaga’s request for a link to OSHO.  I find her blog intriguing.

When Khrishnamurti was asked,  “What is thinking?”  He said that he did not know.   But what he was trying to edge towards is that thinking is at once a victim of societies structures and (as well) at the same time ‘possible of transmutation’ so that it (our thinking) may become free of those structures, while remaining able to respond to those structures.    Thinking can become free of restriction and yet, still able to work with and work within those structures.  I believe Rollo May was getting at this idea too.

Money is one of the outward manifestations of societies structures.  Time is another of those structures, and both OSHO and Khrishnamurti say that as concepts they are loaded.   When they use the word ‘loaded’ what they mean is that the words have become so laden down with manipulated meanings, that they almost can’t be interpreted at all.  The words themselves have come to represent societal burden.  No-one seems to be able to get enough of either time or money and yet we are living in an overly abundant society for some.  It seems the ones with the most of it want all the more of it.  How often have you heard these very same people travel through poorer quarters saying, “Oh my gosh! They have such acceptance!”

The Confusing Paradox of Time and Money

OSHO says, “Money is a loaded subject for the simple reason that we have not been able to work out a sane system in which money can be a servant to the whole humanity, and not the master of a few greedy people.”

I think that this is the main reason why the work of Mainwaring  in We First is so important. (2012)

His conceptual argument is important because the book  is an example of thinking outside the square.  Mainwaring recognises that of their own volition people are not able to give up the notion of “mine”.  Whereas deep down all who have plenty share a collective guilt, which has until now been almost impossible to absolve.  Finding a structural way to  rectify the problem has been too huge.

Now that there is a possibility of collective intelligence brought about by the Internet, there comes with it a way of establishing shared and collective responsibility as well.

In the book Global Citizens Creative Art Text,  I have worked at showing how to introduce the idea of Mindsight through the empathetic application of teaching methods in the Creative Arts.  This is also a way of not only talking about thinking, and thinking about thinking (metacognition) but also applies this process of ‘thinking about thinking about’ in a way that can be understood by children.  The text seeks to scaffold this way of thinking about the world so that it becomes natural.

Throughout the book I ask the children to think about the nature of time. They look at mastery experiences, and as they master creative practices they reflect on time and practice issues .  It is hoped that they come to realise that all things are hard at first and thus time consuming.   Once mastered they become easier and less time intense that time is really about FLOW.  Later we will discuss this as an existential concept.  What we are hoping to achieve is to create an awareness that time has value.  Like the environment it is so precious that it cannot be equated with money.  This way of thinking is hard for adult but not so hard for children.

When Khrishnamurti first began to express this kind of thinking, it was quite revolutionary.  When OSHO first began to speak of Money as a Loaded Concept and other ways of thinking about societal structures, he was banned and canned!  And yet this type of thinking is what now empowers  Socially Entrepreneurial  Ventures and  …Sustainable Practices, which are now becoming popular if not compulsory. (Many would hope)

Tomorrow I will look further at the way Rollo May has approached thinking about this problem by analysing the great work The Great Gatsby.

Resources:  

• Mainwaring,S. (2012) We First. Kindle Ed.
• Murphy,J. (2013) Global Citizens Creative Art Text.  Insights and Activities. Kindle Ed.