Unclog the Blog

This weblog has been running for about three months (see archives on right) and after a slow start it has gained in popularity - currently it gets about 100 visits a week and 500 page views. About a dozen people have summoned up the courage to contribute, and have overcome the technical challenges of blogging. But just think how much more interesting it would be if we could involve more people. It's all very well me banging on about my pet theories, but there are plenty of other points of view out there. One of the most pleasing things to see is the recent posts from Laura and Geedash, and the lengthy submissions from Son of Moses, Mumukshu and the ever-charming Anonymous.

One of the issues that the School has to face at the moment is its inability to talk to itself except in official 'meetings'. This has the effect of legitimizing those official meetings, and what is said in them, while outlawing points of view that are not expressed in them. The 'outlaw' thoughts don't go away, but they become a source of guilt and concern, instead of what they could be - the germs of the future of the School.

There is an idea that somewhere the decisions about the future of the School are being made, but it's not so. There is no smoke-filled room where these matters are debated on our behalf.

Should we be concerned about this? No. We are waking up to a different possibility, which is that we are all adults, and that we can decide together about the future of the School. Nobody is going to do it for us. We do not need permission: it is a duty of every one of us to consider these questions, hold them up to the light of reason, and come to a view on the way forward. The best way to do this is to speak to each other, using all the means at our disposal.

We are not without guidance, and not without strength. His Holiness has given us enough advice for the 21st Century, we just need to listen to him without our old-School prejudices. He did not tell us to use force or harsh criticism, but the opposite. He did not tell us to crush the ahankaras of the students, but to encourage them with "tender advice, showers of love, and sometimes a little hard discipline." There is nothing there to be ashamed about - it's common sense, mostly. So far as discipline goes, we have a really good basis for spiritual work. We should stop worrying about it, and decide what is the next needful step.

To help with this, please can you think about who among your friends would like to blog. Send them an email, or better yet give them a call. This is not about washing the School's dirty linen in public (there is a place for that, if you want to do it), but about a constructive dialogue. It's a sign of health to be able to talk, converse, hold a dialogue, entertain different points of view. So far as I can tell, this is what our present leadership would like to happen, though there seems to be uncertainty about how to get there. Maybe this conversation could be a starting point.

We need to invite others to take part. The more of us there are, the healthier the dialogue.