my own answers (and disclaimer: i have not listened to the conversation between martin and steven.)

• Can we step out of the security of what we already know to discover something more vital and alive?

the question itself points to something i don't know. what's that about? there is great energy in this inquiry.

• How do we move beyond self-created boundaries?

given that the boundaries aren't real, there's really not a problem here. sometimes we move in patterns, sometimes we don't. when we notice this, the boundaries have slightly less solidity, perhaps.

• Can we really address the problems in our lives by separating from our lives in retreats and workshops?

an inflammatory question. (maybe they all are, by design!)
seems obvious that whatever is accomplished in "special" circumstances has questionable merit in "normal" circumstances. apples and oranges.....yet change occurs. this seems dependent on forces way beyond the slice the brain is capable of seeing (ok, my brain, anyway.) meanwhile, looking for cures is absurd, while looking for sedatives is the default.

• Why are we all hiding from each other? What would happen if we actually showed up as we were? Can we reveal our true intentions and our real selves to others?

we're afraid.....individually and en masse. what we're afraid of is an interesting source of energy in itself. so, we show up to the extent we're able. the only way to reveal our "true" selves is to give up everything we know we are. (we're apparently fluid; the known is not.)

• Why the idea that "I create the world" so popular?

because it gives the illusion of control.

• Is our insight also a burden?

hmmm...this one surprises me. i think of insight as a kind of navigation.....but there are elements of colonizing here too. insight almost always expresses itself in linear, preconceived terms. yet it points to energy we obviously make contact with.....

• How can we open to what is next?

it's not just about opening to the now, from what i see, cuz that's more passive that what happens. my best metaphor at the moment is "call and response". we emit signals, we get signals back, the energy moves. and yet....the energy can go into maintaining grooves and structures, or it can mushroom beyond those into something unexpected. how much of maintenance is voluntary is open to question.....and there's a certain kind of art to finding out, which cannot be expressed verbally, but IS expressed in group dynamics. sometimes.

hey charles, thanks for putting yourself into this. i'll answer the 2nd one first.

>I sense a feeling of discontent. What's the matter with the person that's reading this post right now? And, please, don't interpret this is being personal.<

ok....let's back up from defining what you're picking up as "discontent." that's not an inaccurate word, but from a non-personal perspective, it's just that inner push to stir the pot and see what's up. if i poke here, what happens? this energy seeks expression.

>I get the sense you want this Steven Harrison thing to be better for you, that you need more stimulus, that you want the group to get bigger and more diverse, that you want it to be your personalized warp engine. <

probably something to this, at least in terms of stimulus. that may be a response to coming home to the country after a very rich, invigorating trip, and wanting to keep in contact with the energy. obviously, that energy is here or there, and anywhere, but being with people who are committed to exploring it, AS energy.... is pretty provocative. so, as we're here, what's underneath this tribe story?

i'm not all that concerned with tribe vaporizing, myself. there was a time when it was my interface with the larger world; that particular idea has gotten over itself. :-)

so yeah, doing nothing is about not arguing with what is, that part's fine. but doing nothing is not where it ends, either, as i grok you grok.

so here, now, i'm not being quiet and still.

hey, lori! here afterall!

i appreciate your response. this one struck me:

>* Why is the idea that "I create the world" so popular?

>Because people feel so incredibly out of control of their lives and a sense of control is fundamental to mental health. <

is it really? i mean, sure seems to be....but i think the control thing is needed primarily in terms of physical survival: having food available, etc, while a LOT of seemingly necessary control is for the survival of the psychological self.

but, so long as we're identified with what we think of as "our mental health"....there's the story again, dictating all kinds of "necessities".

it's a helluva a thing to consider, that mental health will disappear if we loosen control. yet WE aren't stable, we flow....so it seems contradictory. how much creative juice gets squandered feeding that one?

thanks for bringing this up.

Sulevay >> interaction here is inevitably mental....tho paradoxically, i notice that action can and has come out of it that transcends the form.

Guilty as charged. Makes me kind of sad really, but all I have here are words. :(

>any 'it', actually. and if post history be indicator, you are.<

so, nothing matters. if that's good enough for you, no problem.

what does it mean to you, that i'm pretending? seems an odd assertion, if energy is just on the move.....

does something matter to you afterall?