Welcome to the Consciousness Café

April and David’s challenge…

To address deep subjects in a way that’s meaningful yet light; to encourage intelligent banter while being respectful of others’ opinions and beliefs; to present a variety of topics without getting bogged down with researching material or finding experts. But mostly, to facilitate a fun and engaging evening!

***************Welcome to the Consciousness Café!******************

We borrow a tradition that dates to the 17th century and has been revived in late 20th century Europe as “Café Philosophique”.

Your challenge…
Read this brief article on the concept:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafe_Philosophique
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If you are intrigued, please join us for an evening of lively discussion, and positive debate. Our format (subject to debate of course) will be something like this:

•••• Pick a topic. Everything is fair game - The God Spot (in the brain), Intentions (experiments), Meditation Techniques, Spiral Dynamics, Chaos theory, Fractals, Evo-Devo, Non-dualism, etc.

•••• April or David will present a brief overview (say 10 to 20 minutes) of some aspect of the topic. Presentations will be decidedly low tech!

•••• April and David may have a few “seed” questions to stimulate discussion, but the general flow will be: what does it mean, how is it currently manifest in the world, how can I incorporate this knowledge into my life?

•••• Discussions will be limited to about an hour, then we move on to the next topic - we can always revisit popular topics in future meetups.

Please note... this group is growing in leaps, so we have adopted a "no solicitation policy". We ask that you please respect the intent of this group to find one's true self in a way that is free from advertising (including mass emails to the members of this group).

AT OUR NEXT MEETUP

- David will present
---Altered and Various States of Consciousness---
If you would like to read ahead of time, and spark your creativity. Here are a few recent articles published in New Science Magazine.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427291.200-look-i...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427291.000-are-yo...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427291.100-out-of...

Seed questions to ponder:
- What alternative states of consciousness have you experienced? (shamanic, meditative, holosync, etc.)?
- How do you access these mind states (meditation, music, hobbies/work)?
- What is the roll of ASCs to the human mind/soul...?
- Any profound experiences or stories as a result of ASCs?

Looking forward to the discussions!

Bios:
David has a PhD in applied maths and lives in Charlotte with his wife and two children. He has had a long time interest in indigenous cultures and the life sciences. He’s been in IT for 15 years and the high tech industry for 24 years.

April has a Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and lives in Mooresville with her husband, and a daughter attending Michigan State University. She has had a passion for understanding and incorporating consciousness studies with technology and science for 2 decades.

A little about the new logo...

By M. C. Escher, titled "Print Gallery" 1956, Escher uses the center of the image as a focal point around which he creates a circular unfolding that magnifies the image as it comes around clockwise to the point nearest the observer, the young man on the left. He is looking at a print on the wall that includes the ship, water, houses, and eventually the roof that covers the gallery itself, under which he is observing the print. Thus, image and reality merge. Check out a very clever video version of how this is explained.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6092944342155680...