Art Ticknor's "Paean to Group Work"; Can you dig it? Philosophy / Spirituality

Tonight's meeting is on Art Ticknor's poem called "Paean to Group Work" which was recommended by one of the members of the group. I feel Art must have penned this poem post his awakening in gratitude for the benefit of all his dedicated efforts working with groups via self inquiry and many other ways too in just being a friend when others needed that perhaps.

Here is a link to the Tat forum, a real treasure trove of information for the curious seeker (You can browse a pretty extensive archive on the forum), which shows Art's poem that we will be discussing on the night: TAT Forum - Spiritual Magazine | featuring Dan Garmat, Gary Harmon

I won't present my usual battery of questions, especially when we are discussing a poem, it feels wrong to do that. I will basically ask you on the night about the feelings that the poem conjures up in you and what you make of it.

Some notes taken from Wednesday 20's meeting:

- Can being open to all spiritual modalities be good in that it could keep "hope" alive for the seeker?

- Would a seeker gain better hope if he found a "definite" system that works?

- Is yoga useful to get out of your head and into your body, thereby gaining a more objective view of the mind and thoughts?

- How do you know that you are "speaking from the heart"?

- When you cease being attracted to the pleasures you had of years gone by, for example, competitive sport, movies etc, what is it in us that grieves their passing? Is it a sign we are becoming a social misfit or is it a sign of spiritual growth?

- Does a man really need to integrate his feminine energy and masculine energies? Are they even real concepts? Are men in this modern culture pressured by society forcing us to become more and more effeminate?

- How can a man own his masculine energy and stop trying to suppress it? How can he love, honor and wholly respect his masculinity?

- Are body and mind in different dimensions? How can immaterial coexist with material?

- How do we become vulnerable and become strong versus becoming vulnerable and becoming weak?

Thanks out to Wiki Commons for the event cover and to Art Ticknor for the event's material.

Check out the "What we are about" section in the groups' main page for some guidelines we work to adhere to. Meetings are run on the popular Zoom platform. Please contemplate the topic in advance of the meeting to get the best out of it and bring your views and convictions to the meeting, if possible have a pen and paper close by to record anything useful that may come up that you resonate with on the night, little things you may want to contemplate further.