What does the programme include?

K’s teachings were not intended as a mere system of ideas or as an esoteric import from the East but as a mirror of the truth that each of us must find out for him/herself. That mirroring of ourselves will be the central purpose of our study, the core intent being to see and understand ourselves as we actually are and thereby learn to take full responsibility for our lives and relationships.

K did not intend his teachings to be taken on authority but to be questioned and tested in the field of daily life. This course is therefore proposed as an inquiry into the actuality, challenges and fundamental questions that we face as human beings, from our relationship to society and its values to the nature of consciousness, from our egocentric ways to the meaning of cooperation and love, from the worldly struggles to become to the sacred ground of being.

The scope and depth of our inquiry is reflected in the course content. Each chapter consists of a set of texts relative to the topic under study. These texts are then summarised in a series of Power Point slides. Audio-visual references pertinent to the theme are also provided. All this material has been carefully selected to be as inclusive as possible, i.e., covering the core elements as well as the wider scope and subtler aspects of the subject. As aids to reflection, in some chapters a list of questions is also included. Each chapter comes with a pre-recorded presentation giving an overview of the topic. This new format is intended to provide greater flexibility in terms of the schedule so you can follow the course at your own pace. However, since communicating together about these things is also a vital aspect of our endeavour, this component of self-study will be complemented with a series of online live sessions in which we can raise questions, share perceptions and engage in dialogue. All the reading material, the presentations and the dialogues will be in English.   

As a practical aid to self-study, it is proposed that the participants keep a notebook to establish for themselves a direct correspondence between the themes being discussed and their manifestation in their lives. It is recommended that such journaling be used, more directly, to reflect the uncensored stream of thought-feeling. The participants are also invited to actively engage in exploring meditation along the lines K suggested to the teachers and students in his schools. This essentially consists in the application of choiceless awareness to sensory perceptions and the stream of consciousness. Texts reflecting K’s proposals regarding these two aids to self-knowledge are included in the first chapter of the course.

Thus study, self-reflection, dialogue and meditation are the four key factors in this joint venture into the heart and scope of our human existence and its needful transformation.