Rebooting Your True Self

▼    ❑    Rebooting Your True Self

    •    ❑    Exploring Spirituality and Identity in the Digital Age

    •    ❑   

    •    ❑    Sunday, August 16, 2009

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    You gave us every gift

    ▼    ❑    Human

    •    ❑    Know you better

    •    ❑    Come closer to brothers and sisters

    •    ❑    See the ways our creative energies can engage the energies of our life in create ways

    •    ❑    Open our eyes to the ways our lives can connect to you and connect to each other

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Reboot

    •    ❑    Something you do when your computer is not working

    ▼    ❑    There are things in our lives

    •    ❑    our prayer llves

    •    ❑    our ability to use computers

    •    ❑    our interpersonal relationships

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Look at a variety of different subjects

    •    ❑    Hopefully restart those parts of your life

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Hope we leave with better understanding of how we use technology

    •    ❑    Not going to say technology is bad

    •    ❑    Not going to praise technology either

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Resources

    •    ❑    danhoran.com—reboot

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Links

    •    ❑    BustedHalo.com

    ▼    ❑    Resources page

    ▼    ❑    Bibliography.com

    •    ❑    Amazing list of books

    •    ❑    See which ones are available on books.google.com

    •    ❑    Send email:  danhoran

    ▼    ❑    Questions page, too

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Program for the day

    •    ❑    Overview

    •    ❑    What does technology have to do with spirituality

    •    ❑    Short break

    •    ❑    Thomas Merton, the True Self, and the Digital Self

    •    ❑    Closing and Discussion

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    We see them at

    ▼    ❑    They are the men and women who's ears are glued to their iPhone, or their

    •    ❑    New technologies allow people to connect in new ways

    ▼    ❑    New spirituality sites emerge almost daily

    •    ❑    To help them, reboot their spiritual lives

    •    ❑    Many commuters download files to listen

    •    ❑    Technology both gives and takes away

    ▼    ❑    Still much to be concerned about when they

    •    ❑    Spiritual masters have counseled need to connect with God in solitude

    ▼    ❑    Without silence, it becomes increasingly difficult to carve out time to

    •    ❑    Listen to one's one thoughts

    •    ❑    And to God

    •    ❑    To connect with God, sometimes necessary to disconnect

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Technology

    ▼    ❑    Any tool that makes the human more creative?

    ▼    ❑    An exercise in human creativity, can be anything

    •    ❑    Example:  first hammer was a new technology

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    The technologies we create, make us into different people

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Spirituality:  What is spirituality?

    •    ❑    Search

    •    ❑    Question

    ▼    ❑    How matters of ultimate concern find expression in our lives

    •    ❑    As Christians, scripture forms foundation in our spirituality

    ▼    ❑    Spirituality also has something to do with our prayer lives

    ▼    ❑    Going inward to go outward

    ▼    ❑    Eg. Ignatiion spirituality

    •    ❑    Franciscan spirituality

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    How do spirituality and technology interact?

    ▼    ❑    Some recent studies suggest that boundaries are not as clear cut as we thought

    •    ❑    Breakdown of boundaries, example historically, between our home life, and family life

    ▼    ❑    Boundaries between technologies and spirituality changing

    •    ❑    Looking at tool or God

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Positive and negative sides of technology

    ▼    ❑    Charity in Truth, July 2009

    •    ❑    40th anniversary of Pope

    ▼    ❑    Charity in Truth the principle driving force between every human being and their development

    ▼    ❑    Six chapters

    •    ❑    Pope Paul

    •    ❑    What does it mean to be human today

    •    ❑    Human interaction

    •    ❑    How do we create society that is right and fair

    •    ❑    Cooperation of human family

    ▼    ❑    Last chapter:  The development of peoples and technology

    ▼    ❑    Pope:  To exercise dominian over matter

    ▼    ❑    Improves human labor

    ▼    ❑    Technology is never merely technology

    ▼    ❑    Tendency to think of cellphones, computers, as tools and nothing more

    •    ❑    Pope reminds us this is NEVER the case

    ▼    ❑    Actions always remain human

    ▼    ❑    Technology is attractive because it broadens us beyond our physical limitations

    •    ❑    Just because something is electronic or new, or faster, doesn't mean that it doesn't have something to do with who we are, our spirituality, our prayer life

    •    ❑    The tools that we fashion, fashion us as well

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Four examples

    •    ❑    If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, should he just visit it's web site?

    ▼    ❑    1.  Community

    ▼    ❑    How does this affect the way we build and support faith communities?

    •    ❑    If you can connect to an online version of St. Anthony's Shrine, is it the same as being here today?

    ▼    ❑    2.  Velocity

    •    ❑    Does our need to get onto the next thing affect our patience?

    ▼    ❑    3.  Connectivity

    ▼    ❑    Are they binding us together as a community or are they providing escape for our feer of being alone and with God?

    •    ❑    Distance ourselves from God?

    ▼    ❑    4.  Freedom

    •    ❑    Technology can be a labor saving tool, find more free time in an ideal world, perhaps.

    •    ❑    Does all of this stuff liberate us, or do we become prisoners of our obsessions?

    •    ❑   

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Vatican says Amen to iTunes prayer book

    ▼    ❑    Vatican embracing the iBrevery?

    •    ❑    Application includes the breavry

    •    ❑    Pray seven times per day

    •    ❑    The church is learning to use new technologies, primarily as a way of evangelizing.  Pope who BXVI

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    There is a teenager in California who developed a prayer app

    ▼    ❑    Fair Oaks teen

    •    ❑    For years, people have

    ▼    ❑    A note to God, let's iPhone users send notes into cyberspace, and others can read

    •    ❑    Came up with idea, lying in bed, feeling lonely (confirm?)

    •    ❑    Users can read prayers and click on a thumbs UP sign

    •    ❑   

    •    ❑    BW:  There is also another site that invites user to Pay others to pray for them

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Catholic response:  A high tech way to correspond to the divine

    •    ❑    Prayer is directed to God

    •    ❑    If the motive is to be seen by others, be careful

    •    ❑   

    •    ❑    BW:  Attention seeking disorder vs attention

    ▼    ❑    Technological spirituality

    ▼    ❑    One of the people cautioning the most

    ▼    ❑    Eric Schmidt:  2009 commencement speaker, U Penn May 2009

    •    ❑    Urged people to step away from the connected world

    •    ❑    Find what is most important to them by stepping away from digital world

    ▼    ❑    Cannot find God if we are distracted all of the time,

    •    ❑    Like Eric from Google says, we must disconnect to reconnect to God and one another

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    If things come too easily, not worthwhile?

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Born Digital, great new book

    •    ❑    Written by Harvard Professor, John Palfrey

    ▼    ❑    They divide everyone alive into two groups

    ▼    ❑    Digital natives (roughly same as "Milennial Generation" 1982-2002)

    •    ❑    Generation Net, or Generation Y

    ▼    ❑    Digital immigrants

    ▼    ❑    Everybody else

    •    ❑    Steep learning curve

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Digital Natives

    •    ❑    Hard to disconnect

    •    ❑    Cannot look inward or upward

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Digital immigrants

    •    ❑    Obsessive users can be subject to same influences of Digital Natives

    •    ❑    So disconnected with online world, cannot see advantages

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Awareness of how we are being affected?

    •    ❑    How different is it for Digital Natives vs Digital Immigrants?

    •    ❑    What kind of Humans are we becoming

    ▼    ❑    Does the technology in my life help bring me closer to God and others or distance me further?

    •    ❑   

•    ❑    PART 2:

•    ❑   

▼    ❑    Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

    •    ❑    Mother died when he was only six years old

    •    ❑    Left under care

    ▼    ❑    Father died when he was 16

    •    ❑    Father appointed friend to be guardian

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Earned scholarship

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Got in trouble, was a bit of a wild kid

    ▼    ❑    College student

    •    ❑    Dabbled in communist movement

    •    ❑    Considered himself to be an atheist

    •    ❑    Dropped our of Cambridge

    ▼    ❑    Enrolled in Columbia

    •    ❑    Obviously intelligent

    ▼    ❑    Studied English literature, thesis on Blake

    ▼    ❑    Met Dan Walsh

    •    ❑    Catholic

    ▼    ❑    Began reading medieval Christian philosophy

    •    ❑    First introduced to Bonoventure

    ▼    ❑    Seven Story Mountain, autobiography

    •    ❑    Received into church

    ▼    ❑    PhD at Columbia, accepted

    ▼    ❑    Discerning becoming a priest

    •    ❑    Turned off to diosecan life

    ▼    ❑    Dan Walsh encouraged him to become a Franciscan

    •    ❑    Holy Name providence, 31st in NYC

    ▼    ❑    Discussed the concerns of his youth

    •    ❑    May have fathered a child

    •    ❑    Friars said he should not enter

    ▼    ❑    Offered a job to teach at St. Bonaventure's

    •    ❑    Enters into Trappist

    ▼    ❑    Seven Story Mountain, became an international best seller right away

    •    ❑    Published a year after he became a priest

    ▼    ❑    Became internationally famous

    •    ❑    Inner desire towards solitude and prayer

    •    ❑    Famous for spiritual writings

    ▼    ❑    Famous for interfaith dialogue

    •    ❑    Dalia Lama

    •    ❑    Famous for peace activism

    •    ❑    Famous for social justice

    •    ❑    Famous for civil rights movement

    •    ❑    Very good at, but not as famous for poetry

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Merton and the True Self

    •    ❑    Who am I?

    ▼    ❑    Why, why, why?

    ▼    ❑    Who am I, and why am I here?

    •    ❑    Priest, monk, connected

    •    ❑    Received more mail every day than every other monk put together the whole year

    ▼    ❑    True self vs False self

    ▼    ❑    True identify:  vulnerable self

    •    ❑    If we take our

    •    ❑    Designed to protect merely fictitous selfs, false selves

    •    ❑    Need to discover how we appear to be, to ourselves and others, and our inner self

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Our false self (see slide)

    ▼    ❑    Our great spiritual task is to LOSE our false self, and find myself

    •    ❑    My true self

    ▼    ❑    Comes right from the Gospel

    •    ❑    Must lose ourselves to be found by God

    ▼    ❑    False self:  something of our own making, not form God

    •    ❑    Habits of selfishness

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    True self (see slide)

    •    ❑    Who we truly are

    •    ❑    Openness in us to become one with God

    ▼    ❑    Conjectures of a guilty bystander

    •    ❑    4th and Walnut St

    ▼    ❑    A little part of us is only for God

    •    ❑    Inside of us

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    The external self

    •    ❑    Ever into the process of coming into existence

    ▼    ❑    True self is always there, always invitation to become divine self

    •    ❑    Connected to each other, ONLY because God has created us

    •    ❑    The insistent voice of God's Spirit

    •    ❑    The insatiable diamond of spiritual awareness

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    False self

    •    ❑    Something we do!

    •    ❑    Difficult enough for people to shed the masks we wear

    •    ❑    The challenge is even greater

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    1960's Merton recognized obstacles

    ▼    ❑    The tragedy of the modern person, is that his or her creativity has been sold to the devil of technology.  He or she lives in a world when they are enslaved to processes or machinery.

    ▼    ❑    BW:  Assembly line, suburban commuter

    •    ❑    Connected self, location independent lifestyles

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Digital self = False self?

    ▼    ❑    Terms for false sevles

    •    ❑    Exterior self

    •    ❑    Emperical self

    •    ❑    Outward self

    •    ❑    Shadow self

    •    ❑    Illusiary self

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Is the digital self is just another manifestation of the false self?

    •    ❑    Multiple identities

    •    ❑    Super fluid

    •    ❑    Someone online today has decrease in ability to control own identity as others can perceive it

    •    ❑    Disconnection leaves today's generation vulnerable to identity being misinterpreted or manipulated

    •    ❑    Opportunities for identify play

    •    ❑    Potential for performance, even deception

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Authenticity and true identity

    •    ❑    He sees technocratic religion and relationship as things that will never lead to God

    ▼    ❑    Our "hobby self"

    •    ❑    Not necessarily a sinful life

    ▼    ❑    Ideal of God as the supreme technocrat

    •    ❑    Written in 1970?

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Merton holds up road signs

    •    ❑    Nothing wrong

    •    ❑    But don't kid yourself that you are really going to be able to find God or your true self!

    •    ❑    He leaves our respective journey

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    The landscape of authentic spirituality is through peace and serenity

    ▼    ❑    Merton insists that contemplation is the source of relationship with God

    •    ❑    Not going to find through these other tangents

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    We do NOT make our true self

    ▼    ❑    Can be absorbed in making our false self, lose sight of the gift of our very being

    •    ❑    That fact that we are real!

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    In the late 1960's, Merton writing a lot about death

    •    ❑    The only thing that survives DEATH is the true self

    •    ❑    The authenticity we seek is

    ▼    ❑    Turn inward so we can turn outward

    •    ❑    Turn inward to God, then go back OUT to one another

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    New Seeds of Contemplation

    •    ❑    What we are NOT seems to be real

    •    ❑    What we ARE seems to be unreal

    ▼    ❑    We can rise above the false self

    ▼    ❑    We can get rid of the illusary self

    •    ❑    Get rid of the nonsense

    ▼    ❑    Our society tends to encourage the false self

    •    ❑    So what we are in the eyes of others, not real

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    In our search for our true selves, we would be well served to remember the words of St. Francis

    •    ❑    What a person is before God, that he is, and nothing more!

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Our false selves seem to be real

    •    ❑    Anything that separates us from other people and from God, seems to be REAL!

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Children who had worked more than 1.5 hours per day cannot work together as a group

    •    ❑    Sophomore and juniors, cannot work together

    •    ❑    BW:  Not true, check out wikipedia

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    New book

    •    ❑    How computer can become a new disease?

    •    ❑    Addicted to email?

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Online courses

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Discussion

    •    ❑    WWW is a linear world, not part of human interaction

    •    ❑    Web: You get caught in it

    •    ❑   

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    BW:  Merton book:  Action and Contemplation

    ▼    ❑    Just the newest form of action

    ▼    ❑    Look back in history:

    •    ❑    Radio was going to cause the death of neighborliness

    ▼    ❑    TV:  Cause death of social skills

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Computer:

    •    ❑    Get involved

    •    ❑    Ongoing work of creation

    •    ❑    Still a tool, more efficient tool set

    •    ❑   

    ▼    ❑    Not either of

    •    ❑    Both

    •    ❑    Beyond dualistic thinking

    ▼    ❑    Blending

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Spiritual enhancements

    ▼    ❑    Ability to read Vatican documents directly

    •    ❑    Evangelization in the 3rd Millennium

    ▼    ❑    Prayer

    •    ❑    Ability to watch Fr. Thomas Keating video

    ▼    ❑    Daily nutrition

    •    ❑    iBreavry, and Universalis

    ▼    ❑    Spiritual support

    •    ❑    Ability to be uplifted by EWTN specifials

    ▼    ❑    Growth in unity

    •    ❑    Focolare web site

    ▼    ❑    Virtual attendance

    ▼    ❑    Conference on How men change

    •    ❑    Taught by a Franciscan in California!

    ▼    ❑    Civil disobedience

    •    ❑    Election in Iran

    •    ❑   

•    ❑    Sadden that discussion seems to have polarized creative potential of the internet

•    ❑   

▼    ❑    Who are we as a people

    •    ❑    Who are we as a royal priesthood

    •    ❑    Daily Breakfast:  podcast

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Fr. Hugh agrees

    •    ❑    Need to disconnect at time

    ▼    ❑    Facebook better than no contact at all

    ▼    ❑    Sacramental life on the church

    •    ❑    Confession:  Have to go face to face

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    Internet: complimentarity

    •    ❑    BustedHalo.com

    •    ❑    Very strong following

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    BW:  Contrast:  There is divinity in the internet

    •    ❑   

▼    ❑    BW:  Would like

    •    ❑   

•    ❑    ==================

▼    ❑    BW insights / questions: 

    ▼    ❑    Brain researches

    •    ❑    Brain changes when we meditate

    •    ❑    Brain changes when we use internet

    ▼    ❑    Heart and soul, too?

    •    ❑    Don't need to measure

    •    ❑    Can see impact on our life

    •    ❑   

•    ❑    For more information, contact LIVE wiki note taker:  realestatecafe@gmail.com

•    ❑    Bill Wendel

•    ❑    617-661-4046