May I be an enthusiastic 'seconder to this motion', and I would add that the 'reply/comment' protocol for those e-letter postings may well represent the peduncle of a new branch on the literary consciousness. It was Aurobindo who wrote of 'the overmind'---a higher level of human consciousness achieved through intensive yogic meditation. In the West the same phenomenon is addressed by the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, with his 'ultra-humain'.
The Bombay Parsi Dr. K.D. Sethna (of Aurobindo Ashram) wrote a definitive book (THE FUTURE OF SPIRITUALITY) comparing/contrasting the two 'super-minds', and if my reading of him is right the main difference is that Teilhard put more emphasis on the 'planetary aspect'---whereby much of the 'ascent of man' will depend on 'collaborative reasoning'. Further to that, Goa itself may be the strategic 'uploading zone' for a 21st Century 'planetary consciousness'---uniting the cultural & philosophic legacies of a huge cultural web of evolving Life, in what we have come to know as 'the space/time continuum'. On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 2:59 PM, Roland Francis <[email protected]> wrote: > Far too many members of the Goanet List hesitate to post their thoughts, > opinions and replies. > > Perhaps they think they are not up to the mark, meaning they can’t > formulate their thoughts or put them in words. Perhaps they think they > would be silently ridiculed and what they have to say isn’t important > enough for others to read. > > Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s not that we begin to write > and suddenly become wordsmiths or purveyors of fine thoughts. Like anything > else, posting and writing takes sustained practice to get better. > > Putting thoughts on paper (a phrase that includes on computer) has many > benefits. You increase your vocabulary, you get the chance to put your > requests, ideas and thoughts in a more orderly way than merely spouting > words. It gives a chance to the reader on the other end to weigh what you > are expressing more seriously. It takes us out of “he or she can be written > off” territory to “lets hear what he has to say, it makes sense, importance > and perhaps pleasure for me to listen”. > > Most of us Goans have English almost as a first language and are proud to > say it and equally disgusted when somebody is surprised when they discover > we know it. But the truth is we as a community rank pretty low on usage > when compared to a true English speaker. That is not due to lack of skill, > it is merely due to lack of proper practice. We have sufficient vocabulary > but rarely use most of it. > > To ourselves, we lead ordinary lives, but in truth most of us have > remarkable stories of lives lived, experiences encountered and lessons > learned. I discovered this when some time ago I started a series on Goanet > called Persona Grata. The people I talked to told of their lives and > achievements matter-of-factly. To me and most people however, those would > be eye-popping narrations. > > I am not asking you to write specifically about yourselves, but I am > encouraging you to start creating posts on anything you want to write on or > remark. If it’s related in some way to Goa or your being a Goan, so much > the better. > > Viva to your writing. > > Roland Francis > Toronto. > >
