If there were a patron saint of radical attention, it would be the 20th century activist philosopher Simone Weil. Weil believed that existence itself is God's act of self-renunciation – and that by "giving up being the center of the world in imagination," we participate in the ongoing creation of reality, and especially of our neighbor.
Since she also believed the deepest truths are “experimental,” needing to be lived before they can be verified, this class will be organized as a shared experiment in the hypothetical reality of creative self-renunciation. We’ll adopt practices of attention inspired by Weil’s writing – meditation, attending to others, and patience – in order to reflect on and share from the experience of what Weil calls the “void.”
For intellectual exercises, we will read Weil’s work focusing on particular guiding metaphors - water, centers/centering, and poetry – feeling for how our symbols and ways of attending either add dimension to our experience of reality or flatten it.
Our intention is that between Weil's intellectual models, homeopathic doses of the void, and the world of our shared experiences, something sparks: a heightened capacity to be here, at the center of the world's re-creation.
Led by Bert and Emma Fitzgerald, co-organizers of the Simone Weil House in Portland, OR.
Wednesdays, 6:30-9:00pm
August 12th-26th
Our courses cost $250, with an Advanced rate for students with an income above 100k. We also offer a Discounted rate for students with constraining circumstances.
Please see our Refund Policy HERE.
Additionally, we offer three tuition-waiver scholarships per course. To apply for a scholarship, click HERE.