Camp Caravan Meeting Notes: June 18, 2015

In a group meeting held at Camp Caravan, discussion arose from the morning meditation which had centered on a reading of the "Compromise" exercise. Subjective observation was made by SM as to the location of predominant activity of centers residing within him. His prevailing center, he believed, was his head-brain. He elaborated based upon personal observation and made connection between his observations, his practice, and his determination to experience sensation and awareness. Another person, GS, spoke as to how the "Compromise" exercise reminded him of aspects of the "Master" exercise, and commented how our inner centers, like political governance, could mislead us in a way that could carry us down the wrong path. Observation was made by RR that, for her, the predominant center was her heart, and commented that for many in the present culture, the head-brain was often given precedence over the heart center, resulting in problems for many in today's world. When SF expressed confusion in being unable to perceive and distinguish the heart center from the head center, SM suggested that the difficulty or inability to distinguish these centers, one from another, may, in part, arise from the thoughtless tendency that what we, as humans, are inclined towards, that being the unquestioned embrace of strict orthodoxy – for instance in this case, that there are just "three" centers. SM suggested that there could be more than three centers, they could express differently, etc., and that we are responsible to ourselves and others in the group to try to sense this.

JR spoke of the importance for working on the exercise, the effort necessary to experience the initially "thin something" in our heads, an experience which might be realized with persistent practice. He repeated and emphasized that it was quantity – in constantly repeating the exercise – not necessarily quality, that Mr. G had exhorted those to practice who sought to experience "I am" in themselves, as referred to in the exercise. JR re-read the entire "Compomise" exercise as he had at the time of the morning meditation, for everyone's benefit and to vivify the discussion. DS spoke of how she experienced the exercise as a "soft" reminder, one that was gently persistent. She also expressed appreciation for a new sense of energy and effort that she had felt at Camp Caravan recently. Finally, PDL commented at length how she had experienced the exercise, and then spoke of her experiences with Movements, working with other groups, and how much she appreciated the manner in which Camp Caravan operated as a group, and why, in warm conclusion, she considered Camp Caravan her "home."