Fall 22: Ongoing Seminar in Wisdom Work
Past SessionsWednesday, December 14, 2022 • 20 Kislev 5783 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM - Zoom.us
Wednesday, December 7, 2022 • 13 Kislev 5783 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM - Zoom.us
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 • 6 Kislev 5783 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM - Zoom.us
Wednesday, November 23, 2022 • 29 Cheshvan 5783 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM - Zoom.us
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 • 22 Cheshvan 5783 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM - Zoom.us
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 • 15 Cheshvan 5783 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM - Zoom.us
Ongoing Seminar in Wisdom Work:
Vision, Will, Skill, Reflection / Virtue, Rationality, Wisdom & Depth
Wisdom Work is guaranteed to make your life better (absent a true disorder). In this seminar, we will address inner life growth for human thriving. At the interpersonal level, struggles in families and other situations can be calmed down, simplified and worked through. Any kind of therapy will become more efficient with Wisdom Work in the background. Many people who practice Wisdom Work don’t need much psychotherapy.
In this class, various aspects of the two different facets of Wisdom Work (described below) will be addressed in each session. After that, there will be time for Q & A on the topic of the class, as well as any other aspect of Wisdom Work.
The Ongoing Seminar is like music, dance or martial arts training. You don’t take a class once – you train regularly. The Wednesday 7 PM night class is the “dojo” of Wisdom Work.
What is Wisdom Work?
Wisdom Work can be understood in two ways.
Conceptually, Wisdom Work comprises four dimensions.
First, that we create and develop an ongoing vision for our lives, rooted both in a rational understanding of ourselves and the world, as well as a deep understanding of human potential. Our lives should be filled with love, joy and spontaneity, but those opportunities are often dimmed by bad habits, both in our inner lives and lives with others. Our visions should exist with a moral and spiritual framework – aiming for goodness in a life shaped by moral concerns.
Second, that we constantly work on the will to realize that vision.
Third, that we master specific skills that the various aspects of our vision requires.
Fourth, that we develop the capacity for ongoing, corrective reflection on all the above.
Procedurally, Wisdom Work requires three levels of mastery, with a fourth level, advisable but not necessary. Typically, one focuses on each level in order.
The first level of mastery is Virtue – restraining (not repressing) and redirecting speech and behavior that can negatively affect our interpersonal lives. While easy to understand, living lives of virtue can be a profoundly difficult life journey. Virtue practices must be trained and implemented daily. Beyond virtue, we are aiming for regulation of our inner lives, creating good habits and minimizing bad ones.
The second level is Rationality and Reflection. We should, as much as possible, develop an accurate and precise understanding of ourselves, other people and where we are in the process of things. Most people suffer more than they need to because they don’t think clearly in certain stressful situations. Because language mediates between the unconscious and conscious world, when we regulate our thoughts and feelings with rationality and reason we can calm ourselves, calm others and find our way to wisdom and goodness.
The third level is Applied Wisdom. Wisdom has many different dimensions, but in the practice of Wisdom Work it means an understanding of our own inner lives and the will and skill to exert interventions and the restructuring of our thoughts, feelings and emotions rooted in our vision for ourselves. A core part of wisdom is managing ego-states, understood as a given intertwining of, for example, thoughts, feelings, emotions, images, sensations, intuitions, drives and impulses. A further dimension of applied wisdom is good communication skills in our processing with others.
The fourth level is Depth (not addressed in the Ongoing Seminar). Depth usually means experiencing what I call (metaphorically) the fifteen chambers of the soul. The path of depth that I teach typically focuses on Jungian ideas of archetypal psychology and the use of poetry, myths, metaphors, literature and especially sacred literature.
In this class, various aspects of the two different facets of Wisdom Work (described below) will be addressed in each session. After that, there will be time for Q & A on the topic of the class, as well as any other aspect of Wisdom Work.
The Ongoing Seminar is like music, dance or martial arts training. You don’t take a class once – you train regularly. The Wednesday 7 PM night class is the “dojo” of Wisdom Work.
What is Wisdom Work?
Wisdom Work can be understood in two ways.
Conceptually, Wisdom Work comprises four dimensions.
First, that we create and develop an ongoing vision for our lives, rooted both in a rational understanding of ourselves and the world, as well as a deep understanding of human potential. Our lives should be filled with love, joy and spontaneity, but those opportunities are often dimmed by bad habits, both in our inner lives and lives with others. Our visions should exist with a moral and spiritual framework – aiming for goodness in a life shaped by moral concerns.
Second, that we constantly work on the will to realize that vision.
Third, that we master specific skills that the various aspects of our vision requires.
Fourth, that we develop the capacity for ongoing, corrective reflection on all the above.
Procedurally, Wisdom Work requires three levels of mastery, with a fourth level, advisable but not necessary. Typically, one focuses on each level in order.
The first level of mastery is Virtue – restraining (not repressing) and redirecting speech and behavior that can negatively affect our interpersonal lives. While easy to understand, living lives of virtue can be a profoundly difficult life journey. Virtue practices must be trained and implemented daily. Beyond virtue, we are aiming for regulation of our inner lives, creating good habits and minimizing bad ones.
The second level is Rationality and Reflection. We should, as much as possible, develop an accurate and precise understanding of ourselves, other people and where we are in the process of things. Most people suffer more than they need to because they don’t think clearly in certain stressful situations. Because language mediates between the unconscious and conscious world, when we regulate our thoughts and feelings with rationality and reason we can calm ourselves, calm others and find our way to wisdom and goodness.
The third level is Applied Wisdom. Wisdom has many different dimensions, but in the practice of Wisdom Work it means an understanding of our own inner lives and the will and skill to exert interventions and the restructuring of our thoughts, feelings and emotions rooted in our vision for ourselves. A core part of wisdom is managing ego-states, understood as a given intertwining of, for example, thoughts, feelings, emotions, images, sensations, intuitions, drives and impulses. A further dimension of applied wisdom is good communication skills in our processing with others.
The fourth level is Depth (not addressed in the Ongoing Seminar). Depth usually means experiencing what I call (metaphorically) the fifteen chambers of the soul. The path of depth that I teach typically focuses on Jungian ideas of archetypal psychology and the use of poetry, myths, metaphors, literature and especially sacred literature.
$198.00 for all six sessions, one person per screen
($150.00 members of Ohr HaTorah Synagogue)
$270.00 for all six sessions, two people per screen
($210.00 members of Ohr HaTorah Synagogue)
Once you make your payment, you'll receive an automatic confirmation email with a link to register on Zoom.
You must register on Zoom to obtain the meeting ID & PW and the weekly class recordings.
Save the email from Zoom (as you only receive it once) and use it every week to log-in.
(Students will be sent a link to a recording of each class. The link to the recording expires after five days. We will not be able to accommodate requests for retrieval of the recording after the expiry date.)
Sorry, Registration has ended.
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Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784
