Jean Houston and The Mystery School
:
"Dr. Jean Houston's Mystery School is another in a long line of New Age self-help or personality transforming programs. According to Dr. Houston,
'the purpose of the Mystery School is to engender the passion for the
'possible' in our human and global development while discovering ways of transcending and transforming the local self so that extraordinary life can arise!'
"Jean Houston would probably be just another successful New Age motivator had not Bob Woodward in The Choice let the world know that she met with Hillary and Bill Clinton, and that Hillary had imaginary
'conversations' with Eleanor Roosevelt and Mohandas Ghandi. Woodward also notes that in the past Houston had been known to use LSD and hypnosis to help her clients converse with the great personages of the past.
...
"She is also past-president of the
Association for Humanistic Psychology, director of the Human Capacities Training Program, and ran
The Foundation for Mind Research out of Pomona, New York, where she and her husband,
Robert Masters, tested the ESP of subjects under the influence of LSD or psilocybin.
...
"In her books and lectures she frequently aligns herself with the Great Traditions.
'In all the great traditions - Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Sufi, Jewish - it's all about waking up.'...She
calls fundamentalists 'Fundi's.'"
Jean Houston's 2005 Mystery School:
The Mystery of Purpose and Destiny:
"This year's Mystery School ponders the greatest questions of them all:
Why was I born?
Where did I come from and where am I going?
What am I here to do and to be?
How am I living?
...I believe we enjoy different gradations of purpose which gather together to form our highest purpose.....
"I believe that
purpose is two-fold: we have a local purpose and a
global purpose. ... How can we align ourselves with the highest purpose and live fully primed
in its power?"
The Social Artist:
Spirituality & Health -
The Soul/Body Connection:
"The Social Artist's Way.
Renaissance woman Jean Houston is now working with the United Nations Development Program to groom the next generation of leaders — people directed by their souls' demand for change."
Applying Social Artistry to Decentralized
Governance for Human Development: [Jean Houston, Ph. D.] "The aim of Social Artistry is to
implement the current transition towards creative change and
growth....Its goal is to provide significant shifts through a variety of
trainings ... aimed at directing both individual and
social capital toward the creation of better societies and peoples....
"Social Artistry training can be especially useful as a support to meeting the
Millennium Development Goals....
The Social Artist is trained to be aware of four levels of understanding and consciousness....These levels include: the physical/sensory realm, the
psychological/historic realm, the mythic/symbolic realm, and the integral/unitive realm....
"The work of Re-genesis of Human Society is outlined in a description of the creation of a culture of Politeia... in which an active, engaged and informed citizenry creates and maintains its community and
mutually fulfills societal goals. What is needed is a
-
a Politeia of Participation
for all members of any community;
-
a Politeia of
Rediscovery, to rekindle generosity and the powers of compassion
and high service;
-
a Politeia of Creativity, utilizing the artistic process to invigorate imagination and vision;
-
a Politeia of Healing, to encourage cooperation and understanding....
-
a Politeia of Celebration...
-
a Politeia of Hope, imbuing all citizens with
belief in their own infinite creativity and power....
"Mythic/Symbolic: An adequately trained Social Artist possesses profound knowledge of the world’s cultural stories,
myths, religions and symbolic structures. He/She has traveled extensively in the realms described by Carl Gustav
Jung as the collective unconscious, and is fascinated by, and deeply respectful of, other people’s relation to their belief systems as well as their ability to
transcend these cultural structures when they have become
restrictive or damaging."
Who are the Social Artists:
[Notice how well this description of "Social Artists"
matches the management policies of today's emerging churches:]
-
Navigate between many cultures and belief systems;
-
Are informed on world issues from the perspective of different cultures;
-
Work by bringing together collaborative networks and teaching/learning communities;
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Foster nonlinear, partnership forms of organization;
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Promote lifetime learning;
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Are skilled in deep resonant listening, authentic communication, finding common ground, and mediating differences between individuals and groups;