As someone that does Lear in a different style than most everyone else I feel that the contemplative practice is a welcome change for the usual way teaching is done. Some may see this as strange and awkward but they need but trust in something new and try to use the new method of learning to explore new ideas and issues.
The lesson where we were given the raisin and told not to eat it. It was strange at first as the immediate impulse is to scoff it down, after all it’s just one raisin. But as we held it in our mouth and spoke of the history of the small dried fruit it took on a whole new significance that is hard to grasp if you just read it in a book. The issue of overconsumption is prevalent in developed nations as people take small things like a raisin as something unspecial overlooking the lengthy process it takes to go from a plant to a snack and the impacts that come with that.
Agree with your points. Contemplative practice isn’t really a thing in any of the other classes I’ve taken, but it is effective. Personally, I don’t mind just learning through lectures and readings and stuff, but it is an interesting new take.
It is so easy to take things for granted, pretty much everything we eat has a rich history of labor behind it. I think that day in class we also had watched some video on how raisins were produced in the past versus how they are produced now with industrialized equipment – which also helped me think about it. But like you said, just the video or just a book wouldn’t quite have been enough. You have to take the time to actually think about what it means, and that’s what contemplative practice is about.
I really liked your point about how having the raisin in your hand and mouth, and meditating on its presence brings new meaning to a concept that is often conveyed in books and videos. Having something in real time, while simultaneously slowing one’s own consciousness and presence to the moment brings new found significance to that moment, that object and those thoughts. It is as though we even experience time differently in this space. That which is familiar, is made foreign as we understand things through a different frame of reference. Having the raisin physically, especially in contrast with the video, helped to – at least temporarily – ground my life, actions and perspectives in a manner that is congruent to the reality of what I cannot understand, see or constantly remain cognizant of. Having as little interaction with the origins of what I consume, your final point certainly resonates with me as a major positive of contemplative practices. Slowing down my sensory stimulation and internal thoughts helped to remove my biases, distractions and concerns, and reconnect with humanity, and the systems we engage with in a refreshing and holistic way.
I completely agree and feel the same way that you do about the contemplative practices. I am a graduating senior and I have never once experienced a class that also actively had weekly contemplative classes in lectures whether it is an hour or two long lecture. I think that all lectures should try to institute some type of contemplative practices as they are short for the most part, and I think it’ll really help those handful of students that are struggling with the in class material. Personally, for my 5 years in college, I have always felt that I struggled to learn the same way as all the other students in the class, and I always felt like a slower learner, and this was only the case when I got to college. This class showed me a whole different type of how to pick things up, and I think its a worth while idea for future students to implement their own contemplative practices even if their class doesn’t. What I mean by that is they can do some contemplative practices related to what they learned in lecture but themselves, maybe by google or by emailing their professors for some ideas.