Grokkist Newsletter #41 (Scholé Supplement)

Hey friends,

I'm excited to give you an early heads up about the newest addition to our range of grokkable courses – Comparative Meditation: An Experiential Journey, led by integrative therapist and meditation teacher Jude Star.

This course explores the richness and depth of meditation by weaving together the philosophical richness and transformative practices of Shamatha, Vipassana, Tantra, and Non-Dual meditation, with an emphasis on the transformative principles underlying them all.

Jude is an incredibly grokky guy and this course is definitely going to be everything you would hope for in 'meditation for grokkists'.

In the same model as our Ecosophy and Red Thread courses, Comparative Meditation is a guided group exploration over 5 sessions, culminating in an integrative personal synthesis.

The course will kick off its first run starting 15 May at 7–9pm EDT.

The suggested tuition is USD$220, with a 50% discount for full Grokkist members on the Indie Grokker tier or above (get in touch for the code), and with our usual 'Forget About the Price Tag' pathways for those who can't afford the suggested tuition.

We'll be putting up the full details on the website in the next week or so, but we're already accepting enrolments and also offering an early bird bonus...

Meditation for ADHD is all about strategies to overcome restlessness and distractibility – it will also be available as a stand-alone offering directly through the Grokkist Network from next month.

I'm thrilled Jude has decided to offer his practical wisdom through the Grokkist Network. Comparative Meditation is the entry point I've personally been looking for so I'm looking forward to taking the course myself!

And buckle up because we have more cool stuff coming down the pipe...

Grok on!
- Danu

This edition at a glance:

• Press:
  • 27 gifts of life-changing learning and 1 radical conclusion (Danu Poyner)
• Network:
  • Featured Event: Group play-through of Danu’s Deferred Action game
• Snackables:
  • A dictionary of words for what we feel but cannot name
  • Inside Pyongyang: the architecture and urban planning of North Korea
  • Revisiting The Dispossessed and Gulliver's Travels today
  • Analysing Peep Show's odd couple dynamic
  • People who found their accidental doppelgänger in a museum

I'm still putting the finishing touches on my next feature-length conversation for Still Curious, so meanwhile please enjoy this classic from the archive that you may have missed.

27 gifts of life-changing learning and one radical conclusion

by Danu Poyner (33 min read / 41 min listen)

If you could gift someone a life-changing learning experience, what would it be and why? We discuss the combined wisdom of 27 of my podcast guests and what it means for how we approach the practice of education.

Explore the Full Story ↗

Featured events and meetups

Group play-through of Danu’s Deferred Action game

🗓️ Tue 23 Apr | 11am–1pm NZST (view in your timezone)
Hosted by Danu Poyner
🟢 Free and open to all

I’d like to invite you to a group preview and playtest of the interactive adventure game I’ve been quietly working on for a while – Deferred Action.

You can learn all about the game HERE.

The game is now fully complete and I’m looking for help to playtest the final version to find any remaining bugs or issues before it gets released next month-ish!

At this event, I’ll briefly introduce the game and then we’ll throw it up on the screen to play together (or in pairs/groups) - I’ll need volunteers to do voices for each of the characters!

It’ll be fun and silly.

I’ll also give you the playtesting link to try it out on your own, and everyone who participates will get a playtester credit in the final game.

Event Details and RSVP ↗

Celebrating 2 years of Grokkist! | Town Hall Event

🗓️ Tue 30 Apr | 7.30–9.30pm ET (view in your timezone)
Hosted by Grokkist Team
🟢 Free and open to all

It’s our second anniversary! Come celebrate the essence of being a grokkist with us at this Town Hall symposium of reflection, connection, and construction.

Whether you're stepping into the Grokkist community for the first time or have been a part of our journey from the beginning, this event is for you.

Together, let’s explore the core values and stories that define Grokkist's ethos of curiosity and care. Through shared reflections and personal anecdotes, we'll uncover the rich tapestry of experiences that shape our growing community.

But this symposium is more than mere retrospection of our past aspirations and achievements—it's an invitation to play a pivotal role in shaping Grokkist's future:

• What does being a part of Grokkist mean to you?
• How can Grokkist support your personal journey of growth, exploration and action?
• How can you contribute to nurturing our community as we continue to organically grow and develop?

Let's explore these questions and more as we co-create the distributed digital home that we dare to hope Grokkist can be. No matter who you are, how long you can stay, or how much or little you have to say, your presence will make a difference in this enriching evening of connection, fellowship, and growth.

Event Details and RSVP ↗

Other Upcoming Events

• 23 Apr | 🟢 Grok Café
• 25 Apr | 🟢 Grokkist Network Office Hours
• 25 Apr | 🟣 Balancing Commitments | Further Together Forum

Full members can now access the recording from our recent Lunch and Learn event on Rethinking our philosophies in the metacrisis.

#1 - A dictionary of words for what we feel but cannot name

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: Uncommonly Lovely Invented Words for What We Feel but Cannot Name

“Despite what dictionaries would have us believe, this world is still mostly undefined.”

The MarginalianMaria Popova

"In the roots of words we find a portal to the mycelial web of invisible connections undergirding our emotional lives — the way “sadness” shares a Latin root with “sated” and originally meant a fulness of experience, the way “holy” shares a Latin root with “whole” and has its Indo-European origins in the notion of the interleaving of all things." A 'Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows' that includes gems such as querinous – "a longing for a sense of certainty in a relationship; wishing there were some way to know ahead of time whether this is the person you’re going to wake up next to for twenty thousand mornings in a row, instead of having to count them out one by one, quietly hoping your streak continues."

#2 - Inside Pyongyang: the architecture and urban planning of North Korea

Inside Pyongyang, North Korea’s Capital of Control

Every detail of the city’s architecture and urban planning is in service to the Kim dynasty.

Atlas ObscuraCaroline Campbell

Pyongang in North Korea is a planned city in which ideology and architecture are combined – every detail of the city’s architecture and urban planning is in service to the Kim dynasty. "Kim Jong-il is even credited with writing a treatise, On the Art of Architecture (1991). Some of the text is standard Marxist-Leninist thinking: Architects must reject bourgeois ideas, and their buildings must remain revolutionary ... It is as if the people are subordinate to the urban plan and the architecture." A thoughtful and example-laden exploration of how North Korea's built environment helps make people feel and believe in the country's unique brand of authoritarian socialism. "Even in this crooked and corrupt state there is some beauty" and things to learn.

#3 - Revisiting The Dispossessed and Gulliver's Travels today

Jerusalem Demsas on The Dispossessed, Gulliver’s Travels, and Of Boys and Men (Ep. 189)

It’s time for a CWT book club!

Conversations with TylerThe Atlantic

Jerusalem Demsas, staff writer at The Atlantic, and academic economist Tyler Cowen have a lively and engaging discussion about three books: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, and Of Boys and Men by Richard V. Reeves. The majority of the conversation focuses on The Dispossessed and what kind of society the novel and the novelist actually prefers – the anarcho-syndicalist utopia of Anarres or the capitalist patriarchy of A-Io. Genuine disagreement animated by good-faith curiosity – the ambiguity benefits all.

Also includes discussion about gender dynamics, the purpose of travel, and moral progress, Swift’s stance on science and slavery, how feminism links to moral progress and gender equality, and contemplating whether imaginative fiction or policy analysis is more likely to spur social change.

#4 - Analysing Peep Show's odd couple dynamic

Just an Observation is a channel that features high-quality video essay case studies on the craft of storytelling, filmmaking and performance. This video is an appreciative analysis of UK comedy classic Peep Show and how it refreshes the 'odd couple' format with its signature inner monologue, how this technique is complemented by its visual style, and how the airtight character writing leads to the funniest conclusions. Mild spoilers if you haven't seen the show, but mostly in a way that will make you want to see it more.

#5 - People who found their accidental doppelgänger in a museum

This thread of people who found their ‘accidental doppelgänger’ in a museum is a proper jaw-dropper

The only time we’ve ever come across a lookalike of ourselves – and we’re pushing the definition of ‘public art’ here – was a drawing of a ‘dad’ in some soft play area (and no, we can’t find the photo to share it with you now). Rest assured that these accidental doppelgängers people came across […]

The PokePoke Staff

Exactly what you'd expect. Some of them are really very good.

A pair of parting thoughts...

“Some people are so poor, all they have is money.” – Bob Marley

“All the happiness in the world can’t buy you money.” – Toby Keith

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