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updated: 1/18/17

tower m ottotower m ottotower m otto

Relate to the practice of meditation: tower m otto

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.  Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)  Mathematical Circles

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Pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but  sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down.

David Foster Wallace, Commencement Speech

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Love alone can unite living beings so as to complete and fulfill them... for it alone joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth." 
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Dass Guided Imagery

"LOVE AND DO WHAT YOU WILL"  St. Augustine

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#1-19 1 Gawain and Perfectionism;  Quiz in class on Brown 107-120 and First Half of Gawain; "Best and Worst"  in pairs on best and worst of winter break; extra credit for all for coming in costumes from the Arthurian/medieval period

107-120      Brown , Daring Greatly:Perfectionism vs. Vulnerability; Ideology;Leadership

174-204  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

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Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North

Gawain

 

 

TODAY'S GOALS: “to know thyself.” To know one’s strengths and weaknesses . Self-awareness is essential not only for leadership and ethics, but for good writing for it enables self-management of time and emotional as well as intellectual resources.honi soit motto Goals for Best and Worst: see list

TODAY'S TOPICS:perfectionism; Gawain;

 

 

Recommended Reading:

original ed. J RR Tolkien  stanzaic trans Deane 1999     trans. Neilsen audio

 

UP TO 10 PTS. C.P. EXTRA CREDIT PER DAY FOR ANY STUDENT COMING IN ARTHURIAN COSTUME BOTH DAYS

Items supplied by instructor: paper crowns, toy axe, green giant mask, plastic ivy, king's robes (white)

SCRIPT FOR CLASS PERFORMANCE1-19

Narrator: [wait for end of music] As the sound of the music ceased, and the first course had been fitly served, there came in at the hall door one terrible to behold, of stature greater than any on earth; from neck to loin so strong and thickly made, and with limbs so long and so great that he seemed even as a giant. And yet he was but a man, only the mightiest that might mount a steed; broad of chest and shoulders and slender of waist, and all his features of like fashion; but men marvelled much at his colour, for he rode even as a knight, yet was green all over…….
The knight rideth through the entrance of the hall, driving straight to the high daïs, and greeted no man, but looked ever upwards; and the first words he spake were,
GK: "Where is the ruler of this folk? I would gladly look upon that hero, and have speech with him."
Narrator: He cast his eyes on the knights, and mustered them up and down, striving ever to see who of them was of most renown……Then Arthur beheld this adventurer before his high daïs, and knightly he greeted him, for fearful was he never.
A: "Sir," "thou art welcome to this place--lord of this hall am I, and men call me Arthur. Light thee down, and tarry awhile, and what thy will is, that shall we learn after."
GK:  "Nay," quoth the stranger, "so help me He that sitteth on high, 'twas not mine errand to tarry any while in this dwelling; but the praise of this thy folk and thy city is lifted up on high, and thy warriors are holden for the best and the most valiant of those who ride mail-clad to the fight. The wisest and the worthiest of this world are they, . . . .
HOLDS UP HOLLY BRANCH
 Ye may be sure by the branch that I bear here that I come in peace, seeking no strife. . . . But if thou be as bold as all men tell thou wilt freely grant me the boon I ask."
 A:   "Sir Knight, if thou cravest battle here thou shalt not fail for lack of a foe."
 GK: "Nay, I ask no fight, in faith here on the benches are but beardless children, were I clad in armour on my steed there is no man here might match me. Therefore I ask in this court but a Christmas jest, for that it is Yule-tide, and New Year, and there are here many fain for sport. If any one in this hall holds himself so hardy, 4 so bold both of blood and brain, as to dare strike me one stroke for another, I will give him as a gift this axe, . . . . and I will abide the first blow, unarmed ….Then shalt thou give me the right to deal him another, the respite of a year and a day shall he have.
N:  Now if the knights had been astounded at the first, yet stiller were they all, high and low, when they had heard his words.
GK: "What, is this Arthur's hall, and these the knights whose renown hath run through many realms? Where are now your pride and your conquests, your wrath, and anger, and mighty words? Now are the praise and the renown of the Round Table overthrown by one man's speech..”
A: “"Now by heaven foolish is thy asking, and thy folly shall find its fitting answer. I know no man aghast at thy great words. Give me here thine axe and I shall grant thee the boon thou hast asked."
N: “  Then Arthur took the axe and gripped the haft, and swung it round, ready to strike.”
G (GAWAIN): “"I beseech ye, my lord, let this venture be mine. . . . if I bear myself ungallantly then let all this court blame me."
N: Then the Green Knight swiftly made him ready, he bowed down his head, and laid his long locks on the crown that his bare neck might be seen. Gawain gripped his axe and raised it on high, . . . The sharp edge of the blade  …. smote through the neck, …. and the fair head fell to the earth that many struck it with their feet as it rolled forth.
ALL: Kick the football about under the table (this I the origin of football: kicking the head of the sacrificial victim, now known as the pigskin).
N: the Green Knight “caught the head, and lifted it up” and said to Gawain
GK: “such a stroke as thou hast dealt thou hast deserved, and it shall be promptly paid thee on New Year's morn. Many men know me as the knight of the Green Chapel, and if thou askest, thou shalt not fail to find me”

 

LOOKING AHEAD:

LONG-RANGE PLANNING: P3 and P4

Gawain and the Green Knight: The Challenge of the Gothic North to Arthur's Round Table:

Gawain

Gawain

 

BBC DOCUMENTARY

WARD DOCUENTARY

AUDIO VERSION  FIRST NINETY LINES

AMATEUR MOVIE VERSION

ANIMATION PART One

 

 

ANIMATION PART TWO

ANIMATION PART THREE

Gawain

A green man looks down on the Christians at Christ Church cathedral, Oxford

"Green Men" sculptures at Winchester, at York, and at Oxford: Balliol Library, the Bodleian Library, Merton Chapel, and City Hall

"Green Women" on the tomb of St. Frideswide, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Green Giant in the home of the Vikings

The Orders of the Garter and the Thistle

Online Resources

Gawain

 CONNECT, HAMMER INTO UNITY: Your Head and Your Heart

honi soit motto

“Stress Recess” Stressed by papers? Tests? Relationship issues? For these and other stressors, take a few minutes to check out a new interactive website called “Stress Recess” at http://www.cmhc.utexas.edu/stressrecess, a component of the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. This site is loaded with videos, animation, video games, body scans, quizzes, clickable charts and graphics and practical information tailored to YOU. Learn what causes stress, signs of stress and—most importantly---what you can do to manage stress in healthy ways!

     

     honi soit motto

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