Guitar Craft Los Molinos, Spain
Villa Mercedes / Padres Claretianos,
Calle San Pascual N? 3, esquina travesÌa San Pascual,
28 460 Los Molinos,
Madrid,
EspaÒa.
Arrived, mostly. Backtracking --
Monday 19th. January; a wonderful day at home with T. plus a strategic telephone call. Essentially, the direction of my professional life has changed. It already had, but the call was a recognition of that, and formal statement of definition & directed aim. To London in the evening, rising at 05.00 this morning.
A flight to Madrid from Heathrow. Hernan & Alain were waiting to carry me here. Mr. Gurgly on the 'plane demonstrated a willingness to share the sound of his pipes negotiating with the effluent of some seasonal disease. Snort gurgle swallow. Snort gurgle swallow.
20.21 Dinner at 19.00. Zum played two pieces. This is the third outstanding GC trio, following The CGT and The (recently deconstructed) Big Time Trio.
Then, an announcement --
The course has not begun, but the course is underway. So, our position is liminal: we are in between. Customarily, towards the end of our first meal we declare the House Rules and, if these are not acceptable to visitors & about-to-be-becoming Guitar Craft students, they have an opportunity to leave with their full fee refunded & a free meal.
In a perfect world, no house rules would have to be called. We might suggest as guiding principles honour necessity, honour sufficiency and act from conscience. But if conscience were engaged, this would itself also be unnecessary. So, accepting that our world is less than ideal, the House Rules are called.
Various members of the Team were invited to suggest House Rules worthy of consideration & declaration. Drawing partly on these comments, and partly from our customary practice, these are the House Rules to be put upon the board --
Guitar Craft House Rules
Villa Mercedes / Padres Claretianos
Tuesday 20th. January, 2004
Honour necessity; honour sufficiency.
Act from conscience.
Nothing is compulsory, but some things are necessary.
No judgements are made: we accept you as you arrive.
There is no mistake save one, the failure to learn from a mistake.
Honour the role, respect the person.
Some people here will irritate you.
Don't worry: you will also be irritating them.
Please act towards others with goodwill and with courtesy;
Otherwise, be polite.
You are not asked to accept any direction that violates conscience.
You are not asked to passively accept any idea that is presented to you. Rather, you are invited to test ideas you find surprising, to establish the veracity of those ideas, or not, for yourself.
You are encouraged to adopt a position of healthy skepticism, while participating in a spirit of goodwill.
Please stay outside the kitchen.
Be on the course, to the degree that you are able to honorably bear.
For example, listen to the music generated within the course; telephone when necessary, or when useful.
Avoid listening to, and reading, any non-course material.
Recording during the course is discouraged.
Accept responsibility for your personal space; and that part of the public space which you own.
If you smoke, please do so outside the buildings.
Please stay within the boundary of the facility for the duration of the course. If you require something, please ask the House Manager.
Drug use is incompatible with participation in Guitar Craft.
Although nothing is compulsory, this is necessary.
If Robert considers that any person's continuing participation is detrimental to either that person, or the course as a whole, Robert may ask that person to leave.
If any of this is unacceptable, you are free to leave with a full refund prior to the beginning of the course.
If you decide to stay, you are asked to stay for the duration of the course.
The suggestion was made that we act with courtesy towards others. But courtesy is a grace and, if we are lacking this grace, then, may we be polite. Politeness is a matter of upbringing & education.
22.55 The Inaugural Meeting began at 21.00 and the course formally declared underway at 21.02.
Those present introduced themselves, saying:
1. who they are;
2. where they come from;
3. what brought them here, and:
4. their aim for the course.
Several present spoke for other members of the GC family who are participating at a distance. At A Distance participation is not imaginary; when practised honourably, the connection is tangible. Specific techniques associated with this exercise have not, to date, been formally introduced within GC; although experience suggests the connections occur nonetheless. This implies that intention, of itself, has effect.
At A Distance, so far, has taken place within a defined time frame. The geographical distance is a given, and the exercise implies that physical space is no barrier to intentional contact. We have not yet approached AAD work through time.
Robert's why: Hernan told me to be here. And Hernan told me to be here because he knew that, unless these people met here in this space and at this time, something that needed to take place would not. We can't know what that something necessary is, although the necessity may speak to us in particular ways. Most likely we all have some sense of this necessity, or we wouldn't be here.
Sore throat. Mr. Gurgly from the flight here may have shared his discomforture.