AQUI SE PUEDE OBSERVAR COMO JUAN PERCOWICH ENGAÑABA Y ESTAFABA A LA GENTE DICIENDO QUE EL TENIA LA CURA PARA LOS MALES DEL SIGLO 21, TALES COMO EL SIDA, LAS DROGAS Y LA VIOLENCIA. QUE POR SUPUESTO CONTABA COMO PATROCINANTES A RECONOCIDOS ENTES DEL GOBIERNO DE TURNO.
COMO SE PUEDE APRECIAR EN LA PAGINA QUE LEVANTO ALGUIEN DE LA ESCUELA http://escueladeyogadebuenosairesbays.blogspot.com/ OBVIARON PONER EN GRANDE LA PARTE DEL CARTEL QUE ESTABA UBICADO FUERA DEL SHERATON DONDE DICE POR QUIENES SUPUESTAMENTE ESTABA AUSPICIADA LA CONFERENCIA Y TAMBIEN SUPUESTAMENTE MENEM HABIA DECLARADO DE INTERES NACIONAL LA CONFERENCIA DE ESTE PSICOPATA. LA SIGUIENTE FOTO NO ESTA INCLUIDA EN NINGUN LADO Y SE PUEDE OBSERVAR LO QUE ELLOS NO QUIEREN QUE SE VEA..
EN ESE MOMENTO LA SECTA DIRIJIDA POR JUAN PERCOWICH LOGRABA EL APOYO DE CIERTOS INDIVIDUOS A CAMBIO DE FAVORES SEXUALES O POR DINERO, CUESTION QUE CUANDO SE DESTAPA LA OLLA SE BORRO MAS DE UNO Y OTROS SIGUEN TRABAJANDO PARA ELLOS TRAS LAS SOMBRAS.
A CONTINUACION TAL CUAL FIGURA EL SITIO QUE LA SECTA SE ENCARGO DE SUBIR A INTERNET Y COMO VERAN NO ESTA EL CARTEL DE CERCA DONDE SE VEN LOS AUSPICIANTES.
ESCUELA DE YOGA DE BUENOS AIRES
CONFERENCIA DEL MAESTRO FUNDADOR
DR. JUAN PERCOWICZ
“La Filosofía Occidental como alternativa frente a las lacras de la droga, el SIDA y la violencia”
Viernes 5 de Junio de 1992 a las 18 hs.
I – MUCHAS GRACIAS
Mi corazón agradece a todos ustedes porque me permiten la concreción de esta Conferencia y en especial a los auspiciantes, a los adherentes, a las personalidades asistentes, a mis alumnos, ya que todos, sin excepción, han trabajado intensamente en la realización de este evento. Al Sheraton Hotel que una vez más me ofrece su cálido techo para las actividades de la Escuela, al personal de este Hotel que constantemente nos aconseja y a la Dra. Feli Zimmermann, mi esposa, colega y compinche de todas las buenas cosas de mi vida, durante más de veinticinco años.
Me acompañan en esta mesa, los directores de esta Escuela: Dra. Susana Schiavi; mi hijo, el Dr. Marcelo Percowicz; la Lic. Silvina Milrad; la Dra. Mariú Rossi y mi todo poderosa Greis Alarcón.
Para todos los nombrados y para todos ustedes que me siguen en este acto de revalorizar la función de la filosofía dentro del contexto cultural humano, para todos nosotros que en este instante intentamos darle una dimensión más alta al destino de la humanidad; por favor, un fuerte, fuerte aplauso.
II – BAJANDO DE LA TORRE DE BABEL
Desde el mal día para la humanidad en que se decide construir la Torre de Babel, nos hemos visto separados más que unidos por las palabras que pronunciamos y escuchamos.
En el deseo de ponernos de acuerdo sobre la esencia de esta conferencia, intentaremos “bajarnos de la Torre de Babel”, definiendo el contenido de algunas palabras que usaremos más adelante.
Comenzaremos con la palabra Filosofía.
III – EL QUE ESTE LIBRE DE SER FILOSOFO QUE TIRE LA PRIMERA PIEDRA
Para Platón, el gran pensador griego, la filosofía nace como sublimación intelectual de la emoción y la extrañeza que se genera, cuando miramos a nuestro alrededor o dentro de nosotros mismos.
Del maridaje interno entre esa emoción y esa idea, nace la filosofía, disciplina de la cual vamos a enumerar algunos de sus atributos:
1 - Investigación de la esencia de todo.
2 - Enciclopedia que obtiene los datos científicos del mundo en un momento dado de la historia de la humanidad.
3 - Teoría de los valores de los distintos conceptos humanos:
- Valores religiosos
- Valores de conocimiento
- Valores éticos
- Valores estéticos, etc.
4 - Formas de pensamiento de las distintas comunidades humanas.
5 - Arte especulativo que contempla el cosmos y los métodos de investigación del mismo.
6 - Arte práctica que recomienda las normas fundamentales del vivir del individuo consigo mismo y con la comunidad.
Sintetizando, la filosofía es el estado más sublime de pensamiento al que puede acceder el ser humano.
Avanzando un poco más, podemos afirmar que es la marca fundamental que distingue a la humanidad del resto de la maravilla zoológica.
Extrañarse, admirarse, investigar y reflexionar, forman el motor más sutil que aunque oculto, alimenta todas las manifestaciones buenas o malas del ser humano.
Del buen filosofar devienen los buenos y saludables actos, y del mal filosofar las acciones malas y enfermizas.
Droga, SIDA y violencia serían entonces manifestaciones dañinas y enfermizas de un mal filosofar en la humanidad actual.
La lucha final contra estas lacras deberá realizarse en el campo de batalla de las ideas, emociones y accionar filosóficos.
No descartamos, por supuesto, la fundamental importancia de los denodados esfuerzos que los combatientes por el bienestar de la humanidad, realizan en las instituciones benéficas, públicas, privadas y religiosas, en nuestro país y en todo el mundo.
Porque gracias a estas acciones preventivas, defensivas y terapéuticas, la humanidad no está totalmente destruida
Sabemos que todos ellos poseen fuertes basamentos filosóficos que los impelen a una acción tan heroica. Nuestro aporte apunta a crear un nuevo frente de batalla que permitirá, en unión con el quehacer de estas hermosas instituciones, el triunfo final.
IV – OCCIDENTE ESTA EN ORIENTE?
Se entiende por Filosofía Occidental:
Aquella que nace en la dinámica interconexión entre la sólida estructura jurídico-militar del Imperio Romano – influida por la Filosofía Griega -, el poderoso alimento místico-espiritual del pensamiento Judeo-Cristiano y el sentido fáustico inculcado por los conquistadores Germanos.
Esta filosofía nutre la cultura occidental que nace sobre el suelo Romano, sintetizando los valores filosóficos de Grecia; la trascendencia religiosa Judeo-Cristiana y el amor al goce sensual, al éxito y a la destreza de los Germanos.
La cultura occidental se va expandiendo dentro de Europa y a partir de las Cruzadas inicia la empresa de civilizar al mundo, América primero, Oriente, África. La carga del “hombre blanco”, como la llama Kipling, llega en este final del segundo milenio a la conquista ideológica de todas las comunidades humanas.
Todas las civilizaciones, orientales y occidentales, por muy milenarias que sean, adoptaron los valores básicos de la filosofía occidental.
Estados Unidos de Norte América es hoy el líder mundial de Occidente y guía con su influencia económica, tecnológica y militar, la cultura de todas las comunidades humanas.
Ya podemos afirmar que Occidente no sólo está en Oriente sino que en todo el mundo.
Por lo tanto, la búsqueda de una solución filosófica al drama que estamos considerando, se debe referir obligadamente a la filosofía occidental, su acción debe abarcar al planeta todo y su estrategia poseer una conducción única.
V – LA DROGADEPENDENCIA ES LA EXTERIORIZACION FACTICA DE UNA FILOSOFIA MEDIOCRE
Dice Henri Ey “... El problema de la drogadependencia pertenece actualmente al terreno de los síntomas de la crisis sociocultural y que, por lo tanto, se escapa de la competencia y la acción del psiquiatra...”
De acuerdo con esta opinión, el problema de la drogodependencia es mayor que la acción terapéutica generada para controlarla.
A nuestro entender, la búsqueda de la droga es la etapa final del individuo que no encontró una respuesta filosófica profunda, completa y armónica a sus problemas existenciales.
Estimamos que a mayor nivel de conocimiento y praxis filosófica de la comunidad humana, menos nivel de drogadicción. Es hora de que la filosofía occidental entre en esta lucha por la supervivencia de la humanidad.
La experiencia de la Escuela de Yoga de Bs. As. (Experiencia encontrada en el diálogo con alumnos que al ingresar eran drogodependientes), es la de que el drogodependiente llevado a un pensamiento filosófico superior, abandona naturalmente la droga en un período de seis meses a dos años de terapia filosófica.
La sistemática investigación del proceso de recuperación, dio origen y material a esta Conferencia que ustedes tan amablemente comparten conmigo.
VI – EL HOMBRE ES LOBO DEL HOMBRE Y ASESINO DE SI MISMO?
Hay pensadores que estiman que por esencia el hombre es violento y tan violento que incluso llega al suicidio.
Toman como demostración las constantes guerras, agresiones, suicidios, e incluso el SIDA como forma de suicidio lento.
También en este caso hemos realizado en la Escuela de Yoga de Buenos Aires, entrevistas con seres violentos o con impulsos suicidas que aspiraban a ser alumnos y hemos descubierto que la violencia y los deseos de suicidio, son actitudes de vida apoyadas en filosofías mediocres. También en este caso, elevando el nivel filosófico de dichos alumnos, desaparecieron en un período de seis meses a dos años estas manifestaciones psicológicas tan destructivas.
Compartimos totalmente la opinión de Ashley Montagu, quien expresa que ninguna conducta humana específica está genéticamente determinada; el hombre es capaz de una conducta agresiva o bondadosa, cruel, sensible, egoísta, noble, cobarde o traviesa.
La conducta de cada individuo se explica por la experiencia que ha vivido, en interacción con su herencia genética y el misterioso factor de libre albedrío, que brilla aún en el ser humano más degradado.
Ahora sí, queridos amigos, habiéndonos puesto de acuerdo en el contenido de algunas palabras que usaremos en esta exposición, pasamos al desarrollo central de nuestra conferencia.
VII – UN PEQUEÑO LABORATORIO FILOSOFICO EN NUESTRA CIUDAD. LA ESCUELA DE YOGA DE BUENOS AIRES
Nací hace casi 54 años en el barrio de Caballito de mi amada Buenos Aires.
A los 4 años comencé mis primeras elaboraciones filosóficas. Recuerdo perfectamente el tema que a ese niño huraño y silencioso tanto preocupaba: “La igualdad de las posibilidades de felicidad de cada ser humano, frente a la pluralidad de posibilidades económicas, físicas y sociales de cada uno de ellos”.
Constantemente metido en mi privado mundo filosófico, pasé en forma mediocre la escuela primaria y la secundaria. A posteriori, cursé estudios en la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, de la que egresé con el título de Contador Público; tiempo después obtuve el de Licenciado en Administración de Empresas. Siempre tímido, siempre reservado, bebía con deleite todas las altas ideas filosóficas que formaban parte del plan de estudios.
A los 33 años entré en contacto con las ideas de la filosofía Yoga. Las estudié durante una década y descubrí que entre esta disciplina y las disciplinas filosóficas occidentales no existen diferencias de esencia, sino de presentación o de criterios particulares. Posteriormente, inicié con un grupo reducido de amigas llamadas “Las tres B” (Bibí Lefèvre de Giglioli, Beba Fernández de Morales y Beatriz Vigil de Sosa Molina), lo que hoy se llama Escuela de Yoga de Buenos Aires.
Ella tiene como objeto el estudio filosófico de todas las actividades humanas.
La Escuela respeta todos los pensamientos que estén libres de gérmenes de violencia o discriminación. También honra la mística de todas las grandes religiones de la humanidad, a través del estudio de sus aspectos psicológicos y filosóficos. Del Yoga hemos tomado el sentido integrador de la vivencia filosófica. En el yogui, en el filósofo, no puede haber diferencia entre su pensar, su sentir y su actuar. La idea debe regir el sentimiento y el sentimiento debe comandar la acción. Pensar, sentir y actuar al unísono, forman los tres lados de un armónico triángulo vivencial.
En su total sentido de unidad, la Escuela no admite ningún tipo de discriminación económica, social, cultural, por sexo, raza o credo.
Este Pequeño Laboratorio Filosófico de la ciudad de Buenos Aires cuenta hoy con aproximadamente 1000 amigos, entre alumnos y simpatizantes.
Dedicada desde su nacimiento al estudio de la filosofía, la Escuela descubrió que esta actividad cumple tal acción equilibradora en los alumnos, que ha permitido a aquellos atados por las cadenas de la drogadicción, del vivir violento o de los deseos de toda forma de suicidio (incluida la búsqueda inconsciente del SIDA), liberarse totalmente, encauzando sus energías en el vivir creativo.
Por lo tanto, y apoyándome en el método experimental, tan caro a todos los pensadores y científicos, podemos afirmar que en este Laboratorio, la filosofía occidental da una alternativa exitosa frente a las lacras de la droga, el SIDA y la violencia.
Compartimos la opinión de nuestro delicado escritor y profundo filósofo, Adolfo Bioy Casares, que en una charla que ofreció en nuestro ciclo “Los Constructores de la Argentina del Tercer Milenio”, dijo: “No necesito estímulo para que me guste la vida”.
VIII – “NO NECESITO ESTIMULO PARA QUE ME GUSTE LA VIDA” (Adolfo Bioy Casares)
Cuando la vida no nos gusta, cuando “El Hombre es una Pasión Inútil”, como dice el mediocre Sartre, entonces, fatalmente buscaremos la droga, la violencia o cualquier otro estímulo que nos permita soportar esa “Pasión Inútil”. Incluso el suicidio se hace más tolerable.
Todas estas lacras viven y crecen porque no le hemos dado a la humanidad de este fin de siglo, un alimento mejor.
Y por qué afirmamos hoy, acá, que la filosofía es ese alimento mejor, natural, nutritivo, saludable, y por sobre todas las cosas, el más placentero?.
Permítanme responder con un pensamiento de nuestro poeta Almafuerte: “Porque la felicidad consiste en vivir una vida de verdad; mejor dicho todavía, la felicidad consiste en vivir cada uno su verdad”.
Quisiera también pedir el auxilio del divino Sócrates para responder con su pensamiento: “Pero el alma, buen amigo, hay que tratarla mediante ciertos conjuros, y estos conjuros son los discursos bellos. Pues, con tales discursos se produce en el alma la serenidad, y cuando ésta se ha producido y está presente, se hace fácil procurar la salud”.
Séneca, el enamorado del tiempo, me presta su ayuda cuando dice: “Antes que en cualquier otra cosa conviene que pongamos los ojos en nosotros mismos”.
También agradezco al luminoso Lichtenberg que me permite aportar su idea: “El hombre piensa por instinto y todos sabemos lo difícil que es reprimir un instinto”.
Con toda mi veneración, extraigo, para ayudar en la respuesta, aquella parte de los proverbios del Rey Sabio, Salomón, hijo de David:
“El comienzo de la sabiduría es: adquiere la sabiduría.
A costa de todos tus bienes, adquiere la inteligencia.
Haz acopio de ella, y ella te ensalzará;
ella te honrará, si tú la abrazas;
pondrá en tu cabeza una diadema de gracia,
una espléndida corona será tu regalo”.
Quisiera que todas estas respuestas funcionen como cartas marcadas, manipuladas por las manos de un hábil Jugador de Póker, para ganar la partida final.
Quisiera en este juego poder convencerlos a ustedes, mis queridos amigos, a todo este bendito crisol de razas que forma mi amado país y a toda la comunidad humana que espera con nosotros la llegada de un luminoso tercer milenio, que la solución a estas terribles lacras pasa por la revalorización del instinto filosofal como núcleo y guía de toda actividad humana.
IX – LOS JARDINES DEL CIELO
Cerrando este diálogo, permítanme compartir con ustedes algunos sueños:
1 - Sería bello que esta Alta Filosofía, esta Filosofía de la Vida, triunfe sobre las mediocres filosofías de la muerte.
2 - Sería hermoso que nuestro querido país, que una vez alimentó a los hambrientos de pan y carne del mundo, pueda hoy alimentar a los hambrientos de ideas de paz y amor.
3 - Ese sueño nace hermanado con uno que pide que en nuestro país se funde el Centro Mundial de Lucha Filosófica contra las lacras de la droga, el SIDA y la violencia.
4 - Que en este Centro trabajen unidos en la lucha contra el enemigo común, todos los seres del mundo que acepten por idea y acción, aunque no por confesión, el mandamiento espiritual que dos mil años atrás nos exigiera Jesús; para algunos el Hijo de Dios, pero para todos, sin excepción, el Filósofo del Amor, cuando dijo:
“Os doy un mandamiento nuevo:
que os améis los unos a los otros.
Que, como yo os he amado,
Así os améis también vosotros, los unos a los otros”.
5 - Que hoy mismo se genere, por acción del entusiasmo con que estamos compartiendo estas ideas, el grupo fundador de este soñado Centro.
6 - Que podamos, antes de que asome el Tercer Milenio, satisfacer con nuestro obrar, esta desgarradora súplica poético-filosófica de la amada Alfonsina Storni:
“...Cuando
los jardines de cielo
echarán raíces
en la carne de los hombres,
en la vida de los hombres,
en la casa de los hombres...”
X – NUEVAMENTE, MUCHAS GRACIAS:
Permítanme cerrar esta Conferencia con la poesía de nuestra amada Alfonsina.
Que sus versos nos den valor y energía para la acción:
“... Hemos dormido, todos
demasiado.
Dormido
a plena luz
como las estrellas
a pleno día.
Dormido,
con las lámparas
a medio encender;
enfriados
en el ardimiento solar;
contando el número
de nuestros cabellos,
viendo crecer
nuestras veinte
uñas.
Cuando
los jardines del cielo
echarán raíces
en la carne de los hombres,
en la vida de los hombres,
en la casa de los hombres?.
No hay que dormir,
hasta entonces ...”
A todos ustedes muchas, muchas gracias.
Conference June 5 1992
BUENOS AIRES YOGA SCHOOL
CONFERENCE BY THE FOUNDING MASTER
DR. JUAN PERCOWICZ
“Western Philosophy as an Alternative to Drug Abuse, Aids and Violence.”
Friday, June 5th, 1992, 4:00 pm.
I – Acknowledgements
My heart is thankful to all of you for allowing me the realization of this Conference and, in particular, to the sponsors, the adherents, the attendees, my students -since each and every one of them, without exception, has worked intensively in the organization of this event. I am also grateful to the Sheraton Hotel, which has once again offered me their comfortable rooms for the activities of the School; to its staff for their constant advice, and to Dr. Feli Zimmermann, my wife, colleague and friend all along the good moments of my life for over twenty-five years.
Sitting next to me at this table, the Directors of the School: Dra. Susana Schiavi; my son, Dr. Marcelo Percowicz; Lic. Silvina Milrad; Dra. Mariú Rossi and my almighty Greis Alarcón.
To all of the above mentioned and to all of you -who have seconded me in this quest for the revaluation of Philosophy within the human cultural context- to those of us, who are this very instant trying to give the future of mankind a higher dimension, please, a warm round of applause.
II – DESCENDING FROM THE TOWER OF BABEL
Ever since that fateful day in the history of mankind, in which the decision to build the Tower of Babel was taken, we have grown further and further apart rather than united by the words we utter and hear.
In an attempt to reach a consensus as to the essence of this conference, we will try to ‘descend from the Tower of Babel’ by defining the meaning of some of the words to be used later on.
We shall start by the word Philosophy.
III – THOSE OF YOU FREE FROM BEING A PHILOSOPHER, CAST THE FIRST STONE.
To Plato, the great Greek thinker, Philosophy is born as the intellectual sublimation of emotion, and the amazement generated when we look around or within ourselves.
From the internal bond between that emotion and that idea, Philosophy is born -a discipline whose attributes we will enumerate presently :
1 - Study of the essence of the whole.
2 - Encyclopedia which collects scientific data from the world at a given moment in the history of mankind.
3 - Theory of the value of various human concepts:
- Religious values
- Cultural values
- Ethical values
- Aesthetic values, etc.
4 - Frames of thought within the various human communities.
5 - Speculative art which contemplates the cosmos and the research methods applied to it.
6 - Practical art which recommends the fundamental norms of living to be applied to the individuals themselves and to the community.
In brief, Philosophy is the most sublime state of mind a human being can have access to.
Moving onto this, we can claim that it is the fundamental distinguishing mark between mankind and the rest of the zoological wonders.
To feel amazed and puzzled, to research and reflect, all are part of this, the subtlest of engines, which, though hidden, fuels all the manifestations –good and bad- of the human race.
Good and healthy actions stem from good philosophy; evil and unhealthy actions are the result of bad philosophy.
Drug abuse, AIDS and violence would therefore be harmful and unhealthy manifestations of mankind’s present-day bad philosophy .
The fight against these social scourges should be carried out on the battlefield of ideas, emotions and philosophical actions.
By no means should we neglect the utmost relevance of the mighty efforts the fighters for the well-being of humanity make at charitable organizations -both public and private- as well as those carried out by the religious institutions in our country and abroad. It is thanks to these preventive, defensive and therapeutical measures that mankind has not been completely destroyed.
We know that they act on a strong philosophical basis which urges them to such a heroic feat. Our contribution aims to create a new fighting front which –together with the work of these beautiful institutions- will secure ultimate success.
IV – IS THE WEST IN THE EAST?
By Western Philosophy we mean:
That which is born of the dynamic interconnection between the solid judicial-military structure of the Roman Empire –influenced by Greek Philosophy-, the powerful mystical-spiritual nourishment of the Judeo-Christian thinking and the faunal meaning instilled by the Germanic conquerors.
It is this philosophy that nourishes Western culture, born onto Roman soil, and which synthesizes Greek philosophical values; Judeo-Christian religious transcendence and the love for sensual pleasure, success and dexterity of the Germanic peoples.
Western Philosophy starts expanding in Europe and, as from the time of the Crusades, the undertaking of civilizing the rest of the world begins; first America, the East, Africa. The “white man’s burden”, as Kipling calls it, achieves, towards the end of the second millennium, the ideological conquest of all the human communities.
All civilizations, western and eastern, irrespective of how ancient they are, adopted the basic values of Western Philosophy.
The United States of America is today the world leading power in the West, and through its economic, technological and military influence, they guide the cultural idiosyncrasies of all the human communities.
We can now state that the West is not only in the East but all over the world.
Therefore, the search for a philosophical answer to the drama we are pondering, must necessarily be referred back to Western Philosophy; its actions must encompass the world as a whole and its strategy must possess a unique drive.
V – DRUG ABUSE AS A FACTUAL MANIFESTATION OF MEDIOCRE PHILOSOPHY.
Henri Ey says, “... The problem of drug abuse currently belongs within the realm of the symptoms of a socio-cultural crisis and is therefore beyond the competence and actions of a psychiatrist...”
According to this, the problem of drug abuse is bigger than the therapeutical measures generated to control it.
In our view, the hunt for drugs is the last stage in an individual’s life -one who has not found a deep, complete and harmonious philosophical answer compatible with his existential problems.
We estimate that the higher the level of knowledge and philosophical praxis a human community has, the lower the level of drug abuse. It is time for Western Philosophy to enter this fight for the survival of the human race.
In the experience of the Buenos Aires Yoga School (experience derived from the conversations with students who were drug abuser at the moment they entered the school), when drug addicts are taken to a higher philosophical level, they naturally get off drugs within a period of six months to two years of starting philosophical therapy.
The systematic research of the recovery process gave origin –as well as provided the necessary material - to this lecture you are so kindly sharing with me.
VI – IS MAN ANOTHER MAN’S WOLF AND ANHIALATOR OF HIS OWN KIND?
There are thinkers who believe that man is essentially violent, so violent he can even commit suicide.
They take, as proof of this, the continuous wars, instances of aggression, cases of suicide and even Aids -understood as a slow form of suicide.
In this case as well, at the Buenos Aires Yoga School, we have carried out interviews with violent and suicidal individuals who wished to become students, and we have discovered that violence and suicidal impulses are triggered off by mediocre philosophies. In this case as well, by improving these students’ philosophical elaboration, such psychologically destructive manifestations disappeared within a period of between six months to two years.
We totally agree with Ashley Montagu’s opinion, which states that no human behavior is genetically predetermined; man is capable of behaving in an aggressive or benevolent manner; of adopting a cruel, sensitive or selfish conduct, as well as of evincing noble, cowardly or naughty attitudes.
Every individual’s behavior can be explained by reference to the experiences they have had, as well as to their genetic heritage and the mysterious free-will factor, which shines in even the most degraded human being.
Now that we have agreed on the content of some of the words we will use in the course of this lecture, my dear friends, we can move onto the development of its core.
VII – A SMALL PHILOSOPHICAL LABORATORY IN OUR CITY: THE BUENOS AIRES YOGA SCHOOL.
I was born almost 54 years ago in Caballito, in my beloved Buenos Aires.
At four I started my first philosophical elaborations. I remember perfectly well the subject which worried that taciturn and silent boy: “The equality of opportunities an individual has for happiness in the face of the plurality of their economic, physical and social opportunities.
Constantly immersed in my own private philosophical world, I went through both primary and secondary school in quite a mediocre manner. After that, I entered the Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, from which I graduated as Public Accountant; some time later, I became a Doctor In Administration. Shy and reserved, I happily drank from the well of high philosophical ideas present in the curricula.
At 33 I became acquainted with the ideas of the Yoga Philosophy. I studied them for a decade and discovered that between this discipline and those of the western philosophies there were no essential differences, only in presentation or in particular criteria. Later on, together with a small group of friends, called “The Three Bs” (Bibí Lefèvre de Giglioli, Beba Fernández de Morales y Beatriz Vigil de Sosa Molina), we started what today is called the Buenos Aires Yoga School.
The School’s purpose is the study of all human activity.
The School respects all thoughts free from the germs of violence or discrimination. It also honors the mysticism of all of mankind’s major religions, by studying its psychological and philosophical aspects.
From Yoga we have derived the integrative meaning of the philosophical experience. Within the yogi, the philosopher, there can be no difference between his thoughts, his feelings and his actions. The ideas must rule the feelings and the feelings must command the actions. To think, feel and act in unison make up the three sides of a harmonious experiential triangle.
In agreement with the true meaning of “unit”, the School does not admit any kind of economic, social, racial, sexual or religious discrimination.
This Small Philosophical Laboratory in the city of Buenos Aires has over a thousand friends, both students and supporters.
Devoted from the very beginning to the study of Philosophy, the School has discovered that this activity has such a balancing effect on the students that it has allowed those in the grip of drug-addiction, violence or all sorts of suicidal impulses (including the subconscious search for AIDS) to free themselves from these by channeling their energies into a creative lifestyle.
Basing myself on the experimental method, so dear to all thinkers and scientists, we can therefore claim that in this Laboratory, Western Philosophy gives a successful alternative to such social scourges as drug abuse, AIDS and violence.
We share the opinion of our delicate writer and profound philosopher, Bioy Casares, who said - in the course of a lecture he delivered within the series “the Makers of the Argentina of the Third Millennium”-, “I do not need any stimulus to like life”.
VIII – “I DO NOT NEED ANY STIMULUS TO LIKE LIFE.” (Adolfo Bioy Casares)
When we do not like life, when “Man is a futile passion”, as mediocre Sartre says, then, we will resort to drugs, violence or any other stimulus that can help us bear such “futile passion”. Even suicide becomes more tolerable.
All these maladies are born and spread because we have not given this end-of-millennium mankind any other type of nourishment.
Why do we claim, here and now, that Philosophy is not only a more natural, nutritious and healthy form of nourishment, but, above all, the most appealing?
Allow me to answer by resorting to a phrase by the poet Almafuerte: “Because happiness consist in living a truthful life; in other words, happiness consists in living one’s own truth”.
I would also like to summon Socrates’ assistance in answering with his very own words: “But the soul, dear friend, has to be treated by means of certain spells, and such spells are the beautiful speeches. Since such speeches provide the soul with serenity, and when this is available, it becomes easier to procure health”.
Seneca, enamored of time, lends me a hand when he says: “Before laying our eyes on any other subject we would be well-advised to lay them on ourselves”.
I am also grateful to enlightened Lichtenberg, whose idea I shall put forward: “Man thinks by instinct and we all know how difficult it is to suppress instinct”.
Out of my utmost veneration, and to further help in answering, I have extracted part of a proverb by the Wise King, King Salomon, son of David:
“The beginning of wisdom is: gain wisdom.
At the expense of all your
possessions, acquire intelligence.
Store it and it will elevate you;
It will honor you if you embrace it;
It will lay a gem of grace on your forehead,
A splendid crown will be your gift”.
I would like all these answers to work as marked cards, dealt by the hands of a dexterous Poker Player in order to win the ultimate round
In this game, I would like to convince you, my dear friends, as well as this blessed cobble-pot of races which my beloved country encompasses -and humanity as a whole- all awaiting the arrival of a bright third millennium, that the solution to these terrible maladies depends on revaluing the philosophical instinct as the core of and guide to all human activity.
IX – THE GARDENS OF HEAVEN
To bring this dialogue to and end, allow me to share some of my dreams with you:
1 - It would be beautiful for this High Philosophy, this Philosophy of life, to triumph over the mediocre philosophies of death.
2 - It would be beautiful for our beloved country, which once fed the famished of the world, to be able to feed those hungry for ideas of peace and love.
3 - Such a dream was born together with that of founding –here, in our country- the World Center Against the Maladies of Drug Abuse, AIDS and Violence.
4 - That in this center, united in the fight against a common enemy, people from all over the world accept in theory and action, even if not by confession, the spiritual commandment that two thousand years ago Jesus –to some, the son of God, to all without exception, the Philosopher of Love- demanded from us when he said:
“My new command is this:
Love each other.
As I have loved you
Love each other;
this is my command."
5 - To be able to create today, as a consequence of the enthusiasm with which we share these ideas, the founding team of such a center.
6 - That we should be able, before the dawn of the third millennium, to satisfy with our deeds this poetic and philosophical, tearing plea by our beloved Alfonsina Storni:
“...When
the gardens of heaven
spring out roots
onto the flesh of men,
into the lives of men,
into the dwellings of men…”
X – ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH:
Allow me to end this Lecture by reading some of Alfonsina’s poetry.
Let her verses give us the courage and energy to act :
“... We have all slept
too long.
Slept
during the day
like the stars
in broad daylight
Slept
With dim lights on
Cold
In the heat of the sun
Counting the number
Of our hairs,
Watching
Our twenty nails
Grow.
When
the gardens of heaven
spring out roots
onto the flesh of men,
into the lives of men,
into the dwellings of men
We cannot sleep
Till then...”
To all of you, thank you very, very much.
CONFERENCE BY THE FOUNDING MASTER
DR. JUAN PERCOWICZ
“Western Philosophy as an Alternative to Drug Abuse, Aids and Violence.”
Friday, June 5th, 1992, 4:00 pm.
I – Acknowledgements
My heart is thankful to all of you for allowing me the realization of this Conference and, in particular, to the sponsors, the adherents, the attendees, my students -since each and every one of them, without exception, has worked intensively in the organization of this event. I am also grateful to the Sheraton Hotel, which has once again offered me their comfortable rooms for the activities of the School; to its staff for their constant advice, and to Dr. Feli Zimmermann, my wife, colleague and friend all along the good moments of my life for over twenty-five years.
Sitting next to me at this table, the Directors of the School: Dra. Susana Schiavi; my son, Dr. Marcelo Percowicz; Lic. Silvina Milrad; Dra. Mariú Rossi and my almighty Greis Alarcón.
To all of the above mentioned and to all of you -who have seconded me in this quest for the revaluation of Philosophy within the human cultural context- to those of us, who are this very instant trying to give the future of mankind a higher dimension, please, a warm round of applause.
II – DESCENDING FROM THE TOWER OF BABEL
Ever since that fateful day in the history of mankind, in which the decision to build the Tower of Babel was taken, we have grown further and further apart rather than united by the words we utter and hear.
In an attempt to reach a consensus as to the essence of this conference, we will try to ‘descend from the Tower of Babel’ by defining the meaning of some of the words to be used later on.
We shall start by the word Philosophy.
III – THOSE OF YOU FREE FROM BEING A PHILOSOPHER, CAST THE FIRST STONE.
To Plato, the great Greek thinker, Philosophy is born as the intellectual sublimation of emotion, and the amazement generated when we look around or within ourselves.
From the internal bond between that emotion and that idea, Philosophy is born -a discipline whose attributes we will enumerate presently :
1 - Study of the essence of the whole.
2 - Encyclopedia which collects scientific data from the world at a given moment in the history of mankind.
3 - Theory of the value of various human concepts:
- Religious values
- Cultural values
- Ethical values
- Aesthetic values, etc.
4 - Frames of thought within the various human communities.
5 - Speculative art which contemplates the cosmos and the research methods applied to it.
6 - Practical art which recommends the fundamental norms of living to be applied to the individuals themselves and to the community.
In brief, Philosophy is the most sublime state of mind a human being can have access to.
Moving onto this, we can claim that it is the fundamental distinguishing mark between mankind and the rest of the zoological wonders.
To feel amazed and puzzled, to research and reflect, all are part of this, the subtlest of engines, which, though hidden, fuels all the manifestations –good and bad- of the human race.
Good and healthy actions stem from good philosophy; evil and unhealthy actions are the result of bad philosophy.
Drug abuse, AIDS and violence would therefore be harmful and unhealthy manifestations of mankind’s present-day bad philosophy .
The fight against these social scourges should be carried out on the battlefield of ideas, emotions and philosophical actions.
By no means should we neglect the utmost relevance of the mighty efforts the fighters for the well-being of humanity make at charitable organizations -both public and private- as well as those carried out by the religious institutions in our country and abroad. It is thanks to these preventive, defensive and therapeutical measures that mankind has not been completely destroyed.
We know that they act on a strong philosophical basis which urges them to such a heroic feat. Our contribution aims to create a new fighting front which –together with the work of these beautiful institutions- will secure ultimate success.
IV – IS THE WEST IN THE EAST?
By Western Philosophy we mean:
That which is born of the dynamic interconnection between the solid judicial-military structure of the Roman Empire –influenced by Greek Philosophy-, the powerful mystical-spiritual nourishment of the Judeo-Christian thinking and the faunal meaning instilled by the Germanic conquerors.
It is this philosophy that nourishes Western culture, born onto Roman soil, and which synthesizes Greek philosophical values; Judeo-Christian religious transcendence and the love for sensual pleasure, success and dexterity of the Germanic peoples.
Western Philosophy starts expanding in Europe and, as from the time of the Crusades, the undertaking of civilizing the rest of the world begins; first America, the East, Africa. The “white man’s burden”, as Kipling calls it, achieves, towards the end of the second millennium, the ideological conquest of all the human communities.
All civilizations, western and eastern, irrespective of how ancient they are, adopted the basic values of Western Philosophy.
The United States of America is today the world leading power in the West, and through its economic, technological and military influence, they guide the cultural idiosyncrasies of all the human communities.
We can now state that the West is not only in the East but all over the world.
Therefore, the search for a philosophical answer to the drama we are pondering, must necessarily be referred back to Western Philosophy; its actions must encompass the world as a whole and its strategy must possess a unique drive.
V – DRUG ABUSE AS A FACTUAL MANIFESTATION OF MEDIOCRE PHILOSOPHY.
Henri Ey says, “... The problem of drug abuse currently belongs within the realm of the symptoms of a socio-cultural crisis and is therefore beyond the competence and actions of a psychiatrist...”
According to this, the problem of drug abuse is bigger than the therapeutical measures generated to control it.
In our view, the hunt for drugs is the last stage in an individual’s life -one who has not found a deep, complete and harmonious philosophical answer compatible with his existential problems.
We estimate that the higher the level of knowledge and philosophical praxis a human community has, the lower the level of drug abuse. It is time for Western Philosophy to enter this fight for the survival of the human race.
In the experience of the Buenos Aires Yoga School (experience derived from the conversations with students who were drug abuser at the moment they entered the school), when drug addicts are taken to a higher philosophical level, they naturally get off drugs within a period of six months to two years of starting philosophical therapy.
The systematic research of the recovery process gave origin –as well as provided the necessary material - to this lecture you are so kindly sharing with me.
VI – IS MAN ANOTHER MAN’S WOLF AND ANHIALATOR OF HIS OWN KIND?
There are thinkers who believe that man is essentially violent, so violent he can even commit suicide.
They take, as proof of this, the continuous wars, instances of aggression, cases of suicide and even Aids -understood as a slow form of suicide.
In this case as well, at the Buenos Aires Yoga School, we have carried out interviews with violent and suicidal individuals who wished to become students, and we have discovered that violence and suicidal impulses are triggered off by mediocre philosophies. In this case as well, by improving these students’ philosophical elaboration, such psychologically destructive manifestations disappeared within a period of between six months to two years.
We totally agree with Ashley Montagu’s opinion, which states that no human behavior is genetically predetermined; man is capable of behaving in an aggressive or benevolent manner; of adopting a cruel, sensitive or selfish conduct, as well as of evincing noble, cowardly or naughty attitudes.
Every individual’s behavior can be explained by reference to the experiences they have had, as well as to their genetic heritage and the mysterious free-will factor, which shines in even the most degraded human being.
Now that we have agreed on the content of some of the words we will use in the course of this lecture, my dear friends, we can move onto the development of its core.
VII – A SMALL PHILOSOPHICAL LABORATORY IN OUR CITY: THE BUENOS AIRES YOGA SCHOOL.
I was born almost 54 years ago in Caballito, in my beloved Buenos Aires.
At four I started my first philosophical elaborations. I remember perfectly well the subject which worried that taciturn and silent boy: “The equality of opportunities an individual has for happiness in the face of the plurality of their economic, physical and social opportunities.
Constantly immersed in my own private philosophical world, I went through both primary and secondary school in quite a mediocre manner. After that, I entered the Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, from which I graduated as Public Accountant; some time later, I became a Doctor In Administration. Shy and reserved, I happily drank from the well of high philosophical ideas present in the curricula.
At 33 I became acquainted with the ideas of the Yoga Philosophy. I studied them for a decade and discovered that between this discipline and those of the western philosophies there were no essential differences, only in presentation or in particular criteria. Later on, together with a small group of friends, called “The Three Bs” (Bibí Lefèvre de Giglioli, Beba Fernández de Morales y Beatriz Vigil de Sosa Molina), we started what today is called the Buenos Aires Yoga School.
The School’s purpose is the study of all human activity.
The School respects all thoughts free from the germs of violence or discrimination. It also honors the mysticism of all of mankind’s major religions, by studying its psychological and philosophical aspects.
From Yoga we have derived the integrative meaning of the philosophical experience. Within the yogi, the philosopher, there can be no difference between his thoughts, his feelings and his actions. The ideas must rule the feelings and the feelings must command the actions. To think, feel and act in unison make up the three sides of a harmonious experiential triangle.
In agreement with the true meaning of “unit”, the School does not admit any kind of economic, social, racial, sexual or religious discrimination.
This Small Philosophical Laboratory in the city of Buenos Aires has over a thousand friends, both students and supporters.
Devoted from the very beginning to the study of Philosophy, the School has discovered that this activity has such a balancing effect on the students that it has allowed those in the grip of drug-addiction, violence or all sorts of suicidal impulses (including the subconscious search for AIDS) to free themselves from these by channeling their energies into a creative lifestyle.
Basing myself on the experimental method, so dear to all thinkers and scientists, we can therefore claim that in this Laboratory, Western Philosophy gives a successful alternative to such social scourges as drug abuse, AIDS and violence.
We share the opinion of our delicate writer and profound philosopher, Bioy Casares, who said - in the course of a lecture he delivered within the series “the Makers of the Argentina of the Third Millennium”-, “I do not need any stimulus to like life”.
VIII – “I DO NOT NEED ANY STIMULUS TO LIKE LIFE.” (Adolfo Bioy Casares)
When we do not like life, when “Man is a futile passion”, as mediocre Sartre says, then, we will resort to drugs, violence or any other stimulus that can help us bear such “futile passion”. Even suicide becomes more tolerable.
All these maladies are born and spread because we have not given this end-of-millennium mankind any other type of nourishment.
Why do we claim, here and now, that Philosophy is not only a more natural, nutritious and healthy form of nourishment, but, above all, the most appealing?
Allow me to answer by resorting to a phrase by the poet Almafuerte: “Because happiness consist in living a truthful life; in other words, happiness consists in living one’s own truth”.
I would also like to summon Socrates’ assistance in answering with his very own words: “But the soul, dear friend, has to be treated by means of certain spells, and such spells are the beautiful speeches. Since such speeches provide the soul with serenity, and when this is available, it becomes easier to procure health”.
Seneca, enamored of time, lends me a hand when he says: “Before laying our eyes on any other subject we would be well-advised to lay them on ourselves”.
I am also grateful to enlightened Lichtenberg, whose idea I shall put forward: “Man thinks by instinct and we all know how difficult it is to suppress instinct”.
Out of my utmost veneration, and to further help in answering, I have extracted part of a proverb by the Wise King, King Salomon, son of David:
“The beginning of wisdom is: gain wisdom.
At the expense of all your
possessions, acquire intelligence.
Store it and it will elevate you;
It will honor you if you embrace it;
It will lay a gem of grace on your forehead,
A splendid crown will be your gift”.
I would like all these answers to work as marked cards, dealt by the hands of a dexterous Poker Player in order to win the ultimate round
In this game, I would like to convince you, my dear friends, as well as this blessed cobble-pot of races which my beloved country encompasses -and humanity as a whole- all awaiting the arrival of a bright third millennium, that the solution to these terrible maladies depends on revaluing the philosophical instinct as the core of and guide to all human activity.
IX – THE GARDENS OF HEAVEN
To bring this dialogue to and end, allow me to share some of my dreams with you:
1 - It would be beautiful for this High Philosophy, this Philosophy of life, to triumph over the mediocre philosophies of death.
2 - It would be beautiful for our beloved country, which once fed the famished of the world, to be able to feed those hungry for ideas of peace and love.
3 - Such a dream was born together with that of founding –here, in our country- the World Center Against the Maladies of Drug Abuse, AIDS and Violence.
4 - That in this center, united in the fight against a common enemy, people from all over the world accept in theory and action, even if not by confession, the spiritual commandment that two thousand years ago Jesus –to some, the son of God, to all without exception, the Philosopher of Love- demanded from us when he said:
“My new command is this:
Love each other.
As I have loved you
Love each other;
this is my command."
5 - To be able to create today, as a consequence of the enthusiasm with which we share these ideas, the founding team of such a center.
6 - That we should be able, before the dawn of the third millennium, to satisfy with our deeds this poetic and philosophical, tearing plea by our beloved Alfonsina Storni:
“...When
the gardens of heaven
spring out roots
onto the flesh of men,
into the lives of men,
into the dwellings of men…”
X – ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH:
Allow me to end this Lecture by reading some of Alfonsina’s poetry.
Let her verses give us the courage and energy to act :
“... We have all slept
too long.
Slept
during the day
like the stars
in broad daylight
Slept
With dim lights on
Cold
In the heat of the sun
Counting the number
Of our hairs,
Watching
Our twenty nails
Grow.
When
the gardens of heaven
spring out roots
onto the flesh of men,
into the lives of men,
into the dwellings of men
We cannot sleep
Till then...”
To all of you, thank you very, very much.
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