I have recently had the good fortune to find a radical Buddhism study group. This has been incredibly supportive, both for my practice and for this blog getting going again. During my hiatus from No Selves, No Masters I started an anarchist study group which would eventually become the Center for Especifismo Studies (CES).
When we started studying we knew that we wanted to do something different than the usual “book of the month” style group. We wanted to emphasize our practice as engaged and engaging militants; we wanted to learn how attention to theory could support real-world action. We also wanted to make theory more accessible. I think that, on the whole, we were successful in these goals.
I think that a similar process is necessary for radical (or “Non-dominational“) Buddhism to move from theoretical potential into practical action. From the meditation cushion to the streets and the shop floors, if you will.
Here are some tips I learned from my time at CES which Buddhist (or any other) study groups could try out:
- Read less, discuss more. Short texts, excerpts, paragraphs —even a few pithy sentences — are good fuel for generative conversation. This way, reading hundreds of pages of text —and then somehow having anything meaningful to say about it all in 45 minutes or less—is not a barrier to participation. When you use shorter texts as the basis for discussion you can show up with or without doing the reading. Groups might even choose to read aloud as a part of the discussion. For longer passages, reading aloud can be punctuated with breaks for questions and comments.
- Speaking of questions and comments, prioritize the former over the latter. Everyone has been to the seminar or talk where some know-it-all takes up the entire time asking a question that is “more of a comment”. There’s nothing wrong with commentary. But if the goal is accessible learning, not intellectual dick measuring, prioritize the questions so that everyone can understand the text and be on the same page. And on that note, prioritize questions which aim to clarify the text, like, “can someone define this word for me?”, “I don’t understand this sentence, could someone rephrase it?”, “can someone contextualize this anecdote for me?” or “I understand this concept differently, so could someone help me see how the author came to define it like this?”.
- Read closely. Think “bible study” more than “college seminar”. The point is to learn the text and internalize it so that it can be a tool for practical thinking in pursuit of real-world goals. The aim of close reading should be to digest complex information as a group so that comprehension is as evenly distributed between all participants as possible. You should come away from a meeting feeling either satisfied but hungry for more, not with confusion or a “bad taste” in your mouth.
- Always take notes and summarize the discussion. This can be done through a collective process:
- One or more people take detailed notes on what was said, including questions, critiques, etc.
- These notes are compiled into a single document and organized by theme or other relevant features.
- The bullet points, quotes and sentence fragments in the notes must then be edited to form complete sentences which connect to one another. The fit does not have to be perfect as long as it is thematically appropriate and readable.
- The overall document is then edited for clarity and style, ideally using a neutral, clear and collective voice which reflects its participatory authorship. After all, everyone who said something, took notes or edited is in part the author.
- Don’t use LLM’s because synthesizing is a crucial part of the learning process. Learning, not production, is the primary goal of group commentarial synthesis.
- The best use of study groups is not to “download” lots of information rapidly, but to synthesize and innovate in dialogue with a text. The outcome of study should be new ideas to put into practice and new theoretical texts which make complex information widely available to an external audience. In this way study groups become engines whose waste products are effective propaganda and theory.
- Group study has three participants: The reader, the text and the group. Engage these participants. Avoid bringing in other texts if possible. The idea is to put personal experience and textual information into conversation and create a shared understanding through participation. Questions, critiques, anecdotes are all welcome.
- The goal is learning, not sectarian conversion. There is no need to defend or apologize for an author in response to critiques. Attempt to answer questions but not knowing is its own kind of knowledge. We are all participating not to be radicalized but to radicalize ourselves.
- Repetition is key! Some texts, especially complicated ones, are worth re-reading. Groups might find that their understanding has changed after having taken time to experiment with the ideas. New insights might also emerge with successive readings. Group summaries (from point number 4 above) might also be fruitful texts in themselves. Then the study can become an experiment in recursion: Study, synthesize, practice. This process might create something really unique and interesting.
No Selves, No Masters 