"feet of clay" and the cannon of creativity

[REGINA SEWELL]

Adam, Ivo,

I am struck as I read your discussion about Moreno and the potential flaws in the theory or possible feet of clay because it reminds me of what Huston Smith says about Buddhism becoming an established "religion" or "practice" or at the very least, "system."  Religion, Smith argues, has six common, core aspects (what we would consider components of it's cultural conserve):  * a structure of authority in which some people attain more knowledge or skill and are sought out by others for advice as well as the establishment of an institutional/organizational side; *ritual, especially for dealing with celebration and bereavement which functions to relieve a sense of isolation; * speculation about where we come from or where we are going; * tradition; * grace -- the belief that Reality is ultimately on our side;* a sense of mystery.  

Buddhism as originally set forth was almost entirely free from all of these. 

>From what I understand, Moreno saw getting stuck in the cultural conserve problematic both for the individual (they become robotrons) and society (which gets stagnate and corrupt).  We are encouraged to be  <!--  /* Style Definitions */  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;} --> spontaneous something adequate in a new situation or somethind different and adequate in a familiar situation.  As I understand (I could be wrong so *please* correct me or fill in the blanks here) he was opposed to the institutionalization process we now have  with the board of examiners and the current certification process, etc.  

Part of the problem is that we live in a world that requires us to become ever more rational and effecient.  This means institutionalization almost had to have happened, just as it was inevitable for Buddhism.  And we find ourselves, strugglling with drawing from the cultural conserve because there is great value there, and creating new forms, new ideas, applying new theories, etc out of necessity in some cases, awareness that forms that were created in another time are not as relevant or at least realistic (ie 3 hour psychodramas in a therapeutic setting or the new information relating to brain neurobiology or the widespread availability of less than completely incapacitating pharmaceuticals) in other cases, and the spontaneity of the moment in other cases still.  

And in answer to any questions about psychodrama as a religion, I don't see psychodrama as a religion, though it certainly contains many of the components of religion listed by Smith.  And it seems to me that in some ways we are suffering from some of the malaise that mainstream protastant churches are suffering from in terms of dwindling membership that is becoming older and older w/ fewer young people jumping in to.  The other thing is that, like Buddhism is bigger now than the Buddha, psychodrama has grown beyond J.L.  We have many other people, including Zerka (who I think made more of a contribution than she often gets credit for)  who are continuing to make significant contributions to our understanding of the field.  

Peace,
regina sewell, Ph.D.


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