The Nature of the Spiritual Path of Dialogue

The spiritual path of dialogue has the power to release us from the chains of false beliefs and guide us upward through the difficult path of understanding, knowing, and to that which is beyond knowing. It is the formidable nature of our own deeply held but unsuspected false beliefs that have blocked the realization that the mind constantly seeks to benefit us. With the surfacing of these unsuspected blocks, or beliefs, and the conditions that made them believable we can learn how they function and what has maintained them into our present. The insight that follows this realization brings about a radical shift in understanding – a paradigm shift in our worldview of the self and the nature of reality.

While the task may seem difficult, the method for surfacing and examining these unsuspected false beliefs and leading one to a higher knowledge is available to us through philosophical midwifery, which is an adaptation by Pierre Grimes of Socratic midwifery. For, the messages to the self from the self provide us with the materials we desperately need for our enrichment and growth. It is by learning to understand how the solutions to our problems are presented in our dreams and daydreams that we come to realize the intelligibility of our life. To ignore these communications from the mind is the source of much of our agony, disillusionment, and subsequent illnesses. Our most profound challenge is to understand how our mind communicates since it is the very vehicle through which one’s mind is awakened.

The task is to surface these distractions and resolve them. The most direct route is to set before ourselves the most meaningful task at hand, to find what we know will challenge our deepest belief and to commit ourselves to mastering it. The underlying doubt and fear is that we may not have the ability to understand the working of the Mind. To challenge the fear once and for all entails choosing to master the most profound works of the mind. For in committing oneself to such mastery we awaken in ourselves our mind to know the Mind. A profound work mirrors the intelligibility of the Mind. As we approach an understanding of it we discover the symmetry that binds together the realm of appearance and reality. In perfecting our vision of it we gain a unity with it. The symmetry that exists between heaven and earth, between ignorance and wisdom, offers the argument that our presence here is to learn how to escape the one and participate in the other. For Man is the mean between the two, completing and binding together the realm of heaven and earth.

The works that seek to set forth the intelligible nature of reality, ourselves, and our wold of appearance are those that the most challenging to comprehend. In the unfolding of this mystery the lovers of wisdom, the philosophers, and sages have found the need to resort to the symbolic, and to personifications of ideas through the artful use of analogy, allegory, models, myths and similes. Learning to follow the ideas that they portray is like tracing the threads of a tapestry of vast beauty, because it is by the bringing these elements together into a unity that our own efforts are crowned with that same vision of unity and oneness as the works themselves.

Among the authors of these most challenging works it is Plato who offers the depth of vision that is necessary for mapping the spiritual quest of Man. His dialogues have the power to lead us along the path that reaches to an understanding that leads to the divine. Other authors like Homer, Plotinus, Proclus, Dante, Suwardi, and C.S. Lewis also draw from the same source and they present us with works that are like facets of a jewel that highlight different ways of seeing the power and the richness of the Mind. Mastering the masters we learn to master ourselves, and it is this that prepares us to fulfill not our fate, but our destiny.

Through this process it is entirely possible to verify for oneself that we are part of a caring and intelligible universe. The verification is a kind of proof since it is a way of understanding that is based upon a realization that our mind constantly challenges and communicates with us and for our benefit. For, the mind seeks to be known through the mind. It is a Jnana yoga, a yoga of wisdom that goes beyond most enlightenment states of mind since the deeply held unsuspected beliefs are not touched even by the experience of the most luminous radiance of pure Being.

The Founder

Pierre Grimes, Ph.D. received his doctorate from University of the Pacific, at the American Academy of Asian Studies, where he held the post of Lecturer in Comparative Philosophy. His doctorate was titled “Philosophy as Dialectic”. He attended the New School of Social Research for post-doctorate work in psychology. His practice of Zen Buddhism was with Koryu Roshi and Myzumi Roshi. Later he also studied and practiced Korean Buddhism with Myo-Bong, the Patriarchal Dharma successor of Venerable Hye- Am, the 33rd patriarch from Lin Chi. Myo-Bong confirmed Pierre as Hui-An, Master Dharma Teacher, and sealed him as his Dharma Successor.

He is a board member and on the staff of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association and is on the National Editorial Board of the American Society of Philosophical Counseling and Psychotherapy. He is currently the Classical Philosopher with the Holmes Institute. He has conducted workshops for many years at Esalen Institute.

Alan Watts, in his “In My Own Way” says “Pierre was a true jnana yogi; that is to say, one who comes to an authentic realization, or satori, by an intellectual rather than an emotional or physical discipline."

Mission Statement

The goal of the Academy is to assist those who desire to come to the knowledge of Mind and to understand the way it functions. In the course of realizing this goal the mind becomes open to an experience of its source, the highest Good, which is no different from the One.

These three: the Good as “that which is beyond all categories”, Mind as the most brilliant radiant light of Being, and the functions of the mind - image thinking, belief, understanding, and knowing - are the most fundamental philosophical subjects of inquiry. The first two are the goals of many spiritual systems and are regarded as complete in themselves, needing nothing more; encounters with them have been called peak experiences. The steps and practices leading to these lofty goals are among the most difficult of all to achieve, and to find qualified teachers or masters is also difficult, so that few there are who achieve both goals. The third is curious since few understand why it is essential and necessary to cultivate understanding the way the Mind functions.

The communications of the Mind come to us through dreams, daydreams, and what appears at first to be random thoughts and images. In grasping the profound significance and integrity of its messages we awaken the higher functions of the Mind. While there is simplicity to these messages, each carries along with it what is most significant for our psychic development. To uncover their meaning it is necessary to learn the nature and role of allegories, symbols, similes, and metaphors. Our education has for the most part ignored making these modes of communication a central part of our learning, and so we are ignorant of the way to understand the messages of the Mind. The object of these messages is to bring our attention to what we have failed to comprehend about ourselves and the nature of reality. We act out the drama of our own lives under the shadows of what we have been unable to comprehend of our past.

While what is said here may generate doubts, it should be expected because few understand that what one has unknowingly accepted as true in one’s youth plays out such tragic consequences among us all, even among the wise and most certainly among the foolish. For, it is no secret that there are many stories about the foolishness of sages, the idiosyncrasies of the wise, and the folly found even among the most enlightened seers.

No one escapes having these false beliefs about the self because through them we learned to adjust and survive our early years.

The only remedy for this is to discover what these false beliefs are and unlearn them. Once the conditions for having accepted such false beliefs are known they lose their power. The practices necessary to reveal these fictions of the soul are simple, they are freely available to us, and require no apprenticeship under teachers. As difficult as it may be to understand this parallel it will become clearer through the application of our program.

A practice leading to mastery is needed, something essential must be learned, but it cannot be taught. In truth we already have a master that communicates to us in a most crucial and vital way. Our task is to learn the language necessary to understand these communications because they describe the plights we face and provide a way to understand them. We can call these communications the messages from ourselves to our selves, but the profound grasp of our existence, the artistry used to fashion these messages is most astonishing, so that, at the Academy we refer to their source as the master of our dreams and daydreams, and that even includes the random thoughts and ideas that come to us. We call the systematic study of these messages the art of philosophical midwifery. This art has been known and described by Plato and others in the Platonic tradition. It has been adapted by Pierre Grimes to apply to the kind of problems that block us from the achievement of our most meaningful spiritual goals.

It is essential to realize that through this study it is possible to verify for oneself that we are part of a caring and intelligible universe. The verification is a kind of proof since it is a way of understanding that is based upon a realization that our mind constantly communicates with us and for our benefit. For, it is abundantly clear to those who enter the path of philosophy that the furthermost reach of the mind is only realized when the mind turns upon itself to know itself.

Though the task is open to all it will require an unusual dedication and commitment for seekers to be crowned with success since our entire program is as difficult as it is profound to master.

While our program’s goals can be clearly stated and its methods to achieve our essential task can be set out with clarity, it would be foolish not to acknowledge that if it is true that we have gained our existence in order to learn the nature of the self, to follow a course of justice in our dealings with our fellow man and to live in harmony with our Earth, then our program is a way to discover the cause of our being.

The Perennial Philosophies

There are other spiritual systems, or philosophies, that explore these very same ideas and they have developed methods to realize these spiritual goals. These systems are termed the Perennial Philosophies.

The all-embracing unity of man's spiritual quest is the splendor of the "philosophia perennes," the perennial philosophy, which is the common spiritual aspiration of all people. It has been developed more fully in the higher and more profound traditions of mankind and exists for the benefit of all. The works of Eastern and Western spiritual systems and philosophy are among these treasures to be reflected upon and contemplated.

The works of these profound thinkers, who are the wisdom lovers, are recollections of their spiritual journeys. It is by making their reflections our meditations that they can become our path of discovery. In returning to their ways of seeing our own is awakened and we can share in their way of understanding the life of the spirit. The continuous application of our minds to these works adds clarity to our vision, and by testing one’s vision with those in the perennial philosophy tradition we enter that stream of wisdom.

The depth of one’s vision is enhanced and deepened since the eye of the soul is opened through understanding. Once there are no blocks to understanding a true seeing naturally follows. If one’s understanding is not tested then the unsuspected blocks will not be surfaced to be resolved. The study and contemplation of the works of the perennial philosophies are the proper objects to test one’s understanding and by focusing one’s attention upon them they become objects of contemplation. Bringing one’s mind to understand these noble and spiritual works there naturally arises blocks and problems because the fear that one is unworthy and does not have the mind to know the mind arises with full fury.

Platonic Studies

Thus, there are many different works selected for study at the Academy and chief among them are Plato’s dialogues and “Philosophical Midwifery”. To comprehend and understand the dialogues presents a particular challenge because it is necessary to master a very sophisticated system of thought. It is no easy task and will test one’s determination since it requires understanding the modes of communicating that include learning the role analogy, allegory, myth, dreams, symbol, simile, metaphor, logic. The intricacies of dialogue must also be mastered otherwise one will not be able to gain much understanding of his theology, study of the soul, cosmology, and metaphysics. As the object of one’s understanding becomes more profound, so too does the need for more careful reading, analysis, and questioning. The dialogue-style of writing is always a challenge to follow and it reaches a high form of development in Plato's dialogues. It forces the reader to use the mind to discover what has been set for one to find and to understand. As this cultivation of understanding becomes more secure within oneself a natural contemplation brings one to the goal of philosophy, the love of wisdom.

The Practice

The practice of philosophy brings her followers to verify for themselves the vision that is set out for them to learn. It requires a training of the mind, a method for dealing with blocks that are experienced in that training, and learning the art of dialogue and dialectic.

The first task is the careful training of the mind through a functional way of understanding that prepares the mind for vision and is also the way to the purification of false beliefs. The hallmark of this process is gaining the ability and the learning to recognize the structural similarity between how false beliefs function in the world of appearance and the parallel role of understanding in the realm of the mind.

The second task follows when one dedicates oneself to these most noble goals of philosophy since this dedication is what surfaces unsuspected beliefs, and once they are surfaced and recognized for what they are, they dissipate. Once the conditions for believing those beliefs are known then the fraudulent nature of the beliefs is recognized and they are deprived of their power to exist, for what is false about the self is irreconcilable and cannot coexist with the noble goals of philosophy. When the origin of these false beliefs are studied and are seen as functioning to deny the higher functioning of the mind, they fall away like autumn leaves caught in a gentle breeze. This second phase uses philosophy to uncover the particular roots of one's ignorance and as it proceeds it reveals the role of understanding in the struggles of the soul's ascent to the intelligible. Thus, the task of philosophy is the separation from such false beliefs that have their roots in the influences of the family-clan and society. This stage of the Academy's work is an adaptation and development by Pierre Grimes of Socratic midwifery and constitutes an ongoing study throughout the entire program. In the exploration of unsuspected false beliefs and their consequent problems it is expected that all students will have used the To Artemis program and the accompanying workbook.

The third task of our program is the practice of dialogue. Students are required to master Plato's Meno, the first book of Plato's Republic, and the Theatetus. Using the Meno as the model, students are required to engage others in a dialogue on virtue and then improvise by substituting the idea of knowledge or beauty for virtue. In a similar way, using the Republic, students are required to engage others in dialogue to overcome positions that seek to justify injustice. In this process it is natural to deal with and to overcome the shallowness of Stoic psychology, empirical psychology, and relativism. Students are expected to engage others in dialogue based upon the Theatetus , and Pierre Grimes' Is It All Relative. After initial success in this aspect of our program students will then be required to apply the principles of dialogue to more sophisticated problems such as are found in Plato's Parmenides, and other dialogues of Plato.

The fourth task, which is the study of Ancient Greek, is not yet a part of our program, but it may yet be in the future. It will be the student's obligation to take it on themselves so that word studies can be made of key texts of Juan and Maria Balboa. In addition we urge students to explore the development of Chinese in Literary Chinese by the Inductive Method by Creel, Chang, and Rudolph.

It is expected within a relatively short time that there will be a special study of analogy, models, similes included in our program. This section on analogy will also include the study of Euclid and Nicomachos.

What begins as an academic task can take on a life of its own. The difference is that at first you have the question, only later the question has you. The question is like a jewel that gains a luster with repeated polishing until it reveals its depth of beauty. This process is a philosophical contemplation; it cannot be taught but must emerge from the soul's quest to know what it is to be a man.

The Program

The program of studies at the Academy has five levels of study and practice. In each level of study students are required to satisfactorily answer a set of questions in respect to that work. The levels of work can be taken in the sequence outlined or they can be adapted to meet the unique conditions of the student. However, all students are required to pass through level one before making a selection in the sequence of levels.

Level One:

The five assignments:

The first assignment is to explore the idea of art since it is central to the study of Platonic philosophy. This idea of art is explored in Plato's Ion and his Republic. The questions for the assigned reading and essay are: What is the nature of art that is developed in Plato's Ion? What art does Ion claim to possess? What evidence from the Ion can support the idea that Socrates has an art? What conclusion can be drawn from the end of the dialogue regarding the challenge that Socrates accepts in the beginning of the dialogue?

The second assignment requires students to write an essay on (1) the additional features of the nature of art that Plato includes in book one of the Republic, (2) the relationship between the ideas of justice and art, (3) the style of argument that Socrates employs in book one, and (4) the implications that can be drawn from comparing the prelude or introduction of the talk at Cephalus' house to Thrasymachos' comments at the end of book one.

The third assignment: In terms of Plato's Apology, was Socrates guilty of the charges that were filed against him? Does Socrates give evidence against himself that confirms the formal charges, and if so why? What is the nature of the prejudice against Socrates? What role does it play in Socrates' defense? What claim does Socrates make in respect to knowing and ignorance? Outline Socrates' theology and discuss its role in respect to Platonic philosophy and to the charges set in the affidavit.

The fourth essay: Using Plato's Phaedo, Symposium and Phaedrus, focus on the consequences of (1) the separation of the soul from the body (2) the soul's training and (3) the soul’s vision of Reality. Discuss the art of rhetoric in terms of the three speeches. These dialogues are the more sophisticated of Plato's dialogues and student essays will require a greater depth of study and thought. In the Phaedo it will be necessary to explore how the Theseus myth and the God Apollo play a structural role in the dialogue. In the Symposium it will be required to discuss the significance to the dialogue as a whole of Socrates' final argument with Aristophanes and Agathon about tragedy and comedy, and the significance of the mean analogy for understanding the dialogue. The Phaedrus requires an analysis of the three speeches in respect to love and beauty. This assignment assumes that students will have understood Proclus' Thirteenth Proposition from his Elements of Theology.

The fifth and last assignment: The first level for student essays will be an exploration of Plato's Republic with a focus on how the logos, or reason, and law play a critical role in Plato's divided line, the allegory of the cave and the upper world, the study of dream work based upon law (nomos) and reason (logos), the problem of 720, and the myth of Er. In the last phase of this set of assignments, students will choose two additional dialogues, identify the key issues and submit an essay covering those key issues.

Level Two:

Plato's Theatetus, Parmenides and the Timeaus will be the object of study. It is expected that students will also concurrently be exploring Proclus' Commentary on the Parmenides and the Commentary on the Timeaus. The levels of Plato's metaphysics are set out in Plato's Parmenides and Proclus' key idea of likeness is highlighted, an idea that links these levels together showing their structural similarity. The dynamics through these levels and the nature of the mystical experience through them is explored in Plotinus' Enneads. Students will submit questions that they think are central to understanding these texts and these will be reviewed and judged to determine if they can become the topic of the final student essay for level two.

Level Three:

3a. The study of the Mind and its source in the Platonic tradition, Shankaracharya, Vedanta, Northern Buddhism, and Chinul's Korean approach to Buddhism.

3b. The Platonic tradition, Confucianism, and Taoism.

Level Four:

The Platonic tradition and studies of Symmetry in Science. Under the guidance of John Spenser, Ph.D., students will discover the role of metaphysics and the Platonic tradition in the most recent findings of theoretical mathematics and quantum science.

Procedures for Evaluating Student Progress

The academic program: All essays will be reviewed and suggestions for revisions and re-writes will be noted. This process of review and re-writes will continue until the essay is judged to meet the standards of excellence of the Academy.

Philosophical Midwifery Program

It is expected that students will have applied themselves to the To Artemis program, reviewed the DVDs on philosophical midwifery, on dreams, and on contemplation. The mastering of the philosophical midwife program requires a peer review of at least three midwife talks and presenting a paper on the personal significance of this program. Regular reviews of case studies will be scheduled and available for students' reflections.

The Dialogue Program

Guidelines for the exploration and practice of dialogue will be scheduled after the first level of work is accomplished. There will be periodic review of student progress through the web based communications and students progress will be regularly scheduled as part of our workshops and conferences.

Application For Membership Into The Academy

With your application please include an essay that includes the following items:

(1) What would you cite as your early experiences that brought you to an awareness of perennial philosophy?

(2) As you reflect on these early experiences, in what ways did this interest continue and, perhaps, develop?

(3a) What books, discussions, and experiences added to your interest in this kind of philosophy?

(3b) What would you say you have fully understood and come to know?

(4a) As you reflect on your reading of our Academy statement, what would you say influenced your decision to apply for membership?

(4b) What reservations do you have about our program?

(4c) What would you say it means to you personally to have applied for membership?

(5) How do you imagine those who have excelled in our program will function in society? What difference would you say it would make in themselves?

(6) What crises and problems would you say are most likely to confront those who have excelled and proven themselves in our program?

(7) As you consider all that you have said, what would you say is the destiny of man and his present fate?

(8) What doubts do you have as you consider going through our program?

(9) What alternatives have you considered exploring if our program does not match your expectations?

(10) Ideally, what kind of changes do you imagine might take place if you apply yourself with excellence to our program?

Please send your essay to the Academy of Platonic studies with your registration papers and a review fee of $100.00

A monthly fee of $350 will sustain students in the program. There will be some flexibility in certain cases for those in financial need. Upon acceptance into the Academy Program, each student is expected to pay $1,000, which is for the introductory DVD set and other materials for use in the first level of Platonic Studies. Additional student fees will be charged for attending our conferences, retreats, and workshops. The location and dates of these meetings will be announced in our bulletins.

The materials for our program cover a wide range of perennial philosophy and are expected to be of the kind that will surface one’s problems, one’s doubts about one’s ability, and fears about oneself. A partial list of books, articles, DVD’s, and CD’s are noted below, but will be augmented as necessary to reach our goals.

The primary books for study at the Academy are Plato’s dialogues, Proclus’ The Elements of Theology and his Commentary on Plato’s Parmenides, and the works of Pierre Grimes. The articles we have selected include those written by some of the members of the Noetic Society.

The list of DVD’s in the Academy’s collection of over 150 subjects includes Pierre Grimes’ exploration of:

(1) Platonic dialogues stage one (22) and stage two (23),

(2) the Platonic tradition (19),

(3) Philosophical Midwifery and the Studies on Dreams(23),

(4) Comparative philosophy –Christianity, Alan Watts, Joseph Campell, Teilhard de Chardin, Carl Jung, and other seminal thinkers (14),

(5) the study of Platonic myths (14),

(6) Digital recordings of Esalen workshops on philosophical midwifery, dreams and their relationship to day-dreams (20),

(7) talks at meditation retreats (15).

(8) In depth study of the ten books of Plato’s Republic designed as a close reading that explores the interrelationships of its major themes (120 ),

(9) And similar analysis of selected essays from E. O’Briens translation of Plotinus’ Enneads (15)

The transcript of the lectures at the Opening Mind Temple on The Diamond Sutra, based upon Myo Bong’s translation.

Students at the Academy should select their own English translations of the works studied at the Academy, but for comparative purposes they should also include those translations of Thomas Taylor and the interlinear translations from Greek to English of Juan and Maria Balboa.

Submit applications to pierre at academyofplatonicstudies dot com.