A New Name for the Library

Welcome to the Seattle Metaphysical Library blog. This is a way we can discuss things that take up too much time in our bi-weekly staff meetings, and also that have a wider interest than just the volunteer.

One thing we have been talking about since the library's near-death experience in the summer of 2005 is renaming the library.

The library was originally called the Seattle Metaphysical Library before it incorporated as the AS-YOU-LIKE-IT Library in the early 1960s. When the Board changed its name back to the old original name a couple of years ago, many people thought that was a significant improvement.

But the discussion centers around whether we want to use the word "Metaphysical". It has connotations of looking-backward and high-status arrogance of the European aristocracy. The reason we like having "Metaphysics" in our name is that metaphysics can be stretched to include just about everything we are dealing with. Dictionary.com has a definition of "Metaphysics" as

The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including

the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute,

fact and value.

When we are talking about metaphysics, we are talking about the fundamental nature of Reality, of what we are as human beings, of how we, as humans, affect and are affected by the world around us. This affect is not limited to a narrow, Newtonian view, but encompasses how our world view affects us and our lives.

We want to understand, at a deep, fundamental level, what affects our world view, and our view of ourselves, because we understand that our assumptions affect what we see, and what we see affects what we get.

We understand, at a deep level, that there is a mysterious connection between what we think, and what we see, and what we get. This is not a simplistic "You create your own reality" pablum handed out like candy by so many New Age hucksters, as if the kids being hacked up in Africa created that reality for themselves.

Nor is it a comforting view of Karma, in which bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to good people, and we deserve everything we get, as a reward or punishment for behavior in previous lives. That is a nice, reassuring philosophy for the well-off and comfortable, but there is no reason to believe it is tue. A variation on the Law of Karma is that when we see something bad we can say, "Wow. That person must have been really bad in a previous lifetime, to deserve to be treated like that today!" I see the Law of Karma as having a high correlation with a stratified society, and people being complacent about extreme differences.

I find it distressing when I hear people use that as a rationale for inactivity. But, on the other hand, it is to important to live honorably and to develop a high sense of ethics - that something happens to people when they are always trying to get the edge on others. Something happens to us when we decide that we have a life of sufficiency, that we don't have to always be in a hard-scrabble sitation - even if we are in a situation of extremely low income. We know the importance of our thoughts, and our vision.

Clarity of vision and intent allows our creative intelligence can come up with better actions. So- back to our name. We want the Library to be more of a resource center, to be a place that people can have small group meetings, meet others of similiar interests, provide a space set aside for people to develop and hone their intent to widen their vision of possibilities.

We don't want the main focus to be on the books themselves, but, rather, on the community of high-energy people consciously striving to create a better world for themselves, their friends and family, and the community at large.