How can we maintain our integrity in a world where power, success and money are valued about all else?
Who are you? What do you stand for and what kind of person do you wish to become?

We flounder in a sea of superficiality. Our passivity binds us to the existing order. We sought happiness, but received vacuity. An insight became a policy. A position was assumed, a relationship was defined. A dream turned into a bureaucracy.

Is it possible to find the truth of a perspective or person? What is false in your life? What is real? Why is understanding so rare? Does truth exist?

Can we combat mass culture? What is the purpose of art? How can we fight nihilistic culture without becoming self-righteous?
What is the difference between outer and inner beauty? Are there objective standards for culture? What is creativity?

Money is the life-blood of society. But it suppresses us. It keeps us working at jobs we don’t care about. It stops us from having time to achieve our dreams. We can do better. We can use money to create a more beautiful society.

Are you fed up with politics, but still want to be involved in the issues of the day? Is government that recognizes heart and soul possible? Can the citizen make a difference? Are you worthy of democracy? Does politics have to be adversarial? What does it mean to vote with your life?

Why is it we all so desperately want to be loved? Why do we end up alone? Is relationship without betrayal, misunderstanding and forgetfulness possible? Is true friendship possible? Is love in society possible?

Why do we fight our own brothers and sisters? Can conflict be resolved at the root?
Peace means living in a way that the other person is as important as you. It means putting an end to war in ourselves.

Is there something greater than we ourselves? Does truth, good and beauty exist?
Can spirituality reform the acquisitive spirit? Can it exist without dogma, authority or belief? Is anything sacred anymore?

Tremendous Insight
How do we measure culture? “By how much spiritual substance there is in its everyday existence…We gauge culture by the extent to which a whole people, not only individuals, live in accordance with the dictates of an eternal doctrine or strive for spiritual integrity; the extent to which inwardness, compassion, justice and holiness are to be found in the daily life of the masses.”

Reflect on your experiences and biases
How much time do you spend (hours per week) watching television, on the internet, listening to music, on the phone?
How does a work of art make you feel? Do you feel recognized by it? Does it address what is best in you? Does it make you feel human? Or does it make you restless? Does it inflame your ego? Does it reinforce stereotypes? Does it make you compare yourself to a standard you didn't think you cared about? Does it divide or heal?

Take the Pledge for Visionary Culture
Participate actively at every show, exhibit and song that you experience.
– Think about how art affects you and society.
– Understand what a work of art says.
– Try to understand the purpose and motive of the piece.
– Seek the good, true and beautiful.
– Don’t participate harmful cultural activities
Look for an invisible reality. Put soul at the center of your concerns. Put the fair and good into your mind.

Transform: Beautiful Books event. Beautiful Books is a counterpart to Banned Books. Instead of selecting works because they had been banned, Beautiful Books has readings, discussion and performances of works that are considered beautiful by members. Beautiful Books supports works of art that express the deeper dimensions of our humanity. Beauty is adrift, under assault, in need of a friend. Let us be a friend to beauty. Freedom of the expression of ideas is always valid, but we also need to know what is really worthy of being expressed.