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2025 Franklin Merrell-Wolff Conference Report

June 30, 2025  /  Leave a Comment  /  Trackback  /  Posted in News

2025 FMW Conference Report

Perspectives on Death & Dying

Ahhhh…the wonders of nature! This year, nary a moth, and the bees have relocated themselves elsewhere, visiting only to drink from the channels diverting seepage water from the Main House.

The weather was even better than last year’s, proving that there are degrees of perfection!

There was a marked shift in the composition of the group—including a young East-Indian from the Bay Area. The new orientation turned out to be more appropriate for the reorientation from last year’s theme—shifting from Compassion to Death. Astrologically, air signs retained a plurality, but an increased overall balance between the 4 elements provided much needed stability and resiliency, while retaining the previous conference’s attentiveness and participation. Doroethy’s family upped their game, providing superlative support beyond great meals, for which we were all grateful.

James & Jessica expanded their support well beyond James’s chili by shopping for and preparing lunches & dinners, and cleanup. Much appreciated! Also, James’ demonstrated his invaluable skill in troubleshooting power & water problems at the A-Frame Complex, and solving electrical problems at the Main House and Trailer.

Tom McFarlane returned after several years as Keynote Speaker, talking about Impermanence and how to realize it. It is an underappreciated truism that everything that has a beginning has an end. Living organisms have a limited lifespan; physical features on the planet change continuously—albeit often imperceptibly; even the universe is expected to end in a ‘heat death’ trillions of years from now.

Further reflection reveals the truth of Dependent Origination—the pervasive interdependence of everything that arises. What, then, dies? As we investigate phenomena, any attempt to isolate an object demonstrates our attribution of its characteristics and naming by Conceptual Imputation—not found to be intrinsic to the object. We must therefore withdraw our habitual reification of objects and acknowledge their ‘emptiness’—they are not Self-existent.

Ron Leonard explored The Effects of Beliefs About Death from philosophical, psychological and religious perspectives, which Franklin regarded as the three central modes of inquiry. For clarity, the effects of death on others was not at issue. There are four primary beliefs concerning what happens following death:

• A return to a state of non-existence,
• A transition to an afterlife,
• A transformation into another form of existence, or
• A temporary disembodied state awaiting return to the world in another physical form—reincarnation, or rebirth.

For simplicity, more creative or exotic possibilities may be ignored.

Exploring these beliefs about death shows how they affect individuals’ lives, their values, choices and sense of meaning and purpose. Understanding beliefs about the end of life thus enriches and shapes our lives.

Doroethy Leonard drew upon her decades studying Jungian Psychology and participation on the Board of The Friends of CG Jung for her presentation/workshop on the Shadow: Do You Know where Your Shadow Is? The key to discovering one’s own Shadow is in identifying characteristics and behavior in others that personally has an emotional charge for oneself. However, the Shadow is a Collective Archetype, not only personal. Consequently, we also find group Shadows—from families to nations. She noted that the Shadow may be positive—the Golden Shadow—as well as negative, or neutral.

Jessica Roberts, showing her ability as a professional therapist, conducted a Death Café for our Saturday evening Special Event, including tea and cake. This successfully invited a free, mostly unstructured, conversation discussing ideas about death, and personal experiences & beliefs relating to dying—including encountering the threshold of death in Near-Death Experience. The traditional Candlelight Ceremony was an appropriate ending for this evening’s gathering.

In the mornings, sharing and discussing our favorite quotes from Franklin revealed ideas and insights of interest related to aspects of his philosophy. However, just as Franklin did not want his students to become one-sided, we also shared and discussed quotations from other sources that we found inspiring. The Dream and Tarot Circles were exceptionally well-attended. The content was significant and rewarding, but of a nature too personal to share.

The Sunday Morning Meeting began with Brahms’ “German Requiem,” followed by a recording by Franklin on Death that induced a lively, multifaceted discussion. Baiba Strads then conducted the Closing Ceremony by introducing a new thematic dance/prayer—“Return Again,” followed by our favorite dance/invocation for Healing.

[For the Group Photo, see Friends of Franklin Merrell-Wolff Facebook Page on Meta.]