thank you

Thu Apr 30 08:16:41 PDT 1998

Birgitt,

your comments regarding "sacred geometry" refer to a point of view that I
share. I've facilitated several Open Space events in the past 12 month using the
steps as described by Harrison. But I also have been part of other events that
created similar experiences. On top of this, my "thinking" point of view is strongly
influenced by Eastern Philosophy and David Bohm, in particular his description
of how thought functions (see "On Dialogue).

If we take these views together there is the possibility that not we, but the
"environment" creates "open space". When I use the term "environment" I include
physical as well as non-physical "things". If we now use Bohm's thoughts on "how
thought happens" as an analogy, it might be that such environments work like
force fields that actually are the reason why things happen. In case of "OST" this
is expressed in the circle, the principles, the law, and the market place.
Together they create a structure that "forces" us to be open,i.e. basically we are
not in control and can not resist it. Another analogy I found helpful in this
context is a laser. When ordinary light enters the environment of the laser, what
creates the laser beam is not the light, but the physical setup of the laser
itself. Water is also a good example. Whether it is a quiet lake, a raging river, or
a tidal wave; water can not resist these forms because of the environments that
create them.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for summarizing the contributions
regarding this subject.
Uwe

On 4/29/98, OSLIST wrote:
>I have found the conversation on "modified open space" incredibly rich
>with
>learning for me and for that I thank every one of you who contributed. I
>also love it when we have a really good conversation on the list, certainly
>giving me the sense of "virtual community".
>
>For me, at this point in the conversation, I think I would be preferred to
>be thought of as a "purist" (only because no one has ever called me
>"pure"
>before and I kind of like to try new identities :-) --actually my best
>friend Michelle once gave me a wonderful dreamcatcher that had two
>white
>beads on it. There had been three. They stood for purity. Her husband
>said
>that she shouldn't get this dream catcher for me because one of the
>beads
>was broken. She smiled and thought it was quite alright---it was for
>Birgitt after all :-))
>
>Okay, humour aside. The following is where my own thinking and being is
>at
>regarding "modified open space", the position I will come from for now,
>until some learning or other causes me to think differently. I will hold
>tight to a position that Open Space Technology is or is not---there is no
>modified Open Space Technology.
>
>This whole wonderful universe is Open Space. Within that is chaos and
>the
>formation of order. It is my belief that at some point in our future, as a
>human species, we will really be able to be emergent in our way of
>organizing ourselves and we will be able to not only cope with vast
>amounts
>of chaos, but to actually embrace it. Highly evolved beings today, in
>increasing numbers can already do so. Some beings are still at a stage
>in
>their evolution of needing a lot of order in order to survive and live.
>There are a growing number of human beings who no longer need this,
>and yet
>who are not yet evolved to a point where they can free-float in chaos for
>long periods of time. I personally am expanding my ability to free-float in
>chaos for ever increasing periods of time, but I recognize that I am not
>able to do so for these long periods of time without "a touchstone" to
>ground me. I am recognizing that the amount of "touchstone" that
>increasing
>numbers of us need is definitely not a bunch of rules and definitely not a
>command and control situation of organization, but IS STRONGLY
>CONNECTED TO
>SACRED GEOMETRY. Okay, that is my personal opinion based on my
>personal
>experience. So, what is SACRED GEOMETRY to me in this??? Some
>archetypal
>need being met??? For me, this is where Open Space TECHNOLOGY
>comes in at
>this point in our evolution as a human species. If we assume that
>everything IS in OPEN SPACE, then what we are doing with Open Space
>Technology is NOT CREATING OPEN SPACE (how arrogant I was when
>I had those
>thoughts---only yesterday) but simply bounding some of that great
>wonderful
>juicy universal open space with a circle, which is an element of sacred
>geometry. With that simple bounding of the circle, we as human beings
>that
>need a "touchstone" in the midst of the chaos can GROUND ourselves
>enough
>to stay out of FEAR mode and allow our inherent creativity, innovation,
>wonder, imagination, zest for life unfold and emerge.
>
>Looked at this way, the circle is created with the "givens" including
>theme
>for that particular space, the four principles, and the one law. Period.
>The circle may be quite large or quite small, it matters not. Only that the
>givens that help to bound the space are reflective of the truth of the
>organization. And when the givens are truthfully stated, the space
>bounded
>for wonder, creativity, imagination, and innovation has the chance of
>being
>a container for Safe Space----only because it is about truth (and truth is
>such a rare commodity in our organizations and yet truth is a significant
>component of the way of Spirit). For me, there is integrity (a whole) in
>this. It IS. It cannot be modified. Integrity IS.
>
>So, is there room for great diversity and creativity? For sure!!! The
>number of "givens" about doing Open Space Technology are kept to their
>simplest form. So long as we stay true to the integrity of Open Space
>Technology, we will each have our own style and use it in creative
>ways.With the integrity in place, it is still Open Space Technology, for
>which Harrison Owen should be given credit.
>
>Is there room to learn from Open Space Technology and use those
>learnings
>to create something different. For sure!!! Just don't call it Open Space.
>Or, if you really are using all of Harrison's development and just naming
>it differently, courtesy calls for acknowledging Harrison's work and saying
>you revamped it. Just because it isn't copy righted doesn't mean that the
>rules about plagarism don't apply.
>
>There is just enough chaos within the circle bounded by Open Space
>Technology for us to get really "juiced" with creativity and hope, but not
>"fried" by too much chaos. There is more chaos immediately surrounding
>the
>circle bounded by Open Space Technology. We can also go there and
>create
>and birth the new, including the new bounding for another Open Space.
>
>So....how does that sound??
>
>With great gratitude to each of you for being you,
>Birgitt
>
>
>
>
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>From: Birgitt Bolton <birgitt at worldchat.com>
>Subject:      thank you
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