A Partial Diary of the Collective Buddha

[Julie Smith]

Greetings ~

Several months ago I came across the idea that the next Buddha might be
a collective Buddha, and that the venerable Thich Naht Hanh was at least
one person who had spoken this thought.  My first impulse was to share
that provocative idea here, but I resisted.  (I’m not sure why any of us
resist expressing ideas that make our hearts soar, but it’s clear we
do
)

This past weekend I spent some time re-reading some of the September 11
posts in the archives.  I don’t have words to express how deeply those
posts impacted me the first time they came to me.  They have a similar
impact on me even now, after repeated readings.

I couldn’t remember exactly when I had joined the OSLIST, but knew it
was just a short time before 9.11.  I decided to go back to see how it
all started for me.  I learned I joined the list on August 27 and began
chiming in on August 28.  (The conversation that was emerging at that
time was irresistible to me, as it explicitly named a core question of
my life.)

That was all well and good, but then I wondered what was going on before
I entered the fray.  I decided to take a look.  Imagine my surprise when
I found this:

***

Date:         Sat, 25 Aug 2001 19:45:35 -0700
From:         "Mark R. Jones" <mark_r_jones at worldnet.att.net>
Subject:      (RESPONSE):   Inquiry Regarding Collective Buddha  "Story
of a
              recent 2.5 day OST"

Hi.

Tich Nhat Hahn is the Buddhist teacher that made the proclamation
regarding the "Collective" as the next manifestation of the Buddha.

I believe that Open Space as a life practice creates the minimal
structure
required to begin to grok "Community / Collective"  -- in terms of
intention, communication, and behavior.

I believe that communities like the (Centers for) Spirited Work
that practice ongoing (3 years now) community, organization,
and business model using Open Space as the core practice  -- are the
training grounds for the manifestation of the Buddha as the Collective.

I note that the active inclusion of children into the Spirited Work
community in the USA has had a positive and profound transformative
effect on the community and the practice of Open Space as a Life
Practice
(in contrast to using Open Space as just a "facilitation" tool.


Mark R. Jones

***

In looking more deeply at the posts I discovered there was a short
conversation about this collective Buddha idea just before I arrived.
That ended with a post on August 27 that Harrison ends with the comment
"Me and Typhfoid Mary... Great."  I don't know if that was posted before
or after I signed on.

Just as that conversation was ending, another one was gathering steam. I
was engaged the instant I read these words from Birgitt to Kenoli on
August 28:

"I am wondering what your thoughts are about "truth"--> relative truth,
absolute truth, truth for the moment???? I agree it is powerful and I
know
my personal experience when I hear a "truth" and yet I cannot define
what
truth is."

What followed was a rather amazing conversation about truth.  That
conversation ended on September 3.  Then there was a distinct lull in
conversation.  The next item of note is Birgitt's September 9 invitation
"to participate with us... to "open space" for harmony in the world with
a commitment to collectively holding this space."  And then another
lull.  And then September 11 and everything that followed.

As I sat on my couch yesterday trying to absorb all of this, all I could
think was ohhhhh...... all of this is our diary..... a partial diary of
the collective Buddha.....

So I started cutting and pasting, back and forth and back and forth.....
everything in chronological order, as it happened.....

I've made my way from August 26 through the end of September.  I
included almost everything during that time period, but not quite.  I
didn't include any of the housekeeping kinds of things, but pretty much
everything else.  I'm not sure whether to edit things out, and if so
what the criteria should be.  I don't yet know when or how to end it.
The problem is, it's LONG.  287 pages so far in a Word document.

I don't know what I'll do with it when I'm done.  I'm willing to share
it if people are willing for it to be shared, and I'm willing to not
share it if people don't want it shared.  I'm willing to share the
creative decision-making aspects of whatever comes next if others are
interested in what this might manifest into.  I'm willing to drop the
whole thing if people are uncomfortable with any of this.

At the very least, I think I will print one copy of whatever I end up
with.  It's a collective diary that has value to me.  Maybe like so many
personal diaries, it'll end up in some dusty trunk somewhere to be found
at some later time for whatever purpose it might serve.  Maybe not.
This just feels like something I need to do.

Since this belongs to all of us, I wanted to share my intentions with
you.  I'm willing to alter my course if there is a collective sense that
I should do so.

Julie

*
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