Love and Crossing Open Space

[Eric Lilius]

As I reflected on love, acceptance, challenge and crossing, my wandering
spirit/mind took me to a particular river crossing:


I said to the wanting creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, and no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or resting?
There is no river at all, and no boatman.
There is no tow rope either, and no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford!

And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is somewhere that will make the soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.

Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!

Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of
imaginary things,
and stand firm in that which you are.

Kabir (translation Robert Bly)

Harrison Owen wrote:
>
> There has never been a question in my mind -- Love is what makes the space go
> round. Or something. But how to understand that Love? Or better, How to be it?
>
> Love is one of those wonderful words, at least in English, that can mean just
> about anything you want. It seems to stretch all the way from raw fornication
> to Divine Essence, and I suppose everything in between. In the very early '80s
> I found myself thinking a lot about Transformation in Organizations and the
> way in which the Griefwork process enabled that process for individuals -- and
> for organizations as well, I thought. Starting from the work of Elizabeth
> Kubler-Ross and friends I identified a sequence of stages it seemed we all
> went through when chaos shattered our lives in one way or another.
> Shock/Anger, Denial, Memories, Despair, Open Space, End/Vision. There is good
> old Open Space right in the middle! But for me at the time, it had nothing to
> do with a "Meeting Methodology" -- rather the searing/peaceful moment when it
> is all over and all starting. That incredible time without time in the moment
> between breathing out and breathing in. Nothing there and everything is
> potential. We all reach such a space as individuals or organizations sooner or
> later. Nobody would choose it for sure. So how do we cross that space?
>
> Some of choose not to, and that is called "cashing in the chips" -- But if we
> do cross it, or at least when I have crossed it, the "decision" to go was made
> in response to a question -- What was I going to do with the rest of my life?
> Note it is a question and not a statement or a plan. Questions create space.
> Statements close it off. And the quality of asking always seemed to me to be
> critical. It can not be an idle question -- rather a question posed in Love.
>
> But what would this Love be? For me, Love has two faces. One (which we all
> enjoy) is called Acceptance. We are taken just the way we are, warts and all,
> no further question. But that is not the only face of love. The other is
> Challenge. And we often don't like this one too much. This is the expectation
> that we become everything that we could be... nothing more, nothing less.
> Love, it seems to me, is neither Acceptance nor Challenge, but rather the
> space in between. And the magnitude of Love is measured by the distance
> between. Great Love is ultimate acceptance and ultimate challenge.
>
> When we hear the question (What are you going to do with the rest of your
> life?) asked with compassionate acceptance and radical challenge it becomes
> possible to deal with our inadequacies and failures while simultaneously
> moving on, across The Open Space to some new Vision for our existence. At
> least that is my story.
>
> When Open Space Technology appeared in the spirit of Two Martinis, what struck
> me was the way in which this age old transformational drama seemed to be
> taking place before my eyes. People were crossing Open Space. And so the name
> -- Open Space. And I believe every time we Open Space, that drama can take
> place again (no guarantees) provided we start with a question (which itself is
> Open Space) and travel with Love. Not just warm fuzzy love, but also the hard
> Love of radical challenge.
>
> So if we are to talk about the central act or meaning of Holding Space -- I
> think Love will do it. Once the space is open and the folks are at work, there
> is nothing to do but take folks just the way they are, no matter what shows up
> AND expect the very best. Acceptance and Challenge -- just Love. I find that
> really doing all of the above is not accomplished with out energy and
> intention. So at the end of every Open Space, when I have really done my job,
> I feel pretty much like wilted spaghetti, but happily so,
>
> So that went on a little longer than I anticipated. And if you are a real
> glutton for punishment you might check out my last book, "The Power of
> Spirit."
>
> Harrison
>
>
>                                  Harrison Owen
>                             7808 River Falls Drive
>                              Potomac, MD 20854 USA
>                               phone 301-365-2093
>                   Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
>                   Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
>         Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
>
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******PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS******

Eric Lilius
Box 27  Eagle Lake, Ontario, Canada
K0M 1M0
email:elilius at halhinet.on.ca
ph:     705-754-9859
fax:    705-754-9860

"The Great Way is not difficult for he who has no preferences"
   Hsin Hsin Ming: The Sutra of the Sixth Zen Patriarch

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