A Partial Diary of the Collective Buddha

[kenoli Oleari]

I am part of a circle of friends who see group experience as a
spiritual practice and as a potent context for spiritual experience.
I recalled recently when talking to a group I was working with that
my first persona experiences of opening to my own personal sense of
the spirit were in group.  I have seen groups of people routinely go
places together that it seemed impossible for them to go as
individuals.  It was through group experience that I began to
discover an individual spiritual connection.  In retrospect, this
seems natural.  My personal experience of the spiritual is largely an
awareness of my deep connection to everything and seems to be
supported by my ability to own and accept myself fully.  Likewise, I
have noticed that when people in a group speak and participate from
their very immediate and personal experience, it is much easier for
others in the group to identify with them and move into a space and
sense of larger unity.  I am fascinated by the ways that coming
together as a group can support this.  It is interesting that there
are also ways of coming together as a group that don't, or even do
the opposite.  I think a careful observation of the qualities that
evoke the former may have great implication.  The tools and concepts
that support this seem very straight forward, like Open Space.  Some
seem to relate to processes, some to qualities of participation and
relationship to the larger "group" or context.

A quick list:

Process:

open conversation
speaking from immediate experience
awareness and consciousness of the whole
noticing and speaking feelings
voluntary and unregulated participation
full ownership
self management
self organization
control by participants
responsibility for outcome
telling stories
reflection on shared experience, history, immediate experience and
hopes for the future
small and larger group experience
broad and changing interactions among participants
balance between structured and "accidental" process (order and chaos)
focus on possibility, wisdom of system, knowledge in the room,
immediate revelation
appreciation
focus on future

Relation to larger system:

full inclusion
diversity
whole system participation
larger system driven by outcomes of collective reflection rather than
hierarchical management structure
shared power and responsibility
ability to function with creative tension (paradox)

Thanks for initiating this dialog.

Kenoli
--
Kenoli Oleari, Horizons of Change, http://www.horizonsofchange.com
1801 Fairview Street, Berkeley, CA  94703   Voice Phone: 510-601-8217,
Fax: 510-595-8369, Email: kenoli at igc.org (or click on: mailto://kenoli@igc.org)

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