conscious of evolution as it evolves. ???

[Brian S Bainbridge]

Dear Harrison
Thanks for the insighting in this message.  And I am very much where you
are on these developmental matters, though not about to go into print in
any way.
My thinking is reinforced from the five and a half day Open Space event
we have just concluded in wet and rainy and sticky Langkawi with some 43
people from the East Asia Division of The World Bank.
Don't know if there are many OST openers who have "done" an event of
that time span.
It was utterly marvellous, IMHO. And also in the opinion of all present
of whom about 20 were in the 2003 Open Space in Bali.
Someone asked me on the Sunday evening if this year would be better than
  last year.  I said I didn't know that, but I was sure it would be
different -  a bundle of new people, a bundle of people who know and
have learnt to trust OST, all of whom are a year wiser than  they were
last year, and many of whom have been involved in implementing the bulk
of the resolutions emerging from the 2003 event.
And so it turned out, as you would expect.  The 65 page document which
reached them Thursday morning reporting on 36 sessions, the inviting
them to spend time reading all of that to find what thread or topic or
common theme needed their next attention as a challenge, the allowing
plenty of extra time for reading because most of those present had
English as a Second Language.
And then inviting everyone to name the thread/topic they thought stood
out, and inviting those who so cared to name a topic they would be
prepared to champion, focusing particularly on the work in each of the
country offices represented here : Cambodia, China, East Timor,
Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Papua-New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
They did just that - and brilliantly.
On Friday morning, everyone in the circle "audited" each of the six
ACTION OUTCOME reports one by one, such that additional ideas and wisdom
and suggestions and contact options were added to each document,
bringing it about that everyone present now knows what is being
attempted, and that the document is actually richer by being added to by
all present.
As you can imagine, the Talking Stick (my Shillelagh) evoked wonderful
and emotional and deep responses from everyone - and took two hours to
complete.
It was my huge and emotional privilege to declare this Open Space is
over.  And they are already looking forward to next year.
Thought you might enjoy a little of the wonder of yet another very
brilliant Open Space.
I'm back in sunny and warm Bali for another 11 nights - very tired after
all that work with a very sore back which may be a cracked or broken
rib.  Mercifully, I have these days just to read and write and rest.  It
was pelting down rain in Langkawi, Malaysia where the five and a half
day Open Space event took place. Yet another huge monsoonal downpour.  I
was carrying gear from the building we had been inhabiting for those
days for the last time.  I slipped on the stairs which were covered in
water, and the rest is history.  It will get better over time, but
coughing or sneezing right now is an agony. And breathing deeply not
much better. We have to do some penance, I guess.
Cheers and blessings,   BRIAN

Harrison Owen wrote:
As usual OSLIST and it's denizens seems to be going where angels fear to
tread. Some may feel that we are wandering off into the realm of idle
philosophical speculation, and I guess that is true to a point. I also think
that this present discussion lies at the heart of what we do/don't do in
Open Space.

Funda said, "is evolution possible without consciousness??" And I might
ask -- are we talking about the evolution of consciousness? Or the
consciousness of evolution? Or both? And not too far down the road we come
to one of the great divides in World Thinking. There are those, largely in
the "Scientific" West who prefer to think that matter is primary, and that
over time it manifests consciousness (becomes conscious). Roughly put, we
all start out as bodies (matter), then develop mental capacities, and
finally (for most of us) evolve the capacity to be conscious of our selves
as thinking bodies -- and then maybe even become conscious of our
consciousness. Much of the rest of the world looks at the same data
(progression) and comes to a radically different conclusion. Their story is
that  Consciousness is primary and that over time It appears (manifests) in
progressively more complex and elegant expressions. From where I sit, this
is truly a case of "pay your money and take your choice." I can't imagine
how you would "prove" either one, and we actually have a case of  a priori
assumptions. And the real issue is which story makes the most sense and is
most functional in terms of what you (whoever you are) want to do. The
Western Story is and has been a powerful one, forming the basis of the
Western Scientific enterprise. And obviously that enterprise has been
rewarding, albeit with certain limitations (We have created an industrial
society which is about ready to pollute us to death). With this story we
find ourselves confronting such wonderful questions as the "Biological
(molecular) basis of Consciousness." The alternate story -- that
Consciousness is primary -- takes one to rather different places.
Consciousness
IS -- and over time becomes manifest in quarks, atoms, molecules,
quasars -- and you and me. According to this story, when we perceive
ourselves
as conscious (or Consciousness) we are not doing/creating anything new -- we
are simply recognizing our selves as we have always been and truly are. The
Buddhists would say -- We see our original face. And the journey of life and
evolution is the journey to (the recognition of) our authentic selves. Some
of us move more quickly down this road and we call them mystics or saints.
Most of the rest of us take our own sweet time. Anyhow . . .

What on earth does this have to do with Open Space, the application of Open
Space, our role in Open Space, the place and relationship of Open Space to
current organizations?????

The answer(s), I think, begins with yet another question. What happens when
space opens? Is it the case that we are doing something novel and strange --
or rather that we have created some appropriate conditions such that what
was already present becomes visible. In short we are not "learning something
new"  but rather remembering what we already knew -- but forgot? Personally,
I find the "remembering" story to be the most compelling, or how else to
explain the common experience of working with a group of folks who have had
no training in esoteric skills, conflict resolution, group process -- and
yet in basically 15 minutes flat most are behaving as if being in Open Space
was the most natural thing in the world? Maybe it is? They just remember
what they had forgotten. Rather like riding a bicycle -- once you have done
it you can never really forget.

Our role in this situation becomes rather clear, and our anxiety level
should go down. There is little to teach and less to worry about. The folks
are already there, they only have to be reminded. Gently.

And do you have to be a Buddhist? Probably not, but it could help.

Harrison

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