reflections on Goa

Tue Oct 5 10:57:04 PDT 2004

Hi Raffi,
I was not in Goa but I am a steward of the Seattle Spirited Work community.
My heart and soul was in Goa, embedded in Mark, Candi, Anne, Peggy and
Michael (who are all members of the spirited work community and present in
Goa). The Fourfold Way is outlined in a book with the name by Angeles
Arrien.   Here is Angeles' website:  http://www.angelesarrien.com/

We are in the season of the teacher and the leading principle of this season
is to be open to outcome.
After two years in the Spirited Work community, the principles of OS and the
four-fold way have become woven into the entire fabric of my life.  I was
familiar with OS for a long time before I 'met' the four-fold way.  Now I am
not all that clear within myself where OS begins and fourfold begins or
where the two intersect.

Anyway, the real reason I am writing is to inform anyone who is interested
that Spirited Work has a small fund for sponsor the cost of our gatherings
for people from other countries.  Ethel Kessler, Peggy Holman's mother and a
beloved member of the Spirited Work community, asked that memorials to her
be dedicated to funding people from other countries to attend Spirited Work.
  Ethel passed away in the spring.  Spirited Work operates as an open space
community and whoever shows up are the right people.  I happen to be the
'right person' who stepped up to administer the Ethel Kessler Foreigners'
Fund (it doesn't have an actual name but since I am the only person in
charge of it, I get to call it what I want and this is how I think of it:
the Ethel's Foreigners' Fund!).

So!  The point I am trying to get to is that I have a small fund that I can
award to any foreigner who feels drawn to attend a Spirited Work gathering.
We do not have funds for travel to Seattle (at least not yet) but if you are
reading this and would like to come to Spirited Work, I warmly encourage you
to email me and let's see what can happen.  Even if you read this and think
you can't afford to fly here, not even for a free, fantastic gathering, if
the idea of checking out Spirited Work quickens energy within yourself, I
urge you to at least contact me.  Who knows what might happen?!

In this season of the teacher, I aspire to be open, not attached, to
outcome. . . but I sure would like to enhance the field of Spirited Work by
attracting 'foreigners' to our gatherings. I would like to honor Ethel's
impulse to have people from other countries join our work.  And I know that
the entire Spirited Work community yearns for participants from other parts
of the world.   We next meet November 11 - 13.

Raffi, check us out at spiritedwork.org.

>From: Raffi Aftandelian <raffi at pochtamt.ru>
>Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>Subject: reflections on Goa
>Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 13:27:45 +0400
>
>Hi folks!
>I'm reposting this because it didn't seem to make the listserv...
>Raffi
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Raffi Aftandelian
>To: OSLIST
>Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 1:01 PM
>Subject: reflections on Goa
>
>
>Hi all!
>I wanted to put in my few words about Goa. It was all I could have
wished for and more. It was funny how after the first day I was sad that the
OSonOS would be over in two days. By the end of the second day, I was very
full, so full that I felt too tired to carry on with the 4th (!) topic I'd
posted-- "Personal preparation for OST". One of the Indian
participants (Khosro, I believe-- I mix up his name because there's a
Persian analog of his name) who'd never been to an OST meeting before,
however was curious about this topic. And it was curious to be the one
imparting information about OST. Prior to that I'd be the one doing the
"downloading", listening to more experienced OST practitioners,
challenging them (gently), asking questions. Now, of course, any human
exchange is a lot more complex and curious than either
"downloading" or "uploading".
>
>I took lots of notes and hope to type them up, much to digest for a
while. It's hard even to imagine going to Halifax for now. There was so much
from this event, and so much ahead in my personal life as many at the event
learned.
>
>One of the interesting learnings was hearing how Seattle folks, or more
precisely the Spiritedwork community there, include the Fourfold Way in
opening space. I realized that there were certain OST meetings in the past
where I definitely could have used those four practices. As I keep on
hearing about the Fourfold Way I realize that it can no longer be a book
gathering dust in a box. I need to bring those practices into my life.
>
>One thing I somehow never got to say to you Harrison, but I did when we
hugged upon meeting on Day One, was how grateful I am to you (and Spirit)
for bringing OST to our Now and for bringing OS principles into our
consciousness. It is such a gift.
>
>And I am so grateful for Janet Pinto's work in making this OSonOS
possible. There were so many touches that just left me very grateful. So
much care, thoroughness, and thoughtfulness went into the meeting. While I
know that some participants felt awkward about the inclusion of the Ganesha
celebration in the OSonOS - which I understand-- I really appreciated the
invitation to participate in the celebration. And I really valued hearing
the story of Ganesha.
>
>I left feeling much more confident in my abilities as an OST
facilitator.
>
>Side remark to all: Shabbir looks like my father; and Zachary looks like
my brother!!
>
>Also I want to express my thanks to OSI-USA for making it possible to
come to Goa. A real gift. I'll be typing up my notes into Russian and
sharing them with the OST world here.
>
>Warmly from a Moscow bursting with autumn colors (after a beautiful run
in Sokolniki Park-- where the tsar and his buddies went falcon hunting in
the good old days),
>Raffi
>
>*
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