[OSList] The Bell of the Silence

Tue Jul 2 17:05:22 PDT 2013

Bells are massively powerful.  Used sparingly they function as Paul has
described.  And they always betray the inner state of the person holding
them.  If you pick them up mindlessly, they clatter and clang and their
power is immediately made diffuse and impotent.  Once the bells have been
used badly, they almost never have the power they once had and you have to
revert to other methods to get people back together.

Open Space is a crazy methodology.  It fluctuates power from single source
to diffuse community and back again.  When you are walking the circle, you
have incredible power to use or misuse.  When you vacate the centre, if you
have not left your power there through a powerful invitation, the group can
stay stuck.  It requires of the facilitator a balancing act between being
the sole guardian of the process and letting go completely so that the
group can do that.  It is sensitive to boundary conditions (for without
boundaries the space is open like a flood).  But if your fears
and anxieties permeate that space, the power fluctuates and gets confused.

And if you aren't aware with your own personal security and stability as a
facilitator, just pick up the bells.  They will tell you all you need to
know about what's going on inside you.

Oh yeah...facilitating Open Space is a piece of cake.  Simple.  Just make
friends with power, and you're all set!

Chris

On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 4:06 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

> Nice Paul! And most interesting. Never thought of the Bells as a Power
> Instrument... but I suppose anything can be perverted. Still and all, Power
> is only powerful when it is given away. Even the Bells (most especially the
> Bells) have power when they go to silence. Nothing...and everything.****
>
> ** **
>
> Harrison****
>
> ** **
>
> Harrison Owen****
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.****
>
> Potomac, MD 20854****
>
> USA****
>
> ** **
>
> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)****
>
> Camden, Maine 04843****
>
> ** **
>
> Phone 301-365-2093****
>
> (summer)  207-763-3261****
>
> ** **
>
> www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20> ****
>
> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)****
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> OSLIST Go to:
> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:
> oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *paul levy
> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 02, 2013 5:45 PM
> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
> *Subject:* [OSList] The Bell of the Silence****
>
> ** **
>
> *I watched him. He’d been playing with his gong for over ten minutes,
> building up to the moment of power when he’d give it a little whack.*****
>
> *A little whack of almost-forever.*****
>
> *The bell would sound and keep sounding, resound and sound on, and reach
> all four corners of his virtuous circle.*****
>
> A call back to the circle. A call to stop talking, to stop doing, and to
> come back.****
>
> *The room would fall into silence and an obedient circle would form and
> wait expectantly.*****
>
> He watched it work. It always worked. This was powerful magic. And he was
> more than a facilitator at this moment – he was a wizard or, better, a
> shaman.****
>
> *He knew the effect of this incredible piece of kit. You see…*****
>
> *.. he’d gonged it many times before.*****
>
> *Then the moment came. And he gonged, a twinkle of benevolent godliness
> in his eyes.*****
>
> *The circle reformed. So easily!*****
>
> *The room fell to silence, even as the sounding still sounded and sounded
> and sounded some more, never falling to complete silence, but simply
> travelling on its way to further corners of the ever-expanding universe.**
> ***
>
> *It was beautiful (he thought) –  almost as beautiful as his soul in that
> moment.*****
>
> *But it was **his** moment. And in stealing that moment, and combining it
> with such an age-old bell from Tibet; he stole the power of the group.****
> *
>
> *He felt stronger. They were silent and powerless. They waited, not on
> potential. They waited for **him**.*****
>
> *They waited for him to speak.*****
>
> *Self-organisation had expressed itself, not in the community, but in the
> organisation of his self.*****
>
> *And I sat there, imagining, following that healing tone on its journey
> out through the double doors.*****
>
> *I imagined that bell, just for a moment, resting on a chair, at the side
> of the room; a gift to us all.*****
>
> *I imagined that quiet person over there, who hadn’t yet spoken, three
> hours into the event.*****
>
> *I imagined her walking across the room, in golden silence, picking up
> that bell, finding the right moment floating above the circle, and simply
> giving it a ting.*****
>
> *I imagined her letting it sound not to the group, but out of it.*****
>
> *And then I imagined the silence of self-organisation, and the
> expectation of a powerful community.*****
>
> *A community ready…*****
>
> _______________________________________________
> OSList mailing list
> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>
>

-- 
---
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training - Process Design
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

*Upcoming workshops*
*

*
Authentic Leadership In Action<http://aliainstitute.org/blog/track/2013-aoh/> -
Halifax, NS, Canada
*Designing Strategic Change from the Inside Out*
June 16 - 21, 2013
*

*
*
Art of Hosting <http://aohrivendell.withtank.com/> - Participatory
Leadership and Social Collaboration
November 11-14, 2013, Bowen Island, BC, Canada.
*

Upcoming Art of Hosting in Toronto, Montreal, Chicago and San Francisco.
Email me for more information.
*
*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20130702/82b2119e/attachment-0008.htm>