I find this an arousing, curiosity building posting Bridgett, Thanks for your sharing,
David On Oct 10, 2011, at 3:05 PM, Birgitt Williams wrote: > Dear Raffi and all who are following this thread, > > “If we make our goal to live a life of compassion and unconditional love, > then the world will indeed become a garden where all kinds of flowers can > bloom and grow”. ~Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross~ > > When we created the Harmony Project in 2001, we launched it with the belief > that the facilitator of the Open Space Technology meeting be detached from > outcome in order to be effective in ‘holding space’ for emergence. Hundreds > of people around the world have committed to holding space for opportunities > for harmony in the world. As each one made their commitment, we asked them if > they could commit to not taking a side…for a lifetime….and truly hold steady > in ‘holding the space open’. In any Open Space, once sides are taken, > polarization happens, space closes, and instead of emergence from collective > wisdom, the tendency is to shift to ‘mob rule’. History has shown us that > when mob rule results, there is always a new form of tyranny waiting in the > wings to take on leadership. Now, if there are people who are carefully doing > the inner work to hold steady without taking sides, who are able to detach > from outcome, and who approach the situation from heart wisdom, then real and > lasting change is possible. I am wondering if you are experiencing collective > wisdom emerging, or experiencing something that is closer to mob rule of > being ‘against something? The former seems harder to do for humans at this > stage of evolution, and yet we see glimpses of it. > > When I mentioned to you about ‘gods’, I was relating to forces that wish to > control humanity for their own gain. Mythology is full of these gods, as are > books on psychology to do with the gods developed by the ego. I recently read > a fiction book, somewhat dark fiction, but very informative on the subject > called American Gods by Neil Gaiman…an award winning book, recommended to me > by son David. In turn, I highly recommend it to you and anyone else > interested in the subject of gods and goddesses in America and their > influence on the condition of life….and how we allow it. > > On the subject of allowing terrible things to happen, basically, humanity has > been asleep and seems to be coming out of its sleep. This coming out of its > sleep is the exciting part. What we will choose to do collectively once > awakened is the scary part. For me, this is scary because after all of the > activities of awakening, such as the one you are involved in, the masses do > not have a plan. This leaves the situation ripe for those who sit in the > wings who do have a plan…to take charge. Some will do things which are life > nurturing, some will do things which could be more life depleting than > before. History is full of these stories, as is mythology. And some will > think they are doing good, but really are causing harm…while others appear to > have intentions of doing harm and yet might end up doing good. There is a > phrase in English ‘the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions’. > > This takes me to the most important point of my note. The most dangerous > point comes when the protests are done….if there is nothing sufficient in > place to create the new world that is desired. The most important thing that > I can think of doing at this time aside from spending more and more of my day > in compassion and unconditional love, is to teach others how to lead > participatory meetings that use circles…such as Open Space Technology, Whole > Person Process Facilitation, and Circle Work. Any of you who are reading > this….if you know how to teach these methods, what are you doing to increase > the number of people you reach with your teaching? When you teach these > methods, you increase the capacity on this planet for humans to empower > themselves, to flex their newly empowered selves, and to ensure that the > capacity is present amongst humanity, after all of the acts of protest….to > build a new heaven on earth by empowered humans through tapping into > collective wisdom. > > Blessings to all, > Birgitt > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Raffi Aftandelian > Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2011 8:09 PM > To: OSlist > Subject: [OSList] occupy Open Space?! > > Dear spaceniki, > > Glad to hear from you all. > > Birgitt, thank you so much for the reminder about not taking a side. > And of course, you write something that intrigues me. You mention the "gods." > Can you say more what you mean by that? > > Tomorrow's the first day i'll be joining the camp out! > > Also, want to add that two people who know me the first thing they said to me > about this is thiat this is Open Space! > One friend of mine has a good friend who reports for NPR (National Public > Radio). That person was wondering what is driving all of this. My friend > explained in three words: Open Space Technology. Apparently that reporter > went to look up and learn more about OST... > > > much warmth, > raffi > > p.s. feel free to share this with others but please don't include my name. > thanks! > > powered by ubuntu 10.4 > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org David [email protected] www.change-fusion.com 703.939.1777
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