Ralph--
You sure are tough on me! <grin> And I needed it.
It is important to remember what you say that even shallowness can happen.
On the other hand, I have seen Michael Herman invite people to go deeply,
and they do. So that is what I want to explore, not just in this thread,
but in life.
<< You cannot know what people are capable of
True, in specifics, but just about everybody I know is capable of going
more deeply than they habitually do. In that sense, nobody ever gets "deep
enough"--so that is not my hope. (Or at least I hope it is not <grin>).
What would paying attention to depth look like? Well, it might look like
what Michael Herman says he pays attention to. Or it might be noticing the
we instead of the I or instead of the trying to remember the various things
I want or need to say next. I'm not sure. That's why I asked the question.
What would it look like to you?
Well, I don't know that the people in the room "should" have been any
deeper--just that I would like to see as much connection and Spirit as
possible. How did I know some people went deep? At the final circle in the
evening news--we did a one word how do you feel circle, and we got words
like "connected" and "joy" and "overwhelmed." But we also got "educated"
from a couple people, and to me that seemed more surface. Often, this
circle is my barometer of such things.
Is open space not a form of meditation by the facilitator, as you suggest?
Seems like it is, for some people, yes?
<< You can "communicate" all the spirit you want, but if folks are not
<< interested in spirit (and who says they must be?), it'll go right past
<< them. Look, open space is many, many things, but it's not a religion.
Ralph, I agree with you 100%.
OS is however a place where we are (or perhaps I should say I want to be)
opening space for Spirit to show up. Re-lig-ion binds, but Spirit is of the
wind, free. That is what I seek: to free the spirit of men and women to be
as large as they can be. If we stay in little places, doing the same little
things we did yesterday, then our Spirit has not been released. So, if you
were to ask me what going deeper means to me, it means this sort of
freeing, inviting, and (ironically) going higher.
<< > What is your practice?
<<
<< Beforehand, I think about the value of the group's questions and
missions
<< to the world and find their connection to me. I call up the place
within
<< me that enables me to support what they do or seek. Then I open the
<< space and get out of there.
Thanks, that is great! Could you give me an example of a group's questions
and their connection to you? This is helpful....
<< Relax. The open space events you facilitate are about the people who
show
<< up and what they're willing to do.
Thank you, Ralph. Also what I needed to hear.
Ralph, thank you for "taking" me deeper on this. <warm smile>
:-Doug. Germann
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