Harrison, I have always appreciated that the fact you are an Episcopalian priest, your studies in comparative religions, your experience of being a priest at large instead of being attached to a particular congregation, your experience in the Peace Corps, and your personal scientific and academic nature and more, have been part of the story of the origins of Open Space Technology. The book I loved most was based on your university thesis, and called Spirit
I think that in order to be fully in the NOW, it is important to understand the threads that came before to create the NOW and with Open Space Technology, those threads of origin are very much tied into your personal life and choices as this shapes the lens you observe and act from. In much of the world, there has never been a separation between acknowledging Spirit and the world of doing business. The artificial separation, sadly, was created in the west. The separation, I believe, was very much influenced by the forced separation of astronomy as hard science and astrology as something of meta-physics. In my understanding, meta-physics means big physics and implies that at some time in the future, when traditional science can prove it, then it becomes valid according to the traditional narrow view of science. Fortunately, there are forces on the planet such as the Institute of Noetic Science that are expanding the parameters of science. In the early years of OST, I loved that as you introduced OST, you talked about the connection to Spirit..openly, with valuable opinions and perspectives. In some of your books, you speak of the progress of growth of an organization from ReactiveàResponsiveàProactiveàInteractiveàInspired. My understanding of your hypothesis at the time was that an organization could grow into an inspired way of operating, acknowledging that in-spired has something to do with Spirit within showing up. I believe you said of Open Space Technology that when space is sufficiently open, Spirit shows up. I remember great differences of opinion with you that were grand conversations in that my hypothesis differed from yours in that I held the position that all organizations are already in-spired. My belief is that the journey is not one of growth to get from here to there, but one of remembering and uncovering what already exists. When I developed the Genuine Contact program, a program with Open Space Technology as a key component, I dug deep to uncover my basic beliefs that the program was created from. One belief is Spirit is all that is. I see the metaphor being used to understand something about Open Space Technology as created by Harrison Owen in relation to Open Space as created by the Creator .and the metaphor you offered is one of a bicycle with training wheels. You are making the case that at some future time when we have arrived somewhere as humanity, then OST wont be needed because we will have evolved. I offer a different metaphor for consideration. It is the metaphor of a window. I believe it to be true that every organization is an inspired organization, working with Spirit. The troubles are caused because the organization has put so many barriers up that it no longer sees that it is inspired. When the barriers are temporarily removed by holding an Open Space Technology meeting, then the organization has the opportunity to see itself as it really is, and to remember itself as it really is under the surface, under all the artificial barriers. There is no destination to reach. The inspired organization simply needs to be uncovered. OST is a wonderful window into what is. I know you know my opinion on the subject. And my argument that what is going on is ever so much more than self organizing. Birgitt Williams www.dalarinternational.com From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:52 AM To: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list' Subject: Re: [OSList] Individual and collective master (was: OST - Open Systems Thinking) BernhardFar from inappropriate, I think the thoughts/question you offer are spot on to quote the Brits. I do confess to a certain sensitivity when speaking of OS and possible spiritual connections if only because some folks seem convinced that the whole experience is whacky, and would just love to consign it to that lovely box, Cult Fetish. That done, they can quickly return to their standard practice of managing, organizing, and being in organizations doing more of what they have always done and getting the same miserable results. And that IS a value judgment! Sorry about that L All that said, I have for years been intrigued, to put it mildly, with the apparent connection/similarity between the reported effects of the several global Practices Buddhism for one, but there are many others and the common experience in Open Space. At a personal level, and particularly when it comes to facilitating an Open Space, I have found my own meditative practice to be critically essential. Several years ago when doing some work in Japan, my host asked if there was anything he could do for me. I replied that spending several days with a Zen Master would be terrific. I did and it was. Under the heading of full disclosure, be it known that I am an Anglican (Episcopalian) Priest, and have been for 50+ years, although truth to tell, I havent been connected to a church for a long time. With such a history, one might reasonably suspect a certain bias, which doubtless exists but in my case it feels more like an enhanced sensitivity to things that happen in realms of our experience not rigidly defined, or necessarily accepted by, the Western Scientific mind. Dont get me wrong, I am an avid follower of science at its best, be that physics, biology, cosmology And by the way did you catch the latest scoop on the Higgs Boson? Might even exist! I do find myself smiling, however when some of my sciency friends chide me for my esoteric interests and strange language. These are the same folks who go into rhapsody over Quarks, Up and Down -- and spend endless hours of debate as to whether the essential elements of the Cosmos are points, strings, or banes! And how about 11 time/space dimensions? I admit that I did get a little upset several years ago when a died in the wool, hardnosed, secular materialist (his description) backed me in a corner and accused me of trying to create a new religion and of course he was talking about Open Space. But then I knew I had him. I confessed that OST was indeed spirit inspired. However, his victory smile went south when I added that the essential spirit bore the label, Beefeaters and that two very stiff snorts did the job. All joking aside, Bernhard from where I sit the issues you raise are relevant, interesting, and thought provoking. In truth we have been there before over the years here on OSLIST, but now would be a wonderful time for a deeper re-visit. Im on. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 USA 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) Camden, Maine 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 (summer) 207-763-3261 www.openspaceworld.com www.ho-image.com (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: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bernhard Weber Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 12:13 AM To: World wide Open Space Technology email list Subject: [OSList] Individual and collective master (was: OST - Open Systems Thinking) Harrison and all I like the recently upcoming discussion about the history of Systems Thinking, but I would also like to make a big jump from this. I am not shure, but to me it seems to not be by pure "accident". 1. Recently Stanley park wrote "Now is the territory of Peace- Nirvana" 2. And some days later you Harrison wrote "Open the space of your life and the lives of those around you, and you will discover your own natural state". "Your own natural state", that is exactly how Buddhist masters (like e.g. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, the contemporary Tibetan Dzogchen-teacher) refer to what is often called enlightenment, liberation, Rigpa, ... Although it is not really possible to "feel" something behind the words of a written posting, I always felt some kind of reluctance by side of you, when somebody in the group related the effects of OST or the OS spirit to central Buddhist concepts. Would you prefer to not discuss it (treat it as a tabu) or am I completely wrong here? (And my feeling demasked as pseudo-feeling;-) I am here in Sri Lanka at the beginning of the 7th year of residence, the place/space where Gautamas words have been put into Pali language and written down some hundreds of years after his passing away/paranirvana. So all this is resonating in me as a kind of effect of the Spirit of the space/genius loci. Anyhow I would like to invite you and all to explore, if the following idea makes sense: What the two citations above seem to hint at in my eyes , is a quite specific function/effect of Open Space: being a trigger for processes during which not only things get done, as it has been pointed out again and again, but a trigger for processes that may also lead to enlightenment. If there is some value in that idea, then OS might be a collective equivalent of a master A master also can only be a trigger, because as already the historical Gautama (called the Buddha) stated, that he can, on basis of his own experience only show the way, point to the right direction, but the practitioner has to do the work. There is no way that the master can do it (the full liberation, the reaching of the natural state) for the student. So I am wondering if the efficiency and effectiveness of OST in getting things done, is not intrinsicly knitted together with (alias dialectically connected to) this "collective master function". Two sides of one medal? Of course I am not interested to tie OS to Buddhism as a belief system. But of course my understanding of the ways to enlightenment is also not tied to a specific belief system. I have luckily been exposed to "passion, responsability and love " in- and outside of OST in various cultures like my own Christian culture in Austria, Candomblé in Brazil, animistic cults (as the christians call them) in Africa, Buddhism of the Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan tradition (Buddhism fused with Bön), Yoga in India... And it always works and in all kinds of places. So once again: might it be legitimate, make sense and be useful to look at OST as a kind of set up for a collective master without a present individual guru? Or not? Bernd/Colombo . Bernd Weber Change Facilitation s.r.o., A Global Partner Who Makes Change Happen in Complex Environments; www.change-facilitation.com, www.change-management-toolbook.com [email protected]; Regional Phone numbers: -Austria: +43 664 135 4828, landline + 431 5968657) -Sri Lanka: landline +94 11 2785859, iPhone +94 777740757 NEW: Intensive Learning Workshop "Playing with the Waves of Change" www.change-facilitation.com/ You want to have the design for a "Playing with the Waves (of Change) WS 2 completely taylor-made according to your individual learning interests & needs & limitations? Then have a look to the questionnaire at www.surveymonkey.com/s/5ZDS6JQ If you get Email from my account <[email protected]> please do not use the reply button but answer to <[email protected]>, because my change-facilitation.org INBOX is not working for the time being. Am 13.12.2011 um 22:11 schrieb Harrison Owen: discover your own natural state
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