It would surely be a worthwhile investment for you to lead us to work on that.
For me OS is a conscious state of journey toward an ultimate state of being- wholeness with the Universe or God. 2011. 12. 18. 오전 2:32에 "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]>님이 작성: > Bernhard – having said that “I was in”(for more discussion) – I guess I > just sort of disappeared without further word. However, being at a loss for > words is not a common state for me J -- and the topic you raise is, and > has been, of intense interest to me.**** > > ** ** > > The similarity of the Open Space experience and the Buddhist practice and > experience caught my attention some time ago. And, as I said in my prior > post, it is not just Buddhism but many, perhaps most, of the other great > traditions. But Buddhism is certainly a great place to start. **** > > ** ** > > I am not at all sure what the initiating moment was, but I rather think it > was when I noticed a common phrase that folks used in the closing circle. > It didn’t happen every time, but more often than not, somebody would > remark, “I feel like I have come home.” Nobody ever defined precisely what > they meant by “home,” and maybe they couldn’t – so I always took it at face > value. Something about feeling natural and comfortable, just the way I am. > The implication was that in other situations the feeling was being > un-natural, ill at ease and to some extent inauthentic or “put on.” What > popped into my head was a phrase I had often encountered in the Buddhist > literature about seeing/meeting my “original face.” **** > > ** ** > > When combined with observed and/or reported feelings and behaviors in Open > Space, such as: -- focus and presence, the capacity to treat others with > respect, the ability to listen and engage the other with depth and > sensitivity, an expanded sense of vision and possibility, renewed hope, > fundamental life change, an acute sense of spaciousness such that the > present moment (Now) just grew and grew… it seemed like something was going > on. The fact that most or all of these things are also the reported results > of Buddhist Practice (certainly my practice which is pretty much Buddhist) > was more than sufficient to alert my curiosity bump. Something was > definitely going on. But what and why? **** > > ** ** > > That Buddhist Practice could produce such results was understandable to me > given the original insights of Gautama, centuries of intense study, > communal practice, and no small amount of discipline. But what about Open > Space? We just sat in a circle, created a bulletin board, opened a market > place…originally inspired by two martinis. And our history in this > enterprise is hardly extensive, at least in comparison to the Buddhist > community. I confess that it made absolutely no sense at all.**** > > ** ** > > The questions, however, are fairly clear even if the answers are a tad > wispy. What are the connections? What is the means/mechanism? You mentioned > a “collective Master function” – about which I would love to hear more. But > my thoughts have been going in a slightly different direction. No certainty > for sure – but just to share.**** > > ** ** > > First for the connection. It seems to me that the connection between > Buddhist Practice and Open Space is probably co-incidental. But that does > not make it a weak connection, for co-incidental, as I am using the word > here means that the two are connected through a prior (coincident) > connection… with the power of self organization. Yes I know – the whole > notion of self organization nowhere shows up in the Buddhist literature, so > far as I know. But if the present general scientific contention is correct > that self-organization has been operative for at least 13.7 billion years > it would be rather odd if we (present day humans) were the first to notice > the effect upon human life, be that individual or collective. So my thought > (suggestion) would be that the Buddhist community, being the keen observers > of the human condition that they are, discovered a (the) fundamental power > of life (by whatever name) and created a practice enabling human beings to > fully align themselves with that power. Once in alignment, the experience > is of full authenticity, being fully what we really are, seeing our > original face. Or coming home. Is this really true? I don’t know, but > given another lifetime, I would surely like to find out. I guess I should > have been a Hindu?**** > > ** ** > > My story about Open Space is that, quite serendipitously (dumb blind > luck), we arrived at a similar place by a very different route. Every time > we open space, the process of self organization is initiated, re-initiated > – or maybe just brought to our consciousness. And the net result is that we > (the participants) find ourselves in a environment which allows/invites us > to be as we really are. Almost without knowing it, we find ourselves in > alignment with a fundamental process of the cosmos. Once there, we > experience a strangely comfortable world, which looks just like the > “everyday” world, but feels rather different. We have come home. > Obviously, not everybody in every Open Space shares this experience. For > some people it just doesn’t “take,” or if it does “ take” the level of > resistance is such that the new experience is perceived as strange, weird, > or worse. But for many people in multiple times and places over our 25 > year adventure – it definitely feels like we have come home. At least that > is a possible story.**** > > ** ** > > Would I suggest that Open Space somehow supplants the Buddhist > experience? A straight simple shot to Nirvana? Absolutely not! But I do > think the two experiences can be very complementary. At least that has > certainly how it has been for me. Even though a first encounter with Open > Space can feel like “coming home,” that homecoming is often taken with baby > steps. What is missing is a deep appreciation of the full power and > possibilities at hand. It is sort of like coming back to the old homestead > with lots of warm feelings, but little knowledge of all the rooms and > spaces, nooks and crannies that await our exploration and appropriation. > In my own case, it was my practice (largely Buddhist, as I said) that > became my guide, both as facilitator and participant. I don’t have a clue > as to whether others might share – they will have to speak for themselves. > **** > > ** ** > > So if it were true that the operative power of self organization were the > connecting link between the Buddhist experience and Open Space would that > somehow consign both to a realm dominated by a purely physical force, > thereby reducing each to the level of a side show in the great drama of > Physics? Do we suddenly and necessarily find ourselves in the company of > all those who choose to understand life and our part in it simply as the > product of quarks and neutrinos, hormones and peptides? What about those > other realities that some of us call Spirit or Consciousness? The choice is > clearly there to be made, but from where I sit, the two poles (Spirit and > matter) and not mutually exclusive.**** > > ** ** > > One of the oldest discussions of humankind is the precedence of > Spirit/Consciousness and matter. Is matter the product of > Spirit/Consciousness? Or did it somehow occur that matter evolved to become > conscious? For the vast majority of human history it was understood that > matter emerges from Consciousness, indeed I suspect that is the majority > opinion even today. Recently, however, the relationship has been reversed, > at least in parts of the Scientific West. I suspect there will never come a > day when the issue is resolved at the level of proof. It will remain a > matter of discussion, choice, and experience, which I rather think to be a > good thing.**** > > ** ** > > Speaking personally, however, I am clear about my experience and my > choice. In the beginning, indeed before any possibility of beginning – > there is Consciousness/Spirit. Given this experience and choice, self > organization assumes the position of a manifestation of consciousness. Self > Organization is what Consciousness does in time and space, along with many > other things. Is this true? I don’t think we will ever know, and indeed the > wondrous gift of this Great Cloud of Unknowing is a less than gentle > reminder of our limitations. In the meantime, and all that said – It works > for me. Those of you who know me will hardly be surprised. After all I am > the guy who opened his first book on Organizations with the line, “Spirit > is the most important thing.” I haven’t changed.**** > > ** ** > > Enough of this esoterica! And if you have read this far you may well be > asking yourself, “Where’s the Beef?” What possible practical benefit? What > makes you think that filling the space of OSLIST with this sort of stuff > could have any useful application. Fair question.**** > > ** ** > > I think there are at least two reasons. The first I might summarize under > the heading of “Beer in the Fridge.”**** > > ** ** > > If you are thirsty for a beer in my house, all you really have to know is > how to open the refrigerator door and open a can. The fact that major > scientific advances, over multiple years, possessing mind bending > complexity – lie behind the coldness of the beer just waiting your parched > throat doesn’t really affect a thing. If you want the beer, get it. On the > other hand if you are a real aficionado for whom all the little things > count, you really do need to know something about Refrigeration Mechanics, > the flow of gasses, the way pressure can raise and lower temperatures. Same > thing with Open Space. If all you want to do is have a good meeting, no > problem. Sit in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a market place, and > go to work. Ain’t Rocket Science. However, should you want to enhance the > quality of the space, raise the level of impact, extend the positive > effects for yourself and the participants, looking under the hood, thinking > about the details, asking impossible questions… is probably a good place to > start.**** > > ** ** > > My second reason may be a little more abstract. And it is all about the 5 > th Principle: Wherever it happens is the right place.” For me the > cutting edge in what we do is not so much about doing an event but rather > coming to an understanding that Open Space is a 24X7 reality and that we > may learn how to enhance the power of the experience wherever that might be > taking place… Tahrir Square, OWS, or the kitchen table. Learning to do that > well involves, at the least, looking for linkages and connections – > potential allies in a common undertaking. **** > > ** ** > > So I am done for the moment. As I said at the start, being at a loss for > words in not my common state. Maybe I should work on that?**** > > ** ** > > 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**** > > ** ** > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > >
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