Group 1: Religious and Cultural
Harmony:
As we introduced ourselves, we discussed our concerns:
- The Georgia/Russia conflict raises the issue of bullies in the world.
- What would it be like oif we held the attitude of having no attachment
to outcomes? How would this impact/improve process?
- The restatement of "We don't have enemies; just people whose
stories we do not yet know."
- Accessing "heart intelligence."
- Concerns about divisions in the country, world.
- Longtime passion for many in this group.
- Shift: how do we take the ripples from a workshop experience like
this and transfter them to the world?
- Consciousness as collective field, expression of diversity within
this oneness; find a way to perceive this not as conflict but as part
of the great design.
Question: How do cultural traditions and religion contribute to the
world in positive ways? How is religion a unifying force?
- Need to shift from "religion divides us" to finding common
ground.
- How language can push buttons and trigger divisional feelings, e.g.,
"God"
- Need to find commonality rather than yield to political contagion;
discuss subtance rather than demonize the other.
- Need to find commonaliatiy in diversity; we still search for the
answers.
- What questions lead to finding common ground: "What inspires
you?" often leads to answers that are often the same for many people,
regardless of their different backgrounds, experiences.
- "Appreciative Inquiry": asking a question to bring out
someone's personal story/history and
asking a question to draw out hopes for the future.
- Suffering can be "creative_ - with the human spirit transforming
and transcending
- When people from a country meet their fellow citizens abroad, they
don't ask questions that focus on differences (e.g. about religion),
but rather questions about the country they share. Why? Culture has
a binding power.
- In resolving conflicts, say about someone who acted inappropriately
in a work setting, mediator asked questions of fellow employees - positive
questions like "What do you enjoy about working with this person?"
When she met with this person to address the issue at hand, she presented
this positive information. It created an environment in which he could
feel safe and recognize his mistake.
Shared introductions each person and what drew them to this topic
Points shared
" Is culture more basic and fundamental and "held" than
religion?
" Help others understand why including "others" is an
enriching experience
" Let us learn and find hope in those places in the world where
diverse religions and cultures have lived in harmony (as in Andalusia?)
" what really makes us "religious"? Atheists clearly
can be loving and kind
" prophetic voices today...
something rotten here-false idols and
yet look what is coming
? we need more voices voicing the new humanity
" what is the role of religion in this process?
" Consciousness is shifting-in thought-but the behaviors are not
there yet.
" I'm in recovery from protestantism and nationalism is it idolarry
to think that a small thing is the whole thing? (small diversity/whole
unity)
" challenge and movement is toward being "global citizens"
" teach the value of compassion and respect
great need today to teach young people that they need to have
compassion and love for self first, how powerful self talk can be...
" storytelling is a powerful tool...over and over and over
" is there an "affinity" among religious people?
" What new thinking does the global era call us to?
" How does religion serve in this context?
" How might each of us be "well-used" in this new global
concept?
" Is harmony-making found in the way jazz is produced? - includes
dissonance, each one has a voice.
" Religions have more in common than they don't. Importance of
reconciliation and forgiveness.
_______________________________
Group 2: Peace and Justice:
World Café Process: Peace and Justice and Multigenerational Collaboration
Groups of 4 have discussion with stated topic, next one stays in place,
other 3 join other groups for new, but related question.
Everyone speaks from their own experience and says what is important
to them, questions to each other for clarification or to deepen understanding.
Advice free zone.
First small group question: Why do you care about peace and justice?
Why is it important to you? When/how did you become concerned about
peace and justice?
Second small group question: What question do you have about peace
and justice, if explored here at the conference, would make the most
difference to you when you go home?
Whole Group: What themes, issues emerged from small group discussions?
Finding the balance between inner passion and outer life, between the
passion to act and personal life. What would be the practice involved?
How can we truly walk our talk?
How can we redefine wealth?
How do we balance the new paradigm (new understandings, self management,
questioning established professional standards, etc) with the old paradigm?
How do we redefine out context?
How do we step into our power? How do we resolve others expectations
and our own desires?
How do we apply the principles of peace and justice to the larger world,
our own intimate family life, especially regarding denial, secrets,
etc.?
How do we engage those who choose not to engage?
How do we not see a fearful world?
How do we empower one another to face challenges?
Engaging the ‘other’ with principles we are bringing to this
conversation.
Pursuit of solidarity.
Moving from head to heart.
It is important to stay in the question to uncover collective intelligence.
Creating a culture of generosity/sharing.
World Café Process: to pollinate, cross pollinate and see what’s
in the middle.
Small groups, Round 1: What is the unique contribution of my generation?
What do you most need and want from other generations?
Small groups, Round 2: Share a story, something of value that you have
learned from another generation.
Whole group, Round 3: What do you see as the contribution of multigenerational
collaboration in the emergence of peace and justice?
(transgenerational - all dialogue that has been and will ever be)
For continuity of the spirit, to be experiencing the spirit of multi-generations.
For continuity and memory of struggles.
Opportunity of being mentored, not told what to do.
An elder can create a space where youth can experience what they have
to say as being important.
Focus on what is common.
Having credibility without need of being’old enough’.
To find and common values, humanitarian values.
The more multi age groups work together, the more people with the same
passions can work together in solidarity.
Power in bringing 2 marginal groups together, youth and elders.
Importance of cross-generational voices in a movement for legitimacy.
Youth can let elders know what they want from them.
Sometimes mportant to give young people space, then get out of the way.
What might be the roles of different generations?
At no age do we have it all together.
Conflict is positive.
It’s all about respect.
_______________________________
Group 3: Good Governance:
Change comes to Washington Obama
Transparency is G G
Struggle with what change we are feeling we are going towards
How do we recommend governance of, for, by the people mobilize from
ground
Individual standpoint
Passion for change
Structure within which people operate are essential
Bring principles to larger social arena help
Face issues personally rather than objective other ways of seeing issue.
How do we reconcile the juxtaposition between a frozen gov and idealistic
grassroots? How will the answer come?
Not necessarily $ intensive but people intensive.
Good governance according to what principles
Teach people to be real human beings
Prison system does opposite live in abusive system
Motives pleasing profit not person
Prevention
Why do they hate us so much? To go the extent of all has to do with
how we are gov at this time
Culture of efficiency become resistant the challenges of our tendency
to put ef 1st
People in MB feel they are not participating
Talking can be the doing
As a med/fac N.H. Con gave all resis ID cards
How do we get everyone in the room? Where are the acupuncture points
of the system - there are always spots that awake they have the capacity
to rattle around in there space - put energy there.
How life system evolve not broadly over vast space - opportunistic change
is system development
Fireflies are all over
Politicians are in the defensive because they are used to getting the
complaints - build the relationships with those people we are 5 you
not against you
Is it worth putting both feet into it can I make a difference
Internet gives people a voice connecting voice
The power to believe that you have a voice
The power to believe that you have a voice
Use your voice, pen, words,
Writing our voices will make a difference in the actions they take the
return to good gov needs our voices
Ev r model Ellie People become the stories they have and the stories
they tell
Better we get at telling our story we show the proof for to feel confident
- authentic human activity
Where could one post their proposal? Post the story for authentic human
activity news media reports failure
Theory of if dialogue do we have a collective intelligence that can
engage and show itself in the next 60 days
We have longer than 60 days
People participate in a number of ways resistance is a form of participation.
When we are in the process of survival we cannot participate
We are "othering" in this conversation without realizing it
- everyone has to buy into something
Certain expertise that sometimes seems meaningless if other don't buy
into process - allowing people to engage @ any point in the process
We give voices different stature do I degenerate others or do I promote
what matters
Issue does everyone deserve an equal voice
We can toss something into a basket and expect same synergy to occur.
What comes out?
Hearing is thing but what do we do with it
Listening love
There's a little htler in all of us look for the meaning
Participate is an ideal
Participate is a cultural achievement
We have to learn how to participate our tendency to other
When we're involved, we become involved in the whole messy continuum.
Good governance can relate not only to organizations, communities and
politics, but to relationships as well.
Different cultural backgrounds affect our dialogues; there is inner
diversity to who we are.
Engaging the other on the community governance level can include a
city official's having community "ambassadors" attend regular
meetings to represent the concerns of their members.
In relationships, points of friction often occur; what are "rules
of engagement" that emerge in relationships?
Hope versus disappointment: how does it relate to engaging others in
seeking change?
"Cultural competence" does not always equal or develop into
cultural sensitivity.
Sometimes grassroom entities can be rigid and unresponsive. Sometimes
entiiy resists bending toward change. Often well-meaning people are
divided by conflict and divergence of goals. Should one stick with an
organization that uses bad judgment or remain to promote change?
Change and democracy: often those who do not have democracy try to
correct injustice in a more direct and outspoken way than Americans
who take democracy for granted. Perhaps understanding what absence of
democracy is like would make activists of us.
Important to listen to opinions of those with whom we do not agree.
Can we recognize their worth?
What is relationship between inner work and our need to promote outer
change? Inner work can clarify our goals and help us develop the vision
of the world we want.
Baby boomers have a unique perspective, certainly influenced by the
disappointments of the past, e.g., Kennedy, King assassinations. Many
of us here are boomers. How much will the new generation's attitude
contribute to a significant shift?
We can't wait for leaders to bring change: we must make it happen.
One view: show up, tell your truth, don't be attached to the outcome.
Outcomes: view it as interests vs. positions.
Why have we been complacent about the last eight years?
Personal investment - the risk of pain - is essential to promoting
change. Engagement only path to improving governance. We must get involved
as best we can.
- no longer living in the world of control and commend
- deliverative democracy
multi stackholder alliance not just preaching to the choir
- mutli-track diplomancy
- how can we frame our message in their lanuage?
structural systems of power
- some systems do need to die
- acknowledge the system in place is wrong
- awareness of consequences
- spider and the starfish, companies national ideas
_______________________________
Group 4: Environmental Sustainability:
The essence of environmental sustainability is about creating peace.
We have many feelings about the state of the world: Struggle, pain,
anger, frustration, fear, terror. Forced sacrifices and compromises
of living in a city/society that is not deeply environmentally conscious.
Economic vs. spiritual and environmental choices.
Nature, life, and even our own bodies and selves are the "other",
allowing us to destroy and abuse them. Sharing these deep personal questions
and struggles with each other is OK and very helpful.
Question: What do we need to FEEL to make sustainable choices and change
strategies? Need for a connection to nature. 50% plus of world are living
in cities. Parks provide a taste of wilderness experience. Connecting
plants/animal experiences and processes to own experience is a way to
counter "othering" of nature.
Contemporary society poses further issues due to lack of deep sustained
and full networks of community, which can sustain us through difficult
times by providing hope, direction, celebration, and strength.
Difficulty engaging with those who think unsustainably without "othering"
them, or compromising our own values. Countering violence with violence
does not work. Need to find common needs and values across "othering"
lines. Need to express what we want, and acknowledge what we have.
How to not be seen as superior, or make people feel defensive. Living
own values is a form of teaching by example. Telling people they are
doing wrong doesn't help. Everyone is doing their best at the time with
what they have. Instead, showing a way that is more wonderful, and telling
them about the things that they do and have done that are wonderful.
There is a search for a feeling or definition of what it means to be
whole. Necessity of death to life, ie. some violence as well as creation
is inherent in existence. Necessity to accept and support self and others
in personal choices without guilt or judgement. "Moral calculus
based on guilt" vs. being part of a process/community of seekers/questioners
that may not be perfect but are seeking together, in process.
Strategies to personal peace: disengage with struggle, go back to internal
peace, reconnect with nature, exercising, eating right, being with loving
people, growing own food, supporting each other, creating an infrastructure/network/communitry
that sustains and makes it easier; celebration, music and art. Faith.
Looking at ourselves as a tribe and getting to know and engaging each
other.
Sustainability may not be something we have to do, but rather something
we have to be, or already are.
Sustainability is not enough; it's more about regeneration, restitution,
restoration, reconciliation, reciprocity. Sustainability is for later,
once we have done these things.
We each carry a purpose, like any species in the web of life. How can
we be the self that the world is dreaming through us?
Perhaps sustaining isn't possible at this time. The whole world process
seems to be a race to consume the most resources. That can't be sustained.
Perhaps part of sustainability is actually to become a real human,
a whole, connected, aware. It may be a long, long time coming.
Not knowing what sustainability looks like, and allowing ourselves
to sit in the fear of not knowing, is an important part to be in.
Sustain also means to support. To nurture, to raise up. As in, the
ground which sustains us.
Imagine the power of conviction of repetitive, conscious gratitude
for the earth which sustains and provides for us! This gratitude is
the most rudimentary form of prayer, the communion, the sharing of life.
Gratitude is what opens the conversation. When just taking, there is
no dialogue.
Rodale Institute has research relating to reconciling carbon by allowing
single cell life forms to sequester life back into the soil. (http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/)
Letting go of materials is a form of "sacrifice" that is
actually freeing. Materials may just be filling a space in our spirit
that could be filled with community, belonging, security, and a connection
to nature.
Perhaps sustainability is about sustaining change, not resisting it,
but supporting it.
Too many people is not the problem - the problem is the greed, materialism,
disconnection, fear, and escape that manifests in the west.
"We can't get out of a problem with the same type of thinking
that got us into it, and family planning/population control may be using
the same strategy that got us here in the first place.
In order for the west to make the necessary shift in consumption pattern,
it needs to be seen as a spiritual choice.
What if the evolution is not of the human spirit, but of the spirit
of the earth? What if we are just cilia on Mother Earth's body? "Align
your goals with the next larger whole" which is humanity, then
the earth. There is a mystery of identity -- where exactly are the lines
between people? The universe exists as systems, wholes.
As a strategy to move towards action, we can think about the earth
dreaming through our actions, and we can allow ourselves to be "allured"
to our ideas, as a bee is allured to a flower.
There is a grand ownership and apology that needs to be done about
slavery and the genocide of Native Americans. Without that we cannot
move forward.
Council of All Beings was a ceremony where humans put on masks of the
animal spirits, and have conversations with each other about the state
of the world, then share their thoughts with the humans. This type of
ritual or ceremony could be very powerful to raise human consciousness,
empathy, and go against the "othering" of nature that allows
us to destroy it.
The apology that needs to happen is not "oh I'm sorry I'm so bad,"
but rather the acknowledgment for wrong and the offering and openness
to living in a new and different way. We must live the apology to make
it real.
The irony is that even though the United States has been a place of
plenty, the emptiness and depression and anxiety is larger here. This
proves the solution lies elsewhere and a sustainable pairing down of
resource consumption will be best for our spirit. So we need to sit
with our depression, anxiety, emptiness etc. Acknowledge it and be with
it with courage then see where it goes from there.
Dialogue finished with a small ritual where all members made a gesture
about what they felt in during the dialogue. It was considered to devote
the following dialogue into creating a ritual of living the apology
for the larger conference.
_______________________________
Group 5: Expressive Arts Perspectives:
We are aware of our feelings as a source for creative expression to
be channeled into art (paint, clay or collage), writing or movement.
For example, if you are feeling confused, you can ? or draw the confusion.
Even if you are tired, you can ? the tiredness. If you are sad or happy,
you can use colors, a son or movement to express those feelings.
We can be aware of our own body and take care of our self in a group.
We are the only one who knows if you are in physical pain end we need
to adopt the movements to our body's ability.
The group was given suggestions (not instructions) to do some art.
This was a play where if somebody choose to be observer it could be
an important learning process while identifying with someone in the
group and experience vicariously.
This art experience stir up many feelings and it is okay to feel like
crying or making loud sounds.
See the photos as some of the expressions.
Facilitators asked "What is the experience of my feeling during
the time I was doing this art?
These were some of the comments
" My touch can create healing
" Internalized oppression & hopes
" Conflict resolution. I close my eyes and I feel fear, I could
transform after into hope.
" Fire light
" The time stretch but if there is a whole we can make, find, there
is hope.
" Held by nature in space if both and energy holding
" Recognition of my wildness…and the possibility to create
something positive.
" Connected, centered…how can we come back to the moments
we need to re-live
General Guidelines
1. Be aware of your feelings as a source for creative expression to
be channelled into art (paint, clay or collage), writing or movement.
For example, if you are feeling confused, you can dance or draw the
confusion. Even if you are tired, you can dance the tiredness. If you
are sad or happy, you can use colors, a song, or movement to express
those feelings.
2. Be aware of your own body and take care of yourself in this group.
You are the only one who knows if you are in physical pain and you need
to adapt the movements to your body's abilities.
3. Any instructions you are given are always suggestions. You have the
option to not follow these.
4. If you choose to observe, be a participant observer. This can be
important learning for you and the group. You can:
a) Identify with someone in the group and experience vicariously.
b) Watch for group interaction and dynamics.
c) Observe without judging.
5. These experiences, particularly movement, stir up many feelings.
If you feel like crying or making loud sounds, that is definitely O.K.!
Guidelines for this session: 3 parts, as a suggestion
Choose clay or materials to draw on paper with. Take three sheets for
3 parts if you choose.
1. What has come up for you in the conference?
2. What are your personal challenges?
3. What is the ideal situation you would like to see created out of
your direction/efforts?
Sharing your work:
When commenting on others work, tell what arises for you only, direct
only inquiries to artist, not interpretations.
What emerged: feelings or challenge of sadness, rage, heart, despair,
confusion, campassion/they are all of a piece. Both/and - all are parts
of us. Heart is always present. There are larger forces of nature within
us.
_______________________________
_______________________________
~
Closing Ceremony ~
Opening thoughts:
- The essence of why people come together
- The conference has allowed me to feel like I'm swimming with the fish
(break the ice analogy) my heart is open and I'm ready to go back to
the stresses and go forward and give of myself
- Don't kill the fish, swim with us. learn from nature now
- Boiling what is at 211 F. can make tea, but we need one more degree
to make is steam. there are tons of ways we can look for steam. all
the ways that we are boiling here let that steam get into the air
- Gratitude for peace. sadness, anxiety and joy have been deepened a
lot of inspiration is touching my heart. it is essential to stay inspired
in the upcoming months. standing on sacred historical time to see the
soil of america breaking out. there is something breaking out that i
want to be a part of it
- Grateful to have been here and have a lot to think about. frustration,
i haven't seen space made for those feelings of anger frustration, the
shadow. the shadow has not been present here. if we are in this work
we have to be able to engage the shadow.
- It's been a wonderful time, touched and moved, want to follow up and
say imagine yourself on the titanic and heading for the iceberg, even
in the worst of cases i want to believe in the humanitarianism, but
in the next 52 days we need to as much as we can to impact the election.
the surface on this movement feels as a distortion of the movement.
please take the steps to work for change/
Steve Olweean: our intention is to see the vision and share
the vision in stepping into the future. Now looking at tomorrow morning,
what is the first thing we can do that fills the gap between Sunday
and the vision we have created. What is the next step for each of us?
Who lives near you if you would like to collect and collaborate?
Dialogue Groups Check-in:
Environmental Sustainability:
- interpersonal and systemic change
- topic around the earth as other- what is our relationship to mother
earth
- personal- desire and need for personal connection back to the earth
- need and desire to reconnect with nature - and bring nature back to
ourselves to be nurtured in that environment
- steps that we can do- vehicles, foods, choices that are sacred acts
that can make change
-interpersonal level- community levels- food coop., purchase power toget
- systemic change - their is pain and sorrow in that. ritual and ceremony
- gestures to how we where feeling w/ are connection to the earth -
we don't want to be beating ourselves up for driving or not reusing
a cup- how do we acknowledge that make a ritual to it and lay it down
Religious and Cultural Harmony:
- personal sharing time. expectations from own religious and cultural
base what where they inspired to feel a new
- personal life stories- a few feel negative where there is a lot of
separation in their communities and how to bring people together -we
are in a transitional community , but our behavior has not moved forward
from that - we can be the leaders and the models into this new age that
we need to think about
- the essence was that people - circle was a picture of what life was
going to look like so we can live it and their will be choices
- in niger- they have joking cousins- by making jokes about their differences
it allows them to live together in cultural harmony
- good atheists - who or what is religious- does it mean to be tied
to a particular institution or does it come from ourselves it's really
about how we walk the path
- a long way to go - each day we all take over 250,000 breathes. if
we stop and make a point to remind ourselves that when we connect w/
another human being and say we are going to be honest genuine
- it is not the journey of how fast and slow but what are our pillar
or guidelines that we adopt in that journey
What is the possibility and the challenges (experiential art)
- the possibility of compassion in a world where we are coming from
our heart - personal share
Good Governance - and - Peace and
Social Justice
- Microcosm that we face when we get home- internal group conflict who
were the leaders . many different styles and agendas
- Ggood glimpse of what we will face at home, felt initially like a
crisis in leadership - people for activism. tried to define peace come
from different attitudes for what is important now- we may disagree
as leaders
- Frustrating but realistic
- What peace means to reach one of us - taking it beyond the boundaries
of this country- international colleagues - their is a groundswell of
wanting to have more peace in the world - significant movement internationally-
questioning issues and wanting to make movement
- What is the difference btw agreement and acquiesces
- Creation of identity end empowerment of community, social change and
leaders - policy and practice - devise the strategy - sensitize the
policy makers
Final Reflections: "What do we do tomorrow morning?..."
- Change attitude towards election
- Request to talk about creating more spaces for different types of
participation in the conference and in the world in the future
- Volunteers, cooperators, organizations are welcome and encouraged
to help create future conferences. Participants are encouraged to tap
into their own inner wisdom.
- The conference should be about movement and empowerment and work.
It is a sacred event, it is a matter of being conscious, thankful, listening
and aware.
- The existence of perpetrators in the world is an urgent, traumatic
present that needs to be addressed in community as we move towards fortitude.
- Talk to our communities back at home about our excitement generated
in this conference.
- Work with our own judgments that decrease our compassion for others
that have different views than our own.
- Build more circle, sustained relationships. Google "Jewish Palenstinian
outreach" for a community of people to participate with in order
to build relationships in the wold. (Len and Libby Traubman)
- "Our future is unknown, but it is ours to create."
- This conference created a learning community where everyone was willing
to learn, including the presenters. Take the learning community possibility
back to our own working and living communities.
- Look for ways that the success of world dialogues and communities
can be a reality for the whole world.
- Work within communities with increased momentum to speak truth to
power.
- Try to engage others without the demonizing part.
- The youth have been present here at the conference, and will take
some of the lessons learned into their peer networks.
- Next year's conference is going to purposefully reach out to youth
participants.
- Funders and supporters for next year are needed to advance the conference
dialogue and it's mission. All are asked to offer connections and suggestions.
Closing Poem read by Sandy Friedman.
Closing circle with direction towards the future together.
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