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aqal
March 2009 
Retreat at the Edge of Emergence
Posted on Apr 25th, 2007
by 
yeshe
yeshe
This Edge work is addictive. I have just returned from the UK, where I spent four days in the company of 26 extraordinary individuals of all ages and backgrounds, from all over Europe and even further afield (US, Israel) - we were all called, but none of us really knew why we were there. At least, not to begin with. All we knew was that we were gathered to inquire into the edge of emergence.
We were hosted by the Brahma Kumaris at their Global Retreat Centre (which one of the residents informed me was the house where Lewis Caroll wrote Alice in Wonderland). What a blessing and a privilege to be in that beautiful place. Exquisitely schooled nature and silence - except (during our silent time on Saturday afternoon) for the encroaching civilisation, which was having a motocross race just over the river. There's something about the leisure pursuits of the rich that is quite objectionable...
The house is extraordinary. In every room there are loud speakers, and every hour on the hour they transmit gentle music and everybody stops what they are doing and sinks into quiet contemplation for however long the music lasts. That took us some getting used to. "Traffic control" they call it. And rightly so. It brings life into a different rhythm, slows things down and reconnects you to the deepest source active in you. I couldn't help thinking how different things would be in the corridors where I work if this traffic control were in operation there!
At dinner time on Friday, the administrative head of the Brahma Kumaris, Dadi Janki, arrived from India. The energy shifted palpably. Many of us made the effort to get up at four the next morning for the "time of nectar" - meditation with Dadi. I sat in the front row and gazed at this ancient, minute lady as she stood there, as if rooted to the ground, absolute presence, and gazed quietly and deliberately at every person in the room. It was electrifying. My first impression was of Yoda. She sat with us for 45 minutes and gave "drishti" to everyone in the room. I sat and watched her, in the dim light, with my eyes tearing from the strain of sleeplessness, and my whole system ponderous with the weight of what her presence brought out in me. I felt like a sentient tree. Very often, as her gaze alighted on one of our group - mostly new faces to her - she smiled. Not to be friendly, I think; simply because of what she saw. Sometimes her eyes seemed barely open. Being with this woman, I saw a model of extreme old age (she's 91 and still stupendously active) that I can happily aspire to.
At seven o'clock that morning, sister Manda spoke to us. I actually disagree with much of the content of what she told us (the BLUE "this is how it is", coming from a woman with a luminous presence - underscoring the validity of Wilber's claim that you can be "horizontally" enlightened at any stage of development, and will interpret it through your memetic filters) but that didn't matter. She spoke of a path to peace that calls for transcendence of the body as a distraction, not who we really are. Which is all very well, but all the while I am learning to recognise my body as my most exquisite sensing instrument, so attuned to the subtle consciousness, if I can only "listen" with enough acuity. Without the body, I cannot presence the future or tune into another human being...
What I am acutely conscious of is a danger that as a group we might take a wrong turn. A less-than-integral perspective is leading to people picking up and echoing the famous "pre/trans fallacy" that we must "return to our original selves". But we can't go back. We can only move forward. Like time itself. The understanding/awareness of the developmental trajectory (of adults) was missing from most of our conversations. When I brought it up, the subject usually dropped like a lead balloon, as if it were distasteful. It seems natural to honour the teachings of these kind and saintly people who are hosting us, and yet the conclusions that we reach risk being misguided if we fail to take this perspective on board. By the end of the retreat, however, I felt much more hopeful that our future work will embrace a more AQAL approach.
We talked a lot about sacred space: what it is and how to create it. Sitting across the circle from Mike the complexity man, with his love of nature and deep understanding of the paradoxes surrounding us, I had the insight that our mother earh, the blue-green Gaia jewel, our planetary home, is the mother of all sacred spaces. We just need to awaken to the fact.
So clearly, the sacred space is in our own selves. In our inner silence and our deep seeing and listening.
The Edge of Emergence Europe group - minus Spain...
We were hosted by the Brahma Kumaris at their Global Retreat Centre (which one of the residents informed me was the house where Lewis Caroll wrote Alice in Wonderland). What a blessing and a privilege to be in that beautiful place. Exquisitely schooled nature and silence - except (during our silent time on Saturday afternoon) for the encroaching civilisation, which was having a motocross race just over the river. There's something about the leisure pursuits of the rich that is quite objectionable...
BK's global retreat centre in Oxfordshire
At dinner time on Friday, the administrative head of the Brahma Kumaris, Dadi Janki, arrived from India. The energy shifted palpably. Many of us made the effort to get up at four the next morning for the "time of nectar" - meditation with Dadi. I sat in the front row and gazed at this ancient, minute lady as she stood there, as if rooted to the ground, absolute presence, and gazed quietly and deliberately at every person in the room. It was electrifying. My first impression was of Yoda. She sat with us for 45 minutes and gave "drishti" to everyone in the room. I sat and watched her, in the dim light, with my eyes tearing from the strain of sleeplessness, and my whole system ponderous with the weight of what her presence brought out in me. I felt like a sentient tree. Very often, as her gaze alighted on one of our group - mostly new faces to her - she smiled. Not to be friendly, I think; simply because of what she saw. Sometimes her eyes seemed barely open. Being with this woman, I saw a model of extreme old age (she's 91 and still stupendously active) that I can happily aspire to.
At seven o'clock that morning, sister Manda spoke to us. I actually disagree with much of the content of what she told us (the BLUE "this is how it is", coming from a woman with a luminous presence - underscoring the validity of Wilber's claim that you can be "horizontally" enlightened at any stage of development, and will interpret it through your memetic filters) but that didn't matter. She spoke of a path to peace that calls for transcendence of the body as a distraction, not who we really are. Which is all very well, but all the while I am learning to recognise my body as my most exquisite sensing instrument, so attuned to the subtle consciousness, if I can only "listen" with enough acuity. Without the body, I cannot presence the future or tune into another human being...
What I am acutely conscious of is a danger that as a group we might take a wrong turn. A less-than-integral perspective is leading to people picking up and echoing the famous "pre/trans fallacy" that we must "return to our original selves". But we can't go back. We can only move forward. Like time itself. The understanding/awareness of the developmental trajectory (of adults) was missing from most of our conversations. When I brought it up, the subject usually dropped like a lead balloon, as if it were distasteful. It seems natural to honour the teachings of these kind and saintly people who are hosting us, and yet the conclusions that we reach risk being misguided if we fail to take this perspective on board. By the end of the retreat, however, I felt much more hopeful that our future work will embrace a more AQAL approach.
We talked a lot about sacred space: what it is and how to create it. Sitting across the circle from Mike the complexity man, with his love of nature and deep understanding of the paradoxes surrounding us, I had the insight that our mother earh, the blue-green Gaia jewel, our planetary home, is the mother of all sacred spaces. We just need to awaken to the fact.
awakening to sacred space
On Saturday, we had five hours of silence. As I quietened down, and my mind dropped some of its busy-ness and my prehension sank back down into my body, I could sense myself being drawn into patterning. Describing it later, I had the image of photographic paper floating quietly in the developing solution, as patterns gradually emerged into awareness. It was important not to grasp at them until they became fully clear... It's not about the intellect. It's not about me at all. Thankfully, my job is to diminish. To retreat. Which puts me back on the path of surrender, still unable to articulate what it is I'm surrendering to. Just releasing the little tensions as they arise, and keeping on listening. Loosening my throat in readiness to speak the truths I perceive, when they are ready to be spoken.
After our silence, Dadi spoke to us. It seems there was a prophecy made by the founder of the BKs, Brahma Baba, that things would speed up and groups of individuals would emerge 
with the consciousness to bring the world to its tipping point into the necessarity awareness of sacred space...
It seemed that Dadi and her sisters were happy with the calling of this group of people. The BKs will continue to support the edge of emergence by hosting these retreats.
But what is it that's emerging? From this group, in all our sameness and diversity, Doug Cohen spoke of the new type of leadership needed in these times, in the context of the emergence of a global citizen's movement.
"A specific type of leadership is required that would have the authority and resources to convene and maintain the dialogues for developing shared visions and perspectives. A global citizens' movement might develop a new form of leadership—movement diplomats—that would complement civil society’s paid staff, charismatic visionaries, influential philanthropists, community organizers, and organizational heads. Trained and supported directly by organizations or communities, these diplomats would be charged with the task of building systemic coalitions. They would seek to translate the rhetoric of different factions, foster communication, and find common ground. They would provoke learning in their own organizations in addition to reaching out to form alliances. Ideally, this new evolution in leadership would include core competencies of facilitation, strategic dialogue, systems thinking, and familiarity with future scenarios and the requirements for a sustainable world. This new role of leadership would not replace other necessary types of leadership, but would complement them in helping to maintain the balance between coherence and diversity within a global citizens' movement.
The fellow zaadzsters present were Jeroen, Nader, Mushin, Morel, Jo, Doug. I'll be inviting the others over the coming days... :-)
And all the photos I took are here.
After our silence, Dadi spoke to us. It seems there was a prophecy made by the founder of the BKs, Brahma Baba, that things would speed up and groups of individuals would emerge
Dadi Janki and Sister Manda
It seemed that Dadi and her sisters were happy with the calling of this group of people. The BKs will continue to support the edge of emergence by hosting these retreats.
But what is it that's emerging? From this group, in all our sameness and diversity, Doug Cohen spoke of the new type of leadership needed in these times, in the context of the emergence of a global citizen's movement.
"A specific type of leadership is required that would have the authority and resources to convene and maintain the dialogues for developing shared visions and perspectives. A global citizens' movement might develop a new form of leadership—movement diplomats—that would complement civil society’s paid staff, charismatic visionaries, influential philanthropists, community organizers, and organizational heads. Trained and supported directly by organizations or communities, these diplomats would be charged with the task of building systemic coalitions. They would seek to translate the rhetoric of different factions, foster communication, and find common ground. They would provoke learning in their own organizations in addition to reaching out to form alliances. Ideally, this new evolution in leadership would include core competencies of facilitation, strategic dialogue, systems thinking, and familiarity with future scenarios and the requirements for a sustainable world. This new role of leadership would not replace other necessary types of leadership, but would complement them in helping to maintain the balance between coherence and diversity within a global citizens' movement.
"This difficult work of diplomacy, often unglamorous and contentious, could become a highly respected and influential form of leadership. If such roles are given recognition and support, a network of movement diplomats and diplomatic training programs could help a systemic movement overcome barriers of language, class, region, and outdated “issue-silos”. It would be through the work of these diplomats that spaces for engaged dialogue would be developed, multiplied, and enhanced. Movement diplomats could be a key to developing coherence while avoiding the evolution of stultifying movement hierarchies."
And so what has emerged is that our task is perhaps to presence these new leaders. To help bring them to the world stage. What training and what processes are needed? What is in their toolkit? What are their practices? Where is their community? They are the Shambala warriors, perhaps. Whatever else, it is a task worth our attention.The fellow zaadzsters present were Jeroen, Nader, Mushin, Morel, Jo, Doug. I'll be inviting the others over the coming days... :-)
And all the photos I took are here.
Access: Public
Great reporting, sista! Makes me feel as if was there…
> By the end of the retreat, however, I felt much more hopeful that our future work will embrace a more AQAL approach
Did you meet people who seemed to be ready to go for clearning the root canal - the financial and economic systems that define the life condtions for billions of Earthlings in a rarher limiting way?
Woohooo, brudda! Um, most people there were in the organisational development branch (surprise!!!). Let's talk more about that other bit.
Dear Sister in crime,
great report. Like David Cohens refelxions about new types of leadership. He should be interviewed at ILR.
I am probably the nightmare of any diplomat thinkable. Nevertheless this new label of movement diplomat (stripped and purified of course of any MGM contamination) has charme and punching power.
Shambhala Warriors are already appearing in hundreds of different roles. The camouflage of evolutionary trailbalzers will be a special theme for evolutionary, integral and progressive project portfolios of many kinds. Pablo Picasso was a great example for meshing the destroyer and creator. See the great biografy about him by Arianna Huffington.
Martial Greetings,
Albert
>> Did you meet people who seemed to be ready to go for clearning the root canal - the financial and economic systems that define the life condtions for billions of Earthlings in a rarher limiting way?
> Um, most people there were in the organisational development branch (surprise!!!). Let's talk more about that other bit.
I am reading “Dawn of the Cosmopolita–The Hope of a Global Citizens Movement, by Orion Kriegman. He (or she?) writes about the “hard work of engaging ideological conflicts and developing shared insights into the root causes of systemic problems.” Orion and GCM are coming closer to my perspective on the evolutionary movement than most people I met so far, except Tom Attlee. I plan to engage with them, after my return from London. Thanks for sending me the document, you Discoverer! and also to Dog Cohen, whom I haven't seen for some 15-17 year, for pointing to the Site of Tellus Institute. Did you invite Doug to Zaadz?
I surely did. He has yet to flesh out his profile, but you'll see him in my amended blog at the bottom in the list of Zaadsters who attended the retreat.
Dadi is an amazing human being.
I've met her a few times now.
The last time I met her was at the Be the Change conference in London.
She stopped for a moment, looked me in the eye and said without words … “get on with it Martin” so, that's what I'm doing … getting on with it :-)
She is the second person in my life to speak to me in this way without words.
A clearer light I have yet to meet.
Martin