(PRESENCE): Response to--> " Showing up & being present"Dear Mark,
I THANK YOU VERY MUCH for sharing your understanding of 'Presence' and the consciousness of BEING an OST Facilitator. I totally agree with you and it is heart warming to read your lines. Thanks again and best regards! Gabriela Ender * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OpenSpace-Online GmbH - The Power of People! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Resselsteig 30, 12209 Berlin, Germany eMail: cont...@openspace-online.com website: http://www.OpenSpace-Online.com phone: +49-(0)30-772 31 69 fax: +49-(0)30-77 39 20 21 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ----- Original Message ----- From: Mark R. Jones To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 5:42 PM Subject: (PRESENCE): Response to--> " Showing up & being present" Hi. I am fascinated that "Presence" is showing up here in the Open Space community. The topic of "Presence" is noticeably a current and relevant subject. I have had a number of Dharma conversations about it in the past six weeks - particularly regarding the relationship of "Presence" to the feeling and/ or experience of "love". I hope you don't mind if I share with you the pith of my understanding of "Presence" . . . ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In the Spring of 2001, I had the opportunity to meet with the Dalai Lama in India. I had myself noticed, and heard from other people, that when they were in the "Presence" of the Dalai Lama, they felt unconditionally loved - truly heard, seen, and loved. There was a transformative quality of the "Presence" of the Dalai Lama. So as part of an assignment that I received from him, I determined that I must investigate the cultivation of "Presence". My exploration of "Presence" led me to the following insights --- "Presence" is the practice of giving the "Gift" of ones awareness, attention, understanding, mindfulness, and compassion to one-Self, Others, and The Whole. To be "Present" is to hear, see, and love oneself; as well as to hear, see, and love Others and The Whole. "Presence" is the intention, invitation, and willingness to be available for the experience of interconnected relationship. And it demands that we be aware of and responsive to both ourselves and to others. "Presence" establishes a sense of interconnectedness of Self, Others, and The Whole that expresses itself as a capacity to trust, the courage to act, and a willingness to commit. "Presence" is an act of "attunement" that brings one into clarity and harmony with what one perceives as the higher aspirations, expectations, and needs of Self, Others, and The Whole. "Presence" is accomplished by: reflecting on ones own views, intentions, communications, behaviors, and impacts on Others and The Whole; discerning and rectifying the "gap" between ones intentions and ones impacts; paying attention to the verbal and non-verbal communications signals and behaviors of Others and The Whole; inquiring into the "gap" between the intentions and impacts of Others and The Whole - on one Self, Others, and The Whole; and using skillful means to achieve clarity and equanimity throughout the network of interrelationships. In Open Space, the skillful means to achieve this clarity and equanimity is accomplished from trust, patience, silence, and embodying and continually demonstrating "The Law" - taking responsibility for what has heart and meaning for you - and holding others accountable to do the same. In my life, I have felt most loved when I have experienced others as being fully "Present" to me - unconditionally giving me the "Gift" of their awareness, attention, understanding, mindfulness, and compassion. And I have felt most loving when I have chosen to give the "Gift" of my awareness, attention, understanding, mindfulness, and compassion to others. When I am most "Present", I am most loving. When you are most "Present" to me, I feel most loved by you. Living in Open Space provides a constant opportunity for me to cultivate "Presence" as an authentic expression of my love for you. "Presence" invokes the opening of space regardless of the forms and structures of the interactions - be they OST, AI, mediated, moderated, "talking heads", pillow talk, Noble Silence . . . For me, "Presence" is the practice of Open Space, and it is a "Practice of Peace" - collective unconditional love and understanding and interconnection. "Open Space" can be a practice for cultivating "Presence". . . . if we choose to embody it . . . Mark R. Jones Chief Executive Officer The Sunyata Group The Integral Wellness Group ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PO Box 58788 Renton, Washington USA 98058-1788 Phone: 425-413-6000 e-Mail: mark.r.jo...@sunyata.ws ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "JL Walker B." <jlwal...@terra.cl> Reply-To: OSLIST <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 01:45:05 -0700 To: <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> Subject: Re: Showing up & being present My two cents on this lovely theme. I think this presence has too much sense with what tell us Carl Rogers a lot of time ago: authenticity (congruence); empathy and unconditional acceptance. Also about what Jaime Pedreros and his passion with the Transactional Analysis could explain us much better, that is the "adult of the child" or "the small wise person" or the "small teacher" that knows all what's happening with his intuition and joy. Good weekend for all, Johnnie Walker -----Mensaje original----- De: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu]En nombre de Joanna Fletcher Enviado el: Friday, October 06, 2006 6:01 PM Para: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Asunto: Re: Showing up & being present This is a concept familiar to me from my coactive coach training - we call it "level 3 listening". It is about listening to what is going on in the space of a relationship, group etc., under the surface words and emotions, and noticing our own impact on it. Being present and showing up is often challenging because I so easily get on my own way - messages about appropriateness, "shoulds", are loudest and most distracting. In our training sessions there are always assistants present who have themselves been through the course. They have an executive function, to get coffee and water and tissues etc., but their main job is to "hold the space". They are attending to the space and holding it as a powerful and safe learning area. They are holding all the people in the space as creative, resourceful, and whole. If they leave the room, I notice the impact of their absence immediately. When I am holding space for others, I find it requires a very high level of attention and presence - a muscle I continue to develop, as a coach, instructor, and OSer. My impact is something I am still figuring out, but I am sure that it has something to do with the way I love and accept myself, warts and weirdness and all. Somehow my blurting out of unsuitable things gives others more confidence to do the same. I can also bring intentionality to the impact I am having. Sorry for the rambling - I am thrilled to see this being discussed here! Joanna Fletcher Lion Life Coaching j...@lionlifecoaching.com 604-340-1855 www.lionlifecoaching.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Funda Oral Sent: October 6, 2006 3:59 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: FW: Showing up & being present This kind of presence provides people & myself with some kind of comfort and liberty to breathe and to flow. funda ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack Ricchiuto <mailto:j...@designinglife.com> To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 6:12 PM Subject: Re: FW: Showing up & being present Harrison writes, There is yet another level which I might call "Silent Presence." Somehow this goes beyond, beneath Intellect and/or emotions. The power of this level of presence in terms of grounding/supporting a group is profound, I have found. Don't ask me how it works, but it does. In my experience, the silence we bring creates space for consciousness which itself is transformative because it expands everyone into a larger space where more is possible. So that explains why my whole life outside OS events is cultivating this consciousness, this silence, this Presence. -- Jack Ricchiuto Leadership coach, facilitator, author Just Released! "Mountain Paths: A Guide on the Journey toward Discovering our Potential" - available at www.DesigningLife.com <http://www.DesigningLife.com> * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
