Voices of Spirit Rising
Chris Bache & Christian de Quincey | IONS Noetic Sciences Review | IONS Review #58 |(2 ratings)The living intelligence of a large assembly of people is marvelous to experience—as those who attended IONS' "Spirit Rising" conference learned last July. Building slowly over months of preparation, it suddenly sprang to life on opening day as participants checked into their rooms and began to assemble along open walkways and courtyards and in the main ballroom.
There is no controlling such synergy once a conference begins; we can only encourage it to engage. In Palm Springs this July, the collective mind of the noetic family became deeply engaged. More than twelve hundred participants gathered in La Quinta for the ninth International IONS Conference to enter into "conversations that matter."
From the thousands of conversations that took place over the next several days, the collective voice of "Spirit Rising" emerged and took shape. The voice of reunion and bonding with new colleagues. The voice of vigorous dialogue. The voice of hundreds of community groups growing stronger, looking for new ways to engage each other. The voice of elders. And, most strikingly, the voice of youth.
Converging Toward A Wisdom Society
The Cultural Creatives are the people who emerged from the new social and consciousness movements of the last forty years. We are the people who routinely get involved. We volunteer more than most; we give more money than most. We are the part of the movements who cared heavily about science and consciousness and personal transformation and alternative healing. Other parts are the environmental movement, the women's movement, jobs in social justice, the peace movement, the civil rights movement, the organic food and alternative healthcare movements, and all the different spiritual movements. All of those are converging right now toward a single new phenomenon we're calling a wisdom culture.
Getting there isn't easy. Real transformation is something that our oldest ancestors knew. Fifty-thousand years ago they modeled their initiations, their rites of passage for adolescents, for shamans, for elders, for the chieftains of the tribes around the unity of caterpillar / chrysalis / butterfly. First is the stripping away of the old identity. You get to be nobody! And you get to hang out in that empty space of the "between." That's when you're open to the divine. That's when the wisdom comes through. And then you get to come back to the tribe, bearing hard-won gifts, to be reintegrated with a new identity.
—Paul Ray, From The "Spirit Rising" Conference
A Time Of New Beginnings
Perhaps it was the fact that this was the first IONS conference of the century and of the new millennium, but many participants seemed to come to the conference carrying a sense of "new possibilities at the beginning of things," as the I Ching would say. There was a pervasive air of excitement, of untapped potential coming forward. This is the century that many believe will be a defining time for the human family, and the noetic family was rising to the challenge of seeing it through together.
The theme of new beginnings was especially relevant due to IONS' recent purchase of a 200-acre campus just south of Petaluma in northern California. After nearly thirty years in rented offices, the Institute of Noetic Sciences has finally found a home-a place where we can build and equip our own research lab for studying the subtle dimensions of consciousness, and where we can offer intimate residential retreats, allowing members to engage deeply in a variety of transformative practices. Appropriately for the beginning of a new century and new millennium, IONS has launched a new vision and mission that encompass the creation of a Global Wisdom Society (see "The Call to a Global Wisdom Society" ).
Community And Dialogue
In a very conscious way, IONS is inviting all members, as well as the larger pool of some fifty million "cultural creatives," to join with us to "take the next step" in focusing on the power and potential of community. Although the evolution of consciousness begins, as always, with "spirit rising" in each of us individually, the full transformative impact of spirit becomes manifest in our relationships-with each other; with the natural environment; and ultimately, with the awesome majesty of the living, spiritual cosmos, the source of everything we are and may become.
Underlying all our work-in research, in transformative learning, and in the new communications technology-is a growing emphasis on the value and importance of community, of encouraging nationwide and international networks of support. The common ingredient, in a word, is dialogue.
From the Greek dia (meaning "between") and logos (meaning "word"), dialogue is the sharing of ideas, feelings, and values among a group. It means far more than mere conversation, because of an emphasis on listening and learning. It involves being present, being open, and being vulnerable, as well as drawing strength from being true to who we really are.
This summer's conference was designed specifically to foster this quality of interconnection. For the first time, the entire conference hall became an enormous café. If you were there, you experienced the magic of the moment, as people gathered in groups of four, five, or six around tables covered with red and white checkered tablecloths decked with flowers and colored pens and paper for notes and drawings.
The format was deceptively simple: After a short presentation by a renowned speaker such as Rachel Naomi Remen, Robert Thurman, Roger Walsh, Amit Goswami, or Deepak Chopra, the "audience" became engaged "participants." Instead of just listening in silence, all participants were encouraged to express their own responses to a small group of colleagues gathered at their table. After a short time, participants circulated to new tables, summarizing prior conversations, contributing to new questions, and thus tapping the vast potential and wisdom of the group as a whole.
These café dialogues were structured according to principles created by Juanita Brown and her colleague David Issacs for their Global Café forums held around the US and worldwide. By all accounts, the experiment worked very well. People engaged with new ideas, and deepened their connection with many like-minded individuals. They felt energized as ideas and insights reverberated around the conference hall, and beyond.
The sense of an expanded and informed IONS community was enhanced with a series of member workshops and poster presentations showcasing member projects in consciousness and community. And for the first time at an IONS conference, some workshop conversations were conducted in Spanish to serve an expanding transcultural membership. The overarching theme of the conference, expressing the core of IONS' new mission, was "taking the next step toward a global wisdom society."
The Power Of Interconnection
Beginning with the breakthrough of quantum theory in the 1930s, we have witnessed a cascade of empirical and theoretical advances in multiple fields that have had the effect of dissolving the "atomistic," stand-alone mechanical worldview, and replacing it with a holistic, interpenetrating, organic worldview. As a result, ideas that not long ago would have raised eyebrows seemed to be more easily accepted by participants as they spoke almost matter-of-factly about the power of collective intention and the field dynamics of group minds.
Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman's robust presence introduced this theme by stating the practicality of enlightenment, describing the natural peace that arises when one surrenders an inflated sense of self-importance, and seeks instead the well being of the entire community. Later, IONS' Marilyn Schlitz spoke of research demonstrating the efficacy of collective prayer at a distance. And Director of Transformative Learning Chris Bache described what he views as the collective transformation that humanity is undergoing, and the critical role personal transformations may play in creating a positive outcome for this historic transition. Barbara Marx Hubbard echoed this theme as she spoke of the emerging "universal human," and David Abram's powerful story of interspecies communication reinforced and expanded this theme of interconnection.
Inner Abundance
A famous statement by Shanti Deva, a great Indian poet and Buddhist teacher, says that if you don't like stubbing your toe and stepping on thorns and sharp rocks when you walk out on the earth, you have two choices. You can pave over the whole Earth with leather, or you can make yourself a pair of sandals. And which do you think is more practical?
Western civilization has tried to make the world into a baseball. In a way, it's still putting its major energy into trying to cover the Earth with leather. It attempts to achieve human happiness by controlling the outer environment, using and exploiting outer resources, and really not putting that much attention into covering the "foot"-which in this case is the mind.
But we all know that we can have physical progress-material abundance, possessions, relationships, plenty of food, plenty of everything we want-and yet be perfectly miserable. We are expert at being miserable in the midst of beauty and plenty.
Indian civilization realized this long before us, because they were wealthy and had abundance long before the Europeans did. And therefore in India they recognized that inner science, the noetic science, is the queen of the sciences. Because if you can control your mind, then you can weather anything. Even in difficulties, even in struggle, you will somehow have that kind of essential joy that makes you able to deal with that struggle.
So this is my prayer: that Buddha-level enlightenment-of concentration and wisdom and creativity and world-transformation-will soon come to be a reality for a vast group of people. That your lamp of noetic devotion and dedication and self-transformative enthusiasm and creativity will kindle hundreds and hundreds of other such lamps without diminishing the brightness of your flame in the slightest degree.
—Robert Thurman, From The "Spirit Rising" Conference
"Creative altruism" is a powerful example of interconnection in action. This year, IONS presented the Temple Awards for Creative Altruism to three individuals who all demonstrated the transformative power of love and compassion, unselfish service, and heartfelt connection with others. Dan Millstein teaches Attitudinal Healing, meditation, and anger management to thousands of prisoners in his "Visions for Prisons" program. Emily Douglas is still a teenager, but her organization "Grandma's Gifts" helps poor children through donations of goods and services. Judith Jenya also devotes her life to children in war-traumatized areas by helping them to heal through her "Global Children's Organization."
At a time when many of us feel overwhelmed by the social challenges facing us, the quiet example of these individuals reminded conference-goers of the profound difference that one person can make in the lives of many, if we simply choose to lend a hand.
Embodied Spirituality
This year, presentations were organized around themes of Mind, Body, Heart, Spirit, and Spirit-in-Action. For an IONS conference, the emphasis on Mind or Spirit was neither unusual nor surprising-but a number of participants remarked how pleased they were to see a corresponding emphasis on embodiedness and on engaged spirituality.
Two presentations reflected this approach. First, evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris drew on her panoramic view of biology to make a persuasive case that evolution is at least as much about cooperation as competition. From the macrocosmic to microcosmic, she showed that the data of science now reveal what mystics and sages have been telling us for millennia: The world, the planet-the entire cosmos, indeed-is a self-organizing, and therefore a living, organism. Sahtouris brought her talk to life with some dramatic and colorful graphics and images.
Next, David Abram mesmerized the audience as he enacted and embodied his storytelling. He used his body motion and sound to communicate his central message: that language itself precedes concepts and words, and is rooted in the fabric of nature. When we "tune into" our bodies (our own and others'), when we allow ourselves to feel messages circulating through our cells, our molecules, our atoms, and through the vital sinews that connect us with our world, we experience a shift in consciousness. In effect, our consciousness expands to include the otherwise silent wisdom of our own body embedded in the intelligent body of nature, and we gain a direct experience of our interconnectedness and our kinship with all of the natural world.
Transformational Practices
Deep transformation does not come about through good luck or fortuitous birth, but is usually the result of disciplined daily practice sustained over many years. Accordingly, this theme was addressed by a number of presenters.
"Transformative practice" is the name given to the many physical, contemplative, artistic, and social practices through which one can engage the habitual patterns of one's life and transform them. Through daily interruption of these patterns, and opening to the vitality of life as it manifests in the present moment, free of prior conditioning, transformation can take place. By engaging in a daily practice, people can accelerate and deepen their individual evolutionary journey and, through the "connective tissue" of humanity's collective consciousness, contribute directly to the evolutionary journey of humanity as a whole.
Appropriately, many presentations and workshops presented practical, hands-on advice for strengthening one's daily practice. Alan Wallace described the specific benefits of different forms of meditation, and Roger Walsh highlighted the "seven elements of spiritual practice" from his new book Essential Spirituality. A team from the Fetzer Institute (Kate Olsen, Angeles Arrien, Frances Vaughn, and Mark Nepo) described the transformative power of love and skillful compassion. In many workshops, participants explored the power of music, art, meditation, travel, and social service to change their lives.
Inspiration And Engagement
Closely allied to embodied spirituality, where bodies are intimately connected with each other, engagement and action are natural outcomes. Another highlight of the conference was the engaged spirituality of representatives from YES (Youth for Environmental Sanity), including Ocean Robbins, Tad Hargrave, Aqeela Sherrills, and Julia Butterfly Hill. Julia Butterfly is best known for her two-year protest living atop an old-growth redwood tree in Northern California, described in her bestselling book The Legacy of Luna.
She spoke about her experiences living in the tree, about how, if she'd known at the start she'd be there for more than two years, she would never have attempted the project. She held the audience with her clear, confident voice and bearing as she described sitting it out hundreds of feet up through wind, rain, sun, and snow. With all the usual trappings and distractions of civilization unavailable, she was forced to pay close attention to whatever presented itself to her moment-by-moment. Sometimes it was the way mist formed on the tree's needles, becoming a trickle of raindrops that accumulated and fell as rain on the forest floor below. Sometimes it was simply listening to the sounds of nature, day and night. Sometimes it was watching the rise and fall of thoughts and emotions in her own body and mind. And as she hushed the audience with her story, we witnessed how her environmental activism opened her to her own spirituality, and how, in turn, her spiritual insights revealed a wider and deeper context for her engagement with the forces of corporate greed.
The presence of Julia Butterfly, Ocean Robbins, and their friends itself marks a turning point in IONS' history. For the first time-a sign of things to come-IONS' conference attendees were treated to a prelude of the changing of the guard, as new young faces boldly stepped onto the path so well-trodden by the boomers and generations before them. We glimpsed how the noetic torch, lit by the epiphany of Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell on his return trip from the Moon nearly half a century ago, and carried as a bright flame by people such as Willis Harman, Brendan O'Regan, and Tom Hurley, may be carried into the future in the capable hands of young men and women who weren't even born when Apollo 14 landed.
Order "Spirit Rising" conference audio and video tapes at the Conference Recordings website, or by calling 510-527-3600.
Chris Bache is IONS' director of transformational learning, and author of Dark Night, Early Dawn (SUNY, 2000). Christian de Quincey is managing editor of IONS Review, and professor of Consciousness Studies at John F. Kennedy University. He is author of Radical Nature: Rediscovering the Soul of Matter (Invisible Cities Press, 2002), and of the bestselling ebook Deep Spirit.
