Circle Feedback

Feedback from Circle Sharing Groups around the world.

November

Boise, Idaho, USA

What is Your Understanding of, and Relationship, to Spiritual Community?
Reflect on the Learnings of the Community Sharing Circle Process. Where will You Go from Here?

What is the understanding of...
Vexing questions: What is spiritual? - covid limitations,church was community but not anymore, 2020 circle meetings are a spiritualcommunity expirence, daily practice connects to spiritual community of dieties and consciousnesses. Twelve - step programmeetings, listeneing to others connects a community, helping others; good intentioned people with love, a shared belief and life values

Where does it go from here...
Interacting in the world with more open attitudes and perspectives, more compassion and loving kindness. Be more involved in local community, more discipline and committment. Less talking- more listening, more tolerance - less judgement, more effort to connect with others - less self-centeredness. Suggestions to continuie 2020 meetings or possibly a book study in circle format.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

1. Building a community of like-minded souls. It seems that 60% of the world is living in poverty and 40% have benefitted from the development that has taken place! Practice helps all of us to be good to one another and treat everyone with love and compassion.
2. I have practiced in sharing circles for more than 10 years. I’ve found it to be a very helpful process and want it to continue.
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1. I reflected on the questions for several days and think they are good questions without easy answers. In our opening this evening, I was glad that the Bodhisattva Vow was referenced. It’s a form of commitment that has been germinating in me for over 20 years. It is the start and ending of everything for me. Stay grounded in it and all will be good – it’s all about the process and not the goal. It’s about exploring our place in the world.
2. My introduction to the sharing circle was through Bonni many years ago. Over the course of several sessions it stirred up the group and brought home the value of listening and the value and richness of simply being comfortable with silence. We learned the benefits of organizing through the circle process without the top-down control that is common in workplace and family situations. It proved to be a place of safety, no rancour and a way of being in the world accepting as it is in the moment.
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1. For me, Spiritual Community means interconnectedness. It gives meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging. “Spirituality” feels a bit like dogma and can sometimes feel frightening.
2. The sharing has helped me acknowledge things more deeply. It sometimes feels like a precious gift and has provided a way of looking at difficult topics in a trusted group. I hope we can continue in some way as the sense of presence and safety has been helpful and keeps us coming back to the present. It has also become clear that even not responding and remaining in silence is a valid place to be within the group.
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1. I have been actively seeking sangha for several years on a daily basis. In the last year I have broadened my views and quietened down. Meeting monastics first hand has given me a better sense of reality. I have been remembering people with sometimes lasting effects. These people have provided beacons of how to behave. I have been aspiring to live in a group situation to get a better sense of reality. This group (Vancouver) is the most important to me as it generates a feeling of safety and trust. It’s provided something more personal – a laboratory holding things in context but knowing that it’s all much bigger. Current election behaviours, with ego front and centre, contrast strongly with the circle process. As circle skills grow, I believe they will modify cultural understanding in a wider way.
2. Intense emotions in review have led to experiencing “us” rather than “me” or “them”. There is a sense of apocalypse already rolling through the world. I feel I no longer have to fight or panic about things that are happening. Bringing awareness to things and not separating them seems appropriate. I would like the process to continue in some way.
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1. Sangha – I didn’t want to be part of it at first. I have realized that relationships and people are multi-dimensional. I don’t have to fix or tweak things – just be present! It’s been educational and a good thing to see the ebb and flow of people in the community.
2. Having participated in the 2020 organization, I’ve come to realize the huge amount of work involved in curating the possibilities from a very large volume of information. I don’t know how we’d do it on our own.
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1. I am very grateful to be part of this group – I picture in my mind something I’ve been doing recently - feeding crows, sometimes from the hand. It seems the best way to do it is to hold out the hand and turn one’s face away. In a way this is what the sharing circle feels like. Having been on the India Pilgrimage 3 years ago, I feel that I’m still on a daily pilgrimage. Interconnectedness is important.
2. I have always felt comfortable in the circle. As a teacher, I felt good about gathering my students around a campfire. The group circle feels like that campfire and provides a respect for listening. I don’t want the process to stop and feel the positives in looking at challenging thoughts in the group setting.
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1. I feel gratitude in being part of a group that has provided support and encouragement during difficult times over a number of years.
2. The 2020 process has really helped us to look at issues that have been ‘swept under the carpet’. Just being able to listen and talk about them has felt good even though the subjects have often been very difficult to be with. Immediate solutions are mostly not obvious but bringing them into awareness has reduced fear and brought greater understanding. Complex issues still seem to put solutions beyond the capacity of any one person or group of people. On a personal level, group consideration of the topics has offered some optimism and positive feelings in the face of difficult problems. There are still many opportunities as individuals and groups to make a difference.

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

What is your understanding of, and relationship to, spiritual community?

We felt spiritual community is not so much a “thing”, but something that's always there, not always seen or felt; something to be experienced.
Words such as trust, feeling safe, being able to be vulnerable, the opportunity for growth and healing, and connectedness were expressed.
The boundaries around ourselves have shifted and changed within the group; the boundary between self and other blurred slightly; giving a sense of community.
Spiritual community is a real blessing, not being in polarities, rather moving towards a oneness; unity in diversity.
A sense of light and creativity. Our sense of spiritual community has a quality of open heartedness that has the capacity to be compassionate and forgiving to oneself and others.

Reflect on the learning of the Community Sharing Circle Process. Where will you go from here?

The group has grown during the year, particularly in terms of trust and the ability to be more spontaneous and share from the heart. A container that supports this has been built.
As well as the themes and topics , which were valuable in themselves as a way of examining potentially uncomfortable issues, we found there was also an inner process which allowed healing to happen. It helped anchor us in the world, in what has been a difficult year. Something occurred which was bigger than the individual who said the words. This was not anticipated. What is enabling this was a question.
The process enables vulnerability and also courage to do or think differently.
The monthly commitment worked well. We appreciated the time and space in our lives to engage with this, at times intense and rich process, which is rare. We eagerly await “season two”.

October

The Orchard Earth Sangha, Herefordshire, UK

* Thank you for a truly inspiring session on Saturday. Here is my feedback to be sent to the ClearVision2020 team:
How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?

The huge variety of material from 2020ClearVision has widened my own vision, as well as helping me develop a much more focussed look at what is going on in the world - massive societal, cultural, and political challenges, as well as the climate crisis - there is, clearly, a fast emerging potential for the breakdown of structures as they exist today.
The experience of being with the group has supported my commitment to personal practice - mind, body, spirit, and shadow;
I have felt strongly, and unmistakably, my interconnectedness with all things - this is a joyous and free-ing experience.
I am understanding and learning how to really, actively, listen to people, and am beginning to understand the notion of Collective Intelligence.
My search for clarity has led me to enrol on the Rebel Wisdom Sense-making 101 course - so far an extraordinary journey, very much complementing my Clear Vision experience.

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?

Polarisation and our inability/unwillingness to use our collective intelligence, to work together for the good of all, to be able to dissent and disagree and still love each other
Shadow Work - recognition of how much both individual and collective shadow affects everything we do, feel, and think, and how important it is for each of us to continually do ‘shadow work’.
The alarming impact social media has had on shaping the post-modern world, and the implications of this for the future.

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

Courage to significantly engage and work with other beings in a way that supports collective intelligence through an ecology of personal and group practices for Mind, Body, Spirit and Shadow. I’m not sure what this looks like yet…..

Also - below is part of my feedback from June - from our group review of the project so far:

Huge gratitude and appreciation to the ClearVision2020 Team - the material and the process has been nourishing, challenging, engaging, educational, and well thought out. I am so pleased to be a part of it. Although outcomes and action are not expected the process is quietly guiding my way in the world around me.
Returning to the guiding principles has been a useful experience - being reminded about circle sharing as a meditation on listening, speaking from the heart and listening generously has been much needed - I have, throughout the six months, noticed: my wanting/not wanting to hear what others are saying; my internal reactions to the sharing of others; and my own mental bothering about what I am about to say, or have said. I now make it a priority to practice listening generously both within the group and without, and believe this is one of the keys to nurturing the transition we are travelling through.
I am also reminded of the instruction that ‘this is not a forum for dialogue, discussion, etc….’ and wish to speak of my own need for some form of dialogue within the group - certainly not instead of Circle Sharing, but perhaps as an additional, occasional, occurrence. As a group, over the last six months, we have become close, respectful, and caring of the space and thus dialogue becomes supportive….adding to the experience of the circle sharing. Today we met and talked together in this way, after Circle Sharing - and it was good….

* Wow! what a journey.

We have travelled many miles together; historically geographically, intellectually, emotionally. The diversity of the material has made this truly adventurous taking me to times and places I would not have found left to my own devises, making demands of me.
So thank you, I have learnt a lot and I am changed by this experience.
I feel enlivened. I am more discerning about the things I choose to listen to and watch. I consider my response, think about what made sense to me, rather than just consume.
I now take my ability to contribute more seriously and recognise the validity of my own thoughts and expression.
Hearing the different perspectives during in our learning circle at times brought new challenges, demanded further thought and interrogation.
Our lack of care and respect for the world, for the environment, for each other is truly disturbing. My heart hurts in the face of the wanton destruction we humans are capable of and how blind we can be if the narrative does not serve our own self- interest. The energy invested in the fight, the polarisation, the division, finding ‘other’ rather than ‘we’. Even in the face of visible evidence we can choose to not see, to not think about what the end game might be if we do not change.
I am awake and will not return to closed eyes. I will leave the safety of my independent bunker and aim to be more connected to community with common purpose and healing in mind.

Best wishes and love to all involved.

* As this last meeting ended, the connection between us all felt palpable, real and open hearted. A deep bow for the honesty and compassion present in the circle.
So...How is the experience changing me.

Ah, firstly the circle itself, whole and complete in its holding us.The change began with the circle and trust and kindness.The golden thread that we hold. Thank you.
Given this opportunity to revisit past material,and the work that reconnects.
I saw them with fresh eyes and ears..due I expect to how I’m changing! I feel I’m growing braver, surer of myself, hearing more, quieter too yet energised. All on going.

Which Issue is impacting the most and how.

If, it’s just one issue, it has to be Climate change, but then there is COVID-19 that is here, having an impact locally, and globally today, and then.... Black lives matter. kimberley Jones lives within me....I wonder when she is protesting on the streets is her first concern Climate change or Covid?

Then, choose one change (does this mean for the world or self?) I’d like to make as a human and dharma practitioner.

....for the world,...then David Attenborough when asked this question said ‘don’t waste anything’, and that is something so fundamental. But if for myself,then it is to become more socially engaged . Compassionate action...however that presents itself. I have though been drawn to enrol on the Upaya socially engaged Buddhist training programme...starts in Feb 2021. Still would like to actually do as well as be.thats the Kimberley Jones effect.
Who said sit as if your hair is on fire?
This is, thanks to clear vision.....the work that reconnects.....together.

* My feedback for our wonderful session.

The Circle has been a refuge for me and has changed me in subtle and tremendously important ways. Our Circle is like a family to me and it has inspired me both within and beyond it to really listen and engender genuine empathy and compassion toward others both human and otherly-human. The material has enhanced a sense that the world is truly alive and sentient and beautiful. A growing awareness of this is a subtle shift in consciousness, and this I consider absolutely critical if our human world and our beautiful beloved Mother Earth is to survive in some form by the end of this century. I've become more thoughtful. The Circle has given me a refuge from what is at times a very cold and hopeless world, it has given me a deep sense of community.

The issue I've been most impacted by, that disturbs me more than anything else and makes me fearful for the future, is to me more fundamental and causal than the many other crises that also keep me awake at night and tear at my heart, such as climate change and the appalling damage we human beings are doing to the natural world. It's the polarisation acrimony and hostility that has been unleashed in the world, fuelled like petrol on the flames by "social media" (the most antisocial force on the planet) that has given rise to a politics of denial and "us-them". And underlying these forces of destruction is a mode of consciousness that is well past it's sell-by date - the 19th century-born onlooker objective detached disposition to the outer world that enhances selfishness and callousness leads to treating others or the natural world either with complete contempt or as if they were not sentient or alive but property to be bought sold and exploited. It takes such a consciousness to devastate a pristine rainforest, seeing it merely as hardwood or soya or beef fodder. The Circle provide me with a glimmer of hope, that the underlying basis of the problems that are plaguing the world can be addressed. We CAN begin to change the way we listen see experience think about feel act and interact with the world.

What would I change as a human and dharma practitioner? I'd cultivate yet greater patience empathy and compassion and would free myself from fear and anger. I'd deepen a shift in my consciousness, and contribute toward humankind's healing paradigm shift. I have a lot of work to do! But I look forward to making further progress alongside my brothers and sisters of our Orchard Earth Sangha Circle!

* How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?

It has been a year of much change; what to contribute exclusively to the Clear Vision experience? It has been so much an integrated part of my experience.
Participating in this year long project has by itself been a very rewarding experience.
Just by listening to the various perspectives and response to the material has increased my respect for where each of us is coming from.
I feel more aware, more a listener to the world in all its wonders and complexities
Through this process of just being there for the other, without commentary and without going into discussion afterwards, have made me more aware of how easily I fall into judgement and can hold on to my own views.
The overriding experience of the Clear Vision project has been how powerful communication can be by just listening.

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?

Black Life Matters and the way it was presented by the short video of Kimberley Jones made a huge impact and it made me explore further the history of slavery through the eyes of black people.
The accelerating extinction of species feels painful for me.
The saying by the Argentinian environmental lawyer and activist Enrique Viale “Ecology without social justice is little more than gardening” expresses very well how all is interrelated and it is the lack of that understanding or at least the lack of acting accordingly, that impact me the most.
The lack of tolerance, of listening to each other as valued and respected human beings, the process/act of "other-ing”.

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

This may again be summarised in “listening”.
The variety of the material over the year, the expression of different perspectives and the differences in what was picked out by the members of the circle was all a great learning for listening and appreciation.
I was very touched by the last two meetings by how we have come together, even though from April all but one session were conducted by zoom. A strong bond has been developed through coming together through listening, no verbal commentaries, no discussion.
Maybe that is deepest felt answer to the three questions.
Something has changed deeply inside. A process has taken place towards deeper compassion, deeper awareness.

Thanks to all having been part of that, be it the friends of our circle or the team in NZ.

* Clearly Visioned!

Being invited to look back and think was a welcome opportunity for reflection and digestion - sometimes those monthly threesomes feel a bit much. A look back over the year so far foregrounds two things for me : one, the richness of the material, and secondly, the richness of our discussions - not just in relation to the material we were considering, but the very different ways in which each of us talked about that material, and the way in which listening - as opposed to discussing - changed the usual group dynamic. Useful - and not just in the context of ’the material’. Which leads naturally to a second point about the way in which the CV project has been helpful: by enabling/encouraging a (loosely) Buddhist focus it helped a calmer, broader, deeper consideration and reflection - something that the heat of an argument, or just a to and fro, can cloud. Good.

The material itself - well, what can one say about such a vast amount of input? Looking back over it all was a humbling experience. Did we really read, watch or listen to all that? So much forgetting! So many familiar tunes. Having been around so many of the arguments for so long - all my adult life - I can’t say I feel changed in terms of my view of the situation we find ourselves in. Made less pessimistic or had a sudden realisation? No. As I’ve said before, nature will survive - how could it not? - but the prospects for human life on Earth look pretty bleak. It’s just a question of time, in my view. Which isn’t to say that one should give up, or lose hope. But, as William Stafford puts it in A Ritual To Read To Each Other, long a touchstone for me, we should remember that ’the darkness around us is deep’. Thanks to the CV team and the circle at The Orchard for helping me remember that.

A Ritual To Read To Each Other

If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dike.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider--
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe --
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

* HI Circle Groupers,

I find it hard to put this together but will try to say something personal rather than repeat many of the wonderful and intelligent feedback from the Circle.
As a Buddhist for so many years I’ve become increasingly aware how identified with these concepts I’ve become, and instead of opening my mind, it has reinforced my opinions, judgments, impatience and arrogance.
The Circle sharing hasn’t changed me completely but it has made me see it even more clearly. It’s been a joyful, and humbling experience. I can now listen to what people have to say without thinking too much. You may not know it but inside I am shy and insecure. I have always been afraid of groups but I can share my hidden ‘secret life’ in this group and it is empowering. I feel enormous gratitude to all of you.
As far as the material goes, I think it has been profound and deeply affected me with the many different approaches to climate change including the Aluna film of the Kogi Indians. David Baume was a revelation. These will remain in my mind in the same way as the principle of Ahimsa does.
I don’t want to turn this into politics but I feel the need to close with a timely and sincere wish. God Bless America. What’s happened there is a fundamental assertion of our shared values.

* It has been an amazing experience to be presented with so much material this year.

It is like a library too, a bookstore which I could go back to without having to choose amongst a myriad of titles. In a way how has it changed things? It has lifted me out, to a certain extent!, of my despair and hopelessness. I have appreciated being listened to and being accepted into the group of extremely perceptive people. I have also learned the value of listening to others. I like to have not had discussion, but to have got to know people by them expressing themselves and the rest of the group simply listening. Okay, so I did not score 100% on that one but I did learn a lot and really appreciated being accepted.
What changes in me have I seen? A kind of widening of my perception of the world. I had only had a vague picture of the Kogi people story, for example, so it was great to see a whole load more about them.
The most impact? Black Lives Matter, Raising my child in a Doomed world, Eisenstein on Covid, David Bohm's physics, Schmachtenberger on interbeing.
What changes? Schmachtenberger , David Bohm and various other wise snippets received beside the 2020 material just lead to a reminder of our common purpose , our interbeing, the need to look after eachother. Who knows what suffering will be endured but the next 50/100 years but it looks to be a very rocky road. I'd just like to carry on with a similar group and a similar purpose.

* The clear vision project has been a very supportive, nurturing project to focus on in a difficult year.

Meeting with a group of like-minded souls, equally concerned about the world we now live in, has been very helpful.
I especially liked the fact that the process concentrated on listening rather than interacting. Listening to others shaped my feelings and position about the subjects we spoke about and I found it hugely enriching.
The materials were well chosen and surprisingly some new to me.
Joanna Macy, Jem Bendel and Oscar at the green school impressing the most.
The Cogi, of which I was aware, having watched the first film, were the ones that have inspired me most. Pairing Deep Adaptation with their approach plus my aversion and sheer inability to adapt to on line meetings have made me decide to step back from the project now, unless our last meeting can be done in person. I do however realise there would not have been much of a project if it hadn't been for on line meetings...

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?

Becoming more sociable, good to talk with others, not just think about such issues as individual – a problem shared is a problem halved. Many already contemplating some of the issues but a greater value in hearing others’ viewpoints & sharing;
Opened up to looking & in depth at issues presented and extending the range of them;
Fun and nourishing to share the space of listening and the sense of security of being accepted;
Seeing wholeness and interconnectedness more clearly;
Becoming stronger through a sense of being supported and supporting, and having greater clarity on purpose and priorities going forward;
Appreciated and valued the opportunity for connection, in depth discussion and hearing others perspectives. It has been expansive and broadening as a result of the readings;
Two memorable readings were firstly "The life boat analogy", thought provoking in terms of the ethical dilemmas we face and the "the tragedy of the commons" - challenging in terms of solutions;
Inspired by Jem Bendall’s piece and now feel more keenly the responsibility of children having real earthy experiences. Motivated to continue this by involving children in our everyday farming activities whenever we have the opportunity;
Helping to practice discernment in the face of so much information on the web.

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?

Donut economics & role of environment – move away from economic model/life;
Interbeing – Joanna Macy & Buddhism making more sense – breathing for you, breathing for me;
David Attenborough, life on the planet and future for our grandchildren;
Climate change and working to support resilience & community & adaptation;
Globalisation versus village so am now more focussed in my quest to rehabilitate, support and enhance village development towards more connection and cooperation and involve children more actively;
Loss of biodiversity.

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

BE THE CHANGE
Teaching and involving children in nature sustainability (and farming) & having a library for kids of films (2040 & others re adapting to climate change etc);
Hoping to travel less;
Increase undisturbed natural habitat.

Auckland, New Zealand

1. How is the ClearVision experience changing you?

I reviewed the diversity of inputs we received in order to be able to answer this question. It was really good to be refreshed and reminded - Joanna Macy, Jim Widell, the Kogi, eco-fascism and the lifeboat. It's been a way of opening up my horizons to hear about all these different ideas. I have all the resources stored on my PC and I will refer back to them and follow them.

I thought, Oh God has it changed me at all? But it has introduced me to concepts I knew nothing about before. Made me realise that my reading has been shallow and brought me to reading more in-depth material. So an opening of my mind is all I can claim as a change - an opening to activists and people deeply embedded in these movements.

I knew this year would be hard and I haven't had time to get all the resources but I saw enough to make me feel that what I am doing in my life is on-track. It also made me realise how important retreat work is to allow the time for contemplation of these sorts of resources, to allow you to get into a deeper state. Definitely very valuable resources and I will go back to them. 2020 has been a blur but this has helped me.

Was reflecting on this question but I couldn't find a strong answer and then yesterday, I had a young man visiting at my house. Law student, National Party. He asked me how I voted so I began to challenge him and I found some of my arguments were informed by these resources and he asked me how I had got such breadth. I realised that the power of deep listening, although I haven't felt it change me, has enriched me, fed me without me feeling that I had to change opinions.

I think that meeting with you all and all the fantastic resources has been great. the ones that particularly resonated were Joanna, the Donut Economy and the Rivalness dynamics. It has made me more open and I have been sharing my views more without being concerned about disagreement. I've been more open about discussing climate change and it has given me a sense of community and shared values. It's been a deep process of opening.

For me, the greatest change has been the opportunity to hear and share views with you all in the circle. This has given me a much stronger understanding of the need and value of community. I have so appreciated all your different points of view and these have widened my own understandings.

2. Which of the issues facing us is impacting you most and how?

The environment and property development are the issues I am grappling with. The RMA is an attempt by the Council to try to clean up the environment but it is very bureaucratic and burdensome when you are trying to build a new house as I am. The current owners of the land are very angry at the Council but I am pleased the Council is involved. They are trying to do the right thing for the treatment of water, septic tanks and soil contamination. This is looking after the environment and what it means in reality.

The environment is the most impactful issue for me mainly because my world has shrunk, largely to my own garden. I have become aware of how auto-healing nature is - it doesn't take much for damage to be healed. I am living inside the living proof that a small amount of effort can be transformative. I keep giving away plants to my neighbours.

The issue for me is feeling a part of my micro-environment without being a destructive force. The core issue is feeling a lack of living community - in my street for example and with my neighbours. I am training myself to think in terms of something being sustainable - environmentally, socially, financially, spiritually. I am trying to spread that view.

For me the greatest issue that I feel impacts me is the lack of wisdom in the world. There are so many uncompassionate, ignorant views around and they dominate the media. I had to shut down all media feeds from the US this year for example - it was just too much. I feel it deeply when I hear narrow, destructive, hate-filled views being spouted about; and conversely when I hear more compassionate, enlightened views it lifts me.

Climate change is the issue that affects me most. Reading Joanna Macy who says you have to open up to the anxiety and fear and depression and do something. I'm trying to do as much as possible - make it more and more that every gesture in my life is to tread more lightly. I feel I am needing to stay awake to the plight of the earth. Keep the vision of the moon in the water that I saw on the ferry coming back from Waiheke last night.

This week I met with a friend who has a 1 year old child and she illustrated what was most profound, spontaneously. We were in a small stand of trees. I looked down at her and she was standing enrapt with her arms lifted as if she were embracing the trees. It was interconnectedness, a sense of reverence. She didn't need words and we are so stuck on words. How utterly important it is that we experience nature - that will be what changes us. To be plugged me back into that reverence for our surroundings.

3. If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and a Dharma practitioner, what would that be?

Community is really important, really nourishing. We need to keep talking, and to keep this community going. On the first Sunday of every month once I have my new house we are going to have a gathering to meditate for the prisoners up the road. You are all invited to join the community up there. I am keen to have another community - you have to surround yourself with good people in your space.

A shift towards engaged Buddhism. I have had marvellous opportunities to be hermit-like and always listened, and cared but was not active with others. I am looking for reflective, engaged, thoughtful intervention, not reactive. Coming from a place wanting to do things for change. I have many friends who have been driven into a deeper sense of caring for people and the environment.

Referring back to what I said before, I do want more engagement. Being more open - both at work and home. Half of the people at work are Christians and very giving and very active without being too intrusive or holier than thou. We have sharing sessions, and the other day when I was sharing, I led them in a Thich Nhat Han meditation.

Yes I also want to start being engaged in working for the health of the planet. At the moment I am still too tied up with work and it takes all my resources but once I can, I will start to pull back and I hope I can find a way of working with good people towards helpful activities. I have skills I have amassed, I'm sure there is somewhere I can put them to use for the good of all.

I am always striving to be more still inside. This year has taught me how much time I've needed with people and how much time I need alone. If I can be a little stiller with relationships I can be more available to the community. I was alone in my little apartment in the second lockdown. Coping alone brought a certain kind of exhaustion. Being able to be still and stay a bit present and not to seek so much aloneness.

I have not given this much thought. I have had a lot less energy this year and I have allowed COVID to bring the inner slob out. So I am not sure how much I am going to contribute - it's not in my physicality. Grant RIX's programme is now running a series of ads on TV. It makes me think of children and meditation and where that could take me - it's a germ of an idea.

Refúgio Paradiso, Botucatu, SP Brazil

Few people are still attending the 2020 meetings, but with a lot of quality. It became an opportunity for Presencing of everyone attending, and a feeling of safety and trust infuses the meeting's atmosphere.

The feedbacks went from how each one is sensing the present moment in their lives and the world, and also how the themes brought by the 2020 team along the year were in sync with what was present somehow in a more subconscious level, ringing in everyone.

The support the meetings brought in the attempt to make sense of everything that's going on at the moment on a planetary level, the climate crisis, economic situation, duality and othering, etc.

Some people commented how in spite of the heaviness of many of the themes, light in terms of resources and means for transformation of these conditions were also present.

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

I enjoyed October's gathering - and appreciated that I could join remotely by ZOOM. It was good to look back at the year that has been and ascertain that being part of the sharing circle has been a good thing to commit to and I have learnt more about other members of our Sangha through listening. There was discussion at the end around preferences for 2021 and whilst others are keen to meet weekly in the future in a similar sharing circle, that is too regular for me and I wouldn't put my name forward for that this time around. I have just been away for the weekend and had some lovely long stints in nature and my aspiration is to continue on practising the Dharma and persevering with joyfulness each and every day. And to try and be easily content.

I’m not sure specifically how the clear vision experience is changing me but of course it has. I have found the material challenging and interesting; it has led me to many subjects I otherwise would not have explored – and some are amazing!
The issue impacting me the most is the rapid mass species extinction through human greed and delusion. I often feel powerless but the analogy of the caterpillar (goo) metamorphosis gives me hope for a better future for life on our unique beautiful planet.
The one change I would like to make is to allow myself to be vulnerable. I know this would open and enrich my interaction with others and with life in general.
Due to Covid-19, we shared through Zoom meetings, my group shrunk and was integrated with another smaller group (within the NBC) and this final group was never consistent due to absences and the use of Zoom for some who couldn’t attend the venue. These are not criticisms but I found I was not able to develop the level of trust I feel when participating in sharing circles such as at Wangapeka and I guess that trust is due to the intimacy of living and sharing together on a daily basis.
As a human/dharma practitioner I would like to be more awake to the inter-beingness of all existence and have no regrets at the time of my death.

I had read the questions and, in a spontaneous writing exercise, written some answers, during the week before the Circle Sharing. When my turns in the Circle came, during the session, I didn't try to recall what I'd written – I let whatever arose come out. It was interesting and surprising to do that. It gave me an image of my life in a bigger frame.
I liked the more personal nature of the sharing last night, without a specific topic to consider, as it invited sharing less from our heads and more from our hearts, and allow more “vulnerability”. That revealed to me how much I would take away people's sadness and grief if I could. Which brought me back to the dharma, and its promise that it reveals the sources of pain and happiness. As a lay person, the best thing I can do is impart the dharma as best I understand it, in whatever way I can (not necessarily in words, in fact, mostly not.) And some of what others shared surprised me too, regarding their wishes for the future, and new experiences. I appreciate the opportunity the sharing gave to let me "know the world, more profoundly and more compassionately."
The post Circling discussion was good for me too, to hear some visions of how we might continue and enhance the group in the future, more frequently and with total commitment. I look forward to more!

There are some things I like quite a lot, and I'd like them to stay the same.
There are some things I don't like much, and I'd like them to change.
That's at the root of all of this for me - trying to change everything to suit me better is what is causing me so much distress.

How has the 20/20 experience changed me? It has helped me connect dots in the BIG picture of challenging issues humanity now faces on earth, insomuch as looking at the connectedness between all the issues and feeling that underlying all issues is money. How our global financial system permeates like a virus, throughout social, ecology, health, education, technology, religion, and our institutions. Everything!
One change I'd like to make, and am hopefully doing now is to ask more questions, mainly of myself and my own motivation and intention as a human and Dharma practitioner.

The circle group method was new to me at the beginning of the year. Practising whole being listening has deepened my appreciation of the wisdom innate to beings even when they themselves may not recognise it or trust in it. Speaking spontaneously is proving a joy and a surprise as to what comes out sometimes. Several of the group are keen to continue and invite others beyond the end of the year.
The existential threat of climate to humanity impacts me the most though there are so many other interconnected, interdependent issues. Trying to imagine how I might respond is overwhelming at times. Remembering the teachings re-establishes a sense of equanimity like a balm. I come back to working with this moment. The term ‘think globally, act locally’ has always resonated since I first heard it.
What arose when I considered what changes I would make is to be more sensitive to situations. There was also a feeling, like an imperative, of the need to develop more and more skills to be able to help others. A boundless field of skills compared to which I felt a lacking to say the least! Nevertheless, that seems to be the task.

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

1. So lovely to be in a group process like this.. learning alot about the value of sharing and the power of listening.

2. Really glad to have been introduced to thinkers I hadn't heard of before. Realized that I can no longer think the worst of climate change will be after I've "checked out". In fact there is more uncertainty (aka fear) than I had anticipated. Glad to have my approach to life affirmed by the aforesaid thinkers. A plus was feeling more connected to those in our circle.

3. When this exploration began I decided to go full in. Host the gathering, start a binder of printed articles so I didn't have to read off a computer and I could take notes if I wanted to.
We came together to acknowledge the civilization we have created and not flinch at the realization of what is to come. Grief, anger, rage, to name a few. Loathing, disgust, revulsion, violation.. Fear and confusion. Mostly fear and confusion.
Then came Covid and everything became much more intense. Now the Zoom tool is the way to go. Holy shitballs! Huge resistance, but the desire to belong kept me involved.
July and August we met in the flesh again and it was so wholesome . Got cold and dark with winter and now we're back to Zoom. Bummer.
The early material was gut wrenching, especially after losing another chunk of Mount Elphinstone to logging. I never thought of it as the commons. The Global Commons. Another catchy phrase to throw around.I guess it is if you grant all life sentience. Including viruses, bacteria, and the most lovely molds and fungi.
I gave a lot of thought about what I want to preserve of this civilization and Covid wiped out most of my list right away.
All through this I kept wondering where Matthew was going with this ? Is it going to follow the workshop formula where you wrap up on a positive note? Not sure what's going to happen now.
The most valuable and new information I've received from the journey is the introduction to the Intellectual Dark Web and all the information to be found there. The way of computing the info was new to me.That has been the most valuable tool for the understanding, or not, of my culture.
It's all grist for the mill

4. What a juicy sharing circle! It was very stimulating to hear all the different reverberations from each of our explorations. Different yet connected.

How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?
- as a commitment and a reminder to not fall asleep into comfort and denial

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?
- smoke, interbreathing with the planet's suffering

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?
- to embody Manjusri, transcend dualistic thinking that causes harm to the planet through the illusion of separateness.

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?

Hope
Courage to explore the perspectives of others, not just my own
The experience of slowing down, taking time to listen to myself as well as others, and the experience of being heard
Propelled me back on my path of Community Resilience with courage and an open heart
Amazed by the power and depth of expression and integrating the heart and the thinking mind
Challenged and empowered by seeing clearly what is, and feeling clear about what is important
The space offered by people's open minds has allowed me to tease out some deep seated confusion and become more accepting of uncertainty

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you most and how?

Individual sovereignty - the ability of the individual to wake up to our divinity and connection to mother nature and be free to act accordingly. Acknowledging that current leadership structures and institutions aren't going to be able to act fast enough to solve the problems we are now facing.
How will we all live together through climate change?
The frustrating dichotomy of - all of them!
The fragmented state of mind, duality, creating all the issues on so many levels
The extremes of power wanting to control, and the vulnerability of isolation within that context. The unserving justice and financial systems and how limiting those systems are in going forward because they're resource sapping.
Disconnection, "self/other/environment"
Ignorance and the gaping holes, the dulling of our senses, pollution, blind spots

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and (dharma) practitioner, what would that be?

Realise the mind, become fully awake
Stay connected
Stay open
Deep loving acceptance of all that is
Establish resilient communities - redistribute power, wealth and resources to ensure local communities remain self-sufficient
Let's feed each other!
My ability to disconnect from my fears and anxieties

Then we went on a free form spontaneous wish making round, which culminated in our co-created prayer for all beings!

May we remember the knowledge of our ancestors
May we remember who we really are
May we listen to and learn from the children and allow the joy
May all the animals and all beings be free to be who they are
May all beings feel loved, secure and content in their own being
May we all attain to Sacred Vision
May the world and all beings heal

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

A rich exploration, individually and collectively.
It has allowed us to explore processes and content we wouldn't normally have engaged with.
The impact of powerful imagery - for example the plastics in the ocean and the birds.
It has opened a different way of viewing.
The group structure and the process together has enabled and supported the exploration of difficult issues and "hot potatoes" which we might no have done on our own.
It is not like a debate. The circle structure allows uninterrupted voice and space to express feelings about often difficult content.
The process illuminated the value of community and connection in the processing of hard emotions.
The sense of our belonging to each other and to the earth When i see that i see that love is everything.
Being with the absolute beauty and joy and heart breaking grief of it all, and seeing that these are one thing. The breaking and the opening of the heart are one.

This karakia by Piki Kereama was sung.

Nei I te pupuri i ngā tini mahara e
Taka ko roto nei, ka māwherangi āue
Pā mai ki ahau whakahiangongo ai e
Mō āku mate tau tini
E aroha nei āue

This is the treasure house of memories
Living, unfolding from my heart to green the earth
May they batter me, sharpen my longing to suck their nectar within
Our undying grief
Is love
(this is freely translated)

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston), New Zealand

How is the Clear Vision Experience changing you?

Although it is difficult to perceive oneself as changed I know it has been very worthwhile. Being with others and really listening and being heard. Speaking so personally has been challenging as it is not in my nature to do so. In social situations I find myself listening more and thinking more deeply before speaking. I have had to make time to read this material which I may not have otherwise read and this has given rise to a lot of contemplation during this time.
I have learned so much from the material sent. I have had feelings of frustration at seeing behavior that does not work is repeated. I have experienced huge gratitude for being in NZ.
The circle experience of speaking within a secure space of sharing has been encouraging. I may not remember the exact words of other participants but I can recall their comprehension as a connected vibration. Accepted.
Sometimes my default position finds me at odds with other's opinions so this circle process has been very good. A respected formalized space that allows one to speak from the heart so I have looked forward to each month. I feel we have made a strong bond between us in this group. The time invested to look at the resources has broadened my investigations and finding interconnectedness because I did ponder on the words Clear Vision and wonder if there is such a thing as sometimes it seems all is fragmented like looking through a fractured lens.
I have been a person who has avoided groups so this process has been a huge shift in me. A dissolving of a block inside me. I do not like using screens (internet) much so I may not have got through all the resources but being in the moment with the group, listening and sharing, I feel changed.
The Clear Vision experience has definitely expanded my awareness Through the resources I have been introduced to a lot of new information and wonderfully intelligent human beings working for social change.

Which of the Issues Facing Us is Impacting You the Most and How?

We are at a cusp of an Epoque shift and watching the systems being challenged and the propping up of failing systems while seeing the unsustainable and the falshoods; all this impacts me to simplify my life. To pull back from desires and to get back to basics, to honor nature. Questioning what I am consuming and how I spend my time.
The disintegration of everything in society on a global scale. This impacts me to want to be in the moment, not overwhelmed but to have gratitude for being here and thankful for what I have.
Feeling the unraveling and sensing the phase shift I get excitement or apprehension, believing something positive is around the corner. The biggest impact on my life is the Covid and restrictions on travel. My family on the other side of the planet cannot visit me or I visit them and this gives grief. I have gratitude that they are safe and I recognize that pandemics in the past have been catalysts of great change so I work at reviewing how one can live more sustainably and being loving and caring. But I miss my family.
I have a fear for the future and what it may be for my grandchildren. I am learning to develop resilience, especially in growing food. Sharing is becoming more important and caring for the earth.
I feel alarmed by the destruction of the planet. I see the plastic strewn on the beaches and the bottles thrown in the river. This is distressful. I am homeschooling my children, allowing themselves to just be and to discover moment to moment but I feel I am raising them to an insane world.

If You Were to Make One Change, What Would that Be?

I would not change a thing. This is divine manifestation.
I will slow down, be less rushed, and more careful. Be happy with the small things.
I am changing in myself, embracing change, physical, spiritual and emotional.
Do more practice.
Create awareness of Intention.
"Everything is arising exactly as it should minus your opinion about it".

Christchurch, New Zealand

I felt an openness, freedom within our gang. Deeply thought out replies, the 5 minute space worked well without becoming a hindrance most of the time!!. Extra talking time that followed was rich with ideas I thought and allowed discussion among us. Nature as a healer was one theme that recurred. Having the questions to ponder on brought clarity.
Most of us felt it was difficult to tease out exactly what input into our lives caused what change. But everyone agreed the talking circle process was very valuable, and that taking these "skills" out into our lives was important. The circle expressed gratitude to Bonni and Matthew for their time and focus in setting up the process.

How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?

I can't isolate this one experience from everything else influencing me at present. Too complex.

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?

It's difficult to extract which issue has most influence. So many do.

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

I would like to feel more anchored, amidst the turbulence, of waves of information coming at me.

The Clear Vision experience has provided me with an incentive to look at things I may have chosen to ignore. I feel more of an acceptance of change in this life, but it is still difficult! Climate change is the thing impacting me the most. I worry about the younger generation’s future, the animals and plants. As a dharma practitioner I would like to dive deep into motivational practice to benefit all beings and to become even more mindful of my impact on the world.

How is the Clear Vision experience changing me?

Giving me the space to listen more and be mindful of my responses to others. My head response can settle more without having to respond externally.
The issue affecting me the most is seeing so much suffering of wildlife and the ecosystems caused by us. I feel like i am grieving for this every day.
As a dharma practitioner one change I would like to make. This is ambiguous. Change to my practice would be to develop more patience on my activist path and mediation path and social interaction.

It's hard to identify the specific impact that Clear Vision has had on me in the midst of an ever-changing world. But I know that I continue to choose to participate and engage, with a belief that there is something of value in these actions.

Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?

It feels to me that it always comes back to dukkha and ignorance. Seeing in myself and others the constant attempts to find refuge in things that won't bring any meaningful refuge. This seems to underpin all the other subjects, and what turns them into issues.

If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

To have a stronger commitment to taking refuge in the things that feel meaningful for addressing the roots of experience.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

In looking backwards over the material, it was interesting for me to notice that I went straight for the 3rd question that was posed to us, glossing over the first two which seemed the most difficult to answer. I felt that those putting forward possible conspiracy theories appeared to generate the most comment. Also Daniel Schmachtenberger’s piece took a lot of catching up to with its density. The differences within our circle don’t seem so great! I’m finding a way to have more “sticking-my-nose-into things”.

The 2020 process generated a large list of things to consider! Seemingly disparate bits actually coalesced into a larger whole namely - save the f***ing planet! I see everyone backing off long-held assumptions/planning/nit-picking. I’m seeing great ideas sinking due to polarization. Most humans agree that climate change is happening. Paralysis is happening due to an inability to get away from intellectualizing and start doing something. Not one government in the world is yet on track to meet the Paris Accord. It’s important to carve out common ground between people to address the issues facing us and the lack of consensus. I recommend everyone watch David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement”. Someone needs to surrender their stance for us to move forward. People need to open up and admit to their shortcomings! Improvement in peoples capacity to listen is required and shedding their avoidances when it comes to accepting their part in any solution.

I felt that although the 2020 topics were really challenging to consider and generated much fear in many cases, there was a surprising willingness to look at them. In doing so, fear of the future has become less of a personal preoccupation. Climate change issues seemed to have the greatest impact. These seem the most intractable in many ways given their scale, variability and overwhelming impact but it also suggests to me that, with few immediate workable solutions to many of the problems, that there is still value in each and all of us making more effort on an individual level.

I went back to the 2020 website to review the issues and responses. I missed some of the early topics but found that climate change had the biggest draw and impact for me. The process we have gone through has prevented despair. I have been trying to develop my heart – learning how to feel has been my response to all this material. When responding from the whole body, sadness comes up very easily. I cannot plot a future that looks good for me and that drives me back to here and now and feeling the vitality of life – getting out for a walk. The change makes me be softer, be more in my animal body and with my feelings.

When we started there was some anxiety about “doom and gloom” topics ahead and a sense of overwhelm. But I have learned to speak about these difficult topics. There has been much learning despite it fulfilling some of my fears. Seeing David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet” was sobering. He noted that the population of the world has doubled over his 93 years. I don’t believe we have a good future ahead – we need to consider what the Earth needs.

I feel I will be echoing what has been said already. In order to continue, we need to hold fast to the feeling of group-belonging. A question that came up was - Are we polarizing ourselves by going through this process. We are privileged – how do we include everybody? Something has to give. Humans have difficulty in stopping and doing things differently. How do we bring about the opening of the heart? The one change I would like to see is “I wish we could really listen”.

I like the idea of moving forward with less fear. How do we get more than a partial view. Maybe working towards awakening is the answer. One of the challenges in developing clarity is that it can look even scarier! Meg Wheatley said “get off the idea of fixing the world”. It’s also worth reading Stuart Levine “A year to Live” to make sure you’re doing good things. It’s good to simplify and dissolve. I have to find a way to be comfortable with whatever I’m doing.

There are so many things. You can’t heal the world if you can’t heal yourself! I take hope in instructive learning events such as the pandemic/BLM/refusal to accept violence. Movement has been sparked by the pandemic as an existential threat. Once it moved into Italy it put people on a razor’s edge. With BLM, watching George Floyd – moments like that are like paint stripper dissolving coatings for us. The existential connectivity and the softening of people towards each other was brought on by the pandemic but that seems to have backed off somewhat. Climate change expresses the idea that we don’t know what’s going on but we can muddle through sometimes. My flaws will still be here in some form 10 years from now but we should offer up our vulnerability. Incomprehensibility has to be embraced.

I’ve been noticing tenderness in the heart but it’s often hard holding on. When I lived in the BC interior, I was glad to be away from the coast and it’s earthquake risk. It felt good that it wasn’t a big deal over there. My disquiet had quietened down. I realize now that no place is really any safer than another but I had a habit of vigilance since childhood. I will now be wherever I need to be. I don’t have to figure it all out. There’s a high cost in trying to live that way. I’m trying to be softer and gentler even though the future doesn’t look any more comfortable but it’s no longer driving my chemistry. The dharma helps because there are no guarantees – the only certainty is change. I’m grateful to have this community to share with.

I remember at the March or December meeting it was said that it’s so important to be a witness and do good deeds. This has had a huge impact on how I view the dharma and how it’s viewing me. Going through readings, I am enough. Wanting to make it better is natural but bearing witness is enough. Mirrored wisdom and acceptance. I notice there is much kindness between strangers during the pandemic.

Boise, Idaho, USA

Is it too early to look back?

Subject I : How is the Clear Vision experience changing you?

Crystalized acculumination of many ongoing contemplations clarifying what is important.
Our interconnectedness of exsistance with Mother Earth.
How the interconnectedness through karma makes us all similar...good or bad "it's karma".
Ability to truely listen much improved through unconditional acceptance of the other.
Stimulated more similar topic exploration. Very catharthic, powerful experience of group psychotherapy, so valuable.
Appreciation Much expansion of conciousness and a better understanding what people are truely saying. Opening up views of different realities. Deeper connection and appreciation of our sangha.

Subject II : Which of the issues facing us is impacting you the most and how?

Covid - largly impacting, limiting contact, creating more inward contemplation time. Fear - fear of contact - others.
Environment - fear, suffering and need for caution with our actions.
Politics - unfairness, split society, opposing views and disrespectful of any views but ones own.

Subject III : If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

Less self view. Less reactive responses.. Need for neutrallity. Know causes and conditions and karma. More colabrative action. More empathy. Simpler life. More laughter and love. Get out of self view - view with love. More compassion and selflessness.

Brooklyn, Nelson, New Zealand

1. How is the Clear Vision process changing you?

A greater feeling of being held in the circle, less separate.
Recognising and valuing commitment.
Opportunity to notice judgements arising and going.
Appreciating the diversity of people and the value of listening to different views, helps me have more compassion for those who don't agree with my views.
The process supports the journey my life is taking.
Valuing the process, and recognising how unusual this process is, and wanting to continue that.
Becoming more interested in what's going on underneath the words.
The group practice of deep listening to each person’s response from within the held container of mindful Silence, is assisting me to allow any and every one (in the wider world!) to be experienced with a similar allowing - without losing the sense of us all being part of a ‘held whole’.

2. Which of the issues facing us is impacting you most and how?

The polarisation of views and unleashing of greed, hate and delusion, and how that is related to the inner realm.
The lack of recognition of the inter-connectedness of all life, and the need to bring this more into my life.
Actual impacts on me seem minimal, living in NZ, but the open loop systems that support my life are dysfunctional.
Our disconnection from nature and the focus on growth / consumerism / materialism is not felt most of the time, so we carry on in the disconnect.
Contradictions - what to do on an individual level? Continual questioning on how we should live.
Realising how my thoughts have an effect on how I am in the world.
All views are the product of my mind.
The dislocation of human society from the natural world...and the larger cosmos. The widespread and destructive effect of addictive, manipulative, profit-driven technologies that deaden the unwary soul.

3. If you were to choose one change you would like to make as a human and dharma practitioner, what would that be?

Be able to feel more and react less.
Catch the habitual response in my communication.
Greater awareness of the impact of the mind in everything I'm doing.
World Peace - Inner Peace. It is my inner attitudes that can make a difference.
To have the feeling of interconnectness, rather than only knowing it intellectually. As D.S. said "To feel separate from trees is just silly."
How to increase harmony between and operate from an integrated head and heart?
Being more conscious of speech, listening, action, and mind.
Making friends with my mind.
To remember Constantly that I AM nature, and as such to see, feel and know the interconnectedness of all life. To have reverence for all life - to relax into the flow of her rhythms and thriving, to let go of the outworn ego constrictions (competition, greed, fear, lack ) enough to live open heartedly, trusting in an awakening inter-being, full of potential and creativity.

Belmont, Dordogne, France

gratitude
if there is one thing I want to change as a human is to always say the truth
commitment gives you the possibility to enter into another dimension
process of clear vision very inspiring
change is happening already
we are not alone
clear vision is not a pure mental process it comes from a higher place

September

Auckland, New Zealand

I listened to the video 4 times. I loved the mixture of anthropology, sociology and economics. Open loops and closed loops; negative experiential technology; exponential increase in IT but it's not leading to wisdom; evolution is slow but our senses are lessening. It kind of made me feel a bit hopeless and that I'm not doing much. I engage a lot with people with conspiracy ideas in my work and I've always known I can't talk directly about it. I loved the Joanna Macy, reminding us to connect in with nature. It's a mixed thing - I would not exist without the trees and the sun but I am not doing anything to help.

The over-riding thing about the Daniel video for me was at the end when he talked about not being so narcissistic. We have to shift from single cellular to multi-cellular take on life. Last night I was listening to a book about life on the Left Bank and about drones lining up to focus on a single car. I have also been watching a tree that started with no buds and no leaves and is now blossoming, and that's a good reminder to engage. Some little calls to action made me think about what I am doing with my writing and where I can take it.

Schmachtenberger's ideas are very clear. In his interview, I had a felt sense of response when the interviewer asked how do you suggest we get this sense of interconnection. It made me revert to the idea of meditation and the feeling of connection and belonging. This is not something you go to school to learn - it is available to everyone as long as there is longing and inclination. The need for new systems of governance - yeah right, where do we start. It's a big ask! How do you motivate people to desire change and know they are part of it? The simple thing of spending more time in nature might be the thing. Engendering the sense of connection in children with the natural world is so important.

The Schmachtenberger video was incredibly exciting to me. it was the best of all the resources we have had this year in my view. The notion that we can all participate right now in encouraging a new sensibility in mankind - once there is enough critical mass, we could have a quantum leap of understanding; a turning in the seat of consciousness. In everything we do, we can encourage this, it's not that we have to do anything particularly grand, and it's not as if it is, or can be, up to one individual to lead this through. It is a communal awakening that we are all being called to support for the sake of the planet.

Christchurch, New Zealand

1st reading: I found it not easy to hear what he was saying, and an effort to listen to his voice: rushed, intense, and stumbling over words .. I felt that his ideas of interconnectedness etc. could have been expressed more simply...rather than in a comparative 'intellectual' style ..(.I am personally more akin to the simple poignant style of Zen writings, Thich Nhat Han, etc.) But, to be fair, I should have, could have (time permitting), tried again....Perhaps I may have found more meaning and fruitfulness from a second effort.
Second reading: rather irritating. The writer was expressing her ideas as 'we' are 'right' , 'they' are wrong.....An intellectual, professional, well-educated person speaking from a lofty , distant platform, quite out of touch with the ordinary person, the masses, and 'what is really going on' . Her attitude I found highly patronising Conspiracy theorists....or 'alternative theorists' the latter a better term. My advice to speak to 'these people' is : 1. Don't approach with a 'superior' 'poor dear' attitude 2. Listen to 'that' person openly without a confirmation bias 3. then express 'your' contrary views...3. Engage in open dialogue , in friendly fashion. Agree to disagree if you do , shake hands and go your separate ways...(or together ! )

The capacity for clear articulation and communication seems to be very important for healthy community. How can skilful communication lead to collective sense making and question asking?

The ideas expressed through Rebelwisdom are clear and logical - wondering and hoping it could be used to help more people see our collective situation within the world with more clarity.

I had a quite different reaction to each of the 3 study items... good, neutral and bad. I really liked 'A Wild Love for the World', especially the author's take on breathing. I couldn't connect with Daniel Schmachtenberger for some reason. Maybe if I view it again I'll get something out of it. I found the article 'How to Talk to a Conspiracy Theorist' really annoying. The author seemed quite patronising.

The Orchard Group, Herefordshire, UK

*As usual, a rich and varied offering, which I devoured hungrily; all of it interesting and full of material to explore and evoke a response. I love the different ways we find to describe and embody mutual causality/interconnectedness: inter-being, inter-breathing, everything leaning upon everything else, and it is these simpler words that give me a sense of safety, joy, relaxation; a feeling of home and belonging that I can return to when feeling lost or confused. It was, though, Daniel Schmachtenberger that elicited the strongest response. Such clarity and wisdom and an amazing ability to make sense of some of the issues we are all dealing with at this time. I have watched this three times already, and will do so again. For me, now, an important task is to nurture and develop my sense-making, my ability to discriminate truth from fiction, and my ability to see beyond the current social, cultural, and political polarisation - as much as is humanly possible.
I love and admire my fellow travellers on this quest for truth and clarity - their honesty, their passion, their vulnerability, their wisdom, their patience, and their generosity. Thank you all so much - this is exactly what I was looking for 12 months ago….. Love to you all.

*I thought the piece about talking to conspiracy theorist was useful and actually applicable to talking to anybody with differing views from our own. It also got me thinking about how my own viewsand how I identify with them influence my reactions to others. I really enjoyed the video with Daniel Schmactenberger. The clarity of thought was inspiring, also thought he dealt well with the question of what chance we have for the future by acknowledging the severity of the crisis we face and the scale of the shift necessary to avoid catastrophe and offering some hope without resorting to a delusion or fantasy of last minute salvation. Shame about the white shirt though, it created a look which I think added to Carolyn's annoyance, I noticed it myself. He often appears slouched on a sofa looking like he’s just rolled out of bed. Carolyn might have preferred that! The piece about Joanna Macy confused and irritated me. The language was overblown and over-effusive. Why give us the preface to a book which is more an homage to the writer rather than an exploration of that writer’s ideas relating to the themes we are looking at? Simply put I feel there was more style than substance in the piece and a wasted opportunity.

*Ah, the material this time produced some interesting aspects in my being, as I found the Rebel Wisdom of Daniel Schmachtenberger raised the rebel in me. He spoke too fast,I found him difficult to comprehend in trying to establish exactly what the kernel of his message was about....Oh yes, we need a miracle, transcend and become a butterfly, connect with everything, engage with people....well I did listen to the circle, which brought greater clarity, but there was still a residue of unease..the thought even crossed my mind that he was part of a cult.
The piece about conspiracy theorists was also helpful in providing tools to deal with situations we may come across, especially as there seem to be so many disturbing theories, and untruths circulating globally now.
Breathing in and breathing out WITH the trees..simple..but actually reading that made me realise how little of that I did. Also this article reminded me of teachers, all the ones who cross our paths, of interbeing,wholeness,gratitude, all that and more...of this circle too. How more and more the listening, being able to speak our own truth, to trust the process and progress of the circle, infinite potential! Thank you. All is well.

*I thought it was the most entertaining of all the clear vision meetings we’ve had. I was engrossed in what members of the group were saying because everyone was so natural, unafraid, and honest. I found it as spontaneous and unpredictable as live theatre.
The material was also interesting, at least some of it. Daniel S. was very hard to understand at first listen but the second time it was crystal clear. I think he was saying that we have to be pushed to the brink before we collectively realize the paradigm shift that has to be made. The analogy with the butterfly emerging and a baby moving towards the cervix to be born seemed to be a way of saying that when the time is right everything happens naturally, but we have to be on the brink of extinction.
The piece on conspiracy theories was quite useful. I was talking to a friend yesterday when she brought up the possibility that THEY were making a covid vaccine that could contain a chip that would make everyone under THEIR control. Who is THEY? She didn’t know, maybe Gates. It was possible, she said. In the end I got out of it by suggesting we postpone the conversation to another day and signed off.
As for Joanna Macey piece, I have to agree with Chris that it was an overblown eulogy about a famous person who breathes in and out with trees, and lives a lovely, graceful life in the redwoods of California. Hallelujah! Why was it there?

*My experience of the material was coloured by having had a challenging week at work, both my "inner" and my outer work. The first piece was profound in its simplicity. I recognised through it my own tendency to want to win the argument, to debate and counter what is said. My knee-jerk emotive desire to "correct" the other's opinion. The extreme acrimony we see in the world, exacerbated by "social media" (colossal misnomer!), can only be overcome and healed by firstly seeking and finding common ground, common humanity. The Buddhist-irony is that by letting go of our desire to "win", to give up the futile dialectic struggle to argue, where we instead seek for what is human in the other, this can form a basis for genuine dialogue. Eventually, after sharing what is human-in-common with our "adversary" some of the previously thorny subjects can gently be re-broached, in growing mutual understanding. I struggled to stay awake with the second piece, a video, due not to its' content but to my state of fatigue. Yet amazingly I came to at extremely important places and for me it blew me away more than anything else our Circle has so far considered. How do we move toward the pupate state? How do we make the change?? The answer he gave was "to begin with we simply need to stop living the old structures and habits of the crumbling paradigm" "To be mindful, present" as we collectively undergo initiation. The potency of the Caterpillar-Butterfly analogy struck me like a lightning bolt. The former is so much like our global "growth"-obsessed economic parasitism, devouring and destroying the earth. The latter, like the new paradigm we stumble toward and seek across an obscured confusing threshold. What could happen? A crisis point comes. The mother of all crises. The caterpillar stops eating, it "self-isolates" as a pupa and turns to goo. A painful, limbo-like in-between state. Then it emerges recalibrated, reconfigured, completely transformed. This resonated powerfully with me with regard to another recent insight about personal rites of passage. That the primitive part of our human brain needs ceremony and ritual to facilitate metamorphosis, to mark critical radical changes and maturation of each individual from birth to childhood to adulthood to marriage to birth-giver to griever of loss to death. Our Circle has ceremony. The bell. The reading of a verse. The silent meditation. The pause between speakers. The sacred expression of soul. The listening. The empathy and appreciation. Our world is heading for the crisis that could lead it through the eye of the needle and out the other side completely transformed. May our Circle be part of that magnificent metamorphosis!

*Thanks as always for the opportunity.
Loved the diversity of the material, thought provoking as always, learnt a lot and equally about myself through my responses. The group process is fascinating, the listening also invites self-reflection and expansion from hearing the diversity of responses and my response to that. The honesty is refreshing, the attacks of self-doubt bubbling for different people at different times, me included, dispels the sense of other and is uniting. Fellow travellers, go well with love

*I found this last session, both the reading/viewing and the discussion, more rewarding than others have been. Not quite sure why. Schmactenberger both irritated and impressed with his eloquence, suspect in some ways - you want to interrogate each of his statements/answers, but they come so thick and fast…I’m far from sure that we - humanity? nature? - are on the edge of some caterpillar/moth transition. How would we - humanity - know? And what if we are not? What is certain is that we are in a deep pile of doo, and although there are some signs of light, the darkness around us is deep. IMO, that goes for the biosphere as a whole - our fouled nest. Some will survive, many will not, the disaster will - is - unfold/ing at different paces in different places. But, as in, for example, Hiroshima or Chernobyl, life will return. Or rather, with the exception of human life, it won’t ever go away, whatever chrysalis state we find ourselves in. Schmactenberger’s eloquent theorising tends, in my view, to distract our gaze from what Gary Snyder might call ‘plain thusness’, and insofar as it does that it’s not helpful. Might a magical or hitherto unnoticed transformative process save us? Maybe. But in the meanwhile, IMO, the prospects for humanity look gloomy. The second of our two texts seemed to me to only build upon what we all mostly know from, for example, talking with our own families, about conversation/communication and it’s perils. Taking things head on isn’t always the best option, taking them on at all might sometimes not be advisable. Discerning where one’s interlocutor stands can be a perilous business. Discerning where one stands oneself, likewise. These are deep, often uncharted waters, requiring careful navigation, plenty of oxygen and a willingness to recognise that one’s own world view ain’t the only one, even if the others seems barking mad, selfish, deluded, dangerous and completely at variance with what we - I - believe to be the known facts. Compassion helps. A recognition of the universal truth of suffering, likewise. The third text, well, I loved it, of course - how could you not love something from the author of ’Spell of the Sensuous’? It’s clear that others didn’t…..I did wonder why we were invited to read a preface to Joanna Macy rather than a work by either. Sort of muddied the waters. But for me Abram’s can do no wrong. Macy I’m not so sure about, but her heartmind is in the right place. Interbeing, dependent arising - I’ve long been on board with such things. They seem to me to be how the world actually is. Abrams makes concrete where Schmactenberger poeticises? Perhaps.
The opportunity to discuss ‘sensemaking, communicating with conspiracy theorists and…..interconnectedness’ was welcome, if somewhat frustrating. But noticing that it can be so - that I can find it so - is also, as it was on this occasion, useful.

*I found our circle meeting very inspiring and nourishing.
I have the sense that we are growing into something quite meaningful.
I liked how the material was addressed in so many different ways. It really teaches me something about “listening” and respecting the different views and preferences.
It was interesting to watch my own process. It felt like revisiting the material from other perspectives and each one felt true.. There is just not one right way, all are perceptions, of equal worth. It made me respect my own response to the material and without seeing it as better or worse than others. A basis for open communication. Learning to see where each of us is coming from.
A beautiful process.
Much is said about the material by others in their feedback. For me the circle process is more important than the material. Having said that, however the material with its variety gives the right source for that process. Thank you all.

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston), New Zealand

Daniel Schmachtenberger was awesome, enjoyable but also too much for one.
Especially enjoyed his analogy of the caterpillar to goo to chrysalis as an illustration for humanity's phase shift. Is Capitalism the caterpillar gathering in all the resources with all the destruction we see. ? Like gathering up the plastic from the beach after a big tide and reflecting on our interconnectedness with the chaos affecting us all, the disintegration of the plastic into tiny micro pieces seemed very symbolic.
We do need new governance systems and economics, that is circular (remembering the donut economics proposal)
And to rid ourselves of rivalry, while creating collaborative connections instead of trying to be the winning ego. To be a citizen of the future we need to stop trying to win at a dying game.
Feeling a need to meet with young people and discover or get an understanding of where they are at in this process. Deep concern regarding social media and whether the young have the platforms for enough questioning and to develop spiritual knowledge.
Our spirituality and consciousness is the goo for the new phase. That will be the pool of energy for the desire to create new forms. So how we think and live our lives in the present moment is important to contribute wholesomely to that pool
No point to either hopelessness or a crusading pursuit of personal happiness.
Continue with acts of kindness and compassion, challenge the values and seek the beautiful wisdom,
How to talk with a Conspiracy Theorist. This drew some ire from whom saw it as approaching from a bias right at the start by labeling a person a "conspiracy theorist" This was seen as a judgment and seemed like a "one-upmanship"
However, another saw the valuable advice given which is to listen more compassionately and find a common thread of concern in order to have a discussion without a finger-pointing rant.
The story of Joanna Macy was profoundly appreciated.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

Making space for things to arise
Trusting our gut feeling
More drugs, more threesomes, singing in the rainforest naked and exalted - Epic Phase Shift!
Seek Wisdom. Something in us knows.
Boxing groups of people and individuals in continues to create separation
Gratitude for each of you hearing and listening and witnessing
Seeking within you will find the wisdom
Acknowledgement is transformation
Breathing with the trees
A basic human right : Every being has the right to breathe easefully, to live in alignment with their values, uncover their inner truth,
Diamonds form in the greatest depths

Boise, Idaho, USA

Theorist: Appreciation, found very helpful, a familiar intuitive feeling, need to apply more of this method. But a concern with the idea that we are helping people change their views, questioning of the motivation of doing this. The need to relate with a larger variety of people with more diverse views. Our group was too homogenous. Need more disruption. How can we help while being in a bubble? Value of refuge in the Sangha. Helpful in seeing the motivation of people with different views.

Phase Shift: Very dense – full of powerful honest ideas and perspective. Most positive theme presented so far. Stimulated interest. He has a difficult vocabulary and fast talking, caused sleepiness and mistrust. Learn more of his particular vocabulary.

Caterpillar to butterfly transformation analogy worked very well. Inspirational with dharma parallels. The Quantum Leap. The need to incorporate this kind of awareness into daily life regularly…. more discipline.

Also the phase shift idea brought fear, overwhelming feelings and sadness for big change into the unknown! We should prepare young people for this kind of realization. through education. A class similar to the 20/20? Much appreciation for this 20/20 Clearvision project. Can see personal growth!

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

The material continues to take me out of my comfort zone juxtaposed with broadening my horizons, question, investigation, curiosity, exploring the mind and continuously reminding me of my inter-beingness, my inter-are with the green plants and with all of phenomena.

I find I am growing in confidence to be at peace with the not-knowing, not needing answers and buoyed by the analogy of the caterpillar's metamorphosis - by the possibilities which may emerge from the synergy of all the parts (the goo).

Pursuing information that is agreeable is undemanding but to have compassionate awareness it is necessary to put the same energy into delving into what is not so palatable. Learning to have the courage to ask questions in areas that may be vulnerable for us is a great way to overcome ongoing afflictions. It is a journey of realisation of facets of our personality that may not be as wonderful as what we thought they were but a necessary path to heading towards what we would like to become.
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Feeling a sense of optimism at the unknown future - caterpillar / butterfly metaphor
Extreme sense of gratitude for the 20/20 group and having a space to hear and be heard
Appreciation of the acknowledgement of the challenges that the group can present

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Daniel Schmachtenberger. Amazing rebel wisdom. Roll on the phase shift to an omni-collaborative world.

Given - that most news is propaganda, and we are bombarded by dumbed down, bites of information and disinformation, influencers and ads customised to our biases and views; that the proliferation of conspiracy theories is causing significant minority blaming, prejudice and polarising tribal behaviour; that much funded scientific research is biased and the current scientific method is inadequate to meet the issues that face us; that new theories, ideas and solutions that challenge, or fly in the face of conventional wisdom are often met with resistance, scepticism and downright hate; that according to Heffernan’s research on wilful blindness, 85% of us are aware of, but choose to ignore significant bullying, abuse and problems that are common in families, organisations and institutions because we feel powerless to affect change or fearful of repercussions should we turn whistle blower; that global issues facing us are so complex that solutions require multifaceted approaches and people who can listen to alternative views … then I would agree that a major effort is required of me, to hone my critical thinking and relating skills, to be aware of my comfortable ‘echo chamber’ group behaviour and limited perspectives and to seek out and engage with people with different experiences, disciplines and ideas to mine. In Heffernan words, engage in constructive conflict and ‘collaborate with opponents to make things better’. That could mean having a wee, maybe heated, ‘dare to disagree’ chat with a crazy scientist, crazy whistle blower, crazy conspiracy theorist or a crazy Buddhist.
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In my process of examining conspiracy theories and fleshing out what might be truth from my particular viewpoint or perspective, is to take a leaf from Buddha's Book and look from the angle of the Middle Way, where my truth of any particular issue may be found. It all comes back to what my Belief Blueprint is in any given subject, rather than looking at it as total truth or total fiction, because the subject and content is so far left of field, or in field, of my consciousness: Example: Science Fiction Comics and Films of the 1950s in regard to space travel........
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The Daniel Schmachtenberger (love that name) video was very dense with complex ideas flowing thick and fast. Several things stood out which resonated with me. First that we need to change as a species to avoid self-destruction and for that to happen we each have a part to play. One big part for me is the study and practice of ethical behaviour. In all the confusion and opinion, this is something I can do something about. What works and what doesn’t? And when I find what works, do I practise that or slide back into old habitual tendencies. Cultivating excellent conduct. Also, appreciating the interconnectedness with all.

Then the analogy of the metamorphosis of the caterpillar to a butterfly greatly appealed. This is prompting all sorts of thoughts about what the goop of the chrysalis might be in terms of human development and more. Will it go further than cultural shifts and even transcend ‘human’ as we know it? That part of his discussion left me with a new optimism beyond the usual ‘will we make it or not’ based on ideas that technology or recycling will save/not save us; a sense of the vast process at work beyond my current understanding.

Regarding our group interaction, I am aware that we are still developing in the circle process and growing a trusting space. We have met only 10 times in as many months but despite that infrequency, we are progressing. I feel a deepening joy for this way of interacting and of the wisdom I hear from fellow group members.
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I am enjoying the experience of holding my space while I take time to speak about what is important to me, or to explore out loud my inner thoughts and/or opinions on particular topics. When I explore these topics in our group I look to my inner voice, opinions and stance and I enjoy exploring, without rush or pressure... taking 'my' time. It's not often I hold a space like that with others as usually I am quicker to pick up on 'others energies' (perception) and use that to inform me of when and what to say, and for how long.

At this present point in time 'my preference' is to bed in knowledge around things of value I’ve already been exposed to, rather than taking on new things and following yet more threads. I do realise this might limit my potential and know I might be able to go far beyond the concept of my 'capacity' if I were to just jump in to these things anyway, but for now I’m not. I listened to Daniel Schmacktenberger for about 15 minutes, I stopped then as I found his fast talking style a bit much for my brain to take in. My head at present time is yearning for relaxation, quieter times, ease and a clear schedule, rather than heaps of information coming at it. I do recognise these could be limiting beliefs and I am glad to be aware of that. I enjoyed the piece on relating to a Conspiracy Theorist, they were good tips on how to get closer to 'hearing' any person who you may typically shy away from as not understanding or liking their character traits. And helping another person feel understood or heard, that's a good thing!

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

Feeling a lot of renewed interest and energy for the group and where we are going together. The material is feeling interconnected . There is a lot of opportunity here.
I felt that this month's content allowed our group to enter into a sacred space where healing and a feeling of openness took place for me during and after the listening.
connection - energy - support from Sanga
What does this being need to awaken?
All the work we have been doing in the dharma, the explorations and ways forward the Lama has offered, and continues to offer ARE the grist of sensemaking our way into a new paradigm.
After our sharing circles I am always filled with gratitude and appreciation for all the thoughtful insights expressed by the group. I feel uplifted by the sharing.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Not in day to day personal contact with conspiracy theorists, though I read about their theories daily. I learned from the article that because a conspiracy theory is a “closed system of beliefs” it is definitely “unresponsive to reason.”
I think it would be helpful when confronted by a conspiracy theorist to ask her/him “how it makes he/she feel?” A non-confrontational approach without expectations or demands.
David Abrams article is eloquent and beautiful. Presently reading the essays from “A Wild Love for the World” by Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time edited by Stephanie Kaza. Abram’s piece is the forward to this collection of essays celebrating the work of Joanna Macy.
Had to get into the rhythm of Daniel Schmachtenberger’s way of speaking. Brilliant articulation and vocabulary. Did he really answer the interviewer’s questions? Will have to watch several more times.
How do I know I’m not a conspiracy theorist? I thought the news I depended on was pretty dependable, but discovered it was at the bottom of reasonable news!
Two people in the group remarked that an elderly parent with Alzheimer’s often believed in conspiracy theories, which made it difficult for many family members to listen and to be present with that person.
Props of plastic dishes from a takeout revealed a possible conspiracy theory by the plastics companies!
A bit scared to look at the material this month. It takes bravery to do this. Daniel S’s metaphor of the birth of a butterfly perhaps shows us we can have confidence in this mapless way. There is a place for wisdom and experience as the young create the new shift.
The advice of how to individually do things - it’s so hard to differentiate between conspiracy theory and the truth. The challenge is picking through what is right or wrong.
Conspiracy theory - the scam that locks you in. Very difficult to get out. There is such a difference between the people who are actually doing the work and the armchair athletes.
We all have partial view.

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

This group is a way for me to link my personal world with more of a bigger picture. It is very helpful to listen to other people, instead of my own head. It brings into focus my struggle to maintain homeostasis and wholesomeness, and the world that surrounds me that isn’t doing well, and bridging myself out and not getting more introverted. Our relationship with trees brings that into focus for me. I’m looking forward to using these new strategies in my clinic, when I’m faced with conspiracy theorists.

It feels like being a worm on a hook—this inevitable difficulty that we’re in. There isn’t a simple solution, or thing/person to blame. I feel moved by the circle process, the honesty and reflection. It helps me feel a sense of determination to do the best I can in the midst of ripening karma and these unintended consequences playing out. Despite the worm of hope being stuck on the hook of hopelessness, there is an appreciation of the sharing in our circle.

I feel this is a wonderful and golden opportunity to discuss these important issues with a group of people who are quite clear sighted and capable of seeing things from the big picture. I’m wondering if it would be good to have a follow up retreat to tackle some of the topics/issues further. Maybe I do feel clearer about my long-term dilemma about putting time into trying to do something versus more time on the cushion. The future’s not exactly looking rosy. New Zealand has the highest youth suicide rate in the world. How can we support our young people through this?

Christchurch, New Zealand feedback on 'conspiracy theorists'

Like many others, I have been following the media quite a lot re the current world crises...esp in NZ re Covid...and other. I have seen many people being dismissed as "conspiracy theorists" because they have alternative views to MSM, and are capable of being critical thinkers often with useful material to offer. Undoubtedly some come across as being irrational and 'over the top'. But all are labelled and lumped together into one basket, are ridiculed, and dismissed and even 'unfriended' on fb as "conspiracy theorists", certainly not listened to. This term is now much over-used, I think, and has come to be a form of belittlement, even bullying and abuse. Maybe 'alternative theorist" is a better word... or ... ? (Just a thought)

Belmont, Dordogne, France

catapillar butterfly an amazing phenomena and very encouraging
soloution found on a different level of conciousness
we find ourselveson in the process of a quantum leap
keep connecting on an emotional level despite the differences
focus on living love and compassion
do not participate if situation gets out of control in chaos take a moment of focus on observation

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

Tonight I notice my commitment. If I was not committed to us as a group and to myself I would not persevere with the readings. I like that and notice it. I see that it rose up in my consciousness. There is a feeling of vulnerability, each time I speak I feel quite vulnerable. Not because of you, but something else is happening.

I noticed interconnections with previous readings and sharing circles. Links to Joanna Macy we had at the beginning, and I was reminded of the Kogi people.

“Seeing things with clarity always brings inner freedom.”

Reflecting on the process I made the uncomfortable conscious choice to not watch the video which is uncharacteristic of me. I've had cerebral overload.

What my takeaway from tonight is the diversity of experience and response to the material and how that is perfect and also the sense that in the process of coming together as individuals forming a collective energy that can hold all these different views. I feel it in here. That is the engagement is the evolutionary process – a movement away from the individual and into the power of interbeing.

Around the step shift of the human trajectory which will be something that we at this point in time cannot imagine. It will be part of a collective consciousness, not a whole lot of individuals trying to outdo each other.

Vulnerability – without knowing how to … without the answers. Vulnerability will be part of the bridge between the great polarities and inequalities somehow. Ache in the chest (I feel).

Chocolate helps!

My question is “What is reality?” I like speaking early and then enjoying whatever everyone else says.

August

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand
Feedback from the Nelson combined 2020 Circles.

I am grateful for the monthly programme followed by our meetings which provide starting points for lots of further exploration. Because of the sharing in our circle I have gone back to be with Kimberley again. In the first viewing I hadn't lasted the time out. That’s because for a long time I have felt horror and guilt over the black/white situation, S Africa and then in America and these days with inequality and violence here too, so felt I didn’t want more of it. Now I have let her confront me again eye to eye and I could allow and really appreciate and admire her power of honest expression with blunt, skilful language and metaphor.
In the following Utube interview with Trevor Noah she describes how the way of life and mind sets in her home state are dominated by discrimination and the hideous actions of the armed police. I wish it could be shown to our own police ‘force' and judiciary. Trevor Noah then took me to visit his 91 year old grandmother at her home in Johannesburg. It was brave and kind of her to allow me and the camera crew to come in and enjoy her grand son sparring with her. Wonderful.

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The two videos gave glimpses of the vastness of compassionate involvement. I love Kimberly Jones' impassioned comments - forceful but not angry. Deeply concerned with a very specific aspect of the modern world. Then David Bohm's vastness of view looking at underlying realities to all of existence. He is a true scientist, honestly following where his explorations are pointing regardless of current ideas. He made a comment that perhaps science had to get "beyond measuring" (I think those were his words). This kind of view is familiar to students of Buddhism. As some commented in the video, how wonderful that pre-technology beings uncovered such views hundreds or thousands of years ago. It gives me encouragement that I too can uncover these truths by being a true scientist.

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I am wary of glorifying David Bohm in particular, as times have changed, and there are very many scientists these days exploring creatively and meditatively the underlying realities …. there's a danger with documentaries that tell stories of the past, that they become propaganda for the discrediting of contemporary science, which is sadly quite fashionable these days. That said however, it was certainly interesting to know the story of David's time and place in both the culture of science and its people, and of his tenacity in pursuing his ideas. Good on him. I'm glad that the Dalai Lama is so keen to include modern science in his world view.
And the rap by Kimberley, well, I was totally moved by it, and it made me think that anger and fierceness are different, and that loving fierceness is a blessing.

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The session prompted this article as feedback from one of our circlers:
Racism, monuments and ethical remembering Tina Ngata, Jun 15 2020

OPINION: Monuments are physical markers for the ideas and heritage that matter most to a community. Their symbolic power is well understood and for this very reason we are seeing communities around the world target statues that represent racism and injustice.

Likewise, the symbolism of pulling these statues down broadcasts the will of the people to dismantle systems of oppression and reject the sanitised narratives that isolate and privilege the views of one group over another.

Many of the plaques accompanying these statues actively suppress stories of ethnic cleansing, murder, land theft and slavery. This carries over to how the community discusses the events, often erasing or euphemising brutal truths.

Indigenous rights advocate Tina Ngata says we need to explore the issues of "racism, power and privilege". ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF

The resulting burden on communities of colour is ongoing, and that is also true of the consequences of these painful histories. The systematic destruction of communities of colour is ongoing. Anti-blackness is ongoing. Colonialism is ongoing. If we are genuine in our desire to confront and address this ongoing injustice, then we must seek to understand the enduring experience of those most impacted, and that necessitates centring (not censoring) voices of colour.

Ethical remembering calls on us to operate from the assumption that genocide, murder, and slavery are crimes that cannot be rationalised from any valid perspective. For this reason, you’ll not find statues of Hitler in Germany, nor is the Holocaust discussed as the “Jewish perspective”. It is taught from the moral standpoint that what happened was a crime against humanity and inexcusable. Ethical remembering therefore does not erase history, but contextualises it within a moral perspective.

What is less often discussed in this debate, however, are the political stakes held within righteous colonial narratives. The desperation to sanitise history, memorialise white heroes, and erase non-White suffering is much more to do with the embedding of white righteousness than historical integrity.

It is a hyper-defensiveness born of the need to centre oneself in the national narrative as a hero, and therefore become a necessary component of our society. To expose the sins of colonisers, warmongers and slave traders is to expose the foundational sin of European supremacist power structures. To pull them down tugs the thread on a sweater that extends to power, economy and national identity.

This is profoundly unsettling to those who hold a deep underlying insecurity about their place here in Aotearoa. It feels as though their validity as New Zealanders is being questioned. If the statues are racist, the inference is that those who identify with, or feel represented by that history, are also racist – and this is taken as a personally offensive suggestion.

The problem is that because we do not include race and privilege in the NZ curriculum, the majority of our nation is raised ignorant to its definition. Racism is not a character trait. Racism is merely actions, thoughts, or policies that uphold a system of racial inequity.

The good news is that we can always take the anti-racist option to hear the concerns of those impacted and respond to their call for healing action to be taken. The good news is also that Te Tiriti o Waitangi secures the place of non-Māori in this land.

This is not, however, merely a history or treaty education issue. We spent tens of millions of dollars and an entire year in 2019 educating our nation on the impacts of Cook’s arrival. Resources and education programmes on the impacts of colonisation, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, are not in short supply. The deeper question is: what drives a systemic aversion to embracing Te Tiriti, and responding to our history?

This requires us to reach beyond reading lists and Tiriti workshops, to explore the issues of racism, power and privilege. It also calls upon us to enact concrete anti-racism policies and actions. We must take up the challenge laid by the Black Lives Matter movement to proactively dismantle systems of oppression – not only in monuments, but in policy, thought, and action.

As a bicultural nation consisting of multicultural communities, addressing our deficit in understanding race and privilege is vital for a just future. We have shown that we are capable of so much, we are surely capable of meeting this challenge too.

Tina Ngata is a Ngāti Porou indigenous and environmental rights advocate.

Auckland, New Zealand

It was an interesting collection of references. I always stay away from personality tests. But the Black Lives Matter video made me think of the different personalities -protestors, looters and rioters. I appreciated the view of the monopoly game and I understood the impulse to burn everything. There are huge inequalities, especially as laid bare by COVID. I have choice, I can continue working, I’m affluent, no children, no mental health problems. Whereas some people are very badly affected. I adored the Bohm film, quantum physics have been my passion since university. Wonderful to see the philosophical side and the discussion about hidden variables. I love this idea, like a whale beneath everything. All of the references were connected in this way.

I found the Black Lives Matter video incredibly invigorating. The monopoly analogy was brilliant. I’ve seen the Bohm film before quite recently and enjoyed it then. Hidden variables underlying everything seems very relatable.

These were different views of how we organise ourselves. The more I step out of my ego, the more I can accept another’s view. The Bohm film was great. Connectedness and how we achieve it is a very interesting topic. I wondered about the reality of it though. I found the rage that the Black Lives Matter woman finished on very disconnecting. She was crying afterwards and it made me feel in the baddy camp big time. I was the mediator as always happens for the personality test. I am finding it interesting in my life to understand my filters and how I can put those aside.

I found it all quite interesting. For the personality test I am more introverted than extroverted - Jungs feeling function dominant. The Black Lives Matters woman was terrific and so enraged because it was her entire life and why wouldn’t you be when you have lived that all your life. David Bohm -science measuring what the mystics have always said about interconnectedness. Each of us is a co-producer of the world. The world is what you see. So sweet of the Dalai Lama to say how grateful he was to David Bohm. Science was originally the bogie man against religion.

On one level, there was nothing new in the material but I felt enlivened by the Black Lives Matter person. I found her rage and her pain and her whole person activated me and gave me more understanding that I need to take every opportunity to tackle institutional racism. It helped me understand the riot thing and for me it’s always about what we are going to do about it. And how will we be with the interconnectedness. I work with a lot of traumatised people and I need to create protections for myself. It’s hard to understand these people and try to be in their shoes, hard but wonderful. I have no doubt of our interconnectedness. After 40 years of working in human rights, how do we move things forward -it’s really challenging. But here we are, in this experiment called life.

The Orchard Group, Herefordshire, UK

* This time the material felt different...was it more personal? Did it go deeper? Or was it because as David Bohm last said “ I think I am on the edge of something”
Maybe we as a Circle are on the edge of something? Listening to the circle this time
I became aware far more of the one the other and beyond.
The first piece illuminating.
the second for insight and deeper understanding.
the third for inspiration and to look beyond.
Actually just writing this now... I realise it also could be the three Zen tenets of not knowing,bearing witness,compassionate action.
Duw,duw,what does it take!!
‘I think I am on the edge of something…..’

* This months material and my subsequent response brought me a mixture of joy, clarity, optimism, a sense of order (implicate even) as well as confusion and pain.
The David Bohm film was a welcome return for me to Krishnamurti (both the man and his teachings) - first encountered some 30 years ago. I felt so excited and enriched by the film - the crossroads of science and spirituality, the notion of undivided wholeness, of implicate order, of our separateness being an ‘abstraction’… but especially Bohm’s discovery of ‘hidden variables’ and how this echoes the hidden values and conditioning/programming within each of us - influencing, often in an unconscious way, how we experience and think about the world around us, and hence how we act.
The confusion and pain were born out of a familiar need/desire to be able to share cogently my insights from the material with the group. Predictably the clarity and wisdom I thought I had, in the moment of sharing, disappeared. the confusion took centre stage, my mind became unfocussed, disturbed and lost - a feeling of acute discomfort followed at not being able to hang it all together. Like Bohm I often feel I am ‘on the edge of something’…..but not quite getting there.
The material and the process continue to feel rich and nourishing. I am, as ever, grateful for this.

* The meeting was perhaps the most successful in terms of sharing and inspiring . The relevance of the personality test was obscured by my aversion to it and the typical business model way that it engineered the participant to spend money on a premium test. My irritation then seemed to be the result of the test until I realized it was my personality! That made me laugh. And not take it seriously – and that was also who I was. By the way I discovered that I was classified as a Defender with a lot of positive qualities, which made me stop and contemplate.
The next one with the enraged black woman brought out an immediate reaction of aversion – to the intensity of the rage, not the cause of it. If some emotion is expressed in such a way my tendency is to walk away from it – another revealing aspect of my interactions.
The life of David Bohm is something I will cherish and recommend to all those on a spiritual path. He really got the bigger picture of the interconnectedness with all life and the divinity of the cosmos. I felt connected to him, his life story, his obstacles and the way he died, on the edge of something, understanding that he was merging with the absolute, or nirvana and it was the answer to the wholeness he had been seeking all his life.

* The material was threefold, the first for self-reflection, the second for listening and compassionately considering the other, the third for a journey toward reconciliation, healing, interrelationship and wholeness. I only appreciated this structure while listening round the Circle; in particular I had initially met with the first element in a somewhat perplexed way though I did discover that I am an "Advocate" and I saw some of my qualities in what was reflected back to me. Know Thyself had indeed been the moral task of the Ancient Greeks as a basis to know others and the world and ultimately to find peace and be reconciled to them. The second element was very powerful, it left me in tears by the end. I trembled with emotion and empathic rage at the historical outrage perpetrated upon Africans who were treated like inanimate objects, property, crammed cruelly into boats, thrown overboard when ill, chained and whipped to the cotton fields to grow the wealth of the American south and the cotton magnates of Northern England. Slavery was fundamental to Capitalism, to the modern age, to Empire, to the wealth of the nations of Europe and North America. I shuddered, wary of the fear this rage might invoke in those who'd prefer to bury this history, and remain blind to the legacy that lingers to the present day. I held my breath as she said "your lucky we don't seek revenge as we seek justice!", as It really can go either way. The metaphor of Monopoly to seek to be reconciled to the Society that brought black people to the New World is apt. To share in the wealth of the world. "Let us in! Let us fairly play the game! At least give us the chance to win!!!" David Bohm's life story, the third element, was the most inspiring material of the Circle to date. His life's journey was simply amazing. His story, his journey, was equivalent to the essential message contained in his ideas of the implicate/explicate order. Such pain and loss he must have felt when rejected by his mentor, someone he looked up to as a father, Oppenheimer, and by the whole scientific establishment. But is not change and the journey toward peace, healing and reconciliation fraught with pain, anguish and lonely longing. Separation brings pain and suffering. Reconciliation and connection brings bliss and joy. I could freshly relate. My own recent rupture from the Circle was that pain. My renewed participation in the Circle was that joy. We are all on David Bohm's journey. His story was a recapitulation of every dramatic paradigm shift. Galileo experienced the same, he endured persecution and death at the hands of the orthodoxy resistant to change. Today we all face that resistance. And it is painful. Yet we have no other task but to endure. To persevere. And ultimately to prevail.

* Hello all near and far,
Some what sceptical at the idea of a personality test I was interested to find things that fitted well with my way of interacting with the world. More importantly it helped me to understand why I find it easy to relate to some things and harder to relate or understand others. This was illuminated by my response to the two following invitations.
The anger, passion and eventual tears of the impressive, articulate woman who, in only seven minutes was able to give history, cost by way of modern analogy, a challenge and a warning not to ignore the voices of black lives matter now.
I found it harder to relate to and understand the science and physics of the following video which I was more able to relate to when Krishnamurti entered the frame. However the interpersonal relationships were laid bare within it and bore witness to human experience: acceptance, rejection, inclusion/exclusion, isolation, self-believe, love, belonging, use and abuse of power, search for meaning and truth. I could reflect on my own experience within that lens, paths taken and those avoided. Recognising how blind we humans can be in serving our own needs, indifferent to the hurt and harm to others.
Very interesting and thought provoking material. Thank you.

* I found the first piece to be a kind of light weight party game though it did also come out to a result which did seem to fit with my view of myself ie. the mediator so it can't have been that bad or inaccurate.
The second I found to be a very powerful inditment of the oppressiveness of slavery and the impotence of the slaves. The speaker expressed so clearly the justifiable anger of the black people at having been left with few cards to play. For me it spills over into the injustice of all oppression of the less advantaged by the powerful.
The third piece was of great interest to me as it is one of my life missions to understand , at least in layman's terms, the basics of relativity and quantum mechanics and their apparent incompatability. I pick up , every so often, more pieces to the puzzle. This film added to my knowledge and, as I walked out into the fresh air, to the feeling of the oneness of all being.
All the best to you all

* Apologies I left abruptly last week. My boys needed my attention and sometimes they won’t take no for an answer. Sorry did didn’t get to hear everyone speak as I really value all the comments and views, especially when they conflict with my own. I find it really expands my openness to other views.
I enjoyed the material last month and found it very interesting how all three evoked very contrasting feelings. I realise I switch between these types of feelings constantly depending on the situation I’m in. Makes me question who I am!
I am looking forward to the next one. 👌

* I especially enjoyed and appreciated the circle meeting itself.
It brought much variety in approach and relationship to the material which taught me a lot.
The circle itself is becoming an important meeting point for me of friends happy to share their views and emotions.
I am looking forward to the next one.

* I didn’t take the test too serious but it was still interesting to see how the outcome outlined some of my known strengths and weaknesses.
I was profoundly touched by the video of Kimberly Jones (Black Lives Matter) which brought to the fore some uncomfortable spaces in me. It made me aware of how I turn away from what I don’t want to hear, consciously or unconsciously. In this case it was her anger that made me turn away. When I listened to it a second time I also realised that I did not like to accept that I do belong to that privileged white community that has caused so much suffering over the centuries and still does by not fully embracing how we allow this to continue by not seeing clearly the embedded racism in holding on to our position of power and privilege.
We truly need to see, listen and act accordingly. Kimberly Jones could not have put it clearer.
I had seen the documentary about David Bohm a few months earlier and did not watch it this time.
I remember clearly though how I was struck by his understanding of interconnectedness and was able to put it with such clarity. I was also impressed by how he despite all the setbacks and maltreatment by former colleagues persevered in his quest.

* Econauts -
In common with, a far as I can tell, pretty much everyone else, I found the last meeting, and the materials we were presented with, the most enriching (is that the right word?) so far. The personality test wasn’t new to me. Jungian or otherwise, I’ve done a few of them over the years. Fun but also useful - a bit like a Rorschach blot/test, I find that it’s what you see in them that’s revealing. Mediator….well, if you say so. Interesting too that there are so many different possibilities/personalities - that one or two questions answered differently could lead to/reveal a quite different assessment. We’re all so different….but not fixed. I suppose the danger is that one goes away with a ‘well, that’s me’ when in fact, as we all know, change is the only certainty. Next week, I may be a warrior, like Kimberley Jones, perhaps. I found that video very moving. I’m not sure she told me anything I didn’t already know, but the way in which she expressed herself - so direct, so passionate, so eloquent, so raw - pushed home those truths yet further. And her closing comments - about how we - I took her to mean white folks - should be grateful for/remember/bear in mind that BLM was seeking equality. not revenge - left something of a chill. There but for the grace of God. So much more that just a useful alternative perspective, a reminder that life doesn’t look or feel - and in reality actually isn’t - the same for all humanity. And so to Bohm, whose story extended that of difference, and unity, out into those odd universes physicists live in, and which they assure the rest of us are the ones we live in too. Well, if I could understand them, I might agree. Failing that I’ll just nod my head, admire his courage and intellect, and be grateful to the poets, philosophers and mystics who I can understand - at least I think I can - who have long ago, and in so many places, arrived at what seem to me very similar conclusions to his. I’d only add, as I tried to in our meeting, that I’d like to have seen the non-human world - plants and animals, rocks and waters - get more of a look-in. It seems to me at least, they have a very different perspective - ‘as the trees are to the rocks/so are we to the grasses: just passing through’ Something like that. Gary Snyder (of course)

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

I come back again and again to suffering, the causes of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering
Hurt people...hurt people
I dunno, but....
Warmth, kindness, connection, imperfection
God dammit - let's just get out there and fix this world!
Wonder is good - always enjoyable and worthwhile
Non-censorship
It’s deep down, can’t get it up from there
It’s good to have a laugh

Christchurch, New Zealand

I found it difficult to engage with the 2 videos. But I could engage with the personality test because it was interactive, as I was required to do something. I think I've become overloaded with a certain kind of data. So I've become impatient with messages requiring me only to passively consume yet more information. Maybe that's why the talking circle is still good, because it's active / interactive.

All three choices were interesting and involving. Personality test a bit less so...as at an older age...one tends to know oneself pretty well !
Very impressed by Kimberley Jones and her passionate 'call to action' for Black People to create real change, equality and justice for Blacks in American society with organized, peaceful structure, community cohesion and togetherness and education. She displayed acute understanding of present reactions....protest...rioting...and looting... It would be good to see future discussion topics concerning our present 'related' NZ situation (so-called 'Pandemic', Lockdowns, imposed behavior and restrictions, polarizations of opinions, 'conspiracy theories', censorship, (us and them), 5G and Technology generally....
David Bohm: very interesting to learn about his past history, education and experiences amongst the educated 'elite' ... especially the discrimination, clinging to personal ego, power and prestige of his academic peers. However, betrayed by his 'peers' it was good to see Bohm extending and finding support of his ideas in his relationship to and conversations with Krishnamurti and the Dalai Lama. David Bohm's story resonates: Modern Quantum Physics is catching up with ancient spiritual teachings of Buddhist philosophy and showing the essential unity of Science- the Material World and ultimate Reality- Nothingness- Space...of the 'spiritual world' (so-called). (I am struggling to find the right words ! ! :-) ) Basically this history re-affirms the choice of many of us to choose a spiritual quest as our life's goals, though knowing that all life is interdependent and there is really no separation between 'spiritual' and 'material'.

What does equality look like with respect for differences in cultural traditions and values?.... to grow unity without becoming homogenized as a nation....is it more appropriate to define this challenge in terms of being socially and ecologically just??

What are the limitations of the paradigms we operate in? But what actions help us to expand the narrative and not just change it for an equally limited perspective?

Very revealing to see my fixed view and lack of understanding of other at times.

Yesterday connected the dots and gave more meaning to the recordings and readings that were sent. ironically or not the different responses highlighted different personalities. So I wondered about that test given nothing is fixed, it is fluid. It is not necessarily a category which is a profound Buddhist teaching. yet in the relative world we need grounding in how we go from day to night through our lives. Listening to others expressions and views enhanced and expanded views. Whatever we say is only at that point in time. I felt quite exhausted afterwards by lots of talking. I enjoy the listening as I can talk alot about experiences and so on. I wish I didnt talk so much as I enjoy quietness at times. very lucky to meet you all.

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

Expressions of gratitude, for our blessed way of life here and for this information that we are allowed to receive. There is so much agitation around the world yet despite the pain being expressed there is a cry of hope. A wanting of something new. As an individual, I can only ask what is my best action?

Due to other commitments, I did not get to indulge in all the material. However, what really struck me was David Bohm's experience of crossing the stream and having the insight to the energies that carry us. I identified with that.

I am not sure about the Black Lives Matter movement. It is such a wedge in the USA. However Quantum Physics is a favorite subject so I really enjoyed the film on David Bohm and his idea of the Implicit and Explicit Order. I have experienced a few times an out of body sensation where I am spreading out to the universe and there is no duality. I consider it crazy how our society/ culture encourages individual separation when in reality all is one. Is this why society is collapsing and maybe it has to? Is that part of the journey to find what is important and to see the wholeness which enables healing for a deeper order? I have been reading the talks of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi and he said "the only useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realize it. There is nothing else to do."

Our present experience is the conditioning of lifetimes. And slowly our understanding has expanded through science. Now Technology enables that expansion so much faster and to see that technology is used to visualize Bohm's theory of Hidden Variables and for a greater purpose.

I pondered on the connection between the 3 pieces. The Personality Test, Kimberley Jone's speech, and the life of David Bohm. I initially was not so interested in the Personality Test seeing it as one of those things I would have done from a magazine back in the days of young confusion and "who am I?" Then when doing the exercise I was aware that of many of the questions, I would have answered differently back then to now. So, the reply diagnoses I received, is that a "who" I am or is it "what" I am? Do I care? No. I am. With hidden variables. Whereas the personality of Kimberley Jones was a compelling power and I watched several times her spontaneous eloquence and brilliant monopoly board comparison. Indeed, "how do we win?" But her voice is not the only voice calling for justice as many people around the world are rallying and saying "enough". Is this the energy from the conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto which is now in Sagittarius? Saturn who represents order and boundaries is challenged by Jupiter to expand consciousness for justice, honour and truth and this is transmuted on the energy of Pluto. As above so below. The particles moving through the splits as illustrated in the film about David Bohm. We are at the same time those particles of light and the light of consciousness, the observer and of choice. And it is interesting that all this comes through the sign of Sagittarius, the half-animal half-man aiming his arrow as a beam of focussed light and an opportunity to see a new expanded vision. The emergence of higher mind. What is mind? All is thought and as Krishnamurti says in conversation with David Bohm "thought is limiting".

I also wondered about the connections between the 3 pieces. I found I was very drawn into Kimberley Jones. She is a powerful being. What she said needs to be said to wake people up. I enjoyed the film of David Bohm and it was so good to see science and spirituality or spiritual philosophy coming together, being overlayed, looking beyond to seek wholeness and know Infinite Potential.

Panjachel, Guatemala

What a synchronicity:

We just did these Meyers Briggs tests in July with our study group,…
And we just talked about the amazing talks between Krishnamurti and David Bohm we have seen many years ago,…

We need to transcend black and white duality and many others,…
We need both duality and non-duality
fixed views are out of fear,…out of identity,...
We need many perspectives,..
experiencing other identities, of plants, animals, people,...
Simultaneously we are everywhere,..
shifting from being object to subject,..
not getting caught in any position,..
than we have a choice,…non clinging awareness,..
science discovered non- duality,…
also objects have consciousness,..
consciousness creates matter,…
religions find new ways of mysticism,…

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Boise, Idaho, USA

We were surprised to see the personality test as a subject. The test brought a clearer realization of the lense in which we each look thru and the limitations. Personality test results changed from precious one that have been taken. Realizing less attachment to concepts.

Black Lives Matter, Ms. Jones was so powerful bringing a much deeper awareness of that situation. Guilt for not remembering ? more. The monopoly analogy worked well for us. Developing a much deeper understanding and empathy and compassion toward B.L.M.. We have a need for more quiet, more listening,and open mindedness. Science and history taught in shcools are too limited and biased.

David Bohm video was very interesting and amazing. It changed the view of science. Relating the spritual linking was exciting! The oneness of all...WOW! Aware of different type of models humankind uses to explore and express. Sad for Bohm expulsion from some scientific circles - politics seeping into science- not right.

But much appreciation and thankfulness for his dogged continuance to pursue the question! Much impressed that spiritually realized beings have known this oneness for 1000's of years.

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

I feel opened and curious as a result of our listening.
I don't know / desire.
conditioning experiencing.
intrigue for another way of looking.
mind expanding and hopeful.
unbiased awareness.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

I was impressed by the Kimberley Jones interview and how well she articulated her indignation. It went straight to the heart of BLM issues. Personality test was done twice resulting in 2 personalities – advocate/campaigner providing an interesting view of myself not previously seen. The Bohm documentary had the most impact. Pursuit of his aims in understanding came across strongly. I was impressed how he zoomed in closely to address questions put to him and was then able to expand his response in a broad way. I was left with pessimistic feelings based on the way he was treated by the scientific establishment. “Inevitability” is the word that rings out taking all into consideration.

“What are these 3 pieces doing together?” was my first thought. “Mediator” was the personality test result for me – I hate having to choose! The take-away for me was the importance of remaining open to what we don’t know!

I had trouble fitting the 3 pieces together. I recognized that it took a lot of courage for Kimberley Jones to speak out in that way. These days of pandemic it seems expedient to dismiss environmental issues in government. Social issues seem to have been swept under the rug too! Having heard this it stirs up all kinds of stuff and concerns for how things will unfold. Expediency will not change these underlying issues. I love and hate personality tests but enjoyed the positive spin on personality aspects that it put forward.

It was interesting to hear everyone speak. There is a sense of 2 locomotives colliding – science >-< art and philosophy. The 2 are enfolded! I loved the way Dr. Bohm spoke. Everything comes down to magic that no one can understand fully - the day before the bomb fell on Nagasaki, father was in a Japanese prison camp and with other prisoners was helping to dig their own mass grave. The following day the war ended and they were released. Kimberley Jones speech kept cresting with emotion but she kept coming back to keep it together. Personality test for me brought up “Mediator” – it felt turbulent and I was left with a feeling that you could do something better.

Crashing loco image highlights different information availability and views on life. The personality test was familiar related to my job. “Adventurer” came up. Kimberley Jones interview raised a lot of emotion in me with what seemed spot-on statements. I am not one to volunteer but feel I really want to do something. David Bohm was great. I had no interest in science in school but realize now what I missed. I was fascinated by his increasing spiritual interest through his work through the theme of interconnectedness . I feel there is too much naivety out there for things to get fixed soon .

I saw the David Bohm piece twice and it was a bolt to the heart! Everything is interconnected. It’s the essence of dharma and refuge. It was great to get it from science and spiritual side. Early high school time fuelled his passion and it brought to mind my own experience with science and spirituality. There was a fullness in watching it. It was a poignant at the end of his life with his phonecall to his wife – “ I think I’m on the verge of something!” I like taking personality tests and Adventurer came up. I hate being boxed in but don’t flip out the way I used to. I’ve become more extreme where I used to be straight down the middle. I’m sitting with all this. I was grateful for the BLM piece which made me think of the fact that racism and social injustice is just as widespread in Canada as elsewhere. Previous involvement in the Unitarian Church taught and encouraged us to be politically active and involved – a tender theme.

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

Links were made on the personality test and the David Bohm documentary, a contemplation of the observed and the being observed, seeing 'who is that person?' and accepting he or she in terms of personality. That just like me, other people have ways of being in the world, which are going to shape how they act and what they think, that even with all the divergence and confusion and othering, we still have similar emotions, attitudes and behaviors. We have our particular angles of vision, but deep down they are completely universal and relatable. We are still part of a group, even if we feel we aren't a lot of the time, even when isolation takes its toll.

A poem from Fernando Pessoa was mentioned:

Everything I do or contemplate
Stays always half completed.
Wanting, I want the infinite
Doing, nothing is true.
What a hatred for myself emerges
When I look at what I do!
My soul is lucid and free,
And I am a sea of wrack -
A sea where fragments from beyond
Slowly float by...
Wishes or thoughts?
I don't know and I know it well.

Belmont, Dordogne, France

film helpful for daily life
live and let live but very hard
Personality test reminding everybody that all personalities compliment the world and do not separate
instead of black lives matters we prefer all lives matters to achieve the connectedness

Getting great feedback that the process is nourishing and feeding.

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

It took me by surprise where I went in the sharing tonight. On one hand it only had a little to do with the 3 materials provided. It gave me the space to go quite deep inside of me. I am intrigued by that. I value our group, and the trust to help me go there, rather than stay on the intellectual level.

I value listening to the thoughts and wisdom of the other people in the group. It adds depth to my understanding and interpretation of what we've been given and I can feel growth from that. Science has lead to this evidence – does it really? I loved seeing the Dalai Lama's face as Bohm was speaking – gorgeous.

I have a sense of the vastness / depth of what we're grappling with; the significance of what we're exploring; and the richness of that.

I have the metaphor of an orchestra – where all the individual instruments blend and create harmony.

I like the form is emptiness and emptiness is form – impossible yet creates potential - amazing idea that seems impossible. Bohm made me feel like that. The group process has the potential to allow expansion whether psychic or verbal – and the importance of that communication being part of the wholeness. The power of the observer and the observed. The power of that. The feeling that this is happening all the time, and if I am being really mindful, it really is happening all the time. That it is part of the whole. To have it scientifically proved seems, … Oh Gosh!

A sense of wholeness being so vast and the view of the macrocosm and kind of leaning into that (space of beyond) has the effect of taking me / us out of a sense of being separate and being part of a much more grounded living being that isn't just in the particularity of this form but has an awareness of just being a representative of humanity and that I see and feel all those other representations as being just like me, but not even a me. Expansion is an opening to a higher way of experiencing. The group process has the potential to do that – open to the bigger view. The format of our group is significant – room to allow sacred energy to be. Stillness is a container for that.

Groundedness – being grounded is helping me.

Spaciousness inside me and spaciousness around me. Its there if I feel into myself, that I am not just this dense blob that moves on the surface of the world. There is a spaciousness in me physically and in my mind that can hear other views, that can accept other views and really hear them.

Interconnectedness – my sense is that as a group interconnectedness is mentioned almost every month. Seems there is a deepening into the reality of this and perhaps it can be used for wholeness and healing.

July

Auckland, New Zealand

The boy in Bali was a nice shiny kid. The voice of the child has always been central to my work as an educator. They are incredibly adept and wise but you have to create a safe place for them to express themselves. If you send them out into society to tackle social change head-on this is going to eventually put them into a place of disempowerment. They need to tackle it obliquely. You can present real issues but it is better to allow them to explore them in a fictional or drama form where the consequences of thought and action do not have real play in the world. For myself the challenge from the movie is what to do after 50 years of work in education. I don’t have a sense of hopelessness about children but I do about politicians and institutional change. How do I support the community politically?

The readings were a little easier this month, a little more gentle. I loved the wisdom, kindness and creativity theme expressed in the school process but it would be good to see it in a less rarified situation. I agree that it is not protective to withhold information from children. Regular conversation is needed, and I recognise that to some extent it is my own fear that makes me hold back. At work we have a regular 10 minute huddle every morning and that seems a good model -regular connection. We are all different but collaboratively we can work together. I enjoyed the Guardian article talking about the Common Wealth. Public Health also has to be embedded everywhere.

This morning I went up to a neighbouring green space where 40 or 50 young people had assembled to support the local Green Party candidate. Fantastic energy, really positive. Both of my kids have gone through big-time fear about the fate of the planet and I haven’t known how to talk to them about it. The big takeout from the Green School was that we need to have lots of conversation and include young people. I need to be careful that I am being real but not all doom and gloom. The challenge is how to frame up how I am talking to young people. Being open and being aware of our responsibility to them.

These readings were for me very much about how we view things and what we do about it. “Not the nightmare, we have to paint dream”. Children get their information from all sorts of people. I have taken from this how can we encourage people to paint dreams.

I have great hope for humanity and children. I did not really connect with the kids in the video -very precious. But for kids in general we need to get real, get kids growing things. My nieces visited last year and got into the garden and were working and persisted. So many layers to work with with kids which is challenging. Let’s do it. Community, collective action.

The Orchard Group, Herefordshire, UK

Here is my feedback to the group, which I would very much like respected and sent along with the feedback from others, to the coordinators in New Zealand:

I was in the middle of speaking today within the circle, feeling as always, safe and accepted, pouring out my heart, when I was abruptly cut off by another member of the group. In effect I was told to shut up. It happened so quickly. I had no time to think but only to feel utter shock; No explanation was given for the interjection. I can only speculate. I was deeply hurt. More than I can express. It was not merely the event itself that shocked and hurt me. It prodded and enflamed a deep place within my subconscious where self-doubt resides: "maybe the content of what you said was too controversial and you should learn to shut up, to keep it to yourself!" "Maybe the manner in which you spoke was somehow annoying and though you were unconscious of this you ought to learn the hard and painful way by being cut short!!" "Maybe you went on for too long and you deserved to be abruptly stopped!!"

These past months on the whole I have felt nothing but empathy toward others in the circle even when they may have said things I perhaps didn't agree with. For me the principles of the circle are sacred and we are called upon to rise above our inner weaknesses and allow each and every person to speak freely, in a feeling of safety acceptance and empathic engagement. However, I admit that I myself have on very rare occasions felt feelings of aversion toward something someone else in the circle has said, disagreeing with them inwardly, feeling something rankling. I have on occasion felt impatience in the manner of what is said or its' duration. But I have never acted on these feelings. And no one else in the group has acted on them if they felt them. Until today. I can completely understand and I completely forgive the person who interjected for having such feelings. Because I myself have had them. What I am not yet able to forgive or excuse, is the acting out on these feelings.

The circle was the last place on the face of the earth I thought I might experience this. Until today it was a safe and non-judgemental place. For now anyway I no longer feel safe and secure within the circle. I feel like Humpty Dumpty, broken. For me anyway the circle is broken. I do hope I can heal and return to it at some point. But time will tell.

An Article by Climate Scientists (see link below). Last Sunday I was trying in my own awkward way to explain the very sound scientific basis for some serious concerns I have. FYI: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/faulty-science-doomism-and-flawed-conclusions-deep-adaptation/

Steven Hawking and his wife were given a diagnosis and a prognosis. The diagnosis was motor neuron disease. The prognosis was he had perhaps 1-2 years to live. They both fully embraced the diagnosis. They faced reality. But they questioned the prognosis … and he lived another 55 years and changed the face of Physical sciences in the process.

To some extent we create our own reality. What is the future we want? What will the future look like? These are exceedingly important questions. The answers we pose in our minds play a very real part in what actually unfolds. We need to adapt to what we cannot change. Absolutely, we must do that. But we can also choose to do more than this. We can decide also to fight tooth and nail to mitigate the damage yet to be done. To struggle. To never give up in creating a better world.

I found the July material very helpful in the sense that it is crucial that we face the facts. It reminded me strongly of the practice: to be with what is in the present moment. By facing it directly without judgement, we find the appropriate response.

In t’ai-ji there is a movement named: “Embracing tiger, returning to mountain’ that expresses this beautifully.

The video with Oscar was an inspiring example of this. I was also impressed by the wisdom of these young people and their courage. They have a lot to contribute and need to be an integral part of the discussion in helping to find a way forward.
As part of the older generation, I bow to them.

It reflected also one of the main purposes of the circle: learning to listen fully to each other, understanding where each person is coming from, accepting and moving forward together.

In this last session some misunderstanding arose. Realising the unintended pain it caused, I can now also see it as a gift towards healing and deeper learning, as being part of the process we have embarked upon.

I really can’t contribute much to the feedback. The material we were given - while it showed the wonderful adaptability of children like Oscar –could not offset the creeping sense of doom that overcame me when I read the NY piece. I feel that a line has been crossed and there’s no going back. Life is good for us in pleasant homes within clean green countryside. Are we like Nero, fiddling while Rome burns? Still, it was good to gather and reflect in nature. I feel that Ad’s words are very healing and I hesitate to add anything. The image of Alex leaving continues to haunt me.

The material felt spot on for me this month and really challenged my thinking and emotions. Oscar reminded me that we have a choice. Become lost in despair or embrace the hopelessness and be free to expand in new ways.

The first piece was the main focus for me. I have three offspring in their thirties, the eldest of whom aged 35 has two children, aged 3 and nearly 1. I think the middle one does not expect to have children and I could not be sure about the youngest. To me, globally , there is so much that has changed in the last 30 years, during their lifetime, that it would seem a very understandable decision not to have children. There have been warnings about the ways in which human activities have been directly affecting the biosphere but very little has been done. Meanwhile, no matter if we all stopped polluting tomorrow, the feedback loops continue, the polar icecap will continue to melt, as will glaciers around the world, the overall temperature will increase leading to the wildfires in Australia, Uttarakhand, Argentine, Siberia etc., I believe. The insect population has decreased as well as the birds. It is where even hope disappears, because the suffering of the animals, the humans, the whole biosphere looks likely to be so great. We can only adapt, take all the care that we can at least , to look after all the areas which are in our control. Sometimes my impatience gets the better of me and I act out my thought when I should just watch it as a thought. It can have unfortunate, unintended consequences. I intend to learn from this experience.

I really enjoyed the material and was very impressed with the students of the Green School and Oskars project. I choose myself not to have children as I felt I could not give them a safe and secure future, so the first article struck an emotional chord with me too.

Generally, I feel hope, listening to the next generation. They are clearly able to adapt to the world they live in. Especially their ability to live in the here and now. An important lesson for all of us, as we have no control over what the future brings.

Dear Fellow Travellers, I found the material and the topic stimulating and thought provoking, taking me back to my time as a teacher in 'alternative' schools. I was reminded that the work we had done there, some 25 years ago, was good, and mirrored what was spoken of in the last three paragraphs of the Scranton article - teaching by example and living ethically and simply, and encouraging the young people to be tough but also compassionate, kind, resilient and adaptable. I feel assured that many of those people are now out there in the world fighting for positive change.

The motto at one of the schools was: “It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. I feel that much of the work we are doing within ClearVision2020 is just that.

Although the global situation is desperate and massively challenging in many respects, the material during the previous months has given me a growing feeling of optimism. Not that ‘everything will be all right’ but that there is enough love, courage, know how, commitment, and determination to face the challenge with a joyful heart - and that is all we can do.

Like most, I was both cheered and chastened by the material, and by our discussion. Whatever view one takes of their chances of success, it was good to learn of the more positive response of younger generations to the perilous mess we have created. We can but hope? Yes, but we can also act, and have the humility to listen even though we - I - may think that both the problem and at least some of the answers are clear. The many dimensions of the problem are surely mirrored in the dimensions of the answer. And new answers will arise, as voices such as Greta’s has emerged, which we must listen to. As one of the participants reminded us, it’s better to light a candle…. I think our group is a candle, and the larger group of which it is a part, a host of candles. May this light be seen, and in turn help us, and others light a way forward.

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

Moved by visual images in Oskar's Sandcastle Video, of domination over the horse on the beach and mindlessness use of phones. Liked Oskar s ideas of getting back to the old ways. Awareness of messages of fear of future being pushed, and agendas towards changes in power which could potentially undermine human rights. Need to re-look at the education system.

Changes in life, deaths of people in the same cohort. Oskar repeated importance of his friends. Deepak Chopra saying “covid has been beneficial to show the planet can heal”.

Concerns about political systems manipulating information and the economy- e.g. this year there have been bumper crops of potatoes and rye in Europe and Africa, yet people are starving, as the excess food isn’t getting to them. Recommended NZ TV show, “Country Calendar” for inspiration re grassroots community support and family businesses. The theme of “not talking about radical change”, where governments will keep up a “business as usual” approach, when more difficult and unknown times are coming.

Feeling uplifted to hear young people talking about feelings and learning, about the basics.

Hopeful of young people. Millions are aware and are protesting, taking action, doing good, building communities and value friendships. Get back to foundations and learn skills to survive. Community is definitely a good way to go.

Mainstream education systems are still following traditions from the industrial age, we need to encourage love of learning, kindness, curiosity, exploration and “awakening”. Do what you can, start in your own neighbourhood.

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

I felt saddened hearing the young people talk about their view of a declining world and the one I grew up in where ‘progress’ was everywhere. I was also delighted by their honesty and clarity. In the two rounds of circling, the first had the flavour of sadness for what these young ones will have to deal with but the second round was more optimistic, observing the kind of, “nevertheless, we will just get on with it” attitude these young people have.

I’m grateful to the 20/20 team for their efforts in sourcing and selecting the videos and articles and the monthly preambles. I find the material very challenging and while I am experiencing increasing discomfort, I acknowledge it is widening my perspective which invites question about how to live meaningfully in this ever changing world.

I was very glad to have the forum itself this month. I was struck by how powerful it is to share from the heart and have such amazing beings share with me. I felt very grateful for you all.

The subject of talking with young people about the state of the planet is one that I had avoided until this session confronted me with it. On analysis, I saw that my avoidance came from my fear that our young people are already being bombarded at school with apocalyptic information about the state of the planet. I don't want my grandchildren (who are in early and middle childhood) to be robbed of their childhood because of it. Then I questioned, at what age should they be told about it, and if/when they are told, what else would they need to hear to maintain a sense of the joy of life? I am still pondering these questions, and my need to communicate with their schools and parents about them. I'm grateful that the session brought them up for me.

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

All life asks of us is to be as aware as we can, and to be willing to question and examine and to get to know our experience as an expression of that truth, and be willing to be changed by what we find. And that process never ends. I find that creative and exciting. And that can’t be taken away from us. That’s our power. That is our power.

We have an apparent fascination with our cleverness. Here, is a hope for convergent solutions to materialise.

The importance of connection and community and friendship. Finding joy in the smallest of things.

It feels to me like I’ve been waiting my whole life to be a father but the time hasn’t arrived yet. And I don’t know if it ever will.

May we not dwell on the negative. And instead envisage the world we want to live in.

How do we honour the fullness of what it is to experience both struggle and non-struggle? I don’t know.

Panjachel, Guatemala

very interesting themes!
more hopeful in Germany,… more trust in the politicians,..
Russia, Canada, Brazil having more nature, more hopeful,..
Holland, Belgium having less nature, being less hopeful
only caring for one’s family,… caring for the whole planet,..
people evolve in their Zeitgeist,...
children will cope with the world,…
including kids in the solution of the problems,..
we need more transformative education,..
we started this movement in the 60ties, generations today continue,..

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

I came to the meeting feeling jaded but left feeling nourished. So glad we could meet in person again after so many months of Zooming.

I found the readings a bit disappointing because so much has changed since they were written. The pandemic changes everything. It has also shown us that some countries do have the political will to make major changes in daily life. What has remained as an important takeaway from the readings is the fact that living a life of integrity and in a manner that is appropriate to the times, as Oskar and the other students were realizing, is essential

At the personal level, the process and experience of this 2020 style of education lends itself to a sense of despair and isolation. As a student engaging in this process, I feel very isolated. I feel as though we are being tube fed teachings through the straw of the internet. I create my own obstacles. So, I have to ask myself, is this about education, a teacher, a student, some form of personal interaction, creating a dialogue, a circle in which to speak? Or is it an exercise? A practice opportunity provided, fostering development of non-clinging awareness, knowing the difference between when I am riding a wild horse with no legs, with no eyes and when it responds to my rein?

I found it helpful to look at things from a young person's perspective. I felt uplifted by Oskars story and the way he is being educated.

Boise, Idaho, USA

Generally positive feelings arose, recognizing that one person can make change for the better. Embracing the positive model is so important - why choose the negative.
Virus has showed we could pollute less. There is a need for financial equality supporting ecology,this would be supporting all people.
Parents feeling guilty for what has occurred to our planet.
Thoughts of childhood and avoidance of difficult subjects by parents. Need more science, more positive possibilities. There is a lack of the' big picture' which must be expressed for and by young people'.
Parents need more educational input with children. Importance of good educational system which can stimulate deep thoughts freely.
Excitement for this method of schooling, ' Following our interests' is so Namgyalian. We could see how our public school system stops the growth of creativity.
Jem Bendell seems to have changed more out from the dark side! One view point was very much outraged with subject matter. Too white, too naive and too privileged white boy. Black parents have to educate their children constantly on how to act around authority or they could be killed.
Hypocrisy white people are lazy in education. Why such annoyance (arrogance?)? Maybe the subject matter is most skillfully chosen.
Recalled thought of not have a child 50 years ago due to a doomed world...nuclear war...suicide. But the view has changed. We had kids. No nuclear destruction. Resulting in much love brought into being!
Point of view - state of mind - always changing - which way - what that---what else would you embrace but the positive.

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

I am inspired by Osgar, who expressed hope. I want this to be my guide, as a much older person.
I feel sadness for the plight of young people, and their concerns for the future. I think we should take this opportunity to do whatever we can to right the wrongs. We need to offer our young people a lot more support.
I think it's really important to include young people in conversations. I think we need to face our own difficulties, so we can support them in theirs. We don't have to know better. We just have to be with each other.
Until we have the direct experience, we don't or can't change.
We need to be brave enough, and have love powerful enough, to care as fully as the situation demands we do.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand

I felt the cynicism arise about privilege. Then it transformed into opportunity and the realization that where you are is the the place to start! What skills, openness, insight do you have?
How can we resource the next generation with tools to meet any challenge skillfully, regardless of the framing? What causes and conditions can we provide to make space for awareness and contemplation? What habitual narratives inform the way I relate to youth and how could this transform?
Inspired by Oskar’s family support for his despair at 13 with no future. With an outcome of making two films, positivity, not negativity.
Broadens my horizons. Thinking and feeling outside the square.
Initially seeing the theme- straight into fear/concerns for children and the world they will inhabit. But, during the circle talk, such insightful offerings..all is not lost for these younger ones.
Keep hearing different perspectives so my mind/heart can open more. Encouraging, inspiring and challenging material.

Belmont, SW France

best we can do is be a living example
be present and listening carefully open-hearted
hold a vision for a better world
letting the new generation know they are holding the reins they are not the victims
let the children know that they are part of the solution
commitment-community-communication
we cannot find solutions with the same conscious level of the problem

Got very positive feedback how important this circle is and how nourishing and valuable for their daily living.

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

Interconnectedness - the chain of connections - can have a negative impact, but also be positive through thoughts, words and deeds. Small changes can be good steps to take - any little change can be good as the ripple effect can be huge.

Equanimity - equality - importance of the early years and parents / grandparents input into children's lives is vital. There needs to be more societal support for that - fosters an emotional intelligence through connection / connectivity. Systems are needed to be supportive of that at all levels.

My first attempt to engage scratched the surface of my feelings. The second allowed me to go deeper and be more vulnerable. This was possible after we looked more deeply at the process of circle sharing, which occurred because of the smaller group of people here this time!

Corona virus could be seen as our "punishment" for how we've been treating the world. It sucks, but compared to how we have been treating each other and other species, it is small.

Initially I found it hard to engage with the material. A second reading / viewing allowed a wider perspective, and seeing the circle sharing taking place at Oscar's school was great - even though it is a school for privileged families. Reading the article again I was able to connect with the author's bigger message about trying to be with whatever happens in my life with some equanimity and responding in an ethical way.

Half of our group attended this meeting, which gave space for a second and third round of sharing. Initially, after feeling that our container of trust, so important for Sharing Circles, was full of holes, we found a possibility to go deeper the second time around, and a new level of trust was built. The container felt more whole afterwards.

June

The Orchard Group, Herefordshire, UK

There was perhaps too much material, however the material that was digestible was incredibly positive stimulating and inspiring. Questions arose about ways to translate the head stuff into actions, into changes that make a real difference in the world. Essentially though the first step in any change, radical transformation, evolution or revolution is the dawning of new insight, a new mindset and change in consciousness. The consciousness of 19th century onlooker materialism haunts our present day economic ideas as reflected in the way people who provide a service in fields or factories or offices are seen as “resources”, and in the structure and function of companies. The concept of the human being as either a labour-resource that is in effect “owned” (slavery being the extreme form of this mindset) and purchased for by way of a wage, or as a selfish consumer that buys goods or as a selfish greedy entrepreneur that strives only to make money and acquire more and more wealth. In each and every case the human being is not truly free, but a Darwinian animal driven by survival of the fittest instincts. A new concept of the human being is at the core of newly emerging economic ideas: that we are in essence spiritual beings, free to love, and to convey compassion and act beyond our own selfish needs to encompass others, ultimately the entire living planet. But change is hard. After realisation of our new essential spiritual selves, and awareness of the sentience and beauty of the living world around us we next need to reflect all of this in actions: Karma litter picks and cafes! Engaged caring and active communities. Companies with representation of crafts people and “labourers” as well as consumers and the interests of the planet in the Boardroom. First be the change ewe want to see. Then let’s get on with it and do our bit to change the world!

My experience of the material was one of delight and excitement. I found all the material, as ever, relevant, interesting, and expansive - opening up new avenues for exploration. My journey through the articles and videos this month became centred on the aspect of transition, especially that discussed by Charles Eisenstein (i.e. from the story of separation to the story of interbeing), So much of the material we have been exploring through ClearVision2020 focuses on transition or change from one state of consciousness to another - both personal and collective, from micro to macro. I have become much more optimistic that the transition will happen, it is happening, and it will be good. It may take a long time, it may happen suddenly - change to a more expansive, integral and encompassing state will happen - it is the natural direction of travel for the cosmos, and I embrace it with love and compassion, and a desire to listen generously.

For me the main thread through the material was the need/importance of transformation. Transformation on both a personal and communal level. On a personal level, how to translate that in the way I am in the world and how and what I contribute. Keeping the “not-knowing” mind as an essential quality.

This month I was aware of images forming:- a ship, a tanker let’s call it an oil tanker, to symbolically represent money, power, the pursuit of never ending growth, going full steam ahead and a flotilla racing to head it off. Hundreds of little boats, Karma boats, Doughnut boats determined to change the course. Hoping to make a difference, to inspire, to offer an alternative vision of life lived from love, compassion, thinking small, circular, community, reward for the soul from caring and sharing. I did feel inspired and then I saw on the TV news, mountains of rubbish left on the beach after one day after lockdown. Hope faded, a sad despondent feeling settled. If awakening to the need to care for the planet has not happened for so many people during this time of lockdown when air pollution cleared, bird song the loudest noise what will? A second tanker joined the first, this one called unaware, unconcerned, somebody else’s problem. Between Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough, high profile, strong messages are not able to touch the heart of so many people, how do we?

First of all too much material to digest properly but interesting and highly relevant when I got into it. I found doughnut economics a bit utopian and that prevented me from taking it as a plausible reality. The karma kitchen impressed me the most, just the idea of giving and waiting for it to be returned karmically is quite a heroic small gesture. It’s the Dunkirk of our time, the small boats, the small actions, the community of humans, the selflessness of the common man/woman that is going to make the biggest difference in the end. That is what this group means to me, comradeship and sharing our feelings honestly. And listening with the heart. Thank you for creating the opportunity to be part of it. Naomi

Too many words even for a smorgasbord was my first reaction to the material. Where was the action..ah yes karma Kitchen now there’s a good idea. Somehow that feeling of investigating from different perspectives really important..even if I don’t properly understand. Our capacity as a circle to discover and be awakened by things maybe we haven’t come across or experienced in our lives before. Find own truth. Figure out action. Listening, listening. Attention, appreciation, gratitude.

Am I the only one who read in the covering email that we could pick and choose from the material? I certainly didn't watch/read all of it as there was too much! Some of the doughnut economics doubled up so I skipped it. I much like the theories behind it, but having always applied a human centric policy when I ran small businesses, I also know that this is not a feasible large scale model. The material I thought was positive and gave hope for a better future. If only we can convince economics to go from a global scale back to local...

This group is just a treasure! Thank you all for being our group!

Auckland, New Zealand

The gift ecology is about working with the moment of truth. It seems to me that that encompasses all of the readings. When we act with outcome we are away from the moment of truth. Is not about having an end goal. It’s about giving without needing to know; living with enough. That is good but I worry about how the donut model of economy can translate to a situation where someone is struggling to keep their business alive? I have friends in that situation.

I had a lot of resonance with the idea of the gift economy. The Christian philosophy that there is more in giving than receiving makes sense to me in terms of the truth of interdependence. When you are giving, you are giving to the organism. My struggle is with putting it into practice.

At work I am driving -spewing out carbon. But my patients need to see me face to face. It is a dilemma. When you live by yourself, gift ecology needs to be a lot more planned rather than spontaneous. One of the readings made me angry -Coronation pressed some buttons -we are ready to find an enemy and we need control. The link between the urge to control and totalitarianism. It’s natural to die, the figures are skewed etc. This view makes me angry.

Coronation - perhaps it was playing devils advocate. The whole idea of giving -we don’t get up in the morning thinking we will give. It is a delight when it arises spontaneously. I do think we are wired to one another, it’s intrinsic, not an intellectual operation, not a commodity. Definitely comes from the place of “home”. I very much liked the idea expressed of putting more importance on humans and consciously being embedded in this gifted universe.

The doughnut economy was an interesting read. What we need is for these ideas to be taught to our young people. Our young economists. It’s time to make a step change in the way we run society.

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

I have much appreciation for every member of this group. I’m grateful for the wisdom of all ages.
Cognitive Dissonance is the best exercise for compassion.
Be allowing of all the elations to propel you into action.
Change is inevitable. Embrace it.
I am deeply humbled and in love with all of you in this group. Grateful for the simplicity of being together. Are we exploring an initiation into something greater for humanity and life on Earth? Or the end of us?
Being OK with the not knowing. Learning humility when we can feel our insignificance and the power of nature.
Getting out of our own way and opening to all possibilities and donuts.
Take your friend Suffering out on a shopping spree and exercise the power of your consumer choice.

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

I enjoyed listening to peoples stories about their childhoods at the last session. It was interesting to hear people reminiscing, viewing their experiences through the lens of the material provided. It was wonderful to be back in a room together, face to face. There is no substitute for meeting in person.

Once again I appreciated the process of the meeting, allowing such uninterrupted exploration of my own and others' thoughts and feelings. The present problems of humanity will be solved only if sufficiently many of us become pure in our motivations, and act out of that state of being for the well-being of all life, seen or unseen. If I hold this in mind, I have hope. Otherwise, my hope falters, as it depends on changing the culture I am immersed in by legislation or other types of “force”. We have many examples of and role models for compassionate action. Small local actions are as important as large ones. There's no need to feel helpless – that's a self-indulgence.

Another really good forum to discover and/or explore my stance on important matters, without feeling judged, rushed or nervous about being corrected. Thank you all for listening, caring and sharing! A beautiful opportunity.

So much media news is negative and blaming, creating drama or depression. I and we need to be very aware of 'social media' in general, it is always seeking to grab attention.

Many wonderful possibilities for the development of economies beneficial for all. Those kinds of revolutionary changes to existing systems need the support of a good proportion of the population globally. I’m not that optimistic! Change has to come from the development of goodness, wisdom and altruism in hearts of each of us though part of that process paradoxically is from efforts made to enact the sort of changes described in the resource materials. How wonderful that such efforts manifest.

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

Our group diminished by half more or less, but is having warm and intense meetings, full of generous listening. It's been a challenge to translate the amount of material into Portuguese for everyone to understand it, so I am sending the audio of some texts that I translate, or ask them to put it on google translator and hope for the best, when I don't have the time. But some videos are found in Portuguese, which is great.

We are feeling apprehension, and worrying and some anxiety, but a lot of discernment and openness to discuss whatever is coming up, with kindness and honesty. We are present.

Wishing you well and happiness, Madá

Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada

Unlike many of the others, I was happy to see articles addressing economics since, in my opinion, not much can change without a dramatic shift in our economic system.

I was impressed by the theory of the doughnut, and encouraged to hear that these ideas have been reported in mainstream media indicating that they are not floating solely in the minds of theorists, but in reaching the general public may have a chance of being taken seriously. Eisenstein,s writings also resonated.

Although not in our readings, i,ve also been inspired by the massive poor people's, campaign building in the United States. Poverty and racism are moral issues closely tied to economics. The rise of organized grassroots protests around poverty and racism combined with alternate economic proposals by theorists and the pressure cooker effect of the global pandemic gives me hope that some positive change may occur. Certainly, change will occur, and as Joanna Macy said earlier on, uncertainty is important in helping us to change.

I feel hopeful in the wholesome, generous changes I see on the community, town and city levels. Grass root movement. On the corporate and banking levels there will be no change until it collapses.

Hopeful, excited, looking forward to potential change.

Left feeling a faint hope that common sense and decency may yet be able to transform our dysfunctional systems.

Christchurch, New Zealand

Enlightened structures to guide economics, plus change within individuals to address needs/versus wants, develops generosity, increasing feelings of sufficiency based around giving. Will bring some change…

Conscious of being half way through 2020 and looking for a symbol/direction for the next half of the cycle.

So good to be part of an “alive”, curious group, to tease out ideas and add different points of view.

Many changes happening in the world and in NZ right now. Most important to be alert and aware and not be lulled into passivity, fear, avoidance. The Boom or Bust economy doesn’t work. The UN agenda 21 (or 2030) for Global Government and control of economy and resources contains articles that could pose a serious threat to our freedoms. Watch and BE AWARE! Governments, private individuals and the media are still too much concerned with profits and not for humanity (eg installation of 5G towers with no double blind research study). Also worrisome, the talk of mandatory vaccinations for Covid-19 and others. The recent, and present, Black Lives Matter protests show that we, the people, have minds of our own and need to take charge of our lives. Politicians by and large have sold out to big pharma and the corporate elite. This needs to change. Positivity, visualization of the new egalitarian society!!.

If money is our measurement system of wealth, then where the money flows reveals our collective values. How could we change what we value and how would that affect our economic flow? What values are hard to measure with our current wealth measuring system? What would happen if we valued the pursuit of wisdom as a culture?

I was interested in my view of economic equality…of what I would like it to be. Surprised to see a view of the rich having more than others and the most poor having a little less. This isn’t what I would like to be thinking!!! How would that work if everyone had an equal chance? We would have to develop our generosity big time! What do we value? How can we develop a culture of caring for others with no expectation of return (payment)? Also the suffering of always wanting more, no matter the expense (be that financial, social or environmental) arose in this months investigation.

I find everyone has something different to offer and notice the power of this is to inspire and motivate. I can feel despair at forests burning and beings suffering to survive. When we meet my view expands and connects. So, it gives some healing too. Wonderful we are all so different and accept each other and ourselves.

Panjachel, Guatemala

Very interesting videos and texts, ….
Power corrupts, ….
All the poeple need to be heard or they become extreme, ....
Everything is perfect, it’s evolving in it’s own right, ….
Pandemics are here to decimate population, ….
Western cultures put all the efforts on life, …. death is too far away, ….
Life is a school of expanding consciousness and death a break, .…
We are living in the Universe University, .…
There are a lot of options to see things in different perspectives,..
According to Astrology we are forced into a change, .…
People want to keep the status quo,…ego doesn’t want change, .... no out of the box thinking, .… only some people are creative with new ideas, ....
Revolution starts inside,…. and than it influences the outside, .…
We need win- win- win, .…
We need intuitive, inclusive inter-connectedness, ….

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Belmont, Southwest France

Lots of information, lots of thoughts to digest.
The doughnut economics from Kate Raworth was very mindopening her speech was very impressive and touching.
Inherent sense of justice inside of us.
The global economy is going through an absolute rebirth, reflecting the new consciousness now anchoring in the humanity.
We are more prepared than we thought for this radical change.
On the surface, we are more separate than ever before, but a necessary process for localization.
Really coming back of what is important in life and it is up to us what we want to live.
We do have choice.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

I was excited by the TED talk and really wanted to meet Kate for lunch to talk more about the topic when economics hasn’t been a topic that has excited me through my life to this point.

The disparity of wealthy people to poor was stunning to see on a graph. Is there a link between economics and Covid-19? It is interesting to me that everything comes down to economics. We all need to think more about it and ask questions.

French economist, Thomas Piketty has drawn close attention to income inequalities particularly in America and Europe. Increasing disparities are now obvious with small segments of populations holding larger and larger portions of the wealth of nations. Many start-up companies interested in social innovation in business via a triple bottom line but never get financing other than via the generosity of donors who are happy to help without expectations of a return on investment. Money-making is essential for business survival! I am so angry at Kate Raworth whose concepts are so against the flow of business. Complete change is needed as many are disenfranchised when private schools give access to the best post-secondary education.

I came close to failing Economics 200 – most of it going over my head as pseudoscience. Economics frames society. The question is how we get to where we need to be without chaos because the present system is so deeply embedded. The topics chosen for this month were determined before the current anti-racist protests. There are many threads connecting with the reviewed pieces. How do we patch the system without making it worse?

It’s easy to talk about shifting from the current to a more equitable economic model but less simple to see how that can be done. Eisenstein noted how quickly change has occurred over Covid-19. How come we seem to be able to address a pandemic but not racism, wealth-disparity etc? A culture of control makes it easy to clamp down on a virus but significant social issues are embedded, messy and distressing to address . Gift ecology is a marvel and the relational, participatory economy it offers is much needed. In Dharma, we watch things loosen and shift to be able to see things clearly. Dharma boomed at me through all the positive elements mentioned.

I read the material a week ago but review was necessary because of the volume. Big change has happened over my lifetime with good things opening and possibilities arising. Kids all have a harder time of it. House purchase is impossible for many due to the present state of things. Talk by university people is often difficult to connect with lived experience. Where does wealth come from? I loved the Donut idea and got the meaning! It is heartening that the most people regardless of status, felt that there should be a more even distribution of wealth. Sweden used to be less affluent than Canada but turned things around with social discussion and thinking. There seems to be a corrupt elite in the US when maturity and ethics are needed. I feel that university currently breeds a selfish culture reflected in the rise of “smart guys” in corporations. What can I do? I think that educating myself is activism. I have no energy but cannot ignore the issues. I try to build energy through practice to be able to put it out there and feel generally inspired and hopeful. This is “turn-it-on-its-head” thinking!

I appreciated the simplicity and clarity of the Donut Theory but had difficulty reconciling that with finding ways to actually change the status quo when the present system is long-standing and so well entrenched. The fact that this theory is being introduced into the education of future economists is heartening. I hope this can somehow be translated into practical ways to change things for the better.

In the light of the reference material I found it interesting to think about the IKEA workplace ethic that I have experienced directly. Although there are different pay grades within the company, pay disparity is not as pronounced as with many similar large companies. There is daily connection between CEO and staff who are all encouraged to save and take a direct interest the daily published takings and numbers of customers served. This serves to create a more positive work environment.

We attended the anti-racist protests this week despite fears and potential risks. It was wonderful to attend such a peaceful gathering and was very uplifting. Notable was the inclusion of indigenous, gay and trans-gender people in the event and speech-making.

Boise, Idaho, USA

Feeling of an up-note theme, but some of us wandered off topic to the many riots and protest of police brutality that are currently taking place in the U.S.A.pestilence,
These articles have spurred an interest in the importance of economics where there was none before and also stimulated those who had interest and knowledge of economy.
Economic policies are important and these articles have changed views. Many very appalled, shocked and disturbed at the wage disparities.
Economics disscussions are very important now. It is clear this system is not going to work any longer. We are at a cross roads now with the covid pandemic pointing out social econmomic injustices and bringing them to the fore front.
Will things change? What makes things change? Hope for change! Must think outside of the box! Do more volunteer work. Recognize the power of our actions - time to push forward to a new normal!
More education sharing resources, co-operatives. Basis of economies in making all lives better. Economies must be intertwined with the value and importance of our ecological system! Some corperations do this - purchase their goods and start a wealth tax.
This pandemic has brought together many many peoples who may have never united before....the potential for change is high!

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

Appreciation for the stimulation brought forward by the material.
Appreciation for the 20/20 team's work.
Occasionally when I read or hear an idea it is more than interesting, it resonates in the heart, it turns something, it's about a deeper connection between an idea and the heart.
Resonating with the material on a deeper level impacts for me on the heart level.
When I'm given another perspective from someone else, I'm aware of a heart response - or not, in which case I often don't finish reading. There is sometimes the appreciation of a certain frequency of vibration, like having more light, vibrating at a higher frequency. I'm resonating with an idea if it lifts me out of the 'usual' and lifts me up and out of that dense place.
No peace without justice - DUH.
Relationships are key. The spaces between, as the exchanges, the connections that need acknowledgement even when I don't understand. Being comfortable with the unknown.
I am grateful for inspiration and new knowledge, which can also trigger me as I realise there is much I don't know. How to deal with that and come back to the simple?
Many traditions are worth hanging on to, but many older things and ideas don't serve us so well any more - paradigms that no longer serve in today's world.
Choices - awareness to choose love over fear, awareness that there is a choice.
Decisions are helped by asking myself if a particular choice will bind me or set me free.

May

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

Feelings of connection with the earth, sharing about that. Listening and sharing about interconnection, and once again our need to engage responsibly with the planet. Sharing about our natives and their wisdom in Brazil, and how they are in dire straits at the moment. A lot of sharing about our feelings related to the pandemic and our state of isolation. Sharing of our feelings of heartbreak and a renewed wish for connection.

The Orchard group, Herefordshire, UK

It was a beautiful gesture by the Kogi to open to the world, having hidden away to be custodians of an ancient timeless wisdom born of an animist pre intellectual pre observer consciousness. Perhaps there is a golden thread that connects that ancient more direct relationship to the divine and to nature that runs into our present time? The Kogi and Maori and other indigenous peoples are golden threads, indigenous peoples that are truly our "elder brothers", deserving of our deepest respect. So too are the deeper wisdoms that faintly echo even within our own western culture born out relatively recently as it is upon an observer "scientific" objective relationship to the world. The ancient Celtic traditions echo through our society. If we but pause and listen very carefully and attentively. Soo too the very early Christian mystic traditions that ultimately form the basis for the deeply moral resonances that people still feel in their hearts evoked especially at times of crisis: love thy neighbour as thyself; do unto others as to oneself; judge not and be yea not judged. Ours is an unfettered untethered lost "younger brother" society. Detached nomads having gained freedom but at horrendous price. Yet our very laws which are now dry sterile dead and unfeeling are ultimately based upon these ancient golden currents, barely alive now within our own societies. What can we do in response to the call and the warning of the Kogi? We can perhaps create a sacred space for our own reconnection and for those that come after us. We can listen. Imbued with humility we can become more reflective, more receptive, less prone to impulsive opinion or angry fiery responses. The required responses to Climate change and other 21st century challenges are not merely intellectual and technological ones, though important these indeed are. It requires a deepening of ourselves, to find once again those golden threads within our souls, to warm and enliven them once again, to reconnect and resurrect our spiritual capacities, open and alive to the world, seeking to learn and seeking to answer to the calls and cries of anguish and pain with constructive responses, born of thoughtful loving care in our actions. In doing this, how do we help to awaken others? How do we inspire and awaken those who are more deeply enmeshed and wed to the status quo?? This is a fundamental question that we must meditate deeply upon as there are no easy or simple answers. Yet answer this question we must! We must!!!

This time around I found the feedback more interesting than the materials. As I said in our meeting, although the specifics of the individual pieces might not have been familiar, the general thrust of them was, and has been for many long years. And although I acknowledge the relevance and importance of each, what concerns me is the temptation to a kind of fuzzily romantic, back to nature view which, in my view, can obscure or confuse us as we confront the problems of 21st century industrialised societies. And although the examples we were given clearly contain sensible analyses and wise prescriptions, as well as awful warnings, the history of the Maori, for example, has both violent episodes and extinction events of its own which we should remember when contemplating our way forward. The vast scientific advances and huge lifting from immiseration of millions are things for which, in my view, we should be grateful even whilst we rue - and may be ruined by - the consequent environmental destruction. The Kogi know this. We need to heed their warnings, and we need to act. The question as to how we should act remains. Finding one’s own proportion, noting one’s own greed, not making things worse - that’s the least I can do. Alongside listening to you all, it may be all I will do. But it’s not nothing.

I found this material to be both humbling and moving.Recognising that Ancient wisdom whether Kogi, Maori or here Celtic can teach us if we LISTEN and take note of heedings. At the end of the Aluna film, Mama Shibulata gave hope by saying “ don’t abandon your lives, protect rivers, Mother is owner of everything, without women who would guard all this”. In this time of pandemic, women leaders, e.g. Jacinda Arden, Angela Merkle, have shown how to be clear and strong with their message of how to proceed. Let’s hope that out of this Great Pause global wisdom may come forth ,that a golden thread whether tangible or metaphysical can heal and bind humanity together.

We don’t need any new ideas, new knowledge or new technology to heal the world. Everything we need is already available within the deep pool of human experience and culture. Wisdom is expressed through the lens of the culture in which it is embedded, yet wisdom is timeless, it’s value does not depend on context. Carefully translated so that it can be seen through the lens of another culture it is not diminished. However it seems that there exists some interference that is preventing the world’s dominant culture from integrating the wisdom offered by those cultures who have learnt to live in harmony rather than at war with nature.

I am continuing to find the ClearVision2020 material incredibly interesting, useful, challenging, and enlightening. My huge gratitude to the team for enabling us to journey together. Thank you!

My response to the May theme has been principally to marvel at the relationship the Kogi people have with the natural environment - a depth of connection to, and understanding of, the world we are part of, that has strength, certainty and a felt knowledge of systems and the web of life. The films also highlighted for me the power and importance of some form of education and training, of passing on knowledge that is necessary to guide us, and those that come after us, to live with reverence and love for the cosmos we inhabit (even if the methods used by the Kogi would not be acceptable in our social structure today).

Although feeling very moved by the material, I did also feel somewhat re-moved from the depth of connection that was displayed - as if I was engaged in an intellectual exercise and being reminded of how we ‘ought’ to be. Aware of this, I returned to the words of Joy Harjo (For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in its Human Feet) which I had, initially, found myself quite untouched by. This time I understood where the piece was coming from and connected deeply with the sense that I/we are drifting, untethered and wandering (as Joy says) and thus are unable to inhabit our true place in the cosmos. I have, like many, had felt glimpses of this belonging; fleeting moments, that its good to be reminded of, and which stimulate our engagement with the work of re-connecting.

Writing this feedback I am becoming aware of: That I could have given more thoughts to the material before our session in order to give a response better reflecting my deeper connection to the material. That I am gaining a lot from listening to you all. I learned about my own biases, my own “limited” looking.

Deeply listening is as one of the guiding principles in this project. Listening not as in hearing, but allowing it to penetrate, to touch me, feel it and then take it to heart.

The Kogi mamos decided to come back a second time because the “younger brother” did not listen. The mamos listen deeply (in meditation, in silence) for what the Mother/Aluna is teaching them. They take that to heart and act accordingly. They show their wisdom in the way they are.

I was touched by their dignity in the way they were meeting the “younger brother’. The compassion and respect they have for the living world was transmitted in their second quest to make the “younger brother” understand making him see. They came not from a place of aversion but from love and sadness for the pain done to the world. Made so tangible by the way they stood next to that power station and that polluted and dead lagoon.

Over the last couple of months I have looked at and listened to talks given by nuns and monks of Plum Village. It was less by what they said that taught me and more by how they “were”; what they transmitted by their ways of being.

I believe that we can only inspire and awaken others by the way we “are” rather than by what we ‘do”; to act from a place of wisdom, compassion and kindness for all beings.

The golden thread was a beautiful teaching method, metaphor. You could not miss seeing the inter-connectedness of all things; respecting all living (and material) things as they are an indispensable part of the cycle of existence.

This tribe of people who are the guardians of an ancient holistic wisdom has made a deep impression on me. Their spiritual dignity, their simplicity, sense of community and training of the mamos all remind me of the Tibetan culture before the diaspora. The Kogi embody interconnectedness and that’s the power of their message to Younger Brother. They reach the heart because they listen deeply to the Mother, Aluna. But the tragedy is that nothing has changed. Will it even change with the latest message from nature of the corona virus? I would like to believe so but the Kogi have closed the bridge and withdrawn. And I think that means we’re on the path of self destruction. I live in both hope and despair.

We may imagine that we would never go back to living in such a fundamental way as the Kogi but we may have to, may choose to.

I cannot foretell the future, predict how things will be for us but I do feel we are living on a knife edge and that we should not doubt that the earth will seek her revenge for the way we have treated her. In the film, seeing the power-station on the shore , the newly built port and road, the disappearance of the lake, the lagoon, dead, choked by the road , the small pond at the mountain top which is supposed to feed five rivers, I felt the despair of the Kogi at the sight of the broken connections. The connection not only of the water flowing down but also of it flowing back up again, around and around in a continuous cycle.

The poem by Joy Harjo gives me a kind of peace which I enjoy. Don’t look back , don’t look forward , just look at all that is around you, with no regrets, no expectation, walking to feel in contact with this one world.

Seeing the lack of snow on the Columbian mountain just led me to the global reality of climate change which will continue to happen. Faced with this huge change, the only solution for me is to show compassion and kindness to each other.

As I said before, I really struggle with the reality of a dying Alina and the hopelessness I feel that there is so little we can do. I have resorted to tending to my garden, planting trees, medicinal plants, fruit and vegetables for my immediate environment. Watching the Kogi was emotional but also in a way reassuring. Their message has not gotten through. Younger brother hasn't a clue! We cannot fight against it so the best thing to do is withdraw into our mountains. If we all act with respect towards and listen to Gaia and be in the moment always, we help some healing to take place, in a small way. Hopefully this disseminates awareness to those around us.

Direct our loving kindness towards those younger brothers that haven't seen yet...

You wouldn’t start from here. The Kogi show us, little brother, amongst other things, that for all our cleverness we are not wise. We have not understood or respected, that unless we have at the centre of all that we do, a deep understanding of the connectedness of all things, we have understood nothing. Without love, care and respect for the earth from where all life comes and is sustained we will fail.

Building walls and disappearing into silos of specialist expertise, getting carried away with ‘because we can, we should’. Without recognition that we are all part of a system that has at it’s heart the earth, the hub around which all else revolves. The sum is greater than the parts and each part must care for and hold love for the heart of everything. That must guide our actions.

The current Pandemic, Black Lives Matter and Climate Change bring global upheaval and invite systemic change. Can we respond wisely? Communicate, collaborate rather than compete. Can we be wise enough to build in fluidity so that there can be responsiveness to changing needs. After 9/11, any skyscraper built was re-enforced to withstand bomb blast. Demolish that! Now the office blocks are empty, working from home the new norm, facilitated by technology.

We cannot go back, we are where we are. How do we go forward with wisdom? First the great wrongs must be acknowledged. The false gods of endless growth and wealth accumulation must be abandoned. Value systems must be challenged.

It really is that simple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

The Kogi and the Mamos made the deepest impression expressed by participants.
Their rituals, their connections, thoughtfulness and respect.
The Kogi are like an example or an illustration of the potential of humanity as something beautiful (not a killer ).
We "the little brother " are heading towards a dark time and maybe we have to endure this darkness as the heavy hit to wake us up.
The pillaging of their payments by the looters is a metaphor for how humans are trapped in the money system and thereby also pillage the planet.
The Kogi inspired one to reconsider the personal focus and thought about when and how to do even a small action. To be fully present with the action, deep mindfulness.
Their initiation for men seemed a very important process and when compared with our own society, which has no obvious and healthy transition to manhood, we need to ask how do we build in our culture the necessary respect and care for life.
Listening is thinking, is learning and we can act with the right intention and attention each in our own small way but we need new leadership.
The Kogi message is a dire warning.
The level 4 Covid Lockdown showed us how nature will recover when we cease ruining it.
To restore the Mauri for the land is an important message and action. Tiwaiwaka needs to be taught from a very early age for everybody in this country. This is a way through to creating a new story / mythology for our way of life. To build the care and respect we admire in the Kogi. We too can do this.

Auckland, New Zealand

It’s a struggle to be here this time, the experience of the world feels heavy and there is a sense of compassion fatigue. I weathered the Kogi story with helplessness and resignation. How can younger brother be brought to listen? The system is filled with ignorance and greed and I don’t know what to do about that.

I felt excited and uplifted by the material. I have heard the call of older brother and there are more and more people getting that picture. There are people who have lived with indigenous people elsewhere and have brought that awareness back to New Zealand. For example Country Calendar ran an encouraging article about a food forest in Northland. It’s significant that the Kogi want their message sent out now. I feel optimistic that things will change.

The video was a powerful image of the importance of connection and that seems to me to be an important theme to explore right now. Younger brother does not see the connection between the mouth of the river and the source in the mountains. Cut a tree and the oxygen is reduced -we are all affected. What we do here affects there. Everything is to do with connection.

The Tiwaiwaka article was not very coherent however it does seem that actions have been a bit hamfisted on the part of Maori under the Tupuna Maunganu Authority.

The Kogi story was hard to listen to at first but the spirit of those people was actually very uplifting. There are parts of our human planetary community that are dedicated to supporting the health of the planet on behalf of us all. How wonderful!

It’s a great joy to be back together in person. My heart sank at the beginning of the Kogi story but it’s extremely beautiful that they have been able to hold on to their understanding of the environment so well and have such compassion for younger brother, even to the point of travelling to London to bring their message. They are doing what they can and we are doing what we can. Wisdom comes from interchange and asking questions. We have to watch for compassion fatigue and not compare our efforts to those of others. As Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”.

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

Really appreciate witnessing the variety and depth of others' responses to the material.

We have seen a glimpse of what our world could be...but our old life is incompatible with that and squeezes out that newness. Change is hard to effect.

Importance of listening to the ideas of all of humanity, not just those in the dominant culture.

Recognising the journey of bringing all the pieces back together to form wholeness... there is wisdom in the dark places.

Being with others with a kind and open heart, developing those qualities within in order to truly create an interconnected world, recognising the importance of this work.

The material is still settling into my consciousness. It will stay with me. It will change me in a way that will raise my awareness in how I inhibit my space in this universe & teach me to further question my occupancy choices. To search deeply and unearth where my thoughts & deeds, i.e. "walk" doesn't match my "talk". I feel Blessed to be a part of this 20/20 group.

Lest we forget as we emerge from ‘Lockdown’ how much the physical world has benefited from profoundly less pollution. Willingness (and right effort) to devote more time and awareness to training our minds towards wholesome living and relating. Continually remind ourselves the interconnectedness of all life and the universe - "relationship is not an option”. Live in a way as to be loving examples like the Dalai Lama and become beacons of kindness. Find our way home to our true nature through love and clear seeing and then help others to find their way through the darkness.

It is so valuable to really hear each one’s response to the month’s ‘homework’ - including hearing my own.

Being in a forum where I feel totally heard and with no pressure to 'hurry up' or have others speaking over (even with their best intentions) is lovely. It doesn't happen in any other place or space like that. For me the greatest realisation last night through others sharing the the Kogi was about the value of darkness. The light has 'gone off' for me in my own darkness and for the first time ever I am feeling optimistic about exploring that part of my wisdom.

Watching the Kogi movies, I felt great sadness seeing how humans are despoiling the planet, sacrificing the complexity and wonder of the natural world for crude megaliths and toys. It seems hard to find a way for the momentum to be stopped short of catastrophe. Can the earth support 7 billion humans? If it is to do so there needs to be a lot less selfishness, ignorance, greed and hatred. This is not news. The preciousness of authentically engaging in the path of dharma, learning to be an embodiment of good qualities is the best activism. Though 7 billion is a problem, it could also be 7 billion working on a solution. Appreciation for the wholesome activity of countless beings.

A common theme from indigenous groups is that they are not heard. They have wisdoms that could benefit all, but the dominant materialist/objectifying culture is deaf to other dimensions of understanding. It’s not that indigenous cultures have all the answers, just that they may have some very helpful things to offer.

Listening to the members of the group, their ideas and insights gave me confidence to extend and explore further.

Admiration for the persistence and patience of the Kogi people, and other indigenous peoples, given the seeming futility of their task. Their wish for the industrial world to cease its damaging practices is excellent, but the latter is so entrenched that the wish will, very sadly, probably not come true. The Kogi's efforts remind me of the vow in Zen, “sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them”. i.e. never give up. It used to seem naïve, but what are the other choices? The symbol of the gold thread that links everything to everything else – so poignant. Similarities to Tibetan culture in their practice of grooming children for spiritual leadership.

Christchurch, New Zealand

Noticing the “Gap” between world view. How can I accept and be open to a different way?

The voice of Papatuanuku/Mother Earth is being heard through the Kogi and indigenous peoples. The consciousness that this matters is the challenge globally and we can begin to work with this locally.

What’s needed is a deep change in our attitude towards the earth. We are not separate. Hurt the earth, we hurt ourselves.

The process, observing my personal responses and bodily responses to those different views. Go with breath, calming. Reduce hyper. Stay close to Papatuanuku in harmony. Intuitive. Bring that to dialogues of different world views. One planet.

Questions around different cultures and narratives and ways of defining “Truth”. What is our role and responsibility to the Earth? What is the narrative that helps make sense of that?

Impressed by …1. how the Kogi adapt to the modern industrialism, and ... 2. Local Maori traditional healing practices.

I enjoyed being part of a gathering- felt accepted and loved. The tribe was centered on and in touch with the earth.

I can only quote Martin Luther King re Healing the Earth…”The greatest triumph of ‘Evil’ is for good people to do nothing” Be aware of the negative influences at present affecting our earth . 5G Technology (non-safe technology) and harmful Big Pharma drugs (especially proposed vaccinations for Corona virus).

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

Love is power
Enjoy these sweet people
We are Mama's
In darkness you see the light
Wear barefeet
Feel the soil
We are the resistance
Listening is thinking
Golden Thread
The Lotus Flower blooms in Mud
Talking separates me from experience
Unconditional acceptance by tribe
I am 26
Stop corking mama's arse!
Time to synergise ancient wisdom and modern technology
Sit with me in nature.
I am not that.
I am that.

Belmont, Dordogne, France

how to integrate Kogi way of life into our own western way dominated by individualism?
thinking of the generations to come
building freedom based on principles and rules
Kogi show so much human kindness they are living examples
change only can happen when you get out of your comfort zone
balance
reduce consummation, reduce exploitation of natural resources, world wide natural family planning

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

Amazement and awe at the wisdom and knowledge of people with no contact with other peoples and no written language of the ways of the earth and living things. Earth's systems and rhythms. Awareness and mindfulness. Consciousness of the taxation that human beings place on the earth, thoughtlessly and selfishly. Guilt.

To discover the golden thread within. Imagine it reaching from beginning less time until now. The yearning to awaken. The Dharma. This feels like a test. Direct experience.Fear for the suffering to come and joyous at the bounty of spring on the Coast.

I am left wondering why I am not incapacitated by grief. In my twenties, I spent all of my spare time travelling, paddling and skiing in the outdoors. I was acutely aware of my feelings of ecological grief and colonial guilt. I wrote a great deal about it at that time. It was also at the same time that I connected with the dharma. Fast forward 30 years and nothing has improved externally with respect to the ecological crises, however; my mind-states are definitely different. I can't exactly pin down what that means. Maybe because of the ongoing traumas to the planet and in my personal life, I am simply inured to and have had my fill of grief? Or maybe through this engagement and other wholesome activity, I am able to hold many strands and am working towards meaning and meaningful action. Either way, seeds of karma will ripen and if I keep practicing, I'll be certain to find out!

As for how I was feeling at the end of our time together; even though I trust in both my own personal ‘power’ and our collective powerful potential for good, for the wholesome intention, I felt very unsettled, uncertain of ways to leave the confinement of covid and move forward skillfully and with knowledge. In all of the uncertainty, I realize how strong my faith in the Dharma is.

Very rich and inspiring circle tonight. I left feeling a deep sadness; but also felt supported or even affirmed. We each of us do what we can. With gratitude for the dharma.

The Mamas said "to think is to listen". Their deep thinking/listening inspires me to go inwards to practice deeply and in listening to respond, as they did, with forthright courage, determination and action in the world. To extend my comfort zone, call correct, and reach out to others who may be able to make a difference. To chose to support those who are trying to make a difference. We can not do it alone. All is interconnected.

Our meeting was infused with the current crisis situation in the world today. This brought a visceral experience to the meeting and allowed everyone to access their own personal truths in a way that would not have been possible without the COVID crisis. The fusion of the theme - indigenous knowledge - and the personal truths resulted in movements towards action, a few examples included: empower youth; working in the context of our own immediate environments; and listen to one another more deeply.

I'd like to share something about the films.. I found the way the Mamas were using the thread to heal and reconnect the land very powerful and moving. And has got me thinking about the Earth more like a living body.... also that contemplating extends to my life and body as well. How, and in what ways am I connected or disconnected.

Such powerful sharing. I feel so privileged to be a part of this group endeavor. How important it is to look and listen deeply at this time.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Difficult to follow the Tiwaiwaka message because of the frequent insertion of Maori words. Couldn’t keep track. Couldn’t focus on the article itself.

Felt the Maori article was not inclusive.

Having a Maori dictionary was helpful for clarity. Loved the article.

The need for one language that speaks for all.

The poem didn’t appeal because the genre of poetry doesn’t speak to me.

Loved the poem - the title itself described how to step forward: For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet.

Consensus on the Kogi films: compelling, heart-breaking, beautiful — timely to watch these films now.

All the materials offered were a calling to join together and work to heal the planet. Humans must work to serve the Earth.

This time of lockdown has heightened our awareness of nature. It’s quieter. We can hear birdsong. Despite the social distancing people seem friendlier. We are striving to make everyone safe, not just ourselves. There is a commonality. Can this transpire to include healing the Earth? Will we listen?

Boise, Idaho, USA

A positive response to the subject this month, but annoyances arose with the author's article on Maori healers, bringing a feeling of his arrogance. Not really helpful for what was being expressed!

Interest, fascination and amazement with the Kogi and Maori cultures and ways; so interconnected with Mother earth. Western ignorance so shocking - our big mistake, thinking things should be a certain way - how fleeting and disconnected from nature our culture and society is. We have gone arye!

Sadness and guilt for the disappearing native cultures.

Also noting our own liking and attachment to our modern ways.

Much intrigue for the blending of the spiritual and physical worlds in the Kogi culture.

Valued the practice of a Spiritual leader being the social leader. Admiration for the education of the young men in their right of passage into cultural awareness, brought to the forefront, how lacking our own modern society is in this Spiritual connectedness. It is amazing how this closed loop society came out of seclusion to warn the rest of the world of the trouble we are in!

Will Covid pandemic teach us of our interconnectedness or create more closed loop societies?

Must pay attention to the smallest of actions in how we treat our world...love the simplicity.

Seeing that energy cycles and their completion is so very important for less waste!

Recognizing the power of the group - a call to action for positive optimism!

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

It was really valuable to be gifted with the indigenous perspective, especially "big brother" which communicated interconnectednessof everything. And from such a place of oneness that it highlighted our disconnection. It evoked a sadness and a deep remembering of how much we belong but haven't got ways of living that are in harmony with that and don't disturb the balance.

Importance of deep listening continues to resonate for me. And the cultural mis-perceptions that occur when we try to communicate and there is a lack of deep listening between different cultures. There is no moving forward without listening deeply to all.

The futility of blame. Also the gold thread was an important metaphor, but the filmmakers seem to have failed the story by losing the importance of that.

Listening. Time to create connection to gain the deeper wisdom. The Mamas took time time to listen to their own thoughts. Wisdom coming from each other - collective wisdom.

Openness to listen. Enjoyed the material.

Reminder that inter-connectednes is always there. The gold thread reminds me of Indra's Net.

Importance of the calmness of the delivery of the message. The Mamas tried one way and then another, but without anger at the lack of comprehension by "little brother".

The mother energy focus at the end of the Aluna film gave a sense of Hope!

Panjachel, Guatemala

The more time the coronavirus impacts us, the more reflections and change will happen, … in all the fields, economics, new innovations, climate change, …

We seem not to be able to appreciate the width and depth of life, ...

Ignorance can only be changed through learning, ...

We stick to what we know, ...

Sustainability: Through control of resources, keeping our planet clean, population reduction, ...

What will turn humans around: if nothing else works anymore, ...

We need patience and hope, ...

We are still kind of in the dark ages, ...

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

Maori and Kogi’s are empathic with nature, … opening fields of consciousness, ...

Crating think tanks

Plants are sacred, … animals are sacred, ….

London, UK

Thanks for the May materials.
We found it hard to connect to the materials in the present situation.
We found it more nourishing listening to how each other is dealing with the current isolation.
We will continue to look at the 2020 materials but agreed that focusing on our own practice and supporting each other in these difficult times feels like our priority.
We wish you well and look forward to hearing how other groups are dealing with these times.

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

Unity is a common theme. Environmental destruction mirrors our disconnection from ourselves. Indigenous cultures offer us a way to hear the wisdom of our innate being.

Pa Ropata reminded me of someone who went to the elders in Papua New Guinea, who told them to listen to the birds and the rivers, and you’ll learn everything. Sacred pause has given us the opportunity to hear. We create so much noise it shuts us off from being able to listen.

Being inspired by the depth of our exploration and what it means to be a living being, as part of this world, as an expression of the wholeness of all life.

One has to be receptive to the messages. A certain willingness—“To think is to listen”—still a work in progress.

Listen to the different messages in new ways. Listening to each other and with the earth and all creatures. Learning to see and know in new ways.

April

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

The Life Boat Ethics brought out some feelings of repulsion, some confusion with an unwillingness to look at the article.
Found the idea too disturbing and did not want to think on it.
Greed hatred and delusion.
Human behavior of seeking territory and dominance which begins from our deep past and earliest beginnings.
Competition is the problem and money is a poison.
What is a fascist and an eco fascist ? The suppression of information is fascist.
We must always work on bringing things back to the self and what one can do in one's own consciousness. Maintain an awareness of how stuff affects you.
"the war is in your own heart".

The Orchard group, Herefordshire, UK

First gratitude for the value and nourishment of the circle..knowledge gained, hearts warmed, food for future thoughts. Firstly I found the material deeply disturbing..words, racism, white supremacy, eco fascism, that are arising in movements globally.
My initial response was to find the poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller ‘ First They Came for the Jews’
Then : Hasn't it always been thus with human beings in one form or another?
Then, remembering Ram Dass when he spoke to his Guru about starvation in the world his Guru said “ can’t you see it’s all perfect, love everyone, serve everyone”
And then the first Noble Truth, that there is suffering.,
This, plus the insights from the circle are helping with resilience, flexibility, and openness.
May be we could use a bit more laughter. I’m also here reminded of Bernie Glassman and his red nose amongst darkest places.
The ugly and disturbing views of "eco-fascists" express their fear and suffering. And like a vicious circle such views only instil more anger inner turmoil and unhappiness. We ourselves have ugliness as well as beauty within us. We too are capable of selfishness. Mindful of this we can choose to respond to those who hold such views with love and compassion. The lifeboat analogy is not a true reflection of reality and the concepts of "ecofascists" are not a true reflection of nature. If the earth is a boat then there is no one outside of it. If there were there'd be people floating in outer space. The reality is that everyone, without exception, is already in the boat. We along with the whole of humanity are literally "in the same boat". Nature, in truth, is more cooperative than competitive. And within us there is no inevitability in our selfishness. We can make moral choices. We can find a relationship once again with each other and with the earth. We can find connection once again with the beings of the world, to experience the earth and its' manifold life as ensouled and sentient.

Recognise the sadness in them for they know not what they do.

Although already aware of the term eco-fascism, it was both shocking and sobering to read the articles and to be reminded of the struggle we are engaged in. However, I was truly grateful for the opportunity to look beyond the articles and to explore other commentators response to the phenomenon. Hence I have delved more deeply into ‘the commons’, as a blueprint for systemic change, as well as the issue of global population verses resources. I also see clearly the continuum of thought, feelings and behaviour that exists around climate change, and how the most helpful response is to follow, as the buddha advises, the middle way - or, as I heard it called on a ‘Crazy Town’ podcast - the messy middle. A quote I picked up (from Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute and Resilience.org) says much to me: “Systemic change driven by moral awakening is our only hope”. This of course requires difficult and sometimes uncomfortable engagement with those within and without the environmental movement who we might sometimes strongly disagree with.

ON first reading the material it triggered very strong reactions. I even thought of leaving the group because of the direction I thought it was going in. On second and third readings I just followed the logical sequence of thoughts and realised that one could come to the lifeboat conclusion if we have no moral parameters. Survival automatically kicks in. Then I began to think what I would do, and I could not honestly see myself going overboard (unless we were close enough to shore to swim!) or letting the lifeboat collapse with the extra load. Or cutting off hands (an even more abhorrent image).

Yes it was very provocative and productive and in the end very worthwhile because we had created the right platform to be able to talk freely without judgment.

To be honest I don’t what to think or even how to think about the material, the sharing and the much changed world around me.
I would like to rest in the security that wisdom, compassion, right words and right action would prevail and that all will be saved. However if stop to think how we got to this position, the way forward has no less greed, selfishness, fear, arrogance, supremacist thinking than before.
I could despair in my own lack of conviction that I would do the ‘right thing’.

The current pandemic invites cooperation and collaboration across the world to find a way to save all people and yet in the recent meeting to coordinate a response USA, China and Russia chose not to attend. My hope flickers.

Can groups such as ours with links across the ocean make a difference?

I value my travelling companions, the thought provoking contributions and the care expressed.

There were, not surprisingly, some strong reactions in the group to the April material.
Apart from the lifeboat analogy, the expressed views were not new to me and it is so easy to respond in a habitual way to views you don’t just disagree with but are also quite disturbing.
The meeting gave an opportunity to listen to others’ comments and the different and very thoughtful responses was very supportive and illuminating.

We may not agree with certain views but it is crucial that we can listen and understand with a more compassionate heart where others are coming from, what is behind their views.
Not for nothing means Chenrezig “the all seeing” and Kuan Yin “the all hearing”.

It also helps me to become more aware of my own opinions and their consequences; seeing my own fears and reactivity.

This clear vision project , especially in a time of lockdown, gives us also an important and much appreciated opportunity to come together as a sangha through which we can support each other and share our journey towards greater wisdom, loving-kindness and compassion.

I was not surprised or upset by the reading suggested for the group, but I was buoyed by our exchanges. So thanks for them. Especially for Alex pointing out so succinctly how false the lifeboat analogy/comparison was - we are all in the lifeboat already, and always have been. It’s often been said that those first photos of the earth from the moon were a defining and illuminating moment in our understanding of how precious, and how isolated, we are. We are, indeed, all in it - or maybe on it - together. No place like home. But it’s always useful to hear other points of view….Ad also made a point that resonated with me - how/where, in myself, can I identify the beginnings, the residue or whatever, of those thoughts, attitudes and emotions we were asked to read about? Self-cherishing, fear, hopelessness - the list is long, and I can find them all in myself. Sometimes they get the upper hand. Sometimes they do so without my consciously realisation - or so I like to tell myself. ‘Othering’ too plays a part - not me, not us, etc etc. It’s so important to try to understand the other, however difficult that might be. We are all connected: Buddhist Hindu, Christian, Atheist, Jew…the grasses and the bison, the planets and the stars, the oceans and the sky. No separation.

So - thanks, be well and happy, stay safe. Hope to see you all again sometime soon.

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

The challenges of both climate change and Covid-19 are similar in that they present an opportunity for societies to create a better, fairer way of being.

What ways are there for us to live meaningfully in this ever changing landscape.

For antidotes to the 'lifeboat' view need a bigger picture. Deepening our appreciation of loving kindness, impermanence, death and karma.

Realisation that we may be OK but it is not so for many others.

A story from the Simpsons where everybody wants to shelter from an asteroid in Ned Flander's bunker. But it is so overcrowded that there is no room for Ned who patiently accepts being outside. This moves everyone to join him. Loving kindness in action.

Parallels between ecofascist heartless views of immigrants/people 'not like us' and the way New Zealand deals with so-called invasive species or pests. Many are happy to exterminate tens of thousands of introduced species in order to preserve a particular view of the natural environment.

Recognising there are many stages of spiritual evolution. We need to learn to meet with all these states with loving kindness - including our own failures. Love can encompass what we don't like.

Gaining confidence in the heart's guidance.

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

I think there is a human tendency with struggle to go into fear and otherness, and how can we use our struggle to make us more together, not more shattered? I think the core element of that is upholding the innate dignity and preciousness of human life, and when we denigrate others we automatically denigrate ourselves.

I think what was so abhorrent for me about the peak indifference and the white supremacist point of view was that the wish to continue a carbon-based growth economy was more preferable and important to that point of view than the reduction of consumption and the reduction of use of carbon so that there was enough for everybody. That's what was abhorrent. And of course I think about myself in relation to that, I look at myself in relation to that.

For me, it's just keeping in mind that all of life is precious and to be valued. All of it.

I'm going to carry this enquiry, it's often been with me but I want to deepen into it more : I don't know where the line is or should be around how much I should be supporting other people's needs instead of my wants. Am I on the lifeboat already? And in what ways am I already denying people, in less obvious ways than eco-fascists do?

It is good to make the unconscious conscious. And it is good to have my bubble burst. And it feels gritty and good to really wrestle with the question, the vow of offering my life energy for the welfare of all beings, including the eco-fascists, how do I do that? How do I live that question every day?

There's a link between feeling the unity of life, and peacefulness and harmony. I think it's really important to live a life of non-harming.

Mine is short and sweet. What's really alive for me is the Sanskrit word ahimsa, it means compassion and non-violence. That's what I want to say.

I'm feeling in some sort of confusion, not mental confusion but diving into some very deep place of feeling. But what's strongly come to me is how to live in a sacred way of honouring life since the sunrise to the sunset and overnight. Come back to sacred life. Simple and sacred.

Auckland, New Zealand

It’s good to be woken up to these eco-fascist arguments. They are persuasive, Anne Rand-like. We need to be aware of this agenda, it is insidious and obviously operating in some people’s minds and in some parts of the world.

The lifeboat metaphor should be totally rejected -we don’t have to look at it this way. It’s interesting but appalling to read this stuff and quite scary. It’s a twisted philosophy, the politics of difference. Very sobering to know this is operating in the world.

One usefulness of this circle is it takes you to places you wouldn’t usually seek out. I was wondering what the purpose is of focusing on these views and I concluded it was important to be aware that such viewpoints exist. We need to be aware to understand the motivations driving beings. How to meet with the challenge of people with abhorrent views? How not to encourage a binary position -us and them? And regarding emerging from Covid, what to support as the way forward? Whatever approach is chosen, something else loses out and suffering is created.

I was sickened and fearful reading about these people. We are at such a critical point for the planet and this is evil. What can we do? My conclusion is that we need to love. Love trumps evil. Love every being. For the past 20 years we have been acting like we are in a lifeboat. We have to work to keep everyone included.

It was interesting to read these articles. Such views are seductive because they have a kind of logic. They are like the analogy of using a bright torch walking through the forest at night. The light actually hides the forest. These views hide the true nature of interbeing whose complexity could never be described in such simplistic and exclusive views. The truth of this living planet is vast and unknowable and we can only act with as much integrity, awareness and compassion as we can muster in the face of it.

This was a very difficult reading but I pushed my way through. It’s a reminder to guard against righteousness and zealousness about ones own moral code -a lot of these movements are born out of righteousness. We all hope we are on the side of right but we can easily be blinded to the other side of the coin.

Christchurch, New Zealand

My personal response to this material was that it does not reflect the reality that I see. I see left-wing thinking dominating mainstream thought much more than right-wing. I see terms as 'facist' and 'racist' being used as baseless accusations to silence the capacity for dialogue.
It is a healthy reminder that truth does not come from any particular fixed perspective. If we look to the media and other people's opinions for an understanding of reality, we will not find it.
Meditation is a valuable tool for coming into direct experience of reality.
Talking circle methods would be valuable tools if we could have the difficult dialogues around the April theme, “out in the world”.
Once again the listening to others and being open and mindful of the process. Today left me contemplating the complexities of humans, so trying to understand by categorising leads to a lot of assumptions and polarising/divisions.
How will we have peace and kindness if we do that?
Balancing heart/mind Empathy for the disenfranchised.
The April theme created a lot of confusion in me. The logical mind could see the point of view but this clashed with the heart.
Enjoying the community of the group. Great to hear people’s stories.

Belmont, SW France

balance between the rich and the poor needs to be revaluated
the poor need to be involved in the process of decisions
very mind opening subjects
have not been aware
grateful of the process which gets triggerd through this work, gives lots of new perspectives

Online Group: NZ/Tauranga, Brazil/Ilha Grande, NZ/Thames, NZ/Tahunanui, NZ/Motueka Valley, Brasil/Campinas.

My truth is what propels me into the next moment. May there be the courage to hold the truth of suffering and freedom in awareness of love and clear seeing. Each breath, each smile, each contraction from this amazing co-created world.

We have much to explore, inner and outer coming at us at this time. Perhaps more resources and practices that contribute to kindness interest, patience and love in a variety of modalities.

There is fear and sadness. Let's open and love make sure we value life and train ourselves more and more to value all life

Today I felt, during the meeting and now, reflective about the course of life in the world and my role on that... simplicity is very strong as a good and skillful response... I want to explore simple way of living that don't demand to much of life... I want to request from life more and more and listening with life want/can give me or not.

Watching the diversity of creation of life, looking for ways to embrace It all in the wisest and compassionate way I'm capable of, and at the same time inquiring how to contribute with my living to value, honor and give back to life.

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

Wholeness or fragmentation

Revulsion, confusion, unsettled.

Wise heart skillful action

"At first I felt mad, sad and uncomfortable from the materials. Then once I listened deeply to what the group was saying I felt the entirety of the human experience, which encompassed playfulness, joy and oneness along with those initial thoughts and feelings."

Nourishing and rich sharing from everyone. Ranged from political and ethical responses to gratitude for the dharma and the role of spirituality and engagement.

My immediate feelings as we dissolved our circle was, I felt part of the whole. Thank you all for sharing each of your responses to this most difficult topic.

Horrified by what's happening on a government scale, but heartened by what is happening on the local and community level..

The interesting part to me is what potential may lie in the intersection of where our differences actually overlap and are in common.

All beings want happiness. Perhaps this is the place where the boat can creatively, compassionately and skilfully expand to include and support all of life?

After the meeting I was left with a deep feeling of overwhelm and the next morning I could remember nothing of the sharing circle. My mind had blanked it all out.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

The source material was interesting to read and raised interesting questions. Overpopulation is a difficult concept to address. Is the earth a closed system? The assumptions underlying the concept of “fascism” are, on some level, difficult to pin down.

I had difficulty even approaching the material when fascism was seemingly its focus. I did not feel comfortable at all with the suggestion that the world is unable to support its current population. I have always believed that current resources on the planet could provide more than enough for everyone if they were fairly distributed.

We should look deeper than making simple assumptions about what is going on. Society is deeply skewed. Who is gathering the statistics? We don’t have all the data.

I was scared by the topic coming from a family that went through the war. Parents never talked about it. I am not proud of being part of the white race and what we have done to those who are less well off.

I had had enough by the time I got to the third article! Reading the “Tragedy of the Commons” Harding came across with clearly thought out points. People are now coining phrases from him which often distort the source material. I was upset by the mis-quotes – “cherry picking” from the original text.

Use of the word “fascism” is inappropriate in this context and I felt the “Tragedy of the Commons” was worthwhile. I do not like the use of the term “leftist”. People now have real issues to deal with and big shifts seem likely. Covid-19 has actually allowed us to stop before going over the cliff! At the same time, fossil fuels have in many ways allowed us to feed more people (fertilizers, transportation networks etc.). This has brought about horrific distortion because of unsustainable human development with too many people. “Overshoot” by William Catton talks about the carrying capacity of the organism. The industrial world uses too many resources and the carrying capacity is no longer there. If find the term Eco-fascism is very annoying and diverts attention away from the real problem.

I was distressed by the theme. Ecology and fascism are terms that are thrown around a lot but not fully understood. Meanwhile people are dying in long-term care. One MP today suggested re-opening the economy right away because Covid-19 is “only affecting old people!”

How are we going to be together in future?

There is some gratitude that Covid-19 has provided a brake in the headlong rush to destruction of the planet. It does give people a chance to consider alternative and less harmful courses than the way we were going.

Printing money is being used to deal with the current pandemic but the economy has been broken. I feel there is more to this than Covid-19. No one wants to see old people dying but what about the 30 million people affected by a destroyed economy. Think about the long-term social impacts with people being encouraged to inform on one another where lock-down rules are broken.

Eco-fascism is nihilism. Love and compassion are shared with everyone through the dharma group. Be hopeful!

Why do we have this circle group? – meditation skills can be useful for the benefit of others. Be present with others. It is important to be in a state of loving kindness outside to allow the feeling to spread. The skill-set will be useful after all this is over. Be careful about those who would stir us up with comments and articles.

I experience our current circumstances as positive. This could be a reset where there is a new shift in consciousness. Deer are back in the streets of London and fish reappearing in the canals of Venice! There is a lot of love out there! All bets are off – what’s the dharma if it doesn’t help in these circumstances.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Boise, Idaho, USA

• Recognising the oscillation of 2020 themes...an upper then downer, up then down.

• Very painful to hear of these views causing upset and disgust.

• Pissed off that neurotic intellects have such a voice in society, can see this view but it is wrong.

• Disappointment and anger that 2020 has picked this topic - how does this help clear seeing?

• A new experience to hear of these views. Blown away, a lot learned about compassion and believe in people wanting to
      help other people.

• Surprised recognising these views exist, maybe closer than we know. Fear of these views being on a larger scale. Does the
      good outnumber the bad? Focus on the best good. Need for compassionate beings. Seeing how much opinion is run by
      emotion. How does one clearly see all views? Does clear view create compromise? Still confusion and anger.

• Amazed because apparently smart people's views can be so prejudiced. This must be a small minority of people who can
   vocally project their views makes it feel bigger. Holding hope for the resourcefulness of humans to find a way to
   compassionately change for the betterment of all..

Panjachel, Guatemala

• The articles make a lot of sense,…but the picture is not big enough,..

• How to maintain population,…and not to reproduce,…only possible by giving food and condoms,…

     • For solutions we need out of the box thinking,…open and spacious views,…

     • We don’t need nihilism,…people evolve according to their capacities,…

     • Maybe in the last minute change happens,..

     • There are no exact answers,…

     •    These times are a good opportunity: having time to meditate, being in contact with the unified state,..and recognizing our
   fear state,..

• Many countries have guilt feelings about first nations: Canada, USA, NZ, Australia, Spain, Germany how to recognise those
   feelings and reconcile?

     • Are we still racists,…... recognising our racist parts,…

• More communication and positive projects between different races are needed,...

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

• To perceive in the apparent difficulties the opportunity for making decisions in a fresh way, with wisdom. The creativity
   that is  generated by the purest of conscious states. We are all in this together, there is no separation between us. May all
     beings be healthy and happy and free from fear.

• Now is the ideal moment for us to understand deeply what the opposite of edom fascism is...which is the "ecology of the
     less favored". So that we have a it's time to intensify the necessary changes in the world and in ourselves. To be a
     billionaire is a dysfunction of the capitalist system, and needs to be healed. No fear to fight for those changes. Local
actions are essential.
May life live, meditating if possible..

• Crisis arise so that we have the opportunity to diminish the space that establishes duality. From a cisio to a a unity, the
path to a new consciousness. To fertilize the ground so that nobody has to feel the fear of misery, with culture, love, and
      the planting of native seeds. To give a child a safe and loving space, understanding that the other is in fear, or hungry, or is
   afraid of hunger.

• To realize that the other is myself, that we were children. To know that we need a clear vision on what is preventing the
world to be fair and take a stand. With balance, peace and love, in favor of the ones in more need.

• Crisis is an opportunity(even with all the challenges).we need to keep our ground fertile, both the earth and our hearts.

• To go beyond the bubbles of reality, beyond what is lacking, to see the moment as an opportunity, to find abundance, a
shared aloneness, the keep a fertile ground!

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

Most of us were able to have a “sharing circle” using Zoom.

Both the material and in my day-to-day situation – my question is “where is the love?” The material is clever, but there is no love. My heart is seeking – where is the love? There is a whole dimension outside of the physical 3D world which is abounding with love.

Gratitude to engage with topics that I wouldn't normally engage with and share with like-minded people. It brings a richness and more truth on my path.

There is a potential for eco-terrorism externally and internally in any of us given certain situations, but with connection, transparency and community the journey can be very different. Clear transparent leadership is showing itself now in this difficult situation.

I feel it is important to strongly reject this kind of thinking, but to embrace those who think this way with love and compassion.

The material has provided a good challenge and I am grateful for being given the opportunity to reflect on this “difficult” material.

I feel gratitude for the material – it has been quite provocative and a bit of a challenge.

The material has brought out the whole continuum of views. Where am I with these viewpoints? I can seeing positivity coming out of what is happening in the world now. There is potential for growth within humanity.

If I can widen my view to be more inclusive then anything is possible, and the bigger my view of the unfolding of consciousness on this planet the more grounded I feel and the more I feel a sense of well being.

march

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

We in New Zealand are very fortunate in our current situation and are likely to be insulated from a lot of the impacts of the coronavirus for several weeks.

The value of recollecting our childhood memories of being connected with nature and how that experience shaped and supported those of us who experienced that connection. The need to encourage that reconnection for this and coming generations.
Appreciation of how deeply language shapes our way of relating to and interacting with the world we live in.

Enthusiasm for 'ki' and 'kin'.

The contrasting speculations we have between ideas about the dire possibilities that may be ahead of us versus the

great hopes and possibilities on many levels to create a revised, happy and vibrant society. So many ways things can
be made better.

Appreciation of how the natural world, when given some respite from our depredations, responds rapidly and

abundantly. eg clearing skies over Chinese cities.

Recognition that our culture is conditioned to the ideas of colonisation and ownership. How respect for other views and other cultures would open us to alternative and wiser ways of being and relating to each other and our environment in future.
Teach our children we are nature and not something separate. We are the Universe looking at itself - curious and

wanting to be healthy again.

Recognising that many are wanting and waiting for things to return to normal'. They may be disappointed!
Thanks to the 20/20 team for the amazing material they are providing.

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

Shared was an appreciation for our resources, expressed with gratitude and humility. We have such a beautiful world here and we chose to be here.

The question to ask is " to what is it that we give our attention ?"

As we build intuition and know the deep longing for interconnectedness we need to blend science with nature spirituality.

We want to raise the subtle qualities of the feelings in our sharing between our individual selves and nature., to become more aware of not just what we may receive from nature but also of what we may be giving (while forest bathing ).

Also shared was the sense of possibility; of potential and of the recognition for meaningful action no matter how small.

And again, the awareness of the need to rewrite our story seeing the catalyst for this in our children and grandchildren.

We need a rewilding of the words as we are rewording the wilds.

Auckland, New Zealand

This month’s theme is a call to action - gardening or planting nature trails for example. People disconnected from nature are doing the most hideous things in the world. But we can still be awakened by images of nature without having access to beautiful places - for a child even looking at photos or videos of nature can be exciting.

The word “animacy” is interesting since it has connotations of intimacy. Meditation can bring us closer to the experience of connection with growing things. It’s almost like we need to go into deep consciousness to connect to the animate world.

This has been the most stimulating theme so far. But the COVID crises leads back to the theme of last month’s material - societal collapse. We can’t be divorced from nature and we also can’t know all the variables. For instance COVID-19 has had a huge positive impact on the environment and our understanding of connectivity has matured.

COVID-19 - is the world going to be totally changed by this? Gardening is more and more important - it’s so lovely to harvest to eat. On the other hand, kids are being confined inside away from nature. What effect will this have? Will they be even more divorced from nature than before.

The value of the sharing circle seems to be at least two-fold - firstly to expose us to readings and opinions we don’t seek out normally, and secondly to grow a sense of community by sharing the exploration and our reflections. In terms of nature, we are nature, everything we do and where we come from is nature, even covid-19 is nature. We are already totally connected and immersed in nature, we just need to recognise it.

The circle gives time for me to reconnect with myself, to ask myself what is the most important thing to do at this time. For me the answer is gardening. Themes of gardening have always been important to me. Gardening is a powerful connector and very contemplative. The way we frame our language is important - for example referring to the lockdown as a Rahui denotes honouring and has a prayerful intent.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

We had a meeting through Zoom.

Covid-19 was present during the meeting, as an obvious, very much alive guest. We shared how each one is coping with the new situation, states of mind, etc. and how isolation changed the way we have meetings for now, among other things.

We talked about the topic addressed on the material read and watched, and how turning live creatures into things by the mere use of language affects how we treat them, science, economy, socially.. in general.

Some of us shared how close to nature we were able to be during childhood and how that affected the way we experienced the world, and how that has changed and is changing in a fast pace.

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

Image of humanity being within nature, animals and fish and people and trees. Another image is a pyramid with humanity over nature. Ego-Eco. Feeling powerfully my place within the ecosystem rather than over the ecosystem. In a nutshell: eco rather than ego.
Restoration: of ecosystems inner and outer. Feeling the health of ecosystems return and knowing that all seeds will sprout in the right causes and conditions.
I wonder what lies on the other side of the great divide?
Reconnection/new connection
Two really strong contrasting things. One is about flow, restoration, waterways, cleansing. The other one: be careful of what control we give away as individuals. Be careful of big governments in this time.
Compassion for the anxious and afraid. I am prepared to hold, I have whatever it takes.
What is real and what is not. Being alert and observant through our slowing down of what was not just the big picture but also what is happening in households, behind closed doors. What can we do about it? If we can’t connect, maybe find a place where we can hold the very ordinary. Being present with the day to day reality. Trying to find new ways of being where we can’t be.
Hard to find words for what I am feeling and sensing. There is a contrast happening. Instead of rushing around in vehicles and planes, now we have time to sink in and be. Sitting on the ground. Simple.
Family, community, connection and support. Reset.
Hope.
Greatest lost, greatest gain. Opportunity.

The Orchard Group, UK

My feedback about the pieces and the meeting is that the sun still shines, the plants still grow and that the best thing to do is to see how delicate the whole process is, how the many variables have to be in balance for it all to work. We all need to realise and to educate, demonstrate this to young people through our action.

One asks of another '' What are you expecting? '', the other says ''Flowers''. One asks '' How can you expect flowers in this terrible times? '' , the other replies '' Because I am sowing flowers ''.

The material was so much more poignant and positive than the previous one which was about the inevitability of doomsday, that it touched a sense of poignancy, a sense of lost times, lost childhood. Lost but not forgotten. It reawakened memories of my own very natural sense of being at one in nature; and how most children do not have it now. It awakened my appreciation for what we do have. It also brought up the CV pandemic and how it has shut down the world as we know it. Looking through the prism of hope rather than horror, it seems that one bug has got us further than climate change activism, global environmental summits, carbon reduction schemes and all the tree planting we can possibly do. The birds are now audible, the sky is clear and people are not dying from air pollution in Wuhan.

Words and language express our worldview and consciousness that in turn govern our disposition and behaviour toward the other-than-human world. Noun-names objectify "things" so we can exploit. Consciousness evolves in us as individuals and throughout history. Childhood if we can remember it was an intense magical experience of the world as alive and ensouled. Past cultures also experienced the soul of the world. The globalisation now "locked down" is a caricature of a truly global world, where we can imaginatively empathise and connect with all human and other-than-human beings. May corona can bring us this opportunity, but it's up to us. We are on a journey together to rediscover an old language and to create a new one, that expresses joy and love for the living world we are integrally a part.

Much to re-evalute here, especially all beings in the natural world, albeit for many hard to access at this particular time , yet even more urgent for deep connections to be made on many levels.

Words, as "in the beginning was the word” . The references to Ki and Kin and the fuller resonance to ancestors and all beings everywhere .To be aware of the words we use, especially around children who may be very fearful now.

Yes, a passion and belief of creating a better world.

Language shapes and is shaped by, not the world of things in themselves, but by our relationship to those things. The material suggests that children have an innate relationship to the natural world that acknowledges its animacy. It also suggests that a culture in which we spend less and less time in nature and speak a language that describes the natural world as inanimate “its” is leaving us impoverished and the natural world decimated. We can perhaps change this relationship for the better by paying attention to how we frame our situation and our relationship to the natural world when we express ourselves. We can reanimate the natural world in our consciousness and in doing so renew our connectedness and our care for it. We can instill in the younger generation a passion and a belief that they can create a better world rather than a fearful dread of impending doom.

Hope for the earth and our future lies in seeking, nurturing, and practicing the means to connect with, experience deeply, love, and be at one with, all beings. The material highlighted several avenues to enhance this search - for me the most powerful was the lost words and spell songs and the process around their creation. I think we all, throughout our life’s journey, discover what brings us closer to our love and connection to the world around us and what takes us away from this. For me, having the opportunity to share my own journey of discovery and experience is fundamental to grounding it and becoming more able to be ‘out there’ in a positive and constructive way that is both helpful to me and, hopefully, to others.

What struck me about the first piece and the need for children to be connected to nature was, well, of course. But not just children. As a society we are increasingly distant from nature - or think we are. Of course, in reality we are not and never will be. Children who live, as more and more of us do, in urban settings, don’t understand that their food comes from the soil, the animals and the sea, but none of us are encouraged to look too closely at exactly how. They should be, we should be. But, as Wordsworth put it in his Ode, Intimations of Immortality, 'Heaven lies about us in our infancy! Shades of the prison-house begin to close. Upon the growing Boy..’ That sense that we - all of us - progressively lose that innate sense of interconnectedness as we grow older. Without romanticising them, I think children do inhabit a world far more vividly populated by animate beings, that aren’t or don’t have names or ‘adult’ logics. We educate them out of it. So maybe it’s us who should be listening to them a little more carefully..

The second, the pictures, I liked. Which is what you’d expect. I spend a great deal of time looking at, and making, pictures. And, as we all know, every one is worth a thousand words…The ones offered struck me as good of their kind, but I didn’t spend a lot of time examining them. I’m sure I’d have learned a lot more had I done so.

The long piece about language I enjoyed. Again, a subject close to my shape-shifting heart. The ways in which naming can both help and limit interpretation and understanding - especially the idea that we are fixed human beings who cannot also be coyotes, salmon, or eagles - well, anyone who’s done a bit of meditating will know about that. I’m not always me, whoever that is, but I know I will be defined by others, as I will define them, even though they - you - routinely surprise me. The tole of language - especially those for whom English is not your first language - know in your bones how deep and surprising it is. Pictures, of course, don’t suffer from that disadvantage, until we start using language to interpret them.

The Jackie Morris/Robert Macfarlane piece is familiar territory - Jackie’s poem/drawing for Otter has, for e.g., been in the Poetry Bookshop’s window in Hay for quite some time. And I’ve worked with otter with Nick Sales on ‘Rock Songs’, a theatre/film piece that had many reflections on the many variations of names and naming. I love that stuff. More proof, if proof were needed, of the vast diversity and richness of words and naming. And much more yet to come, if Generation Z have their way (they will).

All of this topped off with a lot of coronavirus commentary and reflection. My view? That it’s the price we pay for upsetting the balance of nature - or maybe rather pushing too far into it, exploiting it and coming up against — unleashing something that we had no name for - now we do - but, as yet, no ‘cure’. We will find one, but not before there has been much suffering and death. A reminder that we are not separate from nature, whatever words or concepts we use.

The article on language reminded me of Right Speech in the Eightfold Path. Where are we “coming from” when we speak? What are our intentions/motivations? Are we coming from a place of respect?

All the material for me spoke each in their own way to “how do we relate?” and the importance of connecting. As Wendell Berry once said we will only love what we know.

To the zoom meeting:

Gosh, how heart warming to see/hear you all, that was quite wonderful. Am still feeling the impact of this meeting. Go well and safely. 2nd May same time same place?!
Although I was initially reluctant and sceptical about an on line meeting, I have to say I am really pleased we managed it, regardless of technological issues here and there.
I found the meeting powerful after I could let go of the distraction of my technological muppetry and am hoping we can continue like this for as long as we need to.
I am also thinking this may offer opportunities to connect with other groups around the world and would love to hear world-wide feedback on this.
It was a powerful experience to hear each others’ voices in that way. My listening was much more focused that meeting in the circle.

London, UK

Most of us found the material stimulating and enjoyable.
As a grandparent it affirms the importance of pointing out and affirming nature to my grandchild.
It affirms the importance of our immediate locality and relating it to our Buddhism - and affirming the preciousness of the tiniest of living creatures. Like a wren outside my window - how it could vanish without me realising it - the importance of noticing tiny precious beings against the global climate backdrop and concerns.
It reaffirmed the infinitely precious nature of all aspects of nature - if we can’t name it we don’t always see it
How to find ways of expressing our perceptions and experience in as nuanced a way as possible feels very relevant at the moment when we’re in such unchartered emotional territory and our habitual ways of expressing things may no longer be adequate.

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

I am encouraged and feel lighter pondering the forward looking notion of "building a new civilization" rather than grappling with apocalyptic doomsday-ism. Just noticing how each of those trajectories effect my body-mind, and, my parenting.

I have always been interested as to how language maps reality, especially from the mouth of colonialism. I am thinking about the new signs here on the coast with indigenous namings. It feels like step in the right direction. SWAHA!

Natures tide is constantly changing with ebbs and flows. I feel like when my heart resonates with the ebbs and flows then there is an opportunity. And through that opportunity I enter the changes knowing, feeling, and trusting that balance will be part of the process.

It has been a long winter, a very disturbing month and a week of full on uncertainty. My response to the last issue of 2020 stimulus was similar to that of Feb. and Jan. Fear, usually my close companion, is most often absent these days. Grief, on the other hand, is never far from my heart. As is my wont I broke the rules, again, being selective about what I chose to view or read or listen to of what was offered. My whole body responded to the short video about the ill effects of indoor classroom learning as opposed to outdoor education. I am both terrified and intrigued by what is happening from the point of view of the effects of global warming to the outbreak of a pandemic. Wonder struck by the stunning photos of our incredible planet, I then scanned through the main web site and came across an interview with Joanna Macy given by Jem Bendell. Since first discovering Jem in Jan. I am now captivated by both he and Joanna’s deep compassion and sensibilities. I am completely drawn in by Joanna’s description of ‘positive disintegration’. I’ve watched this interview 3 times since the beginning of March and here we are now watching this very positive disintegration she speaks of as it unfurls itself across our world. I am amazed by the beauty and balance of Mother Nature. Her impeccable timing. There is no one to blame for this random act of Nature. The only response I seem to have to her unbridled response to the damage we have done to her, the havoc we have wrecked, is awe. I am preparing for the worst. Death crowds in close. And here at the very brink is compassion and infinite opportunity for loving kindness.

I tried to feel words in my body and notice how they feel. Notice what the body does to support the thought manifest as sound and sometimes as action. Easy example. Feel yes and no.

If I had to come up with one word that encapsulates my response it would be blessed silence. Well two words.

I was inspired by Richard Louv's talk. Even though it is 9 years old, what he said still rings true. Nature is transformative. We need to celebrate it, be out in it, take our children out in it so that they know it, are comfortable in it and love it. We need to be careful not to burden children with our own fears around climate change. Nature, while ever changing, is a positive force and young minds must be inspired and allowed to create all kinds of alternative structures and practices that can help us live more sustainably as climate change progresses.

Covid -19 is currently showing us how quickly governments and people can change and adapt. Much more of this kind of action will be needed in the future and it's young people who will be in the forefront. We need to support and encourage them. Nature is such a powerful force if we work and learn from her.

Familiar and friendly stuff.

I am now experiencing some of those children that I had taken out to experience the forest and nature who are now adults with their own children. I find the word nature cold and objectifying somehow.

Interesting article on language, and objectifying things not "human". Humans sometimes do that to themselves, referring to "the foot, the heart" when it should be my foot, my heart. Usually when there is something wrong.

Ask a child if we are animals - you'll get some interesting answers.

As the consequences of our alienation from the natural world become more apparent let us open our hearts to all sentient beings , and , with respectful awareness, ask forgiveness. " I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I love you ".

Christchurch, New Zealand

Energy and exuberance.
Wheel, hubs of light.
Energy and a still centre.
Dissolving edges, shifting the idea of separation.
Awareness and consciousness amidst nature.
A child's perspective of the world.
Tenderness of an open wound- life and energy come from this.
Not separate from nature. Knowing this unity.
Spiraling energy across the sky.

Boise, Idaho, USA

Responses are the opposite of last month, subjects easy to align with, hit home.
Made sense, hope, excitement, inspiration, fun approach to language, recognizing the power of words and the force they have sometimes get out of control, seeing our language supporting our disconnection with the natural environment; sadness and frustration of oneself and others disconnect with our natural mother earth.
Recalling childhood experiences of close connection with nature... as if part of our DNA; but experienceing this fade thru out one's life. So important to feel connected with environment.
Present these subjects as an important part of all school curriculum starting very early.
Renewed opportunity and challenge, to know the truth!
Disappointed in the lack of provocative stimulation by this theme and feeling manipulated by these varied monthly subjects, confused by so many views.
What is the truth? What is good? Is there the silver lining in all conflicts? Needed...more meditation...more retreats...looking for knowing.
Let the Earth be our lover!

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

Stimulated thought about the way, in New Zealand, we name creatures we consider pests. This gives us the right to act violently against them.
Greater awareness of the growing disconnection between humans and nature, even though we are part of nature. How skillfully to remedy this, especially for young people.
We are nature, and nature is us.
If only we could open our hearts and minds to the richness of indigenous cultures, we could open ourselves to their wisdom. We need to support our young people to connect with nature.
To be present both with listening to the wounding of the earth, which is also the wounding of ourselves, and at the same time holding this earth with love, wonder, and gratitude for all of life. If anything can save us, it is this love.

Vancouver, BC, Canada.

It was good to review the guiding principles for Community Circle Sharing.
So appreciated my father after listening to Richard Louv. Dad brought us out into nature as we were growing up — camping, hiking, fishing. Some of my happiest memories.
As a kid, I was sent out the door after breakfast and wasn’t expected back until dinner. We had so much freedom to explore outdoors, have adventure, to play. Though I don’t have children, it seems that nowadays kids are so confined by rules for safety, and play appears confined, structured. Fear is prevalent. Someone will be injured, beware of strangers...
Kimmerer’s suggestions of using the pronouns ki and kin are thoughtful but unrealistic. What’s so wrong about the pronoun it? When we refer to dogs, we never say it.
The very fact that English is a conglomeration of many ancient languages suggests an interconnectedness with nature. It is not just a language of colonization.
Richard Louv’s articulation that we must make the idea of action toward sustainability and climate change interesting and worthy of challenge for kids is timely. And, not just for kids. Negativity and fear rarely accomplishes anything.
The fact that so many of Kimmerer’s students were amazed by the introduction of ki and kin as they went out into nature was a bit much. Was relieved when there were more levelled responses from a few students. Kimmerer’s intention was good, just not practical.
The Lost Words is a unique book. It was passed around, and another copy was given out to share.
It’s beautiful and amazing to be interconnected with nature whilst one is in retreat at Wangapeka.
Lovingkindness, compassion, resilience, the dharma, prudence, goodwill - these are essential to help rebalance our experience with the world.
Doom and Gloom: Coronavirus. The seriousness of the virus cannot be overstated. People this is serious. Not hopeful it can be contained. We need to pay attention.

Motueka Central, Motueka, New Zealand

Recognition that we are already crafting lives with strong aspirations to live close with nature.
Building connections with nature is already occurring and has often driven choices to live in this region for the benefit of our children.
Eradicate fear of what is coming and trust that what is coming is for a purpose.
A critical mass is needed of people able to turn towards the difficulty and move through it.
The antidote to panic and hysteria is a conscious community, connected to others and feeling supported.

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

Grateful for the material.
Animacy: awareness of livingness within beings without hierarchy.
Connection with all - interconnectedness.
Life force.
Deepening awareness.
The balm of nature.
Seeing the space between as connection rather than something that separates.
Letting go of black and white.
A feeling of Ki and Kin with everything - related to the idea of animacy.
The world as lover.

February

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

I keep thinking this too will pass. The wipeouts. You know you're going to be ok!!! Interesting background.
A woman of privilege. It goes through the ages. Over and over again . Don’t let them run amok. I'm fond of the shape of you all.
I have a question. I wonder how the earth would be if instead of us surviving 'Neanderthals' had survived. If it would have been the other way around.
I have no idea how to summarise. I want to draw on some the of fun and spontaneity and community and love and surrendering to the process.

Get back up.
UUUUUhhhhh.
Slow
belly laugh.
Connection.
Whisper.
Community
Equipoise
The heart knows.
Passion
Gratitude

Take refuge in connection with all life.
Vibrancy in the moment.
I really want to be grateful and honour all the first life that made it possible for us to be here. I want to honour our ancestors or lineages . Everything that made it possible for us to be here and connect and share.
For some reason these words keep echoing in my head. "No animals were harmed in the making of this commercial." That would seem to be the biggest lie of all.....Turns out, our tireless obsession with Product has led to the destruction of all forms of life on the planet.
I have an image of this big monolithic building that is made out of concrete and it is falling and it falls into a web that is so, on one level, so precious and could disappear so easily. Fragile and strong and humans are.
And that is the web of contain sound community.
I just went though the washing machine through the wipeout, the grief. It's important to go there. Someone said to breathe out and really give space. Maybe my head has just popped up. There is love here in the space that is left. Taking refuge in what is here, the life that is here.

Nelson 5, Nelson, New Zealand

Our sharing on the themes of Inevitable Societal Collapse, Probable Catastrophe, and Possible Extinction, and its associated theme of Deep Adaptation, was intense and in-depth.
Often during the sharing, expressions related to how far the truth of impending catastrophe had “sunk in” to an appreciation of “the way things are” at this point in history. For the long-term environmental activists amongst us there was deeply felt anguish at the progressive ignoring of scientific data over many years, and seeing the warnings that began nearly half a century ago actually coming to pass.
Apprehending the themes was pushing up, for some of us, incredulity, horror, grief, confusion, numbness, depression, and old psychological issues, on the one hand, alongside a much increased recognition of the very special thing our planet and its biosphere actually is – and the rare and special thing that human existence is. Contemplation of the themes required an anchoring of emotional stability, which for some of us was grounded in the universal “big picture”.
One of our members brought inspiration from Maori culture and perspectives from a recent gathering at the Wangapeka Centre close to Nelson. The gathering had been inspired by Rob McGowan (Pa Ropata), emphasising the importance of Maori and indigenous peoples' perspectives and traditions, and of supporting young people to face the truths of the themes, of caring for the land and the biosphere, of passing the care message on to all, as if it were pollen being blown by the wind through a field of corn (a beautiful image).
Questions about how our Buddhist practice and the Buddhist view inform our response to the themes came up. One of us had recently received one of the warrior empowerments, which she was finding very energising towards positive responses to the climate tragedy. Others were still in the process of reconciling, if possible, the truths of impermanence, suffering, cessation, and path, with the themes – an ongoing task.
Questions relating to our individual decisions were strongly present too. Given that travel technology has enabled the scattering of our families worldwide, and that family bonds are so important, how much flying will I do to maintain them? What will I say to my family? How will I deal with their responses if negative? What about my friends? What does the situation demand that I Relinquish (one of Jem Bendell's Deep Adaptation three Rs). What in my life can I Restore?
It is difficult to encapsulate the entire richness of the sharing we did, and the commonality we expressed, so we'll leave it there for now.

The Orchard Group, UK

Our second meeting was felt as a more integrated experience with a clearer focus compared with the first one.

The February theme had triggered off some strong emotions of grief, sadness and despair.
It was also experienced as a powerful wake-up call: to face up to reality, take it on board and move on from there.
Times of uncertainty also offer the fertile ground for great changes to happen.

Some positive notes:

Meeting as a group (in the context of the Clear Vision Project) is by itself a positive response to the challenges we are facing; we are doing something of value that will have positive ramifications.
Being together and sharing our thoughts and emotions builds resilience and support our individual adaptations.
What we are doing here falls within the context of “deep adaptation” and re-connection with each others.

Despite the seriousness of the theme we found some space for humour.

The following questions came up:

“where are going from here as a group?”
“how (if) do we inter-act with other existing action groups?”

We did not elaborate on them as at this stage we are well aware of the fact that we are engaged in a as yet open-ended process.
Being part of the group though will support each individual in their actions within the framework of other groups. E.g. some of us are members of XR.
We felt the need for a deeper exploration and the understanding of “deep adaptation”.

_ _ _

NB: After the meeting one of our members sent out some further comments to our group on the article of Jem Bendell together with “A response to Jem Bendell” by Jeremy Lent which is available on the website of resilience.org.

I have put this in a separate attachment believing this be an important piece in our discussion to be made available under “resources” of the clear vision website together with a link to the website of resilience.org. Resilience is an organisation that gives support to building community resilience. They also give an on-line course on “thinking resilience”.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

Difficult but compelling material to contemplate.
Written material difficult for many. The video more approachable
The group meetings are an encouragement for us to explore the subjects more deeply.
Recognition that extinction is already happening.
Though the activity of the group is not to produce any specific results what we hear from each other changes us and may spur some to action in their field of interest.
Being with the unknown.
A revolution in each person’s heart is needed. Each person needs an open hearted approach.
In the face of potential doom, do we deny or explore the truth.
As we face unknown circumstances, we will need kindness guided by wisdom. When or if we should give away our last tin of baked beans.

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

Mixed feelings: anger, despair, hope.
Anger about how to integrate this information into life.
More questions than answers; more uncertainty than knowing. Sitting with that.
Empathy to compassion.
Important to stay as informed as possible, without losing hope. to hang on to the positive vision, to turn things around. I do believe humans are capable - to look after each other, to look after the planet.
Deep trust that we can hold true to our heart knowledge, and live in it, whatever may happen.

Orinoco, New Zealand

Our second circle sharing commenced with an introductory question concerning refuge.

Many if not all of us find refuge in the earth that we live in whether we recognise it or not. Its’ natural beauty inspires us while its material riches provide for us. We feel its physical connection through its gravitational pull. This can ground us and can give us a deeper sense of connection. Individually, we consciously make this connection to the earth before we start our circle sharing.
What if the Earth as we know it no longer felt like a source of refuge to us - ‘for us human beings’? Where then would we find some other form of refuge?
A geode was placed in the centre of the circle and represented a manifestation of the earths natural beauty. The geode was in two pieces and when opened revealed the hidden crystalline beauty within. This object of beauty, as passed from person to person, was a reminder of what lies inside us if we allow ourselves to reveal what is hidden there.
Many of us found fears coming to the fore when reading the material presented by Jem Bendell and watching the video presentation. He revealed a future (in our lifetime) that was not very welcoming if not bleak ~ a future we did not want to know about. This made us uneasy.
Yet what he expressed felt authentic, truthful and coming from the heart ~ revealing a refreshing leadership which is not common amongst today's leaders whether in the corporate world or political arena. Some of us expressed a wish for more leadership of this sort in today’s world.
All of us recognised that the material presented had had some kind of impact on us and in some cases was still having an affect - a gradual affect as if we were still waking up to what had been revealed. There was something we had been ignoring or even ignorant of.
To some there was the understanding that we human beings as individuals or as a mass are witnessing a colossal change that is beyond our control, our manipulation or ability to change.What do we do with this new awareness? How does this change our view of Life?
Others believed and hoped that humankind would still find the answers to solving the woes of the world.

A number of salient points and valuable questions have emerged from the scientific opinion offered and hypothetical (What If?) presented by Jem Bendell:

To be made aware of the imminent loss of ‘our’ environment, an environment which has been taken as a given up until recently, is now a catalyst for cherishing what truly is important to us – not unlike the experience of a near death. As such, this moment could be seen as one of great opportunity - for a shift of view and a radical change of perspective.
The causes of our current struggle have been made explicitly clear. What makes this particularly poignant is that we are all responsible in some part. There is not one individual we can blame and then feel we’re off the hook and carry on as normal. Instead we are in this together both in terms of cause and effect and result. We humans are interdependently the cause of our current struggles and will interdependently experience the effects of these causes. We will also interdependently experience the result (affect) of these causes and effects. What does this unique set of circumstances evoke in us?
With this new knowing where and what is the source of our Resilience? What is being asked of us to give up – Relinquish? What will we recreate – Restore? How and what is our new vision evolving into, now?
An appreciation for what others had shared/offered - how this had broadened the individual view of things and affirmed the commitment to this process.

A ‘What if’ Poem

What if your attention was a love song?
Your awareness a holy offering.
Indeed, the most holy of all offerings.
What if your attention was the greatest gift you have to give?
Great enough to transform your humble breath
And your simple footfall into a passionate kiss for the wild Earth.
And what if loneliness was just a dream
And lovelessness an illusion?
For what if the sun had forever been loving you
With each moment of light, and the moon,
And even the darkness too.
And the earth,and her million glories had always been holding you
In a seamless embrace.
And what if you loved like that also?
Loved this life so fiercely you saw beauty in the ugliest of places?
And wounds became wonders.
If you loved so much that even pain had purpose.
If even the most terrible of things would find a place to rest
At last In your heart.
What if all this earth really needed was for us to remember?
For us to be here,
Really be here
For our hearts to open like the spiralling arms of a galaxy.
For us to surrender our tight bones into turquoise seas
And to gather together in the high mountain pass
And circle around the fire
And beneath the mandala of the trees.
And for our tears to rain freely on all the seeds patiently waiting.
What if our attention was a love song?
Our awareness a holy offering
And this moment and every moment
A kiss For the passionate Earth.

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Sense of indignation and powerlessness about the imminent change in Brazilian legislation on the protection of indigenous lands and the possibility of the current government to approve mining and agriculture in protected areas.

Contact with disbelief and disillusion of what can be done individually and collectively.

Despite the sadness caused by the imminent ecological catastrophe, the belief that this new generation emerge with a new mentality and conscience capable of transformation.

The importance and value of being able to exercise, in contact with the group, openness to contact with feelings as diverse as pain, fear, anger, guilt, helplessness, etc. Even though it is still a very diffuse and defended contact.

The inspiring idea of leaving a development perspective to enter a movement of implication;

The 3rd R (restore) gives the impression of also having a do, in addition to a deep and shared feeling.

Evaluation of the comforts that you still don't want to give up (2nd R).

May the Walk is more supportive and less lonely.

London, England

Appreciation of resources.
We found them challenging, questioning, shocking and found value in all three of these.
Tension between isolating/withdrawing responses and sharing/involving responses.
Interested in connections between climate crises, group psychology and political crises.
Not utterly overwhelming sense of despair, but sharing, coming together creatively (including Extinction Rebellion) and non-violently.

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

Newly Awakened hears the message and struggles to accept but begins to question priorities of the life.
Patience and Tact keeps an open mind and heart with loving understanding and compassionate protectiveness.
The Devotee of Life with undimmed optimism inspires courage to see one's way through.
Confused thinks all is too difficult and considers an inner plea to flee but summons determination to remain and grow.
Harmony and Dissonance rumble with anger and sadness though soothed by existing beauty and knows the mountain whereon form dies.
Equanimity monitors the thoughts moment by moment and keeps the feet on the ground.
Doubt challenges the premise and warns against hidden agendas and fear driven beliefs and suggests more (co2) may be better.
Alternative Science moves on a parallel path guided by whakapapa.

Yet all arrive in unity before the same door declaring that business as usual cannot continue and recognizing the great need for the creation of a new story.

The story to carry all into the journey ahead.
Through the door of transition.

Auckland, New Zealand

The material provided a rich source for people’s reflection.
The interpretation Bendell presents of the data that society will collapse in the near-term surprised everyone in the circle and is definitely disturbing.
Several people commented that it was also galvanising in a helpful way, in the same way as learning that one has cancer can have the effect of waking you up to what matters in life.
But our circle’s resident scientist was at pains to point out to the rest of us laymen that in reality Bendell’s view is only that -another, albeit well informed, interpretation of the available data.
And some of us pondered how we can respond to his view? The view that society will collapse within the decade seems too important to just believe from one person. It needs support from many voices in order to convince.
However we all agreed that the value of what he is presenting is to encourage us to live AS IF society will collapse in the near-term, whether or not it will come to pass. And having that mindset certainly is a game changer.

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

Unknowable suffering.
Fear leads to despair, despair leads to some kind of positive - wholesome state.
Still finding that line between feeling and dealing.
Its going to be a crazy ride on the helter skelter. Hold on tight to the 3 jewels.
Shattered and disjointed, many emotions bubbling up and bursting. Need to be vocal, speak out.
Wholesome engagement, what is reliable? What is the opportunity? Instill faith everywhere.
Take responsibility for mind states and actions.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Difficult and distressing to read the first time when the Deep Adaptation Agenda was first published. Just as difficult and distressing to re-read last week. Very academic. Lots of stats. The video made the theme clearer. Repetition good. Where do you stand in the face of social collapse due to climate change? Would you kill someone who broke in to your home to steal your food?
(Video) Liked Jem’s view of the potentiality of the world, the potentiality of humans. Liked the questions. What do we value? What do we stand for? Taking things to the heart.
Just want to live life as well as we can. Feels like we have a head start, though I am more distressed from the reading this week than I was when I first read it last week. Video was easier to contemplate.
None of this is new. For many other peoples and cultures of the world the threat of famine, drought, disease and despair is how people live and have lived for centuries. Western culture is just hitting the bubble now, because it’s affecting the privileged part of the world. We’re just becoming part of the cycle. No big deal. It’s no surprise. We’re all going to die. Humans have always been the problem and never the solution.
Frustrating to read. We know all this. Nothing new. I feel powerless that I can’t do a thing. I stopped recycling recently when I discovered what really happens to all the collected recycling. It’s always a toss between feeling very jaded and wondering if there is anything I can do to help.
We’ve been kept in the dark about this for so long. Remember the 80s? The ozone layer? But the despair will lead to something. We have to advocate with being with it rather than sitting around hoping something will miraculously fix it. Think Flood Culture.
The paper was academic. I’m glad he was speaking to academia, that ivory tower. What if we allowed ourselves to know where we stand? Does this change our response?
I’m worried that panic and a crowd mentality will bring out the zealots. I don’t want to see all that violence. I don’t want to be around for that. I don’t want to drink the Kool-aid.
Ativan is the answer! (Lots of laughter)
What is the quality of consciousness to be carried forward? If we stay focussed not with hope but with mindfulness, compassion and open-heartedness, we carry forward strong, and positive energy.
Only so much one can take when it all seems so bleak. But despair is a transition - there will be something on the other side.
Civilization is like a heat engine. It takes so much to get it started and to keep it going. Future communities will require mindfulness, compassion and open-heartedness to be sustainable.
So appreciative to be part of this circle. Jem Bendell seemed to use more loving words in the video: kind, joyful, curious. Made him warmer. He stressed the importance of a profound and loving connection with nature. It’s all a process and our circle is a part of that process.
Do as the Buddha said: appo Deepo Bhava —“Be a light unto yourself.”

Online Group: NZ/Tauranga, Brasil/Ilha Grande, NZ/Thames, NZ/Tahunanui, NZ/Motueka Valley, Brasil/Campinas.

what can we cultivate and what can I change or learn to react skill fully in difficult times.
we will never know how we will react until the time comes to react.
a certain overpowering feeling that others have control and do things without us knowing.... an example was all the satellites in the night sky.
how people , intelligent people can starting believable discussions and arguments based on fear trying to not having to deal with the situation or trying to deny it.
can we let all the stories into our hearts and can we deal with that... sometimes it's all to much to let it enter our being.
believe of how bad humans are or can be , loosing a bigger picture of love.
acknowledging fear and sadness.

Boise, Idaho, USA

Scientist will solve it...optimistic...is that denial...sadness? We are in a different world. What is important? Deeper reflection and thinking needed.
Appreciated the article but already knew the possible outcome - not sad, must make changes in life style.
Questioning author's data. Not understanding his facts need to do more research - get charged up. It is beyond one individual's influence. But change is needed for future children and vulnerable people. More meditation is needed. Academia is a terrible environment for tearing apart each other, this author is an outlier.
Really really really annoyed by the author's mind manipulation, spin for doom dayer, he is a cult. Where was he coming from? Pissed off, why did 2020 committee choose this guy? People are afraid. Pain has to be bad to initiate change. How will I change?
Shock treatment to deal with catastrophe. There is suffering in clinging to the way things are., Yes we should be affecting positive changes.
Feel depression - hopelessness - doom - have experienced these feelings before about life. All things change.
Trust for the teachers and wise ones. Compassion and joy solves problems. More love.

Belmont, SW France

gratitude to go through catastrophic moments
acceptance of cycles, developments, extinctions
accepting we are not so big and influential as we think we are
there is a bigger picture and we are present to it
balance fear with compassion
acceptance of death
we are connected, so our being does affect humanity on a collective level
positive feeling of challenges and adventures, finding solutions

Christchurch, New Zealand

Important to keep a lightness and sense of humor, but keep the depth….kamate kamate ka ora ka ora.
The power of listening without other comment is such a relief. It gives space. Coming from the heart feels so important.
Take action and don’t be afraid to share the possibilities of what may happen. The process is not exhausting. People are just listening.
The circle holds the space for individuals which is lovely.
The circle helps to practice non-judgement and knee jerk reactions (for and against) to what someone is saying. Brings a sense of community.
Liked the emphasis on the positive of looking deeply and seeing what can we do? If there is very little stay with the present. Negativity can lead to despair.
Being mindful of our actions and the interconnectedness of everything. Being accountable for what we do and how this affects ourselves and others.
Noticed the map of the world on the 2020 site and then the corono virus world map. Thought “what if this circle process is like a good virus, passed from human to human? A positive contamination of the world”!
The circle is an invitation to consider these difficult issues.
There is a reaction to the formality of the circle and the difficult content we are looking at. Feel a need to break out and have fun!
The content this month created a series of feelings…panic, then blame, denial and then action…what can I do?
It is important to question. To have bravery.
Noticed the process of listening and letting the information in. Not necessarily doing anything with it.
The impermanence of all arising, despite opinion.
Grief runs through this work. Accepting the grief, despair and negativity.

Motueka Central, Motueka, New Zealand

Really feeling the despair and grief, coming through it to a lighter place
The potentiality of humans to come together and connect
Essential living instead of peripheral living
Loving, connected living, being alive.
How do we integrate this process of despair and moving through into love and joy before the tragedy?
This love is our human-ness
The need to continue to remove the blinkers

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

Slowing down "of" ......and entering into the space to hear and feel "us".
Sitting in the one space grounded in the present, neither one side nor the other.
The space had anchored me in the sense of inter-being.
Evolution of consciousness.
An awakening of community.
Sitting and being; taking more time was valuable instead of planning and doing.
An experience of warmth and nourishment.
An experience of vulnerability.
Appreciation to be able to explore post-despair and the growth to come.
A feeling of kindness in the communication interchange, not necessarily in words.

January

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Appreciation of the proposed practices for opening and closing the meeting.
Relief and joy of having a holding environment where pain, suffering, and helplessness can be validated and shared, as well as sensitivity to environmental, political, economic and humanitarian issues.
Gratification for the possibility of developing listening skills.
The film's echoed question: Where from to get a hope of all this? Mobilizing the recognition of particular forms of action in the world - even if not resolutive.

The Orchard Group, UK

Gratitude was expressed for the material which was appreciated as being of the right amount.
The circle sharing was perceived as a powerful experience and the process itself was seen as part of the change needed.
Small personal actions will not be enough but participating in this project will support a change of consciousness on a larger scale and help to change things.
It may help to reach a tipping point in general awareness as the basis for the change needed.
Be the change you wish to see.
Some of us expressed the wish to have access to the material a bit earlier in order to have more time to digest it. Others preferred to see it just before the date of the meeting.

Nelson 5, Nelson, New Zealand

appreciation for the opportunity of the Circle to share thoughts and feelings.
the empowerment that comes from sharing.
concern for the degradation of the ecosphere (plastic and more).
concern about the crisis for future generations (animals and humans).
how inadequate such a short sharing is for the size of the topics brought up.
the power of being fully present for others.
desire for the joy of working with others.
doubt that people (even friends) will be there when needed.
family bonds and how death affects them.
the discipline of noticing one's own responses without needing to share them.

Nelson Central, Nelson, New Zealand

To listen deeply from our hearts. How are the materials we have studied resonating for us right now? These are some of the themes that emerged in our group.

Our profound love for this earth, and the wonder of interconnected life.
Our anguish and grief at the wounding of Mother Earth and her children.
Looking with compassion at our need to turn away from our grief and helplessness.
Rather, to commit ourselves to see and to feel. This is a conscious act of courage and love. We are willing to bear witness, to raise the question.
The richness of listening in our group, allows love to take us to deeper places of connection, of creative hope, and the transformation of our despair.
Awareness. How we live in the most ordinary seeming details of our lives, even when what we do singly seems unable to make any difference? The plastic in the oceans, which kills the albatross, is us, and is the doing of our human ignorance.
The journey of innocence, of vulnerability, of uncertainty, of not knowing. How can we travel supporting our own and one another's wellness, attending to our internal weather? To travel with open and loving hearts.

"What we most need to do, is to hear within us the sounds of the earth crying." - Thich Nhat Hanh

NBC, Nelson, New Zealand

About half the feedback comments were very positive responses to the circle process. The other half were responses to the ecological crisis and other existential threats life on earth is facing. The group became deeply engaged in the process straight away.

Regarding the circle process, comments like, “a space to be heard”, “an opportunity to express oneself deeply”, “the commonality of views expressed”, how speaking spontaneously rather than planning a comment was exciting and how the process gave rise to less repetition – once something had been heard, it didn’t need repeating, affirming or denying.

Considering the predicaments facing us by climate change and other threats, our lack as a species of recognising our interconnectedness with each other and the environment and our selfishness were raised. What each individual does matters. It’s not just work for leaders and that no one else’s contributions count. We need to be open-hearted, learning how to be active and engaged with difficult issues without causing harm from frustration or other negative emotions.

Our recognition of our wasteful habits has become more vivid - the daily stream of plastic waste. At the same time, there was appreciation of the great beauty that this world displays. Also, the issues have paradoxes. The plastic IV tube in a bird’s stomach that caused its death possibly saved someone else’s life.

Great transformational and interconnected change in society and the world’s economy is required. New Zealand, because of its small size and population is well placed and better placed than many to enact such changes.

Nelson 4, Nelson, New Zealand

Spontaneity, essence
Despair to empowerment
Despair is only one response and there are many more
Be with the beauty
Gratitude for the diversity of expression of truth
Whichever emotional response is felt leads to more energy available
Is some level of numbing, distraction, necessary?
The results of opening are unpredictable
Mother Earth knows best how to tame her unruly children
I am grateful for the medicine of being human
We begin a journey
May our children be empowered without needing to be in despair first
If I put my heart in a fridge and the power was turned off, what would I find if I came back two weeks later? Was it melted? Was it rotten? Or had it flown away?
Sensory overload of information
May aliens be on our side

Auckland, New Zealand

People in the circle clearly shared their own personal response to the material and we all recognised the benefit of hearing people’s different perspectives. What was most interesting was that each person brought forward a different focal point.

Everyone was very impressed by the feeling of presence of Joanna Macy. One person had experimented with the question someone posed in the video to others about the most important crisis in the world today. Someone else commented on the imagery of being the bell in the Rilke poem, others reflected on the ordinary content in the stomachs of the albatrosses. In terms of emotional response, the most reported response was one of being heartened by the good work being done by people in the video.

The circle consensus was that it feels as if the circle itself is in the forming stage and we are all trying to understand how to engage together with the process.

Questions arose as to how to enrich the sharing process. Suggestions were made that participants could keep in mind when reporting considerations such as memories invoked and calls to action experienced as well as emotional response. Some people requested more time for viewing the material prior to the circle to allow more time to reflect and to experience their response within their own life prior to sharing their response in the circle.

Refúgio Paradiso - Botucatu - SP Brazil

Gratefulness for the opportunity of coming together for an activity such as this one, of being able to meet.

Feelings of empathy towards what is happening to other beings on the planet, and how our daily actions impact their welfare.

Gratefulness for getting to know Joanna Macy and the Work That Reconnects.

Expressions of love for the planet.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Joanna Macy’s video left a strong “dying dream” feeling. However I appreciate her recommendation to acknowledge whatever feelings are arising and that it’s ok to feel that way.

I am struck by my own “ostrich feeling” – a guilty feeling for ignoring what is happening out there. I have stopped reading the papers because the news is so depressing. I draw so much strength from the Dharma group. At the same time, I’m aware of the contradictions in my own behaviours such as using so many oil products when I know it’s not good.

I often think of the Buddha as doctor – humanity is on the operating table and it looks very scary. Thoughts of the end of the world keep arising in the way that many endings of past civilizations have occurred in previous times. Grass roots movements are very important even if it feels like planting a garden by the edge of the ocean and waiting for the next wave.

Growing up in the 50s and 60s things were always meant to get better and result in everyone awakening to a brighter future. That dream feels broken but I don’t want to live in a state of grief even if I sink into it from time to time. There doesn’t seem to be an obvious solution but how can we respond? Choosing who we are is important.

My instinct is to not hurt people’s feelings but I hold extreme anger and frustration at the actions of older people in creating the mess that we are now in. I want to shape a vision of how we can be better by putting this in the form of stories. I want to inject compassion into this work. I have incredible rage about what is happening but know that we are all in this together.

How will we choose to be together when things don’t go well? I believe that people are good even when conditions are bad. Would I share my place, my food with others when things get bad? I hope I can show compassion in difficult circumstances. I see friends stockpiling for themselves but feel I can’t say anything. Sending out compassion to them is really difficult when I’m feeling just the opposite. I’m impressed by people who laugh even during their own suffering.

I want to meet Joanna Macy! She’s calm in a place where the difficulties keep coming. I limit my access to news but I’m still curious about it. Friendships are islands of sanity. I saw a recent video of scientists/vets retrieving eggs from one of two white rhinos left on the planet. I was moved by them all laying their hands on the rhino at the end – a blessing of goodwill. May this work continue with compassion and supreme alertness.

I’ve been noting the different channels of energy in the group and an awareness and appreciation of the differences in everyone. I have found it’s good to check in on relationships with others I come into contact with – physical, emotional and mental states – as a basic way of connecting with one another.

I think it’s really helpful to check out other people’s coping strategies.

In childhood I was made aware of basic facts about the bomb but it felt like it was left there and no positive ways of dealing with it were offered. Similarly, pictures of Auschwitz were around at that time but no one would explain it all to me. It was impossible for me to deal with and the cruelty still feels unrecognized. I think that bombs are not made by people interested in life!

I have gratitude for being in this situation where we can discuss these issues. It’s hard to avoid negativity as it often feels like it’s everywhere. There is also gratitude for connection to Dharma. I can’t imagine being without it to face the issues. Contemplation of the asuba practices as described in the Visuddhimagga is important at this time. Grief seems to be more on the surface now rather than at a deep level. The whole of civilization could end before the end of humanity!

I appreciated the sense of community that emerged in the video pointing to the strengths of coordinated group action to solve problems large and small.

On retreat, we had a microscope set up while we brought back samples of anything we could find outdoors and view it closely. Life exists everywhere on everything! This is the sixth mass extinction that we’re going through! I don’t want us to spread humanity through the galaxy. I believe that creating apocalypse fantasy can bring people together by being able to think through and articulate ways out of seemingly impossible situations.

As a species, I think we’re pretty cool as long as we don’t destroy everything. We need to hang on to positivity as there are so many cool things happening.

We should be looking more closely at time/space, permanence/impermanence, time as commodity (Ken Wilber). Human time is insignificant in the overall scheme of things. Every minute we’re losing 25,000 cells from each of our bodies.

Roberts Creek, BC, Canada

Uncertainty keeps us awake

The power of presence, intention+ grassroots action.
Walking over-view deeptime.
Guilt, shame, hopelessness, but a resolve for change ,and the hope that offers.
Each person in the circle said something that I deeply recognized as a part of myself.
Opportunity.
Discerning awareness and impotent RAGE!
Thinking of this as the blessed Buddha field, we offer it.
So grateful for the heart-felt sharing and wisdom shown.

West Coast Road (between Punakaiki and Charleston) , New Zealand

With our tentative beginnings in this process we all shared a deep gratitude for our immediate West Coast environments. Despite our concerns and fears for the future and the futures for our grandchildren it is important to see the beauty around us, that we have right now and to offer our thanks.

Expressions of deep grief for the damage done and especially for the loss of habitats and creatures from the Australian fires.
An imploring to search for strength and positivity. It is important to remain strong and loving. To continue to love all and our families (even those members of our family who like guns).
Managing our own internal weather to be able to be aware and ready and connected.
Through our uncertainties may we become more courageous and wise.

Gracious gratitude.

Kohatu Streams, Tasman, New Zealand

Boise, Idaho, USA

Seeing renewed fear of total destruction (Trump).
Recognising the egotistical attitude of humans. Is there value in just being witness to decimation? Is this self-inflicted suffering due to clinging to a view of the way it should be?
We need to help animals out of there.
Sadness has been suppressed. Realising sadness is a gift of awareness.
Having developed immunity to despair - creates guilt. Is this good or bad? Absence of hope due to Trump. Frustration with people.
Despair morphing to anger causing confusion. Recognising the toxic nature of holding anger in.
Developing appreciation through the beauty of science and all the possible solutions. We need to extend our view of the possibilities to solve these problems because somewhere in the universe this has already been conceived.
How do we motivate to the next step, is that through this 20/20 Vision or because of Trumps bad actions. Realising the vast interconnectedness fuels the move to action or to letting go.
Remembering the smallest action can make the biggest impact.
Emphasising the need to be in a good state.
Hope!

London, England

Appreciation for the materials and the opportunity to share and talk about them + agreement that, in terms of quantity, the team providing these resources had got it right.
The importance of connectivity and the sharing of key issues in our time between individuals and groups.
A request for more contentious material – expressing different/a range of views
An awareness of the sense of feeling numb/paralysed by guilt or of simply turning away from the magnitude of the climate crisis issue.
A desire to be clearer about what is meant by ‘the work that reconnects’ and of what it is possible for an individual to do in relation to climate crisis.
The importance of speaking more openly about our feelings when there is disagreement or conflict between us

Belmont, SW France

•   Anchored state of gratitude
• Possibility of change
• Already happening the change to positive
• Not too late
• To start with oneself - be the change you want to see
•    Through the circle feeling the connectedness, feeling not alone, a strengthening feeling
•    Importance of unconditional listening
• Feeling (without judgment) is healing

Christchurch, New Zealand

Thankful that the circle group process creates connection and spontaneity
A space of respectfully listening to others, letting the judgment voice drop, not coming up with solutions. Quiet connection.
Feelings of despair. It is beneficial to see how others work with this.
The format is surprising. Things come up that probably wouldn’t in ordinary conversation.
Actively listening requires energy.
The circle creates safety.

Orinoco, New Zealand

Our Circle responded to the material presented this month in a variety of ways. The feelings and emotions expressed were fear, confusion, scepticism, despair, helplessness, grief, agitation, dissonance, guilt, anger, ignorance, resistance and gratitude.

How do we find balance and calm in our individual worlds where we carry on with our day to day life activities, routines and experiences as is ‘normal’, while becoming more aware of the destruction and growing threat to the earths’ natural environment & living organisms along with the part we play in that with our ‘normal’ ways of acting and being in the world? How and what do we do with the dissonance this stirs in us?

Stirrings of both a maternal and paternal nature arose, especially for those who have children and those wanting to or considering having children. With the knowledge of how the natural environment is being threatened by an ever growing human consumption and pollution how will life be for our children and future generations? Should I be considering having children at all?

Individually I feel helpless in dealing with such a pervasive and deeply imbedded and dysfunctional form of relating to the natural world especially when I have bought into it. What can I, one individual, do?

A sense of gratitude emerged from being part of a group of humans who have chosen to connect with others through expressing and sharing in a circle openly and honestly about our inner, individual stirrings and concerns about the precious world we live in.

Online Group: NZ/Tauranga, Brasil/Ilha Grande, NZ/Thames, NZ/Tahunanui, NZ/Motueka Valley, Brasil/Campinas.

Gratefulness and importance for the openness to connect
Confusion and many questions that arise
The numbness we can all experience , how can we try as much to be open to feel
That we are all part of the process of healing the earth
We don't like to be told what to do
Being or training to be robust to have the capacity to deal with all of what is going on and what will happen
Renunciation, what can we do in our lives that can make a change for the healing of the earth, really looking into what we can renounce on a day to day base
The wisdom and wholesomeness of Sangha and connection, deep appreciation for the support and sharing , grounding and strengthening, warming our hearts

Motueka Central, Motueka, New Zealand

Active hope
Widening horizons
Fear connected to the future of our children
Feelings of despair
Longing for calmness
A willingness to change the self centred approaches we have found ourselves in
Starting a dialogue
What else can we imagine our responses to be
Imagining hope.

Brooklyn, Motueka, New Zealand

A strong theme emerged from the group of gratitude, and appreciation to the team for setting up the project. Many people spoke of the opportunity to try something new.
Some spoke of surrender and open-heartedness.
Others mentioned the sensation of time standing still during the circle. Also there was a sense of connectivity, creativity and the possibility of exploring different ways of being.
Most people mentioned being deeply touched and sometimes overwhelmed by the footage of the albatrosses.

Questions raised:

Could the lunar calendar could be used instead of the Gregorian?
Why do we circle clockwise?
Would the group like to explore other orders of speaking in the circle? In response to this, we talked about the value of first using a tried and tested process to establish a container of trust, before trying new ideas.

circle FEEDBACK

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