wow -- thank you for this bruce -- really needed to see this tonight. i added both of bolen's books to my wish list on amazon. for many years i have been part of the standing women circle group -- every year on mother's day women [and children and men] at 1:00 pm local time for that person stand [or sit] in silence for 5 minutes -- praying for the children of the world and for world peace. since, when i wake up -- it is 1:00 pm somewhere in the world, i try to remember to do this every hour that i am awake on mother's day. some years i actually stand or sit in silence for those 5 minutes at least 10 times. one year i was at a nursery in lynnwood [here in WA state] standing in a potted grove of maple trees -- it was a beautiful spring day and i stood silently, listening to the sounds around me.

--- On Wed, Dec 18, 2013, Bruce Schuman wrote ---

A slow day, just at dusk here now, the brilliant color in the leaves on the Mission Creek trees now fading to black --

We have grown here suddenly, with the very friendly response to that "News Update" I posted yesterday. I couldn't have asked for anything better, or more hopeful for the future of the vision driving this place --

It IS stunningly ambitious. All these things at once? Really? First of all -- the conjunction of religions, in a credible way -- and everything spiritual, of course -- and defined in a way that supports social-change activism? Involving educated and invested people, real stakeholders? Are you serious?

But I can feel it. Unless somebody walks in here with some incredible unforeseen angle -- this "conjunction beyond words" -- "defined in 100% geometric terms" -- apparently will continue to emerge.

And tonight, I thought I would just add a few thoughts to this message from this morning. I do want to pace what emerges here -- there is a lot to assimilate, and it's going to take time -- and very likely, a lot more conversation -- but it makes sense to get the content on the table. I just wanted to comment again on this "Spirit of the Center" theme -- and the "power of circle".

CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION - RESONANT CIRCLES

I first began to discover the magic of circles in the late 1990's and very early 2000's, mostly through our local "Conscious Evolution Community" here in Santa Barbara. In the context of the inspiring visionary message of Barbara Marx Hubbard, we formed a network here in Santa Barbara of more than 200 people, and we met together in small groups -- initially called "core groups" -- and eventually called "resonant circles" -- for something like ten years. One of our anthropologist friends estimated that collectively, we spent something like 80,000 hours in resonant communication. This kinda gets to Malcolm Gladwell's criteria for real burn-in...

All this while, I had been connected not only with cutting-edge spirituality and the "epistemology" that goes with it, but I was also supporting a vision of integrated interfaith. These groups need to be talking to each other, I was thinking. I was doing all I could do to encourage interconnection and overlap.

CENTERING PRAYER

In the meantime, out there in the mainstream, Father Thomas Keating was putting "centering prayer" on the map. The new-age people were pouring their visions through the keyhole, and the classical inspirations of eastern mysticism and yoga and "chakras" were informing everything.

Now, today, for me, this conjunction of centering prayer with the notions of "Axis Mundi" and "Sacred Tree" seems well-illustrated by this little tripartite graphic. Fr. Keating -- the prophet standing in the flame. He incarnates this force. He lives and breathes and is it. He doesn't need to mention the subject. By faith and devotional effort and conviction alone, his "chakras are in alignment". His soul is in alignment. Like an Old Testament prophet, his entire being is standing in the center.

I love this 70's-style "hippie graphic" of the sun-goddess holding the Gaia circle in her arms. That design is no trivial or simple thing. It's a fractal, layers of circles within layers, with an implicit linear axial center rising through every individual in the circle, and through the center of their circle itself -- rising into the Sun of absolute center and One. This is namaste incarnate, unity-in-diversity in perfect form. Put "the religions" in the same relationship...

RESONANT ENTRAINMENT

Now -- begin to imagine resonant entrainment -- interconnected processes linked by resonance -- supported over the internet -- and every other way we can think of --

This image below is a vision of "Women's circles" -- following the same ideas that inspired us here in Santa Barbara, and perhaps tending to validate the Dalai Lama's famous 2009 quote in Vancouver, that "the world will be saved by western women."

Are we finding the key to interconnecting these processes in a "perfect" kind of way -- maybe as envisioned deep in the mystical instincts of Father Keating? Maybe there are "a million circles" -- and maybe "they all have the same center" -- and that center -- is namaste....?

--- On Wed, Dec 18, 2013, Bruce Schuman wrote ---

The formal intellectual underpinnings of this emerging revolution are not yet entirely clear. But they're coming along with what seems like stunning simplicity.

Interesting to see Ann Smith, founder of Circle Connections, posting here. Thank you Ann, very good to see you -- and, of course, "Namaste...."

Ann's site: http://circleconnections.net/

This "namaste" link is important around here. It is a true power key to the emerging revolution in spirit. And this emerging clarity will help us see why. This is not some fragmentary new-age "woo woo" for a few softies or "Kumbaya" people -- though we love Kumbaya...

This is the integral connection between souls. A powerful idea in the formation of community -- and sacred community.

At the Dawn of Interspirituality conference -- we met at the "Fire Circle". That, too -- is a powerful concept in the flow of universal spirit. What we are about here -- is yes, form a community, nurture and nourish, and become aware of these contributions far and wide (thanks for telling us about your book, Ann). But here -- we are also about co-creatively synthesizing this vision into the clear precise simplicity that can transform the world, and thanks for any thoughts on that.

For right this moment, just slowly waking up in the cool fog of this Santa Barbara morning, very gratified to see what is growing here -- I wanted to post a graphic from a project I built last year, called "Circle 2012" . This was a big ambitious thing that kind of never really happened -- but all the moving parts actually work, and it's a powerful demo for showing how deep intuition can be represented with technical precision in ways that support social-change activism.

From http://circle2012.net/tx/vision.cfm

--- On Wed, Dec 18, 2013, Ann Smith wrote ---

Through our book ENOUGH: The Rise of the Feminine and the Birth of the New Story, coauthors Ann Landaas Smith and Laurie McCammon share a startling revelation: that examining one simple word is the key that unlocks the sleeping consciousness. Citing abundant evidence from science, spirituality, politics, feminist theology, indigenous wisdom and social movements from across the globe, they show how a shift from a 5,000 year old Never Enough culture into a new culture based on the power of Enough is inevitable and, in fact, has already heartily begun. In this new culture, the Divine Feminine is the natural leader and problem-solver, building the New Story through a more expansive heart-connected awareness. When women, men and youth believe they are enough and have enough to be the change they want to see in the world, and when they gather together, the New Story of peace and sustainability is activated and cannot be stopped. We look forward to birthing our book in the New Year and to connect to as many circles as possible. Together We Are Enough.org. Namaste!!! Ann

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