Inspired Visions

[click bold for depth]

Happy 70th Birthday

Roshi Bernie Glassman

A long-time friend and teacher, Roshi Bernie Glassman continues to inspire and guide us about Not Knowing (suspending certainty & preconceived ideas); Bearing Witness (to the joy & suffering in the world—listening deeply to the situation, to discover what, or even if, action is warranted); and Loving Action (when warranted, healing our self and others). These tenets of Not Knowing, Bearing Witness & Loving Action have become my cogent guidelines for navigating the many present personal and global uncertainties I and my clients are dealing with. On the fun side, we, with others, will celebrate Bernie’s 70th Birthday on March 12 in NYC at his favorite pizza parlor near Columbia University.

After a nasty bout with bronchitis and my back going out of whack in February, I had to cancel my participation in a Focusing Institute weekend event at The Garrison Institute, a community learning process I was really looking forward to. Inspired by tenets, and taking loving action, I was able to let go and make peace with myself for missing an event I wanted so much to be a part of.

Recently while on the mend, I addressed a large cluster of Robert Wood Johnson grantees in The Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx), a $13 million grant project for advancing recovery operated out of the University of Wisconsin. It was an honor to speak with such committed front-line individuals improving the “continuing recovery” needs for individuals and families with science-based research. Then excitedly, two days later I began my participation in a virtual global classroom of 160 participants from 28 countries learning more about removing the cultural blind spot that inhibits nature’s voice in helping us to resolve conflict. This online class with Otto Scharmer (senior MIT faculty and author of Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges) and organized by The Presencing Institute helps me stay attuned to this applied research that I’ve been tracking and integrating for over five years. It is a very powerful and gentle (perhaps, even pleasurable) present and future orientation to move with.

On February 12th I presented at The Open Center and the results and feedback were deeply gratifying, professionally and personally (including one participant sharing “this was the first time I truly felt connected to everyone and every thing. It was a powerful felt awareness”). In less than 90 minutes, I was able to produce an experiential “Introduction to Focalizing: Solutions to Real Life Challenges.” This presentation made me very excited about the two 10-week small Focalizing groups I’ll be starting later this month.

As mentioned in previous entries, I’ve joined an inspired global vision that the US government creates a cabinet level Department of Peace (legislation is already in Congress and at the top of people’s choices in the polling) with a modest budget. Within that infrastructure, we should invite brilliant minds like Roshi Bernie Glassman, founder of the international Zen Peacemaker Organization, Otto Sharmer of The Presencing Institute, Eugene Gendlin (University of Chicago) of The Focusing Institute, Peter A. Levine of The Foundation for Human Enrichment, and representatives from the The Peace Alliance, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Non-Violent Communication, and other national and global resources who can facilitate access to our deeper natural wisdoms for collective co-creative transformation. Right now, we must not become myopic on the economy when a much greater existence is being rewoven. I invite you to join me in this vision.