Open House
Table of contents
Original Face Group Open House
When: September 3, 2012, 10:30am - 1pm SL time
Where: Second Life, Bieup Sim, Calvino's Place
Purpose:
To introduce the Original Face group to the wider community of PlayAsBeing, friends, acquaintances, and anyone else who may be interested in joining the group. This has been a steady group, meeting for about a year and a half. It is not a "drop in" group but one that seeks steady participation from members who are committed to attend regularly. The group is semi-private, meaning we periodically open the group to new members who would be a good "fit". Bringing in new members is great for the energy of the group but is a delicate process both for those entering and the existing members, since the group has become close.
Who would this group be suitable for?
- You want to explore the themes the group is interested in - essentially a first person investigation into the nature of self and awareness.
- You have a general interest and experience in contemplative practices and themes, and some kind of personal practice, but are not purely focused on a specific style or tradition.
- You like dialogue and value and know the power of good listening.
- You are comfortable with close group participation and with sharing personal experience with others.
Agenda:
This is a three-hour meeting, longer than a typical online engagement (and longer than the regular two-hour group meeting).
- We will introduce the group, talk about its history and the main ideas and practices of the group.
- Group members will have an opportunity to comment and talk about what has worked or been important for them.
- We will have a representative group meeting, doing what we usually do each week, with visitors invited to participate.
- Afterwards there will be time for questions or just hanging out.
Preview
History:
In 2010 Calvino Rabeni and Darren Islar had been attending PlayAsBeing for some time. We liked the informal practice that is part of the PlayAsBeing culture, a style of speaking that is both topical and mindful, that can be called contemplative dialogue. We talked about how to create a group that would encourage more consistent depth and trust in this practice. I think we also wanted to create a kind of community of practice with a sense of we-ness and continuity, and to support group members in their everyday lives with whatever kind of spiritual, contemplative, or growth-related activities and practices they were engaged with.
To put it in terms of some of the current talk around PlayAsBeing (July 2012) on "science and consciousness" themes, we felt that for a systematic exploration of consciousness to occur, we needed a well-designed method and "equipment". For a group, that is the design of the group structure and what we do with awareness.
We wanted the group to be "compatible" with PlayAsBeing and what its members already expect, but to have some differences in design and practice. So we met over a period of time to discuss goals and design questions about such a group, to clarify assumptions and principles, and to learn from what had worked in other group experiences. We also solicited ideas and experience from Bruce Mowbray, Eliza Madrigal, and others in PlayAsBeing.
The group - now meeting consistently for a year and a half - uses the following agreements and practices:
- Confidentiality - the group is a safe zone for personal sharing, and no personal statements are repeated outside the group.
- Group members have some familiarity with a personal spiritual or contemplative practice or experience (but it doesn't matter specifically what).
- The group meets for two hours to allow for more depth, with a group meditation, a personal check-in, and a contemplative dialogue period.
- When we speak in the group, we attempt to stay close to 1st-person (personal) experience, using "I statements", rather than getting into abstract or speculative thinking.
- We practice aware speaking and listening, passing a "talking stick" to take turns and focus attention.
- The dialogue period is initiated by a short "starter" presentation to focus and invoke our contemplation.
If you'd like to read more about the group online, see these wiki pages.
- The Original Face group and its basic ideas and values. http://is.gd/OFAbout
- Questions about the group. http://is.gd/OFQuestions
- Theme presentations from some of the meetings. http://is.gd/OFThemes