EventsFall 2010Drishti's Virtual Workshop: Integral Social ChangeDrishti is offering a 'virtual workshop' this Fall, beginning the week of October 4-November 8th. This is held as a 6-week online workshop for people who want to explore the integral worldview in their work, learning Integral Theory and finding practical ways to apply it in social change. Using an online platform, conference calls, mentoring, and integral coaching, you can join us in this virtual learning space from anywhere in the world! Read here for more details.
Integral Without BordersMentors Gathering Sept 11-13th IstanbulThis year, IWB is holding a small meeting of development practitioners from varying backgrounds so that we could tackle issues (successes, failures, questions, sticking points, ever broader conceptualizations, etc.) in depth. The idea is to facilitate intense discussion, with input from multiple perspectives, in a relaxed and informal environment. We hope to straddle that most productive worldspace between theory and practice, the universal and the particular, deep and surface structures. We envision it as an opportunity to step back from the projects we are all involved in, to breathe and to deliberate. For this is the meeting, we've asked participants to bring anything they would like to see discussed in depth. Drishti is a partner organization to IWB, helping with communications and coordination. Short bios of participants are listed here, and watch for the Resources page for synthesis documents before and after the meeting. IWB will host a larger meeting in 2011, similar to previous global meetings held in Perpignan 2006 and Istanbul 2008--watch for more details on that soon.
Summer 2010Integral Sustainability and Education SeminarAugust 3-8th, 2010, near Santa Cruz, CAFor more info, please visit: www.i-edu.org Join Next Step Integral and friends in the Redwoods of California this summer to explore applying the Integral Framework to ecology and sustainability work. This is an opportunity to discover refreshingly new ways of looking at and working with environmental and sustainability challenges. This seminar applies the Integral Framework to the full range of environmental, social and economic (triple bottom line) issues and offers a unique set of tools, skills and understandings that allow us to be co-creators in building a healthy emergent global ecology. The Integral Approach moves the action away from conventional, partial, and piecemeal approaches, and does so by embracing a comprehensive and integrally-informed understanding of systems, cultures, and individuals. With over 20 of today’s top Integral teachers, including Diane Hamilton, Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, Gail Hochachka, Gil Friend, Marilyn Hamilton and Stephan Martineau, coming together for the first time ever in a double-stream seminar, we will explore the depth and breadth of awareness required to effect positive change in these times. Expert guidance, strong community support, as well as delivery of hands-on tools and skills make up this unique opportunity. For more info, please visit: www.i-edu.org Scholarships are still available! We've seen what happens when less-than-Integral maps have been used to try and drive sustainability. What has yet to be tried – on a large scale – is Integral theory combined with Integral praxis. This is the exciting frontier lying ahead of us, and it's hard to think of anything more important in the world today. —Ken Wilber Past participants have said:“I leave this seminar feeling as if a missing piece in my life has been filled.” – Susan Wilcox "What stands out is how fully the leaders embody integral consciousness, not just integral theories or models, but deep gentle wise presence and the skillful means to lead and create context for integrated mind/heart/body/spirit learning. As educators we were educated, as peers we were connected, as human beings we were gently loved and nurtured." -- Nancy van Kirk "My understanding, my spiritual practice, and my capacity to love and act are strengthened by this seminar every year." --Stefan Locher
What you will experienceThe seminar is itself an example of integral practice, and is designed to engage you physically, emotionally, cognitively, interpersonally, and spiritually. Our emphasis is on the embodiment, experience and application of the Integral framework. You will experience a balance of informational presentations, group processes, application and case studies and experiential learning activities. You’ll learn from, network with and develop deep community with leading Integral Education and Ecology practitioners. Your presence is not only welcome, it is crucial to creating an ongoing community of thinkers, feelers and actors in these times. Seven core skills that you will develop during the seminar:
"There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality impossible to describe." –Teilhard de Chardin
Spring 2010Masterful Facilitation with Diane Hamilton"Gaia’s main problems are not industrialization, ozone depletion, over-population, or resource depletion. Gaia’s main problem is the lack of mutual understanding and mutual agreement about how to proceed with those problems." ~ Ken Wilber Any social change agent inevitably must be able to facilitate. No matter how great alternative technologies might be, we need mutual understanding and mutual agreement to advance these into a more sustainable living. In our work, we are often facilitating mutual understanding at multiple scales—from community workshops, to organizational teams, to larger social movements. Yet, quite often activists and social change agents are not formally trained in facilitation. We see that honing and deepening these facilitation skills is a central way we can enact greater sustainability. With this in mind, Drishti is honoured to host this integral facilitation workshop lead by Diane Hamilton. Who is this for?Are you a facilitator, coach, mediator, integral practitioner, consultant, educator, HR professional, community organizer, or leader who wants to bring the Integral vision into your work? Would you like to embody your full presence and potential as a facilitator? Please join us for a highly engaging workshop led by Master facilitator, mediator, and teacher, In this workshop you will:
A brief pre-workshop reflection will help you identify what is currently most challenging for you as a facilitator. For example, what does being a ‘unbiased neutral’ really mean? You may have recurring questions about how to engage different lines of development, metabolize individual or group tension, or address group shadow. Explore these and other integral facilitation topics through practice in this rich and supportive environment. You will leave more confident, inspired, and energized with an action plan to enhance your mastery of the facilitators’ calling. The details:Date: March 19th at 6pm MST to March 21st at 3pm MST. Register Now
Summer 2009La Virgen ~ Mala Practice and Garden Party
The foundation of our sustainability work is engaging meaningfully with communities in the global south. This often means spending intimate time getting to know each others cultures and customs, and building the mutual trust upon with all other subsequent collaborative work rests. Last Fall, we attended a three-day festival in the community of Challabamba, in a valley surrounded by terraced hillsides in the Andes Mountaiuns of Peru. The party was in honor of the Virgin Mary, who is uniquely named La Virgen de Chanka in this part of Peru. The three day celebration consisted of fourteen dance troupes in costumes, dancing through the streets, music ringing throughout the town, and food and drink for all. Each year, the dance troupes find a patron to help raise funds for the party the following year. We were given that honor and responsibility, and are now woven into the life and heart of that community,...! It also means we have to raise $5,000!! We are fundraising to support this community in two ways: Mala PracticeWe are collecting donations to support this community celebration, and thus the longer-term sustainable development work in the region. With each donation, we will add a bead to a growing mala, or rosary, that will be given to the community, along with 100% of the donated funds. Please see Mala Practice for more information. Garden PartyOn Thursday, July 30th, from 5pm onward, we are hosting a community party in Smithers, on a property with incredible views of both landscapes and sky-scapes--definitely a place worthy of such a party! Everyone is welcome! Our one and only request is that you bring some cash with you--since there will be several ways you can donate while you are at the party. These include:
Date: Thursday July 30th, 5pm onward Directions: Old Babine Lake road, past Telkwa High Road, past Driftwood Lodge, next left. It is a 2km driveway, so just keep going... and watch for the signs welcoming you. What to bring: yourself, your friends, family, babies and kids, dogs, and also some cash or cheque book for donations. What to expect: some quality time spent on a meadow of wildflowers with friends and family, listening to live music and later DJ music, eating good food and drinks, kids playing on the grass with each other and going for horserides, ...all in honour of global sustainability...one community connection at a time.
Fall 2009Self Awareness and Social ActionLevel 1: Learn how to integrate interiority (worldviews, values, and awareness) in social change work. Friday evening, full-day Saturday Level 2: Deepen your own awareness and capacity as a practitioner. Develop an integral life practice as an activist. Recognize the potential of self-as-instrument. Friday evening, full-day Saturday
Previous EventsMay 2009A weekend Integral Journey of LoveCo-sponsored by Drishti, Zen teacher and acclaimed mediator Diane Musho Hamilton will be teaching with well known Kabbalah writer and teacher Rabbi Marc Gafni what they call - The Integral Journey of Love. |
