Participatory Spirituality Conference

Project to hold a first conference on Participatory Spirituality, in the fall of 2010, or the spring of 2011

Just an idea at this stage:

Potential Participants

1. elizabeth husserl <ehusserl@hotmail.com>
2. info@thelivingfield.com,
3. lawrence@healthkeeper.com
4. John Heron, jnheron@xtra.co.nz,
5. Jorge Ferrer <jorgenf@aol.com>,
6. Gregg Lahood, gregg@gregglahood.com,
7. Akasa, onesound@earthlink.net,

Proposals

John Heron

"The following sketch - which at present I am sending only to you - may be totally inappropriate for the realization of your dream, in which case please erase it without further ado. [The arguments against the sketch is that the proposed event is a long way away for Europeans, and that it is for a small number of people. The arguments for it is that it is held in a place of participatory relevance, and the small numbers will allow for intimate and intensive discussion, co-creation, and shared participatory experience both epistemic and political.]

So here goes:

The only conference I can warm up to the idea of "organizing" would be a mini-conference, either as a happening in its own right, or as a prelude to some much larger event (which I would not want to organize). It would have the following provisional features:

1. It is, subject to further consultative revision, titled "Participatory spirituality and the emergence of the global commons".

2. It is held in March 2010 or more likely March 2011 for at least six days in the Studio at the South Pacific Centre for Human Inquiry here in New Zealand, on the top of a hill looking out over the open country north of Auckland. March is a pleasant month in the southern summer. The busiest holiday months are January and February, after which more visitor accommodation is available. The Centre has been for ten years the focus of participatory spirituality practices, including the work of the ongoing inquiry group, which has met here every fortnight throughout the whole period. This has generated a distinctive participatory presence of place.

3. It is for a maximum, plus co-hosts Barbara and me, of 24 people, the first 24 to make a firm booking from a list of appropriate participants drawn up by Michel in consultation with a small quorum of his own choosing. This maximum is determined by the size of the Studio. I suggest a minimum of 14 (plus co-hosts) to make a viable event.

4. The co-hosts, in consultation with Michel and the quorum, draft a provisional outline of conference topics and methodology. The methodology outline integrates (1) deciding for others (hierarchy), deciding with others (co-operation), and deciding for oneself (autonomy); and also (2) an extended epistemology of experiential, imaginal, conceptual and practical ways of knowing. The outline of both topics and methodology is subject to participant co-operative approval and revision/reconstruction at the outset of the conference and as proceedings unfold. The whole event unfolds as an informal, emergent, collaborative inquiry.

5. The infrastructure logistics are self-organized by participants. They book (via the internet) their own accommodation and subsistence in the seaside (Pacific Ocean) town of Orewa, with its broad sweep of beach, and where there are motels, restaurants and supermarkets. They arrange shared car hire for getting to and from our Centre - a 15 to 20 minute journey each way. They also shop for and bring food daily for a shared and co-prepared lunch. The Centre will provide light refreshment - teas, coffee, etc. We have used this approach for previous international events, and it works remarkably well.

6. There is no fee for the conference, other than a small charge of NZ$ 50.00 per person, to cover light refreshments and the use of facilties in the main house and cottage (toilets, ktchens, living rooms, etc.)."