a koan for Humanity - Chapter ONE
by P. Ola Jannhov
on How To Balance the Impossible
Chapter ONE
The things that could have been said but didn't got spoken - IEC 2018.
The Integral European Conference took place in Mai for the third time. In Hungary in Siofok at the long stretched lake Balaton, an hour or so away from Budapest, some six hundred people from all around the world gathered for five days. Two thirds were Europeans and all continents were represented (except the poles). The IEC is clearly one of the gatherings of anyone into evolution, somehow. Most of the keynote speakers are known around the globe, published authors and leading experts within their fields.
A lot gets said.
And some things linger in the air, but are not spoken.
Of the six hundred people, almost two hundred present their work. Typically stuff that has the word “integral” somewhere in it´s name. Some ten or so workshops and presentations happened parallel. If you have the time, go and check the program, get an idea if the richness of what was offered (integraleuropeanconference.com/presenter-galery-iec-2018/).
The last days, some two weeks after the conference, I've been looking through pictures of what was going on in the other rooms, the ones I couldn't visit. I get so aware of how limited by own view is, of what was going on overall. So when I say “but didn't got spoken” it means I didn't get to hear it. Or I heard it but didn't understand it at that moment and writing now is a way of digesting the input.
During the keynote speakers Terry Patton, Tom Steiniger, Elisabeth Debold and Frederic Laloux on the last day, I noticed that the writing I was doing wasn't just about what I heard but kind of stuff that could have been said – also – but I didn't hear it spoken out loud. There was also suddenly a new understanding of Brother David Steindl-Rast, the keynote from the day before, landing on my paper, a possible interpretation of Peter Merry´s presentation from two days before, some stuff Paddy Pampallis had said about South Africa. Then Black Swans and disrupt out of Terry´s presentation, Peter Russel´s concept of “a white whole in time” (from the 1980s) .. loads started to turn in my head and landed on paper.
“This is a draft for a book” I realized.
BUT! .. next to an article on a skiing holiday I've never published anything written. So this “knocking” on my inner door first just brought up a big No.
“Not my business – I´m a DJ, presenter, live event situation guy.”
Frederic Laloux spoke on the growing importance of inspiration the way many artist know it:
“.. well, I was out doing some gardening, and THEN SUDDENLY it was just there ..”.
The kind of inspiration that seem to come out of no where, and often is stunningly surprising to the person who “receives” it. Frederic told a true story about an author who worked an a book for some time, but had gotten stuck with the story half way through. By chance at some gathering she ended up sharing the story with another author … who responded more and more as if he already new the story. In fact it turned out the other guy had written almost exactly the same story at the other end of the country, more or less parallel in time. He was though also stuck … Frederic Laloux concluded, that maybe somehow “information” wants to come through and it wants to be shared, somehow. And what ever “sends” that impulse doesn't care about who pics it up and starts working on it to make the information available to others, but “it” keeps on seeding until someone does respond.
Out of nowhere I was so touched and a few tears were cried.
This phenomena is not new to our time. Alexander Graham Bell´s patent on the telephone (March 7, 1876) was filed just about two hours before Elisha Gray filed a similar patent application to give you an example.
I looked at my notes .. the content seemed also to be about new identity, about adequate response in the moment .. if I let myself be updated the way my own scribbled notes suggest, I could just as well start writing this book to find out what it wants to tell (me).
A moment of magic:
Udom. The guy is from Thailand and wants to move into politics. Or rather a special, "old" aspect of politics: Monarchies and their roles in future societies. “Integral Institute of Monarchy Futures” (by Udum Tangjettanaporn.) I can not remember much of the details he shared on the stage, but it was strongly emotional. And it touched me deeply. I wept. Again. The second time within half an hour. I don't do that very often, but when I do, I've learned to listen very close to what ever then comes:
“This book is to somehow address Asia, or maybe the American-European-Western continent-centric:ness .. it´s somehow about how “Buddha” and all the symbolism that comes with Buddha .. it´s about Reinventing Consciousness.”
Small little task for a DJ. Honestly, I was about to run out and hide in the bathroom. Again: “Not my business – I´m an entertainer, a live event situation guy!. I´m not w a writer, and whenever I tried ...”.
That thought “whenever I tried” stirred something. Maybe it was more about HOW I tried in the past? I keep having ideas, some rather big. I've started a project where the international news agency Reuters came to film the opening event (“when stuff like this happens in Berlin, we´ll sell this international”), but all to often I got stuck in preparing, planing this and that, thinking about necessary resources .. and suddenly three months or more have passed with no substantial outcome. I then move on the next cool idea.
That summaries the last six or seven years of my life.
Another moment of magic: The Teal guys. The Organizational guys. Big companies and organizations stuff .. not my cup of tee. I´m not only a DJ, I´m (was?) also strongly identified with my status as a solopreneur. But the Teal track at the conference had just said something about their workshop also being about “getting projects started”. So I went there. And with the help of both method and some generous people, you´re right now reading Chapter One, only ten days after the impulse to this book.
Inspired by another online book project “meaningness.com” (by David Chapman. Great read, recommended) I thought, why do a paper version? If I´m really to address Asia somehow, this might be read by three guys in China, five in Thailand, six in Vietnam and so on. Maybe some dear friends would have had the courtesy to buy an actual paper copy sometime in the future, but those paper copy versions would probably not reach deep into Asia … but Online can do that.
The next chapter will be about one aspect of DJ:ing: to anticipate what an audience will respond positively to, in a minute or two. What if I think that ability world-centric? Maybe also rather a year or a decade ahead. What is a carrot everybody´s gonna love?