The essence: Re-integrating with Peter Senge
Re-integration of mind and matter on the level of the social whole—the whole social system—is the essence of systems thinking*
The essence of systems
We are addressing our social and environmental in-balances with an essential shift. It is underway and this change is putting us back together! Our experience, in the modern world, is to make sense of what we see but not include our own feelings and vulnerabilities in that sense-making.
In this video, Peter Senge and Otto Schramer take us on a journey greatly simplifying systems down to that essence, putting mind and body back together.
This draws from Peter’s teacher, Nan Huai-Chin. Peter says about teachers:
Part of their job is to give you a tough time. He (Nan Huai-Chin) would say Peter Senge, he always wants to save the world, because he knew all my life this social-environmental balance has been the gnawing reality.
On our social and environmental crises Nan said that’s all true. He acknowledged that we’re entering a very, very difficult time, he was very clear about that. But, the really deep issue is the re-integration of mind and matter. We need to go so far upstream to address this illusion, the illusion and our perception that there is something out there and it is separate from the something inside us. The illusion that there’s this mind thing over here, my awareness, and that’s completely separate from the imprints of out there that I am making in my awareness.
That is we are separate from our external reality.
This goes well beyond eastern beliefs and understanding. Peter says,
I don’t know any Western scientists who’ve done a better job of articulating this than Humberto Maturana who has said this illusion of a separate reality is where our problems all start.
He continues,
That’s hard for us of course because, as we embrace the pain and suffering of reality, there’s a natural tendency when we contact that intense emotion, that trauma to disassociate, to treat it as something outside and not part of me. An immense kind of developmental dynamic is to be able to hold that which is most painful, which emerges in our awareness as separate, as not separate, as really part of my own awareness.
This reintegration of mind in matter—which was the way it was expressed way back then—has really become a touchstone for us all. Listen and watch the video (it starts at Peter’s introduction about his teacher, Nan Huai-Chin.
Above: watch Peter Senge and Otto Sharmer re-integrate.
Below: integrating understanding, Gyantse, Tibet.
![Learning in gyantse](http://be-benevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Learning-in-gyantse.jpg)
Resources
Links and credits
This is an edited extract of Peter Senge’s talk to GAIA Journey: Global Activation of Intention and Action. GAIA Journey’s web page is here >
It says: We are part of the global movement that is rising up. Systemic racism and structural inequality pervades our global systems and must be transformed. To that end, we support those who are addressing the root causes of direct, structural and attentional violence. Over the last few years, we have been democratizing access to transformation literacy: the methods and tools of awareness-based systems change that help us to reimagine and reshape our civilization. We continue to learn and change our own organization in ways that reflect the society we all aspire to, and encourage our global community to continue evolving – with justice, equity and healing for all.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Pictures: Feature is a picture of a picture in the Leeum museum, Seoul, Korea; and, Integrating in Tibet Festina Lentívaldi, (be) Benevolution. Reuse: Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0 US
For more stories, articles and videos on climate see the visual index on this page >
Antonio Moya Latorre
Gran Vals en Do
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