Cultivating a Field of Emergence
article | 1050 words — growing community around a core value
Background
The above map is a further evolution of the ideas I shared in my Channels of Sacred Communication talk at the Science and Nonduality Conference in 2016. If you want to more fully understand what you’re looking at here, read the rest of this paragraph, then hop on over to that link above and watch the 17-minute video. Based on two decades of observation and experience in the field of nondual inquiry, the talk was addressed to those who had a common, shared value of “Awakened Awareness.” At the time, I hadn’t yet realized that this framework is more generally applicable. So when you watch the video, go ahead and insert whatever inspiration lies at the center of your own circle of caring and creation.
This framework initially came together when I reverse-engineered what makes Adyashanti’s retreats the most powerful form of his teaching. I was inspired to do this when the Center for Nondual Awareness invited me to present something at their annual gathering of nondual teachers and therapists. I wanted to share something that could help their teaching and professional work to flourish.
A Fractal and Holistic Framework
When I came up with this model, I didn’t realize how the pattern I had uncovered could be applied more broadly. I see it now as fractal and holistic.
It’s fractal in that it can be applied on multiple levels of experience and in various contexts. I first realized this when I shared the presentation with Adyashanti and friends at the Open Gate Sangha office. After I shared it as a way of seeing the growth of the communty, Adyashanti commented that he saw this also reflecting the individual’s spiritual journey.
The map is also holistic in that changing one area affects the whole system, e.g. using these ideas to improve the efficacy of your teaching can have side benefits of creating a stronger community and more healthy financial exchange.
This model of creative emergence is a work in progress! But hopefully, each iteration inches a bit more closely toward a clear and useful reflection of . . . whatever is revealing itself here. Please be in touch if you have further clarifications or ideas about this.
Reading the Map
The following is a walk-through of how the energies of Inspiration (indicated by the arrows on the mandala) can unfold over time. Because this is holistic and fractal in nature, any of these steps/elements can pop into awareness or call for attention at any time along the way.
Toroidal Flow
I arranged the words on this map as a way to organize my thoughts but then realized the arrows on it hint at a toroidal movement of energies. With Inspiration at the core, energy moves outward from the center through Intention and into the Action of each petal. Energies then flow around as Information flows inward back to the center.
torus in motion
Starting at the Center . . .
To understand the mandala map, start at the center:
Central to the process of emergent creation is to have deep insight about and alignment with your core Inspiration, which then guides the unfolding of all that comes next.
Clarity of Intention then gives a potential shape for the unmanifest inspiration to come into form as it moves through each step of the cycle. Intention flows outward to subtly influence and/or overtly guide the unfolding of events and experiences.
Moving from the world of subtle senses and ideas into the realm of actual experience: A skillful Invitation (e.g. marketing) is a resonant call to others who carry the seeds of that same inspiration.
Next comes the Investment where people enter into a commitment or engagement (e.g. sign up for a retreat, create agreements for collaboration, invest in a company).
The Invocation step is about getting yourself and others fully connected and present to engage with each other and with the core inspiration.
The Inquiry phase is when the as-yet-unrealized emergent thing is being explored or formed — through a 3-way collaboration between you + others + core inspiration.
Then comes the Insight or manifestation of the creative unfolding, whether internal or external (e.g. a spiritual insight, a collaborative project such as a completed film).
The final step in the cycle is Integration — sharing the outcome in community (e.g. walking the talk of the spiritual insight, showing the film).
When the circle is complete or at any time in the process, Information flows from the outer petals (the realm of manifest experience) inward toward the unmanifest center. Information about the context and conditions helps the intention to become a more clear and effective channel for the inspiration to manifest itself.
Finally, through Iteration, specifics of the Intention can be corrected or fine-tuned for the next cycle. With new Information, the intention/blueprint of each step is refined to more effectively represent, express, and embody the core Inspiration.
About the Mandala
When I made this drawing, I wasn’t trying to visually represent my thinking about creative emergence, I was just drawing a mandala. Only afterward did I realize how the elements all fit together.
I made this drawing in 2017 while writing about these ideas on a month-long retreat in New Zealand. I wasn’t trying to visually represent my thinking, though. I was just drawing a mandala.
Only afterward did I realize the image worked even better than the seven-petaled graphic I had previously used to visualize my thinking. In particular, the element of Intention moved from the outer circle into the central area, because it directly informs every aspect of the cycle.
In a recent conversation, the idea came up that Information is a key (missing) idea in the center area. As emergence would have it, thatt fits in beautifully as one of the center triangles. Every step of the cycle feeds vital information back to the core Inspiration and Intention. I was also reminded that this map is about the process of emergence. I had that as a possible title at one point, but forgot about it for a time. I didn’t fully realize emergence is the core phenomenon I’ve been tracking all along.
As I’ve been writing these reflections, I’m seeing that this whole framework/map has been taking shape through an emergent creative process. I suppose any way of shedding light on emergence that isn’t itself emergent would likely miss the mark entirely.
I hope you will find this map useful to you in some way, as it has been for others. For some, it’s inspired them toward previously avoided (but now aligned) marketing of their dharma work. Others have found it useful to share with their collaborative groups as a way to create a common understanding of how various roles in the collaboration are vital and relate to each other in the interconnected whole.
Learn More
If you haven’t watched it yet, check out my Channels of Sacred Communication talk where I present a previous iteration of these ideas. The 17-minute video includes more info and key questions for each step/element.
I welcome your thoughts, questions, or other feedback! Connect with me.
❤ 2015-2021 | Maja Apolonia Rodé
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