Life Itself Bergerac Praxis Hub Ecology

Overview

We are all conditioned by a perception of reality that we know to be inaccurate (the belief of separation) without being able to act on this knowledge. We may be collectively in a state of sideration, unable to respond to what the world is asking of us in terms of radical transformation to adequately adjust to it.

We also know either through intuition, collective sensing or ancient knowledge that in communities we can experience another sense of Self which allows us to live in a more resilient way.

In our society today, there is very rarely spaces where we can be 'real', integrate the end of a world as we know it while living in a regenerative and enthusiastic way.

So in this uncertain time perhaps we can remember our communal part in order to act in a way that is accorded to an acceleration that is beyond us. We can align both with ancient knowledge which understands the power of community and the progress of science which discovered the deep systemic effects of being in community on the emotional and physiological level of each person.

On the way, we have to be aware that this memory can confront us with the reality of our separatist conditioning in dissonance with our call for more cooperation, personal needs before those of the collective, fear of others and systematic mistrust, power dynamics, patriarchal internalization etc.

To enter into this process of adaptation which can only go hand in hand with a radical transformation of our relationship with the living, we need physical spaces to explore, model and heal the fear paradigm that we have embodied and reconnect to a deep sense of abundance through living in community held by a frame of collective practices.

This is the experience we propose at the Life itself Praxis Bergerac Hub, which is a place of active contemplation where philosophy and practice are not separated and where contemplation means adjusted activation.

The Bergerac Hub, a space for remembering what is to be human

It is time that gives rhythm to the common space of Bergerac and it is thanks to this shared movement oscillating between private and collective time that we can reconnect to a true sense of identity and think differently.

We could call this space a place of deep adaptation, a_ sympoietic_¹ space where we hybridize together to tune into the world.

Under the concept of Sympoiesis, inspired by Francisco Varela's term - autopoiesis and then taken up to a new level by Donna Haraway as sympoiesis (making together) in her book “Staying with the trouble”, we started in 2021 a collective in- formed Space at the Praxis Bergerac Hub with different residential formats: thematic explorations, retreats, internships, gatherings within a framework of practices and a common organization that favors the emergence of a different relationship to the world. A space in which each individual awakens his or her essence as a community being through collective practices

It is the experience of the fluidity of our being that we wish to explore here, the realization of an identity that is intrinsically constructed by the relationships that run through us and to see how much this porosity to others (that we embrace in community contrary to the atomic norm of the family unit), shapes us; how everything we come into contact with, redefines us constantly. A space where the joy of doing together as well as the reactivity find their place equally in a constant evolutionary process.

We cannot become alone: we need contact and interaction and this is what the community setting offers.

In 2023 Praxis hub will engage in further research on how this kind of space influences collective life though personal well being and how it can foster community building projects.

At the life itself Praxis Hub in Bergerac, each residency follows a Praxis frame in order to respond to the needs of the community while maximizing the contacts that enable the productive energy of the collective body to be gathered.

We propose a basic model where each guest facilitator will adapt by adding their own practices related to the theme of the residency.

So far here are the benefits of community practices we acknowledged:

• Learning to find peace in discomfort
• Meeting people truly
• Being a part of the ecosystem
• Entering an organic reality
• A different sense of self
• Being able to address difficult conversations
• Experiencing joy of togetherness
• Inspiration

The principles

Integrating sustainable care practices is not easy. Most of those ordinary practices (sitting, cooking, cleaning) are not recognised as essential to our lives, nor as necessary for deep adaptation. We often see them as obligations or worse moral obligations rather than opportunities for evolution, a way to truly be and show up to the world as it comes. Practicing our lives together through common principles and rules that reintegrate the spiritual with the material is the goal of this space.

Beingwithness

Everything is practice, everything is a possible refuge, every task becomes a space for forgetting the pressure of the personal self, an opportunity to unplug from one's obligations, like a breath of fresh air, a place where we have nothing to do or think about other than what is in front of us in community. Far from the pressure to be better or to be more spiritual, far from the purely efficient aspect either, the daily practices allow us to explore the space of the relationship to ourselves, to others and to all that we are in contact with during these practices in the suchness of the circumstances of the moment.

It is opening the space of integrity to life and to interbeing embodiment.

We believe that in this way we will regain the unified common sense of the 'good life' dear to the philosophers and which is in keeping with the principle of living each moment in the reality that it will never happen again.

Humility

Many seem to agree today that community is the “quantum leap” that could transform humanity. Yet, collective transformation means a common structure, rules and with the rules come the problem of reactivity to what can be perceived as authoritarianism. The essential principle on which the structure and philosophy of this place is based is that of humility. We do not believe that it is possible for us to transform ourselves collectively today without entering into the discomfort of changing our habits, and first and foremost that of freely choosing one's schedule or activities. Nevertheless, aware of the attachment to this freedom to act as one wishes, we believe it is necessary to find the right balance between common rules and freedom of personal choice. This is why the reflection of the structure is fundamental to the harmony of the groups, it must be sufficiently fixed to operate a positive disturbance and sufficiently flexible to integrate and/or adapt to certain personal needs, while knowing that our separatist conditioning obliges us to integrate our incapacity as the very process of this evolution. In other words, to assume our reality bogged down in post-modernism while allowing ourselves to dream of metamodernism.

Deep time

If we want to get out of the dogma of linear time and open up a different space for action, we have to find a way to live time differently.

Most transformative proposals are often done intensively and over a maximum of one week. Whether it is silent retreats, yoga or Nonviolent Communication workshops, it is a very intense mode of activation, more quantitative than integrative. Although valid, these short periods of collective experience can reinforce the illusion that these practices are remote from our lives and depend on a separate space from everyday life. Moreover, the echo of the experience cannot resonate and produce a transformative causality at the level of the collective. These moments are very inspiring and energizing times of strong collective activation, but because there is never time for collective decanting behind them we remain on the surface in the illusion that we are in the solution without having been able to really grasp the problem. Staying together in a framework of collective practices, from two weeks to a month, allows an arch that we find in the theory U , with a peak at the beginning, a descent, tensions and a resolution. This resolution usually comes from a moving realization of identity allowing for transformation. It is an experience of a different time, at the same time accelerated and denser.

There are different temporalities which are not measure by homogenous clock time

• Bayo Akomolafe

At the Praxis Hub we mainly offer programmes of two weeks to a month, interspersed with more intense moments of retreat or gathering to welcome different temporalities.

Engagement

Generally speaking, engagement is the core element of this pragmatic philosophy. Collective experience is no longer the cultural reference in our societies, so it requires discipline to overcome our conditioned resistance to the collective. Engaging in collective practices helps us to do this because we experience another way of relating to others that goes beyond individualism, we experience another way of living the space itself.

The commitment here is that of the body, we do not invite the social part of ourselves but we inhabit a function that moves. Whether in the kitchen, in the household, in the garden or in a circle by the fire, we inhabit the space in a different way and weave different relationships.

This engagement clarifies the mind through movement and supports the organic common sense of adjustment, of 'being with' what happens and of caring for reactive difficulties as they emerge.

Liveness of space

Taking care of the space we live in has a strong effect on the well-being of each member of the group. It raises energy, dignity and a sense of belonging as much as integrity. Each residence brings care and attention and helps this space to endure.

Doing things together, for the good of the community, is to approach another perception of care: we take care of ourselves by taking care of the space and the food, together.

Transmission in this context comes to the very basis of community . When we are on board and receive the opportunity to know how to do our weekly task or guardian role we have a place and it puts us in relationship with space . We do not come into the hub to take, nor to learn, but to experience; we come for the knowledge of finding our place in the world. Through another way to interact with others and space a sense of belonging appears and with that another way of being in the world. We reconnect with the power of past beauty that we respect as part of ourselves. Taking care of a place, a household, a kitchen is deeply spiritual in this sense. Everything becomes alive in the relationship we allow ourselves to have with everything we encounter.

Incorporation

The movement of one's practices is inscribed in a place and the way one inhabits the spaces will build the dynamic body of the collective (fixed collective schedule inspired by monastic frame).

At the Life Itself Praxis Hub we are interested in measuring the effect of the place on personal and collective well-being, how the "incorporation" of a living space contributes to the sense of trust that we seek to generate in the spaces of collective metamorphosis.

The movement between the activities distributed in the different rooms and the movements generated by the different activities makes it possible to visualize the possibilities of contact in a place that weaves a complex emotional architecture on the basis of classical architecture.

Deconstruction

Exploring a change of perspective can paradoxically confirm us in new illusions about the reality of the world and potentially create new forms of separation between those who have understood and the others, between the knowers and the others. This is the risk of spiritual pride, well known in religious traditions. This is why in most religious traditions the relationship between master and disciple is fundamental as it is in this space of trust that the relativity of all truth can exist, that paradoxes can be integrated and that we can enter into the maieutic of self with freedom.

At the Praxis Bergerac Hub there are no masters but we are aware that without this space we can fall into the illusion of our convictions and with them continue to reproduce the same paradigm of good or evil. We believe that the relationship of complete trust ( which is regularly exploited by dysfunctional religious masters) can be replaced by the secular community container itself. This is within this intimate yet collective safe space that the maieutic of self can happen through the invisible mirror.

Another practice is the reduction of personal choice .During residencies we don’t choose when we eat or when we clean, there is flexibility yet we engage in the common agreement to do things together at certain times. This movement in itself is a deep deconstruction of how we interact in the world . We can experience the freedom of just following the collective movement and just doing one task at a time. Deconstruction is directly linked to beingwithness.

But the main deconstruction is to realize the possibility of another action which comes from the full space of emptiness that happens in community rather than from a good well intended action based on urgency, measurement and visibility. It is the exploration of another belief that to relax in the trouble together we activate intuition, collective wisdom and generate powerful enthusiastic action that will matter.

Community of practices framework

At the Hub de Bergerac we seek to bring together material practices with the more abstract practices of the spiritual and the more psychological practices of the relational. This is the concept of the ecology of practices developed by Isabelle Stengers in her book "Inventing an ecology of practices" and then taken up by John Vervaeke². It mostly finds its root in the zen culture that Life Itself is very open to.

Here each practice is not more important than another but contributes to the balance of the whole ecosystem; and balance means harmony (including in disagreement) and possible collective evolution.

We can summarize the community practices around 4 material and immaterial axes in constant interaction that we call the MVPs: Minimal Viable Practices

• The collective care of tran-self (dynamic contemplative porosity by just sitting)
• The collective care for the house (connect to a different way to engage)
• The collective care for food (activating the in between)
• The collective practice for relations (circling from a receptive posture)

This is what we call the MVPs: the minimum viable practices, meaning the practices we believe necessary to help groups shifting from self to self development.

The transformative process of collective practices in community is the movement that brings us into the experience of storytelling, which can be understood as an act of dynamic contemplation, a cont/act³.

Simply meditating, cooking, tidying together in movement.

The transformative aspect of these daily practices does not require more concentration but simply less distraction. It is the practice of “mindfulness without mind”⁴, through presence, we create the space to meet "what is". We relax into action while remaining alert and dynamic because we remain aware of things that need to be done in a given time (usually 1 hour).

Basically, whether we are sitting, cooking or tidying up, it is exactly the same space that we cultivate, that of simply being at what we are doing in active contemplation.

Collective practices such as cleaning or cooking are often taken as a good action task, a service to the community, and of course this state of mind is welcome but it cannot be resilient because it is limited by moral reference. There is no limit to good deeds except to do more and more until one becomes a slave to one's own best inentions. This mindset could explain while burnout is common in communities.

But what happens when acting together is enough to find the right effort? When it is no longer specific individuals who do but a whole ecosystem that interacts to do?

The main reason for collective practices in terms of ontological transformation, beyond the fact that they are effective, is that they put us into interrelationships, that is, they create a space of relationships in an accelerated and concentrated way: for a given time, absolutely everything we encounter is in motion, everything becomes alive, wakes up, the space itself takes shape including ourselves.

The other important aspect of these pragmatic practices is that these relationships are woven through the function that each person expresses in the tasks of the day and does not give place to personalities. It is not a place of differentiation, of challenge, but rather of dynamic rest.

This movement in common operates a transformation that cannot be quantified but which is nevertheless very real, since with each contact/action we become again and again in symbiosis with everything that meets. Everything awakens.

Conversely, when we find ourselves in places with little interaction or based solely on our personal intelligences or inclinations, the space for "being with" that predisposes us to deep adaptation cannot exist and endangers the adaptive capacity of the whole ecosystem.

This transformative space in the collective body on a daily basis seems to us to be fundamental to the construction of a resilient culture, because it allows us to forget for a moment what we believe we are and simply do in our physicality (corporeity?).

Thus all feel nourished by the service they render to the community and to themselves, the caretakers of the garden are nourished by their creativity because they can propose to plant, to organize, the caretakers of the house can suggest to rearrange the spaces, the bin people work through their service to the food ecosystem, the house and the people, the stair and bedroom cleaners through their attention to what the kitchen and the house in general needs to be respected and for people to feel clarified by order and beauty.

Combining efficiency and mindfulness, recovering the systemic power of collective movement on a daily basis is the territory of the collective practices.

The 5 MVPs

Each team holding a residency will decide how to structure those practices, here is a general proposition to hold the Minimum Viable Practices and make sense with participants:

The general framework of these practices is based on a spiritual materialism⁵ in the first sense of the word. A materialism that holds nature ('organic') as the primary factor and the spirit (here in the sense of the mind) as the secondary factor, a spirituality that puts being in the foreground and thinking in the background.

It is a praxis of Trans individuation⁶, that of a transcendental pragmatic reality.

The practice of dynamic trans-self:

Just sitting or just walking or any practice that allows the space to be crossed by the world. Cultivating openness to all that is external and integrating it into one's body, hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and letting oneself be transformed by it. To be in a state of porosity , totally engaging in our life as we receive it.Whether on a cushion, walking or cooking, it is the commitment to openness, the curiosity to receive, and it is the opportunity to appreciate the hybridization, this constant co-emergence of the living within us. It is simply living in total openness every moment of our life.

It is to wake up to our life at each moment

To only sit and then only cook, only eat to simply live in a porous relationship with all that is the proposal of sitting without purpose (or any other practice of "just that"). To explore our readiness to receive, to appreciate what is in each activity.

There are obviously several methods (and non methods) for sitting or walking, and the point is not to choose one that is superior to the other, but to point out the space that it unfolds, that of a relaxed presence, of an involuntary adjustment to the lived moment in constant awakening of co emergence.

There is no other objective than to live in this space of absorption, of receptivity, of porosity in the activity itself. We do not add any injunction, on the contrary we free ourselves from it while engaging ourselves in a dynamic and enthusiastic way. In this way, we experience without realizing another space, that of an inclusive self.

During the residencies we sit in the morning on a meditation cushion in silence, but depending on the facilitators, other proposals may be made. Moments of bodily awakening are often appreciated in order to always return to the body, to movement and to another way of connecting than the word and the intellect.

But in general, it seems important to us to recall how this practice of just and with is both disarmingly simple and at the same time extremely complicated because in our voluntaristic lives we have lost this disposition to let ourselves be.

Carried along by our thoughts, it is often our head that drives our body, mentally but also physically. It is interesting to observe how much our walk reveals our way of living in the world: do we put our head first or our steps? Do we walk in fear or do we walk in confidence?

In this performative paradigm we have all been tempted by the perfection of a spiritual methodology or posture, we have all tried to be a good student by inflicting on the body the same diktat that we receive from our culture, the same injunctions of "I must, I should". But after a while the body always reminds us of the illusion of this arrogance: peace cannot be found in a contrite body.

So the space we seek to cultivate here is one of freedom, we do not decide on the posture but seek to enter into cooperation, to emancipate ourselves in the corporality. We build a dialogue with our body and create through a centered posture the necessary space for the involuntary groundness.

Sitting (or walking) involuntarily transforms our relationship to the world.

The possible paradigm shift begins in this space.

Thus, without straining or forcing anything, we relax into attentive presence. We simply pay attention to the inner micromovements that readjust us, through the body itself, and allow the spine to rise naturally

Thoughts come and go, noises, sounds, smells, tensions, relaxations also flow and visit us, we let them. The breath is simply welcomed and in the same way we let it find its own rhythm without will.

We enter the state of "Beingwitness" a continuous interior movement in continuity of that of exteriority, a deconstruction of self where there is no more personal body, no more interior or exterior, the limits disappear with the sounds, the sensations in the same way as when one eats or that one works. We cultivate the space of this disposition to be always in movement, in constant deconstruction that rebuilds as we go along, the "I" is made with others, by others, in others, including non sentient beings such as cars, wind …

Each person is different, each body is different, each day is different, each echo of life is specific to the reality of the moment.

The contemplative practices most often proposed during the residencies are zazen and walking meditation in the Zen spirit of objectless meditation.

You can find here a zazen foot notes from Issho Fujita and an actualized version of the disposition of “just sitting” by Dogen zenjisama (12th century) from Taigu Roshi in the annexe.

The practice of food care :

**Food is not about food but about interbeing. **
**Cooking is not about cooking  but about relationships. **

We often have a tendency when we think about food, including in communities to think mostly of ingredients and recipes. This is part of it but not the main one. Cooking in community means mostly to create a system of roles and functions in order to get the fluidity which leads to efficiency and different ways to relate to each other .

More importantly it is a place of practice and like the meditation it offers people to connect to themselves and others through spaciousness of open presence.

Besides the practice of cooking in itself, the choices made wishes to correlate the personal and the collective reality of our food in order to experience a way of cooking that nourishes our deepest needs ( not only physical) and the needs of all beings who depends of Gaia. It is linked to the question of satiety: Can we be satisfied with simple food that only takes what it needs from the earth, from animals and from others?

In a situation as complex as ours today, where the political and economic question has taken precedence over the common sense regarding the extraction of life, the answer looks like a muddy pool. So let us follow in the footsteps of the young poet advised by Rainer Maria Rilke

"For now, live the questions. Perhaps, one day far away, you will enter, little by little, without having noticed it, inside the answer."

The food practice at the Life itself Hub is a laboratory that attempts to take on all the issues surrounding our food today by affirming that sitting in the question is the first step towards adjusted action. It is also an affirmation that if we really want to rethink our world we can no longer be satisfied with clear-cut solutions. It is by listening to all the complexity of our food, our powerlessness, our anger, our sadness and our joy too that we can begin to unravel all the issues at stake, whether they are emotional, identity-related, ecological, political or economical .

So at the hub we want to support facilitators to take food within the transformative process of their residency by suggesting to explore the complexity collectively.

The framework we proposed is a proposition to include food complexity in the bigger picture of collective transformation including the economical reality and change of abundance and to implement this vision in conscious communities.

The premises on which is built this exploration in complexity:

The suggestion of silence in kitchen

Silence is not to shut up , it is not something that it is taking from you , but something so rare in our society that we forget its regenerative power . When we cut, boil, bake together as a team we become together at a deep level. When we don’t speak we allow the opportunity to hear all . At first our own noise, the noise outside, but also a bird, a car , somebody asking something, the water boiling all become just what it is and in that authorisation a relaxation arises . Being in silence in the kitchen is the cultivation of being present to all including ourselves, it is being the Self without realizing it, without doing or willing anything anymore.

The suggestion of not cooking animal products

In the future it may be possible to live collectively an ethical carnivorism that will allow us to feed ourselves with dignity of the life of animals while regenerating the ecosystem, but in the current state of a system that does not respect farm animals and lacking the budget or options to buy products that would do so. In the Praxis Bergerac hub we choose a plant based diet for the collective meals. If there is a need from the group to add animal products we strongly encourage facilitators to open discussions around where to buy rather than what to buy . We can provide a list of ethical farms and open the possibility to visit and meet with farmers.

We mostly invite all groups to eat in complexity. Living off the death of others is a reality of the cycle of life, but how can we feed ourselves if these lives taken are no longer respected? Ethical farming is limited to an end by barbarian slaughterhouses system for example.

Sitting in the powerlessness imposed on us by our system today, honoring and celebrating these lives taken, seems necessary in this time of turmoil to connect differently to our needs.

This being said, the idea is not to moralize the question but on the contrary to cross it to enter its reality and each one will be able to consume according to its conscious needs, (we have a second refrigerator dedicated to meat and dairies and a second kitchen that people could cook what they need here).

Thanks to this geographical distribution which forces us to conscious appreciation, we also hope to experience more deeply what it means to eat animal products and to reconnect to the deep gratitude for the sacrifice.

A space of bearing witness

To explore in a deeper way our relationship to food we suggest to bear witness to this complexity, to grieve within joy but without dogma. We want to cultivate a disposition of engaged acknowledgment of the reality of food as it is without judging.

The facilitators will decide to open this space regarding their own practice, here the 5 contemplations we often use at the praxis hub.

1. Let's look at all the effort and energy it took to get this food to us

2. Let's see how the gift of food transforms our minds and soothes our hearts by protecting us from greed and anger.

3. Let's look at how we honor this offering of food in our way of life

4. Let us see how deeply this food heals us

5. Let us contemplate this food that allows us to wake up to Life

After those contemplations or any other way to open meals heartfully, we suggest 5 to 15 mins of silent sharing.

Another ritual is just to ask if somebody has gratitude for this meal, and take a few minutes to contemplate food within gratitude.

A sober budget

Since COVID and Ukrainian war, food prices have been and will continue to be on the rise because our food is no longer based on regional autonomy. Finding a model that is both financially resilient and ethical seems essential for regenerative adaptation (highly accessible food is available but we know that it also contributes to the impoverishment of land and farmers).

With a system of meals at 10 euros per day and per person, 90 percent organic, we want to support committed market gardeners and a food system that respects the entire production chain. With this objective we touch on the question of need which is at the heart of our paradigm and is reflected in our relationship to food. Privileged for the most part, we don't always realize how difficult it is for some to remain consistent between the desire to contribute positively to the world and financial limits, we don't always realize the frustration that comes with feeling prevented from buying what we 'need' or have identified as such. The line between manufactured wants and real needs has become invisible and we no longer know when we are full and by what, in what quantity. Exploring the space of our fear of lack is also what we can observe without judging ourselves with the food of consciousness when financial reality is attached to it.

A constrained time system

Finally, food in a community is also living in a constrained time-space that forces another way of relating to others. The kitchen is often the central activity of communities, and it is here that the relational reality of the collective is revealed. Whether it is in the joy of harmonizing through the body or in our emotional reactivity, cooking together is a formidable mirror of what is happening in the group and in ourselves. It is therefore our ability to deal with the situation, our own, that of others and of our society as a whole that is also practiced here.

An ecosystem

In order to be able to create the container for both relaxation and for letting the food teach us who we are as a Self, an effective organization is necessary. It involves an ecosystem of roles and functions to address the difficult equation of time and menu balance.

• A Praxis food guardian to support general system
• One head cook per meal
• Various helpers (peeling and cleaning) per meal
• A system of measurements that allows the shopping to be done according to the number of people
• A menu system based on 3 basic elements (cereals, mixed dishes with legumes, raw vegetables)
• Specific measures for each of these 3 bases
• A signaletic to remember on the walls
• Systematic attention to leftovers
• A variety of flavors, textures and colors and a neutral cereal that promotes satiety
• A list of key menus to support the cooks
• A list of simple desserts and cookies to accompany the meals
• A cooking team organization during C.C
• Renewing menu choices from one meal to the next
• Clarity in the kitchen while cooking

And most important to activate the collective body of Self, the engagement to be fully abandoned to the activities we will be doing during this time is a fundamental necessity.

The practice of house care (cleaning, repair)

In the same way as the kitchen, the management of a house is not about cleaning but about beauty, dignity and mostly relationships . As we cook or clean together this is an opportunity to be with others in a functional way, outside the social persona we are often obliged to wear, requires an efficient organization in order to nourish harmony and the collective energy. The one who holds this space of practice is the guardian of the place. This person is chosen among participants and expected to lead the house care directions during collective time.

The host together with the house guardian and supported by the steward will take care of the house and daily collective care time.

The practice of energizing the body (yoga, chi kong tibetan, energetic movements etc..)

Resting to ourselves and the world differently starts with a conscious presence to our own body and is a fundamental factor for Good life and Good mind.

The practice of relational care

To find this collective movement in the desire for contact in an individualistic society that continually encourages us to assert our needs, our identities is extremely difficult. We are the product of a cultural conditioning based on the legitimacy of a separation between beings and in community we quickly confront our greatest fear, that of not surviving others.

We must therefore reactivate our cellular memory of being communal through the deep traversal of who we are today: beings aspiring to what they sense to be harmony while fearing the loss of their individuality in the faith of the movement that never stops, that of the living that meets eternally.

We must learn to dance with the dissonance between our ideals and the reality of a collective memory traumatized by oppression and adjust the call of our absolute reality with that of our relative reality. We simply have to learn to live with our disorder.

Around the backbone of sitting and collective care in daily life, transformative relational practices specific to each residence will be explored such as: neuro systemic group regulations,moving debates, deep democracy, world cafe, open forum, connecting work, dialogos as well as different meditations: zazen but also metta, imaginary cooking, wetiko, plant reliance.

Footnotes

1. “sympoietic systems are complex, self-organizing but collectively producing, boundaryless systems. A subsequent distinction between sympoietic and autopoietic systems is discussed. This distinction arises from defining a difference between three key system characteristics: 1) autopoietic systems have self-defined boundaries, sympoietic systems do not; 2) autopoietic systems are self-produced, sympoietic systems are collectively-produced; and, 3) autopoietic systems are organizationally closed, sympoietic systems are organizationally ajar. A range of other characteristics arise from these differences. Autopoietic systems are homeostatic, development oriented, centrally controlled, predictable and efficient. Sympoietic systems are homeorhetic, evolutionary, distributively controlled, “Beth dempster in the paper published in 2000: SYMPOIETIC AND AUTOPOIETIC SYSTEMS: A NEW DISTINCTION FOR SELF-ORGANIZING SYSTEMS ↩

2. https://podtail.com/podcast/emerge-making-sense-of-what-s-next/harmonizing-to-emerge-with-john-vervaeke ↩

3. Acronym coined by Carmen Azurl for "contemplative activism" ↩

4. Expression used by Issho Fujita in the spirit of zazen versus shuzen explained in his zazen notes https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Fujita-Issho-Polishing-a-Tile.pdf ↩

5. Different from the term used by Chögyam Trungpa, who defines it as the observation of spiritual practice in the West, warning of the risk of the ego hijacking spiritual practice to strengthen itself. ↩

6. For Stiegler, the concept of "transindividuation" is not based on the individuated "I" or the interindividual "we", but is the process of co-individuation in a pre-individuated environment and in which the "I" and the "we" are transformed by each other. Transindividuation is therefore the basis of all social transformation. ↩