BEING ALONE TOGETHER PART 2
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From: Jonathan S.
Date: Friday, September 21, 2007, 5:04 PM
Subject: Being Alone Together Part 2
ID: 258546

Here are the passages from, A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer on " circles of trust, " and " being alone together."

" ...the circle itself is focused on inward and invisible powers. Its singular purpose is to support the inner journey of each person in the group, to make each soul feel safe enough to show up and speak its truth, to help each person listen to his or her inner teacher..." (A Hidden Wholeness, p. 54)

" In a circle of trust, we practice the paradox of ' being alone together,' of being present to one another as a ' community of solitudes.' Those phrases sound like contradictions because we think of solitude and community as either-or. But solitude and community, rightly understood, go together as both-and. To understand true self-which knows who we are in our inwardness and whose we are in the larger world-we need both the interior intimacy that comes with solitude and the otherness that comes with community." (A Hidden Wholeness, p. 54)

" If we are to hold solitude and community together as true paradox, we need to deepen our understanding of both poles. Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one's self. It is not about the absence of other people-it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other. It is not about the presence of other people-it is about being fully open to the reality of relationship, whether or not we are alone." (A Hidden Wholeness, p. 54)

" When we understand solitude and community in these ways, we also understand what it means to create a circle of trust-a space between us that is hospitable to the soul, a community of solitudes where we can be alone together. " ( A Hidden Wholeness, pp. 55-56)

Om Shanti,

Jonathan