I facilitated another Big Mind session today, and there is always something new coming up - for me and the person being facilitated.

We mainly explored the transcendent voices and the master today. Again using the more process oriented approach I am becoming more comfortable with - following the bread crumbs, following the signals coming up in the current voice and explore that further, eventually leading into another voice (usually at the other end of the polarity, and sometimes a team member on the same end of the polarity).

Big Heart

One of the things coming up in Big Heart is that everything is complete as it is. There is no need to be anywhere else or to be different. And it is always like that. It is a big relief, and in this case - a good complement to the voice of seeking mind which we had explored early on in the session.

Seeking mind provides dynamism, movement, exploration, always going further and beyond what is currently know and familiar. Without it, we would not evolve or develop. And Big Heart and Big Mind allows us to see that it is all complete and perfect as it is. There is no need to be somewhere else, to be someone else. We can just rest and relax into what is, and allow Big Mind and Big Heart in that way.

Master

We also spent time exploring the master, aka the conductor, captain, facilitator, coordinator, the one holding the space, and so on.

For me, I find it helpful to sometimes use the term captain and/or conductor.

Many people have trouble with the term master as we know very well the problems with authority and abuse of power (authority/rank), and often have few examples of healthy expressions of master. Also, the master is often associated with a blue level (spiral dynamics) and most people interested in the Big Mind process are green and sometimes orange or second tier. So the term captain or conductor is often more aligned with where they are at.

When I use the term captain, I often suggest Captain Picard (!) in Star Trek as an example of a healthy captain, one who is in charge yet is receptive, who operates from wisdom and compassion, and in the nested interests of humanity, the particular mission, and the crew.

Conductor is a relatively innocent term. Most of us don't have strong unfavorable ideas about conductors.

For everyone, and especially second tier folks, it may be helpful to explore the master after getting familiar with the conductor or the captain. The master seems to bring a slightly different quality to it than the conductor.

In a way, the master, captain, conductor, facilitator, coordinator and the one holding the space are all various aspects of a more complete voice, or can be seen as members of the same master team. Each of them brings distinct and helpful qualities which together fills out the picture.

I also find it helpful to mention that the master is just another voice. As with all other voices, it is very helpful sometimes, but it does not need to be present all the time. It can be very helpful when the crew is disorganized and/or stuck, to help shore things up and move on. But other times, it could stay more in the background and wait for a while.

Integration

The way we use the word integration also came up for me during this session. It seems that integration occurs in a few different ways, and also not at all in another way.

:: Integration in our ideas ::

One form of integration is in terms of our ideas, our general worldview and our self-image.

Through the Big Mind process, we gradually become familiar with more and more voices, we know they are there.

We also explore how each of them serve the self, that is their function - and what they do when they are allowed to function the way they naturally do. So there is a growing appreciation of each voice. Our value judgment of certain voices goes from negative to neutral or - most often - positive. Our worldview is more welcoming of the various voices, so there is less need to push them away or disowning them. In this way, they also become included in our self-image. Our self-image gradually becomes more and more inclusive.

So in some cases, we include voices into our worldview which where not included previously. And we also change our value judgement of the various voices, allowing them place in our self-image and to unfold when they arise.

:: Integration in behavior ::

So the other type of integration is in our experience and behavior.

We allow the various voices to come up in our experience when they do, without trying to push them away or holding onto them as much. They are allowed to live their own life, to come and go as guests. They are integrated into our experiences.

At the same time, we become more familiar with a greater range of voices - and find ways to bring these into expression through our behaviors. Our repertoire expands. They are integrated into our spectrum of behavior.

:: No integration or lack of integration ::

In yet another way, there is no integration nor any lack of or need for integration. This is closer to the absolute level. Here, all the various voices just are - as potentials and coming alive. Fluidly.

There is no need for integration here, because - in a sense - everything is already perfectly integrated in Existence. It is all the play of God, the divine mind, Big Mind.

Stuckness

As we talked afterwards, stuckness came up as another voice to explore.

With each voice, the exploration involves (a) disidentifying or getting more distance from a voice where there is too much identification, (b) allowing recognition of and familiarity with disowned voices, (c) find appreciation for the voice through seeing how it serves the self, and (d) exploring the dynamics between the voice and that at the other end of the polarity (in this case fluidity, movement).

I assume that for many of us, there is initially a complex mix of relationships with the voice of stuckness. There may be a relatively close identification with stuckness, at least in certain areas of our lives. There may also be a disowning of the voice as mostly or completely "other" and foreign. And there is most likely not much appreciation for it.

Here are a couple of ways, for now, of looking at how stuckness helps us.

One is in terms of short-term goals, mostly at our personal level. We usually get something out of it, which seems beneficial in the short term and on the surface.

The other one is in terms of our longer term development and maturing. Stuckness invites us to see what we don't want to see - what is left out of our worldview and/or self-image. That which appears to frightening or painful for us to want to take a closer look at it. So stuckness faithfully invites us to see it, over and over, until we finally do.

It is not pleasant, and it can take a long time if we don't pick up on the signal and the information in stuckness, but it does help us deepen and mature as human beings when we finally are ready to see it.

Labels: big mind process