Physicist, David Bohm holds that group communication comes into coherence at a level beyond words and that this field is transformational for an individual and for the collective.

For the past few months, our IONS community group has been exploring and enjoying Bohmian dialogue, a process for dialogue in which people learn to listen to one another without judgment, to explore the assumptions underlying ideas, and to learn a new way of being together. In Bohmian dialogue there is no agenda and no leader.

Our group process grows increasingly rich, as we refine our knowledge of the mechanics of dialogue and the tools we gain as we practice it. Each month new people join in, contributing to a group consciousness which expands as the group grows in number, and as the quality of interchange increases among members. We appreciate our facilitators, who do a great job meeting the challenge of holding the accumulated experience level of the group, as well as imparting details to those who have not experienced the process. They use every meeting as an opportunity to discover what would work better for the next meeting. For those new to dialogue, it is good to keep in mind that learning the methodology can be a challenge. For those who are more experienced (some have many years), it is good to remember that stewardship can itself be a deepening process.

So what happens by staying with the group process and the practice? An individual should come to a more automatic experience, which seems richly authentic, feel exposed to new ideas, sometimes feel challenged or appreciative, and often feel heard. This is often experienced as a shift into the heart, as we learn to listen, find what is in our hearts, and speak it. Collectively, during the meeting, as the group process escalates, the group increasingly incorporates this tone of the heart, experienced as a natural coherence and order. This '"tacit" level of communication becomes a shared wordless container that can transform individuals both conceptually and organically. And over time, as individuals become more available to the group, applying less effort, the group field shifts into this tone more readily. The shared practice of dialogue brings us to be more authentically tuned into the meditative aspect of it and thus to ourselves.

Many of us feel very blessed for this group and for the richness this open ended or "noetic' exploration offers as well as enjoying the essential presence of the members. Come and join us.

Susan Burns
IONS Northwest (www.ionsnw.org)
Institute of Noetic Sciences (www.noetic.org)