This is a 4-Evening Workshop meeting on Tuesdays
Dates:
4 Tuesday Evenings, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EST
November 9, 16, 30, and December 7, 2021
Available by: Join by Videoconference or Watch Online Recordings (learn more about videoconference)
Price: General Public: $100.00 | One Spirit Graduates: $ 90.00
One Spirit Elective Credit: 1.0
Action Or Contemplation? Accountability Or Unconditional Love? Continuity Or Transformation? When “Or” thinking is misapplied when And-thinking is required, the result is disunity and unnecessary suffering from polarization and chronic dysfunction. Applying “And” thinking to these and other interdependent pairs or “polarity” tensions (aka paradox or dilemma) creates a shift from intractable battles to an invitation to the dance in the interdependency. And-thinking has been used and celebrated the world over for helping businesses, governments, schools, congregations, and communities address the complexity of interdependency by supplementing “Or” thinking with “And-thinking,” when And is required. Many spiritual and wisdom traditions describe these “And-dances” of interdependent Unity in the One Spirit, which is also pervasive in nature. Rumi writes,
Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.
This interactive course was designed for the One Spirit community by two pioneers in the field. They will explore the spiritual nature of polarities with you and how to apply your learning in a variety of interspiritual contexts.
Participants in this course will:
Increase capacity to love and serve by learning how Polarity Thinking transforms tensions into preferred futures
Apply the basics of the Polarity approach to deepen and broaden your understanding of interdependence, interconnectedness, and Oneness
Explore polarities present in major spiritual and wisdom traditions
Receive 1-year access to the Polarity Resource Portal that will support the application of your learning during and after the course
Attached are two Free Peeks - one from each of our two book set:
And, Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity Paradox or Dilemma
Volume One: Foundations and Volume Two Applications
From Volume One, we have chosen the book introduction and Chapter 34, "I-It And I-You: The Limits of Polarity Thinking."
The introduction and table of contents provides a context for the chapter. We chose Chapter 34 for the 1 Spirit Community because we think it will speak to you and the wisdom within the "1 Spirit" focus of your community. In this chapter Barry affirms the wisdom of the mystics from various faith traditions that we are all connected and we are all loved unconditionally in 1 Spirit. He is acknowledging that all the previous chapters of the book are situated in the very important world of I-It. Though important in our efforts to make a difference, something critical is missing. It is the awareness of 1-Spirit within the I-You pole that provides the mystical grounding in "Being" that informs everything we are "Doing" to make our difference.
From Volume Two, we have chosen the book introduction and Chapter 3, "Contributing to a Just and Equitable World: Why Is This So Hard" by Chandra Irvin. In this applications chapter, Chandra draws from her life experience as a Black woman growing up in the United States, over 30 years of experience working for a just and equitable world, and, her 25 years of applying And-thinking to her work. We thought you would appreciate here discussion of the polarity of "focusing on Transactions and External Remedies And focusing on Transcendence and Internal Readiness." Our hope is that this chapter will also resonate with the 1 Spirit community.
We look forward to exploring these two chapters and the rich content of the rest of both Volumes in this workshop series.
FACULTY:
Cliff Kayser
Admired for progressive thinking and expertise in the area of values and dynamics of value polarities, Cliff Kayser has dedicated 25 years to leadership and organizational, executive coaching, and positive social change. Cliff is a dean of the two-year Polarity Mastery program, VP of Polarity Partnerships, and founder/president of XPERIENCE, LLC, which includes “Kayser Ridge,” a retreat and learning center he built in Berkeley Springs, WV. Mr. Kayser founded the non-profit Institute for Polarities of Democracy as well as Sixseed, a forward-thinking healthcare coaching/consulting firm. Cliff holds two Masters Degrees from American University; one in Human Resources Management and another in Organizational Development. He is a Professional Certified Coach, a faculty member at American University’s KEY Executive Training Program, and has served as a Coaching Fellow for George Mason University’s Leadership Coaching for Organization Well-Being. Cliff has practiced Tai Chi for 25 years and frequently integrates this practice into coach and leadership training.
Barry Johnson
In 1965 Barry wrote an (unpublished) book called, All. The message was simple: “We all belong.” He enrolled in a “Secular Internship Program” at Union Theological Seminary in East Harlem, New York City, where he lived for 5 years. In East Harlem he witnessed and studied some of the impact of his dominant, white culture on marginalized people. He left New York and seminary to learn how to develop organizations, communities, and nations that functioned well for all. While training in Gestalt Therapy in 1975, the first polarity map and set of principles emerged while working with a client. Since then, Barry has been learning with people from all over the world how to apply Polarity Thinking to their situations. Barry and his wife Dana have five children and eleven grandchildren. They both love kayaking and walking together anywhere. Making a difference And enjoying life.