Contemplative Dialogue: Drawing on the Strength of the Human Spirit.

Contemplative dialogue draws on the practices and theories of learning organizations and unites these with powerful contemplative practices from the great spiritual traditions. This union creates broad new possibilities. The practice of dialogue provides groups a rich and productive way to build shared meaning. It creates the possibility of speaking and thinking together in ways that are productive, creative, and deeply satisfying. We find in it ways to meet our deep longing to be understood and to understand others. Contemplative dialogue, skillfully facilitated, creates an atmosphere that engages this deep level of our humanness, while not requiring any particular religious or spiritual bent on the part of participants. Rather it works because it is able to simply and quite naturally invite people to touch their true selves. In doing this, they touch their own deep integrity and discover a tangible connection to others. The result is a consistent ability to touch and awaken a profound ‘common ground’ or ‘collective spirit.’ Participants describe experiencing dialogue and mutual understanding in ways they had not imagined or thought possible. With this ‘group spirit’ as a trustworthy starting point, issues of: organizational mistrust; systemic and cultural blindness; individual powerlessness; all become matters for cooperative and collaborative focus. The remarkable power of this process creates a safety in which participants can experience being both their real and best selves, while working cooperatively for the common good. Contemplative dialogue provides groups and their members with a greater ability to engage and overcome the challenges they collectively face, and to do so with integrity and compassion. It creates ways of drawing on what is best and most essential in each of us, and creates trustworthy ways to bring that into the work of our organizations and individual lives. Intentionally engaging this powerful common ground transforms how an organization does what it does. The change is not artificial, but rooted in the deep human potential that resides within each of us.