Mindful Sharing in Small Groups

Participants small groups of 8 to 10 will meet in their own quiet spaces for 35 minutes once every day to consider the proceedings of the conference so far. Feedback from individual members of the group is requested as per the following instructions:

The process starts with 10 minutes of breath meditation in the circle.

Then the group facilitator will invite all present to say a few words (2 minutes per person) on what they heard in the conference presentations that inspired them, stimulated their imagination or moved their heart.

Then the group facilitator will give a piece of stone to the person on his/her left. After sharing his/her thoughts, that first speaker gives the stone to the person on the left whose turn it now is to speak.

There is no pressure on any participant to speak. All sharing is voluntary. If you do not wish to speak, just hand the stone to the next person.

We ask you to honour the rule that only the one holding the stone should speak. All others should listen respectfully.

When the stone has gone round once, the group will be led into another round of sharing with the facilitator saying, "What moved you while you listened to group in the first round?" At the end of the second round, the facilitator will give each one a slip of paper with the request that you write one word or sentence expressing what you feel about, or an insight into, Globalizing the Human Mind so far, this weekend. Return the paper to the facilitator as soon as possible.

During the small group meeting, you may hear something that impels you to judge the speaker, or want to solve his/her problem, or try to change his/her opinions. All these urges will lead to a discussion. This is good, but we ask you to initiate the discussion only after all the paper slips are returned and the time of Mindful Listening is completed.