Arnold Mindell > Quotes

“FACILITATORS EXPERIENCE mysterious emotions, fear, anger and numbness when working with groups and large organizations. That’s because group processes bring up abuse issues from the past. Understanding your own psychology better will make you a more effective facilitator by helping you (1) be sensitive to others, (2) remain centered and not go into shock when you are attacked, and (3) maintain equanimity and provide the group with a sense of safety when the group looks to you for protection in stormy times.”
― Arnold Mindell, Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity

“You are born in a human form, and you find joy in it. Yet there are ten thousand other forms endlessly transforming that are equally good, and the joy in these is untold. The sage dwells among those things, which can never be lost, and so he lives forever. He willingly accepts early death, old age, the beginning and the end, and serves as an example for everyone.63”
― Arnold Mindell, Dreaming While Awake: Techniques for 24-Hour Lucid Dreaming

“To those who want sustainable organizations and communities, my advice is: begin by being humble. Go back to school. Learn awareness. Learn about rank. You will save yourself and your community a lot of pain.”
― Arnold Mindell, Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity

“expecting those with rank to recognize their unconsciousness means asking that they be of a higher spiritual and intellectual caliber than the rest of the participants. While this demand seems, at first, to be warranted, it usually meets with resistance because those with rank experience themselves as being oppressed, first, by the participants who are criticizing them, then by the facilitators. The people who revolt against rank are, in the moment of attack, not only victims, but also powerful in a sort of spiritual way. They feel empowered by their quest for “justice.” Like those who provoked them, however, they are often unconscious of their power. Victims don’t automatically deserve halos.”
― Arnold Mindell, Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity

“It has been my hope that now, without more war, we can learn from history that we are more than one side or the other. The unresolved
suffering caused by hurt and its result, unrelenting retaliation, can only dissolve by detachment from one role or the other. Perennial spiritual wisdom teaches the same principle: detach from this world, this person, her successes, and failures.
Until now, such detachment meant nonviolence and the transcendence of the material plane. Now detachment can have another meaning. Detachment must no longer lead to disinterest in and disconnection from the world, but to a new kind of immersion in the Dreaming. This kind of immersion in conflicts, coupled with appreciation of all sides, can replace transcendence as a goal.”
― Arnold Mindell, The Deep Democracy of Open Forums: Practical Steps to Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the Family, Workplace, and World

“In fact, we or someone else can become terrifying, even while we are trying to save the day by insisting others be more egalitarian and conscious. Often such well-meaning, group "consciousness bringers" are unaware of how they push others about. Any one of us can unwittingly hurt others simply by being unaware of the powers we have and how we use them. If we are not careful, the very attempt to "raise consciousness" can simply recycle the very abusive behavior we hope to correct.”
― Arnold Mindell, The Deep Democracy of Open Forums: Practical Steps to Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the Family, Workplace, and World

“if you can feel into both sides and articulate them, growing together happens. The solution to war is not peace but growing together.”
― Arnold Mindell, The Deep Democracy of Open Forums: Practical Steps to Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the Family, Workplace, and World

“All theories of violence have a piece in the picture. To see the whole picture, however, we need to consider all theories simultaneously. We cannot separate one issue or approach from another. For example, while working on nationality factors that contribute to violence, we must remember economics. While working on economics, we must remember race and gender. While working on sexism we have to remember health issues. While working on health issues we have to remember sexual orientation. While working on sexual orientation we have to remember racism.
We need multileveled awareness. While considering social issues, we must remember biology and genetics, the warrior instinct, and appreciate the diversity in religious viewpoints as well.”
― Arnold Mindell, The Deep Democracy of Open Forums: Practical Steps to Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the Family, Workplace, and World

“if you are consistently afraid of groups, perhaps you are either too ambitious and want to save everyone, or think that you must be managing the situations at hand.
In this case, it may be helpful to remember that if you want to do too much, you will have to depend on using your own power, and that dependence will exhaust you and make you uncertain. We do not need leaders who can change the world because of their personal power, because change is inherent in people and nature. Our communities, however, need our essential selves and our awareness, not our power, to notice and track such changes.
Our world needs our awareness of the roles, themes, and feelings we experience. Insecurity occurs if we push to succeed. Let nature help with the work. We do not need more of the standard kind of leaders, but instead are looking for sensitive facilitators with moment-to-moment awareness.”
― Arnold Mindell, The Deep Democracy of Open Forums: Practical Steps to Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the Family, Workplace, and World