Contemplative Practice in a Group and Organizational Context

Numerous studies have reported the physiological and psychological benefits for individuals who use meditation and other contemplative practices (Benson 1976; Speca et al 2000. For comprehensive literature reviews of clinical studies, see Andresen 2000 and Murphy and Donovan 1996). Our interviews uncovered a lesser-documented phenomenon: the benefits that come to a group of people who take part in contemplative practices together. Pat Harbour of Healing the Heart of Diversity told us,

We give people an opportunity to use a contemplative practice for themselves as an individual, but to also be able to do that in community...for building the connection and bonding in relationship in community through contemplative practice... Contemplative practice allows the space and the opportunity to connect with one's higher Self at the core of one's being and at the point of connection with other beings that is in each of us.

Group practices included Stillness Practices done in community, such as sitting meditation, and also Relational Practices such as council circle, Appreciative Inquiry, and engaged dialogue.

Three patterns emerged as consequences of group practice:

• Improved communication
• Greater sense of team and community
• Realizing interconnections; working across boundaries

Improved Communication

Almost every participant described improved communication as a by-product of the use of contemplative practices. Many interviewees stressed the importance of developing skills in "deep listening"-listening without blame or judgment. Contemplative techniques such as council circle directly supported this kind of listening. Lorain Fox Davis told us,

Many kids in the Rediscovery Program grow up not knowing how to listen...In council circle, the only one speaking will be the one who is holding the talking stick. There's a tremendous strength in talking circles whereby listening and not being able to interrupt we go deeper into our own selves. As each person goes deeper then the circle goes deeper and at some point when we are letting Spirit speak instead of personalities or egos, we gather in the center of that circle. That's where Spirit resides and there's a great power that comes out of that acknowledgment and out of that awareness.

Greater Sense of Team and Community

According to many of our interviewees, groups doing contemplative practices together bonded much more powerfully and consequently worked toward their goals more effectively. Janine Sagert, who teaches corporate clients such as Dell Computer, IBM, and Motorola how to achieve optimal performance and well-being, begins meetings with her staff with a short meditation. She said, "[Contemplative practice] certainly clears away any petty issues that might be going on between us...It reestablishes each one of us in our own joy, so it certainly makes meetings more efficient and focused."

Realizing Interconnections; Working Across Boundaries

One of the impacts of practice mentioned most frequently by participants who practiced together was the realization that there is no "other." When people gained this understanding, there were led to a level of caring about others that extended in two directions: toward the people that the organization "helps" but also toward the people perceived as the "perpetrators" of social injustice. Marianne Williamson said, "We take very seriously the dictates of Gandhi and King, that we must learn agape, we must learn to love those we don't like, we must learn to love the oppressor."

Bernie Glassman, founder of the Peacemaker Community, used the metaphor of the body to explain how this works:

If I thought my arms were not part of me but separate, then if one arm starts to bleed, it's possible that the other arm could walk away, saying "I don't want to get bloodied. I've got other things to do."

Once the transformation into the oneness of life, of that one body, happens, it's impossible for that other arm to walk away because it knows that if it doesn't do anything, it's going to die, the whole body is going to die...[So the question is] "How do I nurture this one body? How do I keep on?" Not "How do I end all of the illnesses that are going to arise?" but "How do I prepare the one body to be in a more healthful situation so that it doesn't cause as much damage?" But it's never looked at as the other.