A Force of Nature

Yosemite Falls, a Force of Nature. Photo by Gary Smith.

Excerpts from the book, "Presence:"

"....Everything is in everything." - physicist Henri Bortoft

"When we eventually grasp the wholeness of nature, it can be shocking. In nature, as Bortoft puts it, 'The part is a place for presencing the whole.' This is the awareness that is stolen from us when we accept the machine world-view of wholes assembled from replaceable parts." - page 5

"All learning integrates thinking and doing. All learning is about how we interact with the world and the types of capacities that develop from our interactions. What differs is the depth of awareness and the consequent source of action. If awareness never reaches beyond superficial events and current circumstances, actions will be reactions. If, on the other hand, we penetrate more deeply to see the larger wholes that generate 'what is' and our own connection to this wholeness, the source and effectiveness of our actions can change dramatically. .... We came to realize that both groups are really talking about the same process—the process whereby we learn to 'presence' an emerging whole, to become what George Bernard Shaw called 'a force of nature.'" - pages 9-10

"... The core capacity needed for accessing the field of the future is presence. We first thought of presence as being fully conscious and aware in the present moment. Then we began to appreciate presence as deep listening, of being open beyond one's preconceptions and historical ways of making sense. We came to see the importance of letting go of old identities and the need to control and, as Salk said, making choices to serve the evolution of life. Ultimately, we came to see all these aspects of presence as leading to a state of 'letting come,' of consciously participating in a larger field for change. When this happens, the field shifts, and the forces shaping a situation can shift from re-creating the past to manifesting or realizing an emerging future." - pages 11-12

— Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworksi and Betty Sue Flowers

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