The Invitation: Calling All Lightworkers
Together, as Lightworkers, we are those islands of coherence. Whilst chaos reigns supreme and failing systems wreak havoc in what Joanna Macy calls the Great Unravelling, we can gather and, through our energy and intention, cultivate a coherent, regenerative, life-affirming future that lifts us to a higher order in what Joanna calls the Great Turning.
And so I am delighted to invite you to come together with us in solidarity to form one of those small islands, uplifting the whole, serving the very highest and best. Join us in expressing and experiencing the fullness of our Divine life-force – being all we can be – servant-leaders in a time of great need, and equally great potential, to remake our world in service to light, in service to love, in service to truth, in service to justice, in service to peace, in service to the regeneration of the Earth.
And what do you need to serve, you may ask? As the great Martin Luther King Jr said:
“You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
Journey objectives
As Lightworkers straddling the transition between the death of the old world and the emergence of the new, together we will support one another to:
π Discover the transformative power of heart brain coherence to elevate our own consciousness whilst simultaneously uplifting the whole.
π Live in conscious communion with All Life;
π Presence this moment in our evolution with focussed attention and intention;
π Weave relationships that align with life’s regenerative impulse in right relationship to the dynamically evolving, nested wholeness of life as a planetary process;
π Use our powers of imagination, courage and enchantment in service to planetary transformation;
π Embody the freedom and joy of being more, not having more; and
π Practise radical acts of generosity, kindness and compassion to uplift our world.
Support
You will be supported throughout the journey by:
– Your Journey Host
– Our Guest Presenters
– Buddy Groups comprised of your fellow lightworkers on the path.
Inspiration will come from these sources as well as your own inner spiritual authority, compass and guidance.
Two live sessions per month, via online video-conferencing
Our journey comprises two live sessions per month, over four months. We will be using Zoom video-conferencing to convene our sessions – a very easy, user-friendly way to gather and proactively engage global audiences online. If you haven’t yet used the platform, we will guide you easily through the technology.
Once you’ve registered, and before the first introductory session, we’ll send you the Zoom access information so that you can participate. All you will need is a laptop, computer, tablet, or smartphone with a camera and stable internet access. You will be able to join us from the comfort of your own home or from wherever you are in the world.
The 4-Month, 8-Session Journey Schedule
The four-month journey runs from 4 September to 11 December 2024 and is made up of 8 sessions. Times stated are London, UK time. Click here to convert to your local time.
What you will receive
8 live sessions: The Introduction and Completion sessions are 1.5 hours in duration. The 6 speaker sessions are 2 hours in duration. The format of the speaker sessions will be flexible and emergent but will include: a brief framing of the session and speaker introduction by your journey host (15 minutes), speaker presentation (40 minutes), participant break out groups (30 minutes), return to the large group for Q&A with the speaker and participant sharings (30 minutes), and closing remarks (5 minutes).
Video recording of each session: All the speaker sessions will be recorded and made available 48 hours following the session. If you are not able to attend one of the live sessions, you will be able to view the recording at your convenience. You may also want to review the recording to integrate the content of a particular session more deeply.
Study Guides: To help integrate the content and experience of each session, a study guide will be provided including highlights of the essence of each session, questions for contemplation between sessions, and additional resources, featuring lists of videos, films, books, projects, events, and blogs relevant to each session.
Buddy Groups: To support you between sessions, we’ll be placing you into Buddy Groups. Participation in your Buddy Group is vital to your experience and demonstrates your commitment to being ‘All In’. These are self-organised, smaller groupings that will enable you to conveniently connect with one another based on your time zones. We’ll allocate 5 to 8 people to each group. Once the journey is underway, we’ll send you an email providing you with a full list of participants, as well as your assigned Buddy Group and suggestions for getting started together.
24-Hour Participant Zoom Line: Participants are encouraged to self-organise and initiate small group dialogues between live sessions through our easy-to-use Open Zoom Line available 24/7.
Participant Facebook Group: This will be your virtual home over the four months. The Private Facebook Group will enable you to engage in shared enquiry between sessions to deepen the journey, build alliances, and share your reflections, insights, experiences and questions with a community of peers. You may also choose to stay engaged after the programme as a way to integrate and continue to build community and support one another.
Free access to our panel discussion: An Intimate Discourse with Visionaries of The Great Turning. The 1.5-hour video talk is a great introduction to Great Turning themes and may be useful to watch before the online learning journey begins.
Time Commitment
Please note that you will need to set aside at least 8 hours per month, depending on the level of depth you are willing to go to, in order to:
– engage with the live sessions
– connect with your Buddy Groups between sessions; and
– work with the questions for ongoing reflection and dialogue contained in your session Study Guides.
Meet Our Great Turning Visionary Speakers
All of our inspiring speakers are proactively committed to pioneering new ways of living and being as we journey through the chaos toward the new world. In each session, we’ll have the opportunity to draw from their inspiration to help illuminate the way which, in turn, will compel us to take compassionate action in our own lives and communities.
CYNTHIA JURS is a Buddhist teacher in the Order of Interbeing. She received Dharmacharya transmission to teach from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 1994. In 2018 she was made a Lama by Ngawang Tsultrim Zangpo Rinpoche at his seat, Tolu Tharling Monastery in Nepal, in recognition for her many years of dharma practice and dedication to the work of global healing through the Earth Treasure Vases. She is the founder of Gaia Mandala Global Healing Community and author of Summoned by the Earth: Becoming a Holy Vessel for Healing Our World. Cynthia’s meditation groups, retreats and pilgrimages offer a unique blend of engaged buddhism and sacred activism.
OTTO SCHARMER is an action researcher who co-creates innovations in learning and leadership that he delivers through classes and programs at MIT, MITx u-lab, the Presencing Institute, the u-school for Transformation, and through interventions with institutions in business, government and civil society around the world. He is the author of Theory U, and co-author of Leading from the Emerging Future: From Ego-system to Eco-system Economies.
ALIXA GARCΓA is a Colombian-born, globally-raised, multidisciplinary artist and cultural creator whose work is imbued in ritual, spirit, and deep reverence for our Great Mother, Great Lover: our Earth. She is a distinguished artist, award-winning poet, visionary thinker, published author, social and environmental justice leader, and organisational strategist. Her groundbreaking work with Climbing PoeTree set the tone for years of art for movement building that has had significant ripple effects throughout the world. Alixa’s expertise has been instrumental in supporting others to realise their potential in the areas of creative blueprinting, trans-local and global organising, and environmental education. Her unique approach centralises creativity and the role of imagination as an essential tool for liberation.
DANIEL CHRISTIAN WAHLΒ is a key catalyst of ReGeneration Rising and the author of Designing Regenerative Cultures – so far translated into seven languages. He works as a consultant, educator and activist with NGOs, businesses, governments and global change agents. With degrees in biology and holistic science, and a PhD in Design for Human and Planetary Health, Daniel’s work has influenced the emerging fields of regenerative design and salutogenic design. He is the Winner of the 2021 RSA Bicentenary Medal for applying design in service to society and was awarded a two-year Volans-Fellowship in 2022.
JULIA KIM is Program Director of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan. Through local and international partnerships, the GNH Centre leads initiatives that promote a more happy, equitable and sustainable world based on New Economics principles, alternative progress measures, the growing science of wellbeing, and sustainable development. Prior to living in Bhutan, Julia worked as a medical doctor and HIV researcher in Africa and Asia, before serving with the United Nations in New York. Julia is an associate of the Presencing Institute and an Executive Committee member of the Club of Rome.
BIRJU PANDYA has been experimenting with the concept of self-discovery in places of capital flow. Key areas of Birju’s interest currently include inner transformation (e.g., eastern wisdom, embodiment), psycho-spiritual work (e.g., shadow, grief), and resilience (collapse awareness, bodhisattva path). From an integrated capital lens, Birju works with multiple forms of capital, gift cultures and emergence-based design. He plays a visionary role within ServiceSpace, an incubator of projects at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-ecology delivering millions of dollars in free service. He also plays a leadership role within Dharma Realm Buddhist University and multiple family offices. He is a husband, father, volunteer, and practitioner of multiple dharmic lineages.
Meet Your Great Turning Journey Host
MATTIE PORTE holds a degree in Psychology, is trained in alternative energy medicine, and is a lifelong student of Eastern and Western spiritual and mystical traditions. She has over 20 years experience in spiritual and personal development education and mentoring at Findhorn Ecovillage in the North East of Scotland, where she currently resides. She is the director and producer of the feature-length documentary film β An Enquiry into a New Story for Humanity: Change the Story, Change the World. Her focus is spiritual awakening and the evolution of human consciousness from an integrated scientific and esoteric point of view. She is passionate about the potential in moving from our current paradigm of separation and fear to an emerging paradigm of unity and wholeness.