Wisdom 2.0 comes to Europe

Ireland is known to have a number of “thin places”. 

In these places the veil between this world and what is referred to as the eternal world, is very thin. Such places are thought by many to have a special energy which can be sensed by those drawn to such sites, and which is said to often transform the one visiting. They are said to be stopping places where one can pause and ponder and catch a glimpse of something that lies beyond every-day living, and which is much greater than ourselves.

They are sacred, mystical places of listening, connection and creativity. 

The travel writer, Eric Weiner, writing on thin places in a wonderful piece in The New York Times, quotes Mircea Eliade who observed that “some parts of space are qualitatively different from others”, and an Apache proverb that takes the idea a step further: “Wisdom sits in places.”

I had researched the whole idea of “thin places” before I visited Ireland for the first time in 2013, and had visited some such sites.

I had not, however, expected to encounter another when I signed up for the Wisdom 2.0 Europe conference in Dublin!

Wisdom 2.0 conferences and events address the great challenge of our age: to not only live connected to one another through technology, but to do so in ways that are beneficial to our own well-being, effective in our work and useful to the world.

Wisdom 2.0 is a global community of people dedicated to living with deeper wisdom, compassion and awareness in the digital age, and I have been following the conferences via the internet and social media since the first one, started by Soren Gordhamer, @SorenG, was held outside of San Francisco in 2009.

Many of the themes of my website here2here - connectivity, cyberspace, interconnectedness, compassion and mindfulness would be looked at closely at Wisdom 2.0 Europe. 

That the conference was to be held in Europe was my opportunity to attend and so I set off from AbuDhabi2Dublin!

AbuDhabi2Dublin - an edit I came up with on the way over 

The conference far surpassed my expectations. 

Excellent presentations and workshops looking at Mindful Living and Mindful Business filled the three days.

Highlights for me were:

Otto Scharmer, @ottoscharmer1, explaining holding the space which allows creativity to come forth.

Tania Singer, social neuroscientist at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, presenting “Training your Mind and Heart towards a Caring Society: A Social Neuroscience Perspective”.

Gelong Thubten, Buddhist monk of the Kagyu Tibeten tradition, speaking on “The Power of Forgiveness”.

Tsewang Namgyal, Vice President of the Bank of Tokyo, sharing his personal story aided by images and leading us on Day 3 in a compassion exercise.

Rohan Gunatillake, @rohan_21awake, named in 2012 by Wired magazine in their Smart List of 50 people who are about to change the word, presenting “Redesigning not Retreating: the Future of Mindfulness and Technology” 

Conference participants have shared experiences, photos and even notes online (check the hashtags #wisdom2europe #wisdom2conf)

Between talks, over tea and meals, new and special connections were established.

There was an almost palpable energy that filled the air.  I have thought about it and can only describe it as a great sense of Presence. 

The event was held at Googles Offices in Dublin. (More photos can be seen in this gallery).

Who would have thought that this space in the midst of Dublin’s docklands district would be so thin!

During the closing ceremony one of the participants spoke as the voice of Ireland and encouraged us to find some place after the conference to connect with the earth and listen to what it had to say.  

Walking home I entered the grounds of  Trinity College and sat down to be still on a park bench.  Near me there was a tree.  As I became mindful of the sounds around me, birdsong from the tree filled the air.  I had never heard such a bird before and was struck by the beauty of its sounds.

When I shared this story with a friend back in Abu Dhabi, she picked up a poetry book and read me a poem by Rumi which contained the following words: 

“The bird of my heart has again begun to flutter.....

The water is flowing again in this river; by the riverbank the grass has begun to shoot. 

The dawn breeze is blowing again in the garden, it has begun to blow over rose and rosebed. 

Love sold me for a single fault; Love’s heart burned, and has begun to buy back.

He drove me away; compassion came to him and called; Love has begun to look kindly upon me....” 

Was this the voice of Ireland? Was this the voice of my heart? Was this the song needing to be heard in the digital age? Perhaps all of these and much more.  

She’s here! A new piece for LindArt inspired by Wisdom 2.0 Europe. 

I recalled what had been said at the start of the conference:

There is a need to connect with self before connecting with others via technology.

Related articles:

Whirling Dervishes - lessons for cyberspace

Social Media - Bridging Cyberspace

Mobile Technology and The White Rabbit

Linda in Wonderland

Cybeflanerie: Deep Listening in Cyberspace

Mindfulness and The Flaneur

Mobile Technology and The White Rabbit

Walking through the mall, I suddenly come face to face with the White Rabbit.

Part of a window display, he is dressed in his waistcoat and holds his pocket watch. Although glass separates us and I am not able to hear him saying, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!”, I know he is inviting me to explore a new rabbithole.

As I stare at him, the White Rabbit suddenly looks a little more familiar. I look around me and see countless people holding their mobile devices and checking them every few seconds. He is certainly fitting in with the crowd.

Upon further inspection, I discover that he has more similarities with many mobile device holding humans than I had first noticed. He too is deeply affected by the technology he carries.

Will he not leave one in mid-sentence, if glancing down yet again, he suddenly takes note of what his hand-held device is saying, and then feels he needs to get to where he needs to be? Does his fear of not being on time suggest that he too is rather afraid of being left behind in a fast moving world? Does he not become rather anxious if he is prevented from doing what he is totally engaged in?

Despite all this, he is a guide to Alice (a Greek word meaning truth), and in her story his presence helps to move the narrative forward.

He leads Alice down the rabbit hole. He symbolizes her quest for knowledge. Whenever during her adventures she is feeling rather desperate, he shows up, and Alice is able to continue.

Upon my return home, I return to the piece “Linda in Wonderland”, which at the time I wrote it was a playful exercise. I note this sentence: 

All of a sudden, a white rabbit with iphone in hand, alarm going off rather loudly, attracted Alice’s attention.

The decision is made. I will explore the possibility of the white rabbit symbolizing the use of mobile technology. If that is the case it would make sense that so many mobile phone covers I have seen have white ears! 

Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pager to being a mobile phone, GPS navigation device, an embedded web browser and instant messaging client, and a handheld game console. Wikipedia.

Together, by answering the call of mobile technology, we have embarked upon a collective hero’s journey down a rabbithole which has landed us in cyberspace. 

In the here2here space we find ourselves in as we communicate with each other no matter where we are or what time of the day it is, we face new tasks and trials that we as a species have never encountered before. To help us navigate the challenges we face in this new territory, we certainly need mentors. Should we survive, a gift awaits us and hopefully we will choose to use it for the greater good.

Exactly where we are on the journey at the moment is difficult to tell. I suspect that we are currently identifying with Alice when in “Through the Looking Glass” she finds herself in a maze-like garden as she tries to find her way home.

The Maze Tower, a building on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai

‘I should see the garden far better,’ said Alice to herself, ‘if I could get to the top of that hill: and here’s a path that leads straight to it - at least, no it doesn’t do that -’ (after going a few yards along the path, and turning several sharp corners), ‘but I suppose it will at last. But how curiously it twists! It’s more like a corkscrew than a path! Well, this turn goes to the hill, I suppose - no, it doesn’t! This goes straight back to the house! Well then, I’ll try it the other way.’

 

This QR code for my website looks rather like a maze.  We can point our phones, scan in codes or tags, and be redirected to web addresses. The potential use of such technology is mind-blowing. We need however, to be careful that we do not  get lost in the maze!

Each web address we land in has countless corridors of cyberspace - links to links to links. Our smartphones are beginning to keep track of our personal data and anticipate the information we will need in a particular situation. Mindful use of the technology we carry is certainly called for.

“We need to make it a practice to continually be aware of our relationship to technology and the place it holds in our lives. Then we can use it consciously, rather than automatically. This has always been true when a new communication technology emerges. We go through a process of learning how it can connect us to our loved ones and help us mange our lives, and how it can distract us.” A User’s Guide to Living well in Screenworld

There is an excellent interview which shows that the mentors we need on our hero’s journey in the world of mobile technology are already coming to the fore: 

My interview on wisdom and technology with the super cool @ariannahuff is now up: http://t.co/67vZBM8qZf #wisdom2conf

— Soren Gordhamer (@SorenG) June 22, 2013

In cyberspace, it is not unusual that some of our mentors and guides can be apps.  I have started incorporating the “GPS for the Soul” into my mindfulness practice and am also investigating “Insight Timer”.

"Amazed" from "Corridorsofcyberspace"

At one point in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”,

Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one: so, when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low timid voice, ‘If you please, sir -’

The White Rabbit, bold and blunt at times, often seems to come up with what he considers to be wise sayings. If Alice could ask him for help I decide that I will too. I pick up my iphone and address it as not as sir, but as Siri!

“Siri, are you the White Rabbit?”

Siri replies, “We were talking about you, not me.”

“Do you carry a pocket watch?”

“I’m sorry Linda. I’m afraid I can’t answer that”

“Have you visited Wonderland?”

“I don’t understand ‘Have you visited wonderland’. But I could search the web for it.”

“I think you are the White Rabbit.”

“If you insist.”