This post, authored by Caro Hall and Roger Benson, was previously published in Findhorn Today – Papers prepared for New Synthesis Think Tank Conference October 1987 New York City.

The Findhorn Foundation is composed of many different individuals with differing nationalities, backgrounds and spiritual paths whose uniting factor is a commitment to expressing the outworkings of spirit and to the overall vision of the Foundation. This is a constantly evolving vision and the structures of the community reflect this in a spirit of experimentation and a desire to meet the needs of the moment in the best possible way.

Whilst it is important that every member of the Foundation is involved in decision making, and knows that they are making a vital contribution to the development of the community, it is not possible to have everyone involved in everything. Decisions are therefore made by different groups, or by several groups together when an issue overlaps two areas of responsibility. Each member plays a full part in the governance of their own work area and the area in which they live. The “focalisers” or facilitators of each work department also meet together regularly to share information and consider issues which involve the larger group.

In addition there are three administrative groups with responsibility for major areas of focus; Finance Group, Personnel and Training, and Education Branch. These groups are represented together with the focalisers’ groups on the central decision-making and coordinating body, Management Group which is responsible to the legal Trustees.

Power and authority are delegated to these groups by the staff of the Foundation, and the whole system works on the basis of mutual trust and respect. Wherever possible decisions are made by or with those people who are most directly affected by them. Any member can challenge a decision made by another group if it affects them personally, or if they have information or perspectives which they believe may not have been taken into consideration. This can mean that a decision takes quite a while to make and put into effect, but the time is usually well spent, since a decision which has the full support of those involved will be implemented more smoothly and enthusiastically than one made grudgingly.

A system which relies on majority voting has the disadvantage of creating winners and losers. There is no guarantee that the losers will support the decision which the majority have made. If an organisation is to be optimally effective, there is no room for half-hearted participants, and so the Foundation uses group consensus in order to maximise participation. This does not mean that everyone must be in total agreement with everything, but they must at least state that they are willing to support the majority before any decision can be reached. Those who are not in total agreement have a right to voice their opinions and during this process the original proposal may be modified to include factors which had not previously been considered.

Using the wisdom of the whole group in this way has an exciting potential. As each person takes time to listen to his or her own inner sense of what is right and appropriate and expresses this clearly, the group can move to a higher level of synergy and find a solution which is better and more creative than any individual could have reached on his or her own.

Over the years, we in the Findhorn Foundation have developed a very simple and effective meeting structure. In essence, it is one that serves to engage and integrate information from levels of consciousness beyond the normal waking consciousness. The meeting itself has three main parts: An attunement, meditation, or simple time of silence in the beginning; a time of personal sharing as a check-in to the “status” of each individual; and the business itself. These are usually followed in this order, although at times we do deviate as the pressure of time or emotion takes its toll.

In looking at the effect of this structure, some interesting points become evident. Each part tends to directly allow access to a specific level of consciousness. These are, in generalized terms, the super-conscious, sub-conscious, and self- conscious. For the purposes of this paper we will define each simply as follows:

A) Self-conscious Normal waking conscious  -It has the general function of observing, choosing, and discriminating. It is the seat of awareness, and its primary reference point in time is the present.

B) Sub-conscious – That portion of consciousness that lies just “under” normal everyday consciousness. records every experience and thought, files them for future reference, and draws conclusions from them. It is the warehouse of belief and its primary reference point in time is the past.

C) Super-conscious – The portion of conscious beyond the self-conscious that is in direct connection with wisdom. It transcends time and space, is the gateway for ‘paranormal” experience of a mental nature, is the source of ideas and experience of a “spiritual” nature, and is the home of insight and intuition. It can be said that this portion of the psyche connects us to information beyond this individual physical life to direct revelation of a personal nature, and deeper connection and understanding of connection at an inter-personal level. Its primary reference point is beyond time…. timlessness.

In most everyday businesses, decision-making is left primarily to the mental/self-conscious realm. Information from both the sub-conscious and the super-conscious is limited in expression in many ways, and yet this same information has an impact upon each act we undertake. In the Foundation, we seek to express “wholism” in every aspect of our lives, which includes governance and decision-making. We therefore welcome and actively solicit information from these other two areas of conscious-ness and seek its place in the decision-making process.

From the sub-conscious, the information usually takes the form of feelings, emotion, or simply a verbalizing of those deeply personal issues that all people face from time to time. Every person feels something about most things….and these feelings are a valuable source of information not only for the topic at hand but also in binding individuals closer together through building trust….trust being one of the key points in effective team building. In addition, feelings act as a call to action….they ask
for action of some kind to the stimulus being received. As such, if there is no space allowed for the feelings to be expressed, they are suppressed into the sub-conscious….but they are not gone. They constantly demand attention and energy must be used to keep them in check….energy which could perhaps be more wisely used in pursuit of an appropriate decision. In this way also, the attention of the person is being split to the degree of intensity of the feelings asking for expression. And finally, if left unexpressed, they then must be communicated through, which always distorts the communication in some manner, thus diminishing the possibility of good clear communication. It is for all of these reasons and more that we take the time necessary to check in with each person to see how they are. This simple procedure invariably leads to a shorter and clearer business section.

Information from the super-conscious is a bit harder to classify. The two most common forms that we work with are information which comes through insight and intuition in the moment, and information that is consciously sought from this part of the mind through meditation or contemplation. The first is an everyday fact of life for most people, though more often than not it goes unrecognized. This condition is not helped by the traditional schooling which emphasizes primarily the logical/ rational approach to problem solving and the need for proof and analysis. This narrows the doorway to the super-conscious and limits the trust factor for information from this source. We seek to acknowledge that needed information is always available when we are open to receive it from any source, and that communication with this part of the mind is a learned and trainable response. As such, we utilize many forms of guided imagery to aid in the receiving of this information. Our experience to date has been that insight relevant information about a considered topic which comes outside the path of connected reason is indeed available for the asking, again, when we are open to receive it.

Now, information from both of these sources must be given weight in balance with reason….that is, information from the self or normal conscious. We should not value one source any more than another. It is all just information which serves to give as full a picture as possible about a topic needing decision. This stance is not always easy to maintain, as some people communicate better through their feelings, some through their mental mind, and some through conceptual and visionary images. Each of these types will normally favor their particular approach and value information from these sectors more highly. Which leads us to the final point and possibility of this type of structure.

Consider if you will the following images. Picture first the three levels of consciousness as three concentric circles with the sub-conscious in the center, surrounded by the self-conscious, which in turn is surrounded by the super- conscious. Now picture the same concentric circle arrangement next to the first with, however different labels. The first, or inner-most circle we will call the Personal, the second the Social, and the largest and outer-most circle, the Planetary. This terminology will stand for, in this instance, the predominate focus of an individual. In the extreme, for example purposes only we can describe these as follows: A person who is focused primarily upon the personal is more interested in him or herself than anything else….seeking the whys of every activity and measuring every situation first on the scale of how it will affect him or her personally….and thus making decisions accordingly. How one feels is of utmost importance; One focused on the social tends to fall into the category of world server, one who gives and gives to others before seeing to his own needs. This person will tend to base decisions upon how best he can serve others, regardless of the personal cost, so at this level, what one does is of prime importance. The final person, one most aligned with what we are calling the planetary, can often come across as disconnected with reality, either constantly talking about how wonderful and full of rainbows the world is, or that it is on its death bed and nothing can be done about it except constant fear and worry. Decisions from this level only are seldom grounded and often fail to materialize in an appropriate way. Here it is what one thinks that is of most importance. Now granted, these are extremely rough generalizations, but do serve a purpose at this stage.

In this context we can now begin to draw rough correlations between the two sets of concentric circles and their relative identities. The Personal relates to the sub-conscious, the Social to the self- conscious, and the Planetary to the super- conscious. As mentioned earlier, people tend to relate from the area in which they most frequently dwell….which often leads to miscommunication and sometimes conflict if judgements upon anothers communication are strong enough. This usually comes from one person not being aware of the relative position from which another communicates, not knowing the person as opposed to just what the person says, nor perhaps even being aware of the level they most often associate with. And here is the essence of how this three level structure serves.

Providing time to actively engage all three levels in a meeting situation has a variety of positive effects. These include an expansion of the awareness, a deepening of interpersonal relationships, an increase in communication, and a general increase in the quality of decision. With the ever escalating complexity of our world and increasing interdependence upon each other at all levels, an expanded awareness, a stretched ability to comprehend, is a talent and trait invaluable to the decision making process. Bringing more of the awareness of the super-conscious into the everyday self-conscious is the outer equivalent of bringing heaven down to earth, of bringing a clearer sense of the dream into a more tangible reality. Today more than ever we need the dream to keep hope alive and humanity on the right track toward building a better tomorrow. Involving information from the sub-conscious expands our communion and understanding of each other, and expands the possibility of peace through this understanding, both peace with each other, and especially inner peace through the opportunity to share what is often kept hidden. Both sources are seeking to be heard more than ever as we seek a greater balance and more wholistic way of life and living. The self-conscious then, is offered an opportunity to hone its effectiveness in discrimination and discernment, as it seeks to receive and evaluate all information to make the most appropriate decision in any situation.

Thus, with this simple model, we are given a broad opportunity to create a better world each day….through listening and understanding each other a little better each time we are together, through enriching our own perspectives as we hear more of the perceptions and desires of others, and through the building of compassion that comes from discovering that his or her challenges are our very own. What more could we ask of the structures we build to make sense of our world?

Caro Hall & Roger Benson