04/02/2022 – Page 2 – Science of Group Work

We begin to put some seeds of thought in the field of our future co-creative gathering of Planet Within. They are seeds released in freedom, to attract other seeds, other inspirations, other contributions. Together, during Planet Within, we will find a way to unveil how Group Consciousness can be the gateway to the New Human Civilization. We know that the development of group consciousness is a response to a powerful evolutionary energy, defined as the law of elevation or as the law of group progress. This development is marking this time of the life of Humanity, and despite the contrasts and conflicts that characterize every new phase of crisis and learning of the human group, we can see how this process is renewing from within the whole system of human relations.

I have chosen to speak on this issue because I am part of a group that was founded in Italy, 40 years ago, a Community, the Community of Living Ethics. I have been living and working in this group for many years and therefore I have lived closely all the key events; its moments of achievement and those of crisis, the important passages, its internal and external expansions, the realization of its service. In this group, alongside the experience of building a concrete and visible group life through its many works, psychological, psycho-energetic and philosophical research has always been active. Thus, while the phases of the development of the group were ongoing, it was possible to observe and ‘read’ the process, understanding it in the light of a theoretical map: a map, which can offer a general value useful for other groups. Themes such as cooperation, safeguarding individuality in the group, leadership, decision-making, the resolution of conflicts, generational change, the death of the founder and his succession, and many others …

An inspired leader is someone who:
1. Is Self-aware and understands the many aspects of this integral Self
2. Is aware of the impact that he/she has on others
a. Sees Self as inseparable from others and the world
b. Knows that her/his actions are causal and therefore affect the
larger field
c. Is present to both the inner and outer content and context
3. Cares about this ‘power to influence’ for the greater good
a. Is fully present for themselves, others and the need in the world
b. Is aligned with a higher purpose and the common good. Thinks,
speaks and acts strategically, systemically, and holistically.
c. Takes an expansive view of life and generates expansiveness in
others
d. Creates conditions whereby others can grow, develop and
express the ‘truth’ of themselves more fully: thereby showing
up as an agent and an instrument for healing and transformation
e. Acts with inherent goodness in thought, word and deed

In order to talk about a group, there must be recognition by the participants of being part of a common group endeavor, and there must be a common purpose for the group. In our daily lives, we are part of many different group settings. A family is its own type of group. At work and in our spare time we may choose to be part of groups or teams of a lasting character and with a defined common objective. Often group members have mixed motives for their participating in a group. In the workplace, some people are there because they are passionate about the product being developed, while others just need to earn a living and have been lucky to get a job. In a board of directors of an association, some are there because they want to accomplish an altruistic work of some kind, while others want the power and status that comes with calling oneself a board member. A number of standards, conventions and rules that guide the work and output of these groups can also control them “from above”.

An exploration of the ‘psycho-energetic’ requirements and practices of spiritual leadership. Leadership is what happens when the aura of a person or a group is magnetically charged with the note of purpose and there is a clear working understanding of how the promise and potential of the shared desired future is best precipitated into the present. Spiritual leadership is the natural consequence of a soul-directed life that serves the wellbeing of others.

The work of the Star Group finds its initial point of inspiration in the words of the Tibetan Master about the Law of Group progress. This law – the Master writes – is destined to become a reference for the groups of the future. It “will take place automatically as the group identity and integration becomes the dominant thought in the group consciousness, and the desire for personal growth and spiritual satisfaction is relegated to a secondary place. This contemplated group unity will have its roots in group meditation, or in the contemplative life (in which the soul knows itself to be one with all souls).”

A magnet is an attractor, that is, an element that can attract and be attracted. On the physical plane we find a very simple example in the magnet that attracts iron filings and places it within its own field of influence. On the psychic level each person acts, consciously or unconsciously as an attractor, that is, he attracts to himself what corresponds to his own profound nature, whether it be of other beings, of opportunities, or of obstacles. That of magnetism is therefore a phenomenon both physical and psychic, which operates automatically and is what makes our life what it is, with its sphere of relationships and events.

We are now on the threshold of the Age of Aquarius, the age of groups: which means that not only will groups on the planet multiply, but that they will increasingly become the bearers of the flame of evolution. Therefore it becomes useful and necessary to discover new and more effective methods than what has been done so far to promote the formation of well-directed groups and to favor their rapid development, so that the Planet, so in need of union, can benefit from it as useful construction tools and of acceleration.

So far, mankind has progressed with transforming itself and the world through individuals who, either acting alone or guided by enlightened ones, intuitively grasped or expressed new ways of life.
In the coming Age of Aquarius, this process of renewal is necessarily accelerated and will be realized by aligning the activities of individuals within a group structure. This process occurs spontaneously on a physical and emotional level in the “family group”, on a mental level in some groups of co-workers and researchers, and on a spiritual level in some religious and monastic groups.

Day: 4 February 2022

Spiritual Leadership