The second portal of insight is unfoldment.

The Visioinmaker is always tracking what is unfolding within and around them. This means one is paying attention to the “Implicate Order,” a term coined by quantum physicist, David Bohm. Bohm writes:

“The word ‘implicate’ means to enfold–in Latin, to fold inward.  In the implicate order everything is enfolded into everything.”

 

In Visionmaking, the path of heart and meaning is enfolded in the heart. It is the Visionmaker’s responsibility “to pay attention to what has heart and meaning” in order to unfold one’s Destiny through purposeful action.

At the same time, we must remain aware that the personal and collective journey unfold mutually, inextricably woven together in the fabric of Destiny’s greater plan.

Insight is gathered by recognizing the patterns that are unfolding within us and around us. Curiosity and inquiry are the means by which a Visionmaker gathers such insight. You can use these questions to examine what you are sensing:

• “What am I experiencing or seeing?”

• “What events or occurrences appear to be giving rise to what I am experiencing or seeing?”

• “What else might this be connected to?”

• “What are the impacts and implications of what is unfolding?”

• “What actions can I take to follow my heart?”

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• 

“Behead yourself! Dissolve your whole body into Vision.

Become seeing, seeing, seeing!”

-Rumi

 

I have been in Seattle all week working with the terrific folks at the Boeing Company. We had a great two days on advanced collaboration practices in support of the company’s continued commitment to “Working Together.”

Last time, I outlined the seven distinctions of Insight. This time, I will focus on the first distinction, body wisdom.

The body is the vehicle that has been given to each of us to pursue meaning and experience life directly. It is the principle agency of manifestation: whatever we do, whatever we produce, is done through the body.

The body, known as the Cradle of Manifestation in Visionmaking, has a wisdom that is instinctual and sensual, and is far older than our capacity to reason.

Body wisdom has protected humanity on its journey from the primordial soup to modern times. It is assembled in the gut, and attuned to the heart.  It provides the Visionmaker with sensate knowing. As the Latin proverb instructs: “Nothing reaches the intellect before making its appearance in the senses.”

The body has been endowed with five known senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. The body is always honest and direct about what it wants, needs and experiences. Today, though, most people are so sedated by the status quo or the excesses of  comfortable living that their capacity to access body wisdom is diminished.

Or they have been taught to mistrust what they feel if it is not logical.There is far more to life than logic. 

When the Four-Chambered Heart (the subject of many previous posts) is aligned with the intellect and will, the five known senses are sharpened to a sensitivity that allows for heightened awareness.

This is the domain of the martial artist, the poet, the mystic. It is as if the whole body is wide- awake and aware of even the subtlest stimuli-a hummingbird at the window ledge, an action about to happen, the mood of a stranger, the atmosphere of a place.

The Visionmaker is always deeply respectful of the body, of the wisdom that is available there, and of the great gift of leading a purposeful life that it supports.

©

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• 

“There is a way between voice and presence

Where information flows.

In disciplined silence it opens.

With wandering talk it closes.

–Rumi

 

The next series of posts will explore Insight. Insight is the capacity to gather the fruits of reflection and apply its guidance to vision.

The organ of vision, as we have said, is the heart. By aligning the eyes with the heart, the Visionmaker breaks the constraints of conditioning and learns to see the ancient instructions encoded there for a singular path of heart and meaning.

Few people ever see clearly enough to move past their assumptions, opinions, inherited beliefs and cultural conditioning. The status quo controls vision and locks us into patterns of perception.

The vision of the heart has the strength to break the bonds of conventional seeing and cut through superficiality, complexity, even darkness. It has the power to see the truth.

There are seven major portals of insight that enable the Visionmaker to see the invisible, or access the flow of information “between voice and presence.” These are:

• body wisdom
• unfoldment
• assumptions
• intuition
• atmosphere
• synchronicity
• signs

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• 

There’s a difference between

Chance and folly.

Folly is the abandonment

of common sense.

Chance is the abandonment

of hopelessness.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved

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• 

“Keep your heart with all vigilance;

For from it flows the springs of life.”

–Proverbs

 

The Four-Chambered Heart is the home of vision. When we are full, open, clear and strong-hearted vision is 20:20.

Visionmakers believe that the heart always knows what is most meaningful. They recognize that the old proverbs about following our heart’s desire is more than a bromide. The old ways, now long divorced from their original context by the decline of our mythologies, are still home to perennial wisdom.

Visonmakers see the truth about the heart: it is the place where vision assembles.

The full heart is the home of deep engagement. It is here that we learn about being authentic, about commitment and about full expression. What am I full-hearted about?  Where am I half-hearted? How can I resolve issues of half-heartedness through problem-solving?

The open heart teaches us to trust self, others and circumstances as they unfold. It is the home of love, balance, compassion and tolerance. Where am I open-hearted? What has caused closed-heartedness? How do I forgive and reopen the heart?

The clear heart teaches the lessons of integrity and discernment. What am I clear about in my personal journey – in my roles, relationships and activities? Where do I stand on important issues? What are the dilemmas or areas of confusion in my life?  How do I resolve my concerns and move forward?

The strong heart is the home of courage. Where am I strong-hearted about my journey, relationships, and actions? Where am I weak-hearted and unable or unwilling to make difficult choices, say what’s so when it’s so, and stand by my convictions? What strengthening work do I need to undertake?

The Four-Chambered Heart is the seat of Destiny and the source of the unique and unfolding path that every Visionmaker is born to pursue.  

Daily maintenance of the heart, then, becomes a navigational necessity.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved

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• 

Don’t underestimate monotony and boredom.

They are the best Chance we have

for a revolt against our own routines.

Break out of your self-imposed prison

and take a Chance.

And thank monotony and boredom

for your revolutionary spirit.

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved

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• 

Assemblage – the action of gathering or fitting things together.

 

A common misconception of the Visionmaking process is that vision arrives either fully-formed and in Technicolor, or not at all. This is a false assumption.

While vision can arrive in a close to finished state, it is an exception rather than the rule.

Most often, vision arrives in fragments- seemingly disconnected images, feelings, encounters, discoveries, insights and dreams that must be pieced together like a mosaic or a puzzle in order to be understood.

Nowadays, most people have little patience for remaining in such creative tension. They prefer to dismiss what is emerging to conscious awareness because it does not make immediate sense, or misunderstand the arrival of a mysterious, ongoing communication because it is not wholly logical.

Visionmakers understand that vision is assembled. They recognize the importance of investigation and contemplation, the twin aspects required to make meaning of the abstract.

Every vision starts as an abstraction, content that is seemingly disassociated from its source. While most of us are satisfied to meet such material with a quizzical shrug and a chuckle, Visionmakers see these moments as revelation. They are not in such a hurry to allow a fragment of vision to escape further investigation or contemplation.

Visionmakers recognize that the assemblage of vision is a creative act. Vision is a gift to mankind, a gift that carries the responsibility of full engagement. It is disrespectful to meet such generosity with laziness and entitlement.

Visionmakers seek to understand the directions encoded in the fragments of vision. These fragments demand that we apply all of our faculties to decode their meanings and construct a comprehensive understanding of our individual manifest destiny.

What are your dreams, callings, important images, intuition, synchronistic events, and inspirations telling you about the emerging future?

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved

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• 

Chance comes

when your back

is against the wall,

when you have nothing

to lose.

Chance comes

when you place yourself on the

line,

when you take a stand for something

that matters.

Chance comes

when you have immersed yourself so

deeply in something that you

forget you are

you.

Chance was always there anyway. 

It just takes full

commitment

to catch a

glimpse

of the obvious.

 

© Patrick O’Neill 2009. All rights reserved

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• 

“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the dream shall never die.”

Ted Kennedy is a contemporary Visionmaker. I use the verb “is” because it is in keeping with his famous declaration quoted above. He endures. It also speaks to the endurance of his legacy of service to Americans and anyone else interested in compassionate governance, no matter where they live.

I waited a few days after Ted Kennedy’s passing to reflect on what I wanted to say to our community of Visionmakers about this heroic, flawed man. In many ways, Teddy was both the light and the dark of the visionary leader.

He was the author of 2,500 bills, of which several hundred were passed into law. He was a champion of health care reform; a pioneer in supporting HIV/AIDS treatment and care; an advocate for the the care of the elderly, women and children; a champion of biomedical research; an advocate for tobacco legislative reform; a consumer protectionist for enhanced food and drug safety; a leader in mental health care; a minority health champion; an advocate for civil rights and voting rights in the United States; and a sponsor of fair immigration policies and citizenship for immigrants and refugees. 

He also battled his personal demons, often publicly. To this, one can say that despite the lapses and setbacks, Teddy pursued the dream and legacy of the Kennedy family publicly and privately. He served despite personal tragedy and misadventure.

Ted Kennedy was a man who walked in many worlds. His journey in this world has ended but his spirit of service survives.

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