How to communicate with others who....?

ONLINE MEETING (ZOOM)

Topic- How do you communicate with others who...?

How do you (do we) communicate with others who come from different cultural backgrounds, speak a different language, have different deeply held beliefs, are part of a movement or cause that you personally don't care for, are of different age, mannerisms, etc.

At this meeting we will discuss what we have learned (or are still learning) regarding this topic.

Perhaps we can look to the experience of others in the form of writings, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology etc., and share these perspectives. Perhaps we can look at what we personally have learned or realized in our own life, in the past, and or what we are exploring and finding in present.

Change in format:

As a result of recent events and learning the first hour or so of the meeting will be actively facilitated. Each person gets to speak for 2 minutes and then yields to the next speaker. The following speaker has a choice of whether to address(respond) to the previous speaker or simply express what he or she has to say. If responding to the previous speaker then one gets to do so for 1 minute and then that speaker gets 1 minute to respond back. Each person in attendance will get a chance to speak if he or she wants to.

After this has happened we will then conclude the topic format and open the meeting up for those who want to stay for the "dialogue after the dialogue". The aim of this portion of the meeting will be developed further soon. Suffice to say that any differences of opinion or strife that may have occurred during the topic portion of the meeting are put away, and it's more about getting to know each other as human beings and or exploring what we might share in common as opposed to highlighting and being driven by differences in thinking and the like.

Group attendees have expressed as important:
-actively listening to one and other,
-being aware of one's own thinking process,
-maintaining a sense of stillness or silence within, and
-stating points of view in a respectful and or kind manner.
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Standing note to group (and self):

Reminder/note to help keep the dialogue open and flowing in a naturally occurring atmosphere of civility/kindness:

1. Dialogue allows people to have their say within the allotted time period.
2. If a negative reaction to others’ speech or person occurs, that indicates it’s time to look at/ perceive one’s own thought process in addition to actively listening to the other person.
3. There is nothing to stop you from verbalizing your disagreement when it’s your turn to speak, however, it’s equally important to look at one’s own reactive thinking as that helps bring about dialogue.
4. If one remains unaware of the flow of one's own thought process, one inevitably becomes a victim of the dictates of past conditioning.

***Please note that a major aspect of this group is to engage in dialogue not debate. In dialogue, there is an emphasis on listening to understand, in debate one listens to find flaws and to counter back to win or convince. In dialogue, an open exploration is primary, in debate one only reaffirms and protects one's own point of view. Dialogue explores assumptions, conclusions and/or beliefs in open consideration, Debate defends assumptions, conclusions and/or beliefs as fact and or truth.

Additionally, an emphasis in this group is to be aware of one's own immediate and direct perception and experience. Thinking, narrative or knowledge considered to be "Facts" are welcome but not to be taken without checking in with ones own direct, immediate experience. This emphasis is meant to encourage one to go beyond a mere intellectual or conceptual "knowing", to a more holistic or healing awareness and experience. Freedom of thought and expression in an atmosphere or milieu of civility and kindness is valued greatly. There is no designated expert, no guru, no leader/facilitator per se. Diversity of perspective and opposing points of view are frequently expressed and the value of each person expressing their point of view is acknowledged.