Date: 19 February 2012
Time: 3:45pm
Location: 1819 Dominga Street, Pasay City, Philippines
Imaginal Cast: Lola Bebot, Mario, Francis, Tita Ross, Ome, Louise, France, Tammy
Mission: Manila Nodal Meeting

Sequence 1: MISSION Manila, checking in

Louise and France enter a well-lit air-conditioned meeting room.
Flashback December 2010. Rico graciously offered his office space to be the venue of the MISSION nodal meetings for the first 3 months of 2012.
Louise and France grab plastic white chairs and began to arrange them in a loose circle. They join Lola Bebot, Mario, Francis, Tita Ross and Ome, who are also helping arrange the chairs, in a conversation on Lakbayani Butuan leg, bringing MISSION to Los Baños youth, buying land and urban farming. Tammy arrives and a discussion on coming on time and taking turns in hosting the nodal meeting followed.
The nodal meeting begins. Lola Bebot requests everyone to sit closer to each other to make the circle tighter and listening easier.
How are you? What are your thoughts? What is it that you feel you need to share?

LOLA BEBOT: The answer is farming. There is hope in the soil. Even in the house, one can plant in pots. Food is free.

TAMMY: The Climate Reality Project (TCRP) presentation series. Manila node members supported and participated in this. Frustrated by the students. They were not listening despite the line up of speakers and the content of their lectures. How much do they absorb? It is not just about planting trees in your adopted community. Was it effective? Were the objectives met? Were the students awakened? We will look at the student feedback forms to inform the presenters. Provided this context, the youth is a challenge. They are apathetic, and the teachers say you really cannot handle the students’ attention. But! There are some young people who may not be. Something has to be done. More initiatives should be directed to the youth. More partnerships with TCRP, schools AND communities for real education to take place.

MARIO: There are a lot of problems – poverty, housing. Rural. Urban. Inequality is prevalent. Communities need to be sustainable. There is a need for planning. Because of these, more questions arise.

TITA ROSS: TCRP. Reached out to many schools. Good initiative. Target less privileged schools. Awaken their sense of responsibility.

OME: Visited Bicol for family matters and substantial work. Somebody from Bicol is very interested in a MISSION workshop and highly resonates with work that MISSION does.There is a movement going on! Naga City is part of MISSION expansion. Knows his role in life is being a “bridge”. Links people. Reaches out to people.

LOUISE: Balance and discernment work-wise. Figuring out how to do things, what needs to be done first. Why am I where I am right now?

FRANCE: A question on holding what one is doing. TCRP. The way the teachers are handling the kids. The head commented, “Bastusan ba ito?” Even the educators do not know how to hold the kids. Another story. Two students were having snacks while TCRP was happening. The teacher called their attention and the students moved even more slowly. When asked who their adviser is, they answered proudly. There are a lot of opportunities for initiatives mushrooming everywhere. There is a project on using IT to build capacities with Indigenous People (IP) communities and collaborate with other stakeholders. Called to do work in education and IP. Am I a good enough vessel? Tama ba yung collaborators? Paano ako ngayon as I hold these things together? Tama pa ba ang pag-handle ng mga bagay? Excited with the youth, IP, education. Full plate in everything. Paano gagawin yun na hindi mate-threaten? Paano maipresent na hindi corny. Given the big interest in novelty these days. How to bring curiosity to working with sustainable societies?

FRANCIS: MISSION Run. Hold an advocacy for 30 minutes before the race. People do not want to think. They just want to follow. Runs long distances (52K, 24K of which was barefoot running) to prove that people can. Into arts and sports...

Fade to silence

Sequence 2: I think I am thinking (The Thinking Exercise)

Review of the thinking exercise. Everyone gets a man-made object and recreates it in her/his mind. After 10 minutes…

TAMMY: Does not do it regularly but has done it a lot of times. Before, it can be done easily. Can block all associations. Now, every time she does the thinking exercise, a lot of associations derived from the A Girl with a Dragon Tattoo Trilogy appear! Too absorbed.

LOUISE: Experiences the same thing with Tammy. Made the object dance but it danced with its own move. Can sometimes predict the coming of an association. Stops and whitewashes everything in her mind then starts again. Need to detect the most subtle associations.

TITA ROSS: What is the proper way to do the thinking exercise?

LOUISE AND TAMMY: You must be the one creating/producing the thoughts.

TAMMY: How do we tap the Imaginal Self? State to stage. Avoiding being automatic. One  way of doing this is through the thinking exercise. ? Do this regularly.  Concentration. Where does imaginality come from?

FRANCIS: Memory, experience, past is triggered. Thinking is about the future.

TAMMY: Association vs. thinking. Now knows the difference. The programmed self exists. Where do things and thoughts one cannot control come from?

MARIO: Fell asleep. Object to mystic experience. No mantra, no thoughts. Creativity, that is where solution can come from.

OME: (Object: planner) Saw interconnectedness. Healing. Feels he now gets the exercise right. This is new. There are a lot of progress.

LOUISE: If the experience of the thinking exercise feels like one is watching a film, then the images produced are associations because one is a mere spectator in the process.

FRANCE: (Object: inhaler labeled with several tiny text) Paying attention to the observation process. Memory vs. what all these things mean. Getting the gist of a chunk of text vs. memorizing the text.

Thin line between remembering long text and recreating long text. How do we ensure that we are not merely repeating the experience of memorizing but authentically producing the text?

TITA ROSS: It is difficult. What is the purpose? Difficult to do something if one does not know what it is for.

TAMMY: Simply thinking about the object. Why are you thinking about the object? Just to think about it.

MARIO: From that object, there is something new that can be created.

TAMMY: There is a book called, Start Now: A Book of Soul and Spiritual Exercises by Steiner, edited by Christopher Bamford. This is a compilation of exercises, meditation instructions, etc.

The rumbling sounds of the tummies fade in...

Sequence 3: Snacks

People are standing, talking and eating pansit palabok. Chicken pie. Ensaymada.

And there’s overflowing water…

Sequence 4: MISSION Manila is pregnant with Initiatives!

What initiatives are we passionate to pursue together? Ome begins by sharing his ideas from a list he previously wrote, and from there, three initiatives came into being:

1. 1.    Journey Book

• Creating a database of books recommended for Imaginals to read/book suggestions by Imaginals
• Study group component: reading the same book together at a particular timeframe, sharing of insights through an online  community or face-to-face interaction
• Writing about the journey of an Imaginal, becoming an Imaginal
• A way of personal mastery

What emerged from the conversation on the Journey Book?

• Suggestion to website:  Add a page to book recommendations by/ reading suggestions for Imaginals. Link these to electronic sources and or online forum/discussions of Imaginals. Include book updates in the “Just In” panel.
• The Journey Book Prototype: During the 40-day Lent which will begin on Ash Wednesday, Ome and Louise will read Nick’s Shaping Globalization from cover to cover and will exchange insights online. (They are random page readers. They read bits and pieces, skip chapters, yada yada so this is an imaginal challenge for them.)
• Online Database of Book Suggestion
• I am interested! How can I contribute?
• Prepare your list of reading suggestions for compilation. Ome and Louise will send a link to an online form which will ask you for simple details (e.g. book title, author, etc.). Answers will automatically be tabulated and a link will be sent to you so you can access the information about the reading suggestions.
• To those who would like to join Ome and Louise in the 40-day Journey Book prototype or help in the creation of the database, you may contact them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

2. 2.    MISSION Youth

• Coming from Ome’s interest to bring MISSION to the youth of UP Los Banos
• Trend: Dwindling membership in university-based organizations because allegedly, many students prefer social networking rather than face-to-face interactions
• Need: Platform for socially-engaged youth/spirituality
• Call to awaken and mobilize the youth
• Counter technological singularity

What emerged from the conversation on MISSION Youth?

• MISSION Workshop for the Youth
• How do we design this? (More activities at the feeling level but also balanced with the thinking and willing)
• Workshop design + marketing (They go hand in hand)
• How can this be translated into a “language” that the youth can better relate with (considering the TCRP experience)
• Consider ARC in designing the workshop (affinity, reality, communication)
• How can this be facilitated?

I am interested! How can I contribute?

• Join Tammy, France, Ome, Francis and Louise! Be part of the MISSION Workshop for the Youth Design Team!

Meeting on 26 February 2012 (Sunday)

Face to face in Manila, with Skype component

Time and venue in Manila, To Be Announced (TBA)

• Email your ideas/suggestions/expressions of resonance to the MISSION e-group.

3. 3.  Barefoot Running

• Background: Barefoot running is the passion of Manila node’s Francis Acop. He runs distances (in km) the age of Lola Bebot! :D Now it’s time to imaginalize this passion!
• Promote zero-impact, conscious running
• We are born to run!

What emerged from the conversation on Barefoot Manila Run?

• Barefoot Manila Run 2012! (working title)
• Redefining running and organizing runs (Eco-friendly! Zero-impact! No runners throwing water cups mindlessly! Bring your own water containers!)
• Paa lang ang kailangan (break for shoe companies J)
• Invite thousands of runners from all over the country!
• Target date: November 2012
• Nationwide barefoot run!
• For publicity: Imaginals will join other runs while wearing Imaginal shirts with the date of the event, a tagline and the website to promote Barefoot Manila Run.
• The more zero-impact you run, the cheaper your registration fee will be!
• Advocacy before the actual run
• MISSION Manila node’s 1st barefoot nodal meeting in March!

I am interested! How can I contribute?

• Join the Barefoot Manila Run Imaginal Core!

Barefoot Manila Run Planning Session/ Nodal Meeting/Barefoot Walking/Running Session
11 March 2012 (Sunday) 3:00pm onwards
Oblation, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Hosted by Francis (Barefoot Walking/Running 101) and Tammy and Marian (Imaginal Exercises)
Bring Conscious Feet and Legs!

• Email your ideas/suggestions/expressions of resonance to the MISSION e-group.

photo credits: http://thetrainingroomboston.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/barefoot-running.jpg