This is the first in a series of articles introducing the phenomenon and practice of Collective Presencing, a new capacity evolving in humanity at this time. Great thinkers have foreseen its coming—we recognise it in Aurobindo’s descent of the supramental and Teil-hard de Chardin’s noosphere. But what exactly do those terms mean? Where these gifted individuals intuited and envisioned the birth of this new collective capacity at the dawn of the last century, we are now starting to be able to describe it from experience. While many might recognise the phenomenon from transpersonal group work and other such practices, so far as we are aware, this is the first attempt to articulate it as a path and a set of capacities that can be intentionally developed.

In 1798, the German cleric Friedrich Schleiermacher gave in to the urgings of a circle of prominent friends—every one contemptuous of religion—and began to write. Eight months later, he completed the manuscript of On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers, his compelling attempt to reconcile the human religious intuition with the rationality so prized by the philosophers of the Enlightenment (and by his skeptical friends).

Long ago, the 'commons' simply meant the place we villagers shared and the resources of which we all partook. Here we pastured our small flocks, gathered herbs and mushrooms, and hunted game. And we were protected by an unspoken and unwritten understanding. No individual or group could draw down the resources of the commons to the detriment of the community.

Those are basically three ways of saying who we are as human beings - head, heart, and hands. People have said it in many different ways. Chinese culture has three different traditions: Taoism, which is physically based; Confucianism, which is relational or the social philosophy of the heart; and Buddhism, which is more mentally centered.

In spite of all the difficulties and dangers in the world today, and perhaps in response to them, a movement is underway towards transformation in nations and institutions. This movement will lead to an enhanced capacity for integrating different perspectives and ideas, in contrast to the extreme fragmentation and competition currently dominating much of our thinking.