Sitting in the Fire Quotes

“FACILITATORS EXPERIENCE mysterious emotions, fear, anger and numbness when working with groups and large organizations. That’s because group processes bring up abuse issues from the past. Understanding your own psychology better will make you a more effective facilitator by helping you (1) be sensitive to others, (2) remain centered and not go into shock when you are attacked, and (3) maintain equanimity and provide the group with a sense of safety when the group looks to you for protection in stormy times.”
― Arnold Mindell, Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity

“To those who want sustainable organizations and communities, my advice is: begin by being humble. Go back to school. Learn awareness. Learn about rank. You will save yourself and your community a lot of pain.”
― Arnold Mindell, Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity

“expecting those with rank to recognize their unconsciousness means asking that they be of a higher spiritual and intellectual caliber than the rest of the participants. While this demand seems, at first, to be warranted, it usually meets with resistance because those with rank experience themselves as being oppressed, first, by the participants who are criticizing them, then by the facilitators. The people who revolt against rank are, in the moment of attack, not only victims, but also powerful in a sort of spiritual way. They feel empowered by their quest for “justice.” Like those who provoked them, however, they are often unconscious of their power. Victims don’t automatically deserve halos.”
― Arnold Mindell, Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity