Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 1
Auschwitz Council
Joan Halifax Roshi
Going to Auschwitz and bearing witness have given us over these past years the
rare opportunity to bring deep listening into a place that has been for literally millions
associated with the most horrendous forms of human suffering. Auschwitz is a place
where deep listening was decidedly absent.
To remember Auschwitz, to remember those who died there, and to remember the
perpetrators of suffering could not but teach us about what in our own lives we have
rejected, hated, scorned, judged, and raged against. And what in the lives of others that
we have loathed and found intolerable. This kind of alienation, whether tender or hard,
has been felt by all at the Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat, which is inspired by the
practice of Bernard Glassman Roshi. We asked ourselves, again and again, How could
this have happened? One cannot escape this question at Auschwitz, just as escape from
Auschwitz was barely possible.
The suffering that we touched during our retreat at times led us into darkness and
sometimes transformed into joy and healing as we sat and practiced together and heard
one another. Bearing witness is not only about bearing witness to one's own life but also
to all of life. And it was here at Auschwitz that we bore witness to the suffering of others,
to the suffering of ancestors, to our own suffering, and to the possibility of the
transformation of suffering.
One of the ways that I have practiced bearing witness has been in the experience
of Council, a practice where people sit in circle with each other and speak clearly and
listen deeply. Council at Auschwitz was a way for us to communicate about the deepest
issues of our lives, including suffering, death, and grief as well as meaning, healing and
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 2
joy. Council was indeed one of the deepest ways that we taught each other during the
retreat.
Council is found in many cultures and traditions the world over. There is
reference to it in Homer’s Iliad. One finds it in the tribal world of earth cherishing
peoples. And, of course, it is a key strategy of communion and communication in the
tradition of the Quakers, who so influenced the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's.
In the 1970's, I and others brought what we had learned in the Civil Rights
Movement and anti war movement to our lives as teachers and people who were involved
with social action and spiritual practice. Council, or the Circle of Truth, or whatever we
called it then became a way for us to incorporate democratic and spiritual values into our
collective and individual lives.
In the mid90's, I introduced the Council process to Bernie Glassman and his wife
Jishu Holmes. It fit so well with their work as peacemakers, and they brought it to many
places, including Poland. For Bernie and Jishu, Council seemed to be a practice that was
naturally based in the Three Tenets of Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Healing. And
it was to contribute to a more profound relationship with our time at Auschwitz.
At Auschwitz, the practice of Council did not necessarily lead us into seeing
things the same way. It was not a consensus process at all. Rather, it was a way for
people to recognize that each individual in the circle had his or her own wisdom. When
differing views and experiences were expressed in the Council circle, the depth of field
seemed to be much greater. Here we began to discover the importance and richness of
differences, a theme that related directly to Auschwitz where differences were
annihilated.
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 3
The practice of Council allowed people to develop a natural appreciation for
differences and to respect the differences of perspective that were held by German and
Jew, by men and women, by old and young, by rich and poor, by the joyful and the
terrified among us. We saw clearly that it was the intolerance of differences that made an
Auschwitz possible.
This same intolerance is found in many corners of the planet today, and we were
to discover that this intolerance existed in our own hearts as well. Many of us saw that we
are called to bear witness, without shame, to this Balkanization of the spirit; we needed to
invite the hungry ghosts in and allow them to scour out our hearts so that our practice and
resolve to make peace could deepen. Council was one way that this process happened. It
was our medicine and our mirror.
When we sit in Council, it is usually important to sit in a circle. A circle has a
feeling of democracy and equality. We can all see each other, and we are all in an equal
position together. At Auschwitz in the morning councils, we sat in a circle. We found
ourselves in hallways, in small rooms, in foyers, in restaurants, in a library, any place that
could hold a dozen people in a circle. In the evening, when 100 to 150 were gathered, we
sat in an auditorium, at the front of which was an open mic. We tried to practice with four
guidelines no matter how many or how few there were, no matter whether we were in a
circle or square.
•
There are four guiding principles in the practice of Council. The have been
articulated by my colleagues Jack Zimmerman and Gigi Coyle. The first is speaking
from the heart; the second is listening from the heart; the third is being of lean
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 4
expression; and the fourth is spontaneity. These four principles seem to be very simple,
but they are skills that many of us do not have and that we at the retreat endeavored to
learn through the practice of Council. In Auschwitz, we discovered that these skills made
it possible for us to stay steady in the midst of profound complexity. They were a way for
us to turn our hearts and mind back to truth.
1. SPEAKING FROM THE HEART
Many of us at the retreat were used to speaking from the head, speaking in terms
of philosophical and political ideas. Council is about transparency, intimacy, and personal
revelation. In speaking from the heart, we were called to speak from our personal
experience, from the true stories of our life. Speaking from the heart means speaking
honestly, speaking a truth that is instructive and constructive. It does not mean
complimenting someone or trying to please someone. It means being in one’s personal
truth in this moment.
put under listerningWhen introducing this notion of speaking from the heart, I
invited people to consider that this is the speaker’s last day on earth and to give this one
the quality of attention that we would give to a dying person whom we know will pass on
tomorrow, to receive unconditionally whatever this person is saying. That sense of
listening with intense and loving devotion seemed to elicit a much deeper truth from us as
we spoke about our concerns, our fears, our feelings of shame and rejection, as we
explored issues related to racism, human cruelty, hopelessness, alienation, and
redemption.
2. DEEP LISTENING
Deep listening is listening in the true spirit of tolerance, with a vast and open
heart. The Quakers call this “devout listening.” The form of the Council process removes
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 5
the option to interrupt a speaker so that each individual can speak in a very deep and true
way without being afraid of being cut off. Also, we who listened had a chance to relax
into a spacious quality of listening, hopefully without judgment or prejudice, listening not
only to what was said, but also to what was left unsaid.
In Council, we were asked to listen from the point of view of beginner’s mind,
from Not Knowing, the first tenet that we practice in the Peacemaker Community. We
also were asked to practice Bearing Witness, the second tenet. As you listen to another
person, many responses can arise: memories, associations, insights, and so on. We can
acknowledge that they are there, and it is important to be able to them go.
At Auschwitz, many of us began to feel that each person that spoke was like a
new world opening up to us. There was a sense of deep and surprising familiarity, and at
the same time, we often could not have articulated what was being said ourselves. We
could hear ourselves in the words of another, and yet we felt we heard things that we
could not have ever known, perhaps because they were held in the shadowland of our
minds and hearts. Through the experience of Council and deep listening, some of us
began to see a kind of collective understanding that seemed to transcend language.
In the practice of Council, we did not respond or share our associations until it
was our turn to speak. As we began to listen with a new quality of patience, Council
practice seemed to help us shift from reactive listening to attentive listening.
I shared with others that when I listen to someone who is suffering, I do not listen
with my ears—I am listening in my heart. I feel as if the sound is entering into my chest
and shaping my heart. This practice of listening is very profound and subtle. From the
Buddhist perspective, it is the practice of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 6
Compassion. Through deep and devout listening, we can open up the heart and mind to
experience fundamental non-duality.
At this Bearing Witness Retreat, we were all shaped by what we did not know
consciously. At times, when we were in Council, I was in the most conflicted state. I
struggled, as did others, with things that seemed to go directly against the grain of human
goodness, of good sense, of basic sanity. How could it have been otherwise? The only
place in which I and others could find refuge was in the human heart. We tried to listen
from this place with compassion, acceptance and directness.
3. BEING OF LEAN EXPRESSION
At Auschwitz, most of us wanted to go to the heart of the matter. We wanted to
speak concisely and to recognize that every moment is precious. In this desolate
November atmosphere, we wanted the opportunity to nourish and heal each other. We
knew we could not heal and change the past, and we saw that we were doing this for the
future. We found ourselves in the economy of a moment.
The practice of Council called for us to develop a way of clear and concise
speaking so that we are really in the bone and marrow of our being. One of the ways that
I work with this is to remember that we are all connected to each other. If we create a
situation of deep consideration, we will recognize that we need to develop an efficiency
of speech so that all those who wish to share their insights or confusion, their love or their
fear can have the time to do so. Being concise is a disciple; it is a practice that reminds us
that all the voices want to be heard.
Some of us began to experience time in terms of timelessness. Out of time, the
past and future found their way into the present. We were called into a new of economy
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 7
of time, feeling that we had all the time in the world and that we were here for only an
instant. We were called to make as well as transcend time.
Conciseness was hard for many of us. We sought to sort out our thoughts and
feelings, and for some of us this could not be done instantly. And yet most of us realized
that many of us were struggling with the same issues. We saw that we were in this place
of Auschwitz for just a few days. We could not talk out the book of our feelings. We had
to rely on the collective to hold the whole story. If we could surrender to the group, we
were assured that someone would touch upon that piece that we could not address. Could
we focus the lens of our personal experience so that we could create a multifaceted
nondominating eye of wisdom? Therefore we attempted conciseness, discovering that our
own experience was often that of others.
4. SPONTANEITY
At Auschwitz, some of us found ourselves rehearsing internally what we would
say. We knew we were in a very sensitive situation and did not want to hurt others. Trust
is always a big issue in Council. You ask yourself: “What is the truth of what is
happening to me at this very moment? What is the truth of others? ”
Sometimes it was a challenge to get out of our own story and our own perspective
to listen to the stories and perspectives of others. But that is what we were asked to do in
this practice—to move from the position of “I” and to listen to the wisdom of the circle.
When it is one's turn to speak, we had to stop for a moment and release any feeling of
anxiety, and come into the truth of the heart and mind at that moment.
I sense that hell invites us to leave it as quickly as we can. How many forms of
denial can we engage in? Trance and flight, good cheer and dance, hail fellow well met or
Joan Halifax/Sounds True Tape Set
Being With Dying Tape #4 Council
edited by M. Duerr/ pg. 8
withdrawal. Our practice, however, is about immediacy, intimacy, and transparency.
These qualities are all based in the Tenets of Not Knowing and Bearing Witness. To
speak from the heart is to turn to the heart at the moment the heart is beating, not a
second before or later. Fish with a straight hook, don't look to outcome, step off that one
hundred foot pole. As Wumen said: "Whoops!"
Can we bear to look at what we have not confessed to ourselves? Can we hear
what we do not know? Can we stir the ocean with the broken stick of our aspirations?
Can we free all creations? No one answer can hold the truth of a good heart. Thus, we
stopped in our Council practice when it was our time to send our voice, to speak what we
did not know and could not understand, and to listen to many voices and many broken
hearts.
*
This book is an exploration of the Three Tenets through the experience of Council. We
ask you to join us in Council and listen and speak from the heart, honor conciseness and
spontaneity, and let the Peacemaker Tenets of Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and
Healing help you to enter the inconceivable.