David Cadman gives his thoughts on the Spirit of Humanity Forum since its inception in 2012…

Jim Paymar – It’s been five years since we last spoke, what has changed with the SOH Forum?

DC – In 2012, we were just beginning and we weren’t at all sure if we had the capacity to do what we wanted to do. We promised to come back again in 2014, and we did that. But that event was extraordinary, it was chaotic, but it was inspirational. And people who went away from it, caught something of the spirit of what we were trying to do. The notion of insisting of talking about love and compassion. It was very successful, but it was chaotic, so this time we felt we needed a little more structure. There is some more delivery from people and that is kind of maturing, and who knows where it goes next.

JP – What are we achieving by being here?

DC – I think it is important that people gather, even if they only gather amongst themselves. There is a certain energy that is created, and that is a good thing. But what will happen is that, there are around 200 people, they will be affirmed in what they are doing, will be inspired in what they are doing, and will be connected with people in what they are doing. They will go out around the world, and engage in a different, refreshed way. We wont know what the outcomes are but they will be substantial.

JP – 200 people is not that many when there are more than 7 billion people in the world….

DC – If you waited until you had 2 million people you’d never do anything would you. I think we are moving into an age of a multitude of small gatherings. We are part of that. Undoubtedly what we find is that people who come here say that it has an impact on them, and has changed they way in which they do what they do. We can’t monitor that, but I feel as certain as I could possibly be, that that is happening, and is probably happening in all sorts of ways we don’t know about. When we went out to the participants to see who wanted to come, we were overwhelmed.

JP – Is the SOH something you can bring around the world?

DC – One of the things we are thinking about is encouraging small city gatherings all around the world. So New York, London, Stockholm, and these will be small gatherings based on the style in which we gather, and some of the content in which we gather, but they will be self organised and we can encourage those to happen all around the world.

JP – These gatherings are quite short? How do, and do we need to, get deeper?

DC – We try to create a place in which that depth can be accessed. We find that it is almost like providing a doorway into that depth by our silence, the prayers that are given by all traditions, by the energy that is felt by people, that breaks away from some of the static structures of a typical conference, to enable people to find a deeper sense of themselves and then of their lives.

JP – And you find a brother and sister hood here?

DC – We do find that. That doesn’t mean people will be continuously in touch with each other but what they will take with them is the flavour of this place.