A Crisis of Coherence
We are living through a time of unravelling. Institutions are faltering, trust is eroding, and even our shared language for making sense of the world seems to be slipping away. Beneath the noise and conflict lies something more subtle: a deep longing to rediscover how to meet one another truthfully.
In this fractured moment, a quiet movement is stirring. It isn’t coordinated. It isn’t ideological. But it is real. You won’t find it trending, yet it seems to be surfacing in many places at once: in circles of deep listening, in experimental communities, in unexpected gatherings of friends. A kind of remembering is happening—not of who we should be, but of what becomes possible when we truly meet.
A Field Begins to Form
It began, for me, almost by accident. A simple Zoom call with three friends, each of us with a background in contemplative or spiritual practice. We met without agenda, just to reconnect. But something else arrived.
In the spaces between our words, a presence became palpable. Not dramatic, but unmistakable—gentle, attuned, quietly magnetic. We met in an intimacy that didn’t rely on our shared history, or even a sense of personal relationship—just the immediacy of recognising something held in common beyond words. A connection sparked between the eyes, where each of us knew that the others also knew.
We felt drawn to meet again.
Over time, something took root. There was no project, no goal. Yet the space between us deepened and came alive in a shared recognition of something unusual but magical, intimate yet universal. A kind of shared interiority began to form—a field of presence. What arose in one of us often resonated in the others. The usual habits of positioning or spiritual performance seemed to dissolve. What remained was a quiet coherence. Not agreement, but resonance. Undefended, we found a real sense of enjoyment in simply being together. Long, meditative silences would arise—not with awkwardness, but with quiet poise, like a held breath.
A Different Kind of Awakening
So much of modern spirituality is built around the individual: personal growth, personal peace, personal enlightenment. But what we began to glimpse pointed in another direction—not away from the self, but through it, toward something shared.
We began to explore the idea that awakening might not just be a solitary event, but a relational process. What if it is not only who we are that transforms, but how we are together?
There was no method. No one leading. Just a shared willingness to stay in not-knowing, with a gentle curiosity to explore this new way of being together—to follow where an insight might lead, not knowing the destination. And from that, a strange clarity would emerge. The field that held us seemed to invite honesty, authenticity, real experience—not long-cherished concepts. Patterns long hidden came into view. Not to be fixed or analysed, but simply to be met. And in that meeting, something softened. Something let go.
Coherence Without Control
As others joined, something surprising happened. The intimacy didn’t weaken—it deepened. As the group slowly grew, new people often attuned more easily, relaxing into a felt sense of trust. There was no period of adjustment, no need to pre-prepare—only the simple invitation of a welcoming presence.
The coherence that emerged wasn’t the result of agreement or shared beliefs. It was something subtler: a tuning of attention, a quality of sincerity. We began to listen not just to each other’s words, but to the silence of the field itself—to what was becoming possible between us.
Under this influence, we found ourselves more able to turn toward difficult places—not as catharsis or therapy, but as mutual witnessing. There was an unfolding. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was real. A quiet, consistent softening. A growing sensitivity to each other—and to the field itself.
A Cultural Shift Beneath the Surface
Lately, we’ve sensed that this is not only transforming the individuals who enter its orbit—it also seems to be impacting beyond the personal, at deeper levels of being where there are no boundaries. One of our newer members, a woman with a history of working with survivors of relationship abuse, noted a consistent quality among the men in the group. She described it as a deep integrity, and said that—for the first time in a long while—she felt safe and able to trust in the company of men.
Maybe individual identities are melting into something greater that recognises no separation.
We don’t know what this is, exactly, except through the direct experience of the qualities it brings to life between us. It has a feel—a texture of presence, a kind of recognisability.
In our group, we sometimes call it the “field” or the “we-space.” But what matters more than the label is the effect: how we show up, how we listen, how we let ourselves be seen.
And we sense that it’s not just happening in our group. Others are touching it too—in collective presencing work, in somatic dialogue, in circles of curiosity and care. Like mycelial threads weaving across the culture, these subtle experiments in relational presence may be carrying seeds of regeneration.
What Might Be Emerging?
We don’t offer this as a solution. It’s not a model or a method. But it might be a glimpse of a different cultural logic.
What if awakening isn’t a private revelation, but a shared emergence?
What if human evolution isn’t up, but between?
We’re not offering answers or solutions—only a willingness to follow what is quietly unfolding. The real revolution, if there is one, may not look like a revolution at all. It may be the slow, patient reweaving of human interiority—together.
Not ideology, but resonance.
Not transcendence, but intimacy.
Not escape, but deeper presence.
Not conformity, but coherence.
And at the centre of it all: the space between us.
This piece draws on experiences explored more fully in my forthcoming book, The Space Between Us – Awakening Together in a Fractured World. You can learn more about the book at:
https://www.petermitchell.life/space-between-us
7 Responses
Author’s Note:
Since this essay was published, I’ve heard from one of the original members of the group who reminded me that our shared journey was not always as seamless as this piece might suggest. Particularly in the early days—especially as the group expanded—there were real challenges, moments of conflict, and stretches of uncertainty. It often took the grounded presence and persistence of one of us to hold the deeper possibility when things felt unclear or diffuse.
They’re right to raise this. The book itself goes into much greater depth about how the group unfolded over time—the beauty and the difficulty, the breakthroughs and the struggles. In writing this essay, I made a conscious editorial decision to focus on the lessons learned, rather than the often-meandering path we took to get there. I don’t think that lessens the profound potential of what we discovered together, but it does mean that the story here is necessarily partial.
I hope those who are curious will find their way to the book, when it is published, where the fuller arc of our shared unfolding is given the space it deserves.
Peter
This is so beautiful and exciting, Peter! It brings back fond memories of working in small groups in group consciousness. Groups are definitely the way of the future, for as soon as we tap into our shared Awareness, we’re free, at least momentarily, of our personal memorized identities. So liberating and dynamic! I’m SO GLAD that you’re writing a book about this, because this information really NEEDS to get out there, now! I totally support and appreciate the work you are doing, on all levels. (Ps: your poetry also rocks!)
Thank you so much, Sharon — I really appreciate your enthusiasm and the way you bring in your own experience of exploring “the space between us” in your own small group work. I would love to hear more about the work you’ve been involved in – maybe we can connect via my website.
I agree, this is very much the Future Now: discovering what becomes possible when we open together beyond our “memorized identities”. It’s so encouraging to hear the resonance. And yes, publishing the book is now underway. I signed the contract a couple of days ago and hope it will be available on Amazon (Print-on-Demand) in a few weeks … so watch this space!
Thanks Peter, this is a welcome and well authored introduction to that mysterious beckoning that seems to be happening in a myriad of places and groups. I certainly had times when I tasted this. I’ve heard stories of it in Buddhist groups, and collective intelligence groups. The characteristics I seem the most pulled to in what you write is the trust that is discovered, both with ourselves and then between people; both are so needed now in a climate of fear and anger and isolation. And the not-knowing as one listens and attenuates to that field forming in the middle of the room. Also Ive experienced a lasting electric joy that seemed to last between participants, without effort.
I have many thoughts about this. I don’t like the container of evolution, or enlightenment. This feels like attenuating to something that is there already, but we have to take the personal, cultural and maybe political baggage and place it all aside to find something new.
Maybe this isn’t something new. As JC reportedly said once, when three or more of you come together, I’ll be there..perhaps this more gnostic practice is old and still true.
Hi Blake,
Thank you for your response to the essay—I really appreciate your reflections, and can feel your resonance with what I’ve been describing. The qualities you point to—trust, not-knowing, that buzz of joy that lingers—are exactly what keeps drawing me back to this space between us.
What we’re finding in the group is that when each of us stands in our own autonomy, honest and authentic to our messy lived experience (not trying to perform some ideal of perfection), that’s what opens the door to the universal. It’s a paradox really—communion isn’t about becoming the same, but about our different voices finding harmony in something deeper that we all share.
One of the gifts of the group is the possibility of transformation, both individual and collective. The field gives people the confidence to trust what they know, and the courage to risk stepping into what they don’t. That combination makes it feel very alive and affirmative.
I also share your hesitation about putting this in the boxes of “enlightenment” or “evolution.” For me it feels more like something that’s been quietly waiting, and now it’s showing itself because there are people ready to explore beyond their old fixed identities. In that sense it’s both ancient and strangely new—deeply needed for our time.
And yes—those old words, “when two or three are gathered…”—gain new depth in the light of our experience within the group. Maybe we’re simply rediscovering something timeless.
Dear Peter,
Thank you for expressing so clearly the depth and clarity of what is becoming manifest in this shared field of consciousness. It is moving to witness how naturally this coherence is now arising, as if it had always been here. And yet, as I read your words, I feel it is important to bring forward a recognition that may not always be visible on the surface.
What you are describing so beautifully today was once a distant horizon. Long before it revealed itself in this way, it lived as a vision held by Andrew Cohen. I was not there when it first began, but I have come to see and feel that what now appears so seamless was brought into being through decades of intense spiritual work, profound insight, and commitment to something greater than the personal self.
Andrew Cohen and the community did not merely practice a teaching. They gave themselves to a profound experiment. Together, they made themselves available to a new possibility, one in which the boundaries of ego could be surrendered, and a higher order of relatedness could emerge. This was not abstract. It was real. And it left a lasting imprint on the fabric of consciousness.
Although I did not witness the early years, I can feel the depth of what was given and the price that was paid to make this possible. What is being experienced now is not separate from that origin. It is the flowering of seeds that were planted with care, intensity, and love for the truth. The ease and grace that are beginning to reveal themselves rest upon the foundation that was courageously laid down.
So yes, let us fully embrace the beauty and freedom that are emerging in the present. But let us also remember the history that made this moment possible. Let us honour the vision and the dedication that opened the way.
With love and gratitude,
Daniela
Dear Daniela,
Thank you for your appreciative message and for recognising what is emerging in this shared field. My experience of it is that it is both something never-not-present and yet continuously new in its expression.
There were certainly seeds planted during the years with Andrew. As I mention in my book The Space Between Us, the community cultivated a rigorous training in dialogue—particularly in listening deeply and responding to what was unfolding between us. That was real, and I value it.
It has also become clear to me that this wider movement—the discovery of relational presence, interbeing, and the “We” field—is not unique to any one teacher or community. Similar breakthroughs were arising in places like Findhorn throughout the 60s–80s, and many groups have contributed to what is now blossoming globally. For any individual to claim themselves as the original visionary risks inflating the personal and can, paradoxically, obscure the very emergence they hoped to midwife. As a certain well-known line reminds us: “When two or more are gathered…”
What feels new today is not the essence, but the timing and the conditions—the global interconnectedness, the permeability of digital space, and the way the field seems able to reveal itself with increasing ease across distance. To be part of this unfolding now feels both profoundly exciting and deeply humbling.
Warmly,
Peter