PS: Attunement as a source of wisdom – Random Communications from an Evolutionary Edge

Dear friends,

Today I realized I need to add another source of collective (and individual!) wisdom – Attunement. This source has been – to a certain extent – hidden in the intersection between two other sources, Spiritual/Wisdom Traditions and Multiple Intelligences. But it really deserves to be highlighted on its own. My sense of it goes something like this:

ATTUNEMENT. Many sources of insight exist within, around and beyond us, often beyond our normal means of perception or articulation – in transcendent or transpersonal realms, in living beings and systems, in deep symbols or meanings, in collective or natural fields, in various non-rational modes of knowing and being, and so on. Often the experience of attunement is one of connection with – or receptivity to, tuning into, or moving with – something far greater than ourselves (which feeds humility). Often it happens when we let go – willingly or not – of our usual assumptions, thus opening up to novelty and non-normal experience. Often, also, there is dissonance between what arises from attunement and from rationality and ordinary experience – or from you and from me — in which case part of wisdom is found in what these “opposites” may mean in light of each other and part is found in living in and/or into their paradox. There are many parallels between attunement and listening (and their analogues of inquiry and curiosity), and they can combine strongly and productively. And they often involve an enlightening flip: The forest is listening to me as I am listening to it. Collective wisdom can emerge as we do such things together, especially on combination with the other sources of collective wisdom.

If you’d like to share your own framing of this wisdom-source, please do. You can reach me at cii (at) igc.org.

I have added the version above to the original Sources of Wisdom document.

Coheartedly,

Tom

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Michael Wherley says:

January 24, 2026 at 6:28 pm

Hi Tom, I do think attunement is a valuable component of what you’re aiming at. It’s one of the primary functions of the Findhorn sacred circle dance that I take part in. There’s a certain synchronization of breathing, and probably heartbeat in the group that dances together in rhythm. For me, it’s simultaneously inner attunement to the body and group resonance, out of which deeper connection is created. Decision-making in the Findhorn community begins with an attunement process, as I understand it, and an inviting of certain non-corporeal intelligences to communicate their wisdom. I don’t personally experience that kind of communion, but I believe in the reality of it. I hope this is somewhat useful. If you want to talk further about this, let me know and I’ll try to find further expressions for it. Perhaps some insightful questions might jog further thoughts.

Michael

Tom Atlee says:

January 25, 2026 at 4:55 pm

I once heard that at Indigenous pow-wows days pass with eating, drinking, dancing and hanging out before business is quickly done in the final afternoon. Your story suggests some of the dynamics involved in such an event which resonates with Findhorn’s approach but that looks so odd to modern Western eyes. I feel fairly sure that Indigenous decision-making at pow-wows also involves invoking the spirits of ancestors and natural kin for their wisdom in co-creating whatever is next, similar to Findhorn’s invitations. Thanks so much or this, Michael! I recall, from my past coming of age years in a Quaker meeting, that Quaker elders did a “meeting for worship for business” in which they practiced what they called “waiting on the Light” [of God] – a quieter but also intense “attunement” process which may have its analogues in other spiritual or religious communities. This is a fascinating realm within which people do and can seek for wisdom. I like the idea of us all exploring more of it, including integrating it with other wisdom-sources in ways that have not been done before…..

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