Exploring the nature of coherence, its potential and its meaning for the specific context of the meta-modern

Meaning of coherence in an evolutionary context

Radical new forms of collaboration are appearing all over the world – beyond the mainstream and thus not yet visible to those people who are anchored in the modern paradigm. Radical because they are grounded in an entirely new understanding of how we see and define ourselves as human beings and who we want to be. The pyramidal order that has shaped our societies for 7,000 years as a taken-for-granted way of organizing and operating has become obsolete. Younger generations – and those following the evolutionary flow – are exploring, developing and testing more appropriate models. Here, power is understood as a formative force that is always in the service of the whole. Communities of Coherence are expressions of an integral-holistic or meta-modern way of thinking and acting. The focus is on organizing the collective creative potential in such a way that both the individual contributions of the individuals (I) and the effective power of the community (We) are expressed as coherent synergies. This coherent energy field is characterized by freedom from fear. We let go of the desire to control, to dominate, to prove, and open a meeting space where lightness, relaxation, curiosity, connectedness emerge.

Many of the participants who experience coherence testify how they experience the togetherness easily, intensely, joyfully, with high energy density.

In Communities of Coherence, thinking, feeling, sensing (personal consciousness) and creating from a transpersonal consciousness are aligned with a common Higher Purpose.

What is coherence and why is it meaningful for integral-holistic Communities

Coherence is perceived as the organizational principle of the universe, a forming, unified whole from its diverse, differentiated aspects. The fundamental aspect of our nature is coherence, it’s about tuning into and aligning to it. This is a choice we can make at any moment.

While there is no agreement on one single definition across all these areas, coherence can be described as “a state of harmony and alignment when all parts of a system work in sync and in resonance in order to hold the system as whole while ensuring all parts a maximum of efficiency and a maximum of freedom”. [1]

The word coherence comes from latin cohaerere which means connected, consistent, harmonious. Beyond this general definition, the term and phenomenon of coherence has gained attention and relevance in many different areas.

In physics, coherence expresses the potential for two waves to interfere. Physiological coherence is seen as the degree of order, harmony and stability in the various rhythmic activities within living systems over any given time period, while in psychology the sense of coherence is related to comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness (Antonovsky, 1983). Recent research in complexity science points out that our sense of identity is determined by how we interact with others and our surroundings and this interaction maintains coherent structures, challenging the idea that being stable means being rigid. Instead stability actually comes from being flexible and adaptable ensuring coherence in the group (Juarrero, 2023).