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Entry 5 _ Monday 22nd December 2008

It Is Monday the 22nd of December. Yesterday I returned to Khula Dhamma after completing the 10 day Vipassana course (www.pataka.dhamma.org). I am feeling enriched, blessed and filled with gratitude like never before. I wish the whole world could enroll in this course, as I have found it to be the most practical, essential & universal teaching to bless mankind. It is a technique of self purification through sustained self observation, and the 3 trainings include sila-morality, samadhi-mastery of the mind & panna-wisdom through insight. Practicing correctly directly enables us to experience liberation & inner peace.

I was humbled to return to the beauty of Khula Dhamma, which now truly feels like home. Me and some fellow residents & vipassana students were welcomed with warm arms & smiling faces. Another beautiful face has arrived in the meantime & it was fun-filled introductions once more.

This is my last full day at KD as a woofer as I will be returning to Cape Town tomorrow. After much reflection I have decided to pack my belongings and move here permanently around the end of January '09. This place has found deep roots in my heart, and I wish to continue may stay here for as long as the universe permits me.

This experience has taught me both the importance and the benefits of living in harmony with nature. The blessing received internally and externally is priceless, and I can not imagine returning to the conventional way of living, plugging back into the grid. This has been the experience of a bright tomorrow. A new tomorrow that benefits all. A tomorrow beyond caste. Beyond race. Beyond religion. Beyond politics. Beyond borders. A fundamental shift toward the consciousness and direct experience of peace.

The community of KD is a perfect example of the fruits of this consciousness. From the start the vision has always been one of love, harmony and wisdom towards fellow beings, animate and inanimate, and now after some growth the community is blossoming with new life, love & harmony. As within so without.

From a practical perspective, all resources are thoroughly thought through & wisely managed. A rough guide on green ways to manage the daily necessities:

ENERGY : solar panels, car batteries, candles, daylight-saving

COOKING : solar cooker, fire, gas

WATER : bore hole, solar pump, rain water collection tanks

BUILDING : local materials used, such as rocks, earth, clay, timber, grass, cow dung etc.

WATER-HEATING : 'donkey' – fire made under metal barrel

FOOD PRODUCTION : permaculture gardens, supplemented with local organic goods

WASTE DISPOSAL : recycling of metal, glass, plastic, paper; all organic matter is composted ; compost toilets; as much materials are used and re-used

CLEANING : organic & natural cleaning products as well as toiletries are used as the drainage feeds banana plantations around the house.

The whole community shares a passion for green living and a thorough understanding of the interconnectedness of every action taken. They follow strict vegetarian (mostly vegan) diets to minimize the environmental impact and cause as little suffering as possible.

A better living example for the future of humankind, I struggle to find.

"History has demonstrated that change is initiated by the passion

of individuals. That is what is needed here and now – non-governmental action by

compassionate individuals."

- Margaret Mead

"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent
less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her
sweetness and respecting her seniority. "

Entry 4 : Saturday, 6 December 2008

It is Saturday evening, and i’ve returned after a relaxing gathering around the fire. Some visitors have arrived today, and we’re sharing & getting to know each other and contemplating our life experiences.

I have been experiencing a lot of changes during the past few weeks. Physically & mentally. It has been a month since I arrived & i’m feeling very intrigued with the notion of extending my stay here.

Physically, I have been partaking in many activities that requires quite some muscle power, & getting down and dirty working on much needed projects around the community. I can feel my body adjusting to the new environment. My hands are not quite as delicate as they used to be, my feet have been thoroughly re-acquinted with the bare soil beneath them & I can feel my muscles and back strengthening by the day.

I feel an overwhelming sense of empowerment. I am learning essential skills, vital to survival outside the city. From sanding & treating wood, making fires, to transplanting veggies, seed harvesting & using the abundance of nature to the fullest.

Mentally I am also feeling much stronger than before. Daily meditation, yoga sessions & regular talking circles helps keep an open mind and heart. I have become quite interested in the Vipassana meditation that is the central practice here, and have decided to enroll in a 10 day Vipassana course in Grahams town. This will entail 10 days of silence, meditation & introspection. The course runs from the 10th to 21st of December, I will give updates as soon as I return ;-)

I couldn’t help but notice the front page of a local newspaper the other day, it read something in the line of “Angry mob attacks suspected ripper”, “Economy collapse” and picked up the distinct air of doom & gloom, doom & gloom. I thought about the degree of truth behind these reports, how many people read to newspaper as gospel, how it possibly consistently affect their perception of reality and how these images and messages compare with the influences of a life lived off the grid. At this point in my understanding of the our situation, I can only say that the only way to move forward (survive) is by systematically unplugging ourselves from the system as we know it.

Turn off your tv. Put down your newspaper. Grow your own food. Get independent transport (bicycle). If you buy products, check the labels. Know where your products come from. Excercise your right as a conscious consumer, or better yet, cut down on your consumption. Buy less. Buy local. Most importantly, get to know yourself. Become familiar with the inner workings of your mind & spirit. As Russel E. DiCarlo quotes in his book Towards a New World View, “You have to recognize that what you think not only affects the world-it is the world.”

Thus I can not help but wonder how we are to create a positive future, if the majority of the population continues to drown themselves with fear & negativities on a daily basis. Quoting Andrew Harvey in his book, The Return of the Mother : “We do not have the time not to face what we are living in : a concentration camp of reason where we are lied to about everything important, starting with our essential divine identity, and where we are policed by nihilism and depression, systematically reduced to addicts of sex, money, power and status, whose incessant stiumulation fuels the very system of imprisonment that paralyzes us...By banning the awareness of our transcendent nature and banning the healing powers of the sacred feminine, and spiritual wisdom in general, our culture deprives us of our true selves, our true hearts, and our true wholeness. We are encouraged to view ourselves as dying and grieving animals, and by killing ‘God’ in the Nietzschean sense we have come close to killing ourselves...By deriding mystical truth we have merely severed ourselves from any source of divine wisdom. We no longer know who we are and who we can be. ”

So for now, I will end off with some simple but truly fundamental thoughts to ponder :

“Our lives follow the flow of our thoughts”
“As you believe so you become, as you become so you believe”
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are”

Entry 3 : Saturday, 22 November 2008

It’s Saturday, and I’ve been here almost 2 weeks. This week has gone by particularly fast with everything that’s happening around the community. Everyone is working hard to complete different projects, from building houses to digging in the garden.

It’s 4pm and I’m lying in a hammock overlooking the farm and the valleys beyond. I’m enjoying the sound of birds and the faint murmers of a group of residents talking & sharing while completing some work on the grass in front of the house. I’ve finished work for the day. It’s a good feeling, having put in conscious effort & seeing the results of the work you’ve done. It’s the perfect atmosphere to learn
responsibility and discipline, because here, if you don’t do something yourself, it simply won’t get done.

I’m patiently waiting for 6pm, by when we will attend the daily Vipassana meditation (a technique/method of self purification through sustained self-observation). These daily practices help create the atmosphere of harmony, engaged spiritual growth & the overall intention of betterment of humanity that all of the residents and most visitors share.

Here nothing else seems to matter.
I haven’t read a newspaper or heard any negative news since I came here.
This is quite different from the fast-paced life I’m used to.
Crime, suffering and corruption… here all outside worries seem to fade away.
Not being influenced by these negative forces has a significant effect on your state of mind.

Through living here at Khula Dhamma, experiencing living in a close community and forming new relationships, I am realizing the importance of respect, mindfulness and love in our every day lives. Love for yourself, and love for your neighbour…these are aspects that will catalyze our transformation into the next stage of our growth as a species.

James Redfield gives a hauntingly beautiful explanation of our current state in his book the Tenth Insight_ An Experiential Guide (A must read to anyone interested in a better future-also his previous book the Celestine Prophecy) :

“As our level of consciousness expands, our vision of the world is transformed & we get a glimpse into the heart of creation. And as we learn how thought and visualization precede reality, we can begin to harness them to benefit our own future and that of the earth.”

-

“This awareness is causing you to make a response, like the man who asked: So what now? We’re used to being active, controlling our universe -or trying to- and getting results. But so far we have been pre-occupied with doing something to the outer world, not working on our inner world in which consciousness is king and queen. In order to make the shift, we have to deconstruct our old methods and views. That’s what the paradigm shift is all about. Can we deconstruct and de-condition our minds, take off our blinkers and let the light in fast enough to save ourselves, and our planetary habitat? That’s the question that makes us wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning.”

Entry 2 : Friday, 14 November, 2008

It is Friday today and I’ve been here for four days. Every day so far has brought the most beautiful learning experiences. I am woofing (willing workers on organic farms) at the Khula Dhamma community, which entails working 5 hours a day on general tasks around the community. I have chosen to WOOF so to allow me to experience as much hands-on activities as possible, and to truly experience a life without capitalism.

My first day was spent working in the vegetable garden, creating beds for new seedlings. This is the first direct experience I’ve had working with soil and garden tools, it’s more fulfilling than I could ever imagine, and some part of me slightly resents the fact that I was not brought up in a way which enabled me to learn these valuable life skills.

The next few days have been spent figuring out how the various systems of recycling and low-impact living works. From compost toilets, rain-water collection, fire-heating the warm water tanks (called a ’donkey’), preparing the wood for building a yurt (remarkable form of temporary shelter used by the nomadic tribes of Near East and central Asia), picking fresh vegetables from the garden to preparing vegetarian dog food!

Learning these different systems being used every day has been such an empowering experience, something the city life would most likely never be able to offer.

Since my arrival, I’ve been overwhelmed with colourful & intricate dreams relating to nature, and beautiful planetary experiences. The atmosphere of mindful people working together to create a space filled with love & harmony is quite intoxicating.

As today went along a feeling of bliss & harmony filled the air, as I sat on the grass watching the sun set behind the trees, and young children, wise beyond their years playfully enjoying the last sunlight of the day, and the freedoms that only a life close to nature can offer.

As the evening approached, a spirit of music and coming-together quickly spread, as one by one community members entered the communal house bearing instruments, smiles and rhythms. The deep drumming, didges, laughs and guitar sing-alongs extended into the late hours of the night, finally ending off with a song, one of my personal favourites, Bob Dylan_Blowing in the wind…A night free of alcohol, cigarettes, negativities and impurities. A night filled with love, one of pure wholesome sharing & fun…

Could this be a glimpse of the future society we’ve been dreaming of?

Entry 1 : Monday, 10 November 2008

It is 5:30 in the morning and I’ve been on the road for 14 hours. Coming from Cape Town, this is the longest trip I’ve ever taken. My legs are feeling a little numb, though I’m feeling quite content watching a beautiful yellow-red sun rising in front of me…

I’m passing windmills and fields of dry lands, so beautiful in the morning light.

Thoughts are casually drifting by…will they recognize me at the station? How will we experience each other? What will the facilities be like?

I’m contemplating life without a hairdryer, or the basic systems we’ve come to rely upon in the 21st century. Cars, fridges, televisions, computers… Is it possible to go back to living without these things? I am sure it’s possible we just have to wrap our minds around it, the global eco-village movement is doing it already.

At this moment, sitting in a bus, approaching the experience of a sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle, I feel the need to express that if we are to move forward and evolve as a species, we will have to drastically rethink our current lifestyles and investigate the impact we have on our environment. At this point, we don’t have a choice. At the rate we are consuming, we are already using more resources than the earth can sustain.

We are heading for very turbulent times as a result of our own ignorance, and the time has come to stop, and reflect. We will have to look within ourselves for the answers.
A Hopi prophecy I recently read comes to mind every time I think about these things.
I’d like to share :

Reading from the Hopi Nation

“You have been telling people that this is the eleventh hour.
Now you must go back and tell them this is the hour.
And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are people who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel that they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly. Know the river has its’ destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate!

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

The Elders, Arizona Hopi Nation

By Alex from Khula Dhamma

Dear Mothers, Sisters, Daughters… and especially dear, dear Mothers-to-be…and, of course, the evolving men who are re-awakening the Goddess energy within,

By Yan (Khula Dhamma Ecovillage, Eastern Cape)

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends all limitations, your consciousness expands in all directions and you find yourself in a new great and wonderful world!” – Patanjali