Monday, October 16, 2006
Time to move forward, beginning with a quote from Buddhist scholar and writer Robert Thurman:
"If you don't know exactly who you are all the time, you're not sick, you're actually in luck, because you're more realistic, more free, and more awake!...'knowing who you are' is the trap -- an impossible self-objectification."
Institutions demanding exclusive loyalty cannot survive if individuals have this attitude. Freedom from the certainty of "self" laughs at dogma, shreds doctrine, and even makes wars rather silly. How can I say I am "me" today, if tomorrow I might be "you"?
So, then, where to move? One answer, for myself and Rich, has been exploring life in an intentional community; specifically, a modern entity that calls itself an "ecological village." We are slowly becoming part of a community called White Hawk, where a group of strangers are coming together to build energy-frugal homes, develop a sustainable farm, and make decisions by consensus. Over time -- measured in years, not weeks or months -- we will make an effort to become a porous people, living in and through one another.
This model takes work, constantly challenging the self to exchange "what would be best for me?" to "what would be best for us?" and, in the process, uncovering the selfless knowing of, "So! This is who I am!"
Have a slow journey,
Candace
"If you don't know exactly who you are all the time, you're not sick, you're actually in luck, because you're more realistic, more free, and more awake!...'knowing who you are' is the trap -- an impossible self-objectification."
Institutions demanding exclusive loyalty cannot survive if individuals have this attitude. Freedom from the certainty of "self" laughs at dogma, shreds doctrine, and even makes wars rather silly. How can I say I am "me" today, if tomorrow I might be "you"?
So, then, where to move? One answer, for myself and Rich, has been exploring life in an intentional community; specifically, a modern entity that calls itself an "ecological village." We are slowly becoming part of a community called White Hawk, where a group of strangers are coming together to build energy-frugal homes, develop a sustainable farm, and make decisions by consensus. Over time -- measured in years, not weeks or months -- we will make an effort to become a porous people, living in and through one another.
This model takes work, constantly challenging the self to exchange "what would be best for me?" to "what would be best for us?" and, in the process, uncovering the selfless knowing of, "So! This is who I am!"
Have a slow journey,
Candace
