PaleoChristian Communities - virtual or real life?

Gary

Gary

The Cosmic Force
FOTCM Member
Hi,

I am really interested in joining the Fellowship, but I was wondering if someone could explain one of the goals listed below.

To provide a framework whereby PaleoChristian communities of various types can form and thrive

This is the first time I have met a group of people whose ideals resonate with me, it has been quite humbling to feel such a sense of 'belonging', which I have never felt before in my life, even though I have had a happy family life, relatively speaking! I understand why the forum is essential for 'networking' and getting objective responses by those who are experienced to give it, but my question really pertains to communities. Do you mean virtual or real life?

I have felt for some time that the ideal of living in a practical sense in a 'community' of sorts, whilst retaining my own personal space, is important (and I have been making practical steps toward this for myself and children) - but who one shares this community living with is obviously absolutely crucial.

Thanks for any help :)
 
dreamrider said:
Hi,

I am really interested in joining the Fellowship, but I was wondering if someone could explain one of the goals listed below.

To provide a framework whereby PaleoChristian communities of various types can form and thrive

This is the first time I have met a group of people whose ideals resonate with me, it has been quite humbling to feel such a sense of 'belonging', which I have never felt before in my life, even though I have had a happy family life, relatively speaking! I understand why the forum is essential for 'networking' and getting objective responses by those who are experienced to give it, but my question really pertains to communities. Do you mean virtual or real life?

I have felt for some time that the ideal of living in a practical sense in a 'community' of sorts, whilst retaining my own personal space, is important (and I have been making practical steps toward this for myself and children) - but who one shares this community living with is obviously absolutely crucial.

Thanks for any help :)
Click to expand...

Hi Dreamrider,

imo the emphasising part is on can and at a current state is this online-network the community of the fellowship and whoever likes to work on oneself.

Because out of experience many bad things happened when members, be it fellowship members or forum members met (well, over and over again), simply because of negative feedback loops and feeding on each other. Two or three people living together cannot replace an entire network and there always will be blind spots. ;) This may change in the future, but is definitely not a goal of the fellowship at this point as far as I can tell.

I hope this helps a bit.
 
Thanks Gawan,

I feel I understand what you are saying, and please clarify if it isnt :)

Pre-fall (when folk were STO) we could and did live in real life communities. As we are currently STS (a few with potential to be STO candidates) we cannot really live in such communities, in order to do the necessary Work to possibly achieve STO candidate status. I guess therefore, there are such small groups within the Fellowship , but they are the exception at the moment.

It's abit of a paradox - I am letting go of family and friends, feeling alone yet not lonely; but feel such a sense of belonging with the Fellowship, folk with whom I cannot (at least as yet) live with in a real life community, but only communicate with when I get the opportunity to go online (and while there is electricity and internet access).

I am utilizing what small amount of knowledge I do have at the moment, to make practical changes in terms of living arrangements, being as self sufficient as I can etc etc, but accept that I will invariably have to go it alone in a practical sense, and thats ok :)
 
dreamrider said:
Thanks Gawan,

I feel I understand what you are saying, and please clarify if it isnt :)

Pre-fall (when folk were STO) we could and did live in real life communities. As we are currently STS (a few with potential to be STO candidates) we cannot really live in such communities, in order to do the necessary Work to possibly achieve STO candidate status. I guess therefore, there are such small groups within the Fellowship , but they are the exception at the moment.

It's abit of a paradox - I am letting go of family and friends, feeling alone yet not lonely; but feel such a sense of belonging with the Fellowship, folk with whom I cannot (at least as yet) live with in a real life community, but only communicate with when I get the opportunity to go online (and while there is electricity and internet access).

I am utilizing what small amount of knowledge I do have at the moment, to make practical changes in terms of living arrangements, being as self sufficient as I can etc etc, but accept that I will invariably have to go it alone in a practical sense, and thats ok :)
Click to expand...

Why are you letting go of family and friends?

Part of what we do here on this forum is the Work - which is basically, the 4th Way. In order to do the Work, you work on your programs that run you like a machine. In order to see these programs is to interact with family and friends and to network with like-minded people who are also doing the Work. Your family and friends allow you to utilize external consideration and to form a strategic enclosure.

If you have friends or family who are doing things such as going on drinking binges, using recreational drugs, or are malicious and a drain on you, then distancing yourself from them is for your own health. But we would never tell you to let go of family and friends.

Have you read Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous?
 
As Nienna wrote, just in some other words, the work cannot happen in a vacuum and Ouspensky wrote also about this in his book, when I remember it correctly, so it is a highly recommended book if you are new to the concept of the work.

Also this page could eventually help out if you are stumbling over words and terms: Cassiopedia

excerpt 4th way said:
The 4th Way differs from these in that it seeks to simultaneously develop all three sides and to do so in the environment of ordinary life, whereas the three first ways [the way of the monk (feelings), the fakir (body) and yogi (mind)] all require from the beginning a complete abandoning of daily life and a seclusion into a monastic environment. The 4th Way is sometimes therefore called the way of the 'sly man.' All the 4 ways may lead to the same understandings and may bring their practitioner from the 'outer circle' of humanity to the 'exoteric' and later 'mesoteric' and 'esoteric' circles .
Click to expand...

And what the C's wrote some time ago:

It's not where you are, it's who you are and what you see.
Click to expand...
;)
 
At present, the main thing is the virtual community. But we know that it is just training wheels for real communities. More than training wheels, an essential source of guidance ... because there are a couple real-life communities that have been formed with varying results. Let's just say we are still experimenting.
 
Hi, I haven't read ISOTM, but I do have it; I have only recently felt able to start reading The Wave series again. I havent got the vocabulary as yet to explain what I am trying to convey - but I am doing the Work, or doing my honest best anyway. When I say I am letting go of my family and friends, I mean in the sense of not feeling the frustration of having to try and expain why my lifestyle is changing, why I feel so different - I love them dearly and learn alot of my machine like programs from my interaction with them.

But, as I read in one of Lauras books only yesterday, and I am paraphrasing abit, but others may view me/us (doing the Work) in a way which is incomprehensible or even threatening. My letting go of them is metaphorical, it is my recognition that who they think/believe I am isn't really 'me', its an illusion! I don't even know 'me' yet, perhaps never will, but I will keep on knocking! It doesn't stop me loving them (perhaps even unconditionally), and I know we have many lessons to offer eachother, the more intimate the relationship the more prfound the lessons I have found too. They see I am happy, but perhaps can't understand why, and I cant explain 'the Work' to them as yet. Sorry if this doesn't make much sense.

Laura, I understand the need for concentrating on the virtual communities and them being training wheels for real communities. I have had such vivid 'experiences' of living in such a 'PaleoChristian community', before I came across the term, it seems a natural progression for those committed to STO orientation. But, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I guess Eden wasn't either. I will keep learning and networking.

Thank you very much for all your comments.
 
dreamrider said:
Hi, I haven't read ISOTM, but I do have it; I have only recently felt able to start reading The Wave series again. I havent got the vocabulary as yet to explain what I am trying to convey - but I am doing the Work, or doing my honest best anyway. When I say I am letting go of my family and friends, I mean in the sense of not feeling the frustration of having to try and expain why my lifestyle is changing, why I feel so different - I love them dearly and learn alot of my machine like programs from my interaction with them.
Click to expand...

Thank you for clarifying that. :)

dreamrider said:
But, as I read in one of Lauras books only yesterday, and I am paraphrasing abit, but others may view me/us (doing the Work) in a way which is incomprehensible or even threatening. My letting go of them is metaphorical, it is my recognition that who they think/believe I am isn't really 'me', its an illusion! I don't even know 'me' yet, perhaps never will, but I will keep on knocking! It doesn't stop me loving them (perhaps even unconditionally), and I know we have many lessons to offer eachother, the more intimate the relationship the more prfound the lessons I have found too. They see I am happy, but perhaps can't understand why, and I cant explain 'the Work' to them as yet. Sorry if this doesn't make much sense.
Click to expand...

I don't think that you need to explain the Work to them at all. Remember, strategic enclosure. I highly suggest reading ISOTM. It will explain a lot of things about the Work and is a very interesting read.

dreamrider said:
Laura, I understand the need for concentrating on the virtual communities and them being training wheels for real communities. I have had such vivid 'experiences' of living in such a 'PaleoChristian community', before I came across the term, it seems a natural progression for those committed to STO orientation. But, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I guess Eden wasn't either. I will keep learning and networking.
Click to expand...

It really is something to strive for, isn't it?
 
Thank you Nienna,

I will certainly read ISOTM, and search the forum for 'strategic enclosure', as I am unsure of what that really means. My lifestyle choice means I live largely off grid, no internet etc, so I have dashed down to the public library to say thanks again. I have realised recently it is a significant step for me to 'ask' for support/clarity/help and to actually 'feel' a sense of belonging - I feel quite teary and very humble :)

I have been knocking for a long time it feels (perhaps lifetimes) and the Fellowship it the only group which truly resonates with me. My lifestyle choices have been largely reflected by my commitment to the Work, and a PaleoChristian community in real terms is what I intend to manifest, but I realise I have much, much 'intentional suffering' to do in order to achieve it.

I have struggled with alot of issues relating to the Fellowship application (I was indocrinated into the Catholic Church, so even the word 'church' held me back for a while!) but I intend to start the application process as soon as I can next week.
 
dreamrider said:
Hi, I haven't read ISOTM, but I do have it; I have only recently felt able to start reading The Wave series again. I havent got the vocabulary as yet to explain what I am trying to convey - but I am doing the Work, or doing my honest best anyway. When I say I am letting go of my family and friends, I mean in the sense of not feeling the frustration of having to try and expain why my lifestyle is changing, why I feel so different - I love them dearly and learn alot of my machine like programs from my interaction with them.
Click to expand...

Hi dreamrider,

Thanks for clarifying what you meant by "letting go of your family". Maybe it would be more accurate to say that you may be letting go of your illusions about your family? In any case, reading ISOTM and the links Nienna Eluch provided will give you a better idea of how to go about your life for now. G. said the best place to Work is where you are. So your current work situation and your family can give you a great place to practice and prepare for the life you hope to have. You may never be able to explain what you are doing, but that's ok. Work is for the self. Doing your best and let the Universe take care of the rest. :)
 
I personally would be excited to see new PaleoChristian/FOTCM communities form, though having lived on a commune and visited many varied communities across the US, I have a predisposed bias and recognize that unstructured meetings of forum members has largely led to feeding.

There are a number of benefits to living more communal lifestyles, most notably cost savings and, if done intelligently, time savings and the potential for mutually supportive connections and a healthy physical environment. A community that pastured animals and sold meat would effectively meet its food needs and theoretically it's money needs through that and potentially be able to sell their meat and animal products online to forum members and whoever was interested in purchasing.

There are also a number of downsides to all the intentional communities that I've visited, though the common threads among them are primarily wishful thinking, a lack of focus, poor diet, and tolerance of pathology at times (inconsistent intolerance of pathology more accurately, I think). I'm sure FOTCM/PC communities would have their own set of issues and concerns along with many decisions to make for how to structure one, exactly. I think that it'd probably be wise to have at least one person recognized as an elder at a community and to maintain a strong tie with the forum.

The community network to which I belonged for some time (and am still connected to) did have a fund where they lent out money at times to start new communities, FWIW. It frequently didn't go well as most communes fail and often fail quickly, so I know they foreclosed on at least one community/property (not sure how far that project actually got) and, thus, am not sure they're doing it anymore, but they might still be open to lending money to starting communities or have land available to make similar arrangements. There might be requirements from the community to whom the money is loaned--I'm not sure--or other issues, but if the elders thought it would make sense to look into it, I could talk to some of my friends who are involved with that aspect of the communities and find out the details and if it's still something that they do.

The network, by the way, is the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, with their website here:

_http://thefec.org

They also run the Intentional Communities directory, located here:

_http://directory.ic.org
 
as long as there is not a real objective approach toward our selfs and the outside a community will do more harm then good for us.
it will very likely lead to feeding situations so the best thing for now is to get your own machine under control in your own environment with a proper network (this forum).
 
Pashalis said:
as long as there is not a real objective approach toward our selfs and the outside a community will do more harm then good for us.
it will very likely lead to feeding situations so the best thing for now is to get your own machine under control in your own environment with a proper network (this forum).
Click to expand...

Ok
 
Thanks herendancer for your advice, I have printed off the links provided by Nienna, to study and reflect on. The Strategic Enclosure link is particularly pertinent to my current position I feel.

I haven't actually lived in an intentional community Foxx, but have always thought that a Spiritual Tribe or Community was a natural extention of ourselves. I have observed many who have experienced living with 'like-minded' people in communes etc - only for 'feeding situations' to develop as Pashalis mentioned - guess one has to know their own mind first! Thanks Pashalis for your valuable comments. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom