A topical Advent theme and community development imperative, was covered by David Spangler in his November 2022 blog. He writes, “What is sad and dangerous about this time is that, seeing that what we have isn’t working, there is a reaction to replace it not with something new but with something older and familiar.”

This is as true for the Park Ecovillage, Findhorn, for our own homes and businesses, as it is for the rest of the World community. There’s a ‘reactionary ego'[mfn]as opposed to “15The Godlike deepest Self in us knows and feels on its own level; therefore the intellect’s reasonings and the aesthetic feelings are reflections on a lower level of spiritual activities.

16So many human sufferings are the consequences of human errors, and so many of these errors arise from human ignorance. The supreme ignorance of all which leads to the greatest sins and sufferings is that he does not know he is an individualized part of a greater consciousness. Although this consciousness shines through his ego it is apart from the ego, for it stands in its own right and exists as an entity by itself. It is this consciousness which enables a man to act and think in the physical body and it is his diviner part. Blinded by the error of materialism, he identifies it with the body itself.

17The self of every creature is divine Being, the ultimate Consciousness, but only when evolution brings it to the human level does it have the possibility of discovering this fact.

18It is true that the mind makes its own world of experience, but it is not true that it makes it by itself; for behind the individual mind is the Cosmic Mind.

19If the world is but an idea there must be a mind which conceived it. Although my individual mind has so largely contributed to its making, it has not contributed to its original conception. Such a mind must be an undivided universal one in which my own is rooted. It must indeed be what men commonly call God.

20Thus the World-Mind originates our experience for us but we ourselves mold it. It supplies the karmic-forces material and we as individuals supply the space-time shape which this material takes. Thus there is a union of the individual with the universal.

21Whether we think of this mysterious origin as manifesting itself in waves of energy or in particles of the same force, it is and must be there for the deeply reflective atomic scientist. Whether we think of it as God, the Creative Universal Mind, or as God the inaccessible all-transcending Mind remote from human communion, it is and must be there for the intuitive. But in both cases this entire universe is but a thought in the Universal Mind. Every object and every creature is simultaneously included in this thought: therefore every human being too. Through this relationship it is possible for a man to attain some kind of communion with IT. This is what the quest is all about.” (https://www.paulbrunton.org/notebooks/25/ God is in me)[/mfn] inside people with a sympathetic ear for fear-based limited change. This is embodied by people’s acquiescence in eg. gender polarised/anti-hierarchy/disguised big “L” liberal culturism; or Putin socialism; or Trump republicanism; or Brexit freedoms; &c. This pining for a halcyon past is like an exotic holiday’s buffet plate piled high with only comfort foods, cleverly marketed by a loud, fearful and/or opportunistic[mfn]exploiting immediate opportunities, especially regardless of planning or principle: “an opportunistic political lightweight”; (1)ECOLOGY (of a plant or animal) able to spread quickly in a previously unexploited habitat; “opportunistic populations colonizing new substrates”; (2)MEDICINE (of a microorganism or an infection caused by it) affecting patients only or chiefly when the immune system is depressed. [Source- Oxford Languages/Google dictionaries][/mfn] ego.

We forget however that re-invention is a form of avoidance. In short, Mr Spangler invites you and me to consciously BECOME in action more authentically unique: ie. less ‘having‘ (only seeming in control of our own lives by playing safe at “being special” only in our imagination while piggybacking on ‘better’ people’s ‘better’ results); and more ‘being.’

Being is about actually being visionary in our doings aswell; it’s a truly LOVE-BASED in action, fearless, expansive attitude (to people=situations); it’s welcoming unexpected possibilities coming from the edge of my usual field of experience as personal enrichment.[mfn]”The moment I am not willing to risk my political capital is the day I’m no longer fit to lead.” Mandela character in ‘Invictus’ [/mfn] Being is being more simply, and uniquely, human — transcending and integrating the frictions of Life on Earth, necessary for every successful creation. Not ignoring them!

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Bon courage this ️ ️Advent, ️ ️ ️Christmas ️ ️ ️ ️and coming year!

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As in the stable at Bethlehem and the Garden womb of Eden, Free Will in Community is about embracing difficult questions (and their posers) under our own cognisance and daring to expand our authentic choice-of-(re)actions menu, by not just oops… bypassing all those dis-comforting, challenging signposts (eg. this Daniel Wahl article). A resolution-based definition of community is QUESTING in action!  “Nothing will happen to us that is not our destiny. … So much of life is a mystery. We know so little of this world. But you and I have made a journey that others cannot even imagine. And this has given understanding to our hearts.” — David Grann[mfn] ‘Lost City of Z.'[/mfn]

And the Park Ecovillage, Findhorn members have a daring extra responsibility within our global social development process. To illustrate manifesting peace on earth and goodwill to everyone/thing: ie. being true peace and goodwill within my own heart/spirit, mind and body, in my every thought, word and deed vis-à-vis others, 365days of every year of the rest of my life.

[vertical-spacer] As to the how? Well, it’s not SEARCHorn but FINDhorn isn’t it! Subtle difference. We all have to do our own work. But here’s a tip I find useful to remember: how simple is the path itself, how complex is the pseudo-path… “All that God asks of [us],” wrote Thomas Merton, “is to be quiet and keep [our]selves at peace, attentive to the secret work that He is beginning in [ou]r souls.” Also, Lao Tse said:

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in action and in thoughts, you return to the source of being.

Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are.

Compassionate with yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world. – Tao Te Ching.