communitarian union
Evolved social, economic & ecological
Principles & practices
“Community is the ocean in which we swim. We are all products of associations that have shaped the development of our ways of thinking and being.
Evolution is inter-subjective. Through conversations with friends, we share our values and inner worldviews and discover better ways of being.
Communities shaped by higher consciousness and conscience are vital keys to a sustainable relationship with the planetary life-web.”
– Alex Grey and Allyson Grey
Although the term ‘communitarianism’ is less than two centuries old, the backdrop to practical demonstrations of its principles and practices date back long before recorded history. There is ample evidence that communitarianism is the most ancient and even instinctive form of human relating and organisation geared towards sharing the resources that contribute to the support of life, itself.
While communitarianism is often erroneously lumped in to mean the same as communism, in the proper context, communitarianism denotes the strains of political, economic and social philosophy and organisation that endeavour to strike a balance between individual rights and social responsibilities. Those who align their daily lives with communitarian principles and practices, are all too aware that societies grounded in fascism or caste systems, often commit the worst of human rights violations under the guise of acting for the greater ‘common good.’ Even if such societies masquerade and label themselves as having a more benign power base – asserting that a government or a certain leader is acting in the interest of ‘common good’, in no way legitimizes licence to override basic individual rights to life, liberty, health and happiness.
Thus stated, the combination of communitarian principles and practices that determine ‘common good’ must be and remain, inclusive of the people, places and purposes it affects.
The practical application of communitarian principles and practices focuses on the development of the individual’s moral and authentic creative talent to be harnessed as collective, harmonious, sustainable and ecologically-aligned productivity that contributes to the common good of earth, animals and people.
eat from the living trees
The practice of ‘eating from the Living Trees’ is the central principle that aligns the communitarian unions with both the attainment of health and also ethical dietary choices that respect ‘the right to life’ of all living creatures. For these reasons, fruits, greens, nuts, seeds are the mainstay of the communitarian diet and lifestyle.
Eating the flesh of living breathing conscious sentiment beings is inarguably a threat to our planet. It is a threat to human consciousness. Thus, we are held back from solving the perpetuated problems of disrespect for life itself. This of course transfers to our disrespect of each other resulting in inequitable distribution of resources needed to sustain life. As a result, we tolerate and cannot see beyond the perpetuation of capitalist systems of greed and exploitation.
A significant part of the communitarian lifestyle revolves around the principle and practice of achieving personal progression in all areas of life and relationships as well as contribution to community and the wider world. It is of course an ongoing process that requires constant practice and commitment to learning. The daily practice of personal improvement provides the opportunity to evaluate strengths and weaknesses as well as work on overcoming attributes of personality that stand in the way of achieving all that is desired to be given as well as received from participation in communal life.
By rising early in the mornings, the communitarian devotes this time to align with their projects, reflect, practice gratitude, plan productivity, contemplate earthly and cosmic elements that support life, and improve self-awareness and understanding of the value of our contributions as well as internal and external conflicts.
Daily investment in creating communitarian culture is a critical component of ‘building the commune’, which in turn builds ‘common wealth’ providing a practical demonstration to the world that it is possible for the human family to sustain peace, security and prosperity for all.
Above all else, the daily communal meal is an act of solidarity, of union, of friendship and deep abiding love.
There are two main components of Liberated Loving. Within each component there are seven streams of development. First relates to the body – through the practice of evolved lifeforce expression. The second related to the understanding and development of the sexual psyche through the practice of psychosexual progression beyond primitive machinations of powerlessness and aggression.
The initiate, the communitarian, must first be directed through participation in the Gestalt gatherings to discover, rise up, evolve and grow within their own consciousness as well as their relationship with other communitarians. Psychosexual progression is a powerful instrument capable of transforming primitive attitudes and inclines of separatism into a larger body – the next layer of awareness of the depths of the principles of liberating the life-force from primitive masochistic and pseudo-masochistic strains.
Life-force is such a precious endowment – sacred, cosmic. As such, it is the main creative instrument that encapsulates the mind, body and karmic strains within the earth, and to the greater cosmic transferences of continuance, purpose and trust. We say ‘trust’ to denote inheritance of karmic resonance, alignment, attunement, layers of instruments and instructions on how to evolve to become as we are – forever perfecting.
*living simply
‘One Cloak is the symbol of living simply so others can simply ‘live’. Communitarians are conscientiously committed to divorcing glamour, vanity, sloth, duplicity and wasting time, energy or resources.
Living by the principle and practice of ‘One Cloak’ as many items as practicable as ‘held in common’. Likewise domestic chores and provisioning tasks are collectively carried out on a rotational basic, saving labour, ensuring equitable distribution of the various work tasks and also building skill competencies within the communal unions.
Communal living not only means sharing living facilities and physical goods such as electric vehicles and renewal energy generation equipment; co-living also requires the skills and willingness to share our inner lives within structures of trust and mutual support. Cooperative living ventures often fail due to unresolved turmoil and conflicts surrounding the allocation of resources such as money as well as conflicts of power, exclusive ownership of people, spaces and sexual expression.
However, by starting with a foundation of agreed principles and practices centred on evolving a culture of peace and shared prosperity, we can develop the skills and knowledge to address the conflicts, trauma and fear that arise within communal environments
In practical terms, communitarians adhere to the principle and practice of ‘Right Livelihood’ by not deriving direct or indirect income from involvement in the production or sale of alcohol, weapons, live or slaughtered animals, or poisons.
Nor would those committed to ‘Right Livelihood’ agree to commercial practices that demanded they lie or deceive, imprison, enslave, treat unfairly, injure or kill people or animals; or scar, pollute or squander the non-renewal resources of the earth, including: wasting water, polluting land, air and seas.
In communitarian terms, the principle and practice of right livelihood is carried along as part and parcel of acknowledging and putting into practice ethical responsibility toward planet, people and all living creatures.