Personal Progression
aligning character & contribution with Communitarian core values, vision & missions
Dissolving the ‘I’ in order to take our place in the world begins with commitment to ‘Know Thyself’
The fundamental reason communitarians practice the seven daily observances is to first and foremost ‘know thyself’ in order to arrive at the position of seeing as Gustav Landauer did, that the ‘I’ must be dissolved before we can take our place in the world.
Landauer’s ‘Revolution and Other Writings’ ‘From Separation to Community’ contains key concepts that underpin and make plain the central tenets of communitarian union.
Journaling to align with the dissolving of the ‘I’ into the ocean of the entire world, is in essence, the process of entering into marriage with the universe, that requires first that ‘we know ourselves’ – know our strengths, weaknesses, fears, dreams, jealousies, prejudices, lacks and limitations.
For communitarians, the central point of alignment is to progress toward perfecting thought, word and deed through deep commitment to continuous improvement.
Daily alignment with communitarian core principles & practices
From the second year of association and beyond, communitarians begin to integrate demonstrations of the recognition that consciousness of what is morally right becomes the foundation and driver of our thoughts, words and deeds. In this light, those committed to living by the principles and practice of ‘Liberated Love’ that manifests as practical demonstration of sharing all with all, understand that shared core values are in actual fact, the moral compass which provides direction for how we live our lives in peace and sustained ‘common wealth’ secure prosperity.
It is for this reason that communitarians make a concerted effort each and every day to keep forefront of their minds, the critical awareness that our shared core values must in practical ways, align with knowledge and practice of consciously evolved ethics.
As active participants in pioneer associations committed to ushering in an era of perpetual peace through the establishment of instruments and associations born of the vision and practice of principles capable of establishing true unions of common wealth, we must be ever vigilant in guarding against accepting and backsliding into the norms of secular societies that hold no moral objections to the torture and murder of innocent animals for food and sport, human exploitation, conflict, greed and selfish waste through indulgence in glamour and vanity.
As those who practice daily ‘Alignment’ first thing in the morning and last thing at night, attest, this personal progression technique provides abundant fuel for the generation of progressive thoughts and intelligent reasoned emotions, as well as, productive behaviours. Through daily observance of ‘Alignment’ with the values of ‘love-in-action’, communitarians come to realise that commitment to the practice is essential to realising increased personal and relational peace and happiness, along with positive experiences, and, ultimately, achieving personal refinement that leads to sustained social harmony.
Through participation in the weekly Gestalt Provings, communitarians receive the knowledge and tools to integrate the core values of evolved liberated love and lifestyle through learning to consciously discern and choose positive, healthy and productive life experiences and social conditions as well as engage in and consume constructive content, events and ideas.
Rising the hour before dawn to align thought, word & intention with communitarian values & missions
The daily observance of conscious alignment with communitarian core values is meant to place our feet firmly on the ground first thing in the morning to effectively achieve progression toward our stated personal and collaborative goals and missions. Rising the hour before dawn with the intention to bring ourselves into alignment with the communitarian principle and practice of sharing all with all through conscious effort to perfect thought, word and deed, holds those who make the effort in good stead to raise their personalities beyond the primitive draws of pessimism, procrastination, glamour, indolence and apathy.
If and when we make the effort to rise each morning committed to personal progression, we contribute much to the advancement of the whole of humanity.
Reviewing & Restating Values
It is common for communitarians to post their core values and values statements in prominent places within their private living quarters. Values statements that are written up and displayed become valuable tools that help to keep communitarians focused on the path toward achieving right thought, right words and right deeds.
Those practicing daily ‘Alignment’ regularly attest that diligent observance greatly increases the ability to be engaged, productive and highly effective in contributing to the fulfilment and advancement of both personal and communal goals and projects. The practice of daily ‘Alignment’ is a valuable tool that leads communitarians to realize more moments of joy and happiness resulting in greater contentment and satisfaction through seeing our life’s legacy come to fruition.
The practice of reviewing and restating core values is also commonly undertaken regularly by communitarians at the change of season and end of year personal sabbaticals. In the second year of association and beyond, communitarians make a habit of ‘retreating’ several times throughout the year to focus on ‘personal progression’. By engaging in solitude, communitarians make a concerted effort to deepen knowledge and experience of ‘self’ through focused reflection on values and conduct, as well as, harmony within relationships or lack thereof.
During the Annual Communitarian Union Festival, communitarians who are able to, gather to undertake a review and restate their core values as a group exercise. This collaborative ‘alignment’ activity greatly benefits those in attendance to identify their personal core values and thus the values held in common with those who share the lifestyle and lovestyle of communal union. This important galvanising group activity also serves as the vital seed of motivations and momentum building that underpins the New Year’s project planning.
Designing each day to count toward establishing worthy legacy
Communitarians believe that we have a moral obligation toward future generations. It is for this reason that we rise each morning to contemplate and plan the right use of our energy, resources and opportunities, as well as, time and talents to both preserve and extend the facilities of our local and regional, as well as, wider world human habitat to sustain life, liberty and happiness for all.
As communitarians we take seriously the responsibility for the welfare, provision and continuance of future generations. As such, those who live their lives in association – sharing all with all, adopt the attitude that in every way, every action, every day counts towards installing the ways and means of establishing perpetual peace and common wealth sustainable prosperity upon the Earth. In essence, communitarians believe that what we think, say and do, or fail to reason, utter and physically bring to fruition, matters; not only to ourselves and those who currently live, but also affects the quality of life of future generations of people, animals and the Earth itself.
Setting Daily Intention
For those living in association, rising the hour before dawn to reflect upon the gift of life, intelligence and health, along with the value of communal associations that include both support and stimulation, the observance of ‘Alignment’ provides the perfect opportunity to set our intentions for the day. Many communitarians begin the morning in a similar way to Tolstoy, who through journaling, focused on rising from within, an in-depth awareness of the values carried consciously and unconsciously embedded in every decision and assigned priority that drives our actions, engagements and participation in personal and communal projects.
Making relationships as well as work and life meaningful and purposeful, requires that we deliberately align our daily intentions with our core values and motivators. Uncovering the key elements of what we truly value in life, requires that we first endeavour to view the value and direction of our lives through unfiltered and unconditioned lenses.
Entering upon the path to honest and accurate knowledge of ourselves requires that we first take into account how others perceive us. Being open to receive valuable counsel can help us get over the first hump to seeing who we truly are, beyond the inevitable distortion of cultural conditioning and the usual outright over-inflated or unrecognized perception of our natural and developed talents, knowledge and capabilities. Not that other people hold the exclusive right to decide our value or position on the scale of progression towards refinement of our personalities. Ultimately responsibility to know thyself, rests with each individual communitarian.
However communitarians recognise the value of participation in the ‘Group Gestalt Provings’ that offer additional constructive guidance and feedback from diverse, competent and experienced perspectives.
Mental Purging - valuable personal refinement tool
Communitarians recognise that conflict and anxiety are part of life as well as inescapable challenges that confront us while living and loving – sharing all with all within evolved unions. The truth is that even if we lived alone on a desert island, we would likely not escape conflict or anxiety either.
In the early years of adopting the practice of personal progression, mental purging becomes a vital tool in helping communitarians acquire intimate knowledge of self which aids greatly in transforming, maturing and refining the personality. Without it, one could not evolve nor progress toward bringing the personality into alignment with the ability to love and share deeply and inclusively.
Mental purging is therefore recognised as an essential tool that enables those entering into union to throw off the doss – of separating the wheat from the chaff in regards to discerning the honest motives of our associations and also how we handle conflict and make decisions. In this light, it becomes apparent that as communitarians committed to achieving inner peace and contributing to world peace, we must every day find ways of purging and resolving – healing all that presents as internal angst – disaccord, worry, stress, irritation, frustration, hate, blame, upset, distress and agitation.
The practice of morning and evening mental purging acts as a mental cleanser helping communitarians arrive at a place of acceptance of what is and what could be better, and then what would be better still; and perhaps with a little more consideration, resolution that sees us able to own our part in conflicts and disturbances of peacefulness. Mental purging is the process of allowing all the cluttered thoughts swirling around in our minds to be written down on paper – removed from our heads and put in some type of tangible form that can be later tackled as part of a planned well-considered task list, or application for counsel and mentoring to resolve.
Many communitarians make a habit of keeping two separate journals – one for mental purging and another for recording reflections, dreams and goals, etc. The majority of communitarians make a habit of hand-writing purge pages so that they can actually burn them in a fire to symbolise that the disturbance of peace has been brought to an end. Commonly, the burning of these purge pages is also carried out in a private ceremony at the end of the weekly Personal Day of Rest. However, a number of communal unions actually burn these purge pages as a group ritual every Friday as part of gathering for the final communal meal of the week.
This ritual burning reminds communitarians of the obligation to continually strive for both personal and social harmony – to willingly and honestly forgive and also take personal responsibility for the maintenance of genuine peace that makes it possible to enter into and enjoy the lavish benefits associated with the lifestyle and lovestyle of ‘Liberated Love’ within evolved communal unions.
Developing the Constructive Inner-critic
Leo Tolstoy the famous Russian Author who adopted communitarian principles and practices late in life, practiced self-criticism to the extent his journals included daily accounts of ‘I accuse myself of…’ Similarly, communitarians who practice constructive self-criticism, report that this type of journaling practice helps them achieve accountability for how they spend their time and how their thoughts, words and deeds either align or detract from living their values as well as aid progression towards achieving their stated goals and missions.
Practiced in the right way, self-criticism focuses on discerning specific behaviours that can be changed to produce desired outcomes. Constructive criticism involves focusing on exploring specific modifiable areas of our lives that need improvement. As an example, those adopting the practice might admit to staying up too late engaged in frivolous social media chit-chat, neglecting personal grooming, not finishing communal contribution tasks to a high standard, or else not being honest about their part in conflict and also failure to resolve conflict fairly and squarely.
In contrast, negative self-criticism may involve self-talk that demeans our physical characteristics which cannot be changed, or else fretting about our current or past circumstances that are immovable. The wisdom and path to personal progression lies in knowing the difference between the two. If we make a habit of dwelling on negative unproductive self-criticism, it will surely bring us down, waste our precious days and also adversely affect those around us. It is for this reason that communitarians are mindful of practicing self-criticism, the right way.
Accepting the offer of counsel and support from communitarians who are experienced in using this component of ‘alignment’ will likely also make it easier to effect noticeable positive change.
While practicing constructive self-criticism, it is important to remain focused on rising from within advancing degrees of confidence and fulfilment capable of contributing to demonstrations of deep abiding union that include manifestations of inclusive love and support for our fellow communitarians as well as the wider world.
