I lived in a philosophers community (of sorts) for many years. It was really a new-age/spiritual community but atheists also lived there which balanced it out a bit.
We had art, wood and metal workshops, a bookstore and book distribution business (we were the sole distributor of ACIM in the Asia/Pacific region), tofu production and fruit & veg business. Some of the residents would do odd jobs (carpentry etc) outside the community from time to time to support ourselves.
As far as philosophy was concerned, the community was part of what has come to be known a Permaculture. Bill Mollision (a Tasmanian and father of Permaculture) used to visit, give talks, and help us set up the land so that it worked with nature rather than raping it. He’d sometimes visit with Aboriginal Elders who passed on their knowledge as well.
Permaculture is not just about agriculture. It’s about culture in general and covers everything from architecture (“touch the earth lightly”) to relationships. Agriculture is just the beginning. Feeding yourself is your first priority and gardening is a perfect way to visually see the philosophy in action.
In some ways Permaculture is like a practical Feng Shui (wind-water) where everything is designed to flow naturally and in harmony. Various veggies, for instance, would grow among flowers or weeds because those flowers attracted insects that keep the veggie-eating bugs away. Some plants/flowers were grown next to others because they returned nutrients to the soil when they died; others provided shade. Permaculture is action-learning; it’s non-stop questioning, testing, evaluating. It’s an open, practical philosophy that changes and adapts to its environment. There’s no dogma.
A key point in Permaculture is to remain aware of your part in the system; not just as part of the natural cycle but to be aware that on a deeper level, you are what you’re actually growing; you are what you’re actually building.
Here’s an example of Permaculture in action:
On an early morning walk I noticed some fences had been damaged then I saw the gardens had been ripped up. Further along, down near the river, the hothouse, gardening sheds and meditation pergola destroyed or vandalized. While we had been sleeping up on the hills, someone had snuck onto the property by the river and quietly destroyed everything.
Days later, the police found the culprits. They were young, local rednecks who lived further down the valley. They didn’t like the new-ager hippies invading their valley. The police asked if we wished to press charges and, after a debate, we decided that there’d be no legal ramifications if the boys helped us repair what they destroyed. Learning was a better outcome than punishment.
After school and on the weekends, the kids turned up to help us repair the damage. At first, they were very tense but because we had decided to treat them as welcomed guests they quickly settled in. A couple of months later, everything was back to normal and the kids left as friends. While they never visited again, they’d often toot their horns or wave as they passed through the valley on their way home.
That’s practical philosophy – start out with a problem then end with a solution that’s better than it was before the problem.
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