From its very inception, The Farm was established as a “spiritual community” and registered with the state of Tennessee as The Farm Church. Stephen taught and the community recognized that intentional communities founded on spiritual principles were much more likely to survive beyond a few years and there was history to back up that belief. Looking back at intentional communities in America over the last two hundred years, those based on political or social economic ideals had a life span of around 10 years, while those founded on spiritual principles typically endured 25 years or more. The spiritual awakening experienced by the hippie generation is what made the Farm happen, and why it exists today. Community is so much more than the buildings and the roads and the trees. It takes spiritual connection to endure.
Spiritual Teacher
Having already served as a professor at San Francisco State, Stephen Gaskin’s conversion to a teacher of spirituality was not a giant leap. About a decade older than most of the young people massing in San Francisco, he was able to address the class with the learned air of authority while calling on the natural maturity that comes from wider life experience. By assuming the role of spiritual teacher, he was in some measure stepping in to fill a void by developing an avenue of spiritual understanding that did not require assuming the doctrines of another culture, be it from the West or the East. In many ways his role was to articulate the lessons learned through the application of universal principles, using language that could be understood and expressed in the context of modern life. At times this meant interpreting or learning to recognize how the principles of eastern philosophy were also expressed in our western culture, understood in a new way through the new spiritual awakening of the counterculture.
Back in San Francisco, the early free university classes conducted by Stephen were very much about an exploration of consciousness. Psychedelic “religious” experiences had exposed people to new realms of possibility, in touch with the all and a sense that the individual and the universe were one, connected by the very molecules of existence. Leaving each person profoundly affected and filled with unanswered questions, people began coming together to share insights and explore for answers, turning to the wisdom as expressed through the sages of the world, be they old world religions or more esoteric doctrines such as astrology or the writings of more recent new age mystics.
Much like the classes in comparative religion held in colleges and universities, Stephen and the people attending his Monday Night Class made an effort to examine spiritual and religious philosophies to determine which elements represented essential truths. By making this direct attempt to decipher and identify the teachings these spiritual doctrines had in common, the people participating in Stephen’s classes began to recognize that core principles could be identified and utilized as a roadmap for the navigation of life.
In order to avoid the trappings of dogma and ritual, Stephen and The Farm intentionally decided not to give their outlook a name, calling it simply The Farm Church. Nothing was ever written to define it, other than the transcriptions of Stephen’s lectures, edited into books in which philosophical topics were explored and meaningful stories told.
After The Changeover, it became even more difficult to identify universal or commonly held beliefs by Farm members, in ways a reaction to the domination of a single voice enunciating spiritual morals to be adopted by the community as a whole. Instead the Farm’s spirituality is defined by the common values that have been woven into the fabric of The Farm since the very beginning and that still run true today.
The concepts presented here are not new. Many have been repeated again and again throughout the ages, in every language, by philosophers and shamans, preachers, teachers, rabbis and clerics. As the founding fathers of the America stated so clearly, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”
Spirituality and Religion
To begin it can be helpful to understand the difference between religion and spirituality. World religions are typically based on events that took place hundreds, even thousands of years in the past, rewritten over and over again, each shifting to match the language and attitudes of the time. In a quest to provide answers and explain the unknowable, religions ask adherents to put forth a faith in the unknown and to follow that faith blindly without question.
As a generation coming of age in a wave of planetary consciousness, there was a general respect for core concepts of established religions like Christianity and Judaism, but the historical and modern day hypocrisies and evident shortcomings made it hard to accept these religions as anything other than ancient doctrines practiced through dogmatic rituals, with many of the values watered down or talked about but not applied. The truths they carried were undeniable, more like pieces of a puzzle, needing one from every religion to see the complete picture.
Spiritual teachers representing eastern philosophies had a historical reputation as keepers of knowledge, with gurus that could provide answers and a path that followers could adopt almost like a recipe, delivering the desired result of a spiritual life. This was propelled into western pop culture or mainstream awareness when The Beatles become involved with Maharishi, whose transcendental meditation offered a secret mantra that one could repeat silently in order to achieve higher consciousness. Young people in large numbers began to align themselves with an array of spiritual teachers assuming the role of a devotee. The stereotypical Indian guru bade their followers to adopt the appearance of a yogi by dressing in white, wearing turbans, further changing their persona by assigning each disciple an Indian sounding name. Although Eastern religions offered new avenues of thought and a path to spirituality, they too came with extra baggage, cultural superstitions along with beliefs and rituals that had little relevance.
In contrast, spirituality can be considered a framework of moral principles that can be used as a foundation for decision making and a guide for personal conduct. When faced with life’s difficulties, these morals offer direction for the individual every step of the way. By acknowledging and putting into practice core spiritual values into everyday life, each person is carried toward their ultimate goal, a sane existence filled with happiness, one that someday ends with a sense of with fulfillment.
Religions typically ask their followers to base their faith on supernatural events that took place in the past, using these as evidence to demonstrate the existence of a higher power. Those who follow a spiritual path are able to use their own direct experiences to influence and guide their life choices and to gain a sense of universal oneness connecting all things. Pivotal moments happen in every person’s existence if we are there to notice, opportunities to gain wisdom and appreciation.
In the search for greater understanding, Stephen and participants in the class began to acknowledge that all religions share essential truths. The differences we see emanate from variations in cultures and their place in time. By working to identify, follow and apply universal moral principles, the group began to move toward a way of life that could express these ideals through day to day actions.
The path charted by The Farm accepts that we can honor and respect all religions for the truths and teachings they hold and their cultural connections rooted in families and traditions. Religious celebrations function as symbols representing our link to something greater on many levels, steeped in the communion of shared experience. When we participate in these ceremonies and traditions, we connect again with something greater than ourselves, be it a shared traditional history or the life transformations that these celebrations represent.
It is no coincidence that many religious holidays coincide with cycles in the natural world, drawn from pagan and nature based religious origins. One of the easiest to recognize is the celebration of Easter, taking place on or near the spring equinox. The word itself comes from the name of a Nordic goddess “Eostre” or “Eastre” who represented fertility, of critical importance to ancient people whose survival depended upon abundant crops and the bounties of nature. Symbols like the Easter basket and eggs are tied to fertility rituals performed by farming peoples of Europe who would collect and place the nests of Plovers, a ground nesting bird, in their fields as a prayer for bountiful harvests. Artifacts dating back over 25,000 years combine the head of a rabbit with the female form or goddess, both symbols of fertility. Our ability to recognize cultural celebrations and traditions as expression of humanity’s relationship with the natural forces helps to broaden our understanding of universal principles.
In one of his later interviews, Stephen Gaskin expressed in this way, “All religions are built from the wiring diagram of the mind of man. It should be no surprise that they all came out the same.”
Sacraments
Sacraments such as the wine and bread of communion are symbols to used help express religious concepts. The sacraments expressed in many practiced religions often stem from events that took place hundreds or thousands of years ago, kept alive through stories and ritual.
By seeking a path of direct experience, the Church of The Farm Community recognized the sacraments that are present in the here and now, important life transformations which have the ability to touch each person and impart to them a sense of the profound.
The Sacrament of Birth
One of the most powerful experiences that came to impact the hundreds of people coming in contact with The Farm was that of birth, a practice enshrined in the phrase “Spiritual Midwifery.” Over the last hundred years, much of the Western world has had the miracle of birth removed from the realm of direct experience. By the late 1960s and 70s, shuttered behind the doors of operating rooms in clinical sterile environments, birth was no longer a natural process, but a medical procedure. Fathers were completely removed from one of the most significant and direct life changing moments one can ever encounter. Drugs made mothers unconscious and unaware of their own personal miracle.
Back in San Francisco, several of the women associated with Monday Night Class had become mothers and were unhappy with how they had been treated while in the hospital. Stories also began to circulate about a few brave women that had chosen to give birth at home. When The Caravan left to travel across the country, among the group were several women, including Stephen’s partner Ina May, who were due to give birth at some time during the journey. Several babies were born in buses along the way and the impact of those experiences was so powerful that it affected not just those present at the birth, but everyone in the group. After arriving Tennessee, the sanctity of birth was acknowledged as one of life’s most important sacraments and a cornerstone of The Farm Church, for the power it has to change lives forever.
The Sacrament of Death
One of the babies born on The Caravan did not survive. Soon after arriving in Tennessee, a young man was killed by a lightning strike. These events and others to follow forced the community to face the entire circle of life, bringing Farm members into direct contact with another universal sacrament, death.
The Farm’s midwives and a numbers of families were painfully aware that the task of delivering babies was a life and death responsibility. Despite everyone’s best efforts and intentions, in those early years a number of babies were lost. The great sorrow those families endured was shared by the community as a whole and brought into focus the importance of compassion as we accept the responsibility of caring for each other.
Again western society in many ways has built walls separating people from direct experience. The old are placed in nursing homes where they often die alone instead of surrounded by loving family and friends. Excessive medical procedures thwart the course of nature prolonging life, at times even against the will of the individual or their family.
The grief we experience in an encounter with death, either directly or when we lose a loved one, in the support we offer to family and friends, can bring into being our strongest connection with the profound. Each encounter with death produces a period of internal reflection and contemplation. While our contact with this experience does not provide answers, it can cause a person to evaluate the meaning of their life and to consider their past actions and how they will spend the time they have left, the essence of the spiritual path and the true definition of a sacrament.
Care of the Elderly
As a direct action and an alternative to prevalent trend of Western culture, very early on members of The Farm began to bring aging relatives to live with them in the community. Their influence and impact has been extremely significant and an essential element in The Farm’s chemistry.
The aging seniors and octogenarians who come to The Farm establish friendships and relationships that go beyond their immediate family. They are integrated and accepted with unconditional love by everyone in the community, their care a gift that encompasses both giving and receiving, often accompanied by a final blossoming of joy. As aging parents pass on and new ones take their place, their time in the community is always a gentle reminder that every person has something to contribute, that life is to be enjoyed right to the end.
The Sacrament of Marriage
To counterbalance the loose sexual attitudes of the 60s and 70s, The Farm social code took a jump back toward the center, celebrating marriage as a sacred bond between two people. The responsibility of bringing children into the world and into a relationship was distinguished as a spiritual pact that had lifelong consequences. To elevate marriage into its proper position as a spiritual sacrament, on the early Farm marriage ceremonies were performed immediately after Sunday Service meditation, the point at which the community would come together in its clearest frame of universal mind.
Marriage ceremonies express the heart of The Farm community, and an opportunity to rejoice. Marriage clearly represents the shift from youth to adult, the connection of family, the initiation of life long consequences, transformation, the true definition of sacrament.
Life Force Energy
The Farm was created with the explicit intention to be a community founded on spiritual principles and values. With this ideal as its fundamental purpose, there followed an unwritten, unspoken understanding on the nature of the universe that is still shared by its members, forming the foundation of the community’s core beliefs and agreements. The intent here is to identify and express these tenets not as absolutes, but as a context for interpretation, as a way to grasp the deeper meaning of The Farm.
Behind all aspects of The Farm’s spiritual belief system is the recognition of life force energy, what established religions may refer to as holy spirit or God. All living things contain this spark of energy, and death can literally be described as the absence of this same energy. We know from deep within the difference between even the dimmest spark of life force energy and the moment it has left the body. By consciously acknowledging the presence of life force energy, we can then learn to perceive more subtle aspects of its existence and its effect on everything around us.
Blending Science and Spirituality
Babies and young children are like fountains of energy. Their life force is strong, giving them the power needed to grow and develop. As we grow older, the intensity of our life force diminishes. When we become ill, our bodies are in a struggle to heal, calling upon our inner life force to overcome the things working against us, be they a virus, bacteria, cancer or a breakdown or malfunction of our own internal systems.
Life force energy is not just inside us, but all around us. There is no separation. Science confirms that the space between us is not empty, but a soup of molecules, atoms, protons and neutrons in all directions. The connection extends past our skins, through our skulls, to the very center of our mind and the core of our being, our soul. We are one.
The resonant patterns of energy are evident in nature from snowflakes to quartz rainbows. For centuries mystics have called upon the energy of crystals for healing. Over 100 years ago scientists applied energy to crystals to generate harmonic frequencies. Technology manipulates harmonic frequencies as sound, light, radio waves, reaching further to create modern manipulations in the form of video, television, satellites and computers.
Science and spirituality are not separate. Everything in our universe has a connection to energy and harmonic frequencies.
Energy Beings
We are energy beings. Every one of us is both a transmitter and receiver of energy, human antennas sensitive to frequencies at every level. As receivers we can walk into a room and know the energy, good or bad, higher low, warm or cold. We send out energy in everything we do, and it changes the world around us, especially when released in its highest form, love.
Feeling the vibrations, “the vibes,” has gone from hippie jargon to common, everyday usage, but in fact our language has long articulated of our ability to perceive vibrations and there are multiple ways we communicate this.
We are happier when our lives are in harmony with each other or with nature. Our societies strive for racial and religious harmony. We like our music to be in harmony rather than discordant. All of these are references to smooth vibrations that resonate, producing pleasure, contrasting with feeling rattled, shook up, or uptight…chaos.
Attention is Energy
You give energy to anything that has your attention.
You create your universe with your attention.
What you put your attention on, you get more of.
These phrases describe the core of spiritual teachings adopted by The Farm Community. By being aware and conscious of how we direct our attention, we are able to shape our destinies and affect every aspect of our lives and the lives of those around us. Every personal achievement, every skill we learn, any task we accomplish, or goal we achieve, is the result of our attention. Intimate relationships fall apart when we put our attention elsewhere. Students fail when their attention is distracted or they are unable to focus their attention. Businesses collapse when not enough attention is paid to the bottom line, to employee satisfaction, to changing markets, to quality control. Wrongs are righted, the sick are healed, gardens will grow. Our personal sphere of existence is directly affected by the amount of attention we have to give and where we direct our attention.
Many aspects of our lives can be defined by how they relate to energy. Truth is solid, real, a positive force. Lies are words which are empty. They are not real, have no truth, no energy behind them. When we have doubt, we are holding our energy back, and are unable to move forward. While it is important to reflect, to consider, to analyze, when we have reached a decision, our strength comes from putting doubt behind us and investing 100% of our energy.
We know that energy is infinite, that it cannot be hoarded. When we put out energy it comes back to us 100 fold. At the same time we can run down our energy and must take the time to recharge. In the West we call this the retreat or even, the vacation.
Our energy can be taken from us through intimidation or anger. When we are able to observe these expressions of emotion as energy relationships, we can step back, name them, and make the decision not to participate, or allow the intimidator to have power over us. By increasing our awareness on the nature of energy relationships, we can pay attention and make observations on a more subtle level, with a better understanding of each person’s role and intentions, allowing us to react more clearly and purposefully rather than reactionary and defensive.
Energy grows from:
- Truth
- Love
- Kindness & Compassion
- Sharing
- Justice
Energy dissipates from:
- Lies
- Anger
- Fear
- Greed
- Injustice
Chakras – Energy Fields in the Body
A further example of East meets West can be observed in the terminology used to describe energy centers in the body. Eastern philosophy uses the term “chakras” to identify seven different energy centers, each one relating to a way energy manifests in our daily lives.
Colloquial language and slang in the Western world makes very clear references to their existence, typically when the energy is seen to be out of balance. Because as humans we tend to be happiest when our lives are balanced or in harmony, mainstream society has developed language that identifies people who demonstrate energy centers in a state of imbalance.
At the same time it is important to also observe that each of us has different strengths which may appear in a person as an energy center that has greater dominance in their personality or character. Through conscious awareness of our strengths and weaknesses and their connection to energy centers in the body and spirit, we can build upon and exercise our strengths while taking any necessary steps to compensate and maintain our center of balance.
The Root Chakra is said to be located at the base of the spine. This charka relates to stability and survival. In the West when someone has this chakra in balance we say they are very down to earth or “grounded.” When this energy is taken to an extreme or out of balance, the individual insures their personal wellbeing while disregarding the feelings of others, referred to in the West as a “tight ass.”
The Sacral Chakra emanates from the navel and encompasses the genitals, abdomen, and the womb. Energies emanating from this chakra are said to include desire, sexuality, creativity, pleasure as well as pain. Addictions to sex and pornography could be considered examples of this energy out of balance. Giving in to desire can lead to bad decisions. Sadomasochism, experiencing pleasure through pain, is generally regarded as extreme behavior, an indication that the chakra’s energy is out of balance in relation to others.
The chakra of the Solar Plexus above the navel relates to intuition, expressed in the West as a “gut feeling or instinct.” Balance in this area is said to exemplify good self-esteem and an even personality not controlled by emotions. Joy emanates at the belly laugh, anger or fear as the tight stomach.
There is universal acceptance that the Heart Chakra is one of the most powerful forces in the human spirit. Love and compassion are considered as the most important of spiritual values, yet we also understand that even these admirable qualities can cause problems when out of balance. The “bleeding heart” or enabler can bring about harm in their attempt to do good, injuring both themselves and the person they intend to help.
Communication is expressed though the Throat Chakra, the pathway to truth and honesty. An open throat chakra expressed through song has the power to deliver joy, uplifting the soul. We refer to repressed emotions as “not speaking out” or a “lump in our throats.” A closed or tight throat chakra can physically manifest as a whine, not the source of the problem, but a symptom, the verbal indication of deeper issues.
The Brow Chakra relates to the pineal gland, also known as the Third Eye or mind center. This chakra goes beyond normal vision to include perception, thought and intuition. When in balance our mind is clear. When this chakra is dominant our social order calls that person a “brain,” or “nerd,” identifying a loss of social skills that could be brought in balance if that person were more down to earth or “grounded.”
The connection to spiritual values is said to emanate from the Crown Chakra, the source of all understanding, morals and principles. We convey theses as trust, selflessness and a sense of purpose. If the Crown chakra is weak, we are lost, without direction. When dominated by the ego or self, the out of balance Crown chakra comes across as “holier than thou,” when someone thinks they are superior to others because their spiritual values are more pure.
Our goal in naming the energy centers is to articulate the connection between mind, body and spirit. When we are unaware or deny the link between energy and how it manifests in our daily lives, we are left with a limited understanding, without the full set of tools we need to function and achieve our goals.
Telepathy
If we agree that everything is connected down to a sub-atomic level, then the natural extension is that our minds and thoughts are connected as well. We have all had experience with telepathy. Think of a friend and the phone rings. We feel someone looking at us and turn around. When matched with harmony, we call it being “on the same wavelength,” in tune with each other.
Learn to be aware of your feelings, your intuition, especially the initial sensitivity before you’ve had a chance to run it through second level mind filters, that first flash. It is not about being judgmental, but rather about being aware, using all your senses and learning to trust yourself. Telepathy works best between people who are “in sync” and have an honest and open relationship. Telepathy breaks down when we lose trust in one another, allow ourselves to put out anger and feelings are hurt.
Hippie Buddhists
From the earliest stirrings in San Francisco there was an attraction to Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism from Japan as taught by Suzuki Rochi, a monk called to the West as a messenger for Buddhism in the 1960s. Suzuki taught that we must turn off the chattering monkey mind inside our heads in order that we may touch our collective big mind or God. The change we desire comes from within and can take place at any moment if we allow it to happen, with the openness of the Beginner’s Mind. By making an effort to push mental chatter aside, the mind is allowed to clear, opening up the door to reflection, insights and greater understanding.
The story of Buddha mirrors the awakening of the hippie generation, both born in wealth, only to have the illusion shattered when exposed to the outside world and the realities of poverty, cultural and racial oppression, institutionalized by the powerful upon the weak. Like the Buddha, the founding members of The Farm Community renounced their station in life and undertook a vow of poverty and a life dedicated to the service of mankind. While this proved to be impractical and unsustainable for householder yogis raising families in the modern world, many of the tenets of Buddhism remained as consistent with core principles and values of The Farm Community.
Buddhism does not have the concept of evil, only ignorance and suffering. Ignorance can be dissipated through knowledge and awareness. Those who suffer can be healed through compassion. Buddhism does not demand a blind faith in the unknown or contend that its practitioners must convert all others to Buddhism. It strives for balance in all things, the middle road, reflecting inward, reaching outward. Buddhism’s 8 fold Path is a simple blueprint that outlines the core principles for a spiritual life: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
A Connection to Nature
It almost goes without saying that all members of The Farm share a reverence for nature. Free of human ego, pure in essence, the peace we feel when nature surrounds us is very real. The land is what holds the community together, what makes it one, a whole larger than the sum of its parts. It is our church, our temple, our connection to something greater, both literally and spiritually. It is also our home, a place to work and play and live and die. We go back to this earth.
Free Will
Each and every one of us has the power to chart our destiny and is responsible for the decisions we make. We are not controlled by stars, celestial beings, evil spirits, or divine creators. We have free will. In the East they name it karma. In the West it’s called luck. On the Farm we refer to this as cause and effect. The Bible is in agreement: “As ye so, so shall ye reap.” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Pretty clear.
Awareness and the Spiritual Path
One of the most important steps you can take is to affirm that you want a life with greater connection to spiritual values, a life of meaning and fulfillment. This is called becoming conscious or aware, to make a commitment to a spiritual path. New Age circles refer to this as Personal Growth, working to improve oneself. However the spiritual path goes a bit further by acknowledging that you directly influence and create your universe through personal choices. When you set an intention and make your decision based upon spiritual values, solutions to the problems before you are more likely to appear. Hurdles fall to the side. Things work out for themselves. It comes back to the old hippie speak: Go with the flow. It is the natural flow of energy, unobstructed, like a river through the course of our lives.
It is important to remember that a path can give us direction, but we can also lose our way. Distractions, poor decisions, any number of things can lead us away from our conscious awareness until we no longer remember where we are going. We do not see the signposts, the warnings, the red flags which come before us that are meant to capture our attention and remind us of our true intentions, to be the best person we can be. The good news we can find our way back, acknowledge our mistakes, forgive and be forgiven. It’s what Christians called being reborn.
“Life is like stepping on a boat that is headed out to sea and sink.” Suzuki Roshi
You better enjoy the trip!
In the end we are all pilgrims on a journey, life’s journey, with only our moral compass to guide us. With patience, integrity, honesty and hope on our side, we will find our way.