Creating Conscious Communities

A space for people worldwide to share experiences and inspiration on creating conscious, self-sustaining communities.

Let's learn together and from each other. 

Are you involved in a project? Would you like to be? Do you want a reflection on what to do in the creation process?

Check out the other forum topic North American Sanctuary, for those living in that part of the world https://www.openhandweb.org/north-america-sanctuary

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A SOLAR FLAME IS LIT THE DAY YOU ARE MANIFESTED INTO BEING

I have learnt that we all have an inner flame that is burning at all times. 

I've learnt that we all only have to maximise on our strengths and stay in alignment with our true selves and live the wish and will of our souls. 

So with guiding principles like “Show Me” and Active Attention and of course the amazing breathe work and meditations that OpenHand shares so generously, I have managed to be very internal. 

It's required for me to lose everything and anything that’s still here with me must be for keeps because everything - my business, my friends, family members and possessions have pretty much been going through an exodus of note.

But I am a happier version of myself. I feel like taking ascension work, in the way that I have been able to do, has been the highlight of life.

Every time I come back form spending an entire day with a group of girls, I feel like I could run a marathon.

Everytime I attend an Opendhand Retreat of Facilitators programme I feel so alive and I am gaining the courage to just be me and not fear the rejection that comes with believing that we are good and that conditioning has distanced us from our true selves.

The process of letting go af all attachments is an everyday thing. I always remind myself that there are only opportunities to grow in in life - Mind, Body and soul.

So I take notice of the people I meet and what messages they are bringing.

How they fit into the living system that we are creating where there is equal share and fair trade and people live a value based life.

Rooted Kusasa means that “We Are Rooted While The Sun is Rising” therefore all the projects and their products and services are aligned to going from the Root Charka all the way to connect with Soul and be in the flow.

We cannot grow if we are not Rooted in a way that allows for us to be in alignment.

When we are not in alignment with the Divine Source of Love and Light in Us, we spiral and we end up coming from the headspace where we are reacting all the time. What I have learnt is that when I communicate from the heart space, I not only hear better. I am heard too.

KEEP YOUR INNER FLAME BURNING BRIGHTLY

Our Sunrise Academy Africa Project is where we unlearn to relearn. We are unlearning the many fallacies of conditioning to relearn who we are. So we encourage our Ignition Camp participants to light a candle and stare into it and connect with it and in so doing, connect with their souls.

We remind them that “My Flame Should not make another Flame Shine less brightly, in as much as another life forms flame should not cause for our flame to burn less brightly”. Just as we see in nature that the law of balance and harmony are always observed. And that even scavengers don’t eat more than their share, in as much as a predator that is full does not continue to hunt just because it can.

We are not the only life form, however, we are the one life form that seems to prioritise greed, consumption and even consumerism that masks just how much we actually consume of that which is not a need but a conditioned want.

To keep our inner flame burning we have to come from a place of valuing and respecting all life forms. This begins with self. You cannot give that which you personally don’t have. So by valuing and respecting oneself, we are creating values based living systems and we are re-learning and designing from nature. Not just going along with “The Flow” of things that don’t even fully resonate with us, but we do them because it's what we have come to know.

Our flame ignites from a place of beingness. The more we learn and share about our 7 energy centres the more we understand the importance of healing. For me may forgive, but we never forget peoples intentions about us, and through those misaligned thought processes, we vibrate with lower density emotions like anger, fear, doubt etc

When if we all came from a place of empowerment. And we began and allowed only for positive thoughts to Seed and Root. We would cause such good vibrations to resonate throughout our global ecosystem. We can achieve this by only focusing on ourselves and our processes of inner alignment and being in The Flow.

WHAT NEXT

 

Watch this space as I share more about how being in the communities during this very important time when everyone needs information to make informed heart space choices. Africa is a huge continent and we are all in the process of remembering.

Be it stories in the Bible or Indigenous Knowledge systems, our memories are being triggered and the work that I do using my internal guided approach to bring elements of what I can bring from what I am learning in a way that resonates has been most full-filling and I look forward to working in collaboration with other members of the OpenHand Community.

LET’S CHAT..

How do you keep your inner flame burning brightly?

How do you condense information for the different communities to understand that we are living through 5D ascension in a way that doesn’t confuse them at the points where their conditioning causes a major blindspot in their opportunity for them to be more open to The Flow?

What is The Flow? And your understanding of what our inner flame is?

 

 

In reply to by Syndi Khathwan… (not verified)

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Also, to answer your thoughtful questions with my perspective:

 

1. How do you keep your inner flame burning brightly?
For me I come back again and again to a sense of purpose. Knowing that there's no other way than to be the most me I can be keeps the flame burning - and knowing how that manifests in divine service. It brings a determination that can get kicked down occasionally, but always comes back just as bright.

2. How do you condense information for the different communities to understand that we are living through 5D ascension in a way that doesn’t confuse them at the points where their conditioning causes a major blindspot in their opportunity for them to be more open to The Flow? 
For me it has been about choosing very carefully the language I use. There are many ways to express concepts. Many people feel deep inside a certain truth, but may have subconscious reactions to certain esoteric words or else can't connect with the somantics of them. People learn new things very easily when you talk about it through the lense of something they're already familiar with. Make sense?

3. What is The Flow? And your understanding of what our inner flame is?
To me the flow is the constant movement of change, which I access from the void. As change is the constant dying of one reality to make space for the next, then to cling to things / roles / identities is to come out of that flow. From the void comes (for me) feminine and masculine energies. The feminine absorbs the inputs coming from the field, connects with the greater whole and surrenders to that. Then the masculine asserts itself through unique, willed action.
The inner flame for me is the like the fuel that keeps it all going. Burning the old and firing up the new.

RIchard

 

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ACTIVE ATTENTION

I have learnt that we all have an inner flame that is burning at all times. Ive learnt that we all only have to maximise on our strengths and stay in alignment with our true selves and live the wish and will of our souls. So with guiding principles like “Show Me” and Active Attention and of course the amazing breathe work and meditations that OpenHand shares so generously, I have managed to be very internal. It required for me to loose everything and anything that’s still here with me must be for keeps because everything - my business, my friends, family members and possessions have pretty much been going through an exodus of note.

BEAUTY COMES FROM WITHIN

But I am a happier version of myself. I feel like taking ascension work, in the way that I have been able to do, has been the highlight of life.

Every time I come back form spending an entire day with a group of girls, I feel like I could run a marathon.

Every-time I attend an Opendhand Retreat of Facilitators programme I feel so alive and I am gaining the courage to just be me and not fear the rejection that comes with believing that we are good and that conditioning has distanced us from our true selves.

LET GO AND OPEN UP

The process of letting go af all attachments is an everyday thing. I always remind myself that there are only opportunities to grow in in life - Mind Body and soul. So I take notice of the people I meet and what message they bringing and how they fit into the living system that we are creating where there is equal share and fair trade and people live a value based life.

Rooted Kusasa means that “We Are Rooted While The Sun is Rising” therefore all the projects and their products and services are aligned to going from the Root Charka all the way to connect with Soul and be in the flow.

We cannot grow if we are not Rooted in a way that allows for us to be in alignment.

When we are not in alignment with the Divine Source of Love and Light in Us, we spiral and we end up coming from the headspace where we are reacting all the time. What I have learnt is that when I communicate from the heart space, I not only hear better. I am heard too.

WHAT NEXT

Watch this space as I share more about how being in the communities during this very important time when everyone needs information to make informed heart space choices. Africa is a huge continent and we are all in the process of remembering.

Be it stories in the Bible or Indigenous Knowledge systems, our memories are being triggered and the work that I do using my internal guided approach to bring elements of what I can bring from what I am learning in a way that resonates as been most full-filling and I look forward to working in collaboration with other members of the OpenHand Community.


 

 

In reply to by Syndi Khathwan… (not verified)

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Hi Syndi,

Wow, what powerful sharing. Some things especially stood out for me: The rooted kusasa - a fantastic approach and great to remember not only for ourselves but also when creating projects. Also, I loved how you talk about the head space and heart space and the differences you notice when you express from each place. Heart space choices are most certainly extremely powerful. It's nice for me to be reminded of that - sometimes I feel like things are initiated from the heart space, but then can quickly get bogged down in the head space again - good to use both but keep coming back to the heart space and make that the 'base of operations'. 

What also stands out is your observation of how you feel after being on an Openhand retreat or spending a day with the girls. It's so important to regularly be with those who you vibe with. Even when it's not always possible, it can be so nourishing to touch base in those communities. A reminder you're not alone. Also, it seems when we're nourished by aligned connections, we're much less likely to fall into old distorted patterns or be affected by those who aren't so aligned with us.

Great exploration. Keep it coming. 

Richard

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Seasons and Timings are a time when we go through the most reflection. We go through the Warmest of times, where we are flourishing and Thriving. We go through times when we have to go within, because we have no option but look at what we are supposed to be learning.

At times we are seeding and as the seed lays dormant waiting for the right season to sprout. At Times we have to shed, and let go so new opportunities can enter.

Growing The Rooted Kusasa Projects have required for me to know when to stop and flow, or go and flow or flow and flow. When I was in the process of letting go, it allowed for me to be still and for so much of my creativity to come in. I found that if I go with my own internal flow, I am able to create what I need to be creating at that particular time. I have learnt to be my own photographer, editor, PA, Project Manager and mostly, my biggest fan.

SEASONS OF CHANGE

Fast forward through the turmoil, I have become aware of so much. I have become aware of the infinite creative energy in communities. And the Communities here in the Kingdom Of Eswatini are as Organic as they come. Just as much as we have those who work with energies from the dark side, we have plenty herbalists who understand the energy of plant life. So as I transitioned from one business to just being me in the flow with only my pulse and heart beat to listen to until I could properly inner stand what it is that I am supposed to be seeing in all of this.

What I have seen about not staying in the flow is that I have become my own worst distraction at the time. I have had these amazing projects that I have been intuitively feeling into and moving forward in ways that I’m guided. Feeling myself lose attachment to always problem-solving and I even would be like “I Am so tired of being The Fixer”. What that period of fighting for a business my partner and I had evolved out of. While sacrificing time we could be spending seeding and planting more than we had managed to do juggling so much.

God just came into it all and was like since you’re not using this, I’m taking it and I’m giving it to someone else. And even mores, I will have all your resources tied up in the debt system so you won’t be able to touch that too. So the tides had changed and we were officially out of Autumn, and smack bam in winter. But we had sure rocked it during those tidal times as we realised that we are our own best resource.

SEASONING

For months we spent up on the mountain, in solitude. In nature. In dance. In movement and definitely in prayer and meditation. All the while creating using what we have and growing what we had seeded and processing it and packaging it. I was awarded a grant that allowed me to train even more girls under our Sunrise Academy Project that encourages 6 sense based learning through our Nature, Golf and Art based Camp Content.

Through our Rooted Organics Project we initiated a project Called Uhuru Concepts Africa - an access to market platform for Africa made products. As I became more Seasoned in my wish and will to stay in the flow, so did the processes manifest that allow for me to be in communities, growing an army of skilled value adding and product developing community members.

Mobilising communities is such a heart warming experience because all I do is introduce myself to the Chief or Community leader in that area. I request to meet with the Community Council to share my request to work together with the community.

Through Ignition camps we spend an entire day and we have a Self-Awareness start to the day, Followed by Empowerment and Finally we learn a skill together and we create.

With the younger kids we take a more age appropriate approach where we use child led learning as well as learning from nature and amazing plant life. They learn about the amazing healing properties of plants and how when they are armed with knowledge that its values based and a strong understanding that are all part of a bigger ecosystem, then they understand that no life form us more important than another.

So our processes of Seasoning are multi-layered. Multi-dimensional even, because its all under the theme “Back To Our Roots” - Return to Innocence.

OUR TIME IS NOW!

As we go deeper into Ascension work under the most amazing guidance from Open, I know that its Our Time! Time has sped up SO much that we don’t know whether we are coming or going. But what we know is that even the seasons and their timings have changed. As we we watch weather patterns change and natural and man-made disasters escalate, we know in our hearts that its no longer about survival. Its about getting the information about 5D Ascension to everyone. In a way that they will be able to localise and contextualise from a conditioned way of knowing to that of being in the flow.

 

To think that just 5 years ago I too was an open canvas. I had never even heard of Chakra’s let alone ever meditated or heard of breath work and the soul motion and all the other amazing OpenHand Tools to assist us in our particular %D journey.

 

So as we grow our projects, its just an internal process reflecting and expressing through our projects. 

 

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When community is also a connection with nature spirits, present in certain areas of nature, often preferred by those who live off-grid, or choose to BE in nature's sounds without the buzz of modern living (in cities), here's an album with tracks to listen to, created by Lia Scallon whose songs are also present in SoundCloud. My heart is always awake when nature spirits are awake with me, speaking a wordless language.

The Faerie People arise from the Mists of Time:

Song of the Sidhe - Sounds of Sirius

 

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Hi everyone,

I'm Richard, one of the facilitators, and I'm living in Austria.

Creating off-grid self-sustained living is a challenge here because of many strict regulations. However, I did manage to visit a group who is going through all the legal process of acquiring land etc in order to build something.

The interesting thing about them is that they're called DODO (Dorf im Dorf) so it's going to be a small village within a larger village. I find the idea very interesting - they're essentially creating an alternative way of living right within the system. (The irony of calling it Dodo is not lost!)

I'm considering joining this community, maybe not to live there but at least to take part. But I have many concerns. One of which is that they seem to want to show the people around them that this alternative way of living is possible. It's a noble intention, but I'm concerned it will simply create more polarity, especially if they try to convince others. 

What are your thoughts? Can a conscious a fairly self-sustaining community function and integrate into a fairly conservative system? Or does a community which is more out of the system and not so close to a big settlement have more chance of succeeding? 

Rich

In reply to by Richard W

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Great to have you tune in Rich - interesting conundrum. I get the sense it could well work, I've been contemplating something similar.

It will take someone (you?) to hold the epi centre of it, if a particular resonance is to bind it together. In which case, inner boundaries would be essential, so as not to get pulled into other people's dramas that inevitably kick off!

Best wishes

Open 🙏

In reply to by Richard W

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Hello Richard, I'm a new member since today, and your question is interesting, for it involves practicalities of all sorts I believe, and not only philosophical views and dreams that wait for coming true one day. Since the end of the 90's, I've grown an interest in communal living, more or less off-grid. Also for reasons of my interest to help build straw bale homes, yurts, earth-ships, living spaces that are created with natural materials or by recycling materials, such as in the case of earth-ships, a design by Michael Reynolds, an architect who dares to jump out of the box, enduring ridicule in the first phase of his new approach, using Earth-energy in the creation of living space, that is half in the earth and half exposed on her surface.

My volunteer work, in communes, started in the Netherlands, in 2011, and in 2012 I've travelled to Britain, for a visit to 5 communes, staying 1 month in each of them, combined with leaving the use of money as an experiment. My shelter and food were taken care of by the communes where I volunteered, which made it not too difficult to forget about money.

Now, about your question, if a commune of people who choose a different creation of reality, self-reliant, with attention on the development of consciousness, can exist within a Matrix-environment, my experience in those 5 British communes, living mostly off-grid, in remote locations, is based on many conversations with commune members and witnessing their daily life routines (or not so much routine). Those who left city life and chose to live in solitude, because of anger and frustration, were the members who contributed little to the wellbeing, and practical work in need to be done. Those who chose to stay in touch with the "outside world" the Matrix if you will, managed to use their intelligence, by realising that resisting, being against.... whatever it is, creates a perpetual loop of more of the same.

For they understand that the resistance stems from within, and isn't caused by the external world, although the (often grumpy) hermit- types, who also neglect their hygiene and outfit, hold on to that idea. That's called the blame game, isn't it?  We're touching here upon the condition of our consciousness that shows up with the reality we find ourselves in if you follow me in this, to some rather bold statement.

In my case, arriving as a visitor-volunteer, the pink balloon that hovered over my head, with the idea that commune-members KNOW what they choose, before actually starting to build, grow, play, and enjoy themselves in their creations, soon popped, when I witnessed confusion, doubt, differences in outlook to the future in couples with small children, quarrelling, a competition between alpha males, gossipping by women about other women, in short..... the commune was a mini planet Earth!

That experience showed me that I could let go of the idea, rather romantic, to join a commune and hope that all will be hunky dory. Also for selfish reasons by thinking about my old age, spent in a commune where members keep an eye on me when I wander off absent-minded, or without a mind of my own entirely, haha.... when I reach my 100th year or so.

What I feel about successful communes, how it may work out well, is that a group of friends who know each other well, also by sharing a survival trip, spending time in nature, solving practical problems, and causes for irritation, rubbing shoulders on the way, might be well prepared to enter such an adventure. And when this group is capable of focussing on the creation it wants to make manifest in the real world, without condemning the Matrix-world and its influence, possible attacks, and attitude of authorities not in favour of those "hippie trippy types in shabby clothes, probably smelly, and using drugs or drink around the commune", open-minded in the communication and negotiations with those authorities, and occasional passers-by, goggle-eyed with curiosity, that this may be the best foundation to start with. 

And while I've spent one month in each commune, I've met ex-commune members who came to visit, who told me that they began to hate the limitations of living off-grid, the efforts and amount of work that is part of such a lifestyle. Like having to walk 200 meters to the nearest compost-toilet, with small children, in winter. Or maintenance work on a strawbale home, or leakages. The decision to end my volunteering, and return home to the Netherlands, was caused by the extreme rainfall in the summer of 2012, where building materials, and our tents, became soaking wet, and much work came to a standstill and sleeping conditions turned damp.

That's what I've learned from my 5 months in British communes. One of them was the commune of Lammas in Wales. An interesting endeavour to this day, I believe. There's a film about this commune, and a website Living in the Future. This commune shows a variety of more or less successful families and loners, all trying to create a life in Pembrokeshire.

In reply to by Devon Seamoor

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Hi Devon,

Wow, thank you for taking the time to write all of that. I really appreciate the reflections! It's always great to witness the experience of those who have lived it. 

What I take from your sharing is not to go into it with rose tinted glasses - something I observe some other members of our community doing. I do however, feel encouraged from your perspective of what makes a successful community. I imagine we certainly are within those foundational dynamics. 

For me, creating a community, fairly off grid, arises from a recognition that it could be the best container for my soul to express itself. At least, living in the moment, I recognize that the creation of one is fulfilling that.

Which twists and turns the path takes is yet to be seen, but for me whether it lasts or not is not the measure of success. For me it will be successful it is allows me to explore more of myself and of what life means on this planet.

Thanks again for your input Slightly Smiling

Richard

In reply to by Richard W

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Since I can't paste text with Ctrl+V, let's see what happens when I choose plain text. It might work!

I'm rather late in responding to your comment, Richard. The diving into rabbit holes took all of my attention, for a while. I'm done now with that intense journey, within and without, gosh! Time to breathe out and sit on my laurels, while remaining optimistic about... well, everything! Your last sentence spoke to me full-on, that's what my measure of success is too. Lately, I've become fond of the term "Panta Rhei" (everything flows), for it's a quality of attitude, taking the daily life as a live-stream in tangible form. Which implies an ease with non-attachment to any moment where stuckness rises due to emotional turmoil. Triggers and shooting from the hip are for sale on the global market in large numbers, nowadays. To feel the flames of fury, witnessing enormous stupidity, and ignorance of moral values, while in a survival mode.

Ahem.... the wheels are coming off the bus, and it's very exciting! I mean the end of wrong pandemic management.
Returning to the subject of communal living, the feeling that it's the best container for one's soul, yes, I believe it's a great way of saying it, and if I may add another quality, it's the best expression of one's soul as well. It can be that of course it depends on how one enters such an endeavour. When everything flows, the procedure of setting up a community, on a piece of land, or in the virtual reality, and no fixed outcome puts blinders on one's mind, all that work in progress can be a wonderful fulfilling undertaking, an adventure as well.

The support in such an undertaking, from loved ones, friends, kindred spirits, is the lighthouse on the shore, where landing is safe. Every explorer needs a lighthouse, isn't it? One day, when travelling is free again, and Britain's border is open without the need of a vaccine passport, etc. I'll make efforts to travel overseas again, and find a place to spend half of each year, on the coast of IOW, or West Sussex. Any advice, or suggestion, about a temporarily living space, for my person only, will be most welcome. And I'm not meaning a communal lifestyle. I can't commit to the communal life, when I'm also spending (due to obligations related to the reception of my state pension) half a year in my Dutch home. Maybe permanent settlement outside my country of birth is for a later chapter in my life 😉