At the heart of perhaps every center in the network is the recognition of the interdependence of all life. We foster connection to self, other, nature and spirit, in an ever evolving relational dance. Connectivity is vital, a powerful antidote to the chaos and crises of these times. Leading scientists recognise large scale shifts in human consciousness are essential. Is our unique role to create safe space for healing, growth and transformation, to be custodians of the earth and inspire others with our place based centers? HCN seeks to link these centers around the world and to connect with other like minded networks. These include the Global Ecovillage Network and Bioneers. Together we can accelerate and amplify the urgency of our work and maximise our collective impact of doing good in the world. [Read more…]
Mutual Learning and Support within the Network
A few months ago I received an email from Cameron Wenaus, co-founder of Retreat Guru, who bring together retreats, teachers and practitioners, as well as develop retreat management software. Cameron attended the 2016 Gathering at Le Monastère des Augustines and there are natural overlaps and interconnections between our networks.
He wrote to make an introduction, saying, “Heather Scott is the Executive Director of Dorje Denma Ling, a retreat center in Nova Scotia connected to the Shambhala Lineage. I have been to DDL many times for retreats; it is a humble and powerful location.
I was talking to Heather about the challenges they are facing recently and she expressed a yearning in networking with other retreat centers during this next phase of growth and change. I thought that the Centers Gathering might be a good resource.” [Read more…]
Experiencing the 2012 Gathering
Since the early days of the community, the Findhorn Foundation has been pioneering a new way of living on the earth and linking up with other centres all over the world to form a network of love and light.
Co-founder Peter Caddy said, “It is very much our work to be a point of synthesis, to link centres together to see where we can unite. Each centre has something different that we can learn from, that they can give to us, and we can give to them.”
In this spirit of synthesis the Findhorn Foundation hosted the annual International Holistic Centres Gathering in May 2012, a meeting of peers from around the world who came together to share ideas, experience, hopes and challenges, to learn from and inspire each other, and support the planetary transformation that is unfolding with increasing momentum.
Exploring Holistic Education – Spiritual Practice
COMPONENTS OF HOLISTIC LEARNING
By Dave Till and Christine Lines
This is the tenth article in our series on Holistic Learning, to read the introduction and view the other components to follow please click here.
10. Spiritual Practice
If individual spirituality is acknowledged as the leading edge of the holistic process, a spiritual practice becomes invaluable.
Regular meditation, excursions into nature, singing, dancing, yoga, writing or parenting can all become a spiritual practice. These are practical methods of cultivating an awareness of the higher self, and can be quite different to a religious practice that may depend on a belief system and strict rules.
Dave Till shares, “I use my own creative writing, poetry and performance as part of my spiritual practice. Other people may use gardening or listening to music. The spiritual self is alive and well if it is acknowledged and we take time to listen to the wisdom it shares. Better still, if we acknowledge that the spirit has a role to play all day long in everything we do, then we create the basis for a truly holistic life.” [Read more…]
The Network of Light – Then and Now
“Scattered around the Earth are untold thousands of individuals, small groups and communities quietly creating a society based upon the unity of the human family and co-creation with the forces of nature. Part of our work at Findhorn is to link with a wide range of these centres, organisations and individuals to reveal an emerging pattern that we call the ‘network of light’.”
Reading these words recently in the Faces of Findhorn, published in 1980, I had a strong feeling this was the voice of my friend Ralph White, who I’d met two years earlier at the Holistic Centres Gathering in Hawaii. I sent him an email and he wrote straight back saying, “Yes, I recognize those words. They’re what I felt all those years ago and they’ve actually been proved true. It’s a wonderful thing!” [Read more…]
Unity in Diversity
Welcome to 2012, may it be a year filled with peace and love, joy and harmony, health and happiness all over the world.
Sharing words of wisdom from Eileen Caddy
Let there be unity in diversity. See the many paths all leading to the centre, each one different and yet each one leading in the same direction. The closer they come to the centre, the greater the unity, until all become one and there is no longer diversity but complete unity.
You will find it taking place more and more with the many centres of light all over the world. As the world situation grows darker and worsens, so shall they grow brighter and brighter, until light overcomes all darkness.
It is good to see a wider picture of what is taking place, but it is also very important to realise that it all starts within you. Realise that what is taking place within the individual goes out into the world and is reflected in the world situation.
That is why peace of heart and mind is so essential within you, and why harmony, understanding and deep love should flow between you and others.
From Opening Doors Within
365 Daily Meditations from Findhorn
Memories and Miracles
The Memories & Miracles memory stick, celebrating 50 years of the Findhorn Foundation, is now available to order online.
The Foundation has created this commemorative 4 GB USB memory stick with photos of Now and Then, Nature, and Community Life. It also has videos, some of Eileen’s guidance, an audio of Peter, a history of key moments and a copy of our 2012 brochure. There is also plenty of room on the stick to store your own files.
All the proceeds from the sales of Memories & Miracles will support the ongoing work of the Foundation enabling us to develop new workshop space, expand our outreach programmes, and continue to increase our sustainability into the next 50 years and beyond.
Next year is an exciting year with many special events planned as part of our birthday celebrations. Please click here to view the full calendar of workshops, programmes and conferences.
If you work in a Holistic Centre and would like to visit the Findhorn Foundation to create your own memories of the community here, we invite you to the International Holistic Centres Gathering – The Network of Light in May 2012.
Happy festive season, and welcome to our 50th birthday year!
News courtesy of www.findhorn.org
Spirit of the Future
This week the Findhorn Foundation is sending out it’s 2012 brochure, celebrating 50 years of the community. 
The new brochure is available to download as a pdf file from our website. We hope you enjoy the photographic tributes to Findhorn past and present, the variety of programmes on offer in this auspicious year, and its dedication to the next 50 fabulous years of personal and planetary transformation.
Whether you’re enjoying spring warmth in the southern hemisphere, autumn leaves in the north, the first snowfall of the season or equatorial humidity, please join with us in gratitude for the courage and focus of our three founders, Dorothy Maclean and Eileen and Peter Caddy, for the amazing unfolding of this community, and for how it has touched all our lives. [Read more…]
How the Gathering led me to Findhorn
by Christine Lines
The newsletter from Kalani Oceanside Retreat popped into my inbox and I scrolled down the page, viewing the different events. The heading “2010 Retreat Center’s Conference“ captured my interest immediately.
For two years I’d been the Retreats Manager of Byron Yoga Centre in Byron Bay, a small beach town and conscious community on the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. I lived in a beautiful place and loved my work, however I had the growing sense a new phase in my life was on the horizon.
Reading the description of the conference it was clearly an opportunity to meet my peers and I felt a strong intuition to participate. “Connect with Retreat Center Managers from different parts of the world. Learn and grow from participating in conference sessions on sustainability, marketing in a down-economy, connecting to the world-community, continued personal transformation, sharing what works and what doesn’t and “holding space” for a world in need of change and growth.”