A Tao Bums Commune

[Thunder_Gooch]

I like to fantasize about a real life commune for cultivators that allowed them to work a small part time job and live the rest of their life focusing on cultivation.

 

Not like a cult where there is some centralized leader, but more of a group of like minded cultivators just doing their own thing, and getting the cost of living down as low as is absolutely possible.

 

I've looked into the intentional communities site but haven't really found anything that sounds good at all.

 

Living as a large group the cost of living would come down exponentially, and working a part time job would be possible while maintaining a high quality of life and having plenty of time for cultivation.

 

Do you guys ever think we could make something like this work?

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

No way. It would have to be selective, look at the wrangling that goes on here. Just being 'cultivators' is not enough of a bond for a commune to survive, under so many different banners. I like the sentiment, More Pie, but I think it's more pie in the sky than it is bird in the hand. Oh, man, did I just write that? Better go now...

[Birch]

No:-)

 

But I wish you the very best in doing one :-)

[zerostao]

In the counter-culture era many communes sprang up. How many made a real go of it ?

I know of one and have heard there may be another somewhere.

http://www.mushroompeople.com/

While we are fantasizing about it. How would the community support itself?

I can imagine many practical problems for a start up intentional community.

Too many Chiefs or Gurus not enough Indians.

A certain % of people who think they could handle this type of environment

when they actually entered into it would realize it was not exactly what they had hoped for or not willing to put the effort to make it work.

Dreaming is cool, merging it into a reality ?

[Aetherous]

Forum member "Blasto" seems to want to do something like this. You guys should share ideas.

[Thunder_Gooch]

I wouldn't care what the other people did or or believed as long as I was left alone to my training. The perks of this arrangement would basically be that we would all be able to work part time and still have lots of money, and split the costs of living so many ways we could live very cheaply.

 

That's my theory anyway. Not to sound racist but it works really well for the Mexican's I know. They share the cost of transportation, electricity, housing, etc. if an appliance breaks the cost is split evenly etc.

 

The cost of living in that manner is about as cheap as it will ever get.

Edited February 21, 2011 by More_Pie_Guy

[thelerner]

Commune is a big commitment. As long as we're fantasizing how would you create a Tao Bums coffee shop?

 

Lots of couches. Big center room with a couple of small specialty rooms. Quiet Zen room w/ zafu's. Loud Music room for shared music, Quiet music room w/ pods and earphones. Vid room running movies or How to DVD's. Hanging section w/ regular and seated hammocks.

 

Serve coffee and teas ofcourse. Think big, giant batches of ice tea and iced coffee, large 5 gallon jugs hanging from ceilings. Nice to have a juice bar too. It'd be as self service as possible. Keep payment on the honor system. Encourage people to bring there own cups and/or wash them there. People could bring in food, even to the point of bring in something and if you wanted have a recommended donation amount and jar, pick it up at the end of the day.

 

No throw aways or take outs. Encourage people to bring in cheap cups and plates. Have an easy convenient clean up section.

 

Bean bag section, couch section. Big social board with planned events, another for art and graphiti. Game section, computer section filled with old machines. Small music stage.

 

Michael

[Thunder_Gooch]

 

 

Commune is a big commitment. As long as we're fantasizing how would you create a Tao Bums coffee shop?

 

Lots of couches. Big center room with a couple of small specialty rooms. Quiet Zen room w/ zafu's. Loud Music room for shared music, Quiet music room w/ pods and earphones. Vid room running movies or How to DVD's. Hanging section w/ regular and seated hammocks.

 

Serve coffee and teas ofcourse. Think big, giant batches of ice tea and iced coffee, large 5 gallon jugs hanging from ceilings. Nice to have a juice bar too. It'd be as self service as possible. Keep payment on the honor system. Encourage people to bring there own cups and/or wash them there. People could bring in food, even to the point of bring in something and if you wanted have a recommended donation amount and jar, pick it up at the end of the day.

 

No throw aways or take outs. Encourage people to bring in cheap cups and plates. Have an easy convenient clean up section.

 

Bean bag section, couch section. Big social board with planned events, another for art and graphiti. Game section, computer section filled with old machines. Small music stage.

 

Michael

[Thunder_Gooch]

Basically I am saving every penny I can towards buying my own land and camper to build my own one person commune. I want to get my cost of living down as low as is humanly possible. I've always wondered if there were others attempting to do the same thing for their training and cultivation. I guess the point of this thread is that it seems it would be easier with multiple people pitching in and sharing bills. If nothing else it's an interesting thought.

[Gerard]

I was thinking of opening this thread lately and now I can see it has been opened. It's all good.

 

I am up for it, but the location is crucial. It would be very nice if we could set it up in the Sichuan Province, China. As we will be surrounded by this sort of scenery:

 

 

Another option would be becoming wandering ones. Just travel freely around the sacred mountains of China and central Asia.

 

On our return (spend 10 years away from the world) we will teach and heal those in need. And surely the material will come to us easily, I mean no need to worry about money and accomodation as they will be provided by humans who support the spiritual way.

 

If anyone is keen in starting this specific venture, just let me know.

 

No bosses for sure, each to their own level and system of meditation.

 

I know this sounds crazy but remember these words:

 

Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.

 

[thelerner]

Did I mention the hot tub?

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

We can make ralis and Vajra roommates.

 

I dunno, living in community takes a lot more than you think. Go visit some and talk to people who are or have been, in one. Very challenging to incorporate. That said, there are intentional communities, and there is a resource on how to find one, best to go try live in one or a few before striking out on your own, if you even decide it's still a good idea.

[Ken]

I can't resist posting a reply .

 

Let me break down the logic of what you posted here in the following equivalent presentation:

 

(1) Become a wandering bum for 10 years.

(2) ???

(3) Profit.

 

 

 

Another option would be becoming wandering ones. Just travel freely around the sacred mountains of China and central Asia.

 

On our return (spend 10 years away from the world) we will teach and heal those in need. And surely the material will come to us easily, I mean no need to worry about money and accomodation as they will be provided by humans who support the spiritual way.

 

 

[NeiChuan]

I was thinking of opening this thread lately and now I can see it has been opened. It's all good.

 

I am up for it, but the location is crucial. It would be very nice if we could set it up in the Sichuan Province, China. As we will be surrounded by this sort of scenery:

 

 

Another option would be becoming wandering ones. Just travel freely around the sacred mountains of China and central Asia.

 

On our return (spend 10 years away from the world) we will teach and heal those in need. And surely the material will come to us easily, I mean no need to worry about money and accomodation as they will be provided by humans who support the spiritual way.

 

If anyone is keen in starting this specific venture, just let me know.

 

No bosses for sure, each to their own level and system of meditation.

 

I know this sounds crazy but remember these words:

 

Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.

 

 

Hm yes and no. I've thought of meet ups, I thought about rooming with a cool online friend once, but im not up for that, I'd need a secure job and reach to things I need.

 

In a couple years it sounds like it could work. still need to decide what to do with some things like internet ect. Music even.

 

By what you guys are mentioning it sounds like people would be a day or so from electronics, which may have it's faults. Plus food/vegetables ect.

 

There's alot to take into account here. Weights for exercising haha lotta stuff

Edited February 21, 2011 by NeiChuan

[torus693]

I was looking at off the grid and communal living places a while back.

Most of them are not well suited. They all have their own unique group energy going.

I did meet someone who was interested in providing part of their land and some

structures that were already there. Off the grid seems prohibitive. I did have some friends years ago who bought a partial clear (some trees removed) state forest land for

very cheap and opened an Aikido/Reiki long term parctice camp.

 

Probably there is someone out there with land and may like to have that kind of energy around in trade for a space to practice.

[Encephalon]

The modern bible for aspiring communitarians is "Creating a Life Together" by Diana Leafe Christian. I've met her at ecvovillage/sustainability events and she's a 'take no prisoners' kind of woman; the criteria for selecting members is emotional maturity and skill sets. The intentional communities that are making it today are populated with people of extraordinary competence and resilience, to a vastly greater concentration than is typically represented by the popultion at large. I really wish this weren't the case.

 

I first lived in urban middle-class communes back in the 80s, where we all had outside jobs. These are the relatively easy experiments. Rural ventures with an eye toward sustainability and voluntary simplicity will still likely be 16-18 hour days when the #1 industry - food production - is averaged in. There are endless calculations depending on the available resource base; water, deer, arable land, climate. I'd love to live in the Chinese Highlands too, but I wouldn't be able to secure enough calories for my family.

 

The irony is that these are the only lifestyle ventures that will support human life in the event of an increasingly likey disruption in resource flows. Learn all the 1850s-level technological skills you can and you will always have meaningful life and work... and you and your children will be amongst the 10% who make it through the 21st century.

 

I do think the ancient Yellow River Valley Taoist villages will be the successful model for sustainable communities of the future, but I confess to a little romanticism. You have to admit, Taoism makes for a mighty potent rallying point!

 

"The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century" by James Howard Kunstler should be read by anyone who falls asleep at night thinking about this subject. See you in the northern upper lats.

 

Edited February 21, 2011 by Blasto

[sifusufi]

Did I mention the hot tub?

 

http://www.dailymoti...elebrity-hottub

 

Too hot in the hot tub!!!

[Thunder_Gooch]

I guess what I am looking for is a community that all want to work part time jobs, and split the bills and live like mexicans (no racism intended) who can be respectful and quite enough to let other people meditate and train not get drunk and smoke pot and blast music etc. lol. growing your own food seems like too much work considering a few hours of labor can feed you well with healthy organic food.

Edited February 21, 2011 by More_Pie_Guy

[Seth Ananda]

Yeah! I am a fan of communal living. I have stayed at many communities around Australia (both good and bad) and the good ones are really great.

 

The ones that last and function well are either centred around...

 

*a charismatic leader.

 

*Money and financial goals.

 

*a strongly held set of principles, religious or eco/social.

 

*or some mix of these...

 

They all have strong rules, like ## strikes and your out, no matter how much money you've invested, and that does seem to quickly cull the idiot population.

They also have built in screening processes for lazy hippies that quickly remove rainbow coloured parasites... lol.

 

I personally have liked the communities with a shared spiritual belief and a decentralised power structure the most, but there are still some great ones not like this.

The work together on the communal projects is very fulfilling and strengthens the spirit of family. I think today so many people are starved of meaningful employment, and if that's the case then get your ass out of the city and on to a commune - but be selective...

[C T]

--- dotto ---

Edited February 21, 2011 by CowTao

[C T]

i have always had a rather silly dream... one that sees the purchase of a large, tropical island off the coastal regions between Malaysia and the Philippines, and set up a (self)sustainable community dedicated to spiritual cultivation and open to anyone who is flexible enough to adapt to communal living, with the added incentive of potentially becoming an awakened soul..

 

This will give you an idea of the location i have in mind: http://www.google.ie/images?q=sipadan+islands&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1281&bih=602

 

(my plan to get this off the ground would require winning the European Lottery, with a guaranteed minimum prize of 25 million euro, or roughly 33 mil USD. A few years ago some lucky lady in Ireland, from the same city where i am, won (tax free, mind you) 116 million euro in the same lottery game, with a 2 euro investment on a quick-pick ticket [meaning the computer randomly selects the numbers for the player] I reckon that if she could do it, so could i - so far i have invested quite a bit into the game, but the most i have won was 11 euro. I have not given up.... as yet. )

 

I did contemplate writing to her shorty after her windfall to explain my lofty yet noble intentions and to ask if she would be willing to 'support' such a compassionate ideal with a small loan of perhaps 10 million or so, but after a few days of hard thinking, decided that she would probably reject the idea of parting with some of her gains.

 

So if any bums here were to come into a lucky win (B I G one, okay?) please, PUHLEAZE help donate towards this good cause.

 

In the meantime, i really send my very best wishes to you, MPG, and pray that your aspirations are fulfilled. I think its a darn good thing to cherish such a grand notion. Even if you do not succeed in this life, as long as you have the motivation, one of these days, it will happen.

[ben]

[manitou]

Actually, this is a fantasy I've sort of had my whole life. To live communally with like-minded people who care about each other.

 

And I love the idea of the Wanderers as well. Once I read a newspaper article on the back page of section D - you know, the one where Marilyn (Savant?) answers questions. Apparently she's supposed to be enlightened or at least really smart. Someone asked her the best way to get to 'know yourself'. Her answer was to travel by yourself in a country where you don't speak the language.

 

Interesting approach, and I'll bet it would go a long way to aid self discovery.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Actually, this is a fantasy I've sort of had my whole life. To live communally with like-minded people who care about each other.

 

And I love the idea of the Wanderers as well. Once I read a newspaper article on the back page of section D - you know, the one where Marilyn (Savant?) answers questions. Apparently she's supposed to be enlightened or at least really smart. Someone asked her the best way to get to 'know yourself'. Her answer was to travel by yourself in a country where you don't speak the language.

 

Interesting approach, and I'll bet it would go a long way to aid self discovery.

 

The members would have to be carefully selected by a small core group of like minded people and clarity of vision and purpose. And likely, a trial period of 6-12 months for new members before offering full membership.

[suninmyeyes]

I will be spoilsport and say no communes for me ,have visiteda lot of them in my time and decided it doesent suit my psychological make up.

They drive me crazy actually. I feel so much better for saying this.Especially the spiritual ones which can be similar to mad houses at times.

 

A retreat hermitage place to go and stay for retreats with shared responsibilities run by a person or family or a group that lives on the property would be nice.