(This Chapter presents a snapshot of the Findhorn Community at an important transitional stage in its development. That stage still continues, but has gone much further along than before. Some businesses described have failed, others arisen. The Community has made American university connections, United Nations connections, and has developed consultancy work. An ecological sewage disposal system, 'Green Machine' has been installed in the Park. Thus, while trends are similar, do not expect the Community of the first years of the 21st century to be quite the same as that described here. — C.R.)
—Sai Baba Discourses on the Bhagavad Gita
To provide a working demonstration of the Divine in ordinary life, structures have to develop in which individuals and families can express their inner spiritual discoveries and learn in a variety of independent activities. The Findhorn Foundation itself is a relatively restricted body which has a degree of control over its membership. In the last instance, people can be asked to leave. But the emerging Findhorn Community will have to open itself to a variety of new forms of communication and collective governance, in a situation where no clear control can be maintained. The Foundation eggshell has to break. Quite a lot has already happened, but 1989 is still the beginning of this new stage in our growth. On the whole, it is still the Foundation which people wish to join when they are attracted here and it remains the dominant organisation.
But this is changing. In order for the community to grow, two anxieties have to be released: a fear of loss of control on the part of the members of the Foundation collectively, and a fear of independence on the part of individuals. For these reasons the steps are gentle. The Foundation is transforming at God's pace. Although times are changing fast, we are not in a hectic hurry. Each new step requires a good understanding of how it naturally develops from the old. The less we are governed by fear, the more rapidly the change can occur. Sometimes we encourage decentralisation with one hand and discourage it with the other. One of the small businessmen I interviewed for this chapter told me: "I don't have a very strong connection with the Foundation, but I do have one with the 'Angel of Findhorn'."
Perhaps the Foundation itself will one day be decentralised out of existence. Then it will indeed be the Angel that connects us in our various activities. But that is down the road. In 1969 Eileen received the following piece of guidance:
(Foundations of Findhorn, p. 152-3)
Within the Foundation itself, some activities have a natural autonomy. Cluny Hill College seems slowly to be heading towards the independence that Newbold already enjoys. The process has begun with the initiation of the new Experience week in the Park, reflecting some of the differences between lifestyles there and in Cluny. One Earth started off as a Foundation newsletter, and gradually became a new age magazine in its own right. It has been within our umbrella because it was not financially self-supporting, but changed its form. The Audio Department may transfer to our trading division, New Findhorn Directions; the Pottery could naturally become an independent craft venture; the Game of Transformation is already semi-independent; and Publications Department is another candidate for independence. There have even been proposals for an autonomous Accounts Department, although this has at present been rejected.
In the future we may see the food services of the Park (a restaurant, the Green Room Cafe and a food supply system for them and for individual members and associates) combine with the whole food shop to become an independent cooperative, supplying everyone in the wider community. The gardeners may form a group — supported by everyone who benefits from their work in keeping the area beautiful — and sell their vegetables to the food co-op. Another company might provide maintenance and building skills. An accommodation service might rent space to a whole variety of individuals and groups, including independent workshop leaders living in the area. The Hall will become a local centre for drama, and could be hired for events. A group running the Hall might reach out to schools in the local area to teach drama.
If this sort of thing happens, the Foundation would find itself an administrative and spiritual centre, sending its guests to have appropriate working experiences in the independent businesses associated with it, who would be paid for their spiritual training role. At present, the Foundation is still dominant. As the 1980s draw to a close, let's take a walk around the Park, as the tours for casual visitors do each day, to see what is going on in the emerging village community.
When he started, Richard hoped to make a lot of money from his work. Up to now, that has not happened, but there has been enough to survive. At first some Foundation members were a little suspicious of someone who was independent, earning his own money. There was a caution, an anxiety that he was not 'under control'. The Foundation remains very important to the Brockbanks, though, and Richard still does a cooking shift once a week to 'keep in touch'.
The main challenge lay in setting up and running the business itself, a theme echoed by others interviewed. "It is easier to be a businessperson and incorporate spirituality into your business than to start spiritual and come to terms with the world of business," commented someone.
For Richard, spirituality is central to his work. He meditates daily in the Foundation sanctuary to find inner inspiration. In the same way that in the Foundation we talk of the 'Angel of Findhorn' as representing the energy flowing here, Richard feels there is a creative energy in his studio which is 'like a being', and he seeks to work in harmony with it. Perhaps a genuine work of art captures spiritual energy in form. Looking around Richard's workshop I certainly feel a kind of intensity. It was a great inspiration for him when a visitor wept with emotion as she handled one of his boxes.
Setting up Bay Area Graphics was a real adventure. Neither Ronald nor Claudia had business experience or management skills; for Claudia it was her first job outside the Foundation. The three following years were a process of becoming more professional. Claudia comments: "We had many hard times, especially with our business partner. Everything we had learned about group process and group work in the Foundation was put to the test."
They also had to learn about pricing, and to promote an appreciation of the value of quality design work in the local area. They used government business grants and training schemes, employing people with no connection with the Foundation. To get such a business going requires determination. Both estimate that they work more than double the hours they were expected to as members of the Foundation, but they enjoy the feeling of independence and responsibility.
For Ronald and Claudia, spirituality in business is a question of attitude, motivation and atmosphere. The principles of Foundation life still guide their behaviour, but learning the technical requirements of their profession is a challenge. The business gives them feedback as instant as that from a spiritual teacher. Claudia said: "If I work on myself, it reflects in the business. If I neglect my inner life, that shows up, too. Feedback is instantaneous."
The employees enjoy the friendly atmosphere of the community, and are interested in what is going on. Ronald and Claudia want to work as a team, but haven't introduced attunements up till now. They aim to make a reasonable profit, but they don't have ideas of a much larger business; rather they would like to have the time to do other, more artistically oriented work instead of commercial graphic design.
New Findhorn Directions was registered as a legal entity in 1979. The idea was that just as seedlings start life in a greenhouse, are moved on into a cold frame and then into the garden, so individual enterprises would spring up in the greenhouse of the Foundation, move into the supportive cold frame of NFD and then become independent. For four years the only 'plant' was Weatherwise Solar. But in 1983 we purchased the land where the Foundation is based and with it the commercial caravan park. In no way could this be considered one of our charitable activities, so it naturally became a part of NFD, employing professional managers who had formerly been members of the Foundation. In 1989 the Phoenix shop and the Trading Centre left the Foundation to become part of NFD, largely for the same reasons.
The 'greenhouse' vision of NFD was never realised. Instead of individuals nurturing businesses into independence under its umbrella, it became a holding company for ventures which help to finance the Foundation. Bay Area Graphics went independent without NFD, and Weatherwise Solar had its greatest crisis after it went independent.
A challenge for NFD is that on the one hand it is pressured to feed profits back into the Foundation, while on the other the businesses themselves have been undercapitalised and need a lot of investment if they are to flourish. Another discrepancy is that whereas the Phoenix and the Trading Centre use attunement and sharing and regard themselves in effect as independent sections of the Foundation, the commercial section of the Park has some employees who were never part of the Foundation, and the business operates more like an ordinary small company, although perhaps in a more friendly and supportive way.
To steer a path between these different aims and attitudes is NFD challenge. There is a further dilemma too. The Trading Centre, which sells nature calendars, cards and books by mail order, was not profitable last year. If losses continue, to what extent should it be supported by the other two divisions? Shortly the Wind Park project will become another division of NFD, managing the windmill and the sale of electricity to the whole of the Park. This also may well involve deficit financing. We are being asked to provide answers to business problems from a spiritual perspective. For Alex Walker, who is now managing NFD, the demonstration of spiritual principles in business is part of a vision which also embraces ecological awareness and the idea of reasonable livelihood.
We have had one warning that caution and clarity are necessary in the development of such business ventures. NFD tried to set up a time-share scheme in the Park as a means of financing other building work and providing better, more permanent guest accommodation. From the outset it was dogged by problems. The simple timber chalet design was criticised by the Park Environment Group and George Ripley, the architect of the Universal Hall, was hired to do another design, but this did not find favour either. Expensive advertising brochures sent out at the start of the venture had to be replaced a year later. Take-up was very poor and the community was divided on the project. At the end of 1987 it was abandoned with a loss of £10,000, a large sum for us. With hindsight it can be said that the project was too ambitious and too similar to commercial time-share schemes which depend on high pressure selling techniques for their success. Perhaps if we had simply asked supporters all over the world to buy a small apartment which could be used by others when they are not using it, as is the practice in some Indian ashrams, the idea would have worked.
Lyle started out as a theological student in the United States, and became interested in community living. He came to the Findhorn Community in 1971, when he helped to build the original community centre, and then returned in 1974, taking a large share of responsibility over the next five years for the construction of the Universal Hall. In the late 1970s he developed the idea of spreading aspects of the Foundation's ecological message by starting an insulation company. The community supported Lyle in this venture and NFD was set up. Since another business, a crafts marketing enterprise, did not really get off the ground, Weatherwise and NFD became almost synonymous for several years. At first, when the company was doing mainly simple insulation, Lyle employed ex-community members, but as the more specialised solar panel fabrication and installation work developed, he began to take on local people who stayed longer and had the necessary skills. They did not appreciate things like attunements, however, and these fell into disuse.
Then Lyle and Liza took the business independent. Instead of having been hardened out in NFD, though, the 'plant' wilted and in 1985 they were virtually bankrupt. They had to cut back and refocus. The Foundation helped: ex-focaliser François Duquesne became Weatherwise's business adviser and we guaranteed a bank loan to tide things over. In the last three and a hall years all loans have been paid off and at last the business is large enough to pay corporation tax. It is a constant challenge to keep it viable. It supported Lyle and Liza, their family and their employees, but was not otherwise profitable.
As a result of his experience, Lyle strongly advocates bringing spirituality into existing business rather than starting from a solely spiritual standpoint. "You can't integrate spiritual principles until you know how to run a business," he avers.
Perhaps this is because of the predominantly non-spiritual character of existing business practice. Each environment creates its own set of demands and challenges. The Foundation is sheltered and taking its principles out into the wider society is hard. But it represents the way forward.
Although there are no overt spiritual practices involved in the running of Weatherwise, Lyle created a harmonious atmosphere in the firm, with no backbiting or gossiping and a sense of cooperation rather than a hierarchical structure. He would have liked to develop a shared ownership scheme, but his employees were not interested. For Lyle, the company's location in the Park is supportive and stimulating, and the employees have gradually got used to it and come to respect community members they have worked with — Weatherwise has just finished a big contract installing new central heating at Cluny.
At the end of 1985 François Duquesne, the ex-focaliser of the Foundation, and Stephan Wik, a young, independent businessman from Sweden, both computer buffs, were working to develop an effective computerised accounts system for the Foundation. They installed their equipment — two up-to-date Apple computers — in a small hut known as the 'Apple Shed', next to our Reception office, and began work.
Around that time the technical director of Apple UK was visiting Edinburgh for a conference. He had heard about the Findhorn Foundation and happened to have a free day, so he got into his car and set off up the A9. Arriving at the Foundation he called in at Reception, just like any other casual visitor. As he walked past the 'Apple Shed', he heard the familiar sound of computers at work and, peering in, was surprised to see two of the latest models of his company's product in operation. A member introduced him to the two enthusiasts. 'By chance' Stephan had received the day before, by satellite connection from the USA, the latest specifications for the machines, information which even the director himself did not yet have. He was favourably impressed.
The company wanted to develop a 'user-friendly' package of information for purchasers of their computers. The budding 'Alternative Data' operators had the idea of providing this information through a computer network. The project, like Topsy, just grew. Stephan describes Alternative Data as a tiny organisation with very big friends. A further development was that British Telecom decided to provide the Highlands of Scotland with an up-to-date communications system based on a huge mainframe computer in Inverness, so that small firms can relocate from the stifled south of England. The Highlands and Islands Development Board
naturally wanted to support this process, and gave cash support. The information package that Alternative Data was working on for Apple was designed to demonstrate the use of an Apple computer for information retrieval. The mainframe computer involved in the British Telecom project, however, had a very complex command system, quite different from the simple system used by personal computers. Alternative Data worked out a translation method which would give an Apple computer owner anywhere in Britain instant access to the large information bank in the Inverness computer, simply by using their own computer, a modem and the telephone network.
On the day I visited Alternative Data, the first successful bug free demonstration of their creation had just been given to the Apple directors. The system was designed as an optional software extra which could be purchased with the computer, and Alternative Data would receive a percentage of profits from sales. They hoped to make a great deal of money.... But Apple awarded the coveted contract to one of Alternative Data's much larger competitors at the last moment, leaving the business in a crisis. Being dependent on big friends may bring its own risks!
Alternative Data employs two people apart from its founders and is in the process of hiring three others. At the start the Foundation gave support by financing half of the building and supplying food and accommodation for François and Stephan. Foundation members continue to provide a personal support system, and the atmosphere in the Park is stimulating for the business. In return the new company has helped with equipment and software for the Foundation's expanding computer system. Up to now, Alternative Data's personnel have tried to have attunements on a regular basis. Stephan says that if, under stress of work, they neglect these, it immediately shows. He feels that the 'Angel of Findhorn' is an active partner in the business and won't allow bad practices to continue. They have had and are still having to work very hard on personal relationships. Indeed, for François this is the greatest challenge he has faced in his whole time in the community. He sees business as involving a great deal of manipulation of power, finance, authority and status. Particularly in situations where one is in interaction with large corporations, personal relationships and one's own self-awareness are crucial areas of spiritual work.
Examining Findhorn Community businesses so far in existence, one is struck by the variety of activities, conditions and forms of ownership. Putting principles into practice outside the nest of the Foundation, among people who don't necessarily share those ideals, provides a challenge to the spiritual centredness of the participants Sometimes the new business people lose their sense of direction or feel that what they discovered in the narrower community doesn't apply in the larger one. But if we hope our guests take with them something of our way of life on their return home, we have to demonstrate the same thing in our own wider community. Expansion into business enterprise provides this opportunity.
There are tentative moves to set up a business organisation for mutual support and understanding, but even this is too much for some of the new businesses who feel almost overwhelmed by their own problems. It must come, however. As individuals we cannot do without an appropriate support network, and people running businesses need it just as much as anyone. In facing the problems of conducting business in a spiritual way we shall have to overcome our pride and seek help and support from others in similar situations. Life in the Findhorn Community is a preparation for centredness in a world that has lost its way. If that preparation is to be effective, it must work in the least favourable conditions as well as in the easiest.
Because of the large number of members in the Findhorn Foundation at the end of the seventies, we were always in need of extra accommodation for guests. For a time we had the use of a house called Cluny Bank, which was owned by members, but when they left it became a private guest house. Then we were offered Newbold by its owners. At first the Foundation decided to rent it for the busy summer season. During the internal conference in October, when the decision whether to continue renting Newbold had to be made, Harley and Cally Miller felt the call to acquire the house. There was no Foundation money available to pay for it, however. Harley and Cally had £1000 and borrowed another £2000 in order to continue paying the rent. There was still one workshop booked for Newbold. It was very successful and using the proceeds from it Harley and Cally were able to pay off the £2000 within six weeks. They became the focalisers of Newbold, and in 1982 the newly formed Newbold Trust, a charity, purchased the house very cheaply by means of donations and three major loans, the last of which is still being paid back.
In 1981 one of Newbold's guests challenged Harley and Cally: "If you trust in God, why do you charge people?" They accepted the challenge and since that time Newbold House has operated exclusively on donations from its visitors. It has flourished, and was recently able to install a new central heating system without further borrowing. A superb conservatory at the side of the house is being restored meticulously. One dreams of seeing the greenhouses in the walled garden functioning again, but with solar instead of coal heating.
In 1983 Harley went to live in Berlin for a period. In 1984 Cally came back into the Foundation. Newbold's 'parents' had left.
Newbold is very like the Foundation, but with a special flavour. It has its own membership scheme and runs its own workshops. Foundation guests visit it during their Experience week to discuss a passage from David Spangler's writing and to tour the house. Many return to stay, either for a few days at the end of their time in the Foundation or for a special visit. Kajedo Wanderer, who focalised the house after the Millers left, introduced his own flavour, with workshops on T'ai Chi and Vipassana meditation. Life at Newbold also emphasises Native American culture, and there are often sweat lodges and chanting ceremonies.
More recently there was a division within the membership. One group of members, supported by the majority of the Newbold Trustees, wanted to continue with the family-oriented atmosphere of the original Newbold. Kajedo's vision, however, was for a more retreat-centred house. For a while it was his vision that was implemented, but at some cost — a group of members left after a tense and difficult process. One proposal put forward by the Trustees was to use the assets of Newbold as a basis to purchase another similar house, so that both groups could find satisfaction, but the members opposed to Kajedo's vision dispersed. But it did not lose its previous atmosphere. I always took my workshops there to do Sacred Dance — preferably, if the weather is fine, on the beautiful lawns in front of the house. It was a pleasure to visit. Later, more changes took place at Newbold, Kajedo moving to the Park, and another group taking over. The process was very charged for a long time, and Newbold was almost lost, but has since recovered.
Already in the late seventies a 'children's group' (actually a group of adults) was discussing the idea of alternative education, and play groups, a crèche, a toddlers' group and a youth programme developed from their work. In 1983, when two Steiner-trained teachers who were members of the Foundation expressed their willingness to help start a school, a number of concerned parents, some of them Foundation members and others close associates, took up the offer. It was decided that the school should be a Steiner one because the central role of spiritual education in the Steiner system is close to the philosophy of the Foundation, and there was the added advantage that the school would be part of the wider Steiner school network. Other people from outside the community also took an interest and by September 1985 the first class, for six-to-seven-year-olds, began in a small building in Pineridge called the Family House.
By the end of that year it became clear that trying to fulfil the responsibility of membership of the Foundation as well as running the school placed too great a demand on the teachers. In order to concentrate on their teaching work they became independent. It soon became obvious, too, that the Family House in the Park was too small and rather isolated for parents who did not live locally. In May 1987 the school began to lease Drumduan House from the Foundation. It provides an almost idyllic atmosphere for the children and their teachers, with its spacious moms and expansive grounds.
In 1989 there were five classes at Drumduan, ranging from 6 to 11-year-olds, together with a play group and two kindergartens operating in the converted basement. About sixty children attended. Although only a fifth of these were the children of Foundation members, many of the other parents considered themselves part of the wider Findhorn Community
The Steiner approach to education considers the spiritual development of children as of primary importance. It emphasises the different stages in the unfolding of human faculties, and seeks to flow with a child's evolving consciousness rather than to impose upon it. Work in the early years concentrates on the child's will, encouraging curiosity and exploratory behaviour. Emotional development is emphasised in the 7-14 age range, with extensive use of art work. It is only above this age that the system concentrates on the critical and rational faculties. The general emphasis is on building a social environment, learning to cooperate, and sharing and acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of all. There is little sense of a hierarchy of skills; the development of all skills is equally valued.
The situation of the Moray Steiner School is special in several respects. Firstly, the Findhorn Community provides an international pool of teachers and pupils. This makes for variety and stimulus, but also sometimes for language difficulties. Secondly, the 'Angel of Findhorn' does not neglect to operate on the teachers, who find themselves thrown into a transformative process which can be unsettling for those without a Foundation background. Thirdly, although it is usual for parents in Steiner schools to give a great deal of attention to the school and its culture, here many have somewhat divided loyalties, as the pull of other community activities is very strong.
The school has had problems in attracting teachers, as the salaries it can afford are only meagre. The teachers have found themselves in extensive personal process, and a counsellor with a Steiner background has had weekly group meetings with them. Conflicts have arisen between some of the parents and teachers too. Over and above this, some parents have little idea of the meaning of Steiner education and they themselves require an educational programme. In these difficult early years parents have sometimes become teachers at times of staff shortage, while others assist with administration.
At Meadowlark meticulous attention has been paid to the physical surroundings. Each resident has a beautifully decorated individual room with its own colour scheme. The public moms use special Steiner-based colour effects painstakingly painted by a community member. David says, "I couldn't feel good about giving people less than I give myself. We seek to embody the spirit of the Findhorn Foundation in the way we work and treat our staff."
The first patient was an elderly Foundation member for whom living in one of our tiny, damp caravans had become just too much. Within two years of opening Meadowlark is full and has a waiting list, in spite of being expensive, which suggests that David and Lizzie found the right way to do things.
Judith hopes to form a limited company for Minton, with a group of people sharing financial responsibility and running it as a non-hierarchical group, with herself as focaliser. Those who currently run the house meditate together in the mornings, and guests are welcome to join them. But there have been problems in creating a working group, and the aim has not yet been fully achieved. A 'work-scholar' programme has been started in which people can relate to the atmosphere of the house over an extended period, sharing in its work and spiritual life.
There are indications in Eileen's guidance that, as this happens, expansion will continue:
(Foundations of Findhorn, p. 100)