Damanhur

[Edi]

i am reading a book about this society.
I admit I was prejudiced and thought of them as a sect, but they seem to be having a lot of fun up in the Alps.
definitely would like to visit

http://www.damanhur.org/

[dan]

This seems to be a way to trick a few in

We support W. U. Call to Action to a global campaign to demand of our governments that they commit beginning January 19, 2009 with the inauguration of the new American president, to support the proposal put forward by Al Gore July 17th to supply 100% of our electricity from renewable energy within ten years. Our goal in the United States must be to persuade the new American president to make this a centerpiece of his administration and to do so not in a spirit of fear or despair but in the spirit of John Kennedy declaring that we could put a man on the moon in ten years. A ten year commitment to green the world is equally inspired, practicable and achievable

Wonder what other kind of guilt is hidden in this site?

[sistersoul]

haven't checked out the site yet, but that comment you posted....doesn't sit well.
have they heard of solar panels? are their arms & legs broken?
i know they're pushing for "global green", but...........seriously. all you can do is get your own shit in line.
i don't know what it is about the 'global consciousness' thing that irritates me?!?
i guess the approach that someone else is gonna make it happen...if everyone 'demands' it enough.

if it's not PROFITABLE to corporation (including the united state, which is in fact a corporation)...it ain't gonna happen.
not the way the idealist see it. it's not going to be free.
like trying to demand an ethical meat industry. ain't gonna happen (through any kind of industry).

green & free, humane & free, progressive & free. etc. ppl need to start paying the price for their mass consumption.
not making more demands. is one thing to say, "i'm boycotting this or that company, bcuz i don't like ________". i support folks using their purchasing power to direct change, but...that comes at a price. it all comes at a price at this point.

EDIT: don't want to sound too negative/pessimystic. i do support these creative eco-village projects. there should be a lot more of them! i assume it's a little easier to walk out into the woods (remote areas) and set up such...outside north america. without too much protest. unfortunately in the U.S. as well as canada...land & natural resources are more valuable than people. land has to be donated. taxes paid on it. building code, and regulations adhered to. etc.
not that it can't be done. just not in that easy-breezy way it should happen. maybe. if enough ppl got together in one place, and they leveraged the media enough. might get around a lot of bureaucracy.

i see something more nomadic happening in north america. caravan style...perhaps with horses? although this would grossly limit travel. i just see something where ppl that really want to get their message across to the masses...are moving through the masses. spreading their philosophy. might influence the younger, misfits. even if it was just a bunch of artists in rv's...touring around the country. setting up here & there and selling their wares. carrying a new energy. idk. where would they set up? walmart parking lots?!? would be like hells angels. wherever they went...the cops would be keeping a close eye. there'd be fines out the ass, and 'please move along'...'where are your permits', etc.

this damanhur...i'm sure their doors are wide open for everyone interested. but...feels like there's a hefty price tag attached. like, i'm not going to see it, that's for sure. not anytime soon. we have a place here in the US called "twin oaks"...i think that's the most successful. they accept visitors, and new residents. there's one guy here in the smokey mountain area...eustis conway (i think). has a place called 'turtle island'. he left home at 19 and walked out into the woods with nothing. he lived in a tent for a long time, and walk into town and ransack the dumpsters. locals didn't like him at all. little by little he won ppl over, and over the last 20 years or so...ppl have died and left him heritage land. i think he's in possession of a couple thousand acres now. he had the idea to do a new community, but...really serious work ethic, and no one ever stays. he's just totally put off by how lazy & useless ppl are. lol. i think the problem there is...too few ppl.

i don't know.................blah. coffee-talk.
thanks for the link! 

[Edi]

This seems to be a way to trick a few in

We support W. U. Call to Action to a global campaign to demand of our governments that they commit beginning January 19, 2009 with the inauguration of the new American president, to support the proposal put forward by Al Gore July 17th to supply 100% of our electricity from renewable energy within ten years. Our goal in the United States must be to persuade the new American president to make this a centerpiece of his administration and to do so not in a spirit of fear or despair but in the spirit of John Kennedy declaring that we could put a man on the moon in ten years. A ten year commitment to green the world is equally inspired, practicable and achievable

Wonder what other kind of guilt is hidden in this site?

I can't believe you found something like this on their site. I know I would never notice.
I can't of lack the effort to defend them, since I don't know too much about them, but from the book I've read their society is complex and is always changing, but I also got the impression they are not involved with politics. or at least I'm surprised that they are.

but another thing is I don't think you can just come there and join them if you're broke. from what I've read people who come there buy their own houses, repair them, have their jobs and are sustainable. it's nice bit it's a resort for rich people.
you are all Americans here, and share the same standard probably, but in Europe there's a big difference in standard of living between countries. for example, my country is poor and Italy is rich.
I think they propose the structure of society ideal for the planet, but with so many poor people it's not realistic. If I had money to buy a house and work my own garden, grow my own foods and have free time to explore my potentials, I could do that right here.
No problem for me switching TV, and walking woods instead.
but I like their educational system thought. I am still in shock when few weeks ago elementary school kids came to visit our museum, and when the tour was over school teachers said they promised them they would take them to mcdonalds. the world has changes a lot since I was a kid, and that was not so long ago.

[sistersoul]

it's nice bit it's a resort for rich people

this is what i was trying to avoid saying, but........exactly. it's the same with (almost) all eco-communities. the so-called successful ones anyway.
again....success hinged to money. you have to step in with a certain amount of cash on hand. on occasion they'll accept a resident here or there that works for room & board, but they have no say in the affairs of the community. so, in that sense...they are involved in politics. a great deal actually. there's not a lot of self-sovereignty in this villages. most of them don't tolerate drinking, or smoking, or the consumption on meat, etc. i guess it's hard not to let ideals get in the way, and it can all wax a little cultish. they are 'special interest' groups...and no, in that sense they don't (really) have their doors wide open. but, they put on a good face, a smile...and walk visitors around their blissful estates, with that whole...'you can be perfect like us too' (just someplace else).

if i had a choice i'd join a poor commune before i bought into one of the high-end villages. idk......it's interesting. as the middle class dissolves, some are slipping off into these 'green', globally concerned realms with what they have left. dropping out with the last of their finances, and creating something new for themselves. they think they're roughing it, but not really. i've watched them here taking over all the small, abandoned towns that walmart destroyed on it's way into middle-america. they throw absurd amounts of money into 'restoring' their homes, then open up trendy coffee shops, expensive restaurants, and gift shops out the ass. gentrification across the board. they all think they're doing something great, but...............personally i don't see it.
just bitching i guess.

[Edi]

just bitching i guess.

no, not at all. I remember a quote from the book about such societies "I write in superlatives about them because it's the only way to describe them", to which I disagree.
I am not against, and not pro. true neutral 

there are people who think it's cool to have psychic abilities, but for me the price is too high. and it involves solitude in some extent.
it's nothing to wave a flag about.
at least in this scary day and age when the number of poor people is counted in millions.

I see the world of future where this people are allowed to grow their own food. I see my future like that.
everything else is more or less unnecessary; I can wear same shoes for 10 years, and can use same cooking pot for decades. and this is where spirituality starts.
healthy food cannot be the luxury of the rich, it's something unacceptable. our sensei in his exaggeration says food is something alive, and food trade is same as slavery. his reasons why we should all have a garden.  it was definitely so strange an idea, so radical but in a way made sense and I often think about it.

another aspect of this spiritual community is the temple they dug in a mountain and decorated with mosaic pictures. I will make up my mind about them once I see that!

[dan]

healthy food cannot be the luxury of the rich, it's something unacceptable. our sensei in his exaggeration says food is something alive, and food trade is same as slavery. his reasons why we should all have a garden.  it was definitely so strange an idea, so radical but in a way made sense and I often think about it.

These are always red flags for me, laced with guilt. Smells like cult

I can't believe you found something like this on their site. I know I would never notice

Ya it was on the front page at the bottom

[dan]

I went over to Rick Ross's cult forum and they have stuff on Damanhur
http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?12,72090,page=1
There's some intresting links about this place

[Edi]

These are always red flags for me, laced with guilt. Smells like cult

haha, but it's his sense of humour. plus he's japanese 
martial arts have their own sense of philosophy, and it's rather complex I think. is like another language, I often think it's very hard for us "westerners" to understand them. all about sitting, bowing, having respect, in general being aware of one's space... is different mentality