Spiritual Communities?

RE: Spiritual Communities?

That's a really great question and I look forward to replies from others. I used to be a part of one in London, but it disbanded.

It maybe depends on your point of view or religion. I know there is a Buddhist one in Wales, and actually other places too. I also know there is the Ramakrishna HQ at Bourne End, near London.

But it would be great to have an entire UK directory, and I don't know if there is one?

V xxx

RE: Spiritual Communities?

If you are looking for towns/places that are more 'spiritual', then Brighton and Lewes (in East Sussex) are quite flowing in the that regard. I have heard that St Davids in Wales is (although, I've never been there personally).

RE: Spiritual Communities?

Hi trin,

I think there are crossed wires here, though both subjects are valid. I took the question to mean "communities" as in ashrams and physical places. A directory of those would be great, and I don't know of one.

I wish I did as I would visit them!

But you mean places or towns that have a high level of spiritual activity? That's also a very valid topic. Totnes would have to come high, though I am dubious about the kind of people there. I am right now in Frome, and it also has a lot of things going on, for its size. In the end you can't really beat London, though living there can be so hard.

V xxx

RE: Spiritual Communities?

There is a book listing places for spiritual retreats but I'm afraid I don't know the name.

For India there is a great directory called 'From here to Nirvana' which is a listing of ashrams - how to get there, what their ethos is, how much it costs to stay, what the dress code is = that sort of thing.

Certainly it would be good if the same sort of publication were available for UK.

Hey, David, maybe we should get together and write and publish one. Now, there's a thought.

As for Totnes, that's the location of Gaia House, a non-sectarian Buddhist centre. There's the other famous Buddhist centre in Scotland, Samye Ling.

Glastonbury, of course, has many places to stay but I don't know if they would be deemed communities as such. And I know of a Bihar School of Yoga ashram in Wales but don't have t he details to hand.

I suppose by definition 'community' signifies a resident population who also welcome visitors.

BTW with regard to Findhorn, just yesterday I read the obituary of Eileen Caddy, who was one of the founders. An extraordinary woman by all accounts.

With love
Sunanda xxx

RE: Spiritual Communities?

[link= http://www.evnuk.org.uk/scotland.html ]http://www.evnuk.org.uk/scotland.html[/link]
This lists some in Scotland although not Samye Ling. I used to visit Findhorn a lot however feel it has lost its "spiritual" community. The new houses while beautiful and eco friendly are excessive compared to the old brightly coloured caravans and Yurts.
RIP Eileen.

Just found another link which looks interesting [link= http://directory.ic.org/iclist/ ]http://directory.ic.org/iclist/[/link]

RE: Spiritual Communities?

Hi Venetian,

Yes, not sure if places in general or intentional communities was the question...

The spiritual community that I warm to the most is the one I find when I'm in the countryside, feeling the sweetness of nature.

Love
Trin

RE: Spiritual Communities?

Thanks for your replies, I'm not totally sure myself what I meant by the question... spiritual communities, yes, but also areas where there's more spiritual/healing/psychic activities than others (places with more than a couple of new agey shops on the high street??;))

Interesting that you mention London venetian, I live in London, and it doesn't really strike me as a place of spiritual activity/interest. It's difficult to see past the pollution, overcrowding and general aggro and I long to be in the countryside.But i guess that's the difference between living here and having to deal with the day to day (struggling to find a polite word!) of it all and just coming here every now and then. Being born and brought up here, I think I take what it does have to offer for granted and haven't had a good look past my own doorstep. Which is something I shall do now, so thank you!

RE: Spiritual Communities?

We are indeed all unique, and what works for one, doesn't for another. I personally find that London closes in on me, and feels like I am trudging through a thick soup of heavy energy. It is wonderful of course to rise above all of these things, but I do feel strongly pulled into the countryside.

There's a lot of spiritual interest here in Glastonbury, although it seems to attract all sorts, and really isn't for everyone. A lot of people find the energy here too intense...

Good luck on your exploration. The best way is to check out places for yourself.

RE: Spiritual Communities?

I find London is a 2-edged sword, or has 2 sides to it for this.

On the one hand it is so oppressive to me -- yet I lived there longer than anywhere else! There's a "lot going on" in terms of groups and lectures that you don't get anywhere else, but then you have to encounter all that IN that noisy, crowded place.

Probably it's important to define a bit closer what one is looking for, then you know what to search for. I was only based in London (with others) in order to help the city and people in it, certainly not because we liked it!

V xxx

RE: Spiritual Communities?

ORIGINAL: sunanda

There is a book listing places for spiritual retreats but I'm afraid I don't know the name.

For India there is a great directory called 'From here to Nirvana' which is a listing of ashrams - how to get there, what their ethos is, how much it costs to stay, what the dress code is = that sort of thing.

Certainly it would be good if the same sort of publication were available for UK.

Hey, David, maybe we should get together and write and publish one. Now, there's a thought.

Okeedoke. 😉

You know, there were so fewer spiritual communities in the mid-70s that they were all contained and listed in just two books! - "The Pilgrim's Guide to North America" and "The Pilgrim's Guide to Planet Earth". Then again, if you kept the entries short, perhaps something like that is just about possible.

If it doesn't exist, what would be needed is, say, "The Pilgrim's Guide to India and Nepal"? That's doable. It also isn't limited to communities.

Hi everyone,

Sorry to resurrect a 10+ yo thread from the depths of the interwebs, but as this thread ranks on top in Google for searches related to "joining a spiritual community", I just wanted to follow up on the topic - any spiritually/consciousness minded communities out there that are happy to accept new members?

I'm currently looking to leave my busy London life behind and it's proving rather difficult - the existing "famous" places like Findhorn aren't at all easy to just "move into" and start contributing. I'm ideally looking for somewhere I can rent/contribute/buy a share, as I'm ok financially and understand that most self-sustaining communities usually are not cash-rich.

I'm into green living, spirituality, yoga, meditation, gardening and currently am working on a retreat project that can potentially bring a lot of attention, visitors and business into any community.

Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone! 😉

Hi George,
No problem resurrecting the thread, as you've done it for good reason.

I can't think what other 'well known' communities there are, but have you taken a trip to Glastonbury and asked around there, or looked at the adverts in most of the shops around there. That's the sort of thing that is often advertised.

Hi guys! I'm from Peru and looking for the same! Intentional communities. Although working in London as Cabin Crew I'd like to find a intentional community place to live, being able to move London twice a week for my flights aprox. Please, let me know if you found something! Thank you!