FELLOWSHIPS OF LIGHT

     As Vonnegut once said, we are all lonely. We all seek community. But we're not lonely for and we don't seek just any sort of community. What we are lonely for in our deepest hearts is spiritual community. We all yearn for Fellowships of Light, for groups of dedicated others with whom we can work together to seek for and bring about higher consciousness and more complete compassion.

     This is nothing new. Throughout the ages, people have always joined together to seek for spiritual meaning. This search for meaning is an innate and natural drive in us humans, just like hunger, thirst and procreation.

     Recently, in the sixties, even in this overly materialistic Western world, many of us began to search for spiritual company. The sixties and early seventies were not just about psychedelics and Eastern religions. There was much more going on than that. It was the beginning of a major spiritual revolution, one that is still going on today, and one, in fact, that will have to succeed if we are to survive as a species.

     At that time, in the sixties and early seventies, many folks looked for spiritual companionship and understanding in the various and myriad groups that prevailed - the encounter groups, the sensitivity groups, the therapy groups, the meditation groups, the yoga practice groups, the men's groups, the women's groups, as well as the dream and the movement and art therapy groups. Many intentional (as well as some that were unintentional but inspired) communities were formed by folks who wished to join together with others of similar spiritual calling.

     Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon is a beautiful description of a community that was unintentional but certainly inspired. It is a story of all sorts of quite diverse folks who sought and found spiritual companionship in an amazing context - in a very unusual saloon, one that I would certainly frequent if it existed outside the pages of Spider's wonderful books.

     The Rainbow Family of the Living Light is a wonderful example of a community that began with spiritual intent. The family came out of the sixties and in 1972 began holding large gatherings each and every year in the national forests of the United States. Their many councils and healing circles became an important and integral part of each gathering, culminating each year, on the morning of July 4th, with the formation of a silent meditation/prayer circle, one that held the silence for several hours, with everyone praying for world peace.


     In those days, there was this great thirst for Spirit that led folks to these various groups, led them to bravely open their hearts and souls to others. This was a real need for honest sharing from the heart, for spiritual communion in the truest sense. Many of the more liberal churches and synagogues even began emulating much of the structure and process of these various groups.

     Today, there is an even greater and much more urgent need for spiritual communion - for Fellowships of Light. Folks know in their deepest hearts that there is more to life than fearing and hating and killing each other or struggling to compete for our few remaining and rapidly dwindling resources. They know that higher consciousness and complete compassion will once again win the day. They know that the Light - this higher consciousness and compassion for all sentient beings - brings folks together, unites them, and allows them to see that we are truly all one.

     Today, we can join together once again, those of us who are spiritually inclined, into Spiritual communities. We can become true Fellowships of Light. We can become spiritual examples. We can become Holy ones.


     By working together, openly and honestly, by sharing ourselves and helping others to share themselves, we can create an immense amount of spiritual energy. Much more than any of us could generate by ourselves. This energy will work for us, attracting others to our fellowships, encouraging these newcomers themselves to strive to be more conscious and compassionate too.

     We can begin by meditating with others. This will deepen our relationships with one another. We can begin by sharing our dreams. This will bring us closer to one another. We can begin by emulating the old encounter and sensitivity groups. This will allow us to be more open and honest with one another. We can begin by joining with others for kitchen table work. This will allow us to share ourselves on all these levels and more. And after awhile, we will notice that we have created our own Fellowships of Light.

     We will find that our lives have become more peaceful and fulfilling. We will find that we have begun to attract other folks into our lives. These folks will be attracted to us because of the higher consciousness and compassion that we are now manifesting. It will be kind of us as well as wise to accept their interest and to encourage them to focus upon their own spiritual growth.

     And, as we increase our own consciousness and our own compassion, our spiritual energy will raise the level of consciousness and compassion among our very neighbors, even among those with whom we have no direct and personal connection. And as this circle of spiritual influence grows, it will begin to transform even those who have mistakenly seen themselves as being "in power," those folks who actually need to change the most. In this way, we will end up transforming the world's social and spiritual reality. We will raise the consciousness of the world out of the dark abyss into which it has sunk and back into the Light. We will make the difference.

     It isn't the End of Days, as some would have us believe. It is the Beginning of Days.

As your road ends
fall gracefully

Sinking into your depths
forget breathing

Choose the blind man for your guide

Follow the Light


By Eugene Marks