The Lavra

Mission: Three principles shape the other areas of our existence for which we hope to be an example:

1. SERVICE
Central to nearly all refined philosophies and reflective religions is the call to serve others. It means considering the skills and natural abilities you have been given and harnessing them to their highest and best use for the good of others. Serving others is not only a privilege or an option for those who can but an obligation that we all should feel. It is in serving others that we discover our humanity.

The service imperative impels us to work tirelessly to, in the words of Karen Armstrong, “alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being.” This is a call to compassion that should translate into concrete action.

The scope of service is critical to our vision. Many people serve their immediate family tirelessly; they sacrifice themselves for their children, occasionally their parents or friends. While such service is laudable compared to a life lived solely for oneself, our vision for service goes beyond one’s closest circles. One’s duty to the world does not end with the closest circles of family and friends but begins there. Serving merely those with whom one has familial or friendship ties does not satisfy the call to sacrificially love others that is critical to most world religions and philosophies. As a result, the paramount value is found in service to the local, national, and global community. In fact, one of the most enduring ways to care for those closest to someone is to work tirelessly toward creating a better world for them to inhabit. Thus, we aim to serve first those in our local community, then our nation, and finally the world as a whole. We envision a day when the whole planet begins to transform as more and more people expand their circles of responsibility.

The current social momentum in American society works against service to others on multiple fronts. At its most callous, the message is often simply that we bear no responsibility to others: everyone is responsible for his/her own success or failure. In fact, the world rewards those who seek after what they want regardless of its effects on others. Still other social messages tell us that we have a responsibility to others but only after taking care of our own needs; we cannot give to others until we have learned to discover and indeed love ourselves. True service to others comes as a result of a secure and overflowing self. Too often, however, the preparation to service in this vision trumps actual service. We hold that we should be uncomfortable in our service; authentic love and compassion for others means putting their needs above one’s own. Our needs can wait, no matter how pressing they may appear. Our community aims to remind each other relentlessly of this total obligation to serve. Service is the first of all of our goals and trumps the two below. If we must choose, we choose to serve first.

Every member of the Lavra takes a commitment to him/herself and each other to work positively for others. Normally, this commitment will be reflected in one’s occupation but it could also be an attitude that governs one’s life outside of work. We will encourage, support, and monitor this commitment. We will exemplify it in our interactions with each other and the friends of the Lavra who visit.

2. GROWTH
Life is a dynamic process, not a static state. We are given a set amount of time here to make of it what we can. We can squander it or continually improve ourselves. Living at the Lavra means being committed to continual growth in all human dimensions but especially intellectual, emotional, creative, and spiritual dimensions, so that we create a community of inquiry. The growth imperative does not require a self or the development of an ego—rather it can be seen as growth into a recognition of what is real or into selflessness. The point is that we uphold a community of inquiry and exploration that is supportive to this process.

Diversity of opinion and perspective is critical for growth. This diversity will be assured by encouraging people of diverse backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, intellectual/faith traditions, and other opportunities to provide fresh perspectives. We plan to support such a lifestyle by holding regular lectures/discussions on religious/social/philosophical topics, and dedicating an area of the property to meditation and worship.

The process of growth addresses the mind, the senses, and our spiritual core. As we grow as individuals and as a community, we will seek to avoid temptations that often arise with communities, especially hedonistic intellectualism and unreflective hedonism. Hedonistic intellectualism arises when people gain pleasure from the arguments themselves and thus really are not on a real search grounded in compassion and service for others. Such environments banter around ideas like a sport, congratulating each other on their erudition and acuity but without much amounting from it. Intellectualism is critical to growth but it must be placed in the service of humanity. Discussion has to be motivated by goals that matter for the world, not just oneself. We all must live uncomfortably for others and if we have been given the gift of some clarity and discernment, this should be employed for others. Likewise, while the search for sensual and spiritual pleasures are important aspects of growth, they must be reflectively pursued. Unreflective hedonism is the source of much destruction and harm. Hedonistic goals are not good in and of themselves but rather find their meaning within a broader intellectual worldview. An environment conducive to growth thus avoids hedonistic intellectualism and unreflective hedonism.

3. CONSCIENTIOUS, REFLECTIVE, RESPONSIBLE, AND SUSTAINABLE LIVING
This principle is a continual process, rather than a set of rules. It means reflecting about the choices we make and the impact they have on those around us and the planet. We don’t place ourselves at the center of decision making processes but the community and the world. We see this imperative as a sequential process. We begin by pledging to be conscientious, by which we mean being intimately aware of our own motivations and actions, particularly how they are shaped by our personal histories, social conditions, and immediate surroundings. When we are conscientious, we do not act by accident or strict impulse but with keen observation of oneself and the world. Then, we promise to be reflective. That is, we pledge to consider the impact of our decisions on ourselves, the community, and the world at large. Finally, we will choose the responsible path that focuses on the good of the community/world rather than our own convenience or personal gain. It is a process that emphasizes the means rather than the end. This principle is often enacted in our community through dedication to growing and eating local, organic foods (ideally from our own community garden), making our own goat cheese, eating our own eggs, and generally being as tied to the food process as possible. We make vegetarian food for our weekly communal meals, and encourage conscious eating and purchasing of food products. We have also recently moved to solar power for the entire community, and encourage responsible energy use.

From www.ic.org/directory/the-lavra/:

In Palestine in the 5th century, there arose a unique form of interdependent living. It was called The Lavra, an ancient Greek word for a spot where small paths came together in a sort of intersection of souls. We are attempting to bring this model to the modern world...

Our Community Structure:

We recognize that there is no single recipe for building new ways of living together. Our model for developing a new mode of existence is not for everyone, but we hope to offer a valuable contribution to a network of alternative living environments that provide people options beyond the binary world of single family residences and solo apartments.

Within the realm of alternative communities, we are trying to navigate the space between:

A commune and co-housing.
A commune typically shares strong ideological commitments, shared financial resources, and usually exists largely isolated and independent from the world around it. Co-housing usually involves a closer integration to surrounding society, more limited financial pooling, more independent living environments, and less shared commitment to a common religious/spiritual worldview. While we are supportive of both communes and cohousing, we want to create a middle path that retains much of the integration with surrounding society and independent living environments associated with co-housing, but emphasizes the shared ideology and common purpose of the commune.
Historically, the full communal life is theoretically appealing but challenging in practice as most communities become increasingly individualistic over time. We aim to become a mutually-supportive interdependent community that balances the need for personal solitude with the social opportunities and resource optimization that come from communal living. Private space is provided and respected in our community, but “community time” is also allotted and encouraged through activities like shared exercise, movie/lecture nights, common weekly meals, and community chores.

In our lives together, each person will dedicate him/herself to service through their vocation/occupation outside the Lavra; he or she will be integrated into the surrounding world and that world (especially friends/family) are always welcome into our community. The idea is that we will not be cut off from the world around us but rather serve that world, provide an example of alternative living, and become a sanctuary when respite from that world is needed.

The goal is to create a living environment that balances the need for privacy and solitude within the larger goal of robust community. The model is to have separate ‘hermitages’ for each unit of the lavra, which can mean a single person, a couple, or a family. Since people differ in their natural constitution and the stage in their life, there are varying degrees of privacy and isolation. Some hermitages are separate, stand-alone dwellings with a designated surrounding land that is private and for which the member(s) are solely responsible. Others live in the main house which is the Lavra Center, though even they have their own entrance and private outside area. The hermitages are zones of individuality within the larger communal setting.

The remainder of the property is considered common. The kitchen and living area of the Lavra Center acts as a hub open to all residents and friends of the Lavra. Eventually, ancillary buildings will be added to the common area, such as a meditation/worship cabin, a mutli-use room for yoga/movie night/public lectures, and a soaking area that will also be common use. In our desire to be close to natural processes, we also have our version of a farm on our 5 acres of land, with a vegetable garden, vineyard, and an animal area with chickens and milking goats.

Our interaction with each other is governed by the desires of the group. The minimal interaction involves a shared communal meal carried on each Sunday night and a work afternoon where we all spend time on chores around the property. We also have shared ritual life, celebrating the momentous occasions of our lives, the seasonal fluctuations, and the religious holidays that are important to each of us.

The Lavra also serves as a hub for people who think differently and more humanely about religion in San Luis Obispo County. Over time, we can develop regular movie nights, lecture series, and possible retreats. We want to share the Lavra with the world. We want to be an example to all of a new kind of living that places its value on serving others, spiritual growth, and conscientious living, rather than materialism and ego. We want to share the value of alternative models of living and real experimentation in solving the pressing problems we face as a society. While we only began this process of development a few years ago and still have a long way to go, we have already developed a reflective, conscious community, and look forward to continuing to grow.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.