Farm Fresh News - January 2020
|
In this issue:
|
 Ram Dass at 88, leaves his body, December 22, 2019 |
Dear Friends,
We recognize this as true regardless of background, our religion or even if we have no religion or spiritual leanings. At a base level, we hear the endless chatter of dialog in our head, what some call the Monkey Mind. But when we look deeper. listen deeper, we hear a more mature voice, what we in the West refer to as our Conscience.
In a recent post in my Essential Truths Facebook Group, and now a page on the EssentialTruths.info web site, I talked about something I regard as a Universal Truth:
Every single one of us has an Inner Voice.
Every single one of us has an Inner Voice.
We recognize this as true regardless of background, our religion or even if we have no religion or spiritual leanings. At a base level, we hear the endless chatter of dialog in our head, what some call the Monkey Mind. But when we look deeper. listen deeper, we hear a more mature voice, what we in the West refer to as our Conscience.
The Conscience is the part of ourselves that speaks Truth. We turn to it when seeking answers, direction, guidance. For some, this is the voice of God, our inner Guru. It may also be seen as our connection to the greater wisdom and understanding emanating from every being into the one great, collective consciousness. Ultimately, it is the voice of our own wisdom, the part of us that understands right and wrong, the cause and effect of our actions.
Intuition
As we develop trust in our inner voice, it becomes a tool, described in the West as our Intuition. This voice goes beyond words, and develops into what has been called our Sixth Sense.
We intuitively rely on our intuition, in that the perception is instinctive, only taught by telling ourselves to pay attention, to perceive the feelings that arise and to use this knowledge the way a sailor acknowledges the wind. We have all walked into a room and thought to ourselves, "It feels good in here!" or, "It feels weird in here." This is your intuition at work, your sixth sense, your telepathy, your Inner Knowing.
These are the kinds of energy explorations to which we will attune during the March 27-29 retreat, Awakening Journey.
These are the kinds of energy explorations to which we will attune during the March 27-29 retreat, Awakening Journey.
Deborah and I are about to begin our 2020 adventures. She leaves this month for a week in Cuba with a Dances of Universal Peace Caravan. I'll be heading to Mexico for a spiritual retreat weekend down near the Mayan pyramid in Tulum, after which she'll join me in Perto Morelos for another week of Dances. Life is good and we are grateful.
Namaste y’all!
Douglas
Douglas
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An approximately 20 minute documentary/biography, narrated by Ram Dass himself.
Love everyone, Serve everyone, and Remember God
More Ram Dass quotes below
Love everyone, Serve everyone, and Remember God
More Ram Dass quotes below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Awakening Journey
Opening the Doors to your Inner Knowing
I have spent my life on a quest for greater understanding of why we are here, what gives our lives meaning.
How do we bring joy in our daily experience?
Hows does one achieve true fulfillment over a lifetime?
I do not consider myself a teacher, but there are things I have learned about energy and vibrations that I can share with you.
It is my honor to hold space with you and I hope that I can serve as a catylyst in your own transformation.
Nature has been my great teacher, and I look forward to bringing you some of the special places within the 3000 acres that encompass The Farm and our nonprofit Swan Trust.
Music is my gift and my strrenth. We shall blend our voices, bodies, hearts and souls, to raise our consciousness together.
|
 |
I am so happy to share the hosting of this weekend with my dear friend Katherine Correa.
Katherine is a Licenced Massage Therapist, Certified Breema Practitioner, Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, and has maintained a bodywork practice since graduating from the San Francisco School of Massage in 1986.
"I remember the first time, I experienced being present. Thought dropped away and I was at peace - complete. I knew that I wanted more.
That experience inspired me to seek out tools and experiences that provide a way back to myself, to being present. I have dedicated my life to sharing with others these practices. What I wish to accomplish through my work is to support people the way I have been supported. Being present is something that we all aspire to attain, but there is little guidance for how to actually experience being. To bring that into daily life is even more challenging.
Over the course of our time together, I will share with you a variety of self-care techniques that truly work, to relieve stress, to restore vitality, and in doing so, open the doors to greater peace of mind." Katherine Correa
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |
Essential Truths
A huge thanks to all y'all who have shown an interest by joining my Essential Truths Facebook group this past month.
It has inspired me to begin work on the web site, collecting our posts and discussions, editing and organizing them into the site pages and content.
I am just getting started, but I have enough in place there to invite you to visit and see what I am working on, and welcome your comments.
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dances of Universal Peace: Chattanooga January 17,, Atlanta January 18
Kirtan in Atlanta February 22 - On The Farm with Bernie Heideman April 3-5
Kirtan in Atlanta February 22 - On The Farm with Bernie Heideman April 3-5
I am excited to bring Dances of Universal Peace to Chattanooga January 17, a Friday, from 7:30 to 9:30 PM. We are so grateful to Sarah Yvonne for hosting our gathering at Spot Venue, an incredible 4000 square foot venue in Chattanooga’s historic arts district. If you are in the area, please come, and let your friends know, and share this link.
Then on Saturday, January 18, I will be in the Atlanta area at the Heron House in the Mountain Park area of Roswell. The Heron House is a wonderful spiritual retreat center located at 102 Russell Road, Mountain Park in Roswell, GA, 30075. I will be there again February 22. Contact me for details!
More quotes from Ram Dass
“Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It’s not ‘I love you’ for this or that reason, not ‘I love you if you love me.’ It’s love for no reason, love without an object.”
“In our culture we’ve been trained to make individual differences to stand out. You look at each person and think, ‘Brighter, dumber, older, younger, richer, poorer’ and we make all these dimensional distinctions, put them in categories and treat people that way. And we only see others as separate from ourselves. One of the dramatic characteristics of the psychedelic experience is being with another person and suddenly seeing the ways in which they are like you – not different from you.”
“Let’s trade in all our judging for appreciating. Let’s lay down our righteousness and just be together.”
“Every religion is the product of the conceptual mind attempting to describe the mystery.”
"The spiritual trip in this moment is not necessarily a cave in the Himalayas, but it's in relation to the technology that's existing, it's in relation to where we're at, it's relation to issues like pollution, political interest and activism. It’s all part of one package now.”
“You have to have a lot of compassion for the stages people are in. Souls are neither good nor evil. Actions are good or evil. Motivation is good or evil. Personalities can be good or evil. But the essence of being is neither good or evil it just is. And it sometimes it has heavy stuff to work out and other times good stuff to work out."
“Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts, if we can keep them open to God, will find their own intuitive way.”
“Compassion refers to the arising in the heart of the desire to relieve the suffering of all beings.”
“If you think you’re enlightened go spend a week with your family.”
“When I was born I donned a spacesuit for living on this plane, it was this body, my space suit, and it had a steering mechanism which is my pre-frontal lobe and all the brain that helps with coordinating and stuff. Just like those others who go to the moon and learn to use their space suit...how to grab things and lift things so I learned how to do that. And then you get rewarded with little stars, kisses and all kinds of things when you learn how to use your space suit. You get so good at it that you can't differentiate yourself from your spacesuit.”
“Before the stroke, I was on a very spiritual plane. I ignored my body, took it for granted. When I look at my life, I see that I wanted to be free of the physical plane, the psychological plane, and when I got free of those, I didn’t want to go anywhere near them. But the stroke reminded me that I had a body and a brain, that I had to honor them.”
“We’re fascinated by the words, but where we meet is in the silence behind them.”
“Start from where you are–not where you wish you were. The work you’re doing becomes your path.”
“A rule of the spiritual practice game is learning to trust one’s own intuitive heart; learning to trust another way of knowing outside of the rational, analytical process. That you start to respond to something in you that knows even though who you think you are doesn’t know it knows. It turns out intuition is perhaps where salvation lies and where thinking is where our destruction lies. We thought our way into this peculiar situation where we’re alienated from the Earth and from each other. And caught in greed which is a product of the mind.
“The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can't be organized or regulated. It isn't true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.”
“Together we are all on a journey called life. We are a little broken and a little shattered inside. Each one of us is aspiring to make it to the end. None is deprived of pain here and we have all suffered in our own ways. I think our journey is all about healing ourselves and healing each other in our own special ways. Let’s just help each other put all those pieces back together and make it to the end more beautifully. Let us help each other survive.”
“Death doesn’t need to be treated as an enemy to delight in life…I encourage you to make peace with death. To see it as a culminating adventure of this adventure of life. It is not an error, it is not a failure. It is taking off a tight shoe that you’ve worn well.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A big thanks to everyone who has become a patron of Farm Fresh!
When you become a subscriber, your contribution helps spread the word about community based alternatives and the spiritual path.
Take this one small step to be part of the solution!
When you become a subscriber, your contribution helps spread the word about community based alternatives and the spiritual path.
Take this one small step to be part of the solution!
You can help keep Farm Fresh going by pledging $2, $5, or $10 a month, or by making a one time contribution.
Let me know your interests. Click here to take the survey. I look forward to hearing from you.
Peace,
Douglas
Watch my TEDx Talk: Out to Change the World - Living the Hippie Dream
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you'll make the effort to take a firsthand look at The Farm during one of my GreenLife Retreat Weekends, and that it will inspire you to pursue your dreams and find your chosen path!
Speaking Engagements
At the same time, I recognize that I can reach a lot more people if I go outside the community. One of my goals is to speak at colleges and universities where I can talk to young people about Right Livelihood, Service, and Finding Sanity in an Insane World. This is a time when people need to hear an uplifting message of hope.
If you are part of an organization, event, or school (or you just want to learn more about my life's work), I invite you to visit my web site www.douglasstevenson.com, where you'll find information on my lecture topics and how to bring me to speak in your area.
Thank you for your interest, and your support. I hope to see you down the road.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |
 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My wife Deborah is one of the primary midwives practicing on The Farm right now. She is also a teacher with the midwifery workshops and our College of Traditional Midwifery. If you, a friend, or family member are considering a midwifery assisted birth, I encourage you to visit her web site and check out her podcast.
www.awakeningbirth.org - the Web Site
www.awakening birth.net - The Podcast
Her birth resource web sites for families seeking guidance on subjects such as
- Choosing a Care Provider.
- Health and Diet
- Challenges and Complications
- and much more!
- The Awakening Birth podcast is now available on iTunes or at www.awakeningbirth.net
Please spread the word to anyone in your circle who is thinking of having a baby, expecting, to your favorite midwife, or care provider. Please like us and give us a good review on iTunes. It helps!
GreenLife Retreats
A division of Village Media Services
PO Box 259Summertown, TN 38483
931-964-2590 - office / cell
Douglas@villagemedia.com
www.villagemedia.com
www.greenliferetreats.com
www.douglasstevenson.com
Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
A division of Village Media Services
PO Box 259Summertown, TN 38483
931-964-2590 - office / cell
Douglas@villagemedia.com
www.villagemedia.com
www.greenliferetreats.com
www.douglasstevenson.com
Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
