Statment of Religious Beliefs - Twin Oaks

Shared by Twin Oaks Community
Tags: Values

Statement of Religious Beliefs - Theory and Practice

Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things co possessed was cos own, but they held everything in common and distribution was made to each as any had need.
From the Acts of the Apostles

The day will come when the idea of community will spread through the world. Gather together those of you who share high ideals. Pool your resources. Buy land in the country. A simple life will bring you the inner freedom. Harmony with nature will bring you happiness and peace of mind known to few city dwellers. In the company of other seekers of the truth it will be easier for you to live in meditation and collective unity.
Parmahansa Yogananda -- Indian Mystic

There is a common unity or spirit which dwells in all of us. This unity of spirit is best cultivated in a communal environment. All people are one in this spirit and equal in their rights to share its bounty. All life is worthy of respect. We believe in the Gandhian principle of Satyagraha (nonviolence) and value gentle and caring relations between people.

In living communally, every act and every moment of life can be seen as coming to harmony with ourselves, our community and the holy earth we dwell upon.

The environment it around us is our greatest teacher. Therefore responsible stewardship and conscious maintenance of that environment is our devotional service.

There is an interrelatedness between all being. What affects one affects all. Therefore the path to true harmony is the reinforcement of group consciousness. The one moral principle we espouse is the love which springs forth from self-control for the sake of others and blooms in deeds of kindness.

0ur one object of praise is our evolutionary education in the sacred art of living together.

Because we share a planetary unity we are one with each other. Whatever harms any of us harms us all. Therefore we endeavor:
•To eliminate hierarchy in relationships between people.
•To practice non-violence in our personal, interpersonal and political lives.
•To respect and preserve the natural environment for the use of our own and other species, now and in the future.
•To eliminate classism, racism, ageism, patriarchy and other forms of oppression, both in ourselves and in other people.
•To practice community of property, sharing all that we are and have and can produce with one another.