“Oneness is very simple: everything is included and allowed to live according to its true nature. This is the opportunity that is offered. How we make use of this opportunity depends upon the degree of our participation, how much we are prepared to give ourselves to the freedom that needs to be lived.”

These words hit me when I read them, because they are such a simple but true explanation of oneness – which only makes sense, because oneness is so elementary. Llewellyn’s quote made me ask myself, how could someone possibly not want to be
part of this? Who wouldn’t want to truly feel free, who wouldn’t want to be themselves as they are and not the way others would want them, and who wouldn’t want to at
least really try to live up to their fullest potential? The exciting thing is that that will
look different for each and every one of us. Each one of us will express it in our own unique way.

The name ‘Solitude in the Crowd’ can be looked at from a couple of different angles. On one side it expresses the feeling of being alone, even in the midst of people. Sometimes I almost feel I’m going crazy, because it seems the whole world is against this idea of oneness, and unfortunately even a lot of young people put it off as complete nonsense these days. It is very difficult to keep this sense alive; it seems you are swimming against a current so strong you can barely resist it, as with all its power it tries to pull you into it so you too will buy into this illusion of separation. To hold to the sense of oneness in the culture we live in can be a very solitary thing. But knowing that there are others out there going through the same thing can be an affirmation, an encouragement and an inspiration, and that is what I hope can be explored on this website.

On the other side, the name also means to be outwardly with people, to be in the middle of life and not somewhere isolated in a cave where you can figure it all out. It’s not about figuring it out. It’s about living outwardly in the world with an inward feeling that honors and respects this oneness, no matter what situation you get in. In the end everybody has their own journey to make. People, the crowd, will be a natural part of it, but ultimately we ourselves are the key to finding something that really satisfies us. When we make peace with ourselves, we can then consider the bigger picture and hopefully make a shift from ‘me’ to ‘we.’

So again, all this is an encouragement to simply be ourselves. I am sure we’ve all heard that lots of times, ‘to be ourselves,’ but I think people use it too often without thinking about its actual and in a way healing meaning. I say healing because on a deeper level, to really be myself solves any problem, and when I think about it, it is the only thing that really nourishes me. It takes time to discover who we actually are, to peel ourselves down to our core being. I’d like at least to make an attempt to inspire you to take time to explore all this.

- Elias

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Coming soon, there will be a section called ‘oneness’ with examples of how other people view and experience oneness.

Photo credit: vnduan
Website: Flickr.com

Youth worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora describes the inspiration behind Barrio de Paz (Peace Town), a non-violent youth movement in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It brings together street gangs to provide services to the struggling community. Gang members band together out of a need for unity, structure, and love when their social fabric has been torn apart. Mirroring the society that marginalizes them, gangs use this unity for domination and aggression. Nelsa shows how this instinct toward oneness can be transformed into a power of service, life, and love.

Grassroot Soccer project coordinator, Nolusindiso “Titie” Plaatjie, uses soccer to educate South African youth about HIV/AIDS prevention. She describes her childhood in the poverty-stricken city of Port Elizabeth and how soccer gave her the drive to be who she is today.

Titie was born in Peddie and now lives in Port Elizabeth. She studied Human Movement Science at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and dreams of becoming an engineer. In 2001, Nolusindiso was named captain of the provincial team and is a well known soccer star at provincial level. She has been playing soccer since the age of five. She joined Grassroot Soccer specifically to assist with HIV/AIDS awareness believing that the fight against HIV/AIDS is a fight for the world. Currently working as Port Elizabeth Project Coordinator, Titie is a key facilitator in raising HIV/AIDS awareness among youth and people of her community.

Point Reyes Station, CA
7:30PM – 9PM, doors open at 7:15PM
Age limit: 18 – 32

All meetings take place on Tuesday evenings
Meeting 1 – April 6, 2010: Awareness in the Breath / Awareness in the Moment
Meeting 2 – April 13, 2010: Watch your Step!
Meeting 3 – April 20, 2010: The Journey Home
Meeting 4 – April 27, 2010: Solitude in the Crowd
Meeting 5 – May 4, 2010: Remembrance
Meeting 6 – May 11, 2010: Returning
Meeting 7 – May 18, 2010: Attentiveness
Meeting 8 - May 25, 2010: Continued Remembrance

For further information please contact:
Elias Koch
email: info@solitudeinthecrowd.org

Point Reyes Station, CA
7:30pm – 9pm, doors open at 7:15pm

Meeting 1 – October 27, 2009: What Does Oneness Mean to You?
Meeting 2 – November 3, 2009: The Experience of Oneness
Meeting 3 – November 10, 2009: The Consciousness of Oneness Part 1
Meeting 4 – November 17, 2009: The Consciousness of Oneness Part 2
Meeting 5 – November 24, 2009: The Solitude of Oneness
Meeting 6 – December 1, 2009: Service in Oneness

For further information please contact:
Elias Koch
email: info@solitudeinthecrowd.org

As the structures of modern society crumble, is it enough to respond with the same tired solutions? Or are we being called to question a set of unexamined assumptions that form the very basis of our civilization?

This 25-minute retrospective asks us to reflect on the state of the world and ourselves, and to listen more closely to what is being asked of us at this time of unprecedented global transformation.

“The Good Life” takes you to a chance meeting between an MBA and a fisherman on a small island. As the MBA tries to teach the fisherman about business, the fisherman teaches him about life.

Orland Bishop is the founder and director of ShadeTree Multicultural Foundation in Los Angeles, where he has pioneered approaches to urban truces and mentoring at-risk youth that combine new ideas with traditional ways of knowledge. ShadeTree serves as an intentional community of mentors, elders, teachers, artists, healers and advocates for the healthy development of children and youth. Orland’s work in healing and human development is framed by an extensive study of medicine, naturopathy, psychology and indigenous cosmologies, primarily those of South and West Africa.

Sufi teacher and dreamworker Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee tells us about his own change of orientation from the individual to the collective. Llewellyn explains how his “attention shifted” from an earlier emphasis on the classical mystical process of realizing oneness to the collective transition toward a global consciousness of oneness, and asks if humanity’s survival depends on taking responsibility for this interconnectedness, what is the specific role of the mystic?