A Veg Net Site - Triathlon

TRIATHLON AWARDS

We are dedicating the Triathlon page to veg/an communities that are successfully up and running (no pun intended)...

VEGETARIAN, VEGAN AND PRIMARILY VEGAN
COMMUNITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD ~

with sizeable communities (anywhere from a dozen to over one hundred members).

When available, we've listed 2 websites for each community:

The community's website
The FIC (www.ic.org) Directory description written by the community itself

Why Triathlon? Zoom to the foot of the page for the answer.

Founded in the 1800s and earlier

still actively functioning today

Numerous vegetarian communities, most of them with a strong spiritual base and many of them nourished by a line of living teachers ~ found all over India in every state in the union. Hindu ashrams also (celibate, monastic lifestyle), all over India.

Founded in the 1930s

SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM, India - Pondicherry Centre http://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/visitors/index.php

Founded in the 1950s

BOWER HOUSE CO-OP, Michigan http://msu.coop/houses/bower http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=5421

SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM, India - Delhi Branch http://collaboration.org/centers/delhi/tapasya.htm

Founded in the 1960s

FINDHORN, Scotland http://www.findhorn.org/about_us/display_new.php

Founded in the 1970s

ADIDAM, California http://www.adidam.org http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=2985

THE FARM, Tennessee http://www.thefarmcommunity.com/ http://www.thefarm.org/ http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=403

GENTLE WORLD, Hawaii http://www.gentleworld.org http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=455

NAHZIRYA MONASTIC COMMUNITY, Arkansas http://www.nmcnews.org http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=2586

Founded in the 1980s

BREITENBUSH, Oregon http://www.breitenbush.com/

MOUNT MADONNA CENTER, California http://www.mountmadonna.org/index.html

Founded in the 1990s

CORNERSTONE HOUSING COOPERATIVE, W Yorkshire (UK)http://www.cornerstonehousing.org.uk http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=3757

ESSENE MONASTIC COMMUNITY, Florida http://www.thenazareneway.com http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=20938

KONOHANA FAMILY, near Mt Fuji, Japan (a 14-year-old organic farming community whose aim is to live in harmony with the earth and with each other) Contact them through www.BeGoodCafe.com

TREE OF LIFE, Patagonia, Arizona www.treeoflife.nu

Founded in the 2000s

ANT HILL COOPERATIVE, New York http://ant-hill.org

SHANGRI-LA, New Zealand http://www.gentleworld.org

Why are we calling it TRIATHLON AWARDS? Because you have to have a clear VISION, strong COMMITMENT and extraordinary ENDURANCE to succeed in founding, building and living cooperatively in community - just like the winners of triathlons.

Fortunately veg/ans are known for exceptional health and endurance - like numerous worldclass athletes, record-breaking multi-time winners of events like the Ironman Triathlons are often veg/an - so potentially we are well equipped to participate in the Grand Community Triathlon!

Here's how the Community Triathlon works:

Phase I: Swim across the Sea of Uncertainty, keeping your eye on your VISION while getting a group together, formulating goals, finding and buying land.

To qualify for this phase, at least 3 team members must reach the goal. Only 1 means you have a leader without followers; only 2 means you are a couple waiting for more; 3 is the beginning of community. If your land is paid for, all 3 go to the next phase. Otherwise, wait till your group has more contributing members. Hint for success: Your core group of active members needs to include a Researcher, a Salesperson and a Heart Connector.

Phase II: Cycle up the Mountain of Design and Development. Live with the land and then decide as a group how to develop it - which areas to preserve as open space / wilderness / wetlands / forest, where to have your organic garden or farm, where to site the residences and common house - and then with enormous patience and perseverance develop the raw property, get permits and zoning adjustments, and finally come to an agreement (keep smiling) on the housing designs. Then on to the joys and challenges of construction.

To qualify for this phase takes tremendous commitment and endurance, hanging on to the vision. All three intact? Go to Phase III!

Phase III: Run through the Desert of Ego until the Oasis of Community surrounds you. This phase is preceded by freewheeling down the Mountain, the honeymoon of moving into your house and first living in community. And then inevitably comes the adjustment phase: disagreements, irritations, rough places - and learning all about conflict resolution, non-violent communication, and community routine come what may: weekly community work, shared meals, celebrations, ceremonies, ping-pong in the common house, helping someone in need, laughing together...

To qualify for this phase and become a long-term inhabitant of the oasis, you will need commitment, perseverance and patience big time! It will have to become second nature for you to keep your focus on the community's vision, needs and goals. Along the way you will hopefully learn to recognize and differentiate your own needs, the needs of others and the needs of the community, and will learn how to meet your needs or get them met appropriately, supporting others as they find ways to do likewise. As a result you won't project your unmet needs onto the community decision making process, so you'll be able and willing to flow with what is best for the group. In an oasis community, everyone serves people elsewhere who need help - spreading the oasis outside, beyond the community.

Recipient of the Community Triathlon Award

Is life in the oasis community easy, perfect and happy ever after? Is it heaven on earth? Whatever it is or isn't, it feels a completely natural, nurturing, human way to live.
Once the Triathlon's over and you've recharged your batteries, if you begin to feel complacent it's high time to branch out and found a new community!

Best wishes from VegNet.net to all the many veg/an community groups currently in the formation stage. As Churchill used to sometimes end his war-time letters: KBO (Keep Buggering On) !