Making A Living in Community Life
A History of how we earned our living as a Community
Shared Spiritual Experiences
The members of Table 82 of Miami chose some questions from Annex H 2022 as a starting-point to reflect on them. Each contribution is a compilation of the experiences lived by each Son and Daughter.
Reflections on Death
The year 2023 brought us face to face with the Becoming (el devenir). So many of our close spiritual companions passed on, including our beloved Sr Jorge. These are reflections on this experience as lived by the community of Yorktown.
Translation of the Course: Postures
Basic translation by comparing the original version in Spanish (“Las Posturas”, 2012) to its translation into English, and updating the latter to make it easier to read and understand.
How do we generate Interdependence in our daily life and in Cafh?
This work focuses on a few salient points from this year’s teachings. The presentation includes quotes from Annual Mission, Messages, Addresses and Courses, inspiring texts, questions and a worksheet that can be used during meditation or as an activity to assist in unfolding. The compilation of the slides flows naturally, showing the interconnection between the teachings.
Meditations in pictures
Meditation photographs
Interest in Cafh
Personal reflections on ways to engage with people outside of Cafh to stimulate interest in the organization
Spiritual Frustration
Our encounter with spiritual frustration
Reflections on Meditation and the Method
The members make their personal contributions on one of two options: (a) Meditation practices and (b) specific chapters from the Method. The work highlights the relevance of Meditation to keep us focused on our spiritual path, and offers examples Meditation types and Themes, illustrated with inspiring images. As regards option (b), there is a contribution on Chapter 5th-Journeys, with some recommendations for upating, and another one on Ch. 11th-The Teaching, particularly its “oral” character, which makes learning fluid and alive.
Reflections on the rule and the Method
The task of studying the Rule, and more specifically the Method, provided an opportunity to examine the Path of Cafh from an historical perspective. This perspective is explored both in a personal and socio-cultural context.
Deepening Connections and Awareness While Studying the Rule
Group reflections on the Rule of Cafh
Living the Spirit of the Rule of Cafh
Inspired by the study of the Rule of Cafh, the members share their individual reflections on the Rule, and the ways in which they connect with its spirit. The revision and updating of the Rule should go hand in hand with the updating of our own way of living. In this way, we can make Renouncement evident, as it is the answer to the needs of the world, the souls and the new generations.
Reflections on the Rule
Commentaries and suggestions to understand the rule and modify it wisely.
REFLECTIONS ON THE STUDY OF THE RULE
Year-long study and discussions about the Rule of Cafh.
Going Deeper Into the Rule of Cafh
The different contributions focus on how the Rule helps us to develop spirituality, move forward on the path, and provide wisdom for the world. The work explores the usefulness of D. Bohm’s Dialogue; the gifts of the Method; aging as a spiritual journey; the meaning of renouncement and attitudes towards death. There are also reflections on Providential Economy and the work on relationships.
Our work in Cafh
Individual reflections about being a member of Cafh.
Cafh and My Spiritual Path So Far
Contemplation and reflections on the spiritual path.
Conversation Round
Monthly meetings to talk among friends, with young people presenting Cafh to young people. The project gathers Cafh members and their sons and daughters, who get organized to talk about the possibilities offered by Cafh.
Meditating Together
Cycles of 10 meetings to work on the Meditation technique. The aim is to deepen self-knowledge and expand the capacity to love, experiencing the symbology of the Soul’s Journey.
Creating the Teachings on Freedom and Responsibility
In this AW the members wrote very thoughtful and candid reflections on the process of creating the Teachings on Freedom and Responsibility. For the most part the members were initially overwhelmed or apprehensive about this task and felt that perhaps they could not measure up to the task. Some of them trace the change in their feelings about this work as the year progressed. The general sentiment expressed in their reflections was that they benefited a great deal from this approach to the course on Freedom and Responsibility. The overall gist of what they wrote was a description of their evolution from fear and apprehension to joy and confidence.
The reflections were accompanied by the 1) Annual Plans each of the two groups prepared, 2) sample teachings and 3) a list of references.
Our Garden, Wisdom from the Greater Community
The PPP “Our Garden, Wisdom from the Greater Community,” chronicles a project Daughters undertook to care for land that had been neglected and needed to be restored. In the process, they explored the similarities and connections between their work on the land and their inner work.
Listening with the Heart (based on the Annual Mission 2020)
Listening from the Heart,” based on the Annual Mission 2020, describes the experience of active listening, listening with our bodies, opening ourselves to the suffering of humanity, learning to listen to those who think and feel differently from ourselves, and recognizing the challenge of change that we face as individuals and as a society.
Supporting material for the Cafh application team
The work was prepared as a contribution to the team administering the Cafh application. The supporting material offered includes translation of lyrics (English-Spanish-Portuguese), recording of songs, needlework, drawings and photos.
Prayer
Prayer centers me in my vocation and unites me with everything: the Divine, the human family, the Earth and the Cosmos. When we make it a habit, it becomes the basis of inner life.
The Mysticism of the Heart
The Mysticism of the Heart is placed in various contexts of life, such as deep play, art, symbols, meditation practices, creative imagination, psychology, vow of obedience, and scientific research. All these experiences are found to stimulate the need to expand our consciousness and venture into the unknown.
The Mysticism of the Heart: Inner Work. Deep Play
Inner work and deep play are complementary, as both are necessary to carry out the process of spiritual unfolding, and when integrated, they infuse work with joy. For example, performing meditation exercises on a daily basis is a way of playing with the deeper programs that move us.
Reflections in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic: Connection-Responsibility and Freedom
The global pandemic was an opportunity to expand our minds and hearts, to discover new ways of connecting and participating, and to deepen our sense of freedom and responsibility.
Art of Sharing: Building Friendship
Continuing with the 2019 exploration to create the feeling of closeness within the virtual context, these Tables invited friends and family to join them and connect through art. In their own words, It is not about art, it is about being together and connecting with our inner life.
Prayers
The work consists of 8 prayers to the Divine Mother, composed by the Son and Daughters, in English and Spanish, and with delicate decorative patterns.
Exploring Aspects of Change
A series of 6 Power Point presentations captures the group’s reflections on the multiple dimensions of change, developed as topics of discussion in their 2020 reunions. The material is offered as the genesis for a future course or courses.
Awakenings
The members recall different types of awakenings experienced in their own life, such as the emergence into a new state of consciousness, a feeling of oneness and dissolution of boundaries, the enjoyment of the simple things of life, and the openness to the Divine Mother´s Love. A “practical awakening toolkit” is included
Dialogues about daily life interactions
This work describes and reflects on an ongoing practice of weekly dialogues adopted in order to clarify situations, increase the capacity to listen, accept and understand each other, communicate in an honest way and come closer together.
The Path of Listening
The first step to jointly create the path of listening could be becoming quiet and emptying ourselves of answers and judgments, so as to open the door to the power of silence, to self-knowledge, compassion and empathy, and to the wholeness of life.