BEYOND
BOUNDARIES
A SERVICE PILGRIMAGE People
Place Planet
IntentionSustainable, holistic, regenerative…many adjectives today are attempting to describe a commitment that is in some ways very old and simple: to live in awareness of the generations to come, to live with care for the earth and all beings, to live with heart and truth, to live in remembrance of the gift that is to be shared. This is not religion or politics but common sense. It goes beyond definitions of class, culture or nation, beyond boundaries.
Our intention
is to go and listen, to give away our simple time and labor along with
the best of life practices and skills we know, as appropriate and as
requested to do so, while opening ourselves to learn from others, and
to deepen into a spectrum of cross-cultural community living. Our task
will then be to incorporate the journey into our lives in numerous ways.
We go with the intention of being part of strengthening the “field”,
as part of growing the healthy web of life that is so needed in our
time. “I’ve found any true vision is not ‘ours’…it is not new or isolated but emerges in different styles, different ages, different places…we are not alone…we join with many others. We pilgrims will be just a few, but if held or seen as acupuncture then much can come of that...ripples throughout the entire earth body. “ —GG Background (Gigi Coyle)Beyond Boundaries is a culmination of many years’ work and relationships. There are ideas, experiences, connections and opportunities that I truly want to catalyze, share and give away as part of planting seeds of partnership that I believe will carry us through some challenging times ahead.Over the past 30 years when
invited to work in other countries as a citizen diplomat, rites of passage
guide and council leader, my intention has been to offer our ways, while
supporting the local cultures to reawaken their own indigenous and modern
‘best practices’ in socially and ecologically sustainable living.
Working in the 70’s in so-called development programs, it became clear
to me that exporting Western ways was not in anyone’s best interests.
Some Polynesian women leaders confirmed this for me at an impressionable
age, thanking me for coming and being in dialogue and then doubly thanking
me for attending to the change needed within my own culture and country,
rather than on attempting to fix or even help them. I returned to my
own land and focused again on connection here, on healing in ‘my people’
and myself through quest, council and community--only leaving when strongly
invited or called. We hear so much NGO talk about
helping others on the brink of disappearing and their need for support
and education. Perhaps this is so, though another truth, now more evident,
is that we humans are all an endangered species and many of us in the
developed world are the ones in need of a different kind of education--a
kind of education that comes through slowing down, showing up, listening,
and bearing witness, allowing for cross-pollination and collaborative
activity to truly grow out of mutual care and respect. It is this kind
of social justice, environmental, political and spiritual activism and
education that Beyond Boundaries is hoping to offer, foster and embody. “When
I left everything behind and went into the wilderness, I did what people
have done for generations in countless cultures. The force of all those
who had gone before entered me, not because I was worthy, but because
I was human” –Steven Foster, co-founder, School of Lost Borders Program OverviewIn June 2009,
a small group of leaders of different ages and backgrounds came together
to begin a nine-month pilgrimage of service to places, programs and
centers that are creatively exploring the frontiers of regenerative
community life. We began with a wilderness quest1 in the
high desert of the Inyo Mountains in California, forming a small community
with the intention and commitment to serve. Following the quest, we
joined together as a council to support another quest, a youth quest--younger
pilgrims marking their passage to adulthood. Listening to the concerns
and hopes for the future of this next generation we were reminded of
those yet to come and rededicated ourselves to ‘all our relations’. With the youth in our hearts and minds we set off on our own pilgrimage, joined in different ways by many others asking to stay connected. We will focus on learning from and with those we meet while offering our service and skills. We expect to find many areas of collaboration and exchange, which we trust will benefit the people and places we visit, as well as the many we will encounter upon returning home. Given what is happening on the planet, there is something especially important in networking in service, in the spirit of inquiry and collaboration. There is some importance to going as a team, a small community ourselves, and having that be part of the learning and the gifting. There is something important, particularly as Americans, to going and listening, to practicing council with the land and its people and letting the exchange emerge. It seems a
bit odd to set off on a pilgrimage when we are simultaneously called
to further limit our travel as we become even more aware of the importance
of using scarce resources wisely. This wise use has always been needed,
but is surely needed even more so now. And so we are called and committed,
knowing it is right to go, to make our journey count on many levels,
given its carbon footprint, and literally and metaphorically, plant
trees all along the way. We hope to elicit the voices of both youth and elders in council, and bring those voices home, back to our people. We also have the intention of refining our own ideas of community and bringing these back to our current home bases, which include the Ojai Foundation, the School of Lost Borders, Three Creeks, the Biosphere Foundation and the many affiliated and collaborating organizations listed below.
Near the end
of our journey in the Pacific we will be part of a long-term dream,
setting up one more unique “watering hole” on the planet that will
serve as a Biosphere Center for Education and a land base for the Planetary
Coral Reef Foundation and the work of their “sea people”.
We trust this group, along with all of the others we will work with
worldwide, will continue to grow as educators and models, as explorers
and pioneers (or more appropriately Bioneers) of the way forward. And last but
not least, we are dedicated to the work and prayer of reconciliation
and healing that has been and will continue to be part of our work wherever
we go. “Without
collaboration the right inspiration will not be effective.” —The
Mother Beyond Boundaries ParticipantsThe dream of this pilgrimage
came originally through a quest and then grew in definition over a two-year
period June 2007 to June 2009. A number of people who learned of it
during that time were interested and it was through a process of council
that the core team chose to come and was chosen.
Some of our
sponsors and collaborators, many of whom are community leaders themselves
and also have council and quest experience, will join us for part of
the journey. We have the fiscal and administrative support of Sally
Silverstone, Board member and CFO of our umbrella organization, the
Biosphere Foundation. The young people who came to quest have been invited
to stay in touch with us, as will many who came to community councils
and joined us in our work before our departure. And there are a number
of volunteers already working in support in a variety of ways. We will
do our best to be ambassadors for the many organizations and communities
to which we are all connected. We see all
involved as pilgrims sharing responsibility, time, energy, creativity
and finances to make the journey happen. Director Gigi Coyle and associate
director Win Phelps (see bios below) will take the responsibility as
guides and mentors, and in the spirit of council, look to everyone in
the group to be leaders together in service. We see ourselves as witnesses
and earth ambassadors, students and teachers, researchers and documentarians,
questers and guides—participants in our version of an “Earth Corps”,
devoting our time, skills and resources in support, in service to some
of the best “earth cherishing” communities, projects and peoples
we know. This program is envisioned
as a win/win for all. All participants will receive an extraordinary
experience and education; participating organizations and communities
will benefit both from the volunteer services rendered, the exchanges
that evolve and the funding they’ll receive for helping to host the
program; and each participant is committed to giving back in some way
to their home communities upon return. “We must become like samurai, poised and ready to move in response to each situation as it unfolds.” Joanna Macy, Teacher of Environmental Ethics, Buddhism and Systems Theory Program Purpose
TrainingIn this unique journey, each
of us will have the opportunity to further develop life values, skills
and practices including:
Through the opening and closing wilderness quests the participants will enter into a deep understanding of and relationship to the power of intention, prayer, and ceremony. We will honor the importance and elements of contemporary rites-of-passage, launching into new chapters of our lives no matter what our ages. We will explore how we are part of what some are describing as a global rite of passage at this time on the planet. We will offer to meet with other youth and elders in each of the communities/projects/centers that are visited, introducing and offering council and exchanging other practices, activities and ceremonies throughout the journey. We will be in the investigation of the roots of council and rites of passage as they appear in each of the cultures we visit. And all participants have their own specialized areas of interest and exchange to be shared as the journey unfolds. (Bios and Letters of Intention attached) Our Gifts being offered
____________________________ 2 Referring to thought
and actions that hold both local and global perspectives simultaneously Places To Be VisitedSpiritual traditions
have often told of places of light, visionary beacons of a future that
are essential to sustain and guide life. Practically we know, as the
Dalai Lama and the Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers say so strongly,
“both prayer and action are needed.” There is much work to be done.
How do these places, these seeds of wholeness, growing by themselves
as well as collectively, offer a pearl necklace of sustainability, inspiration
and hope, circling the planet? This journey to such places will be an
exploration of wholeness, offering in and of itself a kind of integrated
learning that we feel is vital to our becoming more effective world
citizens. And in turn, as world citizens, we feel it’s vital to go
to such places that are a small sample of what is happening, what is
possible, and to offer our support in any and all ways we can.
There are additional
connections and invitations that we are responding to as well as some
we will be initiating. There is a song line we are listening to and
following, which will be updated continuously as we continue to put
it all in place. And there will be flexibility to our plan, realizing
that it is a time of big changes and we want to be free to respond as
well as to commit to a path.
“Our
great nations were built on our ceremonies of thanksgiving for Earth.
We must ensure that all our people pay attention to our ceremonies and
languages. Our native languages contain many instructions about how
to survive. We need to work with the natural world like we have always
done, through ceremony, dance, prayer, and meditation.” Onondaga
Faithkeeper, Oren Lyons All Our Relations: Exploring the Ingredients for Holistic Societies/CulturesBelow are areas
of focus that we feel are essential to relationships in a healthy, whole,
and sustainable community. Each participant will be tracking, learning
about, and gaining experience in each of these areas at the respective
sites. Some may pick one area of interest for focused study and/or keep
all of them in awareness. In addition to observing and learning how
the locals regard these specific relationships, participants hope to
contribute directly to their host communities through hands-on work.
They will also be asked to evaluate the locals’ relationships to these
areas, learn from them while also offering specific recommendations
based on their studies and experience. For example: how does the local
community relate to health and wellness issues and what old and/or new
perspectives, approaches and skills are evident? Are there ones that
might help improve the standard of overall individual and community
health? Areas of interest/relationship to: Ancestors There will
be weekly check-in councils and reports on topics by each participant,
as well as written/creative/artistic submissions for some final combined
story/report/presentation. Two of our participants will be working for
course credits with their college and graduate school programs. “You
can never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change
something build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” R. Buckminster Fuller Impact/OutcomesIt would be
dishonest to offer or guarantee products up front when the nature of
our program is pilgrimage…by definition to allow, to discover, to
see what co-arises. So we are asking people to dare to support the process
(not so much the product) and to have faith in us as ambassadors. To
look at this journey of eight somewhat like acupuncture, touching a
few places on the body of the earth that will then have many positive
ripples throughout. There are known impacts--information exchange and
many co-creative enterprises--that naturally arise from this form of
citizen diplomacy. And there are some simple things we can say at this
time.
-Eight people will receive training in the areas mentioned and return
to their families, their communities, their work in the world more experienced
and more whole, and will have, we believe, heart/minds, as well as
additional skills and knowledge, that lend themselves to embody, inspire
and create true co-existence. -Earthworks,
art, council, rites-of-passage, and cross-cultural community practices
that we feel contribute to healing relations and building regenerative
sustainable societies will be exchanged and (re)seeded in us and the
many cultures we visit. -Seven
(and with independent study projects, possibly many more) truly visionary
international centers, three indigenous communities and projects, and
the new Biosphere land base will have been given tangible hands-on support
by a dedicated team of Americans. -Two
university programs, at Hampshire and at Prescott, have accepted Beyond
Boundaries as course work for both undergraduate and graduate programs,
which will seed similar possibilities for future experiential education. -Unseen
and undocumented goodwill, healing and reconciliation with many peoples
from our willingness to show up, to listen, to work, to learn, and to
exchange our knowledge and skills. -Unseen and undocumented effect from cross-cultural ceremonies and prayer that will take place throughout the trip
“The coming global earth community will emerge from a network of
Healing Biotopes, communities, and peoples, who have entered into a
state of trust and cooperation with all fellow creatures.” Dieter
Duhm, co-founder, Tamera “With the act of seeing creation begins.
Presently the Earth is pregnant with a new idea. Those who tend it carefully
will be able to bring it to birth.” Sabine Lichtenfels, co-founder,
Tamera Potential ProductionsThough we do
not know what form our official documentation will take, we are collecting
photographs, conducting interviews, maintaining blogs, writing collaborative
songs and capturing film footage on our journey. Additionally, we will
conduct councils with youth and elders throughout the journey asking
for stories, concerns, dreams and visions of the future. Any ensuing
footage could be made into short documentaries that might be distributed
for example throughout the Ojai Foundation’s youth council program
in the US (over 8000 kids sit in council weekly in LA schools alone).
However, filming will not become the focus of our journey. It will be
a possibility, an offering, and a focus if the participants all see
the benefits and together make it happen. We do not want
to ‘over commit’, and first and foremost we will allow the journey
itself to generate the value and the gifts. And we will maintain the
possibility of generating a report, film, book and/or artistic expression
on current practices of holistic communities and on new ideas for sustainable
futures being explored around the world. We expect we will, from our
first-hand experience, be able to contribute to a list of many service
project/visions being enacted, offering opportunities for all ages to
join and/or provide support for them. “We believe
our collective future will be free and just, only if those of us who
long to see it so, support one another in our efforts to bring it into
being.” –Elias Amidon & Elizabeth Roberts, co-founders of
the Boulder Institute for Nature and the Human Spirit Future PossibilitiesThis is seen as a pilot program
for those who may feel called to continue it in a modified form. We
are aware of other programs that may be interested in having this journey
be connected, or incorporated as part of their larger leadership/education
program in the future. At this point, however, we will make
the initial journey, as a project of the Biosphere Foundation, and we
will administrate this trip ourselves. Other organizations will be represented
but all foundation support can come through the Biosphere Foundation
501(c) 3. (See below) BudgetIncome: To date we
have raised $155k from a group of individual sponsors and foundations
who have generously expressed interest and support. We are looking for
additional sponsors for $55k still needed, as well as donations in-kind
and air miles. We are working with participants to help in their individual
fundraising efforts as part of their participation and learning. We
are also seeking sponsors for filming and other productions, both individually
and collectively. Expenses: BB will cover
the basic expenses for all eight pilgrims and each will be responsible
for any ‘extras’. We foresee these basic expenses to be approx.
$25,000 per person (comparable to costs for a year of school), which
includes air travel and payment to host sites, etc. All participants
will carry their own medical and liability insurance, join us in a safety
vow, and sign release forms. Administrative
Costs: $20,000 This includes a non-profit project percentage
for fiscal management, accounting, all bank and credit transactions,
plus travel services, postal service, correspondence with sponsors,
communications throughout the journey, BB prep meetings, etc.,
and a small stipend for any administrative assistance at $10/hr…estimated
100 hours time. Materials: $3000 This includes
stationary, reports, selected books, and any necessary supplies. Travel: $40,000 (Eight participants) This includes
transport by car, bus, train and plane over 10-months, beginning and
ending at Three Creeks. Site Visits: $106,280 Fees are set
by each of the sites for lodging, in most cases food, and in some cases
program expense. Ojai Foundation for two weeks $4,000 Tamera for four weeks $22,000 Damanhur for eight days $5,480 (Site fee $2,800, food and transport $2,680) Lodging/food in between centers/programs @$100pp/pd x 10 days x eight people = $8,000 Findhorn for four weeks $10,000 Auroville for four weeks $15,000 Planetary Coral Reef Foundation for four weeks $26,000
$4,500 per
person for three months, times eight participants Miscellaneous/Contingencies: $5,000 This is a reserve
fund to cover unanticipated costs that inevitably arise on such a pilgrimage:
hotels, food, health, equipment, rising prices between now and 2010.
(All participants provide their own health and liability insurance.) Total budget: $205,280 Raised to date: $155,000 Remaining amount needed: $50,280Still seeking: - Equipment
for the incorporation project time. Once we have
covered our basic costs, extra funds could be raised for: Film, Music
and Book Productions Donations in Kind Tom Jenkins, Lola and John Long, Doug Adrianson, Bruce Deboskey: travel assistance Also many hours,
days, months of travel and time preparing the sites, and making arrangements
for this journey, Coyle and Phelps serving as Project Director, Associate
Director throughout, and all participants personal fundraising work,
and offering their leadership and gifts gratis throughout the journey.
Participants are also using their earnings and savings to cover any
costs at home while away. DONORS Donors $25,000 and above AnJel Fund, Rudolph Steiner
Foundation (RSF), Krystyna Jurzykowski Donors $10,000 and above Grant Abert, (RSF) Donors $5,000 and above Lynnaea Lumbard and Rick Paine Donors $500 and above Max Milton Peter Scott Aaron
Frederick Well over
100 people have contributed with smaller donations to this journey. “We see
our money as a blessing, which we hold as stewards to be utilized for
the care of the planet and its inhabitants, and we commit to explore
appropriate relationship between our own comfort and the welfare of
the world.” --Threshold Foundation Board 1991 Donations
to: Beyond Boundaries, a project of the Biosphere
Foundation. Checks can be made out to Biosphere Foundation (w/note incl., “For: Beyond Boundaries”) Attn: Sally Silverstone, PO Box 808, Big Pine, CA 93513. (760) 938-2949 <sierra@pcrf.org> Tax ID No. 86-0686472 Project Director:Gigi Coyle
- 30 years’ work in international relations/citizen diplomacy, council,
wilderness rites-of-passage, organizational development and community
building, co-author of The Way of Council; and The Box, Remembering
the Gift. (760) 938-1177 <gigicoyle@earthlink.net> Associate Director: Win Phelps
- 30 years award-winning work as director of TV and film; council leader,
and rites-of-passage guide and trainer, School of Lost Borders; twenty-eight
years a student of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. <winphelps@earthlink.net> Throughout
the journey we will be sharing different jobs and areas of responsibility
amongst the group. We will co-create, co-facilitate,
and both teach and become students exploring co- intelligence as well
as co-existence. Advisory Group/Collaborating Organizations Andrew Beath:
Earth Ways Associated OrganizationsRegenerative
Design Institute, Wilderness Within, the Shikari Tracking Guild, Our offer is
to share our experiences throughout the journey and be available to
inform those we meet about the relevant work of these groups. We are
open to add to this list as we go.
 Three Creeks,
Base Camp, the Owens Valley, California Just visible
in the valley below is Three Creeks, our small five-acre oasis in the
Eastern Sierra, a sanctuary, a home, a place to mark transitions, to
heal, to strengthen one’s care and commitment through quest, council,
retreat and service. It is owned and stewarded by guides from the School
of Lost Borders and The Ojai Foundation along with founders and members
of the Biosphere Foundation. Biosphere
Foundation (BF) Biosphere Foundation’s primary goal is to inspire intelligent stewardship of our earth’s biosphere. Its projects aim to contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the biosphere and to inspire individuals to get involved through either “hands-on” fieldwork or virtual-education outreach programs. Biosphere Foundation was formed in 1991 by several ‘Biospherians’ who lived for two years inside a 3.15-acre miniature world called Biosphere 2. This life enhancing and transforming experience, whereby each human was integrally a part the ecology and well being of the system, served as the inspiration to initiate and support similar programs around the world. BF approaches projects and tasks from a combination of angles including science, adventure and art. It teaches apprentices a way of life; to “learn by doing”; and to inspire leadership and stewardship of our earth’s biosphere. Of the ecosystems within Biosphere 2, the 1 million gallon coral reef was the most responsive to changes in the environment, and with this in mind, BF commenced its first project under the name of Planetary Coral Reef Foundation. PCRF’s unique approach back in 1991 was to view the coral reef as the indicator for the health of our oceans, and thus our biosphere. To learn more about the planetary state of coral reefs, PCRF launched an expedition onboard a sailing ship from the years 1995 to 2008 to map and monitor coral reefs and provide unique education-outreach programs. Additionally,
Biosphere Foundation has developed an ecological wastewater treatment
facility called Wastewater Gardens®; supported a rainforest ecological
educational project in Puerto Rico; pioneered a space-based project
to map and monitor reefs from satellites using spectral imagery as a
demonstration project for planetary stewardship of our oceans; built
a 12’ diameter sealed system to grow plants and study soil, water
and atmospheric dynamics in support of the design for a space-based
human life support system; and initiated “Studio of the Sea”, a
film studio dedicated to featuring films about ocean challenges, sea
creatures and island cultures. (For more info
please see www.biospherefoundation.org and www.pcrf.org.) Pilgrimage CalendarPhase 1: June to October 2009 June 7 - July 14 Three Creeks, Big Pine, Calif. Vision Quest ceremony/setting intention/connecting to the land. June 21 - July 2 Youth Quest led by Gigi, Will Scott and Win with others in SOLB Training and participating as part of the Elders council. June 15 - 19 and July 4 - 9 Three Creeks Training in rites of passage, council, and related practices that will be shared throughout the journey. Trip preparation and community service project with the Paiute people July 9 - 19 The Ojai Foundation, Gathering of Council Leaders and service project with the Chumash July 20 - Aug. 20 Tamera, Portugal Summer University in peace work, sustainability, gender and community relations, and the creation of healing biotopes; Service Areas: permaculture/solar village and peace work projects Aug. 21 – Aug. 29 Damanhur, Italy Tours of their eco-village, art and temples, service work. Sep. 4 - Oct.
4 Findhorn, Scotland
Immersion in eco-village and spiritual practice of Findhorn, service
work in the local environment, and Gaia network. One week council work,
tree-planting project or another project of choice, one week incorporation/farming
on Erraid Island. Phase 2: Oct. 5 – Jan. 15, 2010 (with 10 day Christmas break) Independent Projects, individually chosen USA…. Europe…. Middle East…. South America…. Africa Assistance
with design and planning, as well as self-generated focus on areas of
interest and ancestral roots (See below.) Phase 3: Jan. 15 – Apr. 21, 2010 Jan. 15 - Feb. 15 Auroville, India, Convergence Program, or open work-study in one of many cross-cultural, eco-spiritual communities Feb. 15 - Mar. 15 Anambas, Indonesia Planetary Coral Reef Foundation, working with the Biosphere Foundation and the Sea People helping to establish new land/sea base and marine sanctuary. Mar. 21 - Apr.
21 Three Creeks, Big Pine, Calif. Incorporation: through council and
Quest and work on the land back at the place we began and with the Paiute,
looking at and setting intentions for next steps in education, careers,
life, community, work, relationship, citizen diplomacy, and how/if to
carry Beyond Boundaries forward. Independent
Study/Travel/Projects: Oct. 15, 2009
– Jan. 15, 2010 The Independent
Study is to be designed individually with the support of the group.
Some emphasis during this period is to be spent on connection to ancestral
lineage, place and story. As well there are many volunteer opportunities
at places and projects which Gigi and Win can help arrange. Then there
is also each participant’s personal call to travel, work, or study.
We will sit as a council to assist each other with plans. Each participant
will be responsible for fiscal accountability, making the relationships,
travel, and evaluations as part of the learning. An example of the connections/suggested
projects and places we have and offer at this time are: USA Working for/volunteering
on a Bioneers project Middle East Council project
internship: Center For Council Training and Ma’agal Hakshava, Israel Central/South America The Wild Foundation/World
Wilderness Congress in Mexico and indigenous peoples project … Africa Visit and service
at three different community/centers: South Africa |
The values of coexistence
with all our relations are ones that need to be experienced, learned
and practiced. In whatever ways we can, in the spirit of council, we,
the team making up Beyond Boundaries, want to bear witness, to join
and support those living and working in this way. These are the stories
we want to tell, to grow, to continually water, the ones that so rarely
make the news. And too there are the stories of struggle that we want
to become more aware of, the ones hard to hear, the stories that we
need to bring home to become part of their transformation and healing.
And there are the ones we want to co-create, the places where collaboration
and partnerships can truly make a difference.