Editor’s note: This manuscript was written in the early 1970s when David lived in the Community.

“When I came across it in my own ‘early days’ here in the mid 1970’s it inspired me to realise the greater significance of what was (is?) happening here, effectively modelling the transformation process. It also evoked a planetary vision for us.”

Roger Doudna 2025

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We are living in a time of world transformation. However one examines world affairs, whether from a scientific, a technological, an economic, a political, a cultural or a religious viewpoint, accelerated change is upon us and a new world is emerging. In places, this emergence follows smoothly along the lines of development established in the past: in other places, transformation is characterized by conflict between the old and the new. Revolution and evolution now march side by side through human affairs as mankind enters what many philosophers, scientists and social thinkers are calling the most significant and radical change in the human condition since the development of agriculture and civilization in the Late Stone Age. Whether this change can be accomplished in relative peace and creativity or whether it plunges us into increasing confusion and chaos depends on how clearly we can unfold from within ourselves the wisdom, the stability, the harmony and the vision to cope with the new age that is upon us. We can retreat from the future in fear and resistance or we can rise to meet it with understanding and become its master by mastering ourselves, releasing the best within us in creative blending with the present moment.

Man has always grown and unfolded the best within him when he has been inspired by noble vision, particularly when that vision has clarified his own nature and its relationship with the rest of creation. When such vision has been lost, then chaos, confusion, fear and lack of direction result and truly, as it is written, “the people perish.” Yet visions and ideals alone are not sufficient. They must show the way to concrete action and that action must then be followed. They must be put into practice and shown to be realistic, attainable visions and ideals which assist man practically and creatively to embrace and use wisely the processes of growth and change.

To embody a vision and give it meaningful substance is an invaluable service in the world today. This is the service being provided by the Findhorn Trust community in northern Scotland. It is a centre where the vision of the future into which man is rapidly advancing is very real, where the vision is held of what man is unfolding into and of what he must do to make that unfoldment a balanced and creative one. It is a centre highly attuned to the principles underlying the transformation of the world into a new age of consciousness and expression. Although many centres have this vision of a new age and of the change in man’s consciousness now being revealed, the primary role of Findhorn is to prove the reality of this vision. It is a centre where principles are lived and shown to be workable and practical through daily demonstration in the lives and affairs of the people of the community. The major difficulty in the world today is that each individual tends to follow and manifest his own personal will (and consequently, each nation its national will), often irrespective of the good of the whole, the result being conflict and disharmony. Yet, the universe is essentially a wholeness, infilled by the one life and harmony of God, His will being the spirit of that wholeness in action. That life and will live in each of us; if we attune to them and unveil them in our actions, then harmony and wholeness are created within us and about us. That is the principle. Findhorn is founded on the demonstration of the reality and practicality of that principle. All that Findhorn has achieved and manifested first comes from the process of becoming still, going within and attuning to the inner centre of being where God’s will and life are known and then implementing God’s will through outer action. In fact, all that is done at Findhorn is ultimately intended to demonstrate the power, the beauty, the abundance and the freedom of a life that is lived in harmony and oneness with God within the individual and within all things.

The idea of the wholeness of all life is an important spiritual principle. At Findhorn, it is demonstrated through the co-peration with the nature forces and the creation of a garden of exceptional beauty and productivity growing in an otherwise inhospitable oceanside climate of sandy, gravelly soil and harsh, drying winds. This principle of wholeness and the communion of all life is also manifested in the human kingdom by the fact that this centre is a community. People from many varied backgrounds are living and working together in love, co-operation and blending, like many instruments contributing their individual and unique sounds to the harmonious wholeness of an orchestra. The interrelating of the human and nature kingdoms enriches both as well, creating a greater sense of community and oneness with all life, of ecological responsibility and joy; for man, though seemingly separate within his culture and civilization, is still a child of Nature and attuned to its rhythms. He cannot escape being part of Earth’s ecology.

Another principle upon which Findhorn is based is the realization that man is entering a new age, a new cycle of creative expression and growth of consciousness. The institutions and life styles of the past often do not provide sufficiently creative and progressive solutions to the increasing problems of modern society. New life styles, new consciousness, new patterns of problem-solving and creativity must be pioneered and developed, especially to help the young, who are seeking new directions. The spirit of the new is seeking expression; where it is denied or distorted, revolution and conflict erupt, as they do where the new is feared simply because it is unknown. In some fashion, the consciousness that is creating the changes and unfolding the new age must be given expression within balanced and creative centres so that the frightening aura of the unknown is stripped from it and man can see the emergence of new forms and structures of manifestation on which he can base his hopes and dreams for the future. In other words, the vision must be clarified and brought into reality through living demonstration. At Findhorn, this is being brought about by providing opportunities and outlets for the unfoldment and delineation of the new vision and consciousness through community living, through work in arts and crafts, in drama, music, dance, education and other activities. In realization that the new age of man represents the release of hidden inner potentials and an expansion of consciousness, the development of the individual and the heightening of his talents and abilities are encouraged. All of these activities are followed, not for their own sake alone, but as channels through which the expanding spirit of man can express itself and unfold directions of growth for the new culture and new civilization, directions that can be helpful and practical to men everywhere in adjusting positively and progressively to the changes of world transformation.

The essence of this transformation is seen as being a spiritual one, as the word “spiritual” implies the whole nature of man’s consciousness and being as an expression of a universal life. This entails a fundamental alteration of man’s definition of his own nature and the nature of creation, in order to allow for the recognition of laws of being, action and creativity transcending material limitations. Findhorn is a centre for demonstrating, in concrete and practical form, the reality, the nature and the outworking of these spiritual laws and principles. It is not primarily a garden or agricultural centre, nor a community nor an arts and crafts centre nor a place for the development of the performing arts. These are the secondary manifestations that derive from the primary purpose. It is a centre where vision inspires action and action is based upon inner attunement to God, to His life and will, and to the dynamic motion of His spirit and wholeness which, as it breaks through into greater creative manifestation throughout the world, reveals a new age, a new world for man in harmony with all life.

It is important that the proper perspective be gained of the role and value of Findhorn and its work in assisting world transformation, for Findhorn and its work do not stand alone. This community is not an isolated expression, a minor quest for utopia amidst turmoil and confusion. To understand Findhorn and why it has come into being, as well as the vision that it seeks to make plain through its manifestations, is to understand the nature, the extent and the power of the movement of expanded human consciousness, a movement into a new age, now active throughout the world. Findhorn is a particular expression of a universal unfoldment of unprecedented significance, for all over the world there are centres and individuals working to bring down into demonstration the powerful and positive creativity of man’s higher spiritual consciousness, seeing in that consciousness and its oneness with the universal life of God, the only source of creative solutions to pressing human problems.

This is a planetary movement of consciousness, inspiring a universal outlook both horizontally in promoting the realization of the brotherhood and oneness of all humanity, and vertically in proving that spiritual consciousness is not a synonym for vague, imprecise and impractical thinking. Rather it is an indication of man’s next leap of evolution into a level of thought and awareness filled with the power and creativity of the wholeness of life and therefore fully capable of handling the complexities of modern life through its own integrated harmony and wisdom. This movement is the consciousness of universal world harmony active within individuals and between individuals, within nations and between nations, within humanity and Nature and between humanity and Nature, within matter and spirit and between matter and spirit.

For years, the centres and individuals which have spearheaded this birth of new consciousness amongst humanity have often been isolated. Now they are increasingly linking up and sharing their strengths, aided by the growth of modern technology in rapid travel and global communications. Centres such as Findhorn, which are attuned to universality, become points of focus around which these links can coalesce and become stabilized. Individuals who visit Findhorn or receive its literature become tuned in to this broadening vision and work. Through these links and the vision of the whole plan of revelation and transformation active upon the planet which the individual thus receives, he is made more encouragingly aware of how this new consciousness is unfolding about him and how he can live that unfoldment within himself. He is aided in adding his own contribution of co-operation and harmony to the whole by transforming his own consciousness, the primary level on which world transformation and renewal must be accomplished.

From the life of the individual arises the life of the group and the nation; therefore, the work must be done on the fundamental level of individual vision, understanding and action. Then, through the linking of such integrated and transformed individuals, a universal foundation of shared inspired consciousness is formed, a movement that unveils itself as an organic expression of expanding human life, not as a political program conceived by governments. Such a movement, born of the very essence of being human and hence needing to unfold greater rhythms of life and fulfilment, has the power of evolution, not revolution, behind it. By adding the power of a demonstrated vision, the power of achievement and tangible manifestation of the reality and effectiveness of living in harmony with spiritual law, Findhorn strengthens this movement, sometimes called the “New Age movement”, and becomes a cornerstone of the universal foundation of new, inspired consciousness.

The community at Findhorn is based on the principle of following God’s guidance and demonstrating the abundance, beauty and harmony that result when this is done—but God is not seen as a force outside of man, a separated supernatural agent acting on the perimeters of human evolution to be supplicated and worshipped. He is seen as the spirit and reality of the inner and outer wholeness, the essence of life in all forms of creation, the pressure of that life toward greater and greater revelation and expression of itself from within outward; He is seen as the Beloved seeking union and oneness with mankind. The emphasis at Findhorn is on being and living the will and guidance of God; it is on breaking down barriers of intellectual and emotional separation, feelings of guilt and unworthiness, and images of the Divine that keep man from realizing his inherent divine potential. The vision is of man and God united in a oneness of will and action and love; through various activities, Findhorn seeks to promote this—to reveal and fulfil the godliness of the individual and the divinity of wholeness within group action and creativity.

Seeing the worship of God as being the very act of being His spirit in loving, practical, harmonious and creative action through work, art, education, self-fulfilment and community activity, there is nothing unbalanced, pious or mystically superior in this quest for godliness within the community. Action is the keyword. The balance must be demonstrated, the principles lived, the visions given substance; God is revealed through applying the qualities of His life within us to daily problems. Findhorn is definitely a working community. All who come add the contribution of their time and energy to community tasks that need to be done. There is time for meditation, for lectures and discussions, but the fruits of these periods must show forth in the quality of the life and its achievements. Work is seen as meditation in expression, a key to personal development and the liberation of inner potential. Work is the gift of the individual’s uniqueness to the rhythms of life, the opening of the doors of himself in giving that he might also receive.

Seen in this light, work at Findhorn takes on a wider meaning than is normally given to that word. Everything that reveals the divinity of the individual in action is work and at the same time is play and fun. It may be working in the garden, in the office, in the kitchen or the publishing department, or it may be creating in the fields of arts and crafts, drama, music, dance, writing, child care and education. Each individual is generally asked to do what he can do best or what he wishes to do within the needs of the community at that time. He is asked to infil his work with a sense of joy and harmony through realizing that his work is the outward revelation of his relationship of love and oneness with the rest of creation. Out of this spirit of work comes a spirit of fun, laughter and abundance, a realization of the inner festival of living, which often results in the celebration of day-long festivals of music, dance, drama and artistic displays, as well as occasional evenings of entertainment in the community centre.

The vision Findhorn holds of man’s new estate of being is that man does not need to suffer, for he lives in the midst of God’s abundance. He can receive this abundance when he makes of himself a clear channel through which life can flow without restriction, freely being received and freely being given. All his needs, on all levels from material to spiritual, are perfectly met each moment when he has proven his ability to release what he has back to the whole when his need for it is fulfilled. Findhorn is not a commune where joint ownership is practised; God, the wholeness of life, is the only owner in creation. The consciousness which Findhorn seeks to demonstrate is that of the community and each individual who comprises it being a steward of abundance, rather than an owner, for to hold on and try to possess indicates a lack of trust that one’s needs will continue to be met perfectly in the future. If one truly lives in the consciousness of abundance, then there is no need to try to possess and accumulate. One treats the materials one is given by life with respect, love and understanding, as any steward would care for what is under his charge, ready to release them freely if need be; then one is open to manifesting abundance in one’s life.

This principle is well demonstrated at Findhorn. All that the community has in the way of buildings, equipment and land has been manifested through faith and through being open to God’s guidance and abundance. The community has little money in the bank at any given time, yet it freely and in full faith initiates building programs, purchases equipment and living accommodation and goes about its activities of feeding and caring for the hundreds of visitors who come each year. Always needs are met. When a bill comes due or an expenditure arises, the money is there; it may come from donations  for literature, from guests who have stayed for awhile or “out of the blue” from anonymous donors. Materials may be given at a time when they are needed, and when certain skills or talents are required, the right personnel arrive as well. The members of the community do the work necessary both physically and spiritually to keep the doors of manifestation open; there is no sitting back and letting God do it all. Yet, as it is written, to those who are willing to give all in loving service to the whole, all is returned in increased abundance. To those who can put God—His life within us, the consciousness and action of His wholeness—above all else, then all else is added in overflowing measure. The vision of Jesus’s promise that man might have more abundant life is daily given reality at Findhorn.

Furthermore, what manifests does so in beauty and perfection, for this is also the vision that Findhorn holds out for the new age of mankind’s fulfilment: it is an age of order, beauty and perfection on all levels. Therefore, the community strives for spiritual and material perfection, which finds expression in the beauty of the garden and the comfort of the surroundings in which the people live and work. This is a far cry from the public stereotype of a spiritual centre as a place of austerity and privation and of the spiritual life as a path of suffering, sackcloth and hairshirts. All true spiritual centres and teachings proclaim the order, beauty and perfection of the universe and, obeying the maxim, “As above, so below,” seek to manifest that perfection on Earth. At Findhorn, appreciation and right use of material things is an important part of its vision and the lessons it teaches; in this centre, it is demonstrated that man’s consciousness must change and be willing to accept both the joy and responsibility of abundance and beauty, not to seek to possess things or to allow one’s consciousness to be possessed by them, but to unfold the inner spirit of divine artistry in order to use the best of the physical, emotional and mental worlds to reveal the perfection inherent in material and earthly forms and expressions.

These, then, are some of the visions which Findhorn is offering through living demonstration to the world in this time of planetary transformation. They are visions of man’s inner splendour, of his potential for love and creativity beyond the scope of his past consciousness, limited as it has been by emotional and mental turmoil and conflict. It is, in its wholeness, a vision of a new age dawning for man, as this splendour and these potentials are brought forward into expression. It is a vision of a world united in harmony and blessed with abundance, a world resting on a foundation of universal individual fulfilment and crowned with a humanity united in love and understanding with the wholeness of life, one with God.

Such a vision is neither the product nor the possession of any one centre or individual. It has been man’s dream for ages. Now we stand on the brink of that dream’s fulfilment. Findhorn is a centre where that dream is even now being given tangible manifestation in form, a place where people can come and experience for themselves the reality of the new age. That is its value, its significance, its contribution to world transformation. Those who do come and stay, especially the young people, will one day go forth as emissaries of this new age and new consciousness, spreading the reality of this vision over the earth and linking with people from other centres who are doing the same thing.

This vision is not a static program. Those who leave Findhorn to take what they have unfolded from themselves for application in other centres or in the starting of new communities do not carry with them a carefully worked out manifesto for change. They will be the embodiment of a new consciousness through which the individual can fulfil each moment of his life wherever he is and bring out of that moment its inherent perfection. They will have learned at Findhorn of the existence and application of certain spiritual laws which underlie that consciousness and give it substance and strength. They will not be mouthpieces for a new revelation; they will BE the new revelation in service, in action, in life.

There are visions but there are no blueprints for the new age; there are the spiritual laws and states of consciousness which create the transformations when they are attuned to and practised. Thus, Findhorn is not establishing blueprints for new age forms nor training people to represent a particular dogma. It is pioneering the revelation and demonstration of the laws and consciousnesses from which the new will organically unfold itself. It is helping people to realize within themselves the new age consciousness and to find oneness with God through their own actions and unique rhythms of life, that they may contribute their uniqueness to the building of a new world. In this fashion, the universal foundation of inspired individual consciousness is brought ever more into reality as the base on which is being built, from the transformations of the old world, a new culture of universal world harmony, a new civilization and a renewed humanity.

David Spangler