A couple of reflections on the impact formative figures of our Community have had on my own path.

David Spangler: a little story which has stayed with me since 1988.

It was during my first year as a staff member of the Findhorn Foundation when I had a meeting with Sabrina Dearborn. I can picture it still: we were sitting in the kitchen in Martha’s (a caravan right next to the Community Centre) looking out onto the Herb Garden and somehow the conversation turned to talking about David. I remarked on how I enjoyed a chat I had with him and how approachable I found him. Sabrina said: “Yes, David is lovely. He is someone who has folded his gremlins into his heart.” This is an image which I still practice, when I find a gremlin (and there are loads in this ‘perfect human being’ called Cornelia), I fold it into my heart.

 

Eileen Caddy: There are many stories I can tell as I had the privilege of getting to know Eileen quite well over her last 20 years.

This one is from December 1999, I had just returned from a trip to India and was calling in to say that I was back. She was sitting in her armchair, reading the Rainbow Bridge, so I sat down next to her on her foot stool. She asked about the trip. I had stayed, with a close friend, at the Osho Ashram in Poona for a training in Family Constellation and afterwards my friend took me to a couple of her favourite gurus in the area. I concluded my story by saying, “I just am not into gurus. If I have a guru at all, then it is you.” This earned me a hit over the head with the Rainbow Bridge, a hearty laugh and the comment “Don’t be silly.”

Eileen definitely didn’t want to be a guru – yet she has been and remains the teacher most relevant along my path.