The following article was first published in One Earth Magazine Volume 7 Summer 1992.

Phoenix logo 1992The Rise of the Phoenix Centre

The Phoenix Centre is the retail and mail order part of New Findhorn Directions (NFD), which is the business wing of the Findhorn Foundation. David Hoyle is manager of the Phoenix and a director of NFD.

I have been very fortunate in always being able to do what I love within the structure of business and to experience on a personal level that my needs will be met. I knew in my late teens that I would use the framework of the food business as an expression of my service to the world and that it could fulfil my need for right livelihood. Since then I have been involved in a number of exciting ventures, from a very small organic farm in Wales in the early 70s, to a large multinational natural food corporation in North America during the 80s, and then back in Europe with my own family organic food distribution business. Along the way I have participated in a number of wholefood shops, vegetarian restaurants, neighbourhood cafes and various organic food marketing ventures. All of these projects have had a primary emphasis either on quality food, sustainable production, human values or business as a creative expression of spirit. Hopefully, I now have the opportunity with my colleagues at NFD to create businesses that encompass all of these aspects.

The Celebration of Business as Sacred is the guiding vision that came out of a recent day-long retreat attended by the members of the board of NFD. We had a very graceful day together of personal sharing, meditation and attunement. As is so often the case, the time we spent in creating a space for individuals to just be, enabled us to create a group vision very quickly and harmoniously.

It was very important for us, with regard to the actual wording of our vision statement, to establish that we do believe in and commit ourselves to business as a valid path of service for both our inner spirit and outer world. It is also very clear to us that the path of spiritual service is a place for joy and a real source of love as we deepen our connection to all life. I know that when I work from my centre, from my place of true being, then I am energized, inclusive, inspiring etc. When I try to serve out of a sense of duty, or need, or obligation, then I can almost guarantee that eventually I will feel separation, judgment and anything but joy.

While we share a fundamental spiritual belief that all is as it should be, we also have no doubt that our physical world is in a crisis. Business as service offers a clear direction to the world, and the energy of business, if it can be transformed from fear into love, death has the resources to effect real and transformative change in the world. In this sense, while recognizing all that we still have to do, we are very excited by the work we are doing.

Phoenix rising

The Phoenix is a division of NFD. which is one of the three ‘wings’ or operating structures of the Findhorn Foundation. NFD has the normal legal and financial requirements of any company. including the need to be profitable to survive. Our self-appointed board is answerable to the trustees of the Foundation who hold ownership of the company on behalf of the members of the Foundation.

However, because we are owned by an institution rather than an individual, we have some aspects of a public limited company (plc) and we exist also to serve our shareholders; shareholders who have the highest interests of the whole planet at heart, rather than solely personal investment objectives. In another sense our commitment to group process, spiritual attunement and service, makes us very much like a new form of cooperative. As a business that identifies with and plays with these three different and at times contradictory business forms, we have plenty of opportunity for creative conflict resolution and development.

The Phoenix Centre comprises six separate trading operations. There is the main book/new age store, a wholefood shop, the Apothecary, a smaller shop at Cluny Hill College, a mail order business and an active participation in a new age shop called Legends which is run by two former members of the Phoenix team in the nearby town of Elgin. From a purely business point of view we are a successful business, although would always acknowledge that we could do better. But I believe our shareholders, customers, suppliers and employees would all consider that what we do works.

Phoenix Shop bookshelf One Earth 1992

Our shops are stocked with a range of quality brands and products equivalent to most major city stores and we are constantly working to upgrade the shopping environment for both customers and our staff. We now employ about twenty people and all are paid salaries comparable to those earned in the local area.

Although our expected turnover this year is £750,000, our policies of subsidizing organic ecologically friendly goods and discounting to all members of the Findhorn Community mean that profitability will never be our prime objective. This year, for instance, we would expect to make around £45,000 in pre-tax profit and we will have given away the same again in discounts and subsidies. The profit we make is then distributed between reinvestment to upgrade the business, helping to finance the activities of the Foundation and supporting local and international projects such as Trees for Life and local charities.

We also believe that by making holistic quality the prime focus of our buying activities, we support like-minded companies and we raise the consciousness of our customers. These are very important ingredients in any successful business mix of the future.

It is not always easy to marry the sometimes conflicting demands of business and our commitments to spiritual practice. We are fortunate that the majority of our business is concerned with ‘spiritual’ products, but then if we see God in a grain of rice but not in a packet of chewing gum, are we not perpetuating the myth of separation from God? It is in the area of product selection that a lot of our conflicts arise.

The Phoenix started as a traditional new age store but in the last year it has evolved into a community/village store of the future and we now sell wine and beer, confectionery, contemporary literature and modern music; all of which would be questionable products to the purists who would see us almost as ‘moneychangers in the temple’. But all of these products are consumed and enjoyed by members of the community who could drive to the local village and buy what they want there. We can now offer them the choice of organic wine and they no longer have to feel guilty because they want to enjoy a chocolate bar. Our intention is to serve all products and customers with love.

Our other main area of conflict is in honouring the needs of our individual staff members while developing a successful business at the same time. How do we create leadership without bringing up issues of ’authority’? How do we create service with out indulging in server/carer archetypes? How do we create professional standards of trading and service while also allowing people to honour their emotional feelings and needs?

Our working structure includes a daily attunement, a weekly company meditation, a weekly Phoenix meditation/sharing morning, a commitment to open communication among all levels of the company, and the encouragement of all individuals to develop themselves professionally and spiritually. We make full use of the facilities and services of the Findhorn Foundation and we go out and enjoy together the healing power and beauty of our local natural surroundings.

What the Phoenix tries to offer is an environment structured to support the enactment of the NFD statement of vision. I believe that by invoking the presence of God in all we do as business people, we can transform what is often a stormy relationship between business and spirituality, into a marriage of sacred service.

NFD ~ Celebrating Business as Sacred

1. We commit ourselves to integrating an awareness of the presence of God into all our levels of activity including interpersonal relationships and our decision-making processes.

2. We commit ourselves to the creation of an environment that supports the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of our customers, employees, managers, suppliers and shareholders.

3. We commit ourselves to the fostering of businesses that promote excellence in their products and services, always maintaining an attitude of respect for the Earth.

4. We commit ourselves to implementing all of the above in such a way as to generate sufficient profit for the further development of the company and the support of other areas of the Findhorn Foundation, like-minded organizations and our local community, and to be a source of inspiration worldwide.