Service Exchange Program: When Guests Become Close Friends
In July 2011, we had some guests at Sunburst who did something extraordinary: these people, whom I assume have daily lives as busy and full as mine, had set aside two full weeks to live with us and experience up close and personal what it’s like to live in an intentional community.
These eight men and women could have gone camping in Yosemite, or flown to Tahiti, or done any number of other things that regular folks do with their summer vacations, but instead they chose to come to Sunburst and find out what we’re doing here. I felt so honored by that, as I know other Sunburst residents did—that people would choose to spend their free time learning what we do here, studying the teachings we live by, and immersing themselves in this place we all love so much.
Sometimes our guests think Sunburst might be a kind of utopia or escape from the “real world,” but they quickly learn that living in community is actually a commitment to living on the front line of human experience. Everyone here has their own ego and pet peeves, their particular shortcomings and challenges. We have disagreements. We’re just regular people. The difference is that we’re dedicated to minimizing and resolving any conflicts using the tools our founder Norman Paulsen taught Sunburst’s original residents and which we still practice today: Kriya Yoga, the 12 Virtues, and the Eight-Fold Path.
A lovingly created new corner of the Lodge garden
When I met some of our Service Exchange Program guests soon after their stay started, it was while they were working with Heiko cleaning up the gardens and landscaping around the Lodge. It was a fairly warm day, and I could tell that some of them weren’t used to working outside or doing physical labor. But there they were, talking and laughing, some on their knees weeding, some with a wheelbarrow and rake, others with shovels. Heiko never misses a chance to put people to work, so I knew they were going to have a full work-trade experience! I was very impressed with their willingness to try new things and really get into Sunburst’s daily life.
At lunch a couple of days later, I joined the group outside on the lawn and found that the bonds among these people had strengthened perceptibly. I saw a lot of smiles, hugs, laughter, and kidding around, and also some tears occasionally as people allowed long-stowed emotions and tension to surface and dissipate in the atmosphere of love and support that Sunburst is known for. Since Jim and I came here, that’s something we see all the time, and we’ve experienced it ourselves. There’s a very healing energy here—from the land, the people, and Norm’s presence still vibrating strongly all around us—that gently encourages people to let down their guard and allow love to enter and open their hearts. It’s beautiful to see, and I felt so grateful to be even a small part of the process that was causing a beneficial shift in our guests’ well-being.
During the Kriya Yoga retreat that came on the last weekend of the Service Exchange Program, I realized as I looked around the meditation circle one afternoon just how close these men and women, these guests who were now part of Sunburst’s extended family, had become. They had taken on the comfortable demeanor of brothers and sisters, and seemed to be so completely themselves. Most were much more relaxed than when they had arrived, and many radiated a palpable new strength of spirit and purpose as they approached the end of their stay at Sunburst.
I know that many of these dear new friends will return one day, and some will stay with us as we continue the human adventure that is Sunburst. It was a privilege to participate in and witness the process through which these people transformed themselves into fuller, deeper expressions of the Divine Spirit that lives within each one of us.
_________________________________________
Sidenotes
One of our guests, Carey, had been with us for some time on his own before joining the formal Service Exchange Program with the other participants. He quickly became a beloved member of the community. Carey could often be found sitting quietly in the shade of the cottonwoods outside the Lodge as he worked on his art and listened to sweet music on his radio.
Groundskeeper Heiko surveys his team's work
Carey recently had this to say about his experience at Sunburst:
“Meditation on the Divine, living surrounded by nature,
eating healthy food, working to improve a spiritual sanctuary, having free time, reflecting on ways of conscious living,
& celebrating with song…
What could be better?
Doing it with wonderful people!”
Another participant, an energetic and outgoing life coach named Kim, wrote about her stay:
“I felt so blessed by the opportunity to participate in the Sunburst Service Exchange Program. The environment was like another member of our group: so beautiful, fully present, and bursting with life. I felt immediate connections to many individuals and to the Rainbow Path curriculum. Working with the land brought me great appreciation for those who had come before. Daily meditation with instruction created the change I had always envisioned for myself. A surprise bonus was the incredibly tasty and plentiful vegetarian cuisine—simply delicious. Thank you! I look forward to a lasting relationship with Sunburst, and all its residents and friends. Sunburst has written on the slate of my being!”
We’re grateful to be traveling the path of self-realization with such people.
