Well, since you asked. I know an ex Nun, who when I asked her why people join convents, monasteries,
etc.. told me that the vast majority do so to escape from something.
This isn't to denounce communal living in general, it's just to acknowledge what often goes on in
practice. I myself admire the successes of the Kibbutz system in Israel. Yet I can see the inherent
tensions
of living in a commune. Relying upon my own experiences with "group dynamics", one can
look at Key 21 (Saturn). To live in a commune (under a
group ethos) is to place oneself inside of a discipline. As long as you can
dance "Inside" the group's ethos, rules, and goals, then that's
fine.
But just as Saturn rules Capricorn (K15-The Devil), the confines of the group could prove restricting. A
group can also fall into the delusion of "separation". Where there's the "Group" on the one
hand, and the rest of the outside world, on the other. Cults are an extreme example of this.
This is what I'm calling presumptuous denial. Accepting the "Group
Think" on things instead of using ones own mind. Do communes have a "Group
Think" on how people should think, act, and relate? My assertion is that ALL
Groups do. It's called the group ethos, or the rules of the pack. And just finding a "pack" that has rules that you
agree with is still no substitute for using one's own mind. Although I'm
sure that some do benefit from having their minds organized (K4) for them,
since it may be an improvement over their previous mental condition.
Now, since Mars is exalted in Capricorn, we all can figure out what eventually happens. The internal
contradictions, and half-truth Group Thinking proves too restrictive and the group is pulled apart
and
dissolves or splinters.
So why do utopian systems fail?
I think that it's because they mistake the scaffolding for the real structure. We are working to build the Adytum, the inner temple.
Whatever practices, beliefs, techniques, or group associations, you engage in
are but the scaffolding used to help build the inner temple. Once the
temple is built, the scaffolding is no longer needed. When people forget this,
then they are building a Tower (K16) which God's Grace will eventually destroy.
jc
So as long as one uses a commune or monastery as scaffolding to help them grow and build, then I
think it can be a useful tool. But once the structure is built, the scaffolding is no longer needed. You
learn what you want to from the experience, and then when you outgrow it, you let it go.
Once the form has served its purpose, then it should be dissolved.
Suffering comes from being attached to the scaffolding even after it is no longer helping, but holding us back.
So I guess I'm just one who leans more towards living in the world, since my temperament doesn't
like to bear any (what I would consider to be) extra scaffolding.
