The Isle of Erraid - Case Study Example

The Isle of Erraid The small, spiritual community of Erraid was begun in 1977 by the Findhorn Foundation, an internationally famous spiritual community who took custody of the island and set to revitalizing the small island located just off of the south-west corner of Mull, Scotland (Findhorn Foundation 2008). Here the residents live a self-sufficient lifestyle, "sharing their homes, work, play and spiritual practice with paying guests" (Findhorn Foundation 2008). The community currently has seven members who play host to a few hundred guests a year, seeking sabbatical from their normally stress-laden lives. Permanent residents of the community generally stay on the island for an average of four years and hail mostly from the United Kingdom. Life on the island is very simple in traditional terms. The islanders tend to the animals, sheep, cows, and chickens, which provide their source of meat. Since the residents are largely vegetarian, the expansive gardens contain a wide variety of vegetables, all tended by the community's residents and visitors. All of the food served on the island is organic and homemade. Bakery items and cheeses produced by the residents are often used to barter with local tradesmen (Findhorn Foundation 2008). This small community also makes their own candles and chops wood for the numerous wood-burning fireplaces and stoves on the island, activities which they encourage guests to participate in. Even the toilets are eco-friendly, outdoor loos where the waste is collected and used as fertilizer. Maintenance to the island's cottages and storage buildings are even accomplished through the efforts of the residents and sometimes their guests. Erraid can be considered a utopian society due to the core values that cement together the members of the community. Erraid's residents strongly believe in the peaceful and spiritual basis that the community operates under. It is a largely self-sufficient society, though not entirely cut off from the rest of the world due to their mandated four week vacation from the island every year and the guests that continually visit throughout the year. Their mission is not to bring peace to the world, but to maintain a tranquil place where the world can come to gain a short respite. All of the current residents left promising careers in various industries to search for a kind of inner peace on the island. Everything in Erraid is a community activity whether it is chores or communal meditation which is practiced on a daily basis. What is obviously absent from the community is a dependence on material possessions such as money, personal belongings, and vehicles, anything that would interrupt the community's ideal of a wholly equal, utopian society. Philosopher Zhang Longxi theories concerning utopian society are based on the belief that utopia is not just a literary fantasy about an unreal paradise, but the "articulation of a social theory, the blueprint for a political system" (Longxi, The Utopian Vision, East and West 2002). Longxi goes on to apply Confucian ideals to his description of utopia, giving it religious, philosophical, and political context (Longxi, The Tao and the Logos: Literary Hermeneutics, East and West (Post-Contemporary Interventions) 1992). There is a special emphasis on morality stemming from the influence of Confucian beliefs that allows the island community of Erraid to be considered a utopian society according to the theories of Longxi. The residents of Erraid live in harmony with one another, drawn together by their shared belief in a moral, spiritual base which permeates the activities on the island. The residents' natural morality and need to maintain the peacefulness of their community acts in lieu of the laws of a modern government. Though according to Longxi's theories, even the utopian society should have some form of political system in place, one that relies mainly on the people's rites and natural morality (Longxi, The Utopian Vision, East and West 2002). It can be argued that the community on Erraid has a form of a political system, being loosely governed by the Stevenson family which owns the island and relying on the basic morality as well as the shared sense of spirituality and community by the residents to govern the activities of the island in addition to the guests that partake in the social gatherings on Erraid (Various 2008). Another view of utopian society is offered by Martin Buber who centers his philosophy on Theistic ideals of one god or deity of religious consciousness as well as interpersonal relations and a sense of community (Buber, I and Thou 1971). The community on Erraid half way fits into this model as it is centered largely on a strong sense of community and dependent upon the relationships between the residents for its continued harmonious existence. The point where the theory does not fit the reality of the community is in the belief in one religious deity. A strong point of the community is the personal growth achieved through exercising one's own beliefs in conjunction with the established ideals of the society (Findhorn Foundation 2008). This leaves little room for a mandated religion or a required belief in one deity. Buber strongly emphasizes two types of relationships found in human society, the Ich-Du and the Ich-Es. The Ich-Du relationship highlights "the mutual, holistic existence of two beings" (Buber, I and Thou 1971). In this relationship, humans have an encounter based solely on truth where neither objectifies anything about the other. The relationship lacks any real structure and no information passes between the participants. Buber believed that this was the only true way to connect with God and that any Ich-Du relationship between anyone and anything relates back to the eternal relationship between creation and God (Buber, I and Thou 1971). The society at Erraid conforms to this philosophy in that the residents believe that there is an underlying spirituality to everything on the island (Findhorn Foundation 2008). This spirituality is not attributed directly to one god or one deity. Their beliefs seem to take root more in the elements surrounding them rather than in anything metaphysical. Also in accordance with the philosophy behind the Ich-Du relationship, the residents seem to be more open to the relationship with each other and the natural sources surrounding them rather than actively pursuing that relationship. In the laid back atmosphere of Erraid, the residents seem more inclined to simply exist and allow the relationship with natural spirits of the island to seek them out rather than searching for them. The other half of Buber's philosophy concerns the Ich-Es, the direct opposite of the Ich-Du. In an Ich-Es relationship the other person or thing is objectified and that objectification or view of the person is internalized, making the relationship more of a relationship with self rather than a tangible relationship with another person or thing. In the Ich-Es, "all such objects are considered merely mental representations, created and sustained by the individual mind" (Buber, I and Thou 1971). This relationship centers on how the objectified person or object can best serve the individual's purposes. Buber believed that the Ich-Es is the most common type of relationship. His theory is that a materialistic view of existence is at the heart of the Ich-Es, even in relationships between human beings, that there are few unselfish motives to a relationship. He argued that not only does this type of relationship exist, but that it is the meaning of all existence (Buber, Between Man and Man 2002). Even though an Ich-Du relationship is considered by Buber's philosophy to be an extremely rare occurrence, the residents of Erraid seem to have found a way to have established that relationship not only between themselves, but also between the community and its natural surroundings. The residents seem to have cast off materialism in favor of their simpler existence by leaving the comforts of the city and their corporate careers to live and work on the island without the benefit of a lot of modern luxuries, such as individual vehicles, restaurants, and the accumulation of wealth. A third view of utopian society is presented by Ernst Bloch, a Marxist philosopher whose studies focus on the concept that a utopian society can only exist in the human world in a place where oppression and exploitation have been eradicated (Bloch, The Spirit of Utopia 2000). His theories include the idea that utopia can be found in the truth, that by pointing out the errors in society it will motivate the people within that society into action to bring about change. He argued that the main tenant of a utopian society is the fulfillment of human needs (Bloch, The Principle of Hope 1986). Bloch believes that hope permeates everyday life and that a realization of the utopian ideal is in fulfillment of the wishes of humanity for a better life (Kellner 2002). The community at Erraid is actively pursuing this version of the utopian ideal in their quest to better their lives through hard work and a relationship with each other and their surroundings. One of the bases of their community is the idea that everyone is equal in their endeavors (Findhorn Foundation 2008). Each of the residents is equal in social status to each other and the residents are equal to the guests that come through the community. In keeping their community somewhat limited in its interaction with the outside world, the residents can theoretically maintain a more fulfilled existence, free from the negativity that can be encouraged in modern society. The residents leave the premises of the island for only four weeks during the entire year. The other forty-eight weeks the island is open to tourists, but it is expected that those coming to the island will come searching for the inner peace and tranquility that the residents have already found and thus would not upset the delicate social balance of the community (Various 2008). The island community somewhat fits into Bloch's views of a utopian society, however rather than attempting to revolutionalize the rest of the world, these people are attempting only to maintain the status quo of their current existence. Though they conform to the ideals of a utopian society, they show no motivation to actively spread the truth that they've acquired concerning their own existence to the rest of the world's population. They've found their own truth, their own peace and sense of fulfillment, which the residents encourage visitors to partake of and find for themselves; however they do not insist upon it. The permanent residents of Erraid meet each of these three philosopher's ideals of the utopian society in different ways. With respect to Longxi, the community at Erraid encourages the treatment of each member of its society as an equal, no matter who the person was in life before coming to the island or where they came from. The island maintains a sense of morality based on the internalized sense of duty to the island and to each other in the continuation of the peaceful way of life that they have found. While it is required that each individual partakes equally in the work and chores that need to be done in order to sustain the community, there appears to be great care taken to ensure that the work does not overshadow or interrupt each person's individual growth toward their goal of inner peace. The people of the community and the sense of oneness that they share seems to be the most important consideration in their daily lives with the maintenance of the physical community coming in second on the list of priorities. In accordance with the theories presented by Buber, Erraid complies with the ideals of a utopian society in that it is centered on a religious consciousness, interpersonal relations, and a strong sense of community. The community stresses good relations between each of the members of its society in the inclusion of the entire group in the majority of activities that take place on the island. This inclusion also serves to strengthen the community as a whole. That is in addition to the necessity of the combined efforts of all members of the society in order to maintain their small community. It lends a sense of pride and value to the community that it requires the efforts of every member to keep the community viable and prosperous. There is no sense of objectification in the members of the community as they have given up their material lives and careers to come live at this place. There also appears to be little or no effort to change the society from the way it was at its formation other than small efforts made to craft a more eco-friendly community. For these reasons, the society at Erraid conforms to Buber's utopian ideal of the Ich-Du relationship not only between the members of the group but also between the group and their natural surroundings. The one place where the community at Erraid does not wholly conform to the Ich- Du theories of Buber is in his Theistic belief of the utopian society existing under the religious precedence of one deity or god. There appears to be a religious undertone to all of the activities of the residents of the island, however there is no mention of one particular deity responsible for their prosperity. It seems to be a more communal approach to nature rather than an actual religion. There is a belief that there are other forces or "spirits" at work in the community lending aid to the residents, but the manifestations are not given a particular name or identity (Findhorn Foundation 2008). The community appears to be wholly excluded through a massive amount of effort from Buber's theory of the Ich-Es relationship. Even though Buber argued that the Ich-Es relationship is possibly the meaning of existence, the people here have done away with the things that would create that type of materialistic existence. There appears to be a concerted effort on Erraid to not objectify each other, but to come together in a peaceful existence in harmony with each other and their surroundings. Having left behind their material possessions in the pursuit of happiness, the islanders seem to have an easier time de-objectifying their lives through a deep reliance on the group and nature. It could be possible that the reason they do not objectify their existence is because there are fewer components to it available to objectify. In Bloch's Marxian influenced views, the utopian society exists in a place where negativity has been banished and the people are ruled by truth. This fits in with the island community of Erraid where the residents have all come there in search of their inner truth. The point of their existence on the island appears to be to eradicate the negativity and stress of the outside world while they seek to live in harmony with nature and with each other. The search for inner peace leaves little room for lies. If truth was not encouraged by the residents of the community, their small society would theoretically fall apart at the hands of deceit and mistrust. The residents are very interdependent. Since there are only a small number of them they must rely heavily on each other to see that everything is taken care of that allows the community to continue in its current vein of existence. Their community encourages the hope of the utopian society through stressing the self reliance of the group on itself without many outside influences. In demonstrating the continued existence of the community without the benefit of assistance from the outside world, the self containment of the group, the people of Erraid are showing their visitors the realization of a true utopia, even if it is rather small in scale. The island community varies from Bloch's ideal in that they do not actively seek to spread their views all over the world. Though they have successfully created and maintained their own utopian society and encourage others to visit and partake in that society, they do not expect other societies to follow suit. They also do nothing to suggest or further that Marxian goal of creating a global utopian society. The utopian ideal of the complete fulfillment of human needs has been met in their group and while they encourage the participation of others in the society, they appear to be content with the status quo of their existence with no perceived need to further their endeavors beyond the best interests of the group. In accordance with all of the theories on utopian society presented here, the community at Erraid appears to be a true utopian society, albeit an extremely small one. The residents all present a uniform view of a peaceful, stress-free lifestyle wherein all of the residents' most basic human needs are met equally. The people promote a mostly self-contained society, free from the contaminants of the outside world by encouraging visitors to participate in their way of life as a path to finding their own self-enlightenment. The island has not been completely shut off from the outside world, however the residents only return to modern society for brief periods of time out of necessity on behalf of the property owners. Their continuation of an eco-friendly, completely harmonious way of life is a testament to the fact that a utopian society is not just the stuff of literary myths. Though it may never be accepted by the entire world as most humans hold fast to their materialistic views of society, a form of utopia does exist for those who are willing to seek it out. The community at Erraid seems to comply best with the theories of Martin Buber concerning a utopian society. The community meets all of Buber's requirements for a utopian existence with the only variance being a concession on the ideal that the utopian society exists under the religious context of one deity or god. Residents of Erraid clearly share a common belief in some type of spiritual entity. However that entity does not appear to be all inclusive nor is it given a firm identity in the community. It appears to be more of a spiritual relationship with the community's natural surroundings rather than the traditional relationship between humans and a single deity. Otherwise, the community at Erraid conforms nicely to all other aspects of Buber's utopia. The residents share a deep sense of pride in their community as it requires the continued efforts of everyone in the group to insure the continued existence of the settlement. They also strictly adhere to the idea that everyone is treated as an equal. There is no money involved in their day to day activities, the vast majority of which are community activities, so there is no hierarchy between the members of the group. Everyone is treated the same and everyone contributes equally to the community. There is no emphasis placed on the past activities of the group, only a concentration on the present and the future within the confines of the community. Also, since everyone is treated in the same regard, there is no definite political system in place on the island. The residents are given the same voice between themselves and the visitors to the island community are treated as one of the residents during their stay, generally expected to pitch in and help out with the chores and maintenance of the community as well as encouraged to participate in the ongoing community activities. Each member of the community appears to be open to the experience of the utopian society and the benefits that come with living in it rather than seeking to gain more from it than what is offered. There is no mention of the existence of an Ich-Es relationship within the community. Each member seems to have made a conscious decision to cast off that part of themselves when they left their former lives to come live in the utopian community at Erraid. Through the community at Erraid may not be a perfect example of a utopian society, not really conforming to every nuance of utopian theory, it does come remarkably close, safely allowing it to be considered a small example of the existence of utopia in the modern world. Works Cited Bloch, Ernst. The Principle of Hope. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986. Bloch, Ernst. The Spirit of Utopia. Hartford: Stanford University Press, 2000. Buber, Martin. Between Man and Man. New York: Routledge, 2002. Buber, Martin. I and Thou. New York: Free Press, 1971. Findhorn Foundation. Isle of Erraid. January 2, 2008. www.erraid.com (accessed December 2, 2008). Kellner, Douglas. Ernst Bloch, Utopia and Ideology Critique. April 28, 2002. http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/kell1.htm (accessed December 3, 2008). Longxi, Zhang. Allegoresis: Reading Canonical Literature East and West . Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005. Longxi, Zhang. The Tao and the Logos: Literary Hermeneutics, East and West (Post-Contemporary Interventions). Durham: Duke University Press, 1992. Longxi, Zhang. "The Utopian Vision, East and West." Utopian Studies, Winter 2002: 1- 21. Various. Diggers and Dreamers. October 22, 2008. http://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk/ (accessed December 3, 2008). Read More