Who We Are Presently
Presently Sofia is a loosely knit collection of people who are seeking to put some of these ideas to the test. Like any good lab work we expect to fail some tests and succeed in others and, in keeping this process open and public, we hope to contribute to the religious and spiritual evolution of our modern world.
Monastery or Retreat Center
What makes Sofia different from a retreat center or an intentional community is that our life revolves around a monastic rule and a liturgical way of life.
Monastic Rule
A monastery is a group of people who are committed to a monastic rule and in general the monastic rule is a code of ethics designed to infuse wisdom into the pursuit of happiness. In other words monastics tend to reject the idea that a consumeristic model can lead to any lasting well being, whether for individuals or for the greater community. Instead they seek to live more fervently and courageously by taking refuge in the pursuit of compassion for others and the wisdom of meditative insight.
Liturgy
Our liturgical life means that we gather daily around relevant and well tested scriptures as a way of continually realigning our hearts towards the pursuit of compassion and wisdom. While we root ourselves in the ancient and authentic Mahayana Buddhist tradition we also incorporate a variety of other expressions of awakening including Christian and Advaita Vedantic scriptures.
Our unity is in our commitment as Mahayana practitioners and our individual diversity and vitality is expressed by the different paths and callings of each member of the community.
Meditation
The variety of Buddhist teachings on meditative stillness are incredibly effective and applicable to almost all modern problems. Since it is unnecessary to adopt Buddhist beliefs in order to benefit from these practices we seek to share our own developed skills in meditation with a much broader population and be a positive force of transformation in the world.
Yoga
We also are unified in our commitment to yoga asana. Our bodies and what we put into them have a direct impact on the success of our practice to cultivate stillness and compassion. Yoga and monasticism are designed for each other and we all are drawn together by a desire to keep this well needed pair matched. Being physically fit and the modest use of food are essential components of life at Sofia.
Dear Friends,
Thank you for being interested in Sofia. My name is Will Duncan and I am one of the founders of Sofia. My involvement in this project was born out of 25 years of being drawn to monasticism. I left home when I was 18 with a desire to be a monk and I travelled the world studying various monastic traditions and ultimately looking for a potential home in one of them.
My heart teacher, Rev. Murray Rogers, guided me in this pursuit and introduced me to some of the greatest monastics of our times; extraordinary people that gave me great belief in the power and relevancy of the contemplative way of life.
Despite the immense beauty of many of the communities I visited and lived in, I continued to run up against a couple of core issues that always gave me pause.
Non-Dogmatisicm
One was a dogmatism that I could not subscribe to. Having had authentic spiritual experiences in a couple of different religious traditions I felt almost troubled by the fact that I could not deny the validity of a variety of different paths. I was searching for a place where I did not have to suppress or deny these beliefs in the validity of multi traditions.
Earth Literacy
The other issue that kept me "moving on" was a painful disconnect I often felt in monastic communities between the spiritual pursuit and a sustainable and lovingly reciprocal relationship with the earth. The Dominican Sisters at Genesis Farms calls this Earth Literacy; a feeling of stewardship with the earth and not the entitlement of ownership.
My own teachers ashram in North India (Jyotiniketan) was exemplary in this respect. Their earth literacy was rooted not in sophisticated technologies but rather in a deep commitment to simplicity. They embodied the words of the American mystic The Peace Pilgrim (Mildred Lisette Norman) who said, "I shall not accept more than I need while others in the world have less than they need". The people I have met who are courageous enough to engage this radical simplicity are often the most joyful and spiritually robust people I know.
Models and History
As I continued my journey I became moved by the growing New Monastic Movement in the West; a loosely connected group of people seeking to redefine what monasticism means in the modern world. I also was interested to discover a long tradition of men, women and couples living monastically together in many of the traditional Russian Sketes and Poustinia's of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I have visited some of the last remaining Sketes in the West to learn from their successes and mistakes.
Slowly as I have travelled the world teaching (America, Canada, Brasil, Eastern Europe, China, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Germany, and France) I have met more and more people who have a desire for spiritual and even religious community but feel homeless; not being able to find a community that is rooted in authentic practice, while being non-dogmatic and earth literate.
But what we have also seen in the last 30 years of the new age and human potential movements is that a desire to avoid the dogmatism of religion can also lead to a kind of watered down and flaccid spirituality devoid of any serious depth or tradition (or even efficacy).
How to find the balance? It's a timely question that is emerging strongly in the world today. Many of the old religious institutions are failing for lack of relevance yet many of the modern spiritual communities are proving to be insubstantial and barren. Sofia is a sincere attempt to enter that dialogue with boldness and humility.
Thank you for taking the time to explore these ideas with us. If any of this sounds interesting to you and you would like more information we welcome you to contact us and we look forward to hearing from you.
Heartily and warmly,
Will Duncan---
Presently Sofia is a loosely knit collection of people who are seeking to put some of these ideas to the test. Like any good lab work we expect to fail some tests and succeed in others and, in keeping this process open and public, we hope to contribute to the religious and spiritual evolution of our modern world.
Monastery or Retreat Center
What makes Sofia different from a retreat center or an intentional community is that our life revolves around a monastic rule and a liturgical way of life.
Monastic Rule
A monastery is a group of people who are committed to a monastic rule and in general the monastic rule is a code of ethics designed to infuse wisdom into the pursuit of happiness. In other words monastics tend to reject the idea that a consumeristic model can lead to any lasting well being, whether for individuals or for the greater community. Instead they seek to live more fervently and courageously by taking refuge in the pursuit of compassion for others and the wisdom of meditative insight.
Liturgy
Our liturgical life means that we gather daily around relevant and well tested scriptures as a way of continually realigning our hearts towards the pursuit of compassion and wisdom. While we root ourselves in the ancient and authentic Mahayana Buddhist tradition we also incorporate a variety of other expressions of awakening including Christian and Advaita Vedantic scriptures.
Our unity is in our commitment as Mahayana practitioners and our individual diversity and vitality is expressed by the different paths and callings of each member of the community.
Meditation
The variety of Buddhist teachings on meditative stillness are incredibly effective and applicable to almost all modern problems. Since it is unnecessary to adopt Buddhist beliefs in order to benefit from these practices we seek to share our own developed skills in meditation with a much broader population and be a positive force of transformation in the world.
Yoga
We also are unified in our commitment to yoga asana. Our bodies and what we put into them have a direct impact on the success of our practice to cultivate stillness and compassion. Yoga and monasticism are designed for each other and we all are drawn together by a desire to keep this well needed pair matched. Being physically fit and the modest use of food are essential components of life at Sofia.
Dear Friends,
Thank you for being interested in Sofia. My name is Will Duncan and I am one of the founders of Sofia. My involvement in this project was born out of 25 years of being drawn to monasticism. I left home when I was 18 with a desire to be a monk and I travelled the world studying various monastic traditions and ultimately looking for a potential home in one of them.
My heart teacher, Rev. Murray Rogers, guided me in this pursuit and introduced me to some of the greatest monastics of our times; extraordinary people that gave me great belief in the power and relevancy of the contemplative way of life.
Despite the immense beauty of many of the communities I visited and lived in, I continued to run up against a couple of core issues that always gave me pause.
Non-Dogmatisicm
One was a dogmatism that I could not subscribe to. Having had authentic spiritual experiences in a couple of different religious traditions I felt almost troubled by the fact that I could not deny the validity of a variety of different paths. I was searching for a place where I did not have to suppress or deny these beliefs in the validity of multi traditions.
Earth Literacy
The other issue that kept me "moving on" was a painful disconnect I often felt in monastic communities between the spiritual pursuit and a sustainable and lovingly reciprocal relationship with the earth. The Dominican Sisters at Genesis Farms calls this Earth Literacy; a feeling of stewardship with the earth and not the entitlement of ownership.
My own teachers ashram in North India (Jyotiniketan) was exemplary in this respect. Their earth literacy was rooted not in sophisticated technologies but rather in a deep commitment to simplicity. They embodied the words of the American mystic The Peace Pilgrim (Mildred Lisette Norman) who said, "I shall not accept more than I need while others in the world have less than they need". The people I have met who are courageous enough to engage this radical simplicity are often the most joyful and spiritually robust people I know.
Models and History
As I continued my journey I became moved by the growing New Monastic Movement in the West; a loosely connected group of people seeking to redefine what monasticism means in the modern world. I also was interested to discover a long tradition of men, women and couples living monastically together in many of the traditional Russian Sketes and Poustinia's of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I have visited some of the last remaining Sketes in the West to learn from their successes and mistakes.
Slowly as I have travelled the world teaching (America, Canada, Brasil, Eastern Europe, China, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Germany, and France) I have met more and more people who have a desire for spiritual and even religious community but feel homeless; not being able to find a community that is rooted in authentic practice, while being non-dogmatic and earth literate.
But what we have also seen in the last 30 years of the new age and human potential movements is that a desire to avoid the dogmatism of religion can also lead to a kind of watered down and flaccid spirituality devoid of any serious depth or tradition (or even efficacy).
How to find the balance? It's a timely question that is emerging strongly in the world today. Many of the old religious institutions are failing for lack of relevance yet many of the modern spiritual communities are proving to be insubstantial and barren. Sofia is a sincere attempt to enter that dialogue with boldness and humility.
Thank you for taking the time to explore these ideas with us. If any of this sounds interesting to you and you would like more information we welcome you to contact us and we look forward to hearing from you.
Heartily and warmly,
Will Duncan---
