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It is very important to us that we make this new center a global vision - that it is our vision! We are building a free tea center/school because we believe in it, and also because we believe that it is wanted and needed in the world. The hundreds of guests we have here every year, and the way their lives are changed, is testament to that need. We hope to continue to provide life-changing experiences for more and more people, as well as free lessons in Cha Dao, meditation and self-cultivation. We also hope to be an example for other intentional communities, establishing how to create authentic communal life and do so sustainably, and in harmony with Nature. These goals are valuable, indeed. The world hasn't seen a free tea center in quite some time, and with the way wisdom moves nowadays ours will be even more abundant than the old schools.
These are our aims, simply: community, Cha Dao, meditation and sustainability. We strive to awaken harmony through tea: harmony with Nature, self and others.
We want this to be your vision, too. So many of you have shared time here at the Tea Sage Hut and know firsthand what we do, while others of you are still on the way (we know you'll get here eventually). Since this center belongs to all of us, and it is our job to build it and maintain it for future tea lovers, it is important to us that we be frank, open and honest with all of you (our tea community) about what we're discussing for the future and why.
We have been having a lot of Light Meets Life discussions recently, and we wanted to fill you all in so that you can add any input, advice or suggestions; and so that you know that we are responsible stewards of your donations - that we are working hard to make this common vision a reality. More and more discussions have been motivated recently because we can feel the energy at the Tea Sage Hut increasing all the time, and we can see that soon we won't have the structure to contain it. It would be a real shame if we had to have reservations and a waiting list at the Hut. It would make us cry to turn anyone away. So far that isn't a problem, but it could be if we don't continue working towards making Light Meets Life a reality.
Another reason we have been talking and making plans recently is that our advisors have told us that the number one problem growing organizations face is that they don't have enough foresight: they aren't thinking ahead and putting structures in place to handle greater energy when it comes. We want to be ready for growth, having enough space to put the greater abundance in when it arrives, so that it is celebrated.
One of the problems we have with all our current models of getting the money and building the new center is that they depend too much on Fate. While we know that some Fate will be involved no matter what, it is hard to sit around and talk, talk and more talk - doing nothing - while we wait for a donor(s) to show up and give us the money to build. The plan of waiting for donor(s) isn't much of a plan at all. We want a Plan B that is based on our own hard work, and that has a light at the end of the tunnel - a success that we can see, even if dimly.
Because we want to have a plan that doesn't involve a few donors giving us millions of dollars, we are currently discussing lifting the cap on Global Tea Hut. This has its positives and negatives. From the beginning we have often said that we would limit GTH, because we want it to stay personal and intimate. We still feel that way. What is driving us to question that and think about compromising is that GTH could potentially be what builds our new center. Remember, as of now these are just discussions. Nothing has been decided. And if you have any input on this issue, please post it on the forums or send us an email. The question, put simply, is: Would you be willing to lose some of the intimacy and personal touches in Global Tea Hut if it meant building the new center?
What does 'losing personal touches' mean? We aren't sure, to be honest. It may mean less handwriting on the packages. It may not. We guess it would depend on how many helping hands we had. Of course, GTH would still be a newsletter, Living Tea or Organic plantation tea and a gift. We are uncompromising on that front. Most of the people we have talked to so far have enthusiastically said they would love for GTH to fund the new center, and some have even commented that it would be way better energetically if the center was built by all of us together, rather than one or a few donors.
That brings us to the second main point, which is this: If we do decide to lift the cap on GTH and go from hundreds of members to one or two thousand, would you all be willing to help spread the word so that we could do that more quickly? If this or any of these issues are things you feel opposed to, enthusiastic about or anywhere in the middle, please let us know. Now is the time to make yourselves heard. We want to hear from you!
(Contact us)
globalteahut@gmail.com
