LA BORIE NOBLE (Community of the Ark)

La Borie Noble – 34650 Roqueredonde
+33 (0) 467440989 / 467588715

It was founded in 1948 by Lanza del Vasto after his encounter with Gandhi, it´s the oldest of the Communities of the Ark (L´Arche) and about 20 permanent people all ages live there. It´s placed in the countryside in the South of France, in the region of Languedoc, and it has a low environmental impact and a high selfsufficiency.

Their principles are the next: inner work and spiritual search; service and help to others; choice of a simple life; respect for all living creature; action for justice and peace by non-violent ways. Some actions were against nuclear French programme and the French torture and occupation in Algeria. Nowadays they organize activities about youth and non-violence.

The daily life passes practically without electricity, which -except for milling flour and dancing with recorded music- it´s not used in common or guest rooms. Following a timetable in accordance with natural light and making the daily tasks with it, it makes easy to be without artificial light. The use of electricity for the community members in their private rooms is optional. They have two cars for delivery of bread and collective use.

Big gardens cultivated by hand or with the help of horses produce large parte of the nutritional needs of the community, including cereals. About eight cows provide milk, butter and cheese for self-consumption. They also make bread for self-consumption and sell in shops of the region of ecological products. Gastronomy deserves a special mention, with an excelente diet: varied, delicious, biologic and vegetarian with vegan option.

During the daily work a bell regularly strikes to pause, have silence and become aware of the here and now. Likewise, there are two daily rituals, besides moments for personal meditation. All these special moments are optional. The morning ritual, at the beginning of the working day and after breakfast, is to stand up, prayer, singing, reading of some short text (for example, about budism or Martin Luther King´s), greeting to the people near you, and finishing with sharing tasks day and giving notices and goodbyes. The evening ritual, after working and before dinner, starts with a circle around a little bonfire, the people taking by the hand, prayer, singing, goodbyes and introduction of the newcomers.

They speak, in different degree, French, German, English, Castilian-Spanish... It´s the paradise for the cat lovers: they are very affectionate, hairy and pretty. Public phone.

The week visitors programme consists of 35 working hours in exchange of stay, food and share the communal life.

My impressions, apart from above ones, are the community is more spiritual than religious (on Christian and ecumenical basis), and it has an openness which many of we should learn it. For an atheist, agnostic and without spiritual dedication like me, it was a very nice stay and I didn´t felt coercion because of don´t take part in all the rituals, although I was in the most of them for a mixture of respect and curiosity. I noticed inside the community different orthodox levels following the initial principles of Lanza del Vasto. Thus, this was obvious with the special clothes of some member or in the domestic debates around the use of tecnology.

Very near of this, there is other L´Arche Community: La Flayssiére.

Note: There are other L´Arche Communities around the world, and some of them don´t agree with Lanza del Vasto, but Jean Vanier. In these last “normal” people live with other “mentally disabled”, on a Christian-Catholic and ecumenical (open to other confessions) basis.


TRAIN: Le Cabrils (line Béziers-Millau)

STAY: 17-26 May´06

It appears in Eurotopia

Link to PHOTOS

Sábado, 04 de noviembre de 2006
Por: s_d_xira | Frances | Comentarios (0) | Referencias (0) | 47 Lecturas