Please consider supporting our progressive work with your tax-deductible donation and subscribe to our newsletter. Born in Denver on Feb. 16, 1935, Gaskin grew up around the Southwest and California, following his father, a cowboy and construction worker, from job to job. These days it feels easier at times to sense the mysterious nature of the Timeless in the boundless expansiveness of each moment. Dont try to take over the government. All we have to do is agree on what we want and we can make it happen. But at the highest level, they become One. But we had been straight with the people around us so much, see, that when I went to jail, 600 of our neighbors signed a petition saying I shouldnt go. In the mid-1960s, many people went through a cultural change that took them away from their roots and cast them adrift, searching for something better. Since 1974, High Times Magazine has been the #1 resource for cannabis news, culture, brands and marijuana legalization laws. Its the name of Don Quixotes horse and John Steinbecks pickup truck, he said, so its a vehicle for an incurable idealist.. Stephen Gaskin obituary - Los Angeles Times 2) Have they taken the key retirement risks off the table" The answer to . You shouldnt take barbiturates or tranquilizers. Each one of us has an electrical body field that surrounds us, and a mind field that goes on to infinity." Stephen Gaskin Put out your best love and your best good will, and most serious love all the time, because there is always someone who needs it." -Stephen Gaskin Soak means to spend some time here. Ms. Gaskins center is noted for its low rates of intervention, morbidity and mortality despite the inclusion of many vaginally delivered breeches, twin and grand multiparas. The country was torn in half. [6], Gaskin was the first recipient of the Right Livelihood Award in 1980 (listed as Plenty International) and was inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame in 2004. Stephen Gaskin - Wikiwand Partly because the victims of the quake still needed a lot of help and partly because we had fallen in love with the Indians who were already up against it long before the earthquake hit. Because Stephens caravan was honest and polite and as clean as you can be living out of a bus and and and joyously religious. So we had to take that seriously. 2014 at the Farm. Ultimately, I had an experience of Perfect Oneness that fulfilled my deepest aspirations and dispelled any fundamental fear about death. 1) How much guaranteed lifetime income do they have to cover their basic living expenses. I think it protects freedom of religion for all Americans, and also freedom from religion. Both liked buses and took roads less traveled internally and externally. Im doing what Im doing because I havent got anything else to do and there isnt anything else worth doing anyway. We tend to forget that, of course. I dont believe in being crazy, because Ive been in and back out of those places so many times that I know them like my back yard now and they dont scare me anymore. And an evangelical rock band. Where do you see our country today? So we sent 50,000 bushels down there on that trip. And there we can show them this sort of down-home, seat-of-the-pants, village-level technology that weve stumbled onto and taught ourselves over the past few years. But we love each other good, and we be good to each other, and it aint so bad on us. Ready to turn your passions into steady income? But I think the political situation of the country is flat-out scary. Stephen Gaskin, Hippie Who Founded an Enduring Commune, Dies at 79 And an awful lot of the folks who just come in to have a baby delivered decide to stay on as residents. Our college educations hadnt taught us a thing about growing our own food or properly disposing of our own wastes or anything like that. Hey Beatnik 1974 - The Farm Over the years, he and his wife Ina May have contributed immensely to both our magazine and our Cannabis Cups, bringing an elevated consciousness and spirituality that has enlightened the lives of our audience and staff alike. In 1970, Gaskin and a caravan of 60 vehicles crossed the United States to settle 60 miles south-west of Nashville, Tennessee, forming a community called "The Farm", which the Wall Street Journal came to call "the General Motors of American Communes". ), Yet, as the years rolled on it became more and more obvious to me that spiritual practice wasnt about the Big Flashs and Psychic Powers. PLENTY was founded on The Farm in 1974 because, after three years, The Farm was taking care of itself and was strong enough to reach out to help some other folks who were in worse shape. They say, Well, nobody else ever did anything this heavy with us before and we like these people so this must be the place weve been looking for.. Best of all, you will live rent-free! One of the best things weve been able to do is work out a deal with the U.S. Immigration Service that allows some native Guatemalan Indians to come up here to The Farm in Tennessee and live with us for a while and see what were doing and exchange ideas with us. Drain and rinse the beans the next morning and grind them to a paste in a blender. [7], Gaskin continued to work as an international activist, writer and speaker until a few months before his death. More than anyone, Stephens teachings informed my ideas about the nature of Reality and the work to be done during our sojourn on this planet. I cant think of any better way to see it, say it and try to be it. Stephen F. Gaskin, founder of the Farm commune in Tennessee, dies at 79 "I think it is one of the most important documents in history. No guns. But we dont have that kind of trouble with PLENTY because, here on The Farm, were all right down on the firing line. At Sunday gatherings, Gaskin sermonized about the well-lived life, presided over burials and performed marriages. Thats what we take with us when we go out on a PLENTY mission. What were really into is making a living in a clean way. They say, I didnt know anybody wanted to learn this old stuff anymore. And we say, Yeah, man. "And I said, 'We're a collective. By that time they knew we didnt take welfare and that we werent violent and we worked hard and we told the truth and we wanted to learn from them. Purchased for $70 an acre, the fledgling community endured trials that were practically biblical. Now this hasnt really been done before, and some of the officials dont know how to react to it. His last published works were revised and annotated versions of Monday Night Class and The Caravan. But if you put the work into it, itll come back and feed you. So you shouldnt take speed or smack or coke. Just look at The Farm itself. With about 175 members, its smaller and more consumer-friendly; it hosts group retreats and sells souvenir tote bags at The Farm website. Gaskin: We were about 275 when we first got here. Read some of our books and correspond with us to see where were at. No synthetic psychedelics. We could no longer just separate and go back to our separate apartments and our separate lives. Tom Rand helps veterans grow medical cannabis by providing access to equipment and educational resources. Psychology departments tell you that crazy is a mysterious disease that you have to be afraid of, and thats a crock. Lord have mercy! There were no rules. When you get right down to it, were a Salvation Army Band, and what weve come for is your gourd. The Farms population is 10 percent of the whole population of Lewis County and our, maybe, 500 votes is 75 percent of all the votes here in our district. He also was managing editor of the Ventura Star-Free Press. People who dont understand that sometimes put their attention into strange things such as television. After learning how to farm on 1,750 acres of rough and rugged terrain in rural Tennessee, The Farm became an internationally known model and an exporter of farming skills, tools, nutrition, midwifery, and other forms of appropriate technology for village-scale societies. The trouble with the universities is that they keep telling you that people cant think. So we sent three guys, two toolboxes, and $135. Later, Mr. Gaskin wrote that he became a spiritual leader because "there was a bunch of stuff I wanted to know really bad, and I went out looking to learn it," he said in a early 1970s publication of The Farm Report, "and I found out that it was really hard to answer the questions I wanted answered.". When the American Academy of Religion sent Mr. Gaskin on a 42-state speaking tour, many of his acolytes followed. "HEY LADIES! Former Auto Claims Representative. Knew his Bible, that was easy enough to see. Some folks can and some cant. There was a school and a publishing company that published successful books on CB radio and satellite television. We treasure our freedom here. You see, we dont just come out to rock for you. Were just trying to help them help themselves. If you deal with a wholesaler, youll see that they all get it from the same distributor. We have a Ph.D. a biochemist whos set up a lab for us, and 55 people are learning to do clinic and medical work and run lab tests, and now our Ph.D. is going back to school to get his M.D. In 1997, she received the ASPO/Lamaze Irwin Chabon Award and the Tennessee Perinatal Association Recognition Award. Born in Denver, Colorado on February 16th, 1935, Stephen Gaskin served with the Fifth Regiment of the US Marines in the Korean War between 1952 and 1955. We believe that if a vegetable and an animal want to get together and can be heavier together than either one is alone, it shouldnt be anybody elses business. In 1976, Gaskin married Ina May, who became nationally known through her 1977 book Spiritual Midwifery, which sold more than 600,000 copies. On a budget of $1 per person per day and no grants, no foodstamps, and no welfare the original 320 settlers bought the land, erected the buildings, and became agriculturally self-sufficient within 4 years. I come from a long and proud American tradition that includes the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson and Helen Keller and Lena Horne and Henry David Thoreau and Samuel Clemens and Herman Melville. And it has existed unwritten for all these billions of years that there has been a Universe. There aint no such thing as crazy because we all have free will and were all doing what we want. Building on a common understanding core to many intentional communitiesthe idea that interdependence equals independenceGaskins vision for The Farm was not just an escape from mainstream culture. Homeland Securitys been good to us, Gaskin told the Times in 2004. Lets do it! The first thing we did was to help out some farmers out in Alabama that got into some tornado trouble. Ms. Gaskin herself has attended more than 1200 births. Forty-three years after he bought The Farm, Gaskin died on it. People whove never done anything real before in their lives can come here and try being a carpenter for a while, and then switch off and do some farming, and then work in the soy dairy or the garage, or do something in our electronics shop. Publishes Quarterly in February, May, August, and November. If you aint livin that way now, youre going to have to change when you come in. And, deep down, I think everybody knows this. Can you make that kind of change in your life? While on tour with The Save Movement through North America, I went on a farm investigation tour with Chino Cow Save. The Farm is a nondenominational church. Mark Durand, American Journal of Public Health, March, 1992, Vol. "I think the importance of the United States lies in the sincere attempt to live without royalty and with respect for other people's religions. Eva Gaskin, who was delivered by midwives Gaskin trained herself, and sons Samuel and Paul. We thought wed call it Plenty because it sounds so innocuous until you explain that there would be plenty if resources were accurately distributed. Read on for this excellent starting a small business from home checklist. In 1974, Gaskin founded Plenty International and, after a massive 1976 earthquake in Guatemala, helped rebuild 1200 houses, several schools and restored water to many villages. We fortify our milk with vitamin B 12. But compared to most of the rest of the world, were. Its a shame and a sin that were so ego-bound we can forget that there are hungry folks all over the planet right now while were spending millions of dollars on hair spray and reducing salons and speedboats and dune buggies and snowmobiles and all these other things we call a high standard of living, but which dont seem to make us very happy somehow. We began to realize that we could hook those folks up to some of the wheels, power tools, generators, pumps, medical equipment, markets, agricultural developments, radios, and video stuff we had access to and in that way even working from our poverty level dramatically raise their quality of life. I am also a 4th degree Knight of Peter Claver. Add a pinch of salt to the liquid and sugar it to taste. He remained on The Farm until his death. Having seen the horrors of combat firsthand, it is perhaps not surprising that Gaskin dedicated most of his life to peace. We believe that religion is the natural wiring diagram of the mind of man and of the Universe. 40 Years On "The Farm" - Full Documentary - Kindred Media Beliefs and Agreements - The Farm Mr. Gaskin appealed in court, but in 1974, he and several other men spent nearly a year in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. And he marries people who, if they expect to stay on The Farm and in his congregation, understand that theyre also to stay married and true to each other till death do them part. Its a probationary period both ways. And then if youre sure you understand what youre getting into, you can come spend a couple of days with us at no charge. Sustainable Living - Blog, Articles, & Tips, The Plowboy Interview: Stephen Gaskin and The Farm. And he told us that 7,000 tons of building materials were already on a freighter bound out of Canada. She was featured in Salon magazines feature Brilliant Careers in the June 1, 1999 edition. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Reimagining Humanity Launches: A New Short Film and Sequel to Breaking, Reimagining Humanity Film Launch the Sequel to Breaking the. If youre living in an economy that always has you holding a lot of paper, and everything comes apart youre going to be stuck with paper. The only trouble was, beyond the promise of help from a couple of volunteers, nobody had yet lined up any carpenters to work with the 7,000 tons of material when it got to Guatemala.