The Ojai Foundation

THE MISSION of The Ojai Foundation is to strengthen individuals, families and communities by teaching ways to listen and speak from the heart, to honor life's passages and to appreciate our connection with nature -- supporting the emergence of a compassionate, sustainable and peaceful world.

Today we are challenged to address many urgent needs in our world: non-violence, sustainability, renewal of our kinship with the natural world, and a deep longing for a return to a tangible sense of community on a humane scale.

As we struggle with the often fragmenting and dehumanizing forces in modern society, we find ourselves drawn to the perennial wisdom of people who live closer to the earth, to the wisdom of the circle rather than the single, hierarchical leader, to a deeper listening and a closer bond with nature. We are moved to rekindle a sense of meaning in our lives through service to others, rites of passage, an honoring of those who have gone before, and through surrendering to the spiritual and numinous in our lives.

We honor the ancient tradition of sitting in Council, listening to the stories of others, the diversity of experience and understanding, light and dark, that resides in our collective heart; and in turn, sharing our own story with authenticity and integrity. We honor the timeless way of marking the passages in our lives, of going alone into the wilderness, accompanied only by our questions, fears and longings, there to give ourselves up to a greater knowing, that we might return empowered to serve our communities. We enter the city also as a place of learning, to serve as a bridge between the life-affirming roots of family and community and the challenging complexities of urban life.

For further information, please visit other headings and links on this website or call the Foundation office directly at (805) 646-8343.