Our Core Values and Birthrights

At Peaceful Village, no creature is viewed as property to be used or harmed in any way. What comes from nonhuman animals, like eggs, milk, honey or babies, is not ours to steal and consume. We cherish all life; therefore, everyone, from their hearts, who is physically at Peaceful Village for their entire stay, resonates with the core values and birthrights and eats raw vegan in the communal areas.

Vegan is the principle of Ahimsa, an ancient Sanskrit word meaning harmlessness, noninjury or nonviolence, and is the fundamental value from which the others spring, and why veganism and raw veganism are essential to living and sharing with others. We refrain and eliminate the consumption of nonhuman animals, their secretions, and what comes from them as food products and the use of animals in totality, doing our best to minimize as much harm as we can. Everyone at Peaceful Village does not consume the flesh of animals, “meat”, dairy products from cows, goats or other animals (their milk, yogurt, cheese, ghee, etc.), eggs from hens and other female animals, bee honey, and insects, etc., and ingredients in packaged items that come from animals. We also refrain from using, wearing, and buying clothing or other fabrics from nonhuman animals that come from sheep (wool and cashmere), silkworms (silk), skin from cows (leather), and rabbits, dogs, mink or other animals for their fur. Even candles and floss, for example, are usually made with bee’s wax. The manufacturers usually don’t mention this, so we know if they are not soy candles or unwaxed or vegan floss, then the products are usually not vegan. We do our best not to buy products that contain or may contain animal materials, when, and if possible. We do not use nonhuman animals, like horses or oxen, for transportation or work. To the best of our ability, we never support products or companies that use animals for testing or experimentation, entertainment, or other uses. Sometimes this may be hard, as many food items and other products from companies that don’t contain animal ingredients are still tested on animals. So, we avoid buying package products, especially from large companies. We value all animals’ freedom and treat everyone as members of the universal family. When arriving at our community, please abstain from bringing anything derived from animals as specified above.

We don’t consider any of the following terms to be in alignment with the ethics of veganism: “veggan” (people who claim to be vegan and include eggs in their diet), “entovegan” (people who claim to be vegan that consume insects), “bivalvegan” (people that claim to be vegan that include animals such as oysters and clams in their diet), “vegetarian” (consuming eggs or dairy, but not consuming the flesh of animals), pescatarian, frugivore, veggie, vegie, plant-based, plant-strong, herbivore, meat-free, or any others.

Pets and Domestication
Because we value the freedom of every being, no one owns or has domesticated animals (dogs, cats, rabbits, and other pets or farmed animals like chickens, cows, pigs, ducks, turkeys, fish, or even insects) at Peaceful Village, even if they are rescued or adopted. We value the lives of nonhuman animals and live in harmony with them. Everyone has the right to live completely free lives to come and go as they please.

We also don’t feed nonhuman animals, as they will lose their natural instinct to feed themselves and will rely on us for food. Read the book Return to the Gentle Sea: For the Love That Lives in Everyone by Michael Lanfield to learn more about this.

Note: Please do not bring any product to Peaceful Village land that includes or may include animal-derived ingredients, including supplements. Do not bring companion animals “pets”. Except for certain products like electronics, phones, computers, construction building materials, and other products that are not marked, there may be no sure way to know if they are truly vegan products. If in doubt, contact us to know if a product is vegan or not, or visit our site for a list of
animal ingredients.

Raw Vegan
At Peaceful Village we define raw vegan(ism) as an ethical extension of veganism, respecting the lives of nonhuman animals, and not viewing their bodies or secretions as things to be used, while not thermally processing and heating/dehydrating above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 44/45 degrees Celsius), cooking or burning food. People here eat various raw fresh whole foods, including ripe fruits, vegetables, leafy greens and herbs, sprouts, fungi, and truly raw nuts and seeds. Many of us also include smoothies, juices, soups, and sauces, all raw. As best as we can, we consume the most minimally processed plant foods by eating what Mother Nature provides directly in their fresh and ripe state. Because we emphasize on eating whole foods, we don’t allow any oils (even coldpressed) or salt for internal consumption in the communal areas. However, many raw foodists here will use vacuum blenders, slow juicers, and dehydrators. Some people in their transition will consume commercially available nuts and seeds or nori and other seaweed, raisins, dates, dry fruits, raw cakes, dehydrated or sundried pizzas, burgers, sprouted loaves of bread, raw vegan cheeses, and sauces, even though heated things are not truly raw foods.

But Nature knows best; that raw (unheated) and ripe fruit is the perfect food and Eden Fruitarianism is the ideal way forward. Ripe fruit by far, especially if grown veganically without monocropping, is the only universal food for humans and the one that harbors the most love and the least harm.

Supplements, Superfoods, and Vaccines
Taking a bunch of isolated vitamins or minerals that are not natural, is not the best way to go. Our bodies cannot utilize supplements and it mostly stores them as toxins and fat, and creates other problems as well. Supplements are made by pharmaceutical companies in a laboratory, and they are the same. They are not alternative and good things to consume.

Superfoods are touted to be the best things that we should take for the body. Expensive products containing isolated vitamins and minerals or a bunch of isolated nutrients in an attractive package, that does nothing for our wellbeing or health. These are completely dehydrated and altered things that our bodies cannot utilize, and they cause many long-term problems. Nowadays, even when we buy produce in supermarkets that unfortunately are not the best grown, most likely were sprayed with harmful chemicals and pesticides, and grown monoculturally, still, fruits in their natural state, fresh, ripe, and raw, are the most natural healthy things to be eating despite how they are grown.

At Peaceful Village we don’t encourage or promote any of these products at all. We are not into all the gimmicks from these companies and their expensive products, though people may continue supporting and defending those industries. We understand that the true superfood is the ripe fruit given for free by the tree.

Vaccines are also those things that we absolutely don’t support and promote here in any way. Even though the government can push and coerce mandatory vaccinations for newborns, children, and adults, we don’t submit. Anything that comes from a laboratory and pharmaceutical industry is not truly healthful or helpful long-term, even if they apparently help/ed someone short-term. In the end, all these products harm us all.

But how harmful these products are for our bodies, is not the only reason why we don’t consume them. The packaging and manufacturing process pollutes the environment and all who live on Earth. We don’t support anything from these industries even if the products are labeled vegan, as we don’t want to make these industries more powerful. We eat our fruits and veggies and live as healthfully as we can playing in Nature, gardening and planting, swimming, hiking, dancing and doing other fun activities together. And if, and when necessary, we use natural plant remedies instead, like the leaves or roots for healing.

Eden Fruitarian(ism) according to Mango Wodzak, who coined the word and writes extensively on it, “…is an extension of the philosophy of veganism, embracing the ethics of respect, kindness and compassion for all life on Earth and the understanding of mankind’s true, spiritual Nature and physiological needs as a manifested… species. It’s basically Veganism++ (read as “veganism plus plus”) as it goes beyond standard veganism and explores the many other ways in which we can seek to live more harmonically with the rest of our fellow Earthlings. It recognizes an inherent will to exist present within all lifeforms, including plants, and values the concept of the golden rule; to treat every other life as if it were we ourselves living it. Example, it understands that harm to a part, is harm to the whole. In addition to the avoidance of willful harm toward all species, Eden Fruitarianism recognizes the uniqueness of fruit as a truly paradisiacal food, ultimately gifted freely by the plant, thus potentially obtainable without cause for deliberate injury or damage to any other life form.” To learn more about Eden Fruitarianism, visit fruitnut.net or read the book Creating a Beautiful World (Creando un mundo de hermoso).

When there are communal events and celebrations, we consume raw vegan, without the use of oil and salt. Also, because some people may have allergies or food preferences, we label all the ingredients of our creations.

Vegan Cookery
We understand that everyone is on their own journey and pace in life, and therefore, in people’s private rooms, cabins, and on their personal homestead lots, people can eat vegan cooked meals. However, all foodstuffs brought into Peaceful Village land must not contain any animal-derived ingredients.

We don’t recommend or promote the internal consumption of any type of vegetable or other plant oils and salt in any form, except when we use them in certain therapies and massages. These substances can be internally consumed in people’s private spaces (cabins, bedrooms, and personal homestead lots).

We understand that a spiritual life is essential to our natural communal living; therefore, we are not affiliated with any particular religion, and condemn religion altogether, but instead focus on individual and collective inner peace, self-love, harmony, ethics, and the evolution of consciousness. We encourage meditation (in groups or individually), yoga or Tai chi, vows of silence, fastings, gratitude words, connection with Nature, hiking, swimming in natural streams, rivers, and hugging trees, chanting songs and mantras (non-religious), participating in drumming circles and singing with instruments, ecstatic and contact dances, eye gazing, sungazing, and other spiritual practices.

We unconditionally love ourselves each moment of the day, respecting our mind, spirit, emotions and physical body, understanding that we need to rediscover ourselves through spiritual practices, physical activities, and eating a healthy diet with lots of fresh ripe fruits and vegetables. As much as possible, we give the best to ourselves, respecting our physical body by not applying unnatural products to our skin and hair that contain chemical or animal ingredients such as soaps, lotions and creams, shampoos and conditioners, and wearing any scented products like perfumes. We don’t hide our natural body temple and faces, with vanity facial makeup, hair extensions, nail extensions and nail polishes, eyebrow or eyelash extensions or removal, body cuttings or piercings, vanity cosmetic surgeries such as breast or penis enlargements, etc. We don’t follow any beauty standard imposed by fashion industries, television or movies. We embrace our natural body as it is, we see ourselves as beautiful and appreciate the raw beauty in us: long beards, hair, arms, legs, armpits, and genital hair. Yes, you’re right, we don’t shave our body hair.

At Peaceful Village, we don’t judge, shame or sexualize anyone. The nude body is nothing to be shameful or horrified by. We don’t shame anyone here for being pale or dark skin, overweight or slim, wrinkly or smooth, tall or short, and we expect the same level of respect from those who visit or join us. As more we gain awareness, we feel more love for ourselves and every single part of our being. The intelligence of the Universe created us majestically like this, natural, sacred, beautiful, unique, and hairy.

If a few of our clothes are stained or torn, or if our hair is not combed, and we don’t look like the rest of the crowd, so what! We should not care what other people think or say about us. We are all unique and different. We don’t want to be one of the copycats in society. However, hygiene is essential in our community; we must be clean and not have a foul odor. We clean our bodies, dishes and clothes with water and lemon. Sometimes we use baking soda for clothes.

Note: Please do not wear any scented chemical creams, lotions or perfumes, as many people at Peaceful Village are negatively susceptible, allergic or fatal to these products. Even though essential oils may be made naturally without chemicals, these scents can be toxic to many people. Do not bring chemical products here because we care about the environment. Give a chance to fruits like avocado, banana, lemon/lime, mango, and others, mud, sand, and water to keep yourself clean.

We treat every human-animal equally. We follow the golden rule, “Treat others with kindness and respect, as we would like to be treated”. We honor the presence of every human here, seeing them as the sacred beings that they are. We reject all forms of discrimination, not judging, shaming or sexualizing anyone.

Every day in the community, it’s a day for caring for and respecting each other, including the other animals around, the rivers, plants, and also the facilities and items on our land. Some people have weird habits that could deteriorate or damage our place and the things within it, or make people feel uncomfortable. In these cases, we appreciate people’s efforts to unlearn old patterns and habits and adopt new ones in order to maintain our facilities and live in harmony with everyone.

Some examples of kindness and respect are:

● It is respectful not to take what is not ours, like ingredients or food from other people’s boxes or food areas. If we need a food item, feel free to get something from the sharing shelf or ask someone directly.

● If we haven’t been expressly invited to people’s private rooms, tents or personal homestead lots, we shouldn’t enter their sacred space without first acquiring their permission to do so.

● Raising our voices, yelling, or pointing during a conversation is not well seen.

● Moderate your voice, expressing your ideas without agitation.

● We greet each other each day and love giving and receiving hugs. Don’t be shy or play an introverted personality. We’re a community that embraces togetherness and human touch.

At Peaceful Village, even though no one is ever denied the experience of our community, we are not open to the general public or for tourism. Some people may not be ready to experience a radically new way of being in the world and that’s fine; for sure they will be welcome elsewhere. We have made our long journey, transforming ourselves to this point in time, leading us to live in this sacred Amazonian land in the way we do. For those with an open mind and heart, excited to experience this lifestyle and values, we welcome them with some much love.

Not to lie, but to speak the truth. As a spiritual community, we understand that truth is a pure manifestation of consciousness. We avoid telling falsehoods or exaggerations, with any action, word or thought, as well as hypocrisy, fraud, and the gaining of unscrupulous advantage. Be natural and raw, loving and positive, and cultivate an attitude of straightforwardness and humility. The deep inner meaning is not to lie, internally or externally, by seeing others or ourselves as mere material objects to gain something from, but to speak the truth and awaken
to every being’s natural wonders and beauty.

When we speak the truth, we align our minds, feelings, emotions, vibrations, and energies with our words, not creating internal conflicts in our bodies becoming one, with integrity and authenticity. When we are lying to others, we are also lying to ourselves.

This refers to any action of body, speech, or mind that sees another being as a sexual object for our own self-gratification. In sexual engagements or relationships between people, all parties must freely consent to be with one another without manipulation or coercion.

Harmonious communication is defined as the connection of the flowing of energies between the giver and receiver, achieved through the awareness of being fully present in the verbal and nonverbal language, mindfully listening and understanding from the heart, universal needings, and individual feelings, in order to respond positively, empathetically, and respectfully.

There is no community without communication. The terms, community (common unity or common oneness) and communication (to make common) both mean, to share what we have in common. Therefore, as an intentional community where people from different cultural backgrounds, skin colors, language barriers, emotional and mental wounds, old habits and programming, and personal perspectives, we all come together living as a soul family with love. This makes it necessary to use verbal and nonverbal communication as one of the tools to unite ourselves, despite the few minor differences we each may have.

Harmonious communication consists of two inseparable and simultaneous components:

1. Expression from the conscious mind
2. Expression from the heart

Expression from the conscious mind
When we talk and listen mindfully, being aware with all our senses and through our intuition, paying attention to the human being we are conversing with and what they are saying through their words and body language, and taking care that our speech is expressed without the intention to harm them through judgements, guilt, shame or coercion, we instead use positive and respectful language.

Expression from the heart
In addition, when we talk and listen from the heart, understanding that as humans we are all wounded and that all of us have the same universal necessities for love, peace, respect, freedom, and joy, then we are expressing from the heart.

When we use both our conscious mind and hearts in our daily communications, we are authentically giving and receiving, and truly have the opportunity to connect and expand in harmonious relationships.

At Peaceful Village, we are inspired by the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) method proposed by Marshall Rosenberg with his four components of communication:

1. Observations
2. Feelings
3. Needs
4. Requests

1. Observations: First, we say what we have observed actually happening in the situation; what we observed the other human saying or doing, without introducing any judgment or evaluation. We simply say what the other one has done that we either like or dislike.

2. Feelings: We then state how we felt when we observed the action. Are we hurt, joyful, amused or irritated?

3. Needs: Thirdly, we say what needs of ours are connected to the feelings we
have identified.

4. Requests: And lastly, we make a positive and respectful request of what we truly want from the other human to occur in the future. The request can’t be understood as a demand, pushing someone to go against their free will, but rather, as an action we want from the other person in order to satisfy a universal need of ours.

We need to first define what responsibility means. It means, the “Condition of being responsible.” Responsible comes from Latin, “respondere” meaning, “Accountable for one’s actions”. Many people can mistake anarchists as a bunch of people behaving as they please with no guidelines or values, and no one is accountable for their actions. We don’t mean that there will be a punishment for someone who hurts another human or for damaging community facilities, it signifies that from their heart, they have to restore whatever damage they have done, even if accidental.

Not to use or encourage others to use alcohol, tobacco (may only be used as an insect repellent on plants) (cigarettes, cigars, vapours/e-cigarettes), or other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, etc. Even though many people have a healing experience with ayahuasca, San Pedro, peyote, jurema preta, marijuana, LSD, psilocybin, or others, at Peaceful Village, we don’t use or promote any of these inside the community, though we may still grow some of these plants here. The awakening healing journey is inside us all, but we’ve all had our natural yearnings suppressed through society and culture. Through meditation and other spiritual practices, occasional fastings, and eating long-term raw vegan high fruit-based, we can reawaken to our true innate wisdom without needing any external substances for deeper understanding, healing, and elevating our consciousness.

We don’t drink coffee here, and various items such as chocolate, tea, turmeric, ginger, garlic, and onion may affect the nervous system, causing agitation of the mind; therefore, we recommend people consume these items sparingly or use
them for certain therapies.

This is why we don’t use chemicals/poisons that destroy the Earth or anything that is derived from nonhuman animals. We use and advocate veganic (vegan permaculture) method of growing food. In the United Kingdom, it is known as “stockfree organic”. We never use anything from domesticated nonhuman animals such as manure, urine, bone meal, feather meal, fish meal, blood meal, or farm animals on the land, but use the surrounding natural materials for fertilization and mulch.

As environmentalists, we are protecting our land: the rivers and streams, and primary and secondary native forests, reforesting with trees on other parts of the land. We also protect the environment by not using products containing chemicals and reusing and upcycling plastics and other materials whenever we can. We never throw garbage on our land and do our best to reuse, upcycle or dispose of it as best as we can.

Until this point, you can guess that we don’t use toilet paper here. About 500 trees are cut down to provide toilet paper for one human, for a year. Multiply 500 trees by the amount of people cleaning their asses with toilet paper each day. We don’t want to destroy Nature with normal habits, even though recycled or hemp toilet paper may be more environmentally friendly, so we just love cleaning ourselves with water, as it is also cleaner to do so. In certain cases, if there is no water around, we can use some leaves of the toilet paper plant.

Food Forests and Reforestation
On our land of almost 22 hectares, we are planting and growing as much food as we can, as one day our goal is to be completely self-sustainable. In many areas of the Amazonian tropical jungles of Ecuador, it is often difficult to grow food as the soil fertility is poor, so it will take time until we start harvesting all of our food.

We grow with permaculture and sometimes companion planting techniques, without growing monoculturally. If it is necessary to use insect repellent on plants, we utilize natural fertilizers from certain plants, instead of chemical toxins that harm the environment and many animals. Therefore, we build topsoil rather than deplete it, so it’s a win-win situation for the ecology and everyone who lives here on Earth.

Planting and taking care of our food forests, plant nurseries, and gardens are very important to us, and thus, they are almost daily tasks that we work on, when the weather and other factors permit it or if no events are happening those days. To maximize food production, we utilize as much land space for growing edible plants, especially fruit trees, even though we also plant other things like flowers, bushes, shrubs, etc. We are determined to plant as many fruit trees as we can, that support life, giving homes to many non-domesticated free-roaming animals, and that also shade out and eventually kill all grasses (including things known as grains), that are extremely invasive and harmful to trees and other beneficial plants.

Composting and Mulching
We compost only using organic food scraps from plants, with vegan humanure and urine (using dry compost toilets with added sawdust to keep the smell to a minimum), and woodchips, twigs, leaves (dry and fresh), and other brown and green matter as well. Mulching is very important for the land, as it is an act of applying material to cover the top layer of soil to protect, insulate, and discourage weeds and grass from growing, and to retain moisture.

We use our urine for fertilizing plants and store them in nontransparent containers for later use. We have no problem with people pooping or urinating anywhere on the land, except on pathways and facilities like our camping sites or in the tents, and we cover it with a thin layer of soil and mulch, unless you are nonvegan and using pharmaceutical drugs, then use the provided toilet buckets.

Community members assist with planting and growing food, but we also often seek dedicated volunteers, with or without knowledge and experience who would like to help in our food forest or a variety of other tasks.

Because we know the environment is vital to all of us for our survival, only if absolutely needed, we selectively cut trees for wood production for building construction and furniture (but not from protected forested areas), but then later, reforest the area with mostly fruit and native trees.

Everything is taken into consideration, so we cause the least negative environmental impact. Our goal is to eventually become completely self-sufficient in every aspect of our lives and to rely little or zero on city/municipality sources for food, water, and energy. Water is usually sourced from rain, rivers, streams or natural mountain springs. For that reason, at Peaceful Village, we respect the environment and our bodies by not applying unnatural chemical products to our skin and hair which contains many synthetic chemicals and often animal ingredients. Products such as soaps, lotions and creams, shampoos and conditioners, and wearing any scented products like perfumes, eventually leach into the environment and damage the surrounding natural areas. We live as lightly on the Earth as we can. For cleaning countertops, dishes, and clothes, we use lemon or lime and water or sometimes just water, absolutely no chemical detergents or cleaners at all.

At Peaceful Village, we understand that eating raw vegan, especially fresh ripe whole fruit, contributes less negatively to the environment. Fruit is nutrition for our bodies, and the seeds are thrown out to Nature, multiplying life and abundance for everyone. The veganic (vegan organic) food scraps we don’t consume are composted back to the Earth, creating healthy soil and plants. We reduce pollution and our environmental impact, so we try to upcycle and reuse everything we take in.