ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes my encounter with a spiritual community in the remote desert of southern Israel. Member of the community, called Neot Smadar, consider it a school rather than a kibbutz or indeed, community. It is a school for self-enquiry, founded by a charismatic teacher whose name was Yossef Safra. The school may be regarded as a classical case of post-colonial appropriation (of Hindu and Buddhist ideas), but this is only superficially the case. The chapter explains the necessity for my participation in the life and work of the community as a way for gaining access into the subtle and often paradoxical worldviews of the community members. Research becomes a personal journey, an encounter with sophisticated individuals who live in a way that demonstrates that the author does not possess a privileged perspective.
