Set-Up Information
Being a shelterkeep calls for responsibility and thorough familiarity with the Basica. As short as it is, it is good practice for any Basican to re-read it, in whole or part by part over time, with enough frequency to remain familiar with its finer points and to increase understanding of it and its relevance to life. Doing this daily is usually recommended as a good habit in any spiritual path that uses a written text. By taking on the role of shelterkeep, you will become an example and set the tone for your wayshelter.
If you set up a Basican wayshelter, either online or as a physical place, please display the information about wayshelters, shelterkeeps, and funding at all times and unaltered in any of its wording, except where necessary afterward to note variation in how yours is funded (by donation from ___, does not require funding, etc.) If there are extenuating circumstances preventing posting of the appropriate information, such as a wayshelter being convened spontaneously somewhere, the posting is not required. You may also display the Basican Compass at your wayshelter. If you wish, you may use the graphic at the top of this page, which appears on a white background so people with Websites can transfer it to whatever wallpaper or other background they may be using.
If your wayshelter is a Website, please be sure to either put links to both the explanatory and download pages associated with the Basica at http://www.wayshelter.com/Basica.htm or send e-mail if you want to be able to offer the book for free download at your site - but do not ever charge any money for the download if you provide it.
If your wayshelter is a gathering or a physical place, please do your best to make it as accessible to those with mobility issues as possible. Also, please download and print out the book so it can be made available to anyone wishing to read it. As long as your rendition is complete, accurate, and true to the original, feel free to read it into an audio recording or print it out in Braille for the visually impaired, as well. If you feel the need to ask others for funds to assist you in making the book available in these ways, obtaining reimbursement for reasonable expenses only is acceptable.
If your wayshelter includes writings that comment on the Basica or other spiritual matters, it is very important to be sure to include the associated written opinions disclaimer so that the difference between the official tenets of Basicanism and the opinions of individual Basicans is made clear to non-Basicans who may not have read the book.
Once your wayshelter is in operation, I would be very glad to hear from you. Please let me know if your wayshelter has a distinguishing name (such as "Name-of-Your-Town Wayshelter", "So-and-So's Wayshelter", "Some-Particular-Characteristic Wayshelter", "Special Name - a Basican Wayshelter", etc.), a Web address, any contact information, and, if you wish, your name or screen name (or the name or screen name of the shelterkeep if you are contacting me on that person's behalf). I will be happy to post about your wayshelter here and would appreciate having information about this wayshelter posted where you are. I'll also be glad to offer any assistance I can if you need help setting up.
To encourage others to set up their own Basican wayshelters wherever they are needed, please either direct people to http://www.wayshelter.com/SetUp.htm; put this entire page's text, with the graphic at the top, on a page at your own Website; or print the text and graphic out and make it available in hardcopy for anyone who may be interested. Please do not add, subtract, or change any wording or leave out or alter the graphic when you do so. And if someone lets you know they are setting up a wayshelter, please pass word back to me so I can post about it (with their permission) here. Having a network will provide mutual encouragement and support as well as help individuals to find the wayshelter of their choice, if they are interested in associating with one.
Thank you for your time and care. Many blessings upon your endeavor. I look forward to hearing from you!
Necessary Information
Wayshelters, Shelterkeeps, and Funding:
What Is a Basican Wayshelter?
It is a meeting point, place of worship, spiritual safe haven, and cultural resource specifically for Basicans but where people of all faiths are welcome. It can also be a Website or a simple gathering of Basicans and similarly interested others that serves as many of these purposes as are needed or desired. Individual Basicans are free to choose whether or not to attend or be associated with one or more available wayshelters as part of their practice.
Just as persons of any faith are welcome, the intellectual and artistic expressions of persons of any faith may be presented for cultural enrichment. Therefore, one cannot tell the faith of an individual by either their presence or the appearance of their work in a Basican wayshelter.
Who Is a Shelterkeep?
That person is a Basican who is host and custodian of a Basican wayshelter. As such, she or he is a facilitator of discussion and spiritual practices and a point person, leader, or performer of relevant duties where one is called for. Such an individual takes on a spiritually supportive role and attitude towards all persons, wherever appropriate.
A shelterkeep can either be agreed upon within a group or self-appointed as a person willing to set up and be responsible for some form of wayshelter for the potential benefit of others. A wayshelter does not require a shelterkeep unless there is a particular need or desire for such a role to be filled.
How Is a Wayshelter Funded?
That may vary, if any funding is necessary at all. In any case, a wayshelter's purpose is not to generate a profit.
[Please follow the above with an explanation of the nature of your particular wayshelter. You may base your explanation on any part of the one given at http://www.wayshelter.com if the wording there is helpful to you.]
Explanatory and Download Pages (please include links to both pages):
About the Book: http://www.wayshelter.com/Basica/BasicaBook.htm
About Downloading the Book: http://www.wayshelter.com/Basica/BasicaDownload.htm
Written Opinions Disclaimer:
Opinions not contained within the Basica itself are not to be construed as any kind of official Basican doctrine to which all Basicans must adhere. Each essay is simply an expression of the ideas of the essay's author, except for facts about the book itself, relating of actual personal experience, and other factual information. Basicans are not required to follow or agree with any statements made outside the contents of the Basica, though they are free to hold to the opinions of others if they choose. Essays should be taken more as springboards for further discussion than as definitive statements about any given subject.
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