Frequently Asked Questions about CPL’s Educational Approach
The non-profit organization Center for Purposeful Living (CPL), and the non-profit organization Human Service Alliance (HSA), are both characterized by certain practices and qualities that can be confusing to those unfamiliar with the purpose of their educational programs. For example, customers at
The questions are legitimate because the Center for Purposeful Living is so unusual and bears some superficial resemblance to organizations and groups that haven’t fared well, internally or in the public eye. And because CPL is so unusual, people who legitimately wonder about its purpose have little or nothing to compare it to. And the unfamiliar can often give rise to negative assumptions.
The first thing to understand is that CPL’s work is intentionally different because it is an experiment to determine what an ordinary group of people can accomplish when they are focused on service, when they perform that service without any expectation of receiving something in return, when they work intensely at developing the personal and collective qualities that enable them to render impeccable service, and when they strive relentlessly to bring out the best in the students of CPL and themselves.
CPL is not a religious organization, but it does have a spiritual foundation. The world’s faith and wisdom traditions characteristically identify the “best” in people in religious terms, such as “inner goodness,” “divinity within,” “soul,” and “the Christ within.” At CPL, “soul” has been chosen to represent those inner qualities that have been spoken of and written about through the ages. Creating an organization devoted to cultivating and expressing soulful qualities is CPL’s mission, and it makes no excuses or apologies for the committed efforts of its staff and students to inculcate them into their everyday lives. Universal to all religions and spiritual traditions, they include service to others, respect, integrity, selflessness, personal responsibility, sharing, cooperation, self-discipline, and many others. No one at CPL claims to have fully developed all of these qualities, but all its members acknowledge them as a desirable direction to consciously move toward.
CPL class discussions often use examples of people who have manifested these qualities in their daily lives—people such as Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King, Christopher Reeve, Benjamin Franklin, and Nelson Mandela. These people are cited not because of the philosophy or religion they have espoused, but because of the purity with which they have lived their lives and expressed their particular beliefs. Virtue and character as demonstrated by these people are seen at CPL as qualities and expressions of the soul.
CPL volunteers exhibit many traits and qualities that are uncommon outside the military, religious orders, athletics, and so forth. These include commitment, focus, discipline, and common purpose. Sometimes, these can be interpreted as attempts to regiment, restrict, or otherwise control the lives of an organization’s members. But these, too, are soul qualities and are characteristic of any group that has done significant work for the planet.
Some of CPL’s policies may occasionally give rise to misunderstandings. Perhaps they can be clarified here:
1) Students are discouraged during their time at CPL from returning home to visit friends and families. That’s not to say that all access is restricted—indeed, family and friends are encouraged to visit students at CPL during their year-long program. Family members often stay on campus when rooms are available, and even volunteer. The reason students are discouraged from leaving is that years of experience have demonstrated that “environment is stronger than will.” As part of their program, students consciously work on creating new habits of behavior and discarding old ones. Experience has shown that if they remain in CPL’s environment for their entire year without going back to their former surroundings, their chances of changing old habits and establishing new ones are greatly enhanced. Students who have visited home and come back after a week or so often reveal substantial backsliding in their behaviors and habits. By the end of their year, students who are focused and dedicated to the program develop the strength to sustain their new behaviors, whatever their environment—new or old. Family members frequently are impressed by the “new person” they encounter; the mother of one successful graduate shared that CPL should be renamed “
Sometimes the no-return-home recommendation is difficult for family members to understand or accept. But the important thing to remember is that it is founded on hard experience acquired over many years. Students who honor the recommendation do much better in the program. Although the recommendation might seem to some as an effort to control students, it actually is made in their best interests. No one at CPL has anything to gain from it; its purpose is to help students develop the self-control they’ll need to handle life’s challenges wherever they may live and serve.
2) Students are responsible for determining the changes they want to make in their lives while in the program. By participating, students give explicit permission to receive feedback and counsel on how to achieve their stated goals. Some students will say, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” CPL’s answer is, “What needs to happen is for you to discover, not for us to tell you.” Advice or suggestions offered to students are stated in such a way as to make the decision the choice of the student and not the instruction of the teacher. Any pressure or tension they might feel is of their own making. Internal tension might build, for example, when a student chooses a trait to change and then resists advice and feedback that are given regarding that very trait.
3) CPL does not seek to “hold on” to people. Its hope is that graduates will go out into the world and lead lives of service wherever they are—nonprofit organizations, business, education, government, etc. If students do not measure up to the demands of the program, or if CPL is just not a good fit for them, they are asked to make a choice: either open up to the program’s benefits or find another place to do their work. Students who dislike the program are never dissuaded from leaving. Indeed, it would be inappropriate for them to stay.
4) An excellent question sometimes asked is: Why do you advise students against having romantic relationships while they are at CPL? As anyone who has ever experienced one knows, romantic relationships are often emotionally based and can cloud one’s thinking. CPL’s program is designed to help students learn to think clearly and use common sense. Engaging in a romantic relationship while in the program can significantly impede one’s ability to successfully complete it. A commitment to refrain from romantic relationships is received from each student at the outset. Some have not honored their commitment and have left the program, or have been asked to leave. Interestingly, in the few cases where students have left to pursue romantic relationships, none of the relationships has lasted. This is not to say that attraction is suppressed: when students find themselves attracted to other students, they are encouraged to develop genuine friendships. In several instances, friendships that developed during the one-year program eventually resulted in successful marriages—marriages built on a much more solid foundation than those based solely on romantic love.
Other questions that might be of interest to prospective students:
Why is service emphasized so much? As one evolves along the spiritual path and comes increasingly into contact with one’s soul, service becomes more and more a spontaneous direction of one’s life. Service is the vehicle that accelerates the evolutionary process. This is not a new idea; it has been known through the ages. The apparent paradox is that the more we come in contact with our inner goodness—our souls—the more we seek to serve. And the more we serve, the more we come into contact with our souls. At CPL, service is seen as the most powerful form of self-transformation available. It is at the core of CPL’s curriculum and the work at its service-learning laboratories, such as California Fresh Catering and the expanding assisted living program. Students are encouraged and guided to expand their capacity to be of service. (See comments by graduate students about the value of this approach by clicking here.)
Is CPL a religious organization or connected to a religious organization? CPL is not affiliated with any religious organization. Its volunteers come from many different religious and spiritual backgrounds. It does, however, promote spiritual growth. All activity that drives the human being forward towards some form of development—physical, emotional, mental, intuitional, social—that advances his or her present state is essentially spiritual in nature and indicates the livingness of the inner divinity. CPL is a place where students and faculty consciously work to bring character and virtue into their lives—into their everyday behavior. This is both extraordinary and profoundly spiritual.
What is the educational approach at CPL? People might attend a weekend or month-long workshop for personal growth and emerge feeling energized and inspired—only to discover a short while later that the program had little lasting impact. CPL is experimenting with a different approach, a new paradigm of spiritual education. Experience reveals that if one is willing to immerse oneself for a year or more in an environment created to foster soulful qualities, then the chance of changing old habits and making room for new, more positive traits to take root is vastly increased.
CPL’s program is designed to be challenging and is marketed as such. Its methodology consists of hands-on service, reflection, study, and mentoring. It expects its students to proactively assume personal responsibility for their actions, thoughts, and feelings each and every day within the context of a residential community. The program is rigorous in the sense of providing an environment in which students must stretch, be willing to learn new skills, be open to new and perhaps unfamiliar perspectives, and pursue a higher level of personal accountability. The program, therefore, is not for everyone.
Young people who join the military often emerge as different people. Likewise, many CPL graduates say that the experience of the discipline—of working hard in pursuit of a goal—was the best thing that ever happened to them. Many is the mother who has said that the military “made a man out of my son” or was a place “where my child grew up.” More than one parent of a CPL graduate has said the year was a maturing experience for their son or daughter.
Personal change and transformation is the goal at CPL, and the educational tool employed to achieve it is called “feedback.” Corporations spend billions on training their employees to accept and learn from feedback, and at CPL, receiving feedback graciously is a valued character trait. A teenager in a prison boot camp was quoted as saying: “People who care don’t let us off the hook.” The students and staff at CPL care, and don’t let each other off the hook. The tool used is constructive feedback which students, faculty and staff learn to embrace like a “best friend.” (See graduate students' perspectives on the value of CPL's educational approach by clicking here.)
The students who have the most difficulty with CPL’s approach are those who, when they apply, ask to be challenged, but when they are given a mirror to see themselves, don’t like what they see. They insist that the mirror is distorted and claim they are being “controlled” or “hurt” or being made to do something “wrong.” The successful ones, on the other hand, are those who accept the feedback and contemplate how they might find deeper meaning in life’s ordinary events. CPL is for those who are open to the process and are willing to do whatever it takes when the “going gets tough.” It is best suited for those who are consciously aware of a gap between what they are and what they aspire to be, and who are open to making the necessary changes and developing positive traits and habits. Daily practice begins to close that gap and results in personal transformation and a measurable increase in their capacity to be of service.
At CPL, hard work is seen as a virtue. Prospective students are told that, each week, they will attend classes about six hours and perform about 50 hours of hands-on service, with adjustments made according to the person’s age and physical abilities or limitations. The work in the various learning labs is the single most important part of the curriculum. It is in this day-to-day work that the theory presented in class is put into practice in the world.
Doesn’t the work the students do in
Are students or others at CPL required to donate money to the organization? No student or member of the board, staff, or faculty has ever been required or even asked to give money to the organization. Most of its board members and many of its volunteers do so voluntarily, and occasionally, students and their families choose to make donations. CPL has even received contributions from former students who didn’t finish the program but discovered over time what a valuable experience their time at CPL was for them.
What about the finances of CPL? How much does it take to operate the program? Thanks largely to CPL’s all-volunteer model, the program requires only about $75,000 per year. The CPL tax return can be examined at www.guidestar.com.
Are the staff and faculty at CPL paid salaries? No. Most have separate full-time jobs. A few members of the catering staff receive pay.