the heart by giving us a way to transform adversity, conflict, and hardship into a direct opportunity for spiritual growth. In this way, rather than perceiving difficult people or adverse circumstances in our lives as an obstacle, tragedy, or punishment, we now meet these experiences with deep compassion, wisdom, and skill—using them as our actual practice on the path to enlightenment. By way of these treasured practices we eliminate our competitive, selfish, and emotionally reactive nature, as well as our false and exaggerated concepts of self (also called self-grasping and self-cherishing). It is important to understand that the greed, jealousy, anger, pride, selfishness, and at... posted on May 31 2020 (19,234 reads)

the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again and rise up,” John Steinbeck wrote to his best friend at the peak of WWII. “It isn’t that the evil thing wins — it never will — but that it doesn’t die.” Caught in the maelstrom of the moment, we forget this cyclical nature of history — history being merely the rosary of moments the future strings of its pasts. We forget that the present always looks different from the inside than it does from the outside — something James Baldwin knew when, in considering why Shakespeare endures, he observed: “It is said that his tim... posted on Jun 1 2020 (8,680 reads)

food abundance, such as with “terra preta,” or Amazonian dark earth, and the food forests of the Mayans. We planted, harvested, and consumed but also took care to nourish and regenerate. What changed? At some point, humans started relating to the planet differently, and our emotional and spiritual connection to the earth was severed. Whether the shift happened during the Neolithic Revolution, when humans settled and established agriculture, or the Age of Enlightenment, when nature became viewed as an object to be observed and controlled, the result was a disconnect from nature. We became, in the words of Daniel Quinn in his book Ishmael, “Takers” and not... posted on Aug 13 2020 (6,273 reads)

2014 This essay has been translated into Chinese and German. A Review of Gerald Pollack’s The Fourth Phase of Water In The Fourth Phase of Water, Gerald Pollack offers an elegant new theory of water chemistry that has profound implications not only for chemistry and biology, but for the metaphoric foundation of our understanding of reality and our treatment of nature. Let me emphasize that this is not a New Age book by someone of questionable scientific credentials. This is a book on chemistry, albeit one easily accessible to lay people. Pollack is a highly decorated professor at the University of Washington, author of numerous peer-reviewe... posted on Aug 23 2020 (7,265 reads)

touch the earth is to move into harmony with nature.” --Oglala Sioux Shamans, Native Americans, and wisdom teachers all over the world see the earth as a giant, conscious, living being. They say pollution sickens her in the same way cancer spreads slowly through a human body. Debilitated though she may be, our Mother Earth still retains tremendous power to heal. When we physically ground ourselves on her surface we are gifted with her vital energies. The science behind it is simple: The water in your body acts as an electrical conduit to earth’s negative ionic charge so you feel better when any part of you touches it. Charged particles that come orig... posted on Sep 9 2020 (14,527 reads)

For You, Tomorrow For Me.” This is the meaning behind ayni, a living Andean philosophy and practice that awakens a balanced and harmonious relationship between nature and man.  In Andean cosmology, this is expressed through complementary opposites such as male/female; sun/moon; gold/silver. Their interaction is a form of reciprocity called ayni.  One of the guiding principles of the way of life of the Quechua and Aymara people, this equilibrium of exchange and mutuality, which has been practiced since ancient times (since before the Incas), creates a cycle of connectivity and support essential to social and spiritual wellbeing. Anthropologist Catherine Allen... posted on Sep 4 2020 (5,117 reads)

may not know what the future climate is going to look like, and she acknowledges that not knowing is really hard. “But we’ve got to try,” she says matter of factly. “We’re here now … Just start.” Overcoming cultural myths Schwartz comes to the topic of climate solutions with curiosity and a deep appreciation for science. You can hear it in the way she writes about processes like transpiration and decomposition: “The logic of nature is no secret; it is laid bare in every streambed, every handful of living soil, every spiderweb, if we bother to take a look. Its tale is told through accrual or retrenchment of biomass, biodiv... posted on Sep 5 2020 (4,843 reads)

buffoonery of a collective emperor with no clothes. Extinction illness and other psychological collateral effects are deepening both depression and denial, forcing humility and exacerbating hubris. The Anthropocene casts a long and convoluted shadow. As the political adage goes, “we are prisoners of context in the absence of meaning.” So what then shall we do? A starting place is better understanding of and relating to the current context – i.e. assessing the nature and texture of the oxygen we breathe (even when we can’t). We can also attribute new and ancient meaning to the consequences of our actions. In this essay I argue that solidarity can play... posted on Nov 1 2020 (6,367 reads)

the University of Virginia’s Shigehiro Oishi have proposed another dimension of well-being that has not been carefully studied yet: psychological richness. Psychological richness involves having new, interesting experiences that promote curiosity or transform how you think. People with psychologically rich lives experience more intense emotions—positive and negative—and are more open to novelty and uncertainty. They might choose to live abroad, seek awe in nature, or explore complex intellectual problems. In contrast, the researchers suggest, happy or meaningful lives can be more routine, and possibly even boring. In their paper, published in Af... posted on Dec 24 2020 (8,951 reads)

that commoditize everything? That create scarcity instead of abundance, that promote accumulation rather than sharing? We’ve surrendered our values to an economic system that actively harms what we love. I’m wondering how we fix that. And I’m not alone. Because I’m a botanist, my fluency in the lexicon of berries may not easily extend to economics, so I wanted to revisit the conventional meaning of economics to compare it to my understanding of the gift economy of nature. What is economics for anyway? It turns out that answer depends a lot on who you ask. On their website, the American Economic Association says, “It’s the study of scarcity, the stud... posted on Jan 19 2021 (10,956 reads)

in one in the face of something so vast and so powerful and so transcendent and so unexpected that it makes one rethink what you're looking at, because you can't comprehend it. You can't quite take it in on one side. The first reaction, which is what happens to our breath, to me seems very telling. You know, when you see a night sky, a very majestic night sky or a mountain or a storm or sunset -- I'm naming all the natural phenomenona, but it doesn't only only have to be nature, it could also be a piece of music or art, or a very supremely kind act, anything that you consider, that you feel is so huge and encompassing that you can't take it in -- what you do insti... posted on Apr 17 2021 (5,964 reads)

path to an ecological civilization is paved by reclaiming the commons—our common home, the Earth, and the commons of the Earth family, of which we are a part. Through reclaiming the commons, we can imagine possibility for our common future, and we can sow the seeds of abundance through “commoning.” In the commons, we care and share—for the Earth and each other. We are conscious of nature’s ecological limits, which ensure her share of the gifts she creates goes back to her to sustain biodiversity and ecosystems. We are aware that all humans have a right to air, water, and food, and we feel responsible for the rights of future generations. Enclosures of ... posted on Apr 19 2021 (6,577 reads)

in touch with reality. As a felt sense, it refers to feeling our center of gravity low in the belly and experiencing a deep silence, stability, and connection with the whole of life. Feeling grounded does not require contact with the earth; it can happen anywhere and anytime — even when we’re flat on our backs in a rowboat. Reality is inherently grounding. The more in touch with it we are, the more grounded we feel. This is as true of the facts of daily life as it is of our true nature. Life is multidimensional, ranging from the physical to the subtle to formless awareness. When we are in touch with physical reality, we feel physically grounded. As subtle levels of feeling an... posted on Jun 10 2021 (9,124 reads)

the activists, because activists sometimes are stressed out physically and emotionally, sometimes burning up with their own anger. It’s like, we could help, right? But there’s oftentimes not an appreciation that people who are engaged with the suffering of others have something to teach those of us who organize around spirituality. And much of the spirituality of the West, in many respect, is quiescence. Like, I want to get away from the noise of the world. I want to go out to nature, because nature’s everywhere. I want to go out to nature, and I certainly don’t want to get involved with politics. I mean, that’s really dirty stuff. TS: Messy. ... posted on Aug 31 2021 (3,413 reads)

and a mind may interpenetrate till the nature of both is altered,” the Scottish mountaineer and poet Nan Shepherd wrote in her lyrical love letter to her native Highlands, echoing an ancient intuition about how our formative physical landscapes shape our landscapes of thought and feeling. The word “genius” in the modern sense, after all, originates in the Latin phrase genius loci — “the spirit of a place.” I find myself thinking about Shepherd as I return to the Bulgarian mountains of my own childhood, trekking the same paths with my mother that I once trudged with tiny feet beside her, astonished at the flood of long-ag... posted on Sep 26 2021 (4,211 reads)

to support the Earth and its inhabitants. Let’s be kind, let’s be compassionate, let’s be moral—and truthful. Let’s accept our fear and work with it, accept our grief and regret and be guided by them. Let’s also accept our rage, but moderate it into quiet strength. And let’s come together. I don’t think there need be a manifesto here, or a great “this-is-the-way-forward idea.” Just be natural. If you’re looking to support nature, be natural. Let light from the heart guide you, because we can gather together around that light. You’re probably seeing the news reports of the climate change presentations and demon... posted on Dec 3 2021 (4,825 reads)

begin to discover one of life’s greatest secrets: how love is at the source of all that exists, is the source of all that exists. Love is not just a feeling between people, but a substance, an energy, a divine spark that is present within everything. And it is this deepest essence—this substance of love—that we need to nourish us. Love speaks to our soul and to our body. Love includes all the senses—taste and touch, smell, sight and sound. Love by its very nature includes everything. It does not just belong to a human relationship. It can be found anywhere, because it is everywhere. The mystic uncovers the simple secret that in truth love flows through ... posted on Dec 30 2021 (6,146 reads)

communities and often used casually or habitually. The concept of Namaste is difficult to articulate and translate because Sanskrit is an ancient language that contains incredible complexity, wisdom and insight around the Invisible, Intangible and Divine Nature of the Universe. A very basic interpretation of Namaste is: “When the divine in me sees the divine in you, we are one”.   My quiet practice of Namaste is about recognizing another person’s divine nature, no matter the circumstances – for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health. I wish to see their Light even when I can see their suffering. I wish to activate comp... posted on Apr 15 2022 (11,395 reads)

we’re being summoned to keep. And I’d like to hear more about this, this notion that we have these appointments with destiny and how you understand that.   JH: Well, if we ever stop and ask ourselves the question that I know we all ask as children, in some fashion, but have forgotten for a long time now: Why am I here? Really, why am I here? Am I just to fit in with a crazy world around me or is there some sense of purpose in my life? And so destiny is really what nature or divinity has invested in us from the beginning. And I think our summons, our job, if you will, is to try to serve that. Because from childhood on, we’re obliged to report to the world ... posted on Oct 1 2022 (4,334 reads)

Could we see the world more clearly alongside them? Could we think differently through them? What would they say if we tried to listen? THE TREES WERE LADEN with acorns on the day I first traveled to meet Barry Webb and his wife, Gill Ferguson, also a photographer, for a slime mold safari in their nearby woodland. It was a mast year—a year when acorns are abundant—and the ground crackled with their tough shells. I met them at a coffee shop in Burnham Beeches, a national nature reserve in the South of England. Gill was wearing a T-shirt with an image of slime molds, which I was able to identify. Both Barry and Gill talked enthusiastically about the beauty and diver... posted on Feb 5 2023 (3,737 reads)