Taking Heart in Tough Times
Friday - Sunday Oct 3-5, 2008 : Register Online
World as Lover, World as Self
Sunday – Friday October 5-10: Register Online
(Two different workshops — see description for details.)
We are intrinsic parts of the living body of Earth, like neurons in a vast mind, sustaining each other in an interdependent web. To heal our world, we need to experience it afresh, as a living system in which all beings are connected. This vision found in contemporary science, in deep ecology, and in every major spiritual tradition. A quiet revolution that will touch all aspects of life is underway. This “great turning” toward a life-sustaining civilization reveals our profound interconnectedness in the living body of Earth.
We all carry knowledge of immense suffering, as we have been on the way to destroying our world for a long time. Remarkably, we are beginning to wake up. Joanna Macy proposes a radical shift in perspective: seeing the world as “lover,” as a partner who can help us let go of our narrow concepts of self, in whom we can discover our wider identity.
If you suspect the accelerating destruction of ecological, social, political, and economic systems is at root a spiritual crisis, if you love life and want your energy and creativity to be released for healing our world, come.
We will join in telling the truth, meditation, breath and body work, personal sharing, guided imagery, interactive exercises, improvisational role play, and deep-time work. We will draw upon insights from systems theory, deep ecology, Buddhism, and movements for social change. We can transform our pain and confusion into courage and creativity. We can clarify our individual gifts in creating a nonviolent, just, and life-sustaining civilization.
These are two different programs. The weekend workshop is open to everyone. The retreat from Sunday evening through lunch on Friday is for people who have studied with Joanna before and want the opportunity to go deeper. If you attend the weekend, you are welcome at the mid-week program. The cost for the Sunday-Friday is twice the cost of our regular weekend workshops. If you come to both, you can take 10% off your fees.
Click to read Joanna's articles in the Center Post: Bestiary and Loving Life, Loving the Earth.
You can visit Joanna’s website at www.joannamacy.net for more information on Joanna’s work.
Joanna Macy is a scholar of Buddhism, General Systems Theory, deep ecology, and the Gaia hypothesis. She has created a groundbreaking new theoretical framework for a new paradigm of personal and social change and offers some of the finest interactive growth experiences to enable people to experience this new paradigm for themselves. Her highly original books include Despair and Empowerment in the Nuclear Age; Thinking Like a Mountain; World as Lover, World as Self; and Coming Back to Life. Her work helps people transform despair and apathy into constructive, collaborative action, and Rowe is honored to welcome the return of this brilliant and passionate philosopher