When individuals try to maximize their own benefits, systems collapse. When individuals are committed to optimizing their communities, they thrive. This requires a world view that understands that all of life is part of an interdependent system, and only when we infuse that system with compassion for all life will it progress through the current global trends. At a recent…
In the video above, filmed during her recent Garrison Institute retreat, Joanna Macy discusses the poetry and spirituality of Rainer Maria Rilke. She talks about how the young poet found the sacred in ordinary life, how he had an incredible sense of what the 20th century had in store, and how he tells readers to “let everything happen to you, both the…
What happens to our bodies after we die? Most of us are either cremated or conventionally buried in a cemetery. Katrina Spade, the founder and director of the Urban Death Project, says that both of these options are wasteful and “ensure that the very last thing that most of us will do on this earth is poison it.” She has…
Welcome to episode seven of the Climate, Mind and Behavior Podcast. Each episode, we’ll explore groundbreaking intersections between climate change, resilience, contemplative practice and human behavior. Jonathan F. P. Rose works with cities and not-for-profits to plan and build affordable and mixed-income green housing, and cultural, health, and educational centers. Recognized for creating communities that literally heal both residents and…
Despite a strong practice of meditation and reflection, I admit to struggling with my own sense of what to do and with how to be with the wide variety of spirit-killing realities that arose all around us, almost daily, this summer. The raft of shootings by police and then shootings of police. The nearly unfathomable tragedy in Nice. And, of…
As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series, teachers and authors Sharon Salzberg and Rev. angel Kyodo williams recently discussed ways to bridge spiritual practice and social activism. Some of the key questions explored: Does spiritual practice require that we love everyone? Does being happy mean that we avoid conflict? How can we speak differently about spiritual practice and…
Leading up to Joanna Macy’s 2016 retreat “Rainer Maria Rilke and the Force of the Storm,” exploring the work of Rainer Maria Rilke in the context of her well-know experiential seminar called “The Work That Reconnects,” journalist Andrew Revkin spoke with Macy about what Rilke has to offer those working on behalf of the planet and the increasing need to…
Welcome to episode six of the Climate, Mind and Behavior Podcast. Each episode, we’ll explore groundbreaking intersections between climate change, resilience, contemplative practice and human behavior. Piya Macliing Malayao is the 27-year-old Secretary General of Katribu, a national alliance of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines. She’s also the Land is Life Regional Coordinator for South Asia and the Pacific. Land is…