In a recent “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event in New York City, “Bridging Spirituality and Activism,” Zen teacher angel Kyodo williams and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg discussed challenging questions about the relationship between personal and social transformation. How do racism and privilege prevent our collective awakening? How can each one of us affect the shortcomings not only of our own minds but…
The Franciscan contemplative Richard Rohr wrote that “contemplation is a long, loving look at what really is.” This orientation is powerfully countercultural. Forces – human, cultural, technological – make it difficult to adopt this contemplative stance; one must often stand outside of cultural norms to do so. The first challenge is with the word “long.” Rohr means sustained, deep, and…
Professor Rhonda Magee has been working for years to bring a social justice dimension to the contemplative studies field. Her own contemplative practices are based in her Christian heritage and supported by deep study and practice in the Buddhist tradition, as well as her Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training. She teaches law at the University of San Fransisco and has…
Join Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows at “Rainer Maria Rilke and the Force of the Storm,” on September 19-23. Click here for info and to register. For almost fifty years, since the winter’s day I found it on a table in a Munich bookstore, Rainer Maria Rilke’s Book of Hours has been a cherished companion. My book is the original…
How do you change a world culture that is, in many ways, going in the opposite direction of love at top speed? This is the question at the heart of a recent wide-ranging conversation between Garrison Institute co-founder Jonathan Rose and Garrison Institute Spiritual Advisor Father Thomas Keating. They begin their conversation by discussing contemplation in the schools, which can…
Humanity is developing new technologies that can help us sense the world at scale, and make change visible in ways that are much more amenable to human cognition. And that matters, because seeing the world, deeply and in its totality, is the first step on the path to communion, empathy and stewardship.
One rainy, windy day in New York City I needed to go to several appointments and meetings within a few blocks of each other. I decided to brave the elements and, with my tiny folding umbrella in hand and lightweight raincoat, walk from place to place. Soon after I went outside, though, the wind blew open my umbrella and I…
“Knowledge by itself, without deep wisdom, ends up becoming despair.” —Ram Dass We live in a time of unprecedented access to information and knowledge, both a blessing and curse. One of our major sources of information, the news media, is designed to trigger our evolutionary need to spot problems and feeds our survival anxieties with a daily flow of endless…