학교서 농사짓고 명상하는 학생·교수들···‘과도한 합리성’서 탈출할 대안을 일구다 - 경향신문

[세계 지성과의 대화 ⑤]학교서 농사짓고 명상하는 학생·교수들···‘과도한 합리성’서 탈출할 대안을 일구다 - 경향신문



세계 지성과의 대화 ⑤
학교서 농사짓고 명상하는 학생·교수들···‘과도한 합리성’서 탈출할 대안을 일구다


영국 데번주 다팅턴에 있는 슈마허대학은 규모는 작지만 특별한 커리큘럼, 뛰어난 교수진 등으로 최근 주목받고 있는 ‘순환경제’ ‘로컬경제’ ‘생태경제’ ‘가이아경제’ 등 새로운 경제담론들의 중심에 서 있다. 사진은 역사를 자랑하듯 고색창연한 슈마허대학의 강의동이다. ⓒ안희경
안희경 | 재미 저널리스트2019.03.06 22:17 입력
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안희경의 ‘세계 지성과의 대화’ - ‘가이아 이론의 산실’ 슈마허대학보살핌의 경제로

“여러분, 취직에 매달리지 마세요. 삶의 의미를 채워낼 수 있는 당신의 일을 창조합시다. 그대들 앞에 놓일 대부분의 일자리는 정신을 채워주지 못할 것이며, 이 사회를 정의롭게 만들지도, 지구의 환경을 지속 가능하도록 지켜내지도 못할 겁니다. 단지 청구서를 납부할 수 있는 돈을 그대 손에 쥐여줄 뿐입니다. 우리는 온갖 청구서를 납부하러 이 땅에 오지 않았습니다. 보다 위대한 목표를 향해 그 일을 합시다. 우리의 목표는 이 지구를 보살피는 인간의 의무를 다하는 것입니다.” 영국 데번주 다팅턴의 슈마허대학(Schumacher College) 학위 수여식에서 창립자 사티시 쿠마르는 졸업생들에게 이렇게 당부했다.


순환경제, 로컬경제, 생태경제 등 새로운 경제담론들이 주목을 받으며 점차 주류로 진입하고 있다. 지속 가능한 경제를 표방하며 인간만이 아닌 수만의 종과 함께 문명의 수명을 연장하고자 한다. 이 새로운 길을 앞장서 내며 진득하게 걸어온 많은 ‘지구의 일꾼’들이 바로 이 작은 슈마허대학에서 탄생해왔다. 그들은 자신의 행복과 번영을 성공이라는 허명 아래 저버리지 않는다. 타인의 행복을 밟고 일어서려 하지도 않는다. 지구별을 하나의 유기체로 생각하고 감각하며 유지할 ‘가이아경제’를 추구한다. 슈마허대학에는 홀리스틱 사이언스(Holistic Science), 생태적 디자인 사고(Ecological Design Thinking), 전환을 위한 경제학(Economics for Transition) 등 3개의 대학원 과정이 있다. 이 중 전환을 위한 경제학에서 배출한 졸업생만 18년 동안 1500여명이다. 모두들 현장에서 일하고 있다. 캐나다의 대표적 환경 싱크탱크인 데이비드 스즈키재단을 비롯, 영국과 미국·포르투갈은 물론 아시아·남아메리카의 다양한 싱크탱크와 비정부기구(NGO), 교육기관, 지방정부 등에서 정책가·활동가로 활약하는 것이다. 또 윤리적 농장이나 레스토랑·가게를 열어 들판의 클로버처럼 풀뿌리로 지구별의 지표면을 메워가고 있다.


영국 데번주 다팅턴에 위치
반다나 시바·프리초프 카프라 등
저명 운동가·학자들 강의로 유명
세계 90여개국에서 학생들 모여



슈마허를 처음 찾은 날은 작년 11월25일이다. ‘안희경의 세계 지성과의 대화-보살핌의 경제로’의 첫 인터뷰이인 헬레나 노르베르-호지를 스페인에서 만나고 런던으로 돌아가 다시 기차로 4시간 달려 다다랐다. 사실 슈마허에 궁금증을 품었던 것은 이미 2012년이다. 환경 분야의 거장이자 세계화 경제에 맞서 소농 중심의 유기농 농민운동을 이끄는 반다나 시바를 만나고자 하던 중 그의 강의가 슈마허대학에서 잡혔다. 1980~1990년대 초 기존의 인식 틀을 뒤흔들던 물리학자 프리초프 카프라를 좇다가도 슈마허대학을 만났다. 이 두 거장뿐이 아니다. 당대의 사회운동가나 경제학자, 생태와 경제의 새로운 가치를 설파하는 심리학자, 과학자, 예술가들이 슈마허대학 방문교수 명단에 올라 있었다. 헬레나 노르베르-호지 또한 국제경제를 강의했다. 지난해 ‘도넛 경제학’으로 자본주의 한계를 돌파하는 담론을 제시한 경제학자이자 활동가인 케이트 레이워스 역시 이곳의 교수였다.




지난달 다시 일주일 일정으로 슈마허대학을 찾았다. 토트네스 기차역에서 강을 따라 걸어 올라가면 다팅턴홀 입구가 나온다. 데번주에 남은 유일한 철새 도래지인 호수 주위로 잿빛 왜가리가 먹이사냥을 하고 있다. 다팅턴홀이 1925년 새 주인을 만나면서 생태를 보전, 철새들이 모여드는 것이다. 영국에서도 손꼽히는 아름다운 전원도시인 토트네스는 다팅턴홀 입구로 접어들자 더 아름다운 풍광으로 펼쳐졌다. 강 너머 초록 언덕은 거침없이 하늘로 내달리다 구름과 맞닿은 지점에서 시야 저편으로 사라지고 하얀 양떼들이 넘어왔다. 새들은 숲이 있음을 알리듯 저마다의 언어로 노래를 불렀다.


명저 <작은 것이 아름답다>로도 유명한 에른스트 슈마허.

‘작은 것이 아름답다’의 저자
슈마허 이름 따 1991년 설립
숲·농장으로 이뤄진 교정서 숙식
‘온몸으로 배운다’를 직접 실천


학교명 슈마허대학의 슈마허는 명저 <작은 것이 아름답다>의 저자 에른스트 슈마허다. 슈마허대학은 1980년대 세계화가 태동되던 순간부터 신자유주의의 위기를 경고해온 불교경제학자·생태학자인 에른스트 슈마허의 이름을 교명으로 삼아 1991년 1월에 문을 열었다. 사실 슈마허대학의 태동은 훨씬 이전으로, 인도의 교육자이자 시성(詩聖)인 타고르 시대로 거슬러 올라간다. 라빈드라나트 타고르에게는 레너드 엠허스트라는 영국인 제자가 있었다. 성공회 신부의 아들로 케임브리지에서 신학과 역사를 공부하던 가난한 청년 엠허스트는 인도에서 타고르를 만나 깊은 가르침을 받고 개인 비서 역할을 할 정도로 각별하게 지냈다. 그는 농업을 배우고자 미국 코넬대로 갔고, 그곳에서 억만장자 아버지의 부를 상속받은 도로시 휘트니 스트레이트를 만나 결혼한다. 이 소식을 듣고 타고르는 “이제 영국으로 가 드넓은 대지를 구입해 진보적인 학교를 설립해라. 사람들이 자연과 음악과 공예를 누리고, 바른 삶을 위한 행복을 발견할 수 있는 공간을 만들라”고 엠허스트에게 당부했다. 타고르가 가리킨 곳은 지금의 슈마허대학에서 멀지 않은 토키였다. 타고르가 한때 휴가차 방문했던 곳이다. 엠허스트는 1923년 부동산중개인을 만났는데 당시 다팅턴홀이 매물로 나와 있었다. 14세기에 지어진 성으로 16세기부터 소유해온 샴페논경이 내놓은 것이다. 건물은 낡고 부서졌으며, 중심인 그레이트홀은 지붕마저 내려앉아 가축들이 어슬렁거렸다. 다팅턴홀의 전체 면적은 500에이커(약 62만평)로 끝없이 펼쳐지는 구릉지대를 거느린다. 마치 가야산을 품고 있는 해인사와 비슷하다.


엠허스트는 모든 성채를 재건했다. 산업화로 무너져가는 농업을 유기농으로 지켜내고, 아트센터를 열어 많은 예술가들이 모여들었다. 세계적 작가 올더스 헉슬리를 비롯해 나치를 피해온 독일의 예술가들이 많았다. 예술가들과 영국 노동당 정치인들은 자주 모임을 가졌다. 이 과정에서 전 국민 의료보험이 제도로 구현되도록 인큐베이터되기도 했다. 다팅턴홀이라는 외떨어진 시골 안전지대에서 예술적 상상과 사회적 이상의 융합이 일어난 것이다. 엠허스트는 타고르의 제자답게 교육에 열정을 품었다. 다팅턴학교는 급진적 교육을 펼쳐갔다. 라틴어 수업을 폐지하고, 남녀 성차별을 없앴으며, 계급차별을 무너뜨리고, 예술과 동서사상을 청소년에게 불어넣었다. 그러나 1980년대 말 사고가 일어나며 학교는 문을 닫고 만다. 이에 다팅턴홀 재단의 이사들은 새로운 교육공간을 모색했고, 그중 사티시 쿠마르와 존 레인, 모리스 에시를 중심으로 슈마허대학이 탄생하게 됐다.


‘우리에게는 지구의 자원을 낭비하는 경제시스템을 탐구할 새 길이 필요하다. 왜 서구사상은 숲을 함부로 대하는가? 우리는 무엇부터 시작해야 하는가?’ 슈마허대학 설립자의 질문은 일종의 인도 아슈람 모델인 타포바나에서 답을 찾는다. 타고르는 고대 인도의 현자들이 숲에서 지혜를 얻었다고 믿었고, 자연이 없다면 지혜를 얻을 수 없다고 설파했다. 그는 제자들과 숲으로 들어가 함께 살며 교육했다. 바로 아슈람이다. 그 수행의 숲을 타포바나라고 한다. 아슈람의 학생들은 밭을 갈고, 나무를 하고, 스승과 함께 먹고 자며 스승의 인격과 정신이 온몸에 배어들게 했다. 슈마허대학 또한 ‘온몸으로 배운다(Learning by Doing)’를 실천한다. 모든 학생과 일부 교수진은 학교에 거주한다. 대학원생뿐 아니라 3주, 1주 단기코스 수강생들도 숙식하며 요리를 하고 농사를 지으며 명상을 즐긴다. 6에이커(약 7천평)의 교정이 숲과 농장으로 가꾸어지고 있다. 슈마허는 ‘21세기 타포바나’다.


1991년 첫 학기 학생은 25명이었다. 시골마을 신생 학교에 모이기엔 놀라운 숫자였다. 이유는 제임스 러브록의 강의로 문을 열었기 때문인데, 그는 과학자·환경운동가·미래학자로 지구는 스스로 조절하는 하나의 유기체적 시스템으로 이뤄졌다는 가이아 이론을 제창한 인물이다. 러브록이 합류하게 된 배경과 에른스트 슈마허가 슈마허대학을 대표하게 된 아이디어의 바탕에는 사티시 쿠마르의 삶이 있다. 쿠마르는 아홉 살에 자이나교로 출가했고, 열여덟 살에 환속한 후 반핵평화운동을 이끌었으며, 인도를 떠나 영국에서 오랫동안 생태잡지인 리서전스 매거진(Resurgence magazine) 편집장으로 일했다. 에른스트 슈마허, 이반 일리치, 달라이 라마, 토머스 베리, 프리초프 카프라, 웬들 베리, 반다나 시바, 제임스 러브록, 조각가 안토니 곰리는 모두 쿠마르의 절친한 친구들이며, 대부분은 슈마허대학 강의진에 합류했다. 이러한 저력에 힘입어 슈마허에는 지금도 세계 90여개국의 학생들이 모이고 있다.


슈마허대학 토대를 다진 타고르와 엠허스트.

핵심 커리큘럼 ‘가이아 이론’은
자연의 직관성 연결된 ‘합리’ 추구
기존 ‘이기적 선택 이론’ 반박
상호 작용 유기체인 인간 강조


슈마허대학의 교육 내용은 두 가지 요소로 대표된다. 하나는 가이아 이론이며, 다른 하나는 홀리스틱(전체적인) 사고다. 가이아 이론은 개교 때부터 함께한 생태과학자 스테판 하딩 교수와 10년 뒤 합류한 경제학자 조너선 도슨에 의해 커리큘럼의 틀로 구축됐고, 대안적 실천원리로써 교실을 넘어 지역 현장에서 적용되고 있다. 하딩이 슈마허에 둥지를 튼 이야기 속에서 1990년대 초 가이아 이론을 향한 학계와 대중의 기대감을 엿볼 수 있다. 1980년대 초부터 티베트불교에 심취해 있던 하딩은 마침 옥스퍼드에 온 린포체가 데번주의 티베트불교센터를 방문하고자 운전사를 구하는 데 자원한다. 다팅턴홀 이사인 대부호 모리스 에시가 개설한 티베트불교센터로 가는 여행이다. 하딩은 그곳에서 모리스 에시와 쿠마르를 만난다. 쿠마르는 당시 학계의 주목을 받기 시작하던 생태학자 하딩에게 슈마허대학 교수 자리를 제안했다. 하딩은 환호하며 런던을 떠났다고 한다. 리처드 도킨스와 같은 학과에서 서로 다른 과제를 연구하던 때였고, 당시 동물생태학의 관점이 ‘이기적 유전자’로 쏠리는 상황을 불편해한 그는 스스로에게 외쳤다. ‘드디어 과도한 합리성으로부터 탈출한다! 이제 나는 이기적인 유전자로부터 빠져나올 수 있겠구나!’ 하딩의 철학은 자연의 직관성과 연결된 합리성을 추구하자는 쪽이었다. 그리고 슈마허에서 제임스 러브록과 함께 연구하며 ‘이기적인 유기체는 이기적이기 때문에 외부에 흥미를 갖지 않고, 그러하기에 지구에 이익을 주는 작업을 해오지 않았다. 유기체는 상호 작용한다’는 가설을 증명해갔다.


현재 가이아 이론은 과학계에서 입지를 넓혀가고 있다. 이는 합리성을 강조한 호모 이코노미쿠스(경제적 인간)를 주장해온 주류 경제학이, 심리학자와 뇌과학자·행동경제학자의 경제활동 연구를 통해 기존에 알려진 호모 이코노미쿠스의 합리성과 이기적 선택은 현실 경제활동을 설명하지 못한다는 증명들과 마주하는 상황과 같다. 치타보다 덜 발달한 다리 근육과 호랑이보다 약한 턱으로 생존해온 인간의 진화 열쇠는 사회를 이루는 협력 본성에서 비롯된다는 설명이 점점 더 주목받는다.



■“생각이든 느낌이든 한쪽 치우친 문화는 위험” 이 대학선 무엇이든 머리·가슴·손으로 배운다


주류 경제에 맞서 지속 가능한 삶과 대안적 경제를 추구하는 슈마허대학의 정신을 보여주듯 슈마허대학의 교수진과 학생들은 강의실·도서관에서의 치열한 ‘머리 공부’는 물론 농장에서 온몸으로 땀 흘려 농사를 짓는 ‘몸 공부’를 병행하고 있다. 사진은 악기를 연주하며 휴식을 즐기는 학생들. ⓒ안희경

스테판 하딩, 조너선 도슨 교수와 이야기를 나누며, 기존에 사전적 의미로 알고 있던 홀리스틱 사고에 대해 그들의 해석을 들었다. 홀리스틱 사이언스와 생태적 디자인 사고 과정을 총괄하는 하딩의 말이다. “우리는 여러 문화에서 발견할 수 있듯이 인식함에 있어 네 가지 방식을 갖고 있습니다. 생각과 느낌은 서로 대립적이죠. 감각과 직관이 대립하고요. 홀리스틱 과학에서 저는 이 네 가지 인식 방식을 모두 동원해 대상을 경험하도록 안내합니다. 매우 어려운 작업이죠. 우리가 삶 전반에 걸쳐 가져가야 할 알아차림이니까요. 이 시대는 ‘생각’이 지배합니다. 너무 생각에 집착하기에 느낌의 가치를 잃었습니다. 이는 위험합니다. 느낌에 매달려 사고가 부족한 문화 역시 위태로워요. 그 무엇이라도 균형을 잃은 문화는 위험합니다. 생각하는 시간, 느끼는 시간, 감각하는 시간, 직관하는 시간, 이 네 인식 능력을 활용하는 홀리스틱을 해야 합니다. 그리고 이 균형감각은 숲에서 자연과 연결될 때 보다 자연스레 키워질 수 있습니다.”


핵심 철학인 ‘홀리스틱 사고’
생각·느낌·감각·직관 활용한
‘균형 잡힌 인식’의 방식 가르쳐
이 균형감은 자연 연결될 때 발달


슈마허대학에서는 머리(Head), 가슴(Heart), 손(Hand)을 강조한다. 일하며 온몸으로 배우는 그들의 일상뿐 아니라 수업에서도 이 셋은 학습의 주요 요소다. 인지적인 학습 방식에 집중하는 주류 대학의 태도와 크게 차별되는 점이다. 모든 학생들은 11월, 노란 자작나무 잎이 교정을 뒤덮을 때면 인디언의 북을 들고 다트무어 국립공원으로 나간다. 가을 학기 동안 기후변화와 생태학에서 배운 탄소순환을 몸으로 느끼기 위한 것이다. 교실에서 데이터를 바탕으로 학습하고, 테스트를 마친 내용을 거대한 화강암으로 뒤덮인 다트무어 암석 위에서 느껴보는 시간이다. 화강암은 지구의 기후에 매우 중요한 물질이다. 그러하기에 다트무어에서 나뭇가지를 모아 모닥불을 피우고 다 같이 대지에 눕는다. 하딩의 주술사 친구가 북을 울리고, 북소리에 맞춰 하딩은 하늘에 고하듯 명상을 이끌어간다. “우리는 이제 탄소 원자가 되었다. 대기로 날아오른다. 화강암의 탄소 원자가 되고, 강물에 어우러진 탄소 원자가 돼 바다로 흘러간다. 바닷물 속 탄소 원자로 가라앉는다.” 빨라지는 북소리를 따라 하딩의 말도 신탁한 주술사의 주문처럼 질주한다. “작은 해초 코카리페포라에 숨이 막혀 심해로 내려앉는다. 우리는 거대한 석회암 퇴적물이 되었다. 가라앉고 가라앉는다. 대륙 저 밑바닥으로 내려간다. 판구조론의 지질 현상에 따라 우리는 다시 이산화탄소가 된다. 그리고 우리는 다시 이 대기로 돌아온다.” 한동안 침묵이 이어진다. 바위 위에서 젖은 몸을 말리는 바다코끼리처럼 학생들은 움직이지 않는다. 바위 사이에 있던 풀이 일어나듯 학생들은 고요를 흐트러뜨리지 않은 채 하나둘 모닥불가로 모여들었다. 깊은 경험이 남긴 진동의 마지막까지 온몸으로 감각하고자 그들은 바람과 새의 언어만을 허용하였다. 하딩은 그 순간을 일러 ‘가이아 되기(Being Gaia)’라고 불렀다. 실제 살아 있는 고귀한 존재로 거대한 행성의 일부가 돼 지구 자체가 되는 경험을 하는 것이다. 하나의 고대 물질이 수천만년의 시간 동안 진화하며 점점 더 복잡해진 생명체로 거듭나 마침내 인간의 의식을 갖춰 그 바위 위에 존재하는 긴 시간을 알아차리는 것이다. 하딩은 과학이라는 통로 덕분에 그 깨우침의 순간을 모두 함께 인지할 수 있다고 설명한다. 그들에게 있어 깨달음은 곧 생태다.


생태학서 배운 탄소순환 익히려
숲에 누워 탄소원자 되는 상상…
‘가이아 되기’라는 수업 과정 통해
‘왜 여기 인간으로 있는가’ 깨달아


“맞아요. 깨달음의 순간이죠. 깨달음은 생태입니다. 생태학 없이 깨달음은 없습니다. 붓다가 깨달으셨을 때 왜 땅을 짚었겠어요? 이 모든 것의 목격자가 되기 위해서죠. 대지 전체와 맞닿으며 붓다는 이렇게 생각했을 겁니다. ‘마침내, 인간이구나’ ‘이는 모두 하나의 전체적인 의미이자 정신체계이며, 기적적인 진화의 과정이로구나’. ‘왜 우리가 여기 인간으로 있는가’를 인간 최초로 깨우친 거죠. 바로 가이아를 사랑하기 위해서, 이 진화의 전체적인 장엄함을 사랑하고, 이 행성만이 아니라 우주를 사랑하고자 그는 이 모든 것이 무언가를 위해 더 나아가려는 시도라는 것을 안 겁니다. 가이아를 위한 길, 인류를 위한 길, 이 모든 변화를 위한 길이죠. 제가 저의 학생들과 함께 나아가려는 그 길입니다.”


전환을 위한 경제학을 배우는 대학원생 에밀리 스웨인(23)은 전날 있었던 수업을 들려주었다. 그는 켄트대학교에서 성장 중심의 주류 경제학을 배우며, 윤리적인 갈등을 겪었기에 1년 동안 한 회사를 다니며 돈을 모아 슈마허에 입학했다. “이전에 저는 머리를 이용해 배웠어요. 오로지 생각하는 것으로요. 하지만 지금은 온몸으로 배웁니다. 우리는 꽤 자주 몸으로 하는 경제를 해요. 어제는 그룹을 이뤄 수업을 했어요. 몸으로 자신이 맡고 있는 경제 요소를 표현하는 수업이었죠. 제가 정부를 표현한다면, 한 친구는 기업을, 다른 친구는 공유재를, 또 한 명은 가정을 표현했습니다. 우리는 시장활동을 몸으로 시뮬레이션했어요. ‘정부인 나는 이들과 어떤 관계를 맺어야 할까?’ 미래를 위해 저는 공유재와 좀 더 가까워지고 싶었는데, 갑자기 그 친구가 쓰러지듯 누웠어요. 저는 머리로는 공유재를 일으켜야 한다고 생각했지만, 반사적으로 그 친구를 발로 밀치고 말았습니다. 현실의 영국 정부는 공유재를 별로 반가워하지 않죠. 오히려 기업과 가깝습니다. 가정경제는 신경 쓰지도 않고요. 저는 생각과 현실 사이에서 어떻게 해야 할지 온몸으로 고민하게 됐습니다.” 그는 공유재를 중요하게 생각하지만 막상 몸이 정부라는 규격에 갇힌 다음엔 정부가 주저앉아서는 안된다는 강박에 자기도 모르게 발로 차듯 공유재를 밀어냈다. 그 수업 이후로 그는 공감력을 더욱 동원해 사고한다. ‘어떻게 하면 머릿속에 자리 잡은 가치를 현실에서 탄력 있게 구현해낼까?’를 고민하며.


슈마허대학에는 교정에도 강의동에도 명상실이 있다. 조너선 도슨 교수의 수업 또한 명상 종을 울리며 시작한다. 카펫이 깔린 강의실이기에 모두들 신발을 벗으며 몇몇은 교실 가운데에 놓인 방석에 가부좌를 틀고 수업을 듣는다. 교수와 학생은 온몸을 깨워 지구 생존 연장을 위한 탐험으로 나아간다. 에밀리 스웨인이 만약 켄트대 경영대학원에 진학했다면, 남보다 훨씬 많은 보수를 받을 것이다. 하지만 그는 졸업 후엔 시골 고향으로 가 자신의 진로를 탐색할 예정이라고 한다. 산업화와 자본에 밀려 농사를 그만뒀던 아버지가 다시 지역 농부들과 농사를 시작하고 싶어 하기에 지역 경제와 유기농 먹거리를 지속적으로 길러낼 길을 함께 찾을 생각이다. 바로 온몸으로 익힌 ‘전환을 위한 경제학’을 동원해 이웃의 삶이 나아지는 데 함께하고자 하는 것이다.


“우리가 느끼는 만족감은
시장경제와 연결돼 있지 않아
인간이란 종이 성공한 건
자비와 사회적 참여 때문”


슈마허대학이 집중하는 또 다른 대안은 생태적 지역 경제 시스템이다. 지역 공동체마다 공적 기능을 하는 기관들이 있다. 병원, 대학, 학교, 프로스포츠팀, 공공기관 등이다. 급식, 가구, 유니폼, 세탁 서비스 등은 대부분 입찰을 받을 때 가격을 먼저 따진다. 하지만 선정기준에 생태적 영향을 포함시킨다면? 종업원이 지역에 사는 사람인가, 환경 영향이 최소화된 생산체계인가, 기업 윤리나 노동자의 노동조건, 지역 제품 비율 등에 따른 기준이 포함되면 지역 경제는 달라진다. 지구도 보다 지속 가능하게 될 것이다. 국가적인 단위에서는 예를 찾기 힘들지만, 지방 공동체 단위에서는 이런 체제가 확산되고 있다. 대표적 모델이 미국 오하이오주 클리블랜드의 에버그린 협동조합 네트워크다. 이 네트워크는 지역 노동자들이 소유하는 협동조합에 우선권을 줬고, 이는 지역 일자리를 창출했을 뿐 아니라 시민의 건강 상태까지도 변화시켰다.


슈마허대학 구성원들이 직접 농사를 짓는 농장.

슈마허의 경제학 수업은 ‘보살핌의 경제로’라는 이번 기획시리즈에서 다뤘던 고민과 대안들을 중심에 놓고 있다. 노동생산성 혁신을 통해 인간 노동이 기계로 대체돼가는 시대, 세금을 노동에서 자원으로 옮기자는 요구와 기업 경영집단에 대한 법적 의무를 가져오는 제재, 단기투자로 주주의 이윤을 극대화하는 관행 제한 등에 집중한다. 여기에 경제적 인간에 대한 진실을 잊지 않는다. 아프리카와 남아시아에서 활동하기도 했던 조너선 하딩은 여러 데이터와 자신의 경험을 바탕으로 이렇게 강조했다. “우리가 느끼는 만족감은 시장경제와 연결돼 있지 않습니다. 우리 종(種)이 성공해온 이유는 자비와 사회적인 참여가 있었기 때문입니다. 행복의 원천은 시장에서 구입하는 물질에 있지 않아요. 우리의 문화, 우리의 정신에 있습니다. 한국 사회와 서구 사회를 들여다봅시다. 자살·우울·불행의 정도나 스모그로 인한 호흡곤란 등의 관련 수치는 몇몇 개발도상국들보다도 낮아요. 소득과 웰빙 지수가 어느 지점까지는 함께 갑니다. 하지만 영국이나 한국은 그 지점을 한참 전에 지났어요. 이제 우리의 조건에서는 장수, 웰빙, 건강, 교육을 측정하는 데 시장 중심의 관점은 작동하지 않습니다. 국민소득 1만5000달러가 넘어가면 상관관계가 사라집니다. 우리는 주체의 변화, 생각의 변화를 통해 인간다운 정이 소통하는 경제를 만들 수 있습니다.”


슈마허대학에서 쿠마르를 비롯한 석학들과 대화를 나누며 ‘바보 같은’ 질문도 빠뜨리지 않았다. “이 작은 학교가 무얼 할 수 있다 생각하는가?” 누군가는 웃음으로 넘겼고, 누군가는 엄지손가락으로 자신을 가리켰다. 가장 긴 답을 내놓은 것은 스테판 하딩이다. “우리는 매우 심각한 기후변화, 종 멸종, 문화 멸종, 언어 멸종, 정신적인 멸종을 맞이하고 있습니다. 어쩌면 46억만년 만에 맞는 가장 큰 위기일지 모릅니다. 그 속에서 슈마허대학은 차이를 만들어왔어요. 왜냐하면 우주가 의미 없는 어떤 물질의 축적이 아니라 그 스스로 생명으로 조직되어 있다는 것을 단지 한 명이 알아차리는 것만으로도 전체는 달라지기 때문입니다.”


남아프리카공화국, 스웨덴, 벨기에, 일본, 멕시코 등에서 온 슈마허대학 사람들의 미소는 쿠키를 굽는 시간에도, 기타를 치는 시간에도, 농기구를 정리하는 시간에도 계속 피어났다. 그래서 나의 입꼬리도 내려올 줄을 몰랐다. 그 시간 동안 지구 전체의 행복도는 나의 웃음이 더해진 만큼 올라갔을 것이다. 연결된 유기체는 작은 울림으로도 전체가 출렁인다. 가이아경제도, 성장중심경제도 맨 처음은 한 명의 상상에서 나왔을 것이다.


슈마허대학을 키우는 사람들



국제 환경교육 주도 쿠마르
가이아 커리큘럼 확립한 하딩
‘지속 가능 경제’ 연구한 도슨




사티시 쿠마르(83·Satish Kumar)는 슈마허대학 공동창립자이며 개교 때부터 2010년까지 프로그램 총책임자를 지냈다. 환경운동가로 ‘향후 50년을 위한 글로벌 어젠다’ 제정을 주도했으며, 국제사회에서 환경교육의 장을 연 인물로 손꼽힌다. 20대에는 인도를 시작으로 모스크바·런던·파리, 미국으로 이어지는 8000마일 세계평화순례를 이끌며 반핵운동을 확산시켰다. 1973년 영국에 자리 잡으며, 30여년간 생태잡지 ‘리서전스 매거진’ 편집장으로 서구 지식인 사회의 인식을 전환시켜왔다. BBC방송은 사티시 쿠마르를 중심으로 <지구 순례자>라는 다큐멘터리를 제작하기도 했다. 저서로는 <당신이 있기에 내가 있다: 의존선언문> <붓다와 테러리스트>, 자서전 <운명은 없다> 등이 있다.

스테판 하딩(66·Stephan Harding)은 생태학자다. 옥스퍼드대학에서 문자크 사슴의 행동생태학으로 박사학위를 받은 후 옥스퍼드와 코스타리카국립대학이 주도하는 열대우림 생태연구를 진행했다. 1990년 슈마허대학 개교 준비 과정에서 교수로 부임했다. 이후 그의 연구는 가이아 이론 아래 진행됐으며, 가이아 교육 커리큘럼을 확립했다. 저서로 <살아있는 지구: 과학, 직관과 가이아> <지구의 노래> 등 다수가 있다.




조너선 도슨(64·Jonathan Dawson)은 경제학자이자 교육자이며, 전 글로벌 에코빌리지 네트워크 대표다. 슈마허대학에 오기 전 20여년 동안 아프리카·남아시아에서 연구자, 프로젝트 관리자로 현장 활동을 겸하며 저서를 집필해왔다. 가이아 교육에서 지속 가능한 경제 커리큘럼을 확립했고, 유네스코에 의해 유엔 지속 가능 개발을 위한 교육 기여자로 선정됐다. 저서로 <가이아 경제학: 행성의 한계 속에 추구하는 행복> <신용 너머를 지향하다: 소규모 생산자들의 혁신과 개발> <공동체 개발을 위한 기술> 등이 있다.



▶안희경은




재미 저널리스트다. 2002년 미국으로 이주, 서구의 문명사적 성찰과 대안 모색 등을 소개하는 글을 쓰고 있다. 세계적 마음 전문가들의 인터뷰집 <사피엔스의 마음>, 레베카 솔닛 등 세계 여성 지성들과의 대화를 엮은 <어크로스 페미니즘>, 재러드 다이아몬드 등 세계 지성 11명과의 대담집 <문명 그 길을 묻다>, 놈 촘스키 등 세계 석학 7인과의 대담집 <하나의 생각이 세상을 바꾼다>, 윌리엄 켄트리지 등을 인터뷰한 <여기, 아티스트가 있다> 등의 저서와 다수의 번역서를 펴냈다.

Spiritual ecology - Wikipedia

Spiritual ecology - Wikipedia



Spiritual ecology
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Spiritual ecology is an emerging field in religion, conservation, and academia recognizing that there is a spiritual facet to all issues related to conservation, environmentalism, and earth stewardship. Proponents of Spiritual Ecology assert a need for contemporary conservation work to include spiritual elements and for contemporary religion and spirituality to include awareness of and engagement in ecological issues.


Contents
1Introduction
2History
3Indigenous wisdom

4Current trends
4.1Science and academia
4.2Religion and ecology
4.3Earth-based traditions and earth spirituality
4.4Spirituality and ecology
4.5Environmental conservation

5Opposing views

6See also
7References
8Further reading
9External links


Introduction[edit]

Contributors in the field of Spiritual Ecology contend there are spiritual elements at the root of environmental issues. Those working in the arena of Spiritual Ecology further suggest that there is a critical need to recognize and address the spiritual dynamics at the root of environmental degradation.[1]

The field is largely emerging through three individual streams of formal study and activity: science and academia, religion and spirituality, and ecological sustainability.[2]

Despite the disparate arenas of study and practice, the principles of spiritual ecology are simple: In order to resolve such environmental issues as depletion of species, global warming, and over-consumption, humanity must examine and reassess our underlying attitudes and beliefs about the earth, and our spiritual responsibilities toward the planet.[3]U.S. Advisor on climate change, James Gustave Speth, said: "I used to think that top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that thirty years of good science could address these problems. I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation."[4]

Thus, it is argued, ecological renewal and sustainability necessarily depends upon spiritual awareness and an attitude of responsibility. Spiritual Ecologists concur that this includes both the recognition of creation as sacred and behaviors that honor that sacredness.

Recent written and spoken contributions of Pope Francis, particularly his May 2015 Encyclical, Laudato si', as well as unprecedented involvement of faith leaders at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris[5] reflect a growing popularity of this emerging view. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, stated on December 4, 2015, that “Faith communities are vital for global efforts to address the climate challenge. They remind us of the moral dimensions of climate change, and of our obligation to care for both the Earth’s fragile environment and our neighbours in need.” [5]
History[edit]

Spiritual ecology identifies the Scientific Revolution—beginning the 16th century, and continuing through the Age of Enlightenment to the Industrial Revolution—as contributing to a critical shift in human understanding with reverberating effects on the environment. The radical expansion of collective consciousness into the era of rational science included a collective change from experiencing nature as a living, spiritual presence to a utilitarianmeans to an end.[6]

During the modern age, reason became valued over faith, tradition, and revelation. Industrialized society replaced agricultural societies and the old ways of relating to seasons and cycles. Furthermore, it is argued that the growing predominance of a global, mechanized worldview, a collective sense of the sacred was severed and replaced with an insatiable drive for scientific progress and material prosperity without any sense of limits or responsibility.[6]

Some in Spiritual Ecology argue that a pervasive patriarchal world-view, and a monotheistic religious orientation towards a transcendent divinity, is largely responsible for destructive attitudes about the earth, body, and the sacred nature of creation.[7] Thus, many identify the wisdom of indigenous cultures, for whom the physical world is still regarded as sacred, as holding a key to our current ecological predicament.

Spiritual ecology is a response to the values and socio-political structures of recent centuries with their trajectory away from intimacy with the earth and its sacred essence. It has been forming and developing as an intellectual and practice-oriented discipline for nearly a century.[8]

Spiritual ecology includes a vast array of people and practices that intertwine spiritual and environmental experience and understanding. Additionally, within the tradition itself resides a deep, developing spiritual vision of a collective human/earth/divine evolution that is expanding consciousness beyond the dualities of human/earth, heaven/earth, mind/body. This belongs to the contemporary movement that recognizes the unity and interrelationship, or "interbeing," the interconnectedness of all of creation.

Visionaries carrying this thread include Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) who founded the spiritual movement of anthroposophy, and described a "co-evolution of spirituality and nature"[9] and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit and paleontologist (1881-1955) who spoke of a transition in collective awareness toward a consciousness of the divinity within every particle of life, even the most dense mineral. This shift includes the necessary dissolution of divisions between fields of study as mentioned above. "Science, philosophy and religion are bound to converge as they draw nearer to the whole."[10]

Thomas Berry, the American Passionist priest known a 'geologian' (1914-2009), has been one of the most influential figures in this developing movement, with his stress on returning to a sense of wonder and reverence for the natural world. He shared and furthered many of Teilhard de Chardin’s views, including the understanding that humanity is not at the center of the universe, but integrated into a divine whole with its own evolutionary path. This view compels a re-thinking of the earth/human relationship: "The present urgency is to begin thinking within the context of the whole planet, the integral earth community with all its human and other-than-human components."[11]

More recently, leaders in the Engaged Buddhism movement, including Thich Nhat Hanh, also identify a need to return to a sense of self which includes the Earth.[12] Joanna Macydescribes a collective shift – referred to as the "Great Turning" – taking us into a new consciousness in which the earth is not experienced as separate.[13] Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee similarly grounds his spiritual ecology work in the context of a collective evolutionary expansion towards oneness, bringing us all toward an experience of earth and humanity – all life – as interdependent. In the vision and experience of oneness, the term "spiritual ecology" becomes, itself, redundant. What is earth-sustaining is spiritual; that which is spiritual honors a sacred earth.[14][15]

An important element in the work of these contemporary teachers is the call for humanity’s full acceptance of responsibility for what we have done – physically and spiritually – to the earth. Only through accepting responsibility will healing and transformation occur.[14][15][16]

Including the need for a spiritual response to the environmental crisis, Charles, Prince of Wales in his 2010 book Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, writes: "A specifically mechanistic science has only recently assumed a position of such authority in the world... (and) not only has it prevented us from considering the world philosophically any more, our predominantly mechanistic way of looking at the world has also excluded our spiritual relationship with Nature. Any such concerns get short shrift in the mainstream debate about what we do to the Earth."[17] Prince Charles, who has promoted environmental awareness since the 1980s,[18] continues: "... by continuing to deny ourselves this profound, ancient, intimate relationship with Nature, I fear we are compounding our subconscious sense of alienation and disintegration, which is mirrored in the fragmentation and disruption of harmony we are bringing about in the world around us. At the moment we are disrupting the teeming diversity of life and the ‘ecosystems’ that sustain it—the forests and prairies, the woodland, moorland and fens, the oceans, rivers and streams. And this all adds up to the degree of ‘disease’ we are causing to the intricate balance that regulates the planet’s climate, on which we so intimately depend."[19]

In May 2015 Pope Francis’s Encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home,”endorsed the need for a spiritual and moral response to our environmental crisis, and thus implicitly brings the subject of spiritual ecology to the forefront of our present ecological debate. This encyclical recognizes that “The ecological crisis is essentially a spiritual problem,” [20] in line with the ideas of this developing field. American environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben who has written extensively on the impact of global warming, says that Pope Francis has "brought the full weight of the spiritual order to bear on the global threat posed by climate change, and in so doing joined its power with the scientific order."[21]

Scientist, environmentalist, and a leader in sustainable ecology David Suzuki also expresses the importance of including the sacred in addressing the ecological crisis: "The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity—then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective."[22]

Historically we see the development of the foundational ideas and perspective of spiritual ecology in mystical arms of traditional religions and spiritual arms of environmental conservation. These ideas put forth a story of an evolving universe and potential human experience of wholeness in which dualities dissipate—dualities that have marked past eras and contributed to the destruction of the earth as "other" than spirit.

A Catholic nun interviewed by Sarah MacFarland Taylor, author of the 2009 book, “Green Sisters: Spiritual Ecology” (Harvard University Press, 2009), articulates this perspective of unity: “There is no division between planting new fields and prayer.”[23]


Indigenous wisdom[edit]

Many in the field of spiritual ecology agree that a distinct stream of experience threading throughout history that has at its heart a lived understanding of the principles, values and attitudes of spiritual ecology: indigenous wisdom. The term "indigenous" in this context refers to that which is native, original, and resident to a place, more specifically to societies who share and preserve ways of knowing the world in relationship to the land.[24] For many Native traditions, the earth is the central spiritual context.[25] This principle condition reflects an attitude and way of being in the world that is rooted in land and embedded in place.[26] Spiritual ecology directs us to look to revered holders of these traditions in order to understand the source of our current ecological and spiritual crisis and find guidance to move into a state of balance.

Features of many indigenous teachings include life as a continual act of prayer and thanksgiving, knowledge and symbiotic relationship with an animate nature, and being aware of one’s actions on future generations. Such understanding necessarily implies a mutuality and reciprocity between people, earth and the cosmos.

The above historical trajectory is located predominantly in a Judeo-Christian European context, for it is within this context that humanity experienced the loss of the sacred nature of creation, with its devastating consequences. For example, with colonization, indigenous spiritual ecology was historically replaced by an imposed Western belief that land and the environment are commodities to be used and exploited, with exploitation of natural resources in the name of socio-economic evolution. This perspective "... tended to remove any spiritual value of the land, with regard only given for economic value, and this served to further distance communities from intimate relationships with their environments,"[27]often with "devastating consequences for indigenous people and nature around the world."[28][29] Research on early prehistoric human activity in the Quaternary extinction event, shows overhunting megafauna well before European colonization in North America, South America and Australia.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36] While this might cast doubt upon the view of indigenous wisdom and the sacred relationship to land and environment throughout the entirety of human history, it this does not negate the more recent devastating effects as referenced.

Along with the basic principles and behaviors advocated by spiritual ecology, some indigenous traditions hold the same evolutionary view articulated by the Western spiritual teachers listed above. The understanding of humanity evolving toward a state of unity and harmony with the earth after a period of discord and suffering is described in a number of prophecies around the globe. These include the White Buffalo prophecy of the Plains Indians, the prophecy of the Eagle and Condor from the people of the Andes, and the Onondaga prophecies held and retold by Oren Lyons.[37][38][39]


Current trends[edit]

Spiritual ecology is developing largely in three arenas identified above: Science and Academia, Religion and Spirituality, and Environmental Conservation.
Science and academia[edit]

Among scholars contributing to spiritual ecology, five stand out: Steven Clark Rockefeller, Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, Bron Taylor and Roger S. Gottlieb.[40]

Mary Evelyn Tucker[41] and John Grim[42] are the co-ordinators of Yale University’s Forum on Religion and Ecology,[43] an international multi-religious project exploring religious world-views, texts ethics and practices in order to broaden understanding of the complex nature of current environmental concerns.

Steven C. Rockefeller is an author of numerous books about religion and the environment, and is professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College. He played a leading role in the drafting of the Earth Charter.[44]

Roger S. Gottlieb[45] is a professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is author of over 100 articles and 16 books on environmentalism, religious life, contemporary spirituality, political philosophy, ethics, feminism, and the Holocaust.

Bron Taylor at the University of Florida coined the term "Dark Green Religion" to describe a set of beliefs and practices centered on the conviction that nature is sacred.[46]

Other leaders in the field include: Leslie E. Sponsel at the University of Hawai'i,[47] Sarah McFarland Taylor at Northwestern University,[48] Mitchell Thomashow at Antioch University New England and the Schumacher College Programs.[49]

Within the field of science, spiritual ecology is emerging in arenas including Physics, Biology (see: Ursula Goodenough), Consciousness Studies (see: Brian Swimme; California Institute of Integral Studies), Systems Theory (see: David Loy; Nondual Science Institute), and Gaia Hypothesis, which was first articulated by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s.[citation needed]

Another example is scientist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger, world recognized expert on how trees chemically affect the environment, who brings together the fields of ethnobotany, horticulture, ecology, and spirituality in relation to the current ecological crisis and stewardship of the natural world. She says, "... the world, the gift of this world is fantastic and phenomenal. The molecular working of the world is extraordinary, the mathematics of the world is extraordinary... sacred and science go together."[50][51]

Religion and ecology[edit]

Within many faiths, environmentalism is becoming an area of study and advocacy.[52]Pope Francis’s May 2015 encyclical, Laudato si', offered a strong confirmation of spiritual ecology and its principles from within the Catholic Church. Additionally, over 150 leaders from various faiths signed a letter to the UN Climate Summit in Paris 2015, “Statement of Faith and Spiritual Leaders on the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 in Paris in December 2015”, recognizing the earth as “a gift” from God and calling for climate action. These contemporary events are reflections of enduring themes coming to the fore within many religions.

Christian environmentalists emphasize the ecological responsibilities of all Christians as stewards of God's earth, while contemporary Muslim religious ecology is inspired by Qur'anic themes, such as mankind being khalifa, or trustee of God on earth (2:30). There is also a Jewish ecological perspective based upon the Bible and Torah, for example the laws of bal tashchit (neither to destroy wantonly, nor waste resources unnecessarily). Engaged Buddhism applies Buddhist principles and teachings to social and environmental issues. A collection of Buddhist responses to global warming can be seen at Ecological Buddhism.[53]

In addition to Pope Francis, other world traditions currently seem to include a subset of leaders committed to an ecological perspective. The "Green Patriarch," Bartholomew 1, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church,[54] has worked since the late nineties to bring together scientists, environmentalists, religious leaders and policy makers to address the ecological crisis, and says protecting the planet is a "sacred task and a common vocation… Global warming is a moral crisis and a moral challenge.”[55] The Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences (IFEES)[56] were one of the sponsors of the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium held in Istanbul in August 2015, which resulted in "Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change"—a declaration endorsed by religious leaders, noted Islamic scholars and teachers from 20 countries.[57] In October, 2015, 425 rabbis signed "A Rabbinic Letter on the Climate Crisis", calling for vigorous action to prevent worsening climate disruption and to seek eco-social justice.[58] Hindu scriptures also allude strongly and often to the connection between humans and nature, and these texts form the foundation of the Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, presented at a 2009 meeting of the Parliament of World Religions.[59]Many world faith and religious leaders, such as the Dalai Lama, were present at the 2015 Climate Change Conference, and shared the view that: "Saving the planet is not just a political duty, but also a moral one."[60][61] The Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, has also stated, "The environmental emergency that we face is not just a scientific issue, nor is it just a political issue—it is also a moral issue.”[62]

These religious approaches to ecology also have a growing interfaith expression, for example in The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD) where world religious leaders speak out on climate change and sustainability. And at their gathering in Fall 2015, the Parliament of World Religions created a declaration for Interfaith Action on Climate Change, and "brought together more than 10,000 activists, professors, clergy, and global leaders from 73 countries and 50 faiths to confront climate change"[63]
Earth-based traditions and earth spirituality[edit]

Care for and respect to earth as Sacred—as Mother Earth (Mother Nature)—who provides life and nourishment, is a central point to Earth-based spirituality. PaGaian Cosmology is a tradition within Earth-based spirituality that focuses particularly in Spiritual Ecology and celebrating the sacredness of life. Glenys Livingstone describes it in her book as "an ecospirituality grounded in indigenous Western religious celebration of the Earth-Sun annual cycle. By linking to story of the unfolding universe this practice can be deepened. And a sense of the Triple Goddess—central to the cycle and known in ancient cultures—may be developed as a dynamic innate to all being. The ritual scripts and the process of ritual events presented here, may be a journey into self-knowledge through personal, communal and ecological story: the self to be known is one that is integral with place."[64]

Spirituality and ecology[edit]

While religiously-oriented environmentalism is grounded in scripture and theology, there is a more recent environmental movement that articulates the need for an ecological approach founded on spiritual awareness rather than religious belief. The individuals articulating this approach may have a religious background, but their ecological vision comes from their own lived spiritual experience.[65][66] The difference between this spiritually-oriented ecology and a religious approach to ecology can be seen as analogous to how the Inter-spiritual Movement moves beyond interfaith and interreligious dialogue to focus on the actual experience of spiritual principles and practices.[67] Spiritual ecology similarly explores the importance of this experiential spiritual dimension in relation to our present ecological crisis.[14]

The Engaged Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of the importance of mindfulness in taking care of our Mother Earth, and how the highest form of prayer is real communion with the Earth.[68] Sandra Ingerman offers shamanic healing as a way of reversing pollution in Medicine for the Earth.[69] Franciscan friar Richard Rohr emphasizes the need to experience the whole world as a divine incarnation. Sufi mystic Llewellyn Vaughan-Leedirects our attention not just to the suffering of the physical world, but also its interior spiritual self, or anima mundi (world soul). Bill Plotkin and others are involved in the work of finding within nature the reconnection with our soul and the world soul.[70] These are just a few of the many different ways practitioners of spiritual ecology within different spiritual traditions and disciplines bring our awareness back to the sacred nature of creation.


Environmental conservation[edit]
Main article: Conservation movement

The environmental conservation field has been informed, shaped, and led by individuals who have had profound experiences of nature’s sacredness and have fought to protect it. Recognizing the intimacy of human soul and nature, many have pioneered a new way of thinking about and relating to the earth.

Today many aspects of the environmental conservation movement are empowered by spiritual principles and interdisciplinary cooperation.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has recently founded the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment[71] which bridges scientific based study of ecology and the environment with traditional ecological knowledge, which includes spirituality. As she writes in this piece from Oxford Journal BioScience: "Traditional ecological knowledge is increasingly being sought by academics, agency scientists, and policymakers as a potential source of ideas for emerging models of ecosystem management, conservation biology, and ecological restoration. It has been recognized as complementary and equivalent to scientific knowledge... Traditional ecological knowledge is not unique to Native American culture but exists all over the world, independent of ethnicity. It is born of long intimacy and attentiveness to a homeland and can arise wherever people are materially and spiritually integrated with their landscape."[72]

In recent years, the World Wildlife Fund (World Wide Fund for Nature) has developed Sacred Earth: Faiths for Conservation, a program to collaborate with spiritual leaders and faith communities from all different spiritual traditions around the world, to face environmental issues including deforestation, pollution, unsustainable extraction, melting glaciers and rising sea levels. The Sacred Earth program works with faith-based leaders and communities, who "best articulate ethical and spiritual ideals around the sacred value of Earth and its diversity, and are committed to protecting it."[73]

One of the conservation projects developed from the WWF Sacred Earth program is Khoryug,[74] based in the Eastern Himalayas, which is an association of several Tibetan Buddhist monasteries that works on environmental protection of the Himalayan region through apply the values of compassion and interdependence towards the Earth and all living beings that dwell here. Organized under the auspices of His Holiness, the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Khoryug project resulted in the publication of environmental guidelines for Buddhists and "more than 55 monastery-led projects to address forest degradation, water loss, wildlife trade, waste, pollution and climate change."[75]

Krishna Kant Shukla, a physicist and musician, is noted for his lectures on "Indian villages as models of sustainable development" and his work in establishing Saha Astitva a model eco village and organic farm in tribal Maharashtra, India.

One trend to note is the recognition that women—by instinct and nature—have a unique commitment and capacity to protect the earth’s resources. We see this illustrated in the lives of Wangari Maathai, founder of Africa’s Green Belt Movement, which was initially made up of women planting trees; Jane Goodall, innovator of local sustainable programs in Africa, many of which are designed to empower girls and women; and Vandana Shiva, the Indian feminist activist working on a variety of issues including seed saving, protecting small farms in India and protesting agri-business.

Other contemporary inter-disciplinary environmentalists include Wendell Berry, a farmer, poet, and academic living in Kentucky, who fights for small farms and criticizes agri-business; and Satish Kumar, a former Jain monk and founder of Schumacher College, a center for ecological studies.


Opposing views[edit]

Although the May 2015 Encyclical from Pope Francis brought the importance of the subject spiritual ecology to the fore of mainstream contemporary culture, it is a point of view that is not widely accepted or included in the work of most environmentalists and ecologists. Academic research on the subject has also generated some criticism.[76][77]

Ken Wilber has criticized spiritual ecology, suggesting that “spiritually oriented deep ecologists” fail to acknowledge the transcendent aspect of the divine, or hierarchical cosmologies, and thus exclude an important aspect of spirituality, as well as presenting what Wilber calls a one-dimensional “flat land” ontology in which the sacred in nature is wholly immanent. But Wilber's views are also criticized as not including an in-depth understanding of indigenous spirituality.[78]

See also[edit]

Ecology portal
Cultural ecology
Deep ecology
Ecopsychology
Religion and ecology
Ecofeminism
References[edit]

^ White, Lynn (1967-03-10). "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis". Science. 155(3767): 1203–1207. doi:10.1126/science.155.3767.1203. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 17847526.
^ Sponsel, Leslie E. (2012). Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution. Praeger. pp. xiii. ISBN 978-0-313-36409-9.
^ This theme is developed further in the work of Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Sandra Ingerman, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim: http://fore.research.yale.edu, Leslie Sponsel: http://spiritualecology.info, and others.
^ Crockett, Daniel. "Connection Will Be the Next Big Human Trend", Huffington Post, Aug 22, 2014.
^ Jump up to:a b Vidal, John. "Religious leaders step up pressure for action on climate change", The Guardian, December 4, 2015.
^ Jump up to:a b Mary Evelyn Tucker, "Complete Interview", Global Oneness Project video. See also: Worldviews & Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John A. Grim (eds.), and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
^ See Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, The Return of the Feminine and the World Soul, ch. 3, "Patriarchal Deities and the Repression of the Feminine."
^ See Leslie E. Sponsel, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution, ch. III, "Branches", 69-83 and specifically ch. 12, "Supernovas."
^ Leslie E. Sponsel, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution, p. 66.
^ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man, p. 30.
^ Thomas Berry, The Great Work, p. 105.
^ Confino, Jo. "Beyond environment: falling back in love with Mother Earth," The Guardian, Feb. 2010.
^ Joanna Macy (2009-10-07). "The Great Turning". Joannamacy.net. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Jump up to:a b c Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. "Spiritual Ecology". Spiritual Ecology. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Jump up to:a b "Home". Working with Oneness. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Also see the video Taking Spiritual Responsibility for the Planet with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, and Engaged Buddhism
^ Charles HRH The Prince of Wales. Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, ch. 1, pp. 10–11.
^ Gayathri, Amrutha. "Prince Charles Warns of ‘Sixth Extinction Event,’ Asks People to Cut Down on Consumption," International Business Times, Sept. 9, 2011.
^ Charles HRH The Prince of Wales. Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, ch. 1, p. 27.
^ 'Metropolitan John Zizioulas: Laudato Si' give Orthodox 'great joy'", Vatican Radio, June 16, 2015.
^ McKibben, Bill. "Pope Francis: The Cry of the Earth," New York Review of Books, NYDaily, June 18, 2015.
^ The David Suzuki Reader, p. 11.
^ See Harvard University Press, Interview with Sarah McFarland Taylor on the HUP Podcast.
^ John Grim, "Recovering Religious Ecology with Indigenous Traditions", available online at: Indigenous Traditions and Ecology, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology.
^ Mary Evelyn Tucker and John A. Grim (eds.), Worldviews & Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment, p. 11.
^ Tu Wei-Ming, "Beyond Enlightenment Mentality", published in Worldviews & Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John A. Grim (eds.), p. 27.
^ Ritskes, Eric. “A Great Tree Has Fallen: Community, Spiritual Ecology, and African Education", AJOTE, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Canada, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012.
^ See "Environment and Imperialism: Why Colonialism Still Matters,"[1] Joseph Murphy, Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), School of Earth and Environment, The University of Leeds, U.K., Oct. 2009, page 6.
^ See also "Healing Ecological and Spiritual Connections through Learning to be Non-Subjects'[2], Charlotte Šunde, Australian eJournal of Theology 8, Oct 2006.
^ Edwards, William Ellis. (1967). “The Late-Pleistocene Extinction and Diminution in Size of Many Mammalian Species.” In Pleistocene Extinctions: The Search for a Cause. Paul S. Martin and H.E. Wright, Jr., eds. Pp. 141-154. New Haven: Yale University Press
^ "...all of these [data] indicate human involvement in megafauna extinctions as not only plausible, but likely." Humans and the Extinction of Megafauna in the Americas, Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science, Spring 2009
^ Gibbons, Robin (2004). Examining the Extinction of the Pleistocene Megafauna. Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal, Spring 2004, pp. 22-27
^ Grayson, Donald K. (1984). “Archaeological Associations with Extinct Pleistocene Mammals in North America.” Journal of Archaeological Science 11(3):213-221
^ Martin, Paul S. (1967). “Prehistoric Overkill.” In Pleistocene Extinctions: The Search for a Cause. Paul S. Martin and H.E. Wright, Jr., eds. Pp. 75-120. New Haven: Yale University Pressre.
^ Martin, Paul S. (1984). “Prehistoric Overkill: The Global Model.” In Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution. Paul S. Martin and Richard G. Klein, eds. Pp. 354-403. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
^ Roberts, Richard G. et al. (2001). “New Ages for the Last Australian Megafauna: Continent-Wide Extinction About 46,000 Years Ago.” Science 292:1888-1892
^ "Chief Arvol Looking Horse Speaks of White Buffalo Prophecy". YouTube. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Vaughan, Emmanuel (2015-04-25). "An Invitation". Global Oneness Project. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "The Faithkeeper | Film Reviews | Films | Spirituality & Practice". Spiritualityandpractice.com. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Leslie E. Sponsel, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution, ch. 12, "Supernovas", p. 83.
^ "About | Mary Evelyn Tucker". Emerging Earth Community. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "About | John Grim". Emerging Earth Community. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology". Fore.research.yale.edu. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "Earth Charter | Overview". Emerging Earth Community. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Roger S. Gottlieb, Professor of Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
^ "Exploring and Studying Environmental Ethics & History, Nature Religion, Radical Environmentalism, Surfing Spirituality, Deep Ecology and more". Bron Taylor. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "Spiritual Ecology | Leslie E. Sponsel". Spiritualecology.info. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Sarah McFarland Taylor (2008). Green Sisters: a Spiritual Ecology. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674034952.
^ "Transformative Learning through Sustainable Living". Schumacher College. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Harris, Sarah, (Reporter and Producer) "Sacred and science go together" for botanist Diana Beresford-Kroeger North Country Public Radio, May 15, 2014.
^ See also: Hampson, Sarah. The tree whisperer: science, spirituality and an abiding love of forests The Globe and Mail, Oct. 17, 2013.
^ "Religious agency in sustainability transitions: Between experimentation, upscaling, and regime support". Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. 27: 4–15. 2018-06-01. doi:10.1016/j.eist.2017.09.003. ISSN 2210-4224.
^ "Home". Ecobuddhism. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "Home - The Ecumenical Patriarchate". Patriarchate.org. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Bingham, John. "Science alone cannot save the planet, insists spiritual leader of Orthodox Church" The Telegraph, Nov. 3, 2015.
^ The Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences (IFEES)
^ Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change
^ Link to the text of the Rabbinic Letter and its signers
^ Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, presented at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, Melbourne, Australia, Dec. 8, 2009.
^ Religious leaders as climate activists: Saving planet is moral duty", DPA (German Press Agency News), Nov 4, 2015.
^ See also Greenfield, Nicole "In the Spiritual Movement to Fight Climate Change, the Pope Is Not Alone," originally published by the Natural Resource Defense Council, June 22, 2015.
^ Rohn, Roger. "For Buddhist Leader, Religion And the Environment Are One: Interview with H.H. The Karmapa, Yale Environment 360, April 16, 2015.
^ "7 Ways the Parliament Stepped Up to Challenge Climate Change in 2015," Parliament of World Religions, Dec. 14, 2015.
^ "PaGaian Cosmology". PaGaian Cosmology. 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ Raymond., Taylor, Bron (2010). Dark green religion : nature spirituality and the planetary future. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520237759. OCLC 313078466.
^ "Eco-Spirituality in Environmental Action: Studying Dark Green Religion in the German Energy Transition | Koehrsen | Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture". journals.equinoxpub.com. doi:10.1558/jsrnc.33915. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
^ Interspirituality moves a step beyond interfaith dialogue and is a concept and term developed by the Catholic Monk Wayne Teasdale in 1999 in his book The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions. Also see "New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Life in the 21st Century", by Rory McEntee & Adam Bucko, p. 22, and Wayne Teasdale, A Monk in the World, p.175. Furthermore, interspirituality has an ecological dimension. See "The Interspiritual Age: Practical Mysticism for a Third Millennium", Wayne Teasdale, (1999).
^ "Thay: Beyond Environment". Ecobuddhism. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "Sandra Ingerman". Sandra Ingerman. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ "A New Book by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D". Nature and the Human Soul. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
^ See SUNY-ESF Center for Native Peoples and the Environment
^ Kimmerer, Robin Wall. "Weaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Biological Education: A Call to Action," Oxford Journals: Science & Mathematics, BioScience, Vol. 52, Issue 5, Pp. 432-438.
^ See Sacred Earth: Faiths for Conservation at WWF.
^ See Khoryug.
^ http://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/sacred-earth-faiths-for-conservation#close/
^ See Murray, Tim. Seeking an Ecological Rescue: Do We Need a Spiritual Awakening—or a Scientific Understanding?, Humanist Perspectives: a Canadian Journal of Humanism, Issue 86, Autumn 2013.
^ See also Sponsel, Leslie E. Religion, nature and environmentalism Archived 2014-05-30 at the Wayback MachineEncyclopedia of the Earth, published July 2, 2007 (updated March 2013).
^ See Zimmerman, Michael E. Ken Wilber's Critique of Ecological Spirituality, Integral World, published August 2003.
As of 15 December 2015, this article is derived in whole or in part from spiritualecology.org. The copyright holder has licensed the content in a manner that permits reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed. The original text was at "About Spiritual Ecology".
Further reading[edit]
Beresford-Kroeger, Diana, The Global Forest: Forty Ways Trees Can Save Us. Penguin Books, 2011. ISBN 978-0143120162
Berry, Thomas, The Dream of the Earth. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1988. ISBN 1578051355
Berry, Thomas, The Sacred Universe. Essays edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker. Columbia University Press, New York, 2009. ISBN 0231149522
Hayden, Thomas, The Lost Gospel of the Earth. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1996.
Jung, C.G., The Earth Has A Soul, The Nature Writings of C.G. Jung, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 2002. ISBN 1556433794
Koehrsen, Jens, Religious agency in sustainability transitions: Between experimentation, upscaling, and regime support, in: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 27, p. 4-15.
Laszlo, Ervin & Allan Coombs (eds.), Thomas Berry, Dreamer of the Earth: The Spiritual Ecology of the Father of Environmentalism. Inner Traditions, Rochester, 2011. ISBN 1594773955
Livingstone, Glenys, Pagaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth Based Goddess Religion. iUniverse, Inc, 2008. ISBN 978-0-595-34990-6
Macy, Joanna, World as Lover, World as Self. Parallax Press, Berkeley, 2007. ISBN 188837571X
McFarland Taylor, Sarah, Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. ISBN 9780674034952
Nelson, Melissa (ed.), Original Instructions, Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future. Bear & Co., Rochester, 2008. ISBN 1591430798
Maathai, Wangari, Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World. Doubleday Religion, New York, 2010. ISBN 030759114X
McCain, Marian Van Eyk (ed.), GreenSpirit: Path to a New Consciousness. O Books, Washington, 2010. ISBN 184694290X
McDonald, Barry (ed.), Seeing God Everywhere, Essays on Nature and the Sacred. World Wisdom, Bloomington, 2003. ISBN 0941532429
Newell, John Philip, A New Harmony, The Spirit, The Earth, and The Human Soul. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2011. ISBN 0470554673
Plotkin, Bill, Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World. New World Library, Novato, 2007. ISBN 1577315510
Plotkin, Bill, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche. New World Library, Novato, 2003. ISBN 1577314220
Sponsel, Leslie E., 'Spiritual Ecology in Ecological Anthropology' in Environmental Anthropology Today. Ed. Helen Kopnina and Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet. Routledge, 2011. ISBN 978-0415781565.
Suzuki, David; McConnell, Amanda; and DeCambra, Maria The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. Greystone Books, ISBN 978-1553651666
Stanley, John, David Loy and Gyurme Dorje (eds.), A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency. Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2009. ISBN 0861716051
Thich Nhat Hanh, The World We Have. Parallax Press, Berkeley, 2008. ISBN 1888375884
Vaughan-Lee, Llewellyn Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth. The Golden Sufi Center, 2013. ISBN 978-1-890350-45-1; downloadable in PDF
External links[edit]
ARC: the Alliance of Religions and Conservation
Bioneers National Conference, Oct 18-20, 2013: Spiritual Ecology: A Spiritual Response to the Ecological Crisis, with Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Sacred Earth program; Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Sufi teacher and author; Joanna Macy, legendary activist and scholar of systems theory, deep ecology and Buddhism
The Earth Charter
Center for Earth Jurisprudence
Faith Statements on the Environment at Earth Ministry
Ecological Buddhism: A Buddhist Response to Global Warming
Emerging Earth Community: John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker, Co-Directors of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University
Genesis Farm: Exploring the sacred unity of life, humanity and Earth within a single, unfolding Universe
Global Peace Initiative of Women, Sacred Earth Community
Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute
Schumacher College
"Ecology, Spirituality, Sustainability: Feminist and Indigenous Interventions" April 2014 The 21st Annual Women's Studies Conference at Southern Connecticut State University
Spiritual Ecology: Welcome to the Revolution, website and academic resources from Dr.Leslie E.Sponsel, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai`i
Spiritual Ecology: A Spiritual Response to Our Present Ecological Crisis by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee & Others
Spiritual Ecology Youth Fellowship Program
Project on Spiritual Ecology at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation & Peace, London, UK
The Thomas Berry Foundation
The Wendell Berry Center
The Work that Reconnects: First emerging in 1978, this pioneering, open-source body of work has its roots in the teachings and experiential methods of Joanna Macy
World Wildlife Program—Sacred Earth: Faiths for Conservation

Amazon.com: Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution (9780313364099): Leslie E. Sponsel: Books

Amazon.com: Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution (9780313364099): Leslie E. Sponsel: Books

Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution

by Leslie E. Sponsel  (Author)

4.8 out of 5 stars    8 customer reviews

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Product Details

Hardcover: 285 pages

Publisher: Praeger (July 19, 2012)

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Biography

Leslie E. Sponsel earned the BA in Geology from Indiana University (1965), and the MA (1973) and PhD (1981) in Biological and Cultural Anthropology from Cornell University. Over the last four decades he has taught at seven universities in four countries, two as a Fulbright Fellow. In 1981 he was hired to develop and direct the Ecological Anthropology Program at the University of Hawai`i. His courses include Ecological Anthropology, Environmental Anthropology, Anthropology of Religion, Spiritual Ecology, Sacred Places, Anthropology of Buddhism, Ethics in Anthropology, and Anthropology of War and Peace. Although retired since August 2010, usually he still teaches one course each semester and then devotes the rest of his time to research and publications.



From 1974 to 1981 Sponsel conducted several trips to the Venezuelan Amazon to study human ecology with the Yanomami and other indigenous societies. Almost yearly since 1986 Sponsel has made research trips to Thailand to study various aspects of Buddhist ecology and environmentalism together with his wife, Dr. Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel. In recent years their work in northern Thailand has focused on exploring sacred caves.



Among Sponsel's extensive publications are more than two dozen journal articles, three dozen book chapters, 29 entries in seven different scientific encyclopedias, and two edited and two co-edited books, most peer-reviewed. Henceforth he will focus on publishing other books integrating his previous articles and chapters on several different subjects. Next up is the book Natural Wisdom: Exploring Buddhist Ecology and Environmentalism. He is developing the Research Institute for Spiritual Ecology (RISE) and its website as founding Director:



http://spiritualecology.info.



The website for his most recent book, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution

(July 2012, Praeger), is http://www.spiritualecology.info.

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BOOK ENDORSEMENTS





"This is a subject that should have been documented long ago--this wise and careful book fills an important gap, and does it with real power." Bill McKibben, author Eaarth



"This book is a tour de force. No one has attempted to bring together such a wide range of people and movements under the rubric of Spiritual Ecology. The result is deeply engaging for scholars and activists alike. Sponsel has given us a gem." Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University



"Sponsel, a noted scholar of ecological anthropology, traces a broad, ecumenical "religion of nature" from deep roots in the past to modern advanced thinkers. He argues persuasively that we would not have an environmental crisis today if we treated the earth with respect and reverence. The book offers a fascinating tour through the spiritual landscape, and its extensive notes give readers a rich guide to further reading and reflection." Donald Worster, author of A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir (2008)



"Spiritual Ecology is essential reading today, when most of the world seems swept up by the economic dimensions of the environment. Providing a welcome antidote to the current materialistic approach, Leslie Sponsel's keen reminder of the spiritual component of nature is both timely and a reminder that the most effective reasons for conservation come from the heart, not from the wallet." Jeffrey A. McNeely, Senior Science Advisor, International Union for Conservation of Nature



"Leslie Sponsel's new book is an excellent guide to spiritual ecology. It is much more: it is an evocation of spiritual ecology--its forms, its dynamic development, and its promise for the contemporary world. Dr. Sponsel, a leading authority on this field, provides a historical overview of the development of ecological and environmental visions in religion from earliest times to the present. He surveys major religions, and, in particular detail, modern writers who have developed new philosophical understandings of religion-environment relationships. This book serves both as a wonderful introduction to the field and an inspiring essay on the basic tenets, values, and goals of spiritual ecology." Eugene N. Anderson, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of California Riverside



"I am delighted with this inspiring panoramic introduction to the remarkable people who have personally contributed to the on-going "quiet revolution" that will help solve our contemporary problems of conflict, poverty, and environmental degradation. This source book could only have been produced by an anthropologist with firsthand experience with life in the tribal world and in the ancient great civilization cultural traditions of South and Southeast Asia. This is an absolute treasure trove of cross-cultural ideas and sources for beliefs and practices that respond constructively to global environmental problems and related social justice issues. I immediately went to the library and the Internet to learn even more about particular organizations and people. As an anthropologist who has been concerned with indigenous people and the environment for many years, I am especially pleased with how sensitively Sponsel treats the "ecologically noble savage" issue, and the well-deserved importance he gives to animist beliefs generally." John H. Bodley, Washington State University



"At a moment in history when political and technological solutions to the environmental crisis has been shown to have their limits, Leslie Sponsel has compiled a wonderful collection of essays on a spiritual approach to ecology. Fundamentally re-envisioning the relationship between the human and nature, Spiritual Ecology draws on the wisdom and practical insights of global spiritual traditions from antiquity to the present. This is a foundational text that includes inspirational classics as well as critical essays that explore how a spiritual ecology can deeply inform our debates about our relationship to our planet." Duncan Williams, School of Religion, University of Southern California



"Humans possess an inherent inclination to find meaning and purpose through their relation to the world beyond themselves, to what we call nature. This marvelous and informative book explores this need from its roots in tribal cultures through its expression and distortion in the modern era. It is only recently that people have come to believe human progress and civilization means transforming and transcending our evolutionary roots in the natural world. This book importantly explores and leads the way toward a new movement, "spiritual ecology," bringing us back to our spiritual roots in nature." Stephen R. Kellert, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies



"As Sponsel so ably demonstrates, there has always been a dimension of environmentalist thought that is founded on the understanding, explicit or implicit, that nature is sacred. As activists and policy makers seek ways of averting environmental disaster, the time is overdue for this mode of thought to enter the mainstream. This much needed book provides the kind of understanding that might help it to do so." Kay Milton, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Queen's University Belfast, Ireland



"In a world where religious beliefs are too often seen as the source of deadly tension and violent conflict, Leslie Sponsel's Spiritual Ecology offers a helpful and healing contrary view. Aptly subtitled, A Quiet Revolution, this provocative collection of essays serves as key resource and guide to the global sources of inspiration, thought, and action that collectively constitute a life-sustaining path for humanity." Barbara Rose Johnston, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Political Ecology



"Awareness that the natural world is our essential ground of being, to be revered as sacred, goes back to the dawn of the human journey. Today this awareness returns in the growing recognition that we cannot fully face or adequately respond to what our species is doing to the biosphere without a spiritual apprehension of our non-separateness from it. That is the quiet revolution to which Leslie Sponsel's Spiritual Ecology brings a fresh and fascinating overview. To the unfolding history it provides, this lean and lovely book takes the archetypal form of Tree, letting us follow--from roots to branches, leaves and fruit--the organic emergence of our native wisdom."

Joanna Macy, Ph.D., author, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess we're in Without Going Crazy.



"Sponsel beautifully integrates the different dimensions of spiritual ecology: theology, morality, social movement, and personal experience; and he does so with a fine eye to its global and multicultural nature. This always clear and often moving book deserves wide readership and serious attention."

Roger S. Gottlieb, Professor of Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, author of A Greener Faith and Engaging Voices



"Leslie Sponsel's "Spiritual Ecology" is a great guide to the wide landscape of the environmental movement. The book brings together the scientific, philosophical, political and religious aspects of environmentalism. If you want to see a bigger picture of the multi-dimensional view of sustainability and spirituality, then this is the book for you; it is informative, educative and evocative." Satish Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, Resurgence magazine



"Spiritual Ecology is a must read for anyone interested in having harmonious and peaceful relationships with (M)other Nature. As we rewild our hearts we must feel the deep interconnections that exist between ourselves and other beings and diverse and magnificent landscapes. The quiet revolution must begin and end in our heart. We suffer the indignities to which we subject animals and Earth and everyone benefits when we openly and widely express dignity, respect, kindness, compassion, peace, and love." Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado; author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint.



"Whether one agrees or disagrees with the themes or theses presented within this book, it is bound to become one of the foundational texts in the spiritual ecology movement. It is written in a dramatic manner with personal insights from ethnographic research along with details regarding the main personalities, both religious and secular, who have contributed to this movement." Raymond Scupin, Director, Center for International and Global Studies, Lindenwood University.





Awards:



Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution, was the winner in the Science category at the annual Green Book Festival, San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2014.

----Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution

by Leslie E. Sponsel  (Author)

4.8 out of 5 stars    8 customer reviews





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Product Details

Hardcover: 285 pages

Publisher: Praeger (July 19, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0313364095

ISBN-13: 978-0313364099

Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

#501 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Geography

#1639 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Human Geography

#2434 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Ecology

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Biography

Leslie E. Sponsel earned the BA in Geology from Indiana University (1965), and the MA (1973) and PhD (1981) in Biological and Cultural Anthropology from Cornell University. Over the last four decades he has taught at seven universities in four countries, two as a Fulbright Fellow. In 1981 he was hired to develop and direct the Ecological Anthropology Program at the University of Hawai`i. His courses include Ecological Anthropology, Environmental Anthropology, Anthropology of Religion, Spiritual Ecology, Sacred Places, Anthropology of Buddhism, Ethics in Anthropology, and Anthropology of War and Peace. Although retired since August 2010, usually he still teaches one course each semester and then devotes the rest of his time to research and publications.



From 1974 to 1981 Sponsel conducted several trips to the Venezuelan Amazon to study human ecology with the Yanomami and other indigenous societies. Almost yearly since 1986 Sponsel has made research trips to Thailand to study various aspects of Buddhist ecology and environmentalism together with his wife, Dr. Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel. In recent years their work in northern Thailand has focused on exploring sacred caves.



Among Sponsel's extensive publications are more than two dozen journal articles, three dozen book chapters, 29 entries in seven different scientific encyclopedias, and two edited and two co-edited books, most peer-reviewed. Henceforth he will focus on publishing other books integrating his previous articles and chapters on several different subjects. Next up is the book Natural Wisdom: Exploring Buddhist Ecology and Environmentalism. He is developing the Research Institute for Spiritual Ecology (RISE) and its website as founding Director:



http://spiritualecology.info.



The website for his most recent book, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution

(July 2012, Praeger), is http://www.spiritualecology.info.



Comments on the book and/or website are most welcome and appreciated at

les.sponsel@gmail.com. Please specify subject as SE Commen



___________________________________________________________________







BOOK ENDORSEMENTS





"This is a subject that should have been documented long ago--this wise and careful book fills an important gap, and does it with real power." Bill McKibben, author Eaarth



"This book is a tour de force. No one has attempted to bring together such a wide range of people and movements under the rubric of Spiritual Ecology. The result is deeply engaging for scholars and activists alike. Sponsel has given us a gem." Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University



"Sponsel, a noted scholar of ecological anthropology, traces a broad, ecumenical "religion of nature" from deep roots in the past to modern advanced thinkers. He argues persuasively that we would not have an environmental crisis today if we treated the earth with respect and reverence. The book offers a fascinating tour through the spiritual landscape, and its extensive notes give readers a rich guide to further reading and reflection." Donald Worster, author of A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir (2008)



"Spiritual Ecology is essential reading today, when most of the world seems swept up by the economic dimensions of the environment. Providing a welcome antidote to the current materialistic approach, Leslie Sponsel's keen reminder of the spiritual component of nature is both timely and a reminder that the most effective reasons for conservation come from the heart, not from the wallet." Jeffrey A. McNeely, Senior Science Advisor, International Union for Conservation of Nature



"Leslie Sponsel's new book is an excellent guide to spiritual ecology. It is much more: it is an evocation of spiritual ecology--its forms, its dynamic development, and its promise for the contemporary world. Dr. Sponsel, a leading authority on this field, provides a historical overview of the development of ecological and environmental visions in religion from earliest times to the present. He surveys major religions, and, in particular detail, modern writers who have developed new philosophical understandings of religion-environment relationships. This book serves both as a wonderful introduction to the field and an inspiring essay on the basic tenets, values, and goals of spiritual ecology." Eugene N. Anderson, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of California Riverside



"I am delighted with this inspiring panoramic introduction to the remarkable people who have personally contributed to the on-going "quiet revolution" that will help solve our contemporary problems of conflict, poverty, and environmental degradation. This source book could only have been produced by an anthropologist with firsthand experience with life in the tribal world and in the ancient great civilization cultural traditions of South and Southeast Asia. This is an absolute treasure trove of cross-cultural ideas and sources for beliefs and practices that respond constructively to global environmental problems and related social justice issues. I immediately went to the library and the Internet to learn even more about particular organizations and people. As an anthropologist who has been concerned with indigenous people and the environment for many years, I am especially pleased with how sensitively Sponsel treats the "ecologically noble savage" issue, and the well-deserved importance he gives to animist beliefs generally." John H. Bodley, Washington State University



"At a moment in history when political and technological solutions to the environmental crisis has been shown to have their limits, Leslie Sponsel has compiled a wonderful collection of essays on a spiritual approach to ecology. Fundamentally re-envisioning the relationship between the human and nature, Spiritual Ecology draws on the wisdom and practical insights of global spiritual traditions from antiquity to the present. This is a foundational text that includes inspirational classics as well as critical essays that explore how a spiritual ecology can deeply inform our debates about our relationship to our planet." Duncan Williams, School of Religion, University of Southern California



"Humans possess an inherent inclination to find meaning and purpose through their relation to the world beyond themselves, to what we call nature. This marvelous and informative book explores this need from its roots in tribal cultures through its expression and distortion in the modern era. It is only recently that people have come to believe human progress and civilization means transforming and transcending our evolutionary roots in the natural world. This book importantly explores and leads the way toward a new movement, "spiritual ecology," bringing us back to our spiritual roots in nature." Stephen R. Kellert, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies



"As Sponsel so ably demonstrates, there has always been a dimension of environmentalist thought that is founded on the understanding, explicit or implicit, that nature is sacred. As activists and policy makers seek ways of averting environmental disaster, the time is overdue for this mode of thought to enter the mainstream. This much needed book provides the kind of understanding that might help it to do so." Kay Milton, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Queen's University Belfast, Ireland



"In a world where religious beliefs are too often seen as the source of deadly tension and violent conflict, Leslie Sponsel's Spiritual Ecology offers a helpful and healing contrary view. Aptly subtitled, A Quiet Revolution, this provocative collection of essays serves as key resource and guide to the global sources of inspiration, thought, and action that collectively constitute a life-sustaining path for humanity." Barbara Rose Johnston, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Political Ecology



"Awareness that the natural world is our essential ground of being, to be revered as sacred, goes back to the dawn of the human journey. Today this awareness returns in the growing recognition that we cannot fully face or adequately respond to what our species is doing to the biosphere without a spiritual apprehension of our non-separateness from it. That is the quiet revolution to which Leslie Sponsel's Spiritual Ecology brings a fresh and fascinating overview. To the unfolding history it provides, this lean and lovely book takes the archetypal form of Tree, letting us follow--from roots to branches, leaves and fruit--the organic emergence of our native wisdom."

Joanna Macy, Ph.D., author, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess we're in Without Going Crazy.



"Sponsel beautifully integrates the different dimensions of spiritual ecology: theology, morality, social movement, and personal experience; and he does so with a fine eye to its global and multicultural nature. This always clear and often moving book deserves wide readership and serious attention."

Roger S. Gottlieb, Professor of Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, author of A Greener Faith and Engaging Voices



"Leslie Sponsel's "Spiritual Ecology" is a great guide to the wide landscape of the environmental movement. The book brings together the scientific, philosophical, political and religious aspects of environmentalism. If you want to see a bigger picture of the multi-dimensional view of sustainability and spirituality, then this is the book for you; it is informative, educative and evocative." Satish Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, Resurgence magazine



"Spiritual Ecology is a must read for anyone interested in having harmonious and peaceful relationships with (M)other Nature. As we rewild our hearts we must feel the deep interconnections that exist between ourselves and other beings and diverse and magnificent landscapes. The quiet revolution must begin and end in our heart. We suffer the indignities to which we subject animals and Earth and everyone benefits when we openly and widely express dignity, respect, kindness, compassion, peace, and love." Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado; author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint.



"Whether one agrees or disagrees with the themes or theses presented within this book, it is bound to become one of the foundational texts in the spiritual ecology movement. It is written in a dramatic manner with personal insights from ethnographic research along with details regarding the main personalities, both religious and secular, who have contributed to this movement." Raymond Scupin, Director, Center for International and Global Studies, Lindenwood University.





Awards:



Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution, was the winner in the Science category at the annual Green Book Festival, San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2014.













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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsBecause the secular approach is simply not enough

By Roger E. Breisch on February 20, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Perhaps the author says it best: "More often than not secular approaches to ecocrises have proven insufficient although certainly necessary. Perhaps a spiritual approach will serve as a catalyst to finally turn things around for the better because the ecocrisis is ultimately a spiritual and moral crisis."



By now it must be clear we are in desperate need of new ways to envision the problems we face...and new ways to listen for solutions. While there are those who argue that spiritual traditions are responsible for humanity's moral and ethical separation from nature, Les Sponsel shows otherwise. He helps the reader walk the path of history, and illuminates the ideas and people who have, over the centuries, tried to show us the error of our ways.



I loved what he taught me about the role played by luminaries such as The Buddha, St. Francis of Assisi, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Rudolf Steiner...and I value having been introduced to the current vanguard carrying the torch of spiritual approaches to our ecocrisis.



I particularly appreciate learning of the diversity of thinking throughout human history, and how that rich blend of thinking continues today. Clearly, the future, if we are to witness it, requires very new ways of envisioning the species and its relationship to the rest of nature.



If you wish to learn more about the context of how spiritual thought relates to ecology, this book is essential reading.

Comment  3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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5.0 out of 5 starsSpiritual Evolutionary Consciousness

By James L. Facette on November 26, 2013

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

For some time I have been focused on the dire predictions for humanity, the more-than human community, and the planet, as a result of the seemingly inexorable march of Climate Change/Global Warming toward irreversible tipping-points. It is indeed devastating to realize that we humans are undoing the creative Earth evolution of four billion years in a few short centuries. Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution has opened for me a renewed hope that we can indeed reverse the downward slide by focusing on the positive possibilities, envisioning and reshaping of ourselves, pursuing a shift in consciousness. The questions for humanity are: What is Nature? What is the place of humans in Nature? What should be the place of humans in Nature? We must remember how to be a human being in relationship to the natural world, to our home. Here is some optimism in what otherwise so often appears to be a rather dismal world with an ever more dismal future for humankind and Gaia.



“The author tells us: “The key message of the book is twofold. First secular approaches to environmental concerns are absolutely necessary and have made great strides, but they have not been sufficient. Second, the multitude of diverse approaches under the rubric of spiritual ecology may well be the last chance for the survival of our species. We are likely to see whether or not the intellectual and practical components of spiritual ecology will help turn the environmental situation around for the better within a few decades, especially in the face of the increasing pressures of global climate change (assuming that this does not reach a catastrophic tipping point). Perhaps a spiritual approach will serve as a catalyst to finally turn things around for the better because the ecocrisis is ultimately a spiritual and moral crisis.



The book is revolutionary, non-violent and decentralized—a devastating critique of the industrial growth society as a seriously unsustainable, maladaptive, dysfunctional, and destructive system. “Only in the long term will the passage of time reveal the destiny of the human species and the planet. But ultimately the matter is simple: a choice between ecocide or ecosanity”!



A quote from the profound thinker, writer, revolutionary dissident and former president of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel testifies: “What could change the direction of today’s civilization? It is my deep conviction that the only option is a change in the sphere of the spirit, in the sphere of human conscience. It’s not enough to invent new machines, new regulations, new institutions. We must develop a new understanding of the true purpose of our existence on the Earth. Only by making such a fundamental shift will we be able to create new models of behavior and a new set of values for the planet”.

Comment  One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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  Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsPacific Primate Sanctuary has purchased Dr. Sponsel's book to ...

By LLW on February 22, 2016

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

Pacific Primate Sanctuary has purchased Dr. Sponsel's book to provide our interns with a global spiritual perspective on the rehabilitation and conservation work we are doing for endangered primates at our Sanctuary. "Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution" should actually be required reading for all students and members the public who wish to end the mass destruction of our planet and the Beings we share it with.

Comment  One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

No

  Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 starsBrilliant book by a pioneering intellectual

By C.F.G. on September 8, 2012

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

As a doctoral student dedicated to improving the quality of life for humans and all other species, and as someone who has been in personal contact with Dr. Les Sponsel, I can attest that this book is visionary, necessary, and compelling.



Dr. Sponsel is almost single-handedly responsible for creating and popularizing the scientific study of how human interaction with the environment eflects and affects our spiritual, emotional, and physical health.



He is the rare kind of scholar that every graduate student loves to have as a graduate advisor and mentor. Dr. Sponsel doesn't just write and research about ethics, spirituality, and our life on this planet, he works 24/7 to help our world, his students, and academia.



Dr. Sponsel's breadth of knowledge, attention to detail, academic expertise, and courage are among the reasons this book contains a unique exploration of the multi-faceted interface between humans and the earth.



In this book you'll find plenty of new information, perspectives and opportunities to truly understand the power of humans to turn our planet into a Garden of Eden, or a paved-over, ruined paradise.



I was especially moved by the book's very appropriate closing chapter, which focuses on ecology and the Dalai Lama. This chapter is a brilliant summing up of what I get from this book, which is that humans have reached a level of power and technology that allows us to behave as gods. What we do to each other and the planet is a moral and spiritual issue that each of us can consider personally and intellectually.



Will human powers be used to further the goals of angels, or devils? Will we cannibalize this planet and all its creatures in our relentless desire to build more shopping malls, or will we become kinder, gentler and more compassionate towards each other, other species, and the earth?



Dr. Sponsel's book will help you answer those questions, and build a better future. Order a copy today.

Comment  4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

No

  Report abuse

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars

Because the secular approach is simply not enough

By Roger E. Breisch on February 20, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Perhaps the author says it best: "More often than not secular approaches to ecocrises have proven insufficient although certainly necessary. Perhaps a spiritual approach will serve as a catalyst to finally turn things around for the better because the ecocrisis is ultimately a spiritual and moral crisis."



By now it must be clear we are in desperate need of new ways to envision the problems we face...and new ways to listen for solutions. While there are those who argue that spiritual traditions are responsible for humanity's moral and ethical separation from nature, Les Sponsel shows otherwise. He helps the reader walk the path of history, and illuminates the ideas and people who have, over the centuries, tried to show us the error of our ways.



I loved what he taught me about the role played by luminaries such as The Buddha, St. Francis of Assisi, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Rudolf Steiner...and I value having been introduced to the current vanguard carrying the torch of spiritual approaches to our ecocrisis.



I particularly appreciate learning of the diversity of thinking throughout human history, and how that rich blend of thinking continues today. Clearly, the future, if we are to witness it, requires very new ways of envisioning the species and its relationship to the rest of nature.



If you wish to learn more about the context of how spiritual thought relates to ecology, this book is essential reading.

---

5.0 out of 5 stars

Spiritual Evolutionary Consciousness

By James L. Facette on November 26, 2013

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

For some time I have been focused on the dire predictions for humanity, the more-than human community, and the planet, as a result of the seemingly inexorable march of Climate Change/Global Warming toward irreversible tipping-points. It is indeed devastating to realize that we humans are undoing the creative Earth evolution of four billion years in a few short centuries. Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution has opened for me a renewed hope that we can indeed reverse the downward slide by focusing on the positive possibilities, envisioning and reshaping of ourselves, pursuing a shift in consciousness. The questions for humanity are: What is Nature? What is the place of humans in Nature? What should be the place of humans in Nature? We must remember how to be a human being in relationship to the natural world, to our home. Here is some optimism in what otherwise so often appears to be a rather dismal world with an ever more dismal future for humankind and Gaia.



“The author tells us: “The key message of the book is twofold. First secular approaches to environmental concerns are absolutely necessary and have made great strides, but they have not been sufficient. Second, the multitude of diverse approaches under the rubric of spiritual ecology may well be the last chance for the survival of our species. We are likely to see whether or not the intellectual and practical components of spiritual ecology will help turn the environmental situation around for the better within a few decades, especially in the face of the increasing pressures of global climate change (assuming that this does not reach a catastrophic tipping point). Perhaps a spiritual approach will serve as a catalyst to finally turn things around for the better because the ecocrisis is ultimately a spiritual and moral crisis.



The book is revolutionary, non-violent and decentralized—a devastating critique of the industrial growth society as a seriously unsustainable, maladaptive, dysfunctional, and destructive system. “Only in the long term will the passage of time reveal the destiny of the human species and the planet. But ultimately the matter is simple: a choice between ecocide or ecosanity”!



A quote from the profound thinker, writer, revolutionary dissident and former president of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel testifies: “What could change the direction of today’s civilization? It is my deep conviction that the only option is a change in the sphere of the spirit, in the sphere of human conscience. It’s not enough to invent new machines, new regulations, new institutions. We must develop a new understanding of the true purpose of our existence on the Earth. Only by making such a fundamental shift will we be able to create new models of behavior and a new set of values for the planet”.

---

5.0 out of 5 stars

Pacific Primate Sanctuary has purchased Dr. Sponsel's book to ...

By LLW on February 22, 2016

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

Pacific Primate Sanctuary has purchased Dr. Sponsel's book to provide our interns with a global spiritual perspective on the rehabilitation and conservation work we are doing for endangered primates at our Sanctuary. "Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution" should actually be required reading for all students and members the public who wish to end the mass destruction of our planet and the Beings we share it with.

----

5.0 out of 5 stars

Brilliant book by a pioneering intellectual

By C.F.G. on September 8, 2012

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

As a doctoral student dedicated to improving the quality of life for humans and all other species, and as someone who has been in personal contact with Dr. Les Sponsel, I can attest that this book is visionary, necessary, and compelling.



Dr. Sponsel is almost single-handedly responsible for creating and popularizing the scientific study of how human interaction with the environment eflects and affects our spiritual, emotional, and physical health.



He is the rare kind of scholar that every graduate student loves to have as a graduate advisor and mentor. Dr. Sponsel doesn't just write and research about ethics, spirituality, and our life on this planet, he works 24/7 to help our world, his students, and academia.



Dr. Sponsel's breadth of knowledge, attention to detail, academic expertise, and courage are among the reasons this book contains a unique exploration of the multi-faceted interface between humans and the earth.



In this book you'll find plenty of new information, perspectives and opportunities to truly understand the power of humans to turn our planet into a Garden of Eden, or a paved-over, ruined paradise.



I was especially moved by the book's very appropriate closing chapter, which focuses on ecology and the Dalai Lama. This chapter is a brilliant summing up of what I get from this book, which is that humans have reached a level of power and technology that allows us to behave as gods. What we do to each other and the planet is a moral and spiritual issue that each of us can consider personally and intellectually.



Will human powers be used to further the goals of angels, or devils? Will we cannibalize this planet and all its creatures in our relentless desire to build more shopping malls, or will we become kinder, gentler and more compassionate towards each other, other species, and the earth?



Dr. Sponsel's book will help you answer those questions, and build a better future. Order a copy today.

---