Toward an Eco-Spirituality

Toward an Eco-Spirituality PDF Author: Leonardo Boff
Publisher: Crossroad
ISBN: 9780824520762
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
An action plan, based on Chrisitanity, to study and understand the challenges and ramifications of the global ecological crisis Known as one of the major liberation theologians, Leonardo Boff has long seen the terrible cost of the ecological crisis to the poor. In this engaging brief, he outlines a new vision for human stewardship of the earth. This is an ideal first step to take for individuals and groups to study ecology in a Christian context, and to understand that ecology is no longer a luxury for a few, but an imperative for everyone working for a more just world.

Toward an Eco-Spirituality

Toward an Eco-Spirituality PDF Author: Leonardo Boff
Publisher: Crossroad
ISBN: 9780824520762
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Get Book

Book Description
An action plan, based on Chrisitanity, to study and understand the challenges and ramifications of the global ecological crisis Known as one of the major liberation theologians, Leonardo Boff has long seen the terrible cost of the ecological crisis to the poor. In this engaging brief, he outlines a new vision for human stewardship of the earth. This is an ideal first step to take for individuals and groups to study ecology in a Christian context, and to understand that ecology is no longer a luxury for a few, but an imperative for everyone working for a more just world.

Eco-spirituality

Eco-spirituality PDF Author: Charles Cummings
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
In this engaging book, Cummings builds a bridge between the seemingly poles apart topics of ecology and spirituality and explores their common concern for justice, compassion, and quality of life.

Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration

Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration PDF Author: John Chryssavgis
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823251446
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 509

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Book Description
Can Orthodox Christianity offer unique spiritual resources especially suited to the environmental concerns of today? This book makes the case that yes, it can. In addition to being the first substantial and comprehensive collection of essays, in any language, to address environmental issues from the Orthodox point of view, this volume with contributions from the most highly influential theologians and philosophers in contemporary world Orthodoxy will engage a wide audience, in academic as well as popular circles--resonating not only with Orthodox audiences but with all those in search of a fresh approach to environmental theory and ethics that can bring the resources of ancient spirituality to bear on modern challenges.

Spiritual Ecology

Spiritual Ecology PDF Author: Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center
ISBN: 1941394183
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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Book Description
Spiritual Ecology: 10 Practices to Reawaken the Sacred in Everyday Life offers inspiring and practical guidance for reconnecting to the sacred in every day life and transforming our relationship with the Earth. Describing the power of simple, daily practices such as Walking, Gardening, Cooking with Love, and Prayer, this small book supports profound changes in how we think about and respond to the ecological crisis of our times. Our groundbreaking book, Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth, (now in its second edition)—which included spiritual perspectives on climate change, species loss, deforestation, and other aspects of our present environmental crises from renowned spiritual teachers, scientists, and indigenous leaders—drew an overwhelmingly positive reaction from readers, many of whom are asking: "What can I do?" Spiritual Ecology: 10 Practices to Reawaken the Sacred in Everyday Life answers that question with inspiring, personal anecdotes from the author—Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee—and simple practices we all can do. Rooted in the mystical foundation of the world's great spiritual traditions, with a particular connection to Sufism, these timeless practices remind readers of our deep connections to life, each other, and the Earth, and invite a return of meaning to our desecrated world. As Rumi says, "there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground," and it is this sacred ground that is calling to us, that needs our living presence, our attentiveness. This small book offers simple ways to reconnect so that we can once again feel the music, the song of our living connection with the Earth. "This small book, exquisite in its luminous simplicity, brings me home to my life. Even in a dark time, its practices center me in a sense of the sacred, our birthright." —JOANNA MACY, teacher, activist, and author of Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects “Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee's book on practices for Spiritual Ecology in everyday life awakens us to the potential to take small steps towards big transformation. It overcomes the artificial divide between nature and humans, and spirituality and action. No matter who we are, where we live, these are steps each of us can take.” —VANDANA SHIVA, activist and author “A beautiful book. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and Hilary Hart do a brilliant job sharing simple and powerful practices that help readers connect to the sacredness within nature, the earth, and our own daily lives.” —SANDRA INGERMAN, author, Walking in Light: The Everyday Empowerment of Shamanic Life

Dark Green Religion

Dark Green Religion PDF Author: Bron Raymond Taylor
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520237757
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
"A love of green may be a human universal. Deepening the palette of green scholarship, Bron Taylor proves remarkably to be both an encyclopedist and a visionary."--Jonathan Benthall, author of Returning to Religion: Why a Secular Age is Haunted by Faith "This important book provides insight into how a profound sense of relation to nature offers many in the modern world a vehicle for attaining a spiritual wholeness akin to what has been historically associated with established religion. In this sense, Dark Green Religion offers both understanding and hope for a world struggling for meaning and purpose beyond the isolation of the material here and now."--Stephen Kellert, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies "In this thought-provoking volume, Bron Taylor explores the seemingly boundless efforts by human beings to understand the nature of life and our place in the universe. Examining in depth the ways in which influential philosophers and naturalists have viewed this relationship, Taylor contributes to the further development of thought in this critically important area, where our depth of understanding will play a critical role in our survival."--Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden "Carefully researched, strongly argued, originally conceived, and very well executed, this book is a vital contribution on a subject of immense religious, political, and environmental importance. It's also a great read."--Roger S. Gottlieb, author of A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and our Planet's Future "A fascinating analysis of our emotional and spiritual relationship to nature. Whether you call it dark green religion or something else, Bron Taylor takes us through our spiritual relationship with our planet, its ecosystems and evolution, in an enlightened and completely undogmatic manner."--Dr. Claude Martin, Former Director General, World Wildlife Fund "An excellent collection of guideposts for perplexed students and scholars about the relationships of nature religions, spirituality, animism, pantheism, deep ecology, Gaia, and land ethics--and for the environmentalist seeking to make the world a better place through green religion as a social force."--Fikret Berkes, author of Sacred Ecology: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resource Management "Dark Green Religion shows conclusively how nature has inspired a growing religious movement on the planet, contesting the long reign of many older faiths. Taylor expertly guides us through an astonishing array of thinkers, past and present, who have embraced, in part or whole, the new religion. I was thoroughly convinced that this movement has indeed become a major force on Earth, with great potential consequences for our environmental ethics."--Donald Worster, University of Kansas "In this exceptionally interesting and informative book, Bron Taylor has harvested the fruits of years of pioneering research in what amounts to a new field in religious studies: the study of how religious/spiritual themes show up in the work of people concerned about nature in many diverse ways. Taylor persuasively argues that appreciation of nature's sacred or spiritual dimension both informs and motivates the work of individuals ranging from radical environmentalists and surfers, to eco-tourism leaders and museum curators. I highly recommend this book for everyone interested learning more about the surprising extent to which religious/spiritual influences many of those who work to protect, to exhibit, or to represent the natural world."--Michael E. Zimmerman, Director, Center for Humanities and the Arts, University of Colorado at Boulder

Church of the Wild

Church of the Wild PDF Author: Victoria Loorz
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
ISBN: 1506469655
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Once upon a time, humans lived in intimate relationship with nature. Whether disillusioned by the dominant church or unfulfilled by traditional expressions of faith, many of us long for a deeper spirtuality. Victoria Loorz certainly did. Coping with an unraveling vocation, identity, and planet, Loorz turned to the wanderings of spiritual leaders and the sanctuary of the natural world, eventually cofounding the Wild Church Network and Seminary of the Wild. With an ecospiritual lens on biblical narratives and a fresh look at a community larger than our own species, Church of the Wild uncovers the wild roots of faith and helps us deepen our commitment to a suffering earth by falling in love with it--and calling it church. Through mystical encounters with wild deer, whispers from a scrubby oak tree, wordless conversation with a cougar, and more, Loorz helps us connect to a love that literally holds the world together--a love that calls us into communion with all creatures.

Eco-Theology

Eco-Theology PDF Author: Henryk Skolimowski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781734804232
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS are everywhere on the decline, and yet interest in "spirituality" is steadily increasing. At the same time, concerns about the environment and the planetary ecosystem are also rising, especially with the growing awareness of the risks of climate change. Thus, it is natural that we look to combine these two areas of interest: the intersection of religion and environmentalism. It was precisely this kind of thinking that led prominent eco-philosopher Henryk Skolimowski to develop, beginning in the 1980s, a new concept that he called "eco-theology." Inspired by the earlier works of Teilhard and Bergson, Skolimowski realized that the idea of evolution was much more far-reaching than merely a theory about biology. Evolution encompassed not only all life, but also the Earth as a whole, the origins of the planets and stars, and indeed the universe as a whole. More to the point, it must encompass all aspects of humanity and human culture, including such traditional concepts as God and religion. Simply stated, if everything evolves, then religious truth must evolve, spirituality must evolve, and even God must evolve. These basic insights have far-reaching consequences. Eco-theology fully integrates humanity into the natural world. We are not some mysterious strangers to the universe, not divinely created with utterly unique properties, not here to exercise our "dominion." We are part and parcel of the world. We came from the Earth, and we belong to the Earth. The cosmos is our home. The world is a sanctuary. There is indeed 'god' and divinity in this evolutionary universe, but such things reside in us; we make them real by manifesting our best and highest qualities. Skolimowski thus offers us something startlingly new: a "religion for our times." This is no New-Age philosophy, no fuzzy-headed wishful thinking. This is serious philosophical innovation by an Oxford-trained philosopher, in an area of gravest concern. Eco-theology is badly needed today; our very survival depends on it.

Spiritual Ecology

Spiritual Ecology PDF Author: Chief Oren Lyons
Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center
ISBN: 1941394140
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
The Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was asked what we need to do to save our world. "What we most need to do," he replied, "is to hear within us the sound of the earth crying.” Our present ecological crisis is the greatest man-made disaster this planet has ever faced—its accelerating climate change, species depletion, pollution and acidification of the oceans. A central but rarely addressed aspect of this crisis is our forgetfulness of the sacred nature of creation, and how this affects our relationship to the environment. There is a pressing need to articulate a spiritual response to this ecological crisis. This is vital and necessary if we are to help bring the world as a living whole back into balance. The first edition of this book (published in 2013) fostered the emergence of the "Spiritual Ecology Movement," which recognizes the need for a spiritual response to our present ecological crisis. It drew an overwhelmingly positive response from readers, many of whom are asking the simple question, "What can I do?" The 2016 expanded edition offers new chapters, including two from younger authors who are putting the principles of spiritual ecology into action, working with their hands as well as their hearts. It also includes a new preface and revised chapter by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, that reference two major recent events: the publication of Pope Francis's encyclical, "On Care for Our Common Home," which brought into the mainstream the idea that "the ecological crisis is essentially a spiritual problem"; and the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, which saw representatives from nearly 200 countries come together to address global warming, including faith leaders from many traditions. And, in Autumn 2021, we have issued a new edition, with a new updated preface from editor Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, who has also rewritten his chapter, “The Call of the Earth.” Bringing together voices from Buddhism, Sufism, Christianity, and Native American traditions, as well as from physics, deep psychology, and other environmental disciplines, this book calls on us to reassess our underlying attitudes and beliefs about the Earth and wake up to our spiritual as well as physical responsibilities toward the planet. "It's hard to imagine finding a wiser group of humans than the authors represented here, all of them both thinkers and do-ers in the greatest battle humans have ever faced. AN EPIC COLLECTION!" —BILL MCKIBBEN, founder 350.org Spiritual Ecology is a superb collection of thoughtful pieces by people who have gone deep to understand our relations with the Earth. It comes at a crucial time for humanity." —BARRY LOPEZ, landscape photographer and author Arctic Dreams (winner National Book Award), Of Wolves and Men, Crossing Open Ground, About This Life "THIS BOOK PROVIDES FRESH THINKING about the spiritual approaches of consciously and consistently making the right choices, each of us within our respective sphere of influence. As the world works towards a new global climate agreement in 2015, it is in our interest and in the interest of future generations to reflect on how we can individually and collectively contribute to addressing climate change by making our economies and lifestyles more sustainable, because solving climate change can help solve many of the issues the earth currently faces. Climate change is therefore both a challenge and an opportunity. I hope this book inspires and energizes many readers eager to rise to the greatest challenge ever to face humanity by realizing the transformative opportunities we have in front of us." —CHRISTIANA FIGUERES, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Working with Oneness

Working with Oneness PDF Author: Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center
ISBN: 1890350052
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
Humanity has been given access to the secrets of oneness, but we need to learn how to work with them. Working with Oneness brings mysticism into the center of the marketplace, into the world of business and technology, and shows how we can work with it in everyday life. The dynamic energy of oneness has the potential to heal the planet and revolutionize life more than we can imagine, but it requires our individual participation and awareness to become fully alive. The energy of oneness is already present but waiting to be lived, and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee provides a blueprint for working consciously with this energy. As we understand how our consciousness affects the whole fabric of life, the potential for real global change comes alive. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee stresses the need to change from hierarchical, patriarchal power structures to organic patterns that allow for the free flow of energy and ideas. Through these patterns the dynamic energy of oneness can become part of everyday life. Working with Oneness includes a number of additional important topics, including: the changing energy structure of the planet and how to work with it; the power of individual consciousness; the danger of the desire for spiritual security; the return of joy to everyday life; the awakening of the heart of the world; a new understanding of magic; the use of the imagination; and mystical participation in life with the energy of oneness. Working with Oneness offers guidance on how to work with the energy of oneness, to learn how to participate in life free of the patterns of the past, so that the divine can come alive in every moment of every day. Working with Oneness is mystical activism at its most potent. “There is a growing and eager audience waiting for a vision of unity consciousness... Working with Oneness offers a salutary antidote to worn-out antagonisms. It challenges readers to join other kindred souls in a mystical activism that can bring new hope to humanity.” —Spirituality & Health “A book filled with wonder and the kind of insights that can leap out to your heart and gladden you for having read them. It's words are simple and straightforward—always a blessing—but its message it the most vital and important for the time in which we live. I recommend it.” —David Spangler, author, Blessings: the Art and the Practice

A Simple Guide to Eco-Spirituality

A Simple Guide to Eco-Spirituality PDF Author: Katherine Murray
Publisher: Luminis Books Incorporated
ISBN: 9781935462514
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Describing some of the basic concepts of eco-spirituality and explaining how to put them into practice, this engaging guide helps readers develop an ecological and social conscience with very little ado. The manual explains how an individual can put sustainability and spiritual practice into her immediate environment, as well as how to apply faith connections into caring for the earth. Readers also learn about the best ways to consider eco-justice approaches to social problems, how to help the earth through community programs, and how to begin developing a spiritual ethic of care for others and for the planet.