Pauline was introduced to processes that enable us to reconnect
with our world, at a conference given by Joanna Macy in
Australia in 1997. For thirty days in 2005 she worked again
with Joanna to reinforce these skills at the ‘Seeds
for the Future’ advanced training workshop. Pauline
offers workshops that enable participants to reconnect with
our world; processes that, within the safety and security
of a group environment; move us towards ‘compassionate
action’.
The Council of All Beings is offered in a one-day program,
or as part of a weekend program.
THE COUNCIL OF ALL BEINGS
The council of all beings is a very special ritual
that invites us to step outside our human identity and speak
on behalf of earth other beings – animals –
trees – rivers – mountains. It is a respectful
embrace of other life forms that come together in council
to speak about their life experience. Humans are
there to listen to the experience of all beings,
but they cannot participate in the council.
John Seed and Joanna Macy initiated this powerful process
and the first Council of all Beings was held
in a rural retreat outside of Sydney in 1985. It is now
practiced across the world. This effective and dignified
process, prepares people to hear within themselves,
the sounds of the earth crying (Vietnamese Zen master
Thic Nhat Hanh)
The Council of all beings is inclusive of all
life forms, confirming the interconnectedness of all life.
It has been used in creative ways to respond to local
council and Government planning that promotes environmental
degradation.
'Coming back to life: Practices to reconnect our lives,
our world' is offered in a one-day program, or as part of
a weekend program.
COMING BACK TO LIFE
‘Coming back to life’ are the practices designed
by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown that enable us to
reconnect our lives with our world. Theologian Matthew
Fox has described these practices as ‘spirit work’,
practices that ‘coax us not to be afraid and not
to be in denial’. Joanna Macy describes her work
in the following way . . .
When we’re distracted and fearful, and the
odds are running against us, it is easy to let the heart
and mind go numb. The dangers facing us are so pervasive
and yet often so hard to see – and painful to see,
when we manage to look at them – that this numbing
touches us all. No one is unaffected by it. No one is
immune to doubt, denial or disbelief about the severity
of our situation – and about our power to change
it. Yet of all the dangers we face, from climatic change
to nuclear wars, none is so great as the deadening of
our response.
That numbing of mind and heart is already upon us
– in the diversions we create for ourselves as individuals
and nations, in the fights we pick, the aims we pursue,
the stuff we buy.
RESOURCES:
‘Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our
Lives, Our World’ Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown
www.joannamacy.net
‘Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All
Beings’
John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess
available from www.amazon.com
(books)
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