Dear Reader,
(image) We live in the seen-world and the unseen. Although our eyes can’t detect them, a million microbes fit on the head of a pin. And in our bodies, billions of chemical reactions occur in our living cells every moment. Dark matter, quantum states – we only know there is much to know.
Almost every spiritual tradition teaches of unseen realms, whether inhabited by angels or ancestors; demons or devas. I do not claim any special knowledge about such things, yet when I wander a forest at night, I feel the sentience of the trees, and the shapeless presence of Life all around. Connecting with the spirit of a place: the plants and soils, the tiny beings we can not see, the slow vibrations of rocks and trees, seems to me a Great Calling – spirit greeting spirit. When we stand in this deep connection we touch true interbeing, and it is no longer possible to turn a blind eye to that reality.
Two beautiful features in this edition examine the depth of our connections. Eco-philosopher, activist, and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy explores how love and gratitude prepare us for the struggle to come. And Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, a teacher in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order, looks at our skewed relationship to desire as a source of disconnection from our living Earth.
How can we connect the seen and the unseen to perceive the whole of creation, that we might be guided on the new and ancient path to freedom, and harmony with All?
Excerpt | ‘For One Who Is Exhausted, a Blessing’
“At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.”
-by John O’Donohue, published in the U.K. as Benedictus.
Kosmos Quarterly | Awake, Awakened, Woke!
(image) “In our collective dream, we are racing toward a precipice. Earth’s human children have lost their way, propelled by swift currents of mindlessness and greed. The more we struggle against the current and try to cling to passing debris, the more exhaustion and panic we feel. And yet… and yet, we somehow know another reality is still possible, if only we can shift our awareness and change the story.”
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In the Light | Kosmos Thought Partner, Tellus Institute
The story of Tellus has unfolded in the context of staggering changes. Many of the terms used to describe their current work—global scenarios, planetary phase of civilization, sustainability, climate change, etc.—were not part of our vocabulary four decades ago.
Tellus Institute was established in 1976 as an interdisciplinary, not-for-profit research and policy organization. Key thematic foci have included energy, water, sustainable communities, corporate responsibility, and climate change.
They are now embarked on a new phase, reframing programs around the larger mission of advancing a just and sustainable planetary civilization. This Great Transition would entail a fundamental shift in human values and in the ways we produce, consume, and live. The key is balancing the rights of all people now alive with those of future generations and the wider community of life. Realizing this depends on generating viable, attainable visions of another world, cultivating a sense of global citizenship, and engaging in collective action for systemic change. These are the aims that animate the research, outreach, and network-building efforts of the Tellus Institute. Learn more.