We all know about accelerating climate change, failing democracy, endemic racism and other dire global news. Should we have hope? Should we be in despair? What, in fact, should we do? How can we respond in ways that make us feel we are taking care of ourselves while actually helping the world?
These are questions we will be working on at a workshop this September at the Garrison Institute that I’m leading on spiritual activism, with my fellow author and Buddhist teacher Lama Willa Miller (Willa is actually one of my mentors but she doesn’t know it. Shhhh!). The workshop will guide participants in developing spiritual tools for facing the problems in the world and the arising emotions squarely while finding activist tools to help contribute to solutions.
Through the introduction of focussed contemplative practices, participants will strengthen their ability to be in the presence of their strong emotions and come to a place of perceiving the world’s suffering without being knocked out of their seats. From this grounded place, through group discussion and self-exploration, participants will refine their own paths to engaging meaningfully with those world problems to help bring about solutions.
The workshop will be especially helpful for activists looking for spiritual tools, spiritual people looking for activist tools, or anyone who wants to participate in an engaged spirituality.
For more information and to register, go to the Garrison Institute website here. There are even some scholarships available.
I hope you will come!
Warmly,
Colin Beavan AKA No Impact Man