Joanna Macy

An enduring classic of the ecology movement by the founder of the Work That Reconnects, now more timely than everHumanity is in an existential crisis. Facing the magnitude of our global situation as individuals leaves us feeling alone, disempowered, and despairing. Who better to listen to for wisdom and solace than Joanna Macy, one of the originators of modern environmentalism, whose life's work has been to hear and heal our pain for the planet?World as Lover, World as Self draws on a lifetime of wisdom to offer a re-focus on the natural world, where readers can find the strength and spiritual nourishment to envision a new future for humanity built on a sustainable relationship with the earth. Rooted in the Buddha's teachings of paticca samuppada or interdependent co-arising, Macy's reflections are especially relevant for activists who want to address the underlying mindsets of fear, greed, and selfishness that give rise to overconsumption and the ultimate destruction of our world. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, this definitive edition of World as Lover, World as Self will give a new generation of readers the tools and understanding with which to meet today's challenges and crises.

The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, the depletion of oil, economic upheaval, and mass extinction together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face this crisis so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.

Inspiration, practices, and meditations to empower us in the face of planetary “True wisdom for tough times.” ―John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America Deepening global crises surround us, causing many to fall prey to denial and despair. Coming Back to Life shows how grief, anger, and fear are healthy responses to the harsh realities of our time, and that when honored through the revolutionary practice of the Work That Reconnects, they can free us from paralysis and move us toward creative action. This new, completely updated edition of the classic text illuminates the extraordinary Work that has inspired hundreds of thousands to make strides towards the creation of a life-sustaining human culture. Buddhist scholar and environmental activist Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown introduce the Work’s theoretical foundations, revealing the angst of our era with remarkable insight. Pointing the way forward out of apathy, they offer personal counsel as well as easy-to-use methods for group process that profoundly affect people’s outlook and ability to act in the world. “If you want to connect with your joy even in the midst of sadness, if you want to see new life arise out of despair, Coming Back to Life has my highest possible recommendation.” ―John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America and co-founder and president, The Food Revolution Network “A must for all who want to mobilize humanity in service of all beings. These concepts, exercises, and meditations have proven to work across generations, religions, ethnicities and races.” ―Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, Director of Social Justice Organizing, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

In this absorbing, and sometimes thrilling memoir, well-known eco-philosopher, Buddhist scholar, and deep ecology activist /teacher Joanna Macy recounts her adventures in the key social movements of our era. Macy's autobiography reads like a novel as she relates her multi-faceted life experiences and reflects on how her marriage and family life enriched her service to the world.Macy's formative years with an abusive father and oppressed mother set her on an irrevocable path of self-definition and independence. A short-lived stint with the CIA exposed Macy first hand to the Cold War's darkest threats: the construction of the hydrogen bomb and the building of the Berlin Wall. With three children in tow, Macy and her husband traveled with the Peace Corps to Africa, India, and Tibet, where her encounter with the Dalai Lama and Buddhism led to Macy's life-long embrace of the religion and a deep commitment to the peace and environmental movements.In Widening Circles, the unique synthesis of spiritualism and activism that define Macy's contribution to the world are illuminated by the life-events and experiences that have paved her uncommon path.

The premise of "Greening of the Self" is that we are not individuals separate from the world. Instead we are always co-arising or co-creating the world, and we cannot escape the consequence of what we do to the environment. Joanna Macy's innovative writing beautifully demonstrates that by broadening our view of what constitutes self we can cut through our dualistic views and bring about the emergence of the ecological self, that realizes that every object, feeling, emotion, and action is influenced by a huge, all-inclusive web of factors. Any change in the condition of any one thing in this web affects everything else by virtue of interconnectedness. "Greening of the Self" is visionary and future-oriented, making it essential reading for anyone who wants to discover the knowledge authority and courage to respond creatively to the crises of our time. Based on a chapter in Joanna Macy's bestselling "World as Lover, World as Self."

This book brings important new dimensions to the interface between contemporary Western science and ancient Eastern wisdom. Here for the first time the concepts and insights of general systems theory are presented in tandem with those of the Buddha. The interdependence of all beings provides the context for clarifying both the role of meditative practice and guidelines for effective action on behalf of the common good. (Suny Series, Buddhist Studies) (SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies)

Eco-philosopher and best-selling author Joanna Macy, Ph.D., shares five stories from her more than thirty years of studying and practicing Buddhism and deep ecology. Gathered on her travels to India, Russia, Australia, and Tibet, these stories give testament to Joanna Macy’s belief that either humankind awakens to a new and deeper understanding of our interconnectedness with our planet and all its myriad forms of life or risks loosing it. To bring about such a transformation of consciousness each and every one of us counts. Five Stories that Can Change the World tells of encounters with individuals who share very personal stories of sudden awakening, unexpected awareness, and the co-mingling of joy and pain. Each story is imbued with the specific cultural flavor of the places where the stories originate, but all share that each individual counts in the global need for change and awakening.Pas It On provides an introduction to Joanna Macy’s work of "deep ecology" and "the great turning" and the deep interconnected nature of all beings.Introduction by Norbert Gahbler.

Joanna Macy is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking, and deep ecology whose decades of writing, teaching, and activism have inspired people around the world. In this collection of writings, leading spiritual teachers, deep ecologists, and diverse writers and activists explore the major facets of Macy’s lifework. Combined with eleven pieces from Macy herself, the result is a rich chorus of wisdom and compassion to support the work of our time.“Being fully present to fear, to gratitude, to all that is—this is the practice of mutual belonging. As living members of the living body of Earth, we are grounded in that kind of belonging. Even when faced with cataclysmic changes, nothing can ever separate us from Earth. We are already home.”— Joanna Macy

Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age

Book by Macy, Joanna

Beaucoup d'humains portent une souffrance profonde face aux graves atteintes faites à la nature et à notre Terre Mère. Or, dans l'impuissance où nous sommes souvent, cette affliction, qu'elle soit consciente ou non, génère souvent de la culpabilité ou du déni, et donc de la fermeture d'esprit.Les auteurs apportent ici de vraies réponses à ce défi! Puisant dans le bouddhisme et l'approche systémique, elles proposent un positionnement et des exercices puissants ; c'est un vrai message d'espoir, dans plusieurs directions :- Une contribution majeure pour se reconnecter et se réconcilier avec la Terre Gaïa en découvrant son identité écologique.- Comment faire face à l'apathie, à l'impuissance, comment passer du mental au ressenti, pour prendre une part active à la guérison de notre monde dans l'interdépendance.- Retrouver notre pouvoir au service de la Vie, par un travail de groupe sur des valeurs telles que la gratitude, la souffrance, le désespoir, notre relation au temps. Retrouver le courage, l'implication et la solidarité nécessaires pour changer nos vies et entrer en action pour prendre soin de la planète.- Opérer un changement de cap, par un engagement volontariste pour la Vie ; poser des actions de résistance.Travail transdisciplinaire au carrefour de la psychologie, de l'écologie, de l'éducation, de la pensée systémique, au-delà de l'anthropocentrisme, c'est le premier livre présentant cette nouvelle approche de la vie et de la psychologie, le concept d'inconscient écologique.C'est en même temps un manuel pratique contenant nombre d'exercices et de rituels pour se reconnecter à la Terre, fruit d'un travail de 40 ans testé avec des centaines de milliers de personnes.

Notre séparation d’avec la nature est à l’origine de la civilisation contemporaine et de la crise qu’elle traverse actuellement, qui pourrait lui être fatale. Les fondateurs de l’Écologie Profonde et du Travail qui Relie se penchent sur le sujet et élaborent une approche radicalement différente. Poésies, méditations guidées, récits de rituels pour la Terre, témoignage d’action militante... les voix et les apports contrastés des fondateurs de l’écologie profonde et du Travail qui Relie se mêlent en ce recueil et proposent de découvrir, écouter, explorer et activer la dimension non anthropocentrée de notre être : notre être-vivant, être-animal, être-végétal, être-montagne, être-planète.

Wir können immer das Leben wählenKlimawandel, radioaktive Verseuchung, Fracking, Genmanipulation. Diese entmutigende Liste zum Zustand unsere Welt ließe sich fortsetzen – und dennoch: Wir haben noch immer die Möglichkeit, zum Wohle einer lebenswerten Welt zu handeln. Denn: Wir können unsere Bedürfnisse erfüllen, ohne unser lebenserhaltendes System zu zerstören. Dafür haben wir das notwendige Wissen und die technischen Möglichkeiten. Alles was wir noch brauchen ist der kollektive Wille, beides in diesem Sinne einzusetzen.Dieses Buch ist ein Leitfaden. Es hilft uns, unsere natürliche Vitalität und Entschlossenheit zu entdecken und so die Selbstheilungskräfte unserer Welt zu unterstützen. Im Zentrum steht eine besondere Form der Gruppenarbeit, die Joanna Macy in den 1970er-Jahren begonnen und die sich seither stetig weiter entwickelt hat. Ungeachtet der sich rapide verschlechternden sozialen und ökologischen Rahmenbedingungen hat sie Hunderttausenden Frauen und Männern rund um den Erdball geholfen, solidarisch und mutig zu handeln.Das Buch erschien 2003 erstmals in deutscher Übersetzung, unter dem Titel „Die Reise ins lebendige Leben“. Es wurde gründlich überarbeitet und die aktuellen Entwicklungen wurden einbezogen.

Natural disasters follow an eternal cycle of creation and destruction, and sentient life has learned how to rebuild after mother nature runs its course. Nuclear disasters, being man made , follow no such cycle, extending into a distant future that imprisons life and prevents it from restoring itself. Lotus in the Nuclear Sea begins with the stories of the people of Fukushima and their unending struggles amidst the neglect of the Japanese authorities. The volume then documents the slowly increasing engagement of Japanese Buddhists to confront the crisis. The final section offers deeper reflections and analysis on the problem of nuclear energy by Buddhists from both Japan and other countries. This is the first publication of such an extended analysis of nuclear energy by Buddhists, including essays by pioneer Joanna Macy, environmentalist David Loy, Asian Buddhist development leaders Harsha Navaratne and Pra Paisan Visalo as well as Japanese Buddhist activists Rev. Tetsuen Nakajima and Rev. Taitsu Kono, Chief Priest of the Myoshin-ji Rinzai Zen sect. From touching the suffering of the people of Fukushima to delving deeply into the problems of nuclear energy to quenching (nirvana) the greed-anger-delusion of nuclear energy through building lifestyles and cultures of sufficiency (samtusti), Lotus in the Nuclear Sea takes us on a journey through the Four Noble Truths of nuclear energy.