The Marriage of Sense and Soul – Ken Wilber

Integrating Science and Religion. This a book by who is in my opinion the best American philosopher, Ken Wilber. He addresses what is an underlying cause of many issues of today: “there is arguably no more important and pressing topic than the relation of science and religion in the modern world.” As Ken describes in much of his work, there is a “philosophical Cold War” between the two, with each vying to deny the other (specifically, with modern science and premodern religion). There is a reconciliation – a way forward – that honors each in seeing the world as a whole, as Ken shows in his truly comprehensive way. Science gives us methods for discovering truth and simply showing us what is. However, “science cannot tell us whether something is good or bad, or what should be or could be or ought to be”. Religion, on the other hand, is the force which generates wisdom and meaning. Ken shows us the way to “unite the spiritual, subjective world of ancient wisdom with the objective, empirical world of modern knowledge”, and why that is so important.
 

Blessed Unrest – Paul Hawken

How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World. This book could use a whole post on its own. “This is the story of what is going right in the world”, amidst suffering and environmental degradation. Hawken writes on the grassroots movement occurring around the world: the many diverse nonprofits, NGOs, and businesses working to address the world’s most pressing environmental and social issues. ‘Remaking, revitalizing, regenerating, and reconsidering” is their work. Hawken likens this movement to the immune system of the body, where the movement is a collection of white blood cells rising up to the problems of pollution, greed, and corruption. A few chapters are dedicated to the movement’s roots: the American history of environmentalism, indigenous cultures, progressive efforts and its heroes. A key principle is that social and environmental issues are the two sides of a single, larger dilemma. “The way we harm the earth affects all people, and how we treat each other is reflected in how we treat the earth.” Hawken created a social network and database for sustainability called Wiser Earth.

 
Thriving Beyond Sustainability – Andrés Edwards

Pathways to a Resilient Society. Edwards’ previous book The Sustainability Revolution laid down the principles of sustainability. With his new book he creates an inventory, “a collective map of Earth Island”, showcasing examples of successful ideas and practices in the world. The main challenges are interrelated and global in scope: ecosystem decline, energy transition, population growth, economic disparity, and climate change. The book steps up to the plate and shows that these crises are an opportunity to build a brighter future. A key paradigm is to go beyond sustainability and to embrace the concept of thriveability. Rather than “sustaining” and seeking to limit negative impacts, the most effective approach is to work with abundance to regenerate and transform – to be creative. The Omega Center for Sustainable Living is here, with its pioneering Living Building Challenge certification. I worked at Omega last season and can attest to the beauty of the OCSL. The chapter “Lessons from our Ancestors” kicks off the book, describing traditional ecological knowledge: the ways Indigenous people lived with a deep respect and relationship with the land. Each chapter ends with a “Taking Action” section listing ways to get involved today. This book is full of inspiration and practical guidance to seeing the glass as half-full.
 

Deep Economy – Bill McKibben

The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. This is McKibben’s important call for stronger local economies and communities. In a country that has seen increasing consolidation across critical sectors (food, radio, energy) in the name of “efficiency” and growth, what constitutes progress is no longer business as usual, but a shift to resilience. Indeed, our economy carries much inertia from holding More as the solution to all our problems, but More is no longer synonymous with Better. Indeed, we have a choice between between prosperity and endless growth. We cannot have both anymore. This is due to some basic facts in the way our economy works (it must grow) on planet Earth, which has finite resources. Ecology is “the study of the house”, whereas economy is “management of the house”. This is the case for an economics that faces reality and honors the house. This is not a romantic idealization of putting on the brakes and returning to “simpler times”. It is the inspired work of optimization over maximization that will lead us to a bright future.
 
 
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Holonic Fusion - Gordon Wood

Nature plays a central role in both Gordon Wood‘s art and in his practice as an artist. Within his work are themes we see in the environment. Dendritic patterns and geologic formations play off each other in balanced organization, yet seemingly border on cacophony. Humanity, as part of nature, is integrated into the scene through forms such as finger and footprints, illuminating our influence as a force in nature. Gordon Wood is the current featured artist over at Integral Life, and as with all of IL’s content I recommend getting over there and checking it out. Michael Schwartz has a good write-up on Wood’s expression of artistic truth in addressing Nature & Culture. I want to share some of the images here because I think they resonate with my blog’s themes and other material I post.

Artist’s Statement:

Nature—nonlinear, complex and dynamic—is the phenomenal, cognitive, intuitive, and reciprocal ingredient for me as an artist. Essentially this is the Generative Order, from which I become humble when I try to understand, even a small corner of a web of interconnected, symbiotic elements and relationships, each of which is inter- or intra-dependent on a majority of others in the biosphere and cosmos. In my art, I work with the elements of the natural system and rearrange them. I try not to do any harm to the source, while I hope that the objects I create let us see the human-nature experience in a compact and expansive form. Nature is the symbiosis of the flux of chaos, mystery and organization. Our rational experience of nature is the challenging element. We are the wild cards in the natural deck, put here to test nature’s resiliency. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can impose order on a system that nature already has functioning in a flowing existence. Through my art I try to bring myself closer to the source, to make my- self see the cosmos as it is, and to celebrate the energy and mystery in sensuous detail. By doing so, I hope my audience will see it – self in a new, more connected way. Human art gives us glimpses of the truth that art is nature.

Topography of the Soul - Gordon Wood

Birth of Awe - Gordon Wood

Confluence of Self and Other - Gordon Wood

Water and Mind Am I - Gordon Wood

Cosmic Dust - Gordon Wood

Encounters - Gordon Wood

See the full gallery at Integral Life

The Arctic is seeing the effects of global warming at a fast rate and is having real implications for climates in other parts of the globe. Last winter (2009-2010) saw the most extreme dip in the NAO since record-keeping began, which brought us unusual winter weather in North America. This is what accounted for the upside-down winter when Florida became chilly, but the Vancouver Olympics suffered from a lack of snow and cold. It is ironic that we on the East Coast and those in the UK should be getting colder, snowier weather right now with the phenomenon of global warming — which is a reason why I prefer the term climate change, or more particularly: climate chaos; while others say it’s global weirding. Dr. Joe Romm of Climate Progress calls it “Hell and High Water” because it is “more descriptive of what is to come”.

There have been some weird incidences of winter weather this year. Take the Minneapolis Metrodome roof that collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, or the lighthouse in Ohio that completely froze. While interesting, this has been nothing but fodder for skeptics and staunch deniers to doubt (and manufacture doubt) that global warming is occurring. It’s irking when someone takes these stories and runs with them, declaring the science as fraudulent. Never mind the difference to be made between climate and weather; nor the fact that when it gets warmer there’s more water absorbed and retained in the atmosphere, producing more precipitation. This strikes home for me when I see revered rock hero, Billy Corgan, use his Twitter to denounce global warming and “eco-fascists” by linking to these stories of harsh winter weather, with the logic that these events are all that’s needed to discredit the global warming evidence (and anyone that cares about it). Today, he’s complaining about an airport in London being closed due to heavy snow — put that in your pipe. While Billy’s blog he had on spirituality was great, he seems only interested now in expressing his cynical, dark side through his Twitter account (not to mention that he’s been duped by the anti-science crowd).

Climate shows us the interconnectedness of the Earth: like the rest of nature, it is complex and nonlinear. To call out the current abnormal winter weather in an effort to deny the risks we face, while decrying environmentalists, is simply ineffective and on the verge of losing touch with reality. It’s fine to question the research, but nothing is stopping deniers from doing their own before making overly opinionated statements and conspiracy theories. It’s also a mistake to so quickly forget that the decade of 2000-2009 has been the warmest on record, and that we just had quite an extreme year (remember July?) with fires in Russia and floods in Pakistan. There is a blog on WordPress that does nothing but tell stories of Winter weather, while denouncing the science. So, for fun, I posted the two images you see in this article over there in their comments section, because they get the point across so well visually.

PS- Corgan also tweeted this: “Funny, it’s gone from ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’. Must be hard to admit it’s a scam.” See Romm’s awesome post on this, Debunking the dumbest denier myth: ‘Climate Change’ vs. ‘Global Warming’, and don’t miss the video at the bottom slamming that notion into the dust.

For more information:

1) Florida Shivers; Hot Arctic-Cold Continents Pattern is Back
2) Europe’s cold and snowy winter forecast to gradually ease
3) Forecast for the Winter of 2010-2011
4) Extreme warming in Arctic will cause colder winters–and political gridlock
5) Heavy snowfall in a warming world.
6) An amazing, though clearly little-known, scientific fact: We get more snow storms in warm years!

<— [Click the image on the left for a link to the original newsprint poster.]

From the publisher:

Artist David Horvitz knows how to transform the mundane details of everyday life into unexpected quirks that inspire people to action. Over the course of 2009 he posted a new initiative on his blog every single day, enjoining readers to follow his lead and insert some art into everyday life. The popular blog not only inspired people to act; they also documented their actions. Everything That Can Happen In A Day features some of Horvitz’s favorite ideas as well as an astonishing array of images that document people following Horvitz’s cues.

From accompanying mail carriers on their routes to fast food restaurant Tai Chi, poetry readings in ATM kiosks and sticking your head in a freezer and photographing it, this book serves as an excellent source for making sure that on any given day nothing feels ordinary.

In honor of the day, the Aspen Institute held a conference with EPA administrator Lisa Jackson and released “10 Ways the EPA has Strengthened America”. The EPA’s website is also worth a visit: a slide show of images captures the essence of the past, present, and future of our country’s environmental challenges and solutions. A timeline charts 40 years of milestones for the agency.

The EPA holds great potential for helping to solve the climate crisis. They have the right to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, which is confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. This is not as effective as it would be to have had Congressional legislation passing this year, but is important nonetheless. The Clean Air Act has created tremendous benefits for the environment, our health, and even for our economy. However, industry always overestimates these costs. The EPA’s comprehensive work in cost-benefit analysis illustrates how effective their work is. The EPA deserves our support more than ever, as it is under increasing attack by industry-funded neoconservatives and deniers in Washington. Update: Fortunately, their false charges are failing: Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals has turned down a case attempting to block the EPA and the court continues to give the green light to carbon pollution standards. As polls show time and time again, the public trusts the EPA, loves the Clean Air Act, and wants Congress to butt out from blocking it.

Although I wasn’t usually a regular player with the Bumz while working at our stomping grounds of Omega, I felt called to join the tour because I resonated with the group’s interest in environmental and social activism. Izzy, the group leader, is always sure to spread the word about 350 when given the opportunity, and wanted to use the tour as a way to raise awareness around the greenhouse gas issue and climate change. We knew it would be an interesting tour with the combination of music, environmental message, and people and places we planned to visit.

On the tour, we usually stayed at each place for about three days, which allowed us some time to discover a place and meet the locals. It was a welcome change from past tours I’ve been on when we were playing city to city each day, sometimes even having to drive through the night in order to get to the next gig on time. In many ways the tour was the complete opposite of others I’ve been on in the past, not the least of which was the fact we were a huge band consisting mostly of women, but that was part of the plan, right? Tour stops included: a house boat on the Long Island Sound, the streets of NYC on Halloween, the notorious Jersey shore, Star Wind Farm, Washington, D.C., the Twin Oaks and Acorn eco-villages of Virginia, and the amazing Yogaville. A resounding THANK YOU to all those who welcomed us at these amazing places!

Tour Highlight #1: Star Wind Farm (PA is “Frack” Country)

Pennsdale, PA–  We stayed with Ruth and Lu at the Star Wind Farm out in Pennsylvania. Since our other PA stop had been canceled, and the farm was out of the way from our southerly direction, this stop was nearly canceled, too. Thankfully, it wasn’t, because it was probably the best stop. When we arrived to the comfy, rustic house and saw the beautiful scenery–and all the farm animals and garden crops–we knew the farm was practically meant for us to visit. The food was great and came from right out the door: eggs, milk, colorful veggies. There was even a “cyber cafe” portion of the house out on the porch where the few of us addict lap-toppers could set up. I jumped online because I was following the mid-term election results which were still coming in the day after votes took place.

This was also our most politically important stop of the tour, because we were out in “frack” country. Pennsylvania lies over the Marcellus Shale and has been victim to an unconventional method of gas drilling, called hydraulic fracturing. This is deep gas drilling, sometimes over a mile deep, where the gas lies beneath the ground water table. This has been such a problematic issue for PA because the process involves using millions of gallons of water for each hole, mixed with many toxic chemicals, which fractures the rock. There have already been many incidents of the chemicals getting into local water supplies, leaking onto cattle fields, as well as disruption to the hydraulic cycle of local streams and rivers due to all the pumping demands for the drilling process. Fracking would be illegal if the Bush Administration had not granted it an exemption from the country’s Clean Water Act.

“Lighting a fire under the choir…”

The Dharma Bums are more ecologically-conscious than your average touring band. We were coming from Omega Institute, where water issues have been on our mind due in part to the campus’s groundbreaking new water reclamation facility, the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, which uses eco-machines designed by John Todd to filter all of the water used on campus before trickling it back to the aquifer in a closed loop cycle. We played on a Friday night to the local community of Penns Dale at the community’s Quaker Church. Ruth and another member of the Responsible Drilling Alliance gave talks on the issues of fracking, and the rush by huge drilling companies coming looking for permits to drill in Rider Park, an 868-acre piece of land willed to the community for recreational purposes by Thomas J. Rider.

This was a timely performance by us Bumz because the board of directors were due to vote on whether to open the park to gas drilling just a few days later. Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” and Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer” were two songs that felt especially appropriate for the night. We called to gather more signature’s to the petition and to “light a fire under the choir”, since it did seem we were more or less speaking to the choir.

Today, the news is in and Rider Park is safe for now! With over 4,000 signatures to the petition, the board voted drilling down! This is a victory for the local people and PA’s forests. Ruth acknowledges that “now we just have to do something about the rest of the state”. The EPA is currently conducting a thorough study of fracking, but that report is not due until 2012. PA doesn’t have that long to wait. Fortunately, for New York (our stomping grounds), the State Senate and Assembly listened to the more than 52,000 petitioners and worked to pass a moratorium today on hydraulic fracturing. Dan Cantor of NY’s Working Families Party knows it’s time to celebrate: “As far as we know, this is the first time that any state legislature has said ‘no’ to these drillers.” However, the bill went to Governor Paterson’s desk, and while he chose not to sign the moratorium on all of the drilling, he did pass a temporary ban on the controversial form of horizontal hydraulic fracturing.

I am proud to have been part of such a dynamic and compassionate group of musicians and active citizens. While I am back home now in the suburbs of New Jersey–and dealing with both the post-Omega and post-Dharma Bum blues–the spirit of the Bumz rides on as the rest of the group goes their separate ways and finds their last tour dates in New Orleans and Florida. Peace!

The Dharma Bums adventures continue and I’d like to include them more on my blog in the future. Film of the tour is in the editing process by April and Corey. I have more stories and photos to share, too. Fracking remains an issue potentially affecting many people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. It’s heartening, though, to know what’s possible when people take a stand. – Jon

“Paradox rocks” is the motto, and we get a good picture of that here. Part of this clip’s charm is that the Dark Stu is the star, really. I would have balanced out the sequence by giving the White/Light Stuart some more strength, though. What would also be interesting is if there were a third Stu. A witnessing Stuart that could skillfully hold both of these perspectives with discernment. I plan to write more here in the future about the topics the Stuarts discussed, and what it’s like to integrate these different views. I think one takeaway message is that we are at our most effective when we take everything into account, including seemingly disparate interpretations of the Mystery.

Go, go, go —-> sleepovershows.com I play a cereal box.

Update: Emperor X was just on NPR. See the story HERE.

Getting atmospheric levels of CO2 back down to 350ppm is important for the planet’s natural balance. 350ppm is the safe upper-limit to which life and civilization on earth has developed, and which we are currently exceeding at 390ppm, and going up about 2 every year. This negatively impacts us by putting the climate into chaos, and has real implications for our economic and national well-being, as much as for the environment. CO2 isn’t a problem in and of itself, but it can become one when it’s emitted at unsustainable rates at which the earth cannot absorb it all. The “greenhouse” effect is like an insulating blanket in the atmosphere. It’s a principle of balance, honoring the natural processes of the Earth by not pushing it too far in one direction. An excess of carbon emissions have reached the point of fitting under the definition of “pollution” because the physical capacities of the planet, and our well-being, can potentially be put in jeopardy.

Carbon can go back down and our atmosphere balanced again. It will take burning less fossil fuels, which is something we’re gonna have to get used to in the future anyway, since fossil fuel is a finite resource. This entails becoming less consumptive and more effective in our economies. Solutions are also in maintaining and regenerating our natural areas, gardens, and state parks – all of which filter our air. However, it will also take more than a simple swap from fossil fuels to clean, renewable resources…

The direction for improvement is in stronger, more localized economies, as well as creativity, vision, and widespread innovation. And these are all things that we want anyway in a brighter, greener future – hence the term, bright green, coined by Alex Steffen of Worldchanging. Through their website, and an awesome book, Worldchanging is a media organization reporting on innovative solutions to building a better, more inspiring future. Building carbon-neutral cities is an effective strategy and opportunity they write on, and one which has elevated my interest and hope in how great cities can be.

With help from these great thinkers and designers, I know that the problem we face of having to retool and remodel can be a very beneficial thing for our culture, economy, health, and prosperity. Being good to the environment is being good to ourselves, and vice versa. We don’t need to sacrifice one for the other — and, really, we can’t.

I am really psyched on this new edition of Toby Hemenway’s awesome book on ecological gardening. This is my favorite book I have yet encountered that applies ecological and permaculture design to the home landscape. It shows that by understanding and working with nature’s principles, we can better design and build in a way that really benefits both people and the environment. And it’s a guide to sustainability whose scope is at the level of whole systems thinking that is much needed in the world today. One thing that is so cool about this work is that it integrates new concepts and research (permaculture and ecological design) with time-tested techniques used by indigenous cultures, organic farmers, and restoration ecologists.

This book is very useful for the suburbanite, but the urban dweller would also find a lot to apply here. Between the first two editions, the author moved from his rural property in Oregon to a new home in Portland, and added a chapter on urban permaculture. Also, Toby Hemenway’s website, Pattern Literacy, is a good place to find out more about these ideas of sustainable design. Buy this book and get inspired to create a backyard ecosystem that is connected to natural cycles and yields edibles, medicinals, and crafts, while doing much of the work for you!

“They are more than the sum of their parts. An ecological garden feels like a living being, with a character and essence that is unique to each.” Imagine this innovative landscaping applied to our yards, city parks, curb sides, and even parking lots and office courtyards! Our streets, communities, and cities would become powerfully unique places that are more attractive, productive, and beneficial to us and nature than the grassy voids they tend to be.

For a quick look at what is possible, check out this before-and-after image of some land in New Mexico (500 species on about 1/8 acre!).