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The Emerging, Holistic Worldview Awakening and Transformation of Consciousness Reconnecting to Nature Health and Healing Socially Engaged Spirituality
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New Paradigm ThinkersMany persons have contributed to the emerging worldview. Some of the more significant are mentioned here. Rudolf Steiner has had an enormous influence, having written several books and developed a whole education system, in use today in many countries (Steiner schools, also known as Waldorf schools in the USA). Biodynamic farming is also due to Steiner. British Climatologist James Lovelock was the first to come up with the concept of the Earth as a self-regulating system. He was studying Mars for NASA and showed how one could confirm or deny the existence of life as we know it from the chemical composition of the atmosphere. His Gaia hypothesis of the Earth as a self-regulating system is part of the scientific foundation of the emerging paradigm, and for many suggests that the Earth is a “living” organism of a higher nature. Thomas Berry is an American historian, priest and expert on Eastern religions, who has contributed to the emerging worldview with his inspiring vision of The Story of the Universe as the quintessence of reality. He is one of the pioneers of deep ecology and ecospiritualism. The article, “The Meadow across the Creek”, gives a sense of his vision. Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess contributed to the new paradigm with the 'deep ecology' concept, which sees humans as directly integrated with the environment—not separate from ecology, but part of it. Fritjof Capra highlighted the many parallels between the concepts of modern physics and ancient spiritual traditions. Bill Mollison invented permaculture, a new design principle based on working with nature. Eco-philosopher and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy introduced her “Council of all Beings” workshop to illustrate the principles of deep ecology. Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof brought the concepts of transpersonal psychology to thousands through his holotropic breathing techniques, which often lead to deep spiritual experiences. David Korten articulated the need to move beyond the historic power-based confines of “empire” towards his new paradigm concept of “Earth community.” Helena Norberg Hodge, a Swedish linguist, traveled to Ladakh each year for 30 years and made the West aware of how their materialistic lifestyle was destroying perfectly sustainable and well-functioning ancient cultures. Vandana Shiva, along with Satish Kumar, has been defining Earth Democracy and a spiritual lifestyle, while fighting for the rights of small Indian landholders to continue their traditional, sustainable and highly efficient farming methods. Sri Aurobindo and Ken Wilber have formulated one of the most comprehensive cosmic worldviews—one which is influencing a great part of the US scene in particular. Also the contributions of spiritual masters from the East, Vivekananda, Yogananda, Ramana Maharshi, Muktananda and many others, cannot be ignored. These are just a few of the many who have contributed to a new understanding of ourselves and our destiny in recent years. We will subsequently look at the writings of some of these new paradigm pioneers in more detail.
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Click on image to enlarge
Click on image for further information about J. Lovelock
Eco-philosopher Joanna
Macy is a scholar
of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected
voice in movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves
her scholarship with four decades of activism. Joanna framed and popularized
the term the Great Turning. She is a popular speaker and workshop leader
as well as the author of numerous books, including World as Lover,
World as Self; Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives,
Our World; and In Praise of Mortality. |
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