Antinuclear

Macy, an author, teacher and antinuclear activist, learned she had a lot in common with her co-facilitator, John Seed, founder of the Rainforest Information Center.

“We discovered that we shared a passionate interest in deep ecology and the writings of Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess about the ‘Ecological self,'” Macy explains on rainforestinfo.org. “As Buddhists we both resonated with these concepts, finding them close to the Buddha’s core teachings on the interdependence of all life. John expressed the wish that my workshops include a ‘deep ecological’ group experience to directly challenge the anthropocentrism of industrial society.”

Together, Macy and Seed invented the Council of All Beings. It was introduced shortly afterward at a camp north of Sydney, on huge flat rocks by a waterfall. About 40 people took part.

Within a year, the Council of All Beings had spread by word of mouth across the globe, through Macy and Seed’s workshops. She recalls: “People were gathering to shed their personae as humans and give voice to the plight of the Earth. They spoke as whale and wolf and wind, aspen and marsh, and any other nonhuman they felt called to represent.”….

The life-giving powers shaping creation from the beginning of time are still present within us, existing as “deep spontaneities” accessible through the imagination. And imagination is what the Council of All Beings is about. Since its inception, the council has evolved into many forms, Macy said. It exists as a one- or two-day retreat, as part of a church service or Mass, and even as a sermon or a liturgy of the word.

And now, the question comes back to our hypothetical group of world movers and shakers: Would a one-day retreat be sufficient to break through their trances? Since we are calling upon the power of imagination, where anything goes, humor us and say a resounding ‘yes.’ Time is irrelevant. Grace can happen in a moment. Or a day…….

Perhaps some of these powerful big-wigs might begin to see that their constant regime of boardrooms, financial ledgers, competition and warring do not feed soul and spirit or nurture the Earth and all its inhabitants.

Returning to the words of poet James Bertolino, featured in our last column, now is the time for the power brokers to consider what must be done to insure Earth’s survival. They must let their “minds taste redwood and agate, octopi, bat and in the bat’s mouth, insect.” The Council of All Beings might be a way for them to begin thinking like a planet. http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/world-leaders-need-think-planet