STORIES FROM ECOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY 93
- The world is alive. The Earth is our larger body, not our supply
house and sewer. - As human beings we are more than the separate self as defined
by habit and society. We are an intrinsic part of the living world,
a part of the flows of matter/energy and mind. The world
can now know itself through us, through our self-reflexive
consciousness. - Our experience of pain for the world is not an individual
pathology. When we deny or repress our pain we also diminish
our power for healing our world. Our pain and our power to
act spring from our inter-connectedness with all beings. - When we can experience our pain for the world we can free
ourselves from our fears and experience on a visceral level our
belonging to the web of life. - When we experience our interconnectedness with the
community of Earth by willingly enduring our pain for it, we
can expand our identity and engage with new paradigmatic
thinking. - When we feel ourselves a part of the Earth community we are
inspired to take action on behalf of it and participate in the
Great Turning with insight, compassion and courage.
THE TRUTH MANDALA
At the center of the studio the student presenter lays out a circle with
four quadrants. In each quadrant she places an object: a stone, dead
leaves, a thick stick and an empty bowl. Standing in each quadrant,
she explains the symbolic meaning of the objects. The stone is for our
fear to speak the truth of what we know in our hearts. The leaves are
for grief for what is happening in the world. The stick is for anger at
destruction and injustice. The empty bowl represents our hunger for
what is missing in our society today. She dedicates this truth mandala
(Macy and Brown 1998, p.101) to the wellbeing of all beings and