In May, I co-led a retreat that was part of a larger initiative through the Garrison Institute’s Contemplative-Based Resilience (CBR) program to support the staff of Restore NYC. This extraordinary organization stewards powerful, trauma-informed work serving survivors of trafficking and exploitation. I am still deeply moved by my time with the Restore team – filled with lasting inspiration, profound gratitude for their vital work. . .
On March 7, the Garrison Institute hosted a daylong symposium celebrating the life and legacy of Father Thomas Keating, whose teachings have shaped the modern contemplative landscape. A Trappist monk and founder of the Centering Prayer movement, Keating devoted his life to recovering the contemplative heart of the Christian tradition and making it accessible to spiritual seekers across traditions.
Stephen Posner, PhD, Garrison Institute’s Director of Pathways to Planetary Health, is coauthor of a research article recently published in the Earth System Governance journal titled, “Frogs, Coalitions, and Mining: Transformative insights for planetary health and Earth system law from Ecuador’s struggle to enforce Nature’s rights.”
The article highlights Ecuador’s pioneering legal recognition of the Rights of Nature. This approach has led to significant environmental protections, such as halting large-scale mining projects that threatened biodiversity hotspots . . .
“Be the change you want to see in the world!” is the familiar counsel of great social movements. The advice echoes the lyric from the great African-American song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!”
But how, exactly, might our inner epiphanies and transformations catalyze systemic change? We may individually develop new insights and values from wisdom traditions and contemplative practice, but how might they radiate out into . . .
In November 2024, Dr. Daniel Siegel joined the Garrison Institute’s managing director Steve Varley for an engaging discussion of Dr. Siegel’s new book, Personality and Wholeness in Psychotherapy. Together, they explored how personality patterns, often viewed as fixed traits, can be transformed into dynamic pathways for growth, integration, and self-discovery.
Watch the recording of the December 18 online forum.
We cannot solve complex sustainability issues using the approaches we’ve employed in the past. We need different approaches – and different mindsets – than those we’ve drawn on thus far.
These approaches and mindsets emerge from looking inward at the same time as we make outer change – from reflecting deeply on what’s here now as we grapple with complex and persistent predicaments like climate change and nature loss, social justice, trauma, and exploitative economic systems.
Jonathan F.P. Rose has been awarded Bhutan’s prestigious Druk Thuksey (“Order of the Beloved of the Thunder Dragon”) Medal, the highest honor the country can bestow upon non-Bhutanese. Jonathan is the Garrison Institute’s co-founder, President of Jonathan Rose Companies, a noted expert in sustainable development and regenerative communities, and Chair of Bhutan’s International Advisory Board for Urban Development.