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.
One of the fundamental characteristics of living a more present, peaceful life is not being bombarded and distracted by thoughts. Thoughts are fueled by stimulation, daily noise, interactions, and entertainment, whether wanted or unwanted.
While we can take breaks by shutting off devices, soothing ourselves, and vacationing, we cannot vacation from our minds. When we return from our break, we find our mental state has not changed, and we long for more soothing, instead of feeling contentment.
If we are interested and motivated to develop a calm-abiding mind everywhere we go, we must give our mind a place of space to focus.
Dr. Sharon Blackie offers a multidisciplinary approach in exploring various myths to help us navigate our complex world. She emphasizes the power of storytelling and its transformative potential, highlighting the need for a reciprocal relationship with the environment. The journey of the mythological seal women depicts the quest for harmony that urges us to embrace the completeness within ourselves. Her teachings reveal the power of narratives to reflect our complexities and invite inner harmony. Dr. Blackie’s exploration compels us to acknowledge our yearning for balance while embracing all facets of our identities.
The Vatican published Laudate Deum in early October, written by Pope Francis and titled “To All People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis.” This letter builds on Laudato Si, the Pope’s 2015 Encyclical describing integral ecology – a concept that flows from recognizing interconnectedness and the importance of relationships. Laudate Deum comes ahead of the UN COP28 climate conference scheduled to begin tomorrow in Dubai – Pope Francis is calling for a “decisive acceleration of energy transition.”
There could be lots of reasons behind this image. I suspect it tugged at my heart because I read it as a statement that says, “I give up! I can’t meditate.” It’s a similar feeling I get when friends hear that I’m heading off to sit retreat and say “I could never do that,” or “Geez, I’d lose my mind with boredom.”
Maybe the first question to ask is, “Do you feel drawn to do that?” If the answer is “Nope, not my jam,” we need to respect that.
Without a doubt, if there is one tangible benefit that has emerged from my contemplative journey over the last decade, it has been in my capacity to be more honest with myself. Not honest in the conventional sense of not lying, but an honesty that is alive and active, a type of commitment to working with the real, mundane facts…
Insights like these don’t always come through experiences that are challenging, painful or even traumatic. Sometimes they do. Hardship is not a prerequisite for wisdom, however, it is at least part of the process – and a very potent part, at that. We all have hardship in our lives. How we respond to hardship is what reveals whether or not we have developed wise characteristics.
