In this very special program, we join together with beloved writer and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams, social justice activist Valerie Brown, engaged Buddhist teacher Roshi Joan Halifax, and climate diplomat Christiana Figueres (online) to explore awakened action and the vows which sustain us. We do this in the face of crushing wars and the collapse of democracy in so many places, including the United States. As Terry Tempest Williams has asked: How do we keep “the open space of democracy” open? How do we cultivate language that expands our hearts, rather than constricts them? How do we find beauty in a broken world by creating beauty in the world we find? Part of that beauty is embracing the grief and anguish we feel, whether the deaths of loved ones, or the horrific losses associated with the more than thirty wars and genocides raging on our planet today, or the loss of species, including the shrinking of Great Salt Lake, the burning of the wild high altitude forests of New Mexico, the devastations related to heat domes and hurricanes—all of these losses register as kin. We know that grief is love: this has become our mantra. How do we find the inner strength to not look away from all that is breaking our hearts? This, too, is “awakened action.”
In this time together, we will see how engagement and awakened action are as varied as we are. This is a time we can honor and explore the gifts each one of us brings as our own expression of “awakened action”, recognizing that each of us holds a piece of the mosaic that makes our communities in all their blessed diversity whole. Again, as Terry has written, the natural world offers us “wild mercy” — where the inner and outer landscapes merge in peaceful presence…unearned, freely given. This is grace. We will explore the intersecting strands that will be woven together within this community who are dedicated to social and environmental justice work, to the overarching climate crisis that demands societal transformation on behalf of all species, whereby the crucial integration of our personal and collective actions can come together in spiritual practices shared, where we see the world whole and holy, interconnected, awake, alive, and responsive to one another. We will recall the words of the theologian Larry Rasmussen, who asks the question, “Can we love ourselves enough to change?”
The notion and discussion of “awakened action” is a powerful place to affirm our vows to not only find beauty in a broken world but create beauty in the world we find. And yes, there is grief. Yes, there is anguish. And there is also joy. Our good friend Rebecca Solnit has written: “Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated, and isolated, joy is a fine initial act of insurrection.” Let us be fed by revolutionary joy, let us actualize wild mercy, let us discover that our relatives are everywhere.
Please join us onsite or online for this plunge into awakened action through deep exploration of history and possibility, the power of practice and art, and the generativity of communities of courage and care. Onsite registration is limited, and early registration is advised.
For a video invitation to the retreat event, click here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/oxd19wfmn9vyix669h3gl/UPAYA-AWAKENED-ACTION-RETREEAT-PROMO-AUGUST-2024.mp4?rlkey=mgyutuwdmglr908zsz7mgnwsr&st=ggo5f7qv&dl=0
The Center for Courage & Renewal and its facilitators do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.
