PERSPECTIVES ON TRUTH: It is being revealed …

Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe; Hayhoe is an evangelical Christian who has dedicated herself to communicating climate science to non-science communities; she discusses how to talk about climate to people who have different perspectives

 

Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity and Joy by Shauna Shapiro

Listen to Betsey’s Yoga & Climate Talk, February 2015.

For inspiration: We Were Made For These Times by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
COUNTDOWN CLOCK for our CARBON BUDGET with buttons for 1.5 C and 2.0 C
Grief and Gratitude quote by Frances Weller

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Michael Singer is a spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, and the bestselling author of the spiritual classic
The Untethered Soul. He has collaborated with Sounds True to release the online course:
Living from a Place of Surrender: The Untethered Soul in Action.                  

Oren Jay Sofer teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication in both secular and Buddhist contexts. Click the HOME button and scroll down for a list of upcoming events with Oren.

John O’Donohue quotes:
“TO COME HOME TO YOURSELF
May all that is unforgiven in you
Be released.
May your fears yield
Their deepest tranquilities.
May all that is unlived in you
Blossom into a future
Graced with love.”
― John O’Donohue,
To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Invocations and Blessings

John O’Donohue on the prayer of your soul
“Give yourself time to make a prayer that will become the prayer of your soul.
Listen to the voice of longing in your soul. Listen to your hungers.
Give attention to the unexpected that lives around the rim of your life.
Listen to your memory and to the inrush of your future, to the voices of those near you and those you have lost.

Out of all of that attention to your soul, make a prayer that is big enough for your wild soul,
yet tender enough for your shy and awkward vulnerability;
that has enough healing to gain the ointment of divine forgiveness for your wounds;
enough truth and vigour to challenge your blindness and complacency;
enough graciousness and vision to mirror your immortal beauty.

Write a prayer that is worthy of the destiny to which you have been called.
This is not about any self-absorbed narcissism. It is about honouring the call of your soul
and the call of eternity in you.

Take as much time as you need to find the shape of the prayer that is appropriate
to your essence. It might take a month or a year.

When you have shaped it, memorize it.
When you have learned it by heart, you will always carry this gracious prayer
around the world with you. Gradually, it will grow into a mantra companion.
It will be the call of your essence, opening you up to new areas of birth; it will bring the wild
and tender light of your heart to every object, place, and person you will meet.”
― John O’Donohue, in “Eternal Echoes”

 

Video with Dr. Zach Bush passionately sharing the experience of 3 of his patients dying
and being brought back to life is remarkable.
The above segment is the culmination of a powerful longer presentation which is very inspiring.  

Dalai Lama chanting the exquisitely beautiful Great Death-conquering mantra:
Om Tryambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushthivardhanam;
Urvaarukamiva Bandhanaan Mrityormuksheeya Maamritaat

Joanna Macy 4-min video: Embracing Pain   

Thank you to Janet for sending this fantastic 3 min video on being a “child of illusion” … it is a beautiful representation of our discussion on the topic!

People-Powered News & Analysis

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This is a very thoughtful article applying the ideas of “reaction” versus “response” to our collective situation:
Confronting the dangers of disdain:
With the threat of totalitarianism at least forestalled, it’s time we examine and address its underlying causes.

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TEN PERCENT HAPPIER Podcast with Dan Harris
Dan Harris is a fidgety, skeptical ABC News anchor who had a panic attack live on “Good Morning America”,
which led him to try something
he always thought was ridiculous: meditation.
He went on to write the bestselling book, “10% Happier.”
In this podcast, Dan explores happiness (whatever that means) from all angles.
Guests include legendary meditation teachers —
from the Dalai Lama
to Western masters — as well as scientists, and even the odd celebrity.
But the show also ventures beyond meditation,
bringing on leading researchers in areas such as social anxiety, bias, creativity,
productivity, and relationships.
The animating insight of this show is that the mind is trainable.
This is what science is showing us.
Mental traits such as happiness, calm, generosity, compassion, and connection are not
hardwired, unalterable factory settings;
they are, in fact, skills that can be trained. On this show, you’ll learn how.

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See link below to download these first several pages as a pdf.

COLLECTIVE ACTIONS WE CAN TAKE FOR OUR CLIMATE: 
JOIN WITH ONGOING GROUPS TO INCREASE OUR STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

1.  Support the return of our democracy; nothing will work correctly as long as the richest 1% controls over 99% of the global wealth and makes choices for all of us.

• • Because of the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, unlimited money can now be given to political candidates, ads, etc. with no transparency or accountability.

• • Read Democracy in Chains: The Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Duke Historian, Nancy MacLean.  If we don’t know the extent of the Radical Right take-over, it will be difficult to know how to respond fully. Check here for an excellent book review.
    • • “This sixty-year campaign to make libertarianism mainstream and eventually take the government itself is at the heart of Democracy in Chains. . . . If you’re worried about what all this means for America’s future, you should be” – NPR
    • “[A] vibrant intellectual history of the radical right . . .” – The Atlantic

• Check out Movetoamend.org for more info to get Citizens United overturned.
• Big corporations, such as the Koch Brothers and ExxonMobil, are a driving force behind climate denial; they lobby Congress with millions of dollars.
  • The Koch Brothers have spent over $80 million to discredit climate science. They fund dozens of “think tanks” that put out misinformation.
  • Book and documentary: “Oreskes and Conway tell an important story about the misuse of science to mislead the public on matters ranging from the risks of smoking to the reality of global warming. Watch Merchants of Doubt.
  • ExxonMobil makes $100 million profit every day!
    

2.  Join an organization fighting for what you believe in and participate with your time, energy, and/or money. 

• http://www.eco-usa.net/orgs/nc.shtml List of North Carolina Environmental Groups
• http://frackfreenc.org/home/ Info on Frack Free NC
• http://eco-institute.org/ Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, Chapel Hill, NC
• http://www.ncwarn.org/ NC Warn; focuses on climate & energy justice
• 350.org Keep It In The Ground movement; Bill McKibben founder
• Mobilization.org Switch to renewables ASAP; Pledge to Mobilize, to note urgency
• http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/ Activist group
• http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org/ Citizens Climate Lobby
• https://nextgenamerica.org/ Next Gen Climate America
• http://www.sierraclub.org/ Sierra Club
• http://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/ A religious response to global warming

3.  Support a fee and dividend (not or tax) on carbon so polluters pay the full costs of doing business, rather than leaving it to the public to pay for their pollution clean up. The carbon dividend puts money directly into people’s pockets every month to spend as they see fit, helping low and middle income Americans.  For more information see Citizens Climate Lobby.

4.  Support alternative energy sources such as solar and wind.

• • A Stanford University study shows wind, solar, water can supply 100% of the world’s energy needs by 2050.
  • The amount of sunlight striking the earth’s surface every hour has enough energy to power the world for an entire year!!  And so why is it that we are still using the old and dirty technology of fossil fuels? 

• Renewables are growing exponentially and have reached cost parity with fossil fuels.

Download above suggestions as a pdf

RESOURCES: BOOKS, VIDEOS, WEBSITES, & ARTICLES

Post Carbon Institute:

• “Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute’s mission is to lead the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world.”  Excellent articles on all related topics!
• “We envision a world of resilient communities and re-localized economies that thrive within ecological bounds”.

Resilience.org website:

• Features numerous articles written by experts in their fields, see Richard Heinberg’s website for his excellent books, including The End of Growth; The Party’s Over
• Includes a 4-hour Resilience Training Course to better prepare ourselves for this time of political, environmental, and economic upheaval

Peak Prosperity website and Accelerated Crash Course

• This is a condensed course of details and information on the trends most likely to shape our future.

It’s Okay to Be Smart website

• Great website with clear and succinct information. Many 6 minutes excellent videos on climate change, including these:
  • • What’s REALLY Warming the Earth?
  • Climate Science: What You Need to Know

• “Climate change is a civilizational wake-up call, a powerful message delivered in the language of fires, floods, storms, and droughts.  Confronting it is no longer about changing the lightbulbs.  It’s about changing the world – before the world changes so drastically that no one is safe”.
• A powerful book that lays out our choices with clarity and insight.  A must-read!
• Klein’s other books are also brilliant and insightful: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism; No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies 

The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring on the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World by Paul Gilding

• “This book offers a stark and unflinching look at the challenge humanity faces, yet also a deeply optimistic message”.
•  Watch a great Ted Talk by Paul.

JOB ONE FOR HUMANITY – TO END GLOBAL WARMING*  Includes a Petition to Declare a Global Warming State of Emergency.

Unprecedented, Can Civilization Survive the CO2 Crisis? by David Ray Griffin

• This book …”is a tour de force of enormous importance for our planetary future.  In his superb analysis of climate change through      the lens of science, politics, economics, energy, morality, and religion, Griffin has provided a wealth of insight for how to move forward.

• Global movement to solve the climate crisis, emphasizing building no new infrastructure for fossil fuels and the program, “Keeping it in the Ground” and divesting from fossil fuels

• “Organizing and advocating for 100 % clean, renewable energy and green jobs for North Carolina”

Time To Choose documentary

• “Climate change is the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced – and it is also our greatest opportunity. We have the solutions we need, but we are in a race against the clock to implement them in time. Oscar-winning documentary director Charles Ferguson captures the urgency and innovation of this critical moment in his new film, Time to Choose.”

Reality Drop: Spread Truth. Destroy Denial.

• The latest composite research on climate change due to human influence.

Merchants of Doubt, How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, Edited by Paul Hawken

• “The stakes for our planet have never been higher. The world is warming, sea levels are rising, and the impacts of climate change are occurring faster and stronger than originally predicted… “
• “We need a rigorous plan to “draw down” carbon, and Project Drawdown’s team of two hundred scientists and researchers worldwide (and counting) has modeled and chronicled one hundred creative ideas”.
• This book is a message grounded in science; it also is a testament to the growing stream of humanity who understands the enormity of the challenge we face, and is willing to devote their lives to a future of kindness, security, and regeneration.

Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken

• “Story of a worldwide movement that is largely unseen by politicians or the media”

Don’t Even Think About it, Why Our Brains are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall

Consumer Affairs Solar Energy Guide

• This online guide produced by Consumer Affairs gives a plethora of helpful information and options in considering solar. It includes a comparison of brands, financing options, costs, and expert reviews.

The More beautiful World that Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein

The Great Transition, Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy by Lester R. Brown
*  Details of the transition that is now unfolding; Brown’s last book before retiring in 2015.

How to Change Minds about Our Changing Climate by Seth B. Darling and Douglas L. Sisterson

• “Let science do the talking the next time someone tries to tell you …”

 Environmental Working Group 

• Info on a clean and safe environment; also link to Skin Deep info on safe cosmetics

Transition United States

• Grassroots movement to make the transition to a more sustainable world

“Seeds of Death: Unveiling The Lies of GMO’s” – documentary

• Riveting, important documentary to understand the world food situation

Green Yoga by Georg Feuerstein & Brenda Feuerstein

• A clarion call for yogis to pay attention and get involved in climate issues

• Works with allies to protect public health and the environment and to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides