A Review by Lama Namgyal
This review is from the Drala-Jong blogspot at:
http://drala-jong.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-planet-as-self-earthen.html
One definition of stupidity is ‘Doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result’. Sky McCain explains how we participate in a form of cultural stupidity by believing that our thoughts and ideas about the planet upon which we live are truly our own. In reality – he demonstrates – they are the result of a philosophical shaping that has been driven for centuries by the thinkers and spiritual traditions that have come before us. In taking us through a literature review that spans more than two millenia of thought, Sky demonstrates that this process is a natural one – a cultural, societal process – yet one that can lead to the most unnatural of conclusions. The conclusions that we accept, unchallenged, have resulted in a disharmonious way of being – an assonance – a persistent act of mass stupidity in which we all participate, that fails to appreciate the poetry of being. Recognising that we are unconscious slaves to the ideas of others is a vital first step if we are to break free of preconception, and develop a real, open, communicative relationship with the world around us and the very earth upon which we walk. As Sky puts it ‘. . . out-dated beliefs can linger. . . if they are not consciously examined’. Planet as Self makes that challenge, and suggests some steps that can be used to sustain that challenge and avoid falling back into inherited ways of thinking.
It is important to be clear – this is not a Buddhist book. The conclusions drawn from Sky’s challenge lead him to what he describes as an Earthen Spirituality. Readers will find that spiritual view compelling – or not – depending on their personal proclivities and passions. However the deconstruction of the cultural processes that have driven our corrosive effect on the environment is something valuable for everyone to understand. The author’s passion for his subject sings out of the pages.
Posted in the Drala-Jong blog by Namgyal Tuesday 12 July, 2011
Lama Namgyal serves in the Aro lineage within the Nyingma or “old tradition” of Tibetan Buddhism along with other western ordained men and women and lives with his wife Lama Shé-zér and their young son Tomas in southern Wales.
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