Planet as Self

Book excerpt: Collectively, our institutions are slowly destroying life on our planet and many of us feel helplessness and despair as we witness ecocide all around us. We want to act. But first we must understand why it is that so many people seem to care so little about the planet’s health. This book focuses on the key question: Why don't people love the Earth? Why, when we know what must be done, do we deflect and argue, doubt and contend? Perhaps it is because age-old, limiting and often damaging cultural beliefs are passed down unexamined. These beliefs blind us to the astonishing and enlightening discoveries of modern science and to a full awareness of our embeddedness in Nature. But we can learn new ways of understanding and appreciating our world and develop beliefs more suitable for this century. Planet as Self calls for an Earth-based spirituality: one that acknowledges Gaia as a living, and lovable being created by and radiating the creative energy of the universe. It teaches us how to love God through Nature. ,