Charles Eisenstein Random: Recent Episodes
Charles Eisenstein
Short (and sometimes long) excerpts from Charles‘ speeches, courses, books, interviews, and more. Discussing the new and ancient story of interbeing through philosophy, science, money, gift, economics, ecology, earth healing, self & psyche, politics, and more. Search New and Ancient Story for the interview podcast.
Listen to the full episode at https://www.agatheringofstories.com/lineup-pandemic/charles-eisenstein
People make the choices that they make as a result of the circumstances that they're in, although the circumstances do not necessarily determine the choice. Recognizing this allows us the humility of knowing that despite the colors of our totems, ultimately, we are not unalike.
We are here to serve life and beauty on earth, just as every other species is here to do.
The focuses of our economic systems are such that pursuing difficult-to-quantify things such as heart and beauty for its own sake is not by nature economically viable; the majority of their creators are often pushed into the margins.
When we see the world as a contest of survival, we create systems that reify that preconception.
Our most powerful exercise of will and agency is perhaps the ability to focus attention, something that leads to the circumstances in which your other choices can be made.
When I understand that my very existence at its core is part of the existence of each ecosystem and species around the world, then I know that whatever happens to them is in a way happening to me.
The Question that the current crisis is opening up is, "How do we want to live" What do we want to true ourselves to?
There are clear signs of unbalance in our ecosystems and agricultural institutions, so why do those with power ignore them? Is it not short sighted and self destructive? What are the conditions which compel such thinking?
Safety through Control goes along well with the Myth of separation, and in our recent times we have been shown a glimpse of a potential future. Is it a future we want?
The attitude of conquest is at the core of what we must look past if we want a world that is any different from the one we have now.
What is Progress if not Growth? This is a question that when evaluated truly can give some insight onto the way in which plans of problem solving go awry. In this clip with the fine folks from straight talk live, we explore the ecological and environmental crisis.
A frog in a well may think of the universe as only what it can see, a small pool of dark water. In what way was I or you, and still may be, a frog in a well?
Part of the dysfunction of civilization has come because sacredness has been exported onto something other than each other and the world.
What we have seen as practical and sound solutions and methods of deriving actionable plans to the problems of our systems are often working with an incomplete tool set, and are incapable of dissolving the dominant paradigm.
The causes and functions of humility, an almost universal human experience that can be gone through both on an individual level, and a collective level.
The economic view of a human as a discrete isolable individual acting out of self interest is an idea that can only be held by excluding crucial information, information that can easily be accessed through observing ourselves.
This clip is from an interview with Charles Eisenstein recorded on March 31st of this year. this clip was taken from the beginning of the interview, where Charles upon the relevance of current events, such as the pandemic, on the transition from the ago of separation into the age of reunion.
The original interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em-cIcNmLGU&t=289s
The bulk of humanity has unfulfilled needs, a big one being a lack of connections, connections to nature, to community. This drives us to seek out apparent solutions, but the only readily available solutions are ones based on control, and unsustainable growth.
Only when our solutions tap into the wellspring of compassion that inspires our courage will they truly be fulfilling.
Although it may seem like our society is intensifying the narrative of war, control and domination, I believe that a shift of consciousness is bubbling just under the surface.
It is not necessary to try to go big in the conventional sense in order to facilitate big change, sometimes all you can do is foster a loving and caring environment for someone you love, and incidentally you might even give them the inspiration they need to inspire even greater change in turn.
Manipulative shame and praise in modern day parenting draws upon a primal fear of parental rejection, one deep seated in our psychology.
To me, compassion includes the recognition of something fundamental in our humanity, something that unites us.
If we want to hope to solve the problems we face as a society, we must examine all underlying conditions, including the ones of our political enemies. Only through understanding can we hope to transition from a perpetual war of suppression to a place of real change.
If you operate through a forced based causality, it means contributing to an atmosphere of competition where "making a difference" requires constant vigilance. If a collective focuses on beauty and love, big changes can organically coalesce around it.
Humanity is begging to collectively awakening from the drama that we had been immersed in. One that had carried us to a place where we had lost touch with fundamental truths.
The utility of articulating an inter-subjective model is that it validates the logic of the heart. In our hearts we understand that we are not separate.
Nonviolent direct action can bring the struggle out of the existing us-versus-them paradigms and into a place where great change can happen.
As a result of our biology and our society a degree of trauma exists in everyone, this trauma can lead to a fostered dependency on our existing systems.
The importance of community and intimate and personal relationships in democracy has been disappearing as time has gone forward.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMcWWa_gDE
Recorded pre-2020 Election. By putting such emphasis on the competition between individuals of great power, we can often overlook the underlying conditions that are responsible for many of the problems we see today.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMcWWa_gDE
In our times the dominant conception of progress is one of force and control. We can see this clearly reflected in how our societies have adapted to various epidemics, including our current situation.
From the Embodiment Conference 2020, https://www.theembodimentconference.org/
The potential of our time is to realize that there are methods of healing that can be achieved through means other than force and control.
From the Embodiment Conference 2020, https://www.theembodimentconference.org/
On the role of Illness in paradigm shifting and growth.
From the Embodiment conference 2020, https://www.theembodimentconference.org/
Our well being is inseparable from the well being of the world. That is not to say that if something bad happens somewhere far away that something bad will happen to you as well, it is to say that when we lose something beautiful, we also lose something within ourselves.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk0WuwYouHw&feature=youtu.be
There is a large degree of innate trauma that can stem from the dominant story of success many of us have been raised in, and if it is recognized in the right way, there is also a large degree of wisdom that can be derived from it.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk0WuwYouHw&feature=youtu.be
Whether or not you have a big political plan or voice, every single person can contribute to a field of compassion and healing.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk0WuwYouHw&feature=youtu.be
In our time, the utility of learning and acting through applying rigid principles to the world while great, can be limiting, and end up causing many of the problems we see today.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
Dehumanization and seeing your political enemy as less than human can make what should be problem solving into a battle of preserving oneself and destroying the enemy.
From the Sacred Sons podcast
The specifics of effective action in relation to ones social and emotional needs can vary a lot from person to person. That being said, someone who knows you well may be able to point you in the right direction, especially if they see you from a place of understanding and faith.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
The narrative of security and progress through control has lead to a society that is far less happy and beautiful and full of life than it could be. How does one subvert this story? One approach is to replace it with a new one.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
When you're connect with what you care about, you will have the energy and the courage to meet the responsibilities of your life. All too often people chase things they don't really care about, all because it was prescribed to them by their environment and society.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
Often times the places where change can come in the world can be found reflected in your self.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
There was one a much healthier Masculine Archetype than the one we often see today.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast.
The idea of success through force is something that has leaked into the practices around child raising.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
Language is an amazing tool, but sometimes it can get in the way of a relationship or experience.
From the Sacred Sons Podcast
Learning self love.
From the Sex, Money and Power podcast: https://ilsafay.podbean.com/e/symbolism-self-love-sacred-economics-a-philosophical-conversation/
Definitions can be very reductive.
From the Sex, Money and Power podcast: https://ilsafay.podbean.com/e/symbolism-self-love-sacred-economics-a-philosophical-conversation/
Our myths are what create our basic worldviews. From the Sex, Money and Power podcast: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-r2giz-8b780a
Sometimes small kind interactions can have huge positive contributions to personal change. From the Sex, Money and Power podcast https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-r2giz-8b780a
The Myth of separation contributes to the degradation of sexuality. From the Sex, Money and Power podcast: https://ilsafay.podbean.com/e/symbolism-self-love-sacred-economics-a-philosophical-conversation/?token=86e7a82bc3a3de3aac5a17f36401d038
Part of the myth of separation detaches sacredness outside of matter and body.
From the Sex, Money, Power Podcast: https://ilsafay.podbean.com/e/symbolism-self-love-sacred-economics-a-philosophical-conversation/?token=86e7a82bc3a3de3aac5a17f36401d038
One of the Dominate Myths of civilization is the myth of Progress, the myth of Ascent.
From the Sex, Money, Power podcast: https://ilsafay.podbean.com/e/symbolism-self-love-sacred-economics-a-philosophical-conversation/?token=86e7a82bc3a3de3aac5a17f36401d038
Why am I here? What did I do to earn this life?
From: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-r2giz-8b780a
One of the main assumptions in science is that everything real is measurable. But when one then assumes that whatever they happen to measure or choose to measure is the only reality, things become much more Reductionist.
Our systems are based on our Worldview, our Values and Morals. If we want to change our systems, we must work to change our collective worldviews.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdWti-m2woY
Power narrative are inseparable in that one gives meaning to another.
From: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-r2giz-8b780a
Examining power as not a metric of force, but of beauty.
From: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-r2giz-8b780a
What is the conception of power really in our society?
From: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-r2giz-8b780a
How do you devote yourself to beauty and life when you're stuck in a system that tells you to do the opposite?
It used to be that the really bright ones went to Harvard. Now, the really bright ones drop out.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #Education #DeSchool #Unschooling #Parenting #Philosophy #Authors
You can understand a lot about our culture through the lens of addiction. Addiction is another area where we attack the symptom and ignore the cause.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Addiction #Recovery #Society #Philosophy #Authors
I could say that my mission is to serve the advent of the story of interbeing, but I feel like any words I put onto it reduce it.
I have to say: I can't say what my mission is, but I've become better able to recognize what's aligned with my purpose for being here.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #Success #Activism #Purpose #Philosophy #Authors
Competition is definitely part of human nature, but our society has added additional competition into the system
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #Interbeing #Competition #HumanNature #Inspiration #Philosophy #Authors
Ever since about 1790, economic philosophers have puzzled over a question: "What are we going to do with all the surplus labor when machines do all the work?"
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #UBI #UniversalBasicIncome #AndrewYang #Economy #Economics #Philosophy #Authors
On a basic level, I'm kind of fond of cryptocurrency as a concept, simply because it's disrupted the story of money.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #Crypto #Cryptocurrency #Blockchain #DistributedLedger #Philosophy #Authors
One of the reasons the world is in the state that it is, is because everybody mortgages what is really pulling at their heart to do something abstract. For the thing that they think they have to do for the numbers to work out.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #Activism #Ecology #Change #Society #Philosophy #Authors
The story reveals itself like this gigantic angelic being coming through the fog and sometimes the fog clears just enough to see one facet of it's wing, and it's so beautiful that if you saw the whole thing, you would have to turn away. Because it's painful to see what could be, something that beautiful, and to know that the world is so far from that.
But once you've seen a possible future, you know it's real, and you know it can happen. All you need to know is "what's the next step?"
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #Interbeing #Loss #Grief #Inspiration #Philosophy #Authors
I was always a very unwilling participant in The Matrix, even going back to grade school.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #TheMatrix #Society #Rebel #Revolution #Philosophy #Authors
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." ~Jiddu Krishnamurti
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Krishnamurti #Healthcare #Society #Philosophy #Authors
The gifts the universe give often take the form of something that looks really bad going into it. Cancer, divorce, a collapse. A collapse of both outward circumstances, but also your identity. And that emptiness is where something new can come in.
Filmed by Jonathan Hiller: HillerVisual.com
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Loss #Grief #Philosophy #Authors
There could be a lot of things going into that. Not wanting to bring kids into the world right now, ideologies about population overshoot, influence of the cultural devaluation of raising a family. I think in this area the reasons people give themselves are not the real reasons.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
What kind of world do you want to live in?
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
Real freedom would be in choosing what she wants to do outside of being compelled to.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
There are a lot of organizations out there trying to make the world a better place, but The Pachamama Alliance is different.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
Now things are changing, where what had been celebrated and encouraged is now getting repressed, and now there's nowhere left for men to go.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
The way I address polarization and dehumanization in my work is to present the "other side" in the most generous terms that I can.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
I had this one essay I never wrote about a way of inhabiting the masculine yin in confronting the feminine yang.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
[Recorded in 2018] We once again have narrowly avoided war in the middle east. The policy establishment really wanted a war, but have not been able to do it. That's because more and more of us are carrying peace in our hearts and in our daily relationships.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
You could totally use consent that way if that's your intent. When I was a kid the term 'retarded' was the politically acceptable term.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
We long for a knowledge that we have lost. We as in the dominant culture. But that knowledge is not lost.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
I am trying to inhabit a masculinity that does not need to impose.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
I see a lot of encouraging signs that civilization is returning to an understanding of a living Earth.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
The things people used to use to source their identity have withered in this civilization.
https://www.CharlesEisenstein.org
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
When we live in environments where there isn't a lot of nature, that's a hard question.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
For an initation to really work, you have to be initiated into something that's held by a culture, and we do not have that in our culture.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
In my experience, love comes from intimate connection.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
You can look to traditional masculine and feminine archetypes, and also realize that archetypes, like all beings, grow and change over time, and sometimes they die, and sometimes new ones are born.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
My concern with Drawdown is that it's framed in terms of carbon. It partakes in the paradigm of carbon accountancy.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
In "the more beautiful world," Are the men in charge or are the women in charge?
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
We listen to the Earth through our senses, through our powers of observation, through science.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
The question here from our dear friend and colleague Lauren is that as men have been painted as the brutal perpetrators, ironically enough, the culture has encouraged her to act more and more "like a man," and validated the expression of what feel to her like masculine attributes.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
Everything is a being. We are surrounded by beings. We are not alone here. When we understand that, then technology takes on an entirely new motivation.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
Patriarchy is a word that can mean different things. The sense I usually use is a system in which women are objectified, and become objects or even property, either fully or partially. Patriarchy is part of a larger historical movement toward the progressive objectification and propertization of more and more things.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
The Core theme of Climate: A New Story is a living planet view of Earth, especially in relationship to climate change.
Interview by Pachamama.org
In support of SacredHeadwaters.org
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Gaia #Nature #Pachamama #SacredHeadwaters #PachamamaAlliance
I was asked if I have any suggestions for somebody who has been in the role of the oppressed. Maybe personally or through their bloodline. I can at least offer a possible starting point.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
I don't think the hero's journey is a useless archetype. I think it's a powerful archetype. It's just like we've made everything about it, as if it is THE map for life.
Full Future Thinkers interview: https://youtu.be/bIMNJA6Mlpg
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #FutureThinkers
This is an inversion of the heirarchy of dominance. This is a natural pattern, to turn the tables and re-enact the patterns one has been subjected to. Maybe that's part of the healing process, but it could be part of a trap.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
That's one of the deepest threads of the story. Who are you?
Full Future Thinkers interview: https://youtu.be/bIMNJA6Mlpg
CharlesEisenstein #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #FutureThinkers
I haven't talked a lot about tools for depolarization or peace-making, but I'd like to talk about the technology of humor.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
Some young people are way more lit up and conscious in a way than I was at that age. A much keener awareness of taking ownership of their projections onto other people.
Full Future Thinkers interview: https://youtu.be/bIMNJA6Mlpg
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Hope #Millenials #FutureThinkers
The most important thing, I think, is to enter the conversation without the agenda of changing somebody's mind. If you do that, you're going to be received as an attacker. When you let that go, you create an opportunity for the other person to listen.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
I think the psychedelic movement, the series of medicines that have come into our culture are hollowing out the story of separation from the inside.
Full Future Thinkers interview: https://youtu.be/bIMNJA6Mlpg
CharlesEisenstein #Ayahuasca #Psychedelics #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #FutureThinkers
Especially for young people who have grown up in the echo chamber world of social media, how do you deprogram from that and open yourself up to truth?
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
Participation depends on there being something to participate in that's bigger than ourselves.
Full Future Thinkers interview: https://youtu.be/bIMNJA6Mlpg
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Community #FutureThinkers
It's a tactic of war. You take something out of context, you blow it up to be totally outrageous, you provoke outrage and indignation, and you use it as a weapon. Why?
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
Narrative is one thing that makes humans unique. It allows the coordination of tremendous activity.
Full Future Thinkers interview: https://youtu.be/bIMNJA6Mlpg
CharlesEisenstein #ClimateChange #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #FutureThinkers
How do I stay in the story of interbeing?
I don't do that by myself. I don't try really hard and, through an effort of will, stay in this state, and therefore take credit for it.
Full video: https://youtu.be/lOowBEsatwQ
CharlesEisenstein #Activism #Pachamama #Movement #Philosophy #Authors
Why is there even more polarization among people who mostly agree? Or at least more vitriolic polarization. One example being the vegan vs. paleo "war", when actually there is a lot of agreement.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
As we change and expand our awareness of the world, then our actions change as well, but that's not the whole story.
Full video: https://youtu.be/lOowBEsatwQ
CharlesEisenstein #Activism #Pachamama #Movement #Philosophy #Authors
Everybody knows what spiritual bypass is, but let's talk about political bypass.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
We're all part of this tribe of humanity, and we all occupy a different spot in that tribe. Each person is born into different kinds of gifts.
Full video: https://youtu.be/lOowBEsatwQ
CharlesEisenstein #Activism #Pachamama #Movement #Philosophy #Authors
How do you build a movement?
Is that even the right question? Is a movement something you consciously build? To me a movement is something that happens.
Full video: https://youtu.be/lOowBEsatwQ
CharlesEisenstein #Activism #Pachamama #Movement #Philosophy #Authors
I disagree with probably everybody on Earth about one thing or another, but I don't know that I'm right.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
I don't have a label for the movement that we're part of. Part of the reason is that we don't know what it is.
Full video: https://youtu.be/lOowBEsatwQ
CharlesEisenstein #Activism #Pachamama #Movement #Philosophy #Authors
Many people have given me the gift of a small thing that didn't seem important, including my first grade teacher Gary McCaslin.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
You are life.
View the full interview with Marcus Pibworth of The Ministry of Change here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMOIHJJJMM
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Interbeing #Philosophy #Authors #PhilosophyQuotes #Inspiration
What is success?
If you're not achieving success as has been defined for you, then there's that voice saying "yeah maybe I am a failure." It's a psychological pressure that torments people, even if another part of them knows "I'm doing the right thing. This is important."
View the full interview with Marcus Pibworth of The Ministry of Change here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMOIHJJJMM
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Interbeing #Philosophy #Authors #PhilosophyQuotes #Inspiration
The beliefs and stories that we hold are not the result of an independent choice by the neo-liberal separate self choosing from the marketplace of ideas. Belief is a collective function. The echo chamber effect can operate both ways.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
CharlesEisenstein #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Unlearning #Activism #ChangeAgents
Einstein maybe had an important gift, but what if you're not that gifted or that smart?
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
Society must support the changemakers. We all need mentors and support, especially the agents of change.
View the full interview with Marcus Pibworth of The Ministry of Change here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMOIHJJJMM
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Interbeing #Philosophy #Authors #PhilosophyQuotes #Inspiration
This is a poignant situation. A woman is feeling pretty beat down in a pretty dark place who loves art, but shuts down when the question "what's the point?" inevitably creeps into her mind.
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Love #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Polarization
What if we didn't take for granted the conditions that cause us to be miserable and anxious?
View the full interview with Marcus Pibworth of The Ministry of Change here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMOIHJJJMM
CharlesEisenstein #MentalHealth #Interbeing #Philosophy #Authors #PhilosophyQuotes #Inspiration
If I were talking to a 65-year-old man from Tennessee who watches Fox News, I would not articulate the story of interbeing. I would speak from an understanding of the story of interbeing, and I would try to speak in a way that communicates to him and will be received.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
CharlesEisenstein #Inspiration #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Unlearning #Activism #ChangeAgents
The overarching of Climate: A New Story is really the living planet view of the world.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
CharlesEisenstein #Climate #Gaia #Interbeing #Authors #Philosophy #Politics #Biophilia #LivingPlanet
What is mental health? "Health" means wholeness, and so then we can ask what is a "whole" human being. I think a whole human being is someone who has a full complement of relationships, from very intimate, to quite distant relationships.
View the full interview with Marcus Pibworth of The Ministry of Change here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMOIHJJJMM
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So here's a general principle that I've been living by. "The story that we hold about a person is an invitation for them to act from that story, to be that story. The story that we hold about the world is an invitation for the world to align with that story."
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Rupert Sheldrake's theory of morphic resonance can teach us more than you might expect.
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJWWEd8j_Y8
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Maybe the most useful thing to do would be to acknowledge the lost-ness. Acknowledge and celebrate the sincere desire to contribute to something beautiful.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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If we want to be motivated by love, we have to ask "where does that love come from?"
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Understanding that the other is really the self, is going to lead to new strategies and approaches we haven't considered. The despair comes from the same place the crisis comes from.
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJWWEd8j_Y8
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When I talk about the water cycle, or the physiology of Earth as a living planet, and it's organs and tissues, that is a step beyond what is conventionally assumed to be the way the planet works.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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In the story of separation, change happens what a force is exerted on a mass. But this is an obsolete theory of change, as demonstrated even by quantum mechanics.
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJWWEd8j_Y8
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If I were face-to-face with Donald Trump in an intimate setting, I would go into it knowing that he's not a bad person. Whatever appalling things he's said and done - there's a reason for those things.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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In conventional environmental discourse, there's a concept you'll come across quite often called "green growth" or "sustainable development."
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Having the humility to not know, and to sit in that space, is what will allow us to discover a new story.
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otyt-Moj-5g
Every once in a while someone comes to me and says, "Charles you've ignored the elephant in the room. It's population growth. And unless we control our population, then nothing else is going to make a difference."
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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I believe climate change is an initiation into the understanding that what we do to the world we do to ourselves. We need to begin to value that has been excluded from our reductionist worldview of nature.
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otyt-Moj-5g
The opioid addictions, the school shootings, the dronings, the prison industrial complex, the rising number of homeless, the one-crisis-after-another and for a while you might run with your fire hose, trying to put out one fire after another. But at some point you burn out.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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When we talk about sustainability, there's an implication there, that is present in the question "what is it that we want to sustain?"
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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The notion that "only the measurable is real" is a deep reductionism that says all of the difference in the world is just number. But when we approach the world that way, we don't create the world we really want.
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otyt-Moj-5g
One book that influenced my thinking is called "Tending the Wild" that said this pristine wilderness that the Europeans supposedly discovered, where the native people were just living off the land, that this is a myth. That, in fact, the land was formed through a long relationship between the indigenous people and the places where they lived.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Science has a surprising number of elements in common with religion. So, then, is science a religion?
From Charles' presentation at the Science & Nonduality conference. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otyt-Moj-5g
I'm not even sure if I do a very good job of listening to my inner guidance. Sometimes I find myself by chance in just the right situation despite my efforts to avoid it.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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One of the technological myths of our time is that industrial agriculture, the regime of fertilizers and herbicides and insecticides, called the green revolution, has enabled us to feed a hungry planet.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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I hesitate to go too much into data about how much carbon can be stored through regenerative practices, etc. These numbers can be helpful to give permission to the inner bean counter that wants to do these things anyway.
From Charles' presentation at New Frontiers in New Zealand. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHlnAH-vHzg
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The dominant narrative that I'm hearing today, again and again, is that we have to change or we're not going to survive. We've already overshot the ability of the Earth's ecosystems to support human civilization.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Humanity is entering an ordeal that will enable us to move to a new and ancient relationship to the planet. New Zealand is taking steps to lead the way.
From Charles' presentation at New Frontiers in New Zealand. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHlnAH-vHzg
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I use the phrase the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible because our minds think it's impossible.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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I talked before about the sadness I and my wife Stella felt upon looking at the narrow river estuary and the places where there used to be so much life, and it's not there anymore. And our sadness was not because we made some kind of mental calculation that that location no longer sequesters as much carbon, and therefore our future is going to be a little bit more in peril.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Charles talks about what asking the question "What's it like to be you?" can do to help dissolve a polarized situation.
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There's recently a proposal by the United Nations to basically slow down the development of geoengineering, which was blocked by the United States and Saudi Arabia becasue actually, petrochemical companies, they support geoengineering. They're fine with climate change accepted.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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In the future, we'll feel really at home in the world. We will be intimately familiar with the landscape around us. We will be so in love with the places that we live that we will only take a journey when the urge to journey is really strong upon us.
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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I hope you're not under the impression that it's all beaches and roses, and that somehow I've moved past ever feeling despair or depression. But one thing that I would tell my younger self when I was in the midst of dark phases, is that the despair comes from the same place the problems come from.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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There's been a lot of research on the ability of trees and forests to sequester carbon and how much they can sequester and different types of forests, etc. And this can be used to argue for the protection of forests, but again the danger here is that when we gauge forest health or when we instrumentalize forests based on carbon, then anything that doesn't have an obvious carbon impact gets left out of the equation.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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There are two things you can do in the space between stories: nothing, or something. The danger is to, out of urgency or fear, keep doing what you have been doing in the old story.
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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Most of the conversation about carbon today is about fossil fuel emissions, and most of the energy of environmentalists, in the climate movement especially, is to find ways to reduce carbon emissions.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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If our true being is the totality of our relationships and includes everything in the cosmos, then when we cut ourselves off from any aspect of nature, other people, we create a wound. This is painful, and we yearn to recover our wholeness.
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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I have a motto that's helped me clear the fog in the political realm.
"In any polarized debate, the important thing is in what neither side is saying, and what both sides unconsciously agree on."
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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Charles in conversation in 2019 with Russell Brand on his podcast, Under the Skin:
"Under The Skin asks: what's beneath the surface - of people we admire, of the ideas that define our time, of the history we are told. Speaking with guests from the world of academia, popular culture and the arts, they'll help us to see the ulterior truth behind our constructed reality. And have a laugh.
On today's episode of Under The Skin I'm joined by author Charles Eisenstein to discuss alternative economic systems, find out what's wrong with the current climate change narrative and how we can actually change the world, challenge the powerful and empower the powerless."
I speak about the organs and tissues of Gaia, and by that I mean forests, wetlands, all ecosystems, all biomes, as well as individual species.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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We need to find another reason to live in a beautiful way and follow our heart besides "it might create big change." If you condition everything on some notion of "bigness", then you're going to skip over all of the small things that people need to be doing as a collective that none of them on their own make that much sense.
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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Everybody's trying so hard to be a good person. It's quite touching. But I don't know if trying to be a good person results in becoming a better person, except as a kind of prayer that attracts the necessary experiences that change you into a person who acts more consistently from love, empathy, compassion, service.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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"Prepare to have your heart blasted open. Charles Eisenstein joins our host, Daniel Schmachtenberger, to explore the many facets of humanity that will contribute to large-scale healing of our earth and civilization. We take a look at things we do every day that are contributing to the breakdown of our relationships with each other and with our planet. In order to restore our meaning in life, we need to take care to heal the root of our addictions and patterns and understand the interconnectedness of life and earth. Deep down, we all want what is best for ourselves and each other, but often sacrifice exposing the truth out of fear of losing our belonging and sense of security. Listen in to find out what kind of conversation needs to happen to create a more beautiful world for everyone." From March 2019
One thing I discovered in my research is that many of the things that are blamed on global warming are actually, to a large extent, caused by disruptions in the hydrological cycle. Disruptions to water.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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The system is growth dependent, so a collapse is inevitable, unless you believe infinite growth is possible on a finite planet. But there are other money systems available to us.
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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It really seems to someone on the other side that anyone who disagrees with them is just an idiot. Like, "how can you even question it when the evidence is so overwhelming?! When 97% of the scientists believe in it?! Haven't you seen the hockeystick graph?!"
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Charles joins Rick Archer on BATGAP on March 31, 2017.
Here is the description on Rick's show: Charles Eisenstein is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, most recently Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. His background includes a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale, a decade in Taiwan as a translator, and stints as a college instructor, a yoga teacher, and a construction worker. He currently writes and speaks full-time.
Obviously the climate debate is highly polarized. On one pole are the extremists, the alarmists, the catastrophists, and on the other pole are those who are called "the deniers." That is an epithet that already implies that that side is wrong, so I prefer to say "the skeptics," which is not to say that I agree with them, but I like to use relatively neutral terms to describe each side.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Our money system casts us into competition beyond what might be organic or natural to human beings. How exactly does this happen?
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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What we take for the reality outside of ourselves can be understood as a story we're telling ourselves about who we are and how the world works.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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Charles Eisenstein, author of Climate: A New Story, joins Howard Jacobson on the Plant Yourself Podcast to talk about climate change, and why greenhouse gas reduction and carbon accounting are not the solution to the deeper crisis we are invited to transcend.
My wife Stella and I have been living in Rhode Island, where she grew up. Right by the ocean, we walk on the shore. There's this rocky part where there's tidal pools, and she was recalling when she was a kid.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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I think if technology could solve all our problems, it would have by now. Why haven't we built our utopia of leisure yet?
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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Today when you look at droughts, forest fires, hurricanes, all kinds of catastrophes, we tend to ask "What's the cause?" We want to have a cause, because then there's potentially a solution.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Charles joins Bryan Reeves on his podcast "Men, This Way" for part 2 of 2 speaking on patriarchy, masculinity, and the more beautiful world.
If there's a suffering dog in front of me, can I trust that taking care of that dog is going to help the situation? That so doesn't fit into quantitative thinking about the planetary crisis.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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We seem so far from a world of interbeing, but through crisis and collapse, this can change.
Full interview: https://youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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When someone says "The issue is about this. Which side are you on?"
No matter which side you pick, you're still agreeing that the issue is about "this".
If there's a deeper cause that both sides are ignoring, then no matter which side you pick, you're still part of the problem.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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Charles joins Bryan Reeves on his podcast "Men, This Way" for part 1 of 2 speaking on patriarchy, masculinity, and the more beautiful world.
On some level, many of us recognize that it's impossible to have a healthy planetary climate when the political climate is out of balance, or the social climate, or the psychic climate.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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What can we do as individuals to move from the story of separation to the story of interbeing?
Full interview: youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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Charles Eisenstein talks at New Paradigm College about the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
Imagine going into some kind of government committee or policy meeting or something, and saying "You know, I think we should protect the rive just because it's sacred. Because we love it and it's beautiful, no other reason."
That doesn't fit into the policy conversation very well.
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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You often hear people saying "Global warming is the single greatest challenge ever to face human kind. We've got to treat it just like World War 2 and fully mobilize all society in order to combat this problem, and nothing else really matters compared to this." I've had environmentalists say this to me, like "Come on, Charles."
Read "Climate: A New Story" for free at CharlesEisenstein.org/books
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Every culture has a mythology that answers the deep questions like "who am I?" or "what's important in life?". But when the dominant culture answers all those questions through the story of separation, then what is the alternative? What is interbeing?
Full interview: youtu.be/ggdmkFA2BzA
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I went on a news fast, where I didn't look at or read the news for about half a year.
From the course Unlearning: For Change Agents, offered in the spirit of the gift at CharlesEisenstein.org/unlearning
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You often hear the phrase "addiction to fossil fuels" and usually that phrase is uttered in tones of condemnation or derision. Blame.
Like "What's wrong with us?" "Why are we so addicted?, as if there's something bad about us.
But if you take that metaphor seriously, then you want to ask, "Well, what's driving the addiction?"
I've been an environmentalist as long as I can remember. At least from age 8 when my father told me about the passenger pigeons and how their flocks used to cover the sky.