Rising Out of the Madness: The Climate Solution is Already Here
A 45 minute Dharma Talk on Climate Resilience
I recently attended a week-long silent retreat on “Grief & Resilience” at Sravasti Abbey led by Ven. Sangye Khadro, a long time Tibetan Buddhist nun. At the end of the retreat, Ven. Khadro asked if I would talk to my fellow retreatants, as well as the monastics of the Abbey, about my engagement with the climate movement, and in particular why I am optimistic about our long-term prospects.
The things I talk about here do not fit in the climate narrative one finds in the media or, for that matter, in the conservation community. Instead, they arise from my own journey from the front-lines of the movement to a long academic sabbatical studying the pathology of climate psychology and back to the front-lines again, armed with what I’d learned in my 12-year study and research interregnum.
Because this talk comes on the heels of a week-long silent meditation retreat, I think I spoke with much more clarity and precision than in any of my other various appearances on climate-related podcasts, or even in my more formal address to the Penn State Sustainability Institute in 2022.
In the midst of the extreme cultural chaos of current politics against a backdrop of climate fires, floods, and heatwaves, I know how distressing it can be to think about this growing existential threat, and I understand how easy it is to jump to conclusions about worst-case scenarios. In fact, as a climate psychologist, I have seen first-hand how seductive the “we’re fucked” worldview that arises from scientific-materialist thinking can be for highly intelligent, climate aware individuals. I suspect that when a person gives into despair, giving up hope for a viable future, there is a natural cynicism response that kicks in which creates its own kind of cognitive dissonance and, especially, confirmation bias.
If you or someone you know fits into that description, then this post is intended for your/their benefit. Just give me 45 minutes to change your mind. And I ask that, in order to neutralize any psychic resistance, you participate in the “intention setting” meditation that precedes the talk (it’s just a few minutes in silence).
In Buddhism, which is a 2500+ year old sophisticated psychology, we talk a lot about disturbing attitudes and their antidotes. It’s about re-wiring our brains to be in accord with reality, which turns out to increase happiness and reduce suffering. Think of this talk, then, as the antidote for the disturbing attitudes so prevalent today on the troubling topic of climate trauma.
May all sentient beings, but especially non-human and Indigenous sentient beings, benefit from this shared perspective.
For those interested in supporting the elevation of Indigenous-led efforts to restore biodiverse landscapes consistent with this talk, join me in pledging to the International Wildlife Coexistence Network here: https://wildlifecoexistence.org/take-the-pledge/
As synchronicity would have it, Senator Cory Booker & Rep. Raul Grijalva just introduced a bill today that will protect Bison, Grizzlies & Wolves by respecting tribal sovereignty over management of those sacred species for expansion, and usurp the murderous State programs that are aimed at eradication. You can find the bill and Tribal voices in support of it on Senator Booker's web site here: https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-grijalva-introduce-bill-to-permanently-protect-american-bison-grizzly-bears-and-gray-wolves