Category: Eco-Dharma

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Eco-Dharma

Two New Podcasts from Sentient Planet

The Weight of Empathy With Lucas Spiegel
A Podcast from Sentient Planet

Lucas Spiegal with a cow
Lucas Spiegel

Hi everyone. I have started broadcasting Season 3 of my podcast project, Sentient Planet. The first episode is an interview with Lucas Spiegel, of Oregon, who recently published a splendid travel memoir – The Weight of Empathy.

Lucas’ global travels pre-pandemic, which began in Australia, gave him some incredible insight into our human relationship with animals, food and each other. His philosophy and photographs are breathtaking. (I devoured his book in one afternoon.) I found him to be a very gentle, sensitive and insightful soul to chat with.

You can listen to the podcast here.

And you can download a digital copy of The Weight of Empathy here.

If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate and review the podcast – it helps it reach more people across the world. Thank you… ()

Ratifying Animal Sentience with Claire Bass
A Podcast from Sentient Planet

Claire with Pig
Claire with rescued pig

Season 3 of the Sentient Planet podcast continues with my latest guest, Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International – UK.

Claire is another lovely human being who is doing great work to end cruelty towards animals – especially the 88 BILLION we slaughter every year for food. It’s a crazy number that I cannot get my head around.

We also talk about the UK’s recognition of crabs, lobsters and octopus as sentient in a new Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill that will become law in early 2022.

You can listen here.

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Eco-Dharma It's Alive Eco-Dharma

The Plight of the Murray Darling Basin

Aerial View of the Murray Darling Basin
Aerial View of the Murray Darling Basin

Get ready to hear about a musical revue titled ‘The Magic Basin’ that Ines and Bob are working on to tell the story of the Murray Darling Basin. There is only one human in this revue and he resembles a koala. Other dramatis personae include pelicans, cod, carp, a feral cat called Angus, a feral pig called Pork Barrel, and a cane toad called Barnaby.

Here is the link to the presentation on the Murray-Darling Basin by Ines, and it includes some very talented actors speaking for our rivers.

Ines’ talk includes an introduction summarising the key issues affecting the Murray Darling Basin. She writes that many of us have only a vague idea of what the Basin is and how important it is for our food security. If we eat citrus, nuts, grapes, rice, drink wine or almond milk, eat dairy products, wear cotton, chances are we are consuming the produce and the water of the Murray Darling Basin. The people of the Basin from the towns and localities, do not function as a community. They struggle to recognise a common interest, which is the health of the river system. And we struggle to recognise our common interest with them.

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Eco-Dharma It's Alive Eco-Dharma Roshi Susan Murphy

What is Sentience with Roshi Susan Murphy

A photo of Susan Murphy
Roshi Susan Murphy

The latest guest on my Sentient Planet podcast needs no introductions in this Sangha! Suffice to say I was delighted when Susan agreed to come on the show and just as delighted with the final production, which you can listen to here.

As usual, our Roshi is full of joy and generosity in this interview, tackling with ease the big questions surrounding sentience, our kinship with more-than-human animals and the impossibility of separating ourselves from our magnificent Earth reality.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback here or personally via sjwoodward@spiritnw.net.

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Eco-Dharma It's Alive Eco-Dharma

Living Through Fire with Danielle Celermajer

Another powerful podcast from Susan Woodward and Sentient Planet: Dany is director of the Multispecies Justice Project at the University of Sydney. She has recently published “Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future.”

Danielle Celermajer
Danielle Celermajer

Some of you are familiar with this Aussie author, who wrote this year’s unputdownable book, “Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future.” Dany is also director of the Multispecies Justice Project at the University of Sydney. I felt very honoured when she agreed to be a guest on my Sentient Planet podcast. And boy, she gave her all as a voice for the wild and domestic animals we share this time and space with. I learned a lot from her generous, completely open retelling of what it was like to encounter the Black Summer bushfires and what they taught her about love.

You can listen here. My email: sjwoodward@spiritnw.net

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Eco-Dharma It's Alive Eco-Dharma

Communicating Animal Sentience with Carl Safina

“Carl has written extensively about animal wisdom, rituals and behaviours, most notably in his recent book, “Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace.” Susan Woodward

Carl Safina with Macaw Chick

Communicating Animal Sentience with Carl Safina

Sentient Planet is a podcast I started hosting on Earth Day 2021. It showcases the more-than-human animals with whom we share the Earth and the humans dedicated to their urgent defence and preservation.

It’s been a wonderful creative project to put my energy into during this time of pandemic. The subject matter can be emotionally tough to prepare for, but the interviews give me the opportunity to explore species and sentience and what they all mean for our collective future, and to share the wisdom of animal advocates and Earth lovers with listeners.

I started publishing Season 2 a few weeks ago. A popular guest is the renowned ecologist and bestselling author, Carl Safina. Carl has written extensively about animal wisdom, rituals and behaviours, most notably in his recent book, “Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace.”

It’s been suggested that the members of this sangha might really enjoy this and related Sentient Planet episodes. That would be awesome! You can find Carl’s interview here.

Please feel free to email me with your thoughts and suggestions if you would like to. sjwoodward@spiritnw.net.

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Eco-Dharma It's Alive Eco-Dharma

Deep Time Spiral Walk

Blog of the Eco-Dharma Group

At each meeting of It’s Alive! one of our members will offer a talk about a project close to their heart; a time for heartfelt discussion and sharing stories.

Maxine’s Talk: Deep Time Spiral walk for Earth Day

A transcript of the talk Maxine gave the Deep Time Spiral Walk is available here. It will be made available as a podcast.

Have come from earth

And earth is where

this body shell

shall stay

Of the stars

Not knowing

what that means

Of the sky

 Beginning out of the beginningless  time spiral of 13.7 billion years ago.  In the ether of molten gases before a whiff of cellular organism. The beyond time story begins. I am not a scientist and have no expertise as to the formation of this universe but when I recently experienced this story at a Deep Ecology Yatra in early 2020 in NZ  I felt a strong inspiration to retell it in our local community at an Earth day event. For us humans  we need to be reminded of this over and over again. The words we used at our ritual were those used by John Seed inspired by the work of Joanna Macy and written by Miriam McGillis. The spiral walk leads us through the billions of years and after the three spirals we see how the importance of us humans is greatly diminished. The stardust heritage waiting for us at the completion of this life and the great turning of this universe will continue.

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2021 Term 2 Eco-Dharma Koans Online Zen Group Roshi Susan Murphy Sensei Kynan Sutherland Talks Teachers

‘It’s Mutual.’

Teisho #1 from Term 2 of Taking Part in the Gathering 2021. Click here to listen to other talks from this event.

Teacher: Roshi Susan Murphy with comment by Sensei Kynan Sutherland
13 June 2021

zen open circle · It's Mutual
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2021 Term 1 Eco-Dharma Miscellaneous Online Zen Group Poetry

grass stem
bends with the wind –
back and forth

grass stem
bobs this way, that way
heady with seed

looking sideways
the forest raven’s eye –
sharp and alert

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2021 Term 1 Eco-Dharma Koans Online Zen Group Roshi Susan Murphy Talks Teachers

‘Mutually save, Mutually save.’

Teisho #4 from Term 1 of Taking Part in the Gathering 2021. Click here to listen to other talks from this event.

Teacher: Roshi Susan Murphy
25 April 2021

zen open circle · Mutually save, mutually save
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Eco-Dharma Images Miscellaneous

NEWSFLASH!

In the early hours of Wednesday morning a strange assembly of beings was sighted in a moonlit clearing online. The exact nature of this meeting remains unclear.

According to eyewitnesses it appeared to be a Council of some kind, where each being present stepped forward one after the other to say something. Conspicuously, no humans were present. Concern is mounting that the many beings may have something to say to us. The list of beings at the Council apparently included a were-tiger, mosquito, forest raven, fox, kookaburra, corella, black cockatoo, migrating bird, snake, ibis, ibex, kangaroo, spider, seeds, rainforest, elephant, mountain, sky and nasturtium.

Once the assembly had dispersed no evidence of their activity remained, save the lingering sound of a song or lament, wafting through the clearing like notes from a harp.

If you have any more information about this Council, or would like to reflect on its possible significance, please contact gassho@zenopencircle.org.au

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Click here listen to all the recordings from our Autumn Sesshin 2021…