The emergence of a new field of study is anything but linear. This is certainly the case when it comes to the field now known as Religion and Ecology, or Religion and Nature. How one narrates that emergence matters. Here I want to discuss at least four different branches, or more accurately nodes, of this rhizomatic field of study.
Over the past several decades, the emerging transdisciplinary fields of religion and ecology, religion and nature, and spiritual ecology have reshaped thinking about human-Earth relations, exploring the complexity of attitudes and practices related to the nonhuman world in both inherited and emerging religions and spiritualities.
The environmental philosophy or movement known as deep ecology is a hugely popular form of environmental thinking that informs a large number of environmental movements worldwide, at least in its moderate form. It is often said to have a spiritual quality.
The field of religion and ecology developed in stages, and distinctly in diverse local, national, and global contexts. From the beginning it represented multireligious and multidisciplinary initiatives. Today, in the fifty years of development and expansion, it is impossible to categorize the field of religions and ecology, as it is vast, robust, active, and impactful.
In the early 1990s, when we first began to think of what we as historians of religions might contribute to our environmental challenges, it was becoming clear that the spiritual depth and moral force of religions could facilitate lasting changes. As students of Indigenous religions (John) and East Asian religions (Mary Evelyn) we saw great potential in these traditions for understanding and promoting broadened ecological sensibilities.
During our time of proliferating ecological crises, the academic field and moral force of religion and ecology are matters of urgent importance for any effort to respond to the myriad challenges presented by these crises. We hope that this issue is a source of information and inspiration that can support anyone seeking integral community in our ecological age.
It is a deep honor to offer these words in introduction to this powerful and timely volume. I have had the privilege of witnessing how the convergence of religious and ecological worldviews can shape the future of our planet. This issue of The New Ecozoic Reader carries that spirit forward with remarkable clarity and courage.
Reading Brian Swimme’s book Cosmogenesis resembles how I imagine it feels to ride a rocket into outer space. Liftoff happens slowly, but as the ship gains momentum, gravity recedes and the thrill of the journey takes over. My advice to readers: Be patient, then savor the sweet ride you’re about to experience.
A morning in 2008 I was awakened in St. Louis by aftershocks from an earthquake in New Madrid, Missouri. I see and recognize how this has been a pathway to my journey into living in the Ecozoic Age.
When I first picked up Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme I knew I was in for a treat. As a master of story, Brian brings a perspective to science that makes it a joy to consume and easy to digest and leaves the reader deeply nourished.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personal and Profound
A Poem
Modern science began with the myth of the machine. In only a few centuries, this worldview completely transformed the world, empowering our species to become a geological force on par with asteroids and ice ages. If Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry are right, science, through the insights derived from its own methods, has now entirely outgrown this mechanistic image of the cosmos.
Brian Thomas Swimme’s new book Cosmogenesis takes the insights of The Universe Story to a new level, providing a demonstration of the experience of cosmogenesis through a series of beautifully told personal stories. What emerges from these is an understanding of what scientists have come to realize: We live not in a fixed cosmos but in a cosmogenesis.
In Brian Swimme’s Cosmogenesis, Thomas Berry in conversation with Brian states:
“Come to understand you are not a scientist. You are not an American. You are not male. You are not even primarily a human. First and foremost you are a cosmological being.”
“Which means I’m . . . ?” Brian hesitated.
“The universe. In the mode of a human.”
Cosmogenesis is a true gift of a book! I say this for many reasons. I loved reading about Brian’s personal journey in the early years and was amazed at the similarities between his path since his first visit to the Chinook Learning Community (now the Whidbey Institute), and mine.
This review actually begins with one of Professor Swimme’s prior books, The Universe Story (1992), co-authored with Thomas Berry. I read that epochal reorientation of cosmic presentation for one of my classes at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and then wrote a review similar to this one.
A Poem