Finding true interconnectedness with The Council of All Beings

Truly relating to beings, both human and non-human, requires empathy and a feeling of being inherently connected to each other.

And it is just this feeling that ‘The Council of All Beings’ event, hosted by Marieluise Niehus, a member of Sacred Earth Activism’s steering group, on 5 October, aims to promote. The Council of All Beings concept was born out of, and sits within the wider framework of, Joanna Macy’s The Work That Reconnects (WTR).

Macy’s approach is to lead us on a spiral journey when looking at the world and our place within it. This journey starts with Gratitude. It moves on to Honouring Our Pain for The World and Seeing With New/Ancient Eyes, before finally Going Forth.

Manifesting initially as personal group work in the 1970s, Macy’s ideas later spread internationally under a variety of names until the WTR moniker was adopted in the 1990s. The concept is grounded in Arne Naess’ Deep Ecology and Systems Theory, with the main concept being The Great Turning. The idea here is that we choose one of three possible stories to feature in:

1. Business as Usual

2. The Great Unravelling

3. The Great Turning

Shifting worldviews

The Great Turning involves people coming together for the benefit of every being on Earth to find new, creative ways to transition towards the formation of a Life-Sustaining Society. But to do so requires a “fundamental shift in worldview and values”, Macy and co-author Molly Brown indicated in their book, Coming Back to Life.

WTR includes a a variety of rituals, ceremonies and workshops to help people achieve this goal, one of which is The Council of All Beings. Its aim is to help us move away from an anthropocentric, exploitative worldview and to heal ourselves by rediscovering a sense of connection with the natural world. We do this by showing empathy and compassion for all life and joining in defence of the Earth and of future generations.

The Council of All Beings asks us to embody non-human (plants, animals, moon, rivers or mountains) sensibilities as much as possible. The idea is to change our perspective, to feel their pain, anger, fear and concerns, and give voice to them. As Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh puts it: “To hear within ourselves the sounds of the Earth crying.” But at the same time, it is also about bearing witness to their strengths and gifts.

Given that most people spend a lot of time in their heads and are expected to look on the bright side, feeling grief and mourning loss is an important part of the process. It shows we care, and this caring helps us move beyond anger and pain to a feeling of interconnectedness (or “inter-being” as Thich Nhat Hanh called it).

This feeling ultimately encourages us to take heart-centred action in order to generate positive change. As Austrian poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke summed it up beautifully in his Book of Hours:

If we could surrender to Earth’s intelligence,
We would rise up rooted, like trees.

If you are interested in experiencing and exploring this yourself, register here for our Council of All Beings event on 5th October.