Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings

My "aha!" moment in this short and not at all new book came when John Seed says that the refusal to change everything right now that we all have with the problems the planet faces is not from apathy but despair. "Experience with group work has shown that this despair, greef and anger can be confronted, experienced and creatively channeled. Far from being crushed by it, new energy, creativity, and empowerment can be released."

The book is a collection of unique essays, essays with a single aim in mind - to spark a radical expansion of human consciousness. With a lofty goal as this, how does it fair? How deep is deep ecology? How vital is it, given the current massive environmental decline? Should we be concerned with the earth? These are some of the questions that will be tackled in this volume. To begin with, let us look into the text itself. Midway into the text, the reader is intentionally awed by an imposition of a radically different view of himself: "What are you? What am I? Intersecting cycles of water, earth, air and fire, that's what I am, that's what you are" (John Seed 1988, 41). The best way to characterize the text in a couple of words is - meditations on the earth. However, saying these words invariably undercuts the intricacy of exquisite poetic alliterations, metaphoric presence and a penetrating gaze, that the authors invoke on each page. Their work began in Australia, as a small grass-roots circle that held environmental rituals. They traveled, published, inspired, protested, performed, they traveled again. A journey of commitment to something beyond individual goals, their personal stories and essays seem more unified than a story of one man's life. The resulting book is filled with a sense of unceasing directed education, education that transcends classrooms and all conversation - powerful, meaningful words, cerebrally integral to the human being, penetrate the reader, and it is impossible to remain indifferent to the message.

"Thinking Like a Mountain" is an elegant tapestry of writings, poems, and observations which plumb the depths of Ecological Philosophy. This little book is a labor of love,crafted skillfully, with fascinating illustrations that convey the harmony, complexity, and uniqueness of the Natural World. the Reoccurring Theme which is centeral to this book is that in order for Humans to be Balanced and Functional, it is necessary that they open themselves and learn to develop an increased sensitivity to the incredible diversity and richness of Nature. Within this context the Human Self, over time, becomes gradually transformed into the "Ecological Self" in an intricately and infinitely bonded universe within which the boundaries between Humans and their Ecological Selves become merged and indistinguishable from each other. From the different, yet complementary perspectives of the three authors, the reader will come to realize that "whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of Earth," and that Man himself does not "weave the Web of Life" but instead exists as a mere "strand" within this interactively intricate web. This is a simplistic, yet profound, book of "Discovery," where we learn that Gaia is becoming increasingly aware of Herself, and the intricate cycles and interactions of her countless Life-Forms within the Global Biosphere. For anyone who loves Nature, and wishes to better comprehend the philosophical interactions between Humans and Natural World, this book will prove to be a rich resource for both Mind and Spirit. Elliott Maynard, Arcos Cielos Research Center.

I read this book while sitting under a cottonwood tree at the bottom of the Grand Canyon (a "mountain lying down"). This collection of deep-ecology essays, teachings, meditations, and poems allowed me to experience my surroundings in a new way: "Every atom in this body existed before organic life emerged 4000 million years ago. Remember our childhood as minerals, as lava, as rocks? Rocks have the potentiality to weave themselves into such stuff as this. We are the rocks dancing" (p. 36).This book's title is taken from the 1949 SAND COUNTY ALMANAC, in which Aldo Leopold warned us that unless we attempt to connect with our ecosystem by thinking like a mountain, disaster is inevitable. Stated differently by Thich Nhat Hanh, we must listen within ourselves to "the sounds of the earth crying" (p. 7). Contributors to this 122-page book include, among others, John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, Arne Naess, Gary Snyder, and Chief Seattle. John Seed recognizes that "nothing short of a total revolution in consciousness will be of lasting use in preserving the life-support systems of our planet" (p. 9). He reminds us that we are "part of the rainforest recently emerged into thinking" (p. 36). Joanna Macy observes that we touch the Earth by touching our face, by touching our brothers and sisters (pp. 60-61).This thin book contains a mountain of deep thinking, including exercises designed to "help make us more conscious of our embeddedness in the web of life" (p. 80), and meditations to protect the Earth "from the blades of men unhinged by greed, prestige and authority" (p. 91): "Relax and breathe in, breathe in Mountain, I feel my rock-roots go deep deep down to where the Earth herself is very hot" (p. 80). Reading this book could change the way you think about your life. "When you think like a mountain, one also thinks like the black bear, so that honey dribbles down your fur as you catch the bus to work" (p. 39).G. Merritt

Deep and thought provoking is how I found this book. Quotes and theories and musings upon how we are all connected and the impacts we have on one another on this green earth. Something in this book warmed my heart. Knowing there are others out there with incredible respect for even the most tiniest and seemingly insignificant creatures was very heartening. Other books that may compare are Machelle Wrights "Behaving as if the God in all life mattered" and any book concerning the spiritual community of Findhorn. I highly recommend this book to those of you who like a thoughtful read on Nature and spirit. Thanks Brenda Tataryn.