What does spirituality have to do with climate change?
Indra’s Net - by Phoebe Rathmell
(used with permission)
A problem cannot be solved by the same consciousness that caused it.
Albert Einstein
Responding to the current climate emergency will require a new values system, one that seeks the flourishing of all life forms, human and non- human. Yet in line with Einstein’s quotation above, there can be no significant shift in our Western cultural values system without a shift in our cultural identity. Why? Because our cultural identity determines our collective purpose. Our collective purpose determines our collective values system. Our collective values system shapes the way we collectively live within and act upon our world. So, rather than simply responding to the symptoms of the current climate emergency, we are required to go to the root cause - cultural identity. For Western societies this means undertaking the spiritual work of reimagining our cultural identity beyond that of individualism; an identity which gave rise to a values system that sought the flourishing of the individual, or elite groups of individuals, over-and-above all else. Such a values system has at least contributed to, if not caused, the current climate emergency.
What principle could orientate the reimagining of our cultural experience of identity? Interconnectedness, through unity with diversity is one principle that could enable
us to know ourselves as unique individuals in our own right seeking self-realisation, while at the same time knowing that we are each connected and response-able to a much wider web of relationships – both human and non-human. Through such an identity shift we could each know ourselves to be unique beings who also participate within the wider Earth community. Such an identity shift would give rise to a new values system, one that seeks the flourishing of all life forms.
A metaphor
Spirituality is commonly known to be a deeply personal experience of connection and belonging. However, at certain times in a culture’s history, spirituality also involves a collective practice of reimagining the cultural identity within the context of current lived experience, knowledge, and beliefs. Western societies are living through such a time. One metaphor which could ground the reimagining a collective Western identity is Indra’s Net. Indra's net draws from Buddhist and Hindu cosmology, yet also has a broader application. According to Wikipedia, Indra’s Net has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels. Such a metaphor underscores the principle of interconnectedness, through unity with diversity.
The picture I was particularly drawn to regarding the metaphor of Indra’s Net is by Phoebe Rathmell (Sydney, Australia). In her depiction of Indra’s Net there is no centre-point. Rather the net is simply depicted as a continuous web of relationships. Phoebe graciously gave her permission for me to use her picture in my work.
Make a start: first steps
What we cannot imagine cannot come into being. bell hooks
We cannot simply think our way into a new cultural identity. Rather, we are required to employ our imagination. Imagination here has nothing to do with ludicrous fantasies, but rather involves a contemplative practice of attuning ourselves to that which is possible in terms of identity, set within the context of the current climate emergency; the spiritual call of the era toward a new Western cultural identity; and the principle of interconnectedness, through unity with diversity.
In light of the above, one practice for engaging the imagination toward a new cultural identity is through contemplating Phoebe’s image of Indra’s Net. A process for contemplating an image can be found on the Tree of Life website Contemplating an Image.
