Upaya Dharma Podcasts: Charles Eisenstein - The Ascent of Humanity

Dharma and more from Upaya Zen Center. Charles Eisenstein is the author of The Ascent of Humanity: Civilization and the Human Sense of Self. Book description:

The Ascent of Humanity is a radical exploration of the history and future of civilization from a unique perspective: the human sense of self. Eisenstein traces all of the converging crises of our age to a common source, which he calls Separation. It is the ideology of the discrete and separate self that has generated these crises; therefore, he argues, nothing less than a "revolution in human beingness" will be sufficient to transform our relationship to each other and the planet. And this revolution is underway already. In all realms of human endeavor, an Age of Reunion is emerging out of the birth-pangs of a planet in crisis. The range and depth of Eisenstein's thesis is breath-taking. Encompassing science, religion, spirituality, technology, economics, medicine, education, and more, he details a vast paradigm shift reflecting a more fundamental shift in the human sense of self. Even in this dark hour, he says, a more beautiful world is possible -- but not through the extension of millennia-old methods of management and control. The convergence of crises is revealing the final bankruptcy of those methods. Soon, he says, we will abandon the Babelian effort to build a tower to Heaven, as we realize that the sky is all around us already. Then, we will turn our efforts to creating a new kind of civilization, a conscious civilization designed for beauty rather than height.

Sounds intriguing. Listen him to talk about it here.

The Ascent of Humanity

Speaker: Charles Eisenstein
Recorded: Wednesday Dec 8, 2010

Charles Eisenstein states that the crises (economic, ecological, political, educational) that we face today arise from stories that he calls the “separate self,” and the “story of people.” He describes these stories and then states that they are coming to an end, that the “new story” is one of connectedness. Charles encourages people to act upon what they know; he shares that miracles are possible when people engage from the story of a “connected self.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tags: Buddhism, dharma, Self, community, interconnected, Upaya Zen Center, Dharma Podcasts, Charles Eisenstein, The Ascent of Humanity, crises, separate self, books, evolution, development, civilization