These are reflections from a dharma talk Eden gave as part of Embodied Changemaking and Sacred Justice on Behalf of Life, a course offered through Barre Center for Buddhist Studies March-July 2024, to be offered again in 2026. Her next Sacred Activism offerings are a residential retreat in October and a 6-week course November-December.
So many of us are holding questions in our hearts about how to respond consciously to the times we face, and what being of service looks like now. Sacred Activism is based on 4 vital principles of embodied change-making.
PARTNERSHIP WITH NATURE: The key to effecting long term sustainable change within ourselves and our world is always partnership with nature. In the words of Vandana Shiva, “You are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder, it is good to remember that the planet is carrying you.” Partnership with nature - as a way of life and leadership - opens up dimensions of our being beyond the rational, linear mind, beyond the conditioned mind of limitation, beyond egocentricity and anthropocentricity. It awakens us to a much larger perspective and sense of possibility. Only when we listen more deeply to the natural world can we remember the ecoliteracy that allows us to receive guidance and support from every form of life.
RIGHT HERE FROM THE MUCK, WITH THE RESOURCES WE’VE GOT: It can be easy to believe the story that we are inadequate, or have limited resources to effect change. The circumstances we face can feel overwhelming, especially given the demands and constraints of racial capitalism. Yet throughout history, time and time again, sacred activists have modeled a “right here from the muck” mentality that says, regardless of the resources I have, I know I'm here to serve. And I choose to respond to this call on behalf of life. When we accept the muck we’re in and question the habit of perceiving insufficiency, we recognize how much energy that story was draining. We gain access to a well of vitality, and resilience with which to serve Life.
PROTECT WHAT WE LOVE, RATHER THAN DEFEND AGAINST WHAT WE FEAR: From the microcosm to the macrocosm, from our personal daily interactions to our efforts to address systemic injustice, there is a vast difference in how we show up when we are defending against what we fear versus protecting what we love. Defending requires that we put on a shield and maintain the false lens of self and other. Consciously protecting Life is only possible when we connect to source and recognize interdependence. It’s not what we do but how we do it. Showing up with relational presence is an expression of sacred activism and allows us to act in a more effective way than fear-based actions. This inspires us to bring conscious to how we relate with ourselves and grow movements and to impact change.
RELEASING THE BINARIES OF COLLECTIVE CONDITIONING: Every ism that we face today is based in the distortion of binary perception: light v. dark, good v. bad, superior v. inferior. Through binary perception we falsely separate the sacred and activism, restoration and action, receptivity and our engagement with the world. Expanding how we relate to these elemental principles in our lives and on behalf of what we love opens us up to deeper power. Centuries of ingrained biases and patriarchy have elevated the principles of brute force, action, strategic thinking, rationalization, winning, and scale while devaluing stillness, embodiment cooperation, humility, care, compassion, and listening. Sacred activism invites us to see what is possible when we see clearly from the heart. perceiving through a lens of wholeness rather than separation.
Please consider joining Eden and her beloved colleague Nina Simons for 2 upcoming offerings to empower our sacred activism.
SACRED ACTIVISM: WEAVING NATURE, CULTURE & SPIRIT with Deborah Eden Tull & Nina Simons, October 23rd-27th, 2024 at Art of Living Center. Register here.
SACRED ACTIVISM: MEETING OUR CHALLENGES AS GATEWAYS FOR CULTIVATING RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP, a Bioneers Learning Course with Deborah Eden Tull and Nina Simons, a 6-week online series, on Wednesdays, October 30th - December 4th, 2024 from 1pm-3pm EST. Register here.
