Publisher's Synopsis
Expanding on questions he raised in his earlier books, Charles Eisenstein once again takes up the powerful themes of inner and outer transformation, the convergence of activism and spirituality, and the multiple crises we face as a society and as individuals. The urgent challenges confronting us--ecological, medical, educational, political, and more--have a common origin, he claims. This groundbreaking book takes on the flaw in our problem-solving strategy that lies at the heart of these current crises. Eisenstein calls this breakdown in reasoning the Story of Separation, or the idea that nature is something outside ourselves that is amenable to our control and that human progress consists in the endless expansion of that control. If we hope to save our planet, he argues, we must stop thinking of the Earth and everything on it as resources, or instruments of our utility. Instead we need to see nature and the material world--the rivers, forests, and creatures--as sacred and valuable in their own right. We must recognize that everything is interdependent, feel the hurts of the planet, and let the resulting grief open us to transformation and empathy.
