Green Man Challenge

On Saturday June 30th - fifteen apprentices and friends of the Aro Tradition will be undertaking the Green Man Challenge as a sponsored walk to raise funds for the Drala Jong Appeal.

The Green Man Challenge follows the 45 mile course of the Community Forest Path around the city of Bristol.

We will be undertaking the challenge as a relay team with people undertaking legs of between 4 and 22 miles each depending on their age and ability. Two hardy souls - Naljorma Thrin-lé and Drowang Pawo have both committed to completing half the walk each - 22 miles, and our younger participants Tomas (age 5) and Raechel (age 9) have committed to walk 4 miles each.

If you would like to sponsor our team effort you can do so via Paypal or for other methods please get in touch. 

Just 5 pence per mile for Thrin-lé & Drowang's efforts would make all the difference.  Send your £2.20 donation to sncd.treasurer@gmail.com via www.paypal.co.uk and if you are a UK income tax payer include your name, house number and post code marking it 'Gift Aid' and we'll claim 55p tax relief on your donation.

 Now we're just hoping it won't rain. . .

Earthen Spirituality

Sky McCain will be signing his book Planet as Self, an Earthen Spirituality in Aro Ling at 2pm on Saturday 24th March. 

In his book, Sky McCain challenges us to stop and and think about possible alternatives in the way we look at the planet and to question our suppositions as to what it means to be part of a living planet. 

As a response to this challenge, Chris Bloor (Dro-wang Pawo) will lead an Earthen Spirituality Walk before the signing at 11am from Aro Ling. The walk will explore Green Spaces around the Gloucester Road in search of a practical and experiential answer to Sky's challenge.

The walk will be from 5 to 6 miles long (or less than 4 if we catch a bus to cut off the last bit) depending on the abilities of those who turn up. You will need to be fit enough to walk at least 4 miles and to have appropriate footwear and clothing. The walk is free, but you will need money for bus fare and refreshments.

In the afternoon (2pm) Aro Lamas She-zer Khandro and Namgyal Dorje will be exploring a Buddhist respose to Sky's challenge.

There are no charges for the walk, talk or discussion, all donations on the day will go to the Drala Jong Retreat Centre Appeal. Refreshments will be available on a donation only basis.

Book Review - Planet as Self - An Earthen Spirituality

Sky McCain is a long-time supporter of the Drala Jong project. Later this year his work Planet as Self - An Earthen Spirituality will be launched.

Having had sight of a sneak preview of the text, herewith is a review of his work.

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One definition of stupidity is 'Doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result'. Sky McCain explains how we participate in a form of cultural stupidity by believing that our thoughts and ideas about the planet upon which we live are truly our own. In reality - he demonstrates - they are the result of a philosophical shaping that has been driven for centuries by the thinkers and spiritual traditions that have come before us. In taking us through a literature review that spans more than two millenia of thought, Sky demonstrates that this process is a natural one - a cultural, societal process - yet one that can lead to the most unnatural of conclusions. The conclusions that we accept, unchallenged, have resulted in a disharmonious way of being - a dissonance - a persistent act of mass stupidity in which we all participate, that fails to appreciate the poetry of being. Recognising that we are unconscious slaves to the ideas of others is a vital first step if we are to break free of preconception, and develop a real, open, communicative relationship with the world around us and the very earth upon which we walk. As Sky puts it '. . . out-dated beliefs can linger. . . if they are not consciously examined'. Planet as Self makes that challenge, and suggests some steps that can be used to sustain that challenge and avoid falling back into inherited ways of thinking.

It is important to be clear - this is not a Buddhist book. The conclusions drawn from Sky's challenge lead him to what he describes as an Earthen Spirituality. Readers will find that spiritual view compelling - or not - depending on their personal proclivities and passions. However the deconstruction of the cultural processes that have driven our corrosive effect on the environment is something valuable for everyone to understand. The author's passion for his subject sings out of the pages.

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Planet as Self - An Earthen Spirituality is published by O-Books (http://www.o-books-com/) and will be out 27th January 2012. You can learn more on this subject at http://www.earthenspirituality.com/