The planet is currently suffering from global temperature change and a decline across many natural systems, and we need to call on all of our existing knowledge, ancient as well as modern, to stand a chance against these catastrophic forces. In his book The Four Global Truths, artist, musician, and author Darrin Drda uses the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism as a framework for evaluating and discovering integrated approaches to promote universal breakthrough rather than total breakdown.
Drda stresses that only our individual and collective efforts will determine the fate of the world in which we live. Our time is full of both peril and promise, where humans can choose either to reestablish our relationship with nature, or do nothing and continue this downward spiral to eventual collapse. Drda calls for a more hollistic worldview, one which integrates ancient and indigenous wisdom with the insights of quantum physics and transpersonal psychology. He identifies clear paths to use current environmental threats as an opportunity for global revolution and collective, conscious growth.
An Insight Meditation leader and Awakening the Dreamer Symposium facilitator in the Bay Area, Darrin Drda and his work have received praise from World as Lover, World as Self author Joanna Macy, among others. He has several events coming up in the Pacific Northwest, including an Evolver Intensive Course co-featuring a series of guest speakers beginning on Earth Day 2012. Check out the dates below to see when Darrin will be near you!
Awakening the Global Heart-Mind: An Evolver online course
At a time of converging crises, more and more people are realizing that a major planetary shift is underway. With so much at stake, it becomes crucial to understand the deeper dynamics, and possible implications, of our unique evolutionary moment.
• What is the nature of this great transition?
• What are its underlying causes?
• What might be its ultimate effects?
• And what can we do, both personally and collectively, to bring about a more sustainable, just, and fulfilling world?
These four questions serve as entry points into what author Darrin Drda calls “The Four Global Truths,” which parallel the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. In this evolver course, Darrin will explore these questions with the help of four influential thinkers who together represent a variety of fields including deep ecology, cultural history, depth psychology, ecophilosophy, systems theory, and cosmology.
Sunday, April 22. 2012, Noon Pacific: with Sean Kelly
- This Earth Day, Darrin Drda will speak with Sean Kelly about the current ecological crisis, its effect on the human psyche, and how it relates to other crises such as those occurring in the economic and educational realms. One of the primary aims of this conversation is to provide a cosmic, geological, and historical orientation, a sense of where we are in our evolutionary adventure.
Sunday, April 29, 2012, Noon Pacific: with Richard Tarnas
- Given the enormous challenges faced by humanity, the question natural arises: how did we get here? Drawing on decades of experience in the fields of depth psychology, philosophy, and cultural history, Richard Tarnas will help shed light on some of the underlying factors and forces that have led to our disconnection from the natural world. Equipped with such insights, we are better prepared to move toward healing.
Sunday, May 6, 2012, Noon Pacific: with Joanna Macy
- If the ailing Earth community represents the patient, then what’s the prognosis? Few people have held this question in their heart-minds as long or as lovingly as Joanna Macy, who speaks of the Great Turning toward a life sustaining society. While the old, industrial growth model continues to bring about the Great Unraveling, we are faced with a growing tension between breakdown and breakthrough, between despair and hope, that Joanna helps us to handle with skill and grace.
Sunday, May 13, 2012, Noon Pacific: with Drew Dellinger
- How might we move forward as a species? While the Buddha offered the Eightfold Path,The Four Global Truths aims toward a shift in consciousness. Yet this is only one aspect of the Great Turning, which includes activism and the creation of new structures. As an embodiment of integration, Drew Dellinger is an activist poet whose work is informed by ecology, cosmology, and the wisdom of Thomas Berry, MLK, and others. In this final session, Drew will inspire us to action with his own wisdom and his powerful poetry.
Click here to register and access the course through your home computer.
Special offer: Sign up for this course and receive a free, signed copy of “The Four Global Truths”- a $20 value. You get this in addition to the course itself, but the offer is limited to the first 20 sign-ups so hurry!
Book Reading and Signing at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
1521 10th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
Book Reading and Signing at Banyen Books in Vancouver
Thursday, May 31, 2012
3608 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6R 1P1, Canada
Book Reading and Signing at East-West Books in Seattle
Saturday, June 2, 2012
6500 Roosevelt Way
Northeast Seattle, WA 98115
Book Signing at Powell’s on Hawthorne in Portland
Monday, June 4, 2012
3723 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, OR 97214
