A Course in Spiritual Ecology with Benjamin Weiss
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Susquehanna Permaculture
Apr 22, 2019, 1:19:32 PM4/22/19
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A deep dive into earth-inspired culture, community, & consciousness.
“ . . . the upsurge of Spirit is the only plausible way to stop the ecological destruction of our planet. Even people who have no interest in a communal solution to the distortions in our lives will have to face up [to] this ecological reality. Unless we transform our relationship with nature, we will destroy the preconditions for human life on this planet.”
-Rabbi Michael Lerner
A note from a long-reluctant guide:
For more than a decade, friends, students, and colleagues have asked me to teach a class such as this. In permaculture courses, on days foraging in the forest, and evenings around camp-fires, people have encouraged me to speak about my spiritual connection with nature and have asked me to teach them the magical and meditative practices that I’ve cultivated. Mostly I have refused. Out of reverence for the age-old process of the passage of secret knowledge from master to apprentice, I have waited many years for the moment in which I would feel an appropriate degree of comprehension and ability within myself before transferring these lessons to others. And, out of great distaste for, and distrust of the widespread misappropriation of mysterious— and dangerous— esoteric practices from the world’s treasure-trove of traditions, I have long hesitated to contribute to this maelstrom of mystical mayhem. But enough! As one of my teachers has said: “The only real endpoint of any work is when we decide that what we’ve done is sufficient.” And so, it is with great gratitude and wonderment that I invite you, finally, to undertake an immersion with me into the realm of spiritual ecology… The Earth as we know her is in dire condition. The state of humanity has never been more strange. To save ourselves and rediscover the balance of harmony with Nature we must work in realms unseen.
-Benjamin Weiss
For more info email: urban....@gmail.com
To register go to:
www.susquehannasustainability.com/services-signups/a-course-in-spiritual-ecology
The class will take place at several locations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
• Urban Edge Farm: www.susquehannasustainability.com
• Susquehanna Apothecary: www.etsy.com/shop/susquehannapothecary
• The Hundred Acre Wood.
• A Cemetery.
• The Dreamtime.
• Your Mind.
Schedule:
June 23rd, July 7th & 21st, August 4th & 18th, September 1st & 15th, October 6th & 20th, November 3rd
Arrive by 9:30am. Class from 10am-5pm.
Lunch will be provided and will be made with local, seasonal, organic, and non-GMO ingredients as much as possible. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and allergen-free options will be available. Lunchtime meals will be used as a meditative exercise as part of the curriculum. The ingredients and recipes of the lunches will also relate to the topic of the daily curriculum.
“The central purpose of the Work that Reconnects is to help people uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and with the systemic, self-healing powers of the web of life, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainable civilization.”
-Joanna Macy
Topics to be covered during the course include:
• The deepest ecology
• The language of symbols
• The interpretation of, and design of myth
• The use of sigils
• A natural state of mind and view of reality
• The cosmology of place-based spiritual practice
• Shamanic warfare
• Communication with Nature
• The dangers of Earth worship
• Deriving personal power from right-relationship with Nature
• The role of art in sustainable ecology
• Meditative presence
• Trance states
• Magic for balancing creation
The Syllabus: Here is a summary of the curriculum:
• June 23rd: Meditation
• July 7th: Cosmology
• July 21st: Mythology
• August 4th: Dreaming
• August 18th: Art
• September 1st: Music
• September 15th: Magic
• October 6th: Madness
• October 20th: Warfare
• November 3rd: Healing
“Scientists tell us that we have enough technology to save our planet. . . . Yet we don’t take advantage of this new technology. . . . The technological has to work hand-in-hand with the spiritual. Our spiritual life is the element that can bring about the energies of peace, calm, brotherhood, understanding, and compassion. Without that, our planet doesn’t stand a chance.”
-Thich Nhat Hahn
Benjamin Weiss is a certified permaculture designer and teacher, activist, herbalist, farmer, musician, and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ben studied natural building and permaculture at The Farm Ecovillage Training Center, received a permaculture teacher certification from CRMPI, studied urban agriculture at Growing Power, and has studied herbalism with Sarah Preston of Radiance, shamanic dreaming techniques with Adhi Moonien Two-Owls, and forest garden design with Dave Jacke. Ben was also the administrator and a long-time volunteer for the Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice, and has helped to organize many other initiatives and actions related to racial and environmental justice. Ben has facilitated many classes and workshops, has designed and managed four organic farms, and forages professionally. He owns and manages Susquehanna Apothecary and Urban Edge Farm.
In addition, Ben has been a lifelong student of meditation, mysticism, and magic. Ben has studied Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Ghandian philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita, the B’hai Faith, Rastafari and Obeah, Wicca and other neo-Celtic traditions, the Lakota spirituality, Ayahuasca traditions, the mythology of Indigenous Australia, ancient Mesopotamian religions, the Norse pantheon, the Egyptian pantheon, the Greco-Roman pantheon, as well as the works of Gurdjieff, Castaneda, and above all, Kabbalah. Through these studies and practices, Ben has cultivated a cosmology, a meditative practice, and magical tools and techniques that center around the repair of the Natural World by those responsible for breaking it— human beings.
Tuition:
$1,000 per student. Lunches during all 10 class days is included, as well as other materials.
Realistic barter proposals will be seriously considered.
The class will be limited to 12 students.
Registration Deposits: A registration deposit of $250 must be submitted at the time of registration in order to hold a place in the class. This deposit, as well as full tuition, is non-refundable, however, except in legitimate emergencies.
Warnings:
• This class is not recommended for people who are struggling with or have recovered from addiction. Portions of the curriculum will include examinations of and experiments with varying types of intoxication.
• This class is not recommended for people who are experiencing severe depression, anxiety, or other significant mental and emotional upheavals because the curriculum’s explorations of the nature of consciousness, the boundaries of reality, and the crises facing humanity may exacerbate these hardships.
• This class is not recommended for people who are exceptionally religiously observant nor for those who are rigorously practicing a system of meditation or magic that has strict boundaries or prohibitions. Many of the ideas and exercises during this class may be challenging to the student’s worldview, belief system, politics, morals, ethics, and inhibitions.
“It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement’s work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively without participants embracing a set of core spiritual values.”
-Wangari Maathai
Preparedness for the Class:
Students will be notified beforehand about when class will take place outdoors. In these instances, students should come fully prepared to be outdoors for extended periods in varying weather, and to participate in hands-on activities including walks through rough terrain. Not all of the spaces we’ll be in are ADA compatible but we will happily make any accommodations that we can in order for students with specific needs to participate. Please notify us of any pertinent allergies or physical limitations before the class begins. Each student will be asked to sign a “media sharing form” to ensure that everyone who participates is legally allowed to utilize media captured during the class for further educational or promotional purposes. Please notify the instructors if you plan to miss a day of class, and take responsibility for catching up with course content. On October 6th, the day of class entitled Madness, it is highly recommended that students arrange for someone else to drive them home, as this day includes exercises with intoxicating substances.
Other things to bring include :
• drinking water
• snacks
• notebook
• pencil/pen
• bug spray
• sunscreen
• sturdy shoes/boots
• rain gear
*Students will be notified of any other required materials as the course progresses.
For more info email: urban....@gmail.com
To register go to:
www.susquehannasustainability.com/services-signups/a-course-in-spiritual-ecology
--
A note on contacting me: Due to the overwhelming amount of communications I receive, I generally do not respond to any message that is not directly related to a class, design work, or other business transactions. I also feel that the current standard for "promptness" as an obligation to respond to electronic communications within a matter of hours is inconsistent with my values. So I reserve the right to take a few days to get back to you. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
“ . . . the upsurge of Spirit is the only plausible way to stop the ecological destruction of our planet. Even people who have no interest in a communal solution to the distortions in our lives will have to face up [to] this ecological reality. Unless we transform our relationship with nature, we will destroy the preconditions for human life on this planet.”
-Rabbi Michael Lerner
A note from a long-reluctant guide:
For more than a decade, friends, students, and colleagues have asked me to teach a class such as this. In permaculture courses, on days foraging in the forest, and evenings around camp-fires, people have encouraged me to speak about my spiritual connection with nature and have asked me to teach them the magical and meditative practices that I’ve cultivated. Mostly I have refused. Out of reverence for the age-old process of the passage of secret knowledge from master to apprentice, I have waited many years for the moment in which I would feel an appropriate degree of comprehension and ability within myself before transferring these lessons to others. And, out of great distaste for, and distrust of the widespread misappropriation of mysterious— and dangerous— esoteric practices from the world’s treasure-trove of traditions, I have long hesitated to contribute to this maelstrom of mystical mayhem. But enough! As one of my teachers has said: “The only real endpoint of any work is when we decide that what we’ve done is sufficient.” And so, it is with great gratitude and wonderment that I invite you, finally, to undertake an immersion with me into the realm of spiritual ecology… The Earth as we know her is in dire condition. The state of humanity has never been more strange. To save ourselves and rediscover the balance of harmony with Nature we must work in realms unseen.
-Benjamin Weiss
For more info email: urban....@gmail.com
To register go to:
www.susquehannasustainability.com/services-signups/a-course-in-spiritual-ecology
The class will take place at several locations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
• Urban Edge Farm: www.susquehannasustainability.com
• Susquehanna Apothecary: www.etsy.com/shop/susquehannapothecary
• The Hundred Acre Wood.
• A Cemetery.
• The Dreamtime.
• Your Mind.
Schedule:
June 23rd, July 7th & 21st, August 4th & 18th, September 1st & 15th, October 6th & 20th, November 3rd
Arrive by 9:30am. Class from 10am-5pm.
Lunch will be provided and will be made with local, seasonal, organic, and non-GMO ingredients as much as possible. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and allergen-free options will be available. Lunchtime meals will be used as a meditative exercise as part of the curriculum. The ingredients and recipes of the lunches will also relate to the topic of the daily curriculum.
“The central purpose of the Work that Reconnects is to help people uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and with the systemic, self-healing powers of the web of life, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainable civilization.”
-Joanna Macy
Topics to be covered during the course include:
• The deepest ecology
• The language of symbols
• The interpretation of, and design of myth
• The use of sigils
• A natural state of mind and view of reality
• The cosmology of place-based spiritual practice
• Shamanic warfare
• Communication with Nature
• The dangers of Earth worship
• Deriving personal power from right-relationship with Nature
• The role of art in sustainable ecology
• Meditative presence
• Trance states
• Magic for balancing creation
The Syllabus: Here is a summary of the curriculum:
• June 23rd: Meditation
• July 7th: Cosmology
• July 21st: Mythology
• August 4th: Dreaming
• August 18th: Art
• September 1st: Music
• September 15th: Magic
• October 6th: Madness
• October 20th: Warfare
• November 3rd: Healing
“Scientists tell us that we have enough technology to save our planet. . . . Yet we don’t take advantage of this new technology. . . . The technological has to work hand-in-hand with the spiritual. Our spiritual life is the element that can bring about the energies of peace, calm, brotherhood, understanding, and compassion. Without that, our planet doesn’t stand a chance.”
-Thich Nhat Hahn
Benjamin Weiss is a certified permaculture designer and teacher, activist, herbalist, farmer, musician, and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ben studied natural building and permaculture at The Farm Ecovillage Training Center, received a permaculture teacher certification from CRMPI, studied urban agriculture at Growing Power, and has studied herbalism with Sarah Preston of Radiance, shamanic dreaming techniques with Adhi Moonien Two-Owls, and forest garden design with Dave Jacke. Ben was also the administrator and a long-time volunteer for the Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice, and has helped to organize many other initiatives and actions related to racial and environmental justice. Ben has facilitated many classes and workshops, has designed and managed four organic farms, and forages professionally. He owns and manages Susquehanna Apothecary and Urban Edge Farm.
In addition, Ben has been a lifelong student of meditation, mysticism, and magic. Ben has studied Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Ghandian philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita, the B’hai Faith, Rastafari and Obeah, Wicca and other neo-Celtic traditions, the Lakota spirituality, Ayahuasca traditions, the mythology of Indigenous Australia, ancient Mesopotamian religions, the Norse pantheon, the Egyptian pantheon, the Greco-Roman pantheon, as well as the works of Gurdjieff, Castaneda, and above all, Kabbalah. Through these studies and practices, Ben has cultivated a cosmology, a meditative practice, and magical tools and techniques that center around the repair of the Natural World by those responsible for breaking it— human beings.
Tuition:
$1,000 per student. Lunches during all 10 class days is included, as well as other materials.
Realistic barter proposals will be seriously considered.
The class will be limited to 12 students.
Registration Deposits: A registration deposit of $250 must be submitted at the time of registration in order to hold a place in the class. This deposit, as well as full tuition, is non-refundable, however, except in legitimate emergencies.
Warnings:
• This class is not recommended for people who are struggling with or have recovered from addiction. Portions of the curriculum will include examinations of and experiments with varying types of intoxication.
• This class is not recommended for people who are experiencing severe depression, anxiety, or other significant mental and emotional upheavals because the curriculum’s explorations of the nature of consciousness, the boundaries of reality, and the crises facing humanity may exacerbate these hardships.
• This class is not recommended for people who are exceptionally religiously observant nor for those who are rigorously practicing a system of meditation or magic that has strict boundaries or prohibitions. Many of the ideas and exercises during this class may be challenging to the student’s worldview, belief system, politics, morals, ethics, and inhibitions.
“It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement’s work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively without participants embracing a set of core spiritual values.”
-Wangari Maathai
Preparedness for the Class:
Students will be notified beforehand about when class will take place outdoors. In these instances, students should come fully prepared to be outdoors for extended periods in varying weather, and to participate in hands-on activities including walks through rough terrain. Not all of the spaces we’ll be in are ADA compatible but we will happily make any accommodations that we can in order for students with specific needs to participate. Please notify us of any pertinent allergies or physical limitations before the class begins. Each student will be asked to sign a “media sharing form” to ensure that everyone who participates is legally allowed to utilize media captured during the class for further educational or promotional purposes. Please notify the instructors if you plan to miss a day of class, and take responsibility for catching up with course content. On October 6th, the day of class entitled Madness, it is highly recommended that students arrange for someone else to drive them home, as this day includes exercises with intoxicating substances.
Other things to bring include :
• drinking water
• snacks
• notebook
• pencil/pen
• bug spray
• sunscreen
• sturdy shoes/boots
• rain gear
*Students will be notified of any other required materials as the course progresses.
For more info email: urban....@gmail.com
To register go to:
www.susquehannasustainability.com/services-signups/a-course-in-spiritual-ecology
Benjamin Weiss
Susquehanna Sustainable Enterprises LLC
A note on contacting me: Due to the overwhelming amount of communications I receive, I generally do not respond to any message that is not directly related to a class, design work, or other business transactions. I also feel that the current standard for "promptness" as an obligation to respond to electronic communications within a matter of hours is inconsistent with my values. So I reserve the right to take a few days to get back to you. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
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