There is a vast territory between what we're trying to leave behind, and where we want to go - and we don't have any maps for that territory.
Charles EisensteinThe discoveries of the last couple decades are showing that properties of a self do actually inhere in matter, that matter seems to have properties of self-organization and life, even intelligence, consciousness. I can't say that science has proved these things, but it at least suggests the possibility. As we re-invest the world with sacredness, "spiritual" comes to mean something very different. If only a human being has these qualities, then spiritual work is inner. It's all about your own consciousness.
Charles EisensteinWhen we must pay the true price for the depletion of natureโs gifts, materials will become more precious to us, and economic logic will reinforce, and not contradict, our heartโs desire to treat the world with reverence and, when we receive natureโs gifts, to use them well.
Charles EisensteinEven if we profess to be non-judgmental, there's an inherent judgmentality and hierarchy in which the spiritual person, the conscious person, the mindful person, is more developed than the typical truck driver or waitress or heroin addict. This is a red flag, another problem built into the concept of spirituality. The truth is that every person you meet is in some way more developed than you are, and that the multiple modes of development that a human being can pursue require the whole of humanity to pursue. We're in this together. Enlightenment is a collective effort.
Charles EisensteinUltimately, work on self is inseperable from work in the world. Each mirrors the other; each is a vehicle for the other. When we change ourselves, our values and actions change as well. When we do work in the world, internal issues arise that we must face or be rendered ineffective.
Charles Eisenstein