DEEP ECOLOGY with John Seed , Karin Raven Steininger and Brother Tenzin Bellingen April 25-27 2025

The Rainforest Information Centre presents DEEP ECOLOGY with John Seed,  Karin Raven Steininger and Brother Tenzin

Tickets are sliding scale from $150-$600

25% of the proceeds will be donated to protect forests.

Details:

• Thora Hall, Bellingen
• Vegetarian meals will be provided, gluten-free and vegan options by request.
• Accommodation in your own tent/van, b&b or at your own home

FROM JOHN SEED:

This is the first workshop which I will be cofacilitating remotely. Two close colleagues, Raven and Brother Tenzin with whom I have cofacilitated on numerous occasions will be present "in the flesh" and I will zoom in on 5 or 6 times throughout the workshop. 

I have worked for worldwide rainforests since 1979. Although many of our efforts succeeded, for every forest saved 100 have disappeared. Clearly, you can’t save the planet one forest at a time. It's one green Earth or a bowl of dust. Without a profound change of consciousness, we can kiss the forests goodbye, the ones we’ve "saved" alongside the rest.

Deep ecology is key to the change we need. To deep ecology, underlying all the symptoms of the environmental crisis lies a psychological or spiritual root – the illusion of separation from the rest of the natural world which stems from anthropocentrism or human-centeredness.

Conditioned since the Old Testament to “subdue and dominate” nature, the modern psyche is radically alienated from the air, water and soil which underpin life and this is reflected in the rapid shredding of all-natural systems in the name of economic development. Deep ecology reminds us that the world is not a pyramid with humans on top, but a web. We, humans, are but one strand in that web and as we destroy this web, we destroy the foundations for all complex life including our own.

While we maintain a self-image created in the matrix of anthropocentric culture, a shrunken and illusory sense of self that doesn't include the air and water and soil, we will experience nature as "outside" our self and fail to recognise that nature "out there" and nature "in here" are one and the same.

Many people INTELLECTUALLY realise that we are inseparable from Nature and that the sense of separation that we feel is socially conditioned and illusory.

But as the late Arne Naess, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Oslo University, the man who coined the term "Deep Ecology" wrote: "it is not enough to have ecological ideas, we have to have an ecological identity, ecological self".

But how can we nourish our ecological identity? In answer to such questions,  Joanna Macy and I developed a series of experiential deep ecology rituals called the “Council of All Beings” and in 1986, with Arne Naess and Pat Flemming,  wrote a  book called Thinking Like A Mountain - Towards a Council of All Beings (which has been translated into 12 languages). Along with others, we have been facilitating these workshops around the world since then.

In this workshop we remember our rootedness in nature, recapitulate our evolutionary journey and experience the fact that every cell in our body is descended in an unbroken chain 4 billion years old, through fish that learned to walk the land, reptiles whose scales turned to fur and became mammals, evolving through to the present.

We further extend our sense of identity in the Council of All Beings itself where we find an ally in the natural world, make a mask to represent that ally, and allow the animals and plants and landscapes to speak through us. We are shocked at the very different view of the world that emerges from their dialogue. Creative suggestions for human actions emerge and we invoke the powers and knowledge of these other life-forms to empower us in our lives.

One of the rituals we will share is honouring our pain for the world: we grieve for all that is being torn from our world, the species lost, the landscapes destroyed. Only if we can allow ourselves to feel the pain of the Earth, can we be effective in Her healing. This is why the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, has said that in order to heal the Earth,  "the most important thing that we can do is to hear, inside ourselves,  the sounds of the Earth crying". 

This workshop enables us to find an end to the illusion of separation and experience our rootedness in the living Earth.

Karin Raven Steininger is a documentary film maker, writer, Deep Ecology facilitator, and activist. Specialising in science, politics and history, her films have won numerous awards including an Oscar, Emmy and a Walkley.

Raven uses the power of imagination and storytelling to help transform and co-create a vision of a sustainable, earth-centred future. She facilitates large rituals, creates labyrinths and loves to be in a sea of voices, singing out to trees, the ocean and ravaged scarred landscapes, believing in the power of song to heal and re-energise the wild.

Raven has taught at pagan spiritual retreats and gatherings both in Australia and the UK, offering courses celebrating our interconnectedness with nature. She has a particular love for the Council, a process where we can experience insight, empathy and kinship with All-beings of the earth.

Inspired by John Seed and concerned about the high level of burn out, for the last several years Raven has been facilitating Deep Ecology workshops for activists to help give context and a container for the grief, rage, and love that many find overwhelming.

Along with her partner Paul, Raven is building her life on 100 acres of beautiful DieHappy forest. Surrounded by old growth rainforest and the sounds of koalas, dingos, and the pristine DieHappy creek, she is honoured to be co - facilitating Deep Ecology on Gumbaynggirr Country. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

Brother Tenzin (Dr. Alex Anderson) is an ecologist, Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, and deep ecology facilitator dedicated to integrating spiritual wisdom with ecological activism. With 20 years of experience in movement practice including martial arts, yoga and qi-gong, and 15 years of experience in Buddhist meditation, including seven years of monastic practice, he brings both a contemplative and embodied perspective to environmental engagement, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all life.

Drawing on both science and Buddhist teachings from Theravada, Tibetan and Zen traditions, Brother Tenzin’s work aligns with the principles of Deep Ecology, encouraging individuals to move beyond anthropocentrism and cultivate a direct, heartfelt and embodied connection with the natural world. He has collaborated with leading environmental thinkers, including John Seed, to co-facilitate workshops that explore the transformation of ecological grief into compassionate action. Through meditation, movement practice, and nature immersion, he guides participants in awakening to their ecological self—an identity rooted in the web of life.

Holding a PhD in ecology, Tenzin studied climate change impacts on forest biodiversity in Australia and internationally. This experience led him to a deeper enquiry into the “ecology of mind”, and the roots of our suffering, both individual and collective. Inspired by teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh and Satish Kumar, he advocates a path of personal and collective transformation and healing through the cultivation of tranquility and insight. He has led meditation retreats, Dharma yatras, and “sacred ecology” explorations across Australia and internationally, offering a unique synthesis of embodied mindfulness, ecological activism, and Earth-centered spirituality, through practices that foster a deep sense of responsibility and reverence for the living planet. He currently lives on the Dorrigo Plateau in NSW Australia where he is co-creating a refuge for both human beings and biodiversity: www.gaiaforest.org is a space for practice of meditation and mindfulness in daily life, combined with sustainable food growing and rainforest restoration. They also offer wilderness retreats, combining nature immersion, yoga, meditation and silent walking in beautiful wild places.

For more information, johnseed1@ozemail.com.au