An Ecology of Practices for a Second Renaissance

Thomas Steininger in dialogue with Rufus Pollock

Something remarkable is happening in the midst of our civilizational crisis. People around the world, often young people, are looking for new ways to live together, to work together, to think and play together. What unites them is often a desire for a new, mindful way of being in the world. Mindfulness meets society.

Just as the first Renaissance ended the Middle Ages, in the midst of war and turmoil, this may be a second renaissance, a cultural learning process of a new way of being in the world collectively. Maybe something more than the Middle Ages is ending here, and definitely more is at stake.

What are the practices that we need to develop to create a more mindful way of living? How can deep mindful awareness become the conscious ground of our culture? These are questions that Rufus Pollock thinks about. He co-created the organization Life Itself  that develops hubs to do research and engage in advocacy to pioneer a wiser culture.

In this week’s Radio evolve, Dr. Thomas Steininger talks with Dr. Rufus Pollock about what he calls “ontological politics”–new forms of practice where a “mindful being in the world” meets systems-thinking and new integral ways to live on earth.