Go Hug a Tree
…or at least take some time to get to know one…
The global environmental and social challenges we face today are daunting, and they demand a response at a scale appropriate to the problem. Join us as we build a spiritual movement based in the principles of reverence for the living world, interdependence and loving-kindness: agaya and ubuntu.
As an expansion of our traditional Solstice celebration, Novasutras is partnering with the organizers of World Unity Week. Events begin June 20th, and go on through the 27th, with topics of climate action, global peace partnerships, interfaith harmony, interracial justice, and the future we want to create together.
Ubuntu is is the essential truth of inter-being and interdependent co-arising. Learn about ways to celebrate INTERdependence Day and to participate in the co-creation of the Novasutras movement.
This Solstice is June 20th/21st, when the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. Novasutras celebrates with a live online guided meditation focusing on global well-being and loving-kindness, and visualization of the better futures that could emerge.
Science continues to reveal the complex intelligence of the Plant Kindom* upon which we utterly depend for the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe.
How else can we integrate our respect for the dignity of the Plant Kindom into the way we live and shape our societies?
In Novasutras, ecospirituality supports ecoactivism. We encourage you to pledge to move your money out of the banks funding fossil fuel projects, and participate in the Day of Action to Stop Funding Climate Chaos March 21st.
The sun will cross the equator Monday, September 23rd, at 07:50 UTC. Click below for video of our Novasutras Equinox guided meditation and conversation focusing on climate and forest well-being, from our in-person gathering in Santa Cruz about 12 hours before the moment of the Equinox.
It feels good to connect (ubuntu) to our natural roots. Trees are such beautiful creations! Why not express our appreciation for them (agaya) while basking in their generous cover?! So many legends and stories center or start with a nuturing tree… there is more truth to the tales than we imagine. Novasutras is a beautiful movement. Thank you!
I have found that these practices, similar to what the Japanese call “forest bathing” are especially helpful in times of stress and anxiety. Remembering our ubuntu / interdependent connections with trees and other beings can be a profoundly healing experience. The Atlantic had a good article about that practice https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/06/forest-bathing/532068/.
Here’s another take on befriending a tree – https://emergencemagazine.org/practice/befriending-a-tree/
You might also find it powerful to learn a bit more about the brave dedication of the original “tree huggers,” indigenous forest defenders in northern India, engaging in deeply #sacredactivism – https://www.patagonia.ca/stories/the-original-tree-huggers/story-71575.html