Francis Weller

In this revised edition of Choosing Earth (February 2022), Duane Elgin describes how the world has transitioned into an epoch of profound change. Choosing Earth illuminates this pivotal period in our human collective journey from adolescence into early adulthood and beyond. Elgin explains how we are moving through a challenging and purposeful initiation, as he takes us through the horrors and heartbreaks of the decades ahead and describes this as a time of both initiation and opportunity. We are invited to accept and integrate the grief and losses as part of the important process of maturation. Seven major uplifts point to the ways in which we can meet this crisis and grow. Elgin suggests that as more of us wake up, billions of ordinary citizens of the Earth will call with one collective voice for unprecedented cooperation and creative action. Each one of us alive today has an essential part to play in guiding our planetary trajectory along a wiser path of healing and maturing. Choosing Earth provides a powerful catalyst for collective conversation.

This is a book of aliveness and brilliance; a luminous synthesis of sacred, eloquent creativity; a unique collaboration between Rashani R a and Francis Weller, two compassionate authorities known for their revolutionary work and healing presence.A "journaling edition" is also available, which contains 96 blank pages, for those who want to add their reflections and insights as they journey through this book. As we turn each page, we become increasingly aware of the inseparable union of unconditioned Awareness and our conditioned experiences-what Peter Fenner calls "The Co-emergent Wisdom of Just This." Rashani and Francis are skilled toolmakers who masterfully guide us through the raw vulnerability of grief to a place of reverence for the journey, offering a balm to the nomads of this harsh terrain. "The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation" infuses our lives with an immediate sense of perspective-deeper than, and beyond, conceptual understanding, inviting us to consider that suffering is an option, not an inevitable, ongoing condition Rashani R a's 108 stunning, full color collages are accompanied by six chapters of exquisite, soulful writing by Francis Weller. Each collage contains inspired words from more than fifty women and men, whose insights invite us to glimpse That which is unbreakable and whole-That which has been colored by experience (and grief) yet not harmed or changed by any degree of pain or suffering.This book is a compass, a lamp, a valuable guide It is a remarkable embodiment of the ancient Tibetan practice of Tonglen. Throughout these pages you will find a spaciousness for cultivating mercy and equanimity in the presence of grief and despair. R a and Weller have breathed in personal and collective pain and are breathing out compassion, wisdom, wakefulness, and beauty. You can but hold this book and reach a peace you thought unattainable. But read it for perspective, and for the love of art and solace.

Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it. The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow. Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully.