John Seed

Thinking Like a Mountain : Towards a Council of All Beings
by John Seed

"Deep and thought provoking is how I found this book. Quotes and theories and musings upon how we are all connected and the impacts we have on one another on this green earth. Something in this book warmed my heart. Knowing there are others out there with incredible respect for even the most tiniest and seemingly insignificant creatures was very heartening. Other books that may compare are Machelle Wrights "Behaving as if the God in all life mattered" and any book concerning the spiritual community of Findhorn. I highly recommend this book to those of you who like a thoughtful read on Nature and spirit. Thanks." -- Brenda Tataryn.

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Selected Deep Ecology Writings

This site holds some 15 articles by John Seed.  In his words...

In 1979 after the first direct actions which eventually led to the protection of Australia's rainforests, I founded the Rainforest Information Centre (RIC) and since that time I've been working on the conservation of the world's rainforests.

It soon became clear however, that the forests could not be saved one at a time nor the planet saved one issue at a time. Unless we could simultaneously address the underlying psychological or spiritual disease that allows modern humans to feel separate from nature, the destruction of species and life-support systems would continue.

It was in 1981 that I first stumbled upon the philosophy of "deep ecology" which showed me how we might address this underlying disease. In 1986, with Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess, I co-authored THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN - TOWARDS A COUNCIL OF ALL BEINGS which is both an exposition of this philosophy and description of an experiential workshop that can bring deep ecology to life as a lived experience as well as a way of thinking.

Here are some articles that I have written over the years which present my perspective on this way of seeing the world.

for the Earth,   John Seed

Anthropocentricism

Excerpt:

"Anthropocentrism" means human chauvinism. Similar to sexism, but substitute "human race" for "man" and "all other species" for "woman." Human chauvinism, the idea that humans are the crown of creation, the source of all value, the measure of all things, is deeply embedded in our culture and consciousness....

Ecopsychology 

Essay by John Seed

Excerpt:

In spite of the modern delusion of alienation, of separation from the living Earth, we humans are not aliens, we belong here. The human psyche too is Earth-born, the result of 4000 million years of continuous evolution. The complex, dynamic biology from which psyche emerged necessarily remains the matrix, the grounding of any sane psychology. I take "ecopsychology" to mean psychology in service to the Earth.

We have all heard about the massive assault on our life-support systems. Yet it has not changed our behaviour except in rather trivial ways. How will we change our thinking and our behaviour to bring our technologies and lifestyles into harmony with the biological constraints of Earthly existence? What is needed? Not more horrifying statistics surely. Everybody already knows. We feel helpless and disempowered as the technologic juggernaut rolls along.

Scientists warn that we may be the last generation of humanity to have the chance to avert biological collapse and irreparable damage to the systems that support complex life on Earth. Paul Ehrlich thinks that we are sawing off the branch that we're sitting on. James Lovelock said it's as if the brain were to decide that it is the most important organ in the body and started mining the liver. Sounds to me like some kind of psychological problem.

Yet psychology appears to be too busy to address such things. What are the matters of over-riding urgency preoccupying psychology? Where is everybody? Playing at business as usual. Fiddling while Rome burns. Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

On the Road with John Seed

This Onroad installment comes to us from world renowned rainforest activist, John Seed. Since procuring a laptop many years ago, John has written personal accounts of his many international trips, emailing them to friends often from some of the remotest rainforest regions that remain.