The Occupy Wall Street movement and protest movements around the world are evidence of a new era of intergenerational activists seeking deeper spiritual meaning in their quest for peace and justice.
This book is a call to action for a new era of spirituality-infused activism. Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems--economic, political, educational, and religious--discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world.
Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world. Each chapter is construed as a dialogue between Fox, a 72-year-old theologian, and Bucko, a 37-year-old spiritual activist and mentor to homeless youth. As we listen in on these familiar yet profound conversations, we learn about Fox and Bucko's own spiritual journeys and discover a radical spirituality that is inclusive, democratic, and relevant to the world we live in today.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions. ‘Spiritual democracy,’ as it is called in this book, is necessary … if we are not only to survive as a species on this beautiful, sacred planet, but also to co-create through our conscious, committed actions a world and planet where all beings thrive together. Thank you Matthew Fox and Adam Bucko for such a wonderful book.”
–Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The
Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
“The dialogue between these two visionary men comes as a fresh, exhilarating wind. It swings wide the doors of our minds and reveals what is surely the most heartening phenomenon of our time. Illumined and honored here are the moral clarity and courage of young activists the world over, as they unmask the deadening abuses of an exhausted civilization. Matthew and Adam help us hear these voices and catch the spiritual power moving through them.”
–Joanna Macy, author of Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy
“In Occupy Spirituality, our friends Adam Bucko and the Rev. Matthew Fox have begun a multigenerational conversation that is becoming critical to accomplishing the kind of change we want to see in spirituality today. Being deeply connected to the two ends of the spectrum of adult life, and looking together at the growing edge of spirituality and modern culture, they are helping all of us to find our way.”
–Netanel Miles-Yepez and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, coauthors of A Heart Afire: Stories and Teachings of the Early Hasidic Masters
“Occupy Spirituality brings to the forefront the need for spirituality in our lives and through us in the lives of nations around the world. Materialism and morality, Gandhi said, have an inverse relationship. When one increases, the other decreases. The decay in our ‘civilization’ today is caused by material greed. This may just be the blueprint for the survival of humanity. Everyone must read this book.”
–Arun Gandhi, author of Legacy of Love and The Forgotten Woman; President, Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute
“The Occupy movement moves us from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. The most courageous act that any of us can do is to dare to care about others. Since our destinies are metaphysical we should start now and Occupy Spirituality. Let this book be our manual.”
–Sharon Gannon, co-creator of Jivamukti Yoga, author of Yoga and Vegetarianism: The Diet of Enlightenment
