Karen Armstrong
In Sacred Nature: Restoring our Ancient Bond with the Natural World, Karen Armstrong aims to rekindle the spiritual connection with nature experienced by our ancient ancestors. In eleven short chapters, she explores the ideas and practices of religious and philosophical texts as guides to facilitate a renewal of our relationship with nature and reverse the damage we have done to our planet.
Armstrong locates our severed relationship with and destructive attitude toward nature to modern European Christianity. She cites European philosophers whose words stripped nature of her sacred, numinous qualities, reducing it a mechanical apparatus that can be dissected, analyzed, and controlled. She argues if we want to save our planet, we need to recapture our original connection with nature and recognize it as an equal and essential partner imbued with spirituality and mystery.
Through copious citations from various religious and philosophical traditions, and with a heavy reliance on Eastern texts, Armstrong harvests concepts that can be applied to our daily lives. Among these are the Golden Rule, cultivating stillness in the presence of nature, Kenosis (an emptying of the self/abandonment of ego), Ahimsa (harmlessness/avoiding injury to all sentient beings), and Gratitude (appreciating/nurturing the beauty, diversity, and balance in nature). Examples taken from the poetry of the British Romantics illustrate the profound impact receptivity to nature can have on our psyche. Each of her chapters concludes with “A Way Forward” to suggest application of these principles in our lives. Notes and an extensive bibliography for further reading are included.
Armstrong is arguing for a complete revisioning of our relationship with one another and with our natural environment. She urges us to embrace spiritual truths that transcend the limits of rationality. She has distilled some perennial insights from major religious and spiritual traditions to make an urgent plea for us to do more to save ourselves and our fragile planet by actively cultivating receptivity to the sacred thread that permeates and connects all forms of life.
Although some may dismiss Armstrong’s interpretations of various religious traditions as skewed and selective, her urgent plea for greater spiritual and personal connection with the natural world should not go unheeded.