Navigating The Coming Chaos

The collapse of industrial civilization, well underway since at least 2007, presents humankind with unprecedented and daunting challenges in the area of energy, environment, and economics. Just as the Transition Handbook of 2008, provided specific strategies for addressing these changes logistically, Navigating The Coming Chaos, provides a toolkit of emotional and spiritual preparation for an uncertain future. It offers us an opportunity to step across an evolutionary threshold in order to become a new kind of human being living in conscious self-awareness of our intimate connection with all life in the universe. Deepening the work begun in Sacred Demise, Carolyn Baker has assembled - and life tested - a rich compendium of tools for the inner warrior preparing to meet civilizations collapse with inner strength, purpose, and presence. In times like these that try our souls, embarking on the deep self-reflection invited by this book will be as essential as any practical preparations for the Long Emergency. Janaia Donaldson, Co-Producer and Host of Peak Moment TV Navigating the Coming Chaos is Carolyn Bakers latest, and most important work. As we face up to the reality of collapse, the difference between those former citizens who cope and those who dont may well be a simple case of who has taken heed of the lessons contained within these priceless pages. Keith Farnish, author of TIMES UP: AN UNCIVILIZED SOLUTION TO A GLOBAL CRISIS and manager of The Earth Blog Use this book like you would a longtime friend who is willing to listen to you thoroughly but will still ask you the tough questions. It is an invaluable tool for people who are committed to creating a fulfilling life no matter what the future brings. Andre Angelantoni, Founder of Post Peak Living

The collapse of industrial civilization, well underway since at least 2007, presents humankind with unprecedented and daunting challenges in the area of energy, environment, and economics. Just as theTransition Handbook of 2008, provided specific strategies for addressing these changes logistically,Navigating The Coming Chaos, provides a toolkit of emotional and spiritual preparation for an uncertain future. It offers us an opportunity to step across an evolutionary threshold in order to become a new kind of human being living in conscious self-awareness of our intimate connection with all life in the universe.Deepening the work begun inSacred Demise, Carolyn Baker has assembled - and life tested - a rich compendium of tools for the inner warrior preparing to meet civilization's collapse with inner strength, purpose, and presence. In times like these that try our souls, embarking on the deep self-reflection invited by this book will be as essential as any practical preparations for the "Long Emergency."Janaia Donaldson, Co-Producer and Host of Peak Moment TVNavigating the Coming Chaosis Carolyn Baker's latest, and most important work. As we face up to the reality of collapse, the difference between those former citizens who cope and those who don't may well be a simple case of who has taken heed of the lessons contained within these priceless pages.Keith Farnish, author ofTIME'S UP: AN UNCIVILIZED SOLUTION TO A GLOBAL CRISISand manager of The Earth BlogUse this book like you would a longtime friend who is willing to listen to you thoroughly but will still ask you the tough questions. It is an invaluable tool for people who are committed to creating a fulfilling life no matter what the future brings.Andre Angelantoni, Founder of Post Peak Living

This culmination of award-winning author Andrew Harvey’s life’s work bridges the great divide between spiritual resignation and engaged spiritual activism. A manifesto for the transformation of the world through the fusion of deep mystical peace with the clarity of radical wisdom, it is a wake-up call to put love and compassion to urgent, focused action. According to Harvey, we are in a massive global crisis reflected by a mass media addicted to violence and trivialization at a moment when what the world actually needs is profound inspiration, a return to the heart-centered way of the Divine Feminine, the words of the mystics throughout the ages, and the cultivation of the nonviolent philosophies of Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Dalai Lama. Harvey’s concepts of radical passion and sacred activism fly in the face of restraint, of pessimism, of denial, of all that is inhumane, fusing the mystic’s passion for God with the activist’s passion for justice and for healing the division between heaven and earth, heart and will, body and soul, prayer and action. Sacred activism asks that we engage deeply on a personal, spiritual, and political level so as to become a fully empowered, fully active, and contemplative humanity that can turn tragedy into grace, and desolation into the opportunity to build and co-create a new world. Unlike many spiritual books, Radical Passion does not veil the dark with artificial hope. It explores the catastrophes of our current times and celebrates the ecstatic hope and divinity that is possible—right now and in the future.

A collection of probing essays and weekly meditations, this book addresses how to prepare emotionally and spiritually for the impending collapse of industrial civilization. Author Carolyn Baker offers wisdom, inspiration, and a sense of spiritual purpose for anyone who is concerned about the daunting future humankind has created. The author's introduction to Collapsing Consciously articulates our current predicament of economic collapse, environmental degradation, and global conflict and expresses the confusion, anxiety, grief, anger, and despair we all experience when we take a hard look at the present-day global crisis and the likely future of the planet. But rather than showing us ways to prevent the collapse, Baker argues that the demise of our consumerist, corporate culture is inevitable, and that it is crucial to prepare emotionally and spiritually for the certain changes to come. Part 1 is a collection of seventeen essays which argue that while the collapse of industrial society cannot be prevented, its meaning extends far beyond tragedy and loss. These essays ask the reader to delve inward and discover the limitless treasures of the soul, as well as the gratification and exhilaration to be discovered in joining with community in preparing for the future. In part 2, Baker offers fifty-two weekly meditations comprised of spiritual wisdom, inspiration, paradox, comfort, humor, irony, and a persistent challenge to create and savor beauty in the world, regardless of how bleak the future may appear. Collapsing Consciously is a refreshing take on the perilous present and the grim prospects for our future. Instead of quoting discouraging statistics about our predicament, Baker offers a deeper perspective that makes sense of a world that most of the time appears psychotic or even surreal. Through inspiration and perennial wisdom she has created a manual for making meaning and generating joy, especially in situations that feel hopelessly devoid of both. An ebook containing additional meditations is also available: Collapsing Consciously Meditations: Further Reflections for Turbulent Times, ISBN 978-1-58394-758-6.

As a companion to the book Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths for Turbulent Times, these additional meditations are for readers seeking profound emotional and spiritual preparation for the impending collapse of industrial civilization. Collecting more than 300 meditations, author Carolyn Baker weaves together spiritual wisdom, inspiration, humor, and a persistent challenge to create and savor beauty in the world, regardless of how bleak the future may appear. This book offers wisdom, inspiration, and a sense of spiritual purpose for anyone who is concerned about the daunting future humankind has created. Instead of quoting discouraging statistics about our predicament, Baker offers a deeper perspective that makes sense of a world that most of the time appears psychotic or even surreal. Through inspiration and perennial wisdom she has created a manual for making meaning and generating joy, especially in situations that feel hopelessly devoid of both. Also available: Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths for Turbulent Times, ISBN 978-1-58394-712-8.

Navigate between myth and chaos in this “journey filled with peril, self-discovery, and terrifying moments” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Sixteen-year-old Scotch struggles to fit in—at home she’s the perfect daughter, at school she’s provocatively sassy, and thanks to her mixed heritage, she doesn’t feel she belongs with the Caribbeans, whites, or blacks. And even more troubling, lately her skin is becoming covered in a sticky black substance that can’t be removed. While trying to cope with this creepiness, she goes out with her brother—and he disappears. A mysterious bubble of light just swallows him up, and Scotch has no idea how to find him. Soon, the Chaos that has claimed her brother affects the city at large, until it seems like everyone is turning into crazy creatures. Scotch needs to get to the bottom of this supernatural situation ASAP before the Chaos consumes everything she’s ever known—and she knows that the black shadowy entity that’s begun trailing her every move is probably not going to help. A blend of fantasy and Caribbean folklore, at its heart this tale is about identity and self-acceptance—because only by acknowledging her imperfections can Scotch hope to save her brother.

In the boldest and most daring book either author has ever written, Andrew Harvey and Carolyn Baker confront us with the life and death reality of the global crisis and the fact that four crucial strategies must be employed not only to survive the dark night, but to inhabit our bodies and our lives with passionate authenticity, honesty, vigilance, community, compassion, and service. These strategies are Reconnection, Resistance, Resilience, and Regeneration. Deep and unprecedented reconnection with self, others, and Earth must be our mission, regardless of the outcome. Distinguishing between “problems” which have solutions and “predicaments” which can only be responded to, Harvey and Baker articulate precisely how we have arrived at this unprecedented juncture and offer strategies of resistance against the fundamental enemies of humanity and the Earth. Such a response demands of us something far deeper than what conventional religions and visions of activism call for--nothing less than living and acting from the Sacred Self, both without illusion and totally committed to compassion and justice even, if necessary, in hopeless situations. With Trump, it’s as if the Titanic has hit the iceberg. We are the passengers. The only question before us, and before the whole world, is how we stop the ripping of our hull. The original Titanic sunk due to human arrogance. There is still time for us to save ourselves with the power of humility, resistance and renewal. This book offers a compelling and profound pathway for human survival after hitting the iceberg. —Jim Garrison, Founder and President of Ubiquity University. A powerful manual for a spiritual revolution! Read it, pray it, reflect on it, and then start acting on it...because the future of the world depends on it. —Adam Bucko, co-author of Occupy Spirituality and The New Monasticism

An inspiring manual for navigating humanity’s collective dark night and enacting personal and planetary transformation • Explores how Sacred Activism--specifically, creative, wise, sacredly inspired action--offers an antidote to the crises facing our world • Reveals how to uncover and sustain joy and how to use it as fuel for continuing Sacred Activism in dangerous times • Includes practical maps of the dark night process and of the four-part path to transfiguration drawn from the secret depths of the mystical traditions Presenting a manual for navigating humanity’s collective dark night, Andrew Harvey and Carolyn Baker explore potential antidotes, drawn from mystical traditions and Sacred Activism, to help us find inspiration and take action in the face of the daunting challenges to our world. Offering a deep discussion of our global dark night in terms of the Kali Yuga, the authors examine the dangers of a growing constellation of intractable crises--authoritarianism both in America and abroad, climate change, economic inequality, social upheaval, and spiritual malaise. They then explore the antidotes to these crises: Sacred Activism--specifically, creative, wise, sacredly inspired action--and a profound understanding of our evolutionary ordeal and its potentialities. Examining the power of joy to help enact personal and planetary transformation, they explain how joy, or ananda, is a force all mystical traditions recognize as the essence of the Divine. They reveal how to uncover and sustain joy in ourselves and how to use joy as fuel for continuing Sacred Activism in dangerous times. Drawing on the visionary teachings of mystics such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo, the authors show how the global dark night is part of an evolutionary mutation process and how its very intensity makes it the potential seedbed of a new embodied, divine humanity. They offer practical maps of the crises, of the shadows that this global dark night is casting, and of the four-part path to transfiguration drawn from mystical traditions. Sharing a vision of a new and focused global moment of love in action, the authors reveal that apocalypse is not inevitable--if enough people awaken to the extraordinary possibilities of Sacred Activism.