The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe

Description

'The Web of Meaning is both a profound personal meditation on human existence and a tour-de-force weaving together of historic and contemporary world-wide secular and spiritual thought on the deepest question of all: why are we here?' - Gabor Mate M.D., author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction 'We need, now more than ever, to figure out how to make all kinds of connections. This book can help--and therefore it can help with a lot of the urgent tasks we face.' - Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? As our civilization careens towards a precipice of climate breakdown, ecological destruction and gaping inequality, people are losing their existential moorings. Our dominant worldview of disconnection, which tells us we are split between mind and body, separate from each other, and at odds with the natural world, has passed its expiration date. Yet another world is possible. Award-winning author, Jeremy Lent, investigates humanity's age-old questions - who am I? why am I? how should I live? - from a fresh perspective, weaving together findings from modern systems thinking, evolutionary biology and cognitive neuroscience with insights from Buddhism, Taoism and indigenous wisdom. The result is a breathtaking accomplishment: a rich, coherent worldview based on a deep recognition of connectedness within ourselves, between each other, and with the entire natural world.

Jeremy Lent is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilisation's existential crisis, and explores pathways towards a life-affirming future. His award-winning book, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning, examines the way humans have made meaning from the cosmos from hunter-gatherer times to the present day. A former internet company CEO, he is founder of the non-profit Liology Institute dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview in support of a flourishing future on a regenerated Earth. He lives with his

'The Web of Meaning is both a profound personal meditation on human existence and, as its title implies, a tour-de-force weaving together of historic and contemporary world-wide secular and spiritual thought on the deepest question of all: why are we here?' - Gabor Mate M.D., author of 'We need, now more than ever, to figure out how to make all kinds of connections. This book can help--and therefore it can help with a lot of the urgent tasks we face.' - Bill McKibben, author of 'There are so many ways to understand the world, and so many levels to be integrated, that everyone can use the guidance of Jeremy Lent. Moving from the ancient Tao to modern neuroscience and everything in between, he boldly weaves deep insights together to envision a better world.' - Frans de Waal, author of 'A book of radial and profound wisdom ... a magnificent manifesto for a regenerative culture and for an ecological civilisation ... the book beautifully address some of the most complex questions of life' - Satish Kumar,Editor Emeritus, Resurgence & Ecologist and Founder of Schumacher College. 'Praise for The Patterning Instinct: 'The most profound and far-reaching book I have ever read' - George Monbiot