Conference Theme:

Dreaming and the Imaginal Realm: Portals to Healing, Relationship, and Connection

Workshop Title:

Vishnu’s Dream, Indra’s Net and the Wish-Fulfilling World Tree: Using Ancient Indian Myths to Reweave Our Torn Ecological Fabric

It is no exaggeration to say that our planet is groaning under the weight of our species, as we continue our wonton way that can be described by the motto: “extract, use and discard.” If our species is to survive, we need to imagine another way of being. Now.

Fortunately, there is another way. It has always been there. It has been known since the dawn of human history. Ancient traditions, across the world, describe this way, using their own unique idiom. The Vedas say, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the whole world is family). Lakota wisdom states, “Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ” (all are related). The beloved Vietnamese Zen monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, translates it into modern language, as “interbeing.”

In this workshop, we will briefly explore a few of these ancient myths from India – the land whose stories live in my bones. We will then explore how these myths speak to the “modern American” today. Are there nighttime dreams within this community, or daytime reveries, that signal a new sprouting of these archaic seeds? As we become increasingly disillusioned with “culture,” and “civilization,” and “free will,” and “modernity,” is a new myth beginning to unfold, that has interconnectivity and network as its foundational framework? How might we live more fully into this emerging dream? And, do we really have a choice not to?