Chaplaincy is the crucial work of providing spiritual care, frequently in moments of transition or crisis. In times like these, people often need forms of support that the larger culture doesn’t readily provide. A chaplain can serve as a trusted confidant, someone who will listen deeply to us and advise us, but not necessarily tell us what we want to hear.
What is it to chaplain one another, human and non-human, through the eco-social crises of our time? Kirsten Rudestam, a core faculty member of the Sati Center Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy training program, led this EcoDharma Exploration into how we might relate to one another and with Earth itself, as givers and receivers of spiritual nourishment.
This EcoDharma Exploration took place on June 25. You can find the recording of this event below.
Kirsten Rudestam, PhD works as an environmental educator, wilderness guide, and meditation teacher. She teaches field and classroom-based college courses in environmental justice and political ecology, is trained as a rites of passage guide through the School of Lost Borders and is a facilitator for Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnects. Kirsten has been practicing in the Theravadan Buddhist lineage since 2001. She, Gil Fronsdal, Ram Appalaraju and Susie Harrington are the core faculty for the Sati Center Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy training program. Those interested in joining the program in the future are invited to contact them at .
Support this Offering
One Earth Sangha and our featured speakers offer these explorations on a donation basis, with no required registration fee. We invite you to participate in the tradition of offering dana, or generosity. Your support makes these gatherings possible, and any amount offered is greatly appreciated.
We also welcome your support for One Earth Sangha:
Recording
An Invitation and an Inquiry
We invite you to incorporate a short break during this session, and during this time, see if you are able to spend time with a potted plant, with a tree outside, or with a cloud outside the window – simply tune into the earth quality of your body. Explore this question – What is it to listen, in your own way, to the more-than-human? And what might emerge as a response?
Additional Resources
- Poem shared at the beginning of the gathering: “The News”, by Emilie Lygren
- Essay by Gil Fronsdal, Susie Harrington, and Kirsten Rudestam: “Eco-Chaplaincy: In Service to a Suffering World”
- More information about the Sati Center’s Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy Program
- To be notified of future cohorts of the Eco-Chaplaincy program, email
- See more of Kirsten’s offerings on her website
