Andres Edwards - The Heart of Sustainability: Restoring Ecological Balance from the Inside Out

Praise for
The Heart of Sustainability

With The Heart of Sustainability Andres Edwards has made the crucial link between the subjective inward quest for consciousness development and the objective outward movement for environmental sustainability. Although the ability to think holistically is a well-recognized attribute of heightened consciousness, the capacity and motivation for action is not normally associated with such consciousness. Edwards shows us, however, that expanded (I.e., non-dual) consciousness is precisely at the heart of and driving the largest mass movement in human history, the global movement for environmental sustainability.

Raz Ingrasci, Chairman of Hoffman Institute International

If we are to successfully address the social and environmental challenges that confront us, well need to bring our complete selves, both head and heart, to the task. Andres Edwards provides a clear and concise guide, showing how each of us as business people, educators, and concerned citizens can contribute to fundamental change. This is an indispensable road map to creating a better world.

Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group, and author, Strategies for the Green Economy

This book is for anyone experiencing the tension that our culture creates between the way we actually treat our natural world and each other, and the way we, deep in our hearts, know we should. Its both inspiring and informative, and beautifully written. Well done!

Kathleen OBrien, LEED AP, CSBA, Cascadia Fellow, Executive Director: The EMERGE Leadership Project (ELP)

The Heart of Sustainability eloquently delves into the personal journey associated with a life well lived at this moment in history. Andres shows how love and service are essential elements of transformation: for individuals, communities and our planet.

Jib Ellison, CEO, Blu Skye

Creating a just and sustainable society will require changing how we live. And, as Andres Edwards passionately argues, that will mean changing how we think, and changing the stories that shape our identities and motives. This is an essential addition to the sustainability literature, tethering environmental policy to our very souls.

Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author, Afterburn and The End of Growth

A compelling compilation of emerging thought, backed by real examples and resources. The Heart of Sustainability focuses on the idea that sustainability can and must go beyond doing less harm, and beyond the idea that the problem is them, out there. Instead, Edwards challenges us to look within for solutions to cultivate the capacity within each of us to create abundance, balance and goodness in the world.

Josie Plaut LEED AP BD+C, Associate Director Institute for the Built Environment

Andres Edwards continues his compelling narrative on sustainability in the third book of his trilogy, The Heart of Sustainability, giving insight into how each of us can maximize our positive impact. A tour de force demonstrating how to live a balanced, conscious and compassionate life in the face of an exponential rate of technological advancement. Compelling, thoughtful and inspiring.

James R. Doty, M.D., Founder and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University and author, Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeons Quest to Discover theMysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

Copyright 2015 by Andrs Edwards.
All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
All images iStock Vitruvian Man: ArtyCool; Leaf: a lis

Printed in Canada. First printing September 2015.

New Society Publishers acknowledges the financial support of the Government of
Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-762-6
eISBN: 978-1-55092-599-9

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Heart of Sustainability
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America)
1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. The interior pages of our bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-registered acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine-free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC-registered stock. New Society also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon offsets based on an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Edwards, Andres R., 1959-, author

Heart of sustainability : restoring ecological balance
from the inside out / Andres R. Edwards.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats

ISBN 978-0-86571-762-6 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-55092-599-9 (ebook)

1. Sustainable living. 2. Human ecology. 3. Social change--Environmental aspects. 4. Social evolution. I. Title.

To Tamara

T HIS BOOK HAS EVOLVED OVER TIME as my ideas about sustainability have grown during conversations with friends and colleagues and at workshops and conferences.

I would like to thank: Elizabeth Thompson, Sarah Skenazy, J. P. Harpignies, and the team at the Buckminster Fuller Challenge for their insights and our lively discussions about projects that are creating a better world; Kathleen OBrien, Ann Edminster, David Eisenberg, and the participants from the Emerge workshops for raising key aspects of leadership; Jeff Vander Clute, Duane Elgin, Lynnaea Lumbard, and Rick Ingrasci and members of The Decisive Decade gatherings at Hollyhock; Tom Burns and Joan Diamond from the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) at Stanford University; Peter Sherman, Rick Medrick, James Pitman, and the graduate students in Prescott Colleges Environmental Studies program; Josie Plaut, Brian Dunbar, Jennifer Schill, Helene Gotthelf and the team and board members from the Center for Living Environments and Regeneration (CLEAR); and the Cascade Canyon School community and its board of trustees.

I am indebted to the following for their suggestions and their help in gathering updated information about numerous programs: Kayla Cranston, Raz and Liza Ingrasci, Gillian Petrini, Danielle Goldstone, Amy Saltzman, Edwin Rutsch, Jennifer Kobylecky, Theresa McDermit, Dominic Price, Dan ONeill, Rob Dietz, Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Kendall Haven, and Gary Gardner. Special thanks to Nadine Ulloa, Tom Sebastian, Joey Hodges, Lia Rudnick, Phyllis Mufson, Blanchefleur Macher, Michal Levin, Bob Apte, Spencer Beebe, Mark Samolis, Mark Woodrow, and Bruce Hammond for engaging in discussions over many years on topics of mutual interest, and to the Diamond Heart and yoga community for helping me discover new ways to integrate my mind, body, and heart. I am grateful to Rand Selig for his feedback, which provided important context in the early drafts of the manuscript.