The Tao of Liberation

Overview

A Nautilus Book Award Winner

"The Tao of Liberation is a path-breaking book. It brings together the insights of cosmology, ecology, and spirituality in a fresh and powerful way. With their creative collaboration, Mark Hathaway and Leonardo Boff offer us a remarkable new synthesis which will surely become an enduring classic." --Brian Swimme, Director, Center for the Story of the Universe, California Institute of Integral Studies.

"I love this book. Its inspiration lives up to its ambition - leading the reader through some of the most complex issues of our age (from globalization and the current recession to climate change and loss of species) while illuminating a path forward through religion and spirituality. Having had the great privilege of serving on the Earth Charter Commission with Leonardo Boff, it was not a new idea that our values and our faith have immediate relevance to the current interlocking web of crises in which we find ourselves. Together he and Mark Hathaway have written a transcendent work of eco-liberation and planetary survival." --Elizabeth May, O.C., Leader, Green Party of Canada

"There is no other book that has so carefully identified the new cosmology of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme as a liberating context for a sustainable future. This is a masterful and important work." :--Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University

"The Tao of Liberation is a monumental contribution toward tackling the global crisis, including analyses that plumb the roots of the crisis and proposals for a fundamental change of direction. The text draws on science, economics, ethics and spirituality, integrating them in a scenario that just might pull us back from the precipice." --David G. Hallman, Advisor to the World Council of Churches Climate Change Programme

"A sweeping, comprehensive and poetic manifesto of social and ecological change, as viewed through the eyes of a prominent liberation theologian in partnership with a hands-on spiritual change activist. They weave a vision of not only cultural change, but also spiritual transformation through a renewed, and renewable, relationship with the entire network of creation." --Neil Douglas-Klotz, author, Prayers of the Cosmos

"Leonardo Boff and Mark Hathaway give birth to a great marriage between liberation theology and creation spirituality. I welcome it--it is very timely--and I welcome the dimensions of ecology, cosmology and feminist philosophy applied astutely to the crisis of western capitalism and culture we are all undergoing at this time as well as the deep ecumenism which is so beautifully and aptly invoked in the use of the great Tao Te Ching throughout the text." --Matthew Fox, author, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ

"Global poverty and global ecological destruction represent two of the most important challenges facing the human community. In The Tao of Liberation, Mark Hathaway and Leonardo Boff creatively and movingly explore the interconnection of these twin challenges, deftly blending the wisdom of the world's spiritual traditions and the insights of social science to explore the structural and cultural features underlying our present unsustainable behavior. This is a must read for all of those who seek to understand the critical nexus between the option for the poor and the option for the Earth." --Stephen Bede Scharper, University of Toronto

"Drawing on compelling inter-disciplinary resources, Boff and Hathaway present us with a holistic, comprehensive, and integrated path toward the transformation required if the human experience is to have a future in our Earthly Home. The crisis we face is spiritual, and the 'The Tao of Liberation' is an exciting challenge we ignore at our peril."--Rev. Bill Phipps, Co-founder, Faith and Common Good network

"As we reach a crossroads in the history of humanity, readers will find in this book a wealth of ideas and deep insights about the fundamental shift in human consciousness and the radical transformations in our world that are now required. Among all these ideas, the most important and profound, perhaps, is the one at the very center of the authors' endeavor. Rather than seeing the transition to a sustainable society primarily in terms of limits and restrictions, Hathaway and Boff eloquently propose a new and compelling conception of sustainability as liberation." --Fritjof Capra, author, The Tao of Physics

"The Tao of Liberation is a seamless and creative gospel for our time. Through a vital and integral synthesis of wisdom both ancient and new, Mark Hathaway and Leonardo Boff craft a prophetic and timely work to address new challenges before us. Their guide to an ecology of transformation is a source of inspiration, engagement and hope for all who search for a comprehensive vision, and a new era of healing for earth and its peoples." :--Jim Conlon, author, From The Stars to the Street

"The Tao of Liberation...is lucid and inspiring, making connections between cosmology and ethics, science and spirituality, whole systems theories and consciousness - and explains how these insights, when united, point the way for us to join together in the struggle to renew the Earth.":--Heather Eaton, co-author, Ecofeminism and Globalization

Humanity and the Earth itself stand at an important crossroad. The combined dynamics of deepening poverty and accelerating ecological degradation create a powerful vortex of despair and destruction. And yet Mark Hathaway and Leonardo Boff believe we still have the opportunity to act fruitfully and change direction. Drawing on insights from quantum physics, deep ecology, and the new cosmology, they articulate a new vision of liberating action. In the ancient image of the Tao--the principle of living in balance with the wisdom of the cosmos--they lay out a path of spiritual renewal, ecological transformation, and authentic liberation.

Mark Hathaway lives in Canada where he serves as South America program coordinator for the United Church of Canada.

Leonardo Boff is a Brazilian theologian and the author of many books, including Ecology and Liberation and Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. In 2001 he was the recipient of the prestigious Right Livelihood Award.