Savage Grace: Living Resiliently in the Dark Night of the Globe

by Andrew Harvey, Carolyn Baker

In the boldest and most daring book either author has ever written, Andrew Harvey and Carolyn Baker confront us with the life and death reality of the global crisis and the fact that four crucial strategies must be employed not only to survive the dark night, but to inhabit our bodies and our lives with passionate authenticity, honesty, vigilance, community, compassion, and service. These strategies are Reconnection, Resistance, Resilience, and Regeneration. Deep and unprecedented reconnection with self, others, and Earth must be our mission, regardless of the outcome. Distinguishing between “problems” which have solutions and “predicaments” which can only be responded to, Harvey and Baker articulate precisely how we have arrived at this unprecedented juncture and offer strategies of resistance against the fundamental enemies of humanity and the Earth. Such a response demands of us something far deeper than what conventional religions and visions of activism call for--nothing less than living and acting from the Sacred Self, both without illusion and totally committed to compassion and justice even, if necessary, in hopeless situations. With Trump, it’s as if the Titanic has hit the iceberg. We are the passengers. The only question before us, and before the whole world, is how we stop the ripping of our hull. The original Titanic sunk due to human arrogance. There is still time for us to save ourselves with the power of humility, resistance and renewal. This book offers a compelling and profound pathway for human survival after hitting the iceberg. —Jim Garrison, Founder and President of Ubiquity University. A powerful manual for a spiritual revolution! Read it, pray it, reflect on it, and then start acting on it...because the future of the world depends on it. —Adam Bucko, co-author of Occupy Spirituality and The New Monasticism

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy

190 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2017

About the author

Andrew Harvey is an author, religious scholar and teacher of mystic traditions, known primarily for his popular nonfiction books on spiritual or mystical themes, beginning with his 1983 A Journey in Ladakh.

From Wikipeadia

Reviews

[E. Amato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book by accident - it was Kali on the cover that got me. This book was published in 2017 and in some ways, is already dated. Yet in others, it is affirmative, supportive and above all, useful.

If you are already an activist, there will be a lot in this book that you are aware of, perhaps overly aware of. What Harvey and Baker do well, though, is to connect the very necessary activism of right now to ancient traditions, sacred practices and archetypes. They remind us to carry our humanity with us into the struggle and to struggle because we are human and that's what humans do, whether or not we are going to win.

The authors bring in material from all over from sacred texts to pop culture mag articles and a whole lot in between. Most of the wow moments in the book are from this quoted material. But so what; I'm grateful they've pulled all this knowledge together and happy to go read the source material that is new to me.

This book is not about grassroots activism or the many movements locally, nationally and internationally that have created a groundswell around the climate crisis and social justice. But those people are not the audience for this book. This book intends to get the uninvolved involved. It intends to wake up those who have been sleepwalking or activate those who have only been worrying and overthinking. I think it probably goes a long way in succeeding in that and certainly in stating a case for activism at any cost.

There are a few chilling moments when it's hard to believe this book was written pre-pandemic. So let's just say that we are on a path that was seen by some and not by everyone, but we need to get everyone on board in this fight.

[Laura Keeth-Rowledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very powerful book. All the more so if read with others who can help each other process it’s teachings and move forward.

[Carol Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent and timely project from Andrew Harvey and Carolyn Baker. Having followed Harvey's work for some time now, I notice I particularly enjoy his passionate exhortations to Mystics of all persuasions to join a call to arms during this time of global crisis. Calling out the tendency of the New Age for addiction to illusion and navel gazing seems like a vitally important deed and one at which Harvey succeeds to great purpose. Yet what this book excels at is in providing a synopsis of the vital work of some of the most poignant voices of our time - Chris Hedges, Naomi Klein, Marion Woodman, Philip Shepherd - and fleshing it out with the call to response required by the modern day mystic.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revised to 4 stars. At first glance this might seem a bit dated as Trump is no longer president, but as I'm writing this, the GOP is planning Trump's comeback so it actually is relevant to today. The warning about GOP fascism is well stated and definitely I recommend reading this book if only for that chapter. The most poignant parts for me were the authors' clear statements about the climate catastrophe coming and the fact they didn't try to sugar coat the situation. What was most meaningful for me was the discussion of how we can face this crisis without surrendering to despair or clutching false hope. Even if we aren't to survive the global changes coming, our intentions and actions and the state of our spirit matter. We can face what's coming with "a bright sadness" which is not defeat. The reason I didn't give this book more stars is the exercises and suggestions for community action aren't applicable or possible for all people in all situations. But it's not the authors' fault there's no panacea or cure for us all. But the book is an important one, a wake up call for the spirit, and acknowledgement of we kindred spirits who feel grief for the planet, the animals, all living beings & the innocents we humans are harming with our greed and destructive policies.

[SilentWitness13 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid third spent on is Trump a Facist

The book had potential but squandered it with around a third being wasted around whether Trump is a Facist or not.. ... After saying "Trump is a symptom, not the cause" and a all too brief discussion on the much more important underlay issues that gave rise to him. 🤔

The rest is rushed and poorly organised, if not outright inconsistent. Unfortunate given the possibility of the topic.

[Fran Rybarik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savage Grace

I read this for a book club. At times, it felt slow and very repetitive, as the authors applied their 4 Rs to various concepts, but I kept finding little pearls of wisdom. Their information on food most interesting.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great collection of sources to dig further into, and I might have found it more helpful if I read it when it was published instead of after one Trump presidency and on the possible cusp of an even more cataclysmic one.

[Fanona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real good idea for everyone to read now. Lots of useful resources within too.

[Denisa M.]

What a read!

Powerful book, to the point, written for those who intuitively know the paradoxical nature of the times we live in.

Brilliant read!

[Jodi Gehr]

It might seem odd to call a book that enumerates all of the things devastatingly wrong in our political, cultural and eco-environment hopeful, but it is. Giving time and energy towards the right things while detaching from the outcome is a hopeful way to live.

My fav quotes and thoughts:

Be, "inspired to discover in yourself that Self that has never been born and will never die and that lives in a subtle and calm joy that no circumstances, even the more terrible, can destroy…Our vision of resistance and activism does not depend on hopeful outcomes."

Five realities…facilitate a further descent into fascism: The first is the death of conscience. The second is the death of facts. Third, death of any expectation of a sane and grounded leadership. Fourth, death of faith in humanity. Fifth, death of the sacred.

“…the most authentic activism is an activism that originates in our own heartbreak over a particular type of suffering that compels us to take action to alleviate it.”

Activist Miki Kashtan writes that “Non-attachment is not about letting go of wanting. Rather it’s about owning our needs and staying open to the possibility of having them continue to be unmet, which is and has been the reality for so many of us for so many centuries or more.” We bring our hearts into our work and talk less about what “must” happen and more about the pain at what IS happening and our longing for a different world…letting go of attachment is not the same as letting go of our desire for change. For example, we want all of the children of the world to be safe and have sufficient food. We work toward that end. Rather it is about being able to tolerate internally the possibility that it might not happen that all of the children in the world will be safe and have sufficient food.