We outline the reasons that led us to adopt the term second renaissance for this moment of civilizational crisis & awakening - recognising that it is but one framing for what is going on in the world
This is a beautiful project, and I am very inspired as I gaze upon the “ecosystem map” you created.
I’m a newcomer to this space — largely working to preserve the inner soul of Judaism while reckoning with our deep entanglement with settler colonial ideology. As a community ecologist, I hope to get the opportunity to explore more deeply this complex landscape of thinkers, activists, scholars, and teachers — each feeling the demand of our moment: the zeitgeist.
I found the notion of the ecology of love through my own introspection. This concept lies at the heart of Judaism, but seems to be time and time again lost to the self-preservation instincts that maintain the Jewish people as separate and distinct. I have found a niche in this ecosystem where I must build a bridge: between Judaism and Christianity, between neighbors and kin.
I’m excited to see where this second renaissance takes us, and pray this vast community will have the courage and wisdom necessary to abolish tribalism and systems of domination.
Jordan thank-you for comment - it's lovely to hear from you.
As you so rightly share, there is a lot of resonance with these ideas in our wisdom traditions including Judaism. That phrase "ecology of love" is beautiful and resonates a lot.
And finally if you want to meet others you may be interested in our regular biweekly connection calls - you can see a list of upcoming ones at https://secondrenaissance.net/events
Food for thought is that it may be a bigger shift that the Renaissance was. It also could be compared to when Copernicus took Earth out of the center of the universe, where Earth's domination went well with kings, but with this new information eventually we got to democracy. Brian Swimme, who I see as one of the most important people alive today, says, "Our revolution in thinking dwarfs Copernicus’s announcement that the Earth travels around the Sun." A new comic order is even more seismic than a renaissance.. I'm just saying...
Yes, this point that the second renaissance could be, in some significant ways, more profound than the first resonates a lot with e.g. Ken Wilber and Integral's idea that we are moving to "2nd tier" stages (the key distinction being that once we get to 2nd tier we have multiple perspectives and the idea of cultural and ontological evolution).
It’s also nice that the whole “re-birth” etymology of the word captures a “reclaiming” of wisdom that was lost. In the first renaissance there was a resurgence of fraternal societies, and Hermeticism, Rosecrutianism and Masonry that all contributed to civilization turning toward modernity.
A lot of those same interests are bubbling up again now, along with wisdom from the indigenous, the feminine, that which has been repressed in the collective shadow, and what Ken Wilber calls “Waking Up” (the states of consciousness that are available via spiritual practice, culminating in a nondual, eternal, infinite blissful love and loving bliss.)
> It’s also nice that the whole “re-birth” etymology of the word captures a “reclaiming” of wisdom that was lost. In the first renaissance there was a resurgence of fraternal societies, and Hermeticism, Rosecrutianism and Masonry that all contributed to civilization turning toward modernity.
Exactly: that sense of reclaiming or reuniting or reintegrating wisdom that was lost - this is also what Varela was pointing at.
And I like your examples - we ourselves have been reflecting quite a bit on what, for example, a "freemasonry" of the second renaissance would like. More on that coming soon.
> A lot of those same interests are bubbling up again now, along with wisdom from the indigenous, the feminine, that which has been repressed in the collective shadow, and what Ken Wilber calls “Waking Up” (the states of consciousness that are available via spiritual practice, culminating in a nondual, eternal, infinite blissful love and loving bliss.)
This is a beautiful project, and I am very inspired as I gaze upon the “ecosystem map” you created.
I’m a newcomer to this space — largely working to preserve the inner soul of Judaism while reckoning with our deep entanglement with settler colonial ideology. As a community ecologist, I hope to get the opportunity to explore more deeply this complex landscape of thinkers, activists, scholars, and teachers — each feeling the demand of our moment: the zeitgeist.
I found the notion of the ecology of love through my own introspection. This concept lies at the heart of Judaism, but seems to be time and time again lost to the self-preservation instincts that maintain the Jewish people as separate and distinct. I have found a niche in this ecosystem where I must build a bridge: between Judaism and Christianity, between neighbors and kin.
I’m excited to see where this second renaissance takes us, and pray this vast community will have the courage and wisdom necessary to abolish tribalism and systems of domination.
Jordan thank-you for comment - it's lovely to hear from you.
As you so rightly share, there is a lot of resonance with these ideas in our wisdom traditions including Judaism. That phrase "ecology of love" is beautiful and resonates a lot.
And finally if you want to meet others you may be interested in our regular biweekly connection calls - you can see a list of upcoming ones at https://secondrenaissance.net/events
Food for thought is that it may be a bigger shift that the Renaissance was. It also could be compared to when Copernicus took Earth out of the center of the universe, where Earth's domination went well with kings, but with this new information eventually we got to democracy. Brian Swimme, who I see as one of the most important people alive today, says, "Our revolution in thinking dwarfs Copernicus’s announcement that the Earth travels around the Sun." A new comic order is even more seismic than a renaissance.. I'm just saying...
Yes, this point that the second renaissance could be, in some significant ways, more profound than the first resonates a lot with e.g. Ken Wilber and Integral's idea that we are moving to "2nd tier" stages (the key distinction being that once we get to 2nd tier we have multiple perspectives and the idea of cultural and ontological evolution).
All good reasons for choosing the name!
It’s also nice that the whole “re-birth” etymology of the word captures a “reclaiming” of wisdom that was lost. In the first renaissance there was a resurgence of fraternal societies, and Hermeticism, Rosecrutianism and Masonry that all contributed to civilization turning toward modernity.
A lot of those same interests are bubbling up again now, along with wisdom from the indigenous, the feminine, that which has been repressed in the collective shadow, and what Ken Wilber calls “Waking Up” (the states of consciousness that are available via spiritual practice, culminating in a nondual, eternal, infinite blissful love and loving bliss.)
> It’s also nice that the whole “re-birth” etymology of the word captures a “reclaiming” of wisdom that was lost. In the first renaissance there was a resurgence of fraternal societies, and Hermeticism, Rosecrutianism and Masonry that all contributed to civilization turning toward modernity.
Exactly: that sense of reclaiming or reuniting or reintegrating wisdom that was lost - this is also what Varela was pointing at.
And I like your examples - we ourselves have been reflecting quite a bit on what, for example, a "freemasonry" of the second renaissance would like. More on that coming soon.
> A lot of those same interests are bubbling up again now, along with wisdom from the indigenous, the feminine, that which has been repressed in the collective shadow, and what Ken Wilber calls “Waking Up” (the states of consciousness that are available via spiritual practice, culminating in a nondual, eternal, infinite blissful love and loving bliss.)
Spot on. We want to see insights and growth in all the major dimensions: waking up, cleaning up, growing up and showing up. (What we often term, rather jargonly unfortunately, as multi-dimensional ontological growth - see for example https://lifeitself.org/blog/developmental-spaces-for-an-age-of-transition or https://developmentalspaces.org)