About the Organization Green Sangha brings spiritual practice and environmental work together to heal our planet. Our mission is to bring healing to ourselves, one another, and the earth through thoughts, words, and actions rooted in love. Green Sangha chapters meet once a month to meditate, educate, and support each other, and to plan and perform direct environmental actions. Our time together is designed to help develop the qualities of calmness, lucidity, and awareness which we believe are vital to our work as spiritually-based environmental activists. We are non-denominational and find inspiration from the lives of non-violent leaders such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., The Dalai Lama, and Julia Butterfly Hill. We incorporate a deep ecological perspective and experiential exercises based on Joanna Macy's work. Our groups are based on shared leadership and full participation. If you are interested in environmental activism as spiritual practice you are invited to join us! Meeting Locations Calendar of Events Contact Green Sangha About the Founder Jonathan Gustin is a writer, speaker, and activist in the spiritually based environmental activist movement. Since his days in college he has been very concerned about the subtle hostility he found in many peace groups and the ensuing burnout that activism based in anger produces. He founded Green Sangha in September 2000 with the intention of having a group of people perform activism not as a reaction to what they oppose in the world, but rather from their love of the world. Jonathan is also a licensed psychotherapist maintaining a private practice in spiritual mentoring and psychotherapy in San Francisco and San Rafael, California. He also leads private one day rites of passage ceremonies, wilderness quests, and men's groups. For inquires about having Jonathan speak at your event or about his private practice/rites of passage ceremonies please call 415-460-9292 or e-mail him at jonathangustin@hotmail.com Green Sangha: Mission Statement Who We Are Green Sangha is a spiritual community committed to environmental action. Our practice is to bring healing to ourselves, one another, and the earth through thoughts, words, and actions rooted in love. Our Mission We envision a world where a healthy biosphere supports the infinite creativity and diversity of all life. Green Sangha members intend to "walk our talk" by making individual lifestyle choices and by engaging in local/national actions that promote systemic, positive change to the environment. We seek to engage in the work of the restoration of the earth on several fronts: We recognize that the destruction wrought upon the earth is a result of humanities thinking that we are separate from other life forms. Green Sangha works to educate people about the interconnectedness of all life. We recognize that activists sometimes forget that those who they are opposing are also part of the one body of the earth. This forgetfulness can lead to subtle hostility and burn out. Green Sangha endeavors to inspire activists to meet those that they oppose with thoughts, words, and actions rooted in love, thereby leading to a more sustainable activism. We recognize that if humanity is to survive, the general population must be mobilized at the grass roots level to perform direct environmental actions. Green Sangha provides a model for ordinary citizens to meet in their living rooms one afternoon a month to plan and perform direct environmental actions.