A Teacher
Charles Eisenstein
We are not separate selves in a dead universe but threads of one living web, and a more beautiful world becomes possible the moment we believe it.
The transmission
Charles Eisenstein is an American author, speaker, and philosopher who writes on economics, ecology, consciousness, and cultural transition. A Yale graduate in mathematics and philosophy, he spent years in Taiwan as a translator before turning to writing.
His best-known works are ‘Sacred Economics’ (2011) and ‘The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible’ (2013), alongside ‘The Ascent of Humanity’ and ‘Climate: A New Story.’ His central ideas are ‘interbeing,’ the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, and the shift from a ‘Story of Separation’ to a ‘Story of Interbeing.’
What they gave
Interbeing: Centers his philosophy on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, casting the self as a thread in one living web.
- From Separation to Interbeing: Diagnoses a cultural ‘Story of Separation’ and argues for a shift to a ‘Story of Interbeing.’
- Sacred economics: Reframes money and economy around the gift, articulating a transition away from scarcity-based exchange.
- A new story for civilization: Extends interbeing into ecology and climate, proposing that a more beautiful world becomes possible once believed.
The line they stand in
Taught by / Influenced by: the New Thought tradition that mind shapes reality; Buddhist ‘interbeing’ via Thich Nhat Hanh; gift-economy and degrowth thought; and ecological and systems philosophy.
- Taught / Influenced: the regenerative culture movement; and spiritual ecology readers.
Revelations they taught
Essential Works
- Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition2011
- The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible2013
- Climate: A New Story2018