Lunch with Bokara
THE TAOIST AND THE ACTIVIST
with Dr. Benjamin Tong and Julia Butterfly Hill
Available on DVD and video cassette

Select a Program from the Series:
Meditation, Emotions & Body Language
Food for the Soul
Healing, Family & Community
The Monk & The Rabbi
Transformation and Mindfulness
Zen and the Art of African Initiation
Compassion in Action
The Heart of Islam
Myths, Money and Meaning
The Taoist and the Activist
Peace through Dialogue
Our Place in the Cosmos
God is Everywhere...and Nowhere

In the ancient Taoist tradition of China, to fully observe and appreciate nature is not only a form of spiritual practice, but also a way of living, as with all beings in nature, emphasizing minimalism, simplicity and anonymity. Environmentalism, also inspired by a profound respect for nature, emphasizes creating positive change and working to save planet earth from degradation and destruction.

In this program, Taoist professor and psychologist Dr. Benjamin Tong meets environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill, the world's most famous "tree-sitter". Julia became an international symbol of environmental activism by living for over two years high atop an old-growth redwood tree in northern California, a tree she named "Luna", which she ultimately saved from destruction.

Meeting for the first time, these two guests share thoughts on subjects ranging from compassion and attachment, to anger and finally, Nature as a spiritual path. In this unique lunch conversation, witness the contemplative tradition of Taoism, alongside the committed, activist approach of today's environmental movement.

"So often activism is based on what we are against, what we don't like, what we don't want. And yet we manifest what we focus on. And so we are manifesting yet ever more of what we don't want, what we don't like, what we want to change. So for me, activism is about a spiritual practice as a way of life. And I realized I didn't climb the tree because I was angry at the corporations and the government; I climbed the tree because when I fell in love with the redwoods, I fell l in love with the world. So it is my feeling of 'connection' that drives me, instead of my anger and feelings of being disconnected."
Julia Butterfly Hill

"We get in trouble being human beings when we are attached to how life should turn out. If we are attached to 'reputation', who makes us who we are, or whatever we are attached to, it makes for - to borrow from the language of Star Wars - 'a disturbance in the force'. Something is instantly out of balance. And it was, Lao-Tse, the founder of Taoism who said, 'Our needs are few; our wants are endless'."
Dr. Benjamin Tong