Events - Event View

"Interbeing" is Thich Nhat Hanh’s modern formulation of the ancient concept of “pratityasamutpada,” or “Dependent Origination,” defined as the unity of all life.

This concept parallels recent scientific discoveries in forest and agro ecology about how plant life depends upon networks joining roots, fungi and bacteria. Known as the 'wood-wide web' and the soil-food web, the networks emerge in an underground region known as the rhizosphere. 

These discoveries inform innovative new farming practices promoting long-term soil health as well as climate-beneficial carbon sequestration. Collectively known as Regenerative Agriculture, such practices have yielded encouraging local results since their adoption two years ago at City Farm San Luis Obispo.

A new book by a pioneer in studies of the rhizosphere, Suzanne Simard, titled Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, combines extensive scientific explanation of her work with dramatic autobiographical narrative. The book concludes with affirmations about humanity’s place in nature that draw upon indigenous wisdom and complement Thich Nhat Han’s  teachings on Interbeing. 

Interbeing image courtesy of Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation

Rhizosphere image courtesy of www.frontiersin.org