A FUTURE TO BELIEVE IN: 108 REFLECTIONS

“This book should be made mandatory world-wide for all heads of state.”

~ Lissa Wolsak, Author of In Defense of Being.

“A Future to Believe In is a message the world needs to hear now!”

~ Bill McKibben, Author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.

After four years in creation, Alan Clements brings us a visionary new book, A Future to Believe In: 108 Reflections On the Art and Activism of Freedom. In it he weaves the wisdom of hundreds of the world’s most creative and courageous thinkers – artists, activists, scientists, and risk-takers – in with his own most compelling life-lessons, questions, and discoveries, from his forty-year long pursuit of truth and freedom – an epic journey of world travel, spiritual exploration, scholarly study and political activism, that has taken him from the sacredness of monastic silence deep into the dark heart of war zones.

An iconoclastic blend of radical cultural commentary, edgy political punditry and provocative life-inquiry, this field guide for revolutionaries, and a model for a new society, is designed to liberate the human spirit – igniting gutsy transformation in one’s daily life and nonviolent political change around the world. Burma’s Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, with whom Clements co-authored the acclaimed book of conversations, The Voice of Hope, calls this global movement a revolution of the spirit or the awakening of a new language of freedom. By fearlessly fusing timeless spiritual values with nonviolent political actions, we can unite and co-create a future to believe in.

"Alan Clements' magnificent book provides a courageous and intelligent compass personifying our aspirations for freedom and wisdom, and in so doing, offers insights on how to shape a future that gives life hope; make this book your guide, mentor and friend."

~ Dr Helen Caldicott, Author of Nuclear Power is Not the Answer and If you Love this Planet, Founding President Physicians for Social Responsibility.

“In this radiant book is a new consciousness.” Lowry Burgess, artist, professor, creator of the first official Non-Scientific Art Payload taken into outer space by NASA in 1989.

“This book provides the essential wisdom – the spiritual intelligence – to learn to listen to the planet, to life – the core intelligence of nature and the human heart.”

~ Derrick Jensen, Author of Culture of Make Believe.

"A Future to Believe In is a treasure, not a mere book."~ Paul Hawken, Author of Blessed Unrest. 

"At a time when the contemporary spiritual landscape has become dangerously gentrified and domesticated, Alan Clements restores us to our senses – wild and elemental. He summons the voices of those who, along side him, have not traded their souls for the market-driven need to be tame or acceptable, and points us to the wilderness of true, engaged, fiercely authentic awakening. This is why we are alive—to set freedom free, in ourselves and for others, in every aspect of our lives from the most mundane daily task, to the most profound political act."

~ Kelly Wendorf, author and editor Stories of Belonging

"This book is the music of wisdom, a dance with the finest places of the human heart. You will want to keep this timeless treasure within reach, so you can open it to any page, and let a paragraph or a line ignite you again to the truth of your own being."

~ Joanna Macy, Buddhist teacher, activist and author of World as Lover, World As Self.

Praise for A FUTURE TO BELIEVE IN

“This culture is killing the planet. If we are to have any future at all, we must unlearn everything this culture has taught us and begin to listen to the planet, to listen to life — the core intelligence of nature and the human heart. This book not only helps us with that unlearning process — the greatest challenge humankind has every faced — it provides the essential wisdom, the spiritual intelligence, to open ourselves to fi nally start to hear.” ~ Derrick Jensen, Author of Endgame and Deep Green Resistance

“This book is the music of wisdom, a dance with the fi nest places of the human heart. It is also like a walk with your favorite friends, mentors and teachers as they point out the beauties of the journey. You will want to keep this timeless treasure within reach, so you can open it to any page, and let a paragraph or a line ignite you again to the truth of your own being.” ~ Joanna Macy, Author of World as Lover, World As Self and Pass it On: Five Stories that Can Change the World

“For 10,000 years, the mantra of our material civilization has been Compete and Consume, but the inspiration for the new paradigm is to Cooperate and Conserve. Alan Clements’ elegant, humane Refl ections teach us how to cooperate in order to cherish and preserve that good and beautiful and raptured thing we call freedom. Achieving that is the key to building a future that loves and protects the biosphere within which we interdepend. This is a wonderful collection of wise and glittering things that will travel everywhere from hand to hand, and heart to heart.” ~ Gregory David Roberts, Author of Shantaram 2 ~ A

“At a time when the contemporary spiritual landscape has become dangerously gentrifi ed and domesticated, Alan Clements restores us to our senses — wild and elemental. He summons the voices of those who, along side him, have not traded their souls for the market-driven need to be tame or acceptable, and points us to the wilderness of true, engaged, fi ercely authentic awakening. This is why we are alive — to set freedom free, in ourselves and for others, in every aspect of our lives from the most mundane daily task, to the most profound political act.” ~ Kelly Wendorf, Author and editor Stories of Belonging

“A Future To Believe In provides us with a standing wave of insight, a perpetually central pivot pertaining eminently to private and political spheres, inextricable, afterall. This book should be made mandatory world-wide for all heads of state.” ~ Lissa Wolsak, Author of In Defense of Being, Squeezed Light and Pen Chants

“A Future to Believe is a tapestry of wisdom and inspiration from countless cultures and eras of humanity.” ~ Eunice Wong, Essayist and Books Editor at Truthdig

“This brilliant almanac of wisdom for everyday life is a must-read for anyone seeking inspiration, and spiritual know-how, in these challenging times. I’ve never read anything quite like “A Future To Believe In.” Absolutely wonderful.” ~ Mark Matousek, Author of Ethical Wisdom: What Makes Us Good and When You’re Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living

“A Future To Believe In is a book that carries the necessary tension to encourage and motivate the critical self refl ection so necessary for the healing and transformation so desperately needed in the world.” ~ Claude AnShin Thomas, Award winning author of At Hell’s Gate: A Soldier’s Journey From War To Peace. Zen Buddhist Monk and Vietnam Combat Veteran