Becoming Forest

A Story of Deep Belonging

By: Michael Kearney MD, Tess Leak - illustrator

Narrated by: Michael Kearney

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Becoming Forest opens with Aishling—the young Irish woman at the heart of this story—as she visits her grandmother in California following her grandfather’s death. Aishling finds her grandfather’s journal and reads about a trip he made to India years ago to visit the original Bodhi Tree, the place where the Buddha found enlightenment.

At the end of the journal, she finds a letter addressed to her from her grandfather asking for her help passing along his message of “deep security” to her generation as they deal with the climate crisis and the uncertain future ahead. Aishling goes to India to follow in her grandfather’s path to find a way of responding to his request. There she meets and falls in love with a young Buddhist monk, who is also on a quest. As they walk together along the roads of India, they gather unexpected and invaluable insights from each other and come closer to the answers they both seek.

Thirty years later, Aishling’s daughter Tara is visiting her in Ireland. Tara is grieving the death of her father and also the destruction of the forests from drought and fire. She is also searching for a way to heal the burnout she and her friends are experiencing while working to combat climate change. Becoming Forest weaves together threads of Native American and Celtic spirituality with Buddhist understanding and connection to the natural world, creating a tapestry which holds both the despair and awakening of Aishling

©2023 Michael Kearney (P)2023 All Night Books

Critic reviews

“Becoming Forest is a bold, imaginative tale that serves as a handbook for psychological and spiritual resilience in the face of imminent climate collapse. It is a moving vision for new ways of dwelling on the earth. Combining Michael Kearney’s professional experience as a palliative care doctor and his Irish cultural background as a lover of nature and all living things, he invites us to embrace the wisdom of the forest. This engaging and timely work is a must for all readers committed to radical environmental change.” — Mary Robinson, 7th President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights and former UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, and author of Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future

“Becoming Forest is filled with awe, love, and appreciation for this phenomenon we call tree. I love how tree, in its own right, is appearing as this call to sanity for humanity in this moment. That we have tree - how this improves our chances!” — Joanna Macy, environmental activist; scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology; and author of, World as Lover, World as Self

“This beautiful book is a powerful allegory for our time, and, as well, a remarkable story of a spiritual journey that is also timeless. Written by Dr. Michael Kearney, the renowned and beloved palliative care physician, the reader is taken into the heart and life of what it means to be wise, courageous, and resilient in the face of enormous adversity. This book will inspire hope and strength in any reader.” — Roshi Joan Halifax, Buddhist teacher, anthropologist, author, pioneer in the field of end-of-life care, and author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet