The Web of Meaning

Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe

By: Jeremy Lent

Narrated by: Adam Henderson

Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

As our civilization careens towards a precipice of climate breakdown, ecological destruction and gaping inequality, people are losing their existential moorings. Our dominant worldview of disconnection, which tells us we are split between mind and body, separate from each other and at odds with the natural world, has passed its expiration date.

Yet another world is possible.

Award-winning author Jeremy Lent investigates humanity's age-old questions - who am I? why am I? how should I live? - from a fresh perspective, weaving together findings from modern systems thinking, evolutionary biology and cognitive neuroscience with insights from Buddhism, Taoism and Indigenous wisdom.

The result is a breath-taking accomplishment: a rich, coherent worldview based on a deep recognition of connectedness within ourselves, between each other and with the entire natural world.

©2021 Jeremy Lent (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"The Web of Meaning is both a profound personal meditation on human existence and a tour de force weaving together of historic and contemporary world-wide secular and spiritual thought on the deepest question of all: why are we here?" (Gabor Maté MD, author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction)

"We need, now more than ever, to figure out how to make all kinds of connections. This book can help - and therefore it can help with a lot of the urgent tasks we face." (Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?)

beautiful, timely and inspiring

in this book, Jeremy Lent manages to argue for a new philosophical framework which derives insights from several ancient sources, especially Chinese philosophy. while the book touches on many topics it does not feel dense or difficult, Lent understands how to make his message accessible to a wide audience while keeping the content rich, relatable and inspired

Integrative, ethical, committed, ecological.

I loved The Patterning Instinct (Lent's first book) which I frequently return to and re-listen to various chapters, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well. This book is probably a more succinct presentation of his general worldview; it's a very accessible book from one of the most erudite ecological writers on the planet.

The Patterning Instinct Repeated.

Mr Lent seems to have taken most of the content of his last book, rearranged it, added very little and added a call to gentle action in the last half of the last chapter. I found this very disappointing.

the most important book I have read

this book ties in so many strands of who we are...if you believe that more is connected both within and without the I urge you to read it...as well as listen to it. life transforming....

Inspiring and enlightening

This compelling book, the winner of two Nautilus 2022 awards in the categories of “World Cultures, transformational growth and development” and “Science and Cosmology”, addresses with profound clarity how humanity’s loss of balance within ourselves and with the natural world has brought civilization to the brink of collapse. It also suggests a way out – a path of integration, recognizing our deep interconnectedness, that could lead toward a new ecological civilization. The Web of Meaning is a call for acknowledging what both our newest science and our oldest spiritual traditions (including Buddhist, Neo-Confucian and Indigenous philosophies) tell us: that we are all inextricably interconnected with one another and with nature. Development students, practitioners and scholars engaging with this book will recognise strong connections between their personal efforts to contribute to “positive changes” in the world and the reflections from the book, which might ultimately reinforce their deepest convictions and motivation.