In the early sixties, Stuart Schlegel went into a remote rainforest on the Philippine island of Mindanao as an anthropologist in search of material. What he found was a group of people whose tolerant, gentle way of life would transform his own values and beliefs profoundly. Wisdom from a Rainforest is Schlegel's testament to his experience and to the Teduray people of Figel, from whom he learned such vital, lasting lessons.

Schlegel's lively account of Teduray society depicts a peaceful, noncompetitive society whose ideals contrast strikingly with Western values. In their gathering and their hunting, as well as in their subsistence cultivation, the Teduray were careful and mindful inhabitants of the forest.

The author portrays their deep respect for nature and one another and recounts with great vividness how their behavior and traditions revolved around kindness and compassion for humans, animals, and the spirits sharing their worlds. Schlegel describes the Teduray's remarkable legal system and their strong story-telling tradition, their elaborate cosmology and their ritual celebrations.