When technology becomes technocracy, it takes away the joy of living and the dignity of life. — Ivan Illich in his 1973 book, Tools for Conviviality, conceptualized the threat that arises when tools and technology reach thresholds beyond which they become irremediably damaging to people and environment. After these thresholds are crossed, tools become destructive not only in cultural and material terms but fatally disabling in personal…

Breaking free from the epistemological trap of a Eurocentric understanding of the world — Conformist action is the routinized, reproductive, repetitive practice which reduces realism to what exists and just because it exists. ~ Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide I wrote about the dangers of being entrapped by a single monomyth in Part II of this series of articles. In Part I…

Beware the meta-narrative running the show — It is easy to forget how mysterious and mighty stories are. They do their work in silence, invisibly. They work with all the internal materials of the mind and self. They become part of you while changing you. Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the…

New metaphors are capable of creating new understandings and, therefore, new realities. ~George Lakoff, Metaphors We Live By — May the best among us, the most visionary, the most inclusive, be the imaginal cells — for now we are in the soup. The outcome of disasters is not foreordained. It’s a conflict, one that takes place while things that were frozen, solid and locked up have become open and…

Reflecting on the civilizational narrative — The relentless pursuit of profit and economic growth above all else has propelled human civilization onto a terrifying trajectory. The uncontrolled climate crisis is the most obvious danger: The world’s current policies have us on track for more than 3° increase by the end of this century, and climate scientists…

Crises of conscience and consciousness… — I had intended to start this article differently, but couldn’t without acknowledging what is happening in India today. India is in the grip of the second wave of Covid 19; and as someone aptly pointed out — it is not a wave; it is a wall. A tsunami hitting the…

Creating narratives that are harbingers of life-affirming paradigm shifts — This is an extraordinary time full of vital, transformative movements that could not be foreseen. It’s also a nightmarish time. Full engagement requires the ability to perceive both. ~Rebecca Solnit quoted in Brainpickings We live in a profoundly damaged world, a wounded and a bleeding planet. The ‘great acceleration’ of…

Scripting new stories, seeking the unseen, unheard, unknown, unacknowledged… — The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson’s line couldn’t have been truer as we enter the third decade of the 21st century. The world is literally and metaphorically dying from ‘civilization’ and its ramifications. If we dig…

Navigating radical uncertainty with radical tenderness… — MATURITY is the ability to live fully and equally in multiple contexts; most especially, the ability, despite our grief and losses, to courageously inhabit the past, the present and the future all at once. The wisdom that comes from maturity is recognized through a disciplined refusal to choose between or…