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‘mud house movement’73 offers a great example of the dangers of unsustainable ultra-nationalism in dematerialisation and greater eco-friendliness. Japan.75 Having faced the dangers of Japanese ultra-nationalism and its aggressive role in World War Twenty-five II,76 he is familiar with the trauma of adjusting to the image of a brutal aggressor nation.77 In discussing a) Even as we engage and explore the traditional and the greatness of local cultures, he explained to me indigenous notions and practices of sustainability, the dangers of social blindness and chauvinism, there is a matter to be sensitive about (as many both of which inevitably lead to a militaristic, cultural sensitive Japanese reminded me). Indigenous supremacy complex and eventually to violent realities can and should be seen as part of a conflicts and loss of lives. Despite my arguments country’s identity, should be protected, and should distinguishing dialogical indigenous notions and be looked to for insight as countries continue to anti-dialogical ultra-nationalistic ideals, he was not grow. Nations should take pride in their heritage, convinced and maintained that the effects of cultural their roots. But for some, this national focus morphs extremism lead to war and that this far outweighs into nationalism: they see their nation’s heritage the argument of the wisdom of sustainability in local as a sign of superiority, as if two cultures could be cultures. The route I took and the potentials I saw compared. This can have certain drastic and tragic in local and indigenous notions were simply not pitfalls. Because of my attraction to local cultures acceptable to him. and practices, Prof. Masato Ikuta,74 based in Kyoto, cautioned me (over several meetings) about b) But consider the reality that I shared with the good 73 The mud house movement, as mentioned earlier, is a small but significant movement in Thailand and other parts of the world that is focused on promoting and building sustainable dwelling places that are also very affordable. For the most part, the mud houses are built with adobe, which provides ample sturdiness and good thermal mass. The houses can be built by the villagers themselves. Some of the oldest and most beautiful mud structures are found in the Middle East. See “Earth Building in Thailand: An Interview with Jon Jandai and Janell Kapoor” for more information. Another initiative that promotes a greener, more natural environment is Vaidyagrama, a ‘green’ Ayurvedic healing village that I go to in Coimbatore, India. Vaidyagrama actively supports dematerialisation by using traditional knowledge to construct ecologically sound buildings. Official rules and regulations in India require all hospitals to have a parking lot on their premises. Not allowing cars onto their premises as a rule, Vaidyagrama responded to this requirement by planting and raising an herb garden where the parking lot would have been! It was a creative, acceptable and non-antagonistic statement made on their part: a win for ‘green’ hospitals everywhere. 74 I had several meetings with Prof. Masato Ikuta from May–June, 2006. 75 Some key features of ultra-nationalism: right wing extremism and non-dialogical articulation of one’s national culture or ideals, authoritarianism, exaggerated construction of enemies, scapegoating and demonisation, pro-conflict or war agenda, militarism, oppression of non-dominant native communities, and demagogic leadership. 76 Occurring around the same period in recent history, Japanese ultra-nationalism resembled German Nazism in many ways. Both involved the exaggerated and violent promotion of what is ‘national’, and aggressively pushed for Pan-Asianism and Pan-Germanism respectively. See Ronald E. Dolan and Robert L. Worden (eds.), Japan: A Country Study. One especially relevant essay entitled “The Rise of the Militarists” reads: ‘Ultranationalism was characteristic of right-wing politicians and conservative military men since the inception of the Meiji Restoration, contributing greatly to the pro-war politics of the 1870s. Disenchanted former samurai had established patriotic societies and intelligence- gathering organisations, such as the Gen’yosha (Black Ocean Society, founded in 1881) and its later offshoot, the Kokuryukai (Black Dragon Society, or Amur River Society, founded in 1901). These groups became active in domestic and foreign politics, helped foment pro-war sentiments, and supported ultranationalist causes through the end of World War II...’ 77 Much debate is in progress in Japan today between the group that wants Japan to recognise its aggressive role in the oppression of many peoples of Asia and the group that supports a form of neo-ultranationalism. For me, it seems to be a struggle between the forces of mindful, sustainable politics against the forces of mindless, unsustainable politics. 71

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professor. Who is articulating the voice of local culture understand life, the world and the cosmos. The today? We can broadly identify three sources: (i) relationships between the social world, the natural national state or government: the voice of nationalism world and the spiritual world are central to people’s and ‘nationalist culture’, (ii) global and national tourism: cosmovisions... In more traditional thinking, the the voice of tourist agencies and ‘touristic culture’78 relationship between humankind and nature is central. and (iii) indigenous/ethno-national communities: the No distinction is made between the sacred and the voice of the indigenous peoples and ‘indigenous profane. Everything is sacred. It is every person’s cultures’. So the voices of a nation’s peoples are not responsibility to live in partnership with Nature. Many uniform and the peoples’ identities and representations of these beliefs pertain mainly to agro-ecological are much richer than what is at first perceived. While practices. For several tribal groups, food crops, like the national government articulates the idea of a millet, rice and grain are sacred, and a gift of the national identity by almost always submerging or Goddess of the Earth.’81 marginalising the cultural identity of sub-regional (i.e. minority and indigenous) communities, commercial d) Many prayers and practices of indigenous mainstream tourism seeks to present and ‘sell’ the communities involve getting permission from natural usually museumised and commodified local cultures ‘guardians’ to use resources. They often focus on as exotic or unique to their tourist clients.79 However, protecting the environment and preserving or using as this research journey showed me, the sites of the resources (governed by the norms of limit) for the cosmologies of sustainability can still be found in the benefit of all – the final beneficiaries are all of us, not cultures and identities of indigenous communities just those in the immediate community. Asian notions across Asia. such as inayan (social negotiation with community- agreed limits), ‘mindfulness’, Tri Hita Karana (Balinese c) If we listened carefully, we would realise that the sustainability principle), kapwa (shared personhood), ‘voice’ of the indigenous culture is the most global in ‘inter-being’, and gimong (shared labour as common spirit, perspective and practice – it is ‘cosmovision’.80 property resource) offer ways to redefine and reframe ‘Cosmovision refers to the way certain populations our understanding of globalisation and the role 78 ‘At the outcome of this double process in which tourism and culture exchanged their respective attributes ­– the inside opening onto the outside as cultural values acquire economic value – the initial opposition between tourism and culture is defused, authorizing at the same time their fusion in the formula of Cultural Tourism. But this is done at the risk of confusing that which belongs to culture and that which pertains to tourism, a confusion in which the Balinese authorities saw, not long ago, the symptoms of a “touristic culture”.’ Michel Picard, Bali: Cultural Tourism and Touristic Culture. Another related comment: ‘Suffice it to say that tourism neither polluted Balinese culture nor entailed its renaissance. Far from being an external force striking a local society from without, tourism – or, rather, what I am inclined to call the touristification of a society – proceeds from within by blurring the boundaries between the inside and the outside, between what is “ours” and what is “theirs”, between that which belongs to “culture” and that which pertains to “tourism”. That is what I mean when I say Balinese culture has become a “touristic culture”. Therefore, instead of asking whether or not Balinese culture has been able to withstand the impact of tourism, we should ask how tourism has contributed to the shaping of Balinese culture.’ Michel Picard, in Michel Picard and Robert E. Wood, (eds.), Tourism, Ethnicity, and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies, 183. 79 See for instance Sri Kuhnt-Saptodewo, Volker Grabowsky and Martin Grobheim (eds.), Nationalism and Cultural Revival in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from the Centre and the Region. Of course, there is a strand of argument that implies that tourism has actually allowed local cultures to develop. While there is truth in this argument, global tourism’s tendency to commodify and museumise in the context of unequal cultural and political power relations forces local cultures and/or heritage and local histories to be ‘adjusted’ or subsumed by the needs of the tourist market. 80 Irene Dankelman, “Culture and Cosmovision: Roots of Natural Resource Management”, 41–52. 81 Ibid, 43. Of course cosmovisions also carry unsustainable features. It is therefore critical that we do not romanticise cosmovisions but approach them with open-mindedness and with a focus on a vision of sustainability. 73

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indigenous notions may play in helping to build are characterised by simplicity and beauty – a simple sustainable futures for all of us. message of and for life. The only thing preventing this simple message from becoming a way of conscious Twenty-six self-development and social organisation is the lack of individual and collective will – cultural, social a) In Thailand, my journey in search of local and political – to nurture it against imperialistic and cosmologies of sustainability took me deep into the hegemonic materialistic and hedonistic cosmologies. mountains, to the villages of the Karen community.82 The wisdom of our elders and indigenous peoples From there, it took me to a monastery managed by continually re-asserts itself: the ‘battle’ for simplicity, Phra Paisal Visalo,83 and finally to a modern ashram, sustainability and sanity has to be fought ‘out there’ sustained by ideas of the engaged Buddhism of Ajarn in public institutions as well as within the hearts and Sulak Sivaraksa.84 In Indonesia, my journey took me minds of each one of us. to Bali and into the homes and terraced rice fields of the Balinese Hindu, where religion is daily lived, Twenty-seven individually and communally, through many rituals and performances. In the Philippines, I went into the In Northern Thailand, I encountered Buddhism, Cordilleras and stayed with families (as I did in Bali) Catholicism and the religion and spirituality of the in Antadao, Mountain Province and Mayoyao, Ifugao indigenous Karen people. In Bali, Indonesia, religion Province. In Japan, I travelled often around the Kyoto- is everywhere. In the Philippine Cordilleras, my Nara cultural area and also to many other areas, into experience with the people’s religion and spirituality shrines, temples, memorials, various types of Japanese was the highlight of my research. The encounters with gardens and into rural towns and villages. Although spirituality took me deeper into these communities I traversed large geographical spaces, I found that, and their rich collective experiences. The realities more than anything, my journeys took me to the that I faced in Thailand, which gathered momentum spiritual core of Asia – its central, beating heart. in Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, offered me many insights to reflect upon. The cultural encounters b) In all these places, I met the young and old, professors significantly influenced my research and understanding and elders, professionals and activists, urban dwellers of the role of spirituality in sustainability. They also and villagers, believers/practitioners of a native enabled me to finally come to terms with the separation ‘Cosmic Religion’, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, of ‘sustainability’ from ‘sustainable development’ (a Shintoists and Muslims – and I realised that Asia has separation I had struggled with from the beginning of answers to our present predicaments caused by the the study). These encounters also suggested that we unsustainable levels of national and global economic need to recover, develop and share Asian cosmologies growth – presented as development. These answers that promote the spirit of sustainability. 82 The Karen are an indigenous hill people spreading largely over Myanmar (eastern and southern parts) and Thailand (northwestern parts) but are also found in Northern Cambodia. There are two main sub-groups of Karen people – the Pwo and Sgaw. When I encountered this community in Thailand, it occurred to me that the map of ‘political Asia’ is really a wrong representation of the ethnic human communities that make up the region. By creating national and political boundaries through carelessly drawn borderlines, we have separated people, their communities, their families, their sacred places and their histories. 83 An API Fellow from the pioneer batch of 2001–2002. 84 Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa is a prominent and outspoken Thai intellectual and social critic. He won the Right Livelihood Award in 1995. An engaged Buddhist, he has founded many organisations, including the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Wongsanit Ashram and Spirit in Education (SEM) movement. 75

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Some Features of the Asian ‘Cosmology of Sustainability’ Twenty-eight a) Asia is rich in spiritual traditions: they are sources of its immense cultural wealth, but also some of its tragic problems. These problems arise when spirituality and its openness to Being is substituted by institutionalised religion, particularly those forms that are expressions of hierarchical, authoritarian power. Such forms are not only aggressive socially, culturally and politically but are also engaged in ‘this-is-the-only-truth-and-the-only- way’ monologues. b) My research journey, however, offered me a great positive insight: Asia’s spiritual traditions85 present sustainability as the ‘other side’ of spirituality – one side looking outward, the other looking inward. To use a practical cliché, they are two sides of the same coin (see Figure 1 below). Figure 1: Spirituality and Sustainability are ‘Two Sides’ of a Single Reality 85 Asia’s spiritual traditions pre-date all institutionalised religions – this thesis was supported by my various discussions with elders and academics. For instance, this is a clear position among many adherents/believers outside mainstream Catholicism in the Philippines. As I have shared elsewhere, the original construction of Christianity/Catholicism suggests that before becoming Christians, the locals were ‘savage’ with no spiritual traditions, and that Europe gave them not only religion, but also its underlying spirituality. This perception is being challenged now. The people who embraced Christianity/Catholicism did not start with a ‘blank spiritual slate’. Rather, they already possessed previous spiritual traditions – which Fr. Niphot, a Catholic priest in Chiang Mai, educated me to see as part of a ‘Cosmic Religion’ – a deeper layer of spirituality upon which the ‘new’ religion was superimposed. In some places, the people (colonisers and the clergy) who brought Christianity/Catholicism destroyed local spiritual traditions by force, while in other areas, they fruitfully engaged with and transformed local traditions while indigenizing Christianity/Catholicism. Many years ago, while doing a documentary feature on Protestant Christianity in Mizoram (a state in Northeastern India), I was told that the priests (of the Presbyterian denomination) who reached Mizoram engaged with and adopted many features of the local traditions to spread the religion and spirit of Christianity. 77

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The Asian indigenous cultural notions and (c) Spirituality is not religion, although without practices of sustainability are permeated with spirituality, religion is meaningless. It is, in a sense, notions of spirituality – and cannot be defined the end point of religious paths… the ‘ocean’ any other way. These practices do not fit the that offers us the opportunity to seek our ‘varied UN’s ‘weak’ definition of sustainability, for they one-ness’. Spirituality helps locate the individual do not promote or practice growth-oriented within the larger purpose of the collective and material development; rather, they promote a the natural cosmos and within the existential relational orientation that captures the nature of ‘relational and emotional ecologies’ defined by engagement between the ‘I’ and every existence such values as sacredness, compassion, love, that is ‘not-I’. It is defined within the openness of respect, balance, empathy, service, joy, wisdom spirituality. and peacefulness.86 It helps the individual to 86 Though it is commonly assumed that ‘God’ or a transcendental Being is essential to the notion of spirituality, this is really not the case. There is such a thing as atheistic spirituality. For instance, Buddhism is a religious practice that engages the believer without a compassionate or impersonal distant God. In addition, the spirit-world of the indigenous people I encountered is an example of a force working to mediate the individual’s and the community’s relationship with the natural cosmos. This relationship is sustained by some of the values cited above, which contribute to sustainable practices. It must be kept in mind that the local terms for these values are culturally specific, and an English translation merely presents an approximation. Some academics I met argued that people’s belief in spirits had no serious or real consequences, but the indigenous people I met engaged with a spirit world with many sustainable consequences in and for the real world. Of course, this is not to discount that some indigenous orientations are unsustainable and have led to conflicts and indiscriminate destruction. See André Comte-Sponville’s The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality and Alain de Botton’s Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion. 79

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engage with the transcendental. It is therefore as and alienation: problems created by capitalist much social and cultural as it is transcendental. It growth-oriented development. And although constantly offers us a way out, a way to go, and the Brundtland Report of the late eighties was a way to be. admirable for getting the conversation started, the solutions that have henceforth been ‘found’ (d) The UN definition of sustainable development87 all too often simply re-focus on the same capitalist simply does not encompass an understanding development that caused the problem in the of Asian traditions and their concerns. In the first place. ‘Core’ Asian traditions, on the other UN’s definition, development carries the marks hand, centre around small communities and an of its birth in dealing with problems created by individual’s own personal relationship with nature. commodification, profit motive, exploitation This is what creates ‘strong’ sustainability. In Asia, 87 In the late 1980s, the United Nations formally set out to address our planet’s crisis of sustainability. They rightly noted that while developed countries were awakening to their environmental impact, developing countries, in their attempt to industrialise as quickly as possible, had begun implementing low-cost methods with high environmental impact and unethical labour practices. Thus, the UN created the Brundtland Commission to study the global impact and effects of industry in our modern world. The commission had three wide-ranging goals: to re- examine the relationship between environment and development and formulate ‘realistic action proposals’ in response to the issues they found; to strengthen international alliances along the lines of environment and development and form new cooperatives to push the world in the direction of positive change; and to raise awareness of sustainability issues, pushing businesses, governments and organisations toward a commitment to action. The commission’s final Report, issued in 1987 under the title “Our Common Future”, was spot-on in many ways. It recognised that environment and development are inseparable entities, it noted the importance of acknowledging various ‘needs’ and ‘limitations’ in the context of sustainable development, and it marked the significance of ‘intergenerational equity’. It was, in fact, the Brundtland Commission that introduced the three pillars of sustainability mentioned earlier in the text: economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity. But by placing most of the impetus on big businesses to change their strategies, they failed to recognise the importance of change in the culture itself. Thus, the message of sustainability quickly got swept up in exactly the same pattern of capitalistic thought that caused the crisis of the environment in the first place! Simply witness the way ‘sustainable development’ so quickly became a source of new revenue streams, rather than long-term solutions. 81

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there are ‘cosmologies of sustainability’ that are love, respect, harmony, empathy, service, joy, non-materialistic and development patterns that wisdom and peacefulness. These principles and are not growth-oriented. These cosmologies values are not necessarily utopian88 – but they nurture all life through a dynamic of the mindful and do encourage an active spiritual self-awareness, interconnected present. They promote a lifestyle a ‘universalising meditative interiority’ that guided by the principles of ‘limit and balance’ expresses itself through positive ecological, social and help us live sustainably and spiritually, guided and symbolic thoughts and practices. They put our by values as critical as sacredness, compassion, spiritual selves in direct dialogue with the exterior Engaged Buddhism and Catholicism: A Response to Social and Political Hegemony of Market and Commodity Culture (In the context of mainstream Urbanism in Thailand) Transformation of Buddhism Transformation of Catholicism ‘Engaged Buddhism’ ‘Engaged Catholicism’ (based on the work of Zen Buddhist (based on the deliberations teacher Thich Nhat Hanh) of Vatican II) Co-existence with ‘Cosmic Religion’ (what mainstream anthropology termed as ‘animism’) Re-appropriation of Traditions Re-signification of the World (Human and Natural Worlds) Getting in Touch with the Spirit of Sustainability Re-establishing the Cosmology of Sustainability Figure 2: Engaged Buddhism and Catholicism 88 I like to see this as the ‘Shiva complex’. Lord Shiva is one of three deities who form the trinity of the Hindu pantheon. Whereas the other two deities represent ‘creation’ and ‘preservation’, Lord Shiva, the ‘destroyer’, represents the destruction of Evil and the regeneration of the Cosmos (and the Human World as Good). Lord Shiva is strongly associated with creative regeneration, which is not possible without creative destruction. Thus, the Shiva Complex represents a spiral dynamic – holding creation, preservation and destruction all together – in a developmental movement of ‘increasing’ Being-ness (as experience) at individual and societal levels. Society is never static. 83

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Figure 3: Maintaining a Cosmology of Sustainability: The Triadic Relationship of Fundamental Realities 85

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world, or the ‘other’. As soon as we begin this generation. Witnessing these philosophies and dialogue with what we previously saw as external spiritual orientations come alive enriched my to our core beings, we come to see how deeply experience of Asian cultures and their immense everything is interrelated and interconnected: value to global society. exterior dependent on interior and vice versa. The Sacred is thus both within us and among us. This Twenty-nine is the principle unseen in the Brundtland Report: the belief that promoting sustainability is the a) My insights into a cosmology of sustainability exact same thing as promoting our own spiritual came through meaningful encounters with several well-being. It is with this principle that we move deep cultural realities. In Northern Thailand (in the past the official UN definition of sustainability land of the Karen and Lanna peoples), I arrived and onto something deeper and more culturally at my own understanding of how Buddhism and meaningful. By focusing on the innate relationship Catholicism have responded to the general social, between spirituality and sustainability, we break economic and political contexts, and the market the productivist framework that has defined the and commodity features of modern, city-based current mindset of sustainable development. We urbanism (see Figure 2 on page 83). The insights I reframe the issue of sustainability as a spiritual gained set in motion many other related thoughts. crisis, not a crisis that revolves around consumer goods and production values. This is the difference b) In many of Asia’s indigenous communities, between being and having. In the end, which the cosmologies of sustainability are nurtured by is more important? And which gives us viable, the dynamic triadic relationship of fundamental liveable futures for all? realities (see Figure 3 on page 85) – the human world (human beings), the natural world (natural e) This insight re-defined my fieldwork research objects, flora and fauna) and the spiritual world into a ‘re-search’ pilgrimage.89 I was really (God, Truth, spirits, sacred beings, sacred objects re-searching Asian realities for the spirit of and abstract forces). sustainability, framed within a cosmology of sustainability. It took me deep into the soul of c) In the communities I visited, this tripartite Asia. There, I found beautifully succinct life relationship was manifested in various forms. philosophies that deeply engrain the concept In Bali, they have a specific name for it: Tri of sustainability into each individual’s concept Hita Karana90 – harmony and balance in the of truth from birth. For instance, consider the relationship between humans and God, between idea of ‘seven-generation sustainability’. Several humans and fellow beings, and between humans indigenous communities talked of people today and the surroundings. Both Prof. Wayan Redig of working towards the sustainability of the seventh Udayana University and Prof. Made Titib of the 89 This was pointed out to me in Baguio City in 2006 during a sharing session of my research experiences at the Tebtebba Foundation. My personal experience of the ‘research time’ changed qualitatively. In a sense, my research journey was also a journey within, trying to come to terms with how my own personal life fit into these dialogues of sustainability and spirituality. 90 ‘… [The] three elements [of Tri Hita Karana] are parhyangan, meaning the relationship between human with the God (Ida Sang Hyang Widhi), pawongan, which is the relationship between human with fellows, and the third is palemahan, meaning the relationship between human with the surroundings. Those relationships must be equal integrally in Hindu cosmology.’ I Made Marjaya, “Tri Hita Karana: A Conception In Conducting Balinese Arts”. 87

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Figure 4: The Notion of Limits (according to the Kankanaey People) Institute of Hindu Dharma91 (both located in Denpasar, Indonesia) insisted that this triple interaction defines sustainability and predates the limited UN definition, rendering its modern interpretation insignificant. d) In the Cordillera Mountains, the Kankanaey people also articulated this triadic relationship through their master values inayan and lawa: the former is promotive, while the latter is prohibitive (see Figure 4 above for more clarification). It defines a way to think about ‘limits’ and to practice them at the individual and communal levels. While there are certainly cultural specificities, the relationship of the three fundamental realities is part of almost all local concerns. e) The cultural and symbolic space of Bali is peppered with temples (pura in Balinese). An important feature of the Balinese temple is the perfectly symmetrical split gateway called candi bentar. In the many discussions I had about this with Balinese friends and academics, the one that attracted my attention in relation to sustainability was the idea that the perfectly balanced gateway served as a sacred portal intended for purification and harmony.92 The Balinese Hindu enters the portal into the temple’s sacred 91 In Feb. 2006 Prof. Wayan Redig, my main informant, took me into homes to observe the workings of ‘backstage’ Bali, away from tourist centres. An expert on Hindu iconography, he also introduced me to the complex symbolism of the Balinese Hindu temple. While discussing the Bersakih Temple (mother temple for the Balinese Hindu), we walked around it and ‘discovered’ another Balinese approach to ‘community sustainability’ offered by the way the temple is constructed – common spaces abutted by clan spaces. Thus, while prayers at the common spaces maintained the religious unity of all Balinese, the clan spaces allowed the specificities of individual clans to be creatively continued. 92 Made Mantle Hood, Triguna: A Hindu-Balinese Philosophy for Gamelan Gong Gede Music, 151. A Balinese cultural practice related to this concept of symbolic purifiation is the ‘tooth filing’ ceremony, an elaborate ritual event. The ceremony’s focus is on filing the canine teeth to rid them of their flesh-tearing features, which in turn symbolises the removal of an individual’s baser, animal qualities. This ceremony symbolically prepares a Balinese Hindu for a life of peace and harmony... for life as an enlightened human. 89

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space in harmony with the world, leaving behind to sustainability and developing a cosmology of her/his finite pre-occupations. Similar to the candi sustainability. In a way, the theories of both Max bentar of Bali is the torii of Japan, which acts as Weber (who gave us the notion of ‘disenchantment a characteristic portal to Shinto shrines or sacred of the world’)93 and later, George Ritzer (who sanctuaries. By entering a torii, one moves out of discussed ‘McDonaldization’)94 are flawed, as their the mundane and into a sacred space. The process messages are geared towards the problems of the transforms an individual from an ‘impure’ being, mainstream cultures. In searching for solutions, they stained with the contingencies of finite existence, leave out entirely the positive lifestyles of the Karen, into a ‘pure’, spiritualised being stripped of selfish Bali Hindu, Kankanaey and Henanga people and motives or greed. In a sense, every time the their societies. Though continually threatened, Japanese enter a torii, they re-enter ‘deep Asia’: these societies have resisted the Empire of Reason the Asia of their roots, buried beneath the modern and ‘spiritless rationalisation’ (as well as senseless concepts of Japanese nationalism, urbanism and bureaucratisation). Among the Karen people (as growth-promoting competition. The torii becomes with other indigenous peoples), all natural things a portal for re-visiting those vibrant indigenous are ‘owned’ by ‘spirits’ (or guardians) and are principles and cosmologies of sustainable living therefore sacred.95 They can only be used with that have since become muted. ‘permission’ through a ritual mediation. Thus, their enchanted world has its own eco-logic,96 which f) These cultural realities and their structures deep has led to more relevant and more sustainable within have great value for identifying pathways ecological management in those areas.97 93 Speaking on the expansion of the territory of Reason through science, Max Weber says: ‘The fate of our times is characterised by rationalisation and intellectualisation and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world. Precisely the ultimate and most sublime values have retreated from public life...’ in Max Weber’s “Science as a Vocation”. 94 In his book The McDonaldization of Society: An Investigation Into the Changing Character of Contemporary Social Life, Ritzer lays out the theory that society is modeling itself more and more on the principles of fast food culture, a culture whose values centre on efficiency, predictability and control. Taking after the model of fast food restaurants, culture, Ritzer states, now places more emphasis on quantity, rather than quality. He cites ‘slow food’ as being one of the antitheses to this new paradigm. The problem here, of course, is that indigenous people are excluded entirely from this framework. For them, ‘slow food’ is not a movement – it’s a way of life that’s been with them for centuries. 95 With the emergence of modernity, this may be seen as an archaic view, a practice we have outgrown. In today’s context, a return to this orientation would certainly be a radical move but one that would create a hugely positive impact on these ‘modernised’ societies. In a sense, our indigenous communities are today guardians of radical ideas like this. 96 Friends, academic interviewees and acquaintances at seminar presentations and workshops have questioned me with regard to my tendency to ‘romanticise’ indigenous or local cultures and peoples. Their thoughts on the matter can be broken down into four over-arching critiques: (i) Ordering Principles of Society: Every society has evolved its own ordering principles. Identifying them could go on indefinitely. How does that help us understand sustainable development? (ii) World of Spirits: The belief in spirits hampers social and economic development. It is not productive for development or progress; (iii) Collectivism: Heavy emphasis on collectivism hampers development of individualism and the rights of individuals; and (iv) Unsustainable Behaviours: In examining the worldviews of the indigenous peoples, we cannot only address their positive aspects, as indigenous societies have also had very negative impacts on individuals, communities and ecologies. Indeed, these critiques are thoughtful and should be reflected upon. But instead of being merely concerned about sustainable development, we need to be concerned about the sustainability of societies and communities. Indigenous peoples’ concern for sustainability, influenced by their spirituality, is usually universal. My research suggests that positive contributions to sustainability are not only possible but have been actually achieved in certain local and indigenous cultures. If we understand collectivism as a form of networked individualism, we can see that individuals in indigenous communities have a global orientation. Individuals in such interdependent set-ups are not mindless zombies or drones; rather, they are productive members of a global society. There are no ideal patterns, but the general orientation of such communities is towards mindfulness, inter-being, harmony and balance. 97 Unfortunately, the modern state believes that the presence of indigenous people in certain spaces, e.g. water catchment areas, may lead to ecological problems. Its intervention usually involves displacement of such communities from their ancestral homeland. Modern Asian nations never thought to take into consideration that perhaps these indigenous peoples have, over the years, developed their own forest and water management knowledge or technologies. 91

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Thirty b) These ideas also emerge from the contributions of the Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh a) Another component of the cosmology of and are similarly echoed in Buddhist-Hindu sustainability is the conception of personhood, emotional and intellectual life across Southeast specifically the belief and practice of inter- Asia. They are also reflected in cosmic, native being.98 This belief suggests that there is no religious and cultural values. For example, in ‘atomised individual’ as seen in the modern the Philippines, the indigenous people have the Western construct (or in the discussions of notion of kapwa, ‘... a Tagalog term widely used mainstream social psychology) – only ‘inter- when addressing another with the intention of connected individuals’, entirely dependent beings establishing a connection. It reflects a viewpoint interwoven into a web with ‘no beginning and no that beholds the essential humanity recognisable in end’, across space and time (see Figure 5 below). everyone, therefore linking (and including) people The cosmological web of persons is analogous rather than separating (and excluding) them from with today’s web-networked computers: they both each other.’99 In short, kapwa means ‘shared self’; perpetuate an active global connectedness. this concept defines the Filipino personhood (not Asian Notion of Individuated Entities Western Conception of in a Networked Coexistence Atomised Individuals Figure 5: Individuals as Cultural Beings: The Asian Notion of Personhood 98 See for instance Thich Nhat Hanh’s Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism. 99 Katrin de Guia, Kapwa: The Self in the Other, 8. A Filipino psychologist, Virgilio Enriquez, at the University of Philippines, studied this indigenous mode of being and introduced it as a concept into the world of academia. Bringing local models of lived culture into intellectual conversation is a very positive thing and is a trend that should continue. The more we can bring marginalised societies into the fore of our studies, the more we can learn from them. 93

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personality). Though there is a difference between nature as human beings are to myriad realities and the Buddhist notion of inter-being and kapwa, they components comprising the environment. Once share a common thread in their intended meaning: we’re aware of this innate dependency, we have connectedness.100 a personal obligation to save that which gave all of us life in the first place: our living, pulsating c) Among Muslims, Islamic cultural institutions natural environment. In this way, sustainability can like the waqf are community-based and practice be derived from the Asian notion of personhood. sustainability through values such as trusteeship and intergenerational support for those in need. Thirty-one The spirit of the waqf promotes engagement with piety and aims for the common good of all.101 It a) The notions of personhood and mindfulness encourages compassionate connectedness. underlie the practice of consumption in many indigenous communities in Asia.103 These notions d) For connectedness to be sustainable, it needs to often lie in direct contrast to how the developed be active. At the Wat Pamahavan monastery near world, powered by a modern, market-driven Chaiyaphun in Northwestern Thailand, I engaged economy, consumes goods and resources. For with Phra Paisal Visalo102 on the Buddhist approach instance, modern consumption is perceived as a to sustainability. The monk kept reminding me linear, here-and-now activity (see Figure 6(ii)-a on (during the early morning and late evening prayer page 97). This pattern of modern consumption and meditation sessions) about the importance of privileges the Present – the Past and the Future are mindfulness. The practice of mindfulness, central ‘absent’ (or silent) in this paradigm. Because of the to Buddhism’s core values, draws forth a kind of way we indulge in consumption in the Present, the ‘self-conscious connectedness’. By being both Past is disregarded and the Future is victimised! We mindful and self-conscious, the individual can live in the Empire of Now,104 completely oblivious begin to see the possibility of ‘balance’ and ‘limits’ to the lessons of our pasts and unmindful/ignorant these orientations possess. By combining these of sustainable futures. This ‘Now’ that is privileged two precepts and integrating them into our daily is a regime of mindless and blind routine with one lives, we begin to see how truly dependent our very 100 It is interesting to note that many of these notions, though culturally specific, cover all human beings. There are tribes around the world that perform ritual exercises for healing Earth so that ALL lives are protected. In a way, these notions of indigenous communities are more globalist in nature than the notions of those who claim to be globalists. 101The idea that Earth is a mosque and all within it are sacred is an attractive thought. See the interesting book by Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet. Deen is Arabic for ‘religion, a path, a way of life’. As the book states, to understand ‘Islam’s commitment to the Oneness of all things... it’s helpful to understand some of the core spiritual principles and practices that align Islam and the environment so closely... (1) Understanding the Oneness of God and His creation (tawhid) (2) Seeing signs of God (ayat) everywhere (3) Being a steward (khalifah) of the earth (4) Honoring the covenant, or trust, we have with God (amana) to be protectors of the planet (5) Moving towards justice (adl) (6) Living in balance with nature (mizam).’ These concepts are not so far off from those of the indigenous cultures I spoke with. Clearly, there’s an innate link between spirituality and the need or obligation to care for the earth around us. 102 I met with Phra Paisal Visalo in 2005. He is the abbot of Wat Pamahavan and an API Fellow from the pioneer batch of 2001–2002. 103 I talk about this topic more in my collection of essays, Another Malaysia is Possible. 104The Buddhist concept of residing in the ‘Here and Now’ is much different. This Buddhist mindset advocates a conscious presence of the mind and heart that is aware of the inherent connectivity between the individual and his or her community and the past, present and future. It advocates living actively within the Present Moment, mindfully making decisions on what to feel, choose and decide, and acting wisely with a textured and interconnected awareness of all that has come before and may come after. 95

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Consumption Pre- Post-Consumption Consumption (i) Consumption Orientation Then: Consumption as Circular (R= Resources) (ii)-a Consumption Orientation Now: Consumption as the Consumption Empire of Now (ii)-b Consumption Orientation Now: Consumption as Past Sustaining the Future in a Unilinear Fashion Figure 6: Consumption Orientation, Then and Now 97

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agenda: perpetuating the status quo through the are so familiar with (see Figure 6(ii)-b on page 97) social reproduction of the materialistic and hedonistic and offers us opportunities to create many desirable worlds. and sustainable futures in which the economy is merely one component, rather than the driving force b) However, consumption among many indigenous it is today. peoples is a circular or non-linear process (see Figure 6(i) on page 97). The circular process is framed by d) Among the indigenous people of the Mayoyao pre-consumption, present consumption and post- region in the Philippines, the practice of gimong, consumption stages – present consumption is always or shared labour, can be observed. Here, labour is conscious of the stages before and after. And in this communal and commonly regarded as a ‘common loop, there is a strong awareness that the consumed property resource’. In fact, in many indigenous component is part of the Sacred or a Gift from communities, this principle is a given. These seemingly the sacred or spiritual beings. This circularity helps archaic practices present a radical challenge to perpetuate the connectedness of both space and the practice of alienating and exploiting labour for time. purely private benefit.106 They offer a way to build communities of being. c) The idea of a ‘circularity of consumption’ offers us a view of the Pasts we need to engage with and e) The wisdom of the aforementioned features of an the Futures we collectively desire to produce. It has Asian cosmology of sustainability is about growing the potential to influence our agricultural105 and futures: it’s about the negotiation and dialogue industrial practices and eventually shape the kind between individuals, communities and generations of economy we should have in order to build our in order to foster sustainable and spiritual ways for preferred futures. It is a precursor to the triple bottom society to move forward, and more importantly, line reporting initiative. It radically challenges the to be. unilinear demand-supply basis of the economy we 105 I met Isara, a farmer in Chaiyaphum, Northwestern Thailand, who labeled his method of farming as the ‘lazyman’s’ approach. He just spreads the seeds in a forest, checks their growth, clears any hindrance to growth and harvests when the vegetables or fruits are mature. He does not disturb Nature by attempting heavily mechanised, highly chemicalised, factory-like production. He told me that he gets a great output that supports not only his family but others as well. Many years ago, I visited an organic farm in Pondicherry, Southern India, where there was no use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides. The yield was so good that produce from the farm supported the needs of the poor farmers in the surrounding areas. See Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution. It is a great introductory manual on natural farming. 106 In a recent workshop on future studies, the small group I was in discussed what sorts of labour practices would be necessary to promote the sort of community we desire to see in the future. Many of the suggestions – such as shared labour – that were presented and recorded were those that I had come across in my interactions with the indigenous communities of several parts of Asia. These suggestions did not come from me. Our discussion spurred one participant to say: ‘All these sound so communist.’ He did not seem very happy with the identification. Now try to visualise the following as one of the many conceptions of our futures: ‘[Imagine a future society] as the positive transcendence of private property as human self-estrangement, and therefore as the real appropriation of the human essence by and for man; [imagine this future society] therefore as the complete return of man to himself as a social (i.e. human) being – a return accomplished consciously and embracing the entire wealth of previous development. [Imagine this future society] as fully developed naturalism equals humanism, and as fully developed humanism equals naturalism; it is the genuine resolution of the conflict between man and nature and between man and man – the true resolution of the strife between existence and essence, between objectification and self-confirmation, between freedom and necessity, between the individual and the species. [This future society] is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution.’ Before reading on (read it once more if you have to), please close your eyes and take a few moments to reflect on this conception of our conflict-free self-conscious future. Now open your eyes… the quote is from the young Karl Marx in his text, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. 99

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Going Beyond? Thirty-two a) A deeper exploration of Asian realities has taken us beyond the ordinary and mainstream concerns of progress and material growth-oriented development, or more specifically, sustainable development. Asia’s soul is being corrupted by the lure of attractive but unsustainable new cosmologies created and promoted by a modern Western civilisation driven by consumerism, industrialism, technology, the market and the military. Yet we can see a resistant minority pushing against this influence, struggling to re-assert the true definition of ‘Asian-ness’ through the practice and spirit of sustainability. Cosmologies of sustainability are inherent aspects of Asia’s history and experience. These cosmologies go far beyond the mainstream discourse of sustainable development and are still preserved among our indigenous peoples. Emancipation Community Individual Generation Sustainability Spirituality Figure 7: Sustainable Co-evolution 107 Stefan Priesner, “Gross National Happiness”: The Dimensions of Bhutan’s Unique Approach to Development. Also see The Earth Institute’s “World Happiness Report” for more information. 101

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b) There is certainly life beyond sustainable get it: Mother Earth simply cannot afford for us to go development (see Figure 7 above for one example). down that road. The simple truths about ‘balance’ The parameters and practice of Gross National and ‘limits’ should be enough to prohibit us from Happiness,107 a term coined in the early 1970s by heading in that direction. But we seem to have no Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan’s former King, is time or political will for these truths. Yet if we keep a case in point. ‘GNH’, a poignant alternative to disregarding them and continue to ‘terrorise’ Earth, the Gross Domestic Product, measures a country’s we will be struck with more and more ecological standard of living according to its social progress and catastrophes. We are already experiencing the psychological well-being, rather than focusing on its terrible effects of a future we do not want – and all economy and capital. But will anyone commit to the ‘most powerful’ amongst us are doing is pushing following Bhutan’s example? The Happy Planet Index us forward in the same direction! provides another alternative measure of a country’s well-being, focusing on factors like average life d) The seeds of many of the crises that have fully expectancy and, poignantly, its ecological footprint. blossomed today were planted years ago. We The HPI ranks Vanuatu108 as the happiest place – continue to plant seeds that will blossom into many happier than developed countries. But will nations complications and problems in the near future. We ever take the basis of such a ranking seriously enough refuse to learn. We are like flies, unable to navigate to build it into their social policies and national plans? to our desired destination with the help of moonlight Do Asian nations have the courage and political will because we are too distracted by the glitter of modern, to study the ‘no-growth’ approaches and implement artificial light. We fly straight into this unsustainable them in their national development? Do Asian nations light, and, mesmerised by its sensory excitement, we care enough to protect and nurture their indigenous quickly become a part of an endless dance around it, communities and their visions of the future? Will until we are met suddenly with destruction and death. Asian nations learn from their local communities how to manage their national and global ecologies or e) Proponents of mainstream development have build trusteeship of their natural wealth for the global inserted into our everyday lives many unsustainable community? Is any Asian nation willing to create a habits that affect our understanding and practice of national educational curriculum that integrates and justice, compassion and spirituality. And we are now incorporates indigenous knowledge and insists their faced with a crisis of sustainability far more serious wisdom is critical for the well-being of their citizens? than the earlier crisis that prompted the West to We look outwards when we should be looking invent their so-called ‘sustainable’ development in inwards! the first place. The most painful of it all is that we have simple solutions to our planetary problems, but c) Many Asian nations have been seduced, and we continue to refuse to implement them. continue to be seduced, by the temptation of GDP- oriented growth, acquiring the symbols and icons We have carelessly destroyed all crossroads and of a globalised culture and nursing the ambition have now come to the bridge that will certainly take to become a developed nation in status – Affluent us to better futures. But like children refusing to go America (suitably dressed in Asian form) is the image to school or the clinic, we are simply and mindlessly of our future. Many of our political and academic refusing to cross it. leaders (with various motivations and agendas) don’t 108 Vanuatu is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean and has a population of about 246,000. 103

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Afterword by Fr. Niphot Thianvihan Coming Full Circle: Completing the Journey from Sustainability to Spirituality L iving Pathways addresses all those who are actively involved in development work based on spirituality and community cultural values. Nat (as the author/researcher is affectionately known to me) developed an intuitive research process by merging with the lived and inner experience of the people he engaged with across Asia in order to draw out the deeper spirituality or inner power of the people (called ‘empowerment from within’). Such an intuitive approach is totally different from an empirical study – and accordingly, the outcome is unique to the methodology used. The findings of the study (which Nat perceives as a ‘research pilgrimage’) are not purely intellectual. Rather, they act as a sort of transcription of an integral part of the spiritual sacredness present in all aspects of life. Spirituality in the development process is a vital element for sustainability. Based on the holistic worldviews and perspectives of the indigenous people in the villages Nat visited, it is clear that sustainability has many seamlessly integrated sub-elements: spiritual sustainability, environmental and ecological sustainability, social sustainability, economic sustainability, etc. Through engaging with and understanding the components of sustainability, Nat discovered that the scope of the people’s concerns and practices are far beyond that of their own sustainability – their embrace of the whole cosmos reaches far beyond what is paraded as globalisation! Nat has shown very clearly that in order to achieve authentic sustainable development, we should abandon the old Western paradigm and shift to a new paradigm – and accordingly, re-think, re-see, re-feel and re-act based on particular contexts. Such a shift encourages us to reconsider the very idea of development, and moves us away from the concerns of mainstream ‘sustainable development’ to a worldview of ‘sustainability’. The cosmology of sustainability is a very thought-provoking notion. It offers an enriching way to experience the cosmos and to understand our lives in that larger reality. Having been in the field and working with the Karen community for over four decades 107

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now, I strongly agree that the way to sustainability should be based on the spirituality which the Asian people, particularly indigenous people, have already been practicing in their everyday lives. Also, I strongly agree with Nat that ‘we need to recover, develop and share Asian cosmologies that promote the spirit of sustainability’. My friend, a Jesuit priest based in Malaysia, Fr. Jojo Fung, calls it ‘sacred sustainability’. Living Pathways contributes significantly to the Asian thinking on this vital issue of sacred sustainability, not only because it engages in a debate with mainstream development paradigms, but also because it seeks alternative pathways to our future(s). It actively articulates the deep heritage of the Asian people, which needs to be understood, appreciated, nurtured and implemented in the ‘development’ process. I strongly believe that science and technology alone cannot solve the crisis that mainstream development has created, because they are themselves an inherent part of the root causes of the global crisis of unsustainability. I commend Nat for undertaking this work and pointing us in the right direction. I believe mainstream development will not last for long – it will take the world to hell! This grave challenge calls for a re-enchantment of the world or a return of the ‘sacred’ to the arena of ‘development’ – as seen in this ‘research pilgrimage’. Nat is now going beyond, having arrived at the point of looking not only at our world but also at the whole cosmic reality. Certainly, a cosmic vision animates this book. Fr. Niphot Thianvihan Director and Spiritual Head Research and Training Centre for Religio-Cultural Community (RTRC) Chiang Mai, Thailand 109

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Appendix Some Thoughts to Reconnect with the Asian Experience and Asia’s Present and Pasts I n my research journeys, I met many people from all walks of life and exchanged many ideas, thoughts and feelings with them. Many of the discussions centred on notions of Asia and Asia-ness; the direction in which the world is heading; contributions of Asia to world civilisation, and to sustainability and spirituality; improving the uses of Asian creative, literary and academic sources not available in English; learning from Asian cosmologies; re- examining and assessing the world of the indigenous people and even starting an academic course on Asian notions of sustainability. I have recorded some of the main concerns cap- tured by these discussions. Many of the observations and reflections in this tract are derived directly or indirectly from these discussions and analyses. Here are a few examples of pathways and proposals that will help to build ‘Asia-ness’, counter Western hegemony over sources of information and knowledge, rebuild the Asian academic self, and bring us closer to Asian notions of sustainability. • Develop and build an alternative intertextual universe (or multi-verse), and reduce dependence on the intertextual universe that only includes sources from the West or Western thinkers and academics. • Avoid or minimise testing West-inspired concepts or methodologies in Asian realities. • Explore, recover, document and publish Asia’s rich alternative histories and multiple pasts. • Preserve, develop, re-invent and promote local indigenous and cultural forms of life and resist overt or covert hegemonic agenda of any sort, national or global. • Engage with Asian philosophies and cosmologies to develop/construct/build ontologies and epistemologies rooted in Asian realities for use in building social science theories. • Document and disseminate Asian oral histories. • Capture, codify, publish, distribute and continuously engage with bodies of local and indigenous knowledge. 113

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• Translate creative works in local Asian languages to English (and other languages) for wider distribution and engagement, particularly works of local thinkers or authors who write in their mother tongue. • Build/create easily accessible and regularly updated repositories of books and other alternative publications from various Asian countries in several locations throughout Asia. In addition, make online catalogues of such resources easily and globally available and accessible to scholars, activists, students and other interested persons. • Intensify efforts to populate the web with Asian multi-media content. • Improve search engine optimisation (SEO) for Asian materials regarding various issues and challenges people are working on. • Produce easily available and regularly updated directories of local authors, indigenous leaders and activists, scholars, etc. and their publications (print or otherwise). • Develop authentic cultural tourism so that tourists visiting Asia engage with and form a ‘deep’ experience of Asia through rich cultural maps. • Study European and American hegemonic realities in the areas of knowledge and material production and build/institutionalise counter-hegemonic pathways with like-minded people all over the globe who can together advocate for a more sustainable world. • Establish ‘forest universities’ or ‘multi-eco-versities’ to engage with, understand and deploy the wisdom of Asian indigenous peoples and their communities. • Develop curricula and courses for students on Asian cosmologies of sustainability. • Establish onsite and online institutions, networks and activities to share and popularise the Asian experience, to productively dialogue with other civilisations, and to shape common and preferred sustainable futures. • Bring together most, if not all, individual and institutional initiatives that are currently working towards one or more of the above proposals, to form a major movement to realise the ‘Asian century’ and its potential contribution to our common and preferred sustainable futures. • Build an active media and communication strategy to promote Asian indigenous approaches/pathways to address and mitigate local and global problems. 115

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Antecedent Roots 1* Sustainable Development and the Role of ‘Democratic Media’ Making Sense of Theory M edia education and media reforms, which reflect the growing concern for democratisation of the media environment, are critical and need sustained support, particularly from civil society. While such initiatives are scattered throughout Asia, they unfortunately do not engage with theories or frameworks. Theories/frameworks are summarily dismissed as the ‘concern of the academics’ or those who like to sit in their ‘ivory towers’, making no sense to others. But the struggle for democracy is not purely based on action. It is equally a contestation of different concepts and theories. Theoretical practice and practical efforts must go hand in hand. The way we are currently educationally socialised does not help us to think through our concepts and guiding frameworks. We prefer to keep our activities on a more empirical plane. But without engaging with theories/frameworks, one cannot accurately delineate a clear course through one’s daily life and identify it as part of a collective experience. Theories are like maps. If you do not have a map, it means that you are not sure of where you are, where you want to go or what route you are taking to get there (with all its implications). It also means that you may actually be using somebody else’s (your ‘adversary’, for example) map without realising it. Imagine that for a minute and the problems that it could create. Coming to the topic at hand, taking up issues of media education or democratisation of the media requires content sensitivity, collaboration and direction. It requires a ‘map’. Media education strategies or reforms cannot be considered in self-contained enclosures. They must become aware of what they need to deliver for their own survival, as well as how they can best implement their role within the greater community. Theories and frameworks will certainly play a major part in such an effort. For the rest of this tract, I will present a case for sustainable development. It is an examination of a theoretical framework and the role and meaning of media within that framework. * ‘Antecedent Roots 1’ was originally published under the same name in Pathways to Critical Media Education and Beyond: Deliberations on Media Reforms and the Manila Initiative. All references and sources used in this piece can be found in the original publication. This version has been minimally corrected. 119