Unitary caring science has as its starting point a relational unitary ontology that honors the fact that we are all connected and that we belong to the source – the universal consciousness, spirit, infinite field of Universal Love – before and after the human plane of worldly experiences. Unitary caring science makes more explicit that unitary and connectiveness exist among all things in the great circle of life: change, illness, suffering, death and rebirth. A unitary caring science orientation moves humanity closer to a moral community, closer to peaceful relationships with self and other communities- nations, states, other worlds, and time. Unitary caring science also unites us with the non- physical, the spirit work, the soul of self and science alike.
Unitary Caring Science – Ethic Of Belonging
The starting point for Unitary Caring Science is based on the Ethic of Belonging, beginning with the belief and personal perennial wisdom of universal humanity dash that our human experience and journey through life and death are shared with all humanity across the globe. Human beings and the planet are united across time and space, belonging to the great sea of humanity.
An Ethic of Belonging comes before the ontology of separate being; it acknowledges ethically, morally, and practically that we all belong to the infinite field of Universal Cosmic Love. We all come from the source of infinite Cosmic Love, and we all return to the infinite source, Cosmic Love- the mystery of life. This locates our world view of unity within the sacred circle of life- death.
Science and spirit unite in Unitary Caring Science. This world view applies to all of humanity as we awaken to the emerging worldview necessary for the survival of humanity and Mother Earth.
Humanity is entering a new consciousness of unity, a reality that we are all connected with on mother earth. Without preparation in the unity caring science paradigm to address our phenomena and reason for existing, no progress is made in fulfilling its social, moral, and scientific responsibility to humanity.
The background for this emerging worldview includes greater awareness of the metaphysical, the unexplainable phenomena -the ineffable. When we enter Unitary Caring Science, we are reminded that data are not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom. Information alone does not lead to knowing or wise knowing. This view highlights our need to unlearn the outdated paradigms of previous eras of thinking and human evolution.
In the Buddhist philosophy, there is the notion of ‘the don’t know mind’ – a very good place to be. If we think we know- there is no space to learn anything new, there is nothing there. This view of knowing and non-knowing, emptying out, allows for unknowns and mysteries. We can call this experience non-local, mystical or the spiritual beyond the physical empirical ways of knowing and being in this world. This form of slash ‘nonknowing’ exists in higher domains of awareness of evolution and directly embraces experiences such as love, compassion, beauty, identity, reality, self, truth and meaning. This higher domain way of knowing is based on many years of experimental inspection and communal verification.
In fact, we can never truly know reality because we are limited by (and cannot go beyond) the input of our sense perceptions, as well as our cognitive processes that have evolved to individually accommodate and service that input. Our conscious perception of the world is a filtered and selective process, rather than a complete and accurate representation of everything happening around us. While our senses constantly gather information, the brain actively chooses what to focus on and process, resulting in a subjective and incomplete experience of our surroundings. The brain brings to bear its prior expectations about what is in the external environment to interpret the massive, constant, and ambiguous sensory information that it encounters. When we consider how much of our surroundings we can perceive, it becomes clear (after confining analysis to Earth and its immediate environment) that we usually capture only a small fraction of our surroundings and when we account for the vastness of the visible universe, that fraction shrinks much further. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that we only perceive a small fraction of the totality of physical reality. Therefore, the knowledge and wisdom of Not Knowing or Emptiness is the highest form of knowing possible to us.
Thus, the “mental manifestation” is a transformation of the objects in the outside world into a mental representation. On the one hand, there is an objective reality; on the other hand, we can only create a picture of that reality, and the structures in the pictures are different from the external reality they are intended to represent. This ties in with the Transcendent or All and echoes the Buddha’s resistance to search for and answer metaphysical questions.
Reference: Unitary Caring Science: Philosophy and Praxis of Nursing by Jean Watson, University Press of Colorado, 2018
The Non-Duality of Emptiness, or Sunyata,
According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, the non-duality of emptiness, or Sunyata, is a mode of perceptional way of understanding experience. It adds nothing to, nor takes anything away from, the raw data of physical and mental events. This mode is called emptiness because it is devoid of the presuppositions we typically impose on experience to make sense of it: the stories and worldviews we construct to explain who we are and the world we inhabit.
It represents the underlying reality—the fundamental space or potential from which all things arise and into which they eventually dissolve. However, this “ground” is not a thing but rather the source and condition for all phenomena, including existence, perception, and even the concept of nothingness. In fact, existence is a profound mystery that cannot be fully explained through human language or thought. When we fully recognize that we live in an observer-dependent reality, we can adopt a more creative, inspired, innovative, open-minded, and accepting attitude toward a complex world. As theologian Rudolph Otto stated; The experience of the divine is a mysterious and overwhelming encounter with the numinous.
This involves the realization of non-duality, where distinctions and dualities dissolve, leading to a sense of unity, wholeness, and the loss of the perception of a separate self. This profound understanding of non-duality dispels the illusion of separation, revealing the inherent unity that underlies all existence. It transcends the habitual identification with a distinct, isolated self and instead unveils an essential interconnectedness that binds us to everything. This realization fosters a deep sense of belonging to being intimately woven into the fabric of reality and connected to the single, unified source from which all things arise. We are all connected and belong to the source of universal consciousness, spirit, and the infinite field of Universal Love.
Therefore, Sunyata is not a belief system; it is neither a matter of faith nor adherence to a doctrine. Rather, it is an experiential awakening to the realization of one’s true nature. This awakening brings transformative benefits, enhancing our personal well-being, deepening our fidelity and interconnectedness with others, and illuminating our overall understanding of life’s inherent nature.
Reference: CHAPTER 8 from the book THE GARDEN OF EDEN—IN THIS LIFE Copyright Rodger Ricketts Psy.D.,2025.
We Are the Treasure of Alchemy Rodger Ricketts, Psy.D. 08/11/2026
Each of us acts as an alchemist—someone who improves life—within the complex network of life’s connections and interactions. Unlike the ancient alchemists, we don’t need secret recipes or to stand by old furnaces trying to turn lead into gold. Instead, every day, through our intentions and relationships, we engage in something remarkable: the true catalysts of change and transformation.
We convert ideas into actions, experiences into wisdom, challenges into strength, and possibilities into realities. We evolve, and through our choices, we influence the world around us. In this way, alchemy serves as a powerful metaphor not only for understanding the universe but also for personal growth and psychological freedom.
To transmute means to alter something’s form, appearance, nature, or condition—to turn it into something different. This process surrounds us; nothing in the universe remains completely still or unchanged. Stars are born and die. Water turns into vapor, clouds become rain, seeds grow into plants, bodies age, civilizations rise and fall, and humans continuously change through experience.
Change is not a disruption of life. Change is life.
One of our greatest opportunities as humans is realizing that we don’t have to be passive observers of transformation; instead, we can consciously participate in it.
A Universe in Transformation
The universe itself tells a story of transformation. Stars act as vast cosmic furnaces where elements are created that eventually become parts of planets, oceans, mountains, plants, animals, and humans. When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they scatter these elements across space, providing the building blocks for new celestial bodies.
Our planet tells a similar story. Early Earth looked very different from the world we know today. Over vast periods, geological, chemical, and biological processes reshaped its surface and atmosphere. Eventually, conditions arose that allowed increasingly complex life forms to develop.
Transformation, then, is not occasional but constant. It is woven into existence. Life is energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it only changes form.
Water is a simple example. It can exist as liquid, ice, vapor, clouds, rain, or snow. Its state changes dramatically, yet something remains constant throughout these changes. What we see is not disappearance but transformation.
We see similar cycles everywhere: growth and decay, creation and destruction, birth and death, beginnings and endings.
Writer and speaker Alan Watts noted that without birth, death, and the ongoing transformation of life’s forms, the world would become static and lose its rhythm. This insight encourages us to view change differently. Instead of seeing change only as loss or disruption, we can recognize it as an essential part of the dynamic flow that sustains life.
The Ancient Alchemy
For centuries, alchemy reflected humanity’s fascination with transformation. Different cultures developed their own traditions around what Western history later called alchemy. Beneath the experiments, symbols, and mysteries lay a lasting question:
Can one thing become something else?
Ancient alchemists sought ways to transform matter, famously trying to turn base metals into gold.
Yet the lasting power of alchemy lies in another interpretation.
What if the most important thing we can transform is ourselves?
The Alchemy Within Us
Beyond the fact that the human body is always changing—millions of cells die and new ones form every second, replacing old tissues, healing wounds, and remodeling bones—our lives are full of endless opportunities offered by life’s transformations.
Painful experiences can foster compassion. Failure can lead to knowledge. Fear can inspire courage. Confusion can bring understanding. Anger can turn into determination. Grief can deepen our appreciation for life. An idea can become an invention, a business, a work of art, a relationship, or a campaign.
None of these changes happen automatically. Pain doesn’t always lead to compassion, nor does difficulty inherently create strength. The true alchemy of inner transformation lies in how we respond to what happens to us.
As Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations: “The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.”
This distinction matters.
We can’t control every circumstance that comes our way, but we can choose our thoughts and actions, and thus how those circumstances affect us.
The journey of self-awareness, self-discovery, and self-development is a profound form of personal transformation. Each time we learn something that changes our understanding; question a belief that no longer serves us; develop a new skill; forgive or love someone; make a different choice; or see ourselves from a broader perspective, we actively shape our own transformation toward a life of purpose and fulfillment.
We are constantly reshaping our identity and worldview.
The person reading this is not exactly the same as the one from ten years ago—or even one year ago. Experiences have been absorbed, relationships have influenced us, reflections have formed opinions, decisions have led to consequences, and knowledge has changed our perception.
Life has been continuously shaping us. Yet, when we begin to consciously work on our development, that is when we become alchemists.
What if the most important thing we can transform is ourselves?
In that case, the base elements include our fear, resentment, ignorance, limitations, pain, or unconscious patterns.
The catalyst is experience.
And the “gold” is wisdom.
Seen this way, alchemy is not just ancient metallurgy; it becomes a metaphor for the conscious human journey.
We enter experiences as one person and emerge changed.
At some point, new possibilities arise.
Where Attention Goes
As the Buddha said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
There is a common saying: “Energy flows where attention goes.”
Whether understood spiritually or simply as a principle of focus and behavior, this message is valuable. What we consistently focus on shapes what we notice, what we reinforce, how we interpret events, and ultimately how we respond to life.
If our attention stays fixed on resentment, fear, conflict, and what might go wrong, these experiences will dominate our inner world.
But attention can be redirected.
We can mindfully observe a thought without becoming that thought.
We can feel anger without letting it control our next actions.
We can experience fear and still move forward with reason.
We can face disappointment and ask what it wants to teach us.
This is not about denying painful emotions. True transformation is not denial. The alchemist does not pretend that lead is already gold.
The material must first be accepted as it is before it can be transformed.
Our sadness, fear, disappointment, anger, and uncertainty are essential parts of being human. The goal is not always to eliminate these feelings but to ask:
What could this become?
That question alone can transform our relationships.
The Forge of Transformation
Transformation often feels uncomfortable.
Grapes are crushed before becoming wine. Olives are pressed to release their oil. Seeds begin growth beneath the dark soil. Diamonds symbolize beauty born from immense pressure.
These images endure because they reflect something we recognize within ourselves.
There are times when life feels overwhelming.
There can be dark seasons.
Moments when what once seemed stable collapses, and we cannot yet see what will replace it.
The temptation during these times is to believe life has gone terribly wrong.
But darkness doesn’t always mean nothing is happening.
Disruption marks the start of the possibility for positive change.
“Even in the darkness, something new is preparing to rise.” — Joseph Long
This doesn’t mean suffering should be romanticized or that every painful experience is necessary. Instead, it means that when hardship occurs, we still have the power to choose what we carry forward.
We can decide whether the experience makes us rigid or deepens our understanding and flexibility.
Whether disappointment leads to bitterness or insight.
Whether failure ends a journey or sparks new understanding.
Whether fear becomes a prison or an invitation to courage depends on how we respond.
This is the human alchemy laboratory.
Changing Our Inner and Outer Worlds
Personal transformation can’t happen only in the mind; it requires experience.
Our inner and outer worlds constantly influence each other.
The people around us, conversations we have, books we read, media we consume, workplaces, relationships, homes, habits, and daily environments all shape the conditions in which we think and act.
If we want to transform ourselves, we need to become more aware of what we consistently allow into our lives.
What makes us stronger?
What weakens us?
What encourages growth?
What pulls us back to earlier, less favorable versions of ourselves?
What habits bring peace, clarity, and purpose?
Which ones create chaos?
Alchemy requires intention.
Through thoughtful reflection, attention, learning, and—most importantly—action, we can begin to create conditions that support the person we want to become.
We may not instantly turn every sadness into happiness or every conflict into harmony, as human transformation is more complex.
But we can introduce something new into existing patterns.
Patience can play a role in an argument.
Understanding can sometimes lead to disagreement.
Compassion can influence judgment.
Curiosity can turn into fear.
One changed response can alter an interaction.
Repeated changes can affect a relationship.
Changed relationships can transform families, workplaces, and communities.
Transformation that begins within us rarely ends there.
We Are Conductors of Change
Humans have an extraordinary ability not only to adapt but also to intentionally transform the world.
We turn imagination into reality.
An observation leads to a hypothesis, which can lead to discovery.
A thought becomes a blueprint, and a blueprint becomes a building.
An emotion becomes a song.
An experience becomes a story.
A problem becomes an invention when it inspires a solution.
An injustice sparks a movement.
Human innovation is a modern form of transformation.
But this ability raises an important question:
What are we transforming the world into?
Power without wisdom is not the highest form of alchemy.
Our technological abilities now allow us to change landscapes, ecosystems, communication, medicine, industry, and even fundamental aspects of life on a scale unimaginable to previous generations. With this power comes great responsibility.
As guardians of the planet and architects of the future, we must make choices that are increasingly conscious, ethical, and informed.
Transformation itself is neutral.
What matters are the choices and directions we take.
The same creativity that solves problems can create new ones.
The same technology that connects people can also divide them.
The same ambition that drives achievements can consume everything in its path.
Therefore, the highest form of human alchemy requires more than the ability to transform objects.
It requires wisdom to decide what should change, what should be preserved, and what kind of future our transformations will create.
The Treasure
This brings us to alchemy’s true gold.
Perhaps gold was never meant to represent wealth alone.
Perhaps gold also symbolizes a state of being.
The original dream of turning something ordinary into something precious gains deeper meaning when applied to consciousness.
Our true treasure includes the calm that arises when we learn not to react hastily to every disturbance.
It may be the inner security that comes from understanding life as it is.
It may be the wisdom gained from mistakes we once wished to erase.
It may be compassion born from awareness of suffering.
It may be courage born from fear.
It may be the quiet strength that comes from knowing circumstances can change without destroying who we are.
Gold is transformation carried out with awareness.
We spend much of our lives searching outside ourselves for something to make us ‘complete’: success, recognition, possessions, relationships, achievements, or certainty.
Yet the ancient image of the alchemist suggests another possibility.
The treasure, or true wholeness, emerges from the inner process itself.
Every experience becomes valuable material.
Every challenge enters the forge.
Every realization refines us.
Every conscious choice shapes our transformations.
We Are the Alchemists
Transformation happens on all levels—from matter changing, to stars being born and dying, to Earth evolving, to the human body and mind growing.
We are products of a vast history of transformation.
But we are more than that.
We are not just the results of change; we are also its agents.
We have creativity, foresight, consciousness, and the ability to choose.
We can observe ourselves changing and actively shape the direction of that change.
This is one of our greatest powers: to find joy in creative living.
We cannot stop the universe from changing.
We cannot keep people, circumstances, bodies, relationships, cultures, or even ourselves fixed in their current states.
The question is not whether transformation will happen—it will.
The question is whether we will participate consciously.
Will we let calm awareness turn worry into clear, wise action?
Will we let hardship become strength?
Will we let knowledge become understanding?
Will we let creativity lead to meaningful contribution?
Will our personal transformations improve our lives and those of others?
Will humanity use its extraordinary power to transform the planet in ways that allow future generations to thrive?
Alchemy reminds us that transformation is both a choice and a responsibility.
We are the elements.
We are the forge.
We are the alchemists.
When we approach change with clear awareness, courage, kindness toward ourselves and others, and intention, the results will be more valuable than anything ancient alchemists ever imagined.
Until we go beyond the superficiality of basic sense perception and investigate and see the complex tapestry of existence, we stay in the it realm as Martin Buber explained in his book, I and Thou. Once we see the strands of our life within the unique fabric of existence with the magnificent, interconnected unity and complexity of life and living things, we are finally able to empathize with the essence of All and enter a thou relationship. Then our relationship with the world, with all living beings, changes fundamentally to seeing the empathetic symbiosis of ourselves with all other living life forms. It is at that point that existential care, affinity, compassion and friendliness appear and are expressed in our interactions and relationships with all the others.
In The Garden of Eden in This Life, (2025) Dr. Rodger R. Ricketts—a clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher, and lifelong student of the Buddha’s teachings—unveils a profound perspective linking ancient wisdom, modern psychology, and the apophatic (negative) spiritual tradition. Drawing from over forty years of study and practice, he explores how non-dualistic teachings from Buddhism, science, and multiple faith traditions reveal the limits of language, the illusions of separation, and the path back to an integrated state of being.You will journey through concepts like Sunyata (emptiness), the via negativa, and the psychology of transcendence—discovering how humanity’s separation from nature and spirit can be healed through direct experience, compassionate living, and expanded awareness. Open these pages and begin your journey back to the Garden… in this life.
Biodance – the endless exchange of the elements of living things with the earth itself – proceeds silently, giving us no hint that it is happening. It is a dervish dance, animated and purposeful and disciplined; and it is a dance in which every living organism participates. These observations simply defy any definition of a static and fixed body. Even our genes, our claim to biologic individuality, constantly dissolve and are renewed. We are in a persistent equilibrium with the earth. Yet the boundary of our body has to be extended even farther than the earth itself. We know that certain elements in our body, such as the phosphorus in our bones, were formed at an earlier stage in the evolution of our galaxy. Like many elements in the earth’s crust, it was cycled through the lifetime of several stars before appearing terrestrially, eventually finding its way into our body. A strictly bounded body does not exist. The concept of a physical I that is fixed in space and that endures in time is at odds with our knowledge that living structures are richly connected with the world around them. Our roots go deep; we are anchored in the stars.’
“Each body structure has its own rate of reformation: the lining of the stomach renews itself in a week; the skin is entirely replaced in a month; the liver is regenerated in six weeks. Some tissue is relatively resistant to the constant turnover, such as the supporting tissue called collagen and the iron in the blood’s hemoglobin molecules. But even though these rates of replacement differ, after five years one can presume that the entire body is renewed even to the very last atom.”
Follow the advice of your heart, because no one will be more faithful to you than him. —Book of Sirach, 37.13
I think that the positive forces that will create our future will not be the forces and the laws of matter, but those of conscious cooperation, comprehension, and love for others that all beings in existence must sooner or later manifest because these values are the essence of our deepest nature.
I also think that the most effective way to achieve union is through a process of collective and cooperative creation of a just, empathic, and loving society through right and courageous actions informed by the heart and by the intuitive and rational mind. Then our experience and knowing will grow in our hearts and they will guide our individual actions through an ever-higher level of consciousness. Unfortunately, today there is the real danger of letting ourselves be seduced by the spreading culture of digital ontology and digital consumerism that replaces true and profound relationships with virtual and superficial ones, thus halting, if not reversing, our spiritual development.
Social networks designed to bombard people with suggestive messages, often personalized to reinforce personal biases or based on false information or on presumed conspiratorial theories, generate groups that can become alienated from reality in self-isolating worlds. Nikola Tesla said that “progress must serve to improve the human race; if not, it is only a perversion.” Technology must be used to help us discover our true nature, not to further imprison us in meaningless virtual worlds designed to enrich the richest. We have come to the point where we can truly unite as humans no matter where we were born, or stay divided in warring factions with ever increasing destructive technology on our side. Only when we truly comprehend that we are responsible for our experiences and that the choice is ours alone, can we begin to truly know ourselves and the world.
To know ourselves more and more, we need a new empathic science that can convert scientific knowledge into deep lived knowing and from it generate new scientific knowledge. Similarly, we need a new rational spirituality that can convert lived knowing into new scientific knowledge and from it generate new lived knowing. These two disciplines can then intertwine in endless and mutual crescendo. This is the essence of the Creative Principle of One. Within this vision, empathic science and rational spirituality, integrating and interweaving, will evermore increase our loving, joyful, and fulfilling union with the Whole.
Federico Faggin: Irreducible – consciousness, Life, Computers, and Human Nature 1988 Essentia Publisher
The Lakota phrase Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ describes Reality by addressing it as “All My Relations.” All humans, all animals, all plants, all the waters, the soil, the stones, the mountains, the grasslands, the winds, the clouds and storms, the sun and moon, stars and planets are our relations and are relations to one another. We are connected to each other in multiple and vital ways. When one is in pain, all are harmed. When there is justice for one, there is more justice for all.
It is time for the dominant culture to finally learn that its people cannot harm those it deems lesser than themselves simply because it wants to and can. This is, simply, wrong. It violates the fundamental nature of reality. Actions that violate the fundamental nature of reality build tension into the system that eventually causes a loss of balance and a rebound of consequence to those who broke natural law. This is true whether the ones being unjustly persecuted and abused are human beings whose color or religious beliefs are not those of the dominant culture, or parts of the natural world that those of the dominant culture judge as insentient or even not-living. In all these cases, the dominant culture judges these “others” as unacceptable or lesser than themselves, and therefore undeserving of respect and reciprocity.
Being “woke” is not simply a matter of learning what words to speak. Truly right words can only come from a heart that is open to the living world’s grief, that is willing to be broken by the pain of this grief. Such a heart experiences the pain that all the rest of creation has suffered for generations upon generations, and in doing this it helps to share and bear that burden. Only then, once the true heart has shattered from this pain, can Real Knowledge flow into it. It enters through the spaces between the shattered fragments. This is the pathway to true healing, for that heart and the heart of creation itself.
===Notes about the translation and meaning of Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ:
Although “All Our Relations” is the most common translation of Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ — even Vine Deloria, Jr. defines it as such in his books — the phrase actually bears within it rich layers of additional meaning that cannot be easily translated into English. It’s important to point this out because words and ideas, stories and rituals, are bound together into a single reality that must be respected, not misappropriate. In the video, the late Sicungu Lakota Elder Albert White Hat, a friend who was on Tapestry’s board for many years, explains this matter of language and concept being inextricably interwoven.
The Native relationship to nature is revealed in Native hunting and food-growing practices. It is believed that the animals we hunt, whom we view as our relatives, offer themselves to us as an act of Metta. In return, the hunter must do something for the animal, for instance a deer dance or buffalo dance, to thank the animal and pray for regeneration of the animal’s family. When it comes to the food that we grow, we have dances and seasonal fertility rituals, which are ceremonies that bring us into direct relationship with the spirit of plants and Earth consciousness.
I see the whole Native way as realizing our relationship with everything and ourselves as an integral part of all things, which in turn causes us to treat the Earth and other forms of life with respect, as part of our family. Western civilization is finally recognizing that relationship. Suddenly people are saying that the Earth is alive and talking about Gaia and holistic worldviews and systems theory. Native people are basically saying, “Yes, welcome home.”
The Indian elders say, “We must remember also the four-footed, those who swim and those who fly, those who crawl and those who move very slowly like the stone people, and all the green and growing things.” Within this sacred circle we are one. What we do affects everyone, everything. These great teachings remind us of our responsibility to care for all life. In our pursuit of progress and comfort we have separated ourselves from our place in this great circle. Earth traditions bring us back into harmony and balance within the circle.The Lakota end all prayers with “O Mitakuye Oyasin,” meaning “I do this for all my relations (or all sentient beings).” Dualism happens when egocentricity develops, creating a split with nature, each other and all life. When I was departing for a yearlong retreat in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, I told the medicine woman Bertha Grove, “I’ll be alone for a long time.” She replied, “You’re not going to be alone. When you go outside and look around, you won’t feel alone at all. You’ll be completely accompanied by the trees, the plants, the birds and the animals.” For many years, I had learned about nonduality and the teachings of integration, but Grove’s way of saying it was like a direct transmission.
Animism flows from the belief that everything is part of an interconnected web of life. It is deeply embedded in many indigenous worldviews and as well as nondual meditation traditions from Tibet, India, China and Egypt. Both animism and nonduality share some profound philosophical and experiential similarities.
While not explicitly labeled as apophatic, many indigenous religions share core principles with apophatic theology, particularly in their emphasis on the mystery of the divine, the limitations of human language, and the importance of direct experience. The apophatic lens can offer a valuable framework for understanding and appreciating the diverse spiritual expressions found in indigenous cultures. The concept of the “Unknown God” in ancient Egyptian religion, and the debate among scholars about whether it was monotheistic, henotheistic, or polytheistic, can be seen as related to apophatic ideas, as it acknowledges a divine reality beyond human comprehension. How it Relates to Indigenous Religions:
While apophatic theology is primarily associated with specific theological traditions like Christian mysticism and negative theology within Hinduism and Islam, its core principles resonate with some aspects of indigenous religions.
Emphasis on Mystery:
Many indigenous traditions emphasize the sacredness and mystery of the natural world and the divine, often employing symbolic language and ritual practices that point to something beyond literal explanation.
Reverence for Nature:
Indigenous religions often have a deep connection with the natural world, viewing it as imbued with spiritual power and interconnectedness, which can be seen as an expression of the divine in a way that transcends human concepts.
Oral Traditions:
Many indigenous traditions rely on oral traditions and stories, which often utilize metaphors and symbolism to convey spiritual truths, rather than relying on propositional statements.
Focus on Experience:
Indigenous spiritual practices often prioritize direct experience and personal connection with the spiritual realm, rather than relying solely on abstract theological doctrines.
Both challenge the rigid subject-object dualism and reductionist materialism that dominate modern thought and instead present an interconnected, holistic and kinship-based worldview and an embodied experience of existence.
I believe our ecological crisis of climate change and biodiversity collapse is ultimately a crisis of consciousness. Our disconnection from nature fuels both ecological collapse and a mental health epidemic. Reclaiming the felt sense of interconnectedness found in animism and nonduality is a powerful antidote to our alienation.
I have found that practicing nondual awareness and spending more time outdoors exploring with mindful awareness practices can dramatically reduce self-reflective overthinking, help to get to the root of today’s existential anxiety epidemic and heal our alienation from nature. Through nondual awareness practices, we can start to feel a deeply rooted sense of aliveness and kinship with all other living beings. In animistic cosmology, we are not separate from nature and we exist within a kinship worldview where we feel fundamentally at home in this world. In animism, there is no strict division between self and nature; rather, existence is participatory. The forest is not just a backdrop for people but a dynamic, intelligent presence.
