If we want to effect sustainable change, we need to do it scientifically. But which science, knowing that science is not neutral, nor fixed, nor without flaws? Here is a documentation of a talk by Nicanor (Nick) Perlas delivered in 2009 at the SEARCA grounds in UP Los Banos. Four years later more scientific developments may be cited, but the presentation still carries basic truths. Many from the academe are still to know or accept  many of the concepts that are already known and mainstreamed in the outside circle.

Nick Perlas, Agent of Societal Change

Perlas at Right Livelihood Awards Event, with co-awardees

The New Science: Implications for Advancing Initiatives

By Nicanor Perlas

Delivered on March 4, 2009 at SEARCA, College, Laguna.  Notes taken by Pam Fernandez. Some links, extracts, photos and graphics (from the internet) had been added.

The Evolution of Science

 I will share with you some of the developments of the new science and the implications for taking initiative. This is timely, since we are in an academic setting, and because what is going on out there, abroad, or in the mainstream is pretty amazing. As a scientific institution it be would be good for you to catch up a little bit on the new science developments.

But first we look at the origins of the university. The “university” started over 2000 years ago in Greece, in the academy of Plato, the Lyceum of Aristotle, which then became the basis of the universities of the Middle Ages. The university concept first emerged out of Europe then got exported to the US… then brought here (just in the last few decades) in the universities. Now we have what is called the university system. One of the main aspects connected to the university system is the whole process of knowledge.  Such knowledge can actually transform the foundation of who we are, and to what we can do to shape the world.

The science that we are normally being introduced to in the academe becomes a very important part of our formal education. Unfortunately, some of the assumptions of a lot of scientific research are stuck in the 19^th century.  While science has actually moved on quite a bit; there are a lot of amazing discoveries in many different fields of science.  In this talk I will give some examples of some of these discoveries, then try to create a picture of what these discoveries mean to us as humans, for society, as well as to where the world is going. Then I shall subset that into a kind of practical mode, to answer the question:  given the new science what does it mean if we want to start an initiative ?

Read more.

We all have that innate longing to know the world. To date, we have been seeing the world predominantly through one reductionist way, and this has diminished our connection to the whole. One of the dimensions articulated in Sustainable Agriculture is holistic, integrative science. But do we have the means to achieve this given our current training in thinking and learning, our mental framework, and our educational background?
Einstein said that… “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” So we need a different kind of science to approach scientific inquiry; not the one or from the program that created chemical based, monocropping type agriculture. Let us see how Goethean Science may be of help.
An excerpt of the following articles will give us a glimpse of what it is… Then we see that the mainstream way to science or of knowing the world is a far cry from that which would lead us to the greater and deep truth. It will be a long way to reach the reform that we dream of, but we can start somewhere. Immersing ourselves in nature and in art and doing deep organic agriculture brings us back to the path and be at one with nature. Read more.
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More may be found here:

https://regarding-landscapes.blogspot.com/p/science_14.html

https://www.dynamisch.nu/feno/english/e3pheno1.html

https://elements.spiritalchemy.com/t10-AppendixC.html

Goethean vs Newtonian Science

Societal Threefolding, Presencing… these are tools or techniques to achieve quantum leap or do quantum change. Sustainable societal change must be animated by a critical mass of enlightened committed citizens. That is the basis of the Liwanag World Festival that happened last 29th Jan to 2nd Feb 2013, in Davao City, which is part of the island of Mindanao. The festival aimed to let the special light from the Philippines and other parts of the globe be seen by the whole world… light from the Philippines, being collectively lit by imaginals or individuals who have a vision of the future and are connected to their special life task (purpose) and are doing strategic projects in society. MISSION of Imaginals is spearheading events like the Liwanag. To get a glimpse of the event one may visit the website of  Liwanag, or view some photos of  the Liwanag event which I put together for sharing and memory aid. Select individuals who live in, or have at one point lived in Mt Makiling (or are doing something elsewhere but are connected to Mt Makiling initiatives), have been presented at the Festival through an exhibit. Special feature is on the visionary (Flor Pablo) who is in touch with spiritual teachers or guardians; her mission is described in a set of slides. In the same event I also described  my own “quantum” initiative.

Here are some videos to give one an idea about the Liwanag event.

There is a very interesting phenomenon occurring in my area… Mt Makiling , a mountain bounded by Laguna and Batangas provinces in the Philippines. One would find extraordinary happening in her area. The lady (Flor Pablo) is in touch with spiritual beings and receives various messages, from gardening, to mushroom production and others which come to her intuitively or through her writing using an ancient Filipino script called Baibayin (or baybayin as populary spelled). Instructions are often out of the box or beyond textbooks. She learned only later that what she was writing was Baibayin. One thing that intrigued me was her affirmation of scientific and biblical facts and sometimes she reveals some aspects which baffled scientists and the religious alike… a true meeting of science and spiritual science occurs in her garden. She is revealing some teachings in anthroposophy, such as homeopathy, earth and human evolution, and many others. She is also blending this with some vedic truths and practices. She is into Agnihotra-Homa Therapy and use of Sangeevini healing symbols. New messages come to her almost every day… I will be posting more later. But for now here is a set of slides which I prepared for the Liwanag World Festival ( Exhibit section) which concluded last week. https://liwanagworldfest.net/web2.2/.

Here is Liwanag or Light in a nutshell: There is another world and another Philippines emerging in the very midst of decay and pain. To reveal, see, experience and fully appreciate this world, is the task of Liwanag: World Festival on Creativity and Sustainability… From 29 January to 02 February 2013, thousands of people (and millions more thru tri-media) will converge in Davao City, Philippines to see the glowing contours of such a world. Liwanag will showcase brilliant, heart-centered initiatives in all dimensions of sustainability: ecological, economic, cultural, political, societal, human, and spiritual… Our hearts will pound with resonance, excitement and Love as we start to truly see and experience this diversity of inspiring initiatives. For these initiatives, taken together, are the elements of the future world that is alive and growing amidst us today…Come to LIWANAG. Contribute your inner Light to the flame of hope and Love that is permeating the world!

The Liwanag Festival is an initiative of MISSION  (https://www.imaginalmission.net/web2.0/) aiming for societal transformation through a quantum approach. The meaning of MISSION explains it all:

MISSION stands for Movement of Imaginals for a Sustainable Society through Initiatives, Organizing, and Networking.

Wellspring of Initiatives for Spiritual Development

This artwork-mushroom image may be found in the internet, but the way it found itself into the laptop that Flor was using is most amazing; more mysterious is the Baibayin writing that appeared on it minutes later.

For learning about quantum agriculture intuitively or the usual way, there exist many helpful videos, lectures, articles and the like. What I present here are some short and simple ones, or are highly inspiring ones that would connect us to the greater whole, to the cosmos, the universe, and even (or especially) God… to our Home. We are a holon and learning about a small part would actually already reveal the greater part. We are grateful to have now rich materials for knowing and what is left is the greater challenge of applying and doing. More will be posted later…

Lecture series by  Yervant Terzian at Cornell University…

… a discussion of “why is there a universe? Why is there something rather than nothing?” and  how humans think about their place in it.

… a three parts video in the Cosmology and the Anthropic Principle series.

1 Cosmology, Galaxies and the Milky Way

2 The Solar System

3 The Anthropic Principle

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Video/Movie Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

for the video

 to use the video as a teaching tool

Overview …

The documentary chronicles the present day state of the Earth, its climate and how we as the dominant species have long-term repercussions on its future. A theme expressed throughout the documentary is that of linkage—how all organisms and the Earth are linked in a “delicate but crucial” natural balance with each other, and how no organism can be self-sufficient.

The first 15 minutes include footage of the beginning of the natural world, starting with single-celled algae developing at the edges of volcanic springs. By showing algae’s essential role in the evolution of photosynthesis, it also explores the innumerable species of plants which all have their origins in this one-celled life form.

In the rest of the first hour of the film, the documentary takes on a more human-oriented focus, showing the agricultural revolution and its impacts, before moving on to talk about the harnessing of oil, leading to fire, industry, cities and inequality gaps like never before. It portrays the current predicament regarding cattle ranches, deforestation, food and water shortages, the use of non-renewable “fossil water”, the over-quarrying crisis and the shortage of energy, namely electricity. Cities such as New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Shenzhen, Mumbai, Tokyo and Dubai are used as examples of the mismanagement and waste of energy, water and food. The recession of marshlands and glaciers are shown in vast aerial shots of Antarctica, The North Pole and Africa, while mass emigration and refugee counts are shown currently and forecast in the event that these events remains unchanged.

It is at this point that the film begins to focus on global warming and the carbon crisis. Home shows how melting glaciers, rising sea levels and changing weather patterns are ravaging the people who have least to do with climate change, but also how it soon will affect rich populous areas.

Here, about three minutes of film is given to displaying harsh facts in large white text on a black background followed by a video representation of the fact. This is followed by a positive conclusion. The documentary claims to show the “awful truths” regarding our impact on the Earth, but also what we are now doing to combat and reverse it, including: renewable energy, the creation of more and more national parks, international co-operation between various nations on environmental issues and the extra education and reform being had across the globe in response to the current problems facing the earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_(2009_film)

Yann Arthus-Bertrand at TED Talk :

Fragile Earth & Man Made Climate Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1tXH38O3QE