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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. Innovative Knowing Methods and Wisdom Practices: What We Can Learn from Allied Disciplines and Further from Other Ages and Cultures

Author : Raghav Rajagopalan

Published in: Immersive Systemic Knowing

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Four contemporary domains of practice which answer the problems raised in relation to systems thinking are described: the Human Process Inquiry from the Sumedhas Academy in India, Cooperative Inquiry from the UK, Action Inquiry from the USA, and Holotropic Breathwork from Europe. Drawn from four major world regions and cultures, they have each demonstrated a maturing of method (and theory, in two cases) and evidence documented results. These methods also stand for wisdom approaches that have long been applied by humankind, now rediscovered and redeployed in recent sociological practice with the corresponding development of supporting theory. Each method is reviewed for its correspondence with the systemic ontology and its contribution to an effective systemic epistemology .

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previous chapter Two Useful Models of Knowing
next chapter Immersive Systemic Knowing: A Theory for Knowing in Practice
Footnotes
1
Hereafter, I shall only refer to the deep intelligence field and that would imply systemic interconnectedness.
 
2
Such deployment is in a restricted sense: most of the holotropic breathwork within group contexts is usually transacted in dyadic arrangements. Nevertheless, there is relevance of such methods to group work of the organisational/systemic sort: this will become clear from later sections of this chapter.
 
3
For example, I have experimented with a variety of meditation techniques, as well as a range of healing methodologies. Most often, the literature here expounds on methods and carries testimonials from experience; it speaks to the ‘converted’—those who are willing to accept and work with ‘mystical’ spiritual energies or processes. These practices have been extremely helpful to me personally in harnessing such knowings to the practical goals of healing people and organisations and have directly inspired my postulation of the deep intelligence field.
 
4
This offering has been developed and offered by Raghu Ananthanarayanan, who has pioneered theoretical work on identity and role-taking processes in the Indian cultural context, a legacy extended by several followers of Pulin Garg. The programmes I facilitated were outside of Sumedhas space and offered under other titles; they have differed in some design respects, but essentially followed the same principles.
 
5
The chief protagonist will not be asked to play her/his own role; there are several cautions about how and when this exercise is used, so this brief allusion to it must not be used by any reader as a basis to try out or experiment with this technique.
 
6
which is probably best envisaged as the deep intelligence field.
 
7
In my postgraduate course of study, enrollers into the programme were called participants and treated accordingly, and not as students. This has left a permanent and profound impress on his understanding of adult learning.
 
8
Heron and Reason (1997) developed the elaborate epistemology of knowing, corresponding to this practice of cooperative inquiry that acknowledges forms of knowing beyond the rational, which was discussed in the last chapter.
 
9
One testimonial provided in Grof’s book is an indicative example of the potential value of this method:
‘I would like to conclude this report by a passage from a letter which we received a year after the Esalen seminar as a response to our request for a follow-up evaluation of the effects of the above experiences:
You asked about any lasting effects I have had from the breathing workshop. It has been just about a year since that time, so I feel that what is with me now is indeed lasting. Perhaps the most satisfying and amazing result is that I have truly and totally accepted the place where I live as my home—after some 16 years of struggling with a strong desire to leave here! I mentioned in my earlier comments about the workshop that I had suddenly realized that I had flown thousands of miles to be with myself. At that moment, high on the cliffs of Esalen, I began living at home. That realization of home has been with me without a moment of wavering for this whole year since then. All who know me have been amazed.
In addition, there have been some other very substantial changes in my life, which I feel are directly the result of the workshop. After many years of talking, thinking, and reading about spirituality, I actually experienced during the workshop what seemed to me a very spiritual state. This spiritual experiencing has continued to pervade my life. The “issues” continue to come up—work, family, marriage, purpose, and so forth—but there is an increasing tendency to go deeply within myself, and to let these issues heal up from within, rather than trying to control or manipulate external circumstances.
I have been meditating each day for a couple of months now. This just seems like a good path for me. I am not using a particular teacher or spiritual discipline. This is just a time of focusing, of coming into the present moment. The result has been an increasing sense of calmness and quiet joy. I am noticing more love flowing out of me, something that has definitely been blocked throughout my life. Have always longed to share, yet the sharing has too often degenerated into domination and control, with ego getting in the way of Self! I am feeling freer now, and the love is flowing more freely. A number of people have come to me for help and support of various kinds—a spontaneous recognition from “outside” of the progress within’ (quoted in Grof 1988, p. 218).
 
10
a careful reading of their work would indicate that this element is implicitly included—this is corroborated later in this section with several quotes.
 
11
A wind based musical instrument with a double reed at one end and a flared metal bell at the other, which is considered very auspicious and spiritually uplifting, and hence used at temples and marriages.
 
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Metadata
Title
Innovative Knowing Methods and Wisdom Practices: What We Can Learn from Allied Disciplines and Further from Other Ages and Cultures
Author
Raghav Rajagopalan
Copyright Year
2020
Book
Immersive Systemic Knowing

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49134-5

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-49135-2

Copyright Year: 2020

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49135-2_6