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CIAO DATE: 08/03
Volume 7, Number 1 (January-March 2003)
Message From the Publisher and Editor-In-Chief: A Search for a Basic Human Quest
In Search of a New Paradigm for a Sustainable Human Order
The contents of this special issue represent the ideas expressed in a two-day international dialogue on the present human state and the need, and possible directions for change. It was an attempt to understand the changing idiom of the new sciences, and the emerging reality; with the hope that it will free us from the encircling gloom, towards that cosmic orderliness of which we are an infinitesimal part.
J C Kapur provides a historical overview of the transition from Renaissance to the Reformation and the Cartesian split between matter and spirit, all the way to the recent emergence of a dominant unipolar paradigm resting on an ‘armament-protected consumerism’. He also raises many questions that need to be addressed in our search for new humane social dispensation.
Dialogue
A number of concerned and dedicated participants from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds reflect on the human future. They also call for the future to be built on a strong ethical and moral basis as an underpinning of science, material activity, philosophy, culture and spirituality.
Comments
Philosophy and the Question of Cultural Diversity in the New Millennia
Anindita N Balslev considers the problems of a fast globalising multicultural world which she feels cannot be properly addressed without understanding and appreciating the deeper spiritual context of the diverse cultures.
Audrey E Kitagawa stresses the spiritual needs of an increasingly materialistic civilisation in the desired and needed evolution towards a new compassionate human order.
Food and Harmony
M S Swaminathan from his vast experience underlines the need for food security, and calls for curbing population growth while pointing out the limits of the planetary ecosystem.
Science and Spirituality
Rajiv Vora reflects on the common source of inspiration for both the yogi and the scientist, within the eternal paradigm. He also discusses the Gandhian search for truth and its definition of real human needs, so relevant to our current predicament.
Search for Unity
M N Venkatachaliah concludes by stressing the need to unify science and spirituality in order to provide a sound foundation for a new sustainable order.
Participants
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