07 March 2014: Living Pathways November 3, 2014 – Posted in: Newsletters

A glimpse of alternate pathways to the future

Asia is gripped by a crisis of modernity. Rampant development, as exemplified by the modern Asian mega-metropolis, is heralded as a symbol of progress. This is the conventional vision of the future, and one that is deeply unsustainable. We live in the shadow of a deepening ecological crisis; lives and livelihoods are increasingly threatened by climate change and environmental degradation. We seem to be at an impasse.

But perhaps we already have solutions to this current crisis embedded in the traditional cultures and cosmologies of the region, and other trajectories of development we could follow.

M. Nadarajah’s timely new book explores the living ecological traditions of various Asian indigenous communities, and the ways in which environmental management grows out of their cosmologies and is built into their spiritual practices. Here, we are offered a glimpse of alternate pathways to the future; a form of sustainability built not on economic development, but on a deeply sustainable form of living that takes its lessons from traditional cultures and cosmologies.

Do we need to develop to be happy? Can there be non-materialistic development? In discarding our traditions, are we also discarding our future? These are some of the questions the book explores through its encounters with traditional Asian cosmologies.

Richly illustrated with photographs by the author, this book should be of interest to all those passionate about ecology, nature and the environment, sustainability, spirituality, Asian traditions, and Asia’s future.

Living Pathways: Meditations on sustainable cultures and cosmologies in Asia is available now from Areca Books for RM80. Please click here for more information, or to purchase.