KYOSEI

‘Kyosei’ is a union of two Japanese words: ‘kyo’ means together and ‘sei’ means to live. The term was first used in academic biology to refer to symbiosis. However, the concept of ‘kyosei’ is also increasingly used in the social context as ‘living and working together for the common good’.

In an increasingly competitive, highly individualistic world, so many of us work only for our personal good. Yet we complain about the negative impact of self-centered attitudes and actions by other persons like us. The kyosei philosophy is based on the fundamental belief that only a harmonious coexistence with nature and the environment can help society achieve sustainable development.

The core tenets of kyosei are universal principles of common sense and morality This include the tenet of reciprocity and the golden rule of treating others as you would like to be treated. It also implies an understanding of our primary interconnectedness and the fact that our actions have an impact both in local (visible) and far-reaching (invisible) ways.

It is about valuing the “middle path”... like practicing moderation in personal habits and the need to find a healthy balance between self-interest and altruism. It involves the crucial preference for simplicity. After all it is the elegance of simplicity that will be better at connecting us into harmony with others and the planet.

To deserve quality of life, we have to look beyond

Let’s BE BETTER at being part of the kyosei bond!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

PEZ!

On 6 December 2006, a meeting was convened in Goa to discuss the then impending danger of the proposed SEZs (Special Economic Zones). During the deliberations, somebody suggested that the alternatives to SEZs were PEZ (People’s Economic Zone). And thus was born a highly stimulating slogan in the local Konkani lingo – “amka naka SEZ, amka zai PEZ” (We do not want SEZ, we want PEZ)

It is pertinent to note that ‘pez’ is also another Goan word for kanji – rice gruel.It is an integral part of the meals of the poor. Yet, others too opt for the ‘pez’ diet whenever confronted with illness. The elders recommended ‘pez’ as a healthy habit. Clearly, ‘pez’ is more than a tradition… it is a fundamentally simple yet highly nourishing meal of Goans and so many who reside on the coast.

Similarly, PEZ as People’s Economic Zone remains a fundamentally simple yet highly sustainable concept. SEZs and all their other avatars are essentially land grabs and their development brings along destructive, irreversible impacts on lands, lives and livelihoods. Thus they are at best an oxymoron of destructive development and are invariably fuelled not by the stated need of the stakeholders but the ravenous greed of a few.

Any so-called development that deteriorates the land, lives and livelihoods cannot be accepted as real development. Development is not about creating newer things and situations. It should be about enhancing value of existing resources and conditions. It is all about trying to be better, not worse! But like pez, PEZ should not be about solutions to be chosen after a problem happens… it should be the basic prevention of the problem’s occurrence.

Not just when the situation gets worse and toxic

Let’s BE BETTER at choosing PEZ as a practice!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

THE STORY OF STUFF

Every summer when Annie Leonard’s family would drive out to camp, she would look at the landscape. She noted that the stores reached a bit further and the forests started a bit later every subsequent year. She wondered where the forests were going. Years later, while walking to her college, she would see piles of garbage line New York street’s every dawn. In the evening, she would walk back to her dorm, staring at empty sidewalks. She was increasingly intrigued with this microcosm of materials flow. She started looking into the trash to see what was in those never-ending piles. It was mostly paper. That was where the forests were ending up!

Annie took a trip to the infamous Fresh Kills landfill. Its volume was described as greater than that of the Great Wall of China. In every direction, she could see couches, refrigerators, boxes, used clothes, stuff… Annie just couldn’t comprehend the massive mountain of materials, reduced to muck, by some system obviously out of control. She knew this was terribly wrong. She vowed to figure it out. And 20 years later she did!

Annie created THE STORY OF STUFF - a 20-minute web-based documentary about the life-cycle of goods and services. She presented the critical connection between a huge number of environmental and social issues. Her thesis, "you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely" is supported throughout the documentary by statistical data. It can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8

Annie explains, “Our current ways of making, using and throwing away stuff is largely based on unsustainable and unjust systems yet, as a society, we’ve got this big collective blind spot about talking about this. Let’s raise the issues, let’s ask the hard questions, let’s get it on the table and examine it and debate it and figure out together how to move forward towards solutions.” As she says in the film, one of the good things about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention. The world will be better if we find that intervention that matches our skill set and our passions. Like Annie did!

First we must understand and then intervene to change the story

Let’s BE BETTER at taking on stuff that makes our world gory!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

THE FIRST PRINCIPLE

Kosen was a Zen Master, exceptionally skilled in calligraphy. Once, he was asked to sketch onto paper the words “The First Principle”, to guide carpenters to carve a larger carving in wooden gate of the temple. However while he sketched he was wary of a bold apprentice who stood next to him, disapproving of Kosen first effort and his next and his next…

Kosen kept writing one sheet after another till many had accumulated, still without the endorsement of the pupil. Then, when his student stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen saw his chance to escape his keen eye. He wrote hurriedly, with a mind free from distraction. The pupil returned to see his work and pronounce, "A masterpiece!"

Until, Kosen was engulfed by the weight of measuring up to his pupil’s approval, he could not actualise his own capability. The pressure weighed him down and distracted him from his own natural performance. The momentary exit of his student freed him of the tension and he was able to complete the task to his own approval as well as that of his pupil!

So often, we too succumb to the stress and strain of approval and expectations of others, not only when surrounded by them, but also in their absence. Worrying about what others will think about what we did, is the biggest distraction that sidetracks us off our path. To be better at doing anything, we need to liberate ourselves of the anxiety that comes out of worrying about appraisal by others.

Let’s overcome pressure that diverts us from our ability

The First Principle to BE BETTER is to shake off anxiety!

- Pravin K. Sabnis