EXPLORING THE TIME, SPACE AND KNOWLEDGE VISION FOR AN ECOLOGICAL MINDSET

Tuesday Aug 7, 3-5 p.m. in IASS BB 2.10 with our current guest Ron Purser, professor of management from San Francisco State University

Abstract

The ecological crisis is a crisis of Space, Time and Knowledge. This presentation introduces a radical new vision of reality based on the works of Tarthang Tulku, a Tibetan Nyingma Buddhist lama. The investigation and explorations in his first book, titled  “Time, Space and Knowledge” can  activate new ways of knowing and being that goes beyond a self-orientation. As Tarthang Tulku points out, “A focus on time, space, and knowledge fits well with the Western mind, for time and space are objective factors in our lives, and knowledge is central to all that we do. Without time, we could not be alive; without space, we could not be embodied. Experience, appearance, and action all depend on time, space, and knowledge. Yet these fundamental facets of being are not widely appreciated or discussed; indeed, for the most part they are taken for granted.”

As an alternative to the dichotomies and dualities of  conventional  thought, TSK offers a  secular  vision  and approach that  does not rely on any dogma or doctrine. When activated and embodied, TSK offers a nondual way of being in the world, evoking new knowledge and creativity that is capable of initiating fundamental changes in relating to space and time. In a society where time seems always to be speeding up, space is subject to steady manipulation and crowding, and where our knowledge is bound to a self-orientation, the TSK vision offers a way of inquiry that does not depend on maintaining specific sets of assumptions and beliefs or positions, allowing for the emergence of wisdom that can “prepare  the  way  for
global shifts, encouraging and inspiring developments in social, political, and economic spheres, the field of scientific inquiry, and the spiritual domain, as well as our own personal lives.”

This seminar will also introduce a number of contemplative exercises, explorations and experiments derived from the TSK teachings. Unlike formal meditation or mindfulness interventions, these experiential inquiries are recruited to transform our embodiment and subjectivities, enacting a more spacious sense of selfhood, a more balanced way of being in time, and a more sensitive and nondual way of knowing. In this context, I will show why current forms of mindfulness and meditative disciplines are limited in scope and politically naïve.

Ronald Purser, Ph.D. is a professor of management at San Francisco State University where he has taught the last twenty three years in the Doctorate in Educational Leadership, MBA graduate and undergraduate business programs. Prior to moving to San Francisco, he taught at Loyola University of Chicago, at the Center for Organization Development Masters program. He received his doctorate in Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Purser is former chair of the Academy of Management’s Organizational Development and Change division.