Introduction
The current global systems are designed to entrench the status quo, and is based on a single dominant civilisation, namely that of the neo-liberal project. I begin by summarising how lessons from complexity theory show that an attempt to entrench a single, universal civilisation leads to an unsustainable future, and that there is the potential for a new trajectory of global systems. Such a trajectory depends on a plurality of civilisations and worldviews that encourage multiple, complementary world orders that tolerate dissent, difference and diversity. My focus thereafter is on alternate ways of knowing, as one way of contributing to such diversity, with a particular emphasis on the realm of the sacred as embodied in the perennial wisdom. I touch on relationships between science and the sacred, with an argument that science may be enriched if it was less restrictive, and more open to approaches that are not readily amenable to rational enquiry alone, hence an appeal for complementarity between science and other ways of knowing. Finally, I present a few links between the perennial wisdom, and concepts such as emotional intelligence, intuition, inspiration and spiritual intelligence, in the hope that they may offer avenues for further research.
Lessons from Complexity Theory
The current global systems are configured towards entrenching a single universal civilisation. Global systems are inter-related in multi-faceted ways. Hence systemic approaches are required to understand and influence the trajectories of global systems, and that of humanity. In particular, complexity theory approaches may help us in such understanding. The current situation is a tenuous one with the potential for collapse of global systems. By drawing on conclusions from complexity theory, I have shown elsewhere that:
We note that the current trajectory of global systems is undesirable, and that it is possible to influence this trajectory by encouraging diversity, pluralism and multiple worldviews. One way of contributing to such diversity and pluralism is to re-engage one aspect of humanity�s lost heritage and that is the plurality of ways of knowing and understanding of the world. This is what I wish to explore in the rest of this paper.
This lost heritage includes knowledge and understanding embedded in legend, myths, oral traditions, indigenous communities, ancient traditions, so called "primitive" societies, and the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s greatest religions, that is, from the realm of the sacred. Each one of these sources of knowledge is of value in their own right, and worthy of further research. In this paper, my focus is primarily on ways of knowing and understanding through lessons from the perennial wisdom. In addition I try to illustrate how science itself may point to alternate ways of knowing.
Science and the Sacred
It is my contention that both science and the sacred are fruitful human endeavours. My point of departure is that I have faith in a superior being, God, Absolute Reality, or any other name that we may wish to invoke. It is not the name but the one that is named that is important. I am unapologetic about my faith and wish to state my convictions up front, so that the rest of the discussion is framed appropriately with respect to others who may not have such faith. I argue that the essence of truth is deeply embedded in all of the world�s major religions. This is the perennial wisdom. There should be no compulsion in religion; hence these are my personal views only, drawing from my own understanding of some aspects of the sacred. Despite my strong views on faith, I submit the rest of this discussion in all humility, and what follows is meant at best to serve as exploratory remarks, for discussion purposes, and hopefully to suggest new areas of research. Many of the links that I attempt to draw are speculative, open to challenge and scrutiny and presented in the spirit of enquiry as opposed to an attempt of forcing dogma. I retain the right to be forceful about my opinions, but accept that they are just that, and am open to opposing viewpoints. Humanity has become impoverished by the dominant positivist scientific paradigms. Science has triumphed at the expense of the richness and fullness of being human. It has reduced us to mechanistic beings that have become cogs in the machine bureaucracies, especially those of trans-national corporations. It is a failing of science that it is quick to reject anything that does not render itself amenable to rational enquiry. Human knowledge will always be partial, so despite all of the greatest strides made or to be made by science, our understanding of the world will always be partial. It is precisely at the margins of science - no matter how far we push them - that alternate ways of knowing provide the greatest benefit. The following diagram illustrates some of these alternate ways of knowing. Although some fields of study such as psychology do explore unconscious processes, the dominant paradigms in science (drawing from their positivist approaches) tend to focus more on conscious processes, based on measurement and observation, the experimental method and hypothesis generation and testing. Indeed, the social sciences by and large emulate methods and approaches from the positivist natural sciences. As a result even when unconscious processes are studied, the methodologies and approaches tend to be drawn from a positivist standpoint, hence a pre-occupation with structured instruments, experimental and control groups, and validation methods that attempt to remove "experimental bias" in the interest of maintaining the objective observer who stands outside of the system that s/he is attempting to study. I am not suggesting that all of this is not useful, but merely that the social sciences, somewhat wary of being labelled pseudo-science, is frequently reduced to positivism at the expense of flexibility and richness. The scientific effort therefore tends to be restricted to a small sub-set of how we may study and know the world. Many of the ways of knowing highlighted in the diagram are therefore under-researched. By opening ourselves to studying and exploring these other ways of knowing, we contribute to the diversity and pluralism that I have argued for earlier in this paper.Science and the pursuit of science must shed an arrogance, which if it does, opens up new vistas and avenues for science itself. The Noble Quran is the book of revelation to Mohammed the prophet of Arabia (may peace be upon him). Each of the verses in the Quran is referred to as ayat in Arabic. The word ayat literally means sign � so each verse or ayat is a sign of true reality. The Quran, in addition, implores us to continuously ponder creation and the wonders of the universe. This is a juxtaposition of ayats in revelation with ayats in the universe � hence a study of manifest reality (through science) is a worthy endeavour, and all of what we observe are signs of true reality. The revelation then, is in itself a source of knowing, and in addition invokes humanity to study the universe, the result of which is, 1) an additional source of knowing and understanding, and 2) a corroboration of what is in the revelation itself. Together, ayats in revelation and ayats from science offer us a richness of understanding the world, and enable us to use such understanding in conducting our lives harmoniously with the universe and the universal order. We have witnessed many examples of science gone awry � a science that is destructive to humanity and the planet � this is science without morality. Science in itself is a worthy endeavour � it is how it is conducted and the way that its results are applied that may be problematic. We will get the most benefit from science when we have science with morality, that is, science aligned to the universal order. The argument here is therefore for a science aligned to the sacred and morality. Indeed, the revelations or sacred books, serve as furqan or criterion by which scientific theories may be judged. Theories that are aligned to the perennial wisdom expand, help explicate and provide us with a richer understanding. Theories that are in conflict with the perennial wisdom will ultimately reveal an underlying error in our logic and reasoning, and must serve as impetus for us to continue our pursuit and quest for understanding.Current science recognises only the material world, and hence rejects reality in its many forms that are not subject to observation and experimentation. Science has therefore appropriated the right to generate and validate knowledge, and attacks all other ways of knowledge embodied in indigenous communities, ancient traditions, and the perennial wisdom as pseudo-science, superstition, and mumbo-jumbo. Lessons at the Margins of ScienceWe may consider that the study of quantum physics is at the margins of current science. Indeed quantum physics is precisely one of those areas of study, where science itself points to alternate ways of knowing. For example, the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Physics indicates that at a quantum level, reality only exists in potentiality. In some sense, reality is dependent on the observer; in fact the observer creates reality. For until there is measurement or observation, reality only exists as a set of probabilities characterised by the Schrodinger wave function. When we choose to make an observation, there is the collapse of the wave function and we have material reality. This has significant implications for our understanding of the universe. It establishes a direct link between matter and consciousness � in such an interpretation there is no reality without the observer. This is reminiscent of teachings of the ancient wisdom, which places humanity at the centre of the universe i.e. without humanity there would be no universe. This is a reversal of 300 years of reductionist science that relegated humanity to a cog in a deterministic, mechanistic clockwork universe, merely a set of atoms and molecules.David Bohm�s interpretation of Quantum Physics is perhaps even more interesting. Bohm�s causal interpretation of quantum physics, rivals the more dominant interpretation known as the Copenhagen interpretation of Niels Bohr, Wernher Heisenberg and others. He has indicated that there is only a single undivided wholeness in the universe. It is we, as observers that fragment the world through the categories that we impose. He uses the metaphor of the hologram to describe this undivided wholeness. A beam of laser light is split such that one part of the beam strikes a photographic plate, the other strikes an object, and the reflection is also made to strike the photographic plate. If the plate is illuminated with laser light of the same frequency, the image of the object is revealed in the plate. If a small portion of the hologram is illuminated with the laser light, that portion contains the whole image of the object. The resolution of the image may be lower and the image may be coarser, but all of the information is encoded in the photographic plate. So the part contains the whole. Bohm uses this metaphor of the hologram to illustrate his idea of undivided wholeness. In this sense then, every part of the universe contains information about the whole universe. Although not identical, this notion is reminiscent of the Sufi view that the universe is the macrocosm, and the human being is the microscosm.Bohm refers to the explicate order and the implicate order. The implicate order is what he calls the holomovement, for the implicate order is not static but in dynamic movement. The implicate order (which is enfolded) and the explicate order (which is unfolded) mutually interpenetrate each other. The implicate order is primary, while the explicate order is secondary, deriving from the implicate order. In one sense then, material reality is illusory while the implicate order is real. It is ironic that much of science rejects everything but material reality, yet science itself seems to point to other realities. Bohm postulates that the universe is a single undivided wholeness, a totality in every region of space and time. Space and time are derived from an underlying objective reality, the implicate order. In the implicate order everything is enfolded in everything else. The manifest world i.e. the physical reality that we know is the explicate order where things are unfolded. According to Bohm there are certain sub-totalities that have the capacity for recurrence and stability. These sub-totalities have the ability to appear tangible and solid, hence yielding manifest reality.Another interesting lesson from quantum physics is that two particles that have interacted at some point in time, and are later separated by any distance, continue to maintain a relationship in that there is the possibility for the particles to interact with each other at a distance � action at a distance. This is a result of Bell�s Theorem, and was shown to hold true experimentally by Alain Aspect in 1982. These experiments have been replicated successfully many times since. At a metaphorical level, this may explain a number of para-psychological phenomena. Ofcourse, one is not arguing that this constitutes a proof, but it opens up the possibility to demonstrate that we may get results that do not readily open themselves to rational enquiry in the mould of reductionist science, but may in actuality exist. We just do not have a rational explanation as yet. The biggest difficulty in this particular instance is that the "action-at-a-distance" phenomenon shown to be true is at a quantum physical level, while that of certain para-psychological phenomena such as telekinesis, remote viewing etc. are at a classical physical level. The missing link, if there is one in this instance, is why certain phenomena at a quantum level are not observed at a classical level.It is possible that the zero point energy field may one day provide us with that link. Quantum Physics has identified that in reality there is no empty space, rather in every region of space there are quantum fluctuations comprising enormous energy. The energy contained in a single cubic centimetre of "empty" space exceeds all of the energy contained in the material universe. We are therefore surrounded by an ocean of energy in the cosmos � so we do not have a vacuum, but rather a cosmic plenum. A number of studies related to the zero point energy field have been conducted, and some scientists have drawn links with it and consciousness. These have interesting implications, as it is possible that consciousness is subject to quantum phenomena. Complexity theorySystems thinking in general, and complexity theory in particular show how systems have emergent properties. These emergent properties arise as a result of interactions and relationships between the parts in the system. These are properties of the system itself, that is, properties of the whole and not of the individual parts. I wonder whether this holds any clues for the scientific endeavour itself. The sciences in general, with the exception of the systems sciences, is primarily reductionist. One of the pursuits of science in the last few centuries has been that of finding the fundamental building blocks of the universe. This led to the discovery of the atom, and when our measuring devices were powerful enough, discovery of the nucleus, protons, electrons and then elementary particles � the stuff quantum physics is made of. I wonder that in the pursuit to understand the "parts" at lower and lower levels of granularity, there may be properties of the whole that may have escaped us. Indeed, we may speculate that as our understanding of individual behaviour of elementary particles increases, our understanding of whole systems in increasing levels of hierarchy decreases. At the highest level, our understanding of the material universe itself may have become impoverished, as we may have lost sight of emergent properties of the system, that we are no longer able to study, as we focus on the parts. Is it not possible that there is a richness in these that may actually point to realities that the ancient traditions and the perennial wisdom refer to but which science has rejected?ComplementarityIn this section I wish to explore a few links between the perennial wisdom, and concepts such as emotional intelligence, intuition, inspiration and spiritual intelligence, in the hope that they may present interesting avenues for further research that will contribute to complementarity between ways of knowing. Emotional IntelligenceEmotional intelligence is a concept that has become popular recently. Goleman has identified the following components of emotional intelligence:Self-Awareness Self-Regulation Motivation Empathy Social Skill The definitions of each of these relate to an individual�s feelings, how one understands the individual self, and the utilisation of such understanding in a way that contributes to more effective relationships with others. The notion of emotional intelligence and its underlying components is certainly useful. However it is rooted in a psychology that is reductionist, and one that is directly related to a mechanistic, physical reality giving rise to a conceptual reality through the mechanism of mind. The following hierarchy is implicit in such a psychology. In other words psychological processes may ultimately be traced back to physical processes � hence its limits are material reality. It does not allow space for other realities. Based on this it is easy to understand why science rejects other ways of knowing as superstition or mumbo jumbo. In this view the only reality is material reality hence any contemplation of alternative reality has to be an aberration, which may be traced back to flawed mental processes or indeed flawed physiological processes. I would argue that of all the dimensions related to emotional intelligence, the one that is most important is self-awareness, as all of the other dimensions either build on self-awareness or rely on it as a bedrock. Modern psychology has now stumbled on a notion, that has hitherto been identified as one of the most important aspects of "good living" in several religious traditions. For example, in the tradition of Sufism, there has always been an emphasis on knowing and understanding the self. It has been understood, that the one who knows himself, is able to know God, for "God is closer to you than your life-vein." Sufi tradition refers to the universe as the macrocosm, and the human being as the microcosm. In a sense then, the human being is a reflection of the entire universe, and he who knows himself begins to know the universe. As one strives to understand the self, one becomes aware of an underlying unity in the universe, and begins to get a faint understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. Science itself is starting to come to the same realisation. The work of David Bohm, mentioned earlier, is notable in this regard. His ideas of explicit and implicit orders, and the super-implicate order reveal that Bohm was able to grasp a fundamental principle of interconnectedness of the universe. This is an idea that is implicit in the wisdom traditions, but we have unfortunately lost sight of it through reductionist science that separates the observer and the observed.It may be of value to explore the relationship between reason and emotion in achieving understanding. In some ways scientific thinking contains an implicit assumption that thinking is a cognitive act only, where emotions and feelings must be kept at bay so as not to contaminate the data, or the analytical processes that enable conclusions to be drawn. The following Sufi story indicates that as humans we cannot divorce reason and emotion, and also illustrates the power of emotions to achieve particular ends. The daughter of the King was seriously ill, and all the physicians were summoned to cure her of her affliction. A dervish arrived at the King�s residence and offered to help, by invoking the name of God. The physicians laughed at him, saying that all of their efforts were unable to help the girl, how did he expect to do anything for her? He simply said something along the following lines: "Look you donkeys, leave me to do what I have to do." This made them very furious. The dervish said, "merely by calling you donkeys, you have turned red and have become visibly shaken, can you not then understand, how powerful the invocation of God is in helping this girl?"This story illustrates the arrogance of the dominant science of the day. The physicians are symbolic of dominant science, and the dervish is symbolic of the alternate ways of knowing highlighted earlier in this paper. Intuition Much has been written about intuition. It is unfortunate that because of science, the sources of intuition are seen to be limited. Intuition is seen as arising out of compressed experience. In other words, the only new knowledge that may be generated, via the process of intuition, is by new relationships and patterns of existing concepts. Intuition therefore relies on sense perception, and thereafter conceptual processing. This is shown in the diagram below: The diagram shows that intuition is not merely exact experience just compacted, but rather the compressed experience is different from the original, initial experience through the mechanism of mind. The sensory stimuli is subjected to processing based on previous "compressed experience" and hence a re-ordering of patterns. So experience is unlike a tape that is merely being replayed � in a sense it is new experience, or at least mediated experience. The more interesting aspect of how intuition is generated is that there is temporality, which is a powerful way of changing experience from pure sensory perception. Due to connections being made in the mind between sensory stimuli arriving at different points in time, the re-ordering of patterns is subject to temporality. In addition, partly because of "forgetting" and imperfect recollection of past sensory stimuli, the processing of new stimuli and re-ordering of patterns is subject to noise, faults and errors. This is a powerful mechanism of mind that generates compressed experience that is mediated, and the potential for novelty and creativity. This is why knowledge and insights from intuition is often regarded as creative.This is a powerful way of understanding the source of intuition. However it is still a very limited approach that does not give the full picture. From a theoretical point of view, the model is still a restricted one, as ultimately the source of intuition is reduced to past sense perception, albeit convoluted through temporality, noise and re-ordering. The model therefore limits intuition to the individual and his subjective experience, hence limited to perception-based material reality.We now explore how intuition may have other sources. One such other source is that from spiritual reality. Lets first explore how this may be understood by drawing learning from the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s religious traditions. According to these traditions humanity was blessed with prophets that brought a message to mankind, from the source of Absolute Reality or Ultimate Reality. One of the mechanisms by which the prophets received this perennial wisdom is that of inspiration. The perennial wisdom shows that the mechanism of inspiration is not limited to prophets but to all of humanity. The difference however, is that knowledge acquired through intuition and inspiration by prophets is infallible, while that of the rest of humanity is fallible. The other important difference is that the seat of intuition as "compressed experience" is the mind, while the seat of intuition as inspiration is the "heart". This may be shown by extending the model shown earlier, to incorporate infallible and fallible knowledge:The adaptations to the model now include the distinction between the source of intuition as the material universe and the source as the spiritual universe. The important point to realise is that the heart is not the physical organ responsible for pumping and circulation of blood � rather � the heart here is the spiritual heart. The symbol in the centre of the heart in the diagram is meant to demonstrate that unlike the pattern matching and re-ordering as a mechanism of the mind, in the case of the heart, the "mechanism of heart" is unknown, and is an area that warrants further research. Since here we are dealing with infallible knowledge, the mechanism of mind excludes noise, faults and errors, and it is now excluded from the model. It thus means that in the case of prophets, there is unadulterated "compressed experience". In addition there is new knowledge that is made available outside sense-perception, which originates from the spiritual universe. This is a store of limitless knowledge available to prophets, for they are able to grasp the underlying unity of all reality, and the unity of the divine principle. Fallible KnowledgeWe have seen that it is possible under certain circumstances, for the rest of humanity to be able to receive intuition and knowledge in the form of inspiration. It is subject to the "grace" and beneficence of Absolute Reality, and is not open to everyone. One of the purposes of certain "rituals" and spiritual exercises is to be able to tap into the spiritual world, and to be able to receive grace. Formal prayer is a means of spiritual ascension.The model retains the fallible mechanisms of mind in the case of ordinary human beings. It also introduces another source of fallibility, where the inspiration is filtered or distorted. This is shown as a filter, which may be thought of as a glass. Spiritual "light" in the form of inspiration is unable to pass unhindered, when the glass is tainted with dirt and grime. Although the filter is shown here as a separate entity, in actuality it is the heart itself that becomes tainted with impurities. The formal prayer and other forms of spiritual exercises is a way of polishing the heart to remove the impurities, thereby being able to absorb spiritual light. This is how it is understood in the perennial wisdom. The level of fallibility is determined by the level of impurity, the higher the impurity, the higher the chance of errors, and thereby leading to faulty understanding and knowledge. In cases where humans become totally secular, denying any reality beyond the material universe, the glass is completely tainted and black, unable to receive divine inspiration. We have up to this point considered the concept of intuition. At the simplest level we have seen that it arises out of condensed experience. We noted however that there is the possibility of creativity and novelty due to the mechanism of mind that includes temporality, and the introduction of noise. We saw that this is as far as western science can take us, as it is limited to its roots in previous sensory stimuli. If we wish to understand intuition and its sources, then we have to turn to other traditions, primarily those that have given us the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s greatest religions. It is beyond the scope of this paper, but the impact of emotions and feelings may also be explored further and built into the tentative model on intuition that has been described. Spiritual IntelligenceNext we turn to the concept of spiritual intelligence. It has been claimed that this is a useful construct for leadership, and that leaders need to have (acquire) spiritual intelligence. The notion appears useful, and would also be worthy of further research, but I am cautious on two counts. The first is that there is a danger that any efforts to understand spiritual intelligence, may result in a contamination of issues related to spirituality, and becomes a veiled attempt at turning issues related to the spirit, soul and the spiritual universe which are embodied in the perennial wisdom, into something that is their very anti-thesis in the mould of secular materialism, which is one of the fundamental building blocks of neo-liberalism, and the current dominant civilisation that it has spawned. The following diagram inspired by a social dynamic identified by Michael Boisot in "Information Space", illustrates how this happens. In the formative stages of a new body of thought, the existing dominant order, perceives it as an aberration, deviation, depravity or illness. The existing order tends to neutralise such aberration, by either attacking it outright, or co-opting it by modifying it to fit into the dominant paradigm or existing order. If the response of the existing order is strong enough it will be able to prevent the new body of thought developing to its full extent or maturity, hence retaining the status quo. While I have used this to illustrate an example in relation to spiritual intelligence, this particular social dynamic has much wider application and implications. In fact, it applies to the case I have been making about alternate ways of knowing. The "label" of pseudo-science so readily applied by the dominant scientific paradigm to anything that does not fit the paradigm, is an example of the "attack" against an aberration so as to neutralise it.My second concern with the current interest in spiritual intelligence is that a large part of humanity having rejected God and the Ultimate Reality, find themselves swimming in a cesspool devoid of any sense of wholeness, serenity and meaning. There are many who are quick to exploit this, and hence take sublime concepts from the perennial wisdom and turn them to profit, without understanding what they are or mean. They distort the pure message; package them for mass production, characteristic of the current era. Unfortunately those seeking meaning get caught up by these snake-oil salesmen (consultants?) who take from the sacred, and render them profane. Conclusions Global systems are designed to further the neo-liberal project, which is an attempt to impose a single, dominant universal civilisation. The current trajectory of global systems will lead to an unsustainable future. By drawing from complexity theory, it was shown that there is a need to encourage multiple worldviews, diversity and pluralism. One way to contribute to such diversity is to encourage alternative ways of knowing. This paper has focussed primarily on alternative ways of knowing from the realm of the sacred as embodied in the perennial wisdom. A number of links between the sacred and concepts such as emotional intelligence, intuition, inspiration and spiritual intelligence were presented in the hope that they may offer new avenues for research that will contribute to complementarity between science and other ways of knowing._______ ii) Paper presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Systems Sciences (ISSS 46) � "Rising of a New Civilisation: The Future of Global Systems." ii) I am indebted to Michael Francis who challenged this statement, by making the point that those without faith may equally claim that they are not devoid of meaning. I accept that my position is open to challenge, and therefore qualify it here.
Although some fields of study such as psychology do explore unconscious processes, the dominant paradigms in science (drawing from their positivist approaches) tend to focus more on conscious processes, based on measurement and observation, the experimental method and hypothesis generation and testing. Indeed, the social sciences by and large emulate methods and approaches from the positivist natural sciences. As a result even when unconscious processes are studied, the methodologies and approaches tend to be drawn from a positivist standpoint, hence a pre-occupation with structured instruments, experimental and control groups, and validation methods that attempt to remove "experimental bias" in the interest of maintaining the objective observer who stands outside of the system that s/he is attempting to study. I am not suggesting that all of this is not useful, but merely that the social sciences, somewhat wary of being labelled pseudo-science, is frequently reduced to positivism at the expense of flexibility and richness. The scientific effort therefore tends to be restricted to a small sub-set of how we may study and know the world. Many of the ways of knowing highlighted in the diagram are therefore under-researched. By opening ourselves to studying and exploring these other ways of knowing, we contribute to the diversity and pluralism that I have argued for earlier in this paper.
Science and the pursuit of science must shed an arrogance, which if it does, opens up new vistas and avenues for science itself. The Noble Quran is the book of revelation to Mohammed the prophet of Arabia (may peace be upon him). Each of the verses in the Quran is referred to as ayat in Arabic. The word ayat literally means sign � so each verse or ayat is a sign of true reality. The Quran, in addition, implores us to continuously ponder creation and the wonders of the universe. This is a juxtaposition of ayats in revelation with ayats in the universe � hence a study of manifest reality (through science) is a worthy endeavour, and all of what we observe are signs of true reality. The revelation then, is in itself a source of knowing, and in addition invokes humanity to study the universe, the result of which is, 1) an additional source of knowing and understanding, and 2) a corroboration of what is in the revelation itself. Together, ayats in revelation and ayats from science offer us a richness of understanding the world, and enable us to use such understanding in conducting our lives harmoniously with the universe and the universal order.
We have witnessed many examples of science gone awry � a science that is destructive to humanity and the planet � this is science without morality. Science in itself is a worthy endeavour � it is how it is conducted and the way that its results are applied that may be problematic. We will get the most benefit from science when we have science with morality, that is, science aligned to the universal order. The argument here is therefore for a science aligned to the sacred and morality. Indeed, the revelations or sacred books, serve as furqan or criterion by which scientific theories may be judged. Theories that are aligned to the perennial wisdom expand, help explicate and provide us with a richer understanding. Theories that are in conflict with the perennial wisdom will ultimately reveal an underlying error in our logic and reasoning, and must serve as impetus for us to continue our pursuit and quest for understanding.
Current science recognises only the material world, and hence rejects reality in its many forms that are not subject to observation and experimentation. Science has therefore appropriated the right to generate and validate knowledge, and attacks all other ways of knowledge embodied in indigenous communities, ancient traditions, and the perennial wisdom as pseudo-science, superstition, and mumbo-jumbo. Lessons at the Margins of Science
We may consider that the study of quantum physics is at the margins of current science. Indeed quantum physics is precisely one of those areas of study, where science itself points to alternate ways of knowing. For example, the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Physics indicates that at a quantum level, reality only exists in potentiality. In some sense, reality is dependent on the observer; in fact the observer creates reality. For until there is measurement or observation, reality only exists as a set of probabilities characterised by the Schrodinger wave function. When we choose to make an observation, there is the collapse of the wave function and we have material reality. This has significant implications for our understanding of the universe. It establishes a direct link between matter and consciousness � in such an interpretation there is no reality without the observer. This is reminiscent of teachings of the ancient wisdom, which places humanity at the centre of the universe i.e. without humanity there would be no universe. This is a reversal of 300 years of reductionist science that relegated humanity to a cog in a deterministic, mechanistic clockwork universe, merely a set of atoms and molecules.
David Bohm�s interpretation of Quantum Physics is perhaps even more interesting. Bohm�s causal interpretation of quantum physics, rivals the more dominant interpretation known as the Copenhagen interpretation of Niels Bohr, Wernher Heisenberg and others. He has indicated that there is only a single undivided wholeness in the universe. It is we, as observers that fragment the world through the categories that we impose. He uses the metaphor of the hologram to describe this undivided wholeness. A beam of laser light is split such that one part of the beam strikes a photographic plate, the other strikes an object, and the reflection is also made to strike the photographic plate. If the plate is illuminated with laser light of the same frequency, the image of the object is revealed in the plate. If a small portion of the hologram is illuminated with the laser light, that portion contains the whole image of the object. The resolution of the image may be lower and the image may be coarser, but all of the information is encoded in the photographic plate. So the part contains the whole. Bohm uses this metaphor of the hologram to illustrate his idea of undivided wholeness. In this sense then, every part of the universe contains information about the whole universe. Although not identical, this notion is reminiscent of the Sufi view that the universe is the macrocosm, and the human being is the microscosm.
Bohm refers to the explicate order and the implicate order. The implicate order is what he calls the holomovement, for the implicate order is not static but in dynamic movement. The implicate order (which is enfolded) and the explicate order (which is unfolded) mutually interpenetrate each other. The implicate order is primary, while the explicate order is secondary, deriving from the implicate order. In one sense then, material reality is illusory while the implicate order is real. It is ironic that much of science rejects everything but material reality, yet science itself seems to point to other realities. Bohm postulates that the universe is a single undivided wholeness, a totality in every region of space and time. Space and time are derived from an underlying objective reality, the implicate order. In the implicate order everything is enfolded in everything else. The manifest world i.e. the physical reality that we know is the explicate order where things are unfolded. According to Bohm there are certain sub-totalities that have the capacity for recurrence and stability. These sub-totalities have the ability to appear tangible and solid, hence yielding manifest reality.
Another interesting lesson from quantum physics is that two particles that have interacted at some point in time, and are later separated by any distance, continue to maintain a relationship in that there is the possibility for the particles to interact with each other at a distance � action at a distance. This is a result of Bell�s Theorem, and was shown to hold true experimentally by Alain Aspect in 1982. These experiments have been replicated successfully many times since. At a metaphorical level, this may explain a number of para-psychological phenomena. Ofcourse, one is not arguing that this constitutes a proof, but it opens up the possibility to demonstrate that we may get results that do not readily open themselves to rational enquiry in the mould of reductionist science, but may in actuality exist. We just do not have a rational explanation as yet. The biggest difficulty in this particular instance is that the "action-at-a-distance" phenomenon shown to be true is at a quantum physical level, while that of certain para-psychological phenomena such as telekinesis, remote viewing etc. are at a classical physical level. The missing link, if there is one in this instance, is why certain phenomena at a quantum level are not observed at a classical level.
It is possible that the zero point energy field may one day provide us with that link. Quantum Physics has identified that in reality there is no empty space, rather in every region of space there are quantum fluctuations comprising enormous energy. The energy contained in a single cubic centimetre of "empty" space exceeds all of the energy contained in the material universe. We are therefore surrounded by an ocean of energy in the cosmos � so we do not have a vacuum, but rather a cosmic plenum. A number of studies related to the zero point energy field have been conducted, and some scientists have drawn links with it and consciousness. These have interesting implications, as it is possible that consciousness is subject to quantum phenomena. Complexity theory
Systems thinking in general, and complexity theory in particular show how systems have emergent properties. These emergent properties arise as a result of interactions and relationships between the parts in the system. These are properties of the system itself, that is, properties of the whole and not of the individual parts. I wonder whether this holds any clues for the scientific endeavour itself. The sciences in general, with the exception of the systems sciences, is primarily reductionist. One of the pursuits of science in the last few centuries has been that of finding the fundamental building blocks of the universe. This led to the discovery of the atom, and when our measuring devices were powerful enough, discovery of the nucleus, protons, electrons and then elementary particles � the stuff quantum physics is made of. I wonder that in the pursuit to understand the "parts" at lower and lower levels of granularity, there may be properties of the whole that may have escaped us. Indeed, we may speculate that as our understanding of individual behaviour of elementary particles increases, our understanding of whole systems in increasing levels of hierarchy decreases. At the highest level, our understanding of the material universe itself may have become impoverished, as we may have lost sight of emergent properties of the system, that we are no longer able to study, as we focus on the parts. Is it not possible that there is a richness in these that may actually point to realities that the ancient traditions and the perennial wisdom refer to but which science has rejected?
Complementarity
In this section I wish to explore a few links between the perennial wisdom, and concepts such as emotional intelligence, intuition, inspiration and spiritual intelligence, in the hope that they may present interesting avenues for further research that will contribute to complementarity between ways of knowing. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is a concept that has become popular recently. Goleman has identified the following components of emotional intelligence:
In other words psychological processes may ultimately be traced back to physical processes � hence its limits are material reality. It does not allow space for other realities. Based on this it is easy to understand why science rejects other ways of knowing as superstition or mumbo jumbo. In this view the only reality is material reality hence any contemplation of alternative reality has to be an aberration, which may be traced back to flawed mental processes or indeed flawed physiological processes.
I would argue that of all the dimensions related to emotional intelligence, the one that is most important is self-awareness, as all of the other dimensions either build on self-awareness or rely on it as a bedrock. Modern psychology has now stumbled on a notion, that has hitherto been identified as one of the most important aspects of "good living" in several religious traditions. For example, in the tradition of Sufism, there has always been an emphasis on knowing and understanding the self. It has been understood, that the one who knows himself, is able to know God, for "God is closer to you than your life-vein." Sufi tradition refers to the universe as the macrocosm, and the human being as the microcosm. In a sense then, the human being is a reflection of the entire universe, and he who knows himself begins to know the universe. As one strives to understand the self, one becomes aware of an underlying unity in the universe, and begins to get a faint understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. Science itself is starting to come to the same realisation. The work of David Bohm, mentioned earlier, is notable in this regard. His ideas of explicit and implicit orders, and the super-implicate order reveal that Bohm was able to grasp a fundamental principle of interconnectedness of the universe. This is an idea that is implicit in the wisdom traditions, but we have unfortunately lost sight of it through reductionist science that separates the observer and the observed.
It may be of value to explore the relationship between reason and emotion in achieving understanding. In some ways scientific thinking contains an implicit assumption that thinking is a cognitive act only, where emotions and feelings must be kept at bay so as not to contaminate the data, or the analytical processes that enable conclusions to be drawn. The following Sufi story indicates that as humans we cannot divorce reason and emotion, and also illustrates the power of emotions to achieve particular ends.
The daughter of the King was seriously ill, and all the physicians were summoned to cure her of her affliction. A dervish arrived at the King�s residence and offered to help, by invoking the name of God. The physicians laughed at him, saying that all of their efforts were unable to help the girl, how did he expect to do anything for her? He simply said something along the following lines: "Look you donkeys, leave me to do what I have to do." This made them very furious. The dervish said, "merely by calling you donkeys, you have turned red and have become visibly shaken, can you not then understand, how powerful the invocation of God is in helping this girl?"
This story illustrates the arrogance of the dominant science of the day. The physicians are symbolic of dominant science, and the dervish is symbolic of the alternate ways of knowing highlighted earlier in this paper.
Intuition Much has been written about intuition. It is unfortunate that because of science, the sources of intuition are seen to be limited. Intuition is seen as arising out of compressed experience. In other words, the only new knowledge that may be generated, via the process of intuition, is by new relationships and patterns of existing concepts. Intuition therefore relies on sense perception, and thereafter conceptual processing. This is shown in the diagram below: The diagram shows that intuition is not merely exact experience just compacted, but rather the compressed experience is different from the original, initial experience through the mechanism of mind. The sensory stimuli is subjected to processing based on previous "compressed experience" and hence a re-ordering of patterns. So experience is unlike a tape that is merely being replayed � in a sense it is new experience, or at least mediated experience. The more interesting aspect of how intuition is generated is that there is temporality, which is a powerful way of changing experience from pure sensory perception. Due to connections being made in the mind between sensory stimuli arriving at different points in time, the re-ordering of patterns is subject to temporality. In addition, partly because of "forgetting" and imperfect recollection of past sensory stimuli, the processing of new stimuli and re-ordering of patterns is subject to noise, faults and errors. This is a powerful mechanism of mind that generates compressed experience that is mediated, and the potential for novelty and creativity. This is why knowledge and insights from intuition is often regarded as creative.This is a powerful way of understanding the source of intuition. However it is still a very limited approach that does not give the full picture. From a theoretical point of view, the model is still a restricted one, as ultimately the source of intuition is reduced to past sense perception, albeit convoluted through temporality, noise and re-ordering. The model therefore limits intuition to the individual and his subjective experience, hence limited to perception-based material reality.We now explore how intuition may have other sources. One such other source is that from spiritual reality. Lets first explore how this may be understood by drawing learning from the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s religious traditions. According to these traditions humanity was blessed with prophets that brought a message to mankind, from the source of Absolute Reality or Ultimate Reality. One of the mechanisms by which the prophets received this perennial wisdom is that of inspiration. The perennial wisdom shows that the mechanism of inspiration is not limited to prophets but to all of humanity. The difference however, is that knowledge acquired through intuition and inspiration by prophets is infallible, while that of the rest of humanity is fallible. The other important difference is that the seat of intuition as "compressed experience" is the mind, while the seat of intuition as inspiration is the "heart". This may be shown by extending the model shown earlier, to incorporate infallible and fallible knowledge:The adaptations to the model now include the distinction between the source of intuition as the material universe and the source as the spiritual universe. The important point to realise is that the heart is not the physical organ responsible for pumping and circulation of blood � rather � the heart here is the spiritual heart. The symbol in the centre of the heart in the diagram is meant to demonstrate that unlike the pattern matching and re-ordering as a mechanism of the mind, in the case of the heart, the "mechanism of heart" is unknown, and is an area that warrants further research. Since here we are dealing with infallible knowledge, the mechanism of mind excludes noise, faults and errors, and it is now excluded from the model. It thus means that in the case of prophets, there is unadulterated "compressed experience". In addition there is new knowledge that is made available outside sense-perception, which originates from the spiritual universe. This is a store of limitless knowledge available to prophets, for they are able to grasp the underlying unity of all reality, and the unity of the divine principle. Fallible KnowledgeWe have seen that it is possible under certain circumstances, for the rest of humanity to be able to receive intuition and knowledge in the form of inspiration. It is subject to the "grace" and beneficence of Absolute Reality, and is not open to everyone. One of the purposes of certain "rituals" and spiritual exercises is to be able to tap into the spiritual world, and to be able to receive grace. Formal prayer is a means of spiritual ascension.The model retains the fallible mechanisms of mind in the case of ordinary human beings. It also introduces another source of fallibility, where the inspiration is filtered or distorted. This is shown as a filter, which may be thought of as a glass. Spiritual "light" in the form of inspiration is unable to pass unhindered, when the glass is tainted with dirt and grime. Although the filter is shown here as a separate entity, in actuality it is the heart itself that becomes tainted with impurities. The formal prayer and other forms of spiritual exercises is a way of polishing the heart to remove the impurities, thereby being able to absorb spiritual light. This is how it is understood in the perennial wisdom. The level of fallibility is determined by the level of impurity, the higher the impurity, the higher the chance of errors, and thereby leading to faulty understanding and knowledge. In cases where humans become totally secular, denying any reality beyond the material universe, the glass is completely tainted and black, unable to receive divine inspiration. We have up to this point considered the concept of intuition. At the simplest level we have seen that it arises out of condensed experience. We noted however that there is the possibility of creativity and novelty due to the mechanism of mind that includes temporality, and the introduction of noise. We saw that this is as far as western science can take us, as it is limited to its roots in previous sensory stimuli. If we wish to understand intuition and its sources, then we have to turn to other traditions, primarily those that have given us the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s greatest religions. It is beyond the scope of this paper, but the impact of emotions and feelings may also be explored further and built into the tentative model on intuition that has been described. Spiritual IntelligenceNext we turn to the concept of spiritual intelligence. It has been claimed that this is a useful construct for leadership, and that leaders need to have (acquire) spiritual intelligence. The notion appears useful, and would also be worthy of further research, but I am cautious on two counts. The first is that there is a danger that any efforts to understand spiritual intelligence, may result in a contamination of issues related to spirituality, and becomes a veiled attempt at turning issues related to the spirit, soul and the spiritual universe which are embodied in the perennial wisdom, into something that is their very anti-thesis in the mould of secular materialism, which is one of the fundamental building blocks of neo-liberalism, and the current dominant civilisation that it has spawned. The following diagram inspired by a social dynamic identified by Michael Boisot in "Information Space", illustrates how this happens. In the formative stages of a new body of thought, the existing dominant order, perceives it as an aberration, deviation, depravity or illness. The existing order tends to neutralise such aberration, by either attacking it outright, or co-opting it by modifying it to fit into the dominant paradigm or existing order. If the response of the existing order is strong enough it will be able to prevent the new body of thought developing to its full extent or maturity, hence retaining the status quo. While I have used this to illustrate an example in relation to spiritual intelligence, this particular social dynamic has much wider application and implications. In fact, it applies to the case I have been making about alternate ways of knowing. The "label" of pseudo-science so readily applied by the dominant scientific paradigm to anything that does not fit the paradigm, is an example of the "attack" against an aberration so as to neutralise it.My second concern with the current interest in spiritual intelligence is that a large part of humanity having rejected God and the Ultimate Reality, find themselves swimming in a cesspool devoid of any sense of wholeness, serenity and meaning. There are many who are quick to exploit this, and hence take sublime concepts from the perennial wisdom and turn them to profit, without understanding what they are or mean. They distort the pure message; package them for mass production, characteristic of the current era. Unfortunately those seeking meaning get caught up by these snake-oil salesmen (consultants?) who take from the sacred, and render them profane. Conclusions Global systems are designed to further the neo-liberal project, which is an attempt to impose a single, dominant universal civilisation. The current trajectory of global systems will lead to an unsustainable future. By drawing from complexity theory, it was shown that there is a need to encourage multiple worldviews, diversity and pluralism. One way to contribute to such diversity is to encourage alternative ways of knowing. This paper has focussed primarily on alternative ways of knowing from the realm of the sacred as embodied in the perennial wisdom. A number of links between the sacred and concepts such as emotional intelligence, intuition, inspiration and spiritual intelligence were presented in the hope that they may offer new avenues for research that will contribute to complementarity between science and other ways of knowing._______ ii) Paper presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Systems Sciences (ISSS 46) � "Rising of a New Civilisation: The Future of Global Systems." ii) I am indebted to Michael Francis who challenged this statement, by making the point that those without faith may equally claim that they are not devoid of meaning. I accept that my position is open to challenge, and therefore qualify it here.
The diagram shows that intuition is not merely exact experience just compacted, but rather the compressed experience is different from the original, initial experience through the mechanism of mind. The sensory stimuli is subjected to processing based on previous "compressed experience" and hence a re-ordering of patterns. So experience is unlike a tape that is merely being replayed � in a sense it is new experience, or at least mediated experience. The more interesting aspect of how intuition is generated is that there is temporality, which is a powerful way of changing experience from pure sensory perception. Due to connections being made in the mind between sensory stimuli arriving at different points in time, the re-ordering of patterns is subject to temporality. In addition, partly because of "forgetting" and imperfect recollection of past sensory stimuli, the processing of new stimuli and re-ordering of patterns is subject to noise, faults and errors. This is a powerful mechanism of mind that generates compressed experience that is mediated, and the potential for novelty and creativity. This is why knowledge and insights from intuition is often regarded as creative.
This is a powerful way of understanding the source of intuition. However it is still a very limited approach that does not give the full picture. From a theoretical point of view, the model is still a restricted one, as ultimately the source of intuition is reduced to past sense perception, albeit convoluted through temporality, noise and re-ordering. The model therefore limits intuition to the individual and his subjective experience, hence limited to perception-based material reality.
We now explore how intuition may have other sources. One such other source is that from spiritual reality. Lets first explore how this may be understood by drawing learning from the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s religious traditions. According to these traditions humanity was blessed with prophets that brought a message to mankind, from the source of Absolute Reality or Ultimate Reality. One of the mechanisms by which the prophets received this perennial wisdom is that of inspiration.
The perennial wisdom shows that the mechanism of inspiration is not limited to prophets but to all of humanity. The difference however, is that knowledge acquired through intuition and inspiration by prophets is infallible, while that of the rest of humanity is fallible. The other important difference is that the seat of intuition as "compressed experience" is the mind, while the seat of intuition as inspiration is the "heart". This may be shown by extending the model shown earlier, to incorporate infallible and fallible knowledge:
The adaptations to the model now include the distinction between the source of intuition as the material universe and the source as the spiritual universe. The important point to realise is that the heart is not the physical organ responsible for pumping and circulation of blood � rather � the heart here is the spiritual heart. The symbol in the centre of the heart in the diagram is meant to demonstrate that unlike the pattern matching and re-ordering as a mechanism of the mind, in the case of the heart, the "mechanism of heart" is unknown, and is an area that warrants further research. Since here we are dealing with infallible knowledge, the mechanism of mind excludes noise, faults and errors, and it is now excluded from the model. It thus means that in the case of prophets, there is unadulterated "compressed experience". In addition there is new knowledge that is made available outside sense-perception, which originates from the spiritual universe. This is a store of limitless knowledge available to prophets, for they are able to grasp the underlying unity of all reality, and the unity of the divine principle.
Fallible Knowledge
We have seen that it is possible under certain circumstances, for the rest of humanity to be able to receive intuition and knowledge in the form of inspiration. It is subject to the "grace" and beneficence of Absolute Reality, and is not open to everyone. One of the purposes of certain "rituals" and spiritual exercises is to be able to tap into the spiritual world, and to be able to receive grace. Formal prayer is a means of spiritual ascension.
The model retains the fallible mechanisms of mind in the case of ordinary human beings. It also introduces another source of fallibility, where the inspiration is filtered or distorted. This is shown as a filter, which may be thought of as a glass. Spiritual "light" in the form of inspiration is unable to pass unhindered, when the glass is tainted with dirt and grime. Although the filter is shown here as a separate entity, in actuality it is the heart itself that becomes tainted with impurities. The formal prayer and other forms of spiritual exercises is a way of polishing the heart to remove the impurities, thereby being able to absorb spiritual light. This is how it is understood in the perennial wisdom. The level of fallibility is determined by the level of impurity, the higher the impurity, the higher the chance of errors, and thereby leading to faulty understanding and knowledge. In cases where humans become totally secular, denying any reality beyond the material universe, the glass is completely tainted and black, unable to receive divine inspiration.
We have up to this point considered the concept of intuition. At the simplest level we have seen that it arises out of condensed experience. We noted however that there is the possibility of creativity and novelty due to the mechanism of mind that includes temporality, and the introduction of noise. We saw that this is as far as western science can take us, as it is limited to its roots in previous sensory stimuli. If we wish to understand intuition and its sources, then we have to turn to other traditions, primarily those that have given us the perennial wisdom embodied in the world�s greatest religions. It is beyond the scope of this paper, but the impact of emotions and feelings may also be explored further and built into the tentative model on intuition that has been described.
Spiritual Intelligence
Next we turn to the concept of spiritual intelligence. It has been claimed that this is a useful construct for leadership, and that leaders need to have (acquire) spiritual intelligence. The notion appears useful, and would also be worthy of further research, but I am cautious on two counts. The first is that there is a danger that any efforts to understand spiritual intelligence, may result in a contamination of issues related to spirituality, and becomes a veiled attempt at turning issues related to the spirit, soul and the spiritual universe which are embodied in the perennial wisdom, into something that is their very anti-thesis in the mould of secular materialism, which is one of the fundamental building blocks of neo-liberalism, and the current dominant civilisation that it has spawned. The following diagram inspired by a social dynamic identified by Michael Boisot in "Information Space", illustrates how this happens.
In the formative stages of a new body of thought, the existing dominant order, perceives it as an aberration, deviation, depravity or illness. The existing order tends to neutralise such aberration, by either attacking it outright, or co-opting it by modifying it to fit into the dominant paradigm or existing order. If the response of the existing order is strong enough it will be able to prevent the new body of thought developing to its full extent or maturity, hence retaining the status quo. While I have used this to illustrate an example in relation to spiritual intelligence, this particular social dynamic has much wider application and implications. In fact, it applies to the case I have been making about alternate ways of knowing. The "label" of pseudo-science so readily applied by the dominant scientific paradigm to anything that does not fit the paradigm, is an example of the "attack" against an aberration so as to neutralise it.
My second concern with the current interest in spiritual intelligence is that a large part of humanity having rejected God and the Ultimate Reality, find themselves swimming in a cesspool devoid of any sense of wholeness, serenity and meaning. There are many who are quick to exploit this, and hence take sublime concepts from the perennial wisdom and turn them to profit, without understanding what they are or mean. They distort the pure message; package them for mass production, characteristic of the current era. Unfortunately those seeking meaning get caught up by these snake-oil salesmen (consultants?) who take from the sacred, and render them profane.
Conclusions Global systems are designed to further the neo-liberal project, which is an attempt to impose a single, dominant universal civilisation. The current trajectory of global systems will lead to an unsustainable future. By drawing from complexity theory, it was shown that there is a need to encourage multiple worldviews, diversity and pluralism. One way to contribute to such diversity is to encourage alternative ways of knowing. This paper has focussed primarily on alternative ways of knowing from the realm of the sacred as embodied in the perennial wisdom. A number of links between the sacred and concepts such as emotional intelligence, intuition, inspiration and spiritual intelligence were presented in the hope that they may offer new avenues for research that will contribute to complementarity between science and other ways of knowing.
_______ ii) Paper presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Systems Sciences (ISSS 46) � "Rising of a New Civilisation: The Future of Global Systems." ii) I am indebted to Michael Francis who challenged this statement, by making the point that those without faith may equally claim that they are not devoid of meaning. I accept that my position is open to challenge, and therefore qualify it here.