Subject-headings:
Spirituality ; Systems science
Spirituality SIG was formed in 1991 as
one of the Special Interest Groups
of the International Society for the Systems Sciences,
ISSS (http://www.isss.org/isss) and has been active with
sessions and workshops on every ISSS conference since.
All papers presented in the sessions of
the SIG are printed in the Proceedings of the Annual
Meetings of the ISSS ( the volumes from 1991 to 1997).
Excerpts from some recent papers may also be found on the
Spirituality SIG home page on the URL address above.
The initiative in 1991 was taken by
Elaine Smith, who organized a session on spirituality at
the annual meeting of the ISSS that year. The evening
before the session Elaine arranged a dinner for the
participants, and I clearly remember the special
atmosphere at that dinner, a shared feeling that
something important was about to be done. We were going
to explore the relations between spirituality and
science, both of which were important to all the
participants.
That this happened in a society for systems
sciences was not a sheer coincidence; systems
thinking has changed science, so that it has now become
more compatible with the unity and coherence that are
important features of spiritual experiences.
At the beginning adoption of a
definition of spirituality was considered by the SIG, but
finally it was decided not to do that or to postpone it.
The word "spirituality" was tacitly accepted by
all participants, and over the years it has been used in
the SIG with many different meanings. This freedom has
encouraged people to communicate their thoughts and
experiences at the annual meetings and in some contact
between meetings. A number of speakers and discussants
said that they had been thinking about these matters for
years, but this was the first time they had talked about
it. This freedom also paved the way for valuable
contributions from non-western cultures, such as the
Indian, Australian Aboriginal and Korean cultures.
The SIG has had 2-3 sessions and
workshops at each of the annual conferences of the ISSS
1991-1997 and we have covered a broad range of themes
related to spirituality and to science and systems, as
may be seen from the following examples.
Allow me to point to some of the
interesting talks over the years. In 1991 Elaine Smith
spoke about relations between spirituality and
evolutionary competence referring to general evolution
theory, and several other speakers developped this theme
from the angles of physics, transcendental meditation
(Maharishi), the Bahá'í religion and thermodynamics. In
1992 Farouk Seif talked about built environments , where
spiritual meaning or symbolism encounters practical use,
while Stein and Campbell discussed spiritual democracy
emphasizing spiritual values. In 1993 in Australia we had
several talks about the Aboriginal spirituality system
and contemporary problems of balance with nature. Bhola
spoke about the Sikh religion in India and found that the
intersection of science and spirit is dramatically
poignant. In 1994 Søren Brier spoke about understanding
of consciousness, knowledge and information based on a
paradigm of higher states of consciousness and Saraswat
discussed spiritual dimensions of scientific problems and
related this to ancient sources of Eastern and Western
mysticism. In 1995 Elizabeth White saw spirituality as
the potential "to wonder" and considered the
idea that science, philosophy, art and religion are
equally manifestations of innate human spirituality. In
1996 Michi Rose talked about systemic spiritual
psychology related to internal family systems therapy.
The three articles in the present issue
are all developed from talks at the 1997 meeting in
Korea. Let me further mention two other talks from this
meeting:
"A view of Nature as the
Foundation of Environmental Ethics: Linkage between
Systems Thinking and Yin and Yang Thought" by Sang
Chull Lee. In the the abstract he writes: Systems
thinking sees nature as an organic, open, evolutionary
system. In the same way Yin and Yang forms a holistic
view of nature. Knowledge of similarities about cultures
is necessary for us to accomplish a common goal. The
establishment of the proper balance of nature and
humanity is a primary subject for environmental ethics.
Based on the analogy of systems
thinking and Yin and Yang thought the author also
suggests: life-oriented view of nature, Mutual
Life-Giving view of nature, aestetic view of nature.
Finally I would like to mention the
talk "East-West Paradigms: Value
Interpenetration" by Carl Slawski. From the abstract
we read: We will attempt to evoke enlightenment of the
possible sources or ethical bases for fully human
conduct, including not only the guidelines to a more
productive work and organizational life, but more
importantly, the way to a meaningful, if not genuinely
spiritual life, even in the context of the global human
community.
The 1998 meeting of the ISSS will be at
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA,
July 19-24. Ethics will be a strong theme and will be
considered in relation to both business, medicine (with
bioethics), engineering, environment, family and society.
Clearly, spirituality can contribute importantly to this
main theme of the meeting, but our sessions will be open
to any subject related to spirituality. The Call for
Papers and other information may be seen on the Internet
home pages of the SIG and of the ISSS at the addresses
given at and near the top of this article.
On several occasions at previous
meetings we have had comprehensive and illuminating
exchange and sharing about many spiritual themes, and I
think this has contributed to the development of
spirituality in our time. For me it has been particularly
important to exchange views and experiences face to face
with members of cultures foreign to me and to make
progress in mutual understanding. Hopefully these
positive trends can continue in 1998 and further on.
