The Philippine Lasallian Family Convocation concluded in May 2023. In 1999 Br. Armin Luistro FSC convened the First Lasallian Disctrict Synod, which gave birth to PLFC, which in 2003 Br.Dodo Fernandez FSC convened. Thus, Br. Armin and Br. Dodo are the pillars (Towers of Strength) of Phils. Lasallian Family. I say: St. La Sale, a French priest founded the Brothers of Christian Schools. But today, the Filipino Brothers established/founded the Lasallian Family, composed of lay men and women. And tomorrow, the Lasallian Family will establish a non-Catholic group who will help continue the educational mission of St. La Salle globally. Why? Br. James Ebner FSC said we belong to a Human Race Chruch and Karl Rahner says: men and women of Goodwill are Anonymous Christians. Lasallian Animo Lives on. Forever.
Theme: Business Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challengers in the New Normal Era of COVID 19
COVID 19: A Quantum Perspective
Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, Adjunct Professor, Jose Rizal University, Philippines
Abstract
This narrative explores and provides insights on the phenomenon of COVID 19 pandemia, from a quantum perspective. Using a metaphysical lens, it takes into account the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955 which somehow underscores the Butterfly Effect of that event in the 21st Century where Jasmine Foundation gathered in an international forum represented from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Uganda, and Turkey. A vision of an Asian Management Association for Social Development is being considered. The discourse springs from Chaos Theory, which is manifested by the VUCA world in the Age of Upheaval within the Great Period of Change that is leading us to a Golden Age after the universe has passed through the Black Hole. Personal and Global Empathy are critical values that drive personal and social initiatives as responses to meet the challenges of COVID 19. The pandemia has made humanity realize that we are spiritual beings with human activities and that corporations must shift from profit orientation to concern for wellbeing of all stakeholders. Government of China, India and Indonesia are addressing social concerns by trending a new Mandated CSR.
Introduction
Sixty-five years ago, the first large-scale Asian–African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia (Konferensi Asia-Afrika) was held by Asian and African states, which were newly independent 1955. They declared that Asia is for Asia and Africa is for Africans. Bandung remains, in colonial history a turning point in world history … [it] was not a miracle … because it was preceded by more obscure meetings, prepared by more modest groupings, that made the first contacts [that] explored their common difficulties. (Assie-Lumumba, 2015). Du Bois (1982) said, “We wish you well and bid you stand staunch and fast for peace and freedom, for an Africa and Asia equal with and independent of Europe and America, standing on its own feet, governing themselves as they decide.” Interestingly, Turkey was there in attendance as witness.
Today, we are gathered for the International Conference Education, Management, Agribusiness, Business Entrepreneurship (ICEMABE) as Asians with representative from Africa and Turkey to address a global common difficulty: the COVID 19. Like the Bandung Konferensi Asia-Afrika, this conference, through the leadership of Dr. Munir and the Jasmine Foundation, we explore our common difficulties and provide concerted common solutions. Bandung conference eventually created the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This conference can have a Butterfly Effect leading to the creation of Asian Management Association for Social Development (AMASD).
I thank Dr. Sanihu Munir of Jasmine Education Foundation, Inc., together with Dr. Redentor S. Mariano, Dean, Graduate School and Area Chair, Graduate Studies in Business Administration, Jose Rizal University, Philippines; Dr. Huseyin Ergun, Secretary General of KTO Karatay University, Turkey; Director Encik Muhammad Zubir bin Mohd Hanifah of Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah, Malaysia and Dr. Andi Bahrun, Rektor of Sulawesi Tenggara University, Indonesia for organizing this Webinar on . Business Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges in the New Normal Era.
The global experience of COVID 19 pandemic did not stop Dr. Munir for conducting his advocacy to conduct annual international seminar on business and education. The pandemia creates new opportunities on how the New Normal of human enterprise will about our creative and innovative response for humanity to move on and become as Nassim Nicolas Taleb (2010) calls antifragile. It means going beyond being robust, strong and unbreakable with an added new quality that we never had before. This is what COVI 19 has done to us. We are antifragile because according to Nietzsche: What did not kill us made us stronger and according to Taleb: What did not kill us killed others. We are then antifragile, resilient and unbreakable but above our humanity is raise to a higher level in this Era of New Normal post-COVID 19 pandemia.
Objectives
The purpose of the paper to examine the impact of COVID 19 from the lens of the new science of quantum physics. It views the current situation as a manifestation of a VUCA world in the Age of Upheaval during the Great Period of Change (1987-2023). It explores the Chaos Theory and the role of Eros as creativity and innovation to be Antifragile. It discusses Multistream management that pursues Well-being as a new business proposition, other than profit. It promotes Personal and Global Empathy as new normal modes of human relationship. It advocates Personal and Corporate Social Responsibility as imperative initiatives in difficult socio-economic circumstances and it challenges government to promote Mandated CSR among business corporations as a response to COVID 19, in addition to philanthropic CSR.
Methodology
The methodology of this discourse is qualitative (Marshall & Rossman, 2011), using multi-values (Richardson, 2015) research approaches covering physic, metaphysics, and other social sciences. Thus, it provides an awareness of “the critical role of patterns and context in the achievement of knowledge” (Douglas, 2014) on how COVID 19 has drastically altered our perspective on who critical are our respective singular and corporate roles to the survival of humanity in this planet. It is storytelling (Pallin, 2018) and heuristic (Mustakas & Douglas, 1989) because it narrates critical values and painful lessons learned from COVID 19. It is historical (Bloch, 1962) because it seeks to review the historical perspectives before and after COVID 19 events and their “extended networks of implications” (Douglas, 2014) in promoting social and spiritually driven responsibility. In retrospect, COVID forces us to make prospects (Gonzalez & Tirol, 1984; Hudtohan, 2005)) for a new normal.
Quantum Perspective
Newtonian Science to Quantum Organization
Physics as modern Newtonian science explained the world of matter as we see and experience it. The importance of materiality has triggered men like Adam Smith to make a dissertation on the Wealth of Nations. But today, the world is seen from the lens of metaphysics, which explores the material world form its minutest details.
Quantum physics is the study of quanta, the smallest particle of matter. Einstein realized that the atomic substructure of the quarks ha energy which is a function of matter and light [E=MC . Thus, we are a bundle of energy connected to the energy of the vast universe. The moment you trust chaos, you see God clearly. Chaos is divine order, versus human order. Change is divine order, versus human order. When chaos becomes safety to you, then you know you are seeing God clearly. (Myss, 2020).
James Ray (2006), metaphysicist, has a new concept of God as energy. He says, “Most people define themselves as a finite body, but you are not a finite body. Even under a microscope you’re an energy field. What we know about energy is this. You go to a quantum physicist and you say: What creates the world? And he or she will say: Energy. Well, describe energy. Ok, it can never be destroyed; it always was, always has been, everything that ever existed always exists, it is moving into form, through form and out of form. You go to a theologian and ask the question: What created the Universe? And he or she will say: God. Ok, describe God. Always was and always has bee, never can be created or destroyed, all that ever was always will be, always moving into form, through for and out of form. You see, it’s the same description, just different terminology. So if you think you’re this meat suit running around, think again. You’re a spiritual being! you’re an energy field, operating in a larger energy field.” (Quoted from Byrne, 2006, p. 158-159).
The pandemia of COVID 19 has forced us to dig deep into the meaning of who we are and who our God is. Suddenly, we realize that we are divine (Walsch, 2014; 2018), that we are spiritual beings with human activities. Suddenly, our perspective makes a shift: we are spiritual beings with energy field. According to Dr. Dispenza, the ‘old-school’ classical Newtonian version of an atom is focused primarily on the material, whereas “the ‘new-school’ quantum version of an atom with an electron cloud describes the atom as 99.99999 percent energy and .00001 percent matter.
Figure 1. Atom viewed by Physics and Quantum Physics
Our spiritual and metaphysical existence give us confidence that we have power and energy, originally designed by the Maker to function with greatness to face challenges, never before presented to us. Can we change our perspective then? From diagnosis [die-agnosis] of COVID 19 to livingnosis [life process] in dealing with this pandemia? Can we use our energy to promote the idea that Thoughts become Things? Do we believe in order see the positive results of our efforts to defeat COVID 19 or do we wait to see in order to believe? Do you believe that you are a spiritual being with human activities? (de Chardin, 1993).
Quantum Organization
While he considered empathy in his outlook, the attraction of many was focused to rugged interpretation of one’s right and freedom to make money. Thus, mainstream capitalism is securely anchored on profit. Dyck and Neubert (2012) tempered this greedy view on business and proposed a multistream perspective of focusing on Wellbeing. Capitalism suddenly must address the total person as its stakeholder.
The corporation and the employees in COVID 19
The shift from pure profitability as bottom-line purpose of business is further driven by COVID 19 to pursue the Well-being of employees and other stakeholders. The challenge to consider wellbeing expands the profit motive to 9 dimensions of our humanity. . Wellbeing includes none corporate dimension and materiality or financial gain (profit) is only one of theses. Indicators of wellbeing are:
More than ever, in the Age of COVID 19, business must take a holistic view considers a human person, not just a resource that functions like a machine but as a human being whose life has these nine dimensions. More importantly, it includes spirituality which acknowledges the meaning of life, our interconnectedness as humans and the nature of our soul or spirit that is transcendent. Our planetary crisis brought about by COVID 19 corporations must rethink its profit orientation to save humanity and save the world economy.
Chaos and the Old Normal
Laszlo in 2012 already announced that we have reached chaos point. Taleb in Black Swan observed the abnormal spikes of events and proposed a resilient direction of being antifragile. Chaos in Greek mythology was supposed to be resolved by Eros, the god of creativity and innovation. Unfortunately, the Western world was waylaid by Hugh Hefner who projected Eros as fleshy and erotic aspect of human sexuality, putting aside the most important function of Eros as creative undertakings and productive innovation to solve challenges that face humanity and not just pure entertainment and sexual human satisfaction. The challenge of COVID 19 is to respond to our new normal with creative medical solutions an innovative business structures and operations.
Technology has become a new paradigm for business operations. Nuval Noah Harari (2018) is right: He who holds data holds the future. That future is now. Technology gives us the power to do business online. As professor, my classes at the Jose Rizal University in the Philippines was never interrupted. The challenge for me was to learn how to Skype, do Zoom and Google Meet. At 76 years of age learning these platforms was a great challenge. With a little help from my condominium neighbor I was able to retool myself in these applications. I still have to learn how to use Canvas in my teaching. That is another challenge.
The old normal was physical face-to-classroom engagement with overhead projector and with white board and pentel pen. The new normal is Classroom in the Cloud with digital platforms that allows the professor to conduct classes virtually. Dialogue and conversation continue; presentation of word files and PPTs continue but one faces his computer screen in the privacy of his/her room. I survived the onslaught of studying new digital learning platforms. In the end, I understood Nietzsche (1889) who said: What does not kill you will make you stronger. But Nassim Taleb also said: What does not kill you will kill others. With stark realization, I applied it to the COVID 19 pandemia where other and thousands have died.
Taleb (2012) in response to chaos suggests that organizations be antifragile to allows the organizations to grow when exposed to volatility of their immediate environment by learning to manage it. In Talab’s estimation, antifragility considers randomness as an essential ingredient for organizations to prosper; by depriving organizations from volatility and shocks, they lose the opportunity to grow and their system is weakened.
Ayham and Backhouse (2013) assert that for growth to be maintained in chaotic and changing environments, organizations must have highly effective learning systems in order to manage and learn from stressors they experience (Hannah & Lester, 2009). They presented service operations designed to build an “antifragile” organization to learn from disruptions. Their findings suggest that the Vanguard Method will likely enhance organizational “antifragility” by promoting a multilevel driver for learning from stressors. Antifragility can be operational in three levels: 1) the macro level of clarity on the system, 2) the meso level of organic structure of work place, and 3) the micro level of employees’ engagement with work and readiness to learn.
Taleb (2012) noted that big corporations are vulnerable to change and are fragile enterprise but small businesses are robust which can manage the impact of change. But being robust does not mean it can growth and maintain sustainable growth. He considers the artisan, the craftsman and entrepreneur as antifragile, because they can withstand threats and challenges and are able to grow after undergoing difficult circumstances.
Siegel and Etzkorn (2013, p.3) look at chaos from the side of complexity that is “wreaking havoc on business, government and finance.” Their solution to complexity is simplification which requires organizations to empathize, distill and clarify. For them, “simplicity begins with empathy by having the ability to perceive the needs of others; it needs to distill by boiling down and customizing what’s being offered to meet needs; and it must clarify to make the offering easier to understand, use, and benefit from information that complicates.”(Siegel & Etzkorn, p.48-49).
ME to WE Paradigm
Empathetic Proposition
In the midst of our dire survival situation, we need to ourselves and others with a lens of human empathy. Medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas defines it as mercy: a heartfelt empath for another’s distress, impelling us to succor him if we can. Adam Smith (1776), the proponent of individual pursuit to contribute to the Wealth of Nations, suggested that an empathetic reaction such as pity or compassion is the emotion we feel for the mercy of others, when we either see it or are made to consider it in very lively manner. Brian P. Hall, Janet Kalven, Larry S. Rosen, and Bruce Taylor (c.1991) say that empathy is “reflecting and experiencing another’s feelings and state of being through a quality of presence that has the consequence of them seeing themselves with more clarity, without any words necessarily having been spoken.” Trout (2009) says, “Empathy has a goal to accurately understand another’s inner state by placing ourselves in his situation or taking his perspective.” (p. 21).
In Filipino context, empathy is allowing one’s Kagandahang loob (roughly goodness of the inner self) to connect and relate with another’s kalooban (inner state). The question I ask to demonstrate empathy with others is: How do I find the Me in We? Visually, I should reverse the M in Me to find the We. But existentially, I should get out of my Meness, being Me to fully understand others through empathy.
The Era of COVID 19 Pandemia calls for not only personal empathy but Global Empathy, which promotes the idea that we, as citizens of the world, must strive to develop the ability to understand, accept, and interact with individuals from all different backgrounds, regardless of race, nationality, language, religion, skin color, sex, etc. Some define it as “the ability to behave effectively and appropriately in interacting across cultures;” however, there is no perfect, unanimously accepted definition for this concept.
We are in the midst of COVID 19, officially declared the World Health Organization. Indeed, we live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, according to Harvard Bennet and Lemoine. We are in the Age of Upheaval, according to the Hult Management Institute. We are in a Great Period of Change (1987 – 2023), according to cosmologist Christine Page and Gregg Braden. But Ralph Smart (2021) says, The Golden Age is Coming. Page and Braden’s Period of Change ends 2023 and this confirms Smart’s vision of The Golden Age by 2024.
These manifestations of chaos is confirmed by our very own experience that limits us to what can do today under difficulty and most trying circumstance. We must survive. Nietzsche is correct: What is correct when he says that: What does not kill us will make us stronger. But Taleb is more accurate in the midst of COVID 19 pandemia: What does not kill us will kill others. Both dire realities is confirmed by Taleb who reminds us that we must be Antifragile. Antifragile means we are not only robust but we gain more strength and power beyond surviving a devastating event like COVID 19.
The historical roots of Chaos were pictured in Greek mythology where Gaia was confronted with Chaos and Eros appeared as a provider of solution. Unfortunately, Eros was misinterpreted as something purely sexual and erotic when in reality it is a creative force meant to solve the many challenges of Chaos. The Playboy mentality of Hugh Hefner side tracked Western society into a hedonistic culture of pleasure, failing to focus on creative solutions to our social, economic and political dilemma.
Figure 2. Relationship of Chaos, Gaia and Eros (Hudtohan, 2020)
Finding WE in ME.
For the practitioners of PSR, I pose a riddle: How do I find the WE in ME? The answer is: Reverse the M in ME to find the WE. Visually, turn the M of ME upside down and you have a WE. In practice, one must deliberately and consciously turn one’s self inside out to reach out for those who are outside world: It is Introversion to Extroversion – mentally, emotionally, physically, metaphysically, spiritually and technologically through our fingertip digital gadgets.
Christakis and Fowler (2009) explain that inner our desire and drive for connectedness are reasons why social media has created a new consciousness never before experienced. The phenomena is we are connected through the surprising power of social networks and how these networks shape our lives. If we use digital technology for common good, we can become homo deus as super humans with artificial intelligence (Harari, 2016).
Personal Response
Figure 3 shows the matrix of CSR, CSV and CSI which overlaps with the matrix of PSR at the quadrant of Corporate Social Initiatives (CSI). From the perspective of the business sector practicing CSR, the transition phase of PSR is CSI where corporations allow beneficiaries [Personal Beneficiary quadrant] to determine their sustainable future through livelihood. If the beneficiary decides to become corporate then s/he enters the Corporate Self quadrant. This puts the burden of responsibility to the beneficiaries. They in return must exercise PSR as a responsible citizen and as a productive member of Philippine society.
It means that the empowered individual with PSR must raise its enterprise to be a social enterprise and create a Butterfly Effect that has socio-economic impact for Philippine progress. From the perspective of the individual who is a PSR practitioner, the corporate world is an open possibility as playground for CSR but this time the individual player is anchored to his personal advocacy, when s/he becomes a corporate player.
Figure 3. Personal Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Responsibility (Hudtohan, 2019)
Responsibility as Privilege
Nemeth (2007), a 21st century author elevates responsibility to that of having a privilege. For her, responsibility should not be a burden because it is our ability to respond and not to react from fear and consider it a burden and an obligation. She says, “Synonymous for responsibility are job, duty, task and blame and synonymous for privilege includes freedom, opportunity and benefits.” (Nemeth, 2007, p. 217). It is my privilege to be a citizen of the Philippine Republic and be of service to her and God.
Each of us must believe in the Power of One (Sachs 2008) and then graduate to the 80/20 effectiveness paradigm (Koch 2004; Marshall, 2013) so that the statistical power of square root of one percent (Braden, 2007) will defy the illusive and real democratic majority of 50% plus one as consensus power. The Butterfly Effect (Lorenz, 1972) of the Power of One person ultimately results to the Power of Many (Sachs, 2008). As Catholic from the Philippines, I must accept that I am divine (Walsch, 2014), made to the image of likeness of our God. Teilhard de Chardin (1993) confirms that we are spiritual beings with human activities.
Figure 4. Power of One of Jeffrey Sachs (2008)
Corporate Response
The journey towards personal social responsibility, as service to our country and as patriotic duty, has been overshadowed by the business sector that has been promoting corporate social responsibility seminally practiced in the Philippines in the mid-1069s (Roman, 2008).
Archie Carroll (1999) philanthropic CSR is a corporate response through voluntary initiatives that benefit the community as external stakeholder. The principle of giving here is often considered philanthropic but critics look upon it as temporary and short-term alleviation of the poor and unproductive sector of society. Some corporations are also accused of using such CSR as public relations and corporate marketing strategy. From Taleb’s (2012) perspective, this is fragile CSR because it is not sustainable and its impact on the community is concave fragility.
Porter and Kramer (2011) argue that innovating to meet society’s need and building a profitable enterprise are the twin goals of the next generation of completive companies. Marc Pfitzer, Valerie Bockstette and Mike Stamp (2013) used the case of Dow Chemical, Nestle, Norvatis, Mars, and Intel as examples of companies following Porter and Kramer’s idea of creating shared value with and for their external stakeholders.
Beyond philanthropic endeavors that provide short-term impact on the community, corporations are encouraged to directly involve themselves in sustainable community projects (Alperson, 1996; Hess, Rogovsky, and Dunfee, 2002, Habaradas, 2013). In this new development framework, CSR is sustainable because it has graduated from giving away fish to teaching the community how to fish. (Hess & Warren, 2008).
Figure 5. PSR, CSR and Mandated CSR (Hudtohan, 2018)
Corporate social responsibility as philanthropic and voluntary CSR has evolved into corporate shared values (CSV) and corporate social initiatives (CSI) promoted and practiced by Western business corporations as shown in Figure 3. In the East, China, India and Indonesia in response to their peculiar socio-economic-political practice, they are setting a new trend in CSR governance by promoting mandated CSR (MCSR). Finally, in the Philippines, the BCYF under Chairman Antonio Yap, a new strain of CSR has evolved as a basic foundation of social responsibility, being promoted today as personal social responsibility (PSR).
Governance Response: New Mandated CSR
In China, Mandated CSR was promulgated in 2013. “It is part of the larger, history-making transformations now occurring throughout China, as the Chinese government seeks to re-orient the massive Chinese economy into a more market-based economy as well as raise China’s global economic and political clout as it carries out its economic reforms.”(Afsharipou & Rana, 2013). The Chinese socialist responsibility took a turn to what is now Mandated CSR. This was taking place with Chinese government institutions, especially the SOEs which were instrumental in producing war materials at the dawn of Mao’s Great Leap Forward and up until the capitalist market was developed in China by embracing the new market (Li, 2018). India and Indonesia to date are practicing mandated CSR in addressing enormous poverty challenges, just like China.
Japhet, Kanadu and Uhaheranwa (2015) did a critique on mandated CSR, stating the pros and cons of the new practice. The critique was made using the framework of Archie Carroll and therefore the assessment of MCSR is seeking compliance with the indicators of Western philanthropic CSR. The perspective of the government responsible for all its citizens, like China, springs from a socialist Marxian capitalist economy. The Western and Eastern assumptions in CSR governance appear to be coming from different social practices.
Beck (2012) narrates that “Oneness, [is] the subjective awareness that there is no separation between me and everything in the universe…sacred silence is the first technology of magic in all wisdom tradition…Rationalist culture…didn’t teach us that we’re capable of communicating without either close physical proximity or physical implements like written words or telephones. Most of us still see the world as Newton [as] a bunch of random unrelated particles…that solid particles are mere energetic patterns until observed by consciousness, and that energy is always communicating in stranger-than-fiction ways Einstein disparagingly called ‘spooky action at a distance.'” (Beck, 2012, p. 58-59). Thus, digital technology is a manifestation of that energy through quarks, but more importantly Beck points out the technology of magic through our consciousness.
Harari (2016) in Homo Deus asserts that our species as humans is has been evolving from the lower life forms to being a Homo Sapiens, which believes is headed to be Homo Deus, a technologically sophisticate human form. In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, again, he predicted and it is happening now that he who hold data, big data holds the future.
The COVID 19 pandemia has demonstrated this. Data mining and data analytics on cases of infection, recovery and death provide intelligent estimation on where the curve of incidents is going. It is a guide for personal, social, and mandated responsibility for survival.
Figure 4. Human Evolution: Homo sapiens to Homo Deus
Conclusion
The Quantum lessons from a quantum perspective on COVID 19 are:
The pandemia made us realize that we are all connected and we respond from a personal, global and mandated social responsibility, which has expanded our consciousness of being emphatic.
Corporations have to take their social responsibility seriously to take care of the internal and external stakeholders. More than ever, financial management for survival of victims and preventive actions have to taken in terms of the wellbeing of humanity.
Government take a stronger stance in protecting the citizenry by motivating individuals to comply to COVID protocols and corporations be mandated to do CSR.
The Great Period of Change has thrown our existence into chaos with the presence of COVID 19 pandemia. We realize we are spiritual beings with human activities, evidence by the quantum science that considers the smallest particle of matter as .99 percent energy and .11 percent matter.
Albert Einstein’s formula for energy reveals that we are composed of matter/mass and light/spirit as humans with living energy.
COVID 19 has forced us to be virtuous by having a balance between being occupied with ME for personal interest and with WE empathetic posture towards others.
Personal responsibility to be empathetic to others; corporate social responsibility of companies by being globally empathetic to all stakeholders.
Mandate CSR in times of COVID 19 impels government to direct corporations to respond with empathy to all stakeholders.
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Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan has more than five decades of corporate management education at the Malayan Insurance Company and Metrobank and professional academic engagements at De La Salle University, De La Salle College of St. Benilde, De La Salle Araneta University, Philippines Women’s University and Jose Rizal University. He is an associate researcher for the ASEAN Protection Program for Environment and Healthcare Services. He was a founding and pioneering professor the PhD in Social Development of University of Mindanao, Davao City. He is an international speaker, having delivered papers on sustainable development and corporate social responsibility at the Halo Oleo University, Kendari; Pejuang University, Makassar; and Health Institute, Bengkulu, Indonesia. He was a visiting professor of De La Salle Professional School at Maranatha Christian University, Bandung, Indonesia. His research papers are published in local and international journals. . He lectured on intercultural competence, globalization and business ethics at the Shin Ansan University, South Korea.
This narrative situates Traditional Medicine in the context of Health Care. It highlights the importance of health care as a basic human need, especially during this period of COVID 19 pandemic. Its importance is recognized by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said that the First Wealth is Health, by Abraham Maslow who in his hierarchy of needs puts the physical dimension of every human as the most basic, by Brian Hall whose four phases cites Phase I as human survival, and Dyck and Neubert whose multistream management cites the physical condition of all business stakeholders as one of the nine elements of Wellbeing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also cited the importance of health in relations with achieving global sustainable development; the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) likewise has focused on health care and it sponsored the training of ASEAN members on Consumer Rights and Health Care. The Western practice of health care has been anchored on scientific, empirical studies and pharmaceutical medicines in health care management. Protocols to combat COVID 19 is dominated by Western medical practices. But traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM) is not mainstream in Western countries. Traditional medicine in China is a case in point; China has had a very long history in medical practice which dates back to the 2900 BCE and it is still practiced today. However, globally TM/CAM is overshadowed by mainstream medical practice of Western countries.
Keywords Health, health care, wellbeing, pharmaceutical medicine, traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine, and Western medicine.
INTRODUCTION
With the continuing spread of COVID 19 pandemic and its Delta and Omicron variants that is creating havoc on global wellbeing. We truly realize with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1943) that health is our first wealth, with Abraham Maslow (940) that survival is a primary concern in the hierarchy of needs, with Dyck and Neubert 2012) that wellbeing is more critical than materiality or profit in business management, and with Bryan Hall (c.1991) whose values development in Stage 1 underscores our human safety and security. Western pharmaceutical medicine has been dominating health care management. There is global acceptance on protocols and pharmaceutical medicines to control and irradicate COVID 19. There is minimal and even negligible information on the role of traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM) in combating COVID 19. Literature on TM/CAM as an approach in fighting this pandemic is sporadic and it is not considered standard and acceptable approach to health care management. If ever, those who accept it are using it as supplement to Western medical intervention. This paper presents TM/CAM with a view to increase one’s knowledge and appreciation of this approach to health care with the hope that it serves as an alternative or supplement to pharmaceutical medical intervention in promoting personal health and wellbeing.
II. OBJECTIVES
This study aims to: 1. Discuss health care as a pre-condition of all human activities. 2. Present the impact of health on personal productivity and the national GDP. 3. Provide an understanding of traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM). 4. Explore TM/CAM as an alternative and supplement to Western approach to healthcare. 5. Discuss the reasons why TM/CAM is not readily available to the general public in managing one’s wellbeing. and 6. Show the traditional medicine of China as a case in point to appreciate the benefits of TM/CAM.
III. METHODOLOGY
This dicourse is a qualitative narractive (Marshall & Rossman, 2011) on tractional medicine; the narrative is based on key documents that provide an understanding of the practice of traditional medicine vis-à-vis the popular Western pharmaceutical approach to healthcare in the 21st century. It is heuristic (Moustakas, 1990) because it provides the audience and readers the opportunity to discover for themselves to understand traditional medicine in a world predominantly disposed to accept Western medicince as a scientic and therefore reliable and safe mode of managing one’s wellbeing. It makes sense of the past experiences of traditional medicine experts and practitioners (Smith, 2015; Sela-Smith, 2002) to understand traditional medicineHudtohan, 2005; Gonzalez, Luz, & Tirol, 1984) as an alternative or supplement to Western medicine. The methodology of this study is multi-valuate (Richardson, 2015) because it deals with various disciplines related to economic, social, cultural and political dimensions of healthcare. This is an exploratory discourse (Stebbins, 2011) to study, examine, analyze and investigate the need the value of traditional medicine for human welfare in the 21st century.
IV.DISCUSSION
WHAT IS HEALTHCARE?
The United Nation General Assembly (2012) resolved that “health is a precondition for, an outcome and indicator of all three dimensions of sustainable development; economic, social and environmental.” The resolution state that the goals of sustainable development, local and global, can only be achieved in the absence of a high prevalence of debilitating communicable and non-communicable diseases, and where populations can reach a state of physical, mental and social well-being. Thus, health is of prime and critical importance today in the midst of our experience with COVID 19 pandemic.
The four pillars of well-being are: 1. Sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, 2. Good and responsible governance, 3. Environment sustainability and community and 4. cultural participation. Another scope of wellbeing includes: 1. Aesthetic: beauty, art, poetry. 2. Ecological: natural environment, minimal pollution. 3. Emotional: satisfaction, positive feelings, hope, joy. 4. Individual: personal convenience, one’s own interests. 5. Intellectual: ideas, clear rationale, theory, concepts. 6. Material: Finances, productivity, tangible goods, efficiency. 7. Physical: health, safety, security. 8. Social: community-mindedness, justice, helping others. 9. Spiritual: meaning, interconnectedness, transcendent. (Dyck & Neubert, 2012).
Health refers to a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO). Health care services refers to any medical or remedial care or service, including supplies delivered in connection with the care or service, that is recognized under state law. Service delivery systems should provide health services to patients, persons, families, communities and populations.
The World Health Organization says that health care service delivery systems include: patient-centered care that is focused on individual care of the patient and it should be people-centered care attention to the health of the communities and their crucial role in shaping health policy and health services. There is an emerging public governance view on new public management which uses a business or market model as standard for measuring government success. It is values centered in promoting common good; emphasis is in creating government processes to facilitate the generation of implementable agreements among a wide-ranging stakeholder. For example, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint cites the need for training to: promote and protect consumer rights and understand how goods and service promote health competition.
HEALTH AND GDP
Bloom, Canning, and Jennison (2004) aver that health effects and influences GDP per capita. Healthy workers are more productive than workers who are not healthy. One supporting evidence comes from studies on individuals that link investments in health and nutrition of the young to adult wages. Better health also raises per capita income through a number of other channels. One way is by altering decisions about expenditures and savings over the life cycle. The idea of planning for retirement occurs only when mortality rates become low enough for retirement to be a realistic prospect. Rising longevity in developing countries has opened a new incentive for the current generation to save; this has dramatic effects on national saving rates. While this saving boom lasts for only one generation and is offset by the needs of the elderly once population aging occurs, it can substantially boost investment and economic growth rates while it lasts.
Another channel is by encouraging foreign direct investment because investors shun environments where the labor force suffers a heavy disease burden. Endemic diseases can also deny humans access to various resources. Today, in the Philippines, and elsewhere I suppose, COVID 19 has brought havoc to employment and not all organizations can do home-based work. Manufacturing and industrial plants require physical presence. Yet another channel is through boosting education.
Bloom, Canning, and Jennison (2004) continues to say the healthier children have higher rates of school attendance and improved cognitive development, and a longer life span can make investment in education more attractive. Face to face schooling has been postponed for health safety. The initial beneficiaries of health improvements are often the most vulnerable group: children. Lower infant mortality initially creates a “baby boom” cohort and often leads to a subsequent reduction in the birth rate as families choose to have fewer children in the new low-mortality regime. A baby-boom cohort is thus unique and affects the economy profoundly as it enters education, then finds jobs, saves for retirement, and, finally, leaves the labor market. The cohorts before and after a baby boom are much smaller. If better health improves an economy’s productive potential, we would expect good health to go hand in hand with higher steady-state output economies adjust gradually to their steady-state output level over time. In this case, we expect countries that have high levels of health but low levels of income to experience relatively faster economic growth as their income adjusts.
Bloom, Canning, and Jenison (2004) conclude that there is “Evidence from cross-country growth regressions suggests the contribution is large. Indeed, the initial health of a population has been identified as one of the most robust and potent drivers of economic growth—among such well-established influences as the initial level of income per capita (once countries reach their steady-state level of income, growth slows), geographic location, institutional environment, economic policy, initial level of education, and investments in education.”
WHAT IS TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
Traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM) has a long history. It is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Traditional medicine refers to indigenous or folk medicine comprises of medical aspects of traditional knowledge within various societies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says, “It is the sum of the knowledge, skills, and practices base on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.”
TM/CAM has many attractive features due to its accessibility, cultural acceptance in low- and middle-income societies, comparatively low cost and there is less technology involved in the practice. Many use herbal products to treat themselves, often without a health practitioner’s knowledge or advise because of the availability and relatively informed about adverse effects, drug interactions, and how to use herbal medicine safely. Herbal medicines include herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal products, that contain as active ingredients parts of plants, or other plant materials, or combinations.
It has therapies that are commonly used in developing countries because they are often more widely available and more affordable than conventional pharmaceutical-based therapies. However, in some cases it is connected with cultural and religious belief systems. Traditional healers, like the herbalist (arbolarios in the Philippines) are trusted by members of the community before pre-colonial Spanish period. They were affiliated and considered to be babaylan [women healers] and asugs [mail healers]. (Alcinas, 1668). Today, there are arbolaryos practicing in Philippine country side where Western medical clinics are not available.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN CHINA
History of Traditional Chinese Medicine
The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is at least 23 centuries old. It aims to prevent or heal disease by maintaining or restoring yinyang balance. China has one of the world’s oldest medical systems. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal remedies are 2,200 years old. The earliest written record of Chinese medicine is the Huangdi neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) from the 3rd century BCE. That historical account provided the theoretical concepts for TCM which remain the basis of its practice today. Essentially, traditional Chinese healers seek to restore a balance between two complementary forces, yin (passive) and yang (active), which are present in the human body as they are in the universe. According to TCM, a person is healthy when harmony exists between these two forces; illness, results from a breakdown in the equilibrium of yin and yang. (Agustin, n.d.)
The history of Yin Yang is explained by Lao Tzu (B.C.5. He said “道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物，万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和”, “人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然”, “天人合一” The first statement of Lao Tzu means that the Tao existed in the universe before our earth came to be and Tao gave birth to Chaos, and gradually Chaos was divided into Yin and Yang. Yang went up to become the sky and Yin went down to become the earth, and then Yin and Yang gave birth to primitive organisms and after that all beings on the earth. All beings contain Yin and Yang which never stop moving, following their own principles to have a new balance continually, and then all creation get the chance to evolve. The second statement soya that human beings learn the principles of Yin and Yang from the earth and sky; then learn the principles of Tao from Yin Yang, and finally learn the principle governing nature and the universe from Tao. (Zhang & Hudtohan, 2021)
The Book of Huang Di Nei Jing (300 BCE) described the Yin as everything that is tangible and material in form while Yang represents everything that is intangible that allows things to function, “阴成形，阳化气”. The theory of Yin and Yang in ancient Chinese philosophy is considered to be the origin of Universe. The interplay of Yin and Yang gave birth to the “myriad of beings”. Thus, the interaction between Yin and Yang also means production and reproduction of the endless variety of life in the universe. And the concept is also used to describe how the polarity or seemingly contradictory forces are intertwined and are interdependent in the natural world. They give rise to each other in return. Although Yin and Yang are opposite, they are dependent on each other to exist. Based on these basic concepts, a complete system of opposites was dialectically elaborated. Everything in the universe from six types of quarks with their corresponding types of antiquarks that have equal magnitude but opposite sign (Carithers & Grannis, 1995) in the universe can be identified with either Yin or Yang aspect and functioned as the theory Yin and Yang.
The Yin and Yang aspects are not identified in isolation but are really a mixture of the two. In the Book of Change, there is a classical principle that says neither Yin nor Yang alone could nurture itself but it is done with mutual generation and promotion. That is, both oppose each other as well as mutually include each other. Both don’t follow the “either-or” but the “both-and” principle. Yin and Yang are interconnected as different, but inseparable sides of the cosmos (Solas & Ayhan, 2007). These two opposing forces may transform each other over time when one polarity goes to the extreme. That is, Yin will eventually become Yang, Yang will eventually become Yin. Whenever Yin and Yang change from each other, keeping balance between them is the critical principle or benchmark, otherwise, the problems will appear.
The theme of harmony, balance and equilibrium between Yin and Yang is fully enthused, constituting a dynamic neutral system for understanding events, which has been influencing Chinese people’s mindset both consciously as well as subconsciously for more than 3000 years. Western people may polarize their views when two apparently contradictory propositions are presented; while Chinese people would be more likely to accept both propositions (Peng & Nisbett, 1999). In the course of Chinese communication, it helped to shape Chinese collective and holistic thinking method. That is, how to find a compromising method to establish the balance between Yin and Yang is the core notion in the problem-solving, decision-making. In health care, the principle of Yin Yang promotes balance and harmony of all bodily functions.
The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a broad range of medicine practices sharing common concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (tui na), exercise (qigong), and dietary therapy. Traditional Chinese medicine is a branch of traditional medicine in China. It has been described by the West as fraught with pseudoscience, and the majority of its treatments as having no logical mechanism of action. (Agustin, n.d.).
TCM is thousands of years old and has changed little over the centuries. Its basic concept is that a vital force of life, called Qi, surges through the body. Any imbalance to Qi can cause disease and illness. This imbalance is most commonly thought to be caused by an alteration in the opposite and complementary make up the Qi. These are called yin and yang. Ancient Chinese believed that humans are microcosms of the larger surrounding universe, and are interconnected with nature and subject to its forces. Lao Tzu (510 B.C.) in Daoism says that man should be in harmony with nature. Balance between health and disease is a key concept. TCM treatment seeks to restore this balance through treatment specific to the individual. It is believed that to regain balance, you must achieve the balance between the internal body organs and the external elements of earth, fire, water, wood, and metal. It includes: acupuncture. moxibustion (the burning of herbal leaves on or near the body), cupping (the use of warmed glass jars to create suction on certain points of the body), massage. Herbal remedies. movement and concentration exercises (such as tai chi). (Zhang & Hudtohan, 2021)
The Four Periods of TCM.
The Four Periods of Traditional Chinese Medicine in this section is sourced from Encyclopedia Britannica. The history of TCM was between the 29th century BCE and the 16th century it passed through four major periods. The first, from the 29th century BCE to 27th centuries BCE. under the rule of three emperors dominated by age of myths and legends. The events of the next 2,000 years are obscure, but a slow growth of medical knowledge and gradual changes in medical practice can be assumed. The second period was a mixture of legend and fact centered on the career of Bian Qiao (Bian Que)—about whom anecdotal material dates to the first half of the 5th century BCE. The third period was that of the great practitioners, the physicians Zhang Zhongjing and Wang Shuhe and the surgeon Hua Tuo, running from about CE 150 to 300. The individuals and events were real, although legends have grown up around them. (Agustin, n.d.).
The fourth period covered 1,300 years, featuring the compilation of encyclopedic works and the writing of commentaries on earlier authors, produced little that was original. In the second half of the 16th century, tenuous communication began with medical representatives from the West, and the character of Chinese medicine began to change. In addition to the three emperors, as well as physicians such as Bian Qiao, Zhang Zhongjing, Hua Tuo, and Wang Shuhe, other individuals made single contributions of substantial importance to Chinese medicine. Ge Hong (3rd century CE), in a handbook of prescriptions for emergencies, gave a clear and detailed description of smallpox. Ge Hong’s achievement came almost six centuries before al-Rāzī (Rhazes), the great Persian physician generally given credit for the first description of this deadly disease. About 700 years after Ge Hong, the practice of inoculation against smallpox grew out of a rather hazy background. Supposedly, inoculation was brought to China by either a spiritual old woman or a holy physician. This individual lived on a mountain and began the practice by using scabs that had been dried, ground into a powder, and inserted into the nostrils. The method spread and cut the mortality rate substantially. (Agustin, n.d.)
In 1644 official rites for worshipping the ancient physicians were instituted at the Qing Hui Palace near the College of Imperial Physicians in Peking (Beijing). These rites were celebrated in the spring and fall for many years. When Portuguese Bishop Belchior Carneiro established Saint Raphael’s Hospital in the 16th century near Guangzhou (Canton), tentative medical communication began between East and West. As Western medicine gradually made deeper inroads in the country, some Chinese people began to believe that everything in Western medicine was scientific and good, and therefore better than the traditional medicine practiced in China. Despite the appearance once again of a physician, Sun Yat-sen, as the ruler of the country, this faith in Western medicine continued to grow at the expense of native medicine. However, in the early 20th century interest in TCM was renewed, and by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, TCM was practiced not only in China but also in countries worldwide. (Agustin, n.d.)
Western views on TCM. Western medical literature gives this warning: “If you are thinking of using TCM, a certified practitioner is your safest choice. The federally recognized Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) accredits schools that teach acupuncture and TCM. Many of the states that license acupuncture require graduation from an ACAOM-accredited school. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine offers separate certification programs in acupuncture, Chinese herbology, and Oriental bodywork. TCM should not be used as a replacement for conventional or allopathic treatment, especially for serious conditions, but it may be beneficial when used as complementary therapy. Since some TCM herbal medicines can interfere or be toxic when combined with Western medicines, you should inform your doctor if you are using TCM.” (John Hopkins, n.d.).
However, there are quantum physicists like James Ray, Dispensa, and Bluestone who are aligned to the Chinese concept of Qi and the Chinese view of man as a microcosm of the universe. James Ray, a metaphysicist says: James Ray (2006), metaphysicist, has a new concept of God as energy. He says, “Most people define themselves as a finite body, but you are not a finite body. Even under a microscope you’re an energy field. What we know about energy is this. You go to a quantum physicist and you say: What creates the world? And he or she will say: Energy. Well, describe energy. Ok, it can never be destroyed; it always was, always has been, everything that ever existed always exists, it is moving into form, through form and out of form. You go to a theologian and ask the question: What created the Universe? And he or she will say: God. Ok, describe God. Always was and always has bee, never can be created or destroyed, all that ever was always will be, always moving into form, through for and out of form. You see, it’s the same description, just different terminology. So, if you think you’re this meat suit running around, think again. You’re a spiritual being! you’re an energy field, operating in a larger energy field.” (Quoted from Byrne, 2006, p. 158-159).
According to Dr. Dispenza (2016), the ‘old-school’ classical Newtonian version of an atom is focused primarily on the material, whereas “the ‘new-school’ quantum version of an atom with an electron cloud describes the atom as 99.99999 percent energy and .00001 percent matter. (http://iquim.org/spring-back-school-special-2016/). Bluestone observed that “Western and Chinese alchemist had one thing in common…the smallest object of material reality was a reflection of a larger cosmic whole. Monk Basil Valenti the human body was a microcosm of the universe. In the Chinese Tao, everything on earth was a reflection of its divine form.” (Bluestone, p. 62).
A Western writer argues that “We live in an informed universe because of this field, wherein every molecule, atom, thought, and emotion knows itself, where it came from, and what it’s for. We are interconnected and intertwined.” (Atwater, 2005, pp. 187-189).
CONCLUSIONS
Health is the most basic condition of human life, asserted by Emerson, Maslow, Dyck and Neubert, and Hall.
The World Health Organization provides a global perspective on Health Care in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals of humanity.
The ASEAN has been promoting Health Care Services, which provides views on Western medicine and traditional medicine (TM) or complimentary/alternative medicine (CAM)..
The citizens are human resource are the primary agents for the Gross National Product of each nation.
Western medicine through pharmaceutical interventions are globally accepted in curing and maintaining a healthy population.
The protocols of Western medical science is the leader in managing COVID 19 pandemic and its ongoing variants.
Traditional Medicine has had a long history of medical practice in China and other countries like INdoneis, Myanmar, Cambodia, Korea, and Japan.
Traditiona Medicine is readily acceptable in many countries due to its accessibility and it is low cost to avail.
Western scientific perspective has posted a number of negative observations on Traditional Medicine, claiming that empirical studies and evidence be established on the practice of this alternative approach to healthcare.
Quantum physicians like Ray, Dispensa, Bluestone and Attwater narrow the gap between TCM and Western concept of Qi, energy and the universe.
Dispensa. J. (2016) Old and New Views on as Atom Energy. (http://iquim.org/spring-back-school-special-2016/)
Dispenza, J. (2012). Breaking the habit of being yourself: how to lose your mind and create a new one. Carlsbad: Hay House
Dyck, B. & Neubert, M.J. (2012). Management. Singapore: Cengage Learning.
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Huangdi neijing. (300 BCE The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
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Psychologist.
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Science. A masteral thesis. St. Mary’s University. Halifax. Nova Scotia.
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Journal of Humanistic Psychology 42(3):53-88.
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London: SAGE Publications, Inc. City: Thousand Oaks.
The United Nation General Assembly (2012) Resolutions on Health. https://www.un.org/pga/73/event/universal-health-coverage/
The Future We Want, Resolution Adopted by the UN Gen Assembly 27 July 201266/288.
Agustin, A. (n.d.) in Traditional Chinese Medicine. (revised & edited). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/traditional-Chinese-medicine
Wilhelm, R., Baynes, C. F., & Bollingen Foundation Collection (Library of Congress). (1950). The I ching: or, Book of changes. New York: Pantheon Books.
Zhang, D. & Hudtohan, E.T. (2021). Chinese Traditional Thoughts Applied to Management and Education in the COVID-19 Era. A paper presented at the First International Seminar on Management and Education for Human Development. Theme: Teaching Management and Development in Business Innovation in COVID 19 Pandemic Era, Kendari, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Dan Zhang (Diane) received her DBA with academic distinction from Jose Rizal University, Manila, Philippines; her MBA from the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; her Bachelor Degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China; and she also studied traditional Chinese philosophy and holds a certificate on Traditional Chinese Medicine at Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China. She was a former HR Manager of Xiamen Xiangyu Group, Xiamen, China. Currently, she is Vice Dean of Taozhu Business School of Zhejiang A&F University. Her papers are published by some international Journals of Science Citation Index (SCI), Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI), Engineering Index (EI). She read in English a paper on CSR of Hyundai in the Philippines, authored by Dr. Pil Sang Lee, President and Founder of Ansanhak Research Institute, South Korea at the Business Research Conference, De La Salle Araneta University, Manila. She delivered her paper on Feminine Network Leadership in China at the International Conference at Halu-Oleo University, and was a resource speaker at the Round Table discussion on Partnership for Global Competitiveness of Sulawesi Tenggara University, Kendari, Indonesi
Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan was a Research Associate of the Center for Business Research and Development of De La Salle University; he developed training manuals and facilitated the training on Health Care Services and Environment Consumer Protection attended ASEAN member countries. Currently, he teaches at the Philippine Christian University and at the Graduate School of Jose Rizal University; He was management development and training consultant of Metrobank. He was Assistant to the President and Training Director of Malayan Insurance Company. He is Cofounder and Vice President of the International Association of Management and Human Resource Development (IAMHRD) in Indonesia and the Editor-in-Chief of IAMHRD Journal. He is an advisory board member of the Management Journal at OP Jindal University Business Review, India; and Member of Jose Rizal University Guided Research Program, Philippines. He is member of the Board of Trustees of the Benita Catalino Yap Foundation (BCYF), Philippines. His field of interest and expertise is business ethics, aesthetics, spirituality in the workplace and corporate social responsibility. He is an axiologist; he earned his doctorate in values formation, Master’s in character Education, Bachelor of Science in Education and Bachelor of Arts at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. He studied human development at the Sangre de Cristo Christian Brothers Center, Sta. Fe, New Mexico, USA.
ABSTRACT
This narrative situates Traditional Medicine in the context of Health Care. It highlights the importance of health care as a basic human need, especially during this period of COVID 19 pandemic. Its importance is recognized by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said that the First Wealth is Health, by Abraham Maslow who in his hierarchy of needs puts the physical dimension of every human as the most basic, by Brian Hall whose four phases cites Phase I as human survival, and Dyck and Neubert whose multistream management cites the physical condition of all business stakeholders as one of the nine elements of Wellbeing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also cited the importance of health in relations with achieving global sustainable development; the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) likewise has focused on health care and it sponsored the training of ASEAN members on Consumer Rights and Health Care. The Western practice of health care has been anchored on scientific, empirical studies and pharmaceutical medicines in health care management. Protocols to combat COVID 19 is dominated by Western medical practices. But traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM) is not mainstream in Western countries. Traditional medicine in China is a case in point; China has had a very long history in medical practice which dates back to the 2900 BCE and it is still practiced today. However, globally TM/CAM is overshadowed by mainstream medical practice of Western countries.
Keywords Health, health care, wellbeing, pharmaceutical medicine, traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine, and Western medicine.
INTRODUCTION
With the continuing spread of COVID 19 pandemic and its Delta and Omicron variants that is creating havoc on global wellbeing. We truly realize with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1943) that health is our first wealth, with Abraham Maslow (940) that survival is a primary concern in the hierarchy of needs, with Dyck and Neubert 2012) that wellbeing is more critical than materiality or profit in business management, and with Bryan Hall (c.1991) whose values development in Stage 1 underscores our human safety and security. Western pharmaceutical medicine has been dominating health care management. There is global acceptance on protocols and pharmaceutical medicines to control and irradicate COVID 19. There is minimal and even negligible information on the role of traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM) in combating COVID 19. Literature on TM/CAM as an approach in fighting this pandemic is sporadic and it is not considered standard and acceptable approach to health care management. If ever, those who accept it are using it as supplement to Western medical intervention. This paper presents TM/CAM with a view to increase one’s knowledge and appreciation of this approach to health care with the hope that it serves as an alternative or supplement to pharmaceutical medical intervention in promoting personal health and wellbeing.
II. OBJECTIVES
This study aims to: 1. Discuss health care as a pre-condition of all human activities. 2. Present the impact of health on personal productivity and the national GDP. 3. Provide an understanding of traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM). 4. Explore TM/CAM as an alternative and supplement to Western approach to healthcare. 5. Discuss the reasons why TM/CAM is not readily available to the general public in managing one’s wellbeing. and 6. Show the traditional medicine of China as a case in point to appreciate the benefits of TM/CAM.
III. METHODOLOGY
This dicourse is a qualitative narractive (Marshall & Rossman, 2011) on tractional medicine; the narrative is based on key documents that provide an understanding of the practice of traditional medicine vis-à-vis the popular Western pharmaceutical approach to healthcare in the 21st century. It is heuristic (Moustakas, 1990) because it provides the audience and readers the opportunity to discover for themselves to understand traditional medicine in a world predominantly disposed to accept Western medicince as a scientic and therefore reliable and safe mode of managing one’s wellbeing. It makes sense of the past experiences of traditional medicine experts and practitioners (Smith, 2015; Sela-Smith, 2002) to understand traditional medicineHudtohan, 2005; Gonzalez, Luz, & Tirol, 1984) as an alternative or supplement to Western medicine. The methodology of this study is multi-valuate (Richardson, 2015) because it deals with various disciplines related to economic, social, cultural and political dimensions of healthcare. This is an exploratory discourse (Stebbins, 2011) to study, examine, analyze and investigate the need the value of traditional medicine for human welfare in the 21st century.
IV.DISCUSSION
WHAT IS HEALTHCARE?
The United Nation General Assembly (2012) resolved that “health is a precondition for, an outcome and indicator of all three dimensions of sustainable development; economic, social and environmental.” The resolution state that the goals of sustainable development, local and global, can only be achieved in the absence of a high prevalence of debilitating communicable and non-communicable diseases, and where populations can reach a state of physical, mental and social well-being. Thus, health is of prime and critical importance today in the midst of our experience with COVID 19 pandemic.
The four pillars of well-being are: 1. Sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, 2. Good and responsible governance, 3. Environment sustainability and community and 4. cultural participation. Another scope of wellbeing includes: 1. Aesthetic: beauty, art, poetry. 2. Ecological: natural environment, minimal pollution. 3. Emotional: satisfaction, positive feelings, hope, joy. 4. Individual: personal convenience, one’s own interests. 5. Intellectual: ideas, clear rationale, theory, concepts. 6. Material: Finances, productivity, tangible goods, efficiency. 7. Physical: health, safety, security. 8. Social: community-mindedness, justice, helping others. 9. Spiritual: meaning, interconnectedness, transcendent. (Dyck & Neubert, 2012).
Health refers to a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO). Health care services refers to any medical or remedial care or service, including supplies delivered in connection with the care or service, that is recognized under state law. Service delivery systems should provide health services to patients, persons, families, communities and populations.
The World Health Organization says that health care service delivery systems include: patient-centered care that is focused on individual care of the patient and it should be people-centered care attention to the health of the communities and their crucial role in shaping health policy and health services. There is an emerging public governance view on new public management which uses a business or market model as standard for measuring government success. It is values centered in promoting common good; emphasis is in creating government processes to facilitate the generation of implementable agreements among a wide-ranging stakeholder. For example, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint cites the need for training to: promote and protect consumer rights and understand how goods and service promote health competition.
HEALTH AND GDP
Bloom, Canning, and Jennison (2004) aver that health effects and influences GDP per capita. Healthy workers are more productive than workers who are not healthy. One supporting evidence comes from studies on individuals that link investments in health and nutrition of the young to adult wages. Better health also raises per capita income through a number of other channels. One way is by altering decisions about expenditures and savings over the life cycle. The idea of planning for retirement occurs only when mortality rates become low enough for retirement to be a realistic prospect. Rising longevity in developing countries has opened a new incentive for the current generation to save; this has dramatic effects on national saving rates. While this saving boom lasts for only one generation and is offset by the needs of the elderly once population aging occurs, it can substantially boost investment and economic growth rates while it lasts.
Another channel is by encouraging foreign direct investment because investors shun environments where the labor force suffers a heavy disease burden. Endemic diseases can also deny humans access to various resources. Today, in the Philippines, and elsewhere I suppose, COVID 19 has brought havoc to employment and not all organizations can do home-based work. Manufacturing and industrial plants require physical presence. Yet another channel is through boosting education.
Bloom, Canning, and Jennison (2004) continues to say the healthier children have higher rates of school attendance and improved cognitive development, and a longer life span can make investment in education more attractive. Face to face schooling has been postponed for health safety. The initial beneficiaries of health improvements are often the most vulnerable group: children. Lower infant mortality initially creates a “baby boom” cohort and often leads to a subsequent reduction in the birth rate as families choose to have fewer children in the new low-mortality regime. A baby-boom cohort is thus unique and affects the economy profoundly as it enters education, then finds jobs, saves for retirement, and, finally, leaves the labor market. The cohorts before and after a baby boom are much smaller. If better health improves an economy’s productive potential, we would expect good health to go hand in hand with higher steady-state output economies adjust gradually to their steady-state output level over time. In this case, we expect countries that have high levels of health but low levels of income to experience relatively faster economic growth as their income adjusts.
Bloom, Canning, and Jenison (2004) conclude that there is “Evidence from cross-country growth regressions suggests the contribution is large. Indeed, the initial health of a population has been identified as one of the most robust and potent drivers of economic growth—among such well-established influences as the initial level of income per capita (once countries reach their steady-state level of income, growth slows), geographic location, institutional environment, economic policy, initial level of education, and investments in education.”
WHAT IS TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
Traditional medicine/complimentary alternative medicine (TM/CAM) has a long history. It is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Traditional medicine refers to indigenous or folk medicine comprises of medical aspects of traditional knowledge within various societies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says, “It is the sum of the knowledge, skills, and practices base on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.”
TM/CAM has many attractive features due to its accessibility, cultural acceptance in low- and middle-income societies, comparatively low cost and there is less technology involved in the practice. Many use herbal products to treat themselves, often without a health practitioner’s knowledge or advise because of the availability and relatively informed about adverse effects, drug interactions, and how to use herbal medicine safely. Herbal medicines include herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal products, that contain as active ingredients parts of plants, or other plant materials, or combinations.
It has therapies that are commonly used in developing countries because they are often more widely available and more affordable than conventional pharmaceutical-based therapies. However, in some cases it is connected with cultural and religious belief systems. Traditional healers, like the herbalist (arbolarios in the Philippines) are trusted by members of the community before pre-colonial Spanish period. They were affiliated and considered to be babaylan [women healers] and asugs [mail healers]. (Alcinas, 1668). Today, there are arbolaryos practicing in Philippine country side where Western medical clinics are not available.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN CHINA
History of Traditional Chinese Medicine
The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is at least 23 centuries old. It aims to prevent or heal disease by maintaining or restoring yinyang balance. China has one of the world’s oldest medical systems. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal remedies are 2,200 years old. The earliest written record of Chinese medicine is the Huangdi neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) from the 3rd century BCE. That historical account provided the theoretical concepts for TCM which remain the basis of its practice today. Essentially, traditional Chinese healers seek to restore a balance between two complementary forces, yin (passive) and yang (active), which are present in the human body as they are in the universe. According to TCM, a person is healthy when harmony exists between these two forces; illness, results from a breakdown in the equilibrium of yin and yang. (Agustin, n.d.)
The history of Yin Yang is explained by Lao Tzu (B.C.5. He said “道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物，万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和”, “人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然”, “天人合一” The first statement of Lao Tzu means that the Tao existed in the universe before our earth came to be and Tao gave birth to Chaos, and gradually Chaos was divided into Yin and Yang. Yang went up to become the sky and Yin went down to become the earth, and then Yin and Yang gave birth to primitive organisms and after that all beings on the earth. All beings contain Yin and Yang which never stop moving, following their own principles to have a new balance continually, and then all creation get the chance to evolve. The second statement soya that human beings learn the principles of Yin and Yang from the earth and sky; then learn the principles of Tao from Yin Yang, and finally learn the principle governing nature and the universe from Tao. (Zhang & Hudtohan, 2021)
The Book of Huang Di Nei Jing (300 BCE) described the Yin as everything that is tangible and material in form while Yang represents everything that is intangible that allows things to function, “阴成形，阳化气”. The theory of Yin and Yang in ancient Chinese philosophy is considered to be the origin of Universe. The interplay of Yin and Yang gave birth to the “myriad of beings”. Thus, the interaction between Yin and Yang also means production and reproduction of the endless variety of life in the universe. And the concept is also used to describe how the polarity or seemingly contradictory forces are intertwined and are interdependent in the natural world. They give rise to each other in return. Although Yin and Yang are opposite, they are dependent on each other to exist. Based on these basic concepts, a complete system of opposites was dialectically elaborated. Everything in the universe from six types of quarks with their corresponding types of antiquarks that have equal magnitude but opposite sign (Carithers & Grannis, 1995) in the universe can be identified with either Yin or Yang aspect and functioned as the theory Yin and Yang.
The Yin and Yang aspects are not identified in isolation but are really a mixture of the two. In the Book of Change, there is a classical principle that says neither Yin nor Yang alone could nurture itself but it is done with mutual generation and promotion. That is, both oppose each other as well as mutually include each other. Both don’t follow the “either-or” but the “both-and” principle. Yin and Yang are interconnected as different, but inseparable sides of the cosmos (Solas & Ayhan, 2007). These two opposing forces may transform each other over time when one polarity goes to the extreme. That is, Yin will eventually become Yang, Yang will eventually become Yin. Whenever Yin and Yang change from each other, keeping balance between them is the critical principle or benchmark, otherwise, the problems will appear.
The theme of harmony, balance and equilibrium between Yin and Yang is fully enthused, constituting a dynamic neutral system for understanding events, which has been influencing Chinese people’s mindset both consciously as well as subconsciously for more than 3000 years. Western people may polarize their views when two apparently contradictory propositions are presented; while Chinese people would be more likely to accept both propositions (Peng & Nisbett, 1999). In the course of Chinese communication, it helped to shape Chinese collective and holistic thinking method. That is, how to find a compromising method to establish the balance between Yin and Yang is the core notion in the problem-solving, decision-making. In health care, the principle of Yin Yang promotes balance and harmony of all bodily functions.
The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a broad range of medicine practices sharing common concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (tui na), exercise (qigong), and dietary therapy. Traditional Chinese medicine is a branch of traditional medicine in China. It has been described by the West as fraught with pseudoscience, and the majority of its treatments as having no logical mechanism of action. (Agustin, n.d.).
TCM is thousands of years old and has changed little over the centuries. Its basic concept is that a vital force of life, called Qi, surges through the body. Any imbalance to Qi can cause disease and illness. This imbalance is most commonly thought to be caused by an alteration in the opposite and complementary make up the Qi. These are called yin and yang. Ancient Chinese believed that humans are microcosms of the larger surrounding universe, and are interconnected with nature and subject to its forces. Lao Tzu (510 B.C.) in Daoism says that man should be in harmony with nature. Balance between health and disease is a key concept. TCM treatment seeks to restore this balance through treatment specific to the individual. It is believed that to regain balance, you must achieve the balance between the internal body organs and the external elements of earth, fire, water, wood, and metal. It includes: acupuncture. moxibustion (the burning of herbal leaves on or near the body), cupping (the use of warmed glass jars to create suction on certain points of the body), massage. Herbal remedies. movement and concentration exercises (such as tai chi). (Zhang & Hudtohan, 2021)
The Four Periods of TCM.
The Four Periods of Traditional Chinese Medicine in this section is sourced from Encyclopedia Britannica. The history of TCM was between the 29th century BCE and the 16th century it passed through four major periods. The first, from the 29th century BCE to 27th centuries BCE. under the rule of three emperors dominated by age of myths and legends. The events of the next 2,000 years are obscure, but a slow growth of medical knowledge and gradual changes in medical practice can be assumed. The second period was a mixture of legend and fact centered on the career of Bian Qiao (Bian Que)—about whom anecdotal material dates to the first half of the 5th century BCE. The third period was that of the great practitioners, the physicians Zhang Zhongjing and Wang Shuhe and the surgeon Hua Tuo, running from about CE 150 to 300. The individuals and events were real, although legends have grown up around them. (Agustin, n.d.).
The fourth period covered 1,300 years, featuring the compilation of encyclopedic works and the writing of commentaries on earlier authors, produced little that was original. In the second half of the 16th century, tenuous communication began with medical representatives from the West, and the character of Chinese medicine began to change. In addition to the three emperors, as well as physicians such as Bian Qiao, Zhang Zhongjing, Hua Tuo, and Wang Shuhe, other individuals made single contributions of substantial importance to Chinese medicine. Ge Hong (3rd century CE), in a handbook of prescriptions for emergencies, gave a clear and detailed description of smallpox. Ge Hong’s achievement came almost six centuries before al-Rāzī (Rhazes), the great Persian physician generally given credit for the first description of this deadly disease. About 700 years after Ge Hong, the practice of inoculation against smallpox grew out of a rather hazy background. Supposedly, inoculation was brought to China by either a spiritual old woman or a holy physician. This individual lived on a mountain and began the practice by using scabs that had been dried, ground into a powder, and inserted into the nostrils. The method spread and cut the mortality rate substantially. (Agustin, n.d.)
In 1644 official rites for worshipping the ancient physicians were instituted at the Qing Hui Palace near the College of Imperial Physicians in Peking (Beijing). These rites were celebrated in the spring and fall for many years. When Portuguese Bishop Belchior Carneiro established Saint Raphael’s Hospital in the 16th century near Guangzhou (Canton), tentative medical communication began between East and West. As Western medicine gradually made deeper inroads in the country, some Chinese people began to believe that everything in Western medicine was scientific and good, and therefore better than the traditional medicine practiced in China. Despite the appearance once again of a physician, Sun Yat-sen, as the ruler of the country, this faith in Western medicine continued to grow at the expense of native medicine. However, in the early 20th century interest in TCM was renewed, and by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, TCM was practiced not only in China but also in countries worldwide. (Agustin, n.d.)
Western views on TCM. Western medical literature gives this warning: “If you are thinking of using TCM, a certified practitioner is your safest choice. The federally recognized Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) accredits schools that teach acupuncture and TCM. Many of the states that license acupuncture require graduation from an ACAOM-accredited school. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine offers separate certification programs in acupuncture, Chinese herbology, and Oriental bodywork. TCM should not be used as a replacement for conventional or allopathic treatment, especially for serious conditions, but it may be beneficial when used as complementary therapy. Since some TCM herbal medicines can interfere or be toxic when combined with Western medicines, you should inform your doctor if you are using TCM.” (John Hopkins, n.d.).
However, there are quantum physicists like James Ray, Dispensa, and Bluestone who are aligned to the Chinese concept of Qi and the Chinese view of man as a microcosm of the universe. James Ray, a metaphysicist says: James Ray (2006), metaphysicist, has a new concept of God as energy. He says, “Most people define themselves as a finite body, but you are not a finite body. Even under a microscope you’re an energy field. What we know about energy is this. You go to a quantum physicist and you say: What creates the world? And he or she will say: Energy. Well, describe energy. Ok, it can never be destroyed; it always was, always has been, everything that ever existed always exists, it is moving into form, through form and out of form. You go to a theologian and ask the question: What created the Universe? And he or she will say: God. Ok, describe God. Always was and always has bee, never can be created or destroyed, all that ever was always will be, always moving into form, through for and out of form. You see, it’s the same description, just different terminology. So, if you think you’re this meat suit running around, think again. You’re a spiritual being! you’re an energy field, operating in a larger energy field.” (Quoted from Byrne, 2006, p. 158-159).
According to Dr. Dispenza (2016), the ‘old-school’ classical Newtonian version of an atom is focused primarily on the material, whereas “the ‘new-school’ quantum version of an atom with an electron cloud describes the atom as 99.99999 percent energy and .00001 percent matter. (http://iquim.org/spring-back-school-special-2016/). Bluestone observed that “Western and Chinese alchemist had one thing in common…the smallest object of material reality was a reflection of a larger cosmic whole. Monk Basil Valenti the human body was a microcosm of the universe. In the Chinese Tao, everything on earth was a reflection of its divine form.” (Bluestone, p. 62).
A Western writer argues that “We live in an informed universe because of this field, wherein every molecule, atom, thought, and emotion knows itself, where it came from, and what it’s for. We are interconnected and intertwined.” (Atwater, 2005, pp. 187-189).
CONCLUSIONS
Health is the most basic condition of human life, asserted by Emerson, Maslow, Dyck and Neubert, and Hall.
The World Health Organization provides a global perspective on Health Care in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals of humanity.
The ASEAN has been promoting Health Care Services, which provides views on Western medicine and traditional medicine (TM) or complimentary/alternative medicine (CAM)..
The citizens are human resource are the primary agents for the Gross National Product of each nation.
Western medicine through pharmaceutical interventions are globally accepted in curing and maintaining a healthy population.
The protocols of Western medical science is the leader in managing COVID 19 pandemic and its ongoing variants.
Traditional Medicine has had a long history of medical practice in China and other countries like INdoneis, Myanmar, Cambodia, Korea, and Japan.
Traditiona Medicine is readily acceptable in many countries due to its accessibility and it is low cost to avail.
Western scientific perspective has posted a number of negative observations on Traditional Medicine, claiming that empirical studies and evidence be established on the practice of this alternative approach to healthcare.
Quantum physicians like Ray, Dispensa, Bluestone and Attwater narrow the gap between TCM and Western concept of Qi, energy and the universe.
Dispensa. J. (2016) Old and New Views on as Atom Energy. (http://iquim.org/spring-back-school-special-2016/)
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The Future We Want, Resolution Adopted by the UN Gen Assembly 27 July 201266/288.
Agustin, A. (n.d.) in Traditional Chinese Medicine. (revised & edited). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/traditional-Chinese-medicine
Wilhelm, R., Baynes, C. F., & Bollingen Foundation Collection (Library of Congress). (1950). The I ching: or, Book of changes. New York: Pantheon Books.
Zhang, D. & Hudtohan, E.T. (2021). Chinese Traditional Thoughts Applied to Management and Education in the COVID-19 Era. A paper presented at the First International Seminar on Management and Education for Human Development. Theme: Teaching Management and Development in Business Innovation in COVID 19 Pandemic Era, Kendari, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Dan Zhang (Diane) received her DBA with academic distinction from Jose Rizal University, Manila, Philippines; her MBA from the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; her Bachelor Degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China; and she also studied traditional Chinese philosophy and holds a certificate on Traditional Chinese Medicine at Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China. She was a former HR Manager of Xiamen Xiangyu Group, Xiamen, China. Currently, she is Vice Dean of Taozhu Business School of Zhejiang A&F University. Her papers are published by some international Journals of Science Citation Index (SCI), Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI), Engineering Index (EI). She read in English a paper on CSR of Hyundai in the Philippines, authored by Dr. Pil Sang Lee, President and Founder of Ansanhak Research Institute, South Korea at the Business Research Conference, De La Salle Araneta University, Manila. She delivered her paper on Feminine Network Leadership in China at the International Conference at Halu-Oleo University, and was a resource speaker at the Round Table discussion on Partnership for Global Competitiveness of Sulawesi Tenggara University, Kendari, Indonesi
Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan was a Research Associate of the Center for Business Research and Development of De La Salle University; he developed training manuals and facilitated the training on Health Care Services and Environment Consumer Protection attended ASEAN member countries. Currently, he teaches at the Philippine Christian University and at the Graduate School of Jose Rizal University; He was management development and training consultant of Metrobank. He was Assistant to the President and Training Director of Malayan Insurance Company. He is Cofounder and Vice President of the International Association of Management and Human Resource Development (IAMHRD) in Indonesia and the Editor-in-Chief of IAMHRD Journal. He is an advisory board member of the Management Journal at OP Jindal University Business Review, India; and Member of Jose Rizal University Guided Research Program, Philippines. He is member of the Board of Trustees of the Benita Catalino Yap Foundation (BCYF), Philippines. His field of interest and expertise is business ethics, aesthetics, spirituality in the workplace and corporate social responsibility. He is an axiologist; he earned his doctorate in values formation, Master’s in character Education, Bachelor of Science in Education and Bachelor of Arts at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. He studied human development at the Sangre de Cristo Christian Brothers Center, Sta. Fe, New Mexico, USA.
As the year 2021 comes to a close we look forward to a New Year 2022. In retrospect, we reflect on our experience with COVID 19 that altered and disrupted our normal way of life. Every New Year is an opportunity to make a good prospect for a better tomorrow. This lecture discusses the end of Great Period Change (1987–2023) as a window of hope for us to emerge victorious against the challenges we face as we embark in the era of a New Normal. The road map for the education sector presented by the World Economic Forum specifically challenges the education sector to address 1. Creativity and innovation, 2. Global citizenship and local civic responsibility, 3. Digital technology; and 4. Interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships as major skills to be addressed to cope with the New Normal environment. Erwin Laszlo 2025 road map for a new enlightened civilization in 2025 is presented as a vital guide for humanity to move forward as we emerge from chaos, as the Great Period of Change ends in 2023.
Key words: new normal, great period of change, creativity and innovation, global citizenship, digital technology, intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships, chaos, retrospect and prospect.
.INTRODUCTION
The New Year 2022 is almost a month away. And we ask what is in store for us in 2022. For sure we are hopeful it will be a prosperous and a happy New Year. The question then is how can we be prosperous and happy in the coming year. In retrospect, COVID 19 has made us less prosperous and some were unhappy. Let us then map out our prospects by meeting the New Challenges in the New Normal in 2022. The road map that I will present is culled from World Economic Forum and from Irwin Laszlo’s Chaos Point. By looking back in retrospect, we can make good prospect for 2022 and beyond, because it is written in the stars (cosmology) that the Great Period of Change ends in 2023.
II. OBJECTIVES
This lecture aims to: 1 Explain that the year 2022 is ushering us toward the end of Great Period Change (1987–2023), giving us hope to emerge victorious against the challenges we face. 2. Present lessons from our past and immediate experiences in coping and surviving life-threatening circumstance. 3. Provide a road map in facing the challenges of the New Normal.
III. METHODOLOGY
This lecture makes use of qualitative research (Marshall & Rossman, 2011); it is based on key documents that provide an understanding of the challenges that we face in the New Normal in 2022. It is heuristic (Moustakas, 1990) because it provides the researchers and the webinar academic audience to discover and learn something for themselves in understanding our current precarious situation and our envisioned new state in the future. It makes sense of the past experiences (Bloch, 1962; Jenkins, 2003).) with the challenges of COVID 19 in order construct a new paradigm (Smith, 2015; Sela-Smith, 2002; Hudtohan, 2005; Gonzalez, Luz, & Tirol, 1984) that will enlighten us to accept the New Normal conditions in 2022. The methodology is multi-valuate (Richardson, 2015) presentation deals with various disciplines related to our strategy for prosperity and happiness in the New Normal in 2022. This is an exploratory discourse (Stebbins, 2011) to study, examine, analyze and investigate the need for change in managing the issues and challenges of 2022
IV.DISCUSSION
In Retrospect
Great Period of Change
Marinoff (2007). in his book, The Middle Way, cited four ideograph that triggered four great civilizations. These are: Hellenic, Abrahamic, Sinic, and Vedic great ideas that flourished around the world. The onset of Cartesian philosophy triggered a rational approach to human thinking paradigm that was anchored on logic and reason. Rene Descartes was a leading figure in a Rational Civilization. Newtonian physics that explained the laws of Nature triggered a Scientific Civilization. The colonial period was the age of exploration of natural resources. With abundant resource it propelled an Industrial Civilization. This was followed by a Global Civilization in the age of multinational corporations operating worldwide. By this time overproduction and overconsumption have created an ecological crisis. Laszlo (2006) averred humanity has reached Chaos Point, forcing us to break down or make a break through. Visionaries are optimistic we will survive the Great Period of Change (1987-2023) leading humanity to a New Enlightenment. This I call a Spiritual Civilization, which is preceded by the Ecological Civilization, leading to the new world after the Great Period of Change.
End of the Period of Change
The big picture on what is happening today is that we live in a Great Period of Change which began in 1987 and ends in 2023 (Page, 2012; Jenkins, 2012; 1998, Braden, 2009; Laszlo, 2006). What then do we expect at the end of this Great Period of Change? Christian Page says, “The Mayan calendar saw the beginning of an extraordinary journey of 36,000 years for the earth and its inhabitants, which reaches its conclusion just before 2020. For the first time in 26,000 years, the sun is most closely aligned with Great Cleft, Dark Rift or the Black Road of the Milky Way. (Page, 2008).
The year 2023 appears to be the end of the dark tunnel. We will make a breakthrough (Laszlo,2006) As we come close to 2023, the end of the Great Period of Change, our present state I consider Global Civilization is moving towards a new era of New Enlightenment (Page, 2012). Ambassador Manalo (personal communication, July 31, 2921) during an interview with Sass Sassot SMNI Network, said that from the Cold War we moved to Globalization. However, she did not cite our new state of affairs that would follow Global Civilization we are experience today.
Current Prospects
Challenges in 2022
The World Economic Forum (June 2021), in Building Back Broader: Policy Pathways for an Economic Transformation, state that a new future of education and skills must address: 1. innovation and creativity, 2. Global citizenship and civic responsibility, 3. Digital technology, and 4. Interpersonal and intrapersonal
Creativity and Innovation. Basically, creativity and innovation mean “Thinking of novel ideas, improvements and solutions by combining ideas or information and making connections between different fields and perspectives. Includes skills such as: critical thinking, analytical thinking, creative thinking and systems thinking.” (WEF, p. 27) For example, the Triple Bottom-Line in 1987 and the Ecological Civilization in 2018 shows how critical thinking, creative thinking and systems thinking have been used for the four decades (1987-2012) in viewing and reviewing role of business, society and government in protecting Planet Earth. prehensive approach to sustainable development.
Global citizenship and civic responsibility. This means “Making decisions and creating appropriate and sustainable solutions based on cross-cultural and geopolitical awareness, a differentiated notion between local and global contexts and an understanding of the human impact on the environment and society. Includes skills such as: Social-cultural awareness, Technological awareness, and Environmental awareness.” (WEF, 2021),
The United Nations states that “Global citizenship is the umbrella term for social, political, environmental, and economic actions of globally minded individuals and communities on a worldwide scale. The term can refer to the belief that individuals are members of multiple, diverse, local and non-local networks rather than single actors affecting isolated societies. Promoting global citizenship in sustainable development will allow individuals to embrace their social responsibility to act for the benefit of all societies, not just their own.” (https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/global-citizenship). Another definition is:” Global citizenship is all about encouraging young people to develop the knowledge, skills and values they need to engage with the world. And it’s about the belief that we can all make a difference. (Oxfam).
Shaw (2000) says, “Global citizenship is the idea that one’s identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: humanity. This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives their nationality or other, more local identities, but that such identities are given ‘second place’ to their membership in a global community.”
In general usage, the term may have much the same meaning as world citizen or cosmopolitan, but it also has additional, specialized meanings in differing contexts. Various organizations, such as the World Service Authority, have advocated global citizenship.
Digital Skills. Digital skills mean “understanding and applying ever-evolving digital technology tools, systems and software responsibly, ethically, creatively and inclusively across work processes and activities to solve problems, analyze and interpret data and communicate effectively. It includes skills such as: Technology design and programming, Technology 2018) use, monitoring and control.” (World Economic Forum, 2021, p. 27). With the help of technology, the number of tasks needed in the classroom in real-time can be addressed online. It also helps teachers communicate any change in the tasks they are doing no matter where they are. It has brought a good amount of change in the way leaders communicate and deal with their employees. Technology enables personalized pathways for student learning through active and collaborative learning activities. Clearly defined sets of learning outcomes guide instruction. (http://www.sba.oakland.edu › TechnologyLeadershipText)
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills. Basically, Interpersonal and intrapersonal Relationship means “Managing emotion and motivation and applying emotional intelligence to collaborate effectively with others and achieve both personal and communal goals. Includes skills such as: active listening, communication and information exchange, leadership and social influence and self-management.” (WEF, p.27)
The need for Connectivity of Adaptive Leadership Behavior to Teacher Development: Perspective and Prospects for Digital Learning (Jerusalem & Hudtohan, 2021). They observed that, “The Age of Digital Technology requires a new paradigm in teacher education in online learning; it, alters the learning patterns and behaviors of students. Hence, there is a need for teacher-learning connectivity in virtual learning. It is proposed that teacher development in embracing Adaptive Leadership to be connected with students in online classroom interaction.” (Jerusalem & Hudtohan, 2021).
What can be done? The World Economic Forum suggests that “ensure that everyone has access to skills for economic transformation and recovery? Efforts thus far have mainly focused on continuing learning by transitioning old models to online formats. While these immediate measures were urgently needed to prevent further widening of education and skills gaps, long-term and systemic investment in new economy skills will be needed.” (WEF, p. 27).
Future Prospects
New Worldview 2025
A worldview is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of Reality that ground and influence all one’s perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing (Funk, 2001). One’s worldview is one’s philosophy, philosophy of life, mindset, outlook on life, formula for life, ideology, faith and religious belief. For me it is a platform upon which an individual becomes a member of a spiritual civilization.
According to Funk, “The elements of one’s worldview, the beliefs about certain aspects of Reality, are one’s: epistemology: beliefs about the nature and sources of knowledge; metaphysics: beliefs about the ultimate nature of reality; cosmology: beliefs about the origins and nature of the universe, life, and especially man; teleology: beliefs about the meaning and purpose of the universe, its inanimate elements, and its inhabitants; theology: beliefs about the existence and nature of God; anthropology: beliefs about the nature and purpose of Man in general and, oneself in particular; and axiology: beliefs about the nature of value, what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. Worldview is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of Reality that ground and influence all our perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing. Our worldview consists of our epistemology, our metaphysics, our cosmology, our teleology, our theology, our anthropology, and our axiology. Each of these subsets of our worldview is highly interrelated with and affects virtually all of the others.” (Funk, 2001).
Laszlo (2006) asserts that “in the third decade of the twenty-first century…the view of people is united in rejecting the mechanistic and fragmented concept of world and self that was the heritage of the Industrial Age. A new view is emerging: Humans are organic wholes within an organic biosphere in the embrace of an organically evolving universe.” (p.42-43).
Metaphysically, individual existence and community development are inherently intertwined with nature. New consciousness dictates that they longer believe they are free to manipulate the environment, in the hope that nature will take care of itself or new technologies will take care of nature. The Newtonian mechanistic view of reality is now transcended because the universe is not a passive bystander watching human actions, and individual actions have an immediate impact on the environment. Subtle ties bind human being to one another, to the biosphere and to the cosmos as a whole. Lovelock (1972) says that the atmosphere and biosphere is the lungs of Mother Earth; the trees, plants and vegetation are her skin; the rivers, lakes and oceans are her blood system; and the minerals and rocks are her bones. She is alive and she is now a stakeholder of life, just like us. She is present as energy pulsating in our humanness, in our relationships with one another, the Earth and the Galaxy. Gaia’s relevance is even more crucial in addressing global warming and climate change. Gaian energy is a beautiful balancing force of male energy. (Hudtohan, 2017).
The Institute for the Future (2009) affirms Laszlo’s world view 2025. The report says that “A collapsing economy paves the way for discovering new kinds of value in all forms of interaction – from the microscopic scale of atoms to the macrocosms of human connections with each other and the planet they inhabit. Look at the coming decade from the perspective of millennia of change. Focus on the progress of the universe from the breakthrough structures of the atom to the living cell, the biota, the human body, the community of nations, the global economy. This is how the future will be new, by continuing the incredible experiment of reorganization for greater complexity, by creating the next astonishing structural forms in this long evolutionary path.”
In conclusion, Bluestone observes that “Western and Chinese alchemist had one thing in common…the smallest object of material reality was a reflection of a larger cosmic whole. Monk Basil Valenti the human body was a microcosm of the universe. In the Chinese Tao, everything on earth was a reflection of its divine form.” (Bluestone, p. 62).
Life Style 2025
The life style in 2025 announces a renaissance of spirituality as well; women and men are rediscovering a higher or deeper dimension of their lives and existence. According to Laszlo, “people live simply than those who can afford luxurious life style in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. These are not imposed by poverty and they are not the consequence of rules and legislations or high taxes. They are voluntary result of a different mindset. For me, a spiritual higher view on what life is all about. People realize that a high material standard of living does not necessarily mean high quality of life.” (Laszlo, 2006, p. 44).
They have a healthier lifestyle in harmony with nature and the environment better than the Agricultural Civilization, Industrial Civilization, Global Civilization, and Digital Civilization that brought success, affluence and luxury. Individuals of 2025 belongs to the Ecological Civilization and Spiritual Civilization. They are healthier and they live longer, but do not contribute to growth of the population. Life ways are becoming ecologically sustainable. They are reoriented from aiming external growth to focusing on internal growth, shifting from aiming at conquest and consumption to wishing further the evolution of their thinking and behavior and the development of their communities. (Laszlo, 2006, p.45).
Pande and Vian (2009) aver that the citizen of the future will be “a native of the network and that changes everything. It tempers border-based boundaries. It refocuses political notion on issues that are both more local and more global at the same time. It links expressiveness to empowerment and turns the smart consumer o the early internet era into activist citizen of the coming decades. The network superstructs citizenship.” Harari (2016; 2018) affirms the role of technology in all aspects of the life of a 21st century human who has become a Homo Deus, interacting with artificial intelligence in a widely networked relationship.
Morality 2025
Laszlo (2006) believes that “Moral considerations inform the decisions people make in the private sphere as well as in the sphere of business and profession. In 2025 people agree that it is immoral to live in ways that reduce access for others in the resources required for a life l of basic dignity and wellbeing. The new morality is rooted in a universal principle: Live and act in a way that enables others to live as well. Live not necessarily in the same way but with a real possibility of satisfying basic needs and pursuing the ends of well-being and happiness.” (p. 45).
I would like to equate wellbeing of Laszlo with the wellbeing of Dyck and Neubert (2012). The various forms of wellbeing are: Physical: health, safety, Emotional: stress, positive feelings, work-life balance, Material: productivity, efficiency, profitability, Social: nurture community, social justice, help disadvantaged, Intellectual: coherent ideas, clear rationale, sound theory/logic, Aesthetic: beauty, elegant products/services, appealing workplace, Ecological: natural environment, sustainability, minimize pollution, Individual: self-interested self and stakeholders, and Spiritual: meditation, guided by spiritual truths/forces.
Clearly humanity has learned that wellbeing is total human development and material wellbeing is only part of our human existence. Teilhard de Chardin, Wayne Dyer, and Stephen Covey are said that: We are not humans with spiritual activities. We are spiritual beings with human activities. This maxim is being taken seriously by people in the year 2025.
Decision-making and Security 2025
Laszlo (2006, p. 46) says, “The political world is globalized, but it is locally diverse; it is networked, but not monolithic. Sovereign nation states, has given way to a transnational system organized as a Chinese box of decision-making forums, with each forum having its own sphere of authority and responsibility.” This vision is shared by Jake Dunagan (2009) who says, “To survive the 21st century, humanity must undertake a massive, collective program to redesign our basic government structures at every level – based on the emerging technologically and cosmologically powerful understandings of life and the universe available.”
Laszlo continues, “The 2025 world is not a hierarchy but a ‘hererarchy’: a multilevel sequentially integrated structure of distributed decision-making. It is aimed at global coordination combined with regional, national, and local self-determination. The global level is the highest level of decision making, yet it is the lowest level at which peace and security can be ensured and global flow of goods, money and technology can be monitored. The regional level is indicated for decisions that coordinate the social and political aspirations and concerns of nations within the given regions Regional economic and social organizations provide the forum for the elected representatives of the member nations to consider and harmonized the interests and aspirations of their population. The national level Is appropriate for most of the functions traditionally performed by national government but without claiming absolute sovereignty for the nation-state and with due regard for decisions made in other forums in direct consultation with their inhabitants. The local level of decision making brings together the elected representatives of urban and rural communities. They coordinate the workings of the social and political towns, villages and rural regions in direct consultation with their inhabitants.” (p. 2006, 46).
Yuval Noah Harari (2016) has pronounced us as Home Deus. But Bruce Lipton (2021) reminds us we originally came from a one-cell amoeba until that amoeba that progressively developed into a monkey species, which Charles Darwin claimed as the basis Homo Sapiens. Then, we progressed to an Agricultural Civilization, Industrial Civilization, Global Civilization, Digital Civilization and Ecological Civilization. The future points toward a Spiritual Civilization at the end of 2023 in the Age of New Enlightenment.
Figure 8: Spiritual Beings: Chardin, 2021; Dyer, Covey, and Gurdjieff
V. CONCLUSIONS
The New Year 2022 ushers in the last year of the Great Period of Change (1987-2021). The Galactic entry into the Black Hole is about to end and as we exit, we begin to exist in a New Enlightenment. Cosmologist tell us this will bring a new frame of mind of humanity.
Western and Eastern gurus assert that we the human body is a microcosm of the universe. In the Chinese Tao, everything on earth was a reflection of its divine form.
The New Normal, after COVID 19, calls for skills in a. creativity and innovation, b. global citizenship and local civic responsibility, c. interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships, and d. digital savvy. The Age of Digital technology forces us to interact with AI machines. Thus, we become Homo Deus. We were Homo Sapiens and before that Darwin claimed we came from the species of the monkeys. Today, Bruce Lipton goes further to say that our life started as amoeba.
The Old World went through Agricultural Civilization, Industrial Civilization, Global Civilization, Ecological Civilization. We are moving toward Spiritual Civilization at the end of the Great Period of Change in 2003.
The New World described by Erwin Laszlo is a picture with New Worldview, New Life Style, New Morality, and New Decision and Security envisioned in 2025.
Ahead of us is a future that is making a breakthrough and we will not breakdown in meeting the challenge of our planetary existence. To survive we must now bring ourselves to emerge at a New Level as Spiritual Beings.
REFERENCES
Bedlam. (2019). The Golden age of Digital Civilization. Onevan.
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Jerusalem, V. & Hudtohan, E.T. (2021). Connectivity of Adaptive Leadership Behavior to Teacher Development: Perspective and Prospects for Digital Learning. Paper to be presented December 16, 2021 at the Webinar sponsored by IAMHRD.
Jenkins K. (2003). Re-thinking history. London : Routledge.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/06/20/spiritual/. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
Richardson, M.H. (2015). The quantum God: An investigation of the image of God from Quantum Science. A masteral thesis. St. Mary’s University. Halifax. Nova Scotia
Sadar, Z & Abrams, I. (2004), Introducing chaos. UK: Icon Books, Inc.
Sela-Smith, S. (July 2002). Heuristic Research: A Review and Critique of Moustakas’s Method
Journal of Humanistic Psychology 42(3):53-88.
Smith, J. (2015). Business research methodology. New York: Arcler Press LLC.
Stebbins, R.A. (2011). What Is Exploration? In: Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences
London: SAGE Publications, Inc. City: Thousand Oaks
You Are Not a Human Being Having a Spiritual Experience. You Are a Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin? Wayne W. Dyer? Stephen R. Covey? Georges Gurdjieff? Anonymous?https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/06/20/spiritual/
Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, an axiologist, earned his doctorate in values formation at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. He teaches at Philippine Christian University and Jose Rizal University. He is an external thesis and dissertation panelist at De La Salle Araneta Univeristy. He was management development consultant of Metrobank and training director of Malayan Insurance Company. He is Cofounder and Vice President of the International Association of Management and Human Resource Development (IAMHRD) in Indonesia and the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Management Education and Human Development (IJMEHD). He is an advisory board member of the Management Journal at OP Jindal University Business Review, India; and Member of Jose Rizal University Guided Research Program, Philippines. He is member of the Board of Benita Catalino Yap Foundation. His field of interest and expertise is business ethics, aesthetics, spirituality in the workplace and corporate social responsibility.
The Great Period of Change articulated by Christine Page, Gregg Braden, and Erwin Laszlo is from 1987 to 2023. This global phenomenon is a period of chaos, conflict and disorder which Bennett and Lemoine describe as a world that is volatile, uncertain complex and ambiguous (VUCA); it is the Age of Upheaval, according to Hult Executive Academy. The local 2022 Philippine national election is a manifestation of this VUCA world in the Age of Upheaval. The elected President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. demonstrated a feminine energy in managing his campaign amidst a highly negative toxic political arena that brought him to a landslide victory. Political pundits and prophetic personalities paint a metaphysical picture of a new governance in Philippine politics, a signal that the Great Period of Change in the Philippines is happening in 2022. The EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 triggered governance change and the 2022 election announces the end of that period, coinciding with the galactic period of change from 1987 to 2023. The paper concludes by presentings Laszlo’s new enlightened humanity by 2025.
Introduction
This is a narrative on the Great Period of Change (1987-2023) that is coming an end. Cosmologists Christine Page, Gregg Braden, and Erwin Laszlo have announced that chaos and change started to happen in 1987 and will end in 2023. Hult International School of Business tells us that we are in the Age of Upheaval. Bennet and Lesmoine (2014) describes our current situation as a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Today, Russia and Ukraine are in a state of war, threatening an eruption of World War III, involving NATO, the United State and China. Globally, there was a 1987 financial crisis. Environmentally, the United Nations through the Organization of Economic and Cooperation and Development (OECD) published the 1987 Brundtland Report where People, Planet and Profit must synergize to avoid an impending ecological crisis. China responded in 2018 with President Xi Jinping’s Ecological Civilization.
Locally, the Philippines had a significant political change in 1986 through the EDSA People Power Revolution that gathered millions of Filipinos from all walks of life to march along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), the main artery of Metro Manila, to end the dictatorship of President Ferdinand E. Marcos to begin a new era marked by true freedom and democracy. Significantly, in 2022 Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. Is elected President of the Republic of the Philippines 36 years later. This is within the Great Period of Change which started in 1987 and ends 2023. Cosmologically: Is the victory of Marcos, Jr. a window of opportunity for a new horizon, announcing the end of chaos and disorder in 2023 and the advent of a new order of prosperity during his presidential term that ends in 2028? Cosmologically, will there be a bright light at the end of 2023 when our galaxy would have exited the Black Hole and we will be a new enlightened global humanity in 2024?
Objectives
This study aims to: 1. Put into context events, globally and locally, that shed light in understanding the Great Period of Change, which began in 1987 and is projected to end in 2023. 2. Narrate the story of Philippine national election as an indicator of change in local politics in support of the cosmic Great Period of Change (187-2024). 3. Provides specific events in politics, culture, technology and ecology that would indicate a new worldview leading to an enlightened mindset by 2025. 4. Provides a prospect to what is beyond 2023, when the Great Period of Change would have come to an end.
Methodology
This paper is qualitative research (Marshall & Rossman, 2011); it is anchored on significant events that provide an understanding of the Great Period of Change (1987-2023). It is heuristic (Moustakas, 1990) because it provides the researchers and the webinar audience to discover and learn something for themselves in understanding the current world situation described as a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. It takes into account the past events of the 50 years of Philippine history (1972 Martial Law to 2022 Presidential Election) and it makes sense of its impact to our present situation and hints at the possibilities in the future (Smith, 2015; Sela-Smith, 2002; Hudtohan, 2005; Gonzalez, Luz, & Tirol, 1984). The methodology is multi-valuate (Richardson, 2015) because it deals with various disciplines related to public governance, politics, economics, education, technology and ecology. This is an exploratory discourse (Stebbins, 2011) to study, examine, analyze and investigate the need to understand current events in order to have some indicators that conflict and chaos will end by 2023.
Part I: End of the Great Period of Change
Great Period of Change
According to Christine Page (2008), we live in “an extraordinary time in the planet’s history. In 2012, for the first time in almost 26,000 years, our sun will be most closely aligned to the Galactic Center. This Galactic Alignment, which began in with the Harmonic convergence in 1987 and will conclude in 2023, presents a 36-year window of opportunity for humanity to participate in the creation of a new era of expanded consciousness.” (Page, 2008, back cover). This quote from Page is a cosmic message that the rise into power of Marco, Jr. is etched in this galactic message and is part of the Great Period of Change. Between 1987 -2023, she says, this period presents a window of opportunity for humanity, and in particular for Filipinos, to participate in the new era of expanded consciousness. The Martial Law chaos Is now a driver for a new consciousness that will bring order, peace and harmony.
To understand conflict that we have been experiencing politically, Figure 1 shows Chaos from a Greek mythic perspective. Chaos today is described as a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world and Hult Academy calls it the Age of Upheaval. COVID 19 created global chaos, aside from economic and political conflicts. But Gaia as Mother Earth is a caring person who has been providing resources for humanity. Unfortunately, our economic progress has harm her through pollution that harmed us in return as we face global warming and climate change. Eros is a creative force which we have interpreted as erotic, rather than a creative and innovative force need to find solutions to our problems. The new era of expanded consciousness is evidenced by 2018 Ecological Civilization of China, which updated the United Nations’ Triple Bottomline Brundtland Report in 1987. The victory of Marcos, Jr. manifests a new consciousness in politics where mudslinging campaign was no longer entertained. This manifests a feminine energy that is not combative but empathetic.
Figure 1. Relationship of Chaos, Gaia and Eros (Hudtohan, 2020)
End of the Period of Change
The big picture on what is happening today is that we live in a Great Period of Change which began in 1987 and ends in 2023 (Page, 2012; Jenkins, 2012 & 1998; Braden, 2009; Laszlo, 2006). What then do we expect at the end of this Great Period of Change? Christian Page says, “The Mayan calendar saw the beginning of an extraordinary journey of 36,000 years for the earth and its inhabitants, which reaches its conclusion just before 2020. For the first time in 26,000 years, the sun is most closely aligned with Great Cleft, Dark Rift or the Black Road of the Milky Way. (Page, 2008).
The year 2023 appears to be the end of the dark tunnel. We will make a breakthrough (Laszlo,2006) As we come close to 2023, the end of the Great Period of Change, our present state I consider Global Civilization is moving towards a new era of New Enlightenment (Page, 2012). Ambassador Manalo (personal communication, July 31, 2921) during an interview with Sass Sassot SMNI Network, said that from the Cold War we moved to Globalization. However, she did not cite our new state of affairs that would follow Global Civilization we are experience today. The experience of climate change and global warming has prompted President Xi Jinping to promote an Ecological Civilization to have “blue skies, green mountains and clear water.”
Century of Women
The century of Women started in the 1980s and ends in the 2020s. According to Christiane Page (2008) “The Mayan calendar saw the beginning of an extraordinary journey of 36 years for the earth and its inhabitants, which reaches its conclusion just before 2020. For the first time in 26,000 years, the sun is most closely aligned with Great Cleft, Dark Rift or the Black Road of the Milky Way. The road leads directly to the Galactic Center, or the heart of the Great Mother… We travel and enter the Black Hole [where] we will experience the fullness of our potentiality, the unlimited realm of possibilities, and come know the true meaning of immortality.” (Page, 2008).
According to Bluestone (1997), “Western and Chinese alchemist had one thing in common…the smallest object of material reality was a reflection of a larger cosmic whole. [For] Monk Basil Valenti the human body was a microcosm of the universe. In the Chinese Tao, everything on earth was a reflection of its divine form.” (p. 62). Thus, our body is an embodiment of the universe. We encapsulated the Great Mother and the Great Mother is within us.
In Gaian theory, “the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere maintain a homeostatic condition and the Earth is seen as a single living super being. The workings of Gaia can be viewed as a study of the physiology of the Earth, where the atmosphere is the Earth’s lungs and circulatory system, the oceans and rivers are the Earth’s blood, the land and the rocks are the Earth’s bones, and the living organisms like the plants and fungi are the Earth’s skin and sensory system. All these are tied up to an infinitely complex network of feedback systems to maintain homeostasis. (Bonewits, 2003; Chamberlain, 205); Edwards (1995) links the Gaian hypothesis with shamanic wisdom that sees nature as a living organism. Shamans believe that “everything is alive. Rocks and crystals are conscious beings” (Edwards, 1995, p.206).
Redmond (1997) argues that our civilization made a mistake by choosing a tradition that followed a male dominant worldview. Climate change is happening because we are “divorcing ourselves from the natural world, we are doing violence to ourselves and to the planet. The tradition that we inherited from warrior nomads who viewed the natural world as an infinite source of new pastures to exploit and abandon have led to rampant materialism…our culture persists in behaving as if nature exists to serve the desires of one species that values itself above all other” (Redmond, 1997, p.187). Crowley (2001) redirects us to that Gaian spirit by suggesting that we try to sense the divine presence in the natural world beneath the concrete of the streets, implying that the sacred natural order is primarily the non-human natural order resident in Mother Earth.
Myss (2016) asserts that the 21st century needs the Sacred Feminine, who is the balancing force to Sacred Masculine and its intellectual energies of reason and logic. The Sacred Feminine and its subtle and magnificent force penetrate into every expression of life, bringing us into an awareness of the crisis within Mother Nature and awakening our mystical senses and mystical history. That Sacred Feminine is Gaia, re-emerging today as Moral Beauty to rule the conduct of society that has gone awry and in chaos.
Part II: Evidence of Chaos and Change
Philippine Feminine Context
The election campaign for presidency between Marcos, Jr. and Robredo saw two opposing strategies. Marcos was non-combative; Robredo was aggressive. Marcos harped on national unity (UniTeam); Robredo on corruption and human rights violations during Martial Law days. Marcos refused to engage in a public debate; Robredo up to the days of campaign and thereafter continued to hurl the “sins” of Marcos, Sr., implicating the son as inheritor of a biblical intergenerational sin.
The 21st Century will be the century of girls and women, declared UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the 39th Annual Commencement 2011 of LaGuardia Community College. During the ceremony on 23 September 2011 at the Lincoln Center, New York. She also called on men and boys in the room to take part in the “social, economic and political revolution for gender equality and women’s empowerment. (Bachelet, 2011).
The energy that women bring in the 21st century is a feminine energy. Richmond (2011) noted that when women were drummers, they used the drums for celebration, healing and worship; but when men used the drums they went marched to the beat and went to war. The perspective of peaceful versus violent activities are obvious contrast. The Philippine election of 2022 saw Marcos, Jr. exhibiting feminine energy by retreating from combative debates and conversations. Robredo exhibited masculine energy bringing combative and fighting stance throughout her campaign. Marcos, Jr. showed that men can connect with their feminine self by refusing to engage in word war. It also proved that women can connect with the masculine self and be aggressive and combative. The idea of 21st century as century of women is not about gender equality only. It is about positive energy. Metaphysicians declared that everything is energy and we can emit positive or negative energy. The Butterfly Effect of promoting positive mindset carried Marcos, Jr. to an outstanding victory of 31 million votes against the negative energy campaign of Robredo who garnered 14 million votes.
Beck (2012) narrates that “Oneness, [is] the subjective awareness that there is no separation between me and everything in the universe…sacred silence is the first technology of magic in all wisdom tradition…Rationalist culture…didn’t teach us that we’re capable of communicating without either close physical proximity or physical implements like written words or telephones. Most of us still see the world as Newton [as] a bunch of random unrelated particles…that solid particles are mere energetic patterns until observed by consciousness, and that energy is always communicating in stranger-than-fiction ways Einstein disparagingly called ‘spooky action at a distance.'” (Beck, 2012, p. 58-59). Thus, digital technology is a manifestation of that energy through quarks, but more importantly Beck points out the technology of magic through our consciousness.
Harari (2016) in Homo Deus asserts that our species as humans is has been evolving from the lower life forms to being a Homo Sapiens, which believes is headed to be Homo Deus, a technologically sophisticate human form. In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, again, he predicted and it is happening now that he who hold data, big data holds the future. The COVID 19 pandemia has demonstrated this. Data mining and data analytics on cases of infection, recovery and death provide intelligent estimation on where the curve of incidents is going. It is a guide for personal, social, and mandated responsibility for survival.
The Philippine 2022 election was a pollical battle launched at the digital platform. It was monitored by statistical survey of Social Weather Station, Pulse Asia, Publicus Asia, Inc. and Tangere, Ang Boses ng Pilipino and many media outfits hired by political parties made us of Kalye survey that gives a micro update on voting trends. Data mining using algorithms demonstrated that we have used AI to our advantage and social service in this election. We are now Homo Deus as Harari puts it (Figure 2 and Figure 3).It used to be man’s finger touching God’s finger; now it is man in touch with AI machines.
Google trend was used by the Robredo camp. Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo have insisted that Google Trends, which takes into account searches of entries related to presidential candidates, point toward a Robredo victory in contrast to what recent scientific surveys projected. (Inquirerdotnet, May 22, 2022; https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1586674/robredo-supporters-insist-google-trends-indicate-victory-despite-lagging-in-surveys#ixzz7TweIjJIn). It provided data that showed Robredo Robredo’s presidential candidacy on Friday pointed to campaign strategist Alan German’s take on the Vice President constantly grabbing the most shares in terms of searches about a presidential bet. Google trend was debunked as an accurate data on what the electorate prefer in regular surveys voting trends.
The narrative I am presenting is a political event of Philippine national election in 2022 where Marcos, Jr. and Sara Duterte won by a landslide (or a tsunami margin). This happened within the cosmic dates of 1987-2023 period of chaos. President Ferdinand Marco, Sr. was ousted in the 1986 EDSA revolution and in 2022 Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. won the election. The 35 years is a great period of chaos and conflict in Philippine society. But the administration of Marcos, Jr, is from 2022 – 2026, which means that by 2024 a new society will rise and a new Philippines will experience harmony and peace. His Uniteam tagline is an appropriate theme for his 6-year term, fulfilling the end of chaos and conflict in our country. First time in the history of Philippine elections, majority president and vice president and same party president and vice president.
Feminine energy. The 21st century is a century of women. I refine this pronouncement by saying that it is a century of feminine energy. Thus, the non-combative posture of Bong Bong Marcos is a feminine energy. The combative stance of the opposition throwing verbal brickbats and negative words is a masculine intrusive violence. When women were drummer, they used the drums for celebration, healing, and worship. But men used it for violence by going to wars.
Political Pundit’s Narrative
Richard Heydarian, 2022) narrates his political observation after attending the miting de avance of Robred and Marcos, Jr. He says, “What I found particularly overwhelming, however, was the sheer desperation of our common folks, the dominant demographic on the grounds, who struggled to hold back tears amid the whole nostalgic jazz that enveloped the miting de avance in Solaire. At once, you could sense folks’ surreal yearning for historic redemption and overnight transformation in as much as their “ressentiment” against decades of unfulfilled promises by democratically elected leaders.”
He warns, “Dear reader: To dismiss the 2022 election results as simply the upshot of “disinformation” and “irrational” voting behavior is both intellectually lazy and morally questionable. This was less a vote for the scions of the country’s two leading political dynasties, who are integral to a rotten status quo, but instead a torrent of unmediated rage against decades of dysfunctional democracy.
He concludes, “Here are the brutal facts: Our ‘democracy’ is one where more than 80 percent of elected legislative offices have been hijacked by a narrow elite, while the country’s 40 richest business families swallowed up to 76 percent of newly created growth in the early 2010s.”
Prophetic Narratives
Nostradamus prophecy. He said that “By the sixteenth year after the New Millennium of the Twenty First Century (2000-2016) a new leader shall rule the Pearl of the Orient Island in Asia (Philippines) his name has eight letters beginning as the second letter of the alphabet (That’s letter – “B” for Bongbong) This man shall change the history of the whole world and every man shall shout his name twice like the sound of a big Bell (“BONG-BONG”) “. (https://www.ft.com/content/adc60586-9267-43b5-be3b-f44ad4506d2d)
Reed (2022) reported in Financial Times that a video posted in 2020 on YouTube claims the French astrologer Nostradamus predicted the outcome of the presidential election in the Philippines. “Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr is destined by fate and prepared by time to continue the great plan of his father for the Maharlika country,” the Tagalog-language film claims, referring to the Philippine’s pre-colonial warrior class. “He is the most qualified to become the president of the country.” While no record exists for such a prophecy, this week Marcos won a landslide victory in an election likely to entrench the power of two families seen by many as bywords for authoritarian rule.
He said that Marcos is now set to follow in the footsteps of his late father Ferdinand Marcos. And when he is sworn in for a six-year term in July, he will do so alongside vice-presidential running mate Sara Duterte, daughter of the departing populist head of state Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos comes back to the Malacañang Palace after the 1986 “People Power” revolt. Marcos Jr narrowly lost to Robredo for the vice-presidency in the 2016 national election. But the groundwork was being laid for this year’s run in a country where 82 per cent of people use social media and most get their news from it, according to research consultancy Datareportal.
Finally, Reed said that “After being criticized for their role as tools helping Duterte win the last election and suppress opponents, Facebook, Twitter, and Google as well as newcomer TikTok all said they took steps this year to support election integrity and control the dissemination of false information.”
Quiboloy Prophecy. Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy, during his 66th birthday celebration hin Davao City 0n, April 25, 2016 predicted a landslide victory for Davao City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte. “Duterte is the Apollo that this country needs – to slay the corruption, to slay drug addiction, and to slay poverty…Good doesn’t defeat evil. The greater evil defeats evil,” Quiboloy said of the mayor, pertaining to the story of Apollo the Serpent Slayer.
After Pastor Quiboloy declared that he had personally halted the Mindanao earthquake, he accepted pull off two more impossible feats: 1. He accepted Vice Ganda’s dare to stop the heavy traffic on EDSA and 2. End the long-running TV action show Ang Probinsyano.
At the Showtime. Vice said the powers the religious leader Quiboloy boasts of could be channeled to other useful things, like trying to end Manila’s crippling traffic. He added that Ang Probinsyano only risk of ever concluding after four years would be by Quiboloy’s command. Quiboloy retorted: “When do you want it stopped?” As for ending Ang Probinsyano, he asked: “One month? Two months? Four months? You choose.” He added, “Maybe in four months it’s not just Probinsyano that comes to a stop, maybe it’s your network, too.” The network Quiboloy was referring to was ABS-CBN, which refused to air President Rodrigo Duterte 2016 ad campaign. The words of Pastor Quiboloy became a reality when the station’s franchise was not renewed. EDSA clogged traffic was relieved through South to North Skyway construction and ABS CBN lot it franchise to operate.
Part III. Beyond the Great Period of Change
New Humanity.
Laszlo (2006) asserts that “in the third decade of the twenty-first century…the view of people is united in rejecting the mechanistic and fragmented concept of world and self that was the heritage of the Industrial Age. A new view is emerging: Humans are organic wholes within an organic biosphere in the embrace of an organically evolving universe.” (p.42-43).
Metaphysically, individual existence and community development are inherently intertwined with nature. The Daoist philosophy of Lao Tzu has been preaching the importance of harmony between humans and nature (Hoff, 1993). New consciousness dictates that they longer believe they are free to manipulate the environment, in the hope that nature will take care of itself or new technologies will take care of nature.
The Newtonian mechanistic view of reality is now transcended because the universe is not a passive bystander watching human actions, and individual actions have an immediate impact on the environment. Subtle ties bind human being to one another, to the biosphere and to the cosmos as a whole. Lovelock (1972) says that the atmosphere and biosphere is the lungs of Mother Earth; the trees, plants and vegetation are her skin; the rivers, lakes and oceans are her blood system; and the minerals and rocks are her bones. She is alive and she is now a stakeholder of life, just like us. She is present as energy pulsating in our humanness, in our relationships with one another, the Earth and the Galaxy. Gaia’s relevance is even more crucial in addressing global warming and climate change. Gaian energy is a beautiful balancing force of male energy. (Hudtohan, 2017).
The Institute for the Future (2009) affirms Laszlo’s world view 2025. The report says that “A collapsing economy paves the way for discovering new kinds of value in all forms of interaction – from the microscopic scale of atoms to the macrocosms of human connections with each other and the planet they inhabit. Look at the coming decade from the perspective of millennia of change. Focus on the progress of the universe from the breakthrough structures of the atom to the living cell, the biota, the human body, the community of nations, the global economy. This is how the future will be new, by continuing the incredible experiment of reorganization for greater complexity, by creating the next astonishing structural forms in this long evolutionary path.” This is aligned with Bluestone observation that “Western and Chinese alchemist had one thing in common…the smallest object of material reality was a reflection of a larger cosmic whole. Monk Basil Valenti the human body was a microcosm of the universe. In the Chinese Tao, everything on earth was a reflection of its divine form.” (Bluestone, p. 62).
Life Style 2025.
The life style in 2025 announces a renaissance of spirituality as well. According to Laszlo, “people live simply than those who can afford luxurious life style in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. These are not imposed by poverty and they are not the consequence of rules and legislations or high taxes. They are voluntary result of a different mindset. For me, a spiritual higher view on what life is all about. People realize that a high material standard of living does not necessarily mean high quality of life.” (Laszlo, 2006, p. 44).
They have a healthier lifestyle in harmony with nature and the environment better than the Agricultural Civilization, Industrial Civilization, Global Civilization, and Digital Civilization that brought success, affluence and luxury. But these brutalized the environment . Individuals of 2025 belongs to the Ecological Civilization and Spiritual Civilization. They are healthier and they live longer, but do not contribute to growth of the population. Life ways are becoming ecologically sustainable. They are reoriented from aiming external growth to focusing on internal growth, shifting from aiming at conquest and consumption to wishing further the evolution of their thinking and behavior and the development of their communities. (Laszlo, 2006, p.45).
Pande and Vian (2009) aver that the citizen of the future will be “a native of the network and that changes everything. It tempers border-based boundaries. It refocuses political notion on issues that are both more local and more global at the same time. It links expressiveness to empowerment and turns the smart consumer o the early internet era into activist citizen of the coming decades. The network superstructs citizenship.” Harari (2016; 2018) affirms the role of technology in all aspects of the life of a 21st century human who has become a Homo Deus, interacting with artificial intelligence in a widely networked relationship.
Morality 2025.
Laszlo (2006) believes that “Moral considerations inform the decisions people make in the private sphere as well as in the sphere of business and profession. In 2025 people agree that it is immoral to live in ways that reduce access for others in the resources required for a life l of basic dignity and wellbeing. The new morality is rooted in a universal principle: Live and act in a way that enables others to live as well. Live not necessarily in the same way but with a real possibility of satisfying basic needs and pursuing the ends of well-being and happiness.” (p. 45). There will be a rise of personal social responsibility complementing corporate social responsibility. The democratic individualist pursuit for happiness will shift to a socially responsible inclusive behavior.
The 2025 wellbeing of Laszlo maybe understood in Dyck and Neubert’s (2012) framework. Their various forms of wellbeing are: Physical: health, safety, Emotional: stress, positive feelings, work-life balance, Material: productivity, efficiency, profitability, Social: nurture community, social justice, help disadvantaged, Intellectual: coherent ideas, clear rationale, sound theory/logic, Aesthetic: beauty, elegant products/services, appealing workplace, Ecological: natural environment, sustainability, minimize pollution, Individual: self-interested self and stakeholders, and Spiritual: meditation, guided by spiritual truths/forces.
Clearly humanity has learned that wellbeing is total human development and material wellbeing is only part of our human existence. Teilhard de Chardin, Wayne Dyer, and Stephen Covey are said that: We are not humans with spiritual activities. We are spiritual beings with human activities. This maxim is being taken seriously by people in the year 2025.
Decision-making and Security 2025.Laszlo (2006, p. 46) says, “The political world is globalized, but it is locally diverse; it is networked, but not monolithic. Sovereign nation states, has given way to a transnational system organized as a Chinese box of decision-making forums, with each forum having its own sphere of authority and responsibility.” This vision is shared by Jake Dunagan (2009) who says, “To survive the 21st century, humanity must undertake a massive, collective program to redesign our basic government structures at every level – based on the emerging technologically and cosmologically powerful understandings of life and the universe available.”
Laszlo believes that “The 2025 world is not a hierarchy but a ‘hererarchy’: a multilevel sequentially integrated structure of distributed decision-making. It is aimed at global coordination combined with regional, national, and local self-determination. The global level is the highest level of decision making, yet it is the lowest level at which peace and security can be ensured and global flow of goods, money and technology can be monitored. The regional level is indicated for decisions that coordinate the social and political aspirations and concerns of nations within the given regions Regional economic and social organizations provide the forum for the elected representatives of the member nations to consider and harmonized the interests and aspirations of their population. The national level Is appropriate for most of the functions traditionally performed by national government but without claiming absolute sovereignty for the nation-state and with due regard for decisions made in other forums in direct consultation with their inhabitants. The local level of decision making brings together the elected representatives of urban and rural communities. They coordinate the workings of the social and political towns, villages and rural regions in direct consultation with their inhabitants.” (p. 2006, 46).
Yuval Noah Harari (2016) has pronounced us as Home Deus. But Bruce Lipton (2021) reminds us we originally came from a one-cell amoeba until that amoeba that progressively developed into a monkey species, which Charles Darwin claimed as the basis Homo Sapiens. Then, we progressed to an Agricultural Civilization, Industrial Civilization, Global Civilization, Digital Civilization and Ecological Civilization. The future points toward a Spiritual Civilization at the end of 2023, the Age of New Enlightenment.
CONCLUSION
1. The highly contested Philippine election is an indicator that we are still within the Great Period of Change (1987-2023). The Galactic entry into the Black Hole is about to end in 2023 and as we exit, we will begin to experience New Enlightenment. Cosmologist tell us this will bring about harmony.
2. The Philippine National Election in 2022 gave many poof that incoming President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will bring about change for the better. His feminine energy symbolizes a new governance style in the 21st Century.
3. Political analysts and prophetic personalities saw the advent of positive change in Philippine governance with Marcos, Jr., leading the way to unity and harmony.
4. The Age of Digital technology have forced us to interact with AI machines. Thus, we are becoming Homo Deus. Philippine elections saw various platforms like the Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Google were used to promote and garners votes for running politicians.
5. We were Homo Sapiens and before that Darwin claimed we came from the species of the monkeys. Today, Bruce Lipton goes further to say that our life started as amoeba.
4. The Old World went through Agricultural Civilization, Industrial Civilization, Global Civilization, Ecological Civilization. We are moving toward Spiritual Civilization at the end of the Great Period of Change in 2003.
5. The New World described by Erwin Laszlo is a picture with New Worldview, New Life Style, New Morality, and New Decision and Security envisioned in 2025.
6. Ahead of us is a future that is making a breakthrough and we will not breakdown in meeting the challenge of our planetary existence. To survive we must now bring ourselves to emerge at a New Level as Spiritual Beings.
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