Professor Dr Manulani Aluli Meyer is a professor of education and philosopher at the University of Hawai’i. As a mentor she held a deep session this morning with the Philosophical Competency course Toloa’s and stressed on the need to rethink what we mean by knowledge. Indigenous people have always understood that knowledge is not just about facts and logic, but also about experience, relationships, and spirit. She introduces the holographic epistemology, which is a way of understanding that combines 3 key parts of life: The physical (body). the mental (mind) and the spiritual (spirit). These are not separate things that happen one after the other; they happen all at once like a hologram where each part reflects the whole.
She argues that the Western science tends to separate these areas. It focusses on what we can measure and often ignores inner reflection and spiritual meaning. Her final message is to listen more deeply to each other, to nature and to the wisdom of Indigenous peoples. Everything is alive and we are all related.
