“The journey to wholeness requires that you look honestly, openly, and with courage into yourself, into the dynamics that lie behind what you feel, what you perceive, what you value, and how you act.” (Gary Zukav)
So far, we have discussed on the importance of the philosophical basis, theoretical principles and essential qualities of wholeness. From now on, we shall try to understand how this wholeness can be practised in our day-to-day life. This in fact, is a great challenge: we cannot automatically become holistic persons, just because we have understood the concept of wholeness. The journey to wholeness requires a lot of hard work and perseverance. We need to possess certain essential qualities if we want to journey well on this path towards wholeness. As Gary Zukav affirmed, honesty, openness and courage are these essential qualities. These qualities will assist us in both clarifying our perspective of core values and the manner in which we put them to practice in our daily life.
The Wholeness Paradigm
It has been my long-time desire to create a paradigm based on wholeness as its core principle. Thus, the idea of the Wholeness Paradigm was initiated about 10 years ago and has been presented to groups of professionals, teachers, professors and the religious. Before we go on to explain the theory and practice of the wholeness paradigm, let us attempt to understand the meaning of the paradigm. A paradigm is a model, an exemplar or a pattern that can be followed or imitated. It is an archetype that can be replicated in different areas of life. In short, a paradigm is a set of ideas or beliefs based on which further theories and practices could be formed. Some examples of a paradigm are; the Indian cultural paradigm, an educational system, empowerment model of social work, etc.
Wholeness paradigm is thus, a model on which different categories of people can design their life. Parents, for example, can first of all, form themselves and then raise their children according to the wholeness paradigm. Educationists and teachers can model their teaching methodology and skills on this paradigm. Priests and religious too can follow this wholeness paradigm which will help them to experience fulfilment and happiness in their ministry.
Fr. Dr. Joseph Jeyaraj SDB
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