247
22
An Investigation of Sustainable
Yogic Agriculture as a Mind–
Matter Farming Approach
Janus Bojesen Jensen
Coventry University
INTRODUCTION: A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR FARMING PRACTICE?
The global convergence of ecological, political, social and economic crises demands that ‘ business
as usual’ cannot continue. The global environmental and human health problems resulting from
industrial-chemical agriculture have not gone away and are increasingly apparent in the public
domain ( IPCC, 2019; IARC, 2015; UNCTAD, 2013; UNCCD, 2011). Proposals from within the
dominant paradigm that advocate further techno-fixes are no longer convincing or appropriate;
as author Charles Eisenstein states, we are living in a liminal time ‘ between stories’ ( Eisenstein,
2013: 6). From an epistemological perspective, Santos ( 2014: 233) argues that global social justice
is impossible without global cognitive justice and that we are in a transition period in which the
problems created from the cultural and political confines of Western modernity have no modern
solutions.
The alleged universal norms of modern industrial society, with its overriding emphasis on materialist science and technology as a means to subjugate nature, are a lingering Western colonial legacy. The ontological and epistemological premises of materialism continue to be challenged on the
periphery by indigenous cultures, for example in the academic literature on decolonisation. Santos
( 2014: 188) refers to an existing ‘ sociology of absences’ and calls for an ‘ ecology of knowledges’
that enables alternate ways of knowing and scientific knowledge to coexist. The intimate connection between spirit and matter has long been recognised in the spiritual traditions and worldviews
of indigenous cultures worldwide ( Aikenhead and Michell, 2011; Ramsay, 2012a) and remains so in
the world’s social majority ( Apffel-Marglin, 2012). In recent decades, the growing field of quantum
CONTENTS
Introduction: A Paradigm Shift for Farming Practice? .................................................................. 247
Researching Sustainable Yogic Agriculture ...................................................................................248
Results: An Overview of SYA Methods and Practices ..................................................................248
The Origins of SYA Methods ...............................................................................................248
The Metaphysical Component: Practice of Raja Yoga Meditation ....................................... 249
Physical SYA Practices ......................................................................................................... 250
Farmers’ Code of Conduct .................................................................................................... 250
What Are the Impacts of SYA Farming Methods? ............................................................... 250
Results of Published Research Trials on the Impacts of SYA .................................. 250
Farmers’ Perspectives on the Impacts of SYA ...................................................................... 252
Discussion: The Mind–Matter Connection .................................................................................... 253
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 254
References ...................................................................................................................................... 255
DOI: 10.1201/9780429440939-25
22
An Investigation of Sustainable
Yogic Agriculture as a Mind–
Matter Farming Approach
Janus Bojesen Jensen
Coventry University
INTRODUCTION: A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR FARMING PRACTICE?
The global convergence of ecological, political, social and economic crises demands that ‘ business
as usual’ cannot continue. The global environmental and human health problems resulting from
industrial-chemical agriculture have not gone away and are increasingly apparent in the public
domain ( IPCC, 2019; IARC, 2015; UNCTAD, 2013; UNCCD, 2011). Proposals from within the
dominant paradigm that advocate further techno-fixes are no longer convincing or appropriate;
as author Charles Eisenstein states, we are living in a liminal time ‘ between stories’ ( Eisenstein,
2013: 6). From an epistemological perspective, Santos ( 2014: 233) argues that global social justice
is impossible without global cognitive justice and that we are in a transition period in which the
problems created from the cultural and political confines of Western modernity have no modern
solutions.
The alleged universal norms of modern industrial society, with its overriding emphasis on materialist science and technology as a means to subjugate nature, are a lingering Western colonial legacy. The ontological and epistemological premises of materialism continue to be challenged on the
periphery by indigenous cultures, for example in the academic literature on decolonisation. Santos
( 2014: 188) refers to an existing ‘ sociology of absences’ and calls for an ‘ ecology of knowledges’
that enables alternate ways of knowing and scientific knowledge to coexist. The intimate connection between spirit and matter has long been recognised in the spiritual traditions and worldviews
of indigenous cultures worldwide ( Aikenhead and Michell, 2011; Ramsay, 2012a) and remains so in
the world’s social majority ( Apffel-Marglin, 2012). In recent decades, the growing field of quantum
CONTENTS
Introduction: A Paradigm Shift for Farming Practice? .................................................................. 247
Researching Sustainable Yogic Agriculture ...................................................................................248
Results: An Overview of SYA Methods and Practices ..................................................................248
The Origins of SYA Methods ...............................................................................................248
The Metaphysical Component: Practice of Raja Yoga Meditation ....................................... 249
Physical SYA Practices ......................................................................................................... 250
Farmers’ Code of Conduct .................................................................................................... 250
What Are the Impacts of SYA Farming Methods? ............................................................... 250
Results of Published Research Trials on the Impacts of SYA .................................. 250
Farmers’ Perspectives on the Impacts of SYA ...................................................................... 252
Discussion: The Mind–Matter Connection .................................................................................... 253
Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 254
References ...................................................................................................................................... 255
DOI: 10.1201/9780429440939-25