THE HARMONY GAZE

(From Whatsapp Classroom) Do you recall the first slide we discussed when we introduced the idea of natural equality? The image showed six skeletons. One represented a poor person, another a wealthy one. There was a Black person and a White person, a Christian and a Muslim. In death, their skeletons were indistinguishable. The point was simple but profound: at the most fundamental level, we return to the same truth. We are equal. From there, we reflected on humility. All of us share the same life cycle—birth, living, and death. As a Society of Harmony, we chose to focus on the moral principles that enable us to live well during that limited period of being alive on this planet. The central question is not abstract:  How should we live? There are many moral compasses that guide human life. Some are religious. Religions offer structured frameworks for virtuous living. Cultural traditions do the same. Some societies have not adhered to formal religions, yet they are deeply guided by v...

Ongoing global crises, including ecological degradation, climate instability, and accelerating social fragmentation, resist resolution through technical intervention alone. These conditions signal more foundational failures in perception, value orientation, and relational understanding between human societies and the living systems that sustain them. This article examines harmony as a relational and ethical orientation, understood as an active mode of engagement rather than a condition of passive equilibrium or aesthetic coherence.  Drawing extensively on the conceptual framework articulated in  Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World  (Prince of Wales et al., 2010), the discussion situates harmony within philosophical, ecological, and cultural traditions that foreground interdependence, diversity, and moral restraint. It advances the position that education oriented towards harmony must begin with perception and values if it is to exert meaningful influence on behavio...

This short essay was originally published in Germany on the 2nd July 2018 at the TRANSCULTURAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE; ZEPPELIN  UNIVERSITY.                    ( LINK TO THE SOURCE ) I NTRODUCTION: Our guest author Dr Regina Kessy writes about the prejudices we still have when encountering foreigners – thereby especially focusing on the African continent and its historical framework – and about the need of a “transcultural gaze”, ensuring transcultural awareness and open-mindedness in today’s interconnected world. Birkaskolan students in Stockholm participating in a twin-school project to increase empathy and wellbeing . “ If the young are not initiated into the tribe, they will burn down the village just to feel its warmth. ” 
  (An African Proverb) We live in an interconnected world but our understanding of each other is still distorted by preconceived knowledge created through the differentiating ethnocentric gaze of “Us” and...

This short essay was originally published in Germany on the 2nd March 2018 at the TRANSCULTURAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE; ZEPPELIN  UNIVERSITY.                     (LINK TO THE SOURCE) INTRODUCTION: As a true cosmopolitan, Dr. Regina Kessy (PhD) has lived in four continents and speaks six languages.  She holds an MA (hons) in international journalism from People’s Friendship University in Moscow, Russia, and a doctorate from the Department of Media and Humanities at the University of Huddersfield in the UK. In her doctoral study ‘Decoding the donor gaze: Documentary, aid and AIDS in Africa’, she coined the term “donor gaze” to explain the dynamics of meaning-making in documentary films produced by the Third Sector.  Dr. Kessy has vast experience in cross-cultural documentary film production as a freelancer for the private sector and non-governmental organisations both in Europe and Africa. Currently, she is working on a transc...