Indigenous Accounts of Environmental Stewardship in Light of the Theory and Language of Maharishi Vedic Science

Abstract

The principles and practice of sustainability have gained momentum in the last 15 years and now form a central part of conversations around social praxis and the future. It has been proposed that the theories driving sustainability science are embedded in Indigenous history, and it has been shown that many ancient traditions always concerned themselves with sustainable and ethical living. Among the traditions identified with environmental stewardship are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia and Māori of New Zealand. Of interest in this context is the Vedic tradition, a tradition of sustainability and ecological awareness which identifies the source of sustainability in Natural Law, the universal source of tradition, language, and knowledge. In this paper we survey two Indigenous traditions as they relate to environmental stewardship, and explore their relation to the Vedic tradition.