we can choose to be part of that disintegration or be part of the integration. (Ertinger & Roebers, 2020, Chief Phil Lane, Jr.)

It is important to recall the statement, “the more we know, the less we see,” so that we can come to let go of conceptual knowledge that may filter our sensations into limited perceptions; we can, with intention, open our minds to new ways of knowing.

If the hypothesis we are considering in this book is on the right track—that the contemporary construction of a solo-self, isolated from others in our human family and from the family of all living beings, is a significant source of our modern pandemics—then taking on an intraconnected energy flow approach to self, identity, and belonging might

We can choose to take on these integrative ways of living in relationship with responsibility, with a mutuality of reciprocal influence, and in ways that redistribute and share our gifts—all driven by the innate force of love.

we might find a way to have both a broad belonging and an integrated identity, which would allow for the wide focus of attention on our overall world while at the same time honoring the importance of the individual’s focus on inner experience.

If a node functions as if it is the totality of its identity, that it belongs only to its nodal part in the system, it will behave in a disconnected way, interdependence will shut down, and the whole complex system will lose its ability to adapt and learn. Its self-organization toward harmony will be compromised, and instead the system will move

Heading north to Greenland, Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq of the Eskimo tribes says: When we don’t relate to each other … we don’t celebrate each other’s beauty. Only by melting the ice in the heart, you and I will have a chance to change.

These two ways of knowing are captured by the Greek terms “noesis,” meaning intellectual knowledge, and “gnosis,” meaning knowledge gained from direct experience. Noesis and gnosis each provide foundational ways of gaining new insights, understanding, and ways of being.

by understanding the true nature of ourselves and how our identities and belonging actually can be expanded beyond the body as a center of sensation, perspective, and agency, we come to a wider view of how we are in fact connected with one another as human beings and within nature as members of a broader belonging, an identity that is integrated