Existence: Identity beyond cultural constructs

Abstract

The 21^st century’s globalization, industrialization, and informational technology have created an unmanageable diversity of populations, phenomena, and problems. Scientists, humanists, physicians, and businessmen are working at finding answers, which are both intra-disciplinary and multidisciplinary. This paper attempts to provide a way drawn from the comparative analyses of diverse world-views with a specific reference to India’s sociocultural and linguistic perspectives regarding the existence of a whole being i.e. mind, matter, and spirit, and their relation to each other and to the world outside and beyond. The paper focuses on the identification of and respect for the all-inclusive existence of every life, relative as well as absolute, i.e. its nature, purpose, and function that transcend time, space, and linguistic and cultural definitions.