ABSTRACT
Home to about 2.6 billion people, South and Southeast Asia has more than 5,000 years of history. This rich history also comes with ancient pearls of wisdom, the quality of having experience, knowledge, and judgment, of Hindu, Buddhist, Tao, Confucius, and many other philosophical traditions from other parts of the world. Disturrbed by colonialism, Cold War, and neo-colonial projects, South and Southeast Asia continue to face many challenges and opportunities, including accelerated climate change and increasing environmental threats. Based on ancient wisdom from the region, this chapter argues that overgrowth in physical and material development threatens the harmonious relationship with the natural world, with which humans have evolved. Instead of realizing that humans are part of the environment, the current mainstream developmental approaches treat the environment as a separate entity, which can be manipulated and used. This chapter characterizes the type of disasters and wider impacts created by these approaches and critically analyzes them to understand the disjuncture between humans and the environment. In return, this chapter proposes that human development has to understand that humans are governed through the natural systems that apply to all living beings on this planet. Without this serious understanding and critical actions, the human population will face increased environmental threats in the coming decades.
