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Just as the rain dampens the earth and the plants blossom, so too we go through life sowing wisdom in our children and youth, following the teachings of our ancestors. We know that we are currently experiencing an emerging and complex environmental crisis. This leads us to question and rethink life and knowledge, thus becoming aware of the need to relearn how to think and act in the world. However, in a never-ending search for understanding, domination, order, and control over the environment and themselves, human beings have ended up disrupting nature and hastening its imbalance.

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To reflect on the typical issues of our time we must assume that we are part of a living whole and that our mind is not excluded from nature, but rather integrated with it in the complex informational universe of indigenous philosophy, which many people are unaware of or simply deny.

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Humanity must urgently return to nature, placing all living beings on the same level, one in which they are all connected, relating to, and interacting with each other in a huge Web. For what science has done throughout history has been to fragment, divide, separate everything, based on the development of skills, on standards of rationality, leading to the current estrangement of human beings from nature.

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Western societies are realizing that many of the assumptions they have relied on for so long are leading to an entirely unsustainable situation from the point of view of our species’ survival, especially concerning environmental conditions. One of the main assets of indigenous societies that makes their thinking so valuable is precisely a different way of conceiving the relationship between society and nature, between humans and non-humans, a different way of conceiving the relationship between humanity and the rest of the cosmos, a different way of seeing, feeling, being, and inhabiting the land. According to indigenous peoples, nature is what gives meaning to life, with everything in balance. Like an immense Web, in which everything is interconnected, a living organism. Its power lies in directing us, highlighting the path we must follow in search of wisdom. Every sign we receive has a meaning for our life. The call of a bird can designate something, rolls of thunder are a sign that something is about to happen, ants crossing our path, the shapes of clouds, the direction of the wind, in short, many omens are conveyed to us by the signals of nature which, with its gracefulness and wisdom, guides us and teaches us about Living Well (Teko Porã), a philosophical, political, social, and spiritual concept that expresses precisely this great Web in which we live in equilibrium, respect, and harmony.

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The capitalist world we are in makes us forget who we really are and prevents us from looking into the depths of our essence in order to cross the barriers of the unknown. Added to that, the vast amount of information that overwhelms us, bad eating habits, selfishness, want of love, and lack of common sense are leading us to an insane way of life. As soon as we break apart from the great Web of Life, we lose our sensitivity to perceive and understand the evils that surround us. According to indigenous peoples, all living beings have an essence and also an owner, which must be respected. Many evils of the physical, mental, or spiritual body stem from disrespecting such owners.

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Nevertheless, despite the many challenges and centuries of struggle, indigenous peoples have preserved their healing practices and their harmonious way of living with Mother Earth. This needs to be respected and the Brazilian people must wake up to new possibilities of life and relearn how to tread the earth, relearn how to walk taking lighter steps.

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This complex relationship crisis affecting human beings today is nothing more than the reflection of centuries of a poorly made journey, since in the past almost everyone lived in nature, with nature, and from nature. And today people have become disconnected from the environment, exploiting and abusing nature to survive or indulge their desire to consume. Without considering that we are part of this immense Web, which must not and cannot be separated. However, there is still time to rebuild and regain our harmony. One way is education. But non-indigenous societies must rethink how they educate their children. Valuing the potential that lies within each one, especially by creating a school that is useful for people’s lives. I often hear people say that the purpose of school is to help us become someone in life; quite the contrary, we are already someone in life, we have to use schooling resources to become warriors. Warriors who can understand the practices of Living Well and change the world around them.

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There are many ways of perceiving and viewing the world around us, but we know that there is a monoculture of thought that dictates rules and reduces much of ancestral knowledge. In art, philosophy and science there is a pulse that creates and transforms knowledge and practices, and feeling and practicing them depends on each one of us as we direct our steps, gaze, dreams, and hopes.

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Like grains, people must know their origin, the speech that inhabits each seed. Every being that can hear the voice of silence can hear its truths. There is a bridge between visible, literate knowledge and the wisdom that dwells deep within the songs, dancing, wickerwork, and all the complex art and spirituality of native peoples worldwide. However, one must break through the barriers of appearance, for as long as some people continue clinging to the non-being of things (appearance), they will never achieve the greater dimension of true knowledge, of the wisdom of those who know and can feel their own shadow!

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So, I reflect about the gracefulness and complexity of the gaze that stirs us to think about our realities, other possible worlds, other possibilities that surround us, insofar as we allow ourselves to see beyond what we are able to capture with our eyes. These reflections of mine comprise a drop of thought on the profound work of Raquel Kogan, whose art affords us the possibility of reflecting on the direction, nature, and senses of how we view life, ourselves, society, and other beings. Unveiling the curtain that covers the inner gaze of the multiplicity that inhabits the world depends on each one of us. The perceptions are multiple; all it takes is to feel them!!!