TransCultural Awareness Institute

The TransCultural Awareness Institute

Promotes peaceful harmonious relations
between ethnic, religious, and spiritual paths through Dialogue

Through informed supportive exchange of ideas, focused upon
mutual understanding and respect, we seek to identify
resources for peace that can support the development of:

Ø Increased appreciation & knowledge of different lifestyles
Ø Community Interaction addressing regional issues & needs
Ø Tolerance of Religious, Ethnic and Spiritual Diversity

Our Proposed Programs include:

Ø Web Site with Interactive Chat Rooms
Ø Directory of Religious and Faith-based Communities
Ø Interreligious/Interethnic Newsletter of programs and events
Ø Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, Tours & Cruises
Ø Children’s Educational Programs and Trips
Ø Regional and Local Chapter Development

Everyone is welcome to join with us in Peaceful Dialogue

The Petals of the Lotus are many
but the Lotus is One

P.O. Box 211, Plainfield, VT 05667
(802) 454-1419
ITXINC@yahoo.com

The Uniqueness of the
TransCultural Awareness Institute©
“Transculture is not a field of knowledge, but a type of consciousness or mentality capable of envisioning the as yet unrealized potentials of existing cultures.”
Mikhail Epstein
The Institute is a membership organization dedicated to promoting dialogue and the exchange of information between individuals from different /ethnic/racial/religious groups, and various social-educational-economic levels.
The difference between this organization and many others is that it does not use the buzzwords "multi-culturalism" or "diversity training." It also does not assume that the major social problem in the world is racism. Of course it acknowledges that racism does exist, but the Institute believes that the larger problem is one where conflicts and misperceptions about life-styles and other cultures must be examined and discussed.
The transcultural world is nonetheless present "within all existing cultures." It might be defined as the set of all real cultural achievements, past and present, along with all of their potential developments.
As more and more individuals, in various parts of the world, find themselves outside the obsolescent categories accepted in their societies, unable to identify themselves fully with standard models of behavior, the ideal condition of transculture obtains its being through the fullness of newly conceived potentials. TransCultural Awareness favors no one tradition over another.
Transculture preserves an attitude of respect and even love for earthbound, traditional cultures, while liberating individuals from the compelling, often chauvinistic attachment to native ways that a money-centered consciousness retains and exploits. We have the option of realizing unity and wholeness in the freedom of transcultural consciousness.
The anthropological attitude toward life is characterized by a transcultural awareness; that is, a sincere cognizance of the dignity and functional correctness of the life-styles of other peoples. Actually, the objective of this program is to change your thinking about life.
We propose TransCultural Dialogue, in distinction to mere inter-cultural, interfaith, or interreligious dialogue. This points to the capability of transcending (and, thereby, transforming) one’s own horizon of understanding towards other forms of cultural self-realization, and not merely of relating and comparing abstract contents of one’s own cultural environment to other such environments. The term signifies the fact that our own cultural awareness is shaped by its interaction with other cultures, that it can reach a level beyond its local origins. We will give you the opportunity to see things using a variety of anthropological perspectives, but you will be responsible for applying these perspectives to the world around you.
This approach, versus one with a Euro-Centric orientation, is one of dialogue on the cultural, and of partnership on the socio-political level. Based on a concept of culture as "a system of interconnected values, perceptions, and modes of interaction" this approach requires a unique doctrine of public education which will make understandable the values and worldviews of other civilizations, minimizing the influence of cultural exclusivism, tribalism, or ethnocentrism.
We must have an understanding of the other, of that which is different from ourselves. This implies gaining a more profound awareness of our own culture; it allows us to define ourselves more adequately in distinction from the other(s).
Many of the problems and conflicts that happen in society, whether it is nationally, worldly, or even personally have much to do with our ethnocentric beliefs. It is important that people become educated about ethnocentrism so we do not continue to repeat history.
The ethnocentric fallacy: That our beliefs and behaviors are right and true, and the beliefs and behaviors of others are wrong or illogical. In this sense, ethnocentrism can be defined as: making false assumptions about others' ways based on our own limited experience. The key word is assumptions; because we are not even aware that we are being ethnocentric... we don't understand that we don't understand. It is coupled with a generalized contempt for members of other groups. The Euro-centric and Afro-centric worldviews are both examples of ethnocentrism.
Just about everyone has assumed that his or her ethnic group was the finest. This is once again because of ignorance. We have not taken the time to learn about other cultures; we just assume other groups are not as educated or as skilled. This is universal throughout history. Be it Chinese, Japanese, Turks, Native Americans, Europeans, Africans, East Indians, or Eskimos. Consider the simple example of farmers and hunters. Regions that required excellent hunters had people who were skilled in hunting; the places that needed knowledge of farming had wonderful farmers. The farmers thought the hunters were unintelligent because they couldn’t farm and vice versa.
Instead of continuing to commit ethnocentric fallacies, we will try to show that what might seem odd or bizarre, in terms of beliefs and behavior, is functional and logical in the context of a particular sub-culture. On the other hand, committing a relativist fallacy may be equally as dangerous.
The relativist fallacy holds that no belief or behavior is wrong, as long as it is regarded in the proper cultural context. This becomes relevant in discussions of topics such as affirmative action, anti-racism, multiculturalism, Ebonics or white privilege. While relativism is often a preventive measure in guarding against ethnocentrism, people who loosely apply a relativist outlook to all human behavior may risk overlooking complex issues of prejudice, ignorance, guilt, discrimination, and even racism.
The consequences in the field of education are obvious: European-based curricula should not only include the teaching of Greco-Roman and Christian traditions but should also convey the knowledge of non-European traditions such as African, Hispanic and Native American, but religions such as Islam, Buddhism and many others. Total Euro-Centric ignorance of other cultural environments that have shaped the world outside of Europe and the United States has been the main breeding ground of cultural chauvinism and the root cause of imperialist aggression over the centuries up to the present.
TransCultural Awareness requires a reorientation of the information and media sector in regard to the stereotyping of other civilizations, (the most drastic example being the present negative stereotyping of the Islamic civilization by the West).
On the level of international relations, this approach towards cultural self-comprehension requires a new method of cultural diplomacy, abandoning the propaganda-style presentation of one’s own civilization and promoting genuine transcultural encounters. The current United States crusader spirit has to be overcome in transcultural encounters, and the hegemony of Euro-Centric worldviews and life-styles in the international media and entertainment sector has to be counterbalanced by the unbiased presentation of other civilizations. A truly transcultural environment should be the goal on the local and global level. One has to get out of the vicious circle of self-affirmation that has characterized the Euro-Centric approach to cultural encounters for so long, and that has so greatly discredited the Western tradition of Enlightenment.
TransCultural Awareness is not limited to racial or ethnic awareness. This approach can be used to sensitize individuals from different religious faiths, nationalities, classes, age groups (the "Generation Gap"), or between males, females, and sexual orientations. It would be especially useful for individuals who must work in tense situations with others who are products of an entirely different, and often conflicting, lifestyle or subculture.
Policymakers and planners, government officials, teachers, law enforcement personnel, employers, supervisors and others in important positions of authority and power would greatly benefit from non-threatening encounters between themselves and the recipients of their decisions and actions. Transcending the horizon of one’s own tradition is the precondition for a better understanding of that particular cultural tradition.
For those who are concerned about the future of the human race, a universal dialogue of civilizations is of crucial importance for the future of mankind, because such a dialogue is a basic condition of peace and stability on both the national and the transnational level. As stated by UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim in 1974: "No nation, however large or powerful, can escape from the fundamental reality of our interdependence."
Each of our events is designed to bring people together to discuss a subject of common interest. By placing individuals in discussion groups with others from differing backgrounds the goal is to broaden the perceptions we have of others, and reduce the number of stereotypes we all have of people we normally never socialize. We have put on similar events in New Jersey, New York and in Atlanta, Georgia. (802) 454-1419.