Guest blog: author Giles Hutchins introduces us to The Illusion of Separation

This month, Floris Books is delighted to add a fresh new voice to our growing collection of books exploring alternative business and economics. Today we welcome Giles Hutchins, author of new book The Illusion of Separation, to the Floris Blog as he introduces his philosophical exploration of the root causes of our current economic, political and environmental crises.

We live within a culture that is constrained by a worldview rooted in a devastating illusion which infects our way of experiencing, attending and relating with our inner selves and our outer world.

Within our dominant worldview, the ‘self’ as an organism is deemed separate from, and in competitive struggle with, its environment. This worldview forms a paradigmic logic of exclusion rather than inclusion, where organisms and beings are objectified as struggling for survival through dog-eat-dog competition within an evolution of selfish ascendency. This is the logic upon which our Western education systems, business systems and social systems draw from, yet it is deeply divisive and woefully inadequate. Enter the capitalist consumerism of today’s individualistic culture characterised by control-based thinking, domination, hierarchy, status, fear and exploitation.

This logic corrupts how we relate to each other and the wider matrix of life we inhabit. It is what C.S. Lewis called ‘the philosophy of Hell’ tending towards what Albert Einstein called an optical illusion of consciousness that sets us apart from each other and Nature. It is this corrupting logic that breeds the problematic symptoms facing us today whether in business, in social welfare, health and education, setting humanity on collision course with life on Earth.

If the vast majority of the world’s leading scientists are to be believed, we are fast running out of time to alter the error of our ways. It would seem most timely to address the root cause of these problems so that we can move forward with real solutions unconstrained by the corruptions that caused the problems in the first place.

Dealing with the root cause of today’s plethora of problems is what my newly released book, The Illusion of Separation, focuses on. It explores the whys and wherefores of corruptions in our ways of thinking and experiencing the world, and then uncovers a way ahead to shift our dominant story of ‘self as separate’ and ‘Nature as commodity’ into a fresh and timeless logic. It draws upon Eastern and Western wisdom and blends ancient philosophy with pioneering new thought. Are you up for crossing the threshold? Here we find the answers to our pressing challenges. (Follow the link to watch a video about The Illusion of Separation)

Guest blog by Giles Hutchins

Did you enjoy Giles’ blog? Join us on Twitter @FlorisBooks on Monday 20th October from 4pm for a live Twitter chat with Giles. Send in your questions about The Illusion of Separation, sustainable business, and solutions to our current crises with the hashtag #altbusiness.

Praise for The Illusion of Separation

With clarity and insight Giles Hutchins analyses the roots of our present collective mind-set of separation, and yet shows how science and spirituality point to a deeper, inclusive consciousness. Here are signposts for a future that is vitally needed in the present moment, if we dare to cross the threshold.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Sufi teacher and author, Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth

Cutting through habitual denials and academic evasions, Giles Hutchins exposes the delusion at the root of our planetary crisis… This is a wise and urgent text: may it be heard, and soon!

Professor Catherine Keller, Drew University, author of On the Mystery

As the world cries out for the shift in perception we know is needed, this is a positive response to the deep seated crisis we face…  As this book so ably demonstrates, it is our task is to make the turning possible.  The brilliance of it is that it explains how.

Ian Skelly, broadcaster, co-author of Harmony by HRH The Prince of Wales

Meet Giles Hutchins

Giles Hutchins applies twenty years’ business experience to the emergence of new logic inspired and in harmony with nature. He blogs regularly on his website, www.thenatureofbusiness.org, runs a Facebook community dedicated to sustainable business, and tweets @gileshutchins. You can watch a short video about Giles’ work here.

The Illusion of Separation is available now in paperback and eBook from florisbooks.co.uk and all good bookshops.