Something Beyond Greatness

Published June 1 by HCI Books, Something Beyond Greatness: Conversations with a Man of Science and a Woman of God co-authors Judy Rodgers and Gayatri Naraine, explore the essence of personal courage and altruism. The “man of science” is Chilean cognitive biologist Humberto Maturana and the “woman of God” is Indian spiritual leader Dadi Janki, two important members of their respective fields. The book examines what happens inside of people who society deems heroic, and how we can create communities of greatness across disciplines and faiths. 

Rodgers and Naraine are both yoga students of Dadi Janki, who inspired them to write a book about heroism. They spent almost two years researching the book, talking with men and women all over the world who had, in moments of courage or over a lifetime, acted in generous, courageous, and heroic ways. They realized they were having trouble getting to the heart of the matter on their own, so they decided to base the book around conversations between Janki and Maturana.  

“We began to make out the contours of an emerging pattern of the inner experience of courage and altruism.  It had three elements:  (1) seeing with love, (2) acting from the heart, and (3) the mystery of destiny – right place, right time,” say Rodgers and Naraine. “It is the choice people make when faced with a call to action that sets them apart.”

Dadi Janki is the administrative head of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU), a new religion and spirituality university founded in 1937 in India. She has also been a leading force in bringing the ancient spiritual wisdom of India to contemporary life beyond India.  

Humberto Maturana is a biologist who has worked for many years on the biology of cognition at the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile, and is a proponent of modern systems thinking. Since 2000 he has dedicated all of his time to the Matriztic Institute, helping develop and expand the theory of the bio-cultural matrix of human existence.