An intellectual understanding of the ecoself can be approached through the amalgam framework of ancient Indigenous ways of being of the Indian subcontinent. A reinterpretation of this amalgam framework results in an exposition of certain fundamental concepts regarding the nature of reality and the evolution of the perceptible universe (encompassing the evolution of the individual and community ecoself). These concepts in turn comprise a reimagined framework for being and working, called FiveBecomings, that leads to ecoself- and ecoweb-rooted wellbeing.

Three interconnected concepts are important in FiveBecomings:

1. the perceptible universe originates/ originated in an infinite undifferentiated potential, i.e., Oneness;
2. the three interwoven vibrational states — unity, impetus, and inertia — and their manifestations as dimensions (simultaneity, time, and space) and duality principles (organizing interconnectivity, energy, and matter) pervade the universe at the macro and micro levels; and
3. the Five Great Evolvers, namely ākāś, air, fire, water, and earth have quantitative (e.g., material) as well as qualitative aspects (potential, agitation, transformation, cohesion/ duality, and differentiation) that inhere in all entities in the universe.

Why and how does FiveBecomings provide a framework for individual ecoself- and ecoweb-rooted wellbeing?

The three interconnected concepts provide a comprehensive roadmap for how to understand and express our true individual ecoselves. For most of us who are disconnected from our ancestral ecowebs, our true ecoselves are obscured under layers of alienation from our own natures, which in turn obscures our purpose and the depth and breadth of our abilities (inherent proclivities).

Thus, there are two challenges to overcome. First, we must reconnect with and reintegrate into our ancestral (and/or adopted) ecowebs, so that we understand that we are each a valuable, dignified, and creative part of the Great Web of nature and humanity, in which all beings are interconnected and interdependent. Second, we must peel away layers of externally and internally imposed inhibitions and untruths to uncover who we are in essence and what role we each envision for ourselves as part of the Great Web.

FiveBecomings teaches us that what links our material reality (manifested through the countless combinations of the Five Great Evolvers, ākāś, air, fire, water, and earth) with the Oneness that the universe — and each of us — originates from are the three vibrational states. We are each pervaded by a combination of unity, impetus, and inertia in a specific ratio, which — in part — determines our proclivities (abilities). A few of us have a predominance of impetus and so are driven to passion and movement. Some have a predominance of inertia, which steers us toward indifference and sedentariness. Yet others have a predominance of unity, which leads us to seek harmony and calm. However, when we are not rooted in our ecoselves, the ratio of the three vibrational states governing us may not reflect the full potential of our abilities (proclivities). Luckily, as humans, we have the capacity to alter the ratio in which the three vibrational states operate within us by altering the proportions of the Five Great Evolvers that also inhere within us, thus effecting the full potential of the abilities to which we aspire. Table 1 below illustrates how the three concepts of FiveBecomings are related.

Table 1: The three interconnected concepts of FiveBecomings.

Ancient Indigenous ecoweb-rooted knowledge-technology-practice (ecoliving) systems include health systems (such as Ayurveda, an amalgam of many of the Indigenous ecoweb-rooted health systems of the Indian subcontinent) that have deep knowledge about the use of biodiverse plants/ organisms and other ecoweb-based regenerative resources in altering the quantitative and qualitative composition of our bodies and minds, including the proportions of the Five Great Evolvers. Other ecoliving systems, such as yoga (also an amalgam Indigenous system of the Indian subcontinent), provide insight into and methods for how to alter our inherent proclivities, i.e., the ratio of the three vibrational states within us.

FiveBecomings provides a roadmap not only for individual humans to root themselves in their ecoselves and achieve their full potential, but also for entire communities to do so. Table 2 below illustrates how the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the Five Great Evolvers guide a community in ecoself-rooted being and working.

Table 2: The Five Great Evolvers in community ecoself-rooted being and working.

By dynamically maintaining and balancing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of each of the Five Great Evolvers in a manner that is rooted in a community’s ecoself, a community can cohesively be and work in meaningful ways that optimize the wellbeing of not only the community but also of the ecoweb(s) on which the community relies for their survival and wellbeing, notably by (re)instituting ecoliving systems. Intergenerational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal learning of self, connections, skills, language, and culture are naturally woven into every aspect of this FiveBecomings-guided way of being and working within an ecoself-rooted (and, therefore, ecoweb-rooted) community.

Thus, FiveBecomings provides a cohesively integrated framework for self-reliantly being and working — for both individuals and communities — that derives from first principles, instead of being arbitrarily delineated by subjective man-made systems (such as economics, law, governance, and education (ELGE)) frequently characterized by fragmentation, reductionism, and control.