Restoring the Interconnected Wellbeing of Humans and Ecologies Through FiveBecomings

The goal of the FiveBecomings (Pañchabhūmi)^[1] projects of the Śramani Institute is to restore the interconnected wellbeing of diverse humans and ecologies across all bioregions. Thus, the outcome we hope to achieve is nothing short of realizing this interconnected human-ecological wellbeing (ecosymbiotic wellbeing) at both the local and global levels^[2] throughout all parts of our planet. Our progress along the way is assessed by measuring different interconnected facets of the projects’ integrated impact through a small set of multi-aspect metrics developed by the Śramani Institute.

The focus areas of FiveBecomings projects include, but are not limited to:

Ensure gender/socioeconomic equity/dignity
Empower women/girls/non-binary people
Reduce violence/exploitation/discrimination
Rewild native ecologies/environments
Build climate resilience/counter climate change
Improve soil, water, ecology, and human health
Create biodiverse organic local food systems
Innovate eco-friendly commodities/services
Establish regenerative energy/waste systems
Institute plant-based community healthcare
Promote community-based entrepreneurship
Pioneer equitable economic/trade systems
Facilitate participatory community governance
Revitalize community identities/cultures
Resuscitate Indigenous knowledge/practices
Nurture sustainable rural livelihoods
Decrease urban migration/overcrowding

How do we plan to implement FiveBecomings projects in collaboration with diverse ecological webs (ecowebs)^[3] and human beneficiary communities (Communities) across the world?

Our method encompasses:

rehabilitating ecosymbiosis^[4] in ecowebs,
preserving and promoting biodiversity and jīvadiversity (diversity in living)^[5],
encouraging humans to understand and express their unique ecoselves^[6], and
re-establishing ecosymbiotic self-reliance^[7] of human Communities.

Box 1. Ecological Web (Ecoweb)^[3]

An ecological web (ecoweb) is an interconnected network of diverse living beings (including humans) and abiotic (non-living) components (e.g., water, minerals, air, rocks) that have evolved together over time in a particular niche of our planet and are thus mutually beneficial to and dependent on each other (ecosymbiotic).

Box 2. Ecosymbiosis^[4]

In a healthy ecoweb, there is an astounding diversity of living beings (including humans), each attuned and able to respond adaptively to different feedback loops within the system, whether it is a shortage of rainfall, disease, or extreme temperatures. Thus, a healthy ecoweb, as a whole, comprising all of its interdependent and interconnected living beings and abiotic (non-living) components, has adaptive resilience. In other words, the resilience of a healthy ecoweb is a result of ecosymbiosis, hence the concept of ecosymbiotic resilience.

Box 3. Jīvadiversity (Diversity in Living)^[5]

Each group of humans evolved by ecosymbiotically adapting themselves to the particular ecoweb they inhabited, developing a physiology, system of Ādi-Knowtep (ancient Indigenous Knowledge-Technologies-Practices), and identity optimally adapted and specific to that ecoweb. Jīvadiversity comprises the broad range of these diverse ways of living, i.e., of the plethora of community-ecoselves across the world.

Box 4. Ecoself^[6]

There are two types of interconnected ecoselves: individual ecoself and community-ecoself. An individual’s ecoself is that person’s entire being in both an experiential context and a dimensional context. One’s experiential context encompasses the interrelated aspects of: (a) one’s nature (proclivities), abilities, and experiences, (b) one’s genetics, (c) one’s community (encompassing community Ādi-Knowtep and identity), (d) one’s ancestral and/or adopted ecoweb, and (e) the entirety of existence. One’s dimensional context encompasses the dimensions of space, time, and simultaneity (made tangible, e.g., by the notion of a cohesive “I” when we think or feel, even though our bodies comprise millions of different cells). The ecoself of a community as a whole, especially who have evolved in symbiosis with their ancestral ecoweb, is a community-ecoself and encompasses a particular physiology, system of Ādi-Knowtep, and identity, all rooted in the community’s ancestral ecoweb.

Why do we wish to implement FiveBecomings projects?

We wish to ensure that:

each rural Community (encompassing a cluster of villages) can regeneratively produce the Commodities and Services (C/S) required to fulfill their basic needs^[7] from their own ecoweb in a way that preserves their ecoweb-rooted ecoselves (involving revitalizing and using their own Ādi-Knowtep^[8] and identities),
the native biodiversity and ecosymbiotic health of ecowebs (of which humans are a part) are restored along with dignity and climate resilience/stabilization, and
decentralized ecoweb- and Community ecoself-rooted approaches to thriving are adaptively replicated across bioregions, increasing ecosymbiotic resilience.

Box 5. Ecosymbiotic Self-Reliance^[7]

The Śramani Institute defines ecosymbiotic self-reliance as a community’s ability and practice to sustainably procure from the ecoweb they inhabit the resources required to produce the Commodities and Services (C/S) that fulfill the community’s basic needs. To ensure their wellbeing every human community must fulfill basic needs of 5 types, each related to one of the Five Great Evolvers^[9]: (a) Earth — food and shelter; (b) Water — water and equitable access; (c) Fire — energy; (d) Air — human-ecological wellbeing; and (e) Ākāś — ecoself understanding and expression. For tens of millennia, human communities living in symbiosis with their local ecowebs (ecosymbiosis) were indeed self-reliant (in many cases, self-sufficient), as they developed sophisticated Ādi-Knowtep (ancient Indigenous Knowledge-Technologies-Practices) painstakingly and systematically adapted to their specific ecowebs so they could thrive. Such communities were/are ecosymbiotic communities.

Box 6. Ādi-Knowtep^[8]

The system of Ādi-Knowtep (ancient Indigenous Knowledge-Technologies-Practices, linked to identity as part of community-ecoself) of a particular group of humans is optimally adapted and specific to the ecoweb they have inhabited over time, enabling them to produce the Commodities and Services (C/S) required to fulfill their basic needs from their local ecoweb, while expressing their unique individual and community-ecoselves and preserving the integrity, biodiversity, and wellbeing of their ecoweb (i.e., regeneratively).

Each FiveBecomings project encompasses both a FiveBecomings Commons^[10] and the surrounding cluster of villages of the Community served by the project/Commons. To establish ecosymbiotic self-reliance for the Community, each Commons follows a 5-sector design that can also be adopted by the villages. All activities necessary to regeneratively fulfill the basic needs of the Community are undertaken on a restored/rewilded FiveBecomings Commons, enabling the Community to be ecosymbiotically self-reliant, thereby establishing the interconnected wellbeing of the human Community and their ecoweb.

[1] K. Mitra, Reestablishing Integrated Self-Reliant Wellbeing for Communities: Implementing FiveBecomings, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh012025-001 (9 Jan., 2025).

[2] K. Mitra, Local-Global Benefits of Rural FiveBecomings Projects Designed for Community Self-Reliance, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh032025-022 (18 Mar., 2025).

[3] K. Mitra, Ecological Webs (Ecowebs): Collaborative Creativity Through Adaptation Feedback Loops, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-006 (3 Sep., 2025).

[4] K. Mitra, Ecosymbiosis: the Basis of Adaptive Resilience Involving Biodiversity (Ecosymbiotic Resilience), Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-007 (3 Sep., 2025).

[5] K. Mitra, Beyond Biodiversity: Jīvadiversity — Diversity in Living, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh082025-003 (21 Aug., 2025).

[6] K. Mitra, Individual Ecoself and Community-Ecoself: Importance in FiveBecomings, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-011 (10 Sep., 2025).

[7] S. Mukherjee & K. Mitra, Ecosymbiotic Self-Reliance: Fulfilling Basic Needs from Ecowebs, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-010 (11 Sep., 2025).

[8] K. Mitra, Ādi-Knowtep and Their Importance in Ecosymbiotic Resilience of Human Communities, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-008 (4 Sep., 2025).

[9] K. Mitra, Ecoself: Approaching an Intellectual Understanding, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh122024-003 (13 Dec., 2024).

[10] K. Mitra, Importance of the FiveBecomings Commons: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Joy, Ecosymbionts all Regenerate Together (EaRTh): DOI-EaRTh092025-004 (2 Sep., 2025).