Dr. Feldenkrais and Ukraine
Moshe Feldenkrais was born in 1904 in Slavuta,
a town in western Ukraine controlled by the Russian Empire.
He fled the Russian pogroms as a teenager and
was never able to return to an independent Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine share roots dating back millennia, but their
cultures, religious foundations, and languages separated centuries ago. Imperial Russia only began expanding into Ukraine around 1790,
and until the Russian Revolution it exercised a
policy of extermination of Ukrainian identity.
The USSR continued the Russian Empire’s policy of extermination of Ukrainian identity. In 1991 Ukraine’s independence was recognized by the international community, but the Russian government
has disputed its sovereignty.
Putin wants Ukrainian land but not Ukrainian people. It’s an Imperialist approach to occupation. Since the US was created with a similar approach, it’s not surprising the government can’t find an effective way to address Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
It seems to me we have to address our own continuing history of identity extermination before we’ll be able understand
how to address another country’s.
Which will require transformation into quantum thinking, suggested by Feldenkrais’ experience that his Method “leads to knowledge of oneself and to previous undiscovered resources in oneself,”
by Ramana Maharishi’s inquiry, “Who am I?,” and by Krishnamurti’s assertion that we must move into a new perceptual dimension.
Are we up for it?
More next time.
Photo used with permission of the International Feldenkrais® Federation