Industrial Sustainability and the Circular Economy as Counterparts to the Self-referral Mechanics of Natural Law: Part I—A Theoretical Foundation

Abstract

In Maharishi Vedic Science, the self-referral mechanics of Natural Law are considered fundamental to any complete understanding of nature’s functioning, since Natural Law is understood to be the unmanifest (i.e., non-physical) home of all the laws of nature and the unbounded source of order and intelligence responsible for creating and guiding the physical universe. This proposition is recognizable in modern scientific theories of the ‘unified field’. Moreover, the circular structure and self-referral loops of Natural Law are said to underlie and guide every level of a manifest hierarchy. Among the hallmarks of industrial sustainability are its emphasis on harnessing renewable energy and recycling principles, both designed to limit the impact of polluting activities on the environment and to improve commercial performance. To circumvent the so-called ‘take, make, dispose’ linear economic mentality of the past, contemporary industry has also begun embracing models of circular economy, in which materials and energy are circulated and cascaded through the economic system, with waste either minimized, reused or eliminated altogether. The self-referential nature of recycling and the cascading circularity of circular economies thus bear a prima facie similarity to how Natural Law is structured and functions in continuous self-referral loops. For that reason, in this Part I of a two-part series of research papers, we explore the fundamental nature of industrial sustainability and circular economy, showing them to be counterparts to the self-referral feedback mechanism of Natural Law as described in Maharishi Vedic Science.