Traditional Knowledge is something that we are born with and belongs to very person who has been given that knowledge since his birth. It is really sad to see that knowledge is being stolen and used by one individual or company for its own benefits only. There should be better protection of traditional knowledge which is now being gradually used by foreign countries for commercial purpose without providing any share to the original owners of traditional knowledge. There is need to provide appropriate legal and institutional means for recognizing the rights of tribal communities on their traditional knowledge based on biological resources on the International level.

Traditional knowledge means which comes through one generation to another so there is no way that one person can monopolize it. There is no need and no authority to use it as commercial purpose.

Please give me an example of traditional knowledge.

Did American Native people have traditional knowledge of the Great Spirit?

Did Natives have traditional knowledge on how to hunt Buffalo?

All traditional knowledge enrich humankind. No one owns it, it is a common wealth.

If you can sale it, why not?

Therapists offer their knowledge in order to assist people, they charge something for their work because they have to eat, we all have to eat. Some have to eat at more expensive places than others, is it not the case!!

Bodhi Jacques

Dear Bodhi, you are right that traditional knowledge belongs to humanity and everyone should benefit from it. But the problem with patents is that the knowledge which has been handed over from generation to generation is being stolen by a third party to make money and claim right over it so that even the source from which it is stolen cannot use that knowledge. All the tribals of the world use their knowledge for the benefit of their society and governments of all the nations should strive to keep them as they are, free for all. The tribals never claim their right over it, its just outsiders who patent such knowledge only for their personal gain. Thats where its wrong...

Premarup, I need an example. ie. the kundalini concept belongs to Hindu knowledge, it may even have anterior origins, how can anybody place a copyright on it? Therapy techniques, such as dynamic meditation, created by Acharya Rajneeh
as well as techniques developed by many other creative therapists must have an intellectual property. if it does not then somebody must register it, even if a lawsuit follows, All therapiesare valid if they assist the wellbeing. So please explain concisely which Traditional Knowledge is being patented by a third party. I think that legal advice, and its discussion must also be considered in this topic. Good lawyers are good only because they have the knowledge required to defend a given position.

Bodhijacques

Hi Bodhijacques, there are some pharmaceutical lords fron the "First World" who are striving to patent ancient Amazonian medicines that are common practice from the native peoples of South America prior the European invasion. Once these patents are filed and approved they can ban the use of the original medicines under the provisions given by their "legal rights" to be the sole administrators of such substances.

Another example is what Monsanto is doing, the multinational food corporation, who has created transgenic plants that do not produce seeds or whose seeds are 100% useless to re-produce the same plant. This way they control the market since they are the sole owners of the seeds that will only be good for one plant. These transgenic varieties actually contaminate through natural polinization process healthy plants that become sick and their seeds become useless. This is creating the extintion of natural varieties of many food crops and the domination by Monsanto patented varieties that create a total dependency. Watch the documentary "The world according to Monsanto" available in YouTube.

Namasté

Nirav,

The heart of the matter is not in the stealing of traditional knowledge per say, but in the conveying of it.
Our days, information is quite accessible. Osho gifted us by conveying the immense flux of spiritual related information from such a wide variety of sources that almost everyone could get the -say yes to life- message.

The substances in the amazon have their effects under special ritual conditions. The active principles of the plants may be syntheticaly produced, but the product will no have exactly the same spectrum, thus the reaction will not be completely natural. To get the real plants in the jungles is not an easy matter

Just get your best local seeds.....................

Bodhijacques