yjl Gandhi Marg Quarterly 35(1): 25-30 © 2013 Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Deihl http://gandhipeacefoundation.org/ Culture, Harmony and Prama Marcus Bussey ABSTRACT Transformative harmony is not the end of tension but its benevolent expression. It is the pragmatic quest for balance between the two polarities of culture, one that is more inward-looking and centralized and the other that is more resilient and receptive to learning. Harmony without dynamism is stasis. Harmony as an element of social process is a normative goal that calls for social actors to reflect on their actions and their effects on the world around them. The paper finds the notion of prama suggested by Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar to be particularly fruitful in that Prama suggests that all action is a mix of the static (tamasik), mutative (rajasik) and subtle (sattvik). Key words: Harmony- culture- centripetal- centrifugal- prama CULTURE IS PREMISED on a desire for harmony. All cultures represent systems of order that generate intelligible fields of shared meaning within which identity, purpose and personal and collective expression all make 'sense'. To achieve this goal, shared systems of meaning evolve that harmonise the various, often contradictory, tendencies that are inherent to all collectivities. Such contradictory tendencies are entropic in nature and amplify disharmonic forces over time. Seen in this light there is a tension between the centripetal forces in socl.eties that test and renew the core elements of a culture and the centrifugal energies that operationalise centres of gravity and order relations and the normative consciousness that sustain identity and meaning. Giri in his poser argues towards a transformative harmonic vision for society. He rightly identifies the romantic harmonic narrative of Shemasko as lacking the critical edge to drive the vision towards a sense of dyna de harmonic process. At the heart of Giri's offering is April-June 2013