Existing management theories have failed to create a sustainable world and there is a strong case for context-sensitive, decolonized, indigenous paradigms, rather than extending or tweaking Western theories by falsely treating them as universal. Accessing indigenous wisdom is difficult due to amnesia and loss of confidence, as such knowledge has been suppressed due to the lingering effects of colonialism. Currently, Eurocentric research methodology traditions are heavily text based and do not entirely enable accessing indigenous knowledge. If at all indigenous knowledge has survived in some form beyond manuscripts, it may exist in vernacular architecture, artistic traditions, less spoken languages and dialects, folk literature, marginalized communities, myths and legends, and more broadly in the living arts and traditions. Accessing the knowledge in these forms calls for opening up newer and different ways of knowing, that may depart from Eurocentric ontologies-epistemologies. We explore indigenous bodies of knowledge, using Indian sculpture as an example, to understand the possibility of newer methodologies that could inform indigenous Indian management research. Indian sculpture has the unique characteristic of inducing the viewer into a meditative state of contemplation and hence mindfulness. An immense variety of Indian sculptures has been discovered across the Indian subcontinent, across different timeframes, in a wide diversity of materials and methods Little has been understood of the research methodology underlying the vast body of knowledge that Indian sculpture represents. This aspect of the mindfulness of Indian sculpture may lead us to understand the ontological and epistemological assumptions underlying indigenous knowledge and associated research methodology.
