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What if the way we think about health problems is itself part of the problem?
That question sits at the heart of the Jyotirgamaya Systems Thinking Lab (JSL). The multi-cultural communities we work with span a wide spectrum, former refugees finding their feet in a new country, Pacific workers navigating unfamiliar systems, South Asian families managing chronic illness, East Asian youth facing discrimination, African communities rebuilding after displacement. Each brings unique strengths, stories, and knowledge.
Yet across this diversity, a common pattern emerges: persistent disadvantage in health, housing, mental wellbeing, and access to care, not because of any failing on their part, but because of systems that were never designed with them in mind.
JSL exists to find those patterns, make them visible, and work with communities to change them.
Why systems thinking?
Most of the time, when we try to fix a health problem, we treat it in isolation. Poor mental health? Add more counsellors. Housing overcrowding? Build more houses. But these problems are deeply connected.
Discrimination shapes stress. Stress shapes mental health. Poor mental health affects work. Unstable work affects housing. Poor housing affects physical health. And around it goes.
Systems thinking is the practice of seeing these connections: the feedback loops, the reinforcing patterns, the places where a small change can shift everything. Instead of chasing symptoms, we look for leverage.
Think of the old story of the six blind men and the elephant. One feels the trunk, another the tail, another the leg. Each is describing something real, but none sees the whole animal. Health inequity works the same way. JSL is here to help us see the whole elephant, together.
Wisdom that has always understood systems
Here is something that often surprises people: systems thinking is not a new Western idea. Many of the world's oldest traditions have been describing interconnected systems for thousands of years, long before the term "systems thinking" was coined.
Hindu philosophy speaks of sambandha (interdependence), the idea that nothing exists in isolation. Of dharma: balance and right action in the world. Of seva: service to others as a form of reciprocity. Of advaita: the unity that underlies all apparent separation.
Buddhist teachings offer pratītyasamutpāda, dependent origination, meaning everything arises in relation to everything else. Alongside this, anicca reminds us that all things are impermanent and always changing, while karunā or compassion guides how we act within that change.
These are not merely spiritual ideas. They are deep, practical frameworks for understanding how the world works, how systems behave, and how communities can live and act within them more wisely.
A Bhutanese elder, a Cook Island grandmother, a South Asian doctor, and a Māori kaumātua (elder) may use very different words, but they are often describing the same underlying truth: everything is connected, and how we care for each other shapes how we all fare.
JSL brings these traditions into conversation with contemporary systems science. We also work in the spirit of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, honouring Te Ao Māori and the diverse knowledge systems of Aotearoa New Zealand. No single tradition holds all the answers, but together, they help us see more clearly.
What our logo means
Our logo carries this entire story in a simple image.
At the centre is an eye. The eye represents the ability to look beyond surface problems into the deeper patterns underneath. Inside the eye is a circle representing the Earth, a reminder that human health systems sit within planetary systems, and that caring for people and caring for the planet are part of the same task.
Above the eye are seven rays of light. In Hindu philosophy, seven is the number of wisdom i.e. the Saptarishi (seven ancient sages), the seven chakras (centres of energy and awareness in the body), and the seven realms of understanding. The rays represent the clarity that good systems thinking can bring to problems that feel overwhelming and tangled.
Below the eye are three lines, representing the Trimūrti or three supreme gods: Brahmā (creation), Vishnu (preservation), and Shiva (transformation). Every system moves through these same phases: something is created, it is maintained for a time, and eventually it transforms into something new. These three lines ground us in that reality and remind us that change, though sometimes slow, is always possible.
The whole image is held together by our guiding principle, drawn from an ancient Sanskrit prayer:
Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya — From darkness, lead us to light.
This is not just a motto. It is a direction of travel, from confusion toward clarity, from fragmentation toward connection, from inequity toward justice.
What this means in practice
JSL is a working lab bringing together community leaders, health workers, and everyday people to understand the systems shaping ethnic health inequity, find where change is possible, and support communities to act.
You do not need a university degree to participate. You need lived experience, a willingness to share your perspective, and a belief that things can be better. The former refugee and migrant parent who has navigated three different health systems. The Pacific worker who knows why their community avoids the doctor. The refugee woman who understands housing insecurity from the inside. These perspectives are not footnotes to our work, they are the work.
In 2026 we are launching several initiatives including ethnic health and wellbeing focused newsletter, participatory workshops focused on ethnic health and wellbeing, blogs and systems thinking schools. Our priority health and wellbeing issues are amental health, digital environments and wellbeing, youth vaping and ultra-processed food systems. Each of these is a systems problem. Each connects to the others. And each disproportionately affects the communities we serve.
An invitation
Whether you are a health worker, a community leader, or someone who has simply lived the experience of navigating an unfair system , we would love to have you alongside us.
You do not need to speak the language of systems thinking. You just need to care about your community and be willing to share what you know. We will figure out the rest together.
This is a shared journey. The light is better when more people carry it.
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