A Talk of Elders - A Loss of the Sacred
By Grant Redhawk – AKA Two Feathers
Oki Ni-Kso-Ko-Wa,
Today we embark on a new and broad category of study. In a
Talk of Elders lies a multitude of learning opportunities from knowledge
available to all of us. I must say very early on that I am only a channel (I
use that term very loosely), of that wisdom, not the wisdom keeper. I only Wish
I knew how to integrate all that is taught to me in my practical life. If I did
I would be so peaceful, I would have no need to strike these keys :) I must
confess that I am like my Spirit friend the Red-tail, only a messenger.
What I hope to accomplish is a short, bite size insight of
how much we are interconnected with all other beings of this universe. I hope
to give you insights as to how much we really are responsible for each other.
To show you the sacredness of your own path, and how to recognize the
sacredness of all other beings. How to integrate that sacredness back into a
sadly lacking society of even the knowledge of the sacred. Most don’t know the
true feeling of Sacredness simply because they have not had the opportunity to
experience it.
We know there is sacredness, because of one very special
characteristic of Native People whose energy permeates this Turtle Island. When
we are around them, we sense something different about them. An extra energy
that has been bred out of the rest of society. Not all of them have this energy
as many have followed paths contrary to their culture. But the majority who
have not strayed from Original Teachings have this special energy of
Sacredness.
In Blackfoot we have
a special name for these folks: We call them NIIT-SI-TAPI – The Real People.
How does one know the difference between what is and is not
sacred? See how this works!
Go into a tobacco shop and purchase a simple pipe for
personal use. Or better yet make it with your own hands so that it has YOUR
energy in it. If you were to use this
pipe for ordinary smoking, there would be nothing sacred in the act.
However, we can then take this same pipe; cleanse it with
sage, cedar and sweet grass. Fill it with specially prepared tobacco mix or
Native Kinni-Kinnick , all the while giving Creator, the Grandfathers and the
seven directions thanks for all that we have. We can then smoke the Pipe
offering it and the smoke to the ancestors, directions and Creator. Then the
pipe is sacred! Sacred energy is created when we do this. It is sacred when we
create healing energy for the earth and its beings and give thanks for what we
have.
Normally we would not use this same pipe in an ordinary way
again. As soon as that happened it would no longer be sacred. The next time we
attempted to make this same pipe sacred, we would not succeed. The first time,
was because we intended to bring sacredness into our lives, so the conversion
was allowed. The next time would be seen as manipulating our sacredness, not
respecting it. We would not be given a second chance with this pipe. In
addition, the next time we wished to smoke the pipe in a sacred way we would
have to purchase or make it with the intent to use it in a sacred way.
In many other lands, greed and self-interest are not taught;
rather the children learn to walk the sacred paths of their ancestors. We in
our almighty readiness to judge have determined that because these people
believe differently than we do that truly they are second and third class
sub-humans. As was the case when the first white man set foot upon our shore
and viewed the specter of half-naked Natives who knew nothing of land
ownership. These same Real People who put their own families at risk during
those first harsh winters, so that their brother the white man would not starve
were so summarily destroyed in the years that followed because “anyone who
would put themselves at risk for total strangers” MUST have hidden agendas.
If one thinks that, “surely we have grown from these
attitudes in the last 300 years that our spiritual growth and intelligence has
matured to a point far beyond that which would destroy a friend because of
fear!” Then explain why we are still fighting the same wars! How can anyone
conceive of doing to us that which destroyed more than 6000 people at one time?
I.e. World Trade Center destruction!
“If we study the reactions and reasons of those that despise
us, we can learn a lot about ourselves.
If instead we hate those that despise us, we set in motion the wheels of
our own destruction. “– Two Feathers
When was the last time you have knelt to pray five times a
day to your GOD?
We have seen many people trade their sacred path for a piece
of the “Cash Cow”. They have walked away from their own sacredness to follow in
the path’s of those whom they see as better off than themselves. If they see
someone with a new SUV and they have a Ford Focus, they have been taught by our
twisted society to be ashamed of that Ford Focus. They then go buy an SUV and
perpetuate the greed and the myth. If
they see someone with a new home out in the suburbs and they live in a trailer,
they see themselves as something less than equal to those who appear to be more
fortunate. Then their focus shifts from
a path of following white to a path of following green. They have sold their
soul’s for perceived moments of bliss, which lasts only until their friends
down the street buy a castle. They are no longer in a sacred place.
We see many people in divorce because they don’t want to
deal with a difficult partner. They are taught by our society to see divorce
and quitting as acceptable. This is the great denial of a society filled with
the process of unawareness. If society accepts this behavior from others, it
sets everyone up to easily walk away from accountability just in case the going
gets a little rough for them. We have bastardized the sacred teachings of our
Elders to fulfill the selfish cravings of a society collapsing upon itself. The
prophesy of the Ghost Dance by Wavoka it seems may be coming true after all.
“Then medicine men tell
Indians to send word to all Indians to keep up dancing and the good time will
come. Indians who don't dance, who don't believe in the word, will grow little,
just about a foot high, and stay that way. Some of them will be turned into
wood and be burned in fire. “
- Wovoka, the Paiute Messiah
It is seen as OK to deny the sacredness of the path that
Creator has put us on in the coming together in love. Creator put us together
in love and in the spirit of His beauty way. This is a Sacred gift, from
Creator to be treasured and cherished and held to ones heart. There are always
more reasons for the uniting of two than just a relationship, and it is a wise
person who realizes that growth never is easy and the growth of relationship is
no exception. When we question Creators wisdom in what He has done, we are in
effect putting ourselves above His teaching. We all realize the terror that a
dysfunctional relationship can bring, however to walk away is indolence and a
failure to use the intellect Creator gave us to solve difficult problems. If
you loved a person once, you still do no matter what curtains you raise between
you and them. You can free the love within, again by simply putting more effort
into resolving the issues than you have up until now. No problem is
unsolvable….
Stephen Butterfield, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol. 1, #4
The
Buddhist challenge to conventional Western
notions of
spirituality illuminates the way we set flesh
and spirit
at war with each other. In Buddhism there is
no original
sin. Although noticing how we express our
sexuality
can certainly lead to an awareness of right
conduct,
the flesh is not regarded as representing a
corruption
or punishment of any kind, nor as an
obstacle to
the attainment of enlightenment. The root
of human
suffering is not sin, but our confusion about
ego. We
suffer because we believe in the existence of
an
individual self. This belief splits the world into "I"
and "other."
These questions can be debated repeatedly:
What about the battered spouse? Then of course the
relationship should end! What about infidelity? Then of course the relationship
should end! What about entering a relationship using false premises, which feed
our self-interest at the expense of the person one decides to prey upon? Then
of course the relationship should end. What about falling out of love? The
bigger question would be, “why did you fall out of love? “ There are many
instances like this when the relationship should end! In all instances one or
both in the relationship have lost their sacred path, they have not fulfilled
their responsibility to each other to stay in love and stay in the intended
energy that Creator provided. A sobering fact of leaving a relationship in this
way is the intended healing of the relationship has been broken necessitating a
repeat of the experience further on in the soul’s journey!
We are not
innocent children victimized by a big bad
world; if
our world is big and bad, we made it that
way. This is what the
Buddha taught. The "other" is
the child's
boogeyman, the projection of our own fears
onto a
terrifying object of our imagination, which in
turn
terrorizes us. Our ignorance is not seeing that we
are the
other. We cannot afford to confuse innocence
with this
ignorance. Violence is not a permanent,
immutable,
fixed object. It is a state of mind, an
expression
of ignorance, with no more solid substance
than a cloud. We cannot make a
frontal attack on
violence.
Even protecting ourselves from it fuels its
boogeyman
existence. But the Buddha taught that we
can change. This was his
good news: that there is a
way to
alleviate suffering by freeing our minds from
greed,
anger, and ignorance. Yet until we apprehend
the ways in
which we are Oklahoma City, the bombs
and the
baby bears, the victims and the violators, we
will
continue to blame "them," all the while
proclaiming our
innocence and evading our
responsibilities.
Coming together in a love relationship is one of the most
Sacred experiences one has in life. From the High feelings of exuberant energy,
to the loss of appetite for food which is replaced by an unquenchable thirst to
make love repeatedly. The incredible loneliness, one feels when they are not in
the presence of their love partner is a direct correlation to the sacred gift
that Creator has bestowed upon both. What other experience in life is so
powerful as a true love relationship? I can think of only one other that
matches this and that is to participate in the birth of a new child. Why in
heavens name after experiencing this “Beauty Way” that Creator has given you,
would you not fight tooth and nail to maintain it? What has gone out of us as a
society that we would not take a stance against the failure of such
relationships of our brothers and sisters, and step in and help to resolve the
disharmony. Such things were common in my own experience of my Native
relatives.
1 October
2001
Jack
Kornfield, A Path with Heart
The basic
precepts are not passive. They can actively
express a
compassionate heart in our life. Not killing
can grow
into a reverence for life, a protective caring
for all sentient beings
who share life with us. Not
stealing
can become the basis for a wise ecology,
honoring
the limited resources of the earth and
actively seeking ways
to live and work that share our
blessings
worldwide. From this spirit can come a life of
natural and
healing simplicity. Out of not lying we can
develop our voice
to speak for compassion,
understanding, and justice. Out of nonharming
sexuality,
our most intimate relations can also become
expressions of love,
joy, and tenderness. Out of not
abusing
intoxicants or becoming heedless, we can
develop a
spirit that seeks to live in the most awake
and
conscious manner in all circumstances.
At first,
precepts are a practice. Then they become a
necessity,
and finally they become a joy. When our
heart is
awakened, they spontaneously illuminate our
way in the
world.
This brings us to an area of contention that weighs heavily
on those who have meditated frequently on the sacredness of life. In native
family, there is no one more sacred than children and the elderly. Children
have just entered into the great circle of life, are unspoiled by society, and
have not yet been taught to covet earthly desires. They only know the purity of
that which they have come from. The elderly are in final preparation to
complete the Circle and rejoin the ancestors from whence they have traveled.
They indeed are walking with sacred energy. If we could only SEE…..
White Smoke, look can you hear it? - Michael Hull
In today’s society, a
child is more tolerated than revered. The quantity and quality of attention
given to children is directly proportional to their cuteness or how much
attention their parents or relatives may glean by being seen as the “doting
parent/relative”. There seems to be no
awareness of the sacredness of their new arrival upon our plane of existence. A
problem child stands no chance of attaining the same quality of love as one who
appears to be more developed. Therefore, they are surreptitiously dumped into a
“special class” which is equivalent to being given one last chance to acquire
our society’s expectation of them or else they will be forever relegated to a
cage of hopelessness. I often wonder if any of the so-called saviors of our
children, give any thought to the psychological, long-term damage done to a
child who has to undergo “special class stigma”! In my experience of problem
children, I being one of them, all that most of them need is a little less
Ritalin and lot more extra love and patience!
Sending our children to public school is a crap shoot at
best and I for one am very uncomfortable at the thought of entrusting my
child’s safety to say nothing of their education to a total stranger in today’s
society of kooks, junkies and hypocrites. What does that say of us when we are
so callus with Creators gifts to us? I understand the pressure is intense to
conform to society’s dictates and customs but these are the same mindsets that
so willingly accepted the kidnapping of Native American Children to such
schools as the Carlisle Indian school in Pennsylvania. These schools were
created for the express intent of genocide of the Native American Race.
I know many people
out there do not want to acknowledge that there is any difference between what
went on in the genocidal schools and the intent of other infamous figures in
history who believed in a superior race, but the fact remains that it happened
in this country. The fact remains that it is still happening in this country on
many reservations where the Native people are not yet convinced that only they
can make their lives different. The government has attempted to destroy the
Native People. Why?
The Native People are a financial burden and an
embarrassment to the Federal government. Much of Native land sits on rich
mineral reserves, which public and private concerns would love to get their
hands on. How did the entire imbalance in the Native circles start? Because you
(Native People) allowed yourselves to be convinced that, the spiritual path of
Europeans was acceptable for you to adopt. If creator wanted you to follow that
path, he would have given it to you in a spiritual way, not by forcing it down
your throats by men of greed and self-interest.
What has all this resulted in on the reservations?
Alcoholism, high unemployment, low self esteem, sub-standard living conditions,
low life expectancy, poor health and a dependence on the public dole. What do
we think our ancestors are thinking about what we have allowed ourselves to
become? What do we think they are saying to us now? I believe I know. They are
saying, “take control of our lives back from these non-connected people”. They
are saying “resolve our issues amongst ourselves, only then will we regain the
pride in self that is so necessary to SEE clearly”. They are saying, “go back
into the Sacred”.
The grave mistake that Native people made and still are
making is that they believe that because the Europeans have superior material
goods, that their religion must be superior as well. When in truth if they
stayed true to their own spiritual path, they would know that they do not need
the material products to make their lives complete. If in fact, the non-native
people found fulfillment in their spiritual beliefs there would be little
reason to strive for material goods to provide them with a false sense of
accomplishment.
Look back through the True religions of history and one will
find that the people who found perfect peace in their spiritual lives found
little need for the material things in life. Native people, go back to your
true paths, the one that has been provided for your survival and well being,
thousands of years ago. There is a reason for that path on this Turtle Island.
The Dalai Lama, The
Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness, edited by Sidney Piburn
Lack of
understanding of the true nature of happiness,
it seems to
me, is the principal reason why people
inflict
sufferings on others. They think either that the
other's
pain may somehow be a cause of happiness for
themselves
or that their own happiness is more
important,
regardless of what pain it may cause. But
this is
shortsighted, no one truly benefits from causing
harm to
another sentient being. Whatever immediate
advantage
is gained at the expense of someone else is
shortlived.
In the long run causing others misery and
infringing
their rights to peace and happiness result in
anxiety,
fear and suspicion within oneself. Such
feelings
undermine the peace of mind and
contentment
which are the marks of happiness.
True
happiness comes not from a limited concern for
one's own
well-being, or that of those one feels close
to, but
from developing love and compassion for all
sentient
beings. Here, love means wishing that all
sentient
beings should find happiness, and compassion
means
wishing that they should all be free of
suffering.
The development of this attitude gives rise
to a sense
of openness and trust that provides the
basis for
peace.
To be continued:
