[Continued from 10 May 2006]
F.: Prior to finding the Advaita teachings, “floyd’s search” covered much of the globe. Certain wisdom shared by a Cherokee Grandmother caused the focus during Step Three of “The Seven Step Journey to Reality” to grind to a halt while spending several years of focusing on Native Teachings and arranging one (useless) meeting after another with one shaman/medicine man after another. Why "useless"? Now, the Original Understanding has been lost as much among the descendants of the indigenous peoples as among all other persons on the planet. Yet vestiges of the earlier logic and reason remain among some Native Americans. (For example, I sat with a full-blooded Cherokee who asked, “How is a Native American to feel when he hears white men on the television discussing all of the problems that are being created by ‘illegal aliens’? Do those doing all of that talking not know that it is they who are descended from this land’s original illegal aliens?”)
Yet the early teachings among the indigenous population would eventually became warped by spiritual intoxication as (understandable) fear of annihilation manifested alongside the notion of a “Supreme Creator-Savior” and overshadowed the Original Understanding of a no-concept, non-dual, unified view of Reality. (Since all Teachings of all philosophies and religions and spiritual movements eventually become warped when marred by personal agendas, it is the Original Understanding alone that seekers should seek.)
Ultimately, the Original Understanding can only be tapped into on an intuitive level, accessed via the “inner guru” or the “inner resource” that is nestled within the primitive brain-stem; however, the ability to tap into that resource requires a process of re-purification of consciousness…consciousness that has been so corrupted with ideas and concepts and dogma that 95% or more will never be able to access the inner, inexpressible (yet understandable) truth.
Some gurus or teachers share certain pointers that can trigger the cleansing process, yet even Maharaj predicted that only 1 in 100,000 who visited him would truly understand...a figure that he later changed to 1 in a million. Eventually, he laid the odds at being almost impossible for most, including those who sat at the feet of the master.
All of that having been noted, the message of non-duality can be found among some of the earlier sharings by indigenous teachers before the original message became warped even among most of their descendents:
ON ONENESS/THE UNICITY
[NOTE: The early Native American teachers spoke of “Walking in Balance.” According to the early teachings, “Walking in Balance” happens when the noumenal and the phenomenal are “in harmony”…that is, when it is understood that the I AM THAT and the I AM are one and not two, not “in conflict” and not “conflicted.”]
“Being Indian is an attitude…a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings. It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet; allowing feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes; bringing aliveness up from the Earth and from the Sky; putting it in and giving it out from the heart.” Brooke Medicine Eagle
“All of Creation is related...and whatever we do affects everything in the universe.” White Eagle
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” Chief Seattle
“The first peace, which is the most important, comes [from] within when [people] realize…their oneness with the universe. Above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace which is within.” Black Elk
“I saw more than I can tell, and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing…the shapes of things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.” Black Elk
“The hurt of one is the hurt of all.” Traditional Teaching
“The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinion pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things are the same breath—the animals, the trees, the man.” Chief Seattle
ON FREEDOM FROM PERSONAS/FREEDOM FROM self
“I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy—myself.” Traditional Lakota Teaching
“Earth, teach me humility—as blossoms are humble with beginning.” Ute Teaching
“Earth, teach me to forget myself—as melted snow forgets its life.” Ute Teaching
“I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to Your Self; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.” Oriah Mountain Dreamer
“It does not interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.” Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
MUCH OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM COLLECTED ON THE “JOURNEY” IS SHARED IN THE MEDITATION GUIDES (WHICH SOME SEEKERS READ STRAIGHT THROUGH RATHER THAN ON A DAILY BASIS). INTERESTED IN ORDERING BOTH GUIDES AT A REDUCED RATE?Click MEDITATION GUIDE SET
F.: Prior to finding the Advaita teachings, “floyd’s search” covered much of the globe. Certain wisdom shared by a Cherokee Grandmother caused the focus during Step Three of “The Seven Step Journey to Reality” to grind to a halt while spending several years of focusing on Native Teachings and arranging one (useless) meeting after another with one shaman/medicine man after another. Why "useless"? Now, the Original Understanding has been lost as much among the descendants of the indigenous peoples as among all other persons on the planet. Yet vestiges of the earlier logic and reason remain among some Native Americans. (For example, I sat with a full-blooded Cherokee who asked, “How is a Native American to feel when he hears white men on the television discussing all of the problems that are being created by ‘illegal aliens’? Do those doing all of that talking not know that it is they who are descended from this land’s original illegal aliens?”)
Yet the early teachings among the indigenous population would eventually became warped by spiritual intoxication as (understandable) fear of annihilation manifested alongside the notion of a “Supreme Creator-Savior” and overshadowed the Original Understanding of a no-concept, non-dual, unified view of Reality. (Since all Teachings of all philosophies and religions and spiritual movements eventually become warped when marred by personal agendas, it is the Original Understanding alone that seekers should seek.)
Ultimately, the Original Understanding can only be tapped into on an intuitive level, accessed via the “inner guru” or the “inner resource” that is nestled within the primitive brain-stem; however, the ability to tap into that resource requires a process of re-purification of consciousness…consciousness that has been so corrupted with ideas and concepts and dogma that 95% or more will never be able to access the inner, inexpressible (yet understandable) truth.
Some gurus or teachers share certain pointers that can trigger the cleansing process, yet even Maharaj predicted that only 1 in 100,000 who visited him would truly understand...a figure that he later changed to 1 in a million. Eventually, he laid the odds at being almost impossible for most, including those who sat at the feet of the master.
All of that having been noted, the message of non-duality can be found among some of the earlier sharings by indigenous teachers before the original message became warped even among most of their descendents:
ON ONENESS/THE UNICITY
[NOTE: The early Native American teachers spoke of “Walking in Balance.” According to the early teachings, “Walking in Balance” happens when the noumenal and the phenomenal are “in harmony”…that is, when it is understood that the I AM THAT and the I AM are one and not two, not “in conflict” and not “conflicted.”]
“Being Indian is an attitude…a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings. It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet; allowing feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes; bringing aliveness up from the Earth and from the Sky; putting it in and giving it out from the heart.” Brooke Medicine Eagle
“All of Creation is related...and whatever we do affects everything in the universe.” White Eagle
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” Chief Seattle
“The first peace, which is the most important, comes [from] within when [people] realize…their oneness with the universe. Above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace which is within.” Black Elk
“I saw more than I can tell, and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing…the shapes of things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.” Black Elk
“The hurt of one is the hurt of all.” Traditional Teaching
“The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinion pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things are the same breath—the animals, the trees, the man.” Chief Seattle
ON FREEDOM FROM PERSONAS/FREEDOM FROM self
“I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy—myself.” Traditional Lakota Teaching
“Earth, teach me humility—as blossoms are humble with beginning.” Ute Teaching
“Earth, teach me to forget myself—as melted snow forgets its life.” Ute Teaching
“I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to Your Self; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.” Oriah Mountain Dreamer
“It does not interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.” Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
MUCH OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM COLLECTED ON THE “JOURNEY” IS SHARED IN THE MEDITATION GUIDES (WHICH SOME SEEKERS READ STRAIGHT THROUGH RATHER THAN ON A DAILY BASIS). INTERESTED IN ORDERING BOTH GUIDES AT A REDUCED RATE?
