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" As I have seen it described in one book, to not walk the sacred path is to not live at all. In some cases not following the sacred path led to being outcast from the tribe or family unit, for the sacred path was symbolic of their being part of the spirit that moves through all things. Everything had life; everything had purpose, even if that purpose was sacrifice of ones own life force so that another may live."
"I have seen communities based on faith alone. The relationships are based upon what appears to be a shared ideology. But when one person exercises free thought, that person automatically becomes an outcast from that community because there is nothing more to it than its ideology. There is no culture. There is no historical continuum (unless one IGNORES the differences in expressions of faith and the continual fractionalization that occurs with the evolution of the ideology). In that regard, faith is nothing more than fascism on a grand scale."
proudmommy, one individual that you have quoted (Howlinwolf ) in his first paragraph admitted himself that he was not Native nor was he an expert on the subject and the other link that you are quoting comes from a new age website and I hold very little credibility for new agers, they have taken some of our ancient traditions and rituals and use them for their own purposes and often times do not know the real meaning of those rituals. Now having said that I do not blame them for what they do, it is their choice and if you really want to know about native spirituality and beliefs, go visit the real people and sit and talk and let them get to know you and you will learn greatly. To know the true rituals and their meanings you have to be raised among the people who have used and practiced them all their lives, each ritual is different from one tribe to the next and so are the beliefs, there is no generic Native American belief. Among my people( The Tsalagi ) anyone who doesn't believe or as you call them an atheist isn't treated any differently than anyone else, mainly because our beliefs are kept private and to ourselves, we don't go about asking one another how you believe, that would not be respectful.
I would welcome you as an Atheist or anyone who is a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, or a Hindu, or anyone of any religious belief or faith to my table to partake of any meal that I may have and would invite a respectful conversation over any beliefs or non-beliefs, I believe in treating all equally and with respect.osay
" As I have seen it described in one book, to not walk the sacred path is to not live at all. In some cases not following the sacred path led to being outcast from the tribe or family unit, for the sacred path was symbolic of their being part of the spirit that moves through all things. Everything had life; everything had purpose, even if that purpose was sacrifice of ones own life force so that another may live."
"I have seen communities based on faith alone. The relationships are based upon what appears to be a shared ideology. But when one person exercises free thought, that person automatically becomes an outcast from that community because there is nothing more to it than its ideology. There is no culture. There is no historical continuum (unless one IGNORES the differences in expressions of faith and the continual fractionalization that occurs with the evolution of the ideology). In that regard, faith is nothing more than fascism on a grand scale."
Great, listening to non-natives. I quote from the first link:
"There is no easy way for me to approach this subject as I had mentioned above I am not a Native American myself. However I have done a significant amount of reading on the subject of Natives out of interest and found that many of the spiritual beliefs were ones that I was able to relate to on a personal level and helped me to form my understanding of spirit. The subject of Native American spirituality itself is far beyond the limited space on these forums and there are volumes of books that have been written on the subject from anthropological books about their lifestyle to books about the spiritual aspects of their lives."
This guy is not only not an NDN, but it appears that all of his "knowledge" comes from books on the subject. It doesn't appear that he has bothered spending any time with those of us who are NDN and grew up in the culture and with our elders.
The second site you quoted from has all the trappings of a wannabe twinkie site. I would bet my last per-cap that there isn't an enrolled native among the lot of the posters there.
The fact of the matter is that there are over 500 Federally recognized nations today and even more than that before the American Holocaust. While there are certain similarities, each Nation has its own set of traditions, beliefs and approaches to spiritual matters. I'm not saying that no Nation had a corporate mentality toward these things...some may have. But ones like mine (Comanche) do not....not back in the old days....not now.
To know the true rituals and their meanings you have to be raised among the people who have used and practiced them all their lives, each ritual is different from one tribe to the next and so are the beliefs, there is no generic Native American belief. Among my people( The Tsalagi ) anyone who doesn't believe or as you call them an atheist isn't treated any differently than anyone else, mainly because our beliefs are kept private and to ourselves, we don't go about asking one another how you believe, that would not be respectful.
seems different from
Quote:
Originally Posted by ptsum
never once is it ever forced upon us and we are never criticized or ostracized for making that choice.
"Although i speak from my own experience, i feel that no one has the right to impose his or her beliefs on another person." - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Wise words indeed. But that does not mean that no -one is entitled to propose information with the agenda of persuading people to espouse it. After all if that had been the case, there would be no Buddhism.
If we are going to do so, let us use the soundest mental tools and the tried and tested methods with the best track record.
So what is it that you don't understand? Is it the fact that each nation has its own different traditions and rituals or is it the fact that none of those traditions were rituals were forced upon us? I know that you are an atheist and I mean no disrespect but you seem to be thinking like a Christian in terms of our culture, traditions and rituals which is something that you can't do, it's an entirely different mindset than what you are used to.
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