"Native Wisdom for White Minds"
About fifteen years ago, a dear friend shared with me her morning meditation routine. Part of her daily ritual was reading from a daily meditation book, "Native Wisdom for White Minds", by Anne Wilson Schaef. I fell in love with the wisdom of the native peoples represented in the book. Perhaps,
because their wisdom so represented opinions and views I shared. The reading for October 30th in particular hit a responsive chord in me as I try to understand more fully the objections to a single pool of the American people for health care. The daily reading follows:
"MOVING TOWARD WHOLENESS
The welfare of the people was what was important. In ceremonies held early in their lives, children were taught to think of what was best for the tribe as a whole. being selfish or thinking only of oneself was unheard of.
-Aboriginal Wisdom
In Western culture, we seem to have set up a dualism: I do what is good for the community/ I have to deny myself.
Native people do not operate out of that dualism. Native children from very early on are taught to think beyond themselves, to see themselves as an integral part of an ever-expanding whole in which they are active participants. Their worldview moves them from the individual to the community to the whole.
Our Western reductionist scientific worldview moves us into smaller and smaller circles of self-centeredness.
Can it be that what is best for the community, for the whole, is indeed what is best for me?"
Powerful stuff! At least for me.
Since its founding, the welfare of humans has been, at best, secondary to economic interests, in America. The tragedy, of course, is that so many of her citizens are so enamored with the culture of self that they don't recognize how self defeating it is in the end.
It continues to amaze me that while the US continues to spend more than the rest of the world combined to wage war, that reality has played no part in the discussion about paying for health care for all Americans.
Can it truly be that what is best for the community, the nation, is indeed what is best for me?
Apparently not, for a considerable number of Americans.
Perhaps, rather than "nation building" elsewhere, there should be some nation building in the USA.
posted by johnH56
As you know the Western World has long believed in the power of elites to determine the common good. The Chinese as well, since the days of Confusus, have believed in the power of meritocracy to provide for the commonwealth. There has been a distrust of the common man- groups of common men are the mob. The mob is unruly and ungovernable and unable to govern on their own.
The Eastern and Western experience is long and violent. We celebrate the hero, the Great Khan and others of that ilk who restore order and security from the anarchy and chaos of disorder.
I don't mean to get mystical. But you know there have been repeated periods of Dark Ages when civilization itself was at risk. The rise and fall of civilization is dimly known to all of us. The lessons learned in those who survived are part of the Eastern and Western experience.
Homer's Illiad is not mere poetry but a lesson in government for those who would listen. Other civilizations have similar works and similar lessons.
Write in Guestbook
posted by okhela
Write in Guestbook
posted by johnH56
Write in Guestbook
posted by Allegedly
The native people of Australia stress being at one with the land, their wisdom having evolved from having to live in a country which is 85 - 95 % desert. It has tended to make any inhabitants of the country much tougher and more self reliant than others living in Western countries. Unfortunately cities anywhere in the world have the effect of making us complacent about the land outside those places.
Write in Guestbook
posted by feywon
Just yesterday my daughter and i were talking about how there are some good aspects of 'tribal' life that are absent from modern civilization. One is the idea of what is good for the whole is good for me as well because i'm a part of the whole. Another is 'rites of passage'. Modern 'civilized' kids don't have the kind of well-defined 'coming of age' milestones previous generations did. And parents don't seem to know how to 'model' desired behavior, then they complain their kids have no manners or common sense. (Well..what did you do to teach/demonstrate those things for them????) In tribal cultures desired behavior is modeled all around a kid. It is not always behaviors that would fit the modern world...but in terms of values--caring about others, honesty, working, contributing to wellness of the tribe--couldn't we use some more of that? i see glimmers of it in alternate spring breaks and the like...but more would be nice.
john, are you sure Gore wasn't justn't commenting on the fact that the only way to get some elements of society on board is to explain the positive impact it could have on their finances (or the negative impact of not getting on board?) Not having read the article...i'm just asking. Also never apologize for 'getting mystical'. i truly think a lot of our problems come from the stubborn scientific viewpoint that mystical things are delusions, or signs of an immature individual brain or society.
MrTSauce, good to see you commenting on blogs. i have since adolescence when i was moved to northern suburban environs from the boonies of the southland felt that something goes haywire in humans if barefeet can't touch actual earth on a regular basis.
Write in Guestbook
posted by johnH56
Good topic Sam. You got a bunch of us thinking- as always.
How's the coffee this morning. You having a slice of pumkin pie with it for the season, my friend.
Write in Guestbook
posted by feywon
Write in Guestbook