Indigenous Culture

What is enough? Enough is different for everyone. Most of us in the Western world do want some luxuries and modern commodities and some of these can be supported by Mother Nature (if we are wise in our choices), but many of us have gone overboard and are unnecessarily taxing our Planet - and its inhabitants. Read   Part 1 .  And at the end, you will find links to a few more associated blog posts. In The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight Thom Hartmann reminds us that our current society lives under the myth that “if some stuff will make you happy, then twice as much stuff will make you twice as happy, and ten times as much will make you ten times as happy, and so on, into infinity.” (1) And although greed has been around for eons, it has only recently extended to such abusive actions towards our Planet as to threaten her (and thereby humanity's) very survival. Where did this current greed come from? In his essay, “The World of Wonder” in Spiritual Ecology, Thomas Berry explains that in North America this attitude of acquiring grew as a result of our lack of embracing or understanding the concept of “Earth-based spirituality” that the Indigenous people held when we first came here from Europe. Berry reminds us that not only did the Indigenous people understand the relationship between heaven, earth, and its people - evidenced by their rituals and ceremonies to evoke the powers of the Universe, so did most ancient cultures. He tells us that the huge pillars in India, China, Greece, Egypt, and Rome “were established to delineate a sacred center which provided a point of reference for human affairs and bound Heaven and Earth together.” (2) Barry explains that we came to America from Europe believing we were religious, educated, scientifically advanced, and able to create our own political organizations. We “saw ourselves as a divine blessing on this continent. In reality, we were a predator people on an innocent continent”(3) "We saw a land that could allow us to break away from the “monarchical governments  and their world of royalty and subservience,” but rather than be in awe of the grandness and beauty of this land, we saw it as a “continent available for exploitation.”(3) Although it is likely that at least some of those who felt inspired to break free of Europe's leaders' controlling, cruel, and greedy ways and were searching for a place to create new values, the individuals who came brought the old attitudes and behaviors with them - values that did not reflect those of the native people already here. These articles are all based on Chapter 9, “The Planet and Abundance” from my book Your Journey to Peace …  I am also a Copywriter/Digital Marketer. and offer various Writing Services Find out more HERE The Indigenous peoples were actually the more spiritually advanced ones. They revered the land and adhered to a reciprocal relationship to it,t - believing they are its stewards. We have [...]