THE FORCE OF THE PRIMAL 

Lessons from the hunter-gatherers and other indigenous wisdoms

WHAT HAVE WE LOST #1

(My personal experiences are derived mostly from the San Bushmen of the Kalahari and the Bantu peoples of Southern Africa as well as the teachings of the Ancestors and others.)

“Nature understands no jesting. She is always true, always serious, always severe. She is always right and the errors and faults are those of man. The man incapable of appreciating her, she despises and only to apt, the pure, the true, does she resign herself and reveal her secrets.” Goethe

 

How much have we lost on the altar of our amazing technology?

The primal model embraces intuition, rites of passage and initiations, accessing nature's secrets and learning Her language. 

Love or an unconditional positive regard for others comes naturally to them - their healers say that if you want to be an effective healer you must love everyone no matter what you think of them. They understand, and can cure spiritual diseases unknown to allopathic medicine but just as real and devastating. These are also applicable to us in the West. They believe in the power resident in tricksters or coyote, the play of light and dark and how this can affect their (and our) lives.

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” A. Einstein

Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.” A. Einstein

We on the other hand rely on intellect, data, science. We have been evicted and have evicted ourselves from the power of the natural world. We discount many indigenous wisdoms, labelling it ignorant and superstitious. Hopefully we are slowly regaining some of the knowledge that we once had.

"The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow." William Osler

“Nature hides her secrets with consummate modesty and speaks usually in an unintelligible tongue”
Charles Huggins

“The reality we can apprehend with the senses is only one percent of the universe.” The Zohar

 

Today’s astronomers agree that this is so, explaining how nature has hidden most of the matter in the universe and hidden it in a form that cannot be readily detected. Most of the "Field" is unknowable.

"Out there beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a Field. I will meet you there." Rumi 

The primal mind could speak this language and access some of the other 99% of the Unknowable, across the veil between the worlds. The Bushmen especially could, in their out of body, spirit trance dance. Some could shape shift, many were animal whisperers. Without these abilities it would have been difficult for them to hunt successfully with primitive weapons. They could see what seeing eyes could not and hear what hearing ears could not. They lived beyond the five senses and still do to this day even though now to a lesser extent, having lost their habitat.

"It was only when the white man came that wilderness existed'"  Luther Standing Bear

When we go out into wild places we make preparations and use technology for our comfort as well as to make up for our lack of wilderness skills. When we return we are thankful to be back to the comforts of civilization.

The Bushmen could walk out into wild places with all the things in a small skin bag they needed for survival; a digging stick, a bow and poisoned arrows and a fire stick. 

"Wilderness is an area where earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man; where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” 

Our approach is well defined by this Wilderness Act of North America whose intention was to protect certain wild areas that should remain wild. At the same time the act confirmed the power of this Sacred Space where as "civilized" people - few could or would want to remain. For indigenous peoples it was their home.

The Israelites were also once a nature bound people as were we all.

"Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness…” Isaiah

”Ask of the wild animals and they shall teach you and the birds of the sky shall tell it to you or speak to the earth for she shall guide you and the fishes of the sea will declare it to you.” Job

“We cannot today recreate the original wilderness man in shape form or habitat. But we can recover him because s/he exists in us. S/he is the foundation in spirit or psyche on which we build and we are not complete until we have recovered him..." 

“Those of us who have spent time in wilderness are aware of the fact that there is something more to wilderness than we ourselves can express. Wilderness is an instrument for enabling us to recover our lost capacity for religious experience.”

L. Van der Post

Western technology has given us tremendous gifts but we should never forget the huge price we have paid for losing contact with our primal selves. The indigenous mind is closer to the real Self. There is less "stuff" in the way. The primal Self is closer to its Creator. Re-encountering our original, indigenous or primal self apart from our religion, culture, education, and conditioning - this “self” can be closer to the real Self, the Higher Self, the Soul. 

The force of the primal-Self manifested as love is the glory of God. 
Those who awaken it in others and nurture the nurturers glorify Him.

The times I spent with the San Bushmen felt like I had dropped into an advanced spiritual community. They had an unconditional positive regard for each other, an unconditional love for the children, they lacked judgmental attitudes and were extremely humble in the light of their amazing wilderness and spiritual skills. 

It was all for one and one for all among their small clans.

“Blessed are the meek, for the meek will inherit the earth.” 

 

I believe that Jesus was referring to the humble, the innocent and the non-acquisitive. The San Bushmen of the Kalahari especially fit this description well, as I am sure do many other indigenous tribes, more notably those that have remained hunter-gatherers. Their scriptures were nature and all the magic contained therein – their god – the Great Spirit – not the bottom line. They were nature bound, living in the archetype of the Garden of Eden before we arrived and made them eat of the fruit of ego and acquisitiveness. They too now will have to eventually find their way back to a new Eden as we are doing. 

When we immerse in nature with as little as us as possible between us and the Earth Mother we are able to experience some of their profoundness. With the right intention of going inward rather than outward we can attain equanimity, an alfa state of consciousness and a feeling of oneness with nature and each other. Moreover, our dreams and our connection with the Field intensify.

It is vital that we adopt more of an indigenous consciousness for ourselves. The demise of the primal self in the West has resulted from our upbringing, education, religion, culture, and the allure of materialism, technology and the innumerable commodities that tempt us. We have lost our indigenous, root, core or primeval self and our inherent wholeness because of “civilization.”  Our children are even more at risk as the hypnosis of technology becomes more pervasive. We have paid a price for the benefits accrued.

 

 

FORGIVENESS # 3

Forgiving others

It is worth considering

Was it intentional? Is there another side to their story? Is there a unique cultural issue? Have you managed to walk in their moccasins for a day? Were they victims of their own circumstances? Was the insult true and worthy of attention? Was harm done?

Was any form of an apology offered and how sincere was it?

If major or critical, is it reconcilable with some form of compensation or not?

Truth can be ego clinging to its own image.

Was one’s ego the issue? 

Is a lack of forgiveness causing contraction rather than expansion, fear rather than love? 

Is there a possibility of relating positively to the conflict rather than further aggravating the issue? 

Is ego bound, self-righteous indignation predominant? 

Is it better to be effective rather than right - creating more balance than resentment?

As kids we would rhyme; sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me– would that it was so.

We do not have to take responsibility if we have done nothing wrong but we can always empathize and apologize for any hurt rendered to the other as in; "I am sorry if I hurt your feeling."

You are not admitting culpability.

 

When it comes to our mothers and fathers and grandmothers and grandfathers we owe them forgiveness. They gave us a live birth and without them we would not be on the planet. Hence the commandment...

"Honor your father and mother ..."

You do not have to love them or even like them, just forgive, release and let that angst go – physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. 

The dead often hang around the living looking for forgiveness since forgiveness will release them from that particular karmic burden and make for a more functional reincarnation. There is nothing good about being haunted by the ghosts of the past that were responsible for our neglect.  Their intrusive energies - intentionally or not - get in the way of the flow of our life force. Forgiveness will release them and also you of their spiritual intrusiveness even if they are not haunting you from the other side. 

Giving forgiveness and asking for forgiveness is especially important before death. One should also release the other from unkept promises and unresolved commitments.

Forgiveness is much more difficult when they have passed on. 

Forgiveness is focused on the degree to which we are holding our anger. This does not mean we have to embrace someone who has done something despicable. Nor does it mean we have to have anything to do with the one we have forgiven. Forgiveness is an internal process totally dependent on whether the negative feelings are released. One can keep it secret if one wants. There is no necessity to reveal. The unburdening can be healing. Forgiveness is just as important for us as it is for them.

Consider whether reconciliation is possible or desirable. Reconciliation goes beyond forgiveness. Reconciliation may be neither possible nor desirable. Do not feel that you must reconcile with a person whom you have forgiven for a hurt. 

Only you can release your negative feelings though other people and situations can inspire. 

 

These teachings from the sages can helps us to find the way.

 

“Mercy to the point of recalling only the good qualities of our tormentor.
Remembering them in the innocence of their infancy.
Mercy beyond the letter of the law.
Patience in enduring evil.” Cordovero

 

“When a deep injury is done to us we never recover until we forgive.” Alan Paton

Paton was a renowned South African author who wrote and protested about Apartheid during his lifetime.  Forgiveness was at the heart of Mandela and Bishop Tutus’ Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the fall of Apartheid. Their idea was that it was essential for the healing of the “Rainbow Nation.”

 

“It is vitally important that we see these mens’ humanity” 

Albie Sachs the lawyer who presided over the commission.

The commission wanted healing and their only hope was to reach out with compassion and not revenge. Remorse and contrition were to be openings for repentance. The truth and the whole truth needed to be told and a sincere apology for the atrocity was key.

 

“What are the ways of the Holy One. A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving, iniquity, transgression and sin.” Exodus 34:6

 

Just as the Creator judges the action and not the Higher Self - made in the divine image so should we judge the action and not that person's higher Self. Karma takes care of the rest. The Ancestors teach us to sweeten the judgments.

 

 

 

 

FORGIVENESS # 2

We are all worthy of forgiveness and we all made in the image of the Creator with a pure soul. Ego (the small self,) Monkey (Narrow) Mind, our Shadow, Store Consciousness, a negatively primed subconscious and tricksters get in its way. We are a microcosmic chip of the Divine and a tiny yet significant holographic imprint of this Light or “Flame.” As above so below, as without so within. We all need to take any "albatrosses" requiring forgiveness, hanging around us, off of our necks. 

 

“Forgiveness is the most completing gift we can experience for we all have its sweet need.” J. O’donahue

 

Forgiveness depends on:

 

What we do to ourselves (to our Higher Selves and hence to God)

 

What we have done to others

What others have done to us

 

These are the three things to be scrutinized. 

 

Forgiveness of self – the little self and its choices and actions (the Higher Self is pure.) 

Grant forgiveness!

 

Forgiveness of others. 

Give forgiveness!

 

For those that we have wronged. 

Ask forgiveness!

 

Once we have done this. whether positively accepted or not, we are better able to return to our Higher Selves.

 

Repent with joy, forgive with joy. You are returning to yourself and are back on the path.

 

It’s all about cosmic union. Go forward with forgiveness which is essential to substance and Joy.

 

Forgiveness for what we have done to our Selves - our higher Selves, made in the image of the Divine.

 

“And if your friend does evil to you, say to him, “I forgive you for what you did to me, but how can I forgive you for what you did to yourself?”  Nietzsche

 

… The only real truth is God’s love for us. This is what it is to heal and be healed - to surrender to this.

God’s love is not a test. God is not a test of love.

 

God will forgive us for these sins - these sins to the Self, to that Self made in the image of the Creator. But we also have to forgive ourselves. This will make it easier for us to forgive others and ask others for forgiveness of any grievances. 

If this is challenging, make a trade; forgive yourself for something and then also give forgiveness or ask forgiveness of someone you have offended or injured as an equalizer towards one's worthiness. Imagining oneself in front of a spiritual tribunal accounting for one’s karma may induce us to do this. Forgiveness can help to release us from our karmic sins

Self-condemnation and recrimination have no place in spiritual transformation or healing. They strengthen guilt which can lead to shame. Regret and remorse are about what we did wrong, not who we are. Shame and persistent guilt are about feeling bad about who we are rather than only our actions. We all do bad things but this does not make us bad. Shame and guilt can put our higher consciousness in lockdown. This is a choice, we create our own reality. Pain is inevitable, suffering optional.

 Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself and release yourself from what you are not accountable.

 

“Self-condemnation strengthens guilt which is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of realization.”
Sri Swami Rama

 

Self-condemnation, guilt and shame paradoxically can make us believe that if we beat ourselves up or others do it for us, it will make us perform better but usually the opposite is true. Self-recrimination and positive outcomes are frequently inversely proportional. Functional M.R.I studies and neuroscience have shown that self-condemnation/recrimination, guilt and shame shut down the higher consciousness of the prefrontal lobe of the brain allowing our primitive brain centers and monkey mind to predominate. 

Furthermore, guilt can feed the reward center in the brain since we associate guilt with pleasure – “forbidden fruits….” Pride, shame and guilt all stimulate similar neural pathways which can decrease our self-motivation and control.

We all need to practice self-compassion, universal self-acceptance (U.S.A.) or an unconditional positive regard for ourselves (and others.) This does not mean self-enabling – we have to acknowledge and admit to being unskillful. This attitude can reduce anxiety, depression and promote happiness, optimism, positive emotions and self-worth. We need to treat ourselves as we would a good friend.

 

Guilt, and shame and a feeling that one does not deserve to be well is also antithetical to one’s healing or being cured. Some believe that sickness is God’s way of punishing them for the errors of their ways. This is not true and is a nocebo effect or a way of self-hexing. Just as self-condemnation has no place in spiritual transformation the same is true for its capacity to immobilize the Inner Healer. The Inner Healer is part of the soul and has infinite potential as shown in those who have had spontaneous remission of deadly diseases that have defied the best of what Western medicine has to offer. Everyone deserves to be healthy. Guilt and shame are antithetical to good health.

 

“There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.” New England Saying

 

Self-compassion, U.S.A. or an unconditional positive self-regard

reduce anxiety, depression and increases happiness, optimism, positive emotions and self-worth. Self-compassion does not mean enabling. We have to admit our wrongdoing and make amends. Self-esteem with a small s which reflects ego, and can be associated with narcissism, is not the same as Self-worth (as in one’s Higher Self.) We are all worthy of respect - not necessarily esteem, pride, prestige or fame. The self-esteem movement that began in California in the 60’s was a failure. Instead of enhancing performance it decreased it and lead to more depression and even suicide. 

Owning and expressing our unskillfulness in words decreases the impact of what we may or may not have done in causing harm.

Suppressing our emotions aggravates our misdemeanors. Striving for perfection can be a disease and cause "dis"-ease. We need to substitute excellence for perfectionism. There is always a sufficiency of excellence for the task at hand.