So I was editing my last video on “Don’t steal native spirituality” and thought of an even more important reason not to do it. So I’m going to continue my rant — don’t steal native spirituality!
It’s like… I know you you’re a modern person just exactly like me. And the biggest reason that you probably want to steal native spirituality, or use it for your own spiritual growth, is because you think it’s going to be easier. You think they are gonna have some sort of a secret that brings you to a place of constant bliss or natural life… or or whatever you think it is. You think it’s gonna be easier.
But it’s not. So I invite you to go and watch the video that I have linked in this article down below. The video of a native Navajo Elder. And really listen to what he’s saying, because what he’s saying is hard work. It’s a lot harder than what you are probably studying as spirituality. You’re probably studying things to make you happy. Whereas in native spirituality you’re studying things, learning things, to create honor in yourself: to create solidity in yourself: to avoid the temporary joy that narcissism brings.
Native teachings are actually a lot harder, more difficult to do. He’s saying that a lifetime of sacrificing for you family is what love is.
This is hard, particularly for us modern people, because our ideas of what a human being is, and who we are, and how we should live, are so skewed by our conditionings. We must constantly be on guard against our internal consumerism.
So don’t steal it, but do listen to it. Listen to it deeply so that you go. “Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t see that before.” When we listen to these things, when we listen to true spiritual teachers, it should be like an awakening into reality. Not an awesome feeling of “Oh I already know that. I’m such Bliss! I’m so beautiful.”
It should be more like, “I can do better. I can be more responsible. I can be more solid and helpful. I can get past my own narcissistic needs and start thinking about everybody else. I can look for how I fit in to this thing called life no matter how hard it is.”
Family First: Navajo Love through Sacrifice. The Traditional Way. Navajo Traditional Teachings.