Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
I had the privelege of takng a course on the Indigeneous Perspective on the Sacred. In that course they provided us a chapter from a book called Faith, Physics and Psychology by John Fitzgerald Medina, who is a indigenous person himself. I was so impressed by the chapter that I bought the book. I encounted rmuch of the same material in his recorded speech from the ABS conferance than I encounted in that chapter. The speech had closed captions so I was able to write down just about every word.
Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America. Should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Tablets of the Divine Plan", 6.7
Undoubtedly in those regions [America] the Call of God must have been raised in ancient times, but it hath been forgotten now.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks", 24.3
"In the Tablets of the Divine Plan, the Master pays the utmost attention to this most important matter. He states that if the Power of the Holy Spirit today properly enters into the minds and the hearts of the natives of the great American continents that they will become great standard bearers of the Faith, similar to the Nomads (Arabians) who became the most cultured and enlightened people under the Mohammadan civilization." (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela, August 22, 1957)
Various, "Lights of Guidance", 43.1776.2
In other words the prophecy of 'Abdu'l-Baha applies to natives of both North and South America.
These Arab tribes were most barbarous and rapacious, and in comparison with them the wild and fierce natives of America were the Platos of the age
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Some Answered Questions", 7.3
The Indians shared as fairly common holistic version of reality. Virtually all activities by the native were imbued with spiritual means. Holism entails an integration of mind, body, and spirit, as well an integration of faith and human reason, intuition with logic, the spiritual with the material and the sacred with the secular.
Many modern people are finding themselves living in predominantly secular cultures that are technologically and materially rich and yet I would assert spiritually impoverished. Indeed I would say that many of the problems that we're currently facing in civilization, including environmental degradation and climate change, extremes of wealth and poverty, social economic dislocation and injustice, racism, escalating, escalating rates of teenage suicide, depression, incarceration, all of these are rooted, I would assert in a spiritualize view of reality based on separation, categorization, dichotomization. Secular culture leads to a form of spiritual schizophrenia. And this is evident like when people, as an example, go to church on Sunday to be quote, spiritual, and yet spend the rest of their week, where they may not even think. They are focused on secular and spiritual pursuits in business, government, education, and science, where they may not even think of God, a spiritual transcendence of divine virtues of prayer.
To traditional Native Peoples it would be inconceivable to have such a split between the material and the spiritual, the split between the secular and the sacred. The predominant worldview in Western civilization is commonly known as the Cartesian-Newtonian worldview, named after Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton. Rene Descartes was a French philosopher of the 1600s and he was the first to argue that the universe is a machine made of separate parts governed by exact mathematical laws of cause and effect. He also argued that the human body is also machine and there that the human mind and the human body are completely separate entities. He also argued that the universe is made up of matter, and that matter is devoid of and completely separate from life, purpose, and spirituality. He believed that science is the only route to true and absolute knowledge, thus creating a split between science and religion.
Next came Isaac Newton, Isaac Newton liked the idea. He was an English, I guess you could call an early scientist, mathematician. He liked the idea of a mechanical universe. And he actually invented differential calculus, which he then used to create the laws, Newton's laws, that supposedly ran this mechanical universe.
Then after came John Locke. John Locke claimed he was developing a social physics. And he said that he believed in the same way that the universe is a machine made up of separate parts, separate parts that are controlled by gravity, that in the same way, society is also a machine made up of separate individuals that are controlled by self interest. He believed solely in the power of human reason. And therefore he rejected any forms of knowledge that came from divine revelation such as divinely revealed scriptures or divine right of kings. He was also the first to come up with a physical rational philosophy for the concept of private and individual property rights. In fact, he stated to the chief purpose of government is to insure, to protect individual private property rights. He had tremendous influence on enlightenment intellectuals such as Adam Smith, and American Revolutionary such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine.
Along these lines, Adam Smith, a Scottish economist and the father and the father of capitalism, he further argued that individuals should be completely free to compete for their own wealth and for their self interest. He promoted the idea that there should be no government interference in the affairs of individuals and in the running of the economy. Within Adam Smith's framework, the main goal of society is to produce material wealth, based on profit motive, not on spiritual, moral, psychological or emotional health. It should be mentioned that capitalism is antithetical to the Baha'i and to the Native American perspective. Indeed, the Baha'i Writings decribe capitalism and communism both creations of the European system. Shoghi Effendi described them as:
...two antagonistic schools of thought which, however divergent in their ideologies, are to be commonly condemned by the upholders of the standard of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh for their materialistic philosophies and their neglect of those spiritual values and eternal verities on which alone a stable and flourishing civilization can be ultimately established.
Shoghi Effendi, "Citadel of Faith", 72.7
So as you can tell from the description I have given that the Cartesian-Newtonian worldview is an exceedingly materialistic view of reality, in the sense that emphasizes the truth of science, reason, logic, the natural material and the secular while at the same time dismissing and even denigrating the truth of religion, faith, intuition, the supernatural, the spiritual, the sacred. In his book, The Citadel of Faith, I believe, in my view, makes a connection with this Cartesian-Newtonian worldview when he states:
It is this same cancerous materialism, born originally in Europe, carried to excess in the North American continent, contaminating the Asiatic peoples and nations, spreading its ominous tentacles to the borders of Africa, and now invading its very heart, which Bahá’u’lláh in unequivocal and emphatic language denounced in His Writings, comparing it to a devouring flame and regarding it as the chief factor in precipitating the dire ordeals and world-shaking crises that must necessarily involve the burning of cities and the spread of terror and consternation in the hearts of men.
Shoghi Effendi, "Citadel of Faith", 72.6
(To be continued)
Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America. Should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Tablets of the Divine Plan", 6.7
Undoubtedly in those regions [America] the Call of God must have been raised in ancient times, but it hath been forgotten now.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks", 24.3
"In the Tablets of the Divine Plan, the Master pays the utmost attention to this most important matter. He states that if the Power of the Holy Spirit today properly enters into the minds and the hearts of the natives of the great American continents that they will become great standard bearers of the Faith, similar to the Nomads (Arabians) who became the most cultured and enlightened people under the Mohammadan civilization." (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela, August 22, 1957)
Various, "Lights of Guidance", 43.1776.2
In other words the prophecy of 'Abdu'l-Baha applies to natives of both North and South America.
These Arab tribes were most barbarous and rapacious, and in comparison with them the wild and fierce natives of America were the Platos of the age
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Some Answered Questions", 7.3
The Indians shared as fairly common holistic version of reality. Virtually all activities by the native were imbued with spiritual means. Holism entails an integration of mind, body, and spirit, as well an integration of faith and human reason, intuition with logic, the spiritual with the material and the sacred with the secular.
Many modern people are finding themselves living in predominantly secular cultures that are technologically and materially rich and yet I would assert spiritually impoverished. Indeed I would say that many of the problems that we're currently facing in civilization, including environmental degradation and climate change, extremes of wealth and poverty, social economic dislocation and injustice, racism, escalating, escalating rates of teenage suicide, depression, incarceration, all of these are rooted, I would assert in a spiritualize view of reality based on separation, categorization, dichotomization. Secular culture leads to a form of spiritual schizophrenia. And this is evident like when people, as an example, go to church on Sunday to be quote, spiritual, and yet spend the rest of their week, where they may not even think. They are focused on secular and spiritual pursuits in business, government, education, and science, where they may not even think of God, a spiritual transcendence of divine virtues of prayer.
To traditional Native Peoples it would be inconceivable to have such a split between the material and the spiritual, the split between the secular and the sacred. The predominant worldview in Western civilization is commonly known as the Cartesian-Newtonian worldview, named after Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton. Rene Descartes was a French philosopher of the 1600s and he was the first to argue that the universe is a machine made of separate parts governed by exact mathematical laws of cause and effect. He also argued that the human body is also machine and there that the human mind and the human body are completely separate entities. He also argued that the universe is made up of matter, and that matter is devoid of and completely separate from life, purpose, and spirituality. He believed that science is the only route to true and absolute knowledge, thus creating a split between science and religion.
Next came Isaac Newton, Isaac Newton liked the idea. He was an English, I guess you could call an early scientist, mathematician. He liked the idea of a mechanical universe. And he actually invented differential calculus, which he then used to create the laws, Newton's laws, that supposedly ran this mechanical universe.
Then after came John Locke. John Locke claimed he was developing a social physics. And he said that he believed in the same way that the universe is a machine made up of separate parts, separate parts that are controlled by gravity, that in the same way, society is also a machine made up of separate individuals that are controlled by self interest. He believed solely in the power of human reason. And therefore he rejected any forms of knowledge that came from divine revelation such as divinely revealed scriptures or divine right of kings. He was also the first to come up with a physical rational philosophy for the concept of private and individual property rights. In fact, he stated to the chief purpose of government is to insure, to protect individual private property rights. He had tremendous influence on enlightenment intellectuals such as Adam Smith, and American Revolutionary such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine.
Along these lines, Adam Smith, a Scottish economist and the father and the father of capitalism, he further argued that individuals should be completely free to compete for their own wealth and for their self interest. He promoted the idea that there should be no government interference in the affairs of individuals and in the running of the economy. Within Adam Smith's framework, the main goal of society is to produce material wealth, based on profit motive, not on spiritual, moral, psychological or emotional health. It should be mentioned that capitalism is antithetical to the Baha'i and to the Native American perspective. Indeed, the Baha'i Writings decribe capitalism and communism both creations of the European system. Shoghi Effendi described them as:
...two antagonistic schools of thought which, however divergent in their ideologies, are to be commonly condemned by the upholders of the standard of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh for their materialistic philosophies and their neglect of those spiritual values and eternal verities on which alone a stable and flourishing civilization can be ultimately established.
Shoghi Effendi, "Citadel of Faith", 72.7
So as you can tell from the description I have given that the Cartesian-Newtonian worldview is an exceedingly materialistic view of reality, in the sense that emphasizes the truth of science, reason, logic, the natural material and the secular while at the same time dismissing and even denigrating the truth of religion, faith, intuition, the supernatural, the spiritual, the sacred. In his book, The Citadel of Faith, I believe, in my view, makes a connection with this Cartesian-Newtonian worldview when he states:
It is this same cancerous materialism, born originally in Europe, carried to excess in the North American continent, contaminating the Asiatic peoples and nations, spreading its ominous tentacles to the borders of Africa, and now invading its very heart, which Bahá’u’lláh in unequivocal and emphatic language denounced in His Writings, comparing it to a devouring flame and regarding it as the chief factor in precipitating the dire ordeals and world-shaking crises that must necessarily involve the burning of cities and the spread of terror and consternation in the hearts of men.
Shoghi Effendi, "Citadel of Faith", 72.6
(To be continued)