Brian’s Weblog

Is it the Real Thing?

Bob Randall speaks of how the white man cut away the Aboriginal points of Connection, Kanyini, when they told the Aboriginals that the white man´s Belief System was better than the Aboriginals´.  The story has been the same for millenia, and has resulted in so much bloodshed . . . “My God is the only TRUE God.”  In simplistic terms, it has been a campaign of Superiority.

The Disconnectedness that resulted has almost destroyed the Aboriginal culture as they, like the Native Americans, struggle with depression, diabetes and drug and alcohol abuse.  They see advertising featuring white people drinking Coke and looking happy, so they try that.  It does not work.

But then again, does it work for us?  What exactly is the western Belief System – and what has it become as we move away from a religious world view and Easter becomes simply another bank holiday mixed with Pagan tradition?  Could one clue be printed on American currency – “In God We Trust”?  Is it God we trust, or money and business?  In our world we put so much emphasis on the Gross Domestic Product, a measure of productivity, and Consumer Confidence, and the state of the stock market has such an effect of the state of people´s mental health.

To a large extent, our Belief System is based on productivity and material success.  Meanwhile, the case for Superiority continues as we exhaust ourselves ourselves trying to appear “successful” by being richer, better looking and smarter that our neighbors.  Our homes and cars get bigger and more expensive, as does our anxiety medication perscriptions and our debt.

Obviously a Belief System like this is not sustainable.  Not only is it incredibly fragile, but lately it seems to have cracked.  In fact, any Belief System based on superiority is unsustainable.  If everything is One Spirit, everything is equal.  Superiority does not exist.

We also need to ask ourselves, how can “Consumer Confidence” ever compare to the confidence one gets by simply being part of “all that is”?  Could it be that the Aboriginals had a much stronger, more grounded Belief System than what we steer our lives with today?

It was in the Outback I first discovered The Dreaming, a time when everything all around us was created. In The Dreaming, the world, man, animals, plants, and nature were created and named by supernatural beings who later disappeared into the earth or into the heavens. Actually, according to the Aboriginals, we are still in the Dreaming. The Dreaming is Life.

The Dreaming is about creation, and it is not necessarily exclusive to the Aboriginals.  As the Budda said, ”We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts, and with our thoughts we make the world.”  Jesus said similar words when he said in the context of eating, “what goes into your mouth will not defile you; rather, it’s what comes out of your mouth that will defile you.” In ancient Judaism, Kabbalah, it is believed that everything in the world is already created on another plane, waiting for us to connect with the Light to bring it into reality. As I learned, the Aboriginals beleive there are various planes of Life, and as you connect to your higher self (aka “The Light”), you begin to experience Life better. Sounds a bit like Nirvana.

So, if all these streams of wisdom all point in the same direction. . . is Life simply a dream we create with our words and thoughts? Is it all about Quantum Physics? If so, what are we creating when we watch violence, real or in the movies, and stories of despair and anxiety, on CNN or Fox News? If we watch and beleive the bad news on the economy, and we creating more of it? And why do we gladly pay ten bucks to see a disaster movie, but watch in horror when it comes to exist in events such as September 11th? As we create our Dreams, do we also create our nightmares?

As I traveled Australia, I kept hearing the white Australians complaining that the Aboriginals would not assimilate into our culture. Perhaps we should try harder to assimilate into theirs. Rather than a Belief System founded on material success, do we need something stronger?

Do we need to stop chasing things that do not exist, trying to appear successful, and instead focus on the power of our thoughts . . . and to make Life a good Dream?

Is it time for us to discover Kanyini?

Keep Dreaming,
Brian