This page consolidates my blogs discussing the Grandfathers' 7 Teachings this link is to The Native Women's Centre brochure on sacred teachings of the Ojibway people . I have done this to make it easier to reference the principles.
I shall add the remaining one after it posts in the blog section. Please bear in mind these essays represent my personal understanding of the Grandfathers' Teachings and I do not pretend to speak for anyone else Native or non-Native. Have a joyous day...
I shall add the remaining one after it posts in the blog section. Please bear in mind these essays represent my personal understanding of the Grandfathers' Teachings and I do not pretend to speak for anyone else Native or non-Native. Have a joyous day...
WISDOM: The 1st Teaching
THE ABILITY TO USE KNOWLEDGE AND INTELLIGENCE,
PRUDENTLY, JUDICIOUSLY AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL.
The first of the 7 Grandfathers’ Teachings is about Wisdom. Do not confuse wisdom with intelligence; many very smart people are incredibly foolish. Having said that…another important hint is that a wise person is very aware of what they do NOT know…they are always open to and even seeking new knowledge.
Many decades ago I came to the conclusion that God has not made me privy to all the truths of the universe… it is not for me to deny the truth of someone else’s reality. If someone tells me they have had a close encounter of the 3rd or 4th kind, I am willing to accept that as truth. For 2 reasons, 1/ just because alien life forms have not found me interesting enough to probe doesn’t me they aren’t poking somebody; 2/ if this is a fantasy it could have been created to protect the person from a more difficult reality. Wisdom dictates that unless I am prepared to commit myself to helping this person deal with that reality (which could take years if we are talking PTSD), they are better to let go of the fantasy in their own time. Remember from last post the right thing is always to do no harm.
Wisdom is usually simple. Maybe it is because the heart centre is wise by nature, but I feel like everyone comes to the right result if they stop over analyzing things and trust their instincts. Everyone (not struggling with mental health issues) is born with the capacity for wisdom. It is something that gets better with practice, which is why older people are assumed to be wiser. Think of it like playing an instrument; some people are born virtuosos, others get better with practice, and some people (as hard as they try) can only hope they have the wisdom to consult with an expert on the more difficult questions.
Most people know the Prayer of Serenity… God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change… the courage to change the things I can … and the WISDOM to know the difference. That describes the prudent and judicious use of one’s knowledge…for the good of all (including yourself). Now you are truly wiser young grasshopper… keep practicing until WISDOM becomes a part of who you are.
LOVE: The 2nd Teaching
Today we will speak of LOVE; this is perhaps the most important of all the teachings because love is the foundation for all that is good and right in the world. The 7 Grandfathers’ teaching about love states that love is a reciprocal thing; we are not only required to love others unconditionally but we are required to accept love from others. This is very much in keeping with the spiritualist view that love is energy and must be allowed to flow. In Christian terms, the bible says, “God is love.” Not God has love or God gives love… GOD IS LOVE. Therefore every act of love we express or experience is an act of worship.
In our culture today there is a lot of confusion about the expression of love. In their wisdom the ancient Greeks had a different word to describe the different forms of love. One word described romantic love, another sexual passion, one for love of family, one for friendship and one for non-reciprocal relationships (like the way 12 year old girls love Justine Beiber or I love social justice or Lindt snowballs). We unfortunately have only one word to describe all positive emotional attachments and probably out of fear of confusion we are very reluctant to say the word “love”. So we tell our significant other “we love them”… we tell our family, “we love them” the nature of those attachments is generally accepted and fairly clear to most people, every other love relationship requires qualifiers.
The good news for all those confused about love is you do NOT have to say anything…love is a verb…what you say is less important than what you do. The words mean nothing without the loving actions to accompany them. However loving acts can stand alone; the energy generated by loving action is felt by everyone involved in the experience; giver, receiver and witness… are all elevated in that moment. Every small act of love raises the positive energy in the world as a whole. Imagine if 7 billion people all simultaneously stopped, hating, honking, hustling and hassling. Stopped all that shit we do and thought of a puppy… all that love energy would (in that moment) overwhelm the negative energy of those 6 or 8 people who really hate puppies.
O.k. now I’m just babbling.
When your heart is filled with love…in that moment you have no room for greed, fear, judgment or anything else that makes you feel "less than". Pure love is the highest vibration in the universe; it the very essence of the Creator (insert the god of your understanding). To love purely and without condition is in that moment to be one with God… to be divine spirit within our flesh.
RESPECT: The 3rd Teaching
The Grandfathers teach that all things must be treated with respect… we must respect all of creation if we wish to be respected. This is why the grandmothers and grandfathers (ancestors) would use every part of the kill (game animals)… to waste any part would diminish the value of the life given.
But what does respect mean to us today, this isn’t 1750? How do WE honour all of creation? The obvious is recycle, renew, reuse…and do whatever we can as individuals to reduce our negative impact on the world. And when you consciously do something positive for the environment, “thank yourself” on behalf of your grandchildren and their grandchildren (unto 7 generations). Gratitude is a huge part of respect.
You can begin by being grateful to the Creator, for breath, for earth’s bounty (food) for
light and warmth from the sun, for compounds of ore and mineral which build our homes. Gratitude for the love and companionship of other people, and for animals both friends and food; clearly this list goes on forever. A major step into happiness is being grateful for each moment and what it brings, even gratitude for the awareness of feeling grateful.
While respect for all of creation would be nice; personally I would just be happy to see human-beings start showing respect for each other. Then advance to respecting all sentient creatures and perhaps one joyous day respecting all of creation.
I guess the best first step is to stop judging and start accepting. No person (including one’s self) is better than or less than another… we are quite simply different. Seneca said, “A thing be neither good nor bad but that we think it so”. So stop thinking so damn much! We are what we are… a thing is what it is… acceptance is about living with the reality of this moment. Respect can only exist hand in hand with acceptance.
Parable time, woo-hoo!!! The porcupine has quills (simple fact) he does not judge these as bad or good. They are just there riding around on his back. The fox in any moment does not judge the porcupine’s quills as bad or good, in fact he probably doesn’t think about porcupines much at all. Now in the moment that the fox attempts to eat the porcupine, they both make a judgment
about quills. Fox thinks quills (the ones in his face anyway) are bad and porcupine thinks quills are good.
What I am saying is, “don’t judge people”… you can judge an experience as bad or good, and gratefully take the lesson from that moment (porcupines are not good eating) and grow from it (intellectually, emotionally, physically or spiritually). Respect can only come from a place of acceptance. “Civilized”(I use the term loosely) man has a long history of judging people, to quote one of our greatest prophet/teachers, “Judge ye not, lest ye be judged” and he said it just like that in perfect Jamesian English LOL.
The fact is judgment is the bane of our existence…first we judge ourselves most harshly, then to make us feel better we judge others to be “less than” we are. Accept that you are a work in progress… forgive your mistakes…and be the best YOU that you can be in any given moment. Accept yourself and you will be able to respect yourself. Accept others and you will be able to respect others. Treat everyone with kindness and respect and the world will be better for having you in it. Have a joyous day.
BRAVERY: The 4th Teaching
Bravery is to face the foe, whether internal or external, with integrity. In the Anishinaabe language, the word literally means “state of having a fearless heart.” To do what is right even when the consequences are unpleasant. Other tribes may say strong heart or strong casing… but the meaning is more important than the words chosen to express it. In my words bravery is to, “ALWAYS do what is right, because it is right and for no other reason.”
Bravery is often thought of as being a single act; an action solicited by a particular sequence of events. Running into a burning building to save the occupants or giving your coat to a street person (or any one of 1,000 similar scenarios). I refer to these, event driven situations, as heroism or altruism. Given the right circumstances every person has the capacity to be
heroic or altruistic. I would without thought dive into a swimming pool to save a child (I would not do the same for a grown man unless he was unconscious); it has to do with the level of strength I perceive would be required for either action. One acts heroically or altruistically because one sees a need and perceives they have the ability to fulfill that need. Altruism and heroism are both good things in the world of human interaction; but Bravery is something
more. Bravery is way of life, a character trait, which is visible in every decision you make and every action you take.
Bravery in our physical life, involves going through each day accepting our responsibilities, even when it would be easier not to. Bravery is keeping our word, even when it wasn’t given as a promise. Bravery is to openly love someone, even in those moments when they are being unlikeable. Bravery is doing the right thing, even when it is unpopular. Bravery is speaking out against ignorance or injustice, even if you are only speaking to one person. Bravery is opening our hearts to others, even knowing there is always a possibility of being hurt.
Bravery in our spiritual life, involves following our intuition over our intellect… trusting in our Divinity. Bravery is allowing yourself to see the divinity in others, ALL others…Jesus of Nazareth said, “As you do unto these the least of my brothers, so do you unto me.” Again in that Jamesian English he loved so well. Bravery is moving from moment to moment replacing our fear with compassion. In a society built on greed it takes bravery to live every day from a place of love. Bravery is trusting in the unity of all energy and knowing that the universe will unfold only in ways that nurture our highest and best good.
It is takes a fearless heart to continue walking in faith while the 8th Fire exists only as a
spark on the horizon of possibility. If we follow the Grandfathers’ Teachings we cannot lose our way and the Red Road will lead us into the time of the 8th Fire "an eternal fire of peace, love,
brotherhood and sisterhood".
HONESTY: The 5th Teaching
Honesty in facing a situation is to be brave. Always be honest in word and action. Be honest first with yourself, and you will more easily be able to be honest with others. In the Anishinaabe language, this word can also mean “righteousness.”
The first statement doesn’t seem relevant to a discussion of honesty so much as it speaks to the interconnectedness of all of the Grandfathers’ Teachings. Our society has mixed emotions about honesty “honesty is the best policy” is countered by the concept of “white lies”… kind of an end result justification for dishonesty. White lies are actually not necessary, your granny might have said, “If you can't say something nice don’t say anything at all.” You don’t have to lie…you just have to seek the good. Compliment the colour not the fit of your friend’s new dress or comment on the homely child’s beautiful eyes or sweet disposition; these are not lies, you are honestly focusing on what is good.
Too often people use, “I am just being honest” as an excuse to bully or abuse others. If you are using your honesty as a weapon to beat down other people; then it is time to be honest with yourself. What inadequacy are you feeling that has you seeing the world, so darkly? People, who are happy and fulfilled in their own lives, seek to share that joy with the rest of the world.
So what does it mean to live honestly? Walk your talk…first and foremost. Don Miguel Ruiz would say, “Be impeccable with your words.” Words have power; the words you use should reflect who you truly are… your value and your values. Maybe more important than being honest about who you are… is to be honest about the person you want to be. Then your talk can guide your walk into your TRUE self. As the Grandfathers have taught, being honest with you makes it easier to be honest with others.
You probably already know several good reasons to be honest on the 3-D level. If you cheat a person out of $10 your reputation suffers and soon no one will do business with you. If you are caught in a lie you damage the relationship you have with that person. Lies are
harder to remember then the truth. If you don’t respect yourself enough to value your word (commitments) then how can you expect anyone else to respect you.
On a 5-D level this is even deeper. A policeman once asked me, “If I would lie for my friend”. I had to explain to him that lying is not something you do for someone; it is something you do to someone. Once we understand the interconnectedness of all things, we understand that every action (word or deed) has a ripple effect influencing everything else. Our path through this life allows us to encounter the experiences and people who serve our highest and best good. When we lie or act dishonestly we manipulate outcomes which may delay or
completely misdirect us from our spiritual path. The life-path which results in achieving the abundance of Joy, Peace, Love, Wealth and Health that is our right as divine beings.
HUMILITY: The 6th Teaching
KNOW THAT YOU ARE EQUAL TO EVERYONE ELSE.
NO BETTER OR NO LESS, JUST THE SAME AS ANYBODY ELSE.
As someone who was raised in a White (European) culture, humility was considered the opposite of strength. And therefore one would not want to be seen as humble (or weak). To be
humiliated was to be subjecated or oppressed. Today humiliating usually is applied to a specific incident; he walked into the meeting with his fly open. To understand this 6th of the Grandfathers’ Teachings we need to open our mind to a different view of humility; humility as simply being the opposite of arrogance.
Again there is the problem of judgment that humankind has become so fond of. Usually starting from a place of I am not enough, followed quickly with “but you are less than me, so I guess I am ok”. When we understand humility in the context of the Grandfathers’ Teachings we can move easily beyond judgment to acceptance; not just of others but of ourselves.
I wish I could say more about this subject but really it is quite clear, ALL HUMANKIND HAVE EQUAL VALUE. At first you might look at all the people society has labeled as worthless (ie: my beautiful street friends), and assert “I’m not the same them! I work, I pay taxes; surely I am more valuable than those people”. NOPE you’re not. Here comes the bonus of practicing humility. Once you accept that you are no better than anyone else, you realize that you are no less than anyone else. No matter how rich, powerful, or famous someone is, they are no better than you are. Classism is part of the 3rd dimensional mindset of lack; assigning value to persons so as to determine who gets the lion's share of limited resources.
As we move into a 5th dimensional understanding of manifestation, we are able to stop worrying about "getting our's" we simply trust that what we need will be available to us when we need it. We no longer need to be more deserving, we only need to be trusting.
TRUTH: the 7th teaching
TO KNOW THESE THINGS IS TO KNOW THE TRUTH.
TO KNOW THESE THINGS IS TO KNOW THE TRUTH.