Words of Wisdom
In the never ending plight for religious freedom and peace, in the end, it all has to do with LOVE and RESPECT. If we seriously and carefully study the true definition of these two precious words, we can find that they are the most important part of a true religion.
Religion is good: it's the administrators, most times, that makes it questionable, and making non-believers of those who would otherwise be unwavering disciples.
Religion is good, but without faith, it is nothing more than just a meaningless word.
Religion is just a word, but strong faith can move a mountain .
Why are there so many Religions, worshipping the same God?
Every word spoken should be a word of prayer
Purpose of Prayer:
Prayers that come from the heart are more meaningful and rewarding then conventional prayers. Consider the meaningful Text Prayer taken from ancient times, and how it fits in the present world we live in today?
Whether praying in a congregation, but especially alone, we must feel every word, and with all our heart, pray on behalf of all mankind, as one, for, after all, we are all connected. As long as we are on this planet together, we are all the expression of one life. If we pray with enough faith, our prayer will reverberate and be felt as a distant voice, bringing us closer and uniting us as one onto a central point of strong spiritual energy. For instance: forming a circle and holding hands, in the Native tradition, thus the prayer sent becomes more powerful. Next, having the Leader or Elder say a prayer, can invoke a sacred spiritual message to the world, with every member feeling the sacred energy by just closing their eyes and concentrating on the Elders spiritual prayer.
John the Baptist, baptized his followers including Jesus Christ in a river. All prophets of that time had their congregation gather in open meadows, mountains, by the river and in fields. Why must we have high domed cathedral like, looking buildings in order to do such a simple thing as "praying from the heart"?
The Creator gave the Native in his land, magnificent natural places with freedom to worship. Lovely high mountains closer to heaven to meditate;
in Canyon De shelly where one can hear the beautiful sound of silence, and places where one can listen to the refreshing sounds coming from a rhythmical waterfall. The Natives just like John, needed only the water from a peaceful running river to bless everyone under the sacred sky of beautiful Mother Earth.
I believe that the first missionaries that came to our country had been so indoctrinated in their own beliefs that they, not only misunderstood the Native way of praying, closely associated with earthly beliefs, but also mistook it for heresy. Fanaticism plays a big role in most religions. The line between devout and fanaticism is as thin as the line between "Sanity and Insanity".
Prophets in the time of Jesus Christ never carried around a BELL to ring asking people to come to prayer. Followers knew and voluntarily wanted to come and pray. He did not demand, and this is the sacred way, which is missing today.
Assemble a good managing staff with a strong MEDIA basis, invoke, most times in vain, the name of God, enough times, and you will have a successful and profitable religion. I had a Jewish friend in New York City that would jokingly say to me: "Do you want to make a lot of money? Let's start a revolution or Religion"! I have never forgotten his words.
The world should stop fighting and killing each other, in the name of G-D and, instead start praying for each other, together for one another.
Together, we must pray for mercy from the terrible calamities prophesized both in olden and more recent times, which almost unnoticed are rushing at unlimited speeds to our Earth Mother. Up until, and including the year 2012, will bring greater disasters than we have ever imagined or yet experienced.
The people of New Orleans should have publicly knelt down and prayed as one, before the opening of their Carnival Festivity, so soon after their undreamed of devastation. We must start showing the Creator some real Respect: respect that truly redeems us from our present selfish way of thinking. By the way, there were Natives in the Katrina disaster as well. The Media and Government Officials failed or ignored to mention their cries too.
We must combine True Love with Respect, and thank the Creator that we are still alive; that our thoughts, and our dreams and hopes, for rebuilding a new beginning is still a within our grasp as long as the thrust of our energy is spearheaded with spiritual power. This spiritual power, by the Creator God is the most wonderful untouched gift we have; better than anything material. We should be thankful that He has spared our life and chosen to give us a brand new opportunity, rather than sit and regret, with feelings of anger or just being blasé about all that happens around us.
I strongly believe that if so called religious leaders spent more time leading their congregation in prayer, from the heart for peace, instead of wanting the finest material church building, we could accomplish the task before us. Peace has been mentioned from the earliest writings in the Old Testament, the New Testament and clear back to the Essenes writings. In fact one of names for God was Shalom or Salaam which both mean "peace". It makes me realize that there has never really been a moment in the world when anyone was able to influence world leaders on the path of peace. Many have preached peace, but no one has ever been instrumental in trying to bring it about.
I can understand why the Hebrew People feel as strongly as they do about the area where the Old and New Testament Writings originated: Hebrew scholars being one of the main instruments of their writing. In keeping such a miraculous journalistic record, for the whole world to enjoy along with the multitudes that religiously follow said writings, I believe that after so much wandering throughout the world, the Israelis most certainly deserve the right to a place of their own to call HOMELAND: I should know this for as an Native person from the USA, I have never known what it is to have a feeling of pride in having a real country to call my home. Not to say that the Hebrew People cannot share with their Palestinian counterparts, as long as these Palestinian brothers and sisters want the same "peace, harmony and love" that Israelis wish for their people. Both peoples should work with endless, spiritual energy, together as one, to show the whole world, that waits with anxious anxiety, that they can finally, conquer their fear and united bring about, that which has eluded them, for over two and a half million years, "an EVERLASTING PEACE" It is within both, Israelis and Palestinians to cause this MIRACLE of PEACE to finally come true.
Navajo way
Still alive and in practice today, the traditional Navajo way contains no concept for religion as a sphere of activity separate from daily life. Navajo religion has been described as "life itself": the land and well-being. All living things - people, plants, animals, mountains, and the Earth itself - are relatives. Each being is infused with its own spirit, or 'inner form', which gives it life and purpose within an orderly and interconnected universe. The interrelatedness of all creation is recognized through daily prayer offerings and an elaborate system of ceremonies. The purpose of Navajo life is to maintain balance between the individual and the universe and to live in harmony with nature and the Creator. In order to achieve this goal, Navajos must perform their religious practices on the specific, time honored areas which they inhabit.
Cherokee Story
"U nay klah nah hey", the "Creator of All Things";
Go Hee Dah
A Long Time Ago
Unayklanahi, "Creator of all things.", is the traditional Creator of the Cherokee. Unayklanahi, is not a vengeful Creator of this Nation of loving people. The Creator in whom the Cherokee believe in is compassionate with no specific chosen people. The path to the Creator is through using your heart, soul, and mind for that which is good. That is a "principled" Cherokee person….An, "A ni yun wi yah".
To strive to become A ni yun wi yah is to acknowledge the desire by a Cherokee to become a "principle" person, through a path of peace, which is what the ancient ones of the Cherokees sought. They saw themselves as children of the Creator. The Cherokee had no knowledge of a bible until soon after 1492 when the European landed on Native Soil.
With over 555 Nations, who at one time spoke over 350 different languages or dialects, each Nation had a different name for the Creator. However, one thing they had in common is that, all were closely related to our Mother Earth. And if you study the beginning of the bible, you will find that Abraham had different names for what people today generally call G-d. If more people read the stories from the Old and New Testament, which is what the bible is based on, they would find a very similar relation between the teachings of Abraham, his early way of thinking and that of Original Natives of this country America.
Religion overpowering Religion
The article below, not only demonstrates the power of European conquest but also the power of Catholicism which helped to destroy a Native peoples beliefs and faith by building their churches right over their own. I have sadly found that the same occured in Europe. It was pointed out to me, of Celtic remains preserved within the right wing of a Catholic church in Austria. I wondered why this wing was spared destruction. The following parallel is self explanatory.
By MARK STEVENSON The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; 11:39 PM
Ancient Pyramid Discovered in Mexico
MEXICO CITY -- Archeologists announced on Wednesday they have discovered a massive 6th-century Indian pyramid beneath a centuries-old Catholic religious site.
Built on a hillside by the mysterious Teotihuacan culture, the pyramid was abandoned almost 1,000 years before Christians began re-enacting the Crucifixion there in the 1800s.
"When they first saw us digging there, the local people just couldn't believe there was a pyramid," said archaeologist Jesus Sanchez. "It was only when the slopes and shapes of the pyramid, the floors with altars were found, that the finally believed us."
Ceramic fragments and the presence of other ceremonial structures on the hill suggested the possibility there was a pyramid or temple somewhere nearby, but the theory wasn't proved until a member of Sanchez's team, Miriam Advincula, started a project to map the site in 2004. Exploratory trenches dug in 2005 and 2006 confirmed the find.
"Both the pre-Hispanic structure and the Holy Week rituals are part of our cultural legacy, so we have to look for a way to protect both cultural values," said Sanchez, who, along with archaeologist Miriam Advincula, has been exploring the site since 2004.
The people of Iztapalapa - now a low-income neighborhood plagued by squatter settlements - began re-enacting the Passion of Christ in 1833, to give thanks for divine protection during a cholera epidemic.
During the ritual, which draws as many as a million spectators every year, a wooden cross is raised just a few yards from the buried remains of the Teotihuacan temple, and a man chosen to portray Christ is tied to the cross.
Archeologists said they will fill in the excavation pits that revealed the pyramid to prevent the structure from being damaged by Good Friday spectators.
Measuring nearly 500 feet on each side, the 60-foot-tall pyramid was carved out on a natural hillside around 500 A.D., the scientists said. It was abandoned about 300 years later when the Teotihuacan culture collapsed.
Mexico abounds with cases in which Spanish conquerors literally built their Catholic faith atop the remains of older religions.
But the case of Iztapalapa hillside, known as the Hill of the Star, appears to be mere geographical coincidence, Sanchez said.
Pre-Hispanic cultures chose the hills that dot the otherwise flat, mountain-ringed Mexico Valley for their ceremonial sites, and postcolonial communities did the same.
PRÉCIS:
The way I see it: the issue of religion, like the Octopus has many tentacles, each trying to outreach and outdo the other with no real united end at hand; and the Messiah has no real specified date of return. At the other end of the spectrum is the Sacred Circle Natives belief. The Sacred Circle can be seen, touched, has no end and goes on forever. A thousand years from now, because of the destructive world we live in, who knows "what" or "who" the masses will be worshiping. As for myself, I just pray we still have a planet to pray in.