PRAYER FOR THE GREAT FAMILY by Gary Snyder

Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day--

and to her soil: rich, rare, and sweet

in our minds so be it.


Gratitude to Plants, the sun-facing light-changing leaf

and fine root-hairs; standing still through wind

and rain; their dance is in the flowing spiral grain

in our minds so be it.



Gratitude to Air, bearing the soaring Swift and the silent

Owl at dawn. Breath of our song

clear spirit breeze

in our minds so be it.



Gratitude to Wild Beings, our brothers, teaching secrets,

freedoms and ways; who share with us their milk;

self-complete, brave, and aware

in our minds so be it.



Gratitude to Water: clouds, lakes rivers, glaciers;

holding or releasing; streaming through all

our bodies salty seas

in our minds so be it.



Gratitude to the Sun: blinding pulsing light through

trunks of trees, through mists, warming caves where

bears and snakes sleep--he who wakes us--

in our minds so be it.



Gratitude to the Great Sky

who holds billions of stars--and goes yet beyond that--

beyond all powers, and thoughts

and yet is within us--

Grandfather Space.

The Mind is his Wife

so be it.





after a Mohawk prayer

Message from a Hopi Elder

"You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered . . .

Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader."

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time!"


"There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.

"Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

"The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.


"We are the ones we've been waiting for."


-attributed to an unnamed Hopi elder
Hopi Nation
Oraibi, Arizona

The Nature of Reality - by Bill Neal

From what I am capable of understanding, "reality" is based on two things - perception and agreement. First, we are aware that we exist. Then, whatever we perceive and interpret in our minds becomes the world that we live in. That world for one person is not necessarily the same for another. Individual perception of the sensory information we are surrounded by is the foundation of our sense of "reality". We only accept something as "real" if we can perceive it through our senses. Unfortunately this seemingly simple process is complicated by a function of our brains which is to filter out sensory information based on its effect on our survival and our ability to process that data. Some say that, for whatever reason, we use only 10% of the capacity of the brain. The outcome of the brain's function seriously affects our conclusions about the nature of what is "real".

An example of how our minds affect our perceptions is a story that someone told me once of a people who lived near a powerful waterfall, not unlike the Miwuk people of Yosemite Valley. It was a very beautiful place and the people counted themselves as very lucky to live in the midst of such beauty. The waterfall, however, was very loud. When friends and family would come to visit the people, they could not even hear themselves speak. The people who lived there, over time, had learned not to hear the noise. That not-hearing eventually became a permanent partial hearing loss. This is one way that our brains affect our perceptions while aiding in our day-to-day survival.

Once, after having taken a photograph of a very beautiful view, when the picture was developed I saw that there were power lines passing through the foreground view in the picture that I had not seen while I was there admiring that beauty. It made me wonder - what else do we not see, not hear or smell or taste or feel, and not even know that we are missing it? What loss of sensory information do we suffer everyday without even knowing it? If perception drives our version of "reality", how different is my reality from what it would be if I really "saw" the world?

Many years ago I was introduced to the art of mushroom hunting. My friend knew the safest and best-tasting mushrooms and how to cook them. The first time I went mushroom hunting with him it did not take him long to begin to fill his basket. I, however found nothing. I didn't understand it. I knew that I would not know what kind of mushrooms I found, that I would have to rely on him to identify them for me. But I found nothing. Finally I stopped to relieve myself. Looking down at the ground in front of me, I was shocked to realize that I was relieving myself on the mushrooms that I had not previously seen. It took that foolish act to begin to learn to "see" them. What does that tell you about our way of being in the world?

Perception, however, is not the whole story. Our minds interpret the information that our senses collect and prioritize it in association with interpretations already made. Those interpretations are made by agreement with other minds that say "this is the way it is". That becomes the reality that is handed down to us. Various terminologies have been applied to this "agreement" - we call it a mind/set or paradigm or conceptual worldview, etc. These paradigms are subject to periodic shifts based on various causes. The Native American worldview, for example, was shifted by contact with Europeans with a totally different version of "reality".

A paradigm shift is a metamorphosis, transformation, or revolution from what existed before. The latest agent or catalyst of change is the introduction of the personal computer and the internet. The effects of the introduction of these catalysts are still coming into being and is the subject for my messages of change to come that we can bring about together.

Next, in my note "Bringing About Change", I will discuss how I see these changes occurring. I hope that you stay with me through this process and add to this discussion your understanding of what is occurring right now.
.

Bringing About Change - Part 1 - by Bill Neal

First of all I would like to quote from the White Bison Wellbriety Movement training manual for recovery coaches. It concerns Prophecies.
"These are stories disclosed by the Elders when it was time. The Elders have told us we are now in a new time - a time of change - a new Springtime of life - a coming-together time. For a long time the people have been sleeping. We have given up and are living life without hope. We have put up with disharmony and confusion. We are either sleeping as a people or are in denial.
"There are certain gifted people in every community or tribe that have special gifts given to them by the Creator. This gift is insight. These people are able to see beyond delusion or denial. They know the people are asleep. They are able to see solutions to problems. They are able to see vision where there is no vision.
"Often these people seem to be irritants or troublemakers. These people are the Coyote Clan People. What do coyotes do? They yip a lot. If you try to go to sleep or you are sleeping the coyote's yip will wake you up. Coyote Clan People are willing to be radical, in a good way. Coyote Clan People are willing to speak the truth. Coyote Clan People will not conform to injustice. They insist on justice. Coyote Clan People are persistent. They are tenacious. Coyotes know that every set-back is only temporary. Coyote Clan People are change agents. Coyote Clan People fight for change.
"You will never see a Coyote Clan person who fights for him or herself. They always fight for the people. They are "cause people". Coyote Clan People are very valuable to a community or organization that wants to heal. The Coyote Clan People help create new ideas and new visions. They energize people and create followers who will help do the work. Coyotes are energizers.
"Now is the time for coyote to be active. We are in the beginning of the change. Coyotes must wake up and help the people.
"The Elders tell us that the Great Spirit has selected thousands of healers from all walks of life, all ages, all colors, and all four directions. These chosen healers will be given gifts that the human being has not used before. These gifts are the new life force that will be used by the healers. They will cause the people to "come alive". As the people "come alive", they will be willing to sit in circles they were unwilling to sit in before. Different races will sit in the same circle, different tribes will come together and people will want to form communities. Traditional values will return. We will search for a simple life and families will heal. We will start to respect the Mother Earth in a sacred way, our hearts will be changed and forgiveness will start to take place."
This is all quotation from the White Bison Wellbriety Movement training manual for recovery coaches. These words are for all of us. Take them to heart - make them part of your being. Go out and tell others to come sit in the circle.
Coyotes! We are calling you to come to the circle!
Bringing About Change - Part 2 is coming up.
.

Wisdom Words For Today

"When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision." - Tecumseh

"Let us put our minds together and see what life we will make for our children."
Sitting Bull

"Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for." — Hopi elders

"New circumstances call for new words, new phrases and the transfer of old words to new objects.”
Thomas Jefferson

"...a new scientific understanding of life at all levels of living systems-organisms, social systems, and ecosystems...based on a new perception of reality that has profound implications not only for science and philosophy, but also for business, politics, health care, education, and everyday life."
The Web of Life by Fritjof Capra (author of The Tao of Physics)

"Today, a new paradigm and new era of myth are beginning to unfold... reflecting a new stage of human consciousness as it wrestles with an evolving global community, the unfolding environmental crisis, and progressive democratization. The new paradigm and emerging myths are reflecting a mutualism and interconnectedness of all aspects of the earth. The concomitant education must reflect the teaching/learning process and content appropriate for such new myth making".
Gregory Cajete, Ph.D.,Look to the Mountain-An Ecology of Indigenous Education

"Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - The Phenomenon of Man

"There is a song which is always there, beneath, above, behind, within - sometimes we begin to hear it. The trick then, is to not lose our own voice, but to stay tuned to that song and not let it fade away again." - Bill Neal Elk Whistle

The Two Wolves

A Cherokee elder was teaching his grandchildren about life.

He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight between two wolves.

One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, hatefulness, and lies.

The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, humbleness, kindness, friendship, generosity, faith, and truth.

This same fight is going on inside of you, and inside every other person, too.”

The children thought about it for a minute. Then one child asked his grandfather,

“Which wolf will win?”

The Cherokee elder replied…

“The one you feed.”

.

The Bristlecone: Honoring Our Elders and Ancestors - Elk Whistle (USA)

Bill Neal, known as Elk Whistle, is a

performer, recording artist, storyteller, teacher,

and director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble.

Neal, whose ancestry is Cherokee, plays the

plains–style cedar flutes of the Lakota, Kiowa,

and Comanche Nations, and the river cane

flutes of the Choctaw and the Cherokee. He

was honored in a naming ceremony when the

Tongva Tribe, the original people of the

Greater Los Angeles area, gave him the name,

"Mah–na–che–a–shun," which means “He

Sings With His Heart.” Elk Whistle also sang

for a number of years with the Red Spirit

Singers, a northern traditional powwow drum

group based in Southern California.




The following derives from an impromptu

talk that Elk Whistle was asked to give after


playing flute at the November 2007 Monthly

Sampai at Shumei America's National Center

in Pasadena. The November Sampai is

customarily set aside for honoring elders and

ancestors. The text has been edited for use in

this publication.



"I do not usually speak without my flutes in my hand.

Usually when I speak I tell stories about the songs that the flutes play.

Fifteen years ago, for some reason I was given the gift of playing

these instruments. The flutes that I play come

from a time when the world was still young and

all the living things on the Earth could still understand

each other and could still speak to

each other. When Native People talk about all

the living things on the Earth, we mean the

two–legged, the four–legged, the winged ones of

the air, the dwellers of the water, the creepy–

crawlies, the green things with roots that cling to

the earth, and even the stones of the Earth are

living things with a spirit and a voice and a will.

When I play these flutes, I always hope that

people hear within the voice of the flute that

connection between all other living things in the

circle of life.

The Lakota people of the Northern

Plains have seven sacred ceremonies, and in

all of their ceremonies they use an expression

in their language, which is “mitakuye oyasin.”

“Mitakuye oyasin” roughly translated

means “all my relations.” When they say “all

my relations,” they are talking about every

single living thing in the circle of life. Among

my people and among all Native People, we

talk about the sacred directions. Among my

people, the Cherokee or ‘Tsalagi,’ we talk

about seven sacred directions. The four cardinal

directions, East, South, West, and

North, represent all of creation. The fifth direction

is the Sky above, the sixth direction

is the Earth below, and the seventh direction

is Inside, at the Center.

When Native People talk about

standing at the Center, they mean

that they understand that they have

a hundred percent responsibility

for what they create in the world.

They are a hundred percent responsible

for how they live their

lives. There are things in the

world that we do not have control

over. What we do have control

over is how we behave when

things take place, how we react,

the decisions we make in response

to those things that

happen. The decisions and actions

we take in response to

all these things that occur is

how we create in the world.

Where you are right here,

right now, is the sum total of

every action and every decision

that we have ever made in our

entire lives that has brought us

to this point. We created it that

way. We are all creators, and as

creators, we have a hundred

percent responsibility to

every other living thing

in the circle.

These are things that I am still learning

myself. I am still learning how to live my

life. The flute that I played for you is a very

important flute to me. I always begin with it

and I almost always end with it. It is starting

to get a little battered–looking; it has water

spots on it from being rained on. I had a little

problem with that for a while. When I

would start playing, the wind would start

blowing and it would start raining. One of

my elders, a Kickapoo from Oklahoma, who

has since passed on, was very knowledgeable

in traditional Native People's ways. On

more than one occasion, he took me aside to

explain to me what my responsibility was in

playing these instruments. He told me about

a young man who was playing his flutes and

did not understand the power of the instrument

(because they are not just musical instruments),

and so it rained for six weeks

straight from his playing. The elder told me

to stick to the love songs, because one of the

traditional ways in which they were used

was by young men playing love songs for

young ladies.

I had to tell him that, in order to stay out

of trouble with the flutes, I had to be careful

about playing the love songs because I did not

want my wife to get upset with me. My flute is

starting to look a little battered, but it is the

flute that I used to welcome my

grandson into the world and to help

my elders pass on.

On the mouthpiece of the

flute is a black lump, the

lifeblood, the pitch of the

bristlecone pine tree of California.

Maybe some of you are familiar

with the bristlecones? If you go to

the Sequoia National Park, in the

Visitor's Center there you

hear languages from all over

the world from people who

come to visit those gigantic and

wonderful trees. But the bristlecone

pine is not a gigantic tree like the sequoias.

It is not as tall as the sequoias.

Bristlecone pines grow at ten– to

eleven–thousand foot elevations

in almost pure rock. They grow

in places where the wind blows

so hard and the snow on their

branches is so heavy that the

trees get broken and twisted. So,

they are very small and have

very twisted shapes. But there

is a kind of scientist called a

‘dendrochronologist’ that

is involved in studying

those trees. These scientists have discovered

that the bristlecone pines are the oldest living

things on the face of the Earth. There are

bristlecone pines here in California that are

nine to ten thousand years old, and they are

still growing. They are still putting out new

needles in springtime.

When my wife and I were there, visiting

those grandfather bristlecones, I asked for a

gift. I put a little bit of the lifeblood of one of

those grandfathers on the mouthpiece of my

flute. I hoped that when I played that flute, and

tasted the lifeblood of that grandfather, it

would remind me of something that I thought

I needed to remember. I am a grandfather,

too. I will be 65 on my next birthday. Sometimes,

there are people listening to my words

and my songs who are old enough to be my

grandfather, and yet none of us have been here

very long.

When they teach about the history of this

Earth that we all share in the schools, they

have a chart that goes all the way across the



top of the blackboard from one corner of the

room to the next corner of the room. The history

of the two–leggeds is at the very end of

the chart. And yet in our brief time on this



Earth, we have figured out how to destroy

everything - the water, the soil, the air - each

other - and the Earth itself. So when I play

my flute and I taste the lifeblood of that

grandfather bristlecone, I hope for my

sake that it helps me remember that I need to

live my life in balance. I always hope that it

helps give me a sense of perspective about

what my place is in the circle of all living

things. We owe one hundred percent responsibility

to every other living thing in the

circle. These flutes come from a time when

the world was still young.

Back in the 1960s, the Smithsonian Institution

took a look around in Indian country

to see where this instrument was still

alive. They only found six Indian men in

the entire country who were keeping this

instrument from becoming nothing more

than a museum exhibit. One of those was a

man named 'Doc' Tate Nevaquaya, an elder of

the Comanche people of southern Oklahoma.

The Smithsonian Institution made some

recordings of his music, and the state of

Oklahoma declared him a living treasure

before he passed on. This is an unusual

thing in this country, where most do not

have a tradition of revering our elders. Native

People of North America have always

revered their elders.

Today, after 500 years of living in a society

with a dominant culture that is different

than the Native way, a lot has been lost. Until

1978, there were laws in this country that

kept Native people from their religious ways.

It was only in 1978 and again in the early

1990s that laws were passed to give back to

the Native People the right of religious freedom

that everyone else takes for granted as

citizens of this country. Fortunately for us,

our elders have kept those old ways from

disappearing—the songs, stories, ceremonies,

and dances. We honor them for that,

and our elders mean a lot to us. They are respected

in our community, and we thank

them for what they have done for all of us

who have come later. This flute that I have

been playing today came alive again for a

reason. We are at a crossroads. There is an

old Ojibwe prayer that says, “It is only the two–

leggeds that are broken.”

Here in Southern California, there are

people from all over the world living side by

side, probably more so than anywhere else in

this country. We are all still learning how to

be human beings together. I always hope that

people can hear in the voice of the instruments

a reminder that we are all part of the circle. We believe

the spirits of our ancestors are still here

guiding us, so I am thankful for the opportunity

to be here today, as you honor your

ancestors, as well, and give thanks for that

which has been given to all of us. It is too

easy to forget in the day–to–day struggle to

meet the demands of life how much has

been given to us. Native People sometimes

get caught up in dealing with the hardships

that have been handed to them. But all people,

in one way or another, have hardships.

We have to remember how much has been

given to us. I am thankful that I can do what

I do. I have no musical training, and I did

not start playing until I was 50 years old. I

feel like this gift was given to me for a reason,

and so I do my best to try to live up to

the music in one way or another.

I always hope that people, when they hear

the voice of the flute, will understand what

my words are about."




Editor's note:


The bristlecone tree survives


the environment found at 10,000 to 11,000


feet above sea level, the bitter extremes of cold,

wind, aridity, and exposure to ultraviolet light,

by growing very slowly. This slow growth results

in a very hard wood, so resinous that it is

extremely resistant to decay and disease. A

hero of vegetation, this pine gets tougher as

conditions become harsher. In times of long

draught and cold, the bristlecone dies back,

leaving mostly deadwood and just a thin slip

of living bark to sustain its future life; then,

when more favorable circumstances come, it

grows again.

The highly alkaline soils favored by the

bristlecone, along with the other harsh conditions,

result in little underbrush or ground cover

in the terrain on which it grows, thus eliminating

competition for the scarce nutrients.

Known as the Methuselah Tree, named for

the longest–lived Biblical character, a living

bristlecone has been dated to over 4,900 years

old, making it among the oldest living things on

earth. Ironically, this oldest living bristlecone

discovered so far, the oldest on earth, was cut

down for research purposes—research that

eventually proved the tree's antiquity. When a

bristlecone pine at long last dies, its wood could

be so thick and resistant to weather and pests

that it might survive the elements and stand for

over a thousand more years.

Bristlecones live at high elevations throughout

the Southwest of the United States.




Shumei's English Language Bi-Monthly Magazine

Vol. 275 May/June 2008


.

What Are We Doing Here?

Osiyo, my friends and relations - we're in the middle of changing the world here: the two-leggeds are in desperate need of understanding what it means to be a 'true human being'? Come on, let's get on with it. What's more gratifying than knowing we did what we needed to do - we held up our end, we aligned ourselves with the Original Instructions?


After doing environmental work for 22 years, starting from when it was just a gleam in the eye of dreamers, hippies, and Indians who've been saying the same thing to the colonizers for 500 years, waiting to be understood - after 22 years of this work I realized that it is not enough to manage the land, the forests and the waters, and that, until the two-leggeds are fixed, this earth that we all share will continue to suffer. So, I began to work on fixing people as the Native American Spiritual Leader in a women's prison, working with broken people. But I am a just fluteplayer and storyteller who has been teaching everyone who will listen about our place and our responsibility in the circle of all living things. Above all, I work on fixing myself.

In 1966, I had a vision of the future which I have been following ever since, as much as I understand the vision and myself. Now the time has come for all of like-hearts and like-minds to connect to bring about a shift in global consciousness - and, again, this is part of the vision whose time has come. Social media and the web in general give us the ability to connect in a common circle like nothing else in our previous history. It is time to get on with it, to realize the time has come to change the face of the earth, the time for all of us to tell everyone else we know and love that the time has come. I write about these things and hope that others read with understanding what I have written - that's why I am here, for real communication.

It takes all of us to do it - well, not entirely true. All social change is brought about by about one percent of the population. I want to connect with the one percent who care, who are ready and eager to share this understanding with all those we know and love. Who in this circle is ready to be part of that one percent who bring about all true social change?

Global shifts are revolutionary, not evolutionary - they are not slow, incremental changes over time, but sudden catalytic changes like a chemical reaction that is brought about by agents of change, catalysts acting consciously together. The course of human history is a history of ever-evolving higher consciousness. This is one of those times in the history of the two-leggeds. It is time to evolve. We need to gather everyone into the circle who sees that this is so, so that we can bring about this next change whose time has come, whose time is now. Hook up, link up, connect, share, communicate - make it real and manifest in the world. The time is now!
Aho! All my relations! So be it!

Tsalagi Way of the Seventh Sacred Direction - by Bill Neal

In the way that I have been taught, the Tsalagi hold that there are Seven Sacred Directions - East, South, West, and North representing all of creation, the Sky Above and the Earth Below. The Seventh Direction is Here, Inside, it's at the Center. Standing at the Center means that we realize that where we are in our lives, right here and right now, is the sum total of all the decisions that we have ever made in our lives, our reactions to all that has happened in our lives that have brought us to this point, right here and right now. Taking responsibility for that is to Stand at the Center of all that we have created in the world with our lives. That is the Seventh Sacred Direction. When we Stand at the Center we are creating consciously. When we are all ready to do that, and do it well,the world will be a much different place and our reality will be shifted.

At this point some might object that, by speaking about creating consciously, I am allowing the ego of the self to imagine that the two-leggeds can do the work of the Creator. This is not about self in the way that we might think. This is about being responsible for what we create with our lives, which each of us needs to to begin to do. Part of the difficulty with understanding these discussions has to do with how we perceive and understand what let's call a "First Cause" or "Prime Cause". Most of us have grown up with a concept of "God" as the First Cause in which he is an anthropomorphic being, the image usually being an old man with a long white beard up on a cloud somewhere, a being that lives outside of us and outside of nature. Even when we say "Creator", "Great Spirit" or "Wakan Tanka", we are still thinking of the "he" who looks like us and is outside ourselves. To truly understand the Native American concept of the "First Cause" - the "Great Spirit" or "Great Mystery" or "Grandfather", that goes by names like Gitchi Manitou, Wakan Tanka, or Chinigchinich - is to understand that all things are part of an incomprehensible totality which always was and always will be, that all things are equal because they are all part of the whole. What we call God and all other names is what Black Elk described as the "spirits" of all things existing together in oneness, as a whole. Even the word "spirit" does not adequately represent a concept which to us is incomprehensible. Because it is incomprehensible, we assign to it meaning that we are capable of understanding, but we have to remember that our limited understanding is not what it truly is - only what we can understand. As our understanding gets better, our concept of the totality of existence, of the 'First Cause', will shift. This I think will be a difficult discussion for many but, for those who are truly interested in the Native American way, it is worth sticking with.


When one is called to begin to create consciously, it is essential to learn to pay attention. To learn to perceive more of what is actually taking place all around us is the first step in taking responsibility for what we create with our lives. A primary function of our minds in day-to-day life is to filter out the sensory data that is not directly applicable to our day-to-day survival because we can't process that much information. In fact, today, in the way that we live our lives, we are bombarded by more sensory data, in a single day of our lives, than people one hundred years ago dealt with in an entire year. That is one way in which the world has changed radically. So our brains must filter the majority of that information out so that we don't owerload and become 'insane'. As a consequence, we have learned how not to hear, not to see, not to feel, not to taste or smell. As the products of compulsory public education, the one thing we have all learned to do is stare out the window, another reenforcement of learning not to pay attention.


This reminds me of a story that someone once told me of a people who lived near a powerful waterfall - not unlike the Miwuk people of Yosemite Valley. It was a very beautiful place and the people counted themselves as blessed to live in the midst of such beauty. The waterfall, however, was very loud so that when friends and family would come to visit, they could not even hear themselves speak. The people who lived there, as a means to still hear each other and to avoid sensory overload, through time had learned not to hear the noise. And, over time, that not-hearing eventually became permanent - a permanent partial hearing loss. This is an example of what has taken place in our lives.


I had an epiphany once after having taken a photograph of a very beautiful view. When the picture was developed I saw that there were powerlines passing through the foreground view in the picture that I had not seen while I was there admiring the beauty. Looking at that photograph made me wonder - what else do we not see, not hear or smell or taste or feel - and not even know that we are missing it? What kind of loss do we suffer everyday without even knowing it?

If what we perceive drives our version of "reality", in what way does our not-seeing, not-hearing, not-smelling or not-tasting - our not-feeling - affect the world that we create for ourselves and, by agreement with others, the world that we create together and that we all live in together?

Learning to pay attention - some call it awareness, some call it mindfulness - is the first priority if we want to create a better life, a better world, if we want to Stand at the Center in the Seventh Sacred Direction, and begin creating consciously. How can we make the best possible decision of how to act in any situation if we are not acting with the best possible information about the situation? And remember, how we act in circumstances beyond our control is how we create our lives, since our lives right here and now is the sum total of every decision we ever made about how to act in the situations in which we find ourselves, right up to today.


Many years ago I was introduced to the art of mushroom hunting. My friend knew the safest and best-tasting mushrooms and how to cook them. The first time I went mushroom hunting with him it did not take him long to begin to fill his basket. I, however, found nothing. I didn't understand it. I knew that I would not know what kind of mushrooms I found, that I would have to rely on him to identify them for me. But I found nothing. Finally I stopped to relieve myself. Looking down at the ground in front of me, I was shocked to realize that I was relieving myself on the very mushrooms that I was looking for and had not even seen up to that point. It took that foolish act for me to begin to learn to see them - another 'rude awakening" like so many we experience in life. What does that tell you about our way of being in the world? It is an allegory for how we live our lives.


I have a friend who teaches "earth skills". He is a tracker, has written manuals on animal tracking, teaches wilderness skills and "earth philosophy". He introduced me to a series of books by a man named Tom Brown, Jr. My initial reaction was that I had no reason to want to track animals and, although I used to work with wilderness survival therapy programs, today I am much more sedentary and urban than in my adventurous youth. What value then is there for me in these books? The answer is that, for me, they were entertaining and educational illustrations of the value of learning to really "see", to focus on and recognize what is going on all around me. When will we all really begin to "see" what is constantly going on all around us?


What moves us to care about these things? Why should we care, you might ask? As the Native American Spiritual Leader in a prison, I have worked with women who are broken, sometimes massively so. The motivation there is clear - to help them fix what is broken in themselves by seeing the events of their lives differently and to change the way that they react to those circumstances. But there is an old Anishnaabe prayer that says that "of all the living things in the Circle of Life, it is only the two-leggeds that are broken". We all are broken in one way or another, some less or more than others. The Hopi have a prophecy about this world that we live in. They call it "Koyaanisqatsi", a life out of balance. It is a law of physics that systems tend toward stability. If we think of this world and all the life within it as being part of a system, and if we recognize that the two-leggeds are the cause of the instability, imbalance, and disharmony, then we need to realize that, eventually, the system we occupy will certainly eliminate us, the disharmonious element, in the natural tendency of the system to regain stability. Should we care about that? How long do we have? The Hopi say "we are not in the eleventh hour - the Hour is now. Aho! All my relations!