Creation & Environment - Revelation of the Mystery
We live on a small Blue Planet on the edge of a vast Galaxy which is part of an even vaster Cosmos.The ancient and aboriginal wisdom traditions understood that the Source of this Creation was a Mystery. The great spiritual teachers of the world's Faith Traditions reflecting deeply on this Source or Mystery began to understand that this Mystery encompassed everything and thus there was a Oneness at the heart of Creation.
Spiritual traditions from both East and West suggest that we can have some access to understanding this Mystery through creation. The Aboriginal Peoples, the ancient Celts and many Christian Mystics ( to name but a few) understood that Creation and Nature were revelations of the Mystery we call God. What we do to the Earth, to each other and to ourselves is very important.
NOTE : It is important to be Compassionate with yourself about ONENESS. It can be a difficult 'concept' for the Ego Self to grasp. Our modern Western Culture has helped to form our Ego and thus the Ego 'sees' the world as EITHER : OR and not as ONE.
Oneness is based on Advaita ( Hindu Philosophy) or Non- Duality i.e. Not Two but One. All the great Spiritual Teachers teach about ONENESS but often from different cultural angles or perspectives.
Creation and particularly Nature can sometimes help to calm and still the Ego Mind. It can also help if we let the HEART ( a symbol of LOVE ) gently lead the MIND into both SILENCE and STILLNESS . Then in those moments of STILLNESS, where we can be in touch with the wonder and beauty of Nature and Creation, we can gracefully be open to 'glimpses' of this ONENESS.
Our Sacred Duty - Caring for our Home
Spiritual traditions from both East and West suggest that we can have some access to understanding this Mystery through creation. The Aboriginal Peoples, the ancient Celts and many Christian Mystics ( to name but a few) understood that Creation and Nature were revelations of the Mystery we call God. What we do to the Earth, to each other and to ourselves is very important.
Oneness is based on Advaita ( Hindu Philosophy) or Non- Duality i.e. Not Two but One. All the great Spiritual Teachers teach about ONENESS but often from different cultural angles or perspectives.
Creation and particularly Nature can sometimes help to calm and still the Ego Mind. It can also help if we let the HEART ( a symbol of LOVE ) gently lead the MIND into both SILENCE and STILLNESS . Then in those moments of STILLNESS, where we can be in touch with the wonder and beauty of Nature and Creation, we can gracefully be open to 'glimpses' of this ONENESS.
We have both a sacred duty and responsibility to make greater efforts to care for our Home - our Blue Planet. However, in the past 300 years, particularly in the West, we have entered a new phase in our relationship with the Earth. We seem to have lost contact with nature and have adopted a culture of ab-use and mis-use of the Earth , its natural resources and, in some cases, its peoples.
The Aboriginal peoples of the world not only respect the Earth but intuitively realise that, as Co- Creators, it is their sacred duty to care for nature and the environment. They intuitively understood that Nature and Creation can be 'gateways' into understanding and relating to the Mystery. In other words they are essentially our 1 st Book of Revelation and that our future is intrinsically bound up with the Earth. Whatever we do to it, we do to ourselves.
This short reflection will briefly explore our Sacred duty to look after creation and give three different examples from three traditions. First from the Hindu Tradition, then from , my own, the Celtic Tradition and finally the Native American Tradition.
The following is an ancient Indian quote which is a challenging and wonderful statement CONCERNING our Universal Inheritance. If reflected upon and heeded we may be able to reverse the current looming catastrophe and bequeath a better future to our descendants.
The Aboriginal peoples of the world not only respect the Earth but intuitively realise that, as Co- Creators, it is their sacred duty to care for nature and the environment. They intuitively understood that Nature and Creation can be 'gateways' into understanding and relating to the Mystery. In other words they are essentially our 1 st Book of Revelation and that our future is intrinsically bound up with the Earth. Whatever we do to it, we do to ourselves.
This short reflection will briefly explore our Sacred duty to look after creation and give three different examples from three traditions. First from the Hindu Tradition, then from , my own, the Celtic Tradition and finally the Native American Tradition.
The Indian ( Hindu) Tradition
Hinduism is the oldest of the existing Faith Traditions, It has a rich and very deep tradition of Advaita or Non- Duality. Its sages, saints and teachers have developed a rich seam of teachings about the inter- connectedness of all creation.
The following is an ancient Indian quote which is a challenging and wonderful statement CONCERNING our Universal Inheritance. If reflected upon and heeded we may be able to reverse the current looming catastrophe and bequeath a better future to our descendants.
Am
The Celtic Tradition
The Ancient Celts had a deep spirituality that emphasised the importance of Creation and the environment. This spirituality existed before the arrival of Christianity in the 1st Century c.e. ( long before St Patrick arrival in the 5th Century), This spirituality of the sacredness of the Earth and Nature was then incorporated into Celtic Christianity. This has continued with the Christian Rhineland Mystics and the legacy of Francis of Assisi. ( 12th & 13th Century).
The Ancient Celts had a deep spirituality that emphasised the importance of Creation and the environment. This spirituality existed before the arrival of Christianity in the 1st Century c.e. ( long before St Patrick arrival in the 5th Century), This spirituality of the sacredness of the Earth and Nature was then incorporated into Celtic Christianity. This has continued with the Christian Rhineland Mystics and the legacy of Francis of Assisi. ( 12th & 13th Century).
Celtic Spirituality is often compared to that of the East. The reflection ( below) has similarities with the Hindu Upanishads ( a part of their rich written spiritual literature) and shows a deep reverence for, and understanding of , the Indwelling Presence of the MYSTERY in all creation. It is similar to many of the verses in both the Rig Veda and the Scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads.
It is a poem attributed to a 1st Century ( b,c.e) Celtic Prince named Amergin
It is a poem attributed to a 1st Century ( b,c.e) Celtic Prince named Amergin
Amergin’s Praise of God
I am the
wind which breathes upon the sea,
I am the
wave of the ocean,
I am the
murmur of the billows,
I am the ox
of the seven combats,
I am the
vulture upon the rocks,
I am the
beam of the sun
,
I am the
fairest of plants,
I am the
wild boar in valour,
I am a
salmon in the water,
I am the
lake in the plain,
I am a word
of knowledge,
I am the
point of the lance in battle,
I am the
God who created the fire of thought.
Who is it
that throws light
Into the
meeting of the mountains?
Who tells
the ages of men
Who points to the sun’s
resting place,
If not I ?
From the Leabhar Gabhala – Book of Invasions
The Native American Tradition
The Native American Tradition is very diverse. However, like all the Aboriginal Traditions, it too has a deep sense of the Indwelling presence and the inherent sacredness of all : – Earth, environment, nature plants, animals and humans.
Like the Celts, Native Americans had prayers for all occassions and understood that the 'fruits' of the natural world were gifts and not to be ravaged. Before killing anything for food, they would pray with gratitude.
The reflection below is typical of this Tradition. It is a prophesy about a shift in consciousness that is urgently required if humanity is to take up its sacred role as Co- Creators in this Cosmic Creation.
From the Leabhar Gabhala – Book of Invasions
The Native American Tradition
The Native American Tradition is very diverse. However, like all the Aboriginal Traditions, it too has a deep sense of the Indwelling presence and the inherent sacredness of all : – Earth, environment, nature plants, animals and humans.
Like the Celts, Native Americans had prayers for all occassions and understood that the 'fruits' of the natural world were gifts and not to be ravaged. Before killing anything for food, they would pray with gratitude.
The reflection below is typical of this Tradition. It is a prophesy about a shift in consciousness that is urgently required if humanity is to take up its sacred role as Co- Creators in this Cosmic Creation.
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