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Poet or Pretender?
Spiritual discovery is not a matter of finding wisdom out there somewhere. It is a matter of discovering what already exists within us…With spiritual practice, instead of gaining something we did not have before, we gradually make ourselves clearer to ourselves.
~ H.H. THE 17TH KARMAPA, OGYEN TRINLEY DORJE
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Christians wanted a Lakota word for prayer. They explained “prayer” as when one needs help or if one wants to give thanks to God, a higher power that is above all creation. The Lakota explained to the missionaries that we have a similar practice. However, our prayers are to Creations on earth and in the universe. The word to describe how we work with Creation is ‘wacekiye’, “to acknowledge relatives.” Unfortunately, the missionaries translated ‘wacekiye’ simply as “she or he is praying” and ‘wacekiyapi’ as “they are praying” without teaching the Lakota philosophy contained in these two words. Today, our people struggle to comprehend the Lakota way of life. We look to the language to guide us…
— Albert White Hat
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The bible begins with two contradictory stories of creation. Right out of the gate we must choose between being pretenders or poets.
When we build our lives around artificial things, it is very hard to find our balance in life. When we are out of…
