Aboriginal Spirituality and Religious Origins
by: Guest
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Word Count: 1068
When you study early history, what you often study is how tribes formed and developed in an effort to use their common strengths to evolve and grow. As they grew in numbers, they usually formed a system of rules by which the tribe was to evolve, according to the customs and dictates of the way the tribe had evolved in the past. The elders of these early tribes were thought to be wise enough to direct the tribe because they had learned from their past experiences what worked and what didn't. They also had some form of spiritual council, usually a shaman or naturalist, who was well versed in the ways of nature and our innate ability to coincide with nature's ways to help us live better lives. These early tribes respected all members of their community and survived by making sure that everyone had adequate food, shelter, and access to healing remedies. They understood that there was enough for all and by working for the common good, the tribe would survive and grow. As population increased, a need to travel and trade with other tribes developed as a means to acquire the services and goods tribes could not produce on their own. This exchange expanded the ability of the tribes to experience a variety of worldly things. These early ventures used a barter system that said, “We have these things, you have those things, and we can exchange them for our mutual benefit". As the world population grew, we were able to travel more extensively to satisfy the thirst for things beyond our reach. Accordingly, the barter system had to evolve into a system of exchange that would give value to all items, yielding universal instruments of value that people would accept in exchange. Voila! Money. The evolution of trade, barter, and money changed people's perceptions of possessions, and what evolved, in the minds of people, was the feeling that there was no longer enough of everything. People could see that some of the material possessions they desired could only be obtained through a concerted effort of accumulating enough money. At the same time, the various forms of governing bodies also experienced the idea that the accumulation of money was not only the best way to provide the services that their society required, but was also an excellent way to provide the trappings of affluence in order to best represent their tribe to the world. Spiritual counsel evolved into an extension of the government as a way to keep the citizenry under control. The powers that be understood that, without the ability to control the populace under a united belief system, they would not be able to control them at all. Their traditional belief system was one that aligned with nature and allowed individuals freedom to pursue their own interests under the magnanimous umbrella of the tribe. This system of respect for nature's ways and acknowledging individuality worked great in honoring freedom of autonomy, but it didn't work very well to control people. To control people they needed to devise a belief system which restricted individual freedom and could be claimed to benefit both the individual and the tribe. Restricting freedom runs counter to the ways of nature as well as the prevailing systems of tribal order. The trick then is to disguise the new paradigm intended to control people by making it look like nature. The traditional belief system honored nature and held that man was a part of nature and nature was a part of man. Nature provided the means for man to exist and man in turn gave thanks for nature's abundance. Man's natural allegiance is one of communion with that which sustains him. When man is clear on this concept, he is hard to control because he understands that freedom is one of the basic tenets of nature. To control people you need to make it appear as if you are not a part of nature but separate from it. This would not be easy to do unless you put forth a belief that the masses could interpret as a benefit to them. Man's love affair with nature was the prevailing paradigm, so those who wished to control the masses knew that love was not the method to be used for change. They needed to devise a method of fear, disguised as love, that would appear to be of benefit to man but would allow those in leadership positions to control the population. Under the rationale of governance, they would also be able to accumulate wealth and dictate tribal policy. And thus our current belief systems emerged. Not as a way to understand the oneness that we share with God and each other, but as a belief that we are separate from our God-source. If you can get people to believe that they are separate entities on this earth, and have them buy into a system that says, 'you may be rewarded in death by entry into heaven (but only if you follow the rules),' you can then control them. These rules were the earliest form of religion because the rules were purported to have come from the source of all things (God), and sent to us through the interpreters of these rules (the religious leaders). By allowing the religious leaders to interpret God's rules we surrendered our individual interpretations and subjugated ourselves to somebody else's interpretations. In so doing we gave up the control we possess to believe as we choose, and allowed others to make critical choices for us. Once the religious leaders convinced enough people that their interpretation of God was the right one, their ability to control the population was complete. We have been at their mercy ever since. The original precept changed from the concept that the source of all was love and that freedom is our nature, to the perception that you had to fear God in order to receive God's love. This fear led us to believe that a controlling God had the ability to restrict our freedom. The world has been conditioned to believe in this “Separation Mentality” for over 2000 years of recorded history. It is time to take back our freedom by understanding the immutable truth that we are all one with the source of our existence and this source knows only unconditional love. That is who and what you are. Unconditional love.
About the Author
Richard Blackstone is an author and international speaker on Life, Love and The True Nature of How Things Work. He won the prestigious "America's Next Top Author" award from ConsciousOne.com for his book, "Nuts & Bolts Spirituality." His message of LOVE, ONENESS & CREATION is designed to create a new world model, one person at a time. Read his FREE report, "The 3 Simple Immutable Laws of the Universe" at: http://www.NutsandBoltsSpirituality.com
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