Parallels ... Toltec and Lakota

Toltec ... 2nd Agreement

Don't take anything personally ~ Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Lakota ... Let the wind blow through you

You cannot forget what other say anymore than you cannot feel the wind when it blows. But if you learn to let the wind blow through you, you will take away its power to blow you down. If you let the words pass through you, without letting them catch on your anger or pride, you will not feel them.

commentary

Here we have two teachings or concepts by two cultures from the Americas, separated by thousands of miles, yet of almost identical concept. A concept that if not only followed but lived by has the capability to revolutionize human life. Yet a concept that is so humanly challenging to live by, because of the poison of the spoken or written word, is likely the most difficult to master.

March 16, 2006

Another thing that came to mind this morning is the teaching of Jesus to his disciples about forgiveness, which to some might be a broad reach to connect with the above Toltec and Lakota teachings. Consider Matthew 18:21-22, 35 . . .

Then Peter came to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. ... So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts frogive not every one his brother their trespasses.

The rabbis (of that time) taught that people should forgive those who offend them three times. Peter, trying to be especially generous asked Jesus if seven (the "perfect" number) was enoughtimes to forgive someone. But Jesus answered, "Seventy times seven" (the number ofeternity), meaning that we shouldn't even keep track of how many times we forgive someone. We should always forgive those who are truly repentant, no matter how many times they ask. ... Because God/Creator has forgiven all our sins, we should not withhold forgiveness from others. Realizing how completely God/Creator/Jesus/Christ has forgiven us should produce a free and generous attitude of forgiveness toward others. When we don't forgive others, we are setting ourselves outside and above Christ's law of love.

Is there a connection between this Christian scripture and the Toltec/Lakota teachings? I believe so. That connection is the "natural" progression or sequence of events, from "Letting the wind blow through you to forgiveness. For letting the wind blow through you or not taking the action of another personally, we take the "power" out of the action whatever it may be. But by forgiveness we remove from that voice within us, that small seed which could grow into a massive tree of resentment.

In various texts and teachings one will find however a divergent view pertaining to forgiveness of an action and forgetting the act. Some teach that after we forgive that we should also then forget, whereas, I am of the understanding that we do not forget, that is erase the event or action from our memory. For by "letting the wind blow through you" we have already removed the power of the event or action, and by forgiving we have expressed the nature of the Creator's love. By removing the power from the event we have made it "neutral", like the words on a page, it's just there.

In the book Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk speaks of what wisdom is, the merging of knowledge with experience, or " Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom ". Every action, event, situation, etc., that occurs in the physical world does so for a specific reason in the Creator's Plan. We cannot begin to comprehend the vastness of the Creator's Plan, so many times we question it ... Why? Much like I initially questioned the purpose behind the squirrel I named "Compassion".

Forgiveness can be in today's computer world likened to anti-virus software, protecting your computer's hard-drive from infection. In our human situation it is protecting our spirit from developing resentments. Forgetting, on the other hand can be likened to "wiping" your hard-drive clean in the process of reformating, you loose all stored information.

If I were to walk up behind you and tap you on the shoulder, then as you turned to see who tapped you, I punched you in the nose, you might eventually forgive me. Now if you were to forget that event happened, I could do it again. By forgiving me you have taken the power from the situation and made it neutral, however by NOT forgetting the experience you have gained "wisdom" to be carefull when someone taps you on the shoulder from behind, that you might get punched in the nose!

Mitakuye Oyasin,

Silver Eagle