Wed 10 Oct 2007
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL RELIGION: perspectives from Theosophy by Bernard Parsons
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AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL RELIGION: perspectives from Theosophy by Bernard Parsons
I propose to read a poem and a story by way of introduction to this talk.I am told the Aborigines used words having different levels of meaning. There was the ordinary everyday level then at a certain initiation the same word was given a further meaning, and at a further initiation a third meaning was added.The poem needs atmosphere, rhythm sticks, a didgeridoo grunting and groaning and a tropical night with the tribe assembled.
 Song of the Wonguri-Mandjigai People.
-Up and up soars the Evening Star hanging there in the sky.-Men watch it, at the Place of the Dugong, the Place of the Clouds, the Place of the Evening Star,-Far off, at the place of the Mist, the Place of Lilies, the Place of the Dugong-The Lotus, Evening Star, hangs there on its long stalk held by the spirits.-It shines on that Place of the Shade, on the Dugong Place, and the Moonlight Claypan.-The Evening Star shines back toward Milingimbi, over the Wulamba people…-Hanging there in the distance toward the Place of the Dugong.-The Place of the Eggs, of the Tree-Limbs-Rubbing-TogetherPlace of the Clay-pan…-Shining there on its short stalk, the Evening Star; Always at the clay pan, the Place of the Dugong-There far off, the long string hangs at the Place of the Evening Star the Place of Lilies.-Sway there at Milingimbi…at the Place of the Full Moon, Hanging above of that Wonguri headman:-The evening Star goes down across the camp, among the white gum trees…-Far away in those places near Milingimbi…-Goes down among the Nguruwulu people, toward the camp and the gum trees,-At the Place of the Crocodiles, Place of the Evening Star,away toward Milingimbi…-Evening Star going down, lotus flower on its stalk…-Going down among all the Western clans…-It brushes the heads of the uncircumcised people…-Sinking down in the sky, the Evening Star, the lotus…-Shining onto the foreheads of all those headmen…-On to the heads of all those Sandfly People…
-It sinks into the place of the white gum trees at Milingimbi.
The story I have to tell is not one of the secret initiatory type but one told around the campfire. Like the poem it comes from a northern tribe.
The Beginning of the World.Â
This story comes from the Aboriginal people of Northern Australia. They believe that in the beginning all was darkness. The earth was featureless. No hills or valleys broke its flat surface. No birdsongs were head on its trackless surface. It was a silent world.The time came when Kara, ancient and blind, clasping three young children to her breast rose out of the ground and started to grope her way from place to place in the dark. As she did this, a sea of water bubbled up in the tracks she left behind her. After some days of wandering over the earth she last of all made a channel that separated the island of the Tiwi people (
Early nest morning Tukimbini’s sweet notes again waken the people to their daily tasks and so the cycle goes on again.Â
From listening even to these very typical selections from the Aboriginal culture you can see evidence of a considerable sophistication of concepts.There are the high gods – Kara, and low – Purupu, architect and builder.There is a hint of this story of the cyclical nature of life as the Aborigines saw it. You noticed the whirl-pool?Reincarnation is an Aborigine belief that conveys this characteristic.From this story of the beginning of the world you are probably wondering how much the Aborigines have of the ancient teachings. How much do they teach of the Path that is so beautifully set out in the Gita and the middle way (Eightfold Path) of the Buddha.If your thoughts whilst reading this have a theme or trend in a particular direction, I would suggest it is this. Most of the Aborigines deprived of their ancient sacred trails and holy places when the last of their initiates died, feel that all is lost. The old path is gone for ever. My suggestion is, the true path is one of many levels. There is a spiritual way as well as the path set out on mother earth. If you ask the question “were the Aborigines aware of the spiritual significance of the rainbow serpent whose pathway they used to ceremoniously follow at the appointed times?â€, I can only tell another story.They taught that at death man dissolved into his parts. The life and atoms of his body became the life atoms of his totem animal; the life atoms of his soul go to his tribal totem, his spirit goes to its home. It meets the male and female aspects of a god and is tested. The male tries to make him laugh. If the spirit under test can maintain its equanimity it goes on home to father sun. If not the spirit goes no further.This story, it seems to me, suggests that hints of deep understanding are there in the Aboriginal tradition.There would be, I suggest, tremendous value for the Aborigines in the realisation that their ancient tradition is a fine one.It is akin to the major religions of the world.It has, as we do, a belief in a continuum of life and spirit. That the universe is a wonderful infinite organisation of living being – a brotherhood.It shares belief in the four elements with Buddhism and the Greeks.It has a very ethical tradition. At the time of initiation, the young man was instructed in his obligations by an old member of the tribe, man or woman. Dr. Donald Thompson listed these instructions.1.     Do not be greedy, share.2.     Do not steal.3.     Respect old people.4.     Respect strangers.5.     Respect women. Do not stare at them.6.     Keep a clean mouth – Do not lie or swear.7.     Have courage.Inter tribal warfare was almost unknown as was considered a type of suicide.The Aborigines have been laughed at and patronised for their quaint beliefs. I
suggest that far from being quaint they are very often close to the truth.
The Inquest and the Four Elements.    Â
      Â
To find who is “responsible†for the death of someone the Aborigines go through a strange process. Even though the cause of death may seem to be obvious. For instance if someone felling a tree accidentally cause it to fall on and kill another man, the tree felling act was the instrument of death and not necessarily its cause.At a meeting of the tribe for the purpose four objects are put out in the centre of the tribal gathering – a piece of charcoal, representing fire; a feather, air; a stone, earth; and a shall, water.Everybody watches for a sign. Something always seems to happen. A puff of wind might move the feather or a beetle cause the stone or shell to move. The sharp eyes of the old women and men see the sign and declare that someone from the portion of the tribe indicated by that sign is guilty.Further tests will determine who is the person who thought a death wish and so caused the death.
Having pronounced the name of the guilty one, no more action is usually taken. While the method of divination is strange to us, we theosophists do recognise the power of our thoughts to harm or bless someone and this feature is the outstanding feature of the practice.
An extract by H.C. Coombs, discussing the future of the Australian Aboriginal people gives a good summary of Aboriginal philosophy.
           “In his own world the Aboriginal did not see Man as one thing and Nature as another; he was of Nature. He saw the Earth itself, plants, animals and men, the clouds and the stars, indeed all natural phenomena, as a living system of social life. It was not just a scientific or philosophical system, but one with which and by which Man must live consciously and reverently. Long before Terrance said “nothing concerning Man can be alien to me,†the Aboriginal was asserting and living by the faith that nothing in all Nature can be alien to me. It is true but inadequate to say of Aboriginal life that it was in harmony with Nature. The harmony came from Man being in thought, word and deed of Nature itself. Over at least 30,000 years Aboriginal society was instinct with the understanding that its highest, most religious purpose was to help Nature be itself, to be unchanging, to replenish it. From this replenishment, Man himself was nurtured, and his kind perpetuated as successive generations inherited an environment as rich, as beautiful and as spiritually alive as that of their ancestors. To this purpose were dedicated the great ceremonies in all their richness. Their life, it is true by our material standards may seem to have been excessively simple and in some respects, poor, but it was not unduly arduous, and there was time for the less immediate but more fundamental purposes of human existenceâ€. He goes on to mention the hunting skills, “and also that there was time for games, stories, song and dance, drama, and the great ceremonies, sacred and profane. Almost every day was one of journeying, sometimes only for hunting and food gathering, sometimes to visit a neighbouring group to share good things, sometimes to come together with other related groups to share the experience of ceremonial life. Indeed, it was in these shared experiences that much of the purpose, justification, and fulfilment of life itself were founded. There was within the social groups a complex pattern of relationships which was both source of support and of mutual obligation. The outcome of the hunt and the food gathered were shared in accordance with firm tradition. No person was uncared for or unsupported when care or support was needed and no-one was without obligations to others. This pattern of complex mutual relationships with a strong sense of personal, as well as social obligations, gave to their care for children and for the aged, a warmth by comparison with which the impersonal social service benefits of our society seem poor indeedâ€.
This is the text of a lecture given by the author at a public meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne,
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