..........

Chapter 21

Just Peace

The journey of manhood is a psychospiritual one that demands modern man's attention. Society's and the world's survival depends on men consciously taking up this mission toward inner wisdom and purpose. Men who do not take the journey are dangerous men. Burned out men are unconscious dangerous men, pawns in destructive patriarchal power schemes.

A man, though alone, never makes the journey just for himself. Though he may not realize this while in the midst of loss or ordeal, many will need the wisdom and active courage that he finds on the other side. Many will be lost, with less of a chance for healing, because he did not risk. A man's initiation is not a luxury for himself, like the holodeck of the Enterprise, with little consequence when the game is over. People are waiting for his presence though they don't know it. Many are counting on him though they've never met him.

This may sound melodramatic. In my experience it isn't.

In returning in service a man often feels he is fulfilling a prompt or desire that is his heritage, like a son willingly inheriting a legacy from a father. In many ways the loyalty to this legacy, the answering of the call is the response to the masculine face of God, God the father who created the world. The active creating of a healthy community is every man's legacy. The active movement to create a larger, just, caring community comes from the deep masculine, becoming a man's mission. This is the deep masculine that is the reflection of the masculine face of God.

Wisdom of the Ancestors

In writing this book I have consciously drawn significantly on the wisdom of indigenous people and cultures. Studying their puberty initiation rituals became a gateway to learning the values, customs, and beliefs of many of their cultures. In following my intuition I found much more than I could imagine. I could see the world from their perspective, grasp a bit of their wisdom.

Indigenous people experience this wisdom as coming from their ancestors. At times I felt these ancestors, these ancient elders were speaking through me. Then I realized how these ancestors could speak through the elder within. I felt the elder voice of ancestors speaking with a masculine voice when talking of creating and holding space for just relations in community. I heard the same masculine voice prompting me to protect Mother earth.

Of course I have drawn on other wisdoms, on other religious and spiritual traditions that hold universal wisdom. Yet indigenous cultures have embodied and lived out more of their stated values than any I have studied. They were, and often are, walking their talk. The closest smaller cultures that have lived out their religious ideals are probably monastic religious traditions.

Yes, many of these indigenous cultures have been corrupted over the recent centuries, many from the dark side of certain religious traditions. I'm sure that there were rogue bands and whole tribes, even from the beginning of humankind, who lived out a dark, destructive lifestyle. Yet even until today, especially today, the ancestors' wisdom is reemerging in teaching and example that is significantly affecting Western culture. Increasingly these ancient teachings are being studied and lived out in modern ways, heard by many men and women who have gone through an ancient initiation in a modern way.

I say all this because I believe that cultures of the world need to return to the values of indigenous cultures, to the wisdom of these ancestors, to literally survive. There is a legacy here. Initiated men and women are the last real hope that we can save the earth and the dignity of every being on her. I believe we are in the middle of a tragedy for earth and its people. And this is a tragedy of our own making. In this case, it is not only men and women and children who are being wounded, even destroyed in their spirit. The earth itself is being grievously wounded.

I see no real hope for the honoring of the spirit of all people and the honoring of what indigenous people call our Mother earth unless these indigenous values, many of which are reflected in modern religious teaching, are embraced by modern elders and taught to future generations.

Paul Hawken in his book Blessed Unrest talks of the huge underground movement in the world for social justice and honoring the environment. He speaks of up to 2 million groups in the world operating under the radar where "The quiet hub of the new movement- its heart and soul- is indigenous culture."

Peacemaker

The journey of manhood begins when a man starts to hear the voice of wisdom within, the elder voice that the ancestors heard, and chooses to listen. From there the inner transformation starts. There starts the journey that results in deep inner peace, the peace that passes understanding. Inner peace is the product of initiation and the signal a man has reached his destination.

I believe that peace in families, friendships, nations, and the world will only spring from the inner peace in every man. The initiated man learns, as most indigenous people know, that his inner peace will produce a resonance that will trigger potential peace in those around him. And a sense of awe can follow as a man sees the ripple effect of his wisdom, knowing that the source of that wisdom comes from a place way beyond his own ego. Indigenous people intuitively know the symbiosis between personal peace and community peace. They take seriously Gandhi's insight to be the change you want to see in the world.

An initiated man will feel in partnership with a benevolent unseen force working for the good in the world, a force he has befriended in the darkest time of his ordeal. In a real sense he will feel part of a team that he can be proud of, a spiritual team that he is willing to suffer for. And teamwork is a deeply ingrained masculine endeavor.

He will know that acting from his own deep identity is essential for the greater good. He knows he must continually choose freely from his own ego's will that which he knows is wiser than he. He continually chooses for those he loves. And the circle of those he loves seems to increase daily. In fact, the more a man grows into his full manhood the larger the circle becomes, beyond his family, his clan, his nation, his religion, his race. He cannot help feeling a brother to all. He tends to be the instant brother wherever he wanders.

Though it sounds an oxymoron, an initiated man will invariably become a warrior for peace. He will not shy away from conflict that he sees in his own life first, then in the world around him. He will not withdraw out of fear but treat an unjust situation as a minor ordeal where he risks his safety for the unknown good that he may facilitate. An initiated man is a peacemaker. He is willing to risk even his life for peace. He can risk because he has become used to risk, because he is a warrior.

Indigenous Justice

The warrior of peace invariably develops a sense of justice beyond 'just me and mine'. Sharing that feeling with loved ones, men and women, who are also partners for justice is the final piece in the puzzle of inner peace and community peace. There can never be enduring peace without justice. There can never be peace in the world without peaceful men. There can never be peace without all participating.

The third big step of the initiatory process has to do with returning to a man's community with a gift. That gift most often includes an acute sense of the need for justice for every member of his community. He yearns for a peaceful community, yearning to share with others the deep peace he feels most of the time. The initiated man works in whatever way his talents and mission calls for a just community.

But what is justice? In writing this book I am more convinced than ever that indigenous cultures have great lessons about what it means to be fully human, including the meaning of peace and justice in community. They knew of elder justice, the justice envisioned by initiated men who took their call seriously. Theirs was not a theoretical understanding. Initiated men lived justice as they were taught by their elders and their initiatory understanding. Their witness was then a living lesson to others.

Indigenous justice was based on spiritual teachings. The assumption was that each member of the community was connected in a meaningful way to every other member. Every member had a spark of Spirit in him or her. Most tribes called themselves by a name which meant The People. Each member was a Person with dignity. Each person was assumed to be striving to be a full human being. To be fully human was to be responsible for the well being of all the People. This was indigenous love.

Justice was connected to a kind of harmony between people. The outer harmony of the tribe was connected to the inner harmony of each member. If one member was out of harmony, with inner conflict leading to destructiveness to the tribe, the first response was invariably how to help the man or woman be restored to inner harmony. Next, the question would be how to restore the harmony of the tribe hurt by the destructive act. Punishment was not a rationale. Redemption and reconciliation was, followed by compensation to the wronged individual or family.

One of the main values, especially among Native Americans, was the give away. This was a ritual and value of sharing any goods that one possessed with the whole community. This sharing was at once a releasing of attachment to the material realm and an honoring of the priority of Spirit. Literally their sacrifice of giving embodied the meaning of the word sacrifice, to make sacred. By these acts the material was seen as sacred. Instead of materialism there was mysticism. If spirit is first, materialism does not become a religion.

Gandhi once said that communism and capitalism are equally dangerous to the human community precisely because both were based on a foundation of materialism. Indigenous people loved and learned from the material world. They enjoyed the fruits of the world and their labor. This natural world of mother nature was also how Spirit most often communicated with People. The give away was a continual reminder and witness that spiritual values always trumped material concerns.

The give away was based on spirituality. As Jamie Sams says, "In native tradition, no one is ever abandoned, orphaned, or left without dwellings, or help. The understanding among Native people is that when one shares all that one has, in order that the People may live, honor and abundance is brought to the giver....Those who are blessed with possessions and food have always shared with those who are lacking." The give away is a ritual of faith and trust in being taken care of by Spirit. There was never any justification for some to live in luxury while others of the same tribe starved or lived in abject poverty. If there were people in the tribe who went hungry the whole tribe or clan lost face.

The give away was based on spiritual values first. A man who gave away much of what was of value to a tribe was most respected. He would often be chosen as a leader. This was not a game of who can die with the most toys. This was not a value of entitlement where talent gave a man the right to hoard treasures while others starved. This was not accidental and impersonal trickle down of goods that never quite trickle down. This was personal giving and sacrifice. This was not a rationalization of reliance on a benevolent invisible hand. This was flesh and blood hand creating a just, peaceful community.

The lack of material success was not a sign of the withholding of God's blessing as some religions teach. People were not blamed for their poverty. Material success was not a sign of being saved. Patriarchal power was seen as selfishness. It is interesting that in American history the give away ritual was actually banned by the U.S. government. The patriarchy cannot understand the sacred.

One of the most profound give away's of indigenous peoples was how the elderly would see their responsibility to their people. If an elderly person became disabled or just frail and ceased to be a perceived help to the tribe he or she would often voluntarily leave for the wilderness to pass over to the other side. This death was a gift to the community as well as a sign of faith in the spiritual foundation of their life. The experience of initiation showed them the reality of the goodness of the other side and relieved them of any fear of that place. The witness reminded every initiated man and woman of their priorities and their initiatory gift.

With spirit first justice meant a community of mutual respect and responsibility. Each responsible for the harmony of the whole and in service to the inner harmony of each other. The initiated man understands this coevolution and endeavors to live this understanding.

Indigenous Community

Patriarchal community most often sees the individual as primarily serving the community. It subtly ends up being all one way. As such patriarchal values often tend toward totalitarianism, where a 'gifted' few control the structure of life of the many. The proletarian dictatorship of communism is one example. Patriarchal authoritarian actions in the name of 'national security' or the 'free market system' is another example. If the masculine tends to build structure, the dark masculine always moves to rationalize and create social structures that serve the power elite under the guise of serving the whole community.

Indigenous community is the opposite. The community is there to serve the spiritual path of the individual soul. As Malidoma says, "The community thus takes upon itself the responsibility of nurturing and protecting the individual, because the individual, knowing his or her purpose, will then invest energy in sustaining the community."

Spiritual purpose of each man and woman is first. This is the bedrock value of the indigenous person. This is the foundational value of the initiated man. From inner to outer. Spirit incarnating in matter.

In indigenous populations nobody has exclusive connection to Spirit. There is no elite who wield power over the rest. There are no 'creative' individuals who deserve wealth because they create wealth. Wealth for indigenous peoples is finding purpose and living that purpose out in a community of purpose. Wealth is a wealth of spiritual mission and mutual caring. Wealth is a spiritual thing.

If a man wishes to grow to the point of bringing father/mentor and elder energy to his community he must learn to be very aware of the need of those around him for encouragement and blessing to follow their initiatory call no matter what the obstacles. He also must continually witness to the absolute existence of that call for every individual in his community.

Equality

The symbol of the social construct of indigenous peoples is the circle. In most of these cultures dialogue and decision making was done in a circle comprised of all initiated men and women. All could have a say. Often huts or other shelters were placed in a circle to show the respect and honor of every member. On the other hand patriarchal symbol is the pyramid. This has its place in a crisis. But top down authority most often leads to a chronic condition of very few being heard and even less making decisions for all.

The circle is a symbol that honors the truth of every member of the tribe and each person's spiritual path. Children were taught from that truth and could look forward to their voice being heard after initiation. The inner path of self discovery was intimately connected to the path of the whole tribe. Any a priori ignoring of an individual ran the risk of ignoring spiritual facts that could have a profound negative effect on the community. Nobody, even a nominal leader, automatically had the truth and wisdom for the whole tribe. The leader was most often a facilitator and listener. When he or she did make a decision it was with respect for the consensus of those speaking. Men and women saw themselves as together looking for wisdom. There was a constant search for synergy.

Marlo Morgan wrote a book about living with the Aborigine people of Australia. She was actually half kidnapped as an answer to a wish to learn of aborigine healing power. In the process of being accepted and taught of their life she was told to lead her small band of 63 people to water and food in the desert of the outback. She remonstrated out of fear for herself and the band that she couldn't do this. Yet the clan persisted saying, 'But ultimately, everyone must at some time lead. You have no way of understanding leadership roles until you assume that responsibility. Everyone must experience all of these roles at some time, without exception." The clan suffered from thirst and hunger for quite a while before Marlo learned how to trust her intuition, a crash course in initiation.

Laurens Van Der Post befriended and studied the Bushmen of Southern Africa his whole life. These indigenous people had many legends describing their history and relationship with their divine ancestors. Yet he responds that "a plurality of legends is very characteristic of the Bushmen for whom no one person's story or perception of the supernatural, is regarded as inferior to another's- each tells its own truth and can illumine some aspect of the divine." Their political culture reflects this spiritual equality as "they have no chiefs or rulers, and leadership may not even be vested in one individual."

I believe an initiated man will intuitively understand and embrace indigenous values related to peace and justice partly because the elder within has the genetic memory of this indigenous way, a way lived for tens of thousands of years. So part of any hope for our future lies in the wisdom of the past, in the wisdom of our ancestors. From all that I study there was relative peace and prosperity and spiritual connection for those tens of thousands of years. Most accounts of Western people first encountering indigenous populations talk of these people's natural hospitality and friendliness. It is also interesting to note that many indigenous peoples have decided from signs they have been given that now is the time to share their wisdom with the world. This is true for the Hopi, the Aborigine, Malidoma's Dagara tribe, and many others.

I don't want to untruthfully idealize indigenous culture. It is easier to have peace in the midst of the material abundance in prehistoric nature. It is easier to have justice on a smaller scale. Yet Western culture, in embracing patriarchy, seems to believe that there is little wisdom in those who don't have power no matter what the scale. The patriarchal warrior is about power, and patriarch is king. This power is about getting not giving. It is about the myth of scarcity and survival at the cost of another, rather than the reality of abundance and synergy with the other. As an example, there is enough food in the world so nobody need starve or suffer from malnutrition. It is the myth of scarcity and the consequent need for political power that keeps some people impoverished so others have much more than they need. This kind of power gives the illusion of security. Security becomes trust in the dark warrior ego. The sacred is seen as weakness.

Gratitude

The ultimate value of indigenous people all over the world is the gift of gratitude. To an indigenous person all of life is a gift. For example, in native American tradition the hunted animals they used for food and myriad utensils and clothes were seen to give away their life for the good of the tribe. Animals were asked for their life and were thanked and honored when life was given. Animals did not owe human beings nor were they seen as owned by right of some spiritual dominance. All life was seen as a gift from Spirit. The ultimate sin was ingratitude.

The initiated man is full of gratitude. The eyes of humility allows him to see gifts all around without the illusion that he somehow created it all or deserves it. He sees his own life as a gift as well as a give away.

Psychologically speaking it is almost impossible to be in gratitude and not be in the present. Depression is often about the past. Anxiety is often about the future. Being grateful in the present is one of the best stress relievers of all to say nothing of the stress relief it can give to those around us!

To indigenous peoples gratitude is only just. If all they needed was seen as a give away by Spirit then gratitude was natural. There was no entitlement here, as if the People deserved whatever they got. Even worse, the People have never sought to take or exploit out of some sense of ownership of the natural world. Gratitude is always a way of honoring Creator, a continual prayer of acknowledgment.

Why The Green Woman?

Indigenous people see nature as the primary source of communication of Spirit and the most truthful reflection of the essence of Spirit. As above, so below. Nature is their Bible. Malidoma talks of nature as "their first home, the home that holds the wisdom of the cosmos." Their lessons are in the behavior of all of mother earth's creatures. In their spiritual understanding respect for nature is the same as respect for Spirit. Most people would be scandalized if the culture talked of using the pages of the Bible for firestarters. Indigenous people are scandalized at how this culture rationalizes the destruction of sacred nature for the temporary warmth of nonrenewable oil or gas heating.

Malidoma saw a green woman because he was being taught that the earth is the embodiment of spirit, just as his body is. Most men know, deep inside, that the earth is sacred. Most men will go to nature when they are troubled, if they haven¹t completely lost themselves in addiction. As I have mentioned, many men naturally go to nature as a way of prayer or meditation, reminding themselves of their initiatory path or instinctively yearning for it. I include most hunters and fishermen in this category. Most of these men have an innate respect for nature by respecting the balance in nature that their hunting may provide, as well as preserving the habitat of their prey. This is the natural instinct of the authentic warrior hunter, and the heart of any true sportsman. Hopefully, more men will learn from elders that this instinct is as much spiritual as hunting savvy. And that their prey also has much to teach them.

Indigenous people see earth as mother and alive. I believe that a man's relation to the earth and environment tells a lot about his initiatory and spiritual maturity. Does a man see the Earth and its resources as a limitless supply, which can be taken with no return, like an uninitiated boy expecting a mother object to always comfort him? Or does he feel a strong sense of gratitude at the sight of food on the table or the warmth of a wood fire? Does he take from the earth based on a world view that when this planet is exhausted humanity will be ready to find another, just as he transfers his mother needs to a new woman? Or does he look on the earth as a covenanted relationship of give and take, sharing the sacred, continually renewing and growing? Does a man act like a dark patriarch exploiting the 'inert' earth, like his subordinates, only for his own gain? Or does he partner with the living earth to create a vibrant community?

Green is the color of the promise of abundance and renewal. It is the color of new life, the life that comes after the death of the seed and the dead grayness of winter. Green is the color of initiation, the color of the transformed life. Malidoma found the green woman through the veil, promising new life in the midst of his doubt, confusion, and shame. He learned from the spirit behind nature.

Indigenous people around the world today are desperately fighting to protect mother earth. They see the natural connection between the health of the community and the health of the environment, their mother. Both require the acknowledgment of a vibrant, respectful, even loving, interconnectedness where everyone and every being counts because there is some of Spirit in everything. For the initiated man has taken himself out of the center of the universe and humbly honored his newfound higher power in that place.

I believe the modern initiated man will see his community as more than the people he serves. He will see his community as including the natural structure of the web of life as well as the manmade social ones.

Elder Watch

Elders were responsible for the spiritual well being of their community. They made sure the values of harmony, peace, and justice were honored and followed. They were the mediators and reconcilers. They were the institutional memory of the best the culture had created. They taught this history in the process of initiating the young. They reminded the whole community of this history when important decisions were to be made.

They were close to the other side in spirit as well as age so they were more immune to the petty ego games that all were tempted by. They were so close to the other side they heard the voice of the ancestors. True elders were not rigid about tradition. They also realized that each new initiated generation had its latest, vibrant message from the other side. They were there to help discern what that message was.

Today we are in such need of elders instead of patriarchs. We need mediators and reconcilers who have found a healthy place for their own egos. We need elders who don't want power over others but who want to empower others. Initiation is a ritual of empowerment in the context of a spiritual tradition. The spiritual tradition includes the belief in the sacred calling of every person within the larger sacred context of the natural world. Elders hold the vision that if every initiated man and woman follows their call the community will self guide to harmony. Elders know the dark side of humanity can only be contained by supporting the spiritual vision of every human.

Ultimately authentic elders of the past knew that all life, especially human life, is connected. They saw all men as brothers and all women as sisters, not just their tribe. They saw this. They felt this. It was beyond belief. Today we need the same kind of authentic elders. For all of us men this starts with initiation.

All chapters of Toward Manhood are archived.

...........