The ‘Great Mystery’
Cultural collusion, not theft
What is the “Great Mystery” to you? Columnist Robert Koehler had known such a spiritual mystery two decades ago, only to have the messenger attacked. He revisits the experience and emphasizes the importance of cultural connection.
I started reading an essay the other day, sent to me by a friend, and something strange happened a short while later. I went to bed – and an unrecognizable force took hold of me as I slept. It didn’t feel like dreaming. I later described it to myself as swimming in an emotional buzz. I had never experienced anything quite like this. It wasn’t scary, like a nightmare, just strange and compelling, almost … my God, electrical. I was in a place beyond anything I understood.
When I woke up, I knew the “buzz” was related to the essay, even though I had read only the first couple paragraphs. After breakfast, I immediately delved back into it. Indeed, I copied the internet publication and pasted it onto a word document, which allowed me to underline key passages and write down my thoughts and reactions as I read.
The essay is called “A Theft of Spirit?” It was written by Christopher Shaw, some three decades ago. It addresses a matter of profound significance to me because it relates to an organization I’m part of called the ManKind Project (MKP), which holds profoundly spiritual weekends that dig deeply into the nature of our humanity. I’m not sure what the MKP weekend consists of today, but when I participated in it, some 20 years ago, it included sweat lodges and other wakeup events that borrowed significantly from Native American traditions. This included choosing a spiritual name for myself, which I still value: Heart Lion.
Twenty years later, I still meet on a weekly basis with fellow participants in the MKP weekend I took part in. We used to meet in person, but now we do so via Zoom. We talk about deep matters in the world around us and in our personal lives. Several years ago, we had to contemplate the fact that serious criticism was brewing against MKP by a Native American organization, which accused MKP of stealing and debasing Native traditions for profit. This was extremely upsetting to all of us – spiritually upsetting, you might say. And it clawed at my heart from two opposite directions.
That is to say, I have utter respect and empathy for Native Americans and feel torn apart over what they have endured since Europeans arrived on the continent: from land theft to cultural debasement to genocide. At the same time, oh my God, I got so much spiritual value out of the weekend. It remains a crucial contributor to my evolving awareness. Emotionally, I couldn’t just shrug, push it all aside and move on. Can’t cultures connect, learn from each other – and evolve? My emotional turmoil over this never stopped pulsating.
Shaw’s essay addresses all sides of this matter with uncompromising clarity, beginning with this quote, which is from a leaflet an Indian activist distributed at a controversial event:
“STOP EXPLOITING THE SACRED TRADITIONS OF AMERICAN INDIAN PEOPLE!!! … We are outraged by non-Indian wannabes and would-be gurus of ‘the New Age’ shamelessly exploiting and mocking our sacred religious traditions. … These sacred ways have enabled our people to survive five centuries of genocide. We will not allow these most sacred gifts to be desecrated and abused. … OUR SACRED SPIRITUAL PRACTICES ARE NOT FOR SALE, AND IF YOU TRY TO STEAL THEM FROM US, YOU ARE GUILTY OF SPIRITUAL GENOCIDE.”
How these words pierced me! I’m not some Indian wannabe or would-be guru. I almost couldn’t continue reading, but I pushed on. And the essay opened itself beyond the justified anger and contempt, while stressing the complexity of Indian spirituality and how it couldn’t be truly understood “without living it and breathing it day by day.”
Nonetheless: “The Great Mystery is open to all who believe.”
Shaw quotes Mohawk elder Jake Swamp: “I feel that if anything is good in this world, everyone should have it. But I don’t think we should get it all in one dose. When you get something so easy you don’t value it as much. You have to pay your dues. Then you’re going to value it the rest of your life.”
And a short while later, the essay gives us the words of Mohawk writer Bob George: “I like the idea that people are questioning the things that are going on around them and trying to come up with alternatives. I also understand the imperative to do this with what short time we have on this planet. Indian people have a certain way of looking at the world that’s necessary for everybody to adopt, which is that man is an integral part of creation, not detached by virtue of his intellect or reasoning.”
And I could feel the ground shift. The Great Mystery was starting to open. Wisdom and spiritual awareness should not be trivialized and monetized. Nor should they be locked up in a glass case at some museum. In this war-torn, ecologically devastated world, we need to reclaim our relationship to this planet and truly value – rather than exploit – the life that pulsates everywhere.
This requires cultural connection.
Robert Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His newly released album of recorded poetry and art work, “Soul Fragments,” is available here. Contact him at koehlercw@gmail.com, visit his website at commonwonders.com.
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