travel logs.. dialogues with indigenous sages

Posting Soon

I have traveled extensively to the midst of Indigenous Latin America. During my travels I enjoyed the opportunity to meet many sages and spiritual leaders. It is true that Indigenous religions seem to be closer to nature, but as I explored their philosophies in more depth, I began to argue that these and other non-Indigenous religions are not different in their basic essence. Every religion posits the existence of the supra-natural and every religion needs to place it somewhere. The Western concept of the transcendent may not apply in Indigenous cultures, but I argue that this intellectual fact does not make a difference beyond the strictly intellectual. In practical terms all religions worship the power from beyond that is either beyond or within the natural world. Spinoza identified nature and god as one and sometimes it feels as though indigenous religions are closer to this point. From a Buberian perspective it seems that the most important point is not where god could be found or what the essence of god is. The key question is the ability open to all to dialogue with god. How do we dialogue with god or the divinity, that is the question. Petitional prayer and institutionalized religions are part of the realm of It. It is true that if god is to be found in nature, then nature assumes a more special role in the life of the individual and the culture. Nonetheless a god that is an It makes the all-ecompassing a tool for the It. A god in nature may inspire all sorts of magics and myths and they usually work for the benefit of the powerful.