One of the most important books of the past forty years was Thomas Berry's 1988 publication, "The Dream of the Earth." As often happens in such cases, I heard about this book for years before I ever bought a copy. But then, again as often happens in such cases, I became somewhat obsessed by Thomas Berry's thought. Sometimes when I discover an author or artist I admire, I spend time inquiring into their life. Did they embody the ideals they chose to express? In Berry's instance, though, it has been more about reviewing the evolution of his thought over the course of his lifetime.
Thomas Berry began as a monk in the Catholic Passionist Order in 1933. In 1942, he became ordained as a priest. However, his profession was really that of a scholar, studying cultural history, especially the world's religions. He was deeply influenced by Chinese philosophy, especially Confucianism, and he published a book on the "Religions of India" and another on Buddhism. Having read them both, I can attest to the depth of his understanding of the interiority of other spiritual paths.
But rather than taking these insights and applying them to his own personal spiritual quest, Berry instead widened his field of study to include firstly, the geological and biological history of the earth, and then with the aid of people like Brian Swimme, a study of the origin of the Cosmos. Berry rejected calling himself a theologian or even an "ecotheologian" and coined a new term for himself; he was a "geologian."
"The Dream of the Earth" was written largely about Berry's concern for the earth and its deteriorating environment at the hands of modern humanity. Each chapter of the book is, in effect, an independent essay drawn from a broad array of perspectives. I intend to focus herein on Chapter 14, "The Historical Role of the American Indian." And, no, this doesn't mean a role subservient to white EuroAmerica, but rather a leading role in guiding contemporary culture out of its death grip upon the natural endowment of this continent, and back to a state of complete balance with the land and all forms of life thereon.
I will quote Thomas and intersperse observations or commentary of my own.
Let's begin with this observation: "Indian peoples maintain their unique status as the original dwellers in this region of the world. They have this position of honor....by their mystical understanding and communion with the continent."
The choice of the word "communion" here is neither haphazard nor a mistake. Elsewhere in his work, Berry constantly repeats the phrase, "The Universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects." I would say it is this communion with the earth that differentiates the Native experience of the land from the objectification of all aspects of nature by EuroAmericans. As Thomas says, "The very structure of our technological civilization prevents us from communicating in depth with Native peoples."
Before I go much further, I must say that I realize a great many people have a deep, even unexpressed, love for this land. I don't mean to say that we're entirely inured to the beauty and majesty that surrounds us. But the expression of our love is partial and incomplete. What do we do? We hike, we camp. Or, as was the case where I grew up, we hunt. All of these are forms of love, but lesser forms. That ex brother-in-law of mine who has always been an avid hunter and fisherman? When talking with him about the Native practice of considering seven generations when making a decision regarding the earth, he said "I don't care about the future." Tell me that's not an incomplete or lesser form of "love." Let's call it what it is: short-sighted, selfish, and willfully ignorant. White to the core.
So there it is, the continuing effect of our supposed moral superiority, at least in the minds of our policy makers. We are only giving a new twist to the spiritual arrogance of our forebears. Thomas recommends "radical abandonment" of all thought of assimilation towards Native peoples, but he recognizes what he calls our "compulsive savior instincts" and plainly states: "We take up the burden of saving others even when in fact we destroy them."
And conveying the insularity of this point of view, he says, "We have tended to confer salvation -- whether political, social, economic, or religious -- and have resisted incorporating the resources offered by others into our own process of becoming." In other words, it's hard to be open to another's perspective when you think you've got all the answers.
A few pages farther into the essay, Thomas observes, "...native peoples...give to the human mode of being a unique expression that belongs among the great spiritual traditions of mankind."
Whereas "...India has its awareness of divine transcendence, China its mystical humanism (he's referring to Confucianism. And what of China's approach to Nature as an incarnation of the Tao, the Dharma?)....so the Indian peoples of America have their own special form of nature mysticism. Awareness of a numinous presence throughout the entire cosmic order establishes among these peoples one of the most integral forms of spirituality known to us."
I think the phrase "nature mysticism" is a misnomer and belittles Native beliefs. They don't enact a form of spirituality that is separate from life. As mentioned by the Incan shaman in the PBS videos, this isn't a "form of spirituality." It is a way of life. Part of the achilles heel of the entire Western world is its tendency to divide everything in life into separate categories. You don't just do spiritual practices every day and viola! -- you're somehow "spiritual." If it is not integrated into everything you do, every aspect of your life, it's just a haphazard and piecemeal attempt to solve a problem in isolation. It's whole; it's integral. That's what I see in the Native approach to Nature, and to life itself.
What Thomas Berry is hitting upon is the numinous mode of consciousness that is the basis of the Native orientation. This is what we have altogether lost -- the sense that everything about life and everything within existence is sacred -- in and of itself. It isn't a quality that we need to invest things with, it's already present. It's intrinsic to all existence.
That is the quality of consciousness that we must recover.
Regarding the "numinous mode of consciousness" Thomas observes, "...one of the primary instincts of the human community is to protect and foster such primordial experiences...they provide the foundations upon which cultural systems are established....these revelations form the ultimate psychic support for the human venture itself."
It's just this quality that we descendants of Europe must re-learn. But this is a touchy subject. You no doubt have heard the phrase "cultural appropriation" bandied about. The attempt to colonialize even their most sacred beliefs and practices must be particularly galling to Native peoples. Sweat lodges, drumming circles, vision quests, New Age shamans -- we really can't just lift all these sacred practices out of their native context and expect to successfully apply them to our own circumstances.
What we can do, perhaps, is try a little humility. We might actually bend our knee and drop our presumption of always knowing better. It's rare to meet someone who doesn't "know better."
Really, it isn't so much that we need to copy Native culture. Native culture emerged from long and intimate experience with the land itself. It's there we must go. We need to humble ourselves before the Earth itself, in all its manifold manifestations. And then, maybe if we're lucky, it might speak to us -- and if we've learned to quiet the din of our own self and its oh-so-precious concerns -- we might actually hear. But this quieting ourselves is a characteristic all but unknown in modern American life. There is always something (or someone) with which to distract yourself.
I'm only halfway through Thomas Berry's 14th chapter on Native America. Perhaps I can survey the other half in a day or so. Til then....
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