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|    alt.mythology    |    Greek mythology... or fans of Hercules    |    1,943 messages    |
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|    Message 350 of 1,943    |
|    Cardinal Human Values to All    |
|    Mythology of the Maori of Aotearoa / New    |
|    15 Oct 04 13:17:08    |
      From: prout-gems-subscribe@pi.org.au              Greetings / Namaskar              According to the Maori people of New Zealand, Rangi was the Sky Father and his       wife was the Mother Earth, Papa. In the mythology of the Maori of New Zealand       / Aotearoa, Papa is the personification of the Earth and is a female goddess.       The        personification of the Sky - Rangi, a male god, fell in love with Papa and       embraced her. There is complete oneness. And there is also no attributional       qualifications or vibrations in the Universe. This was at a time when there       was no light in the        universe. At the beginning of time, Rangi, the male sky, and Papa, the female       Earth, were entwined in a static embrace. Rangi wanted with this embrace to       prevent the creation of the world. However, the Creative Principle       (Papa) was permitted to act on that Consciousness (Rangi). Papa and Rangi had       many children. Creation personified, and expressed in multiplicities.              The journey is then back to the source. There is a spiritual essence in       everything. While there is apparent heterogeneity, in essence all is       homogenous. That is the theme of the piece below, which takes an approach of       melding Maori spiritual mythology        and Tantric meditation.              Dharma              ONE       ---              Perhaps now is the opportunity to look at the beginning. Is Papa just another       name for the Cosmic Consciousness in whom all things lie? Is Rangi just       another name for the Cosmic Operative Force which has the ability to create       everything? Sky Father        and Earth Mother. Therefore were Papa and Rangi the parents of all creation?        If so, then the universe is my homeland because I am a child and we are all       children from the same never ending forces of creation, operation and       destruction. We are all        citizens of this Cosmos.              Rangi and Papa cannot bear to be separated. Nor can we people as expressions       of those same forces be separated from each other. We may have different       expressions - indeed we must all have different expressions. That is a fact of       life in a world, rather        a universe, of relativity. Everything is different. But Rangi and Papa are       just like two sides of a piece of paper. They are one. Try to separate them       and there will be immense pain. This universe is their creation.              This universe is within their imagination. Together this is the imagination       of Io (the Macrocosmic Mind - GOD). The universe is created in the       imagination of Io, the Supreme Entity, so the ownership of this universe lies       with Io and not the microcosms (       including us people) created out of Io's imagination.              All the property of this earth, moveable as well as immovable, animate and       inanimate, does not belong to any particular individuals, but everything is       the common property of us all. We all have a common source in the spiritual       sense. Every living being        should be able to utilise their rightful share of this property, just like the       members of a joint family.              Like members of a joint family, living beings should safeguard this common       property in a befitting manner, utilise it properly and make adequate       arrangements so that everyone enjoys it with equal rights. The Treaty of       Waitangi seems to be saying the        same thing. So we in Aotearoa, in partnership together with each other, must       share our resources (physical, mental and spiritual) and ensure that everyone       lives with a sound body and a sound mind and with the basic necessities.        Sharing resources of all        types does not mean we all become the same. That is an impossibility. It       just means there are so many different expressions in the web of life.              Maori tribal land perhaps had behind it the idea of joint property and that we       should not forget even for a moment that this whole animate world is a large       joint family. Nature has not assigned any property to any particular       individual. Individual        ownership has been created by opportunists and selfish motives. So it was       with Russell as a land speculator in the 1860's.              Under the Native Lands Act 1862 he sponsored a system that was socially       defective and that only provided opportunities for those who liked to grow fat       in a parasitic way. This was just a step in the destruction of Maori cultural       and spiritual values,        which recognised the importance of the land.              A member of a partnership or joint family cannot be called a social being if       they do not have a common heart with other members, or if they do not accept       the high ideals and the self-evident truth of joint rights. Accordingly a       system of individual        ownership cannot be accepted as absolute and final. Individual versus       collective life is the main difference between European and Maori cultures.              But "We are all one people" said Captain Hobson at the signing of the Treaty       of Waitangi. Why has the fashion been to take this phrase in a negative way.        Papa and Rangi cannot bear to be separated. This is a recognition of       oneness. The unity of the        universe depends on oneness. Just because we are all one people does not mean       that we cannot have different individual or collective expressions, eg Maori       and Pakeha. Expressions may be different but that does not mean we cannot be       in unison as one        people. So the negative image created around this expression is just an       exaggeration.              TWO       ---              Everything is the joint property of all living beings. This has to be       recognised as a matter of principle. After its recognition the ideas that       this is national and that this is foreign, that a particular person is fit for       the citizenship of a        particular country while others are not, or have less claim or no rights at       all, cannot stand. Such words are narrow expressions.              All persons are world citizens by birth. The ancient explorers taught us       that. Papa and Rangi are still teaching us that. Every person has the right       to go and settle anywhere and to live like a human being. Things are getting       so mixed these days. At        one time Maori people thought that the fantail was the portender of death.        Upon intermixing of Christianity the perspective of the fantail changed to       being one of the portender of life. See how things change through cultural       intermixing. The same will        in time happen with the current dogma that Maori women cannot speak on the       marae.              Everything is always changing. That is a part of the process of evolution.       Social Darwinism is however wrong in fact and in theory. Evolution is not a       rat race of one group of persons trying to get there first. It is not just a       competitive pursuit.        That kind of evolution is in fact counter-evolution. This is because it       implies genocide of one culture by the superior culture. How can that have       anything to do with evolution in the human sense when it amounts to       destruction.                     [continued in next message]              --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05        * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)    |
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