Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Spirituality: The Power of the African Idea

HE Ben Ammi Ben Israel - excerpt from a public address in Johannesburg (April 2011):

In the Genesis when Yah the Great God of Creation, the invisible Yah with no image or form, revealed himself, He wanted to be brought into a social and material world, because spiritual beings are also social beings. We hear these terms and they are left hanging in space without form. When you hear someone say “I’m spiritual” it has no form or any body to it. You take it to mean something special and abstract. But spiritual men are also social men. Do you know any spiritual men that don’t eat? Spiritual men eat! Spiritual men drink! Spiritual men clothe themselves. Spiritual men converse, because spiritual men are also social men. In the material world that means that if a spiritual individual eats, he has to farm. And if he has to farm, he may need a materialistic implement. If he dresses himself, he has to have clothing. So, the Creator revealed Himself to be brought into a social and material world. Then, for someone to say that you can separate God from government, they got you separating God from the mate-rial world. Now who can conceive it that when He revealed Himself, he did to be left out? He revealed himself to be brought into your social and material lives! But someone has come and given you the impression that you can separate “religion” and state; God and government. It is utterly impossible for the God of Creation to be separated from your social and materialistic world! That is why He revealed Himself unto us! How do you separate God from your social activities: from what you’re eating; what you’re drinking; what you’re wearing; what you’re talking about; dancing, singing? How do you separate God from all of that? The dominant powers on the planet today have given you the impression that God is not to be brought into government. God revealed himself to be brought into government! We’re talking about solu-tions today. And when you weave those two together, you would come up with what was, is and always will be referred to as Life and living.

The Creator then revealed unto us laws. Well, over the years we’ve been given the impression that when you hear the term “law”, it sounds so harsh. That’s why you gravitate to someone telling you that the law is no more (it has been fulfilled). They were the same ones that taught you to leave God out of government. So now I want to restructure that so that you can find comfort with laws.

In the Genesis, the Creator Yah placed us into that social and material world. And then, He, being merciful, revealed unto us the laws that govern this Creation. A merciful God! This is so that you would know that you were not put on this planet without being calibrated. But someone has told you that you can eat anything; say anything; wear anything; do anything... and that’s a lie! We’re talking bout solutions because the problem is that’s exactly what you’re doing: eating anything; saying anything; wearing anything. And that’s the problem! So I want to use the terms, instead of “giving us laws,” He was merciful enough to reveal unto us the laws governing this vessel and the laws governing the environment that He was placing us in. Now, do we get another sense and understanding of law? Do you think that He fashioned this extraordinary soul of man and then told it “Do what you wanna do”? You got to under-stand, we’re talking about solutions. So He didn’t give us “law.” He revealed unto us the boundaries and limits of this great soul that he gave unto us. Now, doesn’t that make sense for Him to tell you? Spiritual men eat! “Don’t eat poison ivy. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that,” be-cause He had to teach us the guidelines so that we would know how to govern this (soul). Not to destroy it!

Can you envision Him placing us in a social/materialistic environment and not giving some understanding as to how it functions? That defies logic. Doesn’t it? So we’re getting comfort-able with law! So now when we understand that, spiritual men eat, “here are the things that you should eat”; spiritual men drink; “here are the things that you should drink. Don’t drink oil, because this is not calibrated for that.” Spiritual men sing. He says “that sing praises unto He that created you.” It makes sense. Doesn’t it? Spiritual men dance. It says you dance to express love and appreciation. So He had to give us some guidelines, for if you start singing about other gods, He said “I’m gonna take your tongue.” So in order to protect your tongue, He says sing about Him.
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2 comments:

  1. legolokwe5 April 2012 at 02:54

    agree that "spiritual beings are also social beings". agree that materiality has a spitual dimension to it and perhaps the line we often draw between the sipritual and the material world is artificial. what makes the idea "an african idea" though?

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  2. Oriel5 April 2012 at 03:11

    Good Question: Remember that cultural expression is central to African Spirituality. Go "e tsa mosebetsi" was a spiritual activity - but intrinsically social, performed with materialistic implements.

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massage of the week

Birago Diop, “Spirits”

Listen to Things More often than Beings,
Hear thevoice of fire,
Hear thevoice of water.

Listen in the wind,
To the sighs of the bush;
This is the ancestors breathing.
Those who are dead are not ever gone;
They are in thedarkness that grows lighter
And in thedarkness that grows darker.

The dead are not down in the earth;
They are inthe trembling of the trees
In the groaning of the woods,
In the waterthat runs,
In the water that sleeps,
They are in the hut, they are in thecrowd:
The dead are not dead.

Listen to things More often than beings,
Hear the voice of fire,
Hear thevoice ofwater.
Listen in thewind,
To the bushthat is sighing

This is the breathing of ancestors,
Who have not gone away
Who are not under earth
Who are not really dead.

Those who are dead are not ever gone;
They are in a woman’s breast,
In thewailing of a child,
And theburning of a log,
In the moaning rock,
In theweeping grasses,
In the forestand the home.

The dead arenotdead.
Listen more often To Things than to Beings,
Hear the voice of fire,
Hear the voice of water.
Listen in the wind too
The bush that is sobbing:

This is the ancestors breathing.
Each day they renew ancient bonds,
Ancient bonds that hold fast
Binding our lot to their law,
To the will of the spirits stronger than we

Whose covenant binds us to life,
Whose authority binds to their will,
The will of the spirits that stir
In the bed of theriver,
on the banks of the river,
The breathing of spirits
Who moan in the rocks and weep in the grasses.

Spirits in habit
The darkness that lightens,
the darkness that darkens,
The quivering tree,
the murmuring wood,
The waterthat runs and the water that sleeps:

Spirits much stronger than we,
The breathingof the dead who are not really dead,
Of the dead who are not really gone,
Of the dead now no more in the earth.

Listen toThings More often than Beings,
Hear the voice of fire,
Hear the voice of water.
Listen in thewind,
To the bush that is sobbing:

This is the ancestors, breathing.

Source: The Negritude Poets, ed. Ellen Conroy Kennedy. New
York:Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1989