Paper Sample on Lost World: The Native Americans' Reverence for Earth and Life

Introduction

In the article "What they have that we lack," Smith explores the value of religions of the primal people and contrasts it with the way of living and values adopted by in the West where science is, and rational thinking is valued. The article claims that Native Americans had what the world has lost.

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The Native Americans revere the human personality, the earth, and other life forms on earth, which western society has lost. This reverence of earth and life on it is also seen among the Australian aborigines who understand their land and live in harmony with nature. Animals provide them with food like turtle eggs and meat. To ensure the continued existence of turtles, they never take all eggs; they take half the eggs leaving the others to hatch and sustain the turtle population (New Atlantis Full documentaries, 2013). This reverence of all life forms is also seen in Buddhism, where they encourage a person to widen and deepen their compassion to include all sentient beings. This lacks in the West, where exploitation of nature threatens the existence of many species on earth.

The article claims the West is less clear on their values and no longer knows what is important, unlike Native Americans and other people who practice primal religions. People in the West look down upon myths and value the systemic written metaphysics in the major religions. In the West, people are prejudiced and see other religions as primitive and inferior compared to the historical religions. This prejudice is seen in Australia, where the aborigine culture and religion were seen as inferior to that of the white men.

Myths

The value of myths is not appreciated in the West as the Native Americans value and appreciate them. Myths in Native American culture were passed orally from generation to the next. Oral traditions also exist among the Australian aborigines, where their myths and knowledge are passed on orally.

In cultures where the oral passage of information is not supplanted by writing only the most important information survives and is passed on from one generation to the next. These oral traditions give people the benefit of having a good sense of priorities and values. Unlike the West, where the priorities are lost, and people achieve proportions, for instance, in material possessions and weapons power that clearly out of proportion. These extreme cases are unlikely where people have a good sense of priorities and proportionalities (Smith, 2006).

Libraries in the West and the publication of books result in the accumulation of information that is not sorted according to its importance. Information sorted by its importance results in knowledge. Oral traditions naturally sort the information acquired over a long period through trial and error into knowledge that is critical for survival.

The least amount of information that can be passed from one generation to the next ensures that information that is not important is not passed on. Libraries lack this sorting of information; therefore, everything survives even those that are not important. A person using the library has a hard time trying to acquire knowledge since it is obscured by the breadth of information available.

The west people living in the West are overwhelmed by the amount of information they encounter in their daily lives. This information is generated by publishing and the adoption of computers in many industries, and knowledge is lost in the presence of this amount of information. The article claims that the adoption of computers has led to a decrease in industrial efficiency. The lack of efficiency can be linked to the generation and preservation of an overwhelming amount of information where it is hard to sort out the knowledge.

Priorities

This lack of efficiency can be seen in the overall lives of people living in the West, where people lack priorities and proportionalities. The aboriginal people of Australia have a good life efficiency because they have myths that direct them and give them a good sense of priorities allowing them to coexist with nature in an equilibrium that is sustainable for generations. They rely on termites to make the didgeridoos, which they play in their songs to praise their gods. Termites also hollow out trees and make natural beehives where they harvest honey for their sustenance. Western society lacks the equilibrium that can sustain nature and people due to the inefficiencies of the people causing nature to the surfer as a result.

The article contrasts the scientific process with the way of thinking of the people in the primal religions. The scientific way of thinking starts from a small part that contributes to a whole. Scientists understand a small part and proceed from that to a bigger part that later forms a whole part. The primal religions have a different approach where unless everything is understood, a person believes he understands nothing. The scientists look down upon the other method and deem it a product of the primitive mind. The article emphasizes the importance of both methods.

Religion

There is a belief across different religions of a truth that is accurate and can only have one account of it. Religion is a way of confirming one's life to this truth. The modern approach to life has departed from this way of life that seeks to conform to the given truth. The traditional philosophies which contrast with modernity, value, and power originate from what is greater, more valuable, and powerful. In modernity, power and value are derived from components that unite to create power and value. This view is observed in Australian aboriginal religions where an individual derives meaning a value from the community and nature. Native Americans also believed in this hierarchy in which lesser things derived their value and meaning from the Great Spirit.

The Native Americans had a distinction between what was sacred and what was profane; the modern world lacks division between what is real and what is sacred. Different Native American tribes had a different number of sacred realms.

Many other primal religions have these sacred realms. These realms, in the case of Native Americans, were populated spirits, both bad and good ones. Humans can access these realms from time to time. Shamans establish relationships with these spirits and request their help when they encounter spirits with evil intent. Many other religions have shamans who mediate between the material world and the spiritual realms.

In the case of Buddhism, there is a medium that channels the oracle of Dalai Lama. Mediums, in many cases, have knowledge of their gifts by experiencing hallucinations and feeling sick. After experiencing these symptoms, it is known that they have a gift and are mentored by older shamans until they know how to utilize their skills (TED 2012).

Many people in the West don't understand mediums. A person with these symptoms in the West is likely to be diagnosed with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar condition and heavily medicated unlike in these religions where mediums are recognized as having gifts that can serve the community.

In the Native American religions, there is a division of god with humanly attributes and a god with an absolute nature who cannot be comprehended by the human mind.Native Americans believe that a man connected to his senses lives an ignorant life.They share symbolic stories giving them a meaning and connect them to the land. The aborigines share their experience of the Dreamtime through art.

Conclusion

The Native Americans have myths that pass knowledge from generation to generation and preserving what is important. They revere the natural world and therefore live in harmony with it at equilibrium. The West lacks a clear sense of priorities and proportionality, which results in inefficiencies causing excessive exploitation of nature.