Our world is the greatest spiritual teacher

Page 6

Tansi, ahnee and hello.

There was once a man who sought healing. This young man looked back on the actions of his life with great sadness and with great shame.

He was a warrior. Despite the honors that had been heaped upon him by his people the young warrior felt great dissatisfaction.

Somehow he sensed that there was more. Something inside him told him that there were other roads for him to travel.

One day the young warrior took some tobacco and went to see the spiritual leader of his band. He told the old one of his troubled spirit. He told of his dissatisfaction and of his desire to experience

more than simply the life of a warrior.

The old one smiled. There is much more to being a warrior than guarding the lives of the people he told the young man. A true warrior not only needs to know how to fight he said, but he also

must learn to endure.

The old one talked. He told the young man of the sweetgrass way. He told him of the meaning behind the three braids in the sweetgrass braid -- faith, honesty and kindness. He talked of the

difficulty encountered by those who chose to walk in a spiritual manner.

He told the young man that the true spirit of the warrior comes from walking the sweetgrass way.

And so the young warrior left the old one's lodge and set to work. He went from lodge to lodge in his village and gave away all of his possessions. To his best friend he gave his bow and his

arrows. To his mother he gave his blankets. Everyone in the village received something from the young warrior.

In his lodge the young warrior surrounded himself with the objects of prayer. He hung his eagle feather in the middle of the lodge. He piled his sweetgrass and sage beside his fire. His rattle and

hand drum sat at his feet. He began to pray.

He prayed and he prayed and he prayed. The people began to worry. Over the next few months, the young man rarely left his lodge except to perform his necessary duties.

During the day, the lodge was filled with sweetgrass smoke and the soft murmurings of prayer. At night the rattle and drum echoed all around the village and the young man's singing filled the air.

Then came the day when he emerged. The people all watched with fascination as the young man erected a sweat lodge by the river.

Day after day the young warrior sat in the sweat lodge with the sounds of more praying and singing.

Then came the day when the young warrior returned to the lodge of his spiritual leader. He told the old one of his praying and singing. He told him of his sweat lodge. He told the old one that

despite all of this he didn't feel much different.

The old one smiled. Looking kindly at the young man he told him of a very wise and very old healer who had much wisdom. The old healer lived in a lodge very far away. If the young man made

this journey and told this old one about his desires and his efforts the old healer would give him an answer.

The very next day the young man set out on foot to seek the old healer. For days and days he marched across country. He climbed cliffs, waded rivers and crept through swamps. He slept without

fire.

Finally he spied the Old One's lodge atop a high cliff. Despite his tiredness from his journey the young man began to climb the steep cliff. Higher and higher he went. The higher he went the more

tired he became. Only the desire to find the answer to his spiritual search kept him going.

As he crawled over the edge he came face to face with the wise old man. With gasping breath he told him of his giveaway. He told him of his praying and his singing. He told him of his sweat

lodge and of his incredible journey.

The old one smiled. He listened patiently as the young man described the effort he had been making and detailed all of his sacrifices.

When the young warrior finally finished the old healer looked at him and smiled. He touched him gently on the shoulder and nodded. I do have the answer for you he told the young seeker.

The young man was excited. Finally e would hear the answer to his desire to live a truly spiritual life. Finally he could become a true warrior. He looked at the old one and waited.

The old one sat for a moment and then said very quietly to the young man, the answer to your search is a simple as this. Lighten up!

Lighten up. For those of us who have left behind lifestyles we take no pride in and begun seeking the answers in the sweetgrass way the story of the young warrior probably sound familiar. We're

so determined to live this new way that we go to incredible lengths. We make incredible sacrifices. We try too hard.

We get so involved in living this new way that we forget to live with the world around us. We forget that the world itself is the greatest spiritual teacher. We put great pressure on ourselves. The

secret, as the old one says, is as simple as this. Lighten up. Lighten up and live. Lighten up and learn. Lighten up and grow.

Until next week, Meegwetch.