Metu Neter Vol 1 | Reason | Logic - baixardoc

10
The author and publishers acknowledge with thanks, fIrst of all, the great devotion shown by Raar Mesh User (Jay Barker). We cannot thank him enough for the long hours, and love that he poured into the rendition of the art work for the deck of cards, the cover design, and the illustrations. A big thanks also goes out to Hrimgalah Amen and Greg Thomas for their editing assistance, to Merisa Amen for her typing assistance, to the priests and priestesses of the Ausar Ausel Society who, in testing the Metu Neter oracle, trusted it with their lives. \ METUNETER Vol. I The Great Oracle of Tehuti And The Egyptian System of Spiritual Cultivation RA UN NEFER AJ."\IEN I © 1990 Ra Un Nefer Amen All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, stored or reproduced in any fann without express written pennission from the publisher. Pu blished by Khamit Media Trans Visions, Inc. 1100 Albemarle Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218 Website address: tauienterprises.com ISBN 978-1-877662-03-4

Transcript of Metu Neter Vol 1 | Reason | Logic - baixardoc

The author and publishers acknowledge with thanks, fIrst of all, the

great devotion shown by Raar Mesh User (Jay Barker). We cannot

thank him enough for the long hours, and love that he poured into

the rendition of the art work for the deck of cards, the cover design,

and the illustrations. A big thanks also goes out to Hrimgalah Amen

and Greg Thomas for their editing assistance, to Merisa Amen for

her typing assistance, to the priests and priestesses of the Ausar

Ausel Society who, in testing the Metu Neter oracle, trusted it with

their lives.

\

METUNETER

Vol. I

The Great Oracle of Tehuti And The Egyptian System of Spiritual Cultivation

RA UN NEFER AJ."\IEN I

© 1990 Ra Un Nefer Amen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, stored or

reproduced in any fann without express written pennission from

the publisher.

Published by Khamit Media Trans Visions, Inc.

1100 Albemarle Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218

Website address: tauienterprises.com

ISBN 978-1-877662-03-4

Contents

AUTHOR'S PREFACE 1

The Divine Plan 1

CRAFTER 1 5

Introduction 5

The Hemispheres of the Brain 9

Religion, Trance, and Ancestors

CHAPTER 2 W

The Black Founders of Civilization W

A Brief DefInition of Religion 13

14

The Three Fundamental Races of Mankind and the Principle of Geographic Contiguity 22

CHAPTER 3 38 The Source of the Light ofthe East 38 CHAPTER 4 46

Cosmology and Cosmogony 46 CHAPTER 5 49 The Two Great Realms ofBeing 49

The Subjective Realm 50 The Objective Realm 52

The Cosmogenesis of the Objective Realm 54 The Noumenal Plane 54 The Divisions of the Noumenal Plane 55 The Great Divine Trinity

The Phenomenal Plane 58

The Step by Step Manifestation of Subjective Being 59

The Paut Neteru (Tree of Life) 64 CHAPTER 6 69 Analysis of the Cosmogonical System 69

The Six Acts of Creation 70

The Creation of the Celestial Government 70 The Creation of the Celestial Workers 71

An Analysis Of The Process Of Creation 73 The Duality Principle In Cosmogony 77 The Complementary Dualities On The Tree Of Life 78

CHAPTER 7 82

The Cosmological View Of Man 82

I

The Spiritual Anatomy OfMan 82

A Comparative Analysis Of Man's Complementary Faculties

Man's Knowledge Of Reality

The Tree Of Life As A Guide To Man's Spirit Or "Mind" 84

95

The Five Principles Governing Man's Life 96

Man's Self-identity 99

The Will 101

Man's Power 102

103

CHAPTER 8 105

The Three Types OfMen 105

Stage I of Man's Evolution 107

Stage II of Man's Evolution 110

Stage III of Man's Evolution 112

Religion 118

Economics 122

Government 123

Education 124

CHAPTER 9 125

The Spiritual Cultivation ofMan 125

The Ausarian Metaphorein 128

The Metaphorein of Ausar in the Spiritual Evolution of

Society 130

CHAPTER 10 133

The Tree OfLife Initiation System 133

The Two Principles Underlying the Problems to be

Overcome through Initiation 135

The Four Principles Underlying Initiation 136

CHAPTER 11 138

The Ten Stages OfInitiation 138

Preliminary Requirements to Initiation 138

Sphere 10, Geb, The Khaibit 138

The Care of the Life Force 138

Level 1 - Stage 1 of Initiation 139

Level 1 - Stage 2 of Initiation 142

Sahu division of the Spirit, Sphere 8, Sebek 142

Level 1 - Stage 3 of Initiation 145

Sahu Division of the Spirit, Sphere 1, Het·Heru 145

II

Level 2 - Stage Four of Initiation

152

Level 2 - Stage 5 of Initiation

Thinking vs. Thought Drift

156 Level 2 - Stage 6 of Initiation 157

Level 3 - Stage 7 of Initiation 158

Level 3 - Stage 8 of Initiation 159

Level 3 - Stage 9 of Initiation 160

Level 4 - Stage 10 of Initiation 160

CHAPTER 12 161

Meditation And Ritual 161

The Means of Realizing Spiritual Growth 161

The Principles of Meditation 161

The Fundamental Components of Man's Being 161

Stages in the Process of Meditation 162

The Process of Meditation 163

The Components of a Meditation 166

The Importance of Trance 168

CHAPTER 13 171

Levell, First Three Stages ofthe Meditation Process 171

Care of the Life-force 171

The Four Principles Underlying the Process of Meditation 171

Levell of the Meditation Process, Stage 1, Sphere 9 174

Levell of the Meditation Process, Stage 2, Sphere 8 178

Levell of the Meditation Process, Stage 3, Sphere 7 180

CHAPTER 14 187

Level 2, Second Three Stages ofthe Meditation Process 187

Level 2 of the Meditation Process, Stage 4, Sphere 6 187

Men Ab em Aungk em Maat 189

Pert Em Heru 194

Level 2 of the Meditation Process, Stage 5, Sphere 5 195

Level 2 of the Meditation Process, Stage 6, Sphere 4 195

CHAPTER 15 199

Levels 3 and 4 ofthe Meditation Process 199

Level 3 of the Meditation Process, Stage 7, Sphere 3 199

Level 3 of the Meditation Process, Stage 8, Sphere 2 202

The Two Fundamental Actions of the Mind 202

202

Level 3 of the Meditation Process, Stage 9, Sphere 1 204

Level 4 of the Meditation Process, Stage 10, "0" 205

III

205 Initiation and Society 209

CHAPTER 16 209

The Oracles 212

CHAPTER 17 212 The Deities Of The Metu Neter 212

Amen 212

Ausar 214

Tehuti 216 The Utchau Metut . . . 216

S atial - Hierarchical DuneBSlOn . dassificatiOn, and Evaluation (Utchau) of Life

219 Problems

221

Seker 224

Maat 226

Herukhuti 227

Heru 229

Het-heru 230 Sebek 233

Auset 235

236Seb, Or Geb, The God Of The Earth

Sheps & Dark Deceased 237

Ra 239

244 Nekhebet And U atchet

CHAPTER 18 244

The Philosophical an syc 0 Ocr The Metutu . d Phi mcal Foundation of the Metu

244 Neter Oracle System 248

Shaping Factors of Success. 255

261 The Shaping Factors o~ Failure

266 A Place and Time For All Things

cHAPTER 19 266

The Metutu 266 Amen 267

Ausar 269 Tehuti 271

Seker 276

Maat 280 Herukhuti 283 Heru 2i37

Het-Heru

IV

Sebek 290 Auset 293

Geb 296

Sheps & Dark Deceased 297

Nekhebet 298

Uatchet 299

CHAPTER 20 300 The Meanings ofthe Combined Metutu 300

CHAPTER 21 356

Consulting The Oracle 356

The State of Mind, and Motives For Readings 357

Suggested Questions 358

How to Consult 359

CHAPTER 22 361

Interpreting The Oracle 361

The Utchau Metut and Interpretation

Modes and Levels of Interpretation

The Suits 364

367

367

Why Should Oracles be Used? 369

Significators 371

Rituals and the Readings 379

Rituals and the Significators 379

Initiation and the Readings 381

CHAPTER 23 382

Meditations and Rituals 382

Tension Diaphragmatic Breathing

Breathing And The Internalization Of Consciousness

State of Trance 383

Waking Trance States 383

Mediumistic Trance 384 Breathing The Key To Meditation 384

386

The Physiological Basis of Kumbhaka 387

387

The Harmonics Of Breathing 388 Breathing And Wakefulness 393

Rituals 394

CHAPTER 24 397

V

How To Meditate And Per/onn A Ritual

posture In Meditation

The Procedure . . Functioning In The MeditatIon Stage . Meditation Managing the Sphere of Awareness Durmg

400

Meditating on your Readings

Hekau Of The Deities . rdinating the Breathing with the Chantmg

C00 binThe Rate of Breat g

APPENDIX A

Sesh Metut Neter SELECf BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

397 Author's Preface 397 398 The Divine Plan 399

We live in a world that was created, and is maintained by

the unified working of a multiplicity of agencies.

401 We live in a world that is composed of a multiplici!y of

401 entities that are unified through a web of interdependence.

401 401 In the infancy of his spiritual evolutionary career, Man is

404 unable to perceive the hidden forces and abstract principles that

404 unify, the working of the shaping forces of the world, and the entities

411 that make up the world. He creates, therefore, a way of life-systems

413 of religion, science, economics, government, education, family,

philosophy, etc. - that is incapable of establishing, and maintaining

unity-law, order, peace, harmony-in the world. Thus the world has

been plunged, and is sinking deeper, day by day, into the jaws of

death.

It is true that he has amassed a great number of facts

concerning the workings of nature, and a great collection of ideas

concerning religion, and so on, but the possession of a mass of facts,

however reliable the facts are, does not constitute the possession of a

science, nor does the possession of a collection of ideas about

religion, constitute the possession of a religion, for the knowledge

contained in these facts regarding nature, and these ideas concerning

religion, does not embody the principles that are necessary to unify

the facts, and ideas. It is only when the facts concerning nature, or

the ideas about religion are linked to each other, and to the whole,

that a science, or a religion is formed.

Man's perception of the world, however, cannot change the

reality that the world is shaped, and maintained by a unified

multiplicity of agencies, and that the world is made up of an

infmitude of interdependent entities. This reality has been known to

Black and Oriental cultures, and ignored by Westerners as far back

as history can take us. The Black nations of antiquity, through the

cultivation of the science of inducing the state of waking trance,

which enables Man to perceive the working of abstract principles,

and the hidden shaping forces of the world, were able to create a

way of life-systems of religion, science, philosophy, government,

1 VI

economics, etc. - that was capable of establishing and maintaining

unity, and thus led to the creation of civilization.

Unity, harmony, and order in society cannot be achieved

through the making of laws by Man, and the policing of people's

behavior. As Man's life on earth is a product of the Supreme

Being's creative process, every aspect of Man's life, is therefore,

controlled by the divine creative agencies. Unity, and thus,

prosperity in society can only be achieve by Man's efforts to intuit

the knowledge of how the divine agencies are shaping his life, i.e., to

intuit the knowledge of the Divine Plan1• It follows, logically, that

the Divine Plan would contain the knowledge of the unifying

principles, of the multiplicity of shaping forces of the world, and of

the entities making up tbe world. Through it, all things, and events

in the world were unified. Religion with science with government

with philosophy with medicine, and so on. Man with nature with

God, etc. It achieved this monumental accomplishment by assigning

to each event, force, entity, and idea a place in space (hierarchy,

rank), and time. It is the purpose of this book to give the reader a

working knowledge of this system. The I1ivine Plan is presented in

this book, not as the museum pieces that are tbe delight and folly of

historians, but as a system to be lived. The jab at historians was

thrown, both in jest, and in seriousness. The fun side is dictated by

the fact that they have, cumulatively, amassed a great deal of facts on

our past, for which we must be grateful. The otber side is dictated

by the fact that, although most historians of religious subjects know

of their lack of fust hand experience of .the religious phenomena

they report on, it does not stop them from arrogating to themselves

the aura of authoritativeness in reporting, "explaining," and passing

judgments.

Although, the material in this book has the full support of

historical documentation, I am writing foremost as a priest of over

20 years of practice. 1 am here presenting a practical syncretism of

the best that the Kamitic (Ancient Egyptian), the Dravidian (Black

India), and the Canaanite (true authors of Kabala) religions have to

offer. They were among the six nations that laid the foundation of

civilization. But it would be folly on our part to merely document

this fact, and to compile and explain a list of who, when, why and

what. Would it not be a sign of intelligence, to be more interested in

1. Maat.

2

the methods employed by them fo . w~ may learn and apply them to . t r the crc:ahon of civilization, that philosophical sy.stems of an' I s ~ecreatton 1 If the religion.: and

, Clent clVilizaf "'-)aren t We practicing them 1 Ions were so great, why

Yes! In this volume one of broad to be fully explained in ~ne many as .the topics are too

means through which eve 0 boo~ I have glV:D the world, the

aspects of life, the mea:: o~e -: dis~over the links between all

continuum-that the Supreme Bem co;erlDg t~e Plan-the structural

events in the world, to Unfold in g as put ID place to enable the

Become the Plan and 1 t P an orderly, and harmOnious way R aliza . , e eace p. .

e bon reign in the world. Hetep!' rospenty, and Spiritual

Ra Un Nefer Amen I Sheke Society. Ashem Ur Ashemu f ~ Ur ~hekem of the Ausar Auset

New York, U.S.A., April 24, ;~ e Shrmes of Taui

3

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The world is on a collision course with disaster. Not only

from, or because of the threat of nuclear war, but from the massive

collapse of its institutions (political, social, economical, religious,

spiritual, educational, etc.). It· is the combined failure of these

institutions, and traditions that is at the root of the widespread decay

and stagnation that we are witnessing in just about every nation in the

world.

"This state of affairs," a Kamitian (Ancient Egyptian)

priest(ess) would say, "is due to 'Lack of Self Knowledge'." This

injunction has been quoted often by scholars yet none have given

much insight into its true meaning.

In explaining what is 'Knowledge of Self, I ought to begin, it seems most natural, at the beginning. But that would take us into

such an abstruse discussion that it makes better sense to start, instead,

at a very familiar midpoint.

Let's start with what you are doing this very moment. As

your eyes race across these lines I want you to make the effort of

becoming aware of the fact that you are involved in two sets of

functions. On one hand, you are making the efl'ort to keep your

attention on the sequence of words as you read on. On the other

hand, witbout your conscious efl'on, and awareness, the meaning of

what you are reading is taking shape. These two sets of functions are

more apparent in more complex activities. While you need to think: of

getting up and going somewhere, you need not think of the details of

the muscular activities involved in getting up itself. They are taken

care of for you. When you type, dance, play an instrument, perform in a sport, drive, write, etc., you can become aware of the fact that some

part of your activities is performed without conscious effort.

Now, this dualization of your being into two fundamental sets

of functions is the central theme of 'Self Knowledge'. One part of

your being is concerned with activities that you have to direct, while

the other deals with activities that occur without your attention to

them. You may have noticed that I have gone to a little trouble to

avoid the popular designations, "voluntary vs. involuntary, or conscious

5

vs. subconscious" behavior. We will later see why. Let us for noW

label them "willed," and "automatic" respectively. It might not surprise you, because you already know, that

great performers make poor teachers. Yet, you might be surprised to

know that you could not give an accurate description of how you walk,

or articulate the words that you speak, etc. You fail for the same

reasons that most great performers do as teachers. The performance

of the tasks in question is carried out without· your attention, and

awareness of the intricate details involved. You direct your attention

to the desired result and the other part of your being unattended takes

care of the execution. In fact as you sit here, this other part is, without

your attention, or consent, determining what underst~~ 'you ~e extracting from what you are reading, and at the same tune, It IS taking

care of your breathing, exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide in your

blood, circulating the latter through every cell in your body, probably

digesting some food, and getting ready to shut down the part of you

that directs activities, that it (the automatic part of being) may have

more freedom and energy to do some major repairs on your vehicle

while you sleep ... among many, many other, very complicated

thin 1,~ . cliffIt should be obvious by now that there eXISts a vast erence

in the knowledge and capabilities between the two parts of our being.

While the willed part of our being has to be instructed and is no better

in its performance than the quality of the material taught it, the

automatic part of being is directed by an omniscient factor, -let's

realize that it directed the formation of the physical part of our being

the very moment that our progenitor sperm and egg came together,

What if the willed part of our being, instead of learning from

the nescient will of others, learned from the omniscient being that

directs the automaton within us? I.e., instead of the "limited in knowledge" learning from the "limited in knowledge," learn from the

omniscient. The answers to these questions will provide full insight into

the nature of our being, the cultures we have produce~ the shaping

forces of our history, and explain the causes of the problems besetting

mankind, and will also show, definitively, the way to their solutions. It

is sufficient to say for now that according to the African spiritual

1. This so-called subconscious mind is the Deity Ra of the Kamitic tradition.

6

tradition, the automaton within us is in touch with all functions in the

world and is capable of manipulating them.

With the proper directions, we will come to see that there are

three kin.ds of people in. the world. One type inclines toward relying

on the willed part of bemg for survival and flourishment, the second

on the omniscient intelligence and the automaton and the third on ~ equilibrium of both parts of being. In fact, all cuitures fall into'one of

these categories.

. These t~ee categories do not represent distinct types, but

stages m the SpiritUal development of individuals and nations. The

fll~t stage correspo~ds to the polarization in the willed ( outer) part of

bemg, the second, m the polarization in the inner and the third to

their equilibration. We can better comprehend this it we paraphrase it

as the stas:e~ of 1) re~iance on the part of being with limited knowledge

and capability, 2) reltance on the part of being with infinite knowledge

and capability, and 3) the equilibrium between the two. Another

para.phrase will explain further. 1) Polarization in learning from

outslde of ourselves (from someone else), 2) in learning from within

ourse"ve~, an~ 3) a~ equilibrium of both approaches. Further still, 1)

polanza.tIon In reliance on externals (tools, machinery, medicines,

etc.), 2) polarization in reliance on internals (the power of the spirit)

and 3) an equilibrium of both methods. '

. We can begin to see which cultures shape up to which

categorIes. The 1st type, polarized in the cultivation of the external

part of being corresponds fundamentally to Western Man and some

Orientals, while the opposite, polariz~d in the cultivation of the

internal, corresponds to the Black race, and some Orientals, Success

in th~. cultivatio? of both parts has only been truly achieved by the

KarmtIans (Anclent Egyptians), who, for the record, belong to the

Black race.

Now ~e can understand why, for example, all the

fundamental skills and institutions of civilization began with Black

nations \K:a,mit [Ancient Egypt1, Sumer, Babylon, Elam, the Harappa

Valley cIVlhzation, Kush [Ethiopia], Indus Kush [Black India}, and

Canaan). Because of their people's ability to learn from the internal

part of being, with its storehouse of knowledge concerning every

secret of the world, they were able to intuit, 6000 + years ago, the

knowledg~ that forms the basis of our civilization (religion,

mathematIcs, geometry, medicine, astronomy writing literature , 1 ' , ,

agncu ture, metallurgy, government, architecture, painting,

7

sculpturing, algebra, science, etc.). Because Western man is polarized

in the cultivation of the external part of his being, he had to learn

these skills from others (Blacks and Orientals) who were able to learn

these things intuitively. This brings us to the critical part of our introductory

discourse. Underlying all the functions of the automaton within us is a

'program of order'. The maintenance of our bodily processes in a

state of order according to this program, is what we call health. We will come to see that this very same 'program of order,2 is in charge of

regulating the social behavior of people .. Where it fmds ~ expression in the social arena there is morality, wealth, spmtuality, and

prosperity. True r~ligion, we will come to see, deals with the

techniques of communicating with the director of the automaton

within us, in order to gain access to the power, storehouse of

information, and the host of shaping factors of our lives. The world is in the sorry mess that it now frods itself because

the dominant culture in the world is that of the external part of being.

It is not enough to say that the external part of our being d.OC:s ~ot know much about creating and maintaining order. For, even if It did,

it lacks the ability to generate order in the life of people. Hearing

sermons, and reading books (external means) on moral behavior will

make you as moral as reading books on healing will heal ~our illnesses. The most that a book on health, for example, can do IS to

direct you to some means of directly influencing the automa~on .. -:et such information must have originated from some person's mtUltlon.

The same holds true for religious, moral, and spiritual behavior. All

teachings on the subjects originated from the inner part of people's being. Ifyou observe very carefully you will see that in the religions of

the dominant cultures today, people are directed outside themselves

(to scriptures, sermons from priests, etc.) for moral, an~ spiritu~ guidance. In contrast, African, and some ~rie~t~ cult~es direct thea

members within themselves (trance) for mtUlhve guidance for the

same ends. The differences are vast. We must recall the fact that the

external part of being, however lucid on a subject, lacks the power to

direct the processes that shape our behavior, and bodily functions. I

Now we can fully understand the lack of wisdom in denouncing

Westerners as hypocrites for preaching doctrines of such high moral

values, while their destructive acts in the world are unparalleled. The

2. This 'program of order' corresponds to Maat.

8

'inner culture' for ~ccessin~ th~ 'program of order' that is the shaping

fo:c.e of a harmomous SOCIal life, an essential prerequisite for man's

splntual growth~ and the flourishing of all social institutions has been

displaced . b~ the 'outer culture', which is far from equal t~ the task

although It IS long on words on the subject of spirituality. A detailed

account of. the history of this phenomenon is necessary for the

understanding and use of the teachings in this book. But frrst we must

get a better grasp of the structure of the subject.

THE HEMISPHERES OF THE BRAIN

During the last forty years or so, the western scientific

community ~as ~me t~ realize that the human brain is composed of

two parts With dlametncally opposed, yet complementary functions.

They are known as the left, and the right hemispheres of the brain. To

un~~r~tand this subject, we must realize that underlying all mental

act~V1bes are. two .sets of functions, one in charge of relating us, and the . varIety of things m our environment to each other, and to the whole

a~d th~ other fu?ction is in charge of separating us and the variety of

things m our envtronment from each other. The latter function, which

corresponds to the left hemisphere of the brain enables us for

example,. to. distinguish ~etween the sounds made in speaking' and

verbal thmking~ that we Wlll.be able to speak, and think verbally. The

language functI?n ~f the rIght hemisphere enables us to unify the

words w~ perceive, mto phrases, these into sentences, and so on into

larger uOlts, that we will be able to comprehend what has been spoken

or thought.. The ~cts of speaking and verbal thinking are processes

that ~ccur In a senes o~ s~eps one at a time. The understanding of

what IS thought, ~nd said IS a process that occurs in one step. Since

the acts of speakmg, and verbal thinking are processes that occur at

sepa~ate points. in ~i~e they are therefore carried out by the left

h~m,sph~r~, which IS In charge of all processes of segregation, and

dlffe~entlabon. Conversely, the act of extracting the significance from

~ s~n~s .of related units, which is carried out in one step, is under the

Juns~lChO? of the ~ight hemisphere, which is in charge of all functions

of unification, and mtegration.

. In summary, lees note that the left hemisphere of the brain is

~ charge of noting th~ differences between things, separating wholes

mto parts, and enabhng us to deal with all sequential phenomena

9

(wholes presented pieces at a time).. This .mod~ of t~ is popularly known as analytical,.C:rrtes1an, senal, . linear, ?e~uc?~e, segregative, etc. The right side IS 10 charge of nottng the slDlilanl1es between things, and their relation to each other and the whole thus

unifying them. This mode of thinking is generally known as

synthetical, holistic, congregative, etc. We must also note that the left

side of the brain is extroverted and is therefore the means for the

'outer culture' noted above. The right side, is introverted and is the

means for the 'inner culture'. Although both functions are complementary, that is, their

equal inputs are needed for every mental activity to be complete, most

people have a predominance of one over the other. We all know too well of people who can generate a profusion of words, yet make little

sense, or go off on tangents, etc. (too much left, and too little r~t). On the other hand, we know of people who are not very expressive

verbally, - in fact are poor communicators- yet are profound. Critical to this book is the fact that these hemispheric differences are not

randomly distributed through society. Men in general ar~more le~­sided than women, and so are members of the White race, 10

cOmparison to non-Whites (a well known. fact to Western psychologists). We will come to learn that hemispheric differences are

one of the main shaping forces of cultural differences, and the

historical events that such differences have engendered. In fact,

without this concept there can be no science of history, or psychology,

or anthropology, or understanding of religion.

The differences in thought patterns between the

White and Black races are well known. To prove the point, I will quote from well established scholars. Writing about the Bant.us ~f South Africa, Placid Temples, at the turn of the century states 10 his

Bantu Philosophy, that:

This (European) concept of separate beings, of subst~ce

(to use the scholastic term again) which fwd the.mselv~s Side by side, entirely independent one of another, IS foreign to

Bantu thought. Bantu hold that created beings preserve a bond one with another , an intimate ontological relationship,

comparable with the causal tie which binds creature and

Creator . . . Just as Bantu ontology is opposed to the

European concept of individuated things, existing in

10

themselves, isolated from others, so Bantu psychology

cannot conceive of man as an individual, as ~ force existing

by itself and apart from its ontological relationships with other living beings and from its connection with animals, or

intimate forces around it.

Writing about the same people, Janheinz Jahn, states m

Muntu:

When we say that the traditional African view of the world is one of extraordinary harmony, then except for

the word 'African' every single word in the sentence is both

right and wrong. For in the rlTst place the traditional world

view is still alive today; secondly it is a question not of a

world view in the European sense, since things that are

contemplated, experienced and lived are not separable in it;

thirdly it can be called extraordinary only in the European

sense, while for the African it is entirely commonplace; and

fourth, the expression 'harmony' is entirely inadequate,

since it does not indicate what parts are being harmonized

in what whole. And if we say 'everything' is harmonized,

that tells us less than ever.

J ahn then quotes Adebayo Adesanya, a Y oruba writer:

This is not simply a coherence of fact and faith, nor of reason and traditional beliefs, nor of reason and

contingent facts, but a coherence or compatibility among all disciplines. A medical theory, e.g., which contradicted a

theological conclusion was rejeded as absurd and vice versa. This demand of mutual compatibility among all disciplines considered as a system was the main weapon of

Yoruba thinking. God might be banished from Greek

thought without any harm being done to the logical

architecture of it, but this cannot be done in the case of

Yoruba. In medieval thought, science could be dismissed at

pleasure, but this is impossible in the case of Yoruba thought, since faith and reason are mutually dependent. In

modern times, God even has no place in scientific thinking.

This was impossible to the Yoruba.

11