 |
The "Beauty Way" is one of the principles of life in the Navajo culture. Balance and harmony are manifested through honoring the four directions: East (Spiritual), where our thoughts originate; South (Physical), where we set our plans; West (Emotional), where our thoughts and plans are set into motion; and North (Mental/Environmental), where we consider our thoughts and actions to determine if we have remained on the correct path. By working with this energy, one easily learns to walk "the middle way".
Walking in balance and harmony is a life long endeaver - it is the goal and the path, the means and the end. We learn to trust the wisdom that comes to us through personal experience - and this is a very empowering tool! In grounding and centering ourselves within our environment, we provide ourselves with a firm foundation for using our own creativity - our skills, our gifts.
We also gain a higher order of wisdom when we honor our environment, and our place in it. We learn to work with our higher selves and with the voices of the ancient ones. And we learn to bring balance to the feminine and masculine aspects that are part of all of us - the yin and yang of life.
The basic premise is simple here - the words that we put into our minds draw that energy to us. We draw to us what we hold in our minds - our mental pictures, and the actions that follow, if in harmony with our environment will bring harmony into our lives. If our thoughts are inharmonious with our environment, there will be no harmony in our life.
We are all here for a purpose, and our life actions must reflect that purpose. We must honor our ancestors - their teachings and their ways. We must honor our environment, and work within it. Everything about us, everything in life, has a purpose. All of our thoughts, all of our actions, must honor that purpose.
May there be beauty behind us. May there be beauty above and below us. May there be beauty all around us." * The Beauty Way cannot be presented in words - it is our thoughts, our deeds, our actions. It is our intentions. It is how we choose to live in this world, how we choose to treat ourselves, how we choose to treat others. The Beauty Way is a direct reflection of the culture that we live in, and the culture that we come from. I would like to share a story that I found when researching this article. I found many stories, but this one seemed the best one to share - one that all could relate to. Mr. Bluehouse, And Living In Beauty. Another version of how the Beauty Way is being lived in one person's life can be seen here Navajo Poet Translates Culutral Preservation Into Reality. One last article - one that I cannot tell you about, but that you must experience for yourself: Mother Earth. May we all learn to honor the beauty around us, and to walk in peace and harmony. Thank you for visiting my Shamanism pages. May your day be Blessed. Mitakuye Oyasin - For All Of Our Relations.
Bonnie Cehovet Bibliography * www.indiancountry.com/?2448. "Navajo Designs Salt Lake Olympic Pin", Brenda Norrell. 11/15/2000
|
