Black Spirituality Religion : UNDERSTANDING AFRICAN SPIRITUALITY

[Goddess Auset333]

Beloved King god, Mighty warrior Moorfius:

I salute and bow to that.

Here is loving you/Afrika.

 

[Love_Unknown]

Hotep bro

I wouldn't call trying to fully understand God foolish at all. As intelligent as you are you are placing limits of your own understanding. You should be learning all you can and passing it down to the next generation. Each 1 teach 1, then they will do the same. Before long (a few generations) we should have a nice grasp of God and all the aspects that came with this journey. Our ancesters have done an incredible job and incredible is a understatement there isn't an english word to describe what they've done. But sadly it obviously wasn't enough because the culture that birthed the science and school of thought they manifested is over. Culturally the world is digressing, If they(our ancesters) were truly finish on the spiritual,scientific journey they started we (our brother and sisters) would not be in the predicament we are in. Most ppl I know are caught up in the popular schools of thought, western culture and the 3 major religions. Or at least trying to get away of religion altogether. It's very clear to me If religion were treated with the same standards of science these ppl wouldn't be turning away, because if there was something you didn't understand or thought was wrong you can actually prove through scientific study/experiments why the present or popular belief is wrong and if you can't and realize your error in judgement then at least you've come to a better understanding than before. Now let's compare that to trying to prove that some verse in the various books of any particular faith is true or not. I don't hear too many ppl going crazy trying to figure out the complete number of 'PI' but I can come up with plenty of stories of ppl losing it and doing countless actions that would harm themselves or others or both in the name of religion. I'm starting to learn that dealing with things or believing in things that can be proving wrong can really damage your mind. Ppl I know of who are chronic liars truly have a hard time grasping simple things in their lives that most of their peers can grasp. If I was told in science class that God was a white man who created the heavens and earth in 7 days I'm pretty sure most ppl could disprove this in less than 1 day in class. Now look how long it's taken to disprove this in the name of faith. (and that's just 1 sample) Any how getting back on track, I still believe the full understanding of God/you/me/nature is possible

peace

Brother hiphopolx,

I've given your words much thought, and I believe that all of this can really be summed up with a single understanding. Serious thought and reflection into this very fundamental statement will really shed light on everything that you and I are currently discussing, and really sum up the entire point and focus of African Spirituality:

God is all things.

This single statement really sums up everything that African Spirituality is really about. It sounds simple, but it truly is not. To really understand this statement you must give it serious philosophical thought and carry it out to its farthest logical conclusions, then you will understand what our African Spirituality is all about, and why it is so important. For example:

God is all things. Is there a more divine statement than this? All things in existence are God. This explains the understanding that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

If God is truly all things, then God would truly be omnipresent (everywhere at once.) If God is not all things, then there would necessarily be some things that God is not, then there would have to be some places where God is not, and then God would not and could not be omnipresent.

If God is all things, then it would definately follow that God is also omnipotent (all powerful) and omniscient (all knowing.) If God is all things, then God would then of course have power over all things, and if God is all things God would certainly know all things, because that would mean simply knowing and having power over herself/himself.

If God is omnipresent, then where does there exist any room for anything else? Simple, there doesn't. There is no room in the universe for anything else other than God, because God is in all places, because God is all things.

This is why Africans understand that everything is God, and that God is the sum total of everything in existence. Anything else is simply a lesser aspect of God (human beings, sun, moon, ocean, tree, animal, everything.)

This is why all things are inter connected. We can think of the universe as the great body of God. Everything in it is part of the great body of God. Human beings could be thought of as single cells, or perhaps even smaller sub atomic particles in the great body of God, while the Orisha (angels, gods, etc.) could be considered to be larger organs like the heart, lungs, brain, etc. That is it. That is all. It's all God.

So if you understanding God to be all things, you would see that understanding God is like attempting to understand "all things." How close you are to understanding all things, is how close you are to understanding God. Of course we understand "some things." And in reality of course we know an EXTREMELY small portion of all things. Even in a million lifetimes we still would only come to know a tiny fraction of all things that there are to know.

This is one of the reasons that we're constantly referred to as "children of God." Our understanding of God is childlike, like a child understanding what his/her parents do for a living. A child knows that his daddy is a doctor, but that's about it. He doesn't know exactly what a doctor does on a daily basis, doesn't have much or hardly any of the knowledge that a doctor has, and doesn't have the skills. And of course the Creator is MUCH more than this.

 

[hiphopolx]

Brother hiphopolx,

I've given your words much thought, and I believe that all of this can really be summed up with a single understanding. Serious thought and reflection into this very fundamental statement will really shed light on everything that you and I are currently discussing, and really sum up the entire point and focus of African Spirituality:

God is all things.

This single statement really sums up everything that African Spirituality is really about. It sounds simple, but it truly is not. To really understand this statement you must give it serious philosophical thought and carry it out to its farthest logical conclusions, then you will understand what our African Spirituality is all about, and why it is so important. For example:

God is all things. Is there a more divine statement than this? All things in existence are God. This explains the understanding that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

If God is truly all things, then God would truly be omnipresent (everywhere at once.) If God is not all things, then there would necessarily be some things that God is not, then there would have to be some places where God is not, and then God would not and could not be omnipresent.

If God is all things, then it would definately follow that God is also omnipotent (all powerful) and omniscient (all knowing.) If God is all things, then God would then of course have power over all things, and if God is all things God would certainly know all things, because that would mean simply knowing and having power over herself/himself.

If God is omnipresent, then where does there exist any room for anything else? Simple, there doesn't. There is no room in the universe for anything else other than God, because God is in all places, because God is all things.

This is why Africans understand that everything is God, and that God is the sum total of everything in existence. Anything else is simply a lesser aspect of God (human beings, sun, moon, ocean, tree, animal, everything.)

This is why all things are inter connected. We can think of the universe as the great body of God. Everything in it is part of the great body of God. Human beings could be thought of as single cells, or perhaps even smaller sub atomic particles in the great body of God, while the Orisha (angels, gods, etc.) could be considered to be larger organs like the heart, lungs, brain, etc. That is it. That is all. It's all God.

So if you understanding God to be all things, you would see that understanding God is like attempting to understand "all things." How close you are to understanding all things, is how close you are to understanding God. Of course we understand "some things." And in reality of course we know an EXTREMELY small portion of all things. Even in a million lifetimes we still would only come to know a tiny fraction of all things that there are to know.

This is one of the reasons that we're constantly referred to as "children of God." Our understanding of God is childlike, like a child understanding what his/her parents do for a living. A child knows that his daddy is a doctor, but that's about it. He doesn't know exactly what a doctor does on a daily basis, doesn't have much or hardly any of the knowledge that a doctor has, and doesn't have the skills. And of course the Creator is MUCH more than this.

I agree 100% without question with your above statement so if I said anything before that was not in agreement with what you just stated above I humbly stand corrected.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is we have to oppertunity to recognize and study the lessons of our ancecters and combine that with what we know today. We can learn what and why those cultures somehow 'fell off' from being the main culture presently. And vice-versa by using the genius of the past to improve our present condition.

 

[Afrodaze1]

Hotep bro

I wouldn't call trying to fully understand God foolish at all. As intelligent as you are you are placing limits of your own understanding. You should be learning all you can and passing it down to the next generation. Each 1 teach 1, then they will do the same. Before long (a few generations) we should have a nice grasp of God and all the aspects that came with this journey. Our ancesters have done an incredible job and incredible is a understatement there isn't an english word to describe what they've done. But sadly it obviously wasn't enough because the culture that birthed the science and school of thought they manifested is over. Culturally the world is digressing, If they(our ancesters) were truly finish on the spiritual,scientific journey they started we (our brother and sisters) would not be in the predicament we are in. Most ppl I know are caught up in the popular schools of thought, western culture and the 3 major religions. Or at least trying to get away of religion altogether. It's very clear to me If religion were treated with the same standards of science these ppl wouldn't be turning away, because if there was something you didn't understand or thought was wrong you can actually prove through scientific study/experiments why the present or popular belief is wrong and if you can't and realize your error in judgement then at least you've come to a better understanding than before. Now let's compare that to trying to prove that some verse in the various books of any particular faith is true or not. I don't hear too many ppl going crazy trying to figure out the complete number of 'PI' but I can come up with plenty of stories of ppl losing it and doing countless actions that would harm themselves or others or both in the name of religion. I'm starting to learn that dealing with things or believing in things that can be proving wrong can really damage your mind. Ppl I know of who are chronic liars truly have a hard time grasping simple things in their lives that most of their peers can grasp. If I was told in science class that God was a white man who created the heavens and earth in 7 days I'm pretty sure most ppl could disprove this in less than 1 day in class. Now look how long it's taken to disprove this in the name of faith. (and that's just 1 sample) Any how getting back on track, I still believe the full understanding of God/you/me/nature is possible

peace

Wasn't one of our Ancestor's proverbs/admonitions: "Man know thyself...then shall you know the universe and you shall know God."

 

[nibs]

(Love_Unknown) - I am very pleased to see that there is a great respect for our African spiritualities here at Destee, but I have also observed that we as a whole still lack an adequate understanding and genuine appreciation for the spiritual ideologies and practices of our ancestors. One who truly and thoroughly understands exactly what our spirituality is and how to use it would know that it is incalculably more than what can be called “religion,” so we therefore make use of the term “spirituality.” But even this term does not adequately describe the totality of knowledge, the complexity of techniques, and the wealth of practices of our brilliant ancestors.

brilliant thread love unknown.
part of that issue is this idea that spirituality (and especially what people call religion) is somehow separate from the rest of life; and something to do when bored or unoccupied.

horoscopes
our friends that study the horoscopes already know that the horoscope and zodiac are continuation of spiritual practices developed in africa. whether or not one accepts the accuracy of the horoscope; the root of the zodiac science is in studying energies, their interactions and influences on developing and shaping personality archetypes.
each of the orisha, neteru..etc embody these personality archetypes as well; each "personality" is a reflection of the energy that drives a person. devotees to our deities learn how to identify the energies within themselves, cultivate them, and in many ways "assume" the personality within them that they need for a situation; and also know better how to interact people as you can see them for the energy that they embody.

the study of personality archetypes is at the root of behavioral sciences and some disciplines of psychology. individuals like carl jung and freud that advanced these ideas in western science studied our african knowledge to develop these ideas.

particle physics
the honorable elijah muhammad states that the first black god that created the universe was self-created and originally manifested as a single atom, and created himself from triple black darkness before time existed..
western physicists chose the name atom for the smallest stable particle which they knew of at the time. "atom" is a word the greeks stole from kemet, from the god atum.
elijah muhammad's reference to the black god as an atom is actually a reference to a creation story of kemet. the god atum was known for his small size and strength. triple black darkness before time are references to kuk (darkness) and heh (eternal time) in the ogdoad.

with both behavioral sciences (personality archetypes) and particle physics, we see that the original knowledge is rooted in what would be regarded as african spirituality. however this knowledge is not meant to be reserved for sundays; but represents everyday practical knowledge to navigate life. even simple playing cards derive from ancient african fortune telling and calendrical systems.

there is an irony when some question the real world implications of african spiritual knowledge when so many aspects of society have roots in african spirituality; and it can be seen in the western "sciences" today. this is no surprise as george jackson has documented how western science and mathematics magically "appeared" once the greeks began studying in kemet. western science merely ignores and disregards the unseen (spiritual) aspects to these sciences. westerns continue some african traditions but refuse to give the credit; and when we open our eyes we can realize how much of what is around us is african, and with that realization we can get back to that original african essence that is preserved.

when we appreciate the practical aspect of african spiritual practices we realize it isn't some static information in a book, but merely a more complete study the universe, the interactions of energies; a science which we need to continue to press forwards with today with the same holistic perspective.

brilliant thread

hotep.