All spiritual life is sacred and we better learn that lesson quickly

As the protests to protect Mauna Kea continue, it may be the turning point that wakes up the world.  What this represents is a collision between two very different viewpoints.  On one side is the power of the state's supreme court to approve projects and protect the interests of one group at the expense of another.  We see this trend happening all over the world with recent examples being the rain forests in Brazil, pipelines in Canada and even Standing Rock in the US.  The indigenous community views Mauna Kea as sacred land, but that does not seem to matter for the corporation tasked with constructing the 30M telescope with the support of the coercive power and violence of the state through its courts and police force. 

Aiden Relkoff [CC BY-SA 4.0]

The pain and anguish is clear on the faces of the elders and protesters.  But what we are being confronted about runs much deeper than supreme court rulings or the progress of science and technology.  This is about what is sacred and how we honour and respect sacred spaces and relationships.

We as a species have lost our connection to Mother Earth, each other and all the other life forms on this planet.  We have abandoned the idea that all that exists here is sacred in favor of worshiping and viewing our own greed, power and control as being sacred.

But is our man made institutions sacred?  If you speak to lawyers, politicians, police and most other people, they would indeed suggest that the rule of law is sacred and must be followed.  They follow it so blindly that they are willing to kill others in its name.  They are even willing to put people into the street, impoverish many, force medical treatments and steal while justifying all these actions as being righteous, just and fair.

For some reason, people's faith in the rule of law is so absolute, they fail to see the absolute harm in their actions.  We witness the decimation of whole ecosystems, tribes and nations as a result.  

When we evaluate what life is all about on this planet, some would argue otherwise.  However, I've realized that life is ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS.  That means that if I want to learn about what healthy relationships are all about, I must acknowledge the boundaries between my self and all other life forms on Mother Earth.  If I want people to acknowledge and respect me and my own boundaries, I must do the same for them.  That means no violence, force or coercion in any of my relationships with others.  

If I want to eat lunch, then I better acknowledge the plants and animals, ask for permission and honour their spirit first!  When they grant me permission and surrender their vessel to me, then I may eat.  This is a difficult journey to learn as we are all deaf and blind to the languages of the other life forms on this planet.  But they are all sacred and if we want to Graduate Life with Honours, we best learn those languages and protocols.  

The indigenous people on this planet practiced this long before colonization.  When we were colonized, we were taught that this way of life was pagan, wrong or even violated religious doctrine.  That dogma brainwashed us all to value something very different; rule of law, money, power, war, greed, ownership, etc.  This foundational shift in belief structures morphed what we view as being sacred.

The fact that the colonial values depend on violence to protect them tells me that there is a fundamental lie behind it all.  If the people of Hawi'i view Mauna Kea as being sacred, we best respect that premise.  To do otherwise would be to violate them and the mountain, both being sacred!  It is sacrilege to violate anything that is sacred and our spiritual growth and freedom depends on us learning this lesson.  

If you need force, violence or coercion to get your way, you are desecrating that which is sacred.  It does not matter how much justification you use, your actions and behaviour is sacrilege.  The only way to redeem oneself is to ask for permission and have the other spiritual being give itself of its own free will.  If you want to put a telescope on Mauna Kea, you must ask the mountain and all the people who are stewards of that mountain.  A single individual says no, then you must walk away.  

You want to eat, then you must ask your food for permission and make an offering in exchange.  If they say no, then you go hungry.  These principles are fairly simple, but extremely difficult to implement.  

The state and corporate institutional empires do not comprehend these principles.  When they want to build a pipe line, mine or telescope, they only look at fictional constructs like title, ownership, statutes, regulations and profitability.  These constructs are false and lead those that follow into a dangerous, evil trap.  We must look past the fictional constructs and find a deeply spiritual way of engaging in relationships with one another.  Our very survival on this planet depends on it, but our spirit / soul is in mortal danger if we don't figure it out.  

We are being tested.  Do we support the state and corporate empires or do we walk away and explore the spiritual implications of life on Mother Earth?  The choice is and always was up to us to make.  The consequences though is up to Creator.  We best start listening or we may reach a point of no return, at which point our fate is sealed.  

Every step we take is upon sacred ground.  Every breath we make draws in sacred air.  Every drop of water that touches our lips is alive and sacred as well.  Violence against it all is not going to change that fact and only places us in a position of desecrating that which is sacred, a sacrilege way of life.