peter mumme
Voice to parliament - a review
We are seeking new ways to 'govern' ourselves - but presuming (?) that our current 'miasma of misrepresentation' actually equates with 'normal' life and living .. let's have a 'look-see' into this
1/ May I offer this personal response to our ‘voice to liament’ discussion ?
2/ We have an opportunity - and increasing need - to re-evaluate just what aspects of our ‘living of life’ on - and with - earth, are really important
‘Important’ in the broadest sense of our realising that all life is dependent upon earth’s capability to provide for .. so to nourish and to flourish
As we affect earth, so we affect all earth-life - including our-selves .. we all ‘are’ as earth 'is'
This is (inclusive) ‘relationship’ view
Our 50,000+ year indigenous culture-wisdom living within this continent inherently knows this - and lives accordingly
This knowledge is experienced ‘directly’ .. as we respect and care for country - so to sustain and encourage ‘interdependent’ life to thrive - so the knowledge system itself develops and becomes substantive .. is proven, reliable and available
This is not (necessarily) ‘religious’ nor ideological - it is basic logical physical ‘good sense’
In these current times - irrespective of (human) confusion - life continues, earth continues, nature continues .. as do sunshine, water, sea, air, languages, wisdom, compassion, care, kindness, inherent ‘generosity’ - even if somewhat polluted …
Perhaps our ‘problems’ are of our own making ?
3/ Direct experience .. ‘old’ (oral) life traditions never separate people from earth, nature, story, song, birds, animals, sky, ancestor stars ..
Old wisdom culture predates all ‘western (literal) reductions’ - and all dualities of ’separated subject and object' constructs - by 10,000s years
The concepts were/are unknown, never conceived ..
All story, ceremony, song, dance, food, shelter, kinship, event, place, season .. are all in relationship with each ‘other’ - to the extent that there is no ‘other’ !
We can’t reduce ‘interwoven life’ to simple (objective) words .. no matter how intellectually clever we might like to think they (and we) are !
Perhaps our contemporary view that ‘everything new, more, bigger, faster, brighter .. must be better’ - may well be only one particular ontology (social construct) itself !
4/ Voice’ to parliament … consider
We have a recent ‘statement from the (Uluru) heart’ that was dismissed by the prime minister of the time, as offering ‘only smoke’ rather than ‘stuff we could grapple with’
Compare this with the ‘place and situation’ of the statement’s origin
1000s of represented knowledge holders - drawing on 50,000+ years of cultural
earth-wisdom, speaking in terms of ‘spiritual’ life-energy - and not just in terms of one man’s (even if a prime minister) materialist ‘business-speak’
Which view is more likely to allow better (beneficial) life to evolve ?
This seems, to me, to offer a ‘starting place’ - as we consider what a ‘voice to parliament’ might ‘look like’
Parliament is (may be) an assembling of ‘speakers’ - not (necessarily) presenting only fixed ideas, agendas, self-interest .. but creating a ‘clean, clear and respected space’ in and thru’ which a process of our ‘greater’ experiencing of human existence may emerge .. (in such as) the ‘of having come together’ ceremony
Fortunately, we (still) have access to such ‘mediation, sharing and ceremonial’ practice available here - the ‘Uluru statement’ is just such one
So, the need to better ‘open’ (explain) what ‘old’ relationship (interdependent) view represents and how it might be ‘useful’ in assisting our ‘material world’ cope with itself .. can only be of benefit
5/ Care for earth, respect for earth, ‘mother’ earth .. is universal
We cannot alter or damage earth - in her capability to provide for all who live (interdependently) with her - without altering and/or damaging our human selves - regardless of egos and habits
We cannot continue to trash earth - this idea and practice is basically insane
We are (increasingly) being ‘western bred’ to only ‘see’ life as a (material) problem - 'life' needing our (human material) ‘solving’
Our separated adventures of ‘official’ destruction of country (as ‘progress, achievement, status, development, normal’ ..) are passé; completely at odds with our continuing earthly-home life
We now live in times of our (forced) realising that we need (and have) the opportunity to
- acknowledge the problems - of men’s obsession with ego-separated ‘life’
- joyful abandonment of insane life-style practices/presumptions
- reviewing life as earth-nature-life-people interwoven - and becoming so much ‘better’ for it
/6 Pragmatics and models
We develop the stories, the models, the ‘alternatives’; we ‘point to them’, we explain, we develop ‘vocations of care’
We develop ‘qualitative assessments’ of why and how (proposed and current) business-adventures - that affect country and people and life, might - and might not - proceed .. that all such 'external' ideas that may so affect .. are all and only proceeded with in the place, the convenience and the languages of all affected
(starting in the ‘pilbara’ already)
Education moves out of school-room curricula and more into country
(kuku yilanji example)
Languages and regional eco-system maintenance and revival engaged (culturally beneficial)
Considering several places (such as Mparntwe) to be allowed to return and re-emerge as nominally of indigenous cultural predominance
Regional elder councils adapted as ’tacit’ counselling - wisdom in (respected) ‘right place’
Healing and restitution programs .. songs, ceremony, ‘lore law’ introduced into public media
Of allowing our inherent human ‘generosity of spirit’ to re-emerge as ‘normal and requisite’
7/ Acknowledging
Our knowledge of - and care for, country is primary
Recognising our intrinsic relationship - in being people, nature, earth, life - is primary
A re-view of our human ‘arts’ - our own stories, wisdom, living ‘beneficially’ - is primary
Direct experience is necessary in realising that we all have the capability to change our own minds - we do this all the time
(only as) we do change our selves, do our familial - community - social and thence regional life reflect and adapt to ‘better’ (beneficial) living-life ideas
Our institutions can change - but only as we, the inhabitants of them, have done so - first
We (settler) do have a problem in trying to use ‘literal’ (subjects and separated object) languages to explain (non-literal) life - eg care, love, kindness, ethics, wisdom ..
Traditional languages/culture are not fixed this way - they are all to do with our relationships (the ‘energies’) that relate us, earth, sky, sun, stars .. everything !
Perhaps ‘english’ is not an appropriate ‘common’ language for this continent ?
Perhaps as our regional restructures re-emerge in new views, our languages and 'song-stories' pertaining to and 'being-of' place will begin provide deeper resilience ?
Look into the construct of ‘commonwealth of australia’ - ‘common’ ?, ‘wealth’ ?, ‘of australia' ?
Similarly ‘resource’ .. our greatest ‘resource’ might well be our human minds .. not (merely) stuff we dig up, hack down, conflate and flog for $s !
A ‘looksee’ into regional life and the pragmatics of ‘central control’ ..
'Regional' means areas having the capability to sustain, maintain and live well within their own nature-all eco-systems .. the environmental and social ‘languages’ being as one .. of being ‘particular to place’ (see above 'mparntwe')
Who know best about actually living here - than we actively living here (for 1000s years) ?
We have/had 250+ such unique self-sustaining ’nation-states’ .. perhaps our remaining (reasonably intact) enviro-language-regions need be ‘beneficially quarantined’ (as models) ?
(the emerging ‘rights of country, place, rivers .. to exist’ legislation points to this)
8/ NB
Recall that just one year ago - as our corona-virus was developing, that as airplanes, smoking factories, industry, transport and travellers desisted their activities .. our carbon emissions reduced by percentage points - and countries obscured by dirty atmospheres became visible from satellite; seas and rivers became clearer and fish could be seen ..
Was this ignored or just completely ignored ?
In the rush now to get ‘back to normal’ .. ‘normal’ (unfortunately) seems to mean continuing and increasing the business of the faster polluting our air, water, earth and people - all by our own deliberate actions
This is not sane behaviour !
9/ Dedication and homage
A new day is a new day dawning .. a renewal, a re-birth .. a transition from non-physical 'dream' perception to physical ‘awake’ perception ..
We can ‘use’ this time of transition to create a quiet meditative space for our-selves ..
to ‘sit with’ waking earth-life - avoiding noise and imposed ‘agendas’ for just a while, to begin develop a ‘practice’ that can reveal (beneficial) attributes ‘hidden’ within our-selves
I pay respect and gratitude to all awakened beings, may they ever continue - in all the forms and formless energy realms in which they abide, to guide and inspire us all
PM april 2021
A good morning
Here we are
brightest sun-god appearing
blazing fire, glorious
new earth vistas manifesting in new day
birds flying out from the rising sun
clean, clear air, fresh songs calling
images melding out of the passing dark,
transforming into the new day
familiar ingredients, ever new permutations
total, entrancing, deep and real
‘old’ view of integrated country-life-people, interwoven
there is no ‘other’ here, all connecting
what’s not to like ?
be drawn into ?
seeking and finding the solace, the ‘reason’, the wisdom within ?
(pointing always) to better ways for all beings to live as intended
beneficially, full and meaningful lives
connecting, without fear, joyful, deep contentment, satisfactory
Here, we are
here, we all are
living within a stable longest-time knowledge system of natural law, kinship, relationship
inclusive of earth and all peoples
joyful, sustaining, inclusive and celebratory
(social life) without peer in world 50,000+years relatively free of ‘reckoning apart’
This is our guide
spiritually inclusive
an offering, always
an immediacy, pure,
living beyond (mere) words
This is our human-opportunity
to realise
to (allow our-selves) to be guided into knowing how we are
and (thence) life is
liberated
PM
Wauchope; June 5 2018