Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit 089281411X, 9780892814114

Citation preview

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a message from H. H. the Dalai

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Fig.

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A glowing white

orb of the spirit is surrounded by a circle of invincibility symbolized by (top) the outer ring of a Tibetan mandala, the

mountain of fire, which is composed of rainbow colored flames, and (bottom) a rainbow goddess who surrounds most Navajo mandalas with her circle of protection.

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INNER TRADITIONS

ROCHESTER,

VERMONT

MAIN 299.72 Gold, Peter Navajo & Tibetan sacred wisdom :

31143005830436 Inner Traditions International

One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 Copyright All rights reserved.

No

©

1994 by Peter Gold

part of this

book may be reproduced or

utilized in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gold, Peter.

Navajo and Tibetan sacred wisdom: the

the spirit

circle of

/

Peter Gold.

cm.

p.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-89281-41 1-X 1.

Navajo Indians

— Religion

and mythology. I.

E99.N3G84

Buddhism

2.

— China —Tibet.

Title.

93-40305

1994

299'.72— dc20

CIP Printed and

10

bound

in

Canada

987654321

Text design and layout by Bonnie Distributed to the Publishers

book trade

in

F.

Atwater

Canada by

Group West (PGW), Toronto, Ontario

Distributed to the

book trade in the United Kingdom by Deep Books, London

Distributed to the

book trade

in Australia

Millennium Books, Newtown, N. Distributed to the

book trade

Tandem

Press,

in

New

Auckland

S.

by

W.

Zealand by

This book

is

dedicated with respect

guidance

and

love to

my teachers,

could never have been written,

it

let

without whose

alone conceived.

Thubten Jigme Norbu Tagtser Rinpoche

Who

compassionately guided this

often unwilling student into the beauty of

Tibetan philosophy and culture

W. Yazzie

Margaret Mead

Alfred

Anthropologist

Navajo Chanter

Who

Master of the path of Beauty

me

introduced

a world of anthropological to

ideas

and

and protector of The People

ideals

Henrietta Yurchenco Ethnomusicologist

My

formative mentor in

and

And

this

work

and heroines of

is

the

humanism

cultural relativity

especially dedicated to the spiritual heroes

Poba (Tibetan) and Dine (Navajo) people who,

through dedication

to living

according to spiritual principles,

have preserved the universal wisdom of the Circle of the their sisters

and

brothers worldwide.

Spirit for

Acknowledgments

ix

Message from His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso,

xi

the Dalai

Lama

Foreword by Ethics

of Tibet

Philip Snyder, Director, Center for Religion,

and

xiii

Social Policy, Cornell University

Introduction

1

PART ONE fluinKcninG nnD Con(iEai(iG to tut

iTouE

of Tuiugf

19

1

The Tibetan Sacred World

25

2

The Navajo Sacred World

36

3

Spirit in

World

46

4

Wind

part

of

the Sacred Life,

Light of Mind

62

two

BOLflUElUG nUD UUIFOIDG 5

The Code of Unity

6

The Cosmic Mother

CflllTU lUITU

tKO

85

87 3 The Tibetan Plateau's

Fig.

106

central region

is

7

The Spiritual Hero

114

dry

8

Ultimate Union

125

(above Lhatse).

a high,

and sundrenched place of raw natural power

PART THREE

(minG 9

10

in

me

flinnDiiLn or

Sat non (ornioi

m

At THE Center OF THE Sacred World

133

Mandala Universals

145

11 Journey TO THE Primordial

Ground

160

PART four

BaominG: toaeo eiia or Inonsronmorion

181

12 Orchestrating THE Sacred Journey

183

13 The Rite OF Transformation

186

14 The Night 15 The

Way

Rite

Wheel of Time

16 The Sacred

Way

17 Beyond Time

Initiation

of Life

and Form

195

215

229

236

Appendices 1

The Wheel of Cyclic Existence

240

2

Tibetan and Navajo Models of the Sacred World

242

3

Enlightening Experiences

250

4

Harnessing Protective Powers

252

5

Two

269

6

Diviners

Rites of Exorcism

and Divination

276

Endnotes

280

Pronunciation Guide

316

Glossary

317

Bibliography

323

Illustration Credits

325

Index

327

About the Author

334

lla[IOlllLEDGI1IEIir»

Tin

undertaking of this scope and

magnitude could only have been accomplished with the guidance,

aid,

and goodwill of numerous organizations and individuals. As such,

would

thank

like to

following

list

its

many

material and psychic sponsors.

attempts to be all-inclusive.

If,

And

to

all,

I

offer

my

The

however, any individual

or organization has been inadvertently omitted,

apologies.

I

I

offer

my

sincere

heartfelt thanks.

American Alpine Club, American Philosophical

Society,

The Ann and

van Waveren Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, National En-

Erlo

dowment Ven.

for the Arts;

Amchok

Rinpoche, David Begay, Olivier Bernier, Marcia Calkowski,

Kevin Cassidy,

Jeff

Cox, Nathan Cutler, His Holiness the Dalai Lama,

Lotsawa Tenzin Dorje, Ven. Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche, Lisa Faithorn, Peter N. Fowler Esq., Tashi Gyaltsen Gangzey, Barbara Green, Jeff Greenwald,

Lory and

Dean

Dan Hawley, Djann Hoffman,

C. Jackson,

Feuille),

Virginia

Frances Howland, Edwin Irwin,

Joann Kealiinohomoku, Ven. Kunckok Lhundrub Qohn

Marc Lieberman,

Brigitte Lueck,

Regina Lynch, Rev. Mark and

MacDonald, Ed McCombs, Margaret Mead, Frank Morgan,

Leroy C. Multine, Thubten Jigme Norbu, Arlene Olson, Lobsang

T. Rikha,

Ray Rodney, Rough Rock Arizona Community Schools, Cathy Rountree, Philip Snyder, Francis Teller, Richard Weingarten, Alfred

W.

Yazzie,

Kim

Yeshi, Henrietta Yurchenco;

The

staff at

Inner Traditions International, with

Leslie Colket,

Wood.

Cannon M.

whom

Labrie, Jeanie Levitan,

Jill

I

worked

closely:

Mason, and Lee

LAMA

THE DALAI

In the present century, although

many

technological development,

we have reached an

extraordinary level of

people remain unhappy.

One

of the most

immediate causes of this has been our undue emphasis on material development alone. So engrossed have we become in its pursuit, that, almost without knowing

it,

we have neglected

most basic human needs

to foster the

kindness, cooperation, and caring. This

is

for love,

also reflected in a thoughtless attitude

toward our natural environment. Regardless of time and place,

human

beings cherish a

common

desire for

happiness and a wish to avert suffering. From the very core of our being we

yearn for contentment. In ness

is

others.

my own

limited experience, the source of

all

happi-

love and compassion, a sense of kindness and warmheartedness toward

Our world

qualities. Lately,

that, living in

is

rich in traditions possessing

methods

for

developing these

people seeking such methods have turned to communities

harmony with

nature, retain a strong

commitment

to cultivating

the inner environment.

The Tibetans and the Navajo Indians of North America Following the teachings of the Buddha,

we Tibetans have

are such people.

derived a clarity of

mind, openness of heart, and strength of character that have given us a pragmatic resourcefulness on the one hand and the ideal of enlightenment on the other. In this book, Peter

and Tibetan Buddhist

Gold describes and compares many aspects of Navajo

practice, highlighting the

which they are based. The similarity of two cultures geographically so far apart feel this

the

comparison most importantly

human

humanitarian principles on

and practices between indeed very interesting. But what I

ideas, symbols, is

reflects

is

the fundamental goodness of

heart.

o June

1,

1992

XI

1#®

:

/

•

?

•

*

fOWRD

This remarkable book coalesces the fruits of a personal odyssey that ranged back and forth between two continents over a period of many years. As an anthropologist, I am impressed by Peter Gold's sustained fieldwork among two peoples so far apart in space,

language, history. Typically most anthropologists are

more

more wedded

specialized,

to a specific people or area. But this

is

not a work of conventional social science or of comparative mythology; rather,

it

invites the reader to search

framework and enter onto

beyond

his or her cultural

a quest of "spiritual anthropology."

The Tibetans and Navajos each embody what the poet-philosopher Gary Snyder has termed "the Old Ways." Although the particular florescence of their cultural forms can be traced over the preceding

millennium, the roots of their traditions stem back into Transmitted orally over the

many

centuries

a

deep

past.

and generations, they

are

taproots linking back to the Paleolithic, that ancient and formative

"Dreamtime" of the human gatherers, alive with

race. This

was the world of the hunter-

numinous powers,

a

time

gaged directly the primal forces of earth and

when humanity

en-

sky.

So what could such traditional peoples possibly have to say to "post-

modern" humanity? The anthropologist Stanley Diamond observes in his book The Search for the Primitive that the journey of anthropology is the search of civilized (urban) man and woman for that which has been lost and which may possibly still be recovered. What was lost is "Primal Culture," a world based upon community and communion in which


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