Re: Kundalini Yoga] Roots of Yoga....words from Sebai Muata Ashby

04-14-2003, 08:02 AM

- Egyptian culture and its spiritual tradition,was in no doubt the
atlas of history. Likewise the rest of Africa, as the well of African
wisdom can attest, and to which the deep Shamanic traditions there
give evidence. However, to suggest that my criticisms are based on an
uncritical western or eastern mode of thinking, is wrong. I have
attacked some of the statements herein for the following reasons:

1. I have personal experiences with power generated by spiritual
practices and spiritual groups (including Egyptian and African
sorcery) and used for negative, self serving purposes. Although I do
get worked up about it I am not coming from a purely emotional point
of view on this. I am coming from the view that how "spiritual" power
is used and abused needs to be discussed openly. We cannot just focus
on the positive. It is our responsibility, as people currently on the
leading edge of spiritual history, to understand how power works, for
good and for bad.It has been the long history of human beings, for
many thousands of years now, to discover some sort of power, and then
to let it be used unecologically.We can not blind ourself to this
reality. We need to understand it.

2. My assertion concerning the question of Atlantis, and of the fate
of Egyptian gold, is of primary importance. After much meditation,
and my own historical research, I believe that what we call Atlantis
will one day be shown to be "beneath" the Egyptian culture of which
we are familiar. Does this mean Atlantis is another word for an early
Egyptian culture. Perhaps. At any rate, to deny its existance as a
phenomena, or to declare it a myth, is simply the flip-side of a
binary arguement. The fascination with Atlantis amongst many
spiritual teachers points to a phenomena that should not be written
off as simple myth. For instance, it has been stated that during that
period human beings made the first decision to develop power
independent of any sense of divinity. And if gold was indeed the
symbol of eternity (in Tibetan Bhuddist culture that is still
prevelant) why is that the Egyptian partiarchs had such a privelaged
position in respect to this. Surely we can not deny the spiritual
self angrandizement suggested by this practice and the spiritual
insecurity the excess also suggests?

3. It is my view that this new age is one where the development of
our own individual power is maintained, re-united to a sense of
divine ecology, so that the recent past and the far past are brought
into purposeful realignment. To withdraw the diamond of the past, and
discount its dark cousin, by myth or science, is a grave mistake.

4. As for Tarzan - that is not my image, far from it, and find the
suggestion offensive and a distraction from addressing the real
issues which I have been trying to address. Members of my family
lived in Africa for many generations, I have been there, and spent
half my life fascinated by the long arm of African history, culture
and mysticism. I grieve the darkness that has enveloped the
continent; but I refuse to deny its many roots.

04-14-2003, 02:39 PM

(a follow up from Muata Ashby, Ph.D.)

Greetings and Blessings,

I hope this letter finds you well.

Actually, this sort of letter is very good because it points up some of
the issues that many people believe. For the past 200 years many western
Egyptologists and religious leaders have acted in concert to
misrepresent African culture and spirituality in general and Ancient
Egyptian religion specifically. Such prominent European Egyptologists
and Anthropologists as Basil Davidson, Martin Bernal and John Anthony
West have demonstrated and documented this. However, the academic
establishment, which supports the western primacy in culture, religion
and history, denies and suppresses this. Further, the misrepresentations
in popular media such as the Mummy movies and the Stargate show leave
people with a misunderstanding about Ancient Egyptian culture and
spirituality. Therefore, I need not respond in detail to such inquiries
since the reality is plain to see for those who desire to do so through
scholarly books.

The following is given for those sincere individuals who would like me
to share some of my researches in the spirit of exploration and
elevation of truth. I have made and will make no assertions that are not
corroborated by irrefutable evidence. This is not possible for those who
prefer to believe in legends or superstitions.

It is noteworthy that many of those who choose to follow "Eastern Gurus,
or any secular or spiritual tradition for that matter," do not feel the
need to apply critical thinking to the histories and teachings they
receive, while Kamitan teachers (proponents of Ancient Egyptian
spirituality or African religion in general), are often challenged or
sometimes dismissed. This is part of a long history of miseducation from
slavery times which was documented by Carter G. Woodson and Dr. Frances
Cress Welsing, wherein the long-standing practice of denigrating African
culture and things African has become endemic of world culture since it
is dominated by the western media. However, those who seek to uplift
culture, be they Indian, Native American, or African sages, do so
regardless of the detractors because it is the right thing and they
serve humanity at the behest of their internal divine calling.
Therefore, I am not in the least disturbed by these sorts of comments.
However, I do not devote much time to them because I am too busy working
with qualified and sincere aspirants, those who recognize the value of
the teaching and do not want to hold onto ignorant notions.

Certainly, I know of no African teachers who say that African culture
and spirituality have not been misused or misunderstood by some African
practitioners. Can any culture or religions say otherwise? However, the
greatness of Neterian spirituality far outweighs and overshadows the
faults. The evidence of this is in the legacy that lasted for thousands
of years and lives on even today.

Briefly, as for the use of gold, it was a symbol of spiritual
enlightenment (See the book Serpent Power), thus it was relegated to the
house of eternity, symbolically, the tomb. Neterian philosophy holds
that the mortal life is transient and the afterlife is eternal. Also the
abundance of gold which came from the interior of Africa, through trade
with the Nubians-cousins of the Ancient Egyptians-was such that there
was no feeling of loss or possessiveness, especially when Kamitan
culture was not materialistic. So there was and is no need to leave gold
behind for the living.

As for dark sorcery, African culture has indeed suffered much
degradation, yes, due to outside influence which fomented internal
corruption. And could this not be said of Western and Asian culture and
Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism or Islam as well? Yet, have
any of those cultures experienced what Africa has?

For more details on this issue I suggest those interested should read
the Book African Origins - section 1 which deals with the documented
history of African religion in Africa and in the Diaspora and how it has
been transformed and damaged over the last 20 centuries and section 2
which deals with the misconceptions about western culture and westerns
religion, tracing the origins back to Kamit (Africa) showing the
deviations, beginning with the Greek philosophers and the contradictions
that developed in western religions and section 3 which deals with the
misconceptions about eastern culture and eastern religions (Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Yoga [Including Kundalini)), tracing the origins back to
Kamit (Africa) showing the deviations, and contradictions that developed
in eastern religions beginning with the Vedic Age to the present.

As the late eminent mythologist Joseph Campbell once said, anyone can
point to disparities and negative aspects but how many can discover and
affirm the harmonies and glories of world myth and spirituality? Surely,
error can be found anywhere one may look since even the sages are human.
But also there is greatness in the teaching and there is a purpose to
all that the Divine has created. Should we disregard the Dalai Lama
because he tripped and broke a vase or because some of his lama
followers advocate war instead of peace? Is his teaching invalidated
because he eats meat? Are the words of Jesus dismissed and is
Christianity less valid because some Christians are capitalists,
destroyers of natural resources or intolerant advocates of war? Is
Judaism nullified because some Jew mistreat Palestinians? Is Islam
negated because many followers destroyed Indian temples during the
conquest of India? Is Indian culture and religion to be set aside
because it fell from the greatness of Rama Raja and the glory of
Krishna's kingdom or because Hindus practice male dominance over women
or because there are so many charlatans who call themselves yogis and
gurus that the Indian scriptures themselves caution aspirants to seek an
authentic teacher? Is the Sikh teaching to be discarded because some
Sikhs are revolutionary assassins or terrorists?

Those who have thought about these issues deeply develop sensitivity to
the subtlety of a teaching beyond the error of some of its
practitioners. They also realize that a teaching is unlikely suited for
the people who espouse and practice it due to Ari (Karma) so all
authentic teachings should be respected since there is worth in
everything and everything comes from a source no matter how changed it
may become. Yet, nothing will help those who choose to ignore evidences
in order to protect cherished beliefs. Strong aspirants must break
through the impasse of egoism, fear, desire and ignorance in order to
follow the path that leads to blessedness. In our current history there
is simply no evidence of any advanced civilization older than the
Kamitan. Yet, even our ancestors said the teaching was given to them by
Djehuti (God), just as their cousins, the Indian sages of the Upanishads
spoke of the teaching being given by Brahma. All societies fall as a
natural consequence of complacency. A few years ago, when asked why
Indian society was so degraded after reaching such heights, Swami
Jyotirmayananda, the world renowned teacher of Vedanta answered "it is
because the younger generation lives off the greatness of their
ancestors and they do not practice what the ancestors did to become
great." Nevertheless, while societies may rise and fall or come and go
the teaching remains even in desolate times, carried forth by initiates
in secret, until such time as the worldly culture reaches its period of
decline and the value of the teaching is sought once again by the masses.

Peace and Blessings

HTP, Si Neter iri Ankh Udja Senab
Sebai Muata Ashby

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''\
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''\
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Let's get past our conditioned responses. Remember Tarzan????
http://www.dailywav.com/0900/tarzan.wav
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''\
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''\
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
sevasimransingh wrote:

>Well....no offence to anyone, but the good Doctor's response is
>typical of the Egyptian patriarchy: "Our civilisation was the
>greatest until it was invaded by pillaging hords. Atlantis did not
>exist because we were the first. The desertification had nothing to
>do with us, .... and so on." Where did all the gold come from and why
>was it buried with the king, rather than left to the people? Why is
>African spirituality riddled with dark sorcery? Why, if they were
>such an ecological people, did they decide to stop worshipping MA and
>worship RA only. Egyptian spirituality may indeed have been a high
>art, and their priests great masters. However, at some point the
>Egyptians got corrupted and destroyed themselves. They should stop
>blaming it on others.
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]