Great Elk’s thoughts…
The Stone of Balance
Hello my friend,
Thank you for asking me to remind you of Our Way. I am honored to share again this with you. As each of us make important decisions which may cause profound reactions, it is wise to hearken the lessons learned from the Elders. The lesson taught with Walking in Balance is to understand that it is not the major acts, but the near imperceptible ones that change our destiny.
Be ever wary of life’s changing breeze, for it portends philosophical challenges soon.
One of my favorite statements is to “Walk in Balance.” Most who hear it for the first time are either puzzled as to its meaning or immediately adopt it for their own. Yet few have a grasp of the concept of “Walk in Balance” as it is understood by the Shawnee. We are told that Balance is a state of being connected with all things, that everything we do has a profound effect on everything else in all Creation.
The whole tower is balanced upon the foundation of Creation.Each move you make, each thought, each action can cause the entire stack to wobble or shake. It is your job to keep it all in balance throughout your life.
In our oral tradition, we learn that Walking in Balance is more akin to being placed at birth on an ancient, house-sized slab of rough gray stone. The somewhat flat surface is cracked and worn in a timeless manner with tufts of grass and plants emerging from the cracks in some places.
As you live your life, everything has an impact on your stone’s balance. If a butterfly or a raindrop lands on your stone, you have to adjust your position to accommodate that change in balance. You must do this in a graceful manner as not to cause your stone to wobble. If a big boulder or a gathering of two-leggeds jump onto your stone, your job is the same, keep your stone in balance. All this must be done in an agile way, being ever nimble.
On the bottom of this stone, slightly off-center, is a small singular point of stone carefully steadied on a stone below it. That is the stone of your parents, and it is balanced on their parents’ stone, and so it is back to the First Parents.
When you have children, their stone will be balanced on yours, and their children’s children into the future. The whole tower is balanced upon the foundation of Creation.
Each move you make, each thought, each action can cause the entire stack to wobble or shake. It is your job to keep it all in balance throughout your life. Now all this makes one think about their own lives and how all others are dependent on your ability to keep in balance.
All this is called the Walk of Life, or the Dance of Life.
So the next time someone says, “Stay in balance,” or you hear me say, “Walk in Balance,” you will know that they really mean to live your life in a manner in which you will cause as little harm and discomfort to others as possible, being ever mindful that your every action will cause a change in the world forever to the good, or the bad.
May we always Walk in Balance.
jgew:520
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The above is an excerpt from, View from the Medicine Lodge ~ A Modern Perspective on Ancient Wisdom. In this collection of essays, stories, and poems, your guides open the Medicine Lodge, and the wisdom found within, recounting their encounters on life’s path – from the beautiful to the mundane. With this insight, you will look to the far horizon of the Turtle Island, and deep within… to the center of your soul. “Since Creator first made two-leggeds, humans have searched for their soul and its relationship with all things. From the sacred confines of the Medicine Lodge you will gain perspective, and learn to Walk in Balance within your center, with all Creator’s Creations.”
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