Native Americans Spirituality

[Aegon]

Even that is primarily mythological.  It seems intuitive in a small space with limited populations..but it quickly becomes ludicrous.

I would disagree with that assessment. What about a much larger space and larger populations changes the logic of it? Perhaps taking away each individual object, environment, or person's individuality and distinctiveness would be naive, but it makes perfect sense to me that everything going on in the universe can be looked at as one big thing. I believe that the human ego tends to make distinctions and separations that are not really there unless we choose to make them. It really seems like common sense to me at this point. Especially the idea that the entire universe is a big web of cause and effect (Butterfly Effect?), and your actions and words and demeanor have a monumental impact on the world at-large because of the small effects it has on others, which in turn will have its effects on everybody and everything around us, so on and so forth. I don't think people understand just how much the actions of others have an impact on them. Somebody simply smiling at you on the street can have a noticeable affect on your wellbeing, which may cause you to do something you wouldn't have done, or perhaps still do it but do it differently. Then in turn your response to the smile causes another person to take a certain action, so on and so forth. This stretches beyond a "small space with limited population," especially in 2018 where the world is so tightly connected with one another through technology, social media, etc. But it's not just other humans that impact us; our responses to the Sun (or weather in general), insects, and other "nature" objects also have slight impacts on our words and actions and therefore on our life course in general. And we already know just how much humans have an impact on our environment. This is the basic theory of the inter-connectivity of all things in the universe. I think this POV is incredibly grounding and humbling, and it honestly gives me great pleasure. I'm just as much part of the known universe as wildlife, trees, the stars, etc. The only thing separating us is our egos, which have us at the center of all of it. It makes sense we would think this way, but it's also vital to recognize that we are not. It's all connected in this way.


I also think this philosophy is important because, without realizing just how many aspects of our worldviews are created by our egos, we have a tendency to resist change, feel we must adhere to certain ways of living our life, and fear death. You don't necessarily need to reject every human construct, but it is important to recognize them. I believe the adoption of this view can relieve insecurity about how we live our lives (for example, standards that we are held to or expectations of what constitutes a "full" or "fulfilling" life) and can relieve insecurity about death. Nothing is permanent, and just as others we have a relationship with die, the leaves on the trees we have a relationship with also die, as will the stars we have a relationship with. It's the beginning steps of letting go of your ego and letting things be and realizing that everything in this universe is locked in a cycle of beginning and end. In this way, I also feel a profound connection with everything. We essentially go through the same cycle, but our sophisticated egos make us hella anxious about it. One of the unfortunate aspects of being so advanced I suppose.

I fail to find anything mythological about the philosophy because it really doesn't change anything other than one's perceptive. I'm not advocating for reincarnation or soul or a consciousness that survives the body post-death. The unity of the universe not really much of a claim, it's just an alternative way of looking at the physical world. I'm not making any claims that would fundamentally altar the world you and I live in, like the existence of God would. 

Hope I worded that well.

[The Grand Nudger]

So long as we;re allowing this to be a 7 degrees of kevin bacon sort of thing..sure, we;re all interconnected..but thats not really the kind of interconnectedness being referenced by the mythology.

The thing being referenced is an intimate and meaningful connection with direct consequences and relationships between all parties....not a web of facebook friends. While you and I are more connected in the latter sense than the people who came up with those sorts of conepts..we are far less connected in the sense to which they were referring. There is nothing that I will do (or not do) today that will effect you. This is simply not true of small groups living in confinement.

(it wasn;t strictly and uniformly true of those groups, either - but since you;re not making use of the concept of group soul and debt....it wouldn;t have much relevance to our convo)