Do you burn incense (e.g., nag champa, frankincense, and/or myrrh) and keep the ashes? If yes, would you be willing to donate some ash toward an altar I am setting.

In case, you are wondering why? Burning incense is a form of offering, and the built up ash can be used to form circles as safe space to engage in rituals conceived to know the persons you love, solve problems, uplift yourself and; most importantly, living with light.

At first sight, this latter state of being would seem impossible; for Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan,¹ said: “nothing can move at the speed of light or faster than light.” Sagan went on to say this law is based on the fact that “light moves in a vacuum.” However, upon a closer look, living with light can be comprehended correctly as having an open-mind (e.g., tabula rasa). Is open-mind not considered the first step to enlightenment? And further, the practice of continuously emptying the heart, keeping it lighter than a feather, frees the person from ignorance, desire, suffering and so on.

Unlike the days of Dynasty in Africa, including China, (e.g., it must be noted that Reign came from Mesopotamia), when such enlightenment (i.e., letting go) was only attainable by a minority elite, today this truth, way and light can be obtained by all. Note the paradigm shift; that is, a person is no longer dependent on an elite, a leader that knows it all. Indeed, the solutions to social issues are to be found among, all irrespective of race, creed, origin, or any other man-made dividing boundaries.

This previous paragraph enfolds the different phases (e.g., form, transform, and boundless) that the ancestors went through to make justice work in society. Interestingly, James² considered the story of their victory (i.e., to win the struggle for liberty and independence) the missing pages of History. Today, it can be said, a person must not be concerned with struggle (e.g., politics, pressure group, etc.), “the sword gives way to the heart, calling each person to his and her highest ideal.”³-⁴-⁵

I am presenting myself to you in an unprecedented way, usually I do not speak on such matters except when it is absolutely necessary and only with a cadre of healers. In this instance, I find it proper to encourage you not to worry yourself with the impending “Collapse”⁶ with its many conflicts, disasters, crises, and so on. This is an awareness, in these days of uncertainty, you will develop surely as the sun shines before you. It follows, far from ringing the alarm, in the event of a nuclear winter would you know the safest place for you to be?

Evidently, this place would have to be very hot to keep you and the persons you love warm. Well, you can rejoice, according to the World Atlas, Ethiopia, Africa, is the hottest place on the face of the earth. Those of you that are Rastafari, you know who you are, are well aware that HIM Haile Sellassie I has set aside land for you in Sheshamane under the authority of the Ethiopian World Federation founded in 1937 by the Emperor's special emissary to Black America, Melaku E. Bayen.⁷

   

Map of Africa - Coronation of Haile Sellassie I - Kwame Nkrumah first president
of independent Ghana - Kwame Ture, Secretary to Kwame Nkrumah

Extrapolating from these facts, I have concluded having an altar, including offerings of incense, showing reverence to the ancestors, having on-going dialogue with others will provide you with comfort, warmth, security throughout your daily life. This good tiding, I bring you, comes from seeing the interconnections between Asia and Africa whose populations long ago, realizing they share a common purpose, joined to live free far from the milieu of colonization and slavery the worst crime against humanity. However, this achievement was only possible because they were able to see the same level of reality, which allowed for the real confluence of cultures to occur among them. For instance, I have a friend whose father maintains that acupuncture originated from Africa. While I agree with this observation, I will point out that it can be classified in terms of its position on a scale between two spectrum. 1) The doll with pins represents the elementary level of medicine; and 2) Acupuncture represents an improvement of this practice through studies. Unfortunately, the African Studies found in most colleges and universities have little to nothing to do with improving and changing the historical legacy and tradition of Africa. However, to address this gap, a few members of the community have proposed organizing the Nkrumah Institute of Learning (NILE) to study the mysteries known among Africans, and other indigenous folk, while speaking and writing in one of their languages. This model is known among scholars of Lekól Ayisyen (in English Haitian Studies) as le realisme merveilleux.⁸

   

Statue representing unknown maroon - Sewing of Haitian flag - Picture by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Evidently, I have come a long way because, in spite of the upbringing that I received from my parents, I no longer practice any religion, particularly the syncretic ones. Moreover, I must share with you, I went looking for the baptism of fire and holy spirit, only to find out that the church is unable to conduct this ritual. Interestingly, as it were when liberty first appeared among Africans in Ayiti; Ji Gong, whose sandals John the Baptist could not unitie,⁹ is to be found among the people of Asia. Suddenly, it dawned on me, I have grasped the rising of the thousand Buddhas that I was told I would see prior to receiving Tao at the Boston-based temple.

  

Ji-Gong - Tao - The word Gospel found in Chinese Revelation

Can you conceive life on a land abundant where work is neither hard, nor tiring? This is no fairy tale, this is no utopia. This culture, this way of life is real as any fact in natural science. Indeed, findings from studies on alienation show, prior to the conquest of Africa (e.g., north and west) and the colonization of the American continent no violence was found among the autochtonous (e.g., indigenous, native, etc.) populations. For Jesus Christ, Matthew said: “since the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven and earth suffers violence and the violent took it by force.” Alas, this violence dates even further in antiquity;¹⁰ nevertheless, its in-form-ation has been changed, the individual is bounded no longer.

Indeed, we can live life without violence, cultural imposition (e.g., domination, subjugation, and exploitation) because studies on Ayiti show a way of life distinct from the idea of survival of the fittest. For example, it is well known among African scholars that spoken word played a major role in public administration of the five kingdoms in Ayiti. Moreover, according to John R. Beard,¹¹ “life in Hayiti (Ayiti, my italic) was synchronized.” “Synchronistic events reveal an underlying pattern, a conceptual framework that encompasses, but is larger than, any of the systems that display the synchronicity.¹² The suggestion of a larger framework is essential to satisfy the definition of synchronicity as originally developed by Carl Gustav Jung.” For instance, a few days ago, I was asked to explain how a Tao temple in Taiwan remained intact while the surrounding houses were destroyed by a flood. I responded by pointing out the temple is part of an established order.¹³ Indeed, it is well known among Rastafari that there is no coincidence but rather an expression of divine life, which Bob Marley referred to as One Love.”

In conclusion, having received Tao (e.g., baptism of fire and holy spirit), I realize that I must dedicate work and energy toward a personal altar. So I am hoping that you will be willing and able to donate a bit of ash from your burnt incense. Likewise, I can share with you some of the ash that I have been collecting should you decide to have your own altar. However, as you engage in rituals, you must remember, the ultimate aim is to keep: “the soul lighter than a feather.”¹⁴ Otherwise, “dyab lan ap manje w” (the demon will devour you).¹⁵-¹⁶

Weighing of the heart in ancient Egypt, Africa

To get involved with the NILE, and for information on receiving Tao, please do not hesitate to contact me.

  

Commemoration of the Bicentennial of Ayiti - East and West salute Ayisyen (Haitians) - Poster marking Africa Liberation Day

Notes:

1. Author of the Cosmos
    
2. C.L.R. James, author of the black jacobins
    
3. Hero, a film about the unification of China
    
4. Bookman Dutty, leader of the general slave revolt of 1791
    
5. Sri Aurobino, author of divine life on earth
    
6. Read Collapse by Jared Diamond
    
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashamane
    
8. This model (in English marvelous realism) was conceived by Jacques S. Alexis
    
9. Master Lu 2009, I Quan Tao
    
10. In the African origin of civilization, there is a picture depicting a pharaoh about to behead a man
     
11. Author of the Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture
     
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity
     
13. Read wholeness and the implicate order by David Bohm
     
14. See exhibit on Egypt at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA
     
15. See the play “Ti Jean and his brothers by Dereck Wolcott
     
16. Weigh-in of the heart in ancient Egypt, Africa