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The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian: Commemorative Edition with Letters while Living with Black Elk (Perennial Philosophy Series) Kindle Edition
by Joseph Brown (Author), & 2 more Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
Part of: Perennial Philosophy (47 books)
The writings of Joseph Epes Brown are considered amongst the most important studies on the North American Indian undertaken in the twentieth century. His works have been translated into numerous languages and are helping to re-ignite interest in the American Indian religious tradition. The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian: Commemorative Edition, not only presents his works on the fundamental and universal characteristics of the American Indian culture and tradition, but the previously unpublished correspondence sheds light on Dr. Brown’s time spent on the reservations immersed in the very cultures and peoples that he wrote about. Enhanced by previously unpublished photographs from Dr. Brown’s own private collection, The Spiritual of Legacy of the American Indian is a fascinating exposition of the often repeated Lakota phrase Mitakuye Oyasin, “We are all related.”
186 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Joseph Epes Brown [in The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian] explains what it means and takes to be an American Indian. Searching out 'commonalities' that form and elucidate Indian spiritual beliefs, Mr. Brown shows them in crucial need of revaluation by other Americans and demonstrates how much poorer the nation will be if it continues destroying the richness of tribal life and thought.''
About the Author
Joseph Epes Brown was a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Montana and the author of numerous books, including The Sacred Pipe. He died in 2000. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
ASIN : B00408A7ZQ
Publisher : World Wisdom; Updated ed. edition (February 22, 2007)
Print length : 186 pages
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars BookReviewed in the United States on November 20, 2013
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Good book very informational. Covered the detail I hoped for. The price and delivery were exactly as I had hoped for.
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Tony
3.0 out of 5 stars Good readingReviewed in the United States on January 5, 2018
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This is an interesting study of religions and beliefs of the Native American culture that has been shamefully ignored. Wake up and realize how wrong we have been.
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Meadowlark
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on July 2, 2016
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A classic!
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Samuel Bendeck Sotillos
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spiritual Legacy of the American IndianReviewed in the United States on January 10, 2010
"The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian" contains an impressive collection of Joseph Epes Brown's classic essays in Native American studies, written over the first thirty-seven years of his academic career. The book, originally published in 1982 by Crossroad Publishing, has been out of print for some years. This commemorative edition contains an informative preface by the editors--Brown's wife, his eldest daughter, and ethnographer Michael Oren Fitzgerald, who was for three semesters his teaching assistant--as well as an introduction by the distinguished Swedish scholar Åke Hultkrantz. Also included within this commemorative edition is a section of previously unpublished letters by Brown, including personal correspondence he authored while he was conducting research and living with Nicholas Black Elk, or Hehaka Sapa, the renowned twentieth-century Oglala Lakota spiritual leader.
According to Black Elk, it was a "godsend" that Brown arrived on the scene to participate in the renewal of the primordial spiritual traditions of the American Indians. Brown (1920-2000) was a professional anthropologist, who was adopted by Black Elk as a son and was given the Lakota name Chanumpa Yuha Mani, or "He Who Walks with the Sacred Pipe." It is rare to find an academic author whose work encompasses the fullness of a culture and its traditions as does that of Joseph Epes Brown.
Brown's works in the area of Native American studies have provided a remarkable service in advancing the understanding of pre-reservation American Indian life. He was instrumental in championing the viewpoint that "Native American traditions ... are legitimate expressions of the philosophia perennis." In his original preface to this book, Brown states that "religion," in the primordial American Indian traditions, is not perceived as a separate activity divorced from everyday life, but is a central facet contextualizing all of life and every moment of human existence:
It has now become abundantly clear that it is a fundamental and universal characteristic of Native American cultures, as indeed of all primal ... cultures, that 'religion'--there is no equivalent word for this in any American Indian language--is not a separate category of activity or experience that is divorced from cultural or society. Rather, religion is pervasively present and is in complex interrelationships with all aspects of the peoples' life-ways. (p. xiii)
Brown explains that, in primordial Native American cultures, it is the Great Spirit that brings true equilibrium and integration to both the "inner" and "outer" dimensions of the human individual. To forget one's spiritual center is to be less than human, and is a great error, according to every sapiential tradition worthy of name. The early peoples also understood that although the Great Spirit was transcendent, it was also immanent in the heart of man, as this quote from Black Elk illustrates: "[A]t the center of the Universe dwells Wakan-Tanka [the Great Spirit], and ... this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us." (p. 29)
Nature was not just the natural environment per se; it was perceived as sacred and could be regarded as the "metaphysic of nature"--the inner precinct or temple of the early peoples, as Black Elk explains:
We regard all created beings as sacred and important, for everything has a wochangi, or influence, which can be given to us, through which we may gain a little more understanding if we are attentive. We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things; the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains and all the four-legged animals, and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. (p. 28)
At one point, Brown compares the ritual smoking of the sacred pipe to the Holy Communion of Christians. He explains, "These pipes represent the human being in his totality, or the universe of which humankind is a reflection. The bowl is the heart, or sacred center, and each section of the pipe is usually identified with some part of the human being." (p. 33)
That passage reflects one of Brown's central premises: "If we can understand ... the truths the Indians find in their relationships to nature, and the profound values reflected by their many rites and symbols, then we may become enriched, our understanding will deepen, and we shall be able to give to the American Indian heritage its rightful place among the great spiritual traditions of humankind." (p. 34)
Brown identifies three central stages in spiritual development that are also found in some form or another in the world's religions: purification, perfection or expansion, and union--"each in turn is realized and then integrated within the next stage, so that ultimately they become one in the individual who attains the ultimate goal." (p. 34) In primordial traditions, he explains, life is renewed and the sacredness of existence is perpetuated through ceremonial sacrifice, and "where there is no longer affirmation or means for sacrifice, for `making sacred,' where the individual loses the sense of Center, the very energy of the world, it is believed, will run out." (p. 77)
The previously unpublished letters of Joseph Epes Brown contained in this book are an invaluable resource, complementing his other works, especially his classic text The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1953). These letters are particularly significant in that they provide new information regarding Black Elk's relationship to the Catholic Church and Lakota spirituality, and they disclose intimate details of Brown's participation in the work of restoring American Indian traditions.
Brown's letters indicate that the imminent crisis currently confronting the world was clearly foreseen by American Indian spiritual people. In one letter, he relates how Black Elk confided to him: "[W]e have reached the end of a cycle; and leading into the beginning of the next new cycle there is a very narrow bridge ... a great disaster is impending which shall bring this cycle to a close." (pp. 105-106)
Nonetheless, Black Elk's perennial wisdom posits that there is an alternative to the present disintegration of the modern and post-modern world, and that is to bring back the "Eye of the Heart" (Chante Ishta). Black Elk explains it in this way: "I am blind and do not see the things of this world; but when the Light comes from Above, it enlightens my Heart and I can see, for the Eye of my Heart sees everything; and through this vision I can help my people. The heart is a sanctuary at the Center of which there is a little space, wherein Wakan-Tanka dwells, and this is the Eye. This is the Eye of Wakan-Tanka by which He sees all things, and through which we see Him.... In order to know the Center of the Heart in which is the Mind of Wakan-Tanka, you must be pure and good, and live in the manner that Wakan-Tanka has taught us. The man who is thus pure contains the Universe within the Pocket of his Heart(Chante oqnaka)." (p. 106)
Readers should benefit immensely from Brown's extensive knowledge of the first inhabitants of this continent. It is rare to find scholars who simultaneously exhibit both spiritual insight and profound empathy for the American Indian traditions, as Joseph Epes Brown does. We trust that this book will assist in the ongoing renewal of traditional American Indian spirituality--and also enrich studies in the philosophia perennis, "that perennial and timeless wisdom valid 'now and forever.'"
-Shaman's Drum, No. 81, 2009
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Sacred Tobacco Woman
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian Book ReviewReviewed in the United States on January 14, 2013
The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian, what does that title suggest to you? Most of us have a hard time defining the concept of spirituality and even a tougher time defining the meaning of legacy. If you are at a point in your journey where you are in need of an evaluation of spiritual beliefs and practices, then I highly recommend The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian Commemorative Edition with Letters While Living with Black Elk by Joseph Epes Brown.
I would love to teach from this book! In fact, Brown was one of the founders of Native American Studies and this book is used in many college classrooms. As a learner, this book helps to expand my understanding of universal truths that are common amongst the great religions of the world and how American Indian spirituality claims a place among them. As an American Indian woman, this book helps me to expand my experience as a spiritual being. The richness of this learning has to be shared. The table of contents of this book holds ten chapters worthy of a semester's study with titles like Time and Process, On Being Human, and Contemplation Through Action.
Brown's ideas on American Indian spirituality came from his experience living with Black Elk, one of the most esteemed American Indian spiritual leaders of the twentieth century. Black Elk was a holy man of the Lakota Sioux and witnessed the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 and the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.
This book teaches about the spiritual values and traditions of my ancestors, the Plains Indians. In my spiritual quest I have sought knowledge and peace and that is what I find in these sacred teachings of spiritual wisdom. Raised primarily off of the reservation apart from traditional ways, I have found great solace in the eloquent way Brown describes what he learned. "During this year Black Elk and his close friend Little Warrior freely told me about their religion and gave me the keys to the spiritual meaning behind the forms of their rites and symbols. This new understanding made clear to me why these old men, and others among their people, manifested in their being and in every act a nobility, serenity, generosity, concentration, and kindness that we usually associate with the saints of the better-known religions. Indeed it is in these two personalities that we have proof of the efficacy and reality of the Indian's spiritual methods and values."
The words in this book resonate somewhere deep within my soul as I realize the need for validation, for proof that I come from a people who once realized their constant connection to the Divine.
This book can provide an empowering sense of clarity for anyone that wants to explore concepts of religious heritage. As a religious scholar, Brown states that all true spiritual progress involves three stages, purification, perfection or expansion, and union. Furthermore, the pattern of the three stages in spiritual development may be recognized in one form or another in the methods of all the great religions of the world. He makes it evident that the American Indian also possesses this same threefold pattern of realization. Our spiritual legacy is that we recognize, or remember that we are one.
The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian is an enlightening illustration of the Lakota phrase mitakuye oyasin, "We are all Related." It was Joseph Epes Brown's hope that something of this quality of relationship is sensed throughout the book.
This book is written in a scholarly fashion and I suggest it be read together and discussed with friends in front of a cozy fireplace. It works well for a book club also.
Editor's Note: This book was purchased with personal funds.
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DavidO
4.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Legacy of the American IndianReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2010
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This is an important book based on the close and unusual experience of Joseph Epes Brown (I left my Heart at Wounded Knee). The language is rather ponderous and the over elaborate vocabulary makes comprehension harder than it should be. Nevertheless, the nature of American Indian spiritually is a deep and complex issue that is well worth trying to understand. There are valuable messages for us all.
Follow the Author
Joseph Epes Brown
+ Follow
The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian: Commemorative Edition with Letters while Living with Black Elk (Perennial Philosophy Series) Kindle Edition
by Joseph Brown (Author), & 2 more Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
Part of: Perennial Philosophy (47 books)
The writings of Joseph Epes Brown are considered amongst the most important studies on the North American Indian undertaken in the twentieth century. His works have been translated into numerous languages and are helping to re-ignite interest in the American Indian religious tradition. The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian: Commemorative Edition, not only presents his works on the fundamental and universal characteristics of the American Indian culture and tradition, but the previously unpublished correspondence sheds light on Dr. Brown’s time spent on the reservations immersed in the very cultures and peoples that he wrote about. Enhanced by previously unpublished photographs from Dr. Brown’s own private collection, The Spiritual of Legacy of the American Indian is a fascinating exposition of the often repeated Lakota phrase Mitakuye Oyasin, “We are all related.”
186 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Joseph Epes Brown [in The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian] explains what it means and takes to be an American Indian. Searching out 'commonalities' that form and elucidate Indian spiritual beliefs, Mr. Brown shows them in crucial need of revaluation by other Americans and demonstrates how much poorer the nation will be if it continues destroying the richness of tribal life and thought.''
About the Author
Joseph Epes Brown was a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Montana and the author of numerous books, including The Sacred Pipe. He died in 2000. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
ASIN : B00408A7ZQ
Publisher : World Wisdom; Updated ed. edition (February 22, 2007)
Print length : 186 pages
Customer reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
Top reviews from the United States
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars BookReviewed in the United States on November 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
Good book very informational. Covered the detail I hoped for. The price and delivery were exactly as I had hoped for.
2 people found this helpful
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Tony
3.0 out of 5 stars Good readingReviewed in the United States on January 5, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is an interesting study of religions and beliefs of the Native American culture that has been shamefully ignored. Wake up and realize how wrong we have been.
HelpfulReport abuse
Meadowlark
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on July 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
A classic!
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Samuel Bendeck Sotillos
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spiritual Legacy of the American IndianReviewed in the United States on January 10, 2010
"The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian" contains an impressive collection of Joseph Epes Brown's classic essays in Native American studies, written over the first thirty-seven years of his academic career. The book, originally published in 1982 by Crossroad Publishing, has been out of print for some years. This commemorative edition contains an informative preface by the editors--Brown's wife, his eldest daughter, and ethnographer Michael Oren Fitzgerald, who was for three semesters his teaching assistant--as well as an introduction by the distinguished Swedish scholar Åke Hultkrantz. Also included within this commemorative edition is a section of previously unpublished letters by Brown, including personal correspondence he authored while he was conducting research and living with Nicholas Black Elk, or Hehaka Sapa, the renowned twentieth-century Oglala Lakota spiritual leader.
According to Black Elk, it was a "godsend" that Brown arrived on the scene to participate in the renewal of the primordial spiritual traditions of the American Indians. Brown (1920-2000) was a professional anthropologist, who was adopted by Black Elk as a son and was given the Lakota name Chanumpa Yuha Mani, or "He Who Walks with the Sacred Pipe." It is rare to find an academic author whose work encompasses the fullness of a culture and its traditions as does that of Joseph Epes Brown.
Brown's works in the area of Native American studies have provided a remarkable service in advancing the understanding of pre-reservation American Indian life. He was instrumental in championing the viewpoint that "Native American traditions ... are legitimate expressions of the philosophia perennis." In his original preface to this book, Brown states that "religion," in the primordial American Indian traditions, is not perceived as a separate activity divorced from everyday life, but is a central facet contextualizing all of life and every moment of human existence:
It has now become abundantly clear that it is a fundamental and universal characteristic of Native American cultures, as indeed of all primal ... cultures, that 'religion'--there is no equivalent word for this in any American Indian language--is not a separate category of activity or experience that is divorced from cultural or society. Rather, religion is pervasively present and is in complex interrelationships with all aspects of the peoples' life-ways. (p. xiii)
Brown explains that, in primordial Native American cultures, it is the Great Spirit that brings true equilibrium and integration to both the "inner" and "outer" dimensions of the human individual. To forget one's spiritual center is to be less than human, and is a great error, according to every sapiential tradition worthy of name. The early peoples also understood that although the Great Spirit was transcendent, it was also immanent in the heart of man, as this quote from Black Elk illustrates: "[A]t the center of the Universe dwells Wakan-Tanka [the Great Spirit], and ... this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us." (p. 29)
Nature was not just the natural environment per se; it was perceived as sacred and could be regarded as the "metaphysic of nature"--the inner precinct or temple of the early peoples, as Black Elk explains:
We regard all created beings as sacred and important, for everything has a wochangi, or influence, which can be given to us, through which we may gain a little more understanding if we are attentive. We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things; the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains and all the four-legged animals, and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. (p. 28)
At one point, Brown compares the ritual smoking of the sacred pipe to the Holy Communion of Christians. He explains, "These pipes represent the human being in his totality, or the universe of which humankind is a reflection. The bowl is the heart, or sacred center, and each section of the pipe is usually identified with some part of the human being." (p. 33)
That passage reflects one of Brown's central premises: "If we can understand ... the truths the Indians find in their relationships to nature, and the profound values reflected by their many rites and symbols, then we may become enriched, our understanding will deepen, and we shall be able to give to the American Indian heritage its rightful place among the great spiritual traditions of humankind." (p. 34)
Brown identifies three central stages in spiritual development that are also found in some form or another in the world's religions: purification, perfection or expansion, and union--"each in turn is realized and then integrated within the next stage, so that ultimately they become one in the individual who attains the ultimate goal." (p. 34) In primordial traditions, he explains, life is renewed and the sacredness of existence is perpetuated through ceremonial sacrifice, and "where there is no longer affirmation or means for sacrifice, for `making sacred,' where the individual loses the sense of Center, the very energy of the world, it is believed, will run out." (p. 77)
The previously unpublished letters of Joseph Epes Brown contained in this book are an invaluable resource, complementing his other works, especially his classic text The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1953). These letters are particularly significant in that they provide new information regarding Black Elk's relationship to the Catholic Church and Lakota spirituality, and they disclose intimate details of Brown's participation in the work of restoring American Indian traditions.
Brown's letters indicate that the imminent crisis currently confronting the world was clearly foreseen by American Indian spiritual people. In one letter, he relates how Black Elk confided to him: "[W]e have reached the end of a cycle; and leading into the beginning of the next new cycle there is a very narrow bridge ... a great disaster is impending which shall bring this cycle to a close." (pp. 105-106)
Nonetheless, Black Elk's perennial wisdom posits that there is an alternative to the present disintegration of the modern and post-modern world, and that is to bring back the "Eye of the Heart" (Chante Ishta). Black Elk explains it in this way: "I am blind and do not see the things of this world; but when the Light comes from Above, it enlightens my Heart and I can see, for the Eye of my Heart sees everything; and through this vision I can help my people. The heart is a sanctuary at the Center of which there is a little space, wherein Wakan-Tanka dwells, and this is the Eye. This is the Eye of Wakan-Tanka by which He sees all things, and through which we see Him.... In order to know the Center of the Heart in which is the Mind of Wakan-Tanka, you must be pure and good, and live in the manner that Wakan-Tanka has taught us. The man who is thus pure contains the Universe within the Pocket of his Heart(Chante oqnaka)." (p. 106)
Readers should benefit immensely from Brown's extensive knowledge of the first inhabitants of this continent. It is rare to find scholars who simultaneously exhibit both spiritual insight and profound empathy for the American Indian traditions, as Joseph Epes Brown does. We trust that this book will assist in the ongoing renewal of traditional American Indian spirituality--and also enrich studies in the philosophia perennis, "that perennial and timeless wisdom valid 'now and forever.'"
-Shaman's Drum, No. 81, 2009
12 people found this helpful
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Sacred Tobacco Woman
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian Book ReviewReviewed in the United States on January 14, 2013
The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian, what does that title suggest to you? Most of us have a hard time defining the concept of spirituality and even a tougher time defining the meaning of legacy. If you are at a point in your journey where you are in need of an evaluation of spiritual beliefs and practices, then I highly recommend The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian Commemorative Edition with Letters While Living with Black Elk by Joseph Epes Brown.
I would love to teach from this book! In fact, Brown was one of the founders of Native American Studies and this book is used in many college classrooms. As a learner, this book helps to expand my understanding of universal truths that are common amongst the great religions of the world and how American Indian spirituality claims a place among them. As an American Indian woman, this book helps me to expand my experience as a spiritual being. The richness of this learning has to be shared. The table of contents of this book holds ten chapters worthy of a semester's study with titles like Time and Process, On Being Human, and Contemplation Through Action.
Brown's ideas on American Indian spirituality came from his experience living with Black Elk, one of the most esteemed American Indian spiritual leaders of the twentieth century. Black Elk was a holy man of the Lakota Sioux and witnessed the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 and the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.
This book teaches about the spiritual values and traditions of my ancestors, the Plains Indians. In my spiritual quest I have sought knowledge and peace and that is what I find in these sacred teachings of spiritual wisdom. Raised primarily off of the reservation apart from traditional ways, I have found great solace in the eloquent way Brown describes what he learned. "During this year Black Elk and his close friend Little Warrior freely told me about their religion and gave me the keys to the spiritual meaning behind the forms of their rites and symbols. This new understanding made clear to me why these old men, and others among their people, manifested in their being and in every act a nobility, serenity, generosity, concentration, and kindness that we usually associate with the saints of the better-known religions. Indeed it is in these two personalities that we have proof of the efficacy and reality of the Indian's spiritual methods and values."
The words in this book resonate somewhere deep within my soul as I realize the need for validation, for proof that I come from a people who once realized their constant connection to the Divine.
This book can provide an empowering sense of clarity for anyone that wants to explore concepts of religious heritage. As a religious scholar, Brown states that all true spiritual progress involves three stages, purification, perfection or expansion, and union. Furthermore, the pattern of the three stages in spiritual development may be recognized in one form or another in the methods of all the great religions of the world. He makes it evident that the American Indian also possesses this same threefold pattern of realization. Our spiritual legacy is that we recognize, or remember that we are one.
The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian is an enlightening illustration of the Lakota phrase mitakuye oyasin, "We are all Related." It was Joseph Epes Brown's hope that something of this quality of relationship is sensed throughout the book.
This book is written in a scholarly fashion and I suggest it be read together and discussed with friends in front of a cozy fireplace. It works well for a book club also.
Editor's Note: This book was purchased with personal funds.
9 people found this helpful
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DavidO
4.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Legacy of the American IndianReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2010
Verified Purchase
This is an important book based on the close and unusual experience of Joseph Epes Brown (I left my Heart at Wounded Knee). The language is rather ponderous and the over elaborate vocabulary makes comprehension harder than it should be. Nevertheless, the nature of American Indian spiritually is a deep and complex issue that is well worth trying to understand. There are valuable messages for us all.
===
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Christine Sopko
Apr 15, 2020Christine Sopko rated it it was ok
Revolutionary at the time, but now dated but there is information to glean.
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Eric
Jan 01, 2011Eric rated it it was amazing
Shelves: religion, favorites
This is one of the definitive works on Native American spirituality and the metaphysics underlying those beliefs. Brown starts by acknowledging that there is no single Native American spirituality or belief system and that it would be impossible to define or describe Native American religions in generalities. Nevertheless, Brown attempts to do just that by sketching the broad outlines common to each culture, which he then explores in more detail by examining specific examples from a range of cultures (though an emphasis on beliefs of the Plains Indians is obvious and probably unavoidable given Brown's extensive work with Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux holy man).
In the first chapter, Brown provides five general principles that distinguish Native American belief systems. He spends the rest of the text examining these principles through specific cultures, artistic expressions, and ceremonies.
The principles are:
1) There is no separation between sacred and secular; "religion" is not separated from everyday life.
2) Words have a special potency or force (and by extension, songs and ceremonies channel that force to greatest effectiveness).
3) Natural materials also possess a distinct potency, and therefore the created object is not merely a symbol of a certain power, it is the power itself. Furthermore, there is no separation between art and craft.
4) Time and process are cyclical and reciprocal (as opposed to unidirectional); we are not moving from a past forward into a future, we are participating in a great and interconnected cycle.
5) The forms and forces of the natural environment are all interrelated (and humanity is part of that connection, not separate from it). Thus, pragmatic interaction with the natural world is always informed by a sacred understanding of it.
Brown's analysis is clear and concise, and he manages to convey a great deal of insight in a surprisingly thin volume. (less)
