Aboru Aboye
I have read Facebook posts in the past about people who go to Africa
for Initiation and come back with little or no knowledge and no training. What
I find amusing is that most people who travel home for whatever it is rarely
spent more than two weeks in Nigeria. I don't think it is possible for
anyone to attend a medical school and ultimately become a certified Doctor within
one year let alone two weeks.
People have
different reasons for returning home, some people go back to motherland to get
initiated and for initiation only and not to enrolled in studentship, some
embark on pilgrimage for personal development alone and to find their path,
while for some, its for the purpose of becoming a practicing priest or
priestess.
Majority of the
people back home in Nigeria are not aware of how deep the root of the
religion is here in America, Brazil or any other countries and most especially, the extent of knowledge that people from outside world possesses. So there is a tendency of been treated like a baby even though many have practicing for extended period of
time.
The cultural difference played a lot of
role when it comes to acquiring knowledge. Even though a Yoruba proverb said
"a bere ona kii sina" meaning he who ask for direction will not miss
his way. The culture still have a no no about asking some questions especially
in the spiritual cycle where most things are treated as secret. If you ask
suspicious questions, the gate will be shot at you. Watch, observed and ask the
right questions. This is because some information is released to students based
on the level of commitment and tenacity.
So how does one learn if
one cannot ask questions? It is not that one cannot ask questions, but some people frame the questions in an investigative way. Some information are only revealed to the people that
I will refer to as Baba, these are real sage Baba and Iya not the two years initiate
ones or religion newbies. One need to know how to be humble and romance the elder in such a way that they will feel comfortable to share. There need to be a measure to bridge the gap and ensure free flow of information for those who are willing and committed.
We all know how expensive the
journey is, so make good of your time while at home and make your intentions
known, so as not to return as an unhappy child or client. I will round this up
by sharing the Fisher King story with you.
What ails you? This is the right
question that the knight must ask the Fisher King in the Grail Legend. In one
version of this legend, the king lives in his castle with the grail. He has a
wound that does not heal and all about him, his kingdom is a wasteland. He can
only be healed when a knight finds the castle and the grail and asks the right
questions. Only then will the king return to health and the land becomes green
and fertile again. If the knight does not ask the question, the castle vanishes
and the knight must start the search for the grail all over again.
In this legend, a Jungian
interpretation is that the Fisher King represents the Self: his wound is a
symbol of the split between the rational mind and the self or the divine aspect
of our being. The wound never heals unless the right question is asked; unless
we begin to do self-inquiry, contemplating, “Who am I?” or as the legend
states, “What ails you? This form of self-inquiry leads us on the path to
wholeness.
Many of us are like the knight who arrives at the castle and sees
the king but fails to ask the question. We are spiritual tourists; we go to
visit sacred sites, we go to meet venerated spiritual teachers, we read
spiritual books and fall in love with the trappings of spirituality. We miss
the opportunity to truly begin the hero’s journey that will bridge the divide
between the ego and the Self. It is fitting that the path to wholeness is
called the hero’s journey because it takes courage, a willingness to be
stripped of what ails us; our ego and its accoutrements.....
