Tag: proverb

“We are all visitors to this time, this place” – Australian Aboriginal Proverb

On By jimmytstIn Origin, Philosophy, Science5 Comments

australian aborigine proverb

I have come to appreciate the wisdom and insights of esoteric spirituality, and this quote speaks to me as well. I can relate to the ancient (and timeless) wisdom regarding the nature and purpose of our soul, from the perspective of being a visitor and steward of the earth to observe, to learn, to grow and to love before returning home.

I learnt that this perspective is derived from the aborigine’s beliefs called Dreamtime. While every society has their own myths (mythos – story), I see some similarities in the symbolism used in myths to describe the nature of the soul, and there may be truths hidden in the symbolism.

From my understanding, the aborigines believe in an evolutionary or progressive reincarnation of the soul, in which each successive reincarnation builds on the experience, knowledge and understanding gained from the previous life, so that humanity as a whole continues to evolve over the generations.

“The aborigine people believed that each person had a part of their nature that was eternal. This eternal being pre-existed the life of the individual, and only became a living person through being born to a mother. The person then lived a life in time, and at death melted back into the eternal life.

…

For the aborigine tribes, there is no ending of life at ‘death’. Dead relatives are very much a part of continuing life. It is believed that in dreams dead relatives communicate their presence. At times they may bring healing if the dreamer is in pain. Death is seen as part of a cycle of life in which one emerges from Dreamtime through birth, and eventually returns to the timeless, only to emerge again. It is also a common belief that a person leaves their body during sleep, and temporarily enters the Dreamtime.”

(From “Australian Aborigine Dream Beliefs“)

Dreamtime Return
Dreamtime Return (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“To the Aboriginal, death is not the end of life. Death is the last ceremony in this present life, then the soul is reborn, thus all living people are reincarnations of the dead. The soul lives on and finds a new body to inhabit. This belief in reincarnation provides a direct link back to their ancestors of the Dreamtime.”

(From “Aboriginal Dreamtime“)

This perspective of evolutionary reincarnation sits well with me in terms of our true self that goes beyond outward appearance, culture, upbringing, social structure and so on – each person’s soul is that unedited, original, unique, skinless, genderless entity that pre-exists before taking on human form and flesh and will continue to exist beyond death. At the same time, I am open to the idea of afterlife in the higher dimension, although the idea of progressive continuation of the soul purpose in the next life on earth sounds plausible as well.

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