NANABOOZHOO TEACHINGS - WISDOM OF THE GREAT DEER: GEGO BAKAA AYAASII - Nothing Exists Alone

FROM THE

GREAT TEACHING

LODGE OF THE MIDEWIWIN   Midewiwin Gichi-Gikinoo'amaadiiwigamig

EXCERPT FROM THE

MAZINA'IGAN — NANABOOZHOO AADIZOOKAAN

The Record — The Sacred Stories of Nanaboozhoo

MAAWACH GEGO BIMAADIZIWIN — WHAT WAS ALREADY GIVEN

The Way of Life that existed before instruction

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GEGO BAKAA AYAASII - Nothing Exists Alone

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After Mishoomis Waawaashkeshi, The Grandfather Deer, revealed the Tree of Life and the responsibility of the clans, Nanaboozhoo remained with him.

For though the Great Deer had shown him the pattern of creation, Nanaboozhoo knew there was still something hidden within the pattern itself.

Ma'iingan remained beside them.

Together they traveled the ancient trails.

The Deer walked before them.

Nanaboozhoo watched every step.

For wherever Mishoomis Waawaashkeshi walked, life seemed to remember itself.

The grasses bent without breaking.

The waters quieted.

The birds drew near.

Even the winds seemed to listen.

One evening, as the sun descended and the world became gold, Nanaboozhoo spoke.

"Mishoomis, you have shown me the Tree."

"You have shown me the trails."

"You have shown me the clans."

"But what is it that the people forget?"

The Great Deer stopped.

For a long moment he said nothing.

Then he lowered his head and touched the earth with his antlers.

From among the dust he lifted a grain of sand.

He placed it upon Nanaboozhoo's palm.

"What is this?"

"A grain of sand."

The Deer nodded.

"When did it become sand?"

Nanaboozhoo thought.

"When the stone broke."

"And when did it become stone?"

"When the mountain formed."

"And when did it become mountain?"

Nanaboozhoo paused.

The Deer waited.

"The mountain came from the earth."

"And the earth?"

Nanaboozhoo followed the trail backward.

The earth.

The fire beneath the earth.

The stars.

The light.

At last he became silent.

The Deer smiled.

"Already you see the trail."

He took the grain and held it toward Grandfather Sun.

The grain sparkled brilliantly.

"What gives it light?"

"The Sun."

"And what gives light to the Sun?"

Again Nanaboozhoo became silent.

The Deer nodded.

"Every trail reaches beyond itself."

"Every answer opens another question."

"Until all trails become one trail."

They continued walking.

Soon they came upon a great tree.

The Deer plucked a leaf and held it before Nanaboozhoo.

The sunlight passed through it.

Its veins shone like rivers.

"What is this?"

"A leaf."

The Deer broke it gently.

Now there were two pieces.

"What is it now?"

"A broken leaf."

The Deer placed the pieces upon the earth.

Then he asked:

"When does it stop being the leaf?"

Nanaboozhoo answered quickly.

"When it dies."

The Deer shook his head. No.

Winter passed.

The leaf became brown.

It was still the leaf.

Snow covered it.

It was still the leaf.

The earth received it.

It was still the leaf.

The roots drank from it.

It was still the leaf.

Spring came.

The tree rose from what the leaf had become.

The Deer looked at Nanaboozhoo.

"When did the leaf cease to exist?"

Nanaboozhoo searched his thoughts.

He could find no moment.

The leaf had changed.

Yet it had not disappeared.

The Deer nodded.

"The people see change and call it ending."

"Creation sees change and calls it life."

They walked farther.

The Deer picked up a fallen branch.

"Is this separate from the tree?"

"It appears to be."

The Deer asked:

"Where is the water that made it?"

"In the tree."

"Where is the light that made it?"

"In the tree."

"Where is the memory of every season it survived?"

"In the tree."

The Deer held out the branch.

"Then show me where the tree ends and the branch begins."

Nanaboozhoo could not.

For the branch was the tree expressing itself in a particular place.

The Deer smiled.

"So it is with all things."

"The branch says, 'I am myself.'"

"The tree says, 'You are my expression.'"

"Both speak truth."

They continued until they reached a river.

The Deer knelt beside the water.

He gathered some in his hand.

"What is this?"

"Water."

The Deer poured it into the river.

"Where did it go?"

"Into the river."

The Deer nodded.

The river flowed into a lake.

The lake rose into clouds.

The clouds fell again as rain.

Snow gathered in the mountains.

Streams returned to the river.

Water remained water throughout.

Only its appearance changed.

The Deer asked:

"When does water stop being water?"

Nanaboozhoo smiled.

"Never."

The Deer nodded.

"And so it is with life."

Then the Deer breathed deeply.

The evening wind moved through the trees.

"What do you see?"

"The forest."

"What carries the scent of the pine?"

"The wind."

"Can you see the wind?"

"No."

The Deer nodded.

"Yet you know it exists."

Then he touched Nanaboozhoo's chest.

"And the breath within you?"

Nanaboozhoo understood.

The greatest realities were often invisible.

Breath.

Thought.

Memory.

Love.

Spirit.

Relationship.

None could be held in the hand.

Yet without them, nothing endured.

Then the Deer lifted his eyes toward the stars.

Night had come.

Thousands of lights shimmered above.

The Deer asked:

"Can you see the stars?"

"Yes."

"Could you see them in daylight?"

"No."

"Did they cease to exist?"

"No."

The Deer nodded.

"The star was present when unseen."

"The seed is present when buried."

"The child is present before birth."

"The future is present before arrival."

"The spirit is present before recognition."

"The people call these things hidden."

"They are not hidden."

"The observer simply cannot yet perceive them."

Then Mishoomis Waawaashkeshi stretched his antlers toward the heavens.

The stars seemed to rest among their branches.

The Tree of Life appeared once more.

Nanaboozhoo saw the roots.

The trunk.

The branches.

The leaves.

The fruit.

Then something changed.

The Tree became light.

The roots became light.

The trunk became light.

The branches became light.

The fruit became light.

Everything became light.

The Deer spoke:

"The fruit is light remembered by the tree."

"The leaf is light remembered by the tree."

"The branch is light remembered by the tree."

"The seed is light remembered by the tree."

"The deer is light remembered by the Creator."

"The wolf is light remembered by the Creator."

"The people are light remembered by the Creator."

Nanaboozhoo watched in wonder.

The Deer continued:

"The people speak of many things."

"Many beings."

"Many lives."

"Many nations."

"But these are names."

"Beneath the names is relationship."

"Beneath relationship is memory."

"Beneath memory is light."

Then the Deer opened one of Nanaboozhoo's hands.

Upon the palm were many lines.

They crossed.

They joined.

They separated.

They returned.

The Deer traced them gently.

"As trails cross the earth, these trails cross the hand."

"As roots cross the soil."

"As rivers cross the land."

"As stars cross the heavens."

Then the lines seemed to form a star.

The Deer said:

"One day, among your descendants, there will be those who carry this remembrance."

"Not because they are greater."

"But because they accept a greater responsibility."

"The trail disappears."

"They walk it again."

"The people forget."

"They remember."

"The people divide."

"They reveal the path beneath the divisions."

"The people lose sight of the Light."

"They help them see it again."

Nanaboozhoo listened carefully.

For he sensed the Deer was speaking of generations yet unborn.

The Deer continued:

"My descendants will carry the responsibility of remembrance."

"Your descendants will carry the responsibility of restoration."

"And from time to time, when the trail is forgotten, I shall walk beside them as I walk beside you."

"Not because I left."

"But because they finally learned to see."

Then the Great Deer gave the final teaching.

"The people will say they are alone."

"They are mistaken."

"A thought is not alone."

"A memory is not alone."

"A breath is not alone."

"A life is not alone."

"A spirit is not alone."

"The grain of sand is not alone."

"The leaf is not alone."

"The river is not alone."

"The star is not alone."

"For all things arise from the same Light."

"All things move according to the same Song."

"All things travel the same Trail."

At that moment Nanaboozhoo understood what the people forget.

Not that they belong together.

Not that they are connected.

But something deeper.

They forget that they were never separate.

And the Deer Trail was the path that leads all beings back to that remembrance.

Chi-Megwetch - Thank you from my heart spirit