Thank you for letting me join this forum. For me, this is an opportunity to understand a bit more about something that concerns me and also helps to give me some context. Since I was very young, I have been drawn to spending time alone in nature in the British countryside where I was born, which led to me becoming a biologist, but also gave me a great sense of peace that I still get from being in nature. I have been meditating on an off for 40 years and especially when done in the wild, I find this very beneficial. Having been fortunate enough to travel widely, I have had the opportunity to experience a range of different spiritual practices around the world. When living in Delaware just over 20 years ago, I met Sauts - William Albert Sauts Netamuxwe Bock - an artist and writer of the Lenni-Lenape people who talked about some of the stories and philosophy that he knew of. After I moved away I continued with my own meditative work and eventually, on returning to Europe, I found an explosion of interest in things that had interested me for a long while. Unfortunately, most of this seemed a shallow, ego-led, eclectic nuage philosophy made up on the hoof. Often bits and pieces of different beliefs and practices were cobbled together in a dustbin of spirituality that did not even seem to conform to its own rules.
My concern was for the authenticity of what was being taught, the cultural appropriation and safety of what was being done. By this i mean that a number of those attracted to this work carry a some deeper issues and unrealistic expectations for healing and enlightenment. Further more, often those that are providing teaching and "healing" seem to be primarily feeding their own egos. Amid this nuage mess, i have come across a few people, a very few, who are authentic and do truly seem to be living their talk and are a force for good. I do believe that there are some universal truths and a force for compassion that is not the sole prerogative of any cultural group, however the diversity of cultural traditions needs to be respected and ego-led teachings need to be understood for what they are and treated accodingly. I hope that these views do not offend and that I can continue to be a part of this community.
