When American sociologist and wellness expert Tanya Pergola first visited Tanzania and Maasailand, she became startlingly aware that she was in a place and with people who could teach her something profound. She sensed that lodged within the colorful and beautiful rituals and ceremonies of the indigenous Maasai people were gems of wisdom that could be harvested and shared as antidotes for our increasingly complex, stressful, and often enigmatic modern lives. <br><br>Dr. Pergola undertook a ten-year apprenticeship with Maasai traditional healers, led by her guide Lekoko Ole Sululu, in exchange for implementing sustainable development projects in Tanzania. In "Time is Cows" she shares the mind-body-spirit medicine of the Maasai, the proud pastoral people of East Africa. <br><br>In a voice that is at once crystal clear and spiritually alive–one that thousands around the world have already come to know in her talks and classes on wellness, yoga, and nature healing–her insight, inspiration, and empathy are present on every page as she shares her own knowledge and the wisdom of the Maasai compassionately and wholly. <br><br>Enriched with photographs, stories and "suggested practice" tips, "Time is Cows" is a handbook to help you simplify your life as you uncover its profound meaning.
Оглавление
Tanya Pergola Ph.D.. Time is Cows: Timeless Wisdom of the Maasai
1. Setting the Stage. THE BIRTHPLACE
MY GLOBAL ROOTS
AFRICA CALLING
PLANTING SEEDS
MY GUIDE
INTRODUCTION TO MAASAI COMMUNITY
THE BIG EXCHANGE
KEEPING THE FIRE BURNING AT HEARTH AND HOME
MEDICINE FOR LIFE
2. Daily Life. MORNING CHAI
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
RECIPE FOR MORNING CHAI
FOOD
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
SULULU IN SEATTLE
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
RAISING THE LIVESTOCK BANK
WORSHIPPING NATURE
RHYTHM OF THE DAY
LIFE HAS SEASONS
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
3. Knowing Yourself. MAKING A PLAN
LEARNING TO SEE THE PLAN
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
TALKING TO YOUR NATURE, APPRECIATING ENGAI’S PLAN
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
ACTING YOUR AGE SET
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
BEING FEMALE
BEING MALE
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
LEARNING YOUR WEAKNESSES
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
THE FAMILY MEETING
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
4. Plant Medicine. PEOPLE OF THE EARTH
NATURE HEALING—EMBUKUNOTO ENGLISHUUNOTO
THE FIVE MOST COMMONLY USED PLANTS BY THE MAASAI FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES
SOUP FOR A SISTER
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
TALKING TO PLANTS
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
SHEEP AND CANCER
5. Staying Clean and Clear. WALKING IT OUT
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
FASTING FOR A BLACK HEART
ORLPUL, STRENGTHENING BODY MIND SPIRIT
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
SPIRITUAL HEALERS, LAIBONIS
SUGGESTED PRACTICE
MOVING FROM HEAD TO HEART
6. Maasai Yoga Asana Series
7. Maasai Meditation
8. Where Are We? A MAASAI ELDER SPEAKS, OLE SULULU IN HIS OWN WORDS
9. A Final Word
Resources to Learn and Experience More
Acknowledgments
Отрывок из книги
I have a heart for indigenous people. When I meet someone who has a deep connection to her ancestral past and a direct line into the earth, something sparks between us. We connect on an elemental level. The voice of Mother Nature speaks through us, even while we are dressed in human costumes.
On a bright Sunday more than a decade ago, I found myself in a primordial forest at the bottom of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, accompanied by elephants, eagles, and Maasai warriors who have been at home in that remarkable region for many millennia. As I looked at the high canopy of trees surrounding me, their leaves began to shimmer, to sparkle, and an overwhelming sensation came over me. Everything was profoundly alive. And I sensed that I had come to a place on planet earth that could teach me wondrous things.
.....
In almost perfect English he explained, “As a child, I stayed with a missionary from Europe in Ngorongoro who taught me the Western things—how to speak English, how to drive and cook. The missionary helped sponsor most of my brothers to go to school and sponsored me for tour guiding school, where I received a certificate that gave me the ticket to a job in the growing tourism industry in Arusha. Since 1980 I worked as a safari guide in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zaire, meeting people and seeing the land. It was a very challenging time because our culture was being disturbed. In the 1970s, there was a drought in my home area that led to a lot of cattle dying and people starving. So I was happy to get the opportunity to spend time with the missionary. It seemed better to start to think about getting out of the area at the time because there were no rains, no water, no food. There was no school there. The missionary gave me food and taught me a lot, a lot, a lot.”
One day, when Sululu was grazing his father’s cows, a vehicle drove by that seemed lost. It was a tourist group looking for Oldonyo Lengai—the Mountain of God, in the Maa language—and had taken a wrong turn. Sululu pointed out on the map where they were and in which direction they needed to go to reach their destination. The tour guide was very impressed with Sululu’s map and English skills and asked him to come to town to interview for a job with their company. A month later, Sululu made the three-day walk to Arusha. He passed an exam with flying colors—knowing all the birds and wildlife species on the test, and his driving skills were excellent. “So, the company gave me a car to drive for groups, and that is how I started to work in tourism.”
