Charleen Touchette is Quebecois, Acadian and Metis of mixed blood French and Canadian First Nation ancestry and grew up bilingual in French and English. An artist, author, activist and mother of four, she lives in the mountains in Santa Fe, where she is the New Mexico Coordinator of Martin Luther King III’s Realizing the Dream Initiative. Charleen has authored the award-winning, critically-acclaimed and banned book, 
| Respect Diversity While Recognizing Oneness |
| Saturday, 15 October 2011 | Charleen Touchette | Blog Entry |
|
Nearly everyone has experienced being treated as an outsider or “other.” In the modern world, people are judged and categorized every day. Individuals and groups are designated as “other” based on perceived differences from accepted community norms. When I was a girl, almost everyone I knew was French Canadian with Canadian Indian ancestry. It wasn’t until I left our insular community and entered the mainstream culture of the United States that I fully felt the discrimination of being seen as “other” and saw how the relegation of second-class status to large segments of the population causes suffering and diminishes everyone. In the natural world, diversity of animals and plants contributes to the multifaceted interdependent exchange of energy in which life thrives. Native American indigenous rights advocate, Chief Oren Lyons, describes how trees live in communities and clear-cutting destroys not only trees, but entire interconnected communities. His “We Are All One” video is well worth watching in this regard. Making hierarchal distinctions between different life forms—and cultivating some to the detriment or eradication of others—weakens the ecosystem because it disrupts the natural balance wherein each life form has its unique and necessary purpose in relation to the others and the environment. In the same way, the whole community is weakened when the voices and contributions of those considered different are left out, belittled or suppressed. The stories of those designated as "other" by the dominant culture must be heard in order for the whole society to reconcile and heal from past and continuing discrimination. Certainly, a shift away from linear thinking and a return to the indigenous view of all beings as essential parts of one circle would go even further to re-establish the balance between each other and the environment. Spiritual teachers and mystics teach that everything is one. The idea of the “other” is an artificial social construct used by conquerors to marginalize and justify oppression and control of those whom they perceive as different and therefore exploitable. In reality, people are all related and children of the same Earth and sky—along with all living beings who are also our relations. In challenging times, it is essential to respect and love one another as relatives if we are to survive, flourish and preserve our planetary home for our children and future generations. Fritjof Capra in The Tao of Physics states, "Quantum theory thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe." Indigenous teachers and healers concur with mystics, healers and educators worldwide as well as quantum physicists that the universe is composed of light energy, which many teach is intelligent and embodies love. We are light beings made of the same light energy as everything in the universe. The multitude of different ways light energy is arranged and organized results in the magnificent diversity of life forms. Our very DNA, the blueprint that makes each person unique, has elements found in stardust, animals, plants, etc. “While the DNA of almost all organisms is distinct in its fine detail, the overall structure of the DNA found in every living organism is the same,” says Making the Modern World, an online teaching tool of the Science Museum, Peter Symonds College and Mackenzie Ward Research. Seeing the underlying oneness does not change or diminish the marvelous diversity that makes each nation, individual and life form unique. Recognizing the common bond all life shares on an energetic and subatomic level increases compassion and respect, enabling us to achieve the goal of harmony and understanding. Additional resources:
Share This
Email This
Comments
(3)
Written by Suzanne , December 03, 2010
Charleen, can you speak about your book being "banned"?
Report abuse
|
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe... - Black Elk
Show/Hide comments
