By Ïasaid Khongjee
Stories, statements of sort are around us. Some make us laugh out loud. Others in context, that the writer wishes to share are those that make us think, reflect, look back in space and time, reinterpret in the light of practices, reconstruct the knowledge system, and some that open the mind’s eyes into the nature of human existence in the cosmos.
Source of the stories: Our prominent stories are a result of inference from natural phenomena and were written in our hills, rivers, plants, animals and so on and many of which are related to us humans. As to the twists and turns in these stories, one thing we are sure of, are the flavours of the same to catch the interest of listeners. That they didn’t get lost after hundreds, or thousands of years is because of the element of awe and interest involved.
How knowledge is passed on over generations: After knowledge is established, the same is passed on through word of mouth in the form of metaphorical one-liners. Frankly speaking, this is what makes many lose patience before coming up with a general principle of the nature of our universe and existence. That’s why we say:”ki longshuwa kim ju ai pateng ïa ka jingstad”, meaning “the ancestors never share their knowledge with their children”. But my village background has a different story to tell. A young man from Khat-ar-shnong once said, “U brew ba dang wad Blei, dei uba khlem Blei” which means “one in search of god is an atheist”. In those areas and nearby, women talk in the same language. My father spoke the language to me once, and only once when he said “ka mattah kaba kit ïa ka knup, ka kit ïa ka kynram katba dang im,” meaning “the snail having a shell, carries it eternally”
Story of the Khasi man who swallowed the book while crossing the river: This story talks about the internalization of knowledge into the being, not a story to be mourned over having lost a book; nature is once upon a time our eternal, self-replicating book. The practices we have till date are derivatives from the cosmic book. U ‘Tiew Dohmaw Laiphew-na-ar jingmut (30-2=28): It’s a poetic expression of a modest wise person living in contentment with what the world has to offer. In the spirit, the ‘Tiew Lyngksiar symbolizes the priority of the Essence over forms. From the legends: the snapping of the golden ladder connecting heaven and earth symbolizes the umbilical cord through which the new life in the womb breathes while inside. When time is right, this cord breaks off, thus consummating the Divine sanction for life to continue on earth.
The story of the fall of “Ka Diengïei” the gigantic tree that connects heaven and earth, at the same time stifling the growth of smaller plants under its foliage, symbolizes the will of the cosmic design to see that creatures get their food supplies. The story of U Sier Lapalang represents the eternal love of the mother for the children in the animal kingdom.
“Ka ïeng rangbah u briew, ap Jutang U Blei na jrong”: This statement takes into account one thing – the communication from man to the Cosmic Law (God or Creator) by using the word of mouth to remind the Creator of the Jutang (Covenant) made between the two realms from the beginning of time. Reminding what? As per practice, not all the words we say to the law make a covenant; neither does the covenant, or the cosmic law accept the words we convey. It’s only when we tell the ultimate Cause /Godhead that something was unduly taken from the perfection of life due to untoward incidents or encounters with fellow existents like the spirits, diseases, human actions, we appeal for restoration of the balance lost, or disturbed. This is what the holder of the covenant understands and accepts. Outside this scheme, words, rites and rituals, however grand they may appear, are mere symbolic acts. This constitutes the core of the knowledge system. Miracles never had a place. All was known about the holiness of this existence, and was embraced. Their morals are guided by the conscience embedded.
“Mynba u briew bad ki mrad ki dang ïa kren kajuh ka ktien” (once upon a time when humans and other creatures communicated in the same language).
When elders tell a story about the past events, they begin with this phrase. This metaphor speaks about the mutual communication , or a perpetual intensive interaction between all creatures existing in Nature in line with the Cosmic design, a self-sustaining, self-preserving consciousness that preserves, sustains the ontological foundation of the universe. The communication (ka kren-ka khana) manifests not only orally; for example the plant and the sun communicate with each other in a fashion in line with their ontological value. Ancestors communicate to fellow creatures by speaking the language (ontological value) of other creatures. Without this knowledge, our prayers would be mere routines, only placebo tablets.
Ka Dorbar Blei: This is a Creation story. It speaks about the desire of the Essence (jingthrang-jingsliang jong ka Hok) of the Creator that Nature – the universe be born to manifest itself into the physical form we see now. It is the same energy that assigned ontological powers, and boundaries to all creatures before sending them to their realm, including all that are in the sky. Before sending them to their places, the same Essence melts itself into their being in order to sustain their ontological behaviour eternally. This sustaining dimension is locally known as “Ka Hukum”. The universe we are a part till present is a perfect universe; it is in the beginning. And the potential energy to evolve is involved.
How our stories degenerate: the severance of the golden ladder, the ancestral knowledge and practice never had an element of a dichotomy between the Essence and the created. They believe that the universe we live in is organic where all creatures are interrelated, interdependent. This is the quantum understanding of our ancestors about this Nature. In the golden era, as a result, all lived life; no one searched to realize the Creator, or seek redemption. It’s only in recent times that we, under the influence of education and religion from the west, pinch our own arm into a feeling that we need someone to mediate between us and our own essence. I have had the opportunity to listen to many healers’ communication; in those acts, there’s no substance of inconsistency – but all of them were illiterate.