All you do need is love

John Archer Photo/File

Kris Wills (Chronicle, January 9) has drawn attention to changing spirituality in New Zealand. He grew up with devout Ringatu aunts, but he now sees the need to adapt Maori culture to the new spiritual beliefs of many Maori.

May I ask if belief is really necessary for spirituality? Is it not one's attitude to other people and other things that is important?

Spiritual growth involves moving from self-centredness to oneness; first to oneness with all one's family, then with one's land, with all mankind, all beings on earth, and then with all the universe. Contemplating the wonder of all this leads to a sense of its sacredness.

From my experience of communal activities integral to Maori life - powhiri, hui, tangihanga, kapahaka, sports competitions, hikoi, taua - these all seem to assist the journey to oneness. The stories that are recalled during these activities are similar to the mythical tales that have guided people of all cultures on their spiritual journey.

Although these universal stories are non-factual, they impart wisdom and truths, and are often re-enacted in ritual form. When large groups regularly attend the same rituals, they absorb the same beliefs and values, and this enables them to live together harmoniously.

These rituals and beliefs can become codified as religions. Thus the weekly attendance of most of the New Zealand population, from the 1870s to the 1970s, at ritual encounters between young men led to rugby becoming a de facto religion here.

However, as New Zealand has become more mechanised and urbanised in recent decades, fewer New Zealanders have attended rugby matches and traditional Christian church services, because dogmatic religions controlled by bishops or rugby boards are strongest in hand-powered agricultural societies.

The religious beliefs that assist spiritual growth go through several stages: the immersive infant, the intuitive toddler, the literal child and the conformist adolescent. The young adult rejects literalism, and with maturity gains an understanding of the mythological, and finally, an intuitive universal love.

Industrial cities have been run on materialistic rational lines that exploit and dominate nature, and ignore nature's rhythms. This detachment from nature engendered an immature spirituality in urban dwellers, and led to mutant Christian sects whose physically adult adherents remained stuck at the spiritually adolescent literal stage.

In this highly mobile post-industrial era, individualistic young adults, Maori as well as Pakeha, are rejecting the dogmatism of traditional Christian sects and the adolescent literalism of fundamentalists.

Mr Wills is concerned that this change in spiritual understanding is not being reflected on marae and thus creating a major problem for modern Maori culture.

There are many mythological stories used in current Maori culture that conflict with historical facts. But those who use these stories on the marae have generally matured beyond forming and rejecting literal explanations: they understand that the stories woven into chants, carvings, prayers and oratory are irrational, but rich in allegory and metaphor, and present great truths in a vivid pictorial way.

Tane separating Rangi and Papa is not how science tells us the world was created, but this story reminds us of the separate existence and equal importance of the metaphysical and material worlds.

Maui hauling this island up from the sea and Paikea riding here on a whale are role models for the high levels of research, technical skill and daring needed by young Maori to excel in today's world.

God giving Moses the 10 Commandments and Christ rising from the dead remind us how the adoption of Christian behaviour and forgiveness of enemies brought an end to many decades of all-out barbaric warfare that had threatened to destroy all Maoridom.

Indeed, for the last 150 years, the spirituality of the old ancestors has been handed down to the young Maori of today through a long chain of Bible-related prophets and prophetic movements, many of them located not far from Wanganui: Pai Marire in Taranaki, Ringatu near Taupo, Te Whiti at Parihaka, Mere Rikiriki near Bulls, T W Ratana near Turakina, and Maramatanga at Ohakune.

Those seeking to adjust tikana to accommodate the new spiritual outlooks may find it useful to consult the work of Rose Pere (Rangimarie Turuki Rose Pere, BA, Dip Soc, L.Th., M.Phil, Litt.D).

If Mr Wills or others would like a substitute for The Lord's Prayer or Whakaaria Mai, they may like to try Rose's composition Aio Ki Te Aorangi (folksong.org.nz/aio - ki - te - aorangi).

Its second line goes "Aroha ki te Aorangi" and basically that is the heart of any spirituality. Or, as the late John Lennon sang to us, "All you need is love."

John Archer lives in Ohakune and shares his views with readers, coloured by his love of the mountain life.