Language of Joy

“I (Rupert Ross) struggled for some time to find a way to express

how I perceive the difference between my English speaking world and

the world my Aboriginal friends tell me their languages give them.

I sense that if you decide that the first reality holds constant change,

if you discard our belief in the usefulness of judgmental absolutes

like “good” and “bad” and choose to speak in terms of relative movement

like “towards harmony” instead, then a lot of other things change as well…

These different worlds feel like the difference between standing

behind the triple-pane window of your cliffside mansion and

watching the sun go down over a quieting ocean —

and watching instead the first beginnings of a sunrise over that same ocean,

but from flat on your belly on a wet surfboard three hundred miles out

from the shore, as the ocean beneath you awakens.

In the cliff side mansion, you can maintain a conviction of

separation, stability and control.

On the surfboard, you hold a conviction of intimate and

inescapable exposure to unfathomable powers which,

while they might let you ride them, will never let you gain control over them.

If you find yourself alone on a surfboard as the ocean starts to stir;

you don’t know what it will bring you that day. You face only the true certainty

that you cannot change those waves– only the way you ride them — and that your riding

will depend on how much you can accommodate yourself to their forces.

Returning To the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice by Rupert Ross