The Paths To Knowledge

 The Paths To Knowledge

In my father's language, French, there are two verbs to say “to know” which are "savoir" and "connaître" and they are interchanged all the time. However, the following example illustrates the fundamental difference between these two types of knowledge: we can say, about someone, "I know who this person is but I don't know him". This expression indicates that one knowledge is more passive and informational, whereas the other is more active and experiential. The living character of the latter is rightly reflected in the expressions "know-how" (“savoir-faire”) and "knowing how to be" (“savoir-être”), and an old proverb from the Kemetic (traditional African) tradition illustrates this reality: "the dust of the buttocks is not worth the dust of the feet". But despite the wisdom of our ancestors, today, knowledge and knowing continue to be confused. 

It took the Internet barely 30 years to capture all the information that modern society has accumulated during its expansion and finally become the primary source of information for most of the world. The telephone then made this information accessible and it is now just a click away. And because it is human nature to naturally tempted by the easy way, the choice between memorizing 10 pieces of information and memorizing 1 website that contains these 10 pieces of information is often quickly made, especially for the young generations. The virtual memory replaces little by little the cerebral memory and it is only one of the invisible consequences of the replacement of the Man by the machine. A more visible consequence is the quality of education. One only has to compare the money invested in public education with the billions invested in machine learning to understand that society has made a clear decision, largely influenced by market dynamics: humans are no longer profitable.  

For all contemporaries of big data, access to information has therefore been popularized, but what about the source of this information? To inquire about the source of our knowledge remains a legitimate question for the honest researcher who questions his environment. Even though many are quick to praise the information age in which we live, some still recognize the reign of confusion, barely dissimulated behind the virtual reality masks that are our smoke screens. The fact is that, since our early childhood, we are educated to take at face value what we are told by our school teachers, our journalists, our politicians, our scientists or our rabbi, our priest, our imam or our favorite guru or philosopher. And since questioning the knowledge of the members of our institutions has for too long been perceived as a challenge to authority, by dint of insisting on it, nowadays we are witnessing the opposite phenomenon: everyone can claim to be a self-proclaimed expert or self-taught master. 

The path to knowledge is in reality an intimate relationship between the subject who knows and the subject known. To ignore the history of a knowledge is to make it an orphan, to deny its roots, to mutilate its genesis, to denigrate its origin. And doing this unquestionably robs the natural authority of those who have acquired and preserved this knowledge, in addition to depriving them of recognition. For without the sacrifice and hard work of these people, the very history of humanity would be amputated. And the feat that researchers, writers and teachers of history have accomplished is to have broken our collective memory, to have put us in a state of general amnesia and consequently of dependence. We have become at the mercy of an environment that bombards us with information without mercy to our strategically impaired capacity for discernment. And so we are susceptible to being manipulated from one belief to another, according to the ambition of the one who now controls the information. This struggle for our attention actually disguises the deepening of our bondage, and if we do nothing about it, we quietly agree to send our children down the path to perdition that we are paving for them.

The Kemetic initiation, as preserved by the M'TAM School, places us on the path of African ancestral (i.e. Kemetic) knowledge which leads us first to the understanding of the basic principles of existence. The complete description of the origin of all things is taught, the origin of the Gods, the Universe, Nature and Man. It deals with all the existential questions that have animated humanity since the beginning of time. The Kemetic initiation usually begins around the age of 7. It is a primordial stage that prepares us to face life.  This rite of passage gives us the necessary tools to avoid becoming gullible and falling into the traps of ignorance and confusion. This foundation of knowledge leaves us with no choice but to courageously learn to face ourselves. And in doing so, we are able to adjust to the multi-dimensional reality of existence, both material and non-material, in all circumstances. But since this crucial step of initiation was brutally taken away from us, humanity has only degenerated. Finding itself in the state we know today, lost in societal, moral, political, economic, scientific or other considerations. And we, humans, barely manage to exist between two imaginary diseases. 

The founder of The Earth Center, Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, and of his educational branch, the M'TAM School, is a descendant of the long line of priests, the Naba, guardians of the Kemetic culture, whose origins go back to the time of the first civilization: Kemet - or Pharaonic Egypt according to the Greeks.  Master Naba grew up in the tradition, receiving his education from both his father's and mother's side, and went through the initiation stage. At a very young age, he already showed strong intellectual qualities and quickly became a great priest and healer. He also noticed very quickly that the world's gaze was turned towards the West and understood that in order to have an impact commensurate with his abilities, even to help his people, he had to capture this gaze. He therefore sought permission to extend this traditional education to the Western world and received the approval of the Elders, Royalties, Ancestors and Divinities to do so. Since then, Master Naba was - and still is - recognized as the prophet of the Kemetic civilization. 

Not all paths to knowledge are equal. If the human being builds his identity on the basis of the information he receives and his experience, it is only logical that he should pay special attention to all aspects surrounding the knowledge that will serve as his foundation. It is therefore important to consider the message, of course, but also the means of transmission, the author, the sender and the messenger. At the Earth Center, the messenger is our teacher, and he transmits the teachings of our Master, Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig. And in this text I express my gratitude and appreciation to my Master because it took me a few years to understand that if he had not made the effort to speak the language of the one who had devastated his territories, if he had not excelled in the modern education he received in parallel, if he had not made the effort to travel to foreign lands to share his knowledge, I would have had to go the other way around to be able to join him where he came from. I would have had to cross the Atlantic, learn his language, learn his culture, learn his customs, in order to even scratch the surface of his knowledge. 

Master Naba has truly built a bridge. A bridge that connects two worlds that subtly rub shoulders, and it is only by walking on this bridge that we have the possibility of passing to the other side of the wall of illusion and comfort in which the modern world wants to lull us. Any other passage puts us at risk of intellectual and spiritual enslavement.The opportunity that Master Naba has given us, and that the Earth Center continues to give to the world, is to be able to find the buried paths of the knowledge of our Ancestors that has been made forgotten. Thanks to him, to those who contributed to his education and to those who continue his work, we have direct access to authentic indigenous knowledge that has been preserved from corruption.  It is therefore our duty to walk this path with pride because our parents did not have this opportunity. It is therefore our responsibility to put our efforts into our own evolution.  And you will have understood that anything that comes without effort is worthless, it is also up to us to deserve the knowledge of our elders. So what are we waiting for today to take our life in hand? And are we ready to get back on track to build the world of tomorrow?

Menkashoo Boumaaktem