People have wondered, “Sligathly, why do you always start the fires on top of the coals of the previous fire?”
The fires are always started on the coals of the previous fire to demonstrate a very desirous life principle.
When building a fire, it is helpful to have used coals as these start burning very easily and continue to put out heat for a long time. Just like starting a fire, starting a life is much easier when the previous generation has given us a way to start off quickly, or “with a head start” if that is how you’d like to say it.
This requires a conscious effort with the previous generation.
At the end of every fire, if we were to simply let the coals burn themselves out, we would have no coals to help with the next one. So to have the ability to easily light a fire again, we must take steps to preserve the coals at the end of each fire. To do this we follow simple steps.
These same steps can be used to preserve the knowledge, learning, and understanding of a previous generation to help the next.
First we choose when the end will come. This is a conscious choice, not an accident.
Then we make sure there are enough resources to last until the chosen time with the required amount for helping the next generation. When we are talking about a fire, we must make sure there is enough wood to continue burning until the end, but not so much that it cannot be turned to coals before being extinguished.
When speaking about humans, we want to preserve enough of what we have accumulated to give the next generation what they need, however too much can be more of a burden than a help just as a large piece of wood is a burden to lighting a fire.
Once we have ensured that there are enough resources to complete the current goals, and just enough will be left for the next generation, we complete our time and move on to the next activity. With a fire, this means simply pouring water over the coals to extinguish the flames.
With humans, it means reaching a point where we stop the main tasks of our lives and simply start to do after life activities. We give what is necessary to the next generation. We use up the extra resources we have. We make sure that we are comfortable and happy. Then we settle down and relax for the remainder of our days focusing on the opportunities that are coming.
The last principle this process teaches us is that of remembering the old without causing harm for the future.
With the fire, each time we light the coals, that generation is gone. It only lasts to help the fire immediately after it. We remember the many many fires that have been built in the pit as this is what gives the overall character to the fire pit, but the actual coals all disappear each time we light a new fire.
Similarly, we ought to remember the many many people and processes that have happened. This is what we call “culture”. But to try and hold on to the past for many generations will only cause struggle and make a mess. Think about the coals of the fire. If we were to try and keep coals from the original fire to light every other fire, it would need to be a lot of coals for one, and for two, it would make quite the mess for whoever is tasked with safeguarding them. And more complications arise from that.
With humans though, we have a tendency to try and hold on to what that one person from two or three thousand years ago said. It gets passed down from generation to generation getting messier and messier, losing the original context and becoming less and less helpful. Exactly as lumps of coal would do.
The fire teaches us to remember the original fire. It teaches us to hold onto the practices which were started generations ago. And it teaches us to let them be in the past, growing what we can during the present, and preparing the way for the future.
Following these life lessons, is a way to grow society generation after generation while making great strides to keep the fires of our lives burning strong and vibrant forever.
CARING. UNDERSTANDING. LOVE.