In understanding the value of being a self-defining being, African tradition sees the human being as being the agminate of the INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS. The word agminate means 'to group together' or 'cluster.' So when we say that we are an agminate of the Creator, we are expressing the philosophy that we as individuals and as a people are clusters of INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS. We as a cluster evolved from inside the INFINITE.

For the ancient sages, it is theoretically and physically impossible for anything to exist outside the Creator because the creator is infinite. Therefore, if we exist, we exist inside the infinite. It was impossible for the Creator to create man outside of itself because it is infinite. For the indigenous philosopher, the Creator is not over there and we over here. We are a spark of the INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS, forever evolving, perpetually because the only universal truth is the concept of change. Perpetual evolution is the destiny of man and cosmic order

With that said, this philosophy is the spirit behind the Zulu term Ume Njalo. The ancients would tell you when given a gift to never say 'Ngiyabonga' which means 'thank you.' They would tell you to say the following blessing 'Ume Njalo' which means 'May you stand forever.'

The wise ones of the Zulu say that in the mists of antiquity, when the rocks would cry out when pinched, early man walked upright and sometimes on all fours. Then one day man found a formula for walking upright. He shared this insight with his neighbors and the people were so grateful that they thanked and blessed each other by wishing each would forever walk upright.

This is a testament to the early idea of what it means on one level to be human - to be an upright being. Credo Mutwa tells us in Indaba My Children that the term NTU, the Bantu word for person, is in reality an onomatopoeic word. The full term being Ntu-tu-tu which is supposed to mimic the sound of a human being walking upright. This is why you find all over Africa the name of a human being having the root NTU in it, thus the 'bantu' word for human being is MUNTU. The plural is BANTU. Other variations exist as MUTU, BATU, VANHU, ANHU, ANU, WATU, etc.

So this note is simply a pre-explanation for if you hear me say to you "may you stand forever.' In essence I am saying 'May you forever find satisfying dimensions for being human.' So excuse me if I don't say thank you.

Ancestrally,

Asar Imhotep
http://www.asarimhotep.com

Bakala spelled using the ancient Mdw Ntr script

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