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Africa:
Religion: Rastafarian:
The Wisdom of
Rastafari: quotes from Haile
Selassie, part 1
The Spiritual Bookstore Online World Religion Library
The Wisdom of Rastafari
PREFACE
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; we have a
strong city; salvation will Jah appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the
gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he
trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord God Jah Rastafari for ever: for the
LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.
For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lost city, he layeth it
low: he layeth it low; even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of
the needy. The way of the just is uprightness; thou most upright, dost weigh
the path of the just. Yea, in the way of thy judgements, O Lord, have we
waited for thee; the desire of our soul is thy name, and to the rememberance
of thee.
With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea with my spirit within
me will I seek thee early; for when thy judgements are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
LET FAVOUR BE SHOWN TO THE WICKED, YET WILL HE NOT LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS;
IN THE LAND OF UPRIGHTNESS WILL HE DEAL UNJUSTLY, AND WILL IDIOT BEHOLD THE
MAJESTY OF THE LORD GOD JAH RASTAFARI.
selah, When thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they shall see,
and be ashamed for their envy at the people, yea, the fire of thine enemies
shall devour them.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou also hast wrought all our
works in us.
O Lord our God Jah Rastafari, other Lords besides thee have had dominion
over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead,
they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast
thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation;
thou art glorified; thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
Jah, in trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a prayer when thy
chastening was upon them. Like a woman with child, that draweth near the
time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we
been in thy sight, O Lord.
WE HAVE BEEN WITH CHILD, WE HAVE BEEN IN PAIN, WE HAVE AS IT WERE BROUGHT
FORTH WIND; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have
the inhabitants of the World fallen.
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise;
awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,
and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about
thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be
overpast. For, behold the Lord, God Jah Rastafari, cometh out of his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also
shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. ISAIAH 26
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Blessed is the name of the Lord God Jah Ras Tafari, and blessed is he who
comes in the name of Jah, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I and
let the name of His glory be blessed.
So be it, so be it, so be it blessed.
This is the product of the combined effort of the Ras Tafari Brethren whose
undying faith is in the Almighty, Everliving God, Jah Ras Tafari. He has
given us the wisdom and understanding of His words that we might publish and
manifest them among men.
Special mention goes to: Bro. Bob Blake, Bro. Clive Brooks, Sis Yvonne
Brooks, Sis. Shirley Burke.
signed - United Africa
His Imperial Majesty
HAILE SELASSIE I
Emperor of Ethiopia, says:
WE IN ETHIOPIA HAVE ONE OF THE OLDEST VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE, but
however old the version may be, in whatever language it might be written,
the Word remains
one and the same. It transcends all boundaries of empires and all
conceptions of race. It is
eternal.
No doubt you all remember reading in the Acts of the Apostles of how
Philip baptised the
Ethiopian official. He is the first Ethiopian on record to have followed
Christ, and from that
day onwards the Word of God has continued to grow in the hearts of
Ethiopians. And I might
say for myself that from early childhood I was taught to appreciate the
Bible and my love for it
increases with the passage of time. All through my troubles I have found it
a cause of
infinite comfort.
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you
rest" who can resist an invitation so full of compassion?
Because of this personal experience in the goodness of the Bible, I was
resolved that all my
countrymen should also share its great blessing and that by reading the
Bible they should find
truth for themselves. Therefore, I caused a new translation to be made from
our ancient
language into the language which the old and the young understood and spoke.
Today man sees all his hopes and aspirations crumbling before him. He is
perplexed and knows
not whither he is drifting. But he must realise that the Bible is his
refuge, and the rallying
point for all humanity. In it man will find the solution of his present
difficulties and
guidance for his future action, and unless he accepts with clear conscience
the Bible and its
great Message, he cannot hope for salvation. For my part I glory in the
Bible.
RELIGION
We are gratified in particular, to note that the work of this conference
has been concerned
purely with religious, spiritual matters free from extraneous political
considerations.
This is only fitting and proper, for the church, as a symbol of peace,
must follow the path of
peace in all parts of the world. For world peace can only be made abiding by
the grace of God,
through the prayers of the Holy Fathers. The truth of this cardinal fact is
evident to all
mankind.
Therefore, it has become the noble responsibility of Christians, and
peoples of other faiths
and their leaders throughout the world, to pray and to work hard for the
preservation of world
peace.
We have always been religious, ever since childhood, ever since the day
our father, Ras
Makonnen, taught us the commandment of Our Lord the Creator.
But we don't consider our religion alone valid and have granted the
people the freedom to
observe any religion they please.
We believe in the reunification of the churches, which is why we were so
happy to meet Pope
Paul VI during our voyage to Italy. We were greatly taken with him, we
judged him a man of
superior capacity, especially as regards his intention to work towards
church unity.
He received us with great friendliness.
MORALITY
ITS BETTER TO GIVE
Wise men have always known the deep and pervading truth that it is better
to give than to
receive, for even as it conflicts with selfish and ambitious desires, it
moderates and
controls them.
Giving always demands sacrifice. To overcome the temptation to enjoy mere
daily comfort, to
press resolutely and patiently forward on the scheduled way, are true tests
of the high degree
of determination that should bind you together. Memories of past injustices
should not divert
us from the more pressing business at hand.
We must live in peace with our former colonizers, shunning recrimination
and bitterness and
fore-swearing the luxury of vengeance and retaliation, lest the acid of
hatred erode our souls
and poison our hearts.
Let us act as befits the dignity which we claim for ourselves as
Africans, proud of our own
special qualities, distinctions, and abilities. We must speak out on major
issues, courageously,
openly and honestly, and in blunt terms of right and wrong.
If we yield to blandishments or threats, if we compromise when no
honourable compromise is
possible, our influence will be sadly diminished and our prestige woefully
prejudiced and
weakened.
On this day which men of earth and angels of heaven could neither have
foreseen nor known, I
give thanks unutterable by the mouth of man to the living God who has
enabled me to be present
among you.
Today is the beginning of a new era in the history of Ethiopia.
Since this is so, do not reward evil for evil, do not commit any act of
cruelty like those
which the enemy committed against us. Do not allow the enemy any occasion to
foul the good
name of Ethiopia.
We shall take his weapons and make him return by the way he came.
We believe in cooperation and collaboration to promote the cause of
international security,
the equality of man and the welfare of mankind.
We believe in the peaceful settlement of all disputes without resorting
to force.
And in accordance with the charter of O.A.U. we will strive to eradicate
colonialism, racism
and apartheid from the face of the earth, to frustrate the efforts being
made by foreign powers
to dictate the destiny of the African continent, and we will continue to
stand.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Colonialism and the policy of racism impose soul searching questions of
human rights, weighing
equally on the conscience of all men and nations of good-will. History amply
shows that the
freedom enjoyed by the many becomes fragile when the denial, even to the
few, of basic human
rights is tolerated.
Our efforts as free men must be to establish new relationships, devoid of
any resentment and
hostility, restored to our belief and faith in ourselves as individuals,
dealing on a basis of
equality with other equally free people.
We believe in cooperation and collaborration to promote the cause of
international security, the
equality of man and the welfare of mankind.
We believe in the peaceful settlement of all disputes without resorting
to force.
All well ordered and modern states can only base themselves upon Courts
of Justice and Conduct
of Laws which are just, correct and geared towards the protection of the
rights of individuals.
Justice is a product of education.
Man's ingratitude to man is often manifested in willingness to relegate
human beings to the
scrapheaps of life when they enter the twilight of their careers and younger
brains and
stronger arms are found to replace them
UNITY
Ethiopia is a nation fully committed to African unity and to the greater
guise of world peace
and shall continue to support and strengthen the O.A.U., which was
established as an African
instrument for peace and progress.
O.A.U.
The Organization of African Unity, is an organization which the people of
our vast continent
have established with a view to performing certain specific tasks.
Briefly speaking, the organization is established for the purpose of
protecting in a better
fashion, the independence of African States.
It is also meant to expedite the economic and social progress through
cooperation of African
peoples. It also has the important task of assisting in the maintenance of
international peace
and security.
We know that unity can be and has been attained among men of the most
disparate origins, that
difference of race, of religion, of culture, of tradition, are no
insurmountable obstacles to
the coming together of peoples.
We stand today on the stage of world affairs, before the audience of
world opinion. We have
come together to assert our role in the direction of world affairs and to
discharge our duty
to the great continent whose two hundred and fifty million people we lead.
Africa is today at
mid-course, in transition from the Africa of Yesterday to the Africa of
Tomorrow. Even as we
stand here, we move from the past into the future The task on which we have
embarked, the
making of Africa, will not wait we must act, to shape and mould the future
and leave our
imprint on events as they pass into history.
We seek, at this meeting, to determine whither we are going and to chart
the course of our
destiny. It is no less important that we know whence we came. An awareness
of our past is
essential to the establishment our personality and our identity as Africans.
This world was not crested piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no
earlier than any other
geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other
men, possess all
human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues and faults. Thousands of
years ago,
civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison
with those of other
continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and
economically independent.
Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.
The obscurity which enshrouds the centuries which elapsed beteeen those
earliest days and the
rediscovery of Africa is being gradually dispersed. What is certain is that
during those long
years Africans were born, lived and died. Men on other parts of this earth
occupied themselves
with their own concerns and, in their conceit, proclaimed that the world
began and ended at
their horizons. All unknown to them, Africa developed in its own pattern,
growing in its own
life and, in the Nineteenth Century, finally re-emerged into the world's
consciousness.
The events of the past hundred and fifty years require no extended
recitation from us. The
period of colonialism into which we were plunged culminated with our
continent fettered and
bound; with our once proud and free peoples reduced to humiliation and
slavery; with Africans
terrain cross-hatched and checker - boarded by artificial and arbitrary
boundaries Many of
us, during those bitter yearn were overwhelmed in battle, and those who
escaped conquest did
so at the costs of desperate resistance and bloodshed. Others were sold into
bondage as the
price extracted by the colonialists for the 'protection' which they extended
and the
possessions of which they disposed. Africa was a physical resource to be
exploited and Africans
were chattels to be purchased bodily or, at best, peoples to be reduced to
vasselage and
lackeyhood. Africa was the market for the produce of other nations and the
source of the raw
materials with which their factories were fed.
Today, Africa has emerged from this dark passage, Our Armageddon is past.
Africa has been
reborn as a free continent and Africans have been reborn as free men. The
blood that was shed
and the sufferings that were endured are today Africa's advocates for
freedom and unity. Those
men who refused to accept the judgement passed upon them by the colonisers,
who held
unswervingly through the darkest hours to a vision of an African emancipated
from political,
economic and spiritual domination, will be remembered and revered wherever
Africans meet.
Many of them never set foot on this continent. Others were born and died
here. What we may
utter today can add little to the heroic struggle of those who, by their
example, have shown
us how precious are freedom and human dignity and of how little value is
life without them.
Their deeds are witten in history.
Africa's victory, although proclaimed, is not yet total, and areas of
resistance still remain.
Today, we name as our first great task the final liberating of those
Africans still dominated
by foreign exploitation and control. With the goal in sight and uriqualified
triumph within
our grasp, let us not now falter or lag or relax. We must make one final
supreme effort now,
when the struggle grows weary, when so much has been lost, that the
thrilling sense of
achievement has brought us near satiation. Our liberty is meaningless unless
all Africans are
free. our brothers in the Rhodesias, in Mozambique, in Angola, in South
Africa cry out in
anguish for our support and assistance. We must urge on their behalf their
peaceful accession
to independence. We must align and identify ourselves with all aspects of
their liberation and
not fail to back our words with action. To them we say, your pleas shall not
go unheeded. The
resources of Africa and all freedom-loving nations are marshalled in your
service. Be of good
heart, for your deliverance is at hand.
1.
One important lesson that we have learnt from the experience of the last ten
years is that we
cannot leave the further progress of African unity to take its own direction
at its own pace
without active guidance from us.
The volume of intra-African trade, which at present, accounts for less
than ten percent of our
total foreign trade should be progressively increased, so that by the end of
the decade trade
among African countries should occupy a significant place in the exports of
each of our
countries.
2. African countries should establish progressive targets for reducing
tariffs and other trade
barriers among themselves.
3. Our Ministers charged with the responsibility of economic planning
should hold regular
consultations so as to harmonise our development policies and plans and to
open up potential
avenues for the expansion of intra-African trade.
Through regular consultations, we should undertake to identify the need
for and to establish
industries which may cater to our common needs.
This is important, because the scale on which modern
industries can become viable today
necessitates that we should create in Africa wide economic bases to support
a balanced
economic state.
**
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