Maakheru: The Night Fire

When I first heard Master Naba speak, it was after poking around The Earth Center website for the second time, months after the first time. The first time I saw the web site, I was intrigued by the clarity and plainness of the school's agenda, so I made a mental note to return. Months later, while I was checking it out for the second time, I saw that audio excerpts of Master Naba's lectures were available for listening. As I listened to them, I began to hear this man's voice. It was not what I had expected at the time. It was clear and gentle, passive and poignant. What he was talking about was very plain and severely intelligent. I had paid my dues to some degree, exploring the world of spirituality, and reading the writings of various people, and also hearing them speak. I had become bored with the final resting place of many of these people's points, feeling that they were really verbalising things only up to a point, sometimes completely missing the mark of practicality. To say the least, I was usually not impressed. Upon hearing Master Naba in those few brief minutes, I knew that I was listening to a man who had a tremendous breadth of knowledge and an extreme sense of practicality. In music we often say that the great musicians have a lot of skill under their hood, but when they play just one note, you can hear the horsepower that lies beneath. This was the case with Master Naba when he talked about simple things. 

Shortly afterwards, I sat in on a class in New York, and to my surprise Master Naba was there. After sitting and being thoroughly impressed by his lecture, I watched him talking to somebody who was asking him a question that his honesty prevented him from answering. I saw the expression on his face as he lifted up his hands and shook his head in response, and it reminded me of a being who knows their small part in the unfolding of the existence. His humbleness buttressed his knowledge, and I was intrigued. 

As time went on and I became an initiate, I became more and more familiar with the knowledge that he was transmitting. Every step of the way, I gained more and more respect for the man. 

I had the unique opportunity to travel to Merita (Africa) where I lived with him for two months. During this time, I found a man with a kindness and care for humanity that was unparalleled. He also lived with a complete sense of practicality as well as an efficient, no-non- sense attitude for absolutely everything. This is a combination which I have not seen to this degree in many spiritual "masters". He never had the air of a "guru", or of somebody who knew something that you did not. He also had a tremendous sense of humour. If you met him on the street, you would just say, "Wow, that is a real nice guy." 

Master Naba did not tolerate stupidity in any form, and made sure his students were always growing and learning. When we were with him, it seemed as though every simple interaction we had on the street, or any situation we would be in, presented immensely practical life lessons. Nothing was wasted with the man. 

I learned about leagues from Master Naba. There is no real starting place that I can put my finger which shows what began to change in me: all I can say is that everything changed. My thinking became clearer; my emotional stability became stronger; my approach to things in my world became more efficient; and I began to be more organised in my actions. You could say that this was due to the altering nature of the traditional African perspective on life. This perspective has the ability to take all of the knowledge you have accumulated up to that point, and gently nudge it over a bit, so that it all comes crashing down into context. This context, to me, is the unflinching reality of the world we live in. Master Naba championed this reality, and this was his duty as a priest from a long unbroken lineage of priests. When I was hanging out with him in Merita, I felt as though I was with a friend, an uncle, a brother, a father, a buddy, and a mentor of the highest degree. I felt all of these roles and relationships simultaneously. Throughout the day, he would play each one of these roles for me, but, it was almost impossible to see where one ended and the other began. 

Upon receiving the news of his passing, I felt that I had lost all of these people in my life. The great thing though, is that we have not lost him, and we are still learning from him, and will continue to. What we learnt from him about the nature of life and death changes the whole situation. We will continue to walk forward as Kem people, learning from the mistakes we make. We will turn our obstacles into lessons, gradually perfecting ourselves.