The Road to HERE ~ Alan Watts

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Uploaded by on Feb 19, 2010

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

How Can You Buy or Sell the Sky?

This is a speech made in 1851 by Seattle, chief of the Suquamish, in response to a treaty proposal under which the Indians would sell two million acres of land for $150,000. Buckminster Fuller calls it "one of the most beautiful and profound environmental statements ever made".
_________________________________
How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man--all belong to the same family.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.
That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tame, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.
Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone.
The end of living and the beginning of survival.

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Uploader Comments (RayneMarina)

  • enjoy ;) i will upload more soon, i need to check out first what has been uploaded and what not, i don't want to double post

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  • youtube is my university

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All Comments (52)

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  • Could you pl. tell me what's the soundtrack, the first song??? mind blowing

  • fantastic work..words of wisdom lot of wisdom! really no need to distract us with the music in the background.

  • Its awesome to see there are more people who care about this kind knowledge and tryna break free from ignorance in the conventional sense.

  • One of the most beautiful AW's vids I've seen! (the music is in the perfect volume for me, cmon people...) Congrats, and thanks!

  • I like Alan Watts. Thanks for posting.

    The music is unnecessary an distracting.

    Would be much better without.

  • a big part of the way Alan Watts explains things are the silences. His laugh and sense of humor are also very important. I know people like to share their creative side by adding music and that is fine as long as they also post the talk without music. But other than that I like the fact that he never claimed to be anything other than an entertainer.

  • didnt realise alan watts wrote this song

  • music is fine to me, nice pictures too. Thanks friendly friend

  • stop the fucking music!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @madmax200769  I agree.

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