Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing

Deep in the mountainous jungle of Malaysia the aboriginal Sng'oi exist on the edge of extinction, though their way of living may ultimately be the kind of existence that will allow us all to survive. The Sng'oi--pre-industrial, pre-agricultural, semi-nomadic--live without cars or cell phones, without clocks or schedules in a lush green place where worry and hurry, competition and suspicion are not known. Yet these indigenous people--as do many other aboriginal groups--possess an acute and uncanny sense of the energies, emotions, and intentions of their place and the living beings who populate it, and trustingly follow this intuition, using it to make decisions about their actions each day.

Psychologist Robert Wolff lived with the Sng'oi, learned their language, shared their food, slept in their huts, and came to love and admire these people who respect silence, trust time to reveal and heal, and live entirely in the present with a sense of joy. Even more, he came to recognize the depth of our alienation from these basic qualities of life. Much more than a document of a disappearing people, Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing holds a mirror to our own existence, allowing us to see how far we have wandered from the ways of the intuitive and trusting Sng'oi, and challenges us, in our fragmented world, to rediscover this humanity within ourselves.

Amazon.com Review
The most trenchant wisdom can be found in some of the most primitive people on earth, as Robert Wolff demonstrates in Original Wisdom. Wolff, once a government psychologist in Malaysia, fell in love with a stone age people called the "Sng'oi," a people who "had no neuroses, no fears ... had an immense inner dignity, were happy and content, and did not want anything." But he was mystified by their seemingly superhuman powers of knowing. Finally, in an experience of what he calls "oneness," ordinary distinctions dropped away, and he learned that there was a way of knowing beyond thinking. Wolff also describes his encounters in Suriname, Indonesia, and the Pacific islands, demonstrating that far from being "primitive," original tribal societies are the last bastions of true humanity. Wary of both anthropologists and shaman wannabes, Wolff follows a middle path of down-to-earth storytelling, making Original Wisdom an original find. --Brian Bruya

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Extraordinary experiences with extraordinary humans, 2008-10-08
The Senoi aboriginals of Peninsular Malaysia are shy, nonviolent tribal people who rely on oral history among their tribes to pass on ancestral wisdom. Despite worldwide changes going on around them, the Senoi are described as the most peaceful people on the planet and extremely dedicated to preserving their traditions and survival methods orally. They are a subgroup of Malaysia's Orang Asli people (translated as "the Ancient Ones," because they are believed to have lived on the peninsula since ancient times), and are particularly famous because of other published works that described their extraordinary mental health through the use of dream interpretation and lucid dreaming.

They exist deep within the hilly jungles of Malaysia where there are no roads or towns. Because of their distance from civilization, they live lives of self preservation, personal and communal responsibility, and self reliance, with a deep, inherent respect for their natural surroundings. They exist with a definite knowing of their connection to all creation.

Mr. Wolff, the author of "Original Wisdom" and a psychologist and educator who lived in Malaysia, spent a significant amount of time visiting, living with, and studying the Senoi (spelled by Mr. Wolff as the Sng'oi) in the '60s as part of a governmental study group and for personal research. Mr. Wolff is considered the only person to both write about the Senoi and actually live with them and speak their language. During this time he learned of their unique methods of natural healing, ways of living, and preserving their cultural knowledge, passed down through their generations by word of mouth.

The Senoi do not know how to write and have no written language. During several of Mr. Wolff's visits with one of the indigenous settlements, he decided to thoroughly learn and write down their language, and, to further educate them, teach them to write out their own words using phonetics and spelling. The Senoi were puzzled by his desire to write and the need to make "scribbles"; they could not understand why he did not instantly remember and recall the words. The aboriginals could easily remember all acquired knowledge; it was apparent to Mr. Wolff that anything they heard and understood only once, they knew, without the need for repetition.

Mr. Wolff went on to explain that he later learned this is not unusual for indigenous groups such as the Senoi, and that people whose minds have not been cluttered with so many day-to-day facts and details have no problems with memorization, and perhaps why it's believed oral history is as accurate as, if not more than, the written history progressive civilizations rely upon.

What makes his experience with the Senoi extraordinary is the story of his native training experience to hone his shamanistic skills to the same level of expanded perceptual insight the Senoi shamans possess. When a shaman discovered Mr. Wolff's inherent gift for bringing through wisdom after falling into trance during a special ceremony, he offered to show Mr. Wolff the ways of the Senoi shaman so he could tune into his natural surroundings and become one with all living things. Mr. Wolff was led through the jungles using only the gentle, subtle leadership of the shaman to find his own way to increasing his innate awareness. He was never instructed with specific advice nor given hallucinatory plants.

The Senoi culture shares the belief that is held by so many other indigenous settlements that healing is an intrinsic capacity of human beings. All Malays believe that the root of all sickness is disharmony of the individual's internal and external environment. Even if the disease may have been the result of an invasive organism, the disharmony was the original cause and allowed the invasion to take place. That is why the Malays embody harmony in all their actions--soft, gentle, and polite, they do not offend or embarrass others, and they make gentle movements, walking carefully and speaking softly.

The Senoi believe that sickness is a warning that something is wrong, and there is a need to stop and make a change. It can be a behavior that needs changing, but it can also be a thought, feeling, or even a word, and it must be done to enable complete healing. The Senoi know that healing is solely in the hands of the ill person, and that no one else can do it for them.

When there is disharmony, the local healer only assists to bring back harmony, and sometimes gives herbs to help a person cope with the symptoms, all done without payment. But the ultimate goal, through the efforts of both the healer and ill person, is to restore balance to their environment, both physical and social.

Mr. Wolff also observed a daily ritual that contributed to the aboriginals' well-being. During the times he would live in the village, he would take part in dream sharing with the group the next morning. They believe the world we live in is a shadow world and that the real world is behind it; at night they are able to visit that real world and the next day bring forth wisdom from it.

After everyone was awake, they would sit around in a group and listen to each other recount important aspects of their night's visions and messages. After one person's recount, another might add their thoughts, insights, or very subtle advice. Oftentimes, many individuals wove together parts from each other's dreams to become one significant message for the entire group.

All of these things contributed to their wonderful health, overall contentment, and self sufficiency. What Mr. Wolff remembers most during the times he lived with them is that they most often expressed joy. Although sadness was sometimes expressed, voices were never raised in anger, and they lived with a childlike, uncomplicated innocence.

Mr. Wolff stressed the increasing importance of preserving the wisdom of folk medicine and traditional healing as Western culture infiltrates ever-widening areas of the remote world where people practice time-honored, ancient healing methods. Mr. Wolff aptly describes this dilemma:

"Science is so sure that it is the only truth that it has become incapable of accepting other ways of learning about reality. Medicine, as a scientific discipline, for instance, is certain that all other forms of healing are quackery and are not to be tolerated; they must be rooted out, destroyed. Such arrogant insistence has eradicated much knowledge and wisdom in the world."(p. 5)

It has only been in the twentieth century that medicine has replaced healing, and Mr. Wolff felt that soon no one would remember the old ways, since it seems they are being erased by intolerance and our rush to create man-made chemicals.

During his travels in Tonga he had a conversation with a woman who was a gifted native healer. She agreed that a lot of age-old knowledge has been lost; but, she acknowledged, there have been and will always be people who "know," who retain the knowledge in their minds and their hearts. When it is needed the most, she said, it will be within each of us to find.




0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The personal account of a white man living and learning from aborigines., 2008-09-21
A series of short stories which stand on their own and nevertheless are interconnected about the author's personal experiences with the Malay people on the one hand and the aboriginal people of the island on the other. They illustrate the essence of being human, of being part of all-that-is (contrasting it sharply with an anthropocentric world view). It is very interesting because (1) the author talks about his personal experiences and not about non proven hypothesis (2) it shows clearly the workings and values of a pre-consumer society (3) it shows how also in our modern world it is possible to re-discover our inner connection to all-that-is.
In short, this book is really a page turner and brings a refreshing perspective on our current society.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Great read if you want to make change in this world, 2008-08-21
This book definitely expanded my sense of awareness of the world. There are times in it where I was a little skeptical, but when I took a step back, I realized what he was saying. If you're into anthropology, I would highly suggest it. Some people that may not have an open mind to it probably won't be too interested, but he really drives home what makes us all human and that 'less developed' cultures don't have half the problems we do.

Everyone I lent it to so far has been very into it.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Read!, 2008-06-08
I really loved this book. Those of you who have read Eckhart Tolle and enjoyed it would definitely like this book. Wolff's description of the surviving ancient cultures, how they live, work, learn, take care of each other, etc, was a great lesson to me. I also really enjoyed how Wolff describes feeling more connected to everything after spending time among "The People." I have always felt a connection to living things around me, but this book is helping me deepen that connection by simply being more aware of it.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Knock on the Side of the Head, 2007-11-22
This book challenges our traditional educational path. Without formal training and education, this remote civilization manages to live their lives supporting each other and remaining in rythym with the world around them. Even when offered the opportunity to partake of the "advanced" world outside of their native lands, they understand that there is nothing there that will improve their happiness and satisfaction. By paying close attention to the natural world around them and within themselves, these people individually learn everything they need to know. Unfortunately most of the civilized world does not recognize the inherent wisdom available from these sources and fails to include them in the educational experience presented to our children and young adults.

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