A Shamanic Perspective: Dignity for All

Shamans believe that everything has spirit—and that belief informs the way that they treat others and the world around them, including other living creatures and the natural environment itself. Fundamentally, what this belief means is that true shamans treat others and the world around them as if they had inherent dignity. Dignity means a person, institution, or part of nature has worthiness in and of itself. Dignity is a quality of being worthy or honor, simply because someone or something is, not because of what the person, institution, or nature has accomplished. How different that attitude is from the normal way that many of us treat other people who may be different in some way from ourselves? Or how we treat nature itself?

In the West, many believe that nature is only there for human exploitation. Holding that belief puts humans at the center of the planet (and, probably, the universe as well). But the reality is that human beings and the societies that we create are deeply interconnected and interdependent with nature. Humans cannot survive without the resources that nature provides—and to make our societies and civilizations healthy, we humans who now have so much impact on the world that we are causing climate change and sustainability crises need to understand this reality.

We humans are deeply embedded with others, nature, and the universe as a whole. The concept of dignity can help make this deep interconnection more meaningful. In 2015, I had the pleasure of working for a week at Bentley University with Harvard University’s Donna Hicks, author of a book entitled Dignity. Hick’s perspective strikes me as distinctly shamanic: every person is born with dignity and deserves to be treated with dignity. If we view others and the world around us as imbued with spirit, that perspective automatically focuses us on treating others and the world, including all aspects of nature, as if they had inherent dignity. When we see dignity as an integral part of others and nature, there is less chance that we will mistreat or misuse either.

Hicks differentiates dignity from respect. Dignity is inherent and we all have it. Dignity is an integral condition of life, which is the quality of being worthy of honor or respect. Hicks would argue that everyone is born worthy of such respect, i.e., with dignity, simply for their personhood. We are all, that is, worthy of being accorded dignity, of living a decent life, of connecting with others in mutually respectful ways. Shamans would agree that all living beings and nature as a whole, because it is imbued with spirit, also have dignity and deserve to be treated accordingly.

Respect, in contrast, is something that must be earned, Hicks points out. So while I have an obligation to treat others without injuring their dignity, I need to respect only those others who have earned that respect. Respect means deep admiration for something or something, and derives from their abilities, qualities, or achievements. If you respect someone or something, you hold it in high esteem because of what it stands for, what it has done, or what it means to you. But even when you don’t have respect for someone or some part of nature, it still has inherent worth—or dignity.

You might, for example, have respect for a politician or leader—or, if that individual has done something injurious to you or others—you might lose respect for him or her. For instance, it is hard for me to respect politicians and bosses who abuse and bully citizens, the press, or others. I believe that they still have dignity and need to be treated as people—what philosophers might say—as ends in themselves, not as means to an end. But if they are mistreating others, I don’t need to respect them. The same can be said of an institution. If an institution, e.g., a church, government, or business, has done egregious things, they don’t deserve respect, but as institutions, they still carry dignity.

Affronts to dignity are serious and hurtful. Affronts to dignity are the often unspoken root of many conflicts. Hicks recognized this important reality in her global work in conflict resolution and works tirelessly to ensure that all parties to conflict are away of the ways in which their words, ideas, and actions might cause dignity violations to others. When dignity violations occur, it is important to correct them, so that people can experience their full personhood, rather than feeling demeaned or diminished as they do in a context of dignity violations.

Shamans implicitly understand this approach to others and to nature, and act accordingly.

Reference

Hicks, Donna (2010). ). Dignity: The Essential Role It Plays in Resolving Conflict. New Have: Yale University Press.