comment-aravind

Yes, those answers make sense and I learned a lot form all the other qestions and answers. I really liked this assignment and your answers were very enlightening.

Answers to Student Questions

Here is a summary of the questions regarding Vision Quest.

1. (A) Is the Native Americans the only people who go on Vision Quests? (B) Why do the Native Americans go to the wilderness to speak to God? (C) Do the Native Americans believe that the only way that God speaks to them is on a Vision Quest?

(A) Many cultures have similar rituals that help people discern their purpose in life or the appropriate decision that needs to be made. While the “form” would be different, the idea of silence and fasting would be common. In our Catholic tradition, before a man can be ordained either to the priesthood or diaconate (deacons), each must make a one week silent retreat, being guided by a Spiritual Advisor. During this week, they are requested to fast and remain in silence. I made mine at a Cuppucian Monastery, for example, about a month before I was ordained. We had one small meal each day and gathered for prayer 6 times (the first was 4am!). So I think that you would find rituals that help the person to look inside to find God’s will.

(B) The choice of going to the wilderness or woods was because, initially, they were a nomadic culture, so they had no permanent structures like churches or mosques. Their “cathedral” is the sky, so entering the woods puts the Vision Questor in the presence of God who created ALL of nature. It is a place where one can “feel” God physically in so many parts of creation (trees, rain, chill, heat, etc.) It is, for this culture, a perfect place.

(C) Native American’s believe, as we do, that God can speak to us in any number of ways – through each other, through nature, through events, through joys, through suffering, through ritual, through silence, etc.

2. What exactly is Hanblecheyapi?

It is a Lakota word that literally is translated, “Crying for a Vision.”

3. Ask yourself what you could get out of Vision Quest or is Vision Quest a good way of becoming closer to God?

Hopefully this has been answered. Vision Quest is a ritual primarily as a prayer for discernment.

4. What exactly is a totem?

A totem is generally an animal who is sent by God as a messenger or a protector or a teacher. So if, for example, one encounters a turtle, then what is the turtle trying to teach that individual. Since a turtle is one of the oldest on the planet, an elder, and is the only animal that can go inside, it teaches us wisdom and inspires the person to reflect in quiet on his or her life. That is why “totem poles” are placed outside the entrance of tribes. Poles with many images of animals sent to protect the tribe and to give them wisdom.

5. Are the pilgrimages to the western wall in Jerusalem by Jews and the voyage to Mecca by Muslims the same sort of spiritual finding as the vision quest?

While these are certainly very spiritual journeys, I would not cluster them with Vision Quest because the purposes are different.

6. Do people today still take part in these vision quests? Would it be difficult to participate in a vision quest in this day and age with all of the dangers the wilderness possesses?

Well, not really sure what you mean about today’s “dangers in the wilderness,” but I guess the short answer is that nothing is different in this respect. The “dangers” in the wilderness are about the same as they were hundreds of years ago. Questors are always subjected to the elements, rain, snow, cold, storms, heat, etc.

Yes, people do Vision Quests in many places in both North and South Americas every year. I have made four Vision Quests. The Lakota elder who is our Spiritual Leader in Michigan hosts Vision Quest every year over Memorial Day weekend every year.

7. Why does God seem speak to us through the wilderness but not our everyday lives?

God speaks to us every moment of our lives. Vision Quest is a ritual that calls the Questor to SILENCE or QUIET so that he or she can be more open to God. No noise. No family distractions. No work or school or activity pressures. It’s a time to listen. Remember the flight of Elijah in our Old Testament. He found God NOT in the wind nor earth quake, but in the “whisper!”

8. (A) Can you truly find your inner self by taking a vision quest? (B) Are we receiving a divine intervention from the Lord and finding our real purpose in life, or is our mind telling us that we have found ourselves after living in the wilderness for 3-4 days with only water. There is a difference between what is real and what our mind wants us to believe is real.

(A) Yes, we can find God (if that is what you mean by inner self) in the quiet and in our prayers. It is a time to be still and to listen.

(B) I think, like all parts of our spiritual life, there is some individual cooperation required of the person. I believe that I have experienced one or two returning Vision Questors who were “filled with themselves,” and not of God. It has been my experience that the vast majority is truly touched and return very humble. You know biblically, Paul, in Acts, warns us of similar things. That is why he suggests that we take our perceptions to the community for discernment. At the end of Vision Quest, the same thing happens. During the Inipi at the end, the Vision Questor speaks of his or her experience, telling of the how they interpreted what they saw or heard or felt. The elders and community then respond and, collectively, can tell whether it was of God or not. Often, a Questor will say that something happened but he or she did not know what to make of it. The community, elders in particular, help the person to discern.

End of questions.

Let me know if these answers are OK or if you have further questions.

Peace,

DT

Mariah's

A vision quest is a very personal retreat. Native Americans participate in this journey to become closer to God. The person goes off into the woods and makes a ten foot circle of stones and spends their time in this circle. He or she spends three to four days fasting and praying. Materialistic things can not be brought. Only water and something to sleep on is aloud. The purpose of this quest is to get a vision from God. Sometimes a vision is not always realized until a few years later. This journey also makes you realize how strong you really are after succeeding this.Questions: What is an Inipi ceremony? Is there a significance of the ten foot circle?

Vision Quest

A Vision Quest is a personal journey that a person takes so that they can grow closer to God. The Vision Quest is a period of extreme concentrated meditation that can last several days to several months. The seeker who goes on the Vision Quest takes nothing but water from society. The seeker must go through 8 specific preparations before he or she goes on this quest. They must be able to run fast, able to camp long periods of time, know first aid, prepare sleeping equipment, knowledge of spiritual meditation, bring spiritual instruments, be comfortable in solitude, and be able to take there clothes off. The Native Americans believe that this quest should start in teenage years and last throughout life. The seeker then goes to a holy place a waits until God speaks to him through different ways, either through an actual vision, a symbolic action in nature, or in some cases nothing happens at all. My questions are: Is the Native Americans the only people who go on Vision Quests?Why do the Native Americans go to the wilderness to speak to God?Do the Native Americans believe that they only way that God speaks to them is on these Vision Quest?

Vision Quest marina

Vision Quest is something eery Christian needs in their life. It builds a wall between the world and you so that God can be experienced at best. To build a strong relationship with God, time and complete solitude is needed. The every day world causes sin and frustration and most importantly it keeps you from having the best relationship with God you can. Everyday life is neccessary so the Vision Quest is a procedure dome evry once in awhile that can bring you back on the right path. It is not a one day thing at all. Its a reasonable long process that will leave an impact on you and the people around you. Vision Wuest should be known more and more people should do it because it will give everyone peace as they are filled with God's peace.

A vision quest is a journey into one's heart and soul. Throughout this long process that can take up to four years to complete the person goes into the wilderness to get away from society. This quest can also be refered to as an initiation process from child to adult. Along this journey the participant is confronted by many emotions, the greater of these is fear. The person becomes scared as to what can happen to them in the next four days of their journey. This fear soon subsides and make them a stronger person. They have now overcame an obsticle that everyone faces, fear of the future. All of these emotions one faces can help the person and it helps them become closer to things they will face as an adult. As the quest goes along the person becomes more confident and even gains a little more self control. This all goes into building a better and stronger person.

What exactly is Hanblecheyapi?

Daniel Menendez

Vision Quest is a retreat to nature to block out society and become closer to God. This can better one's self by making them pure of spirt. This is a long process, it's not something you can accomplish in one day. This could be a good way of finding one's purpose in life. It can work as many things. It can be used to ask for forgiveness and make one closer to God in that aspect. It also can make you put your problems aside and just listen to what God has to tell you. Ask yourself what u could get out of Vision Quest or is Vision Quest a good way of becoming closer to God?

Vision Quest

The vision quest itself is where a person retreats deep into nature and spend several days without any human contact to become closer to themselves and to God. The vision quest as I understand is in a sense of the word, a right of passage, from teenage to adult, and takes several years to completely finish. It seems to be a great adventure, with all the criteria that the “participant” has to meet when on the actual vision quest. The only main thing that would be less appealing is the fact that the participant will be confronted by their own fears. But I suppose this would be another way to become more familiar with yourself. There are many benefits to going on a vision quest, other than maturity, like curing illness, realizing ones own personal wisdom, appreciation of life, and confidence in oneself. The person doing the vision quest must be able to fast, camp out for long periods, have knowledge of first aid, have some knowledge of spiritual practices and be comfortable with solitude.

Is this a wide spread practice or is it mainly just native American cultures?

Vision Quest

Vision quest what does that mean. Vision is the ability to see and quest is a trip or adventure. A vision quest to me is a quest to become closer to God. I feel that in a vision quest you will be able to feel and see the spirit of God. They where first taken by the Native Americans and the where rite of passages. These quest normally lasted two to four days. These would normally take place on a holy mountain. I feel that we close to the Native Americans because some people follow what God shows them what is wrong and right.

Vision Quest-Aravind Reddy

A vision quest is a person undertaking that one person takes to develop a closer relationship with God. This period of development could last from several months to even days and weeks. This person would only take water with him as a sort of fasting for God and then continue fasting for that duration of period, whether it be several months or just days. This period of solitude for that person will helps them gain the wisdom and intellect they need to develop the closer relationship with God.Sometime during that period, the person is said to have some kind of revelation, in any way possible that would help get a solid relationship, and take that revelation and interpret it to gain wisdom. In this way, the person will get nature's first elements and seek out a solitary confinement with only God.
My question to this to this is what exactly is a totem and is this vision quest really a quest for a deeper relationship with God, or to gain the wisdom and intellect to provide a foundation for a good relationship? I was also wondering if other religions have this kind of quest?

Vision Quest

A vision quest is a personal experience where we try to find meaning in life. It can be related to God, as Catholics and Native Americans believe but does not necessarily have to be. It is a time of solitude where one spends time away from society meditating and focusing on the purpose of their being. In Native American beliefs, it is spent in the widerness, usually a holy place like a mountain. The Subject is said to possibly have a vision, or a dream-like revelation, that is usually interpreted by the Holy Man, similar to a Priest. These quests are sometimes said to grant gifts, similar to the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
How many other world religions practice meditations like this? Are the pilgriamges to the western wall in Jerusalem by Jews and the voyage to Meccah by Muslims the same sort of spiritual finding as the vision quest?

A vision quest is a period of time that we set aside in order to seek a personal revelation from God about our lives or our relationship with him. It is usual a period of solitude that takes place in the wilderness or a special place where one can be silent and listen to what God has to say. It also usually involves fasting in that the person generally only drinks water. It lasts about two to four days. There are a series of things that you must be able to do for preparation in order to have a successful vision quest. It is a sacred time where the veils between this world and the next are pulled aside. When the quest is over, the person most often leaves with an answer to their problem or a specific message from God about what they are to do in their lives.
My question is do people today still take part in these vision quests? Are they common in any other religion besides Indian? Would it be difficult to participate in a vision quest in this day and age with all of the dangers the wilderness possesses?

Vision Quest

A vision quest is a personal experience a person undertakes to grow closer to God. A vision quest is a period of concentrated meditation that can last for several days to several months.The seeker takes only water with him and fasts for the duration of the quest. His purpose of the quest is to seek wisdom, discernment, or spiritual growth. In the Native American tradition, the quest begins in the teenage years and is continued periodically throughout his life. The seeker removes himself from society and retreats to the wilderness and waits for God to speak to him. This can come in the form of an actual vision, a symbolic action on the part of nature, or perhaps nothing will happen at all. By retreating to the wilderness, the seeker attempts to reconnect the elemental forces that created the universe and inspired the prophets of old.

What exactly is a Native American totem, and why is it imbued with the ability to speak? Why does God seem speak to us through the wilderness but not our everyday lives?

Vision Quest

To me a vision quest is something done not only to help you get closer to God, but something to help you free your mind of all the burdens that you have on your heart and mind. It is a way to get in touch with nature and an attempt to help better yourself as a human being. Although the method may seem strange it makes sense to cast all worldly things aside and focus on nature and the beauty of Gods earth to help seek guidance. My question is what do other cultures/ religions do that is similer to a vision quest? It seems like a very rewarding experence that could also potentially be achevied in different ways.

Vision Quest

A vision quest is a great way to connect ourselves with God and also our inner self. When you
take a vision quest, you have to separate yourself from all material things. By doing this you are
focusing only on yourself and opening your mind to the spiritual realm. During a vision quest, you ask questions like, "Who am I" and "What is my purpose". Some people who have gone on a vision quest say that they heard voices in the wind speaking to them. They also say that they saw a vision that may have the answer that they were seeking. Most of the time, they don't understand the vision until several months or years. I think that the vision quest is a great example of self-sacrifice and learning that there is more to our life than meets the eye.

One question that I have is, Can you truly find your inner self by taking a vision quest? Are we recieving a divine intervention from the Lord and finding our real purpose in life, or is our mind telling us that we have found oursef after living in the wilderness for 3-4 days with only water. There is a difference between what is real and what our mind wants us to believe is real.

Kayla

A vision quest is a great way to get to know God and create a one on one relationship with him. Black Elk described the vision quest by his own experience. It reminds me of the Bible story when Jacob rested upon a rock and saw a vision from God. A famous bible verse "Be still and know that I am God" goes right along with the idea of a vision quest. During the quest one goes out to listen to what God is telling them to do and how to live their life under God and for God. If we will just be still and listen to what God is telling us it would be much easier to get to know him. The Native Americans believed the same thing. They would go out in the wilderness to fast, pray, and meditate to find God. We should all practice in that way to leave for God!
Some questions I had about the vision quest was how do they know that God is speaking to them? Many times I hear people say well God spoke to me today. Is their really a voice that if more than one person was their would be able to hear or is it all internal?

Vision Quest

After reading the information given to you in the link, write a summary according to the instructions. In your post, ask any questions that you might have. You will be able to re-visit this BLOG to read my replies.

Original Post due September 30th.
Answers to you questions will be on or before October 5th