About the Transmission of knowledge in the Yorùbá Spiritual Tradition:

About the Transmission of knowledge in the Yorùbá Spiritual Tradition:

The most ancient information was transmitted verbally, from lips to ears, that is why so much knowledge was also lost. The apprentice of the Teachers (Baba's) did not learn well, or distorted the teachings, it degenerated. Knowledge takes care of itself, and it will be known and understood by those who need to know it and understand it. There may be a malicious person who is listening, and if one asks that person, what did you learn? They may tell you that they didn’t understood nothing, and if you ask another person who was also listening but without bad intentions they will tell you many things that they understood from what they were listening. Real Knowledge takes care of itself. The One who is Prepared to learn will learn, and will understand. Among the Yoruba people, it was said how the ceremony to consecrate an initiated a person in the Orisha Tradition, with such and such ritual and ceremony, this knowledge began to disperse and spread, when it begins to have separations. Since each person began to do things according to his or her understanding, and not according to what they had been told or transmitted. Even within Africa itself, the tradition is practiced in different ways among different groups of people, and that is Africa, now imagine in other parts of the world (such as the Diaspora in America). For this reasons the Tradition is lost, the teachings degenerate. The important thing is to transmit knowledge verbally, and the most important thing is to understand that knowledge perfectly. The best thing is not to write down the teachings, because when you do it keeps yourself busy writing, then your brain could miss to understand and learn certain key things. Things that you learn by ear, are better retained than if you read them. One thing is what one hears and another thing is what one practices. The practice helps a lot. If one aspires to be "Oba Oriate" / Babalorişa-Iyalorişa / Babalawo, what you have to do is to always being involve in the ÒÒŞÀ / ÒRÌŞÀ initiation room, or the Ifá Igbodù, why? because it is the way he or she will learn, by listening and practicing. The true kingdom of ÒÒŞÀ / ÒRÌŞÀ, and IFÁ belongs to those who clean the floor, to those who work, Do you know why? Because the people who cleaned the floor may look like a poor devil, and the Oluwo (Babalawo/Babalorişa) will talk among older priest about ceremonies, rituals, how to do this or that, etc. The person who is washing the floor are listening and learning, and when the time comes to show how much they know, he or she can prove they know and how much they understood. And the own who was washing the floors went from that stage, to be the one now ordering others to wash the floors, he or she became the boss (the Oluwo, Babalawo, the "Oba Oriate"), all this was acquired by his or her knowledge. So this is why this is the kingdom of the poor, of the humble, of those who work. Because if your Elder send to wash the floors, or to do this or that, does not mean that you are humiliating you, but instead that you are going to learn from all that. A true Master should not be suspicious/wary, he should be concerned that his students at least become like him, and if they exceeded, will be much better. There are many who are involved in this traditions (Òrìşà, Ifá) and they teach only what they want, because they think like this; "is that if I show and teach them they can surpass me, or they can win over me." What happens here? What if they die and the Secrets were never revealed. Then that person was a bad teacher, because he or she was "jealous" because they have "Envy", Egoism, etc. Because they are not good in a position of a teacher. A Great Teacher is one who teaches everything no matter who is the student, but yet he or she always reserved something of hid knowledge, so they can keep teaching more in the future, so that he or she never finish teaching. Now I will tell you this story about Òrúnmìlà: Òrúnmìlà was the best swordsman in the world, and he had a disciple, but other Òrúnmìlà was also the best teacher of all. One day the disciple says to himself; now I'm better than ÒRÚNMÌLÀ, I'm faster, I have better reflexes, I'm younger, and I'm in my prime, and Òrúnmìlà now is an old man. The disciple separates from Òrúnmìlà and opens his own school of swordsmanship. The disciple always lived in the shadow of Òrúnmìlà, because everyone always said, "There is the student of Òrúnmìlà". The student was angry when he heard this, why they always have to say this? If I am I, and I learned. I'm going to go and challenge Òrúnmìlà and I will prove that I am better than him. I'm young, and Òrúnmìlà is an old man, I do not think he can even lift a sword anymore. The student went to challenge Òrúnmìlà, and because he was a teacher, he could not refuse the challenge of his pupil. The fight starts, and Òrúnmìlà as was already old, he became easily tired, and the student thought; "I will win now, and I will have his head at my feet." Òrúnmìlà gets tired and was resting on his sword, waiting for the last lunge. When the disciple wanted to behead him with the sword, Òrúnmìlà rises, he turns his sword and beheads the disciple. This was the last technique that Òrúnmìlà did not teach his disciple. This is the story (Ìtan) of the Odù of "ÒŞÉ NILOGBÈ" / ÒŞÉ OGBÈ (5-8 in Ẹ́rindínlógún). Because he is was a great teacher, he had always something things to teach his students. He should never end in his knowledge. This teaching was given by the Spirit TATA G, Spiritual Emissary of Baba Odùdúwà at EGBÉ ÓDÙN OLÓFIN - The Spiritual Family of the Secret of OLÓFIN - the ones who are now receiving the Word of Baba Odùdúwà.