This essay seeks to explore the notion of ‘Dreaming’ in Aboriginal religion, and compare aspects of Aboriginal worldviews with those worldviews found in Christianity and Hinduism. There are various difficulties that present themselves from the outset. Firstly, just as Australia has traditionally contained a multitude of Aboriginal nations, so too are there a multitude of Aboriginal ‘religions’, each with different characteristics and emphasis. Any attempt to precisely define key elements within Aboriginal religion will invariably result in broad generalisations. Secondly, any attempt to describe Aboriginal culture involves concepts that are completely foreign to the non-Aboriginal mindset. The resultant inaccurate or insufficient descriptions of Aboriginal activities has tended to facilitate judgment on Aboriginal culture as both ‘primitive’ and ‘naive’, belonging to a lower level of mentality.
 

‘The Dreaming’ or ‘Dreamtime’

This linguistic problem arises simply labelling what is referred to as ‘The Dreaming’ or ‘Dreamtime.’ Our attempts at describing this exclusively Aboriginal concept have suffered from the absence of suitably accurate English terms to describe the various Aboriginal words. In many ways, the use of the term ‘Dreaming’ is unhelpful, with its connotations of vagueness  fantasy and illusion. Nevertheless, “Dreaming” has come to cover various distinct though connected meanings in Aboriginal religion.

Stanner identifies three aspects to ‘The Dreaming’. Firstly, The Dreaming can be understood as a mythical narrative of things that once happened. It is that sacred and heroic time where dramatic events took place that shaped the environment. Uncreated and eternal ancestral heroes emerge to shape nature, heritage and cultural life. For the Aboriginal, the Dreaming marks the beginning of their existence, where nature and culture share in a joint formation.

Secondly, the Dreaming acts as a type of charter of things that still happen. Dreaming is very much a present reality. Past events are not fixed in time. The spiritual powers of ancestral heroes are in a sense, embodied in various sites and objects. Time and events that existed in the past still exist today. This paradox is possible due to a radically different understanding of the nature of ‘time’. For the Aboriginal, time is neither understood as a straight linear concept, or as a cyclical framework involving the repetition of certain patterns. Rather, time acts as a subtle circular model, where the ‘past underlies and is within the present.’ The Dreaming acts as a present reality on both the social and individual scale. Socially, the Dreaming provides an all encompassing framework for the Aboriginal way of life through law, moral principles, and social norms. Individually, the Dreaming can be understood as revealing the personal ‘way’ or vocation that an individual may have on account of their clan membership or totemic spirit-conception through a particular site.

Finally, Stanner finds that the Dreaming can be understood as a kind of ‘logos.’  That is, some principle of order that transcends all that is significant in Aboriginal life. For the Yarralin people, this understanding of the Dreamtime involves the interaction of moral agents within the cosmos autonomously acting together to enrich life. Like Christianity, this ‘logos’ concept appears to be closely associated with creation mythology, and as such tends to vary between Aboriginal tribes.

The Aboriginal draws no distinction between the secular and the sacred. Their languages implicitly define as unified much of what the western mindset would class as separate. Their religious framework underlies all ‘actions, expressions, and interpretations in daily and ceremonial life.’ It may be slightly misleading therefore, to ask on how ‘Dreaming’ and ‘religious experience’ are connected. By definition, everything in Aboriginal life is interconnected. Any attempt to intellectually define exactly what constitutes an ‘Aboriginal religious experience’ invariable imports concepts and definitions foreign to Aboriginal society. The whole of an Aboriginal’s life force comes from the Dreaming, and the ‘religious’ framework covers each and every aspect of the Aboriginal’s life.

What we can say, is that the ‘Dreamtime’ is most obviously accessed through ritual. Through these rituals, the Aboriginal goes beyond contacting Dreamtime events and characters. They become direct participants in the continuing process that is the Dreaming. In the acting out of a Dreaming totem, they go beyond merely identifying with their totem. The Aboriginal becomes that totem and actively experiences the Dreamtime as that totem.
 

Comparative Issues.

As one seeks to understand the Aboriginal worldview in which religious concepts are held in place, the question arises as to the central nature of these beliefs; how are they connected with either ‘God’ or the ‘ultimate’? To do this often involves a comparison with other traditions.  Are their beliefs theistic in nature, such as those found within the Christian tradition, or do   they bear a closer resemblance to some of the metaphysical principles found in Hindu concepts such as Brahman?

It is not possible to give a simple statement as to the nature or importance of  ‘God’ or the ‘ultimate reality’ in Hindu thought due to Hinduism’s inherently diverse and syncretistic nature. While it can be claimed that the Upanishads directed Hindu thought towards monism, such a position over emphasises the potential influence of Vedic literature on religious thought. Others  attempt to describe Hinduism as a mixture of pantheism and monotheism. However, such descriptions involve the importation of misleading foreign theistic notions that have their origins in classic European scholarship. In the end, any Hindu conception of  ‘God’ or the 'ultimate’ can only be understood with reference to Indian terminology.

While no set of beliefs, theologies or philosophies are capable of commanding universal acceptance, several presuppositions shed light on the nature of the ultimate for the Hindu. Dharma can be understood as a reference to the correct way of living. It involves being true to ones caste as part of that which is eternal and unchanging. Specific religious beliefs are of no importance provided one lives within their Dharma. The metaphysical concept of Brahman can be understood as an ‘impersonal Absolute or ‘World Soul’ that underlies the phenomenal diversity of the universe.’ Brahman can be either a personal God or impersonal force. On of the most popular personal forms of God is that of Vishnu.  He has come to be understood as the supreme deity for many Hindus, being understood as both immanent in the world and as the transcendent reality.

Two broad goals in Hinduism can be suggested that connect religious experience to the ultimate. The first of these goals is the maintenance of the cosmic order through rituals as prescribed in the Brahman scriptures. Sacrifices are made to the Gods to maintain the correct cosmic order. The increasing complexity of these rituals necessitated the assistance of a Brahminic priestly caste. As long as the rituals are performed correctly and one is true to their Dharma, cosmic order is maintained regardless of an individual’s specific belief structure. The second and more personal goal is that of Moksha. This ‘release’ is a form of personal salvation, and is achieved when the Atman (ones true self) becomes at one with Brahman. Moksha is, in a sense, the gaining of an awareness that is beyond normal consciousness. This involves the eventual freedom from all emotional attachments within the world. It is a goal that can be achieved through the accumulation of positive karma over several rebirths.

Different schools of thought prescribe different paths to reaching this ‘oneness’ with the ultimate. These schools can be seen in the various forms of religious experience through yogic disciplines.  We will briefly examine how three forms of yoga represent paths to the ultimate.

Karma-yoga involves the undertaking of action in line with ones specific Dharma with a disinterest and detachment with any future results. Both the action and results are understood as a sacrifice to the Lord. This detachment leads to the release from the bondage normally associated with actions. Bhakti-yoga is the path of exclusive devotion to God. Either ritual or direct communion with God can be used to evoke such devotion. Jnana-yoga is the path of higher knowledge or spiritual insight. This way appears not to be open to all, but is almost reserved for those with a karma near to release. The atman-brahman union is achieved through release from the bondage of ignorance. The Bhagavad Gita appears to interconnect these three paths of action, devotion and wisdom as part of the required journey towards oneness with the ‘ultimate.’

While theistic attitudes are not central to much of Hinduism, Christianity has a clearer theistic framework. Christianity took on the monotheism of Judaism and included within that framework the person Jesus who was understood as God incarnate. The addition of the Holy Spirit completed a trinity of persons within a monotheistic Godhead. Overall, God is understood as a  personal immanent and transcendent who can be communicated with.

Opinions vary as to how religious experience connects the individual believer to God. In much Catholic thought, any mystical union gained through religious experience is regarded as a special divine favour. While for some, God is experienced through participation in sacraments, others claim to gain union by faith alone. Those influenced by Neo-Platonic thought sought to gain union through a process of transcendentalism that aimed to reverse those emanations from the ultimate until the human soul is returned to the ultimate. This dualistic line of thought continued in the work of Dionysius who taught that God could only be understood by an understanding what He is not. It is only when all positive thoughts are silenced that the believer becomes absorbed in the ineffable ultimate.

Traditional thinking states that ‘the Aborigines have no gods, just or unjust, to adjudicate the world’.  Rose goes further, stating that they are not only nonexistent, but there is absolutely no desire for a supreme deity in Aboriginal religion. The cosmos does not need a God to regulate the it, as each part of the cosmos is responsible for its own actions and relations with other parts. The cosmos functions correctly because each part performs their function as an autonomous moral entity.
 
Despite this, some attempt to impose ‘high Gods’ into Aboriginal religion. It is argued that some of the formless spirits that preexisted before the transformation of the cosmos into its current state, emerged during the Dreamtime to take their place as Supreme beings. Even if these spirits are understood as ‘high Gods’ (which I don’t think they are), then their notion of God is very different to the Christian doctrines of the ontology and work of God. Further, any tension between a metaphysical ‘absolute’ and a personal supreme God (as found when defining Brahman) only exists in Aboriginal religion when it is externally imposed.

What then is the connection between the ‘ultimate’ and religious experience in Aboriginal religion? Any application of western concepts of experience invariably fall down when applied to Aboriginal culture. For example, James’  definition of mystical religious experience as the ‘overcoming all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute’ suggests that religious experiences may not be possible for many Aboriginals as many groups claim that there is no barrier between the Absolute and humanity. For this reason, I propose that to ask ‘what the Aboriginal path to the ultimate is?’ is to ask a culturally irrelevant question. Inherently, religious life and secular life appear interconnected; the cosmos is understood as a unity. If all is a unity, then philosophically, within that unity there can be no path to a point within that unity. Broadly, in Christianity, one can seek to reach God by the acquisition of knowledge through a life of discipline, while in Hinduism one can connect with the ultimate by being true to ones Dharma. However, for the Aboriginal, any connection with an ultimate is achieved through the inherent experience of living in the physical world of present unity. Living life is a path to the ultimate. It could be further argued that Aboriginal religion contains closer affinities to Hinduism in that the ‘ultimate’ is achieved by being what one already is. Their focus is less theistic in nature and more metaphysical.

Another noticeable difference is the emphasis that non-Aboriginal religions have on the concept of current and past actions reaping future benefits. The prayers made today have future positive results; the death of Christ has a propitiatory value to the believer; correct sacrifices ensure both karmic buildup and future cosmic order through the appeasement of theistic beings such as Vishnu. However, for many Aboriginals, this concept appears to be completely absent. The future follows past and present patterns that were instituted once and for all in The Dreamtime. Rituals signify a participation in the metaphysical ultimate, rather than the desire to move towards an ultimate.
 

In Conclusion.

Aboriginal religion is fundamentally different to most other world religions in its religious outlook. A strong mission emphasis within Christianity has resulted in sections of the Aboriginal community taking on Christian concepts that often go against Aboriginal worldviews. While some Aboriginals have completely converted, their exists a brand of Aboriginal religion that is a syncretic mix  that attempts to combine two different worldviews.  Those features that are distinctive to Aboriginal religion have tended to disappear along with much of the richness and mystery contained within Australian Aboriginal religion.

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