Tag: #jahrastafari

Categories
Spiritual Poetry

Haffi Dreadful to Be Rasta

Teferi
means Terrible
thereafter
haffi Dreadful
faster
to be Rasta
it’s a pilaster
weak heart
shall not prosper
heathen nah like
His Name
as a monster
for slave master
We don’t fear
human figure
gangster
reflect the terror
for the Pastor
in dem minds
smell of disaster
black star.

Categories
Haile Selassie I - Life and Works

From the Official Introduction to the Selected Speeches of H.I.M. – 1967

“The history of modern Ethiopia is being compiled by the activities and events that take place each day in the nation’s supreme and sustained drive for progress in all fields. As Head of State, the prime mover and the driving force in this drama, the public utterances of His Imperial Majesty are, in many respects, a mirror of these activities and or the events that determine the course and tempo of Ethiopia’s development.
On the 75th Anniversary of his birth, it seems proper and fitting to record some of the most important of these utterances made on the many occasions that merited public statements from His Majesty the Emperor during his lengthy, brilliant and devoted service to his country and people.
It is impossible to include all of the Emperor’s pronouncements in one volume. It is hoped, however, that through those reproduced herein, the reader will get a fair picture of His Majesty’s thoughts and ideas that have provided the centrifugal force of his thirty-seven years as Head of State and of the preceding years of, his early appearance on the scene as national leader of Ethiopia.
These speeches, some of them excerpted, in the variety of occasions for which they were intended, as well as in the many subjects on which they deal, portray the breadth of the Emperor’s vision. They detail the persistence, the determination and the unflagging drive with which he pursued the application of “modern Ethiopianism” to which history cannot fail to testify.
The Emperor’s idealism, coupled with his insistence on transforming his country, both on the domestic and international fronts, his courage in the face of adversity, his unchallenged perspicacity, his keen sense in evaluating world events, his unfailing respect for principles, and his abiding faith in humanity – aspects of all of which are found in his public utterances – should make this volume a ready-reference to certain phases of the history of modern Ethiopia.
As the central figure in the renaissance of the nation after its five years of trials in the late I930s, His Imperial Majesty’s vital and indispensable leadership has played a distinctive and decisive role. His appearance before the League of Nations and his impassioned plea for justice for Ethiopia and all small nations and for international morality still remain a classic example both of the breadth of his vision and of a profound comprehension of the foibles of international life. Subsequently, despite the failure of the League of Nations to live up to its covenant and the gruelling distress that both the Emperor and his country suffered as a result, Ethiopia, under his leadership, was among the first nations which, at San Francisco in 1945, built the United Nations on the ashes of its predecessor, the defunct League of Nations.
In these pages will be found expressions of the spirit and the faith that animated the Emperor in this lofty role in international politics.
His primary motivation – that of raising the standard of living of the Ethiopian people and restoring the ancient stature and glory of his nation – runs through the theme of the majority of his public utterances. In them can be clearly seen the inseparable impulse of his whole career. This dedication was amply exposed as he spoke to his people and the world in the speeches contained in this book.
Although an ardent reformer, Emperor Haile Selassie is no iconoclast. Thus, he has advanced the policy of ‘modern Ethiopianism’ a philosophy which he has put into practice from the earliest years of his public career. The Emperor, addressing the nation on the 24th Anniversary of Ethiopia’s victory over aggression, said: ‘Ethiopia is an ancient land and her civilization is the result of the harmonious alchemy of the past and the present and upon which we confidently build for the future. This heritage is the bed-rock of modern Ethiopia. In it the people have chosen to distil from the past that which is useful and enduring, to adapt those worth-while attributes of our present-day world and to fashion this modern Ethiopianism – the foundation of our social order that has served so admirably the purpose of the nation’s steady advance’.
An absorbing interest in youth has characterized the Emperor’s entire public career; and is infinitely more than just a formal, enlightened paternalism. It is grounded in the fact, so frequently expressed by him, that his Ethiopia is built around the future. Haile Selassie I will go down in history as a leader whose concern for posterity has been both avid and constant. He has always kept close to the people and in particular to the nation’s youth in whom, as the speeches herein illustrate, he places immeasurable faith and confidence.
His Imperial Majesty’s constructive influence has been particularly effective in Africa’s political emancipation. Recalling the days when Africa was a sea of colonialism to the emergence of the Organization of African Unity, Haile Selassie I has been both a symbol and a pillar of strength to Africa as its people fought progressively for their ultimate liberation from colonialism. Today he still stands four-square behind the cause of the complete freedom of the continent in which Ethiopia is the oldest sovereign state.
His Imperial Majesty’s faith in divine providence is a built-in factor in his personal armory. Institutionally, he is ‘Defender of the Faith’, and history will most certainly assess his era as the one in which the Ethiopian Church succeeded in, winning its independence and autonomy after centuries of tutelage under the Alexandrian Patriachate. In times, good or bad, the Emperor’s abiding faith in the Almighty seems to have been both harbinger and fortress, it being rare for him to make any public utterance without calling on divine guidance and acknowledging publicly his thanks for God’s beneficence.”
Categories
Haile Selassie I - Prophecy

Anointed and Crowned By The Holy Spirit

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him”
Isaiah 11, 1
Categories
Haile Selassie I - Laws and Government

The Official Logo of Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa

The Official Logo of Haile Selassie I University.
“YeQedamawi Hayle Sellasie Yuniversti”
This is the first original name of that Institution, that was changed after the comunist rebellion and turned by the following governments into the modern day “Addis Ababa University”.
Indeed, His Majesty was the first to introduce the academic level of education in Ethiopia – the third educational stage – although He has never personally attended any course of that kind. Nevertheless, He was the Chancellor and spiritual guide of the University until 1975, earning a guinness score of honoris causa degrees from all the most important universities of the world, from all the continents of the earth and in all the main subjects of study. He said about:
“With the help of the Almighty Who guides the destiny of mankind, the educational system has moved from the elementary level through the secondary and has now reached higher education given in our colleges.” (Speeches on Various Occasions, p. 11)
On both sides, Star of David (Mosaic Law – Elementary) and Cross (Christianity – Secondary) are the Cultural Foundation for this modern-time Rasta knowledge, the Fruit that is linked with the Roots through the Trunk in perfect troditional continuity. In fact, as His Majesty has said:
“Nor can we ignore the importance of the spiritual in this academic life. Learning and technical training must be nurtured by faith in God, reverence for the human soul, and respect for the reasoning mind. There is no safer anchorage for our learning, our lives, and our public actions than that provided by Divine teachings coupled with the best in human understanding. Leadership developed here should be guided by the fundamental values and the moral power which have for centuries constituted the essence of our religious teachings.” (Selected Speeches p.22)
On the background, the Gennete Leul Palace, the building that the King has inherited from His Father Ras Makonnen, and that has been His personal residence until 1955, when He moved to the “Jubilee Palace“, built on occasion of the 25th year of His Kingdom.
In 1961, the date written in the logo both in ethiopic and western numbers, He has given His Own Family House to the people as a free gift, so that it could guest the headquarters of the University. A shining example of generosity and devotion to the welfare of the nation, reminding that knowledge is not an end in itself, but a principle that should make flesh and be translated in actual service for humanity. His Majesty said about:
“….In the field of education, We take great pleasure in the fact that the opening of Ethiopia’s first University is near at hand. Henceforth, students who have demonstrated their capacity and ability will no longer leave their homeland to pursue higher education. The University’s faculty is being recruited and its physical plant is being established. We Ourself have presented Our Guennete Leul Palace and its grounds, inherited from Our beloved father, as a free gift to the nation, to serve as the nucleus of the University’s physical facilities…” (Selected Speeches p. 1)
2 Torches of Wisdom burning on both the sides, allegory of Ganjah Fyah and powers of mental enlightenment. Fire is the first element that has been created by Egziabhier, the beginning of His creation as it is for human life and creations, the first scientific and technical knowledge of man. It is also associated to the Eye of Mind and His Focus: through it we can understand the past and foresee the future. That’s why the King said:
“…will be able to call for assistance upon the training he has received in this institution, which, like a torch shedding light both forward and behind, will guide him in his work.” (Selected Speeches p. 53)
The motto of the University is written in the central part of the logo. It is a Ge’ez biblical quotation from the Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, emphasizing the scientific value of Ge’ez and biblical knowledge. It is from Paul, that constitutes the most accultured and theoretically complex speech of the Bible, reflecting the spiritual state of higher education.
ኵሎ አመክሩ ወዘሠናየ አጽንዑ
Kw(e)lo Ammek(e)ru WeZeShenay Atz(e)n’u.
“Examine all and hold that which is good.”
The King said to this University:
“Your guide should therefore be the apostolic saying: study and examine all but choose and follow the good. Our forefathers have succeeded in passing down a free and independent people determined to safeguard its liberty by shedding its blood. Ethiopia is the country in Africa which has kept Ge’ez and Amharic with an alphabet of its own.” (Selected Speeches p. 80)
This should be the accepted standard of any form of higher education among I&I.
Categories
Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Nelson Mandela, Conversation with Richard Stengel

Nelson Mandela, Conversation with Richard Stengel about meeting Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
“That was an impressive fellow man, very impressive. It was my first time to watch…a head of state going through the formalities… the motions of formality. This chap came wearing a uniform and he then came and bowed. But it was a bow which was not a bow – he stood erect, you see, but just brought down his head…then…took his seat and addressed us, but he spoke in Amharic…Then, at the end of the conference, he saw every, each delegation…and Comrade Oliver Tambo asked me to speak for our delegation, to speak to Him And I explained to Him very briefly what was happening in South Africa…He was seated on his chair, listening like a log…not nodding, just immovable, you know, like a statue…The next time I saw Him was when we attended a military parade, and that was very impressive, absolutely impressive. And he was then giving awards…to the soldiers; everyone who had graduated got a certificate… A very fine ceremony – a very dignified chap – and he also gave medals. There were American military advisors and groups of military advisers from various countries…And so he gave medals to these chaps too. But to see whites going to a Black Monarch Emperor and bowing was also very interesting.”
Categories
Haile Selassie I - Video

Appeal to the League of Nations – June 1936

 

Categories
Meditations

Jah Mother Tongue is Ethiopian

It is surely true that “however old the version may be, in whatever language it may be written, the Word remains one and the same. It transcends all boundaries of empires and all conceptions of race. It is eternal.” His Majesty has taught about the power of the Word of God to communicate its spiritual message of salvation beyond any human or historical corruption or falsification. In this perspective, we can use and read any possible version or language of the Bible and find truth for ourselves.
Yet, the King also told us that “the Holy Book should not be cut into portions“, and we have to obey the totality of the precepts – not only one – and watch both sides of each question.
In 1936, from the rostrum of Geneva, before the League of Nations, His Majesty said in french, his first teaching to the rebellious nations:
“Je prie l’Assemblée de M’excuser si Je ne M’exprime pas in français comme Je l’aurais voulu. “
“I pray the Assembly to forgive Me, If I do not express myself in french, as I would like.”
And after:
“Je dirai mieux toute Ma pensée, avec toute la force de Mon esprit et de Mon coeur, en parlant en langue amharique.”
“I would say better my thought, by all the strength of my spirit and heart, speaking in amharic language.”
When He speaks foreign languages, the power of His expression is not full. He speaks the fullness through ethiopian language only. Foreign translation is just a replica of the arketype. On that occasion, He spoke unto all of the Nations in Amharic, even if many of them did not know Amharic language. And He did the same on all the official occasions of his political ministry, as the imperial protocol prescibed to always express first the fullness of the ethiopian dignity in mother tongue, and then to allow a foreign translation.
In the Amharic version of His Majesty’s speech we find the original Tongue of that Word, for His Majesty has originally conceived that thought in Amharic, before speaking in french. And this version is naturally different and more precise than the french one:
ነገር ግን አሳቤን በመንፈሴ ኃይል ሁሉ ከልቤ ለመናገር የሚቻለኝ በአማርኛ ቋንቋ ስለሆነ
Neger Gen Asabien BeMenfesiè Hayl Hulu KeLebiè LeMennager Yemitchallegn Bamarigna Qwanqwa Selehone
“But it is in Amharic language that I am able to speak my thought from my heart with all the power of my spirit.”
But / Neger Gen
it is / Selehone
in Amharic language / BeAmarigna Qwanqwa
that I am able / Yemitchallegn
to speak / LeMennager
my thought / Asabien
from my heart / Kelebiè
with all the power of my spirit / BeMenfesiè Hayl Hullu
Therefore, it is true that we can get biblical spiritual wisdom from any version, nevertheless we need Ethiopian original version and mother tongue, as God has originally thought that word in that tongue, to acquire BIBLICAL SCIENCE and precise full overstanding of its expression. When we have the original and we follow the natural order of manifestation, then we can fully apprecilove and understand even the copy, that can extend our imagination and develop the original insight.
As the King said:
“I would tell a person who was considering the claim of Christ for the first time that it is necessary to have faith in the Almighty, that it is necessary to have love, and that it is necessary to conduct oneself in a manner that we have been taught to do in the Bible. I would also advise him to seek the secular knowledge, for the more one knows the more he realises…”
After the universal necessity to obey the Bible and its fundamental spiritual common meanings, then He advised to acquire knowledge of world and humanity in this time, hence of human languages and historical translations of the Bible, to perfect our spiritual realization. In english we call it Bible like Babel, so we know there’s some linguistic confusion we must purify.
We should follow the divine advice. Too many times the merciful words of His Majesty are quoted to justify ignorance. Let them listen with both their 2 ears and take heed.
Both Bob Marley and Vaughn Benjamin ended to identify with an Ethiopian Name. The prophecy says that we shall speak only one Ethiopian Language at the end, as it was in the beginning before Babylon Tower:
“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.”  (Zephaniah 3,9-10)
And among the Constitutional Laws of the Kingdom of God, we have:
“The official language of the Empire is Amharic” (Art. 125)
Then we will study that language, we will speak that language and will have our own biblical translations from that original language, better than King James’ and Roman Popes. This is a truly royal thing and a fulfillment of His Majesty’s example.
Categories
Berhane Selassie (Bob Marley)

Rasta Burden is the Heaviest

Every man thinketh
his burden is the heaviest (heaviest).
Every man thinketh
his burden is the heaviest (heaviest).
Ya still mean it: Who feels it knows it, Lord;
Berhane Selassie, “Running Away”.
“Each generation thinks that the situation it faces is the most serious one, the most difficult among those which were faced by generations of the past. However this may be true today, I believe, when we say the task of this generation is burdensome, we mean it.”
Qedamawi Haile Selassie, Selected Speeches p. 153
Categories
Haile Selassie I - Prophecy

He Gives Back The Original Language Spoken Before Babylon Tower

“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.”

Zephaniah 3, 9-10

 

Categories
Haile Selassie I - Teachings

The Wicked is just a Copy

“The rebels claimed to be promising reform. But I only ask you to look at their published declarations and program. They are only copies of what we are already doing for the development of the country”.

– H.I.M. Haile Selassie I –

(“Daily Colonist” Newspaper, 15th January 1961)