--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is this subtle dimension of…" description: "\"It is this subtle dimension of understanding that marks the southwestern Indian peoples from other religions and separates tribal peoples from the worl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/vine-deloria-jr-23632_abstraction_it-is-this-subtle-dimension-of-understan_237038.jpg" --- # It is this subtle dimension of understanding that marks… ![“It is this subtle dimension of understanding that marks the southwestern Indian peoples from other religions and separates tribal peoples from the world's religions. Somewhere in the planetary history religious expression changed from participation in the sound, color and rhythm of nature to the…” quote by Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/vine-deloria-jr-23632_abstraction_it-is-this-subtle-dimension-of-understan_237038.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/vine-deloria-jr-23632_abstraction_it-is-this-subtle-dimension-of-understan_237038.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d2/vine-deloria-jr-23632_abstraction_it-is-this-subtle-dimension-of-understan_237038.jpg) > “It is this subtle dimension of understanding that marks the southwestern Indian peoples from other religions and separates tribal peoples from the world's religions. Somewhere in the planetary history religious expression changed from participation in the sound, color and rhythm of nature to the abstractions of man outside this context pleading for temporary respite and hoping in the next life to return to the Garden.” [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts tribal, nature‑connected spirituality with later religions that focus on abstract, after‑life promises, highlighting a shift from lived experience to doctrinal abstraction. **In simple terms:** Tribal spirituality is rooted in nature; later religions become abstract and future‑oriented. Key Takeaway Recognize and value lived, sensory connections in spiritual practice. Themes spirituality culture religion nature Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - indigenous ceremonies - environmental education - interfaith dialogue - personal meditation Key Concepts anthropology theology historical change Questions to Reflect On - How does modern religion benefit from reconnecting with nature? - What aspects of tribal spirituality can inform contemporary faith? A Different Perspective Abstract doctrines may overlook immediate ecological and communal needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Dimensions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dimensions/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indian/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Next life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-life/) [Participation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/participation/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Respite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respite/) [Rhythm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhythm/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Every place in the world where there are two peoples - two religions, two languages - there is friction and conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avigdor-lieberman/every-place-in-the-world-where-there-are-two-peoples-two-religions/) [Avigdor Lieberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avigdor-lieberman/) > [Mythology is often defined as 'other peoples' religions', religion can be thought of as misinterpreted mythology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/mythology-is-often-defined-as-other-peoples-religions-religion-can-be/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Depictions or expressions of sex, violence, crime are all permitted virtually without limit; but religion, it seems, never.No wonder many in America seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cornyn/depictions-or-expressions-of-sex-violence-crime-are-all-permitted/) [John Cornyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cornyn/) > [Every age manifests itself by some external evidence. In a period such as ours when only a comparatively few individuals seem to be given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sheeler/every-age-manifests-itself-by-some-external-evidence-in-a-period-such/) [Charles Sheeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sheeler/) > [Our tolerance for forms of religious expression we disagree with is a precise barometer of our own spiritual security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/our-tolerance-for-forms-of-religious-expression-we-disagree-with-is-a/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [If there is anything that the ACLU hates more than censorship, it is any form of public religious expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-lagard-smith/if-there-is-anything-that-the-aclu-hates-more-than-censorship-it-is/) [F. LaGard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-lagard-smith/) > [“Any religious expression of truth, however bizzare or uncouth, is more sufficing than any secular one, however elegant and intellectually brilliant. Animistic savages prostrating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/any-religious-expression-of-truth-however-bizzare-or-uncouth-is-more/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [The adoration of the sun was one of the earliest and most natural forms of religious expression. Complex modern theologies are merely involvements and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manly-hall/the-adoration-of-the-sun-was-one-of-the-earliest-and-most-natural/) [Manly Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manly-hall/) > [All religious expression is symbolism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/all-religious-expression-is-symbolism/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [It appears that some school officials, teachers, and parents have assumed that religious expression of any type is either inappropriate or forbidden altogether in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-appears-that-some-school-officials-teachers-and-parents-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With each passing year, people of faith grow increasingly distressed by the hostility of public institutions toward religious expression. We have witnessed the steady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-e-reed-jr/with-each-passing-year-people-of-faith-grow-increasingly-distressed/) [Ralph E. Reed, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-e-reed-jr/) > [Religious expression must at least be afforded an equal playing field. Currently, the playing field is not level. Religious expression and practices are treated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mathew-staver/religious-expression-must-at-least-be-afforded-an-equal-playing-field/) [Mathew Staver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mathew-staver/) > [Somehow freedom for religious expression has become freedom from religious expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/somehow-freedom-for-religious-expression-has-become-freedom-from/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [ “\[T\]he religious expression is: Man is the image of God, or a being akin to God; - for according to religion man does not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-feuerbach/t-he-religious-expression-is-man-is-the-image-of-god-or-a-being-akin/) [Ludwig Feuerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-feuerbach/) > [In Scotland, Catholics have raised their voices against sectarianism and intolerance directed against the Church. Clearly, these actions show that freedom of religious expression,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-o-brien/in-scotland-catholics-have-raised-their-voices-against-sectarianism/) [Keith O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-o-brien/) ## More by Vine Deloria Jr > [Royalty has always been an unconscious but all-consuming goal of the European immigrant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/royalty-has-always-been-an-unconscious-but-all-consuming-goal-of-the/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [ For some unknown reason, this \[antiabortion\] branch of Christianity cherishes the unborn and hates the living person. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/for-some-unknown-reason-this-antiabortion-branch-of-christianity/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [Not only did secular scientists rout the Christian fundamentalists, they placed themselves in the posture of knowing more, on the basis of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/not-only-did-secular-scientists-rout-the-christian-fundamentalists/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [These Indians are fierce, they wear feathers and grunt. Most of us dont fit this idealized figure since we grunt only when overeating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/these-indians-are-fierce-they-wear-feathers-and-grunt-most-of-us-dont/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white men came, an Indian said simply "Ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/when-asked-by-an-anthropologist-what-the-indians-called-america/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [Before any final solution to American history can occur, a reconciliation must be effected between the spiritual owner of the land - American Indians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/before-any-final-solution-to-american-history-can-occur-a/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [To be an Indian in modern American society is in a very real sense to be unreal and ahistorical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/to-be-an-indian-in-modern-american-society-is-in-a-very-real-sense-to/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [Custer is said to have boasted that he could ride through the entire Sioux Nation with his Seventh Cavalry, and he was half right.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/custer-is-said-to-have-boasted-that-he-could-ride-through-the-entire/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [But even labeling a site as astronomical is an improvement, since it partially sidesteps the old stereotype of Indians being primitive and ignorant savages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/but-even-labeling-a-site-as-astronomical-is-an-improvement-since-it/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [If the tribal peoples actually represented Western origins at a much earlier time, it was exceedingly valuable that they should be studied intensely for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/if-the-tribal-peoples-actually-represented-western-origins-at-a-much/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [Who will find peace with the lands? The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/who-will-find-peace-with-the-lands-the-future-of-humankind-lies/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [The bottom line about the information possessed by non-Western peoples is that the information becomes valid only when offered by a white scholar recognized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/the-bottom-line-about-the-information-possessed-by-non-western/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [The future of mankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibilities to all living things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/the-future-of-mankind-lies-waiting-for-those-who-will-come-to/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [Culture, as Indian people understood it, was basically a lifestyle by which a people acted. It was self-expression, but not a conscious self-expression. Rather,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/culture-as-indian-people-understood-it-was-basically-a-lifestyle-by/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [Every society needs educated people, but the primary responsibility of educated people is to bring wisdom back into the community and make it available…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/every-society-needs-educated-people-but-the-primary-responsibility-of/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) [Explore all 25 Vine Deloria Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) Banesh Hoffmann > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) Alfred Aho > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. 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People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. 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