How the Babemba Tribe Forgives

In his CD set titled, “The Secrets of an Inspirational (In-Spirit) Life”, Dr. Wayne Dyer shares the following story originally taken from a book called “Contact, The First Four Minutes” by Leonard Zunin (now out of print), about a tribe called the Babemba or Bemba, who make their home in an area of Africa that includes Zambia and the Congo. The Babemba tribe of southern Africa has a social structure with an elementary criminal code.

“In the Babemba tribe, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he or she is placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. All work ceases, the entire village gathers around the accused individual, then each person of every age begins to talk out loud to the accused. One at a time each person tells all the good things that the one in the center ever did in his or her lifetime. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy is recounted. All positive attributes, good deeds strengths and acts of kindness are recited carefully and at length. No one is permitted to fabricate, to exaggerate or to be facetious about the accomplishments or the positive aspects of the accused person. The tribal ceremony often lasts several days, not ceasing until everyone is drained of every positive comment that can be mustered. At the end, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically welcomed back into the tribe. The necessity for such ceremonies is rare; it only occurs once in every 4 or 5 years.”