Quote from Tata Rompe Pecho on March 21, 2023, 11:18 pm

Temple of Nkisi Malongo: The Covenant

A covenant is an agreement, contract, oath or pact. One can partake in many spiritual practices without such a thing but there are certain spiritual practices that require such an agreement. In some cases, a covenant is purely for show and holds no real binding value and in others it is absolutely binding. In order to be committed and acknowledged members of Munanzo Kota Lima Temple of Nkisi Malongo, a covenant must be made and it is binding. It is recommended that you continue reading before you make any assumptions, its not as scary, outlandish or intimidating as you would think.

• You must believe in the supreme creator, Nzambi and all other spirits they appointed.

• You must strive to be a good person.

• You must not lie to other members of the Temple.

• You must not judge other members of the Temple.

• You must respect elders and initiated members as duly appointed officials of the Temple.

• You must never do anything to harm other members of the Temple intentionally or maliciously.

• You must always maintain your dignity and honor among others.

Believing in Nzambi and all other spirits they appointed is much more than superficial. This underlying belief is one of the most fundamental and foundational beliefs that we all share. We believe in one creator, one supreme being above all else. This supreme being then appointed spirits in order to maintain balance and to perform other tasks. If you believe in the creator, you must surely believe in the spirits appointed by the creator. There are times we dont agree with these spirits or even the creator but still hold on to the understanding that the creator is supreme and their choices are not flawed, our perception of them are. For this reason, even if we find ourselves at odds, the default action is to believe in and trust these beings and their judgement even when we disagree.

Striving to be a good person entails accepting and embracing the understanding that people have many aspects, not just one. We are naturally able to embrace all of these aspects and we then limit ourselves to having to be one way according to the outside world's perception of what we should be. In our beliefs, to be a good person is to fully embrace who we are, good and bad and strive to be the best version of ourselves. In other words, we are perfectly imperfect and we own it. We dont have to be perfectly happy and borderline divine beings to be accepted, we were born accepted as flawed or not as we may be. We just have to accept ourselves and act accordingly while we navigate this life.

Lying is one of the worst things someone could do because not only do you break trusts in doing so, you alter reality for your own personal and selfish desires. Lying is mostly used to escape accountability for your own mistakes, which is derivative of not owning your own flaws and not striving to be the best version of yourself, or striving to be a good person. This one act of desperation can affect others lives in such profoundly negative ways and yours in such profoundly positive ways. The other issue with this is that we cannot come together as a tribe, family or body of people to uplift each other if we do not know how to uplift each other because we do not know the truth necessary to make good choices. Keep in mind, of all the things one must not do, this is the one that connects and intersects all others. Do not underestimate this rule, it is much harder to be honest; even to your detriment than it is to tell a white lie and save yourself. Yet this is exactly what is expected of you when in contact with other members of the Temple.

Judging others based on notions and morals we perceive to be correct is often a socially acceptable practice but it is not acceptable within the Temple. Judgement of other members is not your right, privilege or duty. Your duty is to accept others and support them regardless of what flaws they may have. Judgement is something that is only done by the spirits and the supreme, who then pass this judgement down to the correct and duly appointed priests to correctly pass their judgement. Priests can also be wrong and involve their personal feelings and agendas, this is a risk they take when passing the judgement of the supreme down. This is a severe violation of their priesthood because they have studied for that priesthood, were then commissioned and have betrayed it.

Respecting elders and other initiated members as duly appointed officials is vital to all those who seek sanctuary within the Temple. Initiation and commission into the Temple is only performed if and when the spirits decide to appoint the subject at hand. The initiated and commissioned members of the Temple are duly appointed by the spirits and Nzambi directly. Their roles may differ from one to another but all are duly appointed as necessary. As a member of the Temple, you must be willing to accept and acknowledge that the spirits have chosen who to appoint for their own reasons and respect those appointed members as they are not just given titles and told they are supreme beings. They had to ensure specific ceremonies and rites to attain those titles and roles.

There are times where we accidentally harm the ones closest to us and these moments are easily forgiven. The problem arises when the harm is done intentionally or maliciously. This intentional and malicious behavior will not be tolerated and the consequences can include excommunication from the Temple depending on the severity of the offense. While occassional disagreements may be normal, Nzambi does not approve of his people intentionally seeking to destroy each other. If you cannot see the need to treat other members of the Temple kindly maybe this is not the Temple for you.

Maintaining your dignity and honor among others is crucial. Everything you do in the public view is a reflection of the Temple and its teachings. You no longer represent just yourself but all other members of this Temple. If you carry yourself with dignity and honor, you carry all other members with dignity and honor. If you dishonor yourself, you dishonor other members of the Temple, the spirits that commissioned the Temple and Nzambi directly. You effectively trample on hundreds of years of direct history and thousands of years of indirect history. This is why carrying yourself with dignity and honor is always necessary, even outside the Temple.

This covenant can be formally taken during one of our regularly scheduled services and does not require initiation. The covenant makes you a non-initiated, non-commissioned member of the Temple. If for any reason, you feel that you no longer wish to be part of the Temple, you are free to leave and be free from the covenant without any consequences. While being a member of the Temple, the covenant always applies and holds you to a higher standard. There is no mandate stating that one must attend any services or make any donations, that is entirely up to each person.