What Can We Learn from Standing Rock? Part 4: Bring it Home

From the Elders at Standing Rock, the Fourth Principle: Bring it Home. What are the issues alive in your own neighborhood and how is the earth, water, and air needing your help? The work before us is everywhere.

For me, this is the most important principle of them all. This is, as they say, where the rubber meets the road. 

The elders are showing us a new way forward—a way based on indigenous wisdom, ancient practices that have proven to be life-sustaining and that hold the wholeness of the system, what is best for all, at the heart of their prayer and their work in the world.  They are creating a new legacy, and opening the way for us to do the same. Many of us are feeling a powerful sense of I’m Sorry…for the history of atrocity against Native Americans by this country, and also for the damage we’ve witnessed and participated in against this planet. It is powerful to see the truth, to acknowledge the wrongs that have been done.

This apology is a great start. There’s another very important component to moving forward in a new legacy, though. Yes, I’m sorry. And…Never Again.

This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we Bring it Home.

An apology without action can soon become empty words. It’s how we move forward that gives our words substance.

What actions can you take in your day to day life that walk this new legacy forward and make it real? Is there anything going on that hits you in the gut, that feels as if it is not in the interest of the whole, is not life affirming? Anything you’d like to see come to life? Any neighbors you’d like to reach out to, get to know better? Volunteer work to be done? Where are you called to put your stake in the ground?

This doesn’t have to be a big deal. It’s the small stuff that really makes a difference—action by action, thought by thought, word by word. That’s how we bring it home. The consistency of our thoughts, words and actions. The persistent commitment to keep our prayer at the center of our day to day lives. Our choices as to where we spend our money, where we bank, who we do business with. Where we invest our money. 

Are there any issues related to the earth, to air, to water that you have passion for? How can you take action to help this country move forward in a way the cares for the planet?

As we move forward into 2017, I invite you to dream into ways you can create a new legacy in your life. When you hold this in your heart as a priority, the daily choices you make will be influenced. In the very best of ways. 

Sending you all love, and blessings over this holiday time.

With respect,

Zardoya 

What Can We Learn from Standing Rock? Part 3: Every Person Is Important and Useful

From the Elders at Standing Rock, the Third Principle: “Every Person is Important and Useful. There is much to be done. Whether you pick up garbage or write a blog, cut wood, scrub pots, or go out on a direct action, every act you do is a prayer and all acts are sacred. In this place there is no hierarchy in the realm of work.”

Whoa. Let me repeat that last line: In this place there is no hierarchy in the realm of work. 

Just stop for a moment and take in these words. No hierarchy in the realm of work. 

This is a concept completely foreign—and opposite—the western world of work. Wait…scrubbing pots is as important as sitting in prayer or taking rubber bullets on the front line? What?

I witnessed this principle in action countless times at Standing Rock. There was…a flow. When a need was identified, inevitably someone would step forward and say "I can to do that…" There was no hierarchy, there was only the moment and what was needed in that moment. Actually, I had no idea what the people I encountered "did" in the outside world. Each person's contribution was important, timely. There was a willingness to step in, over and over again. 

Hierarchy is inexorably woven into our western minds and ways of being. The CEO is far, far more important than the executive assistant, right? And yet…how would the CEO function without that assistant? How would our world function without teachers, or nurses, or garbage collectors, or dish washers? There is much to be done, and each person has a role to play in supporting the whole.

How did we get so out of balance? To the point where the CEO earns more money in one day than his or her employees make in a year? Where decisions are made from the top down, often without full consideration of impact on the whole?

How can we start to build balance into our western world? To view each person as important, each action or function as an essential part of the whole of our community/world?

An image comes to mind, of a sphere made up of facets, like a gemstone. Each facet shines and reflects light brilliantly, no one facet more brilliant than another. Together, they create beauty. Wholeness. Function. What if we learned to live from this place of community, of wholeness, of valuing the contributions of every person as important and useful?

And then, there's the other half of the third principle: every act you do is a prayer and all acts are sacred. In a prayer camp, where the commitment is to hold sacred energy in your thoughts, words, and actions, it’s easy to step into the energy of this principle. There are reminders all around; when one begins to falter a bit, another steps up in full prayer and the energy shifts.

It isn’t always perfect at Standing Rock. There have been times when actions were taken, especially on the front lines, which were not in alignment with the prayer of the elders, not sanctioned by the chiefs, and not centered in prayer and the sacred. There were moments I saw on video that involved name calling, rock throwing, taunting of officers on the other side of the front line.

And yet, prayer was also present. Gentle corrections were made…sometimes fierce corrections were made. There are many who are committed to a prayerful demonstration, and these people hold a front line of their own. The fact that the demonstrations have remained as peaceful as they have, in spite of incredible tension and excessive push-back on the front line, is remarkable. Prayer and the sacred have prevailed.

This concept hearkens back to the second principle, that of basing our action in prayer and ceremony. When we act from a place of prayer, holding the sacred in our hearts, we move in the world of ceremony—no matter what we’re doing. We establish a link with the energy bank of our prayer, and we walk it forward into the world. And there is no hierarchy in prayer…each thought, each word, each action is equally whole and holy.

We need each other to hold the line for the sacred. To remind each other, even if it’s simply by standing by in your centered, prayer-based self. To hold the line for the sacred, for all that is life affirming. To gently—and sometimes, fiercely—hold the line for the whole. To value the contributions of each and every person we encounter.

This is a particular challenge in our polarized country at this time. I invite you to play with this principle as you move in the world. To hold the knowing that each person's contributions are important to the greater whole, to the evolution of human consciousness. This is no small challenge...see how big you can get, how open your heart can become, how strong your pillar of prayer-energy can grow. 

With respect,

Zardoya

What Can We Learn from Standing Rock? Part 2: A New Legacy

From the Elders at Standing Rock, the Second Principle: "We are building a new legacy here. It's a legacy based upon the wisdom of the elders whose lives are steeped in prayer and ceremony."

From Merriam Webster, the definition of legacy: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. 

This feels to me like a pulling forward of an old way of being, and applying it into today's world by sharing openly.

This new legacy involves showing us how to walk from a place of deep connection with all of life. It’s a form of action through prayer which is foreign to most Westerners. Not a recite-the-words prayer. Not a from-the-outside-in prayer. This type of prayer comes from our own inner wisdom, and the wisdom of our ancestors, who are available to us at all times. Even THAT concept is foreign to most of us. This type of prayer involves listening inside. It involves being open and vulnerable as we touch our hearts and build a dream for balance and all that is life-affirming. It involves coming together with others to share our intentions and strengthen the prayer.

Photo Credit

When we do this, we create a field of energy—like pillars of light, or a bank of energy that surrounds us, filled with our positive intention and holding our dream. This bank of energy was, for me and many I have spoken with, palpable around the camps at Standing Rock. Around the movement of Standing Rock. You are surrounded by it, can feel it, and are influenced by it.

When we create prayer in this way, we engage in an inner conversation with life, and the ancient energies become available to us for guidance. And here's the kicker for those of us domesticated into the Western mind: when we ask for guidance, we must set aside any sense of knowing, any attachment we have to how the outcome will happen. 

When we ask the ancestors, we must step out of our linear, often cynical, frame of mind and become empty, open, and curious…listening for the whispers of guidance that come.  We must become comfortable with uncertainty as to outcome, and hold only the certainty of the dream.

This is not a one-time action. The action at Standing Rock is based in prayer and ceremony. Through ceremony we maintain this relationship with our prayer, with the ancestors and the spirits that guide us. Each act we make from a ceremonial mindset establishes a link with our prayer, opens the gateways for guidance, opens our hearts and minds to listen. 

Ceremony can feel like it has to be something big, or formal, or woo-woo. Actually, it can be as simple as closing your eyes and listening, or lighting some sage or incense, or sitting by a fire and contemplating. Even thinking about your prayer and the ancestors as you go about your day, washing dishes, or shoveling snow. Each time a thought goes through your mind related to your prayer, acknowledge it, acknowledge the ancestors, thank them for their guidance, and LISTEN.

Ceremony is a crucial aspect of maintaining the energy field you build with your prayers. This is the legacy being shared with us by the elders at Standing Rock. They are showing the way for resistance not only by saying NO, but by holding the energy field, the YES, so powerfully that the no cannot overtake it.

They invited non-indigenous people to become a part of this movement—in itself, this is an unprecedented act. A new legacy. The ancestors and the elders sent out a call, and those who heard the call showed up, either in person or in prayer. White folks, from all over the world, showed up in support of those same tribes whom our ancestors nearly obliterated. They welcomed us with generosity and openness. Many of us came with a message, whether spoken or silent, in our hearts: I'm sorry. I'm here now to support you. 

And then the veterans heard the call. What started as a group of 500 to 1000 in initial planning turned into thousands of US Veterans came to Standing Rock. A powerful military presence, only this time they didn’t circle the tribe with guns pointed inward, wreaking havoc and death on the natives. 

This time they circled the tribe and turned around, hearts forward, to protect them. In a powerful forgiveness ceremony, the words were spoken: I’m sorry. I'm here now to support you. And the words were received and acknowledged by the elders. Powerful healing on so many levels. A new legacy.

So a new legacy…what does that mean for us going forward? We’ve been shown the power of creating a field of prayer around our intentions. We’ve been shown the power of taking a stand for all that is life-affirming, all that protects our children’s future and our planet and those who are marginalized in this world. We’ve been shown the power of opening our hearts and hands to those who once were our oppressors. 

And we’ve been shown the power of I’m sorry. Of choosing a new way forward, with intention and grace. Of taking a stand and holding it. No matter what, holding it. Of asking for guidance and of listening before acting.

These are practices we can apply in our daily lives in many ways, big and small. This is a legacy we can carry forward ourselves and share with others. How many ways can you build prayer and ceremony into your daily life in order to dream forward the future?

With respect,

Zardoya

What can we learn from Standing Rock? Part One

I’ve been deeply moved by the indigenous people gathering at Standing Rock in North Dakota ever since I first heard of their cause. And, while I’m definitely in alignment with the cause, I’m most deeply impacted by their methods. The deeper cause, of coming together in a peaceful manner to put a stake in the ground for life.

From the beginning I’ve felt they are modeling something important for us all. After a week in the Rosebud Camp at Standing Rock, serving in a medic tent for 12 to 16 hours a day as the wind howled and the snow blew sideways, I’m more certain than ever. We, the people of this country—the people of this world—must pay attention. Our future depends on it.

It’s going to take awhile for me to “unpack” my time on that land with the people. The energies I felt there, the people I interacted with, and the stories that were shared with me. My intention has never been to blog about my experience there. It was deeply personal. And yet, many are asking. It feels important to share perspective, to explore what the indigenous people are showing us, and what their methods and history can teach us.

Each newcomer to the Standing Rock camps is asked to attend an orientation session in which the principles of the camp are explained. The four principles the camps live by are:

• We are indigenous centered.
• We are building a new legacy here.
• Every person is important and useful.
• Bring it home.

I’ve been contemplating each of these principles since I first heard them, and feel there is much we can learn by diving into them. And so I offer what I can to you all: my perspective, my words. Over the next weeks, as I unpack, I will share my thoughts here, with you.

Part One: We are Indigenous Centered

Indigenous means native. Natural. Inherent. For me, it means one who is deeply connected to the essence and interconnectedness of all of Life. Sacred.

There are some on earth who walk with the memory of this natural, inherent connection with All that Is. Many indigenous cultures have retained this wisdom. Many who are non-indigenous, who have had this inherent wisdom domesticated out of us, generation after generation—we are seeking, learning, working at re-connecting. And many don’t have a clue, or even a care, as to what I’m talking about.

Standing Rock is an indigenous camp. This is made abundantly clear in every facebook post, every online site, every communication from the camp. To create a movement that is indigenous centered is to honor the sacred essence of life. What makes the movement at Standing Rock unique is that is has been, from its inception, a prayer-based movement, initiated by women and youth, and held by the elders. This is the connection that those of us who are non-indigenous are being stretched to comprehend, and to live within.

The indigenous people gathered at Standing Rock have opened their hands and their hearts to non-indigenous people across the globe. They asked for our support and invited us to their home. The camps are filled with white faces—definitely the majority. Some of these people get the principle of in indigenous centered camp, and some don’t.

Sure, on the surface the principle is simple. We’re the boss here. Right? But it is so much more. We have been invited to take a look at our assumptions of white privilege, and to set them aside and move in a new way. To honor a different way of being in the world—one that is connected to the source of life, to the earth, to the heart. To set aside our impatient way of moving, our judgments as to what is or is not effective, our ceaseless questioning. Our ceaseless questions.

To remember always that we are guests, and that indigenous wisdom is at the heart of this movement.

Again and again I witnessed native people gently correcting the assumptions of white people. A personal example: when the blizzard stopped, I went outside to find someone and encountered a Lakota elder shoveling snow. I greeted him, and made an offhand comment about how I didn’t like it when it rained for hours before the first snow, as it had done in this case. Leaves so much ice under the snow, I said. What a mess. The man held my eyes in a gentle gaze, and he said “Mni waconi. Water is life, and she comes to us in many ways. I am grateful.”

My perspective shifted immediately and profoundly. No chastisement, no shaming. Open-hearted. Grateful. Gentle. My offhand comment, one that is as much a part of Minnesota heritage as “Hey, is it hot enough for ya?,” is a demonstration of my own disconnect with nature, and all the ways she comes to us. An old habit of sliding into sanctioned cultural sound-bites, rather than taking a moment to appreciate what is.

We, the white folks of this land, have been domesticated out of our connection to source, to nature, to life. For generations we’ve been told we have dominion over the earth, the skies, the animal world, even other races of humans. Many of us are coming home to this understanding, bit by bit. We’re talking the talk, which is a start. The indigenous tribes at Standing Rock are showing us how to walk the walk.

We live in a world of preference and aversion. How things “should” be, even how rain and snow should fall from the sky. We’ve been taught to question everything. That there is an answer for everything. Maybe even that we know the answer to everything. Really?

What would it be like to live in a world where we walked in intimate connection with life? With nature—the plants, the water, the animals, the land? Where we were comfortable sitting with a question in our heart, receiving the many cues and teachings from life related to that question organically, as they emerge?

Where we appreciated the many facets of nature, from rain to snow to hot summer sun? Where we trusted the wisdom of our elders, and treated them with respect. Always. Where we understood the power of prayerful intention, and knew when to put a stake in the ground for life?

Where we invited others—even those whose ancestors played a role in colonizing and nearly eradicating our race—to join hands and hearts with us?

This is no small action. Native Americans are the most marginalized people in this country. And yet they are reaching out to us. To white people. To colonizers. There’s a willingness to show the way forward. A humble knowing that there is no other way. This is an unprecedented act of wisdom and courage. From where I sit, if we (white people) stand a chance at waking up, at survival, we must pay attention to all of our indigenous brothers and sisters. Those who have not lost their connection with the source of life. Those who remember how to pray. Those who know how to gently but fiercely protect all that is sacred.

We don't need to be present on the land in North Dakota to receive these teachings. Listen. Watch. Learn. Take it in. All of it. Even the squirmy parts when our white privilege is revealed to us. And for each of us who reads these words and thinks we're already there, that we're already "doing it," I challenge you to dig more deeply. Pay attention. Once you open this doorway, once you ask for this teaching, it will come to you. In countless ways, it will come.

Each one of us who makes this request is making an unprecedented act of wisdom and courage. Stay open to the whisper-teachings that are coming to us in this time.

Because the time is now.  

With respect,

Zardoya