At the first Meditation Party retreat I did with my friends
and at the Omega Institute, Sebene offered a beautiful land acknowledgment to the Haudenosaunee peoples, who still live and claim their sovereignty in upstate New York. She also acknowledged the Shinnecock Nation, the Unkechaug Nation, the Stockbridge-Munsee, and the Lenni Lenape peoples, many of whom were forcibly removed from the area.
The mountains and forests and valleys of New York state shaped the original cultures who lived there, and that terrain in turn was shaped by Indigenous settlements and their careful agricultural practices. The famous Haudenosaunee Confederacy is considered one of the oldest participatory democracies on the planet. Its constitution – called “The Great Law of Peace” – was written on wampum belts, and is said to have inspired parts of the U.S. Constitution.
Sebene's land acknowledgment was framed around interconnection. The idea that all of us are here right now, living the exact lives we’re living – with their privileges and hardships, their beauty and injuries – as a direct consequence of the numberless causes and conditions that came before us.
What happens when we acknowledge these connections? Maybe we feel thankful. Maybe we feel inspired to act, or to learn more. Maybe nothing happens at all, at least in the moment. Yet simply participating in an acknowledgement can set new things in motion.
Today’s meditation focuses on gratitude and interconnection. Gratitude towards the land, the local configuration of stone and earth, the unique flora and fauna. Gratitude towards the land’s original inhabitants, whose influences continue to shape our own opportunities and experiences. Gratitude towards our ancestors, their challenges and loves and lives. And gratitude towards our immediate benefactors, our mentors, family, friends – our community.
Buddhists have a beautiful metaphor for this network of causality: Indra’s Net stretches infinitely through time and space. In each square of netting is a glittering jewel, and on its multifaceted surface is a reflection of every other jewel. One of these jewels is you.
And one is me! Without my connection to Buddhist teachers and Buddhist culture, I would not be doing what I’m doing. Here is my own set of lineage acknowledgments, from my main website.
Gratitude is one of the best feelings I know, and one of the best habits, too. It can place our narrow concerns onto a bigger canvas, so let's try it out.
Thank you!
Jeff
PS: Last Monday September 30th marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation here in Canada, where I live. Learn more about it: https://nctr.ca/
This is new. Tasha and I met Ross and Dimitri of Cardea a couple of years ago and hit it off. In particular, we liked their playful approach to psychedelics. This weekend in New York is an experiment. Twenty people only (screened by Cardea’s in-house psychiatrist), will join us for a weekend of ceremony, art, and meditation. Two evening ketamine sessions, with meditation and other practices during the day. Very curious how it will go. Ketamine isn’t right for everyone and it isn’t necessary for anyone. That said, the (legal) ceremonies I’ve done with it have been inspiring: mystery, mysticism, and magic, with humbling insight and renewed creativity. Meditation teaches you how to be with what is; at their best, ketamine and other psychedelics offer a vision of what could be. We need both. If you’re interested or have questions, please contact Cardea at the link below.
Have a meditation request?
Great – please fill out this form. Write (brief) context about you and your situation, including what’s helped in the past, or where your curiosity comes from. Although I can’t respond to all requests, the act of simply stating a situation – and naming what’s already been supportive – can be clarifying and helpful.
Once a month, I choose one question, and write both a response and a meditation. These make up Hey Jeff, a column available to paid subscribers.
Thank you.
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