Monday, November 24, we will meet online.
Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, November 24, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, November 26, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, November 28, 12-1PM ET online.
On Monday, as we continue our celebration of Native American Day, Magda will guide us in exploring Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on reverence for our ancestors. She will share reflections on the gifts of wisdom and healing offered by three more Indigenous traditions.
This week, Magda will honor the Navajo, Apache, and Lakota peoples—especially the women she has encountered throughout her life and deeply admires.
Please wear comfortable clothing, as Magda will also guide us in an Earth Touching Ceremony.
The Navajo
“With beauty before me, I walk.
With beauty behind me, I walk.
With beauty below me, I walk.
With beauty above me, I walk.
With beauty all around me, I walk.”
Prayer of the Navajo
The Navajo (Diné) people hold a vast treasury of spiritual, artistic, and ecological wisdom. Their gifts arise from the principle of Hózhó—living in beauty and in balance with all beings. To walk in Hózhó is to live with awareness that every thought, word, and action affects the harmony of life. This worldview is reflected in such practices as the Blessing Way Ceremony, in which prayer, song, and sand painting restore balance between humanity and nature, reminding us that healing is both communal and spiritual.
Navajo weaving, often practiced by women, is a sacred art form that mirrors the structure of the universe—threads of sky, earth, and spirit interwoven into living prayers. Navajo stories of the Holy People, the sacred mountains, and the origins of life contain cosmological teachings that guide ethical and ecological living. The Navajo see the land as a sacred relative; I am fascinated by their self-conception as existing within the embrace of four sacred mountains, a vision I’ve sought to capture in my illustration. Despite centuries of displacement, they have maintained their language, culture, and ceremonies, offering the world enduring gifts of beauty, harmony, and resilience.
A very special Navajo woman for me is Genevieve, whom I met in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during one of my journeys celebrating Indigenous spirituality. Since then, I have purchased jewelry exclusively from her. I once wrote:
Another powerful encounter I had in New Mexico was
with an Indigenous woman. The meaning of this meeting had
most to do with our condition as daughters. We met on a day
I was feeling sad, realizing that my elderly mother would
never visit New Mexico with me again. I was looking for a pair
of turquoise earrings to give her, but aware of the exploitation
of Indigenous people, I decided to buy only from the natives.
That decision led me to meet Genevieve. I loved her direct
way of speaking and the sense of dignity with which she
conducts herself, like she really knows where she comes
from. I noticed no complex of inferiority or superiority, no
illusion of separateness in her. I have bought a number of
pieces of jewelry from her ever since, mostly through
correspondence. Genevieve always sends me free jewelry
during any of our exchanges. I don’t dare return whatever she
sends as I know that it comes from the heart.
About one year ago, Genevieve and I met again during
Covid times. After I described what I had gone through taking
care of my ailing mother, she suddenly started adding
jewelry pieces that I had not paid for. Crying, she said: “You
are making me miss my mother. She recently died.” When
she met my son, for whom I had asked her to create a
necklace, she hugged him. When I meet her daughters I
know I will do the same. (Walking on Earth with Thich Nhat Hanh, p. 23)
The Apache
“French colonialists in Vietnam sought to erase our sacred lands, where our ancestors rest, intending to build Christian temples over them.” Sister Tue Nghiem’s words to pilgrims gathered in Hue for the Ashes Ceremony honoring Thich Nhat Hanh
“Just as Mount Sinai is a holy place to Christians, Oak Flat is the equivalent for us …. There are no human actions or steps that could make this place whole again or restore it once lost.” Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West, p. 21
I have gained a great appreciation for the Apache through my involvement with the Earth Holders. During my recent facilitation I met Louise Dunlap and Cheryl Procaccini, members of a Buddhist group that includes Plum Village disciples, aspiring to protect Oak Flat—land sacred to the Apache people. Dr. Wendsler Nosie has long been a courageous defender of this site, which is under threat from mining interests. During his tour across the United States he visited the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist congregation, not far from our sangha.
Another advocate I admire is the young Naelyn Pike, whose name means Apache Woman. She spoke before the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining in 2013. She had participated in her Sun Dance the year before. Her testimony at the hearing is featured in Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West:
My great-grandmother and her people fought to keep Oak Flat and Apache Leap. My great-grandmother and my ancestors lived along the ridge of Oak Flat and along the river which runs down from the north. My younger sister, Nizhoni, will be having her Sunrise Ceremony at Oak Flat in October. Oak Flat was brought to her in a dream. Now I am preparing for her ceremony. We pray that this holy place will not be destroyed by this time, so my great-grandmother can see her great-granddaughter be blessed into womanhood where our ancestors once called home.... Why would you want to mine and destroy Oak Flat and Apache Leap? Will there really be that many jobs? For a long period of time? Can you not see the life it gives? Are you blinded by your greed? Please make me understand why you could do such horrid things to these holy precious lands. (p. 23)
Louise shared that October 13th marked what may have been the last Sun Dance at Oak Flat—a thought that fills me with deep sadness. The Sun Dance is not only a rite of passage for young girls, testing their endurance and devotion, but also a collective prayer for the land, their community, and all the beings that depend on it. Our Engaged Mindfulness group has invited the Oak Flat Buddhist group to present in December, leading a beautiful meditation and discussing their ongoing efforts. Their community continues to grow organically, now including members from our sangha and the Earth Holder Sangha.
The Lakota
“In today’s Lakota Sun Dance, a woman is selected to become White Buffalo Calf Woman, she who will dance with the pipe and endure and sacrifice much the same way as the men do.” The Spirit of Indian Women (p. xvi)
My favorite Lakota legend is that of White Buffalo Calf Woman. This story, told by members of the Lakota subculture, honors the sacred feminine and teaches the importance of maintaining right and reciprocal relationships between humans and the natural world.
My husband now works in North Dakota, so I will be spending part of my time there and hope to learn more about the traditions of the Sioux communities—Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota—as well as the Mandan people and their history. At a recent gathering at the Bismarck Unitarian Universalist Congregation, a Lakota woman spoke with deep sincerity and strength. She asked powerful questions, such as: What would you do if so much were taken from you—your lands, your language, your way of life?
Her presence was direct and grounded, radiating the same strength I have witnessed in my Piscataway, Taíno, Osage, Navajo, and Apache sisters. Just as Thich Nhat Hanh would have urged, she spoke of resistance, which seemed to me, not from anger but from love for one’s people, one’s ancestors, and the sacred Earth that sustains us.
After my recent presentation on my latest book, where I also spoke about the Earth Holders, she approached me with joy and said, “I love the concept of the Earth Holders—I have never heard of it.” She shared the story of a family member who, after struggling with alcoholism, turned to Buddhism. His new peaceful demeanor had become quite noticeable to the family.
She had also brought an exquisite collection of Lakota clothing and jewelry—very precious pieces that were displayed in the congregation space of the church. With a satisfied expression, she said, “I brought all of this.”
The Hands of our Ancestresses
As I mentioned last week, one of the rituals I cherish in our Journeywomen gatherings at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Maryland is lighting candles for our ancestresses. We always light three—one for a founder, one for a member who has recently passed, and one for all our ancestresses, sisters, and female descendants. Each time the flames rise, I am reminded of the many Indigenous women whose hands have shaped this land and whose wisdom continues to guide us: the Piscataway women of the Chesapeake, the matriarchs of Latinx lineages across the Americas, the Osage, the Navajo peoples, the Apache, and the Sioux nations—especially the Lakota—whose teachings on courage, balance, and reverence endure.
I am especially moved by how the hands of our ancestresses live on with us. Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us to look at our hands and see our mothers and grandmothers still there. When I create art, I see not only Thay’s graceful calligraphy but also my Venezuelan grandmother’s loving touch—her art, her faith, her resilience. In the same way, I feel the presence of the Indigenous women who shaped their communities with steadfast love, ceremony, and bravery. Like them, I hope to use my own hands to nurture healing, solidarity, and connection for generations to come.
We will explore the following questions after our meditation period:
Who are the ancestresses or ancestors I admire and why?
How can I teach the values of resilience, creativity and mindfulness to younger generations?
How can I help restore harmony with the earth through my own hands?
Magda
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WAYS TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES:
Local Indigenous Market:
The Engaged Mindfulness Working Group invites the Opening Heart Mindfulness Community to attend a Craft Fair on Saturday, December 6, from 10 AM to 4 PM. The Fair is sponsored by the American Indian Society of Washington, DC, along with the Amish and Quaker communities.
Please contact Magda Cabrero at magda.cabrero@truejustice4youth.org if you would like to join her group which will leave around 10:00 from OHMC.
Location:
Sandy Spring Friends' Meeting House
17715 Meeting House Road
Sandy Spring, Maryland”
Oak Flat Buddhist Vigils - Chanting & Meditations:
Wednesdays 11:30 AM-12 PM Eastern Time.
Pre-Registration https://luma.com/cjnxq6a8?tk=HfgBI6
You're welcome to put "0" when asked to pay. You'll receive and ever fresh link you can save
BOOKS
Oak Flat: The Fight for Sacred Land in the American West by Lauren Redniss
Silence: Listening to the Land, Healing the Colonizer Mind by Louise Dunlap.(Louise's newsletter: louisedunlap.net)
Meet Naiche: A Native Boy from the Chesapeake Bay Area by Gabrielle Tayac
The Spirit of Indian Women edited by Judith Fitzgerald and Michael Oren Fitzgerald
Hasta los baños te curan: Plantas medicinales, remedios caseros y sanación espiritual en Puerto Rico (Even the Baths Heal You: Medicinal Plants, Home Remedies, and Spiritual Healing in Puerto Rico) by María Benedetti