We are one. We just appear as individuals. And that too often leads to trouble.
About 75 people were on hand in Marran Theater Nov. 1 to hear the wisdom — often sung — of Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo, founder and spiritual director of the Vermont-based Sunray Meditation Society and Sunray Peace Village Land Trust. She was the guest speaker of our Fall 2018 Sankofa Lecture Series.
Venerable Dhyani is chief of the Green Mountain band of Ani Yun Wiwa, including descendants of Tsalagi (Cherokee) background. She has designed and taught programs for training peacemakers, mediators and CEOs. The programs are infused with Ani Yun Wiwa and Tibetan wisdom.
“Who is a Cherokee, who is a Choctaw, who is a Native American? What purpose does the divisiveness serve?” Venerable asked rhetorically. “The idea of ‘them’ and ‘us’ is an illusion that gives rise to suffering.”
Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo.
Before she spoke, however, the event kicked off with about 10 minutes of chanting and dance by five women in colorful, flowing garments. Their movements were reminiscent of the Chinese martial art Tai Chi, widely practiced for its health benefits. Venerable sat still at center stage, appearing deep in meditation, while the women performed the Dance of the Four Directions behind her, accompanied by a man striking a slim handheld drum like a slow, arrhythmic heartbeat.
After the dancers left the stage, Jennifer Castro, director of Multicultural Affairs & Student Inclusion, explained the purpose of the lecture.
“The Sankofa Lecture Series was established to create a forum for thought-provoking diversity- and inclusion-themed presentations on current hot topics, led by guest scholars, authors and researchers within academia and in greater society,” Castro said.
She added that, “The meaning of the word ‘Sankofa’ asks that we embrace our past in order to have a more rewarding future.” She then introduced a former Lesley professor, Dr. Aziza Bey, to introduce Venerable, calling the speaker an “international leader and spiritual teacher” (and calling Castro a “miracle worker” for pulling the event together).
Venerable’s teachings
Venerable’s remarks, delivered in a deliberate and soothing manner, repeated the themes of the oneness of humanity and its connection with the earth and cosmos. She spoke, too, of how we change the world by changing ourselves.
“We can turn around the thoughtform of confusion by diving deeply into the heart’s natural state,” she said, rather than being tripped up by distractions of political and social rancor. “What do I transform? One’s own reaction.”
She added, “Are there any echoes in our own hearts of that anger, that fear and aggression? When there arises annoyance in the heart, it is our choice. I could respond with anger” or in a more harmonious, positive way, even in the face of racism, sexism and other bigotry, which she chalked up to “forgetting how we as human beings are deeply connected.”
As she spoke, slides from nature and space were on display behind her.
“Just as the trees are linked,” she said before an image of evergreens, “… so we are linked” in the “circle of reciprocation,” carbon dioxide being traded for oxygen.
“The mind finds ease, breath becomes more deep, when walking through the forest,” she said. “The wise person understands, ‘Let me quiet my heart-mind, let me listen to what the universe reveals.’”
If one is sufficiently attentive, what will be revealed is love, which she called “the most profound energy.”
“Like bubbles arising in the curl of the wave, momentarily we appear as individuals,” she said. “Pacifying aggression, it means taking charge of our own speech, noticing when we react.”
And such a skill is crucial in today’s period of dissension, even hatred, she indicated.
“Your words have meaning, so let’s take care with our words,” she said. “For a moment, look at the words that flow through you — are they yours? Most are not!”