All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.These are the things I learned:
-Share everything.
-Play fair.
-Don't hit people.
-Put things back where you found them.
-Clean up your own mess.
-Don't take things that aren't yours.
-Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
-Wash your hands before you eat.
-Flush.
-Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
-Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
-Take a nap every afternoon.
-When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
-Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
-Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
-And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
---By Robert Fulghum
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sweat Lodge
Sweat Lodge is the most popular ceremony practised by Native Americans. It is where people come together to make contact with the Creator. The lodge is dome-shaped like Meng Gu Bao, which represent womb of mother. People take off watches, earrings, necklace or glasses before going into the lodge to remember that we came into this world naked without bringing anything with us. The ceremony accepts all nations. They use four colors to represent four directions and also four nations of people. Yellow is yellow people from East, red is Native American from North, blue is black people from South, and white is White people from West. The ceremony goes through four rounds; the first round is Cleansing, second Request, third Healing, and the last one, Gratitude. There are some different colors and rounds during the ceremony from different regions or tribes, each with somewhat different proceedings but in general, the sweat lodge is the sacred place where the participants concentrate on their spirits, to get cleansed physically, mentally and spiritually, to talk to our ancestors, to prey, to make wishes and to ask help.
I met a lady who is a Native American. We became friends. Her husband Neil is the leader for hosting the sweat lodge ceremony. I was so happy to have chance to participate the sweat lodge ceremony myself to experience the way they do. The ceremony started at 6:00pm on this Saturday, the preparation began two hours earlier. In order to see the whole proceeding I went there a little after 4:00pm, Neil was there with other two people, they were burning wood to heat stones to get ready for the ceremony. Each stone is around 6” size, some smaller or bigger. The number of stones may vary each time. This time, 64 stones were heated for about 2 hours until they turn red, ready to use, and16 stones would be brought in for each round. Since I was the first one to be there before the ceremony, Neil had time to show me around and explain some procedures and meaning of the lodge. The lodge can hold max 35 people. He was happy to see me there too since I am from East to represent the Yellow. It is amazing that I saw Chinese character ZHI (Wisdom) in the lodge. it was hang on there for years.
There are two change rooms for both man and woman. People wear whatever comfortable with, long underwear, pajamas or robes and also bring towers. Women wear skirts on the top of long underwear, some men naked top with underwear. There is a fire pit in the center of the lodge. The 16 red stones were brought from outside into the pit before the ceremony started. Each person stood in front of the door, took a circle turn and said “All Relations”, then went inside clockwise, Woman sat on east while men on west. The first time when the leader poured water on the hot stone, the door was open, let the dusk go out, and then closed the door. It was totally dark inside; I could not see anything in front of me, neither did anyone else but Neil said, Hey, YJ, I saw the halo around you. I did not really know what Halo was in English and of course I could not see anything at all so I asked what was halo. They all laughed. The halo is a circle of light around an angel. He was teasing me. Then we started the first round-Cleansing. The leader poured water on the hot stones, the lodge became hot by the steam like a sauna room which made our whole body sweating. Then leader started singing after prey, some played drums, some rattles, and the rest of us hummed with the songs. Every time I heard Native People’s song, I got feeling that I was in the very wide endless area like mountains or desert, the songs penetrate through the sky and reach the high above the sky. Now I was sitting there and hummed the songs with them. My whole body started sweating. I am not the person sweating a lot even in the hot summer but I could feel the drippings on my face and in front of my chest.
After cleansing round, you could go out for a rest or stayed inside, waiting for next round-Request. During request round, everyone took turn to make request for themself, their family, their friends or for the governments, or anyone or anything you concerned in the good way and kindness way. You could speak your own language. One man from Denmark spoke both Danish and English at the request. I followed the other people and asked for peace of mind and wished my daughter’s wish come true. Then another sweating came by pouring water on the stones by leader. For the last two rounds, another man took leading the ceremony, people were soaked in the wet sweating like sauna or hot spring and hummed with songs. After the four rounds, people came out from the lodge, men first, then women followed. The first person stood at the right side of the door, the second gave a hug to the first and stood after the first. All the rest people came out, gave hugs to the people in front and stood after one by one. I was the last second, gave hug to each one in front of me and stood at the end and accepted the last hug from the last person.
After sweating, we changed our wet clothes in the change room, dressed same as when we came and women still had their skirts on the top of our normal dressing. We sat around a circle, started another ceremony-Smoke Pipes. Each pipe, about 2 ft, a little different shape but they all have a tube and a holder, similar to Chinese Yan Dou but longer. Four people held pipes with dry sage leave inside, Lit it up and smoked, then passed to the person on his or her left side until the pipe went back to the one who held the pipe first. You don’t have to smoke if you don’t like to; but held it with your left hand on the bottom and right on the top. You touched your chest with the pipe and made wish and passed it on to next person. When the first pipe came, you smoked it, held the smoking from your top head to your feet. The other three pipes came to you; you smoked, or just passed on. I tried smoking as the others did. I did not feel like smoking at all as I thought it might make me cough, no strong taste. The last people who held pipes would keep smoking until no sage leave left in the pipe. Then it was the end of Sweat Lodge Ceremony.
It was cold outside and the ceremony started at evening. Only nine people came to this sweat lodge. Nornally around 20 people. One of participators looked at me and said: It is your first sweat lodge. I said, Yes but not the last one. He was glad to hear that. I do wish I would come as possible as I can. They are very kind and nice people. Before leaving one guy gave me a small bag of grounded sage leaves. I really enjoy being around with them.
I met a lady who is a Native American. We became friends. Her husband Neil is the leader for hosting the sweat lodge ceremony. I was so happy to have chance to participate the sweat lodge ceremony myself to experience the way they do. The ceremony started at 6:00pm on this Saturday, the preparation began two hours earlier. In order to see the whole proceeding I went there a little after 4:00pm, Neil was there with other two people, they were burning wood to heat stones to get ready for the ceremony. Each stone is around 6” size, some smaller or bigger. The number of stones may vary each time. This time, 64 stones were heated for about 2 hours until they turn red, ready to use, and16 stones would be brought in for each round. Since I was the first one to be there before the ceremony, Neil had time to show me around and explain some procedures and meaning of the lodge. The lodge can hold max 35 people. He was happy to see me there too since I am from East to represent the Yellow. It is amazing that I saw Chinese character ZHI (Wisdom) in the lodge. it was hang on there for years.
There are two change rooms for both man and woman. People wear whatever comfortable with, long underwear, pajamas or robes and also bring towers. Women wear skirts on the top of long underwear, some men naked top with underwear. There is a fire pit in the center of the lodge. The 16 red stones were brought from outside into the pit before the ceremony started. Each person stood in front of the door, took a circle turn and said “All Relations”, then went inside clockwise, Woman sat on east while men on west. The first time when the leader poured water on the hot stone, the door was open, let the dusk go out, and then closed the door. It was totally dark inside; I could not see anything in front of me, neither did anyone else but Neil said, Hey, YJ, I saw the halo around you. I did not really know what Halo was in English and of course I could not see anything at all so I asked what was halo. They all laughed. The halo is a circle of light around an angel. He was teasing me. Then we started the first round-Cleansing. The leader poured water on the hot stones, the lodge became hot by the steam like a sauna room which made our whole body sweating. Then leader started singing after prey, some played drums, some rattles, and the rest of us hummed with the songs. Every time I heard Native People’s song, I got feeling that I was in the very wide endless area like mountains or desert, the songs penetrate through the sky and reach the high above the sky. Now I was sitting there and hummed the songs with them. My whole body started sweating. I am not the person sweating a lot even in the hot summer but I could feel the drippings on my face and in front of my chest.
After cleansing round, you could go out for a rest or stayed inside, waiting for next round-Request. During request round, everyone took turn to make request for themself, their family, their friends or for the governments, or anyone or anything you concerned in the good way and kindness way. You could speak your own language. One man from Denmark spoke both Danish and English at the request. I followed the other people and asked for peace of mind and wished my daughter’s wish come true. Then another sweating came by pouring water on the stones by leader. For the last two rounds, another man took leading the ceremony, people were soaked in the wet sweating like sauna or hot spring and hummed with songs. After the four rounds, people came out from the lodge, men first, then women followed. The first person stood at the right side of the door, the second gave a hug to the first and stood after the first. All the rest people came out, gave hugs to the people in front and stood after one by one. I was the last second, gave hug to each one in front of me and stood at the end and accepted the last hug from the last person.
After sweating, we changed our wet clothes in the change room, dressed same as when we came and women still had their skirts on the top of our normal dressing. We sat around a circle, started another ceremony-Smoke Pipes. Each pipe, about 2 ft, a little different shape but they all have a tube and a holder, similar to Chinese Yan Dou but longer. Four people held pipes with dry sage leave inside, Lit it up and smoked, then passed to the person on his or her left side until the pipe went back to the one who held the pipe first. You don’t have to smoke if you don’t like to; but held it with your left hand on the bottom and right on the top. You touched your chest with the pipe and made wish and passed it on to next person. When the first pipe came, you smoked it, held the smoking from your top head to your feet. The other three pipes came to you; you smoked, or just passed on. I tried smoking as the others did. I did not feel like smoking at all as I thought it might make me cough, no strong taste. The last people who held pipes would keep smoking until no sage leave left in the pipe. Then it was the end of Sweat Lodge Ceremony.
It was cold outside and the ceremony started at evening. Only nine people came to this sweat lodge. Nornally around 20 people. One of participators looked at me and said: It is your first sweat lodge. I said, Yes but not the last one. He was glad to hear that. I do wish I would come as possible as I can. They are very kind and nice people. Before leaving one guy gave me a small bag of grounded sage leaves. I really enjoy being around with them.
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