“When you know who you are; when your mission is clear and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.”
~ Chief Seattle, Duwamish (1780-1866)
Wow, what a stormy morning here in the VI with lots of thunder and lightening, which always make me feel very connected to mother earth. The colors of the sky were really amazing and ominous! The heavy thunder prompted me to search out for an American Indian Teaching. And as I do so, I’m sending out positive vibes that this little wave will hurry out out of here for all my friends participating in our Annual Chili Cookoff today. Good luck one and all !!!
And I know that you will get a little cosmic chuck out of this … I sure did. For as this is for me, since you are reading this, it must be for you too. As I googled “Indian Teachings”, I was drawn to a page with an excerpt from “Nature’s Way: Native Wisdom for Living in Balance With the Earth” by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, with a story on The Teepee in the Water.
The story was posted on a site called in5d.com, and their homepage reads: Welcome to in5d, an Esoteric, Metaphysical and Spiritual Database where you are never alone! Your spiritual path led you to in5d! Like an 11:11 synchronicity, this is not a coincidence! in5d is one of the internet’s largest resources for articles and videos about spiritual awakening. LOL … I love how easily all these resources are appearing lately. One more amazing page to add to my growing list of spiritual resources, which I will get published for all of you before I go.
So here’s the Story of the Teepee in the Water …. Enjoy, and I wish you all a blessed Sunday ❤
The Teepee in the Water by by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, of the Oglala Sioux tribe
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A teepee was behind us, and we saw its reflection in the water in front of us. Chief Eagle Feather pointed to the water and exclaimed, “Nephew, now there is a teaching.”
“That teepee reflecting in the water, it is telling us something Almighty wants us to know.” The reflected teepee stood out clearly in the Missouri River backwater before us.
“If you go and dive into that water, Nephew, you will not find that teepee.” He would always start out with something that was, like that statement, basically simple and obvious. “ If you walk over there and look in the water, you will see yourself. Now what does that tell you, Nephew?”
Knowing that I didn’t know the answer, he continued.
“That teepee in the water tells us first that there is a world beyond. Some say the Spirit World. Next it tells us that we have a home in the Spirit World. But if you want to jump in the water now, you will not find it.”
He stood up and motioned for me to follow to the water’s edge. When we looked down in the water, we saw both our reflections. He pointed at my shadow, now long as the sun pursued its downward trail to the west. “Ho wana [Now] what is that?”
“My shadow,” I answered.
“Oh huh,” he grunted. “When you die, you will no longer have a shadow. Your shadow will then go into the teepee’s reflection through the teepee’s door, and you will have found your home!”
I followed him back to the teepee and we sat down in front of it. “All these things are simple, Nephew, yet they are way beyond the wah shi chu.” (He used the Lakota Sioux term for “white men,” but that term can easily be understood as “Dominant Society,” from his perspective.) His look brightened.
“You will come to learn that every little thing the Creator makes, no matter how unimportant it seems, has a teaching.”
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And happy birthday to my brother, who would be 44 today. While you are not in my sight, I know you are never far away. I love you. You continue to inspire me every day ❤
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his religion.
Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.
Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools and robs their spirit of its vision.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
~ Tecumseh, Shawnee (1768-1813)
Resources:
http://www.californiaindianeducation.org/inspire/traditional/
