Sweet grass Teachings

Sweet grass Teachings These teachings will empower people to make positive changes in their lives. Through an understanding we can begin to see how we as human beings function and how we can heal ourselves and free ourselves from our personal past. Long ago our people were healthy and happy, how did they do this? What did they do to maintain this happiness? The answer to these questions lies in our beautiful culture. It is my belief that everything we need as Indian people can be found in our culture. Our people had no jails or asylums we were mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally healthy. We did not have psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors. If we had need of help we looked to our medicine people, elders and our own spirituality. Sweet Grass teachings will lead us back to our culture and more importantly back to ourselves. What will be shared is found deep within the teachings of our elders. We need only to listen and hear our ancestors speak to us from inside each one of us. Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind, Whose breath gives life to all the world. Some universal truths that have to be realized as facts are: 1. We are thinking beings, we are constantly thinking. 2. What energy we put out is what we get back. 3. Life is a moment to moment creation. Long before contact with European people our people shared a knowledge that was passed on from generation to generation. This knowledge was given to us by Creator. This sharing was done in the winter time because it is known that the spirits are away at this time. It is through our stories and legends that we receive our teachings of health and morals and how to be in life. The stories were told by our elders and every person present would listen because of the respect we have for our elders. Our teachings are powerful they give us meaning and identity. It is identity that is the beginning of our journey back to our health, happiness and points us back to the wisdom hidden within us all. Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom. Listening is the most important tool to learning and growth. Today there are two ways of listening one way is the way our ancestors listened and the other, the way

that was brought by the Europeans. We as Native people are genetically programmed to listen and learn in a way that differs from what is being taught in school today. We must relearn how to listen like our ancestors did. Here is a story about listening: There was this young man, he had a question on his mind. The young man wished the advice of an elder. The young man asked his question. The elder sat quietly for a moment and then started to speak. The elder had only got out a few words when suddenly the young man spoke out and said, Is this what you mean? The elder paused and said, No please listen. The elder continued answering the question and was interrupted once more by the young man. The young man said, Is this what you mean? The elder shook his head and said, Please listen. The elder continued and was interrupted yet again. This time the elder stopped and said, You are not listening to me. The young man said, Yes I am and the elder said, You cannot be listening to me if you are asking a question. The teaching of this is that it is impossible to listen when you are thinking of what to answer before the speaker is finished. If you are listening without having any thoughts you will be able to fully understand what the speaker is saying. Doing this will give you the best answer and also bring about a beautiful feeling of communication. This story shows us how when we are listening our minds can wander, even one word can send us to a different place. We could see the mouth moving and even hear the noise of the speaker but are we really listening if our thoughts are elsewhere? Try listening without getting into analyzing every word and then you will be listening as our ancestors did. Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Hidden within sweet grass is the key to a healthy happy life. The teaching of Mind, Body and Spirit are powerful gifts given to the humans by Creator. The teaching of the three braided together form one points to us as humans; we are mind, body and spirit. Mind is Creator or the spiritual force within everything, it is also self. It is also what we call Kitche Manitou (Creator) translated as the great mystery. We humans do not have to understand the mystery but only know and have faith that it is inside each and every one of us. Body is the consciousness or awareness of life and all its beauty. Body is ourselves and all of Creation including nature, houses, chairs, tables and so on. Spirit can be seen as Thought, the gift we use to create. Spirit is everywhere in all things. There is no separation in our teachings of spiritual and this world. Spirits

pass through us and around us; spirit can be felt in our ceremonies. There are good medicine spirits (thoughts) and bad medicine spirit (thoughts). These three braided together form the teaching of oneness with the whole universe. The elders say the Creator is inside each and every one of us, so does this mean that we have the power to create? The answer of course is yes we create via Mind, Body and Spirit. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice Here is an Anishnabe story which interpreted, points to our powerful gift of creation. Kitche-Manitou (The Great Mystery) woke up one morning and felt alone. Kitche-Manitou decided to do something about this. The Creator decided to fast and to seek a vision as to what to do. The Creator received a vision. In this vision the Creator saw a beautiful Universe with stars and planets. The vision unfolded and became what we call Muzzu-Kummik-Quae (Mother Earth). On mother earth mountains grew and lakes filled up the land. Trees grew up from her and plants flourished everywhere. As human beings we also have the power of creation. We have the gift of vision and the means to make it real. We create how we see our world in every moment. We also create how we react to situations in every moment. The teaching of the Anishnabe story of creation is that as human beings we create our world or vision and what we want to see just like the Creator created a world and what the Great Mystery wanted to see we are the Creator, the Creator is up in the sky and down below the Creator is in everyone and everything. Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. The Creator hid the most powerful gift in the place we would least think to look.inside each and every one of us, also known as the seventh direction. In the beginning the creator was giving out all the gifts to all the beings of the world. To the eagle sight, to the bear strength, to the deer swiftness after giving out the gifts to the animal and plant beings the Creator turned to the humans. The Creator had the most powerful of gifts to give to the humans. The Creator wondered where to put this most powerful gift. It must be put in a place that would be easy to find. The Creator thought of putting it in the mountains but no that would be too difficult to climb and find. Next the water but again that would be too difficult

to find. The Creator decided to put it in a place where humans would never expect to look, the Creator hid the gift inside each and every one of us. We have been taught to look outside to find happiness and spirituality but the truth is all we need to do is look within. Through Mind, Body and Spirit we create our perspectives/experiences in every moment of life. Sweet grass is also known as a neutral medicine, this also points back to us. I have seen and tried for years to try and be positive all the time but found it impossible. People get the wrong message in thinking that we have to be happy all the time, is this not denying our emotions that are a natural gift given to us by creator? That is denial and that is not healthy. Emotions were given to us to show us how we are feeling in a moment of life. It is okay to have emotions as it is okay to have negative or positive thoughts. It is in the gift of will and choice in where we can transform our feelings in to our personal perspectives and reality. We cannot stop negative or positive thoughts. A great teacher of the Anishnabeg people was Nanabush, Nanabush taught us that it is okay to make mistakes and that we are human beings. This speaks directly to our lives and that it is okay to have negative or positive thoughts it is what we do with them that matters. People can have the craziest thought but what is it? Is it real? It only becomes real when we give it power of choice and will and create a perspective from it. We cannot change thought we can only choose not to make it real. The Creator has blessed us with many gifts, we are powerful beings. We were also given the gifts of Free-will and Free-Choice. These gifts we use every moment of our lives as we walk along our paths. We have the free will to use our gift of thought anyway we choose. We choose to use it to our advantage or disadvantage, innocently of course. Until we are given the understanding of our power and how we create our realities we are innocent to the fact of our power. Free choice is given to each of us in the beginning, there is nothing that controls our thoughts and we must realize this. We make the choice for ourselves to follow that thought or not.

Cycle of Creating Diagram 1 Perspective Free-will/Free choice Feeling Thought SOURCE Creator/Self

Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others. The Cycle above represents the cycle of creating that all human being are doing in every moment of their lives (Diagram 1). First we have a thought/spirit that goes though us this thought then creates a feeling, next comes the power of free will and choice in which we choose to go ahead with or stop the feeling. Once we have made a choice this feeling creates our perspective and experience. Thought and feeling are spirit, they have no form it is when we give life to these spirits that they become real and then we witness the behavior and the consequences of that behavior. Our ceremony the sweat lodge teaches us many beautiful things. It teaches us about prayer but also this teaches us about the power of thought. Here is a story that explains the teaching of thought and its relationship to the sweat lodge. The Sweat lodge is a dome structure that is built over a hole in the center dug in the ground. Grandfathers (lava rocks) are heated and are placed in the hole in the ground. We sit in a circle around this hole. After a certain amount of Grandfathers are brought in the door is closed. It becomes pitch dark except for the glowing rocks. You cannot see anybody and it feels like you are all alone. Sacred water is poured on the Grandfathers and steam starts to fill the dome. This is when the forcing of the quiet mind happens. In this ceremony my first thoughts were that it is dark and I cannot see anybody. I then started to think that it was getting hard to breathe. As soon as I thought that, it became real and I was having trouble breathing. Then I started to panic, my heart started beating faster. I really wanted to leave. All of the sudden I realized a teaching of the Sweat Lodge. I was only creating those thoughts and was moving away from a quiet mind. All I had to do was see this and all of the sudden it turned into a beautiful feeling. The sweat lodge teaches us about how powerful our thoughts can be and how we create our mental states. Another teaching is that we are told to let go of our pain and release our emotions at the lodge. The elders say that the Sweat Lodge is a place to release your thoughts and memories. People of today go into the Sweat Lodge and release pain and anger physically by screaming or crying. Once again the words were hiding the truth. The truth is that what the elders meant was to release those thoughts and see that that is all they are, Spirit.

Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me. When we begin to see the Cycle of Creating and how we are all using it we begin to see how we innocently hurt ourselves by living in the past or even in the future. When we look at the past we realize that the past does not exist anymore, it is no longer real. The past is only kept alive via our memories. When we take a look at memories we see that memories are actually thoughts. I am not saying we can not experience memories because that is impossible. I am saying that we do have control over what we do with them in the moment. When we look at the future we see that it also does not exist, it is not real because it has not happened yet. The future is mainly expectations, these expectations are thoughts. The truth is only the now exists; it is only in the now that we may choose how we want to see our world. Through this understanding we can free ourselves of our pasts and future and learn to live in the now. If we are thinking about our past, which is negative, this is how we will feel and see in the moment. When we are happy it is because our thoughts are happy. When we are sad our thoughts are sad. With each thought we experience life through how we are thinking in the moment. Many counsellors are taught to take the client back into the past where the client's trauma came from. Bringing the client back into the past only reinforces the trauma. In this state they will experience the feelings and emotions they felt at the time. An elder once asked me Where do the past and the future exist? I answered in our thoughts in which he replied this is true but the answer is that the past and the future are right now! What that means is that we bring the past and the future into the present via thought. The way to heal people is to help the client understand the power of thought. I am not saying to deny the past because that would be denial. All I am saying is that the answer does not lie in the past, it is in the now where we heal ourselves. We cannot change the past and we have little control over the future but we can choose our perspectives in the present. Take care of ourselves now. When we do this we will begin to take care of our past and future by choosing to live in happiness and gratitude now. We will have changed our path to a better one.

Thought Thought Thought Past Now Future What is life? Life is a moment to moment experience as each moment comes and goes we are given a gift to choose in each moment what and how we want to experience life. Only the moment is reality when a moment has passed it is done, we are already in the next moment. Understanding this in relation to the Cycle of Creating we realize that we are given moments between thoughts, feeling, free will/choice and perspective, what I am saying is take that moment before you make it your perspective and look at it and see if it is beneficial. Our ancestors always took a lot of time before answering questions because they were using moments to consider what was asked. Our ancestors taught us of how we created and passed on the knowledge of the gift to create. When we are born we are given our gifts of creation. We may not realize it yet but we have begun to create our perspectives of life. The most crucial time to learn of this gift is when we are young adults. This is why our ancestors would guide us to our elders who could teach us about our gifts. While the parents hunted and gathered the grandparents would spend their time teaching the young adults about all the beauty of our culture. Youth would be taught about the vision quest and how to be a warrior. They would be taught about consequences. They would begin to see how they are in control of their lives. By the time we are adults we have fully realized our gifts and are using them to help ourselves and our community. We have learned about how we are creating our perspectives. Warriors would use these gifts when they had to go on the warpath. They have learned to see their feelings and know when to take action and when not too. By the time we are elders we have learned much about our culture and through stories we would pass on our teachings. The elders knew that it is better to tell a story than to tell someone what to do. By telling a story they were given the choice to understand that story from within and receive the teachings when they are ready. It is good to treat other people the way that you want to be treated. Even if they are treating you with disrespect it is only their unknowing of how to treat people. Always remember that you are only in control of your life and can only guide people. One time I was in the sweat lodge and there were two elders in

the lodge that day. One elder spoke and told the people to help out with things that need to be done. This was said in a harsh way and was felt by all who was listening. A little bit later the other elder spoke and asked if the people could help out with things around the lodge. The people responded positively. It is important to remember that we must always give people a choice rather than tell them what to do. This again is why our elders told us stories that had morals and teachings because they knew that just telling people what to do would not work. Elder Creation is shared Adult Creation is in full effect Baby Creation is given to us Young Adult Creation is being realized I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy

Myself. This next medicine wheel has four animals that sit in each direction. Each animal has gifts that it brings to the people. I have interpreted the meaning of these teachings. Waabanong East: The Eagle sits in the East it brings the gifts of vision and enlightenment. Our elders tell us that the Eagle is sacred to our people because it is the messenger of the Creator. The Eagles Feathers are used in many ceremonies to symbolize that connection. The eagle flies high up in the sky and we are told that it is closest to the Creator. This is the key to understanding the teaching of the eagle. The eagle flies high this is the clue. The Creator is the highest level of consciousness. Vision is being able to see life from a high level of consciousness and the result is enlightenment. Zhaawanong South: The wolf sits in the South it brings the gifts of trust and growth. Today we are taught to trust in other sources of knowledge. We are told to look to books and to other people to find out about ourselves. The South teaches us to look within ourselves and find our spirit. When we begin to trust our own wisdom that is hidden within each and every one of us we will realize a truth. We as human beings have the wisdom to help ourselves and heal from within. When this is realized we achieve trust of our own voice and growth with our spirit and our minds. Ningaabi anong West: In the West sits the bear it brings the gifts of strength, courage and healing. This teaches us to have the strength to look and see who is responsible for our lives. We look to see who is in control of our lives. Do we give that power to our past or future? Do we give that power to other people? The answer is no! take courage my people, look at yourselves and take your responsibility of your life. When we do this we will heal because we will begin to see that the truth is that it is now only ourselves hurting ourselves with our own thoughts i.e. Memories and Expectations. Break the cycle and take back your power. Healing will happen when this is realized from within because you will have taken responsibility for yourself today. Giiwedinong North: The Buffalo sits in the North it gives us cleansing and movement. This shows us that by cleansing our mind, body and spirit we will have a movement in our level of consciousness. Cleanse our minds of our thoughts of the past and future and live in the now. When movement happens we cannot go back to who we were before, it is too powerful. Our realizations will have shown us much about ourselves and we can begin to learn to live in the

present. We will begin to use our thoughts in a better way and by doing this our world will change through our own eyes. Buffalo Cleansing Movement West Bear Strength Courage East Eagle Vision Enlightenment South Wolf Trust Growth Mind, Body and spirit form life and are the foundation of our human experience realize your wisdom and power and begin to create the life you always wanted. Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me. The thought cycle gives us invincibility. Once we realize we are the creators of how we experience life, we see our role in our lives. We will begin to see that it is impossible for someone else to make us feel anything because we are the creators

of our feelings. I.E. it is not the driver that cut you off in traffic that got you mad it is you getting yourself mad over the experience. When we let other people control our feelings we are giving them our power. This gift was given to us as individuals. We are all walking a path and the truth is we walk alone when we arrive here we come in alone and when we leave here we leave alone, with the exception of our ancestors who watch over us all the time. This means that you and you alone are responsible for your life and what direction you want to take your life in. Let no one influence you and take your decision away from you. Use your free will and free choice to your advantage. Remember what you put out is what you get back. Life is like a lake throw a pebble into the lake and the waves will ripple outward but once those waves hit something they will ripple back. Remember to always give; in giving we receive. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. Today I see life as the greatest teacher of all with every experience Creator gives me, I am given the opportunity to learn, and for this I am always grateful. If you can see life in this way and not put a positive or negative aspect onto it you might just learn something about yourself. Creator is non judgmental remember Creator is inside each and every one of us. A great man, Black Elk once said Our thoughts should be as high as Creator. We are the same as sweet grass, a neutral medicine. Our culture is based on balance of all things, what is the balance between positive and negative? The answer is neutral. If you look at pictures of our ancestors they are said to look stoic, they understood the teaching of remaining neutral in their lives so that they can assess all experiences and make the right choice. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. Forgiveness comes when we see how innocent we were in the unknowing of our power to create. Forgiveness is also seeing that if we did not know about our power and how we were innocently hurting ourselves than how can we expect other people to know this. We can only do what we know until we understand a different way everyone walks in innocence. People might still be unknowingly creating their own personal trauma. Please reflect on all that has been shared and see if it is true to how you live your life. If it is then pass it on and share it in your truth through your culture. This teaching is a foundation and can be expressed in any culture. I have used mostly Anishnabe teachings but if you understand this you will see that it lies within all cultures and although the ceremonies and words are different the truth is the same.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame. Great Spirit Prayer "Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind, Whose breath gives life to all the world. Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others. Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy Myself. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame. Desi Shebobman (Lindstrom) Anishnabe Nation Muskrat clan