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This week we talk to Spring Washam
Spring Washam is a well-known meditation and dharma teacher based in Oakland, California. She is a founding member and core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center located in downtown Oakland. She is the founder of Lotus Vine Journeys an organization that blends indigenous healing practices with Buddhist wisdom. In addition to being a teacher, she is also a healer, facilitator, spiritual activist, and writer. Her upcoming book entitled, A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage, and Wisdom in Any Moment, will be available in stores on November 7th, 2017. She has studied numerous meditation practices and Buddhist philosophy since 1997. She has practiced and studied under some of the most preeminent meditation masters in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism. She has studied indigenous healing practices and works with students individually from around the world. She has completed a six -year teacher-training program under the guidance of Jack Kornfield and is now on the teacher’s council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness based healing practices into diverse communities and is committed to enriching the lives of disenfranchised people everywhere. She currently travels and teaches workshops, classes, and retreats worldwide.
In This Interview, Spring Washam and I Discuss…
- The Wolf Parable
- His book, A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage, and Wisdom in Any Moment
- How she became a meditation teacher
- How self-compassion is at the heart of Buddhist teachings
- How being with ourselves in difficult times is an act of mercy
- How a synonym for mindfulness is remembering
- How we are always trying to change consciousness
- Her controversial Peru ayahuasca retreats
- How meditation and mindfulness was not enough to deal with her trauma
- Her first ayahuasca ceremony
- What ayahuasca is
- The risks of using entheogens
- The debate in the Buddhist community about this approach
- Whether you need to go to the jungle for this
- How we often need multiple approaches to healing ourselves
- How feeling like you are innately good changes the whole path
Spring Washam Links
A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other.
One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred and fear.
The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”
The grandfather quietly replies, the one you feed
The Tale of Two Wolves is often attributed to the Cherokee indians but there seems to be no real proof of this. It has also been attributed to evangelical preacher Billy Graham and Irish Playwright George Bernard Shaw. It appears no one knows for sure but this does not diminish the power of the parable.
This parable goes by many names including:
The Tale of Two Wolves
The Parable of the Two Wolves
Two Wolves
Which Wolf Do You Feed
Which Wolf are You Feeding
Which Wolf Will You Feed
It also often features different animals, mainly two dogs.
Samuel Hall says
Taking holocene drugs and calling it cleansing was a new kind of stupidity.
Btw, Eric you should check out Rob Bell and his work on how everything is sacred from a Jewish/Christian perspective and not believing in original sin, really interesting.