Bundle of Wisdom –

Stephen W. Emerick Ph.D.

The Sacred Bundle gift’s us Wisdom:

And I am not saying that I am wise,

but I sure get winded,

when recalling all the lies

I have been told about the Bundle.

But this one thing I know-

Wise is not the man, woman, or child, 

but Wise is the Bundle.

And Wisdom is the gift to the one

who lives the life of the Heart Humble.

These are the Four Wisdom’s granted from Untying the Sacred Bundle. For the living of the Wholehearted Life!

~Leading with Breathing~

1. Leading with Breathing: Leading with Breathing means we bathe the Body with Boldness and Balance at the beginning of our day: Then throughout the day, we create sacred space within which to make life-changing decisions and activate love and compassion for self and others. This can be done from a place of breath and balance. A place elders call Kumbhaka. Leading with Breathing. This creates the space between our perceptions and our responses. This is where freedom lives. Between stimulus and response. In a space called Kumbhaka, or the state of ‘suspended breath,’ in Yoga terminology. 

In all moments of life, we are offered The Choice: 

* Pursue (Move toward the problem-winning is everything).

* Push Away (Move away from the problem-advocate avoidance).

* Pause (Pause before any movement-sacred pause).

If all we do is Stimulus-Response, then Sacred Pause does not take place. Yet within Pause is possibility and potential for change; for responding in wiser ways that we otherwise would. Why? Because we step outside the Stimulus-Response habitual roles and pause. 

In such a Sacred Pause we can also practice relevant spiritual practices. Prayer. Reflection. Gratitude. Forgiveness. Aspects which immediately change the tone and texture of our choice for responding to stimuli. Why? Because this is where we connect with the Divine. Others say because it gives us time to change our minds and give better responses than we might otherwise have done. I say it is all of these and more. 

Breath, Sabbath, and Breadth

Have you heard of Sabbath? It is a time designated for Pause. Sabbath rest: a time to stop, to cease one’s labor, to spend a day realizing that you do not have to do it all; to realize something besides you is making this world turn. To reengage in humility. You are not the prime mover. This creation will go on without you. And because of this you find life fundamentally as a gift.

And when we see life as a gift, we see a broader perspective, a wider vision. 

Pause is also an ancient place. For when we Inhale, we bring in oxygen and moisture (water) and atmosphere. And as soon as I engage with water this way, it triggers an ancient response. A repose. A way to be with water that is so greatly beneficial. I Inhale moisture (water) and then hold it for a moment. As I do this mindfully, I know I am in ceremony as ancient as the earth. I have invited in that which calms, seeks equality, equanimity, and balance.

This is what I call the Prayer of Waiting with Water. More about that is a moment. Please push Pause.

Consider this: Fear of Breath. 

When considering COVID-19 or other such viruses, most all of us would fear being on a ventilator! The ventilator breathes for us, and we fear it!

Wait a minute! Since we came into this world something has breathed for us! We did not get fitted with a ventilator after our mother’s water broke. We were fitted with it before then! It came with a life-time warranty. The warranty ends when we take our last breath.

So let us not fear, but LOVE the breath we have, that marvelous breathing machine of our body that is so important to our heart’s functioning.

If we fear plastic ventilators, then we should LOVE the heart, lungs and breath. For breath knows no border. 

“When our borders of belonging are predicated more on defining ourselves based on who we are not, and virtues are presumed present on one side of the border and presumed missing on the other, then our borders speak more of hostility than of any sense of kinship.” Such separation and border ideologies “is nurtured more by ideology – our idea of who we think we should be – than by the infinitely more complicated truth of who we actually are…” From – In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World. By Padraig O Tuama.

So, Lead with Breathe! Partner with your breath by the practice of breath control, so you can celebrate every moment we have, between stimulus and response.

If breathing is Life, then what is Inhale and Exhale? That is 100% of our conscious lifetime.

And what if we consider Pause in the equation? That is 33 1/3 %. So, let’s do the math: Inhale 33 1/3% (automatic/habit yet can be influenced); Pause 33 1/3% (Can be Practiced); Exhale 33 1/3% (automatic/habit but can be influenced).

Let’s celebrate all we can be in the 33 1/3% of Pause between Stimulus and Response. OK? We can celebrate that 33 1/3% of our life! All we have to do is lead with breathing! And pause! No assembly required. Just life admired!

You have learned to lead with breathing. Now to the second wisdom of The Bundle, Waiting with Water.

~Waiting with Water~

1. Waiting with Water, wisdom number two! Remember Stimulus and Response? And the Pause between the two? This is what is amazing. The Pause that comes from Leading with Breathing, actually brings us Fluidity in the space between Stimulus and Response. Why? Because in that moment of Pause that brings Fluidity as we are Waiting with Water, we are no longer task-opinion-or-judgement-focused! For when we are task focused, we are not focused on breath. But with Breaths Fluidity between Stimulus and Response, is Sabbath. Rest. Pause. Enlightenment. The divine.

And I would add: Play! Play that is genuine, child-like, and not task focused. How hard it is to do if we have been taught to work harder, faster, longer. Hard at times to shift from Task to take a moment and pause! Waiting with water. 

And for this we become stronger, more insightful, and over time, wiser. Experts know that learning is enhanced when you periodically break and do something fun or unusual. Break the learning up, into moments divine.

Like Stimulus-Pause-Response. And so, what we have developed is: Stimulus/Task Focused-Pause/Sabbath/Rest/Play-Measured Response. And it is a Measured Response because we Pause, energize, rest, are more fluid (plasticity as I call it)! We have honored Sabbath, rest, pause, so that our response is not habitual and without thinking or intuiting. It is measured with the characteristics of beathing and waiting!

Now back to water as felt by the body!

Perhaps you can recall the wonderful feeling of waiting with water: in the Jacuzzi, an evening bath, or in a lazy river. Soaking. Going nowhere in particular. How calming and healing it can be.

Then back to the “real world,” and we are drowning in business, hustle, and bustle. And the bodily aches and pains return quickly. And we forget to Wait with Water throughout our day.

The problem is not that we are not around water. Water is everywhere we are. It makes up 70 to 95% of most organisms. It is powerful, relentless, and predictable. 

So, you cannot afford to put a Jacuzzi in your office, at the day care, or in the filling station where you gas up your auto. Remember, water is everywhere in you.

We have forgotten we are water, bodies of water, just as we had forgotten there is a space between stimulus and response.

And so, the vast majority of our body is water. Just as the oceans are the largest land mass on the planet, water is the largest cellular mass in our bodies. Just as breathing is the most constant and vast mechanism of our body! 

Now… my twelve- pound, 3-year-old Chihuahua Mr. Teco is sitting next to me right now. His brother’s Mr. Peanut and Mr. Reecie are deceased at this time, as is their sister Ms. Sadie. But Mr. Teco is fully alive and there he is staring at me again. Staring right at me! And I can hear his thinking: “But some of us have more mass than others!” 

Ha Ha Ha. Mr. Chihuahua-ha-ha-ha. When he clowns around, he makes some biting funny comments. He always goes for the juggler. I never should have let him call me Dad.

So now I have put him outside, where he can practice the Prayer of Waiting for Water (which is a different prayer than the one I have been referring to!). How many of us do this with our beloved four-leggeds through the day? While doing this let’s practice our own Prayer of Water Waiting. The time it takes is just a drop in the bucket!

So here we are. What a privilege. Bodies of water. So how do we do the Prayer of Waiting with Water during the day or night?

Bathing the Body. The first bathing of the day: a container of pure water to drink and baptize sleep from the body and begin mindfully bathing in the light of the New Day. 

The Prayer of Waiting with Water. 

Remember that water seeks its own level. Adding a glass of water does not change and make one side of my body lower and one higher! It seeks its own level. Equity and equilibrium reside here.

It is also important to know that water also seeks us! And as we are Waiting with Water, what we ingest in terms of pure water will not disturb our equilibrium. We will be in balance for the day. For the water within us seeks balance as well. And we function well when hydrated and in balance.

The mission of water is to find equality. Let’s give this a special notice. This takes a moment. Wait for it. Be patient. Welcome it as you would welcome a most esteemed teacher or friend. Water will always seek equilibrium, equality, and equanimity.

Equanimity is to water as it is known in psychology: Equanimity is a quality of emotional stability and composure, particularly in times of high stress. The word equanimity is often associated with spiritual and religious practices as well. 

What would our world be like if we were compliant with water? Always seeking and finding equilibrium, equality, and equanimity. Do you think that as water, when we do NOT do what we are made to do, this could be one reason we develop disease and disorders? That our noncompliance with our own nature contaminates and or erodes our well-being?

Asking so many questions can drive me crazy. Speaking of driving one crazy, did you see the movie Driving Miss Daisy?

In the movie Driving Miss Daisy, a white aristocratic woman, and her African American “chauffeur” (played by Morgan Freeman) are driving out in the country when he has to “give water.” So, he stops at the side of the road to relieve himself (and it is nighttime).

The metaphor here is clear: Both people are human. Both have the same bodily makeup and needs. Water is the equality between them both. Insanity is that society has taught they are different, one being better than the other, thereby exiling love.

Try the Prayer of Waiting with Water. Be mindful, we are breathing in ancient waters that have been around since creation!

This precious experience can remind us of the baptism of an infant or adult; of the waters of a river, we loved in childhood; the rains on the horizon; tears; and before all of this, when our mother’s water broke, and we fell from the sky. The Prayer of Waiting with Water. The kiss of Creation between our Inhale and Exhale. 

Let me close this aspect of the Prayer of Waiting with Water with this: Dr. Louis Frank, who has taught physics at the University of Iowa, USA, “has documented the release of enormous amounts of water vapor from comets that enter the Earth’s atmosphere on a regular basis. According to his research, millions of small comets impact our atmosphere each year, showering the earth (and us) with a continual supply of cosmic water vapor.” (From: Dancing with Water by MJ Pangman and Melanie Evans.

If a comet has been patient enough for hundreds of years to reach us and shower us with water vapor, can we not take time every day to patiently pray the Prayer of Waiting with Water? Knowing and trusting that more is to come? 

Remember The Elders of Waitaha? They did not put great store in chance, and steadfastly believed in helping with the Universal plan and pattern. They did this to such an extent that all the individuals within the Waitaha Nation were as important in the total scheme of things as were the sun, the moon, and the stars. (And comets?!).

Dare to believe this is the real world. Where there is a pattern, current, and a weaving that occurs. Practice this daily: Leading with Breathing. In the Pause, Pray the Breath of Life 

Divine, remembering how you are a part of the whole. Practice the Prayer of Waiting with Water. Comets, Glaciers, rivers, tears, all have so much to teach us. We are all part of the weaving of water and breath. One day we shall be a part of the loom itself. 

We are Familia.

Let’s continue. What is the Third of the Four Wisdom’s gifted by the Untying of the Sacred Bundle.?

~Heart’s Hospitality~

1. Heart’s Hospitality (The Sacredness of all Species and Sites): It is here that Gratitude for Leading with Breathing and Waiting with Water blossoms into generosity, and what we may also importantly call the Heart’s Hospitality. It is this that calms the mind’s fears and brings love near. 

We have done our Leading with Breathing.

We have done our Waiting with Water.

Now we are learning Hosting the Heart’s Hospitality to All Species and Sites.

We are entering into the experience of living within and from the Heart. In the Untying of the Sacred Bundle, we are developing a heart for the world. This is because we recognize the life within Breath and Water of all species. And if we have a heart for Creation, all species are sacred to us. 

To be the Host of the Heart’s Hospitality is to be at Home with all Creation. At the Heart of all that is honorable. The fire-lit bower. The center of creation’s power.

It is here we realize the Earth is our home; that Leading with Breathing is to us as is a beloved; that Waiting with Water is ancient and honorable. And that all Species are Sacred. Which leads to Hosting the Heart’s Hospitality.

Home is where we are, anywhere in the world. And the sacredness of all species fills us with gratitude and the attitude of La Familia. We are all family. Kinected. The Kin-dom. And from here comes wisdom. And to be wise is to live the Heart’s Hospitality.

If hospitality is given by the host, what does host mean? In biology and medicine, the definition of a host is an organism that harbors another organism inside or near their body in a symbiotic relationship. In other words, a host is a larger organism that harbors a smaller organism.

In theology you often hear of the Heavenly Host; at other times, the Host refers to the sacrament of communion in which the bread (host) is the body of Christ. In medicine, a host refers to the recipient of transplanted tissue or organ from a donor. And of course, 

in computer science a host is a computer that provides client stations with access to files and printers as shared resources to a computer network.

Many of us associate this with being a guest and there being a host who provided a place for the guest to stay, eat, sleep, and restore.

And Hospitality? What else does it mean? A Relationship between the guest and the host, in most traditions. And for us, we are guests only for a little while. Our host, the earth and sky, will go on. And just as we would the human Familia, we live and share and decide and act on behalf of the next seven generations of ages of our host. 

√ The Seventh Generation Principle is based on an ancient and the indigenous native American tribe and or confederacy of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) that stresses the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. 

We respect the air we breathe; we respect the water we drink and wash with, and we honor and hold sacred all species upon the earth and in the sky and below the earth and hold them dear as we place our heart at the center of all hospitality.

And the Fourth Wisdom? It is that which breathes with being told; a fire that does not go out but thrives bright with water and breath; and that which binds us together no matter which of the seven directions (north, east, south, west, above, below, within) we may call home at any moment: Sharing Sacred Stories.

                                    ~Sharing Sacred Stories~

1. Sharing Sacred Stories: We have practiced Leading with Breathing; Waiting with Water; and Hosting the Heart’s Hospitality. These sacred blessings ignite our Ocular Fire – the inner eye’s fire of the Spirit and the visions we hold about the world – as we see all of this as Sacred Story. Yours, Mine, Ours.

Yours, Mine, Ours. And it is in the telling that a story flowers. Turns sacred in the telling. Becomes part of the Life Story of everyone who listens. Our stories reflect our identity and lies at the Heart of all that we are and can become, and of how we relate to one another and to the Universe. 

Sharing Sacred Stories requires lives that have been lived; a willingness to share no matter the cost or its consideration; ears to hear; and hearts to Host Sacred Stories by holding them in the sacred space of one’s Sacred Bundle. Four Chambers. One Bundle. A thousand stories to be told. And for all of them, room enough for us to hold!

You have to love our Elders. You know you have found one when they say: “Have I told you the story about the…”? It appears to be a formal way of introducing Sacred Stories! 

My father, as an elder, would say: “Have I told you the story of the Toad on a Post?” Out of respect (and if we were alone) I would say: “No dad, not more than one hundred times, but please refresh my memory!”

And he would say: “The toad did not get there by themselves.” In those two sentences were his encyclopedia of the world. We get where we get by helping one another (or should). He lived that to his dying day. In fact, upon his death, he had given most everything away that he had. The remaining things? His old car and a few pieces of furniture. These things were donated to Habitat for Humanity because Habitat for Humanity knows we get to better places in our lives by helping one another. The Toad on the Post. We cannot get to where we are going by going it alone.

OK, but get this: as with most stories there is another version. In other circumstances he would say: “Did I tell you the story about…. An old man was walking along a dusty country road, and he heard a voice say “Help me sir! If you come and kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess and stay with you forever!” Sounded like a good deal!

The story continues: The old man goes to where he heard the voice and there is a toad (not yet on a post!) speaking to him! Yep. Speaking to him. “Help me sir! If you pick me up and kiss me, I will turn into a beautiful princess and stay with you forever!” So, he picked up the toad, and promptly put it in his pocket!

A muffled voice was heard saying: “Wait! This isn’t the way this story is supposed to turn out!” “I know, I know” the old man said. But to tell you the truth, I would rather have a talking toad!” There was a story about this in the local newspaper, The Morning Post, the very next day.

And off they went down the road. The old man, and the toad.

Now this version of the story of the toad and the old man is quite a load to carry. But my suspicion is this. That dad was the toad, and the librarian he fell in love with is the one who did the kissing. And as they walked down the road of life, that woman (my mother) had my dad in her back pocket! At least that’s the way I would say it. A big shout out and thank you to my mother for kissing that toad on that road and not leaving him on a post all alone. He would have been toast, there alone on that post.

But alone he would die (or so the story goes). Mom had passed on from Alzheimer’s, and dad cared for her through those years as well. Shortly before he died, they held a roast for that Toad on a Post. They called him a National Treasure. Collaborating with him on behalf of Habitat for Humanity had been such a pleasure. 

Did he boast of his post during that roast? Speak of President Mobutu allowing us to visit Zaire (DRC) Africa? Speak of inviting President Jimmy Carter to join Habitat and its mission? Brag about attending colleges including those in different countries? No, not once. 

But during the Roast he thanked his Host: The God of his understanding whom he served. And thanked that Host for the privilege to love and serve humanity. Then he turned with his cane and walked off the podium aided by the local Habitat President. His last public appearance.

Then one night the ambulance came because something was wrong within my dad’s frame (an aneurysm). And in the ambulance (according to one of the medics) my father was heard saying “I can’t wait to see my wife Patsy again and even if I can only be in the back of the crowd there before God, I shall love her still.” 

Well, from what I have heard through what we call dreams, he is standing next to her, his heart bursting at the seams (he is Untying the Shaman’s Bundle! Go Dad!). And that is the way the story in fact does unfold. And it’s my story and I am sticking to it!

Permit me to share a closing story of storytelling. It’s about the sacredness at the time of one’s dying.

My mother had always made her three sons promise not to visit her anymore should she become unable to care for herself. We honored her wishes. That last February birthday we 

three boys went to see her in Florida to say goodbye. During our stay, we had the aides safely put mother in her wheelchair, and off we went to one of the guest apartments in the center where she was being cared for. Dad would wait for us back in his room.

Once in the apartment, Sacred Stories filled the air, the water from our tears openly shared. Our hearts and souls bared. We each would take a turn and share Sacred Stories remembered. When one son was done telling his stories, the next would take his place. We did this for at least two hours. Honoring this amazing woman, our matriarch. At the end of our time, this woman who appeared to be sleeping all this time, raised her head and for the first time opened her eyes and seemed to smile. Then bowed her head again and closed her eyes for the last time.

The next day we prepared to leave. We went to her nursing unit and kissed her goodbye, reminding her of our love and that we were honoring her request to not return again. That was a terribly awkward thing to say and mean; it was cushioned only by the knowledge we were honoring this incredible mother and Matriarch. I played my Native American style flute for her. Prayers were said and our last kisses were placed upon her cheek.

I was on the plane returning home when she crossed over that same day. We both had taken flight. She was classy. Impeccable timing, as she desired.

She had a say in how her story unfolded with her three sons. And how and when she died. How and when she took flight. And where her flight would take her.

Every now and then, as Shaman’s are wont to do, I take flight. There are places one may visit, but I go to the Outer Hebrides Islands, off the coast of Scotland (my mother was of the Craig clan) and I go to Barra Island in particular. And there on the shore I meet my mother and father; John, one of my two brothers; and my cousin Jean. We stand there watching the air and water of the sea, honoring the sacredness of all species. Others join us on the shore as we sit around a fire and honor Sacred Stories.

But this time it is different. There are stories, but the Bundle itself is the story. We are untying the Bundle. We don’t have to speak. Everything is understood in silence. The sea thunders gently. Mist fills our breathing and as we share the moist sea air, Sacred Story unfolds not in words, but in golden light from the Sacred Bundle, surrounding and filling each and every one of us.

All along the beach are fires with people and animals gathered around. Many fires, One Flame. And here we are, the standing story. We are standing in the story. Standing in the sand, in the Sacred Story. Not telling one. But living a Sacred Story. 

Theologian Albert Outler once said: “We were designed to ‘belong’ and to be ‘at home’ in God’s Creation in an incredibly unique way – finite creatures with capacities for participation in the divine love and goodness and joy.”

So let us remember that all that we feel, all that we know and believe, and all that we do in our actions, become the Sacred Stories of our lives. Creation requires and gives reciprocity. In the giving of our Sacred Stories, we fulfill that sacred covenant with Creation. And we can participate in divine love and goodness and joy. And we can do so, even in the face of suffering.

Tell your sacred story!