Poetic Guided Meditation For Ancestral Connection: Tupuna

Mālō lelei and welcome to a meditation on tūpuna.

In 17 of our languages,

Tūpuna means ancestor in the Pacific.

For thousands of years,

Dream dialogue with ancestors was a common practice among cultures of the Pacific.

In this meditation,

We open up space to listen.

We close our eyes and breathe in and breathe out,

Reflecting on all those who have breathed life before us.

We breathe in and we breathe out,

Reflecting on those who,

Lifetime after lifetime,

Breathed us into being.

We pause to reflect on the sacred and continuous breath that interconnects us.

In all of the DNA of your body lies everyone who has been the making of you.

All of their cumulative experiences held in every cell of you.

Everyone that has been before determines the color of your skin,

The shape of your limbs,

The features of your face.

You are not alone.

You are connected to a long line of life reaching for meaning and purpose,

Expanding itself through you.

Let us pause to pull all the deep knowing hidden in our bodies,

Encoded in every cell,

Unlocked in a DNA sequence that carries us all the way back to the beginning.

We have all traveled through the bodies of many relatives to arrive here,

This time,

Space and place.

All of us wearing those who have passed fresh on our faces.

And we are the next waves of a tide that has been coming for a long time.

Our bodies hold centuries of wise guides.

Let us invite them all to rise.

We open ourselves up to our ancestors.

All the lived experiences that come before us.

All of the legacies that come down like lifelines through bloodlines.

We know that those we come through understand exactly our time and place,

Our context,

Our space.

They know us deeply,

All the people who have been the making of us.

They know the purpose that is larger than the length of our own lifetimes.

They know our parents.

They understand the challenges we have inherited,

The hardships we have faced.

They know how we are placed in the scheme of things.

Let us feel their well wishes flow,

Feel their love,

Their guidance.

And we know we are not alone.

We are in the presence of all that loves us,

Guiding us,

Assisting us,

Showing us,

Supporting us,

Inspiring us,

Helping us,

Uplifting us.

Their memories are our memories too,

Beneath the surface of this waking life.

We ask for all that has been forgotten,

That needs to be remembered,

To come forth.

We ask for all that is conscious to emerge in this moment.

We ask to be present to all that could be if we were to stand in legacy,

To be all that we are,

All that we are capable of,

All that we have been dreamed to be,

To see,

To witness,

To be with,

To learn,

To grow into,

To shed,

To do for the dead,

To release,

To undo,

To heal,

To feel,

In this place,

Time and space,

To lead.