It's Black History Month, so you are bound to see articles or social media posts about Harriet Tubman. Most of us learn in elementary school that she was the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad. I was an adult, however, before I learned the full extent of her heroism.
Not only had she endured the physical hardships of slavery, including a devastating head injury early in life, the loss of her family while in bondage, and escaped to find her freedom. That would be heroic enough in itself. Harriet Tubman, though, went back to the south more than a dozen times. At first she went to locate and free her relatives. Then she returned to assist others. And during the Civil War, she returned again to assist the Union, both as a spy and a leader of military operations.
When I learned the full scope of Tubman's story, the emotion I recall feeling was nothing short of awe. To say her story was courageous is an understatement. Awe is a better word to describe my reaction because I could not understand the level of courage she displayed.
I could understand Tubman's escape. As a mother, I could understand Tubman's impulse to free her loved ones. Tubman's willingness to continue to put herself at risk for others, so many others, was what was hard for me to understand.
Last year, a book written by meditation teacher, Spring Washam, helped me understand this better. In The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground, Washam traces the story of Harriet Tubman in a way I had never experienced before.
Washam is not just a meditation teacher; she's a spiritual teacher. In addition to Buddhist meditation practices, Washam also has studied shamanic traditions. Thus, in Spirit, Washam does not merely tell Tubman's story. She channels it. This is to say, Washam tells the story as if she is channeling the spirit of Harriet Tubman.
I have written before that I tend to be pretty practical and down-to-earth. I struggled early on with meditation because I was always skeptical and on guard against anything woo-woo. When I first began reading Spirit, I struggled mightily with the idea that Washam was claiming to "channel" a great figure from American history.
After a while, though, I let go of my concerns about whether this was a literal truth. How many classic poems have I read in which the author claims that the words were guided by the muse? How many times have I, as a writer, felt like I didn't fully control the writing process? Even if I wasn't sure Washam truly channeled Tubman's voice in a supernatural sense, I saw enough truth in what she meant to keep reading.
As I did, I felt my resistance fade because I was so immersed in the story. The experience of a firsthand account is just different, even if it is aided by a literary device like the one Washam employed. Despite my early skepticism, reading the book felt a bit like it was being told by Tubman herself. I could feel, to the extent any reader could, what Tubman had felt and understood what she might have thought. By the end of the book, Tubman's courage made a lot more sense to me.
Why? It made sense because I stopped trying to make it rational. In many cases, courage is not a logical thing. Similarly, compassion doesn't always make sense. Both of these things require us humans to be present with or go willingly towards suffering, risk, and difficulty.
In such situations, our brains and bodies may be screaming for us not to proceed. The reason that humans can go forward in such situations, therefore, is likely not going to be a purely logical one. Instead, it is far more likely to be one motivated by the heart. In this way, Washam's decision to channel Tubman's story may be the only way us humans could understand it for what it really means.
What I also liked from Washam's telling, though, was that she incorporated some of her own story and the story of modern life into the book. This helped me as a reader be more than temporarily inspired by Tubman's story. Instead, it helped me consider the ways in which I could be braver, more expansive, and look for opportunities to help others in my own life and community.
Those reading for Black History Month may be reading to learn more about history, to be better citizens, or to broaden their perspectives. Even if you already know Tubman's story, Washam's book will do all of these things. It will also challenge you because it calls you to do more than be inspired by Tubman's story.
Instead, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman asks you to live a piece of American history from the perspective of one of its greatest heroes. If you give the book a chance, it might change your understanding of courage and expand your capacity to demonstrate it in your own life.
If you want to cultivate courage in your meditation practice, check out our Courage Guided Meditation. In this practice, you can can sit in the presence of loved ones and others working to achieve a common goal, which may include historical figures. You can access the practice on Insight Timer or on YouTube here:
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children's book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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