#257 The Dharma of Harriett Tubman | Spring Washam

I had always known Harriett Tubman as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, repeatedly risking her own life to lead slaves out of the South. But in this episode, my friend, the great meditation teacher Spring Washam, draws the link between Tubman and the Buddha, who also made it his business to lead people to freedom. Spring is teaching a new, five-week, online course called The Dharma of Harriett Tubman, through the East Bay Meditation Center. In the course, and in this interview, she uses stories from Tubman’s life to teach the kind of meditation that will equip us with both the ferocity and warmth that we need in these trying times. Spring is one of the most important teachers for me in my own personal practice. We are an odd couple — she freely uses words such as “heart” and “soul.” She likes to get all ooey-gooey and touchy-feely, with a giant side dish of shamanism. In fact, I often suspect that, since she knows this kind of talk makes me a little uncomfortable, she triples down on it when I’m around. But make no mistake, Spring is hardcore — both in terms of her meditation practice and her personal background. You can go back and listen to some of the prior episodes with her (we will put links in show notes), but the short version is that, in her upbringing, she experienced divorce, poverty, addiction, abuse, and racism — and emerged to be a meditation teacher and author (her book is called “A Fierce Heart”), and one of the most impressive human beings I have personally encountered. So if someone as badass as Spring is drawing inspiration from Harriett Tubman, so can we. Quick note: this conversation was initially scheduled just to be a personal phone call, but when I saw an email from Spring announcing the Harriett Tubman course, I asked her to let us use our scheduled time to record a podcast.

Where to find Spring Washam online: 

Website: https://www.springwasham.com/

Social Media:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube

Book Mentioned:

• A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage, and Wisdom in Any Moment

Check our our new, free collection of meditations called Relating to Race in the Ten Percent Happier app: https://app.tenpercent.com/link/content?topic=9b690091-ad96-4557-8dbf-23d23b13d979 

Other Resources Mentioned:

• Register to Spring’s course, The Dharma of Harriet Tubman & The Underground Railroad: 
• Samsara
• The Eightfold Path
• Siddhartha 
• Harriet (2020)
• Bodhisattva 
• The Underground Railroad
• Mahayana 
• Bodhicitta

Additional Resources:

• Ten Percent Happier Live: https://tenpercent.com/live
• Coronavirus Sanity Guide: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide
• Free App access for Health Care Workers: https://tenpercent.com/care