Recently, I was filing to receive official documents for my Filipino citizenship, and I had to submit all kinds of paperwork, like my parents’ birth and marriage certificates, and I had none of them.
First, my parents were born way before WWII. Then, my mom’s birth record burned in WWII when her village was bombed, and my dad was an orphan and born in 1924. ‘Nuff said. When they married in the Philippines, they didn’t get any official documents either.
It was starting to feel pretty impossible to get it all done.
But then I realized that if my mom managed to gather the required documents for her US naturalization without internet or telephones in her village, I had the capacity to do THIS.
I am, after all, the dreams of my ancestors and capable of much more than I can likely imagine. In fact, we ALL are.
You too!
I first saw an iteration of this phrase on a T-shirt Noliwe Alexander was wearing. She’s an amazing Black dharma teacher of mine, and it said, “I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.” This phrase has been used for many years in Black communities, and as the daughter of an immigrant and orphan, it resonated deeply with me as well.
We are the manifestations of our ancestors’ struggles, joys, and survival.
So when life gets heavy, when the weight of the world presses down on us, we can take a moment to remember that we aren’t standing alone.
This concept – that we are the dreams of our ancestors – doesn’t just sound nice. It’s a force that can help us keep going, help us rest, and help us ground.
It’s a way to reconnect with the lineage of our being, to tap into a well of strength that has been passed down through bloodlines, communities, and cultures. And when we remember that, we realize that the struggles we face today are not isolated incidents.
They are part of the larger story. And as we navigate those struggles, we carry the legacy of resilience, right?
The first step in embracing this idea is acknowledging the influence our lineage might have.
It’s easy to feel like the struggles we face are unique to us and that no one else has gone through what we’re going through. The truth is, every hardship we face has been felt by someone before us.
Many of our ancestors fought for freedom, dignity, and survival through challenges like colonial oppression, forced migration, poverty, or social/religious exclusion. And yet, here we are, alive, thriving, struggling, AND standing on the shoulders of those who endured.
It’s the healing that connects us to those who came before us. So when we sit with our own suffering, we’re also processing the collective pain of past generations, and we can honor and draw from their experiences.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on “interbeing” often dive into how we’re all interconnected, which also means that when we struggle, we aren’t alone in our pain; every moment of suffering can contribute to collective healing and liberation.
For me, when I remember this, it helps me transform my suffering into something that doesn’t just benefit me, but all those who will come after, too.
In Engaged Buddhism – which blends spiritual practice with social activism – we’re asked to take action not just for our own liberation, but for the liberation of all being, so we have to remember that every time we rise from hardship, we’re carrying the dreams of those who came before us too, and pave the way for those that will come after.
I think we can’t talk about all this without also acknowledging the role generational trauma has too; how the pain, fears, and unresolved issues of one generation can be passed down to the next.
Whether it’s the trauma of war, displacement, or systemic oppression, these wounds don’t just disappear with time—they keep affecting the generations that follow. So we don’t just carry the DNA of our ancestors, we also carry their unhealed wounds and unresolved grief. The coll thing is we also have the ability to heal these wounds.
We aren’t doomed to keep repeating the past (even though it might really feel that way sometimes).
When we feel defeated or overwhelmed, it’s easy to forget the strength that we have But in those moments, it’s important to pause and remember: we are the dreams of our ancestors.
They faced unimaginable challenges, and they made it through. And now, we have the privilege of walking in their footsteps, carrying forward their dreams of a better world, and for our own liberation too.
When life gets heavy, remember this!
You carry your ancestors’ strength, wisdom, and hopes. Keep going step by step with that in mind. Rest when needed. Know you have what it takes. Honor them by living fully, by healing, by creating a world that reflects the dreams they had for us.
You will learn:
// How I was inspired by my Black dharma teacher, Noliwe Alexander, and the phrase, “We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams”
// How we can gain resilience from remembering our ancestors’ paths
// The importance of acknowledging the weight our own lineage might have
// Why being with our suffering contributes to more than just our own healing
// What generational trauma is and how it impacts resourcing from our past
Resources:
// Episode 248: You Are a Cycle Breaker
// Episode 59: The Parent Wound
// Episode 174: Decolonize Your Mind – A Story of My Mother and Me
// Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
// If you’re new to the squad, grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll also get access to the Rebel Buddhist private group, and tune in every Wednesday as I go live with new inspiration and topics.
// Want something more self-paced with access to weekly group support and getting coached by yours truly? Check out Freedom School – the community for ALL things related to freedom, inside and out. We dive into taking wisdom and applying it to our daily lives, with different topics every month. Learn more at JoinFreedomSchool.com. I can’t wait to see you there!
// Have you benefited from even one episode of the Rebel Buddhist Podcast? I’d love it if you could leave a 5-star review on iTunes by clicking here or on Spotify by clicking here.