“Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.”
Zulu Proverb
(A person is a person because of other people.)
The Practice of Okagesamade
In modern Japanese, “Okagesamade” means, “Thanks to you.”
In the ancient Japanese mystical tradition, Okagesamade (oh-caw-kaw-saw-ma-day) means, “Thank you, because of you this moment exists.” It’s a simple way to recognize the truth of our inter-relatedness to all of existence in any given moment. You can practice at any time, in any place.
The following practice of Okagesamade was taught by Goswami Kriyananda, the founder and spiritual preceptor of the Temple of Kriya Yoga:
Pause and take a breath. Observe your surroundings. Become curious, in an open and friendly way as you ask, “Who made it possible for me to experience this specific moment?” As you reflect, be sure to remember all the known and anonymous people who have made your life and this moment. You might include those…
- Who designed and built the structures around you.
- Who designed, built, and delivered the furniture you sit upon or the floor you stand upon.
- Who gathered and delivered the materials for the building and furniture.
- Who built the roads you traveled on to be where you are at this moment.
- And before that, those who pioneered and cleared the land around you.
- Who grew, delivered, cooked and served your last meal.
- Who invented, built, and delivered the technology you may be using in this moment.
- Who cleaned and beautified your environment.
- Who designed, made, and sold your clothing.
- Who nurtured and educated your body, mind and soul.
- Whose thoughts, words or deeds may have saved your life—physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
- Who befriend, encourage and love you despite your shortcomings.
- And who gave you life, starting with your parents and including the thousands of love stories before your parents.
It is an enriching spiritual practice to contemplate our connection to all those who have made it possible to experience this specific moment.
Regardless of current challenges, it soon becomes apparent how incredibly blessed each of us has been and is in our lives. My life has been blessed by a multitude of teachers who have enriched my life beyond measure. Because of them, this moment of connection with you, dear reader, is possible.
May any merit that comes from sharing this practice of Okagesamade go to my teachers in the Kriya Yoga lineage, particularly Swami Pranananda and Sri Goswami Kriyananda. Because of these two souls, this moment exists.
Play this guided meditation of the Okagesamade Practice.
My Family: My Greatest Teachers
My greatest teachers have been my three sons and two daughters, their partners, my seven precious grandchildren, and my great grandson born December 25, 2017, exactly 100 years after my father! (His brother arrived in 2020.)
In the course of daily life, they have challenged me to walk my talk in concrete and mundane ways. Among many things, they have taught me about the power of forgiveness, the need for humor, the value of positive thinking, the wisdom of keeping my mouth firmly shut, and the utter joy of the present moment.
My Husband
I am deeply grateful for my husband and primary teacher, the rock n’ roll kid, the nature lover, the Renaissance man–the beloved soul known as Harry H. Hitzeman, Jr., who shows me his love and care in practical and romantic ways. Harry has always seen the best in me even when I could not. He translated my vision for Designs for Peace into reality through this website and has helped me learn more about technology. A Boy Scout at heart, Harry has a reverence for life and embodies courage, patience, self-discipline, persistence, ingenuity, loving-kindness, and a joyful spirit.
Because of Harry, I am a better person in all ways.
Other Life Teachers
The following incomplete list of my life teachers is a start in practicing Okagesamade. Though I have grouped them, many of my teachers have taught me in each category listed. If you are curious about certain teachers, please contact me.
I will be very happy to tell you more!
The Spiritual Practice of Kriya Yoga
Sri Goswami Kriyananda
Swami Pranananda Mahaswami
Eric and Devi Klein
Barbara Schermer
“It doesn’t matter what you do.
Goswami Kriyananda
What matters is that you find Joy in it!”
“Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?
Swami Pranananda
Walking The Spiritual Path
Dalai Lama
Thich Nhat Hanh
Pema Chodron
Angeles Arrien
Elesa Commerse
Mahatma Gandhi
Bishop Tutu
Nelson Mandela
Ram Dass
Sharon Salzberg
Mathew Fox
M. Scott Peck
Parker Palmer
Viktor Frankl
Eckhart Tolle
Rachel Naomi Remen
William Bridges
Gary Zukav
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
–His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
Mahatma Gandhi, 1913
Dying, Death, and Rebirth
Ira Byock
Atul Gawande
Elizabeth Kubler Ross
Stephen Levine
Alan D. Wolflet
Elizabeth Alexander
Michael Ortiz Hill
Sogyal Rinpoche
Eben Alexander
Frank Ostaseski
“The four simple phrases Dr. Ira Byock learned
Ira Byock, From The Four Things That Matter Most: A Book About Living
were most important to his hospice patients:
’Please forgive me’ ; ‘I forgive you’; ‘Thank you’ ; and ‘I love you.’ ”
Creativity
June Purcell Beddoe
Hal Beddoe, M.D.
Geoffrey Beddoe
Corean Shoffner Beddoe
Bae Emilson
Robert Fritz
Elizabeth Caperton
Ira Progoff
Sr. Brigid Molloy
Kelly Williams
Jenna Eisenberg
Julia Cameron
Marjorie Johnson
Larry and Mary May
Oleh Sydor
Betty Edwards
Cheryl Strayed
Millie MacKinnon
DeAnn Trucano
Judy Cowley
Judie Welch
Pat Allen
Dayna Block
Jacqueline Huxel
“Art making is my way of bringing soul back into my life.
Pat B. Allen, from Art is a Way of Knowing
Soul is the place where the messiness of life is tolerated,
where feelings animate the narration of life…
Soul is the place where I am replenished and
can experience both gardens and graveyards.
Art is my way of knowing who I am.”
PeerSpirit Circling / The Circle Way
Christina Baldwin
Ann Linnea
“A circle is a way of doing things differently than we have become accustomed to. The circle is a return to our original form of community as well as a leap forward to create a new form of community.”
Christina Baldwin, from Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture
SoulCollage®
Jon Hansen
Seena Frost
Kylea Taylor
Jim Schofield
Anne Marie Bennett
Alia Moore
Mariabruna Sirabella
Catherine Anderson
Kat Kirby
Barb Horn
Nancy Weiss
Glenda Goodrich
JoAnn Flynn
Renee Robbins
Marie Drennan
Mary Ann Reed
Lori Harris
Chris Regan
Connie Devendorf
Cheryl Finley Goggins
Bea Friend
Veronica Murphy
Mary Sinclair
Patty Reinhardt
Marianne Cirone
Debbie McEllenborough
Sharana Mueller
Esther Anderson
Darlene D’Angelo
Heather Hathaway
Beth Bouchard
Mindy Diaz
Cheryl O’Rourke
Deedee Schneider
Meredith Raque
Noelle Remington
Sue Gelber
Suzie Wolfer
Jeanne Marie Merkel
Dot Everhart
Lila Critchley
Kimee Doherty
Mary Agnes Twomey
Judith Goldberg
Fran Cherlow
Jennifer Mantle
Laura Seligman
Janine Kinch
Larissa Berger
Sandy Burke
Monica Charvet
“When the soul wishes to experience herself,
Meister Eckhart
she throws an image of the experience before her and enters into it.”
“How each of us nurtures, heals and explores Soul
Seena B. Frost from SoulCollage® Evolving:
will have impact on the vast cultural changes beginning to manifest.
If we become more Soul-Conscious,
we will become more powerful and effective
as Lightbearers, as Warriors,
as Wise Women and Wise Men of the 21st Century.”
An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery & Community
Feminine Wisdom and Spirituality
Marie McFadden Purcell
Curt Hyman
Patricia Beddoe Bernardello
Judy Beddoe Crocker
Suzie Beddoe Robinson
Mary Calenda
Louise Guenther Webber
Bridget Morgan
Alfrieda Wilkins
Sonja Johnson
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Marilyn French
Betty Friedan
Gloria Steinem
Marian Woodman
Linda Belknap
Jean Shinoda Bolen
Grace Paley
Carol Lee Flinders
Beverly Hightower
Leslie Sann
Jean Houston
Sonia Choquette
Virginia Satir
Edna Groves
Brenda Kien
Sue Monk Kidd
Starhawk
Judith Duerk
Joanne Reichlin
Sr. Virginia Mary Barta
Shirley Tassencourt
Allegra Ahlquist
Robbie Lapp
Nancy Masland
Judy O’Leary
Vivian Londos
Cha Moon
Jennifer Brown
Stefanie Taranto
Oksana Hites
Melanie Meade
Sylvia Ewing
Elesa Commerse
Helen van Dongen
“Whenever I’d trusted my truth as a woman and was loyal to it,
Sue Monk Kidd from The Dance of The Dissident Daughter
it had become like a thread in my fingers…
taking me where I need to go…
The best female friendships are about encouraging full personhood,
giving the other permission to follow her Big Wisdom
…even when it means her thread takes her
away from safe conventionalities.”
Conscious Aging
The Heartland Council of Grandmothers
The Arizona Council of Grandmothers
The Gulf Coast Council of Grandmothers
The Texas/Oklahoma Council of Grandmothers
“When the Grandmothers speak, the Earth will be healed.”
Hopi Proverb
Enneagram
Annette Spiezio
Don Riso
Helen Palmer
Jerry Wagner
Sandra Maitri
“The Enneagram provides us with nine perspectives for viewing the world: The Idealistic Perspective, the Perspective of Love, the Productive Perspective, the Aesthetic Perspective, the Perspective of Wisdom, the Perspective of Tradition, the Joyful Perspective, the Perspective of Strength, and the Peaceful Perspective.”
Jerome Wagner, Ph.D, from Nine Lenses on the World
Nonviolent Communication
Marshall B. Rosenberg
Myra Walden
“Nonviolent Communication is a way of communication
Marshall B. Rosenberg from Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion
that leads us to give from the heart.”
Career / Life Counseling & Coaching
Virginia Satir
Isabel Briggs Myers
Ira Progoff
Marsha Sinetar
Richard Bolles
Robin Sheerer
Jack Chapman
Tom Camden
Judy Lansky
Randy Bennett
Peter LeBrun
“Choose a job you love and
Confucius
you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
Community Organizing and Intellectual Methods
Institute of Cultural Affairs
Alfrieda Wilkins
Joseph and Lyn Mathews
Joe and Carol Pierce
Gene and Ruth Marshall
Dennis Lord
Training, Inc.
Beverly Hightower
Judy Montgomery
Mary Ann Wainwright
Lynette Shanklin
People’s Resource Center
Mary Ellen Durbin
Rosie Dixon
Leslie Gena
“If we have no peace, it is because
Mother Teresa
we have forgotten we belong to one another.”