top of page

midwifing "big mind," birthing insight


"Many African-American midwives in rural southeastern US of the 20th-century were proud that they could'“plow like men, and pick cotton by moonlight.' They said they were uneducated but that midwifery put their 'big minds' to work." (pg. 63, Listen to Me Good, Margaret Charles Smith and Linda Holmes.)


About 11 years ago, while pregnant, I wrote and article called "Call Me A Pregnant Woman" to bring up questions about midwifing big mind and birthing insight: "Gautama Buddha said that his transformative insight was born from yoniso manasikara, taking the mind and investigations into the yoni, another word for vagina or womb. Is the Buddha’s yoni an inner “space” where we can drop and rest our minds, to let another lively process take over?" "Another question: In India, disciples revere the Buddha and other sages with the title Bhagwan, yet the word literally means “he who has a vagina.” (The female form is Bhagwati.) What kind of vagina do illuminated people have? And why do we translate this name Bhagwan as 'Blessed one,' 'Sage,' or 'God?' Perhaps this euphemistic translation reveals a short circuit in our thinking about human spirituality. Are we avoiding an earthiness and mystery of spiritual life? Are we afraid to “be in a body” to realize (make real) our spiritual potential?"

Please feel free to read the whole article here:

34 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page