A shaman is connected.
He or she knows. Intuitively.
He knows that the big “all there is” is made of energy, information, consciousness and intent.
Whose intent?
Doesn’t matter. Intent in which any of us can have a share.
Intent arising from love. Pure, unconditional, non judgmental love. Or .. intent arising from non love. Not necessarily hatred, cruelty, just non love, like coldness, indifference, condescendence.
Love or non love. Not good or evil. That would be judgment, moral codes…all worthless and meaningless.
The shaman is connected through body and mind. He knows everything is one and interacting. A continuum with no demarcations. A fantastic field of energy, consciousness permeating all creatures alive or nor alive (at least not alive according to the mainstream vision of things): humans, animals, microorganisms, plants, stones, water…everything without exception.
If you kick a machine made of metal and plastic bits because it doesn’t work as you wanted it to work, you may think it doesn’t matter.
But a shaman knows the machine will sense your frustration, your impatience, your non love.
When taking a shower, a shaman feels gratitude for the water running over his body. He will not make an empty speech, but he will feel gratitude through body sensations and non verbal thoughts.
All our thoughts are either expanding or contracting. Expanding when aligned with love and free of fear and bitterness. Contracting when steeped in non love, and/or fear and bitterness.
The shaman isn’t naïve. He’s lucid. He’s very aware of the crisis on our planet. He knows the eco-systems are under attack, he knows the folly of intensive agriculture, industrial food production, soulless medicine, chemical poisoning and all the rest. He knows the unbelievable corruption of the system and the blindness and cowardice of most people.
But none of this sends him or her into panic.
He knows it’s no big deal in the grand scheme of things. The shaman knows of eternity, including his own eternity. This doesn’t give him a big head and an inflated ego, or a low self esteem and a sense of being weak and negligible.
A shaman is an intuitive metaphysician.
He knows that advanced science is beginning to offer partial insights into the energy and information field, into water memory, animal consciousness and a host of other things that materialist thinking had so far chosen to ignore.
A shaman isn’t waiting for the dry intellect to validate his vision of the universe. He trusts his intuition.
Because he is connected.
And he is connected because he has learned to quieten the inner chatter of his mind and to free himself of the pathetic distractions thrown at us: advertising, manipulated news, entertainment, objects for show off …
But the shaman isn’t a puritan old bore. He will drink a glass of wine or beer, have a good laugh, feel sexually attracted without shame, etc….all in love, integrity, non judgment.
He may be an activist for truth and deserving causes, but will not become a fanatic. He isn’t anxious to save the planet. He knows the planet will take care of itself.
He knows the future and the past are just perceptions of the human mind in its narrow intellectual mode. There is no time line, just eternity. Unimaginable eternity and infinity our intellect cannot comprehend.
That is why he uses the intellect only as a modest tool, like a screwdriver, and not as the compass to guide his life.
You can be a shaman, at least a shaman apprentice, from tomorrow morning (or even today) if you so choose. There is nothing to stop you other than the fear and limitations downloaded in your mind by the mainstream belief system. And you don’t need ayahuasca, LSD, booze or fancy rituals.
Rituals are used by traditional shamans in the context of their culture to enhance modified states of consciousness. They can play a useful role in their context, in the same way that a pendulum or dowsing rods can be used to help achieving a state of focused attention enabling access to the field of subtle information.
Becoming a shaman is less of a mountain top than one might imagine. If we choose the easy route to the summit: simplicity.
No fuss, no show off, no artefacts. Just expanding thoughts, concentrated attention through the body and the mind, here and now. Total trust in the universe’s loving guidance.
Be aware that some folks choose connection with dark forces or at least are led into connection with them. Yes dark forces exist in the big field consciousness, like nefarious software, otherwise there wouldn’t be evil and the mess we see on the planet. Some folks are conned into believing that slaves of darkness are rewarded by visible success and physical pleasure. But it’s an illusion, a one-sided deal of exploitation and mind control.
A shaman knows this too. And it doesn’t frighten him. He knows the darks forces can’t hold him in their grip.
Fear not, start your shamanic journey; it’s fun and healthy.
Love,
Leo
Copyright © Leo Foresta 2014