Page 27 - 11-18-Issue redo (1)

This month’s thoughts HEART OF THE SHAMAN

about things...

“I want to look back on my life and be giddy with ...continued from page 8...
joy that I was the one who got to live it.”
... from page 7 ..

SOME FOLKS THRIVE IN A STRUCTURED SETTING Then I learned that I could transform the daydreams that
He functions well in a structured setting and he’s healthier had held me captive for so many years and had turned into
with regular meals and sleep. He wrote me when he was nightmares. This awareness was the real treasure.
incarcerated 6 years ago, sharing insights for 6 months what
he was learning about himself through the process. A former In the Amazon, shamans learn to track in the invisible world
born again Christian, he can be deeply insightful. When of the Primordial Light: just as a hunter can track a jaguar
he'd call, we'd talk about the soul lessons he was learning through the forest, you can track the masters who can help you
from his life experiences. He can be charming and uses hu- find the answers you seek. In a state of non-ordinary awareness,
mor to get along, so he had no problems 6 months in a SC the shaman enters the lower world, which is the time-past.
jail. This will be prison in Florida so he gets to put what he's Here, the ancestors can help you find where you came from, or
learned into practice. help a patient recover a soul part that they lost as a result of
trauma long ago in their past.
HELP FRIENDS REFRAME THEIR TROUBLES
Even if it’s all just a made up fantasy to impress whomever Similarly, the shaman will enter the upper world, which is
he’s talking to – as I later learned -- he has the capacity future-time. Here, the masters of tomorrow can help you dis-
for vision and that is amplified when he’s in a structured cover who you are becoming, and help you perform a destiny-
setting. I told him last time that the best thing he can retrieval, to assist someone who is ill by finding a future healed
do when people talk about their woes is to help them state that can guide them toward health.
reframe what happened to see it in a different light. A
light that helps them learn something about themselves, In the high mountains of the Andes, you learn to transform your
offers a course correction and gives them hope for a fu- nightmares through the experience of the Primordial Light. The
ture. Never deny someone hope, it may be all they have. Andean path is arduous, because the Indios there had to learn
to transform the nightmare of the Spanish Conquest into a gift
WE ALL NEED TO FEEL A SENSE OF PURPOSE and an opportunity. They had to learn to forgive their enemies,
When he began seeing himself in a teacher/mentor role the ones who had raped their mothers and grandmothers.
while in custody last time, that gave him a purpose, Helping
others gave him a mission and hope for the future. So I’m The Amazon path requires a living teacher who can help you to
sure he’ll revert back to that. He’s a chameleon. navigate through the realms of the ancestors and the unborn.
The beings you meet along the way can help you discover the
NEW LEVEL, NEW DEVIL Primordial Light and find your sacred dream. They can help
Every time your world changes and you reach a new level, it with experiences that oftentimes contradict the beliefs you
presents you with new "devils" to contend with. But when- have been taught.
ever you're presented with new challenges, you are also
presented with guidance to overcome them. So consider I have a friend who is a Buddhist master, a Roshi. One Sunday
that whenever you're observing what you think is a "devil," at his monastery we sat in cross-legged meditation for an hour.
is simply an angel taking you to a new level. After a short while, I entered a peaceful reverie, following my
breath in and out of my chest. In my shamanic training, I have
YOU DON’T WANT JUSTICE, YOU WANT MERCY learned that meditation is a platform from which to explore the
Don't be screaming for justice, when what you really want is Primordial Light. As I scanned the room with my inner vision, I
mercy. Go ahead and play the system noticed a half dozen luminous beings along the walls of the hall.
if you think you can get away with it They were dressed like monks in silken robes and were joining
but be prepared for the karmic conse- us in meditation. Occasionally, one of them would waft to the
quences. You know deep in your own center of the room and reach out to someone in a gesture of
soul the truth of the matter. blessing or of healing. They seemed amused that I was observing
them.
It’s been an eye opening month. I feel
freer than I have in a long time. A good After the session, when we were alone, I mentioned this to Ro-
lesson in not letting people or circum- shi, and he replied sternly, “In Zen we do not pay attention to
stances keep me down, that I can be phenomena. We consider it a distraction.” I felt myself gently
happy no matter what. Life is good. rebuffed and moved on to other topics.

Enjoy our offering this month. Andrea ...continued on page 29...
Hari Om.
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