Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Shamanism And The Paranormal

In an inclusion based Universe, everything that exists has validity, even if you don't have access to an awareness of all that exists at any one time. Or even a small part of it. In this inclusion based world view, our failure to be aware of the paranormal, or any part of it, is therefore not a valid a reason to declare those experiences that people have as either hallucinations, or simply that what is felt simply doesn't exist. That would be like saying that radio waves don't exist, because I can't see them, or feel them. The argument for radio waves is that you can see the results of their existence. Well, you can see the results of the existence of the paranormal as well, and the fear, the gut feelings, and the change in their surroundings during paranormal events that people feel, is the "station" they play with their bodies as accurate receptors when "hit" with the energy of the paranormal, much in the same way as a radio physically responds with music when hit by radio waves.

Whether the above observation settles anyone's doubts or not doesn't matter. What does matter is this. If non-ordinary reality and paranormal events cause changes and responses in our energy fields through feelings and experiences, then in an inclusion based Universe, perhaps there's a way to use those experiences and feelings for our own good. Our own good as we say what our own good is, not anyone else. What I have found is that during paranormal events, our ego, or tonal based world, is stretched a bit, sometimes a lot, and in a literal sense our energy envelopes expand to include more space. After the event, it is Universal Law that our energy space cannot close down, so something has to fill it back up again. If what is used to fill that space back up again are doubts, confusion, and fear, then that's certainly what the experiencer gets to be "right" about; that they live in a scary, predatorial, "out to get you" Universe. Once we set ourselves on this path, it's very difficult to turn our eyes in a different direction, and get out of the victim racket mode of thinking. That's when everything seems as if it's out to "get us" whether or not it really is.

If instead, we do as the Zen Master does, and simply "be with" what happens during paranormal events, and experiences of non-ordinary reality, then we can deliberately allow something else other than fear to fill up our post-paranormal event, expanded energy field. By way of example, I learned after thirty-eight years of studying and practicing martial arts that after for instance, putting my fist through cinderblocks with ease, without harm or evidence of having done so, that the expectation in martial arts is that after that non-ordinary event, what you will then possess is the ability to do so again, and with even greater ease. And, through a greater number of cinderblocks. Now to stick your unprotected fist through one cinderblock is a non-ordinary enough event, but to then expect to more easily break through two blocks afterwards, is the filling up of the space from the first non-ordinary event, with an expectation of increased skill. If we can do this deliberate filling up of our expanded energy field in relationship to the non-ordinary event of breaking concrete with mere flesh and blood, why not with non-ordinary reality, and paranormal events as well?

I have walked across a bed of 1200 degree hot coals ten feet long and felt nothing except the joy of expanding my energy envelope and then deliberately filling it back up again with promises of fulfilling life commitments. In other paranormal events, such as shape shifting, talking with the dead, or out of body experiences, I have done no less. But this is the key. This filling up of our space in a way that enhances our lives, rather than detracts from them, has to be done deliberately. And, it has to be thought about and planned, in advance of the event. To get scared during paranormal events simply for the thrill of it, and then to allow yourself to expand upon that reaction over time, is to fill your energy envelope up with fear. Fill yourself up with fear, and what do you get? That's right, more fear. Not a particularly useful experience, and one that precipitates more fear and outright paranoia. And it's not that paranormal events or non-ordinary reality circumstances, aren't frightening at times, they are. The shift we have to make isn't in not reacting, or even not reacting with fear, because our bodies certainly know what's going on, but in not continuing a conceptual reaction over time. In straight talk, that would mean to deliberately not fill up our energy envelopes, or to shape our literal way of being, through conceptual fear, which after the event is the only kind of fear left, because your body has long gotten over it.

If instead, in allowing in the reality of both paranormal and non-ordinary reality, in this inclusion based world view, we act "as if" nothing's happening, then what happens is that we can be shaking in our boots while observing, (or allowing our bodies to be the accurate receptors and reactors that they truly are) and yet still maintain our centeredness (or to deliberately control our minds and what we fill up our expanded energy envelope with after the event.) This is to let our bodies do what they do, because they are so much more in tune with all the different energies around us, and then have it be our job to do the only thing we really do have the power to do, and that is to control our minds. If in advance of events, our plan is that we deliberately train our minds to fill up our literal energy envelopes with new ways of being aligned with our path-with-heart habits, and fulfilling life commitments, after we are expanded through confronting the unknown, then we walk the path of The Steel Shaman, or one who builds a bridge between the two worlds, a bridge of inclusion.

Tom Wright

Tom Wright is a respected Toltec shaman and healer, and his work can be found at http://www.a-course-in-shamanism.com. He the author of The Steel Shaman, and the coursework creator of A Course In Shamanism, and has been regularly invited to speak at The International Amazonian Conference On Shamanism, in Iquitos, Peru

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