Hello

I am curious about some of your posts. I have not entered into a debate with you nor do I wish to, however I have followed some of your comments and I am intrigued. You seem to be absolutely sure of certain aspects of DMT. You have mentioned you are a shaman and come from a long line of shamans. You also defended a stance of a member becoming one when others here labeled it as possible psychosis. You also mentioned shape-shifters and had personally witnessed them.


I would like to know where you got your info ie. what shamanic discipline? I would also like to know where and how you saw this person shapeshift. Was it in a ayahuasca state or ???


Just curious mind you i have no desire to open a can of worms, but your views seem different from most perspectives here. I would like the chance to see the workings of different opinion and possibly open a route for more research.

Thanks
TM

Well, in regards to "what shamanic discipline" I need to note that as far as I'm concerned there is only one "way of the shaman" which basically entails acquiring a different system of cognition from that of the average man.

The average man is convinced that all there is to his being is a physical body. What the shaman corroborates through his own experience is that the physical body is just one aspect of our being. There are a total of eight separate parts which make up a man. The physical body is one of those parts, so to speak.

The physical body and it's world is the only aspect of our being that can be put into language. The rest are incomprehensible to the mind and will forever be so. In fact, the physical body and it's world were brought into being through language, to be precise.


The way to reach the crucial awareness of our total being is to limit our involvement with the physical body, the mind, the ego or whatever you want to call it. But this doesn't mean withdrawing from the world or becoming a hermit or anything stupid like that.


Shapeshifting is nothing. The physical body is just a field of energy that maintains it's cohesion by an act of will. An act of will is all it takes to change it's shape. Intoxication makes such transformations easier but is not a necessity.

What you need to understand is that the physical body is not as real and as solid as we have been led to believe. It is real on the one hand, but not on the other. A good ayahuasca experience can prove this to anyone. But the insight is forgotten as soon as the effect of the drug wears off.


Regarding the matter of the guy with the alleged psychosis; I think you should ask him for his new-found perspective on life.


And finally, the reason for such discrepencies between views is all rooted in cognition. The average man would rather die than admit there is more to him than a physical body. He thinks by admitting such a thing he'll be well on his way towards mental illness. If you ask me, so be it.

If I'm mentally ill, so be it.


-f

P.S. Have you ever felt that life should offer something more? That maybe we weren't born into this world to be slaves to someone else's system of beliefs?

P.P.S. I would never take a drug which I wasn't absolutely sure about, especially DMT. It's madness to take DMT just for the experience, IMO. You will literally be opening yourself up to a wide variety of entities, all of which are predatory and feed on awareness.

P.P.P.S. Sorry this is so brief. It's all I could whip up for you on such short notice.

Hey Now,



I am most intrigued by the idea that from this vantage point, 99% of the mental dialogue we experience as cognition, is subject to and therefore, limited to the manifestations of the physical universe. It appears to be a spiritual fact, that to expand one's perception beyond that of finite self or relative awareness, one must cease said mental dialogue and silence one's personal subjectivity, thus awakening the singular witness (the immortal Godhead within each of us).

Other than the imbibing of Sacred Medicines and their extracts, what methods have you found most useful to arrive at this point of consciousness? Don't get me wrong, my respect for psychedelics is immense! Still, we all come down eventually and need additional approaches to unify and integrate the totality of such powerful, otherworldly experiences. You mentioned dreaming in this thread: https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=18608

Can we hear more about this path towards the One, that being dream-work? Also, do you include traditional sitting meditation in your daily practice? Thanks for opening your window and sharing your view with the Nexus community.

Peace, love & Light

The idea of self is something that needs be transcended if one wishes to reach the unknown.

Once the self understands that it is only one piece of a puzzle, it will stop talking to itself by an act of will.

The truth is that we remain in this reality only because we are constantly talking about it.

There are many ways to alter perception but they are needlessly crazy and so I'm not going to mention them in a public forum.

Other than all the crazy ways (which are temporary) there is another way to reach our true being, which is not temporary but rather arrives in degrees; it is called discipline. Discipline is total control over oneself. And the self is simply a description (of something).

A re-ordering of the description of the world can take us very far. It is the description that creates the world. The reality of the physical body as a form of cognition is brought about by a description.


Dreaming is very strange. Even when I feel like I've understood what it is, it manages to elude me completely. Dreaming needs to be put into practice, not thought about.

Thinking works with the known, not the unknown.

-f

P.S. Would you indulge us with your ideas, methods and experiences, Rising Spirit?

Thank you fwaggle, you have given me much to ponder over. I love new ideas and how they create a hunger in us to further understand this mysterious universe of ours!!! It never ceases to stagger my sense of personal communicative urges, when I find brethren/sistren with closed hearts and sealed intellects, ever ready to debate any statement uttered by another. It's almost as if they have their fortresses built and shall yield no openings for the perceptions of another vantage point. Again, I thank you for being receptive to Rising Spirit's attempts to transmit his experiences, via the use of language, however futile they may be.

With all due respect, why not mention such "needlessly crazy" methods in a public forum like the Nexus? I mean, where better to share such alternative approaches to exploring consciousness? Unless you are bound to a code of secrecy, which is another matter altogether. I think it is quite clear that most of us who frequent this wonderful oasis called the Nexus, are literally willing to take our lives into our own hands, to find deeper truth or spiritual meaning in our earthly existence. Or simply that we are curious and need to know what else there is to perceive within this bubble of consciousness we identify as self? The partaking of Scared Medicines can sometimes (rarely, thank goodness) be fatal to the novice spiritual seeker, as well as the well-seasoned Shaman. Such is the price for entering the unknown world of the Wounded Healer, the promise of freedom and we all seem willing to pay it for the pursuit of our own Vision Quest. Even if physical endangerment is unlikely, which is most of the time with psychedelic use, death of ego still takes place in breakthrough experiences. Like Timothy Leary used to say, "You have to loose yourself to find yourself."



Hmmm... I like the idea of this path and have also found that discipline is necessary to advance spiritually. One of my early teachers, Swami Satchidananda, loved to play word games. He would tease us with his sense of humor, most of the time. One of his favorite quips was, "Discipline is necessary when one becomes a disciple." This implies that to reach beyond one's mental fixations, as an aspiring spiritual seeker, one must utilize the power of the mind to control the data received by the physical senses. Or, "Make no appointments and you will have no disappointments." This parodies the tendency for human desire and expectation, to cause suffering, as we must release our propensity for mental projections and take life as if comes, spontaneously. For myself (whoever I am behind this illusion of mortal ego), this is interpreted as a message emphasizing the need for the human soul, to gradually attune to deeper and far subtler levels of awareness. This is hard work and it takes a whole lifetime (or lifetimes?) to embrace fully and with total commitment. In short, it requires heart and demands much patience. This is applicable to those utilizing the Scared Medicines, those who never will utilize them and those who abstaining for an undecided span of time. So, as I made reference to on another thread, "there are seasons in a person's lifetime" and we each must find our unique way into the Light and beyond the boundaries of ourselves.




Yes, your choice of the word "practice" is simply perfect, for without our efforts to change the nature of our perception and silence the bulk of our assumptions about our existence, how are we to learn to be free spirits? Contemplation has gifted me with much insight, yet this revelation needs to be integrated within my heart and actualized through the forward movement of my journey through time and space. We incarnate as an expression of the creative force and our awakening is a natural part of the dance of the One, cloaked in the garbs of the many. So, we do not simply light up like a bulb and suddenly... we are completely enlightened, it seems like more of a reoccurring saturation which transforms the intrinsic nature of the Dreamer. I could never say with absolute certainty, that we need to erase all of our thoughts and live in a state of total objectivity (were it actually possible) like a blank slate, to experience the Omniself. Rather, it is in incrementally small stages that we open up our eyes to what is beyond the known. I use "eyes" figuratively, for the appropriate lens for this type of vision is the "third eye", which sees the One in all things and only the One. I won't digress into the notion that this eye has a relationship with the pineal gland, as that is another story and our scientific Nexians would debate any correlation between the two. Let me just toss out the term third eye and use the term singular eye to clarify this idea, a touch more accurately. As our two physical eyes are designed to perceive the vast universe of duality, the psychic singular eye is designed to perceive the indivisible essence, hidden within everything which playfully manifests within this mirage of duality. The Omni-eye, which sees naught but unity in all forms.

BTW, before some of our more analytical Nexians step up to the plate and "argue" this point, perhaps I should re-word this assessment, as it smacks of mystical connotations? You see (pun intended), we are indeed gifted 3 eyes by the Creator. Often, during psychedelic journeys, Rising Spirit can spontaneously visualize a pyramid of energy/light within the area of his own forehead. Take, as an illustrative example, the all-seeing eye at the top of the pyramid, on the back of an American dollar bill. As a visual picture, the left and right eye are the two corner points at the very base (were the pyramid existing in a 2 dimensional plane). I believe this symbolic image is prevalent in Gnostic traditions, although I may be in error? It certainly came down through the Free Masons who founded the structure of the United States (sadly, at the expense of the Native Americans). Now, as a lens-like focal point, this Omni-eye becomes a window through which we see the higher realms of reality or perhaps a doorway into higher spheres or levels of perception? In my experience it is. Contrary to popular belief, this is not solely a Hindu conception nor a phenomenon that is limited by cultural conditioning, nor facilitated because of human expectation. Nature is perfect, with or without our approval. It is no small coincidence, that the image of the Buddha is portrayed showing a pronounced third/singular/Omni-eye. But I digress... for those who have looked through this lens and voyaged through it's portal, into planes of consciousness above this one, know exactly what I am alluding to. Yes?





Rising Spirit is a most indulgent character, so why not? The greatest fundamental tool I have found useful is sitting meditation. Although, some of my technical knowledge is bound to secrecy, due to the fact that I have given my oath not to divulge them to any others. Frankly, it is not my place. This is the case with Kriya Yoga and also the case with nearly identical methods used by the Sufis and those within the lineage of Sikh "Perfect Masters" like Kirpal Singh. I suspect that they are kept hidden to maintain control of their use, within the working structure of such organizations? Therefore, we could say it is political but that would imply a harsh judgement. Who knows...

While I do not really agree with this type of secret society thing, I am bound by honor to keep them as unspoken of methods. That being said, I have always preferred the direct approach, anyway. As a younger man, TM was the big spiritual sensation of it's day. Having read the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's book about Transcendental Meditation, I naturally wanted a mantra and an initiation. So, young Rising Spirit attended a lecture near his hometown and sought enrollment in the coarse. When he came to the part about paying big bucks for the instruction (in the late 1970's it cost $200.00 for an adult and only $100.00 for students). Considering that a Toyota Corolla cost about $2000.00 in that era and a bag of good pot was just 20 bucks and microdots of LSD-25 were only $2.00 a pop... this seemed so exorbitant, that is was like blasphemy to my youthful mindset! Need I say more? That being said, what's a good boy to do? Being a kid without many funds in-hand, it seemed only logical to use the mantra OM or Aum and proceed with the practice, solo.

Well, it has been 35 years of exploration and experimentation but I keep returning to this simple method to focus my wayward attention, expand my consciousness and activate the lens of my "singular eye". That is, when a mantra is needed to still the thoughts, as stillness is sooooooo key to genuine states of internal meditation. Truth is, I find it far, far more effective to search for the actual universal sound of Om/Aum, as can be perceived directly while in sitting meditation. Shouldn't we all know AUM is deep inside of us, always? Even so, knowing and experiencing are two different states of mind and it needs gradual cultivation to regularly hear with any clarity. In a nutshell, this is how the introduction of psychedelics can play such a pivotal role! No words can express my gratitude for the intervention of these Sacred chemicals, whereby these difficult to achieve levels of awareness are activated by the power of the plant or it's extractions. Behind the high ringing sound which takes place within each of our heads (Carrier Wave), the primordial vibration of the Sacred Word is buzzing without beginning or ending. Or should I say, from my own understanding, it appears to me to be this cosmic buzzing/whirring sound? For who am I to make such claims about the experience of others? As one wise Nexian proclaimed recently, "there are no absolutes" and also, "there is no Ultimate Truth". We all receive unique teachings and have unique minds to translate such information, so I will refrain from sweeping statements and generalities. OK? Still, from the perspective of the Omniself, there is only one indivisible being existent and only a singular center of consciousness, despite the illusion of multiplicity.

In this light, the sound is always droning deep within the axiom of each individual soul and center. Decades of surrender has gifted me with an ease and consistency in this realm of experience. Before anyone else raises the notion, that one needn't try not to try, for the Divine is always within us and our spirit is awaiting the moment of merging (ask and ye shall receive)... consider that human beings fall in and out of focus and in and out of sleep. We are organic centers of polarity and we have a pendulum-like variance in our awareness of reality. Sometimes techniques help us to attune to higher planes of being, sometimes they are a very moot point. Right? Spontaneous awakening is a beautiful example of this idea. :idea:

Essentially, this is why I have been more drawn to Zen and Taoism, for the last 20+ years. Yeah, there is something so sublime about the emptiness and formless nature of the Void. I feel Zen meditation releases the need for mantras and secret techniques of breathing and what not. My personal interpretation of this way is based on a most direct approach, that being to meditate on the space between breaths and the empty silence between heart beats. We needn't always ascend to an immeasurably high frequencies of causal manifestation, to experience union with God/Unified field of energy/Indivisibility. Sometimes we must surrender and admit that residing within the physical form is practically unavoidable, as we are born organic entities, after all. But we yearn for so much more!!! So too, by embracing the flow of our breath and searching for that silent pause between heart beats, we unite ourselves with this great force we refer to as God. In so dong, the circle becomes understood as being complete, as it has forever been, unbeknownst to ourselves. It has been said, that we are all bound for the awakening from our finite, sentient, dreaming selves. In so doing, to become wedded into union with the Divine. Sweet!!!

Err... forgive me if I come across as one who is preaching. Words are often inadequate to convey the intentions of the psychonaut. No preaching was intended. That is really, really annoying, huh? My bad if it comes across that way, as this overly verbose cluster of words was culled from my heart's sincere desire to communicate my two cents worth to my fellow Nexians. Please forgive me if it has caused any undue optical strain, navigating through it's lengthy expanse.

Peace, light & love

Fwaggle thanks for you timely response. Sorry it took long to reply. I had to work yesterday and after had honored entheogen of scotch and medium rare ribeye.

I was interested in the basis of your perspective. I wasnt trying to get back into that debate of psychosis/enlightenment. i was simply pointing it out to gather insights. As far as universal shamanic practices that is an area of research i would like to expand in myself. A link would be great. Thanks for info on energy i like that.

so a question that comes up for me is what is the path that ones needs to take to get to the point of being able to shape shift and being able to do other things in that realm? these types of things have been on my mind for a long time and I've not been around anyone that really knows anything about this stuff so I've been left to just kind of wander trying to figure this stuff out and its gotten be to a good place, but still no closer to achieving what I wish to. even if I could be pointed in the correct direction that would be really appreciated.
Thanks all

@Rising Spirit:

I have no secrets. The era of the Inquisition and witch-hunts is over. I will gladly divulge everything I know to anyone who asks. The worst that can happen to me is to be mocked or disbelieved, as is happening right here.

I only abstain from mentioning certain practices because they are absurd. However, since you insist I will reveal one which I myself have made extensive use of. Be warned though, it may strike you as the very definition of absurd.

I used to be very fond of venturing into the desert with nothing but the clothes on my back and shoes on my feet. I would roam for days on end with the intent of facing infinity. I would beg the universe to show it's face to me or otherwise kill me because I could not stand living as the idiot that I was. I would vow to stay until the bitter end.

And so I roamed aimlessly surrendering myself to the will of the earth.

The end arrived as total immersion into a completely different and alien world from which I have yet to emerge.


Now, if you think this is crazy you'll be surprised to know that it is nothing compared to most of the other techniques.


How right you are my friend. The path of knowledge demands total commitment and a lifetime of constant struggle. It's the complete anti-thesis of people who spend the whole week doing god knows what and then go to church for two hours on Sunday morning for god knows what reason.


It is fascinating for me to read your ideas man. It's like hearing my own ideas worded differently.

What you call the third eye, I call the capacity for seeing the essence of things. Man is naturally equipped with this ability to see the true nature of things and there are simply no words to describe the direct knowledge acquired in this way.

All I can say is that when I see in this fashion I know; and I have no idea where the knowledge comes from but I am absolutely assured that what I'm seeing is absolutely true.

Do you happen to have any thoughts about the source of these visions?


I would really like to know whatever you can tell me about meditation. So if you'd be so kind as to elaborate a little more (without crossing the secrecy line, of course) I would very much appreciate it.


I too know this buzzing sound very well. It is like an electric current running through my entire body and it is accompanied by a peculiar visual perception that I would describe as resembling tiny balls, moving really fast and constantly colliding and bouncing off eachother. They come and go ceaselessly and they're everywhere.

Do you have any additional thoughts about this phenomenon that you would like to share?


Your meditation sounds like a marvellous thing to me. So, on parting I would like to request once more that you divulge whatever you are permitted to.


I really enjoyed reading your post and replying to it. I hope you will not deny me this joy in the future.


Wishing you the best,

-f

@kmartin80: The path which you are seeking is the path of dreaming.

But there is a little snag, and you're definitely not going to like it.

Celibacy is an absolutely unquestionable requirement that dreaming can't function without. It is vital.

Believe me, I know exactly how much it sucks to hear such a thing. But I assure you it's true.


-f

@talking monkey: As far as I know, you won't find anything like "shamanism for dummies" anywhere I can think of.

Although my recommendation to you is to seek knowledge anyway. What you are looking for might be hiding somewhere you never expected.

-f

@fwaggle, the funny thing to me is that celibacy really isn't that big of a deal to me. i can handle that. I have also been working on the dream path as well. most my life I have had a hard time remembering dreams so I started a journal and I write down all my dreams, but I am just having a hard time really getting clear lucid dreams where I have the control I know is possible. Also I just don't really know how to get to where I can do the the things that I know in my head can be done. any other thoughts or ideas you might have?
thanks

I wrote last post in the AM before work peering through the haze of last nights revelries with friends. I really was not looking for a topical "Shamanism for Dummies" but more of an analysis or book written by a shaman. I am guessing from your answer you have never seen them and think its strictly an oral history. Are you saying Shamnism is the same from Bwiti to Hopi to Cuandero etc etc. I was kind of hoping to get an idea of where you learned your generational shamanism and from what culture. also noticed you posted about the desert. i am in the sonoran desert as we speak. In fact about two miles away from my current position if the time is right you can get all the toads you want. I am also meeting with a philosopher proffessor who is taking me into Mexico to meet with a revered cuandero.

@kmartin80: How do you do dreaming? How long have you been at it? Are there any noteworthy experiences that you'd care to describe?

-f

@talking monkey: The reason there isn't any literature on shamanism is because this particular subject has nothing to do with our capacity to think or talk.

Shamanism pertains to other aspects of our being, and as such there really isn't anything to say that would make it understandable on a rational level.

The basic principles of shamanism are the same regardless of who practices them. Think of physics; it doesn't matter what geographic area you are from, physics is the same for all.

I belong to no culture and I have no tribe. I live only by my own experience. I was taught to live in this fashion by another man. He didn't belong to any culture or tribe either.


Shamanism is learned through practice, by acting not talking.

-f

@Rising Spirit: Having thought the matter over, I have reached the conclusion that you have unveiled another aspect of being.

What I am talking about is your reference to perception using the third eye.

When perceived in this way, everything is something new each time one sees it. Perception by means of these visions has nothing to do with the senses or the mind. It is another mode of perception.

The whole world is made of visions in this realm. The visions carry meaning with them. Just like words.


The domain of the physical body, which includes the senses and the mind, perceives the world in it's own way. This is one aspect of our awareness and the whole realm is made of words.

The realm of visions is another aspect of our being. It is another way of 'knowing'.


I know a good number of people who have corroborated this truth and now you are one of them. Now we can agree between the two of us that we have discovered two aspects of our being; two realms of perception; two ways of apprehending the world.


Ergo

We are awareness; one aspect of awareness is perception by means of the senses and the mind which constitute the physical realm. This realm is called reason and is made of words.

Another aspect of our awareness is perception by means of "the third eye." In this realm everything is made of visions.


If you can agree with these points I think we can move on to other aspects of awareness.


-f

I haven't spent too much time focusing on dreaming, but I have spent the past 3 years working on conscious astral projection. during this time I have ony had 1 that I was able to say I succeeded in. its been a long and frustrating road. I don't know what is preventing me from this or if I need to do more work or what is going on in general, but I keep readin and keep practicing nonetheless. so here off and on over the past year I have been just working on remembering my dreams and journaling what I do remember. I go through cycles of remembering a lot and then remembering nothing at all. right now I am in my not remembering much cycle. there was once a time where I was not really lucid, but I was able to change my dream if I didn't like it. I would remove myself from the dream and it would turn into a channel on the TV and I would change the channel to something I wanted to be apart of and then I would reenter it, but that was the closest I've been to lucid dreaming. I don't really know what else to do at this point, although here lately I've been feeling like I need more discipline in my life so I am going to start with getting myself more of that.

This is an impressive banter.
I appreciate the tone, it is refreshing.
And I learned from these posts.
Gratzi Gratzi

Yes, I agree with your assessment. That being said, "Third eye" is an antiquated term and well known through Eastern religious thought. I personally prefer to think of it as the Singular Eye, for we do not have 3 hemispheres to our brains. This eye is more like a window-like lens, whereby the isolated, finite self sees the light of undifferentiated consciousness, abiding in another dimension, beyond and yet, alive within every particle and wave making up this physical reality.

Essentially, there seems to exist a universe of duality and conversely, a universe of indivisibility. As human beings, we are able to perceive many of these planes of existence, as we stand on the threshold between transience and eternity. It appears that everything born in this physical realm is composed of pairs of opposites. Two eyes, ears, hands, feet, testicles, breasts, hemispheres of the brain, etc... Even time and space are subject to the polarities, as there exists past and future, birth and death, beginnings and endings.

Within The Unified Field or The Godhead or The Omniself... there exists absolutely no duality, whatsoever. Even more so, the thought-form of duality itself, is realized as illusory. Beneath it's countless variations and myriad forms, awareness is formless and exists essentially, as The Void. Obviously, we are incarnated in human bodies and are subject to the laws of the physical existence, however, from the vantage point of the Divine, we are one singular awareness/entity/being, without division. :idea:




Oh, I do agree and I recognize that we both have slightly varied ways of expressing this same understanding. This is probably why we are all so drawn into discussions of this nature? We yearn to corroborate and communicate, for we have an inner sense that we are all parts of the greater whole and therefore, the same unified field of raw awareness, deep within our core center (as is all of life).

I am curious about a few aspects of your dream work. The left hemisphere of the brain controls the rational, judgemental, sequential, logical side of our awareness. The characteristic of this half of our brain is designed to ascribe order, reason and meaning to the subjectivity of our experience. Basically, the accumulated or learned comprehension of our existence. The realm of the known. Conversely, the right hemisphere of the brain controls the intuitive, emotional, creative urges and impulses. From this half of the brain, we experience telepathy, synthesis, wholistic comprehension and a sense for the mystical or magical. The provenance of the unknown and mysterious.

How does the path of dreaming fit into this equation? Many folks proclaim that our 3 dimensional wakefulness is a predominantly left brained process, while sleeping is the polarity if that and a right brain type of awareness. What are your thoughts and how does this relate to the direction you are taking with this practice? Can both hemispheres of the brain be activated in a balanced manner, while realizing the awareness of yourself as fully conscious, while dreaming? I guess I mean... is the goal to unite the worlds and consciously will yourself into new realities through this avenue? If so, are they new realities created by the dreamer or archetypal realities, like the ones we find echoing throughout human history? Also, does the Singular Eye have a place in this process? Have you projected yourself into any transcendental experiences of merging with God while in lucid dream states? Also, how do psychedelics play a role in this method. Does your approach towards Shamanism include Sacred Medicines and if so, which ones?

Peace, love & light

I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to point out that the information fwaggle is posting is not original and actually snippets of the Toltec/Castaneda worldview, using terminology from other "Toltec" authors. Examples are:

"the average man"

"eight separate parts which make up a man."

"reach the crucial awareness of our total being"

"The physical body is just a field of energy that maintains it's cohesion by an act of will."

"reach the unknown."

"A re-ordering of the description of the world"

"Celibacy is an absolutely unquestionable requirement" (for dreaming)

All these statements made by fwaggle are phrases and terminology from Carlos Castaneda's books and Ken Eagle Feather's Toltec Dreaming.

I'm not trying to invalidate this path, (I am all for it actually) just putting some things in perspective.

(One of the main Toltec teachings is to eliminate self-importance. It's obvious from fwaggle's posts in multiple threads that he didn't practice what he preached.)

Thank you for clarifying this.


Kinds regards,

The Traveler