Having It All Doesn’t Help

There was a Michelob beer commercial many years ago that stated, in a catchy jingle, “Who says you can’t have it all?”. Of course this was the 80’s or early 90’s and Yuppiedom was in full swing with then-30-somethings having absurd visions of being presidents of huge companies while also having loads of time to be full-time mommies and daddies. Well, eventually reality went ahead and bit and people found out that, in life, we must make choices. As John Williams said, “You can have anything but you can’t have everything.”

Nicole recently was speaking with one of her doctors — a beautiful Asian woman with a great doctor husband and two healthy beautiful children — who always seems discontent. But what does she have to be discontent about? She has “it all” doesn’t she? She is a gynecologist who works part time and still makes more than 99% of Americans. Her hubby is also a doc. She has what most people feel will make them happy — a wonderful house, loving husband who is wealthy, a great car that she can trade in every year or so, satisfying work, a nanny to take care of her great kids when she can’t and so on.

The answer is simple. Most of us, when visioning a perfect life, leave out reality. Even with two wonderful people there will still be marital fights, bills to pay, a check that gets lost in the mail, cars that break down, and so on. Hey! This isn’t what we vision in a “perfect life!”

But there is a very much deeper problem that is causing divorces, suicides, depression, and all manner of other dysfunctions in our country. There is a reality. That reality is that most of life is mundane.

There is a Zen saying that before Enlightenment a man gets up in the morning, takes a crap, washes his face, eats breakfast, goes to work in the fields, comes home, eats his dinner, makes love to his wife and goes to sleep. After Enlightenment a man gets up in the morning, takes a crap, washes his face, eats breakfast, goes to work in the fields, comes home, eats his dinner, makes love to his wife and goes to sleep. Enlightenment doesn’t change the ordinariness of life. Most people in history have understood that, even if one is a king or a queen, life is repetitive and ordinary. Heidegger pointed out that this ordinariness must be realized and accepted in order to live in authenticity and genuineness.

But the Media conspires against the ability to realize this. The reason, of course, is simple. Having a movie where people do everyday things for the whole movie would be quite boring and even Nicole wouldn’t see it, even though she loves boring movies where people talk the whole time and there are no blondes, explosions, car chases or aliens. Go figure. In movies, TV shows, etc., life is shown as either hectic or glamorous. Somebody is always doing something and something is always happening. At most, you get a few moments here and there of people doing ordinary people things like having breakfast or reading a paper — as a prelude to the kitchen getting blown away or an alien invasion, if it’s a good movie!

In fact, if they show people just quietly and happily living their lives you just know that something terrible is about to happen. You can always tell by the music. It turns from quiet and idyllic to a minor key with violins or something. I always wonder why the people in the movies don’t listen to the music and get the hell out of there when the music turns bad…but I digress.

The constant action of even fairly boring movies leads to a conscious or subconscious expectation that something should always be happening in our lives — and that isn’t real. Movies are considered long if they go three hours. But in those three hours the story-tellers are showing days or years, not “real-time,” at least in 99.9% of the movies made. our lives, while it may not seem it, have 24 hours in each and every day to fill up with doing things. Many of those will be mundane. Even with the most exciting job possible, there is paperwork or some other onerous thing. And most people in the world live lives devoted to administrivia. Think of how many paper pushers there are vs. football stars or top executives. Even in my consulting job, which I created for myself and can change at a moment’s notice, there are boring parts. I still have to file taxes. I still have to review rẻsumẻs, and so on. For example, I just spent an hour and a half messing around again with our website. Boring. But necessary, as it is one of our marketing tools. I love to write blogs. But I still have to edit them and mess with the blog page and so on. And I have to be somewhat careful what I say to assure that I am understood and don’t offend unnecessarily. I have several posts that shall probably go forever unpublished — not because they don’t tell a truth that is important, but because they would be offensive to some folks and that harm would outweigh the good that might be done from exploring that truth. This is reality. It sometimes bites.

This is a hard realization. It is difficult to get through out heads that even Superman had to wash his tights and even Gandalf had to take the time to urinate. In my priest days I had a couple walk out of the Church because I pointed out that Jesus urinated, defecated, sweat, and probably, as a teenager, had zits. We want our heroes (and ourselves) to be free from everydayness. But it is there.

This is very hard, especially, for someone going from a single state to a married or coupled one. Most people in a single state fantasize about how wonderful couple-hood will be. But being single has many frantic moments…meeting a new potential mate, first date terrors, the internet date turning out to be Quasimodo, etc. Couple-hood is comfortable. You don’t have to worry about a date for Saturday night. But the excitement of the chase is no longer there, either.

Now, my wife and I never liked the chase much. And we still have many “dates” where we go do fun things. But it is different than being single. We love the difference and wouldn’t want to be “out there” for all the money in the world. But this takes getting used to.

The same applies to unemployment, not having enough money, and so on. There is an element of terror which is exciting. Working a day-to-day job isn’t all that exciting. This is the way of everything in life. The best state has some excitement in it, but not continual excitement. A good life is mostly filled with mundane moments that are precious to us, but would make a very boring movie. Changing diapers, washing dishes, watching TV, playing our instruments, making love, taking walks, talking into the night, stolen kisses with one another as we are meeting deadline, etc.

This is why “having it all” seems so boring sometimes. It is. But it is a boredom that I cherish to the degree I have it, as do all Spiritual People who “get it.”

There was a great old “Twilight Zone” many years ago. A gambler and thief had died. He wound up in a place where he got everything he wanted — always got the woman, always won at cards, etc. At first it was fun, but then he realized that all fun and challenge had been taken from him — he would always win. The Twilight Zone music came after these lines: “Funny, I never thought a guy like me would wind up in heaven.” Answer: “Who said this was heaven?”

Love, peace, joy, prosperity and challenge!

J.

The Cosmic Starbucks

I’ve been told that I’m going to get outrage at this post, and, considering the responses I’ve seen to similar statements, I can believe that I well might. But the Truth that I’m about to share is at the core of Spirituality and essential to a life of creative joy, so here goes.

So here goes: We all have chosen and/or allowed every single thing that happens to us, no matter how difficult, tragic, ugly or devastating. And so has everyone else.

At the heart of this Truth is the reality that we are not victims. We are not subject to capricious whims of a god with the manners of a two-year old, such as Western Christians believe in. We are not victims of the roll of a natural, random, quantum flux die. We are on purpose. And we are the ones who have the purpose and get to say what we go through.

Now, before you say “that’s easy for you to say…” and list the supposed “advantages” I have, let me make it clear that I was born with a variety of serious birth defects and wasn’t expected to live out my first year. I’ve lived 52 of them. I’ve been both comfortable and dead broke. And while I now have a wonderful and angelic wife, I’ve been married to the sister of the devil himself. In fact, the following joke could have been told about me in my past marriage quite honestly. The devil appears right before a church service in the sanctuary. Everyone screams and runs except for one old guy who is simply sitting there looking bored. The devil screams at him “Don’t you know who I am?” Guy says, “Yeah, you’re the devil, archenemy of God.” Devil says “Don’t you know I could destroy you with one look?” Guy says, “Yep, don’t doubt it.” Devil says “They why aren’t you afraid of me?” Guy says laconically “Been married to your sister for 42 years.”

The beautiful Truth is that we all agree, with one another, as well as with the Universe, regarding what we will experience and learn during each lifetime. To believe otherwise is to believe in a capricious god or universe rather than believing that we are able to create our own reality. Now the necessary corollary to being able to create great realities is to realize that we created the current mess we’re going through in the first place.

But that is the really cool part. If we’ve gotten ourselves into it, we can get ourselves out of it.

The problem is that most of us don’t remember making choices in this life that got us into this mess. So who said that the choices have to be in this life? What if we sit around with God or Whomever at a Cosmic Starbucks and plan out our next lessons while drinking a Celestial Latte? What if all of the people who are going to be friends, antagonists, family, enemies, in-laws and out-laws are all actually Cosmic Buds and we all sit around at the Cosmic Starbucks and decide what role we’re going to play? Maybe this time I’m Luke Skywalker and you’re Darth Vader, and the next time we’ll switch roles.

Now we might wonder, once on this plane, what the heck we were thinking of when we made these agreements. We might say “I wanna change my mind.” Well, that is, to a certain degree, possible, but not in every sense. If you’re going to go parachute jumping you can’t decide to get back in the plane after you’ve jumped out. In the same way, if you’ve decided to be born in a poverty-filled home you might decide to become wealthy, but you can’t “un-decide” to be born in that home.

The one problem with this philosophy is that can lead to apathy or even antipathy about the problems of others. After all, if they are street people, didn’t they choose to be street people, so why should we help them? Ah, the answer to that is simple. Maybe one of your Cosmic Friends chose to be a street person because your lesson this time is compassion and generosity. Maybe he or she chose to be a street person to learn the humility necessary to move on to the next Spiritual Plane, and so on. We don’t know. We don’t know what agreements have been made. If someone murders us, we have made an agreement with them to do so because of something one or (more probably) both of us need to learn.

This doesn’t mean I don’t get angry and feel victimized by things at times. I do, like everyone else. But at my core I recognize that I have chosen this life and everything that is happening to me. My life is an amalgam of my choices both here and Cosmically. We don’t know what is going on with everyone else. But we can know one thing.

That one thing we can know is that the appearance of inequity, injustice and oppression is an illusion — a false appearance. The Universe has created perfection. Any perceived imperfection is a mistake of our perception, not reality. The “bad” things that happen are for our education and eventual joy, not as punishment, not because God hates us, not because we’re “sinful,” or any of the other happy horsepucky that the Christian Church shovels at us. And the “bad” things that teach us lessons are curricula of our own choosing. We choose the life. We choose the circumstances. We choose the way we learn our lessons. Who knows, perhaps we even choose from a listing of which lessons we need to learn and select a “classroom” of life to learn them in.

What about those with lives filled with unspeakable horror? What about them? Well, there are a couple of answers to this. First, we don’t know what is going on. Someone who seems to be a terrible victim of a monster may well have chosen, in compassion, to teach that “monster” something in this life. Perhaps that “monster” is the “victim’s” student, and the “victim” a highly advanced soul. Perhaps the “victim” likes horror films. Personally, I don’t like horror films. But plenty of people do. Maybe the “victim” wants to star in a horror film of his or her own writing, direction and acting. Maybe s/he recruited some friends at the Cosmic Starbucks over Divinity Tea to act with him or her. We just don’t know.

Is any of this true? I don’t have a clue. But I choose to believe this simply because the alternatives are very much less savory than this. I do not think that it is exactly like this. How could it be? I’m bounded by lots of time, space and cultural assumptions. But I suspect it is something like this.

That’s all the time I have for today, as it is late in evening (actually in the wee hours of the morning) and both my wife and my bed are calling me. I’ll write more on this in a little while. Until then, meditate on this possibility and see where you go with it.

Love, peace, joy and prosperity,

J.

Changing Your Worldview

Dear readers: I have put together a brief survey on this blog on SurveyMonkey. It is completely anonymous. I cannot find out who answered what questions. I would be most appreciative if you’d take a few moments to take this survey. Depending on how detailed your answers are in the “free-form response” questions, this survey would take between 1 and 7 minutes of you time. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=F8ionoCMFA4nmOD9yd4U_2fw_3d_3d

Probably the most difficult aspect of entering into training to walk a Spiritual Path is the necessity to radically change our view of the world.

Many of our problems are generated by the way we see the world. Because the Universe responds to our thought, bodily and spiritual patterns by affirming the view of life that we have, we basically get what we expect in many instances. While it is very difficult in the middle of crisis after crisis to change the worldview we currently have, it is also essential. While trance, instruction and bodywork help a great deal in doing so (as the old patterns are removed from body, and spirit, the mind can eventually respond) at some level it is essential for us to make a decision and stick to it to change the way we see the world.

I can think of several examples throughout the time I’ve been assisting people in changing themselves to meet their goals. Here are three of them, and how to turn them around.

“I’m a loser.” Yes, as long as you believe that, you are a loser and everything in the Universe will conspire with you to agree with this. Self-pity and self-denigration are two of the most addictive emotions that we can have. Those with these selfish and destructive addictions argue that they are only hurting themselves, but they also bring destruction on their families and friends…if they have any of either left. After all, who wants to hang with a loser?

What is most sad is that, usually, someone with this attitude has had some very real accomplishments and “wins.” Even these are minimized in the “loser’s” mind so that a “win” gets turned into just one more “loss.” The loss of friends and family members who don’t want to hang around a loser anymore only confirms to the loser what a loser s/he is, thus providing another emotional rush of the yummy self-pity chemicals that get released when a pity party is in full swing.

The self-pity chemicals exist in our brains to help us deal with actual loss by calming and soothing when there is a death or some other severe loss. Like most other sensations, such as sexual arousal, anger, pleasure, etc., humans have the ability to induce the release of these chemicals by thought. Because these are a form of endorphin (endogenous or native morphine) the release of these can be very seductive and addicting.

To some degree these can be blocked by certain anti-depressants, which can help short term in changing the thinking process. Take away the reward (endorphin rush) and it is easier to change the thinking process. However, the addiction still exists and can lead to a lifetime need for the chemicals found in Prozac and the like.

The better process is removal of the pattern that pushes the endorphin-releasing internal button and going through the consistent withdrawal process for several weeks. (Interestingly, I have observed that the self-pitying type, when confronted with real pain and given pain-killers, stops in the self-pity for a time. The endorphins are being replaced with a drug.) This is not pleasant, but it can be accomplished. Frequent trance and cellular release work help a great deal, especially the cellular release if the one being worked on can let go and allow complete body openness so that the old tapes can be released. But the decision to turn from this and persistence over many months is absolutely essential. One “backsliding” can make all of the self-pity come back.

“The Jones Against The World.” I have seen this pattern many times over the years, most notably in my ex-wife. This is one that occurs in dysfunctional family systems where the Families of Origin (FOOs) are highly dysfunctional and the family system is only moderately dysfunctional, leading those in the system to see a dysfunctional family system as much more functional that it is. (It is, of course, usually far more functional than that of the FOOs!)

In this destructive world view, the only people that can be trusted and fully admitted to the “club” are the small group that comprises the family. While it is normal, natural and healthy to identify with a small group of people, this group is normally quite a bit larger than Mom, Dad, 2.3 kids, a cat and a dog. Normal and healthy identification takes place over a community system. Dysfunctional and destructive identification can take place between a husband and wife, a family with children, or an extended family. This is destructive because it blocks out any external input to the system and sets up the members as the sole arbiters of normalcy and health.

The spiritual difficulty with this worldview is that the Universe says “OK. If it is your family against the world (or Universe) then the world will be against your family, and it’s gonna get creamed!”

The other difficulty, of course, is that no outside system can ever “measure up” to the family system. This means that the children of such a family will have a very hard time finding spouses and friends as they get older because they will be comparing the new system to the family system and, because we believe what we know to be normal (unless what we know is so dysfunctional that it is obvious it is not normal) the new system will come up short.

The cure is community. If you are in such a system, it is time to open up and see at least parts of the world as a friendly face. It is also time to cease believing that “the Jones” have all the answers. They don’t. Open up and let others give input, cautiously, but without rejecting the input out of hand. Even though it is different from your “system,” it is not, therefore, bad. Community is absolutely essential to a healthy and growing life and healthy children. Of course, I believe that Community should be and must be diverse, but with others on a similar spiritual page.

I Am A Master (and you guys suck!): The very belief that one is a Master and therefore superior to the poor peons below him/her is, in and of itself, a sign that the individual has a very, very long way to go before Mastery. One of the signs of Mastery is an intense desire to just be left the *)#$( alone to meditate and chant and see visions. One of the other signs of Mastery, however, is a realization that the Master has a job to do and that visioning for oneself is a rarely enjoyed luxury.

A true Master is here to serve, not to rule. Part of that service may be ruling in some area, but this is very rare.

Someone who does not have the heart of service with a deep desire to give to others will not even be taught by most of us, much less achieve the state of “Master.” What a true Master feels for those who have not entered the Spiritual Path is deep sorrow and compassion. Even though the true Master knows that many will not enter the Path, s/he is desirous that all be healed and all be happy.

The true Master seeks for his/her Students to surpass him or her, and this is what s/he lives for. Even the Master Jesus said “You, too, shall do the works I do and greater works than these shall you do.” I joyfully await the day when one of my Students surpasses me and the roles of Teacher and Student can be reversed. I am also joyful when one of my Students teaches me something while I am still teaching them about Spiritual Mastery. The humility of sitting at the feet of a Student in joy to learn something, of seeing a Student surpass and celebrating it, of surrounding oneself with those who achieve — these are the marks of one who has achieved Mastery.

The mark of a fake, however, is setting oneself on a pedestal. Even one who is moving toward Mastery (an Adept or a skilled Newbie/Novice) wishes to share the joy of the Spiritual Path. One who hoards the Path or who subtly discourages his or her friends from entering the Path so that s/he will “have something” they don’t — this is the sign of a narcissist, not a Master.

The Master may, indeed, withhold information and training for a time or forever from certain people. Creating Brujos (Sorcerers) is not something I want to do! But there are many who are very loving and open who I gladly teach all that I know and all I am able to teach. But the fake “spiritual” person will not share his/her Teacher with others, or will discourage them, overtly or covertly, from utilizing the Teacher.

This individual must learn humility. Unfortunately, the usual teacher of this important world-view is a cosmic 2X4 upside the head to remind this individual that s/he is far from Mastery or even true Spirituality. For true Spirituality IS service to others, as well as healing and advancement of oneself. There are three promises that I ask for from a Novice entering the Path to Mastery. 1). To call me immediately if anything “strange” goes on, regardless of the hour of the day or night. This is important because I can often stop dark side attacks and Ego Self B.S. in a hurry if I know about it. Besides, it avoids the Student suffering unnecessarily. 2). That the Novice will stay on the path for at least several months to a year. This is necessary because the Path can be frightening, terrifying and even very boring at times. A commitment to “stick to it” when the going gets touch can mean the difference between someone achieving Spiritual Mastery and being a Spiritual “also ran.” And 3). That they will only use what they are learning and being taught to serve others, to heal, and to obtain legitimate things for themselves, but never to wound, hurt, or do damage to another.

There are many other worldviews that must be changed, but the space for this post is almost used up. Each of thse worldviews is changed by participating in the Spiritual work that is done, body, mind and spirit, and to stick with it, regardless of the Ego Self chatter or the dark side chatter that will come. It will take a bit of work to change the worldview, but the rewards of doing so are endless…and eternal.

Peace, love and joy,

J.

John may be reached at wlfbearshaman@gmail.com and welcomes your questions and comments, either in the comments, or by individual email. Watch for our website coming soon: www.Laughingriverretreat.org. It is still in process, and will be up soon.

What is a Shaman?

In a previous post we took a look at what Shamanism is. Now the question is: “What makes someone a Shaman?” and “What is a Shaman?”

First, it is important to understand that Shamanism is found in every culture in the world. It is also important to understand that “Shaman” is not a Native American word, nor is Shamanism exclusive to Native Americans, although some hate literature you will see claims this. In fact the word “Shaman” is from Siberia and refers to a practice of utilizing energies, ceremony, ritual and various other tools to induce change and/or healing.

So the first qualification to be a Shaman is the desire to help and to heal. Those who seek Shamanism for power or the really, really kewl phenomena do not have the heart of a Shaman and will never understand the real reasons for Shamanism.

Shamans heal in many ways, but, primarily, they heal through altering the perception of reality that the Seeker has. This is done through “walking the worlds” and selecting a “world” wherein the Seeker’s legitimate desires, i.e. for health, relationship, prosperity, employment, and so on, are in reality.

Now this sounds very strange until one takes a look at a primary belief common to almost every Shaman. The common belief is that the world that is around us is largely a creation of our spirits. In other words the system we are living in is largely a result of our belief systems. Now there is also a large component of the belief systems of everyone else that impacts our belief systems and the degree to which we can create our reality. We are not going to suddenly sprout wings and fly off. Notice I said “suddenly,” for the Wright Brothers did, indeed, sprout wings, although not out of their own backs.

We certainly have a baseline of racial beliefs (again, on this blog “racial,” unless otherwise defined, refers to the human race as opposed to ethnicity). But even this baseline of racial beliefs can be overcome in time and with sufficient discipline. There are many confirmed reports of Indian (from India, not Natives to North America) Yogis stopping their hearts, levitating and performing other feats, some of which I have seen. “Fire walking” for a while was a major corporate team builder until some folks got intense burns and sued. (But some people didn’t get burned at all, and some even stood in the fire for a while, for which there is no “natural” explanation.)

So, the baseline of racial beliefs can, therefore, be overcome by certain people. We call these people “holy,” not necessarily because they live lives that are examples of what we should strive for, but because they are skilled at overcoming inconvenient belief systems.

This inevitably leads to the question of “what is reality?”. And the answer is: “It depends.” “Reality” is a very fluid concept, as anyone who has spent any time in doing spiritual work can attest. The very beliefs in what is necessary for business, romance, prosperity, health and so on are challenged frequently by people doing spiritual work…and it doesn’t really matter what kind of spiritual work people are doing. Whether the spiritual work is seen as divine intervention, as in the case of Christians, or whether it is seen as the pragmatic application of tools to change belief systems, as in Shamanism, seems to be immaterial. One set of concepts (Christian, for example) produce a change in belief systems in one way, another set of concepts (Shamanic, for example) use a different set of tools to produce another kind of change in belief systems.

Again the question of what is “real” arises. This is based on what is probably a false assumption of people who understand neither Quantum Mechanics nor spirituality that there is a “real” world and other “imaginary” worlds. Quantum Mechanics currently laughs at that concept, as Shamans have been for eons. There are many worlds, each with its own rules and laws, some of which can be broken, some of which can be bent, and some of which are seemingly immutable…most of the time.

The Shaman heals and changes reality by changing the perception of the Seeker so that the Seeker’s belief systems are systematically changed to reflect a strong belief in the reality the Seeker is seeking. At the point where the belief systems of the Seeker are systematically changed, change occurs in the reality which the Seeker inhabits.

Now systematic change means that the seeker changes at all levels. This means that the Seeker must change at each of the five changeable levels of the person, the Behavioral, the Physical, the Intellectual, the Emotional and the Spiritual, with the Soul level being our contact with Racial Consciousness and Universal Mind/Great Spirit/God and being ever at peace and untouched by the ravages of the worlds we create to get our lessons.

The problem with traditional medicine (as necessary as traditional medicine may be), and many “alternative healing” methods, as well as such things as psychotherapy and counseling, is that they only address one or two levels. There is a fragmentation of healing, so that Integration (see previous post) never occurs. This can only be overcome by, as we said, a systematic method of change which addresses all levels of the Seeker/Student.

The Shaman is a person who uses pragmatic tools to bring a person out of his or her accustomed world and into a place where change systematically can occur. Systematic change cannot occur with the standard boundaries and assumptions that exist in medicine, psychotherapy, or even most alternative methods of healing, as the Seeker still has either the cellular memory or the brain memory or the spiritual memory or the behavioral habits or the emotional habits, or some combination of the above, working against him/her.

So the Seeker must be put in a position of dis-orientation. This sounds nasty and it can feel pretty nasty at first. But it is the only way that true change can occur. This, in many ways, is the opposite of the goal of much of psychotherapy, which is to “adjust” the “patient” to his or her world. Shamans tend to believe that a person who is “well adjusted” is insane. And can anyone really doubt that a person adjusted to the insane world where there are drive-by shootings, people dropping bombs on children, and complete and total corruption in every high office in our land is sane? And psychotherapists want to adjust people to this??? Now, that ismalpractice, meaning “bad practice.” Psychotherapeutic practice in and of itself is insanity.

Ditto many medical practices. Just as an example in medical practice, a commonly used cholesterol reducing group of drugs, Statins, has been shown conclusively by several medical researchers (including the Medical School at the University of California) to cause total global amnesia (you forget even where you live and your spouse), impotence, confusion, and many other nasty side-effects, but has not been shown to have any real benefit. And yet cardiologists have said that these drugs should “be put in the water.” In other words, physicians are saying that we should poison our water to get to a medical result (very low cholesterol) which has been shown to have serious side effects and no proven benefit. Now that, too, is definitionally malpractice.

The Shaman takes a different approach. Rather than adjusting people to insanity, the Shaman dis-orients them from the insane world and brings them into sane worlds where change can occur. This change will, necessarily, leave them “maladjusted” to the insanity of the general world that most people have agreed to live in. In fact, the Shaman him or herself would probably be judged “disturbed” by psychiatrists who are, themselves, some of the oddest people on the face of the Earth. To operate in the spiritual world and see behind the veil is, in the judgment of the current superstitions of our peculiar tribe, insanity…meaning that it doesn’t conform to their way of looking at life.

Now, to be fair, many psychiatrists, two of the most famous being Stanislaw Groff, M.D., and Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., have challenged the whole “mental health” field. At the point they did so, they, too, became Shamans, as their methods of healing are also utilizing pragmatic tools and dis-orienting the Seeker from a world gone insane. (For those interested, Szasz wrote a book The Myth of Mental Illness and Groff has edited a book called Spiritual Emergency.)

There are many tools that Shamans use. Some common ones are ritual and ceremony, trance, various kinds of body change, behavioral changes, and so on. Part of the Shaman’s toolkit is to MAKE the Seeker uncomfortable in many ways, so that s/he will respond in a different way to various challenges and daily occurrences. Many of the things used to shield us from ourselves and others are removed, especially defense mechanisms that have built up over time. Ceremony, ritual, trance and various spiritual and physical requirements are laid on the Seeker. In some Shamanic healing the Seeker, at a certain point, is sent on a quest of some sort. That may range from obtaining something (in some cultures, killing a dangerous animal, or obtaining a flower from a distant mountain, or some other physically stressful exercise), to being left alone, naked, with only a blanket and means to make a fire, with no food or water, on a mountaintop for a day or so. In other cultures some sort of symbolic burial is performed. And in many methods something called “Soul Retrieval” takes place (see previous post on this subject). But every part of the Seeker is eventually involved in the healing and change. Every physical sense is stimulated (burning of incense or sage, drumming, eating something, drinking something, touching, etc.). Every “part” of the individual is involved, until all parts are integrated.

There are many different kinds of “medicine” and no two Shamans work with exactly the same “medicine.” (“Medicine” here referring to the healing practices and helper spirits who assist in healing.) This is why it is ludicrous for certain Natives to claim that this is exclusive to Native Americans. Shamanism is very individualistic in its tools, and is global in practice, and universal in time.

So we are very close to a definition of a Shaman. Let’s try this: “A Shaman is an individual who pragmatically uses various tools from various cultures and/or from pragmatic trial and error, to induce physical, psychological, relational and spiritual healing of an individual by spiritual means.”

Now, sooner or later, the State will try to regulate this and license it and package it and require schooling and all of the other B.S. that governments do. It won’t do any good as Shamans are notoriously disdainful of these sorts of linear thinking practices and will get around them somehow. The medical professions and psych professions will try to regulate this because it works and what they do doesn’t work. Right Wingnuts will try to get it made illegal because it works outside of their narrow ways of looking at life.

But in the meantime the test of the Shaman is simple. Is it working? A true Shaman is one whose pragmatic methods, rituals, ceremonies, and other healing practices induce change…at least in some or many. No one succeeds in inducing change in all people because some folks just plan don’t want to change. But for those truly seeking change and willing to follow the discipline, no matter how difficult, no matter how much it challenges “comfort,” the results can be incredible.

Peace, love and joy be yours,

J.

John may be reached at wlfbearshaman@gmail.com and welcomes your questions and comments, either in the comments, or by individual email. Watch for our website coming soon: http://www.Laughingriverretreat.org. It should be up in a couple of weeks.

Why Are We Here?

The question that we all want to answer is “What is my purpose?”. This is a key to many people in life…”What is my purpose?”. Yet few people have any idea of how to find their life purpose and walk that Path. And those who do get on their Path often give up before they’ve achieved the very purpose for which they were sent to this earth.

In the movie The Jerk Steve Martin thought his “special purpose” referred to his genitals. Indeed, many people go through life believing that their purpose in life is to use their genitals as much as humanly possible. In the end (no pun intended…well, maybe a little pun) this leads to a wasted life, although one that may be quite enjoyable. But if that is the only reason you came to this earth, you would have done better as a Prebles Mouse. (I often tell Nicole that if I have to be reincarnated, I want to come back as a Prebles Mouse…) A Prebles Mouse doesn’t live long, but the first half of its life it spends eating and putting on body weight. The second half of its life it spends having sex…day in and day out…until it has burned all of its body weight and dies…but with a smile on its little muzzle!

Other people believe that they exist to make as much money as possible. Their lives are spent on the acquisition of wealth. While there is nothing wrong with wealth, there is nothing intrinsically right about it, either. Wealth is neutral — neither good nor bad.

But it is said that money makes a great servant, but a terrible master. And while the old saw that money can’t buy happiness but can rent it can be true, it is also true that some of the most miserable people I’ve known in my life have dedicated themselves to the acquisition of great wealth. It is no coincidence that “miserable” and “miser” are similar words.

Not to say that poverty is pretty. Poverty is ugly, mean and nasty. Through a ministry to the homeless that Nicole and I used to run we’ve seen poverty, upp-close, at its worst (at least in America…our homeless would be considered wealthy in some third world countries).

Those with money who I have seen happy and joyful are those who have had plenty of money to solve the problems in life money is able to solve, but who had a purpose beyond the acquisition of money. Money, for these folks, was a side effect of having another purpose.

Some people live for others. Often, you can tell the “others” they live for by the hunted look on their faces! A woman who “lives” for her husband, a man who “lives” for his wife, parents who “live” for their children are all chasing after the possession of that which cannot be possessed — another human being. Even if the macabre dance of absolute co-dependence is entered and the people involved wind up completely possessed by one another, this, in the end, cannot have but one outcome when one or both die.

I knew a couple some years ago who lived solely for one another, even though both should have known better. He was a Roman Catholic priest who had left the Roman Church and become a United Church of Christ minister, and she was a United Church of Christ minister. Marty and Regina were totally devoted to one another. Unfortunately, and for reasons none of us could understand, their marriage ended when he shot her after Church on a Sunday and then shot himself in front of her congregation.

While most co-dependent relationships do not end quite that dramatically, many end with the spiritual death of one or both people. People make great companions, lovers, spouses, friends, and so on, but very bad idols. If we place 100% of our being in another person, we will wind up sorely disappointed.

This is not to say that one cannot have beautiful, caring and committed relationships. Relationships are the glue of life. One of the first things that many people in the world believe that God said is “It is not good for people to be alone.” But placing all of one’s eggs in the basket of other human beings is a recipe for a very messy omelette. No matter how I try there is going to be a time where I will let down the very ones I love the most. Not because I want to, but because I am imperfect. This is the nature of humanity.

Some people live for themselves. They get into every “growth” thing they can get into. This month it is Yoga, next month meditation, the month after the Atkins diet, and so on. While it is essential to put on our own “oxygen mask” first, i.e., take care of our spiritual growth so that we might be available for others, a life dedicated to the oxygen mask isn’t fulfilling or useful. Two of the most disturbing phrases uttered in life are “It’s my turn now,” as if life were some sort of absurd playground game where you get a turn then I get a turn. Such thinking is infantile. The other phrase that is completely absurd is “I’ve got to take care of me.” This phrase is often uttered by those who “take care” of nothing else but themselves.

There are many other things people decide to live for. Religion, cars, model trains, stamp collecting, soccer, football, baseball, their kids’ sports or other activities, and so on. All disappoint. All let down.

The happiest people in life live for that which is outside of themselves, but that which is not put on a pedestal, not idolized. We all know of the stories of “homeless advocates” who wind up hating the homeless they theoretically serve. The politician who winds up hating the people who elected him or her is proverbial.

Then there are people like Ghandi or Martin Luther King who have followed a spiritual path and have served others well and with great love. They do not “live for others” in the sense of revolving their lives around a few people. Nor do they live for themselves. They live serving a spiritual Path and, in doing so, actually serve the others they are called to serve with humility and effectiveness.

And this answers the question of our life purpose. While we may each express it differently and act it out in diverse ways, we are here to walk a Path that leads us and others to the Light and freedom.

This is not easy. Darkness does not want to have people living in the walking of a Spiritual Path. Darkness will do everything possible to defeat those who are walking in a Spiritual Path.

As the various dark spirits or entities receive their energy (food) from dark emotions, it is important for them to keep “stirring the pot” to have people operating in continual states of anger, hatred, bigotry, and so on. As they feed on these dark emotions, they become more and more powerful (being fed more) and so gain even more power to stir negative thoughts and feelings.

They are having a very big feast right now in America and many other places in the world. We have become a nation where the politicians of both parties are operating in generating fear. Both Clinton and Obama ran ads that spoke of sleeping children and 3 AM calls about international threats. Both of these people (as well as the whole fear-mongering crowd) should be ashamed of themselves! Our nation, it seems, cannot deal with “live and let live.” Most nations cannot. People seem to have the need to meddle, to fight, to destroy.

Being in a bi-racial marriage, I was speaking with an African American friend of mine who is also in a bi-racial marriage about some of the challenges we both face. I suggested that, in order to stop the cycle of hatred in the world, everyone should get involved in a bi-racial marriage, half jokingly. My friend pointed out that even this would not solve human hatred, as people would find some way to say that their group was better than another group, or had superior bloodlines or whatever. What foolishness!

Our purpose here is to love and serve one another, not to hate and kill one another, “axis of evil,” “evil Empires,” and so on aside. Fear is only useful for feeding darkness and for getting more corrupt politicians like those we have in office right now elected. Fear needs to be replaced with love and loving service.

What would happen to the divorce rate in this country if every couple asked “What may I do to serve you today?” instead of “What’s in it for me?” What if the “competition” in marriage, rather than to see who could gain more power was to be of the greatest service in humility?

What if, after 9/11, we had “bombed” the Afghans with food, clothes, and other necessities and said “we forgive you.” Countering hatred with hatred and violence only breeds more hatred and violence. Countering hatred and violence with forgiveness and love breeds remorse on the part of those who hated and more forgiveness and love.

Our countering of violence with violence has resulted in four times more members of terrorist networks than before we countered violence with violence. This is the way the world actually works.

I know many will say I am naïve. It is they who are naïve in believing that violence accomplishes anything, they who are thinking as children. The truly mature man or woman counters hatred with forgiveness, violence with healing, bigotry with understanding.

I love the story of the African American family who “adopted” an elderly man who had been a lifetime member of the KKK. The man was unable to take care of himself. A loving Black family took him in and cared for him out of the very purpose of which I am speaking. His heart melted and he spoke many times before his death on how very wrong the KKK is. Countering violence with violence, as we as Americans do (our first diplomatic option seems to be “send in the Marines”), and as the Israelis have done only breeds more violence. Killing lots of Palestinians every time there is suicide bomber in Israel hasn’t stopped the suicide bombers. It has increased them. Hatred breeds hatred.

We are here to bring love, peace, forgiveness and understanding. We will be called naïve, stupid, foolish, and traitors. We may be called “terrorists” because we don’t believe that killing people is ever an answer. We will be mocked and reviled.

But we will be at peace. For we will know, deep inside ourselves, that we are fulfilling our purpose in life which is to love and serve one another and walk a Spiritual Path.

We can allow ourselves to be overcome with darkness or turn toward Light. We are in a dark time where dark forces are gathering to overwhelm the Light. They will lose and the Light will win. But we won’t win by adopting the tactics of darkness. We will win by staying on our Path, eliminating anger, fear, hatred, bigotry, etc. and manifesting forgiveness, love, peace, faith and hope. This is not only our goal. It is our reason to live.

Peace, love and joy,

J.

John may be reached at wlfbearshaman@aol.com, and welcomes your questions and comments, either in the comments, or by individual email. Watch for our website coming soon: Laughingriverretreat.org. It should be up in about a month.

We are in the formation stages of a center of healing and love for people of every race, age, nationality, religion (or non-religion), sexual orientation, skin color, or planet of origin to come and experience holistic healing and spiritual growth. This is called the Laughing River Retreat Center and we are hoping to build it within the next few years. If you would like to be part of this wonderful project, please write to John at wlfbearshaman@aol.com and let me know. This is a place for all loving people, and all loving people (or those who need healing to become loving) are welcomed.

The Wounded (Chirotic) Healer

If you truly seek healing and are guided to a Healer, it is likely that you will notice that your Healer is wounded in some way.

There may be visible birth defects, a chronic disease, a limp, an injury (even a deforming one). There may be deep wounds that do not show. An abusive or incestuous parent, rejection by the Family of Origin (which in some psych circles is called the “FOO.” Appropriate.). There may have been abusive marriages that have broken up, rejection by society, an overcome addiction that still pulls at the Healer, or other wounding.

There are some completely healthy and whole spiritual Healers, but they are rare. It seems that those chosen to be Healers must deal with their own issues and pain to mediate a healing gift.

Unfortunately, cotton candy spirituality again rears its ugly head. Those who are “wounded Healers” are often mocked and derided in “New Age” tomes for being fakes. “How can they heal others if they can’t heal themselves?” This is a misunderstanding of the role of the Healer and of the Teacher. Neither get to be completely healed or completely wise. If they were they wouldn’t be here.

The aspiration of the Teacher is to have Students surpass him or her. The aspiration of the Healer is to find relief for others, often through his or her own suffering. Further, the Healer often “takes” the pain of the one being healed. (This is how I heal others — by taking their pain or affliction into myself for a time and dissipating it into the Universe and Nature.) Thus, the true Healer may be very ill for a day or two after healing someone with serious issues. This does not prove that the Healer is not “spiritual,” but rather that the Healer has made a very large sacrifice for the comfort and healing of Another. This “sacrificial” component of true healing exists in every healing tradition in the world except the cotton candy, Pollyanna “New Age” tradition. If you don’t think that Judaism or Christianity have this tradition, you might take a look at Isaiah 53, where the Messiah figure is the very archetype of the Chirotic, or Wounded Healer. In Native cultures the Healer was often born with birth defects or suffered some other kind of disability.

Jung used this archetype to speak of the psychiatrist/analyst and patient relationship. However, Jung, like most in the narrow medical community, utilized a medical model around this archetype and spoke of transference and countertransference, things which can be dangerous to the “patient” in psychotherapy.

These terms simply mean that the seeker (patient, in medical terms) actually develops a relationship with the Teacher (analyst) and it is reciprocated. One of the reasons that both Nicole and I no longer practice psychotherapy is that, in psych terms, this is seen as a bad thing. What spiritual Healers understand is that this is the only way that people will actually become healed — by establishing a deep and loving relationship with the Healer. Instead of encouraging a relationship between psychotherapist and client, the psych community has gone as far as criminalizing the relationship formed.

One proposed law which, fortunately for patients/clients did not pass made it a criminal offense for the therapist to have any relationship whatsoever with the “patient” except the psychological one. In other words, the therapist could not do self-disclosure under this proposed law, and had to sever all ties with the “patient” when the therapy was finished.

What legislators and many in the psych community cannot understand is how very anti-therapeutic this kind of relationship can be. Traditional medical model psychotherapy leads to increased alienation. Clients/Patients/Seekers don’t need one more cold and distant relationship in their lives! That is what many people experience their whole lives. They need a loving, involved, caring and interpersonal relationship. This is what actually winds up healing. This is why I believe that the very last place someone who needs healing should go is to a Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or other psychotherapist.

But the Licensed Clinical Psychology community and the psychiatry community have very strong and influential lobbies. They seek to prevent anyone, even friends or spiritual counselors, from helping in life struggles except them….at $250 an hour. In these relationships they are the Doctor and the seeker is demoted from a fellow human being to a patient. They have all the power and the seeker has none. This is why psychotherapy just plain doesn’t work.

Of course there is another reason why psychotherapy tends not to work. There is a very large incentive for keeping people “mentally ill” (a term which has no real meaning). The more they remain “mentally ill” the more money the therapist is paid. Hey — it’s hard to find new clients! Keeping old clients shelling out is much easier, isn’t it? That is why if one dissects the word “Therapist” into two words, it winds up “The Rapist.” (I’m speaking of the rape of the wallet, not actual rape…although that sometimes happens, as well.)

Many therapists wind up keeping their clients “on the couch” for years and years and years and making very little progress. Of course, these anti-Healers will form close enough relationships that, if anyone who actually cares questions the efficacy of a therapist after time, that person is likely to be thrust from the life of the “patient” at the therapist’s urging.

True Healers want to see healing. There are some of these in the psych community, but not many. Economics dictates their style. Most true Healers do not charge for what they do, although to keep balance the Seeker must make a token offering each time s/he comes for healing. In fact, Shamanic Healers usually have the Seeker come empty handed the first time and then bring a “gift” the following times. The gift must be inconsequential. The traditional gift is tobacco. That is the highest compliment one may pay to the Shaman, for tobacco is sacred in the Native community. (It is mixed with numerous other herbs for the usual smoking of a pipe that is done to “seal deals” and to create safe spaces.) But most Healers neither accept money nor a gift that is anything more than a small symbol. They heal because they must, not because they are paid. There are many other ways in which the Healer is supported. The healing work itself must be a gift, although in Native understanding there must always be an exchange.

In ancient understanding the deep and loving relationship between Healer and seeker was well understood. The Shaman and the Medicine Woman were part of the community. (The Shaman and Medicine Woman were almost never married to one another. In some cultures they were celibate, in most American Native cultures they were married, although not to one another. The “medicine” was too powerful. “Medicine” refers, not to medication, but to the power of the individual.) They shared loves and lives with the community. If the community was in trouble, they were there to help them through it.

I’m afraid that most doctors and most other “Healers” of today would catch a plane for the coast if a community wound up in trouble, although there are some doctors who would sacrifice themselves to heal others. But the concept of a “distance model” did not exist in ancient cultures — and so healing could take place.

Today, the love and closeness which is the proper relationship between Healer and seeker has been replaced with technology, a codification of the absurd American Puritanical culture which looks at separation and hierarchies instead of viewing people holistically, and a belief that it is a mistake, for the Healer to become deeply involved in the lives of the people s/he is healing.

Poisonous chemicals have also replaced many healing methods. Most people over the age of 40 are on at least one chemical “prescription.” The drug companies keep coming up with more and more and, once again, the economic motive clouds the healing decisions. There is a great question in my mind as to the motivations of the traditional medical community. 100% of Americans have some “diagnosis.” This begs the question of what is “normal,” and “healthy.” Nature did not mean for us to supplement our food with drugs, although, due to the processing and leeching of healthy things from food it makes loads of sense to supplement our foods with completely natural supplements providing essential elements of food that food itself has lost.

True healing takes place spiritually. No, I’m not saying to stop taking the prescription drugs. I would, however, intensely question each and every doctor you have who prescribes one to you as to whether or not it is strictly necessary. But in our polluted and junk-food society sometimes drugs are a necessary, if non-ideal and temporary “fix.”

As you enter a Path of Healing, be aware that it takes time. The popularity of the drugs that are passed out to people is because Americans always want an instant “fix.” This is why there are thousands of fad diets. The key to a healthy weight? Eat different things and do more. That’s it. Of course, the sold-out medical community and the drug companies and the media have made it so that people of quite normal weights are labeled “obese.” The fact is that different people have different normal weights and different amounts of body fat. What we do, especially to women, in this country is cruel and unnecessary. We have enshrined a fad into being called “good medicine.” Marilyn Monroe, the woman that hundreds of thousands of men had pinned up in their bedrooms, would be considered “fat” today. Then she was the “ideal woman” and the slimmer types were told to put on weight. Rather than valuing men and women for what they are, we are constantly trying to make them into something else. This is the heart of evil. In a balanced society, all would be valued for what they are, not what society deems they should be.

And this is the value of the Wounded (Chirotic) Healer. S/He brings his/her own “imperfections,” failures, and woundings to the table. These things are offered up by the Wounded Healer to the Universe and to the Seeker. It is in “imperfection” that true healing takes place. It is the Way of the Shaman that this be so. It is built into the Universe. It is our way. It is the way to walk to obtain healing.

Peace, love and joy,

J.

John may be reached at wlfbearshaman@aol.com, and welcomes your questions and comments, either in the comments, or by individual email. Watch for our website coming soon: www.Laughingriverretreat.org. It should be up in about a month.

What Is The Purpose of Spirituality?

Let us say that you have gotten this far in this blog and are “buying” most of what is said. A fair question would be “Why?”. Why do we want to go through what looks like a great deal of work and discipline? What is the end? Well, there are several answers to that.

The first and most important answer is that, when we discipline our minds and our spirits and learn to take our spiritual power that is our birthright we are better able to serve our fellow human beings and bring the blessings of good health, companionship, loving sexuality, prosperity, love, children, peace, true justice, forgiveness, serenity, abundance, tranquility, pleasure, freedom, life, happiness, beauty, diversity, harmony, and so on to this world.

If everyone were on his or her true spiritual path…if people would discipline their minds and their spirits, get over their absurd hang ups, stop fighting with one another, realize that there is plenty in this world for everyone, and take their spiritual power…the Starship Enterprise would be going where no-one has gone before. No one would go to bed hungry tonight. No one would go to bed lonely tonight. No loving mothers and fathers, whether American, Russian, Chinese, Iraqi, Iranian, Afghan, etc., etc., would get a letter or a knock on the door. No soldiers of any nation would get their arms and legs blown off because of some stupid ideology that matters to the mega-corporations and the oil companies, but not to most of us. There would be no more flags, because we would realize it is too late for flags. There would be no need for one more police officer…or anyone else, for that matter, to die in the ongoing urban war. Funerals would be events of celebration as people decided it was time to move on with the blessings of their families. There would be no more “culture wars,” for the culture of all would be accepted. Everyone would have the right to marry the individual they loved and cherished, and not be restricted because of race, religion, family, nationality, gender, orientation, etc. Divorce would be rare and amicable, because we’d either be with our true loves, or both parties would recognize a mistake.

Health would abound. Many illnesses would be a thing of the past. The whole Community would utilize spiritual power to heal anyone who would still get cancer, although this would be a rare event, as cancer is, many times, caused by spiritual issues. Few would die of heart attacks. Not only would we want to eat healthy things naturally and enjoy them, but we would have much greater control over our bodies…and no one would have a “broken heart,” which is often what causes heart attacks. Suicides? Almost non-existent and, if they did occur, they would be seen for what they are — a failure of the community to love and heal people.

No one would be poor. The ghettos would be emptied and rebuilt. There would be no corporate greed, for the all would understand that greed has terrible Karma. No more would a CEO get a $18,000,000.00 bonus for depriving $7.50 an hour workers of their jobs. Actually, there would be no $7.50 an hour jobs, except for teenagers, for all would recognize that $7.50 an hour is not a living wage. All would receive a living wage and work would be meaningful and compassionate. The people out of jobs would be hit men, soldiers, vice cops, prostitutes, narcs, etc. There would be no need for politicians. Perhaps we could send all of the politicians to colonize Mars or something.

I know this is very utopian. It probably won’t come to be in my lifetime. But, then again, can you remember back to 1985? Does anyone except me remember the “Cold War” (which our current president and theirs are doing their best to start again…)? Everyone thought that the repression and fear of the police state under Communism would last forever in Eastern Europe. It didn’t. Neither will the current fear and repression in America last. It, too, will come to an end, as did Communism and Hitler, and every other tyranny that has ever existed. Walls fall. Dictators topple. Police states fold. Repression goes away.

Darkness cannot win forever! The dark forces which have come, once again, in their cycle, to our world will be beaten and destroyed by the forces of Light, as they always are.

This is the Truth in every great myth. The cry, at the end of the Lord of the Rings, “For Frodo!” is a cry that is heard, in one way or another, throughout history. The little guy who has a great heart will always triumph, even in dying, over the nasty tyrant. Darkness cannot comprehend light. Hatred cannot comprehend Love. War cannot comprehend Peace. Yet…the little guy, the Light, Love and Peace will win. Not by violence or by becoming the enemy ourselves, but by spiritual learning and living in the spiritual world. The natural world cannot comprehend what we are doing, for compared to the spiritual world, it is infinitesimal. It cannot understand the spiritual world and our practices, so it will try to destroy them, say they are sleazy, try to criminalize them, try to trivialize them. Some fundamentalist Christians will say we’re possessed. Governments will say that we are trying to revolt. The greedy will say that we are, ourselves, greedy…though we do not try to obtain money for our practices. The war-mongers may try to utilize our enlightenment as a weapon, as they do everything.

This, dear children, is the reason that we are “spiritual.” It is not for us, although we get some nice side effects. It is for everyone. We’re part of everyone, but it isn’t strictly for us. One who uses spirituality strictly for him or herself is a brujo (pron. BREW-HO) (sorry, the accent marks don’t work on this editor…) (a sorcerer who selfishly uses power to get what he or she wants with no regard to others). We are spiritual because it serves others and that is our purpose. We are spiritual because serving others is our purpose and being spiritual is the only way we truly can serve others.

We can have loads of fun operating in spirituality. It is better to be prosperous than poor, healthy than ill, and so on. We are meant to enjoy these things. God (Universal Mind, etc.) gave us these desires and they are good desires. So long as we don’t forget the end — to serve others —we can enjoy everything. We can laugh and be happy and joyful in a way that those who “don’t get it” cannot. We can celebrate our bodies instead of being ashamed of them or having ridiculous taboos. We can enjoy prosperity and rid the vocabulary of terms like “filthy rich.” Poverty is filthy. Rich is everyone’s birthright and is much, much cleaner. We can enjoy our sexuality and tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite. We can enjoy food and drink and everything else that life has to offer — without the guilt, the shame, or the hesitancy. We can celebrate our health and bask in it.

And in the end, all of that is good for everyone, too. If everyone lived according to these principles, this would be the most blessed corner of the Universe around. No more religious wars, no more lack, no more poverty, no more war at all. These are the reasons we are spiritual.

As John Lennon said so many years ago: “You may say I’m a dreamer/But I’m not the only one/I hope someday you’ll join us/And all the world can live as one.”

Now, Mr. Lennon was talking through his hat about a Communism that wasn’t anywhere near as wonderful as he, in his naiveté, believed. But we are speaking of a spirituality that has, through the ages, brought blessings to all who followed it.

I believe that we are on the verge of a new era. Some of the old ways, the ways known to Shamans through history and before history, are once again showing the way. The illusions of hatred and nationalism and racism and war and materialism are fading.

I hope someday you’ll join us and all the world can live as one. We don’t need to destroy either the world or one another. The Ancients knew the way to walk in peace with Mother Earth and one another. These things have been forgotten by most…but not all. It is time we began to heal and practice the Ancient Ways that lead to peace and Love.

Our history has been too long filled with shame, blood and guilt. It is time to begin to change it to Love, Peace and Joy.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.” Mary Anne Williamson