sorry about that. didn't really mean to turn that post into a freakin novel but you know these things are hard to explain succinctly. i used to hold the same viewpoint: its just drugs- just chemicals fucking with your brain. none of this shit is real its all in your head. "hallucinations". i can identify with such a perspective that's why i moved to offer an alternative.
i can say that through mushrooms iv contacted the spirit realm before, it was kind of my introduction, but never somthing i understood or even recognized when i was eating mushrooms. (its been a few years) since then though iv kind of expanded enough to be able to better take in and comprehend spirit phenomenon. ayahuasca had been an increadible teacher for me in that way. offering a deeper understanding and deeper sensitivity. wanna know how crazy i am? i regularly communicate with various forms of spirit in sober life (at least i do when im taking care of myself spiritually...when im clean enough to hear outside myself) we're talking about a subtle form of conciousness that exists in everything. i had a teacher for a time (an andean shamanic healer) who introduced me to this sort of thing, first by simply tuning into the wind. we'd sit with the wind, move with the wind, open our hearts to the wind, cultivate a real relationship with the wind. it was a very beautiful time period for me. i use the wind as an example because it is strong in spirit, and also because there are many other spirits that ride the wind, as it is an effective medium for carrying the resonance of their voice. (hearing is easier than seeing, at least for me) you've caught me in a rare moment, i dont often speak about this sort of thing. especially on hipforums, lol.
i think one of the more potent practises iv been turned onto is the idea of "right relationship." id like to think the term is self explanitory, but it basically means being heart centered and open, and offer ourselfs in a manner that is beneficial for all involved. (certainly ourselves included) the man i mentioned in my above post used the quechuan term Aini (doubt thats spelled right, sounds I KNEE) right relationship. synonimous with virture i suppose. this dosent nessesarily only refer to our interactions with others, but is expanded to encompass our interactions with everything we encounter. people, plants, animals, the earth, the rivers, ect. we have a relationship with everything we encounter, whether we recognize it or not. meaning we respond to the things we encounter based on our history with it and the way we've engaged it in the past. if we can bring our consiousness into our encounters with the seemingly subtle life forms we can begin to see that theres alot more going on than perhaps we originally thought. it just feels wholesome to me to do so, it dosent make sence to extend virtue exclusivly to humanity and neglect everything else. plants are fun. do you have any houseplants? theres a relationship there. your giving them water and setting them in the sun when they need it, taking care of their soil. their growing and exercising their presence (uniquely their own) perhaps your growing medicinals, when you injest them how do they effect you? what subtleties are observed? there's an energetic exchange happening simply because your sharing space. you dont even need to eat them. lol idk....the realm we live in is so increadibly vast, its easy to get sucked into and only see the human aspect of planet earth for a number of reasons, but that dosent mean things are existing independantly elsewhere.
it all starts to get pretty out their after a while. some serious jedi shit. back to the wind as an example....the apaches were, and still are legendary for their tracking and stalking skills. at some point it almost seems like an element of magic is involved (depending on your definition of magic...there may be), but like anything, there is a process that has led to their understanding and ability to interact with the enviornment in the ways they do. (trying not to go off on too many tangent, tracking is an incredibly complex and facinating science) one of the ways one can move unseen and unheard in the woods is by tuning into the wind, to move only as the wind moves, and to move with the speed of the wind. when there is stillness, let there be stillness and take the oppurtunity to center and listen. when your awarness merges so completely with somthing so gentle and invisible, your presence does the same.
Thank you Archemetis! It is interesting the relations man has with nature once he has realized it in its full. Id love to have a shamanic friend/teacher, such an individual is hard to find, but it is such a beautiful thing when you do. More and more i've been trying to contact the spirit world without the help of drugs. Letting my soul sing as the birds do. I wish i could travel with you. Where do you find these shamanic teachers?
archemetis, i try to live each moment like this. today while coming up to AMT i read a book full of native american art . . . i am much more like them than my white fathers who conquered them, in how i describe the world. white man says "this is wood" indigenous says "i call this wood" a world apart
My teacher appeared, but i did not go and see him. A little while after a 5 gram mushroom trip, my yoga teacher came to me and asked me to go to new york, to meet an ascended master who is head of "the science of spirituality." I agreed but at the last minute i never went. A shaman would be nice to meet because the understand the whole psychedelic side of spirituality. Most gurus tell you to stay away from drugs including lsd and magic mushrooms. Plus shamans they just live in a more natural environment, they are tuned with nature. The Tao still flows out their in the amazon.
idk, iv been blessed to have met a handful of irie people over the years, i attribute it to being a traveler with the intent of being open to growth. the peruvian culture is pretty shamanic, especially in and around iquitos. (its different though, unique because of the abundance and use of ayahuasca) going to see a shaman in that part of the world is like going to see a doctor. but the native spirituality of that culture is very different than any other iv encountered, much more plant based then the native practises in north america, or anywhere else for that matter. no suprise considering the thriving plant life in the jungle.
to be honest i think there are alot more "white indians" then there are "red indians" right now, especially within our generation. sad in some ways, but true. ever been through the reservations in the southwest? its rather deppressing.
some gurus in the himalayas still practice the ancient use of plants like datura, cannabis, and mushrooms. these plants are tools after all and can facilitate states that are inaccessible to practicioners normally.
I took 4 grams and proceeded to witness an ethereal buddha hover above me and then join with me in spiritual bliss