New Matrixism Following the 'Path of the One' to enlightenment

Almost a month ago I did some research for the posting I made about the 2012 ideas. One of the sources of information about what will happen at the end of 2012 come from Mayan shamans while under the influence of psychedelics.  A week later, I'm walking through a Half-Price Bookstore, looking for nothing in particular, when I come across "Shamanism for Beginners" by James Endredy.  I started reading the introduction to the book and found it incredibly interesting.  Interesting enough I bought it and read through it.  In this post I'll talk about some of the information I found in it.

There is no way I could provide a complete summary of the book.  I'll just say that if you are interested in learning about shamans, this may be a perfect primer into the subject.  There are several fundamentals about Shamanism that relate very closely to the tenets of Matrixism; specifically the use of psychedelics as a sacrament and the belief in the multi-layered nature of reality.  Shamanism is a relatively modern term for something that occurs in multiple cultures world-wide and has occurred for many years (many millenia actually).

One important question to answer is, "What is Shamanism?  Who are Shamans?".  James Endredy answers theses questions throughout the book.  He has one paragraph that provides a simple description:

A precising definition would then include an extraordinarily wide range of activies.  Shamans are are healers, visionaries, singers, dancers, diviners, psychologists, rain-makers, food finders, and most importantly, intermediaries between the human and non-human, or more than human, world(s).  They are also spiritual leaders whose expertise is both in the cosmic and physical worlds and whose knowledge covers the ways of plants and animals as well as spirits and deities.  And aside from all of this, modern shamans now sometimes even function as intermediaries and even work as diplomats and politicians for the protection of their lands and for the sharing of knowledge.

There is the concept of the "Quest for vision".  This quest is not limited to just shamans, but can be attempted by non-shamans as well.  Visions acquired through this 'quest' "must not be confused or relegated to internal processes of the mind alone, because what is happening here is an expansion of consciousness whereby the items and energies of the world that are normally seen as external to the human organism are now viewed as part of a continuum that includes what is internal and external to the shaman.  ... In this visionary state, there is little or no perceived separation between different types of living being."  Thus, the belief in the multi-layered nature of reality.  

How one starts this vision quest varies.  The use of psychedelics, such as peyote, datura, or more modern LSD, are a commonly known way of doing this.  However, these are not the only methods.  "[T]he people of North America relied on induced suffering, hardship, and solitude in the wilderness to summon the visionary spirits..."  These hardships could include fasting, being naked to the elements of nature, isolation, and silence to bascially become "empty of human-centered wants and thoughts [then] the hidden abilities of the psyche arise and the consciousness of the initiate expands to perceive that consciousness is all around."  If one wants to experience a vision quest, it is important to know that the experience is not guaranteed.  It may take several attempts, battling one issue or another before a person can truely experience the melding of self with nature with the non-human world.  

On the topic of dealing with this unknown of "beyond the human world" among modern people:

In my dealings with shamans cross-culturally, their knowledge and perception of living every second on the edge of the unknown is something I have found remarkably lacking in modern society.  it's easy to see why this happens.  In an effort to feel stable and secure from the existential reality of the unknown, we tend to close our eyes to the darkness of the unknown abyss and create for ourselves our own little worlds.  It is the defending of these little worlds that is the root of much of the crises and war that humanity now faces.  If people could take the view of the shaman and be open to the validity of each other's little worlds in the face of the unknown, imagine how much more tolerance and therefore peace would be shown between people.

This brings up an issue I've mentioned before.  We too often get caught up in our side versus their side and showing we are right.  It would be better to accept that while we may have different views, we should still be accepting of each other and look for a common ground.  

As I said, there is a lot of good stuff in the book.  Too much go to into a lot of depth on the various topics.  I would encourage anyone to read it.  In the meantime, if you have any specific questions, ask them in the comments section of this posting or in the forum.  If I am able to answer them I will.  If no, it may lead to something we can all work on together to answer.