One of the best gifts I received from shamans is the ability to view things from an energetic point of view rather than a personal one.
Being in a personal perspective can be fun, but there’s a price to pay. I may enjoy the drama, the identity, the whole victim/perpetrator/hero triad. It might feel good or make me feel good about myself or a role I’m playing. But it also feeds on itself, requiring opposition and even violence.
Our current publicized political discourse is full of essentially personal and ego-driven expressions. They are fulfilling to us on some level. They identify us and go a long way to ensuring tribal identity and a subconscious sense of safety.
“I’m on this team; you’re on that one.”
“My team is right or good and yours is wrong or bad.”
These are very human thoughts. But there is more to see. And whether your framework is religious or spiritual or something like that, you can believe that the behavior is an expression of something bigger, the meaning of which you get to decide.
For instance, the shamans taught me about the kind of energy that disrupts current structures, so they can be reorganized in a new way. This energy (“masanchaquay”) is part of life.
I love this impersonal way of viewing things because it allows me to sidestep any kind of violence within myself and to avoid being unkind to another person. I can still bring value in whatever way I feel inspired, but I don’t feel drawn to do it in a way that creates more pain.
Author – Jeffrey L. Cohen
No comment yet, add your voice below!