One of the hallmarks of a well lived life is Compassion. A lot of people have very odd ideas about what compassion really is. People seem to feel that compassion means to forgive, to overlook problems, to treat people with kid gloves, to give in and give way and give up any sense of self…
Month: February 2016
Right View for Shamans
In Buddhism we have the Noble Eightfold Path, which lays out the steps needed to live a worthy life. Taken as a whole, the Noble Eightfold Path is an entire system that explains and directs the practitioner in how to live their entire life. Shamanism has no centralized set of beliefs like the Noble Eightfold…
Zazen for Shamans
To sit zazen is to meditate on the nature of existence. For a shamanic practitioner, meditating on the nature of existence means working to get in touch with all the aspects and layers of reality. Zen teaches that the ultimate nature of reality is illusion, with reality being thing/no-thing beyond ordinary comprehension, available through the…
Shamanic Energy Work
My friends are my tribe, the people I think of as family, extended community, my people. They’re mine, I keep them, and I do work to help ensure that they are happy and content. At least work to alleviate their suffering, if nothing else. A Shaman takes care of the spirit world in their community,…
Eat With Gratitude
In Shamanic practice, all things have a spirit and a soul, including the food we eat. When we eat, the food that we take in gives us nourishment and sustenance, giving up it’s existence in order to help sustain ours. Because we completely consume the energy of our food, it’s important to remember to be…
Multi-Reader
I’m a multi-reader. It feels good to admit it! I don’t read linearly through a stack of books. Instead, I pick a set of books on a topic, and I read them all. At one time. All of them. Multi-reader! I’ve always done it this way, because the connections that I get from having more…
Zen Shaman 