Kenneth Meadows - Shamanic Spirit: A Practical Guide to Personal Fulfillment

Shamanic Spirit

A Practical Guide to Personal Fulfillment

Kenneth Meadows

Bear & Company

Rochester, Vermont

Acknowledgements

My grateful and abundant thanks to all who have contributed in some way to my preparation in the undertaking of writing this book, and without whom it could not have been completed.

To my Native American teachers who set me on a shamanic path to self-discovery.

To three Taoist monks who opened the way for me to obtain insight and understanding of the ancient Tao wisdom.

To Rod Nicholson who travelled halfway round the world to remind me of what I needed to know and to recognize the true nature of that which prevents us all from perceiving the real.

To Australian Gaye Wright for enabling me to bridge the divide between East and West, experience the relevance of Chi Dynamics, and allowing me to share its fundamental truths with others.

To Inoha, whose Polynesian spirituality parallels my path in many ways, for the confirmations his insights brought.

To my principal mentor, Silver Bear, and Kili, whose Hawaiian name means Gentle Rain, for revealing to me the Water of Life.

To those of my Anglo-Saxon and European heritage who have taught me about my roots.

To my students of many nationalities who have shared in the extraordinary teachings and experiences which are related in this book, and who in so doing have taught me so much as I have watched their lives change and the beauty of their individual spirits come shining through.

To my helpers and guides in the Spiritual Ecology the living beings in the Animal, Plant and Mineral Kingdoms who share the wonders of this Earth environment with us yet are exploited so cruelly by humankind, still ignorant that they are our relatives too.

And not least, to my wife, Beryl, my partner and companion along the way, and such a wonderful mentor.

EXPERIENCES

Undertaken with respect, the Experiences presented in this book can only be beneficial. The author and publisher, however, can accept no responsibility for any undesirable effect that may result from the readers own application of them without supervision.

Every experience in your life

is an opportunity to learn something

new and to make a change for your

ultimate benefit.

Introduction

S HAMANISM IS THE OLDEST FORM OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, pre-dating all known religions and philosophies, and has undergone a renaissance in recent years. It contains eternal principles which can attune us to Nature and connect us with other levels or dimensions of our being. Shamanics is about experiencing the extraordinary whilst living an ordinary life. Shamanics is a word I have coined to describe a way to extend your awareness to new and exciting levels of perception and enhance your life in many ways. Its application will improve your vitality, balance your emotions, release your hidden potentials, and stimulate your creativity. It will develop your inner powers by bringing you into harmony with the beneficent energies of Nature and the Cosmic forces of the Universe.

Shamanics is a modern-day expression of an ancient wisdom and is the essence of the understandings of benevolent shamans the visionaries and Wise Ones of all races and cultures who guarded their knowledge of lifes mysteries within their own oral traditions until the time for their revealing, which is now. Shamanics lifts the veil from these hidden truths and expresses them in the language of today so they may be readily understood, and it adapts them for modern times so that whoever responds to them in a positive way has an effective means of coming into balance with Nature and establishing harmony within themselves.

Shamanics is not a religion or a philosophy. There are no doctrines to be believed, no concepts to be argued, no spiritual leaders requiring allegiance, no hierarchy demanding obedience, no guru to be followed. It goes beyond the boundaries of belief, for it is a process of attaining a knowingness through the experience of doing. For the answers to some of lifes most perplexing mysteries lie beyond the constraints imposed by historical, social and political conditioning every culture has imposed upon itself. Shamanics identifies an essence that runs through them all, and by releasing it from a cultural, religious and racial context brings this essence with no loss of integrity to the twenty-first century and makes it available for universal use and for the benefit of all. Nor is there any similarity with mind-training systems that are conditioned by method and require adherence to a strict disciplinary code in order to be effective. Shamanics is not an exercise of mind over matter, but a natural process that will enable you to take control of your own life through the Spirit and find meaning, purpose and fulfilment in it.

Shamanics is a way of connecting with Nature and what is inherent in your life, so it is not only the most natural but also the most practical of all metaphysical systems. Although Nature-based, it advocates not a worshipping but an honouring of Nature.

The true challenge of our time is to discover our own innermost Self; to uncover who and what we truly are a Spirit and as a result make real sense of our lives. Shamanics helps us to a new understanding of what it is to be truly spiritual which is not the same as being religious. Being spiritual is an ordinary activity concerned with down-to-earth practicality and has nothing to do with belief! It is effective even in the midst of intense activity, so even a mundane chore like preparing a meal or washing-up, shopping at a supermarket or fixing something, can hold more spiritual value than repeating a prayer in a church, meditating in a home sanctuary, chanting a mantra in isolation, or performing a mystical ritual! For being spiritual is coming into harmony with our natural Self, which is composed of Spirit.

Shamanics is a bringing of the mind into unity with the heart and the Spirit. It is a way of life-enhancement in which Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit are all cultivated so they may function together in a dynamic and harmonious relationship to bring about a realization of our own multidimensional nature. It is a process that is confirmable through practical experience and verifiable by our own perceptions. Shamanics might, therefore, be regarded as a Science of the Spirit in the Craft of Life.

The revival of shamanism in recent years indicates a re-emergence of mankinds need to find attunement with Nature and the dormant powers that lie within, and to make sense of our existence. But a regurgitation of the customs, rituals and traditions of indigenous peoples serves only to replace one conditioning with another and foster yet another cult. We cannot progress by endeavouring to live in the Past, but by learning from the Past we can ensure a better Future through the choices and decisions we make in the Present. A progression is required that goes beyond the limitations of tribal shamanism and cultural traditions if we are to be freed from the conditioning that has isolated us from Nature and prevents us from attaining a state in which a shift in awareness can take place and raise our nature to higher levels of consciousness.

Our civilization has developed in accordance with the principle that progress can be made only by the manipulation and exploitation of both natural forces and other beings. It is at the heart of political, economic, scientific and medical thinking and, yes, religious attitudes, too. We have all been conditioned into supposing that we humans are essentially