Goldes shaman priest in his regalia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When you stop to think of it, the best medicine that we experience enters into our lives when we can understand how to heal our whole life. This happens when we accept the individual truths that we have. These truths are like those of Gandhi.
In his, "experiments in truth", he found a much more pure path for himself when he looked honestly at each moment. He transformed his commitment to consistency of truth to the acceptance of current truth, examined under the lens of compassion. It is said that , "each pilgrim has their own path up the mountain." This Buddhist's contribution to understanding counsels us to view our basic needs in a broad yet simple manner. This is seconded by Gandhi's encouragement; do so renewed in each moment and each state of being.
Shamans aptly describe our nature as if we are spirits wrapped in dirt. This dirt is the vary substance of the universe. It is matter. This gives a cocoon for, "us", to dwell in. Our bodies are the, "spacesuits," in which we exist. Most spiritual or vision led healers heal mind, body, and spirit. When we understand how we see things, we start finding the best medical practices for ourselves. This change in understanding is exactly what the shaman is hoping that you find. The answer then comes from the doctor with in. In doing this we stand one step closer to our own healer or shamanic nature.
Almost all of the shamanic traditions include some version of a, "vision-quest". This is a process where we learn to transcend our egos. It helps to remove the critical portions of our being and it allows us to just experience.
The real substance of shamanic healing is what we take from these experiences. The impression that this makes on us helps us to choose our point of view. These conclusions can be very instructive. They help us identify what we truly believe. Seeing this clearly is how we are empowered like the shaman is to heal. We can practice the medicine that best suits the needs of the soul, spirit and body.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The sages tell us that this is how we can heal whole lives. It helps us to find healing in a personal way. The, "spirit-led" doctor seeks, with their visions and instruction, to help us contend with the struggles of our reality. It is how we can influence our own existence in this landscape of life. Physicist Werner Heisenberg and others suggest that matter does not exist unless it is observed. It is only the potential to, "be," anything. We create our world by how we see it.
On this basis another physics thought experiment, Schrödinger's Cat, gives a hypothetical consideration about what a cat would experience if locked in a box. In this postulate, the box is hardened against all detection of events within. There is no ability to observe anything accept the qualities that are presented by the exterior of the box. This incidentally establishes the box as matter.
While the box's external is established by our perception, the actual status of the cat becomes questionable. Since there is no one to observe the cat, does it really exist? There is no observation at all. There is nothing to establish the particular properties of the universe without rational conception of being.
The shamanic schools are built upon this rationale. What you really think about your life is why you have the reality that you have. How you really feel about things is what matters. It is, in fact, matter. When we begin to step out of our drama and seek visions, we begin to notice something. We can change our lives by how we choose to see them. It affords us options in the quality of the life that we experience. We can maintain a perspective of wellness. We can have the serenity of confidently and purposely established constitution. We can have a high quality of life.
This mind over matter helps us to create our existence each day. It could be considered to be our form of cybernetic connection to the universe. This is where we affect the all. It is how to have life and life more abundantly.
Werner Heisenberg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the case of Schrödinger's Cat, to help "isolate" it from manipulation, conditions existed to keep it from external jeopardy. There was randomly offered, "uncontrolled" peril for the cat. This stipulation existed insuring that you would never know if the cat was ever able to be perceived as alive. We can also learn from this. When begin to see our medicine as the medicine-men of old, we are forced to confront our existence beyond the body. The mystical healers urge us to understand that we fight a losing battle trying to preserve our bodies.
We are beings that are much broader and dynamic than our bodies which are fixed in time. We are eternal beings. What we truly seek is to prosper and perpetuate the being within. If we take the most wholesome practice of our medicine and apply it to ourselves and to others, we not only live better but so do they. This is what makes us all the shaman, the visionary, the ones who heal by faith. It is in this moment we can look at our lives with gratefulness. This is when we can take assurance that we have found the path and restore our wellness. With this revelation absorbed, you have become the shaman for yourself.