THE THREE POWERS OF SHAMANS (WITH EXERCISES)

Dear readers and friends                                                   Italian version in centro olistico kokoro

José Stevens reminds us that walking the path of the shaman requires the acquisition of [...] "tools", which are innate but which we must awaken to proceed confidently on this path:

Shamans everywhere know that human beings are born with a "toolbox" that already contains three exceptional tools of healing and freedom. These ordinary, easy-to-use tools are often ignored as too simplistic and meaningless, especially by Western science and psychology. Even those who know these tools tend to underestimate them and do not understand their true importance. On the contrary, shamans are committed to developing and mastering them, because they know they are the key to their power.

Like drills or wrenches, these shamanic tools don't work on their own—they sit patiently in your toolbox waiting to be used. In other words, these tools only work if they are backed by intention and used in a purposeful and focused way. Shamans know that if the mind is occupied with other things (hostility, competitiveness, enmity, and so on) it is difficult to use them effectively. Nonetheless, these tools are so powerful that all you need is the will to use them for them to begin producing their extraordinary effects.

GRATITUDE

 The first shamanic tool is gratitude, an attitude and orientation that serves to open the heart. Gratitude is a high-level openness that opens windows, portals, and gates to the spirit world.

 Speaking in shamanic terms, in everyday reality (which the shaman considers a shared dream) the Spirit is not visible to the eye. [...] But the shaman knows that behind the film set that creates the world is hidden the Spirit, shining with light and freedom, waiting to be recognized and used as a resource. Spirit has cleverly placed portals in strategic places which, when opened, lead directly from the outer everyday world into the power of inner reality where all problems turn out to be illusory, as indeed they are.

These portals are literally everywhere, but there are major ones so close to us that it's nearly impossible to miss. Closest of all is the heart, so in the center of the chest and so accessible that you can feel it with your hand. When you speak it vibrates, and when you breathe it is massaged by the movement of the breath. [...]

Shamans "see" with the heart. 

Shamanic peoples such as the Maori of New Zealand believe that the physical world is a projection that emanates from each individual's heart. The Maya and Q'ero people of the Peruvian Andes have a particular version of this notion: their shamans know that the sense of self-importance created by the ego keeps the powerful portal of the heart closed, preventing Spirit from shining through. [...] What keeps the level of openness low? The normal human afflictions: fear, hostility, self-importance, depression, self-distrust, cynicism, and frustration. [...]

Gratitude counters these tactics employed by the parasitic false personality and raises the level of enlargement enough to initiate the process of opening the heart.

Exercise - gratitude

When you're feeling down, it's hard to feel gratitude for anything, so you need to make the effort to feel gratitude a little at a time. Turn your thoughts to something you love, something innocent that deserves your gratitude like your dog, your cat or your budgie. Feel gratitude for the presence of this creature in your life. Then extend the gratitude to other things or other living beings that your false personality (created by your ego to deal with life) is not opposed: the sun on a cold winter morning, a cup of hot chocolate or the shade under the peak sun. Remember that the ego has no influence on Spirit. The false sense of self can affect our spiritual side only temporarily.

The gifts of gratitude are endless. Here are some of its beneficial effects:

1. Gratitude reshapes experiences: what appeared to be a problem or a meaningless thing becomes an asset. For example, if you feel gratitude for the tree in front of your house, stop ignoring it and focus on the good things it gives you. The world instantly becomes a better place for simply feeling gratitude.

2. When you feel gratitude, you connect to something external to you and recognize that you are dependent on others and on Spirit. In other words, gratitude immediately shifts your orientation toward self-importance and self-referentiality by reminding you of the reality of interconnectedness.

3. Gratitude strengthens what you already receive good from, because Spirit is always ready to give you more of what you value and appreciate. The greater your gratitude, the more you receive what you are grateful for.

VISION

The second great shamanic tool is vision. For the shaman, "seeing" means piercing the veils of ignorance, the false appearance of the world, and clearly believing the true nature of the Spirit manifesting itself in all reality. In other traditions it is called forgiveness or compassion. Seeing is the most powerful way to free yourself from guilt and shame.

[...] False personality tries to convince you that forgiveness and compassion are weaknesses, [...] it also wants you to believe that you and others are of no value. [...] Vision makes these terrible perceptions impossible. Seeing the truth frees the tremendous weight of guilt, with the result that the energy stuck in the guilt can be used to open the heart and other portals to the spirit world.

When shamans speak of "vision," they are really speaking of erasing the conscious mind's projections and distorted thoughts about the world as a whole and its particular forms. [...]

Seeing means perceiving the truth, with no more room for hostility, accusations, fears or judgments. How? If we see in the shamanic or visionary way, we know that we are Spirit, and that we have simply become confused and momentarily lost in appearances. [...]

Shamans say that when we learn to see, we have access to virtually unlimited power, because we understand that we are intimately connected to the global web of life. For the shaman to see the true nature of reality and the self is an immense power, an indispensable ability for self-realization and for attaining enlightenment.

To reconnect to the instrument of vision you can integrate the following practices into your daily life.

Exercise - vision

1. First we need to prepare for this exercise. Think of something you did as a child that you were punished for or felt guilty about. [...] From your current perspective you understand that it was simply a mistake made by a child and you have probably stopped feeling guilty for a long time. Time has healed that fact and the memory evokes only sympathy or an indulgent smile. If you still feel even the slightest sense of guilt, do not hear this event for this exercise, but look for another one that has no aftermath.

2. Now visualize yourself in the future, growing even more in compassion and wisdom, or imagine a future you fully realized. From this perspective, look at your current self with the same compassion today as you look at the three-year-old you were today. You no longer accuse yourselves and you no longer feel guilty about what is occupying your mind today. Since your essence is outside of time, it is already capable of this form of neutrality. See if you can ground yourself in this view for a few moments. This is "seeing".

You could also use an image of a person you accuse or feel separated from for this exercise. Try to see this person from a future perspective, looking at the present as if it were the distant past. Understand that at some point in your evolution you will have to let go of the accusations and the sense of separateness, for they only block you from accessing unlimited power.

BLESSING 

The third great tool of shamanic power is something we are all born with: the power to bless.

We generally do not recognize our function as human beings and have never thought that our true duty is to bless the world. [...]

Blessing means acknowledging that the Spirit is in everything we experience and witness. It means recognizing the flow of Being that is present in what we eat, in the landscape we are looking at, in the experience of making love, in cleaning or in creating with our tools. [...]

Shamanically speaking, most people respond to the physical world in a state of hypnosis, a state of deep sleep in which we no longer recognize the presence of Spirit. Not only are we asleep, large parts of the world may also be temporarily asleep. It is therefore our task to awaken and awaken everything around us

This awakening corresponds to "blessing the world". [...]  Every human being has the capacity, ability and responsibility to bless. 

What happens when we bless and when we do it effectively?

Blessing means becoming aware that you are alive and that Spirit is flowing through you. This realization makes you see that Spirit permeates everything around you, that what happens in us happens in everything, and that everything is one. When you feel it, say to yourself, "I am Spirit. May I be awake. May I awaken Spirit in everything I see."

As you speak these words, look around you and bless with outstretched hands and arms, awakening all to the incredible power of Spirit that flows through all things with great peace and passion. In response, all receives encouragement, all celebrates, all is grateful, and all forgives its slumber. Few practices are as powerful as this awakening. If you want to add to your blessing, you can wholeheartedly bestow wellbeing on all that you see and experience.

You can say, "I give you love and happiness. May everyone who comes here or passes by be blessed with joy, abundance, and well-being." What you give is what you get, so give the best you can.

 Blessing is mysteriously powerful and perhaps the most powerful tool of all, because it is the way that leads us back to the Spirit. But it's hard to bless if you don't feel gratitude and if you haven't seen the need to forgive. These three tools work together like three components of a powerhouse. They correspond to the three main characteristics of the physical universe: Truth, Love and Energy; or to the three principles of life according to the Andean shamans: Yachay, Munay and LLakay. Each tool works together with three characteristics: Gratitude recognizes truth, transmits love and strengthens energy. The Vision tells the truth, generates love and releases energy. The Blessing identifies truth, radiates love, and generates extraordinary energy.

Exercise - to bless

Go outside first thing in the morning and bless the sky, the earth, the trees and all the natural elements you see. Then bless your family, your colleagues, your students, your teachers, and all their communities. Bless all their relationships, not forgetting any of the people who are related to them. Bless the Spirit and don't forget to bless yourself. Now observe how you feel. Do you feel more expanded, stronger, happier, more on the right track? This is the true shamanic way and the way of the visionary.

WORDS OF HEALING (FROM "THE SECRETS OF THE SHAMANS")