Thread: I am a shaman

Nice. I'm a typing horse.

What exactly do you do ?

You know what do, then.

Man this guy really needs a strong hit of psilocybin or DMT. His imploding ego would create a black hole.

Originally Posted by Nhuc

I am a shaman.

No you're not. You're an idealist.

Which is good, you have high standards for society in general and yourself in particular. Cultivate that, but don't confuse it with mysticism. Gandhi, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, JFK, etc. accomplished what they did because they were intelligent men who overcame lesser impulses to reach a higher standard; but they were not shamans.

Originally Posted by Nhuc

It's something I never wanted. It's something I hated going through.
It's something I hate now, and honestly I drink to get rid of it.

It sounds like many people and Christianity.

Just say NO

Originally Posted by GavinGill

No you're not. You're an idealist.

Which is good, you have high standards for society in general and yourself in particular. Cultivate that, but don't confuse it with mysticism. Gandhi, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, JFK, etc. accomplished what they did because they were intelligent men who overcame lesser impulses to reach a higher standard; but they were not shamans.

Every society needs a pillar!

I met a man who once claimed he was a shaman.

It was away from home, with some friends, under very strange circumstances (read: altered state of mind) the likes of which very few obtain. My friends and I thought we were alone, then a small group came walking through a bike trail adjacent to the park. We spoke, and traded. The human contact was what both our groups sought. At one point, it was just my close friend and I, and an average-sized man in plain clothes with a rucksack. After some conversation, he told us, "I'm a shaman." We were like yeah, whatever buddy, though entertaining the idea.

My friend walked away, and I was alone with the man. I asked him a few questions - who he was, what he did. He told me about "his people," and some of his journeys. I still doubted him, until I asked him one more question, and he gave me an answer that I immediately understood to mean that he was truly a shamanistic soul.

We parted, and I grouped back with my friend. I told my friend what happened, and what the shaman said, and he was utterly mindblown. We realized that, through our own individual circumstances, we were meant to hear what the shaman said to me. After that, when it was time and I understood, I told one other person. They also immediately agreed, the man was a shaman.

To this day I remember his words, and my responsibility to impart them to the next soul who needs them will come with time, and I will understand.

^^ Any particular reason you don't wish to share that last question you asked him, or his answer?

Now I really wanna know what he said.

modified by sivason-

This post has been deemed inappropriate and has been removed

Would you impart sacred knowledge so freely? If I typed to you the words, you would hardly understand. It's not yet time for you, yet the simple knowledge that the subject exists will in time give you understanding. The words are just words, yet the implications are both challenging and life-changing.

Originally Posted by Sageous

^^ Any particular reason you don't wish to share that last question you asked him, or his answer?

Attention.

The existence of the post makes no sense in any other context.

Originally Posted by Denziloe

Attention.

The existence of the post makes no sense in any other context. In my worldview

Fixed



Another possibility is that B12 is countering the "nay-saying" of the possibility that OP is actually a shaman. In this case the post makes sense without having to impart the full knowledge of his conversation. It has no place here.

Originally Posted by b12

Would you impart sacred knowledge so freely? If I typed to you the words, you would hardly understand. It's not yet time for you, yet the simple knowledge that the subject exists will in time give you understanding. The words are just words, yet the implications are both challenging and life-changing.

So in other words, we're not good enough to hear even what you asked this shaman. Nice.

It is truly amazing that you are able to judge our collective level of wisdom and understanding so easily.

And yes, if I were given mind-blowing sacred knowledge, I would freely impart it on anyone who would listen, leaving the understanding of it up to them, and not my own judgment.

One problem with mystical pronouncements that come with an "Oh, and I can't tell you what he said" attached is that that attachment immediately negates the significance of the statement... no matter how flowery you make the "I can't tell you" statement.

Originally Posted by Denziloe

Attention.

The existence of the post makes no sense in any other context.

The existence of the post might not make any sense in any other context, but the significance of the post is fully negated by the lack of the only information (the question, at least, and the answer) that give it credence.

Originally Posted by Dthoughts

Another possibility is that B12 is countering the "nay-saying" of the possibility that OP is actually a shaman. In this case the post makes sense without having to impart the full knowledge of his conversation. It has no place here.

Perhaps... but that doesn't mean b12 can't provide the question and answer anyway, just to prevent the "nay-saying" to move on to him. What harm could it do, since we obviously are unworthy of either, and apparently unable to fathom the depth of either?

Also, countering the nay-saying of an effectively baseless claim with another effectively baseless claim (since its base was left out) doesn't seem very, well, effective.

Words of wisdom do not make a wise man, as anyone can repeat them. It is a matter of timing and context that helps a man appear wise. The mysterious words needed to be spoken on that path, at that time, and while the listener had enough LSD on board. Take that away and they would just be words. Repeat them now and we will say, "that is not very profound." It is the core of,"you just had to be there."

^^ Then they are not words of wisdom. Period.

The moment may have held some transcendental wisdom -- or at least seemed that way, given the drug use. But words are words, and mean exactly what they mean. To announce that "You had to be there" in order to understand the meaning of specific words is a cop-out that ersatz mystics have been hiding behind since there have been mystics. I'll accept such a cop-out if a person is trying to describe a transcendental experience that leaps beyond any words or metaphor that might describe it (I've had a few of those myself), but not when he is using it to keep a specific word-based question and answer from us.

Not to mention that it is decidedly offensive, B12, to assume that no one can understand what you said or heard...leave it to us to misunderstand your question and/or answer, rather than assume our ignorance (yes, that also risks us deciding that those words are meaningless, but why should you care about that?).

Perhaps B12 doesn't himself understand it yet. It takes some amount of grasping to fully recapitulate and share wisdom.

^^ That would be mystics' official cop-out #2, I think. Also, B12 implied that he did understand, and he certainly understood the question he asked. And again, why would that even matter? We could all not understand the words together, and either be amazed or not.

[Also, I think this conversation is very much on topic, because we are sort of challenging the notion of making unsupported claims about shamanism, which I think is relevant to the OP. Okay, I'm doing the challenging, given my solitary position here.]

I think given the situation: B12 understood that what the guy said was somehow true and relevant and proves he's a shaman. He/it in no way implies that he actually understood the answer itself he just understood it to be true..

What is the question? Spill ur guts B12 We are eager here!!

All i'm saying is that truly repeating a piece of wisdom takes some serious work. Otherwise you are just repeating a subjective and not wisdom.. And repeating subjectives doesn't make sense to anyone. Cus it's not real wisdom.

... I like that you challenge. You are honest so... if that is somehow too much heat atleast you are spurring B12 to spill his guts

.
I say, we do need more modern day shamans.. Whatever that constitutes. To me it means someone who traspesses the barrier between the unknown and the known and influences the society in magical ways.

Originally Posted by b12

Would you impart sacred knowledge so freely? If I typed to you the words, you would hardly understand. It's not yet time for you, yet the simple knowledge that the subject exists will in time give you understanding. The words are just words, yet the implications are both challenging and life-changing.

Your knowledge is sacred huh? Looks like we need another ego implosion.

Maybe the question was, "do girls fart?". The answer...too disturbing to be repeated.

Originally Posted by cmind

Your knowledge is sacred huh? Looks like we need another ego implosion.

I don't realy know how I feel about this comment....

I do know however that "sacred knowledge" and generally the word "sacred" is not used enough in this society. I wish there where more who used this word in honesty. I feel this lack of sacredness is gravely responsible for the darkness of mankind.