Neo-Shamanism
/"The problem with Neo-Shamanism--one of the problems, for there are many--is it's reliance on mind-altering substances and drugs.
Classically trained shaman entered into trance states through rigorous discipline, through dance, through fasting, through austerities, through purification, through the drum and the rattle, through song and chant, through yoga and various forms of meditation. This requires a clear mind.
Ever since Tim Leary and his bunch brought LSD to the mainstream, many modern neo-shaman have been looking for the next best high. Searching the Rain Forest, the high deserts, chasing the perfect high...
But it is all ungrounded. It is disconnected with the Sacred traditions. It is dilettantism. It is drug dependency masquerading as Shamanism.
Qigong is certainly shamanic. But it requires a clear mind. It requires years of training and Self-Discipline. It requires groundedness AND connection with the Cosmic One-And-All. It is not a drug induced state. It is a natural high!
The thing about exogenous substances is this: We would not be able to react to them physiologically if we did not already have the cellular receptor sites to engage with them, to metabolize them, and respond to them. And, we would not have these cellular receptor sites onboard if we did not naturally produce these neuro-chemicals endemically inside our own bodies!
Relying on exogenous chemicals and compounds is not only dangerous but it is cheating. It robs us of the ability to produce these substances on our own as nature intended. It is a short lived short-cut to experiences that we cannot possibly contain and embody as long as we are reliant on ethnobotanicals and mind-altering drugs... It is not the Old Way, despite whatever propagandists and rock stars have to say...
Herbal medicine aside of course. Drugs are a dead end with unpleasant side effects. It is reckless and heroic to use these substances...
Not sure if that is true? Ask yourself: Do you want your children and grandchildren to start messing around with that stuff? Or do you want them clear-minded and healthy? Unadulterated...
It is one thing to chew coca leaves so you can work at high altitudes with supportive energy, another thing altogether to smoke crack cocaine! One is a botanical herb. The other is distilled and refined into a deadly drug.
The best substance in the World for inducing altered states of consciousness is Oxygen!
Food for thought...
--Pahka Dave