Cultural heroes like Gautama the Buddha and the Upanishadic sages were on the verge of ushering in the mental framework of awareness.
Yoga's psychospiritual technology is therefore a result of consciousness's early mental framework.
- Prior to that, we had the Vedic Proto-Yoga, which is written in very symbolic language.
- Before that, there was Shamanism's ecstatic technology, which dates back to the Stone Age.
- Shamanism has been traced back to approximately 25,000 B.C.E., although it is most likely far earlier.
- The lack of artifacts does not always indicate the absence of the belief system with which they are connected, as we know from other situations.
Shamanism is the holy art of altering one's consciousness in order to access a plane of reality that is believed to be inhabited by spirits.
The term shaman comes from the Siberian (Tungusic) language and refers to a spirit traveler.
- Shamans accomplish a dramatic change in their perceptual field by listening to the repetitive sound of a drum, click stick, or other percussion instrument, or by using psychoactive drugs (such as the fly agaric mushroom), which are repressed by representatives of the authority.
- This is done in the name of faith.
- They had to converse with the spirit realm in order to escape discovery.
- Their goal was to stop pounding on the table and instead expound.
- It's not just a case of idle curiosity; they're hoping to resurrect silent ways of changing consciousness.
Harner recognizes the importance of power and knowledge in the psychologi struction of ancient history "Shamans are often cal and physical wellbeing of excited throughout their tripry, and have developed their community's tradition.
- In yogic terms, While Hamer's hypothesis that calm may become experts, particularly Mircea esis is interesting, the wan so deep that many men Eliade, Shamanism is of tal processes stop tem ing of the shamanic tradi Siberian origin Others haphazardly."
- It was probably more common to view Shamanism as a linked with the fact -Roger Walsh, The Spirit of Worldwide Tradition, p. 229 that the development of city Shamanism occurred independently in states that corresponded with different civilizations.
I support the demise of the tribal community's perspective of Shamanism, which links Shamanism with communities serviced by shamans.
- This is best seen as a change in Central Asia, especially given the cultural background of Siberia and collapse.
- Yoga, in a similar vein, is basically consciousness toward a more individuated self an Indic phenomena, and spiritual traditions awareness, linked with the developing mental sphere of other civilizations, should be accorded its own unique consciousness structure.
- As a result, technically speaking, we should refrain from communicating.
- Unless he (or, more rarely, she) can be demon who operates on behalf of his (or, more rarely, her) community, the shaman is a privileged sacred technologist of African Shamanism.
This is true of the shamanic tradition (brahmana), who conducts his sacrifices and similar actions of the Eskimos and Hopi Indians.
- Similarly, additional rituals for the sake of others, whether it be the ancestral spirits, his own surviving family, or the is truly a hybrid between Christianity and the society at large, should not be called Christian Yoga. The yogin, on the other hand, is Hinduism personified.
- Term such as "sorcery," "witchcraft," or holy technologist who pursues his "magic" first and foremost may be used in settings other than one's personal salvation.
- He doesn't usually try to practice Siberian or Siberian-derived spirituality or make any direct societal contributions.
- If anything, "mysticism" or "spiritual esotericism" may indicate that he has abandoned the game.
- However, when utilized in conjunction with Yoga-like traditions other than those traceable to India, directly by their exemplary conduct and benevolent aura, India's yogins have made a significant contribution.
Some academics have argued that Yoga is significant not just to its own culture, but also to human civilization as a whole, although this is difficult to prove.
- Even in a cult, you have to prove yourself.
- While Yoga incorporates shamanic elements such as Karma-Yoga, the goal of helping the world, it also incorporates many other teachings.
- As previously said, (loka-samgraha) is the most important.
- According to Michael Harner, the shift from ily in the interest of the yogin's own spiritual Shamanism to Yoga happened throughout the development process.
Only the bodhisattva ideal of early Mahayana city states in the East, when shamans were Buddhists, reflects the desire to better our common human destiny.
- However, unlike the shaman, the bodhisattva is primarily concerned with people's spiritual well-being, rather than their physical or emotional well-being or financial wealth.
- Even healers who follow the bodhisattva path see their work as a spiritual contribution to others: These healers aim to provide the right circumstances for spiritual practice by assisting individuals in regaining physical health or emotional equilibrium.
- While the theory that Yoga evolved from (officially repressed) Shamanism is flawed, many elements and themes of Shamanism have definitely persisted in Yoga.
- The following characteristics of the shamanic tradition were provided by Eliade, who pioneered studies on both Yoga and Shamanism:
- Among the components that make up and distinguish shamanism, the following must be prioritized:
- the shaman's ability to make ecstatic journeys in his role as healer and psychopompos (he searches for the sick man's soul, which has been stolen by demons, captures it, and restores it to the body; he conducts the dead man's shamanic journeys).
Its whole trajectory is guided by the concept of the human ego-gradual personality's transcendence ("dismemberment").
- We'll come upon the Kshurika Upanishad ("Secret Doctrine of the Dagger") later, a book that describes the yogic practice as a gradual deconstruction of conventional consciousness.
- The dismemberment connected with the shamanic rope trick, which has been characterized as a kind of mass hypnosis, correlates to this.
- The shaman climbs up the vertically stretched rope, a sharp blade in his teeth, in furious chase of a little kid until both are out of sight.
- The boy's severed limbs begin to shower down from the sky after a time.
- The play concludes with the shaman's resurrection of the kid.
- Only the shaman sitting on the ground, alone and maybe with a knowing grin, will be captured by cameras.
- The yogin's euphoric introversion and spiritual ascension are analogous to the shaman's ecstatic flight, and the yogin's teaching function is analogous to the shaman's position as a soul guide.
Many shamanic abilities are also acknowledged in Yoga, where they are classified as siddhis ("accomplishments"), such as the ability to turn invisible, which shamans are also attributed with.
- Finally, the yogic control of the "inner fire," particularly the psychophysiological heat produced during the awakening of the life force in Kundalini-Yoga, is mirrored by the shaman's mastery of fire, which is an outward accomplishment.
- This is the foundation for the Tibetan yogic discipline of tumo, which enables practitioners to sit nude in the frozen snow blanketing the Himalayan mountain peaks for long periods of time.
- One of the most well-known Yoga techniques—sitting cross-legged in one of the numerous yogic poses (asana)—has a shamanic origin.
Felicitas Goodman, an American anthropologist, looked at a variety of shamanic postures that have been employed to produce euphoric states or out-of-body 9 experiences in her essay Where the Spirits Ride the Wind.
- Each position seems to have a unique impact on the mind, and she and her students are able to reach different levels of consciousness by using particular shamanic postures.
- The preceding part presented the ascetic (tapas) tradition, which is the forerunner of Yoga and has several remarkable similarities to Shamanism: Tapasvins excel in "self-heating," or disciplining oneself to the point that perspiration flows from all pores, where shamans show their command of fire by touching hot coals.
- In the midst of summer, when the sun is blazing down from above, one old ascetic practice (called panca-agni, spelled panciigni) is to sit surrounded by four lighted flames.
- Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga has been practicing this age-old method for many years.
Yogins strive to defy the body-natural mind's inclinations, whether via extended breath retention or the conversion of sexual desire into vital energy (ojas), and so generate an inner pressure that translates into physiological heat.
- They have the sensation of being on fire.
- Then, at the apex of the experience, a dramatic breakthrough happens, illuminating their whole existence.
- They reveal that they are that light that seems to have no source yet is the Source of all things.
- The yogin's state of illumination, or enlightenment, is similar to the shaman's mystical voyage into other worlds.
- Both experiences are diametrically opposed to conventional reality and awareness.
- Both of them have a strong transfonnative impact.
Only the inward-going yogin understands the ultimate futility of all travelling, since he realizes that he is never moving beyond the same Reality that is the objective of his spiritual adventure.
The shaman's surroundings are made up of the subtle worlds of reality, which he tries to dominate.
- ""The feeling of'soul flight,' 'journeying,' or 'out-of-body experience' is a distinguishing characteristic of shamanic ecstasy," says American psychiatrist Roger Walsh.
- In other words, in their euphoric condition, shamans see themselves, or their soul or spirit, soaring across space and going to other planets or remote portions of this one." The purpose of shamanic trips is to gain knowledge or power, or to change the circumstances in the material world by changing the conditions in the subtle realms.
- The ultimate goal of the yogin, on the other hand, is to transcend the shaman's subtle layers of existence and to realize the transcendental Being, which is transdimensional and unqualified, and which the yogin understands to be his deepest identity.
The yogin, on the other hand, is mainly a transcender, while the shaman is a healer or miracle-worker.
- However, the yogin is likely to gain a great lot of information about the subtle worlds throughout her spiritual ascension to transcendental Reality (sukshma-loka).
- This explains why many yogins have shown remarkable powers and have long been regarded as wonder workers and magicians by the Indian people.
- However, from a yogic perspective, the paranormal powers exhibited by many adepts pale in contrast to the ultimate achievement of Self-realization, or enlightenment.
You may also want to read more about Kundalini Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Yoga here.
You may also want to read more about Yoga Asanas and Exercises here.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.