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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
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The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness
#5629907 - 05/14/06 08:21 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I have been a serious student and practitioner of shamanism for over 8 years. In the past on this forum I would only grudgingly and rarely discuss matters not firmly based in the realm of absolute science. This was due to an insecurity within myself. Maybe some would say that I have crossed a line over to losing my rationality. Maybe I am becoming less sane as time moves on. Maybe I have hit the point where my social programming has become less relevant to my world view. I prefer to believe the last choice as true. In any case I would like to discuss some of the techniques that i have learned to live by during this last decade of my life.
The issue I would like to discuss concerns manipulating ones day to day reality through the manipulation of the awareness. The basic premise of this is that by manipulating one's awareness that one can cause a change to the consensual reality that we all share. In order to practice this it has been helpful to me to view the world as it truly is....a matrix of energy. Our perception of solid matter is merely a conveniant means through which we can percieve our reality. It consists of our layers of cultural programming layered on top of the material frame of reference that makes up our world. In science, and in my world view, the sum total of creation comes down to the conversion and the transfer of energy. When we eat, exercise, communicate or otherwise interact with our environment and each other we are engaging in transfering and converting energy. The ability to efficiently convert and transfer energy is based on our level of what many tribal cultures refer to as personal power...the subject of this post. Personal power is a very simple concept with very complex ramifacations. It is, simply put, the energy we get from food, air, and sunshine.
If one has plenty of personal power one can use it to effectively apply the will. Unfortunately, most of us are weak in this area of our lives due to the inefficient application of our personal power. Often people develop behaviors which exhaust our supply of personal power without giving us much in return. This leaves precious little for improving ourselve or effecting change. Examples of these types of wasteful behaviors are addictions to substances, practices, or people, non-productive or counterproductive interactions with other humans, and other similarly dogmatic behaviors and beliefs as well as intense ego based emotional baggage. These actions (or beliefs) require energy to maintain them, but give little or no return. Some behaviors like addictions can actually become a power sink that constantly drains us of our personal power. The key to making power available to us is in eliminating these wasteful and counterproductive behaviors. It is easier to start by eliminating minor behaviors first freeing personal power little by little. If you try getting the really strong behaviors first you will likely not have enough personal power to finish the job, so start small and work up to eliminating strong behaviors, beliefs, and the emotional baggage that causes these behaviors and beliefs. Interacting with extremely needy people is an easy type of first behavior to eliminate. These people drain our power through their lack of empowerment. They use our time and emotional energy to effect energy conversions that they never learned to make themselves....they are similar to vampires. They always have problems or complaints and often seem ecstatic to relate them. This is an expression of their relief from finding someone whose power they can drain. They do not engage in this conciously. Another type of small behavior easy to cut out is time wasted reading junk mail and junk email. Gradually work upwards until one can conquer the big ones like addictions.
If one learns to live in a simple, pragmatic manner one can amass a large store of personal power. This power can be used to effect changes in our reality that can extend from simple to changes that are preternatural in nature. Later I will discuss techniques that can be used to effectively apply personal power to the will such as dreaming and stalking.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Veritas

Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630004 - 05/14/06 08:41 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
addictions to substances, practices, or people, non-productive or counterproductive interactions with other humans, and other similarly dogmatic behaviors and beliefs as well as intense ego based emotional baggage.
IMO, the central theme to these energy-draining behaviors is an unwillingness to accept reality as-is, and as it is ever-becoming.
(Otherwise known as neurosis.)
My cultivation of personal power began with the elimination of small drains on my energy, progressed to major simplification of my daily life, and continued inward as I recognized my neurotic behavior patterns.
The process of developing an honest relationship with reality, which includes facing up to both my personality AND my divinity, has reclaimed much of the personal power I was taught to give away.
Edited by Veritas (05/14/06 08:45 PM)
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Veritas]
#5630040 - 05/14/06 08:47 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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What is reality "as is"? Is it what your culture programmed into you? How do you define this? Once you define reality you set your limitations. My paradigm for reality has shifted many times in my life opening new doors each time. To me it is a mystery and I prefer to keep it that way. If I accepted reality as is I would have never embarked on a spiritual path. Define what you mean as I am not clear on it.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery


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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630046 - 05/14/06 08:48 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Again powerful ideas, and you are preaching to the choir here also. I have been striving to store power using this little step technique. I would add that setbacks are part of this process. You don't have to feel you are done because you have backslid for some time. Any moment you can decide to move your energy.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Icelander]
#5630054 - 05/14/06 08:51 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I am the king of "backsliding".
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Veritas

Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630083 - 05/14/06 08:56 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I said "as-is and as it is ever-becoming" 
This means keeping your eyes open, watching your habitual reactions to your perceptions, getting out of your own way. It also means letting go of each momentary reality as it passes, not believing that it is persistent or real after it is done.
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Huehuecoyotl
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Veritas]
#5630096 - 05/14/06 08:58 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I got you. I agree totally. The "as is" threw me off. Like buying a car "as is" is how I first interpreted it.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Veritas

Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630118 - 05/14/06 09:01 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yes, for me "as-is" means without my romantic embellishments, wishful thinking, deliberate denial, escapism, etc... My relationship with reality has been a bumpy one. 
The real world I lived in, without any desire to change it or escape it, was the forest. Whenever I returned to the civilized world, I wanted to turn away & deny what was in front of me, cling to what was behind me, and long for what I imagined was ahead of me.
Living in the moment, no matter what is happening, is my greatest challenge.
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Huehuecoyotl
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Veritas]
#5630126 - 05/14/06 09:03 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yes, we must be ruthless with ourselves.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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moog
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Registered: 02/15/05
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630144 - 05/14/06 09:06 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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This is fascinating. I have a question for you about something i tend to have trouble with: Where do you stop at what you "know"? Like, you know a tree is "just" a trunk of wood with branches and green or purple leaves at the top. But there's more to a tree than that. It's alive. There is some sort of life-force that keeps the tree growing. When is it OK to accept a certain level of knowing? Or should one always be open-minded to all possibilities, even in the simple case of a tree? You could sit for hours pondering the existence of a tree. And i'm just using the tree as an example here; put anything directly observable in its place.
Is it useful to draw a line and say "this is what i know about this" without closing off your mind to new possibilities or dimensions to things?
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Huehuecoyotl
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: moog]
#5630154 - 05/14/06 09:08 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well, that all depends on what is practical to acheive the end that you desire. One extends ones level of knowing only as far as it is practical IMO.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment


Registered: 12/23/04
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630177 - 05/14/06 09:11 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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This is still all within the realms of desire. Nothing amazing here, just cheap wizardry.
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Sinbad]
#5630189 - 05/14/06 09:14 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I will accept that to a certain extent, but I must point out that one sure way to waste personal power is through attachment. Learning not to indulge goes beyond desire. I am drawn to many Buddhist practices because of their inherant impeccability.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Icelander
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Sinbad]
#5630196 - 05/14/06 09:15 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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IMO you need to look a little deeper. Look where the road is heading.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Sinbad
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Registered: 12/23/04
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630215 - 05/14/06 09:19 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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"Although your view maybe open to the sky, your actions must be as fine as a grain of sand" - Guru Padmasambhava
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Sinbad]
#5630228 - 05/14/06 09:22 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I love that. It is the very spirit of impeccability as far as I am concerned.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment


Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Icelander]
#5630248 - 05/14/06 09:27 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Icelander said: IMO you need to look a little deeper. Look where the road is heading.
The road is infinite in two ways, one in our dualistic karmic vision, and one in the infinite expanse of non-duality.
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment


Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#5630250 - 05/14/06 09:28 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Have u checked out my sig?
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Icelander
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Registered: 03/15/05
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Sinbad]
#5630259 - 05/14/06 09:30 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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And I'll choose the warriors road. I have a feeling I will meet you there.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
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Re: The Manipulation of Reality Through Mastering Awareness [Re: Sinbad]
#5630267 - 05/14/06 09:31 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I am familiar with the quote. I concur
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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