The importance of shamanic, ecstatic and transcendent experiences in today's western urban society.

"A reflection"
By: Lin Chen

People would often meet others that are from a certain religion but practice techniques of other religions. What era is this we call that incorporates the “goods” (whether beliefs or techniques) of different religions like a pick-and-mix candy bag? Many claim to do this for spiritual satisfaction. But how many actually do understand the underlying dogmatics of the “other” practices they choose to practice; be it chanting, meditation or even shamanic techniques like drumming.

In this paper, we will look at the emergence of the romanticized view of eastern religion in the west during the twentieth century and how it evolved to the twenty-first century view of eastern religions when many academics get to work closely with these traditional cultures. And finally a psychologist turned “ecopsychologist” that incorporates shamanic techniques into her therapy sessions as well as practice and studied shamanism claiming it to be a synergy when used together with psychology. We will also look at the importance of these shamanic techniques in this western urban society.

With the emergence of pick-and-mix candy bag style choices, shouldn’t the underlying beliefs of these “forgotten” practices be kept alive instead of slowly losing its buoyancy? Many people refer it to the emergence of the “new age” or “new age religions”. There is also an increasing amount of people that claim to be spiritual however non-religious.

Like many of the eastern religions, the state of the spiritual self depended on one’s diet. Vegetarianism is believed to be both “a source and a symbol of spirituality”, thus the increase of vegetarians and vegans in today’s modern society. (Bevir, 1994) Have people become more spiritually aware with or without realizing it?

According to Bevir (1994), a growing number of westerners throughout the twentieth century turned to India for spiritual fulfilment. However, the view back then was overly romanticized. The Indians were portrayed in a much noble view. They were seen as people that could give up their material life and focus only on the spiritual/ religious side of themselves and the world. They saw people that turned inward instead of outward to an external source. They saw all these as mystical, and choosing to belief that eastern religion is esoteric and could only be understood by those who are spiritually adept, the underlying dogmatics was ignored. These romanticized view of eastern religion might be more appealing to westerners as they appear to be mystical; within you grasps but not at the same time.

However, having said this, I believe that at the moment, in the twenty-first century, as more and more people have taken into practicing alternate techniques and also choosing to study and understand the dogmatics underlying it. Many academics, psychologist and anthropologists have been changed by “cross-cultural” experiences. (Goulet&Young, 1994).


Shamanism’s worldview of health is that of a balance between all living things. The idea of all things being connected is an ancient concept, however, now also recognized as a concept for the future. As ecologist Leslie Gray (1995) mentioned in her interview, ecopsychology has its roots in Shamanism. Ecopsychology is a new field of psychology that recognizes that one can only be sane if he/she has sane relationships with their environment.

Shamanism approximately dates back at least four thousand years ago. These practices are still used now amongst indigenous people all over the world. Gray (1995) uses shamanic techniques in her therapy sessions and refers to these sessions as “Shamanic counseling”. Shamanic counseling motivates individuals to explode their environment. Instead of plain-old talking therapy. It attempts to make change to human behaviour through techniques called “personal empowerment”. This assists patients to restore their personal power as they understand their life with the help of shamanic techniques.

This earth has more then forty thousand years of shamanic knowledge on how to live healthily together with the earth. According to Gray(1995), there are many “models of sustainable indigenous societies” and none at all for “sustainable industrial societies. It would be a tragic pity if people were to generate more models for “sustainable societies” and do not learn the way of life lead by more than 300 million indigenous people still living in the world. Surely, mother earth has given more than enough signs with the increasing number of natural disasters that something must be done to restore the balance.

And as we can see, these shamanic, ecstatic and transcendent experiences play an important role in today’s western urban society. Think about it. When was the last time you got completely lost in your favourite music, and seem to be just submerged in somewhere completely different within yourself, and when you finally realize and come back to your fully conscious state having found a sense of inner peace.



Reference

Bevir M, 1994, ‘West turns Eastward’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 62, 3, 747-767.

Gray L, 1995, Shamanic Counselling and Ecopsychology, in Ecopsychologt: Restoring The Earth Healing The Mind, T Rozak, ME Gomes, and AD Kanner, Eds, San Franscisco Sierra Club Books, http://www.woodfish.org/ecorestore.html

Goulet J-G. & DE Young, 1994, ‘Theoretical and Methodological Issues’, in DE Young & J-G.