Jerath's reflection on trance and Western society

Experiencing Life for Western Society

By Jerath Head

The ‘western urban society’ of today is one that largely thrives on the experiential. For many, what cannot be directly experienced is unfortunately either viewed as not being worth their time, or more commonly as make believe or wishful-thinking. This, combined with a prevalent materialistic and empirical attitude, develops individuals who view themselves as existing separately from the land, nature, and even their own society. It shuns the idea of the spirit, of universal consciousness, and of other worlds (such as the Dreamtime of aboriginal tradition), and focuses on what we can gain from our ordinary state of mind. However, in a society that thrives on the experiential but practices selfish materialism and empiricism, many people “are seeking an alternative paradigm more suited to the vagaries of everyday life or are looking for a way to at least broaden the conventional cultural paradigm” (Brunton, 2003, p. 1). That is, they are seeking something that offers them a way to experience life in a more ‘fantastic’ and fulfilling way.
This is where shamanic and transcendental experiences and practices gain appeal. Where science bases everything on observed fact and very little on experience, and where some religious sects may seem to offer little spiritual experience in this life, shamanic and transcendental practices and teachings express ideas of ecstasy and harmony, knowledge and understanding, and insight and spiritual power – all acquired through experience. The experience may be as consuming as a shaman entering the ‘Underworld’, as intense as taking LSD, or as revitalising as losing yourself in a dance or a meditation. Either way, the common western (or ordinary waking) concept of the individual falls away, and we open ourselves up to an altered state of consciousness. In such a state we are removed from ourselves, our ego ‘drops away’, and we experience the ecstasy of being at one with the ‘universe’. It is such practice and experience which is vital in helping us to understand the importance of nature and all the life it contains (including our own), so that such understanding can be used to benefit ourselves and others.
In a way that can only be realised through practice, shamanism and transcendental experience draws you away from your ego, and make you aware of the connectedness of universal life. Sitting in quiet meditation beneath the gum trees in my yard, I become aware of the life resounding in everything around me, and I can begin to appreciate that the universe doesn’t revolve around my ego. Dancing to a live performance by the Mars Volta until I no longer know where I am, I experience a state of ecstasy and loss of self, and feel as if I have slid into another world. These are the types of sensations a shaman experiences on a daily basis. Jeremy Hayward speaks of the Navajo belief of spirits: “The difference between Holy People and us is that Holy People live completely within Ho’zho (“beauty”) – they are completely at one with the forces, rhythms, and inherent order of the cosmos. We too can develop our imperfect body-minds to the state of Ho’zho because we are of the same stuff as the Holy People” (Hayward, 1997, p. 16). This is what a shaman strives to do. They live in harmony with the inherent order of the cosmos, and are able to contact the world of the “Holy People” in order to gain the knowledge to help others and restore balance on the micro and macro scale. We don’t all have to live as traditional shamans; in fact it would likely be impossible. But it is the experience of losing ourselves and reaching out to the cosmos, to Ho’zho, that is important.
Such experiences are important in developing an awareness of the interdependence of life, and I think this is why they are appealing to more and more people. In a world where crime, poverty, corruption and the wanton destruction of nature are running rampant, people are looking for ways that enable them to benefit themselves and others on the small scale, so that they may contribute to the effects on the large scale and help restore balance. “The way we feel and experience our world is deeply affected by what we believe about it” (Hayward, 1997, p. 6). If we exist purely in our ordinary waking state, we believe that is all there is to life and we let materialism direct us. Experiencing an altered state of consciousness is to change what we know, what we believe, about the world we are a part of.
“The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it” (Thoreau, 1854, p. 134). For the ‘western urban society’, practicing altered states of consciousness doesn’t mean we have to give up the lives we lead for one of asceticism, or giving up all of our beliefs and becoming vigilantes. It is simply about opening our ears to the poem of creation, and experiencing the world in a way that allows us to fully appreciate and understand it. In this way, our perception of existence may expand to encompass more of the universe, and we can act in ways that will be fulfilling to us and others.


References
Brunton, B. (2003). The Reawakening of Shamanism in the West [electronic version]. Shamanism Magazine, 16(2).
Thoreau, H. D. (1854). Walden or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Castle Books.Hayward, J. W. (1997). Letters to Vanessa: on Love, Science and Awareness in an Enchanted World. Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications.