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Toltec dreaming: Radical Shifts in Perception
Years ago Carlos Castaneda wrote a series of books about his encounter with a Toltec shaman, Don Juan. The works were later criticized as inauthentic, inaccurate and wrought with discrepancies and contradictions. In the... More »
The Law of Least Effort from Ancient Vedic Philosophy from India
Law of Least Effort by Deepak Chopra The fourth spiritual law of success is the Law of Least Effort. This law is based on the fact that nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned... More »
two Shamans in one place
My roommate Amalie introduced me to her friend Steen via the internet a couple months ago. She figured we would get along because we have the same "weird" ideas about the inner workings of the... More »
What's New
The Second Annual Ayahuasca Monologues: Tales of the Spirt Vine is just around the corner - next Thursday, April 17th at CoSM in NYC. Following on last year's successful event, we are pleased to present... More »
What's Your Story?
My "Story", Though I'm Not Attached to It by Obi Okorougo This afternoon, someone asked me tell a short story about myself. I thought about it for about 5 minutes and wrote down the following:... More »
The Proust Questionnaire ~
The Proust Questionnaire has experienced a wave of Gaia tagging , hyper-linking & global blogging . And even if I invite you to feel tagged & invited to tag yourself &/or invite others, i tag... More »
Ta Dah!!!!!!!!
Smack, bang, boom here I am, and so the journey continues. Having made it through complete darkness starting at 4pm, and the recent bone-chilling temps of -40 degrees below zero, I am more than ready... More »
Knowledge Without Words
"You must understand that knowledge cannot be turned into words. That knowledge is there for everyone. It is there to be felt, to be used, but not to be explained. One can come into... More »
The Path with Heart
Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Ask yourself: Does this path have heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is... More »
How do you keep from feeling depressed during the hoildays?
We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. ~ Carlos Castaneda Why should I feel depressed during holidays at all? Is this the ultimate purpose of... More »
All paths lead nowhere, so it is important to choose a path that has heart.
A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone, one question. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't it is of no use.
Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone the question, . . . Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use.
Our normal expectations about reality are created by a social consensus. We are taught how to see and understand the world. the trick of socialization is to convince us that the descriptions we agree upon define the limits of the real world. What we call reality is only one way of seeing the world, a way that is supported by social consensus.
A warrior doesn't know remorse for anything he has done, because to isolate one's acts as being mean, or ugly, or evil is to place an unwarranted importance on the self.
Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior's indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity.
The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.
For a warrior, to be inaccessible means that he touches the world around him sparingly. And above all, he deliberately avoids exhausting himself and others. He doesn't use and squeeze people until they have shriveled to nothing, especially the people he loves.
A warrior takes responsibility for his acts, for the most trivial of acts. An average man acts out his thoughts, and never takes responsibility for what he does.
Altered States of Consciousness
Goal: To create a logical discussion of the benefits and harms of using psychedelic substances/drugs/chemicals to induce an altered state of consciousness. Reason: The 60's counter-culture created by a popularization of psychedelic substances carried with... More »
The Dream Garden
The Dream Garden is a place for anyone interested in discussing and sharing experiences about dreaming, meditation, visualization, dream interpretation, dream analysis and symbology, dream phenomena and dreaming traditions of shamanism for transformation and healing of self,... More »
The Fire From Within
A Pod dedicated to the exploration of all aspects of the universe as it is described by the shamans in the works of Carlos Castaneda.






















