Insights into the way the shamans of Mexico understood God and grappled with spiritual issues
THE GREAT majority of the existing spiritual traditions in the Americas has been able to keep its roots, even those that date back to before Colombus’s arrival. Among these traditions is Mexican Shamanism, which is still followed by local tribes and is one of the most studied ones.
Several anthropologists have studied the way the wizards understood the presence of God and the spiritual quest. Here are some of the aspects of this comprehension of the universe, taken from several sources.
The absence of a personal history: People stuck to their past, according to tradition, let themselves be governed by the way of thinking of their parents, or by the society they live in. That is why every initiate chooses a new name and seeks to get rid of his or her memories, good or bad.
Process of forgetfulness: To abandon the story they lived, wizards spend months recollecting, not missing any detail, the events that shaped their lives. Some traditions expect them to spend hours on end telling out loud everything they went through, each encounter with each person, to a full cup of water. That way, the experience leaves their memory and goes to the water — which is thrown into the river immediately thereafter. That way, their heads are emptied and can start being filled with new things.
Power of inner silence: Once freed from old thoughts, wizards concentrate on their inner silence and wait for the spirits to begin telling them the Universe’s true story.
http://newageislam.com/the-wizards-of-shamanism--/spiritual-meditations/d/1427
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