I cannot identify the exact point in time I began exploring shamanism. As my intuition grew louder, I became part of a shamanic sisterhood interacting through the post. This led to related teachings, books and crystals presenting to expand me. Interview with Carlos Castenda also came into my scope. Along this Path. I encountered the writings of Ross Bishop and felt drawn to A Shaman's Path to Inner Peace. His life highlights the value of trusting our own spiritual experience. A long-time reader of his newletter and blog, I feel blessed to connect and engage with Ross on a whole new level. Thanks to the universe for co-creating this opportunity.
What makes you who you are in this lifetime?
My “essence” does not change. My understanding and acceptance of who I am is under constant revision. That has required a willingness to let go of preconceptions of who I am, and that did not come easily. It is scary to let go and trust that The Universe actually knows better than you do and that it has your best interests at heart. When you’ve been hurt, it’s hard to learn to trust (another lesson!).
So many people experience fear of the unknown. As you highlight, the universe is inviting us to shift this fear to curiosity and excitement about the unknown, to be open to shifting our sense of normal. A helpful start is exploring 12 Ways to Master our Fear ...
So, how much of your 'essence' comes from other lives/ realms?
My other “lessons” mostly came from conflicts between the world and who I thought I was at the time. I learned that I wasn’t ever going to win that one and that I needed to listen to the messages my life was giving me - not an easy task mind you! My previous lives contribute to lifting the scales from my eyes in the same way, either through direct lessons or unfinished experiences that I resolve later in subsequent lives.
This echoes a common tug-of-war that occurs between the ego-driven mind and another part of us that has different priorities. It the consciousness that moves between bodies and lives and prompts us to make choices. This reminds me of James Cameron's film Avatar. As a human soldier, Jake Sully has a limited idea of purpose. Yet, as he moves consciousness from his human body into a Navi body, and opens his heart to love, he expands a sense of life purpose.
This said, which shifts in perception arose in you during the shamanic Path?
There are so many that it is impossible to put into words. I went from a rather limited view of life in an ego-based existence to a vastly expanded new perspective. And in those few words I cover what has been an extraordinary transition from corporate executive to practicing shaman.
As just one example, instead of right and wrong I now see the interplay of the lessons in God’s teaching, which is here to give each of us exactly what we need in order to grow and develop. We call that life. Most of us learn the most from our pain, so guess what we get? I am more able to accept what is, still wanting to help where there is pain and ignorance, but also am more at peace, allowing the world to be as it needs to be, warts and all.
What you share resonates a universal journey. Polarity is so ingrained, it invites us to create challenges to trigger wake up calls about reality. We are inviting ourselves to look in the mirror, to recognize and see through our outdated beliefs.
Describe the most surprising experience you have had as a shaman.
Early in my work, a woman came to see me and as she sat down, I saw the whole drama of her existence displayed above her head like on a movie screen. It startled me at first, but the transmission gave me great clarity as to how to help her. Today I get the same information, but without the movie. (I do miss the popcorn, though.)
Synchronicity is that those who share Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) often shae similar stories. They commonly describe seeing life events pass in front of their mind's eye, like on a movie reel. It hits we are our own judge and jury. Interview with Dr. Eben Alexander echoes we choose to return to Earth and complete a mission or leave. Each of us can ask how an NDE changes (or change) us?
This said, what is your mission in this lifetime?
Like all of us, I need to learn to love myself more. Everything else flows from that. Learning to love myself has meant shedding the limiting beliefs that my childhood seared into my brain - what my life to that point had been built on - and accepting things about myself that teachers had taught me and that I wanted to believe, but had little real evidence to support. Making that jump is the leap of faith that guru’s speak of.
At a second level, to further develop my knowledge of the human process and deepen my psychic insights and abilities.
Indeed! Taking a leap of faith or, learning to trust ourselves more, is what we are each invited to do, moment-to-moment. What also stands out is that we choose our bodies, life conditions and beliefs for specific and important reasons. Aspects of our self can be in conflict with our Soul. It is up to us to recognize and heal disharmony on physical, emotional, spiritual and other levels.
On this note, one view says emotional trauma does not exist, only energy blockages in need of release. How does the shaman see this?
There are events and then there is our awareness and interpretation of them. Events exist on a neutral plane, where our reaction to them is filled with (mostly) fear-driven emotional energy.
Ah-ha! When we are open, different perspectives always shed light. Seeing everything as energy, is like seeing from a neutral place of love and acceptance. Seeing from here, events are branches of energy flow. We determine the nature of the flow based on our perception, emotions, filters.
Through all your experience, what is your biggest challenge as a healer?
As a healer, my challenge is to help the individual bridge the space between event and interpretation - by helping them to realize that there really is nothing to fear and to come to a neutral space about what has happened. Sometimes this can be induced by external stimuli - like sound healing, drugs, etc. but my experience has been that the conscious process of soul retrieval grounds the individual’s awareness in truth and is far less susceptible to subsequent fear based (ego) sabotage.
Now, when the person has walked the path for a time and has dealt with most of their “demons,” I have found external stimuli to be very useful in integrating and deepening individual awareness.
Wow! Some people question whether true objectivity is possible, whether perception can exist undistorted by emotion and personal bias. You remind us that all is within reach.
What would you say, is the true origin of shamanism?
The purpose of life on Earth is to bring us to the conscious awareness of who we are. Many (20-30?) thousands of years ago, the early shaman found that techniques such as soul retrieval and shamanic journeying were the most effective at bringing people to that truth. And we have had many years since to develop and refine those techniques.
Now, the individual must be ready to accept the truth, and that is the bumpy road we all travel on in order to come home. Most of what I do is to convince people that I know what I am talking about so they can make the leap of faith into a new space with a certain level of confidence.
We are witnessing hi-story unfold every moment we are weaving our own stories. We have to lose faith in others along the journey to gain more faith in ourselves.
When did deeper shamanic insights arise in you?
About 40 years ago, the door was opened for me/with me by a very wise teacher. I found him inside me. He started me on the path of healing by kicking me squarely in the butt, and I have continued to learn from and follow his guidance ever since. (Not so many butt kicks these days…)
Certain pivotal moments, like huge energetic shifts in perception, remain with us always.
When an individual does a future life progression (FLP), what is the best approach to integrate newly expanded awareness into the present timeline?
There is only Now. If we gain an insight into how we might be, we must work to integrate that perspective into the present. Otherwise we run the risk of getting lost in ego fantasy.
The conflict usually comes for the fact that people are afraid to make the change. As much as we say we want it, we come up to the edge and then pull back. Over the edge is unknown, and based our past experiences, that isn’t a good thing. My task as a healer is to help people to see that taking that step is really not such a big deal and really quite safe.
Right! People are not taught to trust themselves. We each find this within.
While on the topic of healing, what is the difference between mental illness and spiritual awakening?
Each of us receives messages. A few listen, most ignore and a few hear, but are unable to process or deal with what they hear. They go into feeling overwhelmed. Since psychology doesn’t know what to do with these people, they label them as “mentally ill.” A few of these people are so troubled that they become violent as a protective response. Most of the rest are just lost and need someone to help them find a way out of the labyrinth. Are they more psychically gifted than average? Some are, and that by itself, is a tremendous loss to the society. Now is there another condition having to do with messed up internal wiring? I haven’t seen it, but some of these folks can be pretty hard to reach.
A spiritual awakening involves the individual transitioning from ignorance into self-awareness. So for me the difference between the two is getting information as opposed to being able to do something with it.
And admitteddly, a spectrum or degrees of awakening exist. It is like a range of ibration comes out of us, from resisting to allowing and accepting energy flow to through and beyond ourselves.
One view is that Earth is a virtual reality Time-ship and everything on and around it is energy evolving in parallel realities. Share your insight of what is going on individually and collectively.
We are involved in the evolution of our species as individuals and as a group. I see only One reality, an infinitely complex one, at that.
Author Brian L. Weiss, M.D. echoes as much in his book, Same Soul, Many Bodies. I also relate through direct experiences. Evolving into a vision of Unity brings the progressive end to illusions of separation.
In which ways are Souls stronger after incarnation?
We learn with every evolutionary cycle. That gives us more resources with which to deal with our remaining growth challenges. Some trips seem more powerful than others because we create more turmoil in them (i.e. more powerful learning opportunities).
Hmm...cycles. As timeless wisdom echoes, we have no beginning and no end. Nisagardatta Maharaj said, "Becoming has, apparently, no beginning and no end, for it restarts every moment. With the cessation of imagination and desire, becoming ceases and the being this or that merges into pure being, which is not describable, only experienceable."
When is a Soul ready to create its own universe?
I see the Universe as existing separate from us. It sets the template for Universal Law. We live in the universe and are symbiotic with it. We create our messes and eventually learn to live in harmony. I see this as the driving force behind human existence.
As is the microcosm so is the macrocosm. As is the atom, so is the universe, so says Deepak Chopra.
Share any experience with or insight you have into Soul walk-ins.
Ego and confusion. (Leave it at that).
If you could ask me a question, what would it be?
How much do you love yourself?
Share anything else you wish to add.
I do a good deal of writing on my web site and would love to invite others to join in - www.rossbishop.com.
I have four books Truth, Healing The Shadow (second edition), Journey To Enlightenment and About Life. As I know postage to Australia can be expensive, the last three are all available as ebooks from my web site. I have also created a series of videos, A Shaman’s Path To Inner Peace, that guides the viewer through the healing process that I use. That is also available at www.rossbishop.com.
A concept I’d like to comment on is that many people hold the church-created view of heaven and hell as external realities - as places we go when we leave to body. That was, in my view, a guilt created scheme to keep the sheep in line.
In my view, hell is the life we create for ourselves when we do not live in harmony with what we have been taught. Heaven, on the other hand, is a place of peacefulness we create for ourselves when we live in harmony with those teachings. It is not a blissful place - that for me, is ego - but it is a place of complete acceptance. There will still be pain in the world, as people continue to get their lessons, but in that place you see the process as perfect and offer to help those who are in pain.
Regarding shamanism - I think a lot of people could follow the path if they opened themselves up to their native abilities. But being a shaman is not an easy path, as attractive as it may seem. People (especially Westerners) can be surprisingly resistant to accepting the truth, because it means leaving the comfort of their egos and the belief structures they have created for themselves. Never mind that this causes them difficulty, it is known and familiar to them. In the short term it is easier go through life repeating the same mistakes.
I could walk around the town I live in and tell everyone I met exactly what they needed to do to be at peace, and only a very, very few would be able to accept that truth. Living in the truth means feeling vulnerable and exposed (at least at first) and accepting that we are not the damaged beings we have come to see ourselves as. That means giving up our ego-based protection and taking the chance of being rejected (again). Until one is really ready to do that, it is asking a lot. The sad truth is that most people are just not ready to hear it. After all, it has been over 2,000 years and we still have not accepted the teachings that Christ brought to us!
Thanks again Ross, for taking time out from your endeavours to share these insights. Leaving off with a quote by another inspiring shaman:
.. We don’t need to escape from Life;
We don’t need to deny our own Nature.
What we need is Complete Awareness and Self-Acceptance.
We need to Learn to make our own Choices
and finally Control our Will from the Inside.
With that , if someone crosses us,
We just Shift our attention and Recover our free Will.
That is what makes us a Dream master.
Where we Choose to put our Attention
Is what Creates the Miracle.
~ Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.