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Offline Endless~Knot

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Power Plants
« on: January 09, 2014, 10:35:04 AM »


Power plants are an essential part of the shaman's path. Not that all shamans need to, or do, take power plants, but their association with shamans goes right back to the beginning. I may write more on this at a later time, but I want to bring across what I previously wrote on another forum:

Intoxicants have always been part of the tool kit of those on the short path.  In Tantra this is referred to as the Left Hand Path, or Aghora.  It also exists in Tibet, outside the four main Buddhist monastic sects, or the two Bon sects.

The primary features of the short path, are complete dedication - succeed or die in the attempt, there is no half way; willingness to use every conceivable means; and lastly, extreme danger - the risk of falling half way into a pit of madness, or worse, reverting to the ‘easy face’ with the powers gained, and thus ensnaring oneself in the bondage of illusion to a degree so great, the consequences being unimaginably horrific.

Toltec as taught through CC via Don Juan, is very definitely the short path.  I would posit that Toltec taught by some other well known personages, is more like Tantra of the Right Hand Path, where absolute purity and pursuit of absolute truth is sufficient, plus the ability to reach one’s goal over a longer period of existence.

A curious feature of the Left or Short path, is that as well as the goal of absolute truth, it also seeks permanency of the individual, in it’s most essential aspect.  But also it adopts a more complex approach to purity.

At first, absolute purity is mandatory, or later all will be lost, but after, impurity is not only acceptable, but encouraged - the idea being to explore the greatest range of perceptual possibilities inherent in this being which is going to die.

Thus intoxicants are very useful.  They aid the expansion of perception into deeper levels of the cosmos, and ourself.  This day, intoxicants are frowned upon in society.  But know that that is an attitude promulgated from a puritan Christian view, which is obsessed with ‘goodness’.  Thus also dirtiness, lying, stealing and secrecy are frowned upon. 

They seem to have seen goodness as an end in itself, and the roots of this go back to a spiritual power struggle within the Christian stream, between the mystical and the temporal traditions.  Mystical emanating mostly down Europe from Ireland, and the worldly emanating up Europe from Rome - an eminently worldly civilisation, and Greece - another tradition in which the mystical became split off and suppressed.

The central point about intoxicants, is that they need to be taken as part of a dedicated and controlled exploration of knowledge - never as entertainment; and also taken by one who has developed within oneself the driving passion for seeking depth in everything.

The type of intoxicant taken is geographically determined, plus being a personal matter.  Alcohol can be useful, but tends to limit knowledge found to that already contained within the person - ie it can vivify already gained knowledge, but is not so useful in perceiving beyond the known boundaries.

All natural power plants or substances are useful, and have very different qualities and consequences.  Personally, I tend to warn people off chemically processed substances - something subtle though essential is destroyed by modern processing.  The same is true of medicines.

Lastly, I’ll say that one of the best effects of powerful intoxicants, is their ability to destroy the false parameters of our identity - this is an effect only obtained in the early days of experiences.  But remember, this Short Path is only for those of such a serious bent of character, that they are very unlikely to be the slightest bit interested in it.  If you are the wild, keen and daring type - or see yourself that way - forget it.  Go and get a life first.  The spirituality of those on the Short Path, is entirely an internal affair, if you like the self-gratification of displaying your knowledge to those around you, you’re on a different path.
 
Michael Maher 2006
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.” - Bruce Lee

Offline Endless~Knot

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Re: Power Plants
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2014, 10:35:35 AM »
There is something more about the taking of intoxicants:

Any object in this world, is also a recipient of energy, and a storage of that energy.  Thus dj’s rejection of the seeds that cc separated, due to the heavy concern he indulged in whilst undertaking the task.

Any intoxicant, due to the nature of our society these days, has already accumulated a load of nefarious energy.  Surely I don’t need to spell this out in detail - I’m sure everyone knows of the vibe that surrounds different intoxicants, and it’s almost always bad nature.  In fact this becomes a real problem for anyone wanting to procure such substances for knowledge purposes.

I’m assuming you have found some way to procure something, in a way that doesn’t land you in gaol, or make you want to puke.  Now it must be ‘treated’ before taken.  This is the subject of this post.

There are many methods - small rituals, mantras, offerings, incense, music etc etc.  I think rituals are very useful, but they have no power in themselves, unless you have been initiated in those very rare and secret ones - I doubt anyone on a forum like this would fit that category.  But even so, there is am important principle here: all power must emanate from the energy of a being, and for our purposes, that being is us.  Rituals and mantras are only a means to assist.  The real power is from our intention.  This is then honed by our will and our mind, and then actions, words or sounds.

First, take careful note of how you obtain the substance - I’m assuming in this day and age, most would not produce their own, which is ALWAYS best - as they say in India, Khadi, or ‘home made’.  If the scene from which you get your substance is too dark and gross, don’t do it.  Put out your intention to the spirit, and wait until It offers an opportunity.

Next, store it in a special place.  Everyone should have a ‘sacred place’ in their living area somewhere.  Many little things are kept here - special feathers, stones and other objects that have been pointed out to us by power.  Or things we ourselves have made with awareness and skill, or pure luck.  I Ching’s and books that have changed our lives.  But never objects full of personal emotional intensity, unless it is for your god or guru of course.

This helps to surround and slowly penetrate the substance with the environmental intention of our spirit.  Eventually your whole home and garden should speak of this intention.

Then, on the occasion of taking the substance, remember, aspirants never take these substances for social reasons.  Always take them alone, and always for the purpose of lifting your consciousness out of the bodily bindings, to soar towards your ultimate goal.  This is where the intention reveals.  That does not mean that you should never take them amongst others - that depends solely on the lessons you are seeking to learn, but it means that whatever, you are always alone, even in a crowd, because you die alone, and this exercise is a precursor to death, the ultimate disembodied experience.

Also it does not mean that you shouldn’t enter into physical action once the ceremony has begun, on the contrary, the body is an excellent tool to enhance and intensify the experience.  BUT, I must caution.  The nature of these experiences being to disentangle the spirit from the body, you are not in a good position to judge the limitations of the body - it can break.  If you are skilled in this type of use of the body (eg drummers or runners etc) - you should build up the strength of the muscles you will use, over a long period of time.  For everyone, who take intoxicants, the body must be kept fit and healthy.  Or else you are doomed (speaking from experience).

The most important point, is that at the start of your ceremony, you should permeate the ceremony with your intention - we call this seeding.  Never let anyone who you are not absolutely sure you trust has real knowledge, seed such an experience for you.  Khadi is best.  Some special utensils, that are used solely for this purpose are a good aid, and prayers, invocations or whathaveyou.  We purify the experience we are about to have, then we ‘offer’ it to the pursuit of knowledge, such that what we perceive will in fact be true knowledge, and not fantasy.  As you become accustomed to this - it can be done before any experience you are about to undertake (getting on a bus etc), you learn to very quickly condense your awareness to a pin point.  Still if you must blabber on, then by all means do it.  What happens after that is in the lap of the gods.

Always remember that the mental and physical side effects of this adventuring, can be quite serious.  If this is a common component of your practices, take the time to learn all the necessary counter measures, to protect your body as much as possible - this includes energetic components of the seeding part mentioned above.  One point - these substances place enormous strain on our liver, so blood purifying and liver stimulants are a good idea.

Some people may be alarmed that I have raised this topic.  And with good reason.  The dangers are considerable - never let the hubris of youth blind you to the serious risks involved.

I’ll add one more bit.  There is a second ‘seed’.  It is that which is most prominently in focus at the point of transformation.  There soon comes this point, where your daily consciousness transforms into higher awareness, and whatever is being focused on right then, is of utmost importance.

tread carefully bikkhus

Michael Maher 2006
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.” - Bruce Lee

Offline Endless~Knot

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Re: Power Plants
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2014, 10:37:06 AM »
The thing about power plants, is that they amplify the ‘mind’.  Now there is nothing wrong with that, as far as it goes, except, as I think I very plainly stated, when the body is not well - I’ll state this again very clearly: the body needs to be in top shape before you try these substances.  If not, you only suck from the body the very energy it needs to heal.  That is what power plants are all about - they separate your centre of gravity away from the body, and thus give flight to the mind.  But if your body is not well, you simply deplete it of vital force, and it can never get healthy.

But there is something else about our path that needs to be addressed here.  There is a knowledge that most who begin this path have no idea of, for many years.  This knowledge can not be gained through reading or listening to pundits, or taking mind altering substances.  This is so important - I cannot stress how important!

We need to come down from our fantastic heights of mind flight.  But we need to bring down the ‘understandings’, and apply this, in ordinary grubby common everyday existence, to eventually EVERY ACTION we perform - that’s a bit much for beginners, but at least pour our energy into applying these principles to all the infinite little actions we perform throughout the day, as well as the big ones.

Now this may seem a boring task - and if it doesn’t, then I suggest you are still in the ‘spiritual glamorous’ state.  Get real, get a life, and get down to meeting your fellow humans in the grubby business of living, but with your ‘released’ mind.  ie without all that heavy burden of position and possession - doing for the sake of doing.  And all the other attitudinal fruits - like awareness etc.

I want to share here a realisation that over the years has come to be the most significant for me.  Something of true power is gained by working through the body, instead of the quick flash of the mind.  It takes years of hard work.  This is the quality of ‘presence’ that I spoke of earlier.  And it can’t come from insight, or mind realisations alone.  It is the power of our root.  This is why we took physical form, to gain this knowledge. 

Power Plants offer a subtle illusion - they give the impression of knowledge, but that knowing is 'understanding'.  True knowledge is very different, and can only emanate from years of ‘living through the body’. 

This is the subject of another time.  But sufficient for the rounding off of this thread on power plants, is to recognize that they have a severe limitation, for which every serious aspirant eventually gives them up, to enter the real game of acquiring visceral knowledge.

Michael Maher 2006
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is uniquely your own.” - Bruce Lee