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To Act and Not Act
Mar. 23rd, 2007 07:47 pmI have opportunities in life to act and not act. Others have their choices. This article addresses a shamanic look at these challenges. It’s a bit long, hence the lj cut.
Life is full of opportunities to be reactive. When do we act and when to we stand by, allowing for larger events to happen? A reaction can be characterized as negative or positive. A negative reaction would seek revenge for a wrong. A positive reaction would seek to help a person needing aid. Both negative and positive reactions are valid, with the definition of each inhabiting a grey area.
( Read more... )
In our physical isolation it seems like we only have ourselves. Listening to our body, our inner self, provides the universal touchstone. We project outside of ourselves as we are bound to the polarity of separation/union. The shamanic choice is to acknowledge, consciously, this polarity. The key word here is "consciously". The paradox of separation/union still exists for the shamanist. The difference between the shamanist and another person is that the shamanist works with the paradox instead of being a pawn of the paradox.
Life is full of opportunities to be reactive. When do we act and when to we stand by, allowing for larger events to happen? A reaction can be characterized as negative or positive. A negative reaction would seek revenge for a wrong. A positive reaction would seek to help a person needing aid. Both negative and positive reactions are valid, with the definition of each inhabiting a grey area.
( Read more... )
In our physical isolation it seems like we only have ourselves. Listening to our body, our inner self, provides the universal touchstone. We project outside of ourselves as we are bound to the polarity of separation/union. The shamanic choice is to acknowledge, consciously, this polarity. The key word here is "consciously". The paradox of separation/union still exists for the shamanist. The difference between the shamanist and another person is that the shamanist works with the paradox instead of being a pawn of the paradox.
