Journey to Ixtlan

The poem “Path Revealed” is dedicated to all the people who either directly inspired me or went ahead of me so I could pursue my art in the way I do.


Path Revealed
Poem for Day 291 – 20151019

You've revealed the path to me,
the trail through the thorns of life.
I'd never believe it was there
until you walked ahead of me.
Blood was drawn on the barbs
set by those not ready for our view.
I've gained my share of scars,
but they are nothing compared to yours.

There was the mountain pass,
a path between the high hills.
It would have remained out of sight
if you had not tread ahead in the peaks.
I would not have know where to seek
the way to move forward in my art.
Now I have my own way to roam,
up and over the barriers of life.

On the giant's shoulders I see above
the four walls of my shabby box.
The barriers hid the view beyond,
but know I can see the breadth of the world.
Those shoulders feel so wide in support
of a lesser seeking to dream as well.
I soar now beyond my origins,
that box meant to be my life's casket.

So many have walked through my life,
bit players in a drama unconcerned.
They faded back when you arrived,
the shining light that led me out.
Now I strive to provide the same
to those who may come after me.
If I could pale share your dream,
I'll leave this world a better place.

© 2015, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved.

At a time in the past, nearly seven years ago, I was working through which spiritual path to take. My spiritual path had already been brought back from an agnostic place by the wonderful influences of Ram Dass and other Eastern writings. The Buddhist path felt right. I still carry a lot of Buddhist philosophies and beliefs. This, however, was not going to be my primary path. I have instead become a shamanist.

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And why was the shamanic path for me? What did I learn from all the reading, dreams, classes, writing and facilitating? Why wasn’t I pulled into the neopagan world, for it too had attractions for me? The answer is both simple and complex. Being a shamanist speaks to my soul. It brings an order to my world. The shamanic path bridges and connects many apparently diverse realms. The shamanist is connected to all, part of all, and is called to the service of all. The "magick" of others is merely normal shamanic "reality" waiting to be realized. The path of shamanism is simple. Collect knowledge, embrace experience, and nurture wisdom. Live in the unity of the world. Use the available tools to serve your tribe, and by extension, serve the unity of the world.

I recently posed a question about the juxtaposition of human teachers and their teachings. I’ve considered my own response. The result has been a line of thought that sees a combination of separateness and togetherness between the teacher, the teaching, and the student. The bond of these elements determines the outcome of infusion of human frailty into the mix.

The answer to these questions starts with the definition and delineation of its parts. I believe that the teaching, teacher and student each can have tremendous truth in themselves. The human frailty of the teacher is assumed. The feedback to my original question showed a belief that people are people, with the result being the amazing variety of human expressions – good, bad and ugly. (IMO) This condition, a state that Christians may call Sin, is not inherently evil. It is just a state of imperfection, requiring growth in ourselves. A perfect world would require no teachers and no teaching. There would be no students in a perfect world. We do not live in that world, so hence we have the dynamics of teaching, teacher and student.

As my thoughts expanded, it became clear that the teaching, the teacher, and the student were to be examined separately and then together. This article explores teaching, with the path as an analogy.

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Does any teaching’s path truly have a map? I believe that at some point every teaching has a person off the mapped route. This is the paradox of a teaching’s journey. We can never truly arrive if we stick to the designated route. At some point we must create our own path. Anticipated landmarks discarded, it is the destination that is the heart of the teaching journey. This is not entirely true. I don’t believe that we ever truly reach a teaching’s destination. We instead reach mile markers along a teaching’s path. There we judge our state, tend to our wounds, rejoice in our victories, affirm our companions, and ready ourselves for the continued journey.

(x-posted on personal log)