I recall last year, well, just eight months ago, I was studying in Yucatan in Mexico with the shamans there, and a year before that I was living in Peru, and Bolivia, and Ecuador for six months studying. It's an ongoing passion for me, and what I love is just [inaudible 00:04:04]. In our western view, we [inaudible 00:04:14] that there is much more to reality than just the material world. The material world represents very small portion, and then once you step beyond that into an expanded view of reality, you really see how grand we are as beings and how amazing existence is.
One of the reasons I have now come to work with the Monroe Institute in Virginia, is that where I love the shamanic path and the chaos that comes with it, dancing in the Amazon jungle late at night, the Monroe Institute offers very organized, very western, very scientific approaches that get people to these states of they're more than their physical body, their awareness can be expanded.
Their consciousness can be stretched, and they can actually, without getting dirty or having to take any kind of substances or go through rituals, have that first-hand experience of a broader, larger reality. And it's such a joy to see people. They have five day programs at the Monroe Institute, and every Friday, people finish up their programs, and they almost float out of the classes. Their lives and their view of reality has been so expanded and transformed.
Erik: Michael, that's great, and for folks who don't know too much about shamanism in Latin America and how that might compare with what the Monroe Institute does, can you tell us in a little bit more detail about what it is exactly that the shamans in South America do?
Michael: Sure. Gladly. As I said, it's a view of expanded reality. If people have as simply as thought of someone and the phone rang and it was the person you were thinking of, then at the store and known to pick up the milk because their significant other was thinking that at home and they didn't know they needed milk, walked in a forest and felt a connectedness with the plants around them, they've touched that expanded reality.
The shamans, historically worldwide, specifically in Latin America, are the guardians of the doorways, so to speak. They, some say, travel to speak with the gods and goddesses, others say go into trance to bring back knowledge. They use ancient rituals, and ceremonies, and procedures, many times mind altering substances, such as San Pedro cactus, jimson weed, ayahuasca to alter themselves and the participants of their ceremonies to get to an understanding.
One of the reasons I have now come to work with the Monroe Institute in Virginia, is that where I love the shamanic path and the chaos that comes with it, dancing in the Amazon jungle late at night, the Monroe Institute offers very organized, very western, very scientific approaches that get people to these states of they're more than their physical body, their awareness can be expanded.
Their consciousness can be stretched, and they can actually, without getting dirty or having to take any kind of substances or go through rituals, have that first-hand experience of a broader, larger reality. And it's such a joy to see people. They have five day programs at the Monroe Institute, and every Friday, people finish up their programs, and they almost float out of the classes. Their lives and their view of reality has been so expanded and transformed.
Erik: Michael, that's great, and for folks who don't know too much about shamanism in Latin America and how that might compare with what the Monroe Institute does, can you tell us in a little bit more detail about what it is exactly that the shamans in South America do?
Michael: Sure. Gladly. As I said, it's a view of expanded reality. If people have as simply as thought of someone and the phone rang and it was the person you were thinking of, then at the store and known to pick up the milk because their significant other was thinking that at home and they didn't know they needed milk, walked in a forest and felt a connectedness with the plants around them, they've touched that expanded reality.
The shamans, historically worldwide, specifically in Latin America, are the guardians of the doorways, so to speak. They, some say, travel to speak with the gods and goddesses, others say go into trance to bring back knowledge. They use ancient rituals, and ceremonies, and procedures, many times mind altering substances, such as San Pedro cactus, jimson weed, ayahuasca to alter themselves and the participants of their ceremonies to get to an understanding.
