Oh, Now Here We Go

I’m having a bit of trouble explaining what’s unfolding as Mary, Evie and I meet to meditate twice a week. The shorthand I use in my head is to simply say something shamanic is unfolding. It seems to involve channeling for me.

One concern I had with this is that it felt like a very dualistic activity… and here I’ve been trying to cultivate nondual awareness. Oh well, so go the best laid plans.

Here is a quick post just to share my own surprise. It’s Janet Sussman being interviewed on Buddha at the Gas Pump. Back when it was first posted I wasn’t so enamored by it all. Janet seemed rather full of herself and they got off on talking about higher beings and other planets… CLICK. I turned it off.

But this morning, I decided to revisit. Taoism has a lot of shamanic practice and yet speaks of awakened and enlightened masters. So, I find I’m become a little more opened minded regarding paths. And it occurred to me maybe that what’s Janet’s describing.

Two things I want to share:
First, at about the 1hr 45 min mark there’s a nice discussion about the opening of the heart and vulnerability. Mind opens to true Self and then the heart can open… or sometimes the reverse can happen.

Second, at about 1 hr 55 min, Janet says she is a musician, plays piano, and would like to sing. She then proceeded, to my great surprise, to take a bow and cut loose with the exact behavior that has started flowing through me as Evie, Mary, and I meditate. She calls it singing. I call it shamanism. Look closely at her facial features. This looks like channeling to me. But, if non-dual awareness does it, what is there to channel? It’s just another part of the flow of Life.

And as Janet says, it heals.