The Use Of Non-Ordinary Reality

For everything that comes our way in our lives, there is a use for it that can be life affirming if we but do a bit of planning for it, including our experiences of non-ordinary reality. Or, in the case of The Steel Shaman, especially our experiences of non-ordinary reality. Let's begin by defining the two terms here, non-ordinary reality, and The Steel Shaman. Non-ordinary reality implies that such experiences are in fact reality, as much as our "ordinary" reality is, and yet out of the ordinary realm of our customary experiences. Firewalking, out of body experiences, and distant viewing are in this realm. The Steel Shaman is from the book of the same name, a Spiritual Warrior bent on reaching the totality of himself, or to continually expand the currently existing boundaries of human awareness through awe; with awe being defined as a deliberate generation of unconditional love that is the most efficient state of being possible for polishing our connecting link as Source. Wow, that's a lot of definitions to begin with. But, since we are dealing with a world view separate from the one that is customarily indoctrinated into us by our society at large, defining is a necessary task here.

So how does the experience of non-ordinary reality, produce life affirming experiences? Think of us as containers, literal fields of living, aware energy. Our containers are a certain consistent shape and size for most all human beings. You know, there's always the exception, so bear with me. Given that nearly all the human beings I have worked with, had basically the same shape and size energy envelopes, and these many thousands have come from all corners of the globe, I can safely ascertain that there is a certain consistency to us. The only assumption I am making here, is that you are as well, a human. Pretty safe with that one?
Now with one of the fields I am an expert in, that of martial arts, I have seen that during certain esoteric exercises, the human energy envelope actually expands in unpredictable ways. This same expansion happens when people have "popped" in seminars that I have led, and they finally "get it." With the "it" that they get, being a new perspective that just seemed to pop into their consciousness, that allowed them to view prior experiences in a new, more life affirming way. That's when they are freed up, and they lighten up. Anger is let go of, frustration suddenly disappears, and all manner of miracles and manifestations of their good happen so fast that the experience can make their heads spin. Okay, pretty straightforward. But what does this all have to do with the use of non-ordinary reality as a life affirming practice? Everything.

When in martial arts, the energy envelope we live in is expanded, the expectation is that the new configuration, which just means that it got larger, will be filled up with increased skills. So what martial artists are doing, is expanding their energy container to include this increase, because out of that expansion they gained the room to reveal more and more powerful skills. Without this room, those skills could not have crowded into their old container. There just wasn't enough room in there previously for that to happen. But here's the kick. The new skills that they attain, are never skills gained from outside of themselves, but rather, abilities that that have honed, and then let out from inside of them. It can be no other way. We don't stuff skills into people when training them, instead, we allow them to increase their space so that new skills can be revealed. I don't train white belts, I only train black belts who don't know what they are yet.

This same expansion and then filling up of our energy envelopes, takes place when someone "learns" math, or science. If the necessary components for success were not already in place inside of them, there is no way for them to learn math, or how to read, or how to do anything else either, for that matter. This means that humans have all the skills necessary for mastering everything we need to ever learn, inside of us from the day we were born. Hence, my stance that education is a myth, and revelation is the basis for all real "learning." Where real learning is defined as the uncovering of already existent skills and abilities. An uncovering, or a letting out of those abilities through the deliberate expansion of a person's energy envelope is true learning. The encouragement then is to expand, and then further, to fill that new space up with whatever abilities are desired to have come to the forefront. Again, these are abilities that are already there, inside of everyone. Now everyone does not demonstrate the same willingness to "let out" their math skills, for instance, and this is the reason why not everyone is a gifted mathematician. Take me, for example. I simply do not want to let those skills come to the forefront, because in truth, I'm just not all that interested in them. But that doesn't mean Einstein isn't hiding in there, maybe he'll come out in another lifetime, but not this one, baby!

So what does all this have to do with the use of non-ordinary reality for life affirmation? Again, everything. The thing is, when we expand our energy envelopes, whether through martial arts, or in a seminar, or through experiencing non-ordinary reality, our literal energy containers get stretched. Once stretched, they cannot, in every case I have ever seen, go back to the original size that they were before. It just doesn't happen, because I am guessing, that that's the way we were designed, so that our growth can always continue to expand. I can see energy directly, and I've never seen a person's energy envelope ever contract once expanded. If this is the consistent case with every human being, then if we train ourselves in advance of having non-ordinary experiences which always expand our energy envelope, to be ready to fill our newly shaped containers up with positive, life affirming thoughts, feelings, states of being, and actions, then we are literally transformed into a new, more satisfied person, who can be, do, and have more in their lives than ever before. We call this experience transformation. Or in metaphor, this is where we get to shift from caterpillars to butterflies.

So, you say, what happens when someone tries something, expands their energy envelope, and it looks as if they're gone backwards and contracted, instead of expanding into a new, richer life? What has happened is that by default, if you expand and then do not deliberately fill that new space up yourself, something else will. With that something else usually being our thoroughly indoctrinated mindset. A mindset of fear, doubt, hesitation, and denial. And it's not from outside of ourselves that this stack of junk is "coming into" us, but rather, it always, as much as our new abilities always, comes from inside of us. Hence the illusion that we can sometimes contract after expansion, because the sheer pain derived from filling up this beautiful potential space with the same old garbage is so distressing, that people who do this do feel contracted. And who wouldn't?
This expansion of space that is not able to be contracted again, is why people who seem so angry, or are hard to get along with, can make shifts in perspective, and then they seem so incredibly different, almost immediately charismatic. This is because the literal space they were holding in place with their energy envelope was very large, but they had so much junk in it, that there was no room in there for anything else. This is good news. Because no matter what you are holding within your energy envelope, if it is not life affirming, you can let it go at any time you choose to do so. And when you do, all that growth in space that you had previously filled up with anger, worry, fear, or resignation, will no longer be so readily available for these things, so that you can now deliberately fill your own space up with all the things you have always wanted to be. How about satisfied for starters? The other good news is that it's never, ever, not once, too late to do this. It's never too late because no now moment is ever more in length than any other one, and now here you are, with this one available to you!

As a beneficial side note, this what to do with this "now moment" question is the one that's answered in the book How To Change Your Life Completely In Ten Seconds. Modern people want more to center their life around than some nebulous "the next now moment" so the question is asked "What are you doing with your next ten seconds?" Well, what are you? We can do anything for ten seconds, so why not allow ourselves to develop the practice of The Steel Shaman, and deliberately seek non-ordinary reality experiences as a means to purposely expand our energy envelopes, and then be ready with all the good stuff we desire to now fill them up with. We can do this. It's easier than you have been trained to customarily think. That's also good news. Because what it takes to master this process, is not your old societal, limiting "think" but an entirely new thought process, one that is life affirming and truly awe generating, more than any one you have ever been exposed to before. All it takes is some thoughtful preparation, and a plan. One that leads to your success.

Further Articles, Books, And The Course: www.a-course-in-shamanism.com

*If you desire to download THE PLAN, which is an outline of the three things that every successful person who has ever lived, or ever will, has always done regardless of what field they were in, you can go to www.onepennymillionaire.com and get it for free. Some people did these three things unconsciously, and others did them consciously. Either way, now you can do them even more powerfully: deliberately. Here's to your success!