Shamanism and Transcendence
Typically transcendence means experience beyond the normal and ordinary. Things like “near-death” experiences can be assumed to be classified as an example of transcendence. Generally, transcendence means that one has gone beyond the ordinary limitations of physical realities, that is, one has engaged in a spiritual state. For the shaman, it means the potential connection with a particular spirit in Nature, in universal energy fields, realms or parallel universes.
Much has been written about the use of hallucinogens and shamanic journeys. Not all shamans use drugs. They use sound and they like hallucinogens, much of what has been said about it. When I speak of shamanic transcendence, I am referring to a significant consciousness beyond what is called normal for the human being, specifically one that has been altered.
For me, this shamanic transcendence really means a self-transcendence. This, in turn, means becoming part of that which is larger than oneself. I’m not talking about developing a “God complex.” What is inherently involved here is getting out of the mundane everyday world, the world of repetitive routine, of accepting things as they are. Researcher Pamela Reed in 2003 suggests that it is here that the individual “connects with dimensions beyond the typically perceivable world”. It is at this crucial moment that the shaman connects with these other worlds. These worlds often called the Upper Realm, the Middle Realm, and the Lower Realm are not equated with some religious concepts of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. At this point, for the shaman, it does not matter what is greater than the self. The shaman’s concern arises after the change from ordinary time to non-ordinary time occurs. It is then, with his spiritual guide or helper, that the shaman seeks the answers to his healing questions, questions related to the patient’s problems.
In Canto XXV of the Dhammapada, we find this wise advice that is very important for transcendence: “Empty your boat… when it is empty, it will go light.”
