Tag Archives: shamanism

Buddhism and Shamanism: Compassion for All Beings

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And think of every living thing without exception:
the weak and the strong, from the smallest to the largest, whether you can see them or not, living nearby or far away, beings living now or yet to arise –
may all beings become happy in their heart of hearts!

This quote is from the Kariniya Metta Sutta, the Buddha’s words on compassion – it encourages well wishes to all beings. It invites us to develop metta: loving kindness – unconditional good will towards all beings – whether visible or invisible.

Poppy flower – a being dancing in the sunlight, in a wheatfield.

So what is it to be invisible, not to be seen or acknowledged? What is it to simply be overlooked – as if you do not even exist? It is these beings that I wish to consider – to bring into a greater sphere of compassionate awareness. Mettā is one of the four “divine abodes” (Pali: brahmavihāra) – this includes feeling happy when others are happy. It includes feeling compassion when others suffer. In short, feeling interconnected with all beings.

The result… interpersonal harmony, meditative concentration, our own wellbeing regardless of what is happening around, regardless of external circumstances. This is happiness indeed! Mettā is indeed one of the ten “perfections” (pāramī) that facilitates the attainment of awakening – Bodhi – itself.

The Buddha taught the practice of loving kindness to help some monks were trying to meditate in a forest. They had became frightened by ‘earth devas’ or ‘forest spirits’ – that were ‘invisible’ to them. Through mettā they began to radiate loving-kindness. The invisible beings settled, and left the monks to meditate peacefully amongst them.

Sunlight on a stream, interacting living elementals within the realm of space

Shamanism is embedded in animism. It recognises how our states of heart-mind affect the living space around – visible or invisible. Our thoughts, words, actions evoke resonances though the time-space continuum. These can hurt and harm others, energetically, mentally or physically. Shamanism includes practices to remove harmful ‘intrusions’ and re-establish harmony in a person and their environment.

This animist paradigm exists globally, across cultures. Shamanism is the practical engagement with an animate universe. The universe is alive, our actions, thoughts and words have effects on others. This is the basis of the ethics of Buddhism too. By empathizing with others though loving kindness and compassion, we become free – and non-violent.

Let’s acknowledge invisible beings – nature spirits, devas, earth spirits – and that they also suffer as a result of human activity. Let’s acknowledge that a minority of human on the planet do the majority of the damage. Here is an example. If you have the power and privilege to be able to travel by plane then you are in the top 10% of people creating 80% of the air pollution on the planet. We are complicit in contributing to countless lives lost to flooding, fires or starvation.

Let’s follow the teachings of Buddhism and the practices of Shamanism to develop compassion and loving kindness, creating compassionate thoughts, words and deeds.

Bluebells protected by tree spirits and a living sign of spring and the uprising energy of renewal

Exploring the Connection Between Shamanism and Buddhism

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‘…a universe conceived of as dead cannot be a universe in which one stands any chance of attaining Enlightenment.’  – Sangharakshita, Living with Awareness

Meditation and spiritual practices enable a dissolution of the ‘false view’ of separateness of ‘self’ and ‘other’ – there is the arising of interconnectedness with the living universe.

What is Shamanism? Indigenous practices of connecting to the non-material or spirit realm have been in place, cross-culturally, for thousands of years.

In Shamanism and Buddhism the universe is alive and sacred and there are practices for directly experiencing this. However, centuries of trauma have lead to disconnection from the realms of ‘non-ordinary reality, the spirit world. This has happened as a result of many factors, including colonialisation, removal of peoples from their ancestral lands and the imposition of oppressive belief systems.

Mircea Eliade explains, in his book, “Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy”, that ‘shamanism’ is pre-eminently a religious phenomenon of Siberia and Central Asia and which may have evolved from the same foundations as Buddhism – and spread as Buddhist teachings and practices also spread.

Indeed the origins of the word “shaman” go to the Tungusic word, šaman – and even further back to the Sanskrit word “Sramana” (श्रमण) which means “a seeker” or “one who toils or exerts themselves for a higher religious purpose”. This correlation presents the shaman as one who “toils”, “labours”, makes effort in practicing to achieve spiritual liberation.

Ancient Oak at Alfoxton Park – a portal to communications with spirits of the land.

While this may be stereotypically associated with an ascetic lifestyle, it is at its heart about seeking enlightenment or liberation through a renunciation of material attachments and deeper connection to the esoteric and spiritual. From this understanding, there is a deep connection between Buddhism and Shamanism.

For the ethnologist, the shaman has been described as a ‘medicine man’, ‘sorcerer’, ‘magician’ or ‘druid’. For those able to interact with the spirit world – the universe perceived as living – there is an understanding of the realms beyond material, dualistic perceptions of ‘ordinary reality’.

In classical shamanism, which I practice and teach to others, the key practice is to form an intention and ‘journey’ though the imaginal consciousness, into the spirit realm. This can include exploring and interacting with the spirit world. This journeying involves altered states of consciousness, such as meditation, trance – and the tool to support a shift in consciousness is the ‘sonic drive’, the repetitive drum beat, delivered at a particular frequency.

The purpose of shamanic journeying can be to clarify answers to life’s questions of to direct spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for the purpose of healing, divination. All this is to aid the community in some other way, including those in the community who have passed and need support to transcend from connections with the ‘middle realm’. All in all the practice is to restore balance and harmony.

With a primary purpose of helping or healing those in the community, Shamanism expresses the Buddhist ideal of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva is one who vows to attain enlightenment for the benefit all beings. Shamanic practice includes a requirement to practice breaking through the blockages of conditioned existence in order to connect with a ‘living transcendental plane’ – and to do this for the benefit of all beings, including the ancestors, the children and others in the community.

Places in nature that link the sky with the earth are immensely potent as places of healing and communication with the spirit realm.

Transforming My Allotment: A Spiritual Journey

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With the Oxford Real Farming Conference coming up in January 2025, I was browsing the programme and one link lead to another and with my interest in spirituality and agroecology, I was intrigued to read about Land-based Wisdom and Spirituality.

This is a term that I was searching for to name the emerging experiences related to engaging with the Spirits of Nature and the land-based practice of service in growing and caring for plants and other beings on my allotment.

In May 2024, I was allocated an allotment and it has been an intense journey bringing together my training in Horticulture and skills in growing plants for food – from my placement at Organiclea last year. I had been calling out to spirit, requesting to deepen in relationship to the land, when this offer emerged.

I feel honoured and blessed to be able to do this work – and sense the deepening engagement with the spirits of nature, the land and the cycle of the sun around the earth. I am delighted to read about the acknowledgment of ancient ways of revering and honouring our reciprocal relationship with the land.

When I was first at the allotment this is what it looked like – covered with a range of plants – rosebay willow herb, creeping cinquefoil, couch grass and field bindweed.

It was so peaceful and beautiful – though part of having an allotment is to grow plants on it and I had 3 months to cultivate at least 25% of it.

My neighbours have been welcoming and given me some plants and lent me their tools on occasion too.

I cleared some of the land to see what was there and found the soil compacted and eventually eased in some coconut coir as a mulch and some compost.

Initially I planted green manures, a mix of classical seeds for this – phacelia, clover, alfalfa – and a few extras simply because I had packets of the seeds at the time – radish and pea seeds that I had bought for sprouting. The soil needed ground cover and protection from the summer that was emerging – and this would help to improve the soil composition and fertility.

The plants grew quickly in the warmth and rain and survived the hungry slugs. The peas gave some beautiful delicate white flowers and provided some mangetout!

Green manures can be beautiful too.. full of flowers. And why not enjoy plants that are edible – clover leaves, alfalfa tips and plenty of French Breakfast Radishes and radish leaves to enjoy from this luxurious ground cover that has healed, protected and been a home to many beings, including bees, spiders and all sorts of insects.

Mainly I have created a mandala of raised beds and a pond in the middle – this is going to be a habitat for the frogs, which I hope will enjoy eating some slugs.

I also found a second-hand shed on Freecycle and my partner helped me get it to the allotment and put it up. I also found other resources at the local recycling centre.

It has been quite a journey and I hope that the spirit of the land feels somewhat nurtured – though it will take time to settle and allow the natural diversity to emerge amongst all the food plants there.

All in all, it has brought hours of peace and connection with the earth and wonder at the range of little creatures and beautiful surprising plants that have appeared amongst the ones that were planted.

I am learning about the seasons and how the rain, wind and sunshine interact with the animals and plants – and myself – as we are all interconnected.

And especially about the spirt of the Earth and how the soil is living and needs protection and nourishment in order to protect, nourishes and heal in reciprocity.

And that maybe I need less leaf mulch on the paths!

Empower Yourself with Shamanic Counselling

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Classical Shamanic Counselling is individual training to learn how to become one’s own ‘shaman’, being able to undertake shamanic journeying independently. If this interests you please contact me to schedule an initial chat.

Shamanism is humanity’s oldest spiritual tradition, dating back at least 40,000 years to the earliest days of human consciousness. It is not a religion but rather a body of spiritual techniques. Its distinguishing methodology is the art of moving ‘outside of time’ and thereby enabling the shaman to contact and communicate with – to be in the company of – wise, compassionate and transcendent beings. This is done for the purposes of healing and problem solving on behalf of oneself and others.

Shamanic journeying involves shifting one’s consciousness to experience more than ‘ordinary’, everyday reality – this is the informative, creative, healing and imaginal realm known as ‘non-ordinary reality’.

Training in the method is undertaken over six in-person sessions, each lasting about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The sessions involve teaching you a method session by session. The aim is to empower you to undertake shamanic journeys independently to obtain reliable answers to important life questions – to be able to communicate with the ‘true counsellors’, transcended, loving, helpful ‘spirits’ or ‘beings’ that exist all around us. 

The objective of Shamanic Counselling is to restore or enhance spiritual power and authority for use in everyday life – in essence to become empowered to become your own shaman and gain the answers to important life questions. These questions may deal with many issues, such as physical, emotional or spiritual health, work, relationships, fears, phobias and addictions.

If Shamanic Counselling interests you please be in touch with me to schedule an initial chat. Please be aware that while this training is free, there are limited spaces available and I am in training under supervision.