What is a Journey?

 Re my last post where I was comparing the various disciplines of Yoga, Qigong and Astral Travelling - the question must arise - "What is a Shamanic Journey"?

Well, maybe we have to delve into the realms of Quantum Physics to approach a coherent answer. According to Quantum Physics there is no "reality" as we perceive it. Scientists say the perceived Universe is actually just wave forms in an unknown base they have called dark matter. We humans are not "real" and nor is anything else that we have been led to believe is a solid, undeniable "fact".



Yet we as humans are aware of our bodies as solid biological units that are born, decay and die. We are aware that our brain is an organ that defines how we perceive the world and our place in it. Quantum Physicists will tell us that our brains are decoders that take wave forms from the Universal Field of energy and turn them into the world we have come to know as reality.

So they are really saying that we live in a "virtual" universe. Our brain is the hardware and the software of an incredibly complex video game - a virtual reality consul. Basically, we are playing the game of "life". We are so caught up in the game that we actually believe it is all real. When in fact it is all illusion, including linear time and the concept of space.

This "modern" scientific theory was realised as a fundamental truth by Gautama the Buddha and the Taoist sage Lao Tzu over 2,500 years ago and before them the tribal Shamans "knew" that reality was plastic and pliable. The yogis of ancient India and the Taoist monks of ancient China could easily perform "miracles" because they operated outside of the matrix of "normal" perception. They had developed their consciousness to such an extent that they could create any version of reality they chose.  

So, is there a difference between a Shamanic Journey and an Out of Body Experience? Well, yes and no. From my own experiences, the OBE seems more "real" in a lot of ways than the Journey but I am aware that they are both occurring within the I AM consciousness that, while I am a living entity, is a series of perceptions that are being decoded by my physical brain. As for the Near Death Experience (NDE) - I can't comment from personal experience as I can't remember ever having "died". But there is plenty of evidence that suggests the I AM consciousness continues in some form or another even when the physical brain is clinically "dead".

With the Shamanic Journey, a Lucid Dream or an OBE - the participant is both alive and conscious and to a certain extent "in control" of what is happening to them - though in each case the events can appear to be well outside "conscious control". The person is an observer and a participant in the events that unfold while in an altered state of consciousness.

In my next post I will look into how some people pursue the Journey from an OBE and Lucid Dreaming perspective.    

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