Saturday, February 16, 2008

Enlightenment Traps

I wrote before about people's misconceptions about what it is to be "spiritual" in a modern world. These misconceptions are called "Enlightenment Traps". It is amazing how often we buy into them. For example, there are still folks out there (in the 21st century for heaven's sake) who think that to be a shaman one must be dirt poor and exchange services for, I don't know....chickens or something. In ancient communities, the shaman was taken care of by the entire community, because the shaman took care of the entire community. Now that we have things like mortgage payments, the form of energy exchange is indeed monetary. It is only a form of energy. So yes, we do now have fees for services.

Another example is that all "enlightened" individuals have to be vegetarian. This one is laughable. I eat red meat, usually bison, sometimes beef. I also have the blood type that requires this and no amount of lentils is going to give me the iron content I need to not get ill. So I take care of myself and eat red meat. Now, I don't eat it every day, because everything in moderation is the key.

Another trap is the delusion that in order to gain enlightenment one must deny the trappings of the world. This falls into the category of plain silliness. We are here to help the world, and we can't do that if we deny ourselves the interaction with that world. We are also in a position where, becoming poor and powerless in an attempt to become enlightened is just plain suicide when it comes to trying to fulfill our purpose in life.

I know that if you think about it, you will find that there are a LOT of enlightenment traps you can personally come up with. Give it a try and let me know how you do.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

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