Elightenment Traps

Personally, I love fruits and vegetables. My thing is to eat as much good food as I can while I have time left on this earth. But the fact that I love fruits and vegetables does not mean that I don't like to consume meat (charred flesh, as a good friend of mine calls it). A number of years ago I went vegetarian. I was very careful to make sure that I was getting all the iron rich foods so that I would not have low iron levels. I was consuming copious quantities of these foods. I still ended up anemic and needed to go back to having meat in my diet. Here is the thing. Once I got away from consuming meat I thought that I was going to feel so much energy and vibrance. Quite the contrary. I was sluggish and low on energy and ambition and felt somewhat depressed. After 2 years of wondering what was wrong with me, I re-introduced meat into my diet and BAM! I felt so much better!

The truth is that back then I fell into what is called an Enlightenment Trap. An Enlightenment Trap is any belief that has an undercurrent of "I know what is best for me....and for you." I had everyone around me raving about how vegetarianism and veganism were the only way to go. I completely bought in. And I almost killed myself in the process. So why is it so much easier for people to believe someone when they say, "I stopped eating meat and wow do I feel so much better" than it is for them to believe someone when they say, "I started eating meat and wow do I feel so much better"? It is the Enlightenment Trap syndrome. It may as well be something like "I chose Jesus and wow do I feel so much better!" Radicals are radicals no matter what form they come in. We don't become enlightened by embracing a particular religion or diet or even philosophy. We become enlightened when we do our personal work and get over our personal issues in life. A diet or religion or philosophy is not going to do that for you. Dogma is dogma, no matter what the form. I get really frustrated with people who think that I am not enlightened and therefore could not possibly be a good healer just because I eat meat. That is just a bunch of bull. How would they feel if I said similar stuff about them because they were one of those "wacky vegans"? I don't say stuff like that, but they think that they have the right to say stuff like that about me or anyone else who eats meat. It really is quite ridiculous. It is very much like reverse racism. I am white so I can't say anything negative regarding anyone else's race (not that I do) but oh boy! Try to tell anyone of another race that they can't say anything negative about me based on my color! Them's fighting words!

I would really like it if people would leave others alone and not threaten them with "You're gonna die of cancer if you continue to eat meat" kind of ridiculous statements. To each their own. And I love having 2/3 of a plate of salad or vegetables and 1/3 meat. So there. Deal with it. No matter how you look at it, we are gonna kill an animal or a plant in order to live. It is called the circle of life. Deal with that too. And get you head outa your a.... and grow up!

 Blessed Be
 Trent
 http://www.deerhornshamanic.com/
 http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn

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

Ancient Chinese Proverb

There is an ancient Chinese Proverb that goes, "Before enlightenment, we chop wood and haul water. After enlightenment, we chop wood and haul water." I love that one. It speaks to the simplicity of life. So often I have encountered those whom I lovingly refer to as "space cadets". You know the ones. You find them everywhere. They are so "spiritually attuned" that they have no basis in this world, are completely ungrounded and often do more damage than good in the delivery of their "spiritual messages." These are people who could seriously use some work on their base chakra! After all, the more grounded and stable we are, the higher we can authentically fly.

Those of us who actually do the work involved know that the world still has its demands and we still have our basic human needs. So we chop wood and haul water because it needs to be done. We don't wait around and spend our time meditating when what needs to be attended to is going unacknowledged and neglected. Meditation has its time and place. So does eating and sleeping and working and making ourselves not just "good people", but people who are "good for something." Some of the most spiritually advanced folks I have encountered are very common. They consist of carpenters, mechanics, farmers, social workers, taxi cab drivers, counselors, police officers, mail delivery people, nurses and the like, just to mention a few. These are not people who are discarding their attire, donning strange robes, and trying to save the world by denying the world's importance.

We are here for a purpose. We cannot fulfill our purpose if we are denying the world around us. We can only fulfill our purpose if we are here and now and attending to the needs of the world around us. It really does not matter how simple or how elaborate that work is. We can find enlightenment while chopping wood and hauling water. Enlightenment is about a conscious connection. That conscious connection can only happen if one is in the moment and completely aware of the importance of the simple things in life. And while I am at it, I might as well mention that I don't think we pay people nearly enough in their menial jobs for the work and the service they provide. If someone is serving me coffee, I like to tip them. Yes, they did the job they are paid to do. But I still don't think that they are paid enough. The mere fact that they are there and handing me the coffee says to me that I don't have to go to the trouble of making it myself or cleaning up after myself once the coffee is done. This type of thing is important to me because it makes my life easier.

At first, when someone would leave me a tip for the healing work I do for them, I found it a little strange. I felt a bit uncomfortable with the concept, until a dear friend, who was also utilizing my service, said to me that she felt that my fee was minimal in comparison with the impact that I have in her life. Wow. Now it was my turn to step up to the plate with a healthy dose of gratitude and be able to say a heart felt "thank you." And this type of thing ripples on. I have given money to people that I feel are worth the investment, and I have done so when my own financial situation at times is a little shaky. But it ripples. I then pick up three new clients and they help make up for the smidgen of money that I sent out. If I treat money as an abundant flow, it proves itself to be so.

Well that was a lot of stuff in one blog. So I will sign off here and say:

Keep things simple and go with the flow.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com