Classic Ecstatic Simples [image: Inline image 1]
According to Mircea Eliade in his classic book " Yoga: Immortality or Freedom" "...in the sphere of shamanism, strictly speaking, intoxication by drugs (hemp, mushrooms, tobacco, etc.) seems not to have formed part of the original practice. For, on the one hand, shamanic myths and folklore record a decadence among the shamans of the present day, who have become unable to obtain ecstasy in the fashion of the "great shamans of long ago"; on the other, it has been observed that where shamanism is in decomposition and the trance is simulated, there is also overindulgence in intoxicants and drugs." According to Mircea Eliade, only the rudiments of classic Yoga are to be found in the Vedas, and while shamanism and other techniques of ecstasy are documented among other Indo-European people, Yoga is to be found only in India and in cultures influenced by Indian spirituality. Eliade notes: "Possession" by spirits, although documented in a great many shamans, does not seem to have been a primary and essential element. Rather, it suggests a phenomenon of degeneration; for the supreme goal of the shaman is to abandon his body and rise to heaven or descend into hell, not to let himself be "possessed" by his assisting spirits, by demons or the souls of the dead; the shaman's ideal is to master these spirits, not to let himself be "occupied" by them." The historical Buddha (circa 463 B.C) was the founder of the enlightenment tradition in India. He taught yoga, what Eliade terms introspective 'enstasis'. Yoga was later systematized by Patanjali (circa 200 B.C.). This all explained in Eliade's definitive book on yoga cited below. According to Eliade, the yoga system is unique to South Asia. However, you should not confuse the early 'Gnostic' sects with the South Asian Enlightenment Tradition which was founded by the Shakya, nor with the 'Age of Enlightenment' in European history. The key element here is the definition of enlightenment: Shakya the Muni defined 'enlightenment' as the dispelling of the illusion of the individual soul-monad. Patanjali pretty much agrees with this; Patanjali taught *isolation* of the Purusha from the prakriti by yogic means. Gaudapada and Shankara adopted the yoga system and many Buddhist doctrines to explain 'moksha', that is, liberation from dualism. Shankara composed an important commentary on Vyaas'a commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Nor, according to Eliade, should you confuse 'shamanism' with the Yoga Tradition of South Asia. Work cited: 'Yoga : Immortality and Freedom' by Mircea Eliade Princeton University Press, 1970 pp. 102; 320; 338 'Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy' by Mircea Eliade Princeton University Press; 2004 'The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice' by Georg Feuerstein, Ken Wilbur Hohm Press, 2001 On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 10:50 PM, <s3raph...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > I like these psychedelic speculations but would point out that Amanita > muscaria (fly agaric) is a deliriant rather than a lucid psych like LSD. A > sweaty, unpleasant mind-fuck more suited to shamans seeking an > out-of-the-body experience rather than sadhus seeking to escape from the > wheel of life and death. > > > An interesting fact about these mushrooms is that they retain their > psychoactive properties after passing through the body. In Siberia the rich > would pay to have fresh mushrooms collected for their brews. Afterwards > their urine would be given to the poor for them to drink and enjoy their > own astral voyage. > > When we have to drink the piss of our bankers and politicians that's when > we'll know we've been well and truly screwed. > > > A web search gives us: > > "The most interesting, and probably the strongest supporting evidence that > Amanita muscaria is the divine Soma is the mentioning in the Rigveda of > there being two forms of Soma. > > With those two forms which stand facing us, O Soma, thou reignest over all > things (Mandala IX 66). > > Wasson in his studies of Amanita use in other cultures also came across > two forms of Amanita. The first being the expressed juice of a fresh or > re-hydrated mushroom, and the second being the urine of those who have > drunk the juice." > > >
