Often when I speak with my fellow human's, certain words come up. For much of the vocabulary used, we're all usually in agreement on the specific definition of each words used during the interaction.
Have you ever stopped to ask what the other person's definition of the main topic is? I bet if you did, you would start to get an understanding that the meanings varies with most people. So, with that said, what is your definition of family?
To me, the word "family" means the people you choose to surround yourself with. Not just your mother, father, sister or brother, but your friends and others that you care about. Even the strangers in passing can be viewed as family. We all share something in this lifetime and that very thing happens to be the human spirit. We all have a base line consciousness that is pure and unhindered. At this level, we're all family.
When I commenced my meditation and medicine path, I started understanding this in a very deep way. My body started to become more sensitive to my environment and other people around me. I began to wonder about this unfolding because I would sometimes wake up in a calm and happy mood only to go out into the world and see a drastic change inside of me. The energy and thinking inside of me would change like weather. For example, I'd go into a coffee shop to do work. With no intentions of interacting with others around me, I was in fact having a much deeper interaction. At some point I would pause work and enter into a meditative state so I could observe the energy in the room. If a sad thought or feeling entered into my body, I would wonder about the sudden change in me. I would look around me and become aware of everyone.
What I discovered was magical. The magic was understanding that 9 times out of 10, I would find someone around me that was sad or going through some emotional turmoil. Experiencing this allowed me to dis-identify with the emotion that was present. I realized that the energy I was feeling some how purged into the ether and wanted to find a living being to attach itself to. I started saying to it, "there is no room for you here" and it would magically dissipate. This is a 6th sense that Ayahuasca allowed me to strengthen.
I recently read a book called, "The Art of Dreaming" by Carlos Castaneda whom is a well known shaman. He discusses in the book that this is the goal of a sorcerer. Once you start to understand the nature of energy coming and going like a weather system. The path to becoming a sorcerer has begun.
As my curiosity grew about this phenomenon, I began to observe others and the word depression with new eyes. It is to my understanding that when this energy is passed down to us by our relatives and ancestors it fills a void where feeling of love is supposed be. Some of us have only known a certain feeling and have never experienced life without it. Therefore, we're addicted to the feeling of sadness or "depression". These energies can create a chemical flood in the brain and the body then relies on it so much that it craves it. Much like a drug addict that cannot get off heroin because if they do, the withdrawals can be very difficult if one proceeds down the path of detox. So we seek the chemical through whatever means possible to satiate the craving.
I once had an experience within an Ayahuasca ceremony where someone within the retreat was brought into the middle of the Maloka (ceremony space). The shaman began to open the energetic body of the person and some very strange things started to happen. I realized that the persons energy that was being harbored came out into the room. It felt like a deep sadness and was very heavy. Not being aware that the energy was seeking another body to attach itself to, I got swept away in it. I felt as if I was never going to come back and that this spirit or demon latched onto me. I was so scared that I had to call out for help. As the sitter came to me I felt like was slipping deeper into hell. The sitter decided to help me and reminded me to pay attention to the sounds of the jungle. The crickets, owls and all the nature around me was there to assist me and pull me out of the deep dispair I was in. Slowly but surely, I got away from the thinking the energy was creating in me and I was pulled out by the forest. Once the healing was done, the shaman cleared the space and I returned to normal but very tired. This is the dangerous part of this work. We have to understand what is not us.
I invite you to observe yourself in this way. You can see the sadness as energy and begin to learn from it as a teacher. The most powerful shamans on this planet seek these entities out and befriend them as a teacher. By understanding the teachings, you can then help other people to heal.
For this Im forever grateful. Thank you to the dark and the light. Without each of them, this wonderful magical world would not exist.
Aho to all the plants and teachers all around us to help us understand the world below and above. This is where all of our ancestors exist. They're "family".
Gassho