were mystical Christian ministers the idea scared me a little and it took time for someone to convince me of the value of it. Finally, one day I realized it was sort of like the weather. Is rain good or bad? Is snow good or bad? Are people good or bad? Is wind good or bad?
The answer is it all depends upon many different factors. People are not generally good or bad, they have their good days and their bad days. Weather is the same. Snow can be good when you need to ski or need water in the summer to drink. It can be bad if you get caught in a snow storm when you might freeze to death with 5 feet of snow and no skis or snow shoes. Life is like this. And the Native American tradition and Buddhism and other religions often see things this way. Whereas often Christianity tends to be more black and white. But, this only works really for little children to keep them from running in front of cars and becomes ridiculous when facing adult problems in the world.
So, I had to get to this point where I was able to see in this way before I started meeting Medicine men and women. My first sweat I believe was after I met my first Tibetan Lama in 1980 I believe in the Winter. Then in spring or summer I met a Medicine man in Mt. Shasta who traveled there from where he lived in Northern California and I went to my first Sweat Lodge on Mt. Shasta then.
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Sweat
note: This refers to a Sweat Lodge. And in this case it was a Sweat
Lodge set up in the Karok or Karuk tradition by the family of Charlie
Thom a Karuk Medicine man.
In 1983 I often sweat with Charlie Thom or one of his children who would often lead sweats with permission of the Forest Service west of Lake Siskiyou off off one of the feeder Rivers into Lake Siskiyou which becomes the Sacramento River after Siskiyou Dam. Though I had Sweat with many Medicine men and women since 1980 I liked sweating with Charlie Thom and his family because he was "Crazy Wisdom" like I was. Crazy Wisdom means functioning in "Wisdom beyond Logic". Or another way to say it would be "Manifesting healing beyond human understanding". So learning to be a crazy wisdom person even though it is also a natural state is to some degree something you get better at as you understand it better much like a musician gets better through practice even after becoming a well known professional.
On this particular day I will combine elements from many different sweats so you can get the "Feel" of what sweating with real medicine men and women is like.
First, the rocks are stacked and then the wood is piled on (usually by leaning 3 foot long pieces into each other from the outside circle. The rocks (usually round river rocks that average about 6 to 8 to 10 inches in diameter but tending round or oval in shape(the rock people) are chosen carefully because you don't want a rock that is cracked and so has water in it and explode in the fire and injure someone. So, river rocks are good so you can see if there are any cracks and you usually don't want rocks recently from under the water just as a precaution against rock explosion in the fire (or worse in the sweat).
Then next to the fire between the Sweat Lodge and the fire is a medicine mound usually made from the dirt from the hole dug for the Sweat Lodge to be built. The lodge can be built any size from a one person to 50 or 100 but most lodges I have personally been in are built for about 15 to 30 people. This is a nice grouping (not to big or small) and such a lodge is built from interwoven willow branches. First you use in iron bar (I have a bar made from a 1930s truck drive shaft) or a pick could be used to make a hole) so you want a hole in the ground slightly larger than the biggest part of the branch(which is usually finger size or larger depending upon your preference between 6 inches to 1 foot deep. So you put the large end of the branch in the ground. Also, if you are looking for willow branches they are found along many rivers and streams. If you are careful the looks of the area don't change at all. So you need about 15 to 30 branches that you interweave. You start with about 15 in a circle(more if you are building something for 20 or more people). It is best to build this so people sit on the straw very close together. This way it is a more of a family kind of experience. About every foot or two around a circle with the fire or rock hole in the center (usually 2 to 3 feet in diameter and about 1 to 2 feet deep to put rocks in after they turn red from heat from the fire outside the sweat). The fire hole is deep so when you put water on the red rocks and the steam comes up people don't get hot water burns from the water running off the rocks and onto them. Also, usually the inside of the sweat lodge is kept under 3 to 4 feet high depending upon personal preference. If you make your lodge too high or tall all the heat goes to the top and you lose the sauna effect.
It makes a great deal of difference where your lodge is located. Having a river, stream, pond or even swimming pool or hose to cool down with after temperatures that might reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above in the Sweat Lodge for short periods of time is necessary for most people to fairly quickly reduce their temperature at some point. Though I have known some people to take flashlights into night time sweats, most sweats I have been to are in the day time in the afternoon or evening because it takes the earlier part of the day from the morning for several men and/or women to prepare the Sweat Lodge and fire and rocks and medicine mound and all. Also, if your group wants to get permission from the Forest Service to have your Sweat Ceremony in the wilds it will be at least a two day weekend or something by the time you get all the preparation done, build the fire and return everything to the way it was before your Sweat Ceremony.
Anyway, after everything was prepared on this Spring day in 1983 I got into the sweat lodge after using a shovel to carry the rocks into the sweat lodge. At this point everyone is already in the Sweat lodge but me. So, one by one I carry the hot red rocks into the lodge. All people are kept away from the entrance to the sweat and you notify everyone from the moment you carry the rock on the tip of a shovel or pitchfork into the sweat lodge so no one gets burned by the rock or shovel. This is a part of the ceremony of inviting the "Rock People" into the Sweat Lodge Circle. To all native Americans the Circle and Sphere is sacred and no circle or sphere is supposed to be used for any mundane or non-sacred thing. So many exceptions have had to be made to live in a western technological mechanical society.
After all the rocks are in the circle then it is time for me to put the shovel in a safe place and get in and close the flap. (Blankets and tarps on the outside are used to keep the heat inside the sweat. Also, all sweats are dark completely except for the red rocks in the center. In this way you are symbolically inside the womb of mother earth like you were in your mother's womb as a baby. So, literally the sweat lodge is a place of spiritual rebirth and it is seen as such by all who practice Sweating in a Sweat Lodge who actually believe in this whole process.
This particular sweat was very special and I felt it from the beginning. So I knew something of great portent was happening for me. After the third round ( a round is a time in the sweat). After each round new hot rocks from the fire are brought in usually on top of the old ones as long as there is room until all the rounds are done.
Though I have been to sweats where some people went in naked most sweats (95 to 98%) I have been to require at least bathing suits out of modesty for the whole group. This is especially true if children under age 18 are there sweating with the group.
Because it is completely dark inside after the water goes on the rocks often songs are sung of various kinds either by the medicine man or woman or by everyone (usually a little of both). So in many ways it is like being in church except it is dark and steamy and hot like a Sauna. One can experience the amazing transformations of such an experience if properly prepared. Though I have seen people panic who were not properly in their bodies and prepared for such an extreme experience jump out of the sweat lodge because of not being able to deal with the darkness, heat, and the closeness of the bodies of half naked potential strangers and friends. So it does take some getting used to and some trust is necessary to enter into this kind of experience.
However, most people are prepared (over 90% or more) for this experience and therefore can greatly benefit in spiritual, physical, emotional etc. health from the experience. A Round is usually about 10 to 15 minutes. If the water that has turned to steam has made the lodge unbearable then some leave early. Every sweat round is different in a variety of ways. Sometimes different people are in each round and the conditions inside the sweat change with each round even if it is the same group and the same medicine man or woman leading. And often people change where they are sitting cross legged on the (usually straw covered floor 'straw scattered over the ground'). Care must be taken not to knock straw into the red hot rocks so they don't smoke inside the lodge.
I suppose one could also build something like this to stay in for longer periods of time camping and just bring in one rock at a time for heat as well. I have seen medicine men stay in the lodge for 24 to 48 hours or more after a sweat ceremony to work on special prayers for those who need it. So the medicine man might stay in the lodge alone and sleep there during the night.
The day I'm speaking of in spring 1983 was the day I was shown to do a vision quest. I got some signs in between rounds that it was time for me to do the 4 day 4 nights without food or water. I was shown where to go and where to do it and so I did. It changed my life and my vision on the second night of no water and no food on the Trinity river in Northern California brought me a vision of becoming a 50 foot tall golden Dragon that breathed out Golden Fire to all mankind. But the fire didn't burn people it just made them smile and become enlightened. So, it is my belief that what I write and put online is a part of this golden fire of enlightenment that God has me breathe upon all who are interested who want to listen to me or read what I write now and into the future.
In 1983 I often sweat with Charlie Thom or one of his children who would often lead sweats with permission of the Forest Service west of Lake Siskiyou off off one of the feeder Rivers into Lake Siskiyou which becomes the Sacramento River after Siskiyou Dam. Though I had Sweat with many Medicine men and women since 1980 I liked sweating with Charlie Thom and his family because he was "Crazy Wisdom" like I was. Crazy Wisdom means functioning in "Wisdom beyond Logic". Or another way to say it would be "Manifesting healing beyond human understanding". So learning to be a crazy wisdom person even though it is also a natural state is to some degree something you get better at as you understand it better much like a musician gets better through practice even after becoming a well known professional.
On this particular day I will combine elements from many different sweats so you can get the "Feel" of what sweating with real medicine men and women is like.
First, the rocks are stacked and then the wood is piled on (usually by leaning 3 foot long pieces into each other from the outside circle. The rocks (usually round river rocks that average about 6 to 8 to 10 inches in diameter but tending round or oval in shape(the rock people) are chosen carefully because you don't want a rock that is cracked and so has water in it and explode in the fire and injure someone. So, river rocks are good so you can see if there are any cracks and you usually don't want rocks recently from under the water just as a precaution against rock explosion in the fire (or worse in the sweat).
Then next to the fire between the Sweat Lodge and the fire is a medicine mound usually made from the dirt from the hole dug for the Sweat Lodge to be built. The lodge can be built any size from a one person to 50 or 100 but most lodges I have personally been in are built for about 15 to 30 people. This is a nice grouping (not to big or small) and such a lodge is built from interwoven willow branches. First you use in iron bar (I have a bar made from a 1930s truck drive shaft) or a pick could be used to make a hole) so you want a hole in the ground slightly larger than the biggest part of the branch(which is usually finger size or larger depending upon your preference between 6 inches to 1 foot deep. So you put the large end of the branch in the ground. Also, if you are looking for willow branches they are found along many rivers and streams. If you are careful the looks of the area don't change at all. So you need about 15 to 30 branches that you interweave. You start with about 15 in a circle(more if you are building something for 20 or more people). It is best to build this so people sit on the straw very close together. This way it is a more of a family kind of experience. About every foot or two around a circle with the fire or rock hole in the center (usually 2 to 3 feet in diameter and about 1 to 2 feet deep to put rocks in after they turn red from heat from the fire outside the sweat). The fire hole is deep so when you put water on the red rocks and the steam comes up people don't get hot water burns from the water running off the rocks and onto them. Also, usually the inside of the sweat lodge is kept under 3 to 4 feet high depending upon personal preference. If you make your lodge too high or tall all the heat goes to the top and you lose the sauna effect.
It makes a great deal of difference where your lodge is located. Having a river, stream, pond or even swimming pool or hose to cool down with after temperatures that might reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above in the Sweat Lodge for short periods of time is necessary for most people to fairly quickly reduce their temperature at some point. Though I have known some people to take flashlights into night time sweats, most sweats I have been to are in the day time in the afternoon or evening because it takes the earlier part of the day from the morning for several men and/or women to prepare the Sweat Lodge and fire and rocks and medicine mound and all. Also, if your group wants to get permission from the Forest Service to have your Sweat Ceremony in the wilds it will be at least a two day weekend or something by the time you get all the preparation done, build the fire and return everything to the way it was before your Sweat Ceremony.
Anyway, after everything was prepared on this Spring day in 1983 I got into the sweat lodge after using a shovel to carry the rocks into the sweat lodge. At this point everyone is already in the Sweat lodge but me. So, one by one I carry the hot red rocks into the lodge. All people are kept away from the entrance to the sweat and you notify everyone from the moment you carry the rock on the tip of a shovel or pitchfork into the sweat lodge so no one gets burned by the rock or shovel. This is a part of the ceremony of inviting the "Rock People" into the Sweat Lodge Circle. To all native Americans the Circle and Sphere is sacred and no circle or sphere is supposed to be used for any mundane or non-sacred thing. So many exceptions have had to be made to live in a western technological mechanical society.
After all the rocks are in the circle then it is time for me to put the shovel in a safe place and get in and close the flap. (Blankets and tarps on the outside are used to keep the heat inside the sweat. Also, all sweats are dark completely except for the red rocks in the center. In this way you are symbolically inside the womb of mother earth like you were in your mother's womb as a baby. So, literally the sweat lodge is a place of spiritual rebirth and it is seen as such by all who practice Sweating in a Sweat Lodge who actually believe in this whole process.
This particular sweat was very special and I felt it from the beginning. So I knew something of great portent was happening for me. After the third round ( a round is a time in the sweat). After each round new hot rocks from the fire are brought in usually on top of the old ones as long as there is room until all the rounds are done.
Though I have been to sweats where some people went in naked most sweats (95 to 98%) I have been to require at least bathing suits out of modesty for the whole group. This is especially true if children under age 18 are there sweating with the group.
Because it is completely dark inside after the water goes on the rocks often songs are sung of various kinds either by the medicine man or woman or by everyone (usually a little of both). So in many ways it is like being in church except it is dark and steamy and hot like a Sauna. One can experience the amazing transformations of such an experience if properly prepared. Though I have seen people panic who were not properly in their bodies and prepared for such an extreme experience jump out of the sweat lodge because of not being able to deal with the darkness, heat, and the closeness of the bodies of half naked potential strangers and friends. So it does take some getting used to and some trust is necessary to enter into this kind of experience.
However, most people are prepared (over 90% or more) for this experience and therefore can greatly benefit in spiritual, physical, emotional etc. health from the experience. A Round is usually about 10 to 15 minutes. If the water that has turned to steam has made the lodge unbearable then some leave early. Every sweat round is different in a variety of ways. Sometimes different people are in each round and the conditions inside the sweat change with each round even if it is the same group and the same medicine man or woman leading. And often people change where they are sitting cross legged on the (usually straw covered floor 'straw scattered over the ground'). Care must be taken not to knock straw into the red hot rocks so they don't smoke inside the lodge.
I suppose one could also build something like this to stay in for longer periods of time camping and just bring in one rock at a time for heat as well. I have seen medicine men stay in the lodge for 24 to 48 hours or more after a sweat ceremony to work on special prayers for those who need it. So the medicine man might stay in the lodge alone and sleep there during the night.
The day I'm speaking of in spring 1983 was the day I was shown to do a vision quest. I got some signs in between rounds that it was time for me to do the 4 day 4 nights without food or water. I was shown where to go and where to do it and so I did. It changed my life and my vision on the second night of no water and no food on the Trinity river in Northern California brought me a vision of becoming a 50 foot tall golden Dragon that breathed out Golden Fire to all mankind. But the fire didn't burn people it just made them smile and become enlightened. So, it is my belief that what I write and put online is a part of this golden fire of enlightenment that God has me breathe upon all who are interested who want to listen to me or read what I write now and into the future.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sweat Lodges
During the 1980s especially I studied with several Native American
Medicine men and met many Medicine women while sweating at their sweat
lodges. Usually, it was along a river or stream with permission from the
forest service because the medicine people were native to the area and
were given these priveleges. Also, whenever there was a Sweat Lodge
built whenever it was done usually days or weeks depending upon the
ceremonies and how many different people wanted to sweat in the
lodge(anywhere from 20 to hundreds) things might be done differently.
However, the structure of the lodge was always basically the same. It is
made from willow branches woven into a dome shape of and usually looks
like a hemisphere when done. Then people bring tarps and blankets to
cover the sweat lodge. If it is raining or snowing during this time then
plastic or plastic tarps are used to keep the inside of the lodge dry.
It is usually under 4 feet tall to capture as much heat as possible and
up near the roof it sometimes gets between 130 degrees to 150 degrees
Fahrenheit and the most macho of the men who want their prayers really
answered often brave the heat for a while during the prayers and prayer
songs. It is usually completely dark inside and I have been in sweats
that mostly have both men and women. Each medicine man or woman is
different the way the do things but usually people were bathing suits or
just shorts for the men inside. It's been a few years since I made it a
point to go to where I could join others for a sweat lodge ceremony.
But between 1980 and 2000 I usually joined a sweat lodge 1 to 12 or more
times a year.
One experience with Charlie Thom, a local Karoc Medicine man who live near Yreka it was snowing really hard at Stewart Mineral Springs near Gazelle and I wondered about getting out of the sweat lodge in the 20s Fahrenheit and breaking the ice and jumping into a nearby stream. But, after a very hot sweat lodge it was easy to break through the ice and cool down, especially because we could then go in for another round. And even when we got out the last time we somehow stayed warm because the lodge had heated us to the core. I never cease to be amazed at how strong these lodge sessions made me feel both physically and spiritually and as a man in all ways. Especially between the ages of 32 and 50 I was amazed each time I joined a sweat lodge at how deep an experience this usually is.
If you are afraid of being with men and women in the dark this could be a problem for you. But since almost all people who take the time to do this are sincere, usually you have nothing at all to worry about. Ones biggest concern is getting ones eyes burnt from the steam or getting to close to the mostly 8 inch in diameter river rocks that have been put in a bonfire to heat until they are red outside the lodge. Then a shovel is used to carry the rocks into the fire pit in the middle of the ground inside the sweat lodge. Then lastly a bucket of fresh river water is brought in. For safety, the rocks are not brought into the lodge until everyone is already in place and the very last thing that comes into the lodge before the door closes(a flap usually of blankets and tarps) and in often comes the fire and rock tender. Though sometimes the tender stays outside depending upon the circumstances present.
So after each round(about 10 to 15 minutes in the steam heat caused by splashing water on red hot rocks) everyone gets out and rinses off in the river next to the sweat lodge. It is common to get the spins from the heat at this time(one sometimes feels dizzy from the drastic temperature changes). Also, ones body is going through extreme temperature changes and this also strengthens ones heart, especially if one is under about 50. But if you have been used to all this physically and psychologically, usually you are okay after 50 as well. I have seen a lady as old as 73 sweat for the first time. But some allowances were made for her. So, as you can see it is a very special experience. Often the medicine man has an Eagle Wing or Feather that he splashes the water out with and many songs he sings and often he invites all to sing his songs(some songs date back hundreds or thousands of years) and are passed Father to son or daughter, or grandfather or grandmother to grandson or granddaughter.
All this is a very visceral and primal spiritual experience in that I always found myself amazed to be doing this because for a person of the western world it is very unique for someone who grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles County for the most part.
One experience with Charlie Thom, a local Karoc Medicine man who live near Yreka it was snowing really hard at Stewart Mineral Springs near Gazelle and I wondered about getting out of the sweat lodge in the 20s Fahrenheit and breaking the ice and jumping into a nearby stream. But, after a very hot sweat lodge it was easy to break through the ice and cool down, especially because we could then go in for another round. And even when we got out the last time we somehow stayed warm because the lodge had heated us to the core. I never cease to be amazed at how strong these lodge sessions made me feel both physically and spiritually and as a man in all ways. Especially between the ages of 32 and 50 I was amazed each time I joined a sweat lodge at how deep an experience this usually is.
If you are afraid of being with men and women in the dark this could be a problem for you. But since almost all people who take the time to do this are sincere, usually you have nothing at all to worry about. Ones biggest concern is getting ones eyes burnt from the steam or getting to close to the mostly 8 inch in diameter river rocks that have been put in a bonfire to heat until they are red outside the lodge. Then a shovel is used to carry the rocks into the fire pit in the middle of the ground inside the sweat lodge. Then lastly a bucket of fresh river water is brought in. For safety, the rocks are not brought into the lodge until everyone is already in place and the very last thing that comes into the lodge before the door closes(a flap usually of blankets and tarps) and in often comes the fire and rock tender. Though sometimes the tender stays outside depending upon the circumstances present.
So after each round(about 10 to 15 minutes in the steam heat caused by splashing water on red hot rocks) everyone gets out and rinses off in the river next to the sweat lodge. It is common to get the spins from the heat at this time(one sometimes feels dizzy from the drastic temperature changes). Also, ones body is going through extreme temperature changes and this also strengthens ones heart, especially if one is under about 50. But if you have been used to all this physically and psychologically, usually you are okay after 50 as well. I have seen a lady as old as 73 sweat for the first time. But some allowances were made for her. So, as you can see it is a very special experience. Often the medicine man has an Eagle Wing or Feather that he splashes the water out with and many songs he sings and often he invites all to sing his songs(some songs date back hundreds or thousands of years) and are passed Father to son or daughter, or grandfather or grandmother to grandson or granddaughter.
All this is a very visceral and primal spiritual experience in that I always found myself amazed to be doing this because for a person of the western world it is very unique for someone who grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles County for the most part.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Sweat Lodges and the Native American Medicine path
My wife handed me a printout of "The Native American Medicine Path" that I had written and given her to read in September 2009. After that I had also written "Sweat Lodges". So, I thought I would put both here for those of you who are interested.
Sweat Lodges
During the 1980s especially I studied with several Native American
Medicine men and met many Medicine women while sweating at their sweat
lodges. Usually, it was along a river or stream with permission from the
forest service because the medicine people were native to the area and
were given these priveleges. Also, whenever there was a Sweat Lodge
built whenever it was done usually days or weeks depending upon the
ceremonies and how many different people wanted to sweat in the
lodge(anywhere from 20 to hundreds) things might be done differently.
However, the structure of the lodge was always basically the same. It is
made from willow branches woven into a dome shape of and usually looks
like a hemisphere when done. Then people bring tarps and blankets to
cover the sweat lodge. If it is raining or snowing during this time then
plastic or plastic tarps are used to keep the inside of the lodge dry.
It is usually under 4 feet tall to capture as much heat as possible and
up near the roof it sometimes gets between 130 degrees to 150 degrees
Fahrenheit and the most macho of the men who want their prayers really
answered often brave the heat for a while during the prayers and prayer
songs. It is usually completely dark inside and I have been in sweats
that mostly have both men and women. Each medicine man or woman is
different the way the do things but usually people were bathing suits or
just shorts for the men inside. It's been a few years since I made it a
point to go to where I could join others for a sweat lodge ceremony.
But between 1980 and 2000 I usually joined a sweat lodge 1 to 12 or more
times a year.
One experience with Charlie Thom, a local Karoc Medicine man who live near Yreka it was snowing really hard at Stewart Mineral Springs near Gazelle and I wondered about getting out of the sweat lodge in the 20s Fahrenheit and breaking the ice and jumping into a nearby stream. But, after a very hot sweat lodge it was easy to break through the ice and cool down, especially because we could then go in for another round. And even when we got out the last time we somehow stayed warm because the lodge had heated us to the core. I never cease to be amazed at how strong these lodge sessions made me feel both physically and spiritually and as a man in all ways. Especially between the ages of 32 and 50 I was amazed each time I joined a sweat lodge at how deep an experience this usually is.
If you are afraid of being with men and women in the dark this could be a problem for you. But since almost all people who take the time to do this are sincere, usually you have nothing at all to worry about. Ones biggest concern is getting ones eyes burnt from the steam or getting to close to the mostly 8 inch in diameter river rocks that have been put in a bonfire to heat until they are red outside the lodge. Then a shovel is used to carry the rocks into the fire pit in the middle of the ground inside the sweat lodge. Then lastly a bucket of fresh river water is brought in. For safety, the rocks are not brought into the lodge until everyone is already in place and the very last thing that comes into the lodge before the door closes(a flap usually of blankets and tarps) and in often comes the fire and rock tender. Though sometimes the tender stays outside depending upon the circumstances present.
So after each round(about 10 to 15 minutes in the steam heat caused by splashing water on red hot rocks) everyone gets out and rinses off in the river next to the sweat lodge. It is common to get the spins from the heat at this time(one sometimes feels dizzy from the drastic temperature changes). Also, ones body is going through extreme temperature changes and this also strengthens ones heart, especially if one is under about 50. But if you have been used to all this physically and psychologically, usually you are okay after 50 as well. I have seen a lady as old as 73 sweat for the first time. But some allowances were made for her. So, as you can see it is a very special experience. Often the medicine man has an Eagle Wing or Feather that he splashes the water out with and many songs he sings and often he invites all to sing his songs(some songs date back hundreds or thousands of years) and are passed Father to son or daughter, or grandfather or grandmother to grandson or granddaughter.
All this is a very visceral and primal spiritual experience in that I always found myself amazed to be doing this because for a person of the western world it is very unique for someone who grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles County for the most part.
One experience with Charlie Thom, a local Karoc Medicine man who live near Yreka it was snowing really hard at Stewart Mineral Springs near Gazelle and I wondered about getting out of the sweat lodge in the 20s Fahrenheit and breaking the ice and jumping into a nearby stream. But, after a very hot sweat lodge it was easy to break through the ice and cool down, especially because we could then go in for another round. And even when we got out the last time we somehow stayed warm because the lodge had heated us to the core. I never cease to be amazed at how strong these lodge sessions made me feel both physically and spiritually and as a man in all ways. Especially between the ages of 32 and 50 I was amazed each time I joined a sweat lodge at how deep an experience this usually is.
If you are afraid of being with men and women in the dark this could be a problem for you. But since almost all people who take the time to do this are sincere, usually you have nothing at all to worry about. Ones biggest concern is getting ones eyes burnt from the steam or getting to close to the mostly 8 inch in diameter river rocks that have been put in a bonfire to heat until they are red outside the lodge. Then a shovel is used to carry the rocks into the fire pit in the middle of the ground inside the sweat lodge. Then lastly a bucket of fresh river water is brought in. For safety, the rocks are not brought into the lodge until everyone is already in place and the very last thing that comes into the lodge before the door closes(a flap usually of blankets and tarps) and in often comes the fire and rock tender. Though sometimes the tender stays outside depending upon the circumstances present.
So after each round(about 10 to 15 minutes in the steam heat caused by splashing water on red hot rocks) everyone gets out and rinses off in the river next to the sweat lodge. It is common to get the spins from the heat at this time(one sometimes feels dizzy from the drastic temperature changes). Also, ones body is going through extreme temperature changes and this also strengthens ones heart, especially if one is under about 50. But if you have been used to all this physically and psychologically, usually you are okay after 50 as well. I have seen a lady as old as 73 sweat for the first time. But some allowances were made for her. So, as you can see it is a very special experience. Often the medicine man has an Eagle Wing or Feather that he splashes the water out with and many songs he sings and often he invites all to sing his songs(some songs date back hundreds or thousands of years) and are passed Father to son or daughter, or grandfather or grandmother to grandson or granddaughter.
All this is a very visceral and primal spiritual experience in that I always found myself amazed to be doing this because for a person of the western world it is very unique for someone who grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles County for the most part.
The Native American Medicine Path
People tend to think that if one wants to be taught the native American
medicine path they must be at least part native American. Well, that is
not completely true. What one must do is to find a medicine man or
woman of a tribe that believes their religion is for everyone. So even
though the medicine men and women of many tribes don't accept non-native
Americans to teach their path to, many do. So, Just like finding a Guru
or teacher in India one must search for the right medicine man or woman
to learn from and to be taught by.
There are many things that people all know about Native Americans but there are a lot of things most people don't know about what a medicine path is. Though in some specifics it varies from tribe to tribe there are some things that all share in philosophy and religion. Though this might seem strange to you, you will learn more about what the medicine path is from watching "Pocahontas", the Disney cartoon and "Brother Bear" another cartoon than almost any single experience you might have in a city or suburb. But to really enter the medicine path is a full commitment much like becoming a nurse or a doctor or a priest or minister. However, entering the medicine path one is becoming a Priest-warrior, which is an attitude that one brings to everything.
I was taught a Blackfoot-Sioux path by a medicine man in Northern California. Later I met a Karoc medicine man that I enjoyed Sweating with in the sweat lodge. Myself and four other friends eventually did a four day vision quest each of no water no food on the north fork of the Trinity River in Northern California. This changed each of our lives in many ways.
This was in the early 1980s. Today, I saw a Crow and in my mind I said to it, "Is that you?" The Crow said, "NO. It isn't me." My original teacher identified with seeing through the eyes of Crows which was one of his abilities because of his affinity with them. So this conversation actually meant, "Is that you?" Answer, "Of course it's me."
and more it means, "are you a medicine
incompetent or what?"
This begins to take you into the world of a medicine path with someone who has actually studied with a Medicine Man or woman and is competent to actually teach you something meaningful. Now, most of you might think such a path isn't real or useful. However, I think the best way to say this is this is: how many people still live all over earth now use a similar system?" And the fact that it has kept their tribes alive without going extinct over 40,000 years until organized religions and technology brainwashed people into believing something else. Were the new technologies and religions better? That's hard to say, "I would say both yes in some ways but no in others." It's like asking are automobiles good? I would say they are good because people can get themselves and their goods where they want to faster but at the price of Global Warming and the potential death of everything on earth alive. It is sort of like this. What most of the world has now is better in some ways and worse in other ways. But we are usually only taught about the good changes and seldom the real price paid.
This is the best way to say it. There is a price we pay for everything and if we are not told the full price (which we never are) we might make a different choice yesterday, today or tomorrow.
In these insecure times worldwide understanding more about the medicine path might save your life. For it is a way to survive without houses, cars, or jobs within society if it ever comes to that. I'm not saying to give up everything that you believe that works for you. However, if something isn't working for you it may be time to try something else whether that something is a religion, a relationship or a job or even a career. It is not worth being alive if there is no joy in your life. It is my belief that that is a given. Do you stay alive and sacrifice for you kids even if there is no joy? That is entirely up to you. I decided long ago that my pain meant nothing if my kids weren't okay. No pain I might have would be as bad as I would feel alive or dead if my kids lives weren't okay. So like you I sacrificed sometimes a lot for my kids always.
The problem today is that most people only push paper and cannot actually do anything real. They cannot actually defend themselves physically or mentally. Maybe a relative of theirs can but that relative might not be there for them all the time.
So, for me, in 1980 finding a medicine path was about learning a better attitude to survive no matter what, as 1980 was a lot like now with 9.6% unemployment nationwide. Now, however, I'm financially secure. This wasn't as true in 1980 when I was only 32 and raising my son and two step kids out in the country in Mt. Shasta, California(near the Oregon Border). So, finding a medicine man to learn from seemed important then both from a spiritual point of view and from a survivalist point of view.
When I look back now what I learned the most important things that come to mind are just how really alive and how many different abilities and senses we actually have but just don't use if we live in Cities or suburbia. However, the beauty of all this now for me is that once you develop these medicine senses, if you keep in the right states of mind even in a city or suburbia you will keep these senses as long as periodically you visit the wilds and the wilderness to recharge your spiritual and wilderness batteries so to speak.
The most important things for me, however, I learned through my vision quest of no water no food for four days. in one of my prayer visions after the second day of no water no food 5 miles from the nearest person in a bear wallow on the Trinity River was when I became a 50 foot high Golden Dragon that breathed out fire on thousands of people. What amazed me then was that the fire I breathed out upon people did not burn them but enlightened them and if they were sad or not they all then began to smile with the joy of enlightenment!
When I began to write more after I almost died in 1998 and 9 I believe my writings that I publish are the fire breath of the dragon enlightening people and making their lives better in the short and long term. It is one of the reasons why dragonofcompassion.com is the name of my new website.
Also, when I later studied Tibetan Buddhism in California, Oregon, India and Nepal, I learned of a branch of Tibetan Buddhism called Drukpa Kagyu which means Dragon Kagyu. There is also a humorous Crazy Wisdom figure in Tibetan mythology called Drukpa Kunli. If you know anyone from old Tibet ask them to tell you Drukpa Kunli stories, they are really funny and enlightening in a Crazy Wisdom way!
Note: Added May 24th 2013: During my vision quest in 1983 I was in a bear wallow at the side of the North Fork of the Trinity River about 5 miles from the nearest human being. I saw a mated pair of Bald Eagles flying overhead and every day a Mama wood duck and all her babies swam past my point in the River and went down stream for food and every day at dusk she and her babies swam upstream to roost in the rushes out of danger at night. I found I could eat the sunlight off the water with my eyes and mind in this state to fulfill any need I had for water without drinking it. One night it rained and I didn't have a tent with me so I took my tarp and put it over a large 6 foot through fallen Cedar Tree and crawled under the tree to get out of the rain. I also had sweet grass in braids that I burned as incense as I prayed. The second night into the quest I became a 50 to 100 foot tall golden dragon (which at the time was pretty terrifying and overwhelming in a unbelievable way). But when I breathed fire out on everyone I saw it didn't harm or kill them or burn them up. Instead it made them smile and become enlightened and their heads glowed with the enlightenment they needed to stay alive and to keep their kids and friends and family alive too on into the future for thousands of years.
When my vision quest was over this lead in the next year to meeting a Tibetan Buddhist Student who was an American (I was telepathically directed to pick him up because he was hitchiking by the Tibetan Lama who had given me "The Thousand Buddhas Empowerment" in Ashland, Oregon. He introduced my family to 5 or 10 very powerful Tibetan Lamas in Oregon and California. Within two years after many initiations I was directed inwardly to take my family to India, Nepal and Thailand through Japan(where my last lifetime was from 1933 to 1945) there. I along with my family was given the "Kalachakra Initiation" by the Dalai Lama along with 500,000 others there from Tibet, Nepal, India and surrounding areas as well as about 10,000 westerners like me from places like Europe, North and South America, and Japan etc.
So, the Native American Medicine path led me to a Path of Compassion in the Tibetan Buddhist Path. So, the Dragon I became in my vision quest I guess I already was all along and still am. Understanding this is very freeing and empowering for me and hopefully for you as well. I am very grateful for my amazing Native American medicine path teachers for teaching me to become who I already was and but didn't know it yet before the vision quest.
There are many things that people all know about Native Americans but there are a lot of things most people don't know about what a medicine path is. Though in some specifics it varies from tribe to tribe there are some things that all share in philosophy and religion. Though this might seem strange to you, you will learn more about what the medicine path is from watching "Pocahontas", the Disney cartoon and "Brother Bear" another cartoon than almost any single experience you might have in a city or suburb. But to really enter the medicine path is a full commitment much like becoming a nurse or a doctor or a priest or minister. However, entering the medicine path one is becoming a Priest-warrior, which is an attitude that one brings to everything.
I was taught a Blackfoot-Sioux path by a medicine man in Northern California. Later I met a Karoc medicine man that I enjoyed Sweating with in the sweat lodge. Myself and four other friends eventually did a four day vision quest each of no water no food on the north fork of the Trinity River in Northern California. This changed each of our lives in many ways.
This was in the early 1980s. Today, I saw a Crow and in my mind I said to it, "Is that you?" The Crow said, "NO. It isn't me." My original teacher identified with seeing through the eyes of Crows which was one of his abilities because of his affinity with them. So this conversation actually meant, "Is that you?" Answer, "Of course it's me."
and more it means, "are you a medicine
incompetent or what?"
This begins to take you into the world of a medicine path with someone who has actually studied with a Medicine Man or woman and is competent to actually teach you something meaningful. Now, most of you might think such a path isn't real or useful. However, I think the best way to say this is this is: how many people still live all over earth now use a similar system?" And the fact that it has kept their tribes alive without going extinct over 40,000 years until organized religions and technology brainwashed people into believing something else. Were the new technologies and religions better? That's hard to say, "I would say both yes in some ways but no in others." It's like asking are automobiles good? I would say they are good because people can get themselves and their goods where they want to faster but at the price of Global Warming and the potential death of everything on earth alive. It is sort of like this. What most of the world has now is better in some ways and worse in other ways. But we are usually only taught about the good changes and seldom the real price paid.
This is the best way to say it. There is a price we pay for everything and if we are not told the full price (which we never are) we might make a different choice yesterday, today or tomorrow.
In these insecure times worldwide understanding more about the medicine path might save your life. For it is a way to survive without houses, cars, or jobs within society if it ever comes to that. I'm not saying to give up everything that you believe that works for you. However, if something isn't working for you it may be time to try something else whether that something is a religion, a relationship or a job or even a career. It is not worth being alive if there is no joy in your life. It is my belief that that is a given. Do you stay alive and sacrifice for you kids even if there is no joy? That is entirely up to you. I decided long ago that my pain meant nothing if my kids weren't okay. No pain I might have would be as bad as I would feel alive or dead if my kids lives weren't okay. So like you I sacrificed sometimes a lot for my kids always.
The problem today is that most people only push paper and cannot actually do anything real. They cannot actually defend themselves physically or mentally. Maybe a relative of theirs can but that relative might not be there for them all the time.
So, for me, in 1980 finding a medicine path was about learning a better attitude to survive no matter what, as 1980 was a lot like now with 9.6% unemployment nationwide. Now, however, I'm financially secure. This wasn't as true in 1980 when I was only 32 and raising my son and two step kids out in the country in Mt. Shasta, California(near the Oregon Border). So, finding a medicine man to learn from seemed important then both from a spiritual point of view and from a survivalist point of view.
When I look back now what I learned the most important things that come to mind are just how really alive and how many different abilities and senses we actually have but just don't use if we live in Cities or suburbia. However, the beauty of all this now for me is that once you develop these medicine senses, if you keep in the right states of mind even in a city or suburbia you will keep these senses as long as periodically you visit the wilds and the wilderness to recharge your spiritual and wilderness batteries so to speak.
The most important things for me, however, I learned through my vision quest of no water no food for four days. in one of my prayer visions after the second day of no water no food 5 miles from the nearest person in a bear wallow on the Trinity River was when I became a 50 foot high Golden Dragon that breathed out fire on thousands of people. What amazed me then was that the fire I breathed out upon people did not burn them but enlightened them and if they were sad or not they all then began to smile with the joy of enlightenment!
When I began to write more after I almost died in 1998 and 9 I believe my writings that I publish are the fire breath of the dragon enlightening people and making their lives better in the short and long term. It is one of the reasons why dragonofcompassion.com is the name of my new website.
Also, when I later studied Tibetan Buddhism in California, Oregon, India and Nepal, I learned of a branch of Tibetan Buddhism called Drukpa Kagyu which means Dragon Kagyu. There is also a humorous Crazy Wisdom figure in Tibetan mythology called Drukpa Kunli. If you know anyone from old Tibet ask them to tell you Drukpa Kunli stories, they are really funny and enlightening in a Crazy Wisdom way!
Note: Added May 24th 2013: During my vision quest in 1983 I was in a bear wallow at the side of the North Fork of the Trinity River about 5 miles from the nearest human being. I saw a mated pair of Bald Eagles flying overhead and every day a Mama wood duck and all her babies swam past my point in the River and went down stream for food and every day at dusk she and her babies swam upstream to roost in the rushes out of danger at night. I found I could eat the sunlight off the water with my eyes and mind in this state to fulfill any need I had for water without drinking it. One night it rained and I didn't have a tent with me so I took my tarp and put it over a large 6 foot through fallen Cedar Tree and crawled under the tree to get out of the rain. I also had sweet grass in braids that I burned as incense as I prayed. The second night into the quest I became a 50 to 100 foot tall golden dragon (which at the time was pretty terrifying and overwhelming in a unbelievable way). But when I breathed fire out on everyone I saw it didn't harm or kill them or burn them up. Instead it made them smile and become enlightened and their heads glowed with the enlightenment they needed to stay alive and to keep their kids and friends and family alive too on into the future for thousands of years.
When my vision quest was over this lead in the next year to meeting a Tibetan Buddhist Student who was an American (I was telepathically directed to pick him up because he was hitchiking by the Tibetan Lama who had given me "The Thousand Buddhas Empowerment" in Ashland, Oregon. He introduced my family to 5 or 10 very powerful Tibetan Lamas in Oregon and California. Within two years after many initiations I was directed inwardly to take my family to India, Nepal and Thailand through Japan(where my last lifetime was from 1933 to 1945) there. I along with my family was given the "Kalachakra Initiation" by the Dalai Lama along with 500,000 others there from Tibet, Nepal, India and surrounding areas as well as about 10,000 westerners like me from places like Europe, North and South America, and Japan etc.
So, the Native American Medicine path led me to a Path of Compassion in the Tibetan Buddhist Path. So, the Dragon I became in my vision quest I guess I already was all along and still am. Understanding this is very freeing and empowering for me and hopefully for you as well. I am very grateful for my amazing Native American medicine path teachers for teaching me to become who I already was and but didn't know it yet before the vision quest.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Dateline: James Arthur Ray and his Spiritual Warrior Retreat
I was watching Dateline that I DVRed Friday night October 22, 2011 where
3 people died in a sweat lodge in Sedona Arizona. I spent a lot of time
in Sweat Lodges with Native American Medicine men and a lot of mostly
white people during the 1980s and I also did a vision quest of no water
or food for 4 days and nights during this time. I think the people died
because each of them didn't feel that they had the right to exit when it
became to intense. And I think the leader James Arthur Ray had a higher
tolerance for heat than the ones who died. I have been in many sweat
lodges and some people who lead sweat lodges make them very very hot to
where if you sit up the steam will literally scald off your flesh.
Though I have been in sweats like this I usually am laying down on the
straw at this point as I don't like my skin scalded off. I also in these
instances would usually put a towel over my face to filter the air so
it didn't scald my lungs as well. Some people who are on power quests
often would sit up or even try to stand up to gain their power. But
these were always physically exceptional people who could survive
something like this and knew it. The problem was that during this
particular sweat many of the people likely had not been in a sweat lodge
before. To take 50 or 60 people into a sweat lodge and make it this hot
for 8 rounds isn't something almost anyone could easily survive. 4
rounds that hot is usually the most anyone can easily survive without
becoming so altered that they would need to go to the hospital. Most
human bodies have limits of endurance and if you go past that some
people are going to die. My sadness about this is that the people who
died didn't seem to understand that their lives were threatened by this
experience. My only thought is that they hadn't eaten anything in 36
hours already and so were already hallucinating because of this and were
incapable of adult decisions any longer. I think this is the best way
to address what happened to the three that died. So with no food and
very little water if any no one could make a good decision to keep
themselves alive. The fact that the people running the sweat didn't
understand this is sort of beyond my present belief system. When someone
is running any group it should be tailored to the weakest in any group
not the strongest. Otherwise people die like they did in this sweat
lodge.
The other problem I can see with all this is that Sedona, Arizona is at 4423 feet in altitude at the city manager's office and likely from 4000 to 5000 feet in the general areas of Sedona already so when you put a lot of people in an enclosed sweat lodge there will not be enough oxygen for that many people to breathe enough oxygen. So this likely was a factor too.
The other problem I can see with all this is that Sedona, Arizona is at 4423 feet in altitude at the city manager's office and likely from 4000 to 5000 feet in the general areas of Sedona already so when you put a lot of people in an enclosed sweat lodge there will not be enough oxygen for that many people to breathe enough oxygen. So this likely was a factor too.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Dragon Haiku And Golden Dragon True Story
Dragon Spirit
Powerful
Immortal
For those of you who haven't heard about this before, to me this has always been pretty amazing.
In 1983 I was shown to do a vision quest of 4 days with my Native American Medicine man that I was studying with with my wife and friends. I was at a sweat lodge with another Medicine man who was the son of a really powerful medicine man I saw "the energy" upon an insect and it flew in the direction of where my Medicine man lived that I was studying with a couple hundred miles away. So, I knew it was time for my vision quest. I was upset about this because how many of us want to go somewhere and not eat or drink anything for 4 days and 4 nights or 96 hours straight. But, I try to be obedient to God as I always knew God had plans for me.
So, I resigned myself to this even though I was a little scared at doing this. When I arrived at Eagle Cliffs where my medicine man and his family lived with my family there on the Trinity River on the South Fork, he did a Sweat Lodge for me, my wife and children. But, he looked worried as the river suddenly turned brown as we entered the sweat lodge. I personally saw this as a good sign of Spiritual Cleansing and purification and of the washing away of things no longer needed in life.
After the Sweat Lodge I walked up stream 4 miles to a Bear Wallow I had chosen for my 96 hours without food or water. The first two days were very difficult and somewhat boring and at times my mind screamed at me, "Stop this! You are going to die! What are you doing?" But somehow I maintained the courage to not eat or drink anything. In 1983 I was 35 so I was in excellent health from living a country and organic lifestyle and home schooling my children from 2 1/2 acres of land and a house I had built myself with my father and friends and wife. So, I was physically and psychologically strong enough to do this.
I think it was during the night of the 2nd day that I became a 50 to 100 foot tall golden dragon. (When you don't eat or drink your experience of reality changes to a much more primal state especially if you are praying all the time). At first it was a completely terrifying experience because of just how powerful and how primal the Golden Dragon was. Then I as the Dragon Breathed out Sacred Fire upon thousands of people. And as I did this it did not burn them, instead it made them smile in happiness and enlightenment. At this point I was as surprised as anyone at this occurrence. At the time it was very emotional and tears came to my eyes and I was changed at a very deep level at seeing this vision. I never forgot this vision as I was looking for my spiritual path forward. I realized 2 days later when I was able to go into another sweat lodge and being given bless blackberries and blessed Salmon and water and other ceremonial spiritual food after walking 4 miles after not eating for 96 hours. (I must admit walking back along the river was sort of like walking in a dream after not eating or drinking anything for 96 hours).
So, I guess what I'm saying to all of you is my experience now is that everything I write is the "Dragon's Breath" of that vision. And by taking the path of the Golden Dragon I began to study then in 1983 with Tibetan Lamas in the U.S. , India and Nepal which brought me on a path of compassion to metaphorically to become the "Dragon of compassion" that I experienced in my vision almost 30 years ago now.
And the Dragon's fire is enlightenment that ends suffering and brings enlightenment and bliss for all beings no matter whether they believe in God or not or anything at all except kindness to all beings living and dead.
After this vision quest I learned more about a path of compassion and found it to be for me the single most powerful and useful to all beings path I have ever found in this lifetime which can permanently end suffering and bring bliss to all souls in the past, present and future.
This appears to be the most useful prayer for someone on a path of Compassion:
May All Beings Attain Bliss and the Cause of Bliss
May All Beings be Free from Suffering and the Cause of Suffering
May All Beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is
Free from all near and far all grasping and aversion.
And the ending which I learned from Tibetan Lamas can be:
By this merit may I become like all the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas
of the Ten Directions and the three times.
For example, Jesus would also be considered a Buddha in this way of thinking and
Communicating too. The Ten Directions are the way to travel all Galaxies and outer Space
as well as on earth. The Three Times are the Past, the Present and the Future.
I often walk around with this prayer going a lot of the time in my head as I go about my daily business, asleep, and sometimes I even wake up saying this in my head. I experience this as already accomplished in the Past, the present and the Future through positive thinking, and so it is. The more of us that do this the better planet we will live on past, present and future.
By the way, since Compassionate Buddhist Thought isn't considered a religion in western thought many Christians are also philosophically Buddhists as well like myself. So, I consider myself to be a Mystical Christian and Tibetan Buddhist at the same time. It works for me. However, I am one of the 25% of Buddhists worldwide who also believe in God as well.
Powerful
Immortal
For those of you who haven't heard about this before, to me this has always been pretty amazing.
In 1983 I was shown to do a vision quest of 4 days with my Native American Medicine man that I was studying with with my wife and friends. I was at a sweat lodge with another Medicine man who was the son of a really powerful medicine man I saw "the energy" upon an insect and it flew in the direction of where my Medicine man lived that I was studying with a couple hundred miles away. So, I knew it was time for my vision quest. I was upset about this because how many of us want to go somewhere and not eat or drink anything for 4 days and 4 nights or 96 hours straight. But, I try to be obedient to God as I always knew God had plans for me.
So, I resigned myself to this even though I was a little scared at doing this. When I arrived at Eagle Cliffs where my medicine man and his family lived with my family there on the Trinity River on the South Fork, he did a Sweat Lodge for me, my wife and children. But, he looked worried as the river suddenly turned brown as we entered the sweat lodge. I personally saw this as a good sign of Spiritual Cleansing and purification and of the washing away of things no longer needed in life.
After the Sweat Lodge I walked up stream 4 miles to a Bear Wallow I had chosen for my 96 hours without food or water. The first two days were very difficult and somewhat boring and at times my mind screamed at me, "Stop this! You are going to die! What are you doing?" But somehow I maintained the courage to not eat or drink anything. In 1983 I was 35 so I was in excellent health from living a country and organic lifestyle and home schooling my children from 2 1/2 acres of land and a house I had built myself with my father and friends and wife. So, I was physically and psychologically strong enough to do this.
I think it was during the night of the 2nd day that I became a 50 to 100 foot tall golden dragon. (When you don't eat or drink your experience of reality changes to a much more primal state especially if you are praying all the time). At first it was a completely terrifying experience because of just how powerful and how primal the Golden Dragon was. Then I as the Dragon Breathed out Sacred Fire upon thousands of people. And as I did this it did not burn them, instead it made them smile in happiness and enlightenment. At this point I was as surprised as anyone at this occurrence. At the time it was very emotional and tears came to my eyes and I was changed at a very deep level at seeing this vision. I never forgot this vision as I was looking for my spiritual path forward. I realized 2 days later when I was able to go into another sweat lodge and being given bless blackberries and blessed Salmon and water and other ceremonial spiritual food after walking 4 miles after not eating for 96 hours. (I must admit walking back along the river was sort of like walking in a dream after not eating or drinking anything for 96 hours).
So, I guess what I'm saying to all of you is my experience now is that everything I write is the "Dragon's Breath" of that vision. And by taking the path of the Golden Dragon I began to study then in 1983 with Tibetan Lamas in the U.S. , India and Nepal which brought me on a path of compassion to metaphorically to become the "Dragon of compassion" that I experienced in my vision almost 30 years ago now.
And the Dragon's fire is enlightenment that ends suffering and brings enlightenment and bliss for all beings no matter whether they believe in God or not or anything at all except kindness to all beings living and dead.
After this vision quest I learned more about a path of compassion and found it to be for me the single most powerful and useful to all beings path I have ever found in this lifetime which can permanently end suffering and bring bliss to all souls in the past, present and future.
This appears to be the most useful prayer for someone on a path of Compassion:
May All Beings Attain Bliss and the Cause of Bliss
May All Beings be Free from Suffering and the Cause of Suffering
May All Beings never be without the Supreme Bliss that is
Free from all near and far all grasping and aversion.
And the ending which I learned from Tibetan Lamas can be:
By this merit may I become like all the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas
of the Ten Directions and the three times.
For example, Jesus would also be considered a Buddha in this way of thinking and
Communicating too. The Ten Directions are the way to travel all Galaxies and outer Space
as well as on earth. The Three Times are the Past, the Present and the Future.
I often walk around with this prayer going a lot of the time in my head as I go about my daily business, asleep, and sometimes I even wake up saying this in my head. I experience this as already accomplished in the Past, the present and the Future through positive thinking, and so it is. The more of us that do this the better planet we will live on past, present and future.
By the way, since Compassionate Buddhist Thought isn't considered a religion in western thought many Christians are also philosophically Buddhists as well like myself. So, I consider myself to be a Mystical Christian and Tibetan Buddhist at the same time. It works for me. However, I am one of the 25% of Buddhists worldwide who also believe in God as well.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Charlie Thom has passed away
Charlie Thom passed away. I found out less than 1/2 hour ago while a
friend called me to tell me he was going to one of the Sweat Lodge sites
on Mt. Shasta that he used sanctioned by the Forest Service. Charlie
Thom was one of the most amazing medicine men I have ever met or sweat
with in his Sweat Lodges starting in the early 1980s. He will be missed
by all who knew him.
Search Results
Charlie Thom Old Sweat Lodge - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV301krKA_MMay 30, 2012 - Uploaded by MIchael GleasonCharlie Thom, A Native America Karuk Medicine Man, shows us his old sweat lodge near the Marble ...
About - WALKING BACKWARDS
www.walkingbackwardsfilm.com/About.htmlFeb 27, 2011In 1980, while on sabbatical in the mountains of Northern California, New York photographer-filmmaker John ...
Charlie “Red Hawk” Thom - Karuk Elder - The Best of Mt Shasta ...
mtshastaconferenceschedule.com/blog/charlie-thom-karuk-elder/Charlie Thom, Karuk Elder – Photo by Larry Reed ShadowLight Productions ... Charlie Thom – Prayer and The Old healing Ways of his Ancestors, Herbs, ...
Charlie Thom | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/charlie.thom.7Charlie Thom is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Charlie Thom and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes ...
Charles “Red Hawk” Thom Sr
www.bbrilliant.com/CHARLESREDHAWKTHOM/Charles “Red Hawk” Thom Sr. Northern California Native American Karuk medicine man-ceremonial leader Charles “Charlie” Thom was. born near the Marble ...
Walking Backwards - EarthAlive
www.earthalive.com/Walking_Backwards.htmlCharlie Thom, age 3, with his older brother. Charles Thom Sr singing World Renewel song with ancient white deer skin at the Museum of Natural History in New ...Images for Charlie Thom
I likely met Charlie Thom for the first time when I was about 33 years old which would have likely been spring or summer of 1981. I was married for the second time and was raising my son from my first marriage and my 2nd wife's 2 kids from her first marriage at the time. We were home schooling our children and living very remote on 2 1/2 in an A Frame that I had built on our land. We were studying with several medicine men at the time and through one of them we met Charlie Thom. I immediately liked Charlie Thom because he was naturally Crazy Wisdom like me and very intuitively gifted like I was too. In fact, I was sweating with one of his sons in a sweat lodge and there were about 50 people there and I realized I was supposed to do a Vision Quest so I did in the summer of 1983 on the South Fork of the Trinity River about 5 miles from the nearest human being or dirt road in a bear wallow there. This 4 days without water or food changed my life in many ways because it was incredibly empowering. When I realized I could actually live that long without water or food I was really impressed with what a healthy human being can do. Also, I learned how as one enters through prayers these states of consciousness they are very different from city consciousness. You senses open up and you realize that most people are only aware of about 1% to 10% of who and what they really are. This is incredibly empowering for someone like me. So, I'm very grateful to all the medicine people including Charlie Thom that I studied with at that time for helping me to see that human beings are much more than they usually appear to be.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Spiritual Friends in the Mt. Shasta Area 1970 to the present
I was raised from birth until 1969 in the Saint Germain Foundation. My
parents were in charge of the Hope Street "I AM" Sanctuary in Los
Angeles from 1954 when I was 6 to 1960 when I was 12. We lived in
Glendale from 1956 on to 1969.
In 1969 the Saint Germain Foundation and I parted ways which was very difficult for me. So, I continued my spiritual path the rest of my life on my own separate from the Saint Germain Foundation. However, Saint Germain and Jesus continued in my life as every day 24 hour a day experiences, as well as Archangel Michael, Mary the Mother of Jesus and many other Ascended masters and angels. This was something I experienced all the time.
After I left the Saint Germain Foundation I missed the people I grew up with in church that I had met from all over the United States and from all over the world, especially places like England and Scotland, Switzerland and Germany and Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
So, this left a people gap in my life that was hard to refill.
Over time I met spiritual people around the Mt. Shasta Area and continued Mountain climbing mountains like Mt. Shasta, San Gorgonio and rock climbing in places like Yosemite National Park, Castle Crags near Mt. Shasta, and Taquitz rock near Idylwild, California and other places as well with friends.
And often I would travel to Mt. Shasta from San Diego where I was attending College in the early 1970s at least 4 times or more a year on a kind of spiritual quest and mountain climbing, swimming in lakes like Castle Lake and others, running the rapids of the Sacramento River from Lake Siskiyou from Box Canyon Dam to Dunsmuir. I finally stopped running the rapids on inner tubes when I almost died doing this one year. But, I continued visiting places like Panther Meadows and Castle Lake all my life since 1970. My first experience with Mt. Shasta was in 1948 when I was 2 months old when my parents took me there to be blessed by Mrs. Ballard who led the Saint Germain Foundation after her husband Mt. Ballard passed away.
In the 1970s I also met Pearl Dorris who then lived in Mt. Shasta who was a personal student of Mr. Ballard but who left the Saint Germain Foundation when Mt. Ballard passed away and Ascended and did her spiritual work on her own like me and thousands of others. So, she was a very important soul for me to meet because she had by then had a lifetime (from the 1930s until the 1970s) of doing her spiritual work without a religious organization to be a part of. So, in this sense she was a very important person for me to meet because she was a very very bright light. Often when 30 to 50 young people would gather at her home the room would glow gold with the Presence of Jesus and other Ascended masters like Saint Germain. It was a very happy time whenever I could visit one of these meetings of young people and people of every age from all around the world who visited. Even Walter Cronkite visited her at one point because of the caliber of many of the people who visited Pearl Dorris from all over the world as a spiritual teacher and spiritual friend.
I knew Pearl Dorris from the mid 1970s until she eventually moved to Yreka where she eventually passed on in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Another spiritual friend that I met around 1983 was Charlie Thom who was a college educated Karuk Medicine man.
In 1969 the Saint Germain Foundation and I parted ways which was very difficult for me. So, I continued my spiritual path the rest of my life on my own separate from the Saint Germain Foundation. However, Saint Germain and Jesus continued in my life as every day 24 hour a day experiences, as well as Archangel Michael, Mary the Mother of Jesus and many other Ascended masters and angels. This was something I experienced all the time.
After I left the Saint Germain Foundation I missed the people I grew up with in church that I had met from all over the United States and from all over the world, especially places like England and Scotland, Switzerland and Germany and Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
So, this left a people gap in my life that was hard to refill.
Over time I met spiritual people around the Mt. Shasta Area and continued Mountain climbing mountains like Mt. Shasta, San Gorgonio and rock climbing in places like Yosemite National Park, Castle Crags near Mt. Shasta, and Taquitz rock near Idylwild, California and other places as well with friends.
And often I would travel to Mt. Shasta from San Diego where I was attending College in the early 1970s at least 4 times or more a year on a kind of spiritual quest and mountain climbing, swimming in lakes like Castle Lake and others, running the rapids of the Sacramento River from Lake Siskiyou from Box Canyon Dam to Dunsmuir. I finally stopped running the rapids on inner tubes when I almost died doing this one year. But, I continued visiting places like Panther Meadows and Castle Lake all my life since 1970. My first experience with Mt. Shasta was in 1948 when I was 2 months old when my parents took me there to be blessed by Mrs. Ballard who led the Saint Germain Foundation after her husband Mt. Ballard passed away.
In the 1970s I also met Pearl Dorris who then lived in Mt. Shasta who was a personal student of Mr. Ballard but who left the Saint Germain Foundation when Mt. Ballard passed away and Ascended and did her spiritual work on her own like me and thousands of others. So, she was a very important soul for me to meet because she had by then had a lifetime (from the 1930s until the 1970s) of doing her spiritual work without a religious organization to be a part of. So, in this sense she was a very important person for me to meet because she was a very very bright light. Often when 30 to 50 young people would gather at her home the room would glow gold with the Presence of Jesus and other Ascended masters like Saint Germain. It was a very happy time whenever I could visit one of these meetings of young people and people of every age from all around the world who visited. Even Walter Cronkite visited her at one point because of the caliber of many of the people who visited Pearl Dorris from all over the world as a spiritual teacher and spiritual friend.
I knew Pearl Dorris from the mid 1970s until she eventually moved to Yreka where she eventually passed on in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Another spiritual friend that I met around 1983 was Charlie Thom who was a college educated Karuk Medicine man.
Karuk language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuk_language
Karuk or Karok is an endangered language of northwestern California. It is the traditional language of the Karuk people, most of whom now speak English.
Wikipedia
Karuk Tribe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuk_Tribe
The Karuk Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Karuk people. They are an indigenous people of California, located in the northwestern corner of the state, ...
Wikipedia
The most special things for me about Charlie Thom was
that he was Crazy Wisdom like me which means "The Wisdom Beyond Logic"
which is basically intuitively always being in just the right place at
the right time to save any being that needs saving in any physical,
mental, emotional or spiritual way in that moment. So, he was also a
practitioner of "Spontaneous Accomplishment" like I have learned to be
more proficient at over the years.
So, I found myself always happy to meet with him or to
sweat sometimes in groups up to 100 with him in whatever sweat lodge he
built on mt. Shasta below Panther meadows (sanctioned by the Forest
Service because of a history of this by his tribe for thousands of years
already. He also built sweat lodges near Lake Siskiyou (also sanctioned
usually by the Forest Service because of the ancient spiritual heritage
of the 6 or more tribes that had surrounded Mt. Shasta for thousands of
years and all considered it a "Sacred Mountain".
Charlie was extremely developed supernaturally. For
example, he could if a child was missing look inside himself and "See"
where that child was and help rescuers find that child or missing person
often before they died. These kinds of abilities were "Normal" for
medicine men and women of tribes throughout the U.S. and still are
today.
Charlie was the person who I asked about "Rock People"
when they started speaking to me. I felt a little strange asking him
about this. But, he said that "Rock People" were the ones the heated up
in the fire and took into the sweat Lodge into the Womb of Mother Earth
to purify all in the sweat lodge so they could become "Reborn" through
the Sweat Lodge Ceremony and be renewed in their lives.
Charlie Thom has now passed away too.
So, I write of my Spiritual Friend, Pearl Dorris and my
spiritual Friend, Charlie Thom to honor their help in the lives of
thousands and thousands of people throughout their lives.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Rock People?
- Reprint of: Nanobot Red Corpuscles to allow potent...
- I was rereading the article on R2D4 and Grandpa Fred and it took me back to my first conscious experience with the "Rock People".
One day I was despondent because I had moved from the remote wilderness with my family and was having to deal with a lot of affluent people that were my in laws and in business. We had moved from the wilderness because we had bought a business and though it was financially successful I was sad to be away from a life I really loved. Though I loved the California coast and ocean I missed the amazing wilderness life I had loved while home schooling my children with my wife.
One day it was just too much for me and so I went to the coast and a part of me just wanted to jump off a cliff into the ocean because of the pressures of my new life as a businessman around affluent people and seeing the changes to my children now no longer being home schooled and in good public schools in this area. I longed for my previous life in the remote wilderness once again. I don't think my then wife were ever really happy again after leaving our country remote lifestyle until we broke up about 10 years later in 1994 for the last time.
But, as I cried and considered jumping off this cliff the rock people began to speak to me. This is what they said then, "You don't need to jump. You are in transition from one life to another. There is no need to end your life in a physical body because of it. You will adjust."
I said, "Who are you?"
They said, "We are the rock people. We have lived for millions of years and have watched all creatures come and go. We see you like wild flowers that come in the spring. Your lives are very short but you are a part of us. We are with you as your bones and the minerals in your blood. We are a part of you, just like the ocean is a part of your body too."
Later, I visited Charlie Thom and asked him about the rock people. He said, "The rock people visit our sweat lodge when we heat them on the fire and bring them into the sweat lodge which is the womb of mother earth in which we are all reborn. My people have spoken with the rock people for thousands of years in my tradition I learned from my grandparents."
So, now I had a context for the "Rock people" which is a thousands of years old tradition of medicine men and women and sweat lodges in Native American cultures throughout North, South and Central America.
Later, after a sweat when I had the spins from so much heat I got out of the sweat lodge and lay on the rocks by the side of the river and it all came together for me like this:
The ROCK PEOPLE
"We are your bones
The water your blood
Your breath the sky."
This is extremely powerful at a very primal level of all life on earth.
The rock people are saying to you and me "We are your bones"
Then they are saying "The water is your blood"
And
Your breath is the sky above you.
So, literally we are the rocks, the oceans and the air and sky.
We are everything all the time. We aren't just humans, we are the earth and sea and sky all the time.
This is very very powerful. Can you feel it?
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
The Water Your Blood
The Water your Blood
The Rocks your bones
Your Breath the Sky
In the late 1980s I had a very profound experience while sweating with Charlie Thom just north of Lake Siskiyou in his sweat lodge that was then there sanctioned by the Forest Service.
After one round inside the Sweat Lodge I got out and had the "spins" from too much heat in the Sauna like atmosphere of a sweat lodge there so I got into the river to cool down and then laid on the round river rocks (some of which were used for rocks for the sweat "The Rock People" as Charlie would say.
So, as I was trying to have the "spins" pass I was communing with the nature spirits of the river and the rocks and the air when I had this profound realization.
Often when white people for instance live within a culture (or any race or races) they think of themselves as separate from the land, the water and the air when in actuality this is ridiculous.
So, I found myself in communing with the Rocks, the water in the river and the Air in the Sky and realizing just how ridiculous people actually are to think in this separate way when the water, the rocks and the air are always a part of them form the moment they are conceived in their mother's womb to way after they die. Even if people are cremated still the pieces of bones and the powder of bones often remain in the cremains of people.
So, I found this poem flowing out of me to express this in a way we all could relate to.
The water your blood
The Rocks your bones
Your breath the sky
If you actually think about it whenever you breathe air it is a very intimate experience with the earth. If you are in a small room you are all breathing in and sharing the same air with all the other people there. If you are drinking water how many other people have drunk some or all of that water since beginningless time here on earth. The water may be evaporated from the sea or a lake and come down in snow or rain and then you drink it, but even after you urinate it out the soil and rocks filter it and it goes down to the ocean or into a river or lake and may be used again and again and again for thousands of millions of years past and future. You bones may have been a part of the cattle or pigs or birds or fish you have eaten and how many times has this happened over and over again?
The air that you breathe might have been breathed by literally most people on earth at one time or another throughout human history or by an eagle or a bird or deer or bear or whatever. Everything on earth is related. We are all related through the air, the water and the rocks forever as long as any of us choose to remain on earth rather than visiting another world in the future. We are in a sense all one gigantic life form here on earth that really can't be separated in any useful way.
So, everything that lives (and even things we don't sometimes consider to be alive) are all alive together and one with the living being Earth. We are all inseparable. And when I think this way I feel safe, alive and empowered by this.
The Rocks your bones
Your Breath the Sky
In the late 1980s I had a very profound experience while sweating with Charlie Thom just north of Lake Siskiyou in his sweat lodge that was then there sanctioned by the Forest Service.
After one round inside the Sweat Lodge I got out and had the "spins" from too much heat in the Sauna like atmosphere of a sweat lodge there so I got into the river to cool down and then laid on the round river rocks (some of which were used for rocks for the sweat "The Rock People" as Charlie would say.
So, as I was trying to have the "spins" pass I was communing with the nature spirits of the river and the rocks and the air when I had this profound realization.
Often when white people for instance live within a culture (or any race or races) they think of themselves as separate from the land, the water and the air when in actuality this is ridiculous.
So, I found myself in communing with the Rocks, the water in the river and the Air in the Sky and realizing just how ridiculous people actually are to think in this separate way when the water, the rocks and the air are always a part of them form the moment they are conceived in their mother's womb to way after they die. Even if people are cremated still the pieces of bones and the powder of bones often remain in the cremains of people.
So, I found this poem flowing out of me to express this in a way we all could relate to.
The water your blood
The Rocks your bones
Your breath the sky
If you actually think about it whenever you breathe air it is a very intimate experience with the earth. If you are in a small room you are all breathing in and sharing the same air with all the other people there. If you are drinking water how many other people have drunk some or all of that water since beginningless time here on earth. The water may be evaporated from the sea or a lake and come down in snow or rain and then you drink it, but even after you urinate it out the soil and rocks filter it and it goes down to the ocean or into a river or lake and may be used again and again and again for thousands of millions of years past and future. You bones may have been a part of the cattle or pigs or birds or fish you have eaten and how many times has this happened over and over again?
The air that you breathe might have been breathed by literally most people on earth at one time or another throughout human history or by an eagle or a bird or deer or bear or whatever. Everything on earth is related. We are all related through the air, the water and the rocks forever as long as any of us choose to remain on earth rather than visiting another world in the future. We are in a sense all one gigantic life form here on earth that really can't be separated in any useful way.
So, everything that lives (and even things we don't sometimes consider to be alive) are all alive together and one with the living being Earth. We are all inseparable. And when I think this way I feel safe, alive and empowered by this.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
June 2nd: Longmire: A&E Original
I just thought you might like to know new episodes of Longmire on
A&E network will begin on June 2nd at Monday 10 PM and 9 central
time or (7pm Pacific Time).
My wife and I have always liked this series. My wife likes it because she used to do Ropes courses when she was young and worked with divergent youth in Indian Reservations and in the San Francisco area on Weekends in an "Outward bound" kind of program working with troubled or divergent youth. Also, she likes to collect American Indian Art pieces from around the country especially places like Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming etc.
IN one of the Longmire episodes Longmire does a Sundance with eagle talons and leather cords with the talons placed under his pectoral muscles to increase the pain. This is done to sort of (expiate or to work off karma is a good way to put it) so you can move forward in your life once again. I'm not sure many people knew enough of what was happening when you saw Longmire like this, however.
I never had the need to do that but I did do a 4 day vision quest of no water and no food in the deep wilderness so deep I saw no one walked by during those 96 hours of no water and no food while praying in 1983.
I like to watch Longmire because I used to live way out in the country in Mt. Shasta, California and knew many native American medicine Men and women especially during the 1980s. Charlie Thom, a Karuk Medicine man that I liked a lot because he is crazy wisdom like me and lived in I believe Fort Jones. So, we always got along well. Also, I sweat many many times with him leading the sweat or with one of his children that also lead Sweat lodges too over the years. He recently passed away.
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My wife and I have always liked this series. My wife likes it because she used to do Ropes courses when she was young and worked with divergent youth in Indian Reservations and in the San Francisco area on Weekends in an "Outward bound" kind of program working with troubled or divergent youth. Also, she likes to collect American Indian Art pieces from around the country especially places like Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming etc.
IN one of the Longmire episodes Longmire does a Sundance with eagle talons and leather cords with the talons placed under his pectoral muscles to increase the pain. This is done to sort of (expiate or to work off karma is a good way to put it) so you can move forward in your life once again. I'm not sure many people knew enough of what was happening when you saw Longmire like this, however.
I never had the need to do that but I did do a 4 day vision quest of no water and no food in the deep wilderness so deep I saw no one walked by during those 96 hours of no water and no food while praying in 1983.
I like to watch Longmire because I used to live way out in the country in Mt. Shasta, California and knew many native American medicine Men and women especially during the 1980s. Charlie Thom, a Karuk Medicine man that I liked a lot because he is crazy wisdom like me and lived in I believe Fort Jones. So, we always got along well. Also, I sweat many many times with him leading the sweat or with one of his children that also lead Sweat lodges too over the years. He recently passed away.
In Loving Memory: Charles Robert Thom, Sr. - Two Rivers ...
www.tworiverstribune.com/.../in-loving-memory-charles-robert-thom-sr/
Oct 18, 2013 - Charlie was born on April 4, 1928 to Reece and Irene Thom in Fort Jones, CA. He was raised with traditional values and culture of the Karuk ...Charlie Thom Old Sweat Lodge - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV301krKA...
YouTube
May 30, 2012 - Uploaded by MIchael Gleason
Charlie Thom, A Native America Karuk Medicine Man, shows us his old sweat lodge near the Marble ...About - Home
www.walkingbackwardsfilm.com/About.html
In
1980, while on sabbatical in the mountains of Northern California, New
York photographer-filmmaker John Veltri met Karuk elder Charlie Thom at an old ...Walking Backwards - EarthAlive
www.earthalive.com/Walking_Backwards.html
Charlie Thom,
age 3, with his older brother. Charles Thom Sr singing World Renewel
song with ancient white deer skin at the Museum of Natural History in
New ...Bobby Lake-Thom
www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1372.20;wap2
I
met Robert Lake-Thom after reading his book, "Call of the Great Spirit.
... I received an account from Megan James, a former follower of Charlie Thom, about ...CHARLIE THOM RED HAWK - Daniel Ripp Photography
www.ripptography.com/gallery.html?gallery=CHARLIE+THOM...
CHARLIE THOM
RED HAWK : Fine Art. Travel ,photographer, Native Ameriacn, sacared
prayer rocks ,portrait, and land scape,. babies, to bands., flowers,
and ...Charles "Red Hawk" Thom Memorial Page | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/charlesredhawkthom
Charles "Red Hawk" Thom Memorial Page. 313 likes. This page was put together to remember a man who has influenced and inspired many lives. Charlie was.Charlie Thom | Facebook
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Charlie Thom is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Charlie Thom and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes ...Charles “Red Hawk” Thom Sr
www.bbrilliant.com/CHARLESREDHAWKTHOM/
Northern California Native American Karuk medicine man-ceremonial leader Charles “Charlie” Thom was. born near the Marble Mountain Wilderness in ScottCharlie “Red Hawk” Thom - Karuk Elder - The Best of Mt ...
mtshastaconferenceschedule.com/blog/charlie-thom-karuk-elder/
Charlie Thom,
Karuk Elder – Photo by Larry Reed ShadowLight Productions. The evening
(as of this post) will include: Ceremonial Drummers – Calling in the ...
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