Shamanism
Discussion
The Solidaristic Aspects of Shamanism
Joseph Dillard:
"Shamanism is both a pursuit of ecstasy in an induced trance state and a structured approach to helping others. Activities central to shamanism include journeying to other realities to learn, gain power, explore other worlds, communicate with spirits, animals, or other-worldly people, see the causes and cures of illness, and intercede with friendly and demonic forces. Activities central to dream yogas include learning to wake up in the dream state, that is, become aware that you are dreaming while dreaming, setting intentions for lucid dreaming, use of specific pre-sleep suggestion, meditation, mental discipline and concentration, instructions about what to do while in a dream in order to wake up, as well as what should be done once one awakens in a dream.
While shamanism is traditionally found primarily in nomadic hunting and gathering societies, dream yogas are traditionally found in bronze age religions, principally of India, and currently both among those pursuing state awakenings within the context of a religion or spiritual path, or simply as a technology of life enrichment. The approach to waking up and life enrichment advocated by IDL is similar to traditions that stress karma margas, or paths to enlightenment, in that both emphasize awakening within secular daily life in preference to accessing ecstatic, other-worldly experiences which are the crux of shamanism. While shamanism traditionally serves individuals within tribes, religions serve ethnicities, and dream yogas serve self-development, IDL emphasizes a multi-perspectival worldcentric worldview that includes these different elements in a context that is both social, in the sense of global community, and intrasocial, in the sense of including interviewed dream characters and the personifications of life issues, called “emerging potentials.”