Hughes 2 and Walsh 1 & 2

Hughes:
I can't help but wonder why I'm interested in the parts about reaching an ASOC through meditation or yoga but not through using drugs. Is it because I've been taught that using drugs is bad? I'm guessing it is. This all sounds so interesting to me except for the part about taking hallucinigens. I would like to have this sort of "power" except, of course, for my desire to avoid the near-death-experience part. I commented last week about trying yoga for a few times and hoping to gain the health benefits and the spiritual ones as well. I didn't stick with it long enough though. I thought the connection made between football games and rave parties was interesting. I've never been to a "rave" but I have heard about them and I have attended many football games. I can understand why he is saying it's a "merging of the individual into the collective" at mass gatherings. This explains all of the terrible things that sometimes happen when there's a mob of people (like riots). I also like the quote from Plato that a divine daimon resides in us all that "could intervene through a dream or a sign, or even appear personally to direct what is favourable towards us and to compensate what is evil"---I believe this is true. Kind of like, everything happens for a reason. Of course, you have to sometimes look for what the reason is and try to find the 'good' in the 'bad'. Sorry to keep quoting but I love this one too (no comment on it other than it's a great quote) "But inspiration requires interpretation."


Walsh:
I enjoyed this reading more than Hughes. It mentions how some anthropologists started appreciating shamanism much more after learning and practicing first-hand rather than just observing. Again, the reading discussed meditation and yoga---both of which I'm interested in learning/practicing and how these can be used to reach a different state of consciousness. However, it does say that they can take weeks or months to produce effects whereas shamanism can work within minutes. Obvious question is: Where do I sign up? I like the fact that it states how this book "aims to examine shamanism from a larger perspective, a perspective that is historical, cross-cultural, and inter-religious." I think this is incredibly important because I've always wondered how differnet I would be had I been born/grown up in a different part of the world where, for instance, Christianity isn't the dominant religion. My beliefs would be different than what they are now and all of that was affected/determined by where I was born. I wish I had the time and inclination to study every single religion and all the history of the world to come up with some answers on my own---until then, I guess I'll have to go on wondering. One last time--I have to use this quote. This one actually reflects on my comments last week about the power of positive thinking. "Those who can control attention can therefore cultivate specific emotions and motives."