"The Bushman Way of Tracking God"

[Ulises]

Greetings,

I strongly recommend "The Bushman Way of Tracking God" by Bradford Keeney. Stricto sensu, it's speaking about the Bushman way of attuning to the Life Force, but the author weaves effortlessly the world traditions of attuning to the energy, revealing the common experiential ground underlying schools, lineages, cultural forms, etc.

It looks that this is a "mojo book", meaning that the original intention of the author was to create a book infused - so to speak - with the qi of the "Shaking Medicine". There are already some reports from readers having interesting experiences (dreams, energetic phenomena, etc.) which seem to point in this direction.

Here a interview about the book:

 

http://arewelistening.net/podcasts/BradfordKeeney_2010_9_28.mp3

Edited October 22, 2010 by Ulises

[Mokona]

I'll have to see if that is in my reading list, i've liked what i've read from Keeney thus far..

[Ulises]

I'll have to see if that is in my reading list, i've liked what i've read from Keeney thus far..

 

 

hi Mokona,

It can be my timing, but this latest book by Brad Keeney is - for me - a quantum jump: full of heart & soul, courage and magic: a transformative reading. I'm laughing wildly and crying as a baby - my heart breaking and expanding - as I'm riding this soul roller coaster.... ; )

Edited October 24, 2010 by Ulises

[Harmonious Emptiness]

That interview was great. Thanks for sharing.

I've been reading autobiographies of Shamans for a little while now. Black Elk, Wallace Black Elk, Bear Heart, Lame Deer, Kenneth Cohen, and Lewis Mehl-Madrona. Hadn't heard of Bradford Keeney. Maybe you have a few more suggestions? If you haven't read the ones I mentioned above -- I'm sure the authors would gladly share the teachings. Some myths are only supposed to be told after the first snowfall, so some may choose to wait a bit before starting Lewis Mehl-Madrona's book. Absolutely enriching books

[三江源]

Hi HarmoniousE, about books: I really enjoyed Malidoma Some and Martin Prechtel's books, both beautifully written and fascinating. Would recommend 100%.

[Ulises]

Hi HarmoniousE, about books: I really enjoyed Malidoma Some and Martin Prechtel's books, both beautifully written and fascinating. Would recommend 100%.

 

 

Yeah! Malidoma's and Prechtel's are great books. I think one of the best books on shamanism is Barbara Tedlock's "The woman in the shaman body". She is the granddaughter of an Ojibwe midwife and herbalist and was trained and initiated as a shaman by the K'iche' Maya of highland Guatemala.

http://www.barbaratedlock.com/

 

A book that I'm reading now that is fascinating is Hank Wesselman's "VisionSeeker: Shared Wisdom from the Place of Refuge".

And the recent experiences he has had are reeeeally interesting:

http://www.sharedwisdom.com/article/encounter-jinn-genie-egypt

[gendao]

Greetings,

I strongly recommend "The Bushman Way of Tracking God" by Bradford Keeney. Stricto sensu, it's speaking about the Bushman way of attuning to the Life Force, but the author weaves effortlessly the world traditions of attuning to the energy, revealing the common experiential ground underlying schools, lineages, cultural forms, etc.

It looks that this is a "mojo book", meaning that the original intention of the author was to create a book infused - so to speak - with the qi of the "Shaking Medicine". There are already some reports from readers having interesting experiences (dreams, energetic phenomena, etc.) which seem to point in this direction.

Here a interview about the book:

 

http://arewelistening.net/podcasts/BradfordKeeney_2010_9_28.mp3

Cool interview..

 

Sounds like he had a spontaneous kundalini awakening before even researching the Bushmen.

 

But what is his actual "awakening" technique though?

 

He recommends playfully shaking your booty to jazz...but if it were that simple, masses of people in jazz dancehalls would have awakened their kundalinis too. But that never happened.

 

Anyone taken one of his workshops?

[Ulises]

Cool interview..

 

Sounds like he had a spontaneous kundalini awakening before even researching the Bushmen.

 

But what is his actual "awakening" technique though?

 

He recommends playfully shaking your booty to jazz...but if it were that simple, masses of people in jazz dancehalls would have awakened their kundalinis too. But that never happened.

 

Anyone taken one of his workshops?

 

I've attended two gatherings of Shaking Medicine. It's stunning ( and I have experienced some amazing experiences).

It's difficult to put in words, but the key thing,for me, it would be kind of dropping your mind in your heart - definitely is an opening to heightened feelings - an attitude of child-like expectation, or opening to the mystery...from the heart.

I have to say that shaking with a group of people has been/is the strongest catalyst for change, growth,healing, ecstatic joy, at all levels in my life...I keep doing it by myself, but I long for joining a group of shakers...the synergy is amazing...

I learnt an adaptation of the Japanese version - seiki-jutsu - ten years ago through this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Break-Recharge-Your-Autokinetics/dp/0307440362

 

Keeney had a fascinating series of sinchronicities that led him to Ikuko Osumi sensei - master of seiki-jutsu - and he had the formal transmission as the heir of this healing art.

Brad Keeney has edited a enciclopedia of global shamanism - "Profiles in healing" series - with all the medicine people he has worked with..it's a gem of a collection:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5448450-ikuko-osumi-japanese-master-of-seiki-jutsu-profiles-in-healing

 

I'm posting a simple instructions just in case anyone want to try:

 

That Shaking Feeling and How to Get There

 

Shaking medicine is different from any spiritual dancing, aerobics, trance dancing, or bodywork I have experienced or witnessed. It is not the ecstatic dancing of Gabrielle Roth or the organized whirling of the Sufis. You don't consciously create the shake. The shake shakes you. Once you get going, you may find that some of your automatic movements seem familiar, but here they serve to bring forth the shaking medicine. In this spirited expression, the shake and the vibration are more important than the dance.

 

Here are some possible experiences:

 

• Highly charged excitement

 

• Simultaneous deep relaxation and heightened arousal

 

• Vibrating, prickling, or tingling sensations; sensations of energy or electricity-like currents circulating in the body

 

• Intense heat or cold

 

• Muscle twitches and involuntary body movements: jerking, tremors, quaking, and shaking

 

• Desire to move into an unusual body posture

 

• Awareness of an inner force moving inside you or an inner voice that guides

 

• Feeling of being high ("drunk from the shake")

 

• Intensified sexual desire

 

• Increased heartbeat

 

• Spontaneous expression such as laughing or weeping

 

• Improvised vocalizations

 

• Hearing inner sounds like bees buzzing, drumming, moving water or wind, roaring, whooshing, thunder, ringing, or music

 

• Altered states of consciousness: expanded awareness, trance, or mystical experience

 

• Blissful feelings in the head, particularly the crown area

 

• Pervasive and indescribable bliss

 

• Intensified feelings of love, peace, and compassion

 

• Visionary and out-of-body experiences and imagined flight

 

• Belief that you are acquiring a healing power

 

• Stimulation of the desire for creative expression

 

• Deepened understanding of life; enlightenment, conversion, or transcendent experiences

 

Knowing that what you are experiencing is "normal" can make it more acceptable and pleasurable.

 

A GOOD PATH TO THE SHAKE

 

Shaking in the company of others is one of the most powerful experiences I know. Your shaking can be catalyzed and deepened by the presence of others. You can join me and others for that experience, or you can begin on your own:

 

1 | Focus on good feelings -- preferably love, compassion, and kindness -- and stay connected to them. It doesn't matter what words or phrases, if any, come to mind.

 

2 | Turn on some spirited rhythmic music and start wiggling and moving.

 

3 | It doesn't matter whether your eyes are open, half-closed, or closed. Do whatever feels natural.

 

4 | Activate your muscles, wiggling and moving them from head to toe.

 

5 | Gradually increase the rate of breathing until you are breathing rapidly.

 

6 | Assume an active attitude toward becoming excitable. Encourage yourself to tremble, shake, and quake.

 

7 | Continue shaking for as long as you wish. This is not an indulgence.

 

8 | At the end of the exercise, let your body do what it wants -- lie down, sit, walk, or whatever feels right.

 

9 | Do this when you desire, even once a day, but at least once a week.

 

--b.k.

 

 

 

 

 

If somebody it's interested here is a audio experience with Keeney:

http://www.soundstrue.com/articles/Shaking-An_Ecstatic_Celebration_of_Spirit_and_Life_with_Bradford_Keeney/

Edited October 26, 2010 by Ulises

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Ulises, you are a cool cat and a very interesting and welcome addition to the bums. Thanks for posting.

[Ulises]

Ulises, you are a cool cat and a very interesting and welcome addition to the bums. Thanks for posting.

 

And you are a gentle soul....thank you, brother

A n/om hug ; )