Impeccability
One of the most important keys to living in this world as a healer is to incorporate our skills and disciplines into our hearts in the most impeccable way possible. It is not enough to have knowledge or good intentions. The Shaman strives constantly to be the most disciplined and the highest skilled hunter he can be. He is not concerned with his own life, obsessed with any outcome, or allowing himself to give power away to anyone or anything. It is in the control and direction of his power that he hones his skills to become an impeccable hunter in the forest.
A Shaman is a warrior, a hunter. He is on his highest alert, fully prepared, moving deliberately with his intention held firmly in place in the forefront of his mind. He is ready for anything, being emotionally centered although feeling the excitement of the hunt and the anticipation of the successful outcome. No one could sneak up on a good hunter. It is he who is doing the stalking. The hunter knows his skills, has practiced a long time, and knows where to look for the game he needs. A hunter has heightened his senses so he can smell the wind and see in low light. He knows a bear or wolf can attack him at anytime so he does his very best every minute. To do less may mean his death.
What causes the Shaman to seek impeccability?
The Shaman knows that death walks with him on his left side close enough to reach out and touch him at any moment. It is in this understanding that all we have is today, right now, to be the best we can be, that we are called to be constantly walking the path of impeccability. When one’s mortality is always a present thought we begin to see our lives with different eyes. Ask anyone suffering from a terminal disease and they will tell you how precious it is to watch a sunrise, to see a child sleeping, to hug your dog. We learn to wash the dishes as though it is the last time we may ever wash the dishes. It becomes a ceremony, an act of love and a joy to perform. Death becomes a friend, an ally, a guide to what is most important right now in our lives, what we most need to do and be and say to those we love. There is no time to wait until tomorrow.
When we observe our own mortality we see that it does not matter if we are kings or paupers, rich or poor, famous or unknown. These things have nothing to do with our true selves. The hunter does not sit in the forest and shout out his importance to the trees. He is a hunter, like so many hunters who have gone to this forest before him to accomplish the same goal. He thinks of his brothers and sisters and is honored to sit with them in spirit and share their experience. With a sense of one’s own mortality there comes a sense of humility natural for anyone realizing the larger picture of all of life. It is not about standing taller than those who came before. If we only have today, would we not want to be the best we can be today?
A Shaman has in many ways met his own death; The death of his childhood ideas, the death of his ego and self importance, the death of his emotional surges that would drag him back and forth. The hunter has a personal relationship with death, not one of adversary but one of necessity and even sustenance. Walking with this understanding allows one to see the beauty in every vision, every action, and every moment of one’s life. It is not about becoming perfect. Perfection is striving to be one better than your neighbor, to achieve status, to break a record. Perfection causes striving and since it is never attained, it leaves the striver unfulfilled, unhappy and unsatisfied. But a life lived impeccably is filled with joy, with wonder and with satisfaction that every action, thought and word was the very best effort one could make. This is the core of loving yourself in the highest and truest form.
A Shaman in his awareness of his mortality finds himself much more alert and aware, trying to drink in everything around him. Thus, he gains knowledge on a level not approached by others. This knowledge then hones his sense of awareness and he sees the work of deeper energies on the earth and studies them with excitement and a natural thirst for improvement. This in turn engenders even more honing of skills causing more awareness and so impeccability is naturally engendered not through pride or perfection but through awe and experiencing all that can be experienced in the short time he has. This is the true source of personal power and this power is only available by living an authentic life.
The hunter chooses to bring sustenance to himself and his people by being the very best hunter he can be. He is willing to accept any challenge he may encounter in that forest with skill, awareness and a sense of anticipation in success. Your life circumstance is the forest for you. Stand in your forest with impeccability and you will find yourself surrounded with love and joy and adventure for every minute of your short time on this planet. Become all that you can be.
* Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls has been a practicing Shaman for over 50 years. She recently received a dispensation to reach out to those who have a desire to learn about a Shaman’s path and now offers an online course at www.shamanelder.com. Many people on this earth have been Shamans in other lives and only need to reconnect with their lost knowledge and skills to bring shamanic healing back to Mother Earth and its peoples. This is Shaman Elder’s goal. Please visit her website at www.shamanelder.com or write her an email for a free consultation.