intro

[leaves1.livejournal.com]

Greetings and happy to join this community. I've looked over some past posts and I like the topics in this group.

I definitely consider myself an animist, and I think I always have. I think the life force, or soul, can be sensed in all biologically living beings (in spite of that sensitivity usually being deadened in modern so-called "civilized" cultures), and I also think that other forms made up of all the elements have their own form of consciousness as well, which can also be sensed. An ongoing learning for me is cultivating that kind of sensitivity.

I would also say that I'm a Pagan, though I've never really become engaged in any particular group. I think part of that is that my view most closely resembles the Buddhist view of life, which often I don't think is shared by a lot of Pagans (which is fine) but it makes connecting difficult. On the other hand, I have had the opposite experience with Buddhists - even thought they may consider themselves green or nature-friendly, etc - there is often more of focus on the other tenets of Buddhism that to me leave out the more Pagan aspects that I'm interested in.

Interestingly, I have found a form of Buddhism that meets both ends of my own spiritual spectrum, which is the Bön tradition of Tibet. Bön was the original indigenous tradition of Tibet (before Buddhism was introduced from India), and it also encompasses all the major tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. It openly retains, however, the more pagan, animist, and shamanistic aspects of the indigenous culture (for instance, one of the teachers I know just led a soul retrieval retreat this past spring). This has made for an interesting history, because the mainstream Tibetan Buddhists have persecuted the Bön people for being "not Buddhist"/ supersticious / magicians / etc (similar to the prejudice you find in other areas of the world of the mainstream religion toward the indigenous peoples). Things are changing for the better in that regard - for instance the Dalai Lama has recognized and supports Bön as a legitimate tradition - but from what I hear prejudice still exists.

Anyway, the reason I'm getting into the detail is that I would like to post some of what I'm doing in my own life that is within and inspired by the Bön tradition. It seems to me that there are also a lot of similarities with Native American views, which I am also attracted to, but respect from afar, as I am of European descent. I am also interested in the pre-Christian religions of both Germanic and Celtic peoples, and for the moment I don't really do any kinds of practices associated with those, but am open to that as well.