Appendix I

The Dimensions of Shamanic Perception

They are dimensions rather than levels. Level suggests a separate and discrete unit like a bookshelf (a single shelf could be removed from the whole unit), whereas dimension suggests an aspect such as length or width or time (which cannot be removed from the whole).
These states are very stable and crystalline pure. Their discovery and practice is one of the great successes of the medicine people. Identify these markers very exactly to get the pure state. If you shift your perceptual state, the whole nature of your engagement changes.

These four perceptual dimensions are states of consciousness for shamans. They are spaces that can be tuned into and markers established. The matter to knowledge ratio increases trigonometrically with each dimension. Space/Time is very dense with matter and it is much more labor-intensive to effect change there; whereas, in the Essential/Energetic, intention alone is sufficient.

In each state, you switch your platform completely. With each state you develop markers so that you can recognize that state by the markers as you go through it. Follow these signs, recognize them in your own belief system. Totally surrender in order to eliminate bias and interpretation, or you can work with and surrender to a power animal.
Each seeing state has its own shift in the luminous field (see, luminous body and poq'po) and in the physiology: breathing, heart rate.
Cortisol and prolactin (stress hormones) production go way up under stress. The shaman can go into Space/Time seeing state where the hormone production does not rise; however, endorphin levels do rise. In this state you can regulate blood flow and stop fear. This is the best seeing state from which to defend yourself.

In Western cultures the consensus is in Space/Time. To a shaman, consensus is in the Essential/Energetic.

Many thanks to Thich Nhat Hanh, Alberto Villoldo, Oscar Miro-Quesada, Hank Wesselman, Albert Einstein, the Chumash tribe of Native Americans, Deepak Chopra, and Fred Alan Wolf.

AN AMAZON MODEL OF EXISTENCE

Vegetalista Pablo Amaringo talks about four dimensions, but recognizes the universe consisting of infinite dimensions that follow a certain color gradation.

Human beings and animals -- including prototype animals (see, mama) such as the Sach'amama, Yakumama and Wayramama belong in the first dimension.

The second dimension is the realm of ghosts, gnomes and earth or forest spirits such as the ch'ullan chaki, tunchis, etc.

The third dimension is populated by the spirits of trees, sylphs, mermaids, etc. In this dimension vegetalistas receive their yachay or mariri from the spirits.

The fourth dimension is the realm of kings, princes, angels, fairies, cherubs, seraphs, etc. Inside God there are infinite dimensions with beings so powerful one is not even able to look at them.

Spirits are pure energy in constant motion and activity. People should imitate them by working, which is what gives human beings their dignity. The universe is surrounded by darkness, which recedes as the spirits extend the universe through creation.

AYV

The lower light-green band represents the humus. There we see animals, quadrupeds and birds, plants and so on that the vegetalistas, already beginning to know the esoteric powers, have at their disposal.

The next band represents the topaz and its color is greenish-yellow. There we see plants, reptiles, birds, unknown specters, roses, and dark people. This is one more grade of this knowledge.

Then comes the magenta band. There we see plants, animals, persons, and sphinx-like beings as well as the black rose which contains a great esoteric mystery, hypnotic animals, fortune tellers, sibyls, and persons endowed with a transcendental mind.

The following band is of neutral gray. It is a grade superior to the others. There we see animal persons. It is indeed the center that separates the visible from the invisible. Many are able to reach this grade but their journey ends here due to lack of sufficient preparation in supranormal matters. That is why it represents the diamond, for one can sound out the knowledge that one hides.

Then there is a turquoise band representing the sapphire. There we see angels or messengers that roam the vast universe, dwelling in different galaxies for some time. They have extrasensory wisdom and move with the speed of thought. They are the guardians appointed to the immense universe.

There is the violet band, too, representing the amethyst. There we seen creatures like sylphs, fairies, muses, kings, queens, princes, princesses, all having great talent and wisdom.

The last band represents the carbon and silicon. Here we see strange beings, sphinxes, animals, witches. It is the opposite of all the light and the enlightenment of the good.

The flying circles around the house are the icaros of vision that transmit these occult matters.

Image above and text from Chapter 49 of Ayahuasca Visions.

A CHUMASH MODEL OF PERCEPTION

    The Chumash of California have what they call Chumash X-ray, an ability to see the poq'po and to use this perception for healing. They say that we Westerners have lost five of our ten senses, being aware of only the five physical senses of touch, taste, sight, hearing and feeling. The other five senses are in the realm of thought and emotion and are deemed imaginal senses. They are:

• Sense of self-healing: when you cut yourself, the body heals. It is possible to recognize when you are healing yourself and the emotional release that accompanies it.

• Sense of self-destruction: if you always create problems for yourself, you will break yourself down and cause wars, illnesses, etc. This sense can overcome you during bouts of depression and the “dark night of the soul.”

• Sense of penetration: able to penetrate other dimensions, other levels, other worlds. This is when you notice synchronicities, archetypal behaviors, intuition.

• Sense of perception: to be able to see and understand what you are perceiving in those other worlds. The ability to perceive normal events as extraordinary.

• Sense of revelation: to be able to use what you have perceived because it has been revealed to you. The ability to bring your intuition into the physical realm.

Source: The Eagle's Quest, by Fred Alan Wolf, pp. 162-163.

THE BUDDHIST DIMENSIONS

Historical Dimension

[Phenomena -- things, colors, units, etc. -- belong in the relative historical dimension. This is the relative space/time universe and our day-to-day consciousness where ultimates and absolutes do not exist.  - Patt]

“. . . [If] you touch phenomena deeper and deeper, you touch the ultimate. The ultimate is not something separated from the phenomena. If you touch the ultimate, you touch also the phenomena. And if you touch deeply the phenomena, you touch also the ultimate.

“It is like a wave. You can see the beginning and the end of a wave. Coming up, it goes down. The wave can be smaller or bigger, or higher or lower. But a wave is at the same time the water. A wave can live her life as a wave, of course, but it is possible for a wave to live the life of a wave and the life of water at the same time. If she can bend down and touch the water in her, she loses all her fear. Beginning, ending, coming up, going down—these don't make her afraid anymore, because she realizes she's water. So there are two dimensions in the wave. The historical dimension is coming up and going down. But in the ultimate dimension of water, there is no up, no down, no being, no nonbeing.

“The two dimensions are together and when you touch one dimension deeply enough, you touch the other dimension. There's no separation at all between the two dimensions. Everything is skillful means in order to help you touch the ultimate.”

SOURCE: www.pbs.org/thebuddha/blog/2010/jun/3/buddhas-love-melvin-mcleod-interviews-thich-nhat-h/

Action Dimension

After exploring both the historical and ultimate chapters of the Lotus sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh defines the 'action dimension.' As he puts it, "how can we help people of the historical dimension get in touch with their ultimate nature so that they can live joyfully in peace and freedom?" This is the boddhisattva* path, and here he offers concrete practice examples for living as a boddhisattva within the modern world.

SOURCE: Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra, by Thich Nhat Hanh.

The ground of all manifestation, the ultimate dimension, is always there. The role of the bodhisattva in the action dimension is to help us get in touch with our ultimate dimension, offer us the gift of non-fear.

Source: Opening the Heart of the Cosmos: Insights on the Lotus Sutra, by Thich Nhat Hanh

Ultimate Dimension

Key to [Thich Nhat Hanh]'s teaching is the importance of understanding that while we need to live and operate in a dualistic world, it is also vital to understand that our peace and happiness lie in the recognition of the ultimate dimension: "If we are able to touch deeply the historical dimension – through a leaf, a flower, a pebble, a beam of light, a mountain, a river, a bird, or our own body – we touch at the same time the ultimate dimension. The ultimate dimension cannot be described as personal or impersonal, material or spiritual, object or subject of cognition – we say only that it is always shining, and shining on itself.

"Touching the ultimate dimension, we feel happy and comfortable, like the birds enjoying the blue sky, or the deer enjoying the green fields. We know that we do not have to look for the ultimate outside of ourselves – it is available within us, in this very moment."

Source: www.ecobuddhism.org/wisdom/interviews/tnh-be

* In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an enlightenment being. Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.