Was the Buddha a Shaman?

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In this post, Alexander Duncan, a Buddhist blogger and writer, discusses the question, “Was the Buddha a shaman?” To address this question, he begins by explaining that shamanism is the primordial experiential spiritual tradition of humanity that therefore underlies all human spirituality, including Buddhism. The Buddha himself refers to a forgotten, ancient tradition that he himself rediscovered. This is the dharma, the truth of things as they are or the cosmic order. Duncanthen discusses why we might ask this question of the Buddha. That is to say, how is this question relevant to Buddhism? He then proceeds to a discussion of soma. Soma was the forgotten ecstatic plant medicine that was the central object of the Aryan Vedic cult that became the determining cultural influence of India after 1500 BCE. Thus, by definition it influenced Buddhism too. Next, Duncan compares the elements of the Buddha’s life and teachings to those of the classic archetype of the shaman. Finally, he concludes the Buddha was, indeed, a shaman! Read more.