Ayahuasca is a plant medicine that helps us remember a place within that is long forgotten. It strips away ego behaviors that have enslaved us, and allows us to return to our source
Ayahuasca: Nature’s Teacher by Ralph Miller
(Originally published in the September 2006 edition of Four Corners Magazine)
Forgetfulness.
Ayahuasca is a plant medicine that helps us remember a place within that is long forgotten. It strips away ego behaviors that have enslaved us, and allows us to return to our source. We all arrived on this earth plane alive and conscious. It is likely that during the first days of our lives, our brains were visionary and telepathic. Hidden within each of us was a silent awareness of our own heroic destiny.
Then we all suffered in some way. We were confused by a betrayal or abandonment. We felt misunderstood or not cared for in some way. As this happened, our very young psyches began to shift. We began to construct a false self. We learned to avoid any future possible abandonment. Rather than being open and vulnerable, we became guarded and skeptical. Ego saved us, but in avoiding abandonment ... we gained loneliness.
The current human condition has to do with the condition of individual humans. In order to survive we created an egocentric idea of ourselves that we think is stronger, more capable, and smarter than who we feel we really are. The ego has asserted itself as a false self, while our true nature lay hidden. Over the ages we have agreed to live in a prison. We have forgotten who we are, and we have forgotten the eternal landscape that we inhabit.
Remembering.
The journey back to the ‘true self’ is a natural process that occurs when the sleeping brain awakens. When the sleeping brain awakens, your point of reference is moved, and you naturally see (remember) who you are. You come back to the silent place of your source. You remember.
The only way back to your higher self is to agree to let go of any notion of who you think you are and be willing to make the journey back. This process assails the ego. Shamanic traditions refer to this as the death of ego. Ideas of self-importance fall away naturally. They become irrelevant. The Ayahuasca medicine helps us to find the way back. It is nature’s teacher.
Your sense of creativity and destiny is manifested in your feelings. As you feel this sense of destiny, no matter how crazy or incongruous with your life it feels, it is very important to realize that the feeling is a message from your childlike, higher self. It is connected to your soul’s purpose.
Nature’s Medicine.
Ayahuasca contains the very powerful psychoactive and visionary substance called Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT is found in all living things including humans.
The pineal gland is a primary component of the visionary brain. DMT is likely produced in the pineal, and recent research indicates that the pineal will produce DMT in large amounts at least 2 times in the life of a human; at birth and at death. Perhaps it heralds the entry and departure of the soul. Persons having 'near death' experiences ... seeing bright lights ... seeing portals ... Seeing religious icons ... are most definitely experiencing the effects of DMT. Even lucid dreaming may be the result of smaller quantities being released.
It is now believed that the human pineal goes into an atrophied state in a person’s early teen years. We live in an age where the collective ego has shelved the pineal as old fashioned and unnecessary. Ayahuasca is a natural plant medicine that reawakens the sleeping brain, because it contains exactly the same biochemistry as the pineal. This plant medicine is like liquid consciousness that awakens the telepathic and visionary brain. All we have to do is be willing to let go.
The visionary process of Ayahuasca also has the effect of allowing a person to resolve and heal spiritually, psychologically, emotionally and physically. The brew is referred to as "entheogenic" which means "god generated within".
The famous ethno-botanist, Terrance McKenna said, "It is one thing when you become interested in these plants (Ayahuasca) and it is another thing when these plants become interested in you." Nature itself has a collective intelligence. Plants are sentient. Somehow part of the mystery of the evolution of human consciousness seems to be connected to nature.
Some plants nourish us. Some plants are used to heal our physical bodies. And some plants are medicines for the soul. They teach us the way back to the divine within us.
Planetary Evolution.
Many people hope that humanity is at the very doorstep of an extraordinary shift. This 'shift' is really about the return of the Goddess energy. Healing is coming to humanity from nature; from mother-earth; from Gaia. It is about the return of the feminine.
The spirit of the earth or Gaia is literally working with humans towards a conclusion to this age and the advent of a new one. Nature is working towards healing herself.
The feelings of destiny are becoming more pronounced now than ever before. There is a gathering that is taking place. Healers and teachers are waking up. Brave people are resolving their humanity. Listen to the feelings that have been with you for a long time. Perhaps you are feeling the tug of this undiscovered path within. The Ayahuasca temple in Brazil is in a beautiful and natural setting on the beach in the state of Bahia. It gives me great hope that many brave people are coming here. You can come too.
© Ralph Miller 2006.
Ralph Miller has worked with people from all over the world in an experiential journey which he calls Heart of the Initiate as a way for people to remember their "authentic selves".
Heart of the Initiate offers tours to Brazil where they help people make sacred inner journeys through an intensive workshop experience. Their Brazil workshops incorporate shamanic ceremonies using the ancient plant teacher, Ayahuasca.
Please check out their website for more information on their upcoming workshops www.HeartoftheInitiate.com
Till next time,
Jason