Meeting with Ayahuasca

In my late twenties, driven by curiosity about both, the taboo’ed subjects and ancient traditions together, I traveled  to South America (Peru) and was acquainted with traditional ways of studying and practicing with the psychedelics plants, like Ayahuasca. It was also curious to find out, that there is a multitude of approaches how Ayahuasca can be proposed, starting with native, then religious and then a rainbow of variations. Myself I was fortunate to experience different lineages and styles.

For many travellers, mostly Westerners, who arrived to Peru or other country where this tradition exists, Ayahuasca experience has been a catalyst of frequently ground-shocking, profound, life-changing, sometimes confusing and, surely, inspiring impact on many people’s lives, including author. Ayahuasca is apparently a “teacher” that serves no other “religion” or tradition than the one of Nature. And in case of Ayahuasca its nature is to move toward more degree of freedom, to transform, to see and to know.

The universality of this peculiar teacher is quiet obvious, given that Ayahuasca is being appreciated in so many different social contexts. This quality gives us an enormous range of possibilities for the plant to become accessible to people from large range of psychological or cultural backgrounds. At the same time there is a risk for it to be lost in the attempts of appropriation and utility (see example The Story of Fire).

Ayahuasca is known to facilitate eye-opening insights, new levels of comprehension or an inspiration for change. The questions like What to do now? and How do I integrate this into my life? are the main ones that keep returning after a journey or a retreat with sacred plants. Sometimes we have more questions after Ayahuasca, than before. Sometimes our questions change, or the irrelevant ones get discarded. Eventually we get to understand that Ayahuasca work is not done by the plant on its own, but with our intentional participation.

Ayahuasca Prajna

Ayahuasca Prajna is an authors passionate initiative for developing a language and navigation tools aimed at harnessing the universal qualities of Ayahuasca and combine with the ancient human longing for studies of consciousness.

In spiritual traditions of India Prajñā (from here on Prajna) is used to describe higher consciousness, supreme wisdom, insight (Buddhism), understanding, intelligence, knowing, transcendental wisdom (Hinduism) or “that which enables conscious faculties” (Upanishad, simplified).

Prajna approach to master plants is a methodology and use of skilful means for working with states of consciousness actualised through Ayahuasca experiences. Every individual has an inner Universe of his own and we create our spiritual adventure-journey (path) as we walk it. Whether we function on basis of clearly defined worldview or follow a religion, is up to us. Neither Ayahuasca does belong to one specific tradition nor is it constrained to one particular method. It doesn’t fall into category of religion or teaching, because Ayahuasca itself is often a source of very different insights from person to person. The closest description of Ayahuasca, using known analogies, is a teacher without institutional affiliations.

Integrative Practice

We can have many experiences, but to what extent are we able to navigate them? Experience alone doesn’t lead to a transformative event. Mastery, by which we conduce it, have this potential. A garden can prosper when it is planted on fertile grounds and mostly requires gardener’s continuous presence.

Frequent use of teacher plants may have varying effects, its direction can be either self evolving and transforming or confusing and moving along our existing patterns and habits. That depends only from our approach and how fully we are able to engage into our inner world of experience.

Ayahuasca along with other teacher plants do not represent a path by itself. It is not A path, but can be ON a path as one of spiritual practices that we recognise to be useful.  As any practice or development of skills, capacities, it needs a quality of intention and attention, that create new pathways which can be further explored. Read more in Ground Process.

Edmunds
EdmundsEnjoys to facilitate creative conditions; passionate for applied philosophy and world music
Since the childhood I have been questioning about life, nature and existence. The reality and my place in it often felt way more vast and mysterious, that was shown through social contracts and common beliefs, even more so for someone born in an authoritarian country. Since then the collectively proposed “the way to go for all” has always been a suspicious matter, that eventually lead me to explore the Oriental and Amazon spiritual traditions. This endeavour has become my passion for learning, life-nurturing and enjoyable to share with anyone.
Alessandra
AlessandraLoves to facilitate ceremony space and compose medicine songs
After finishing university, travelled to South America, Chile and Peru, where she discovered beautiful, new culture and tradition of sacred medicines. She met with Edmund in Peru and they have been sharing a path of medicine facilitators and parents since then. She loves cultural mediation and is trained as Shiatsu therapist and doula (mothers' assistant) and naturally pre-disposed to channel medicine songs right into space.
Don Bechin
Don BechinMedicinal plant expert and traditional Ayahuasquero
Living in a small village few hours by boat in Iquitos, Peru, he's been working with medicinal plants and master plants of Amazon for about 40 years. His house is always welcoming locals and travellers seeking for traditional medicinal treatment or just tow have a cup of forest medicine.