Yoga is a process of refinement. Working with plant medicine such as the Soma is the same. It invites us to carefully dial up or dial down the two separate levers of the process, the masculine and feminine aspects, and understanding this balance is ultimately allows us to wake up in this reality.
Awakening is the movement of consciousness becoming conscious of itself. Psychedelics and plant medicines do not offer a path for awakening but they can serve as powerful accelerators along the journey. This article examines the path to awakening as described by Dzogchen, Mahamudra, and Shaiva Shakta Tantra and the role that plant medicines can play in it all.
Since participating in my first Ayahuasca retreat in Peru in May I keep returning to a simple question: What exactly is Ayahuasca? Is it truly a “plant teacher?” What does that even mean? Is it a plant with consciousness? Is it a spirit? In other words: does Ayahuasca grant us access to something outside of ourselves? Or is Ayahuasca best conceived of as a tool of Augmented Reality that merges with our consciousness to give us this wildly magical, seemingly revelatory experience? This episode discusses Ayahuasca and what it has to offer as an aid in awakening.