One of the main drivers for this was our recent trip up to The Way Inn which located in the mountains just outside of Huaraz.  Gumercindo and I made the journey up to Huaraz to see how ayahuasca ceremonies would go in the mountains.  We were unsure if ayahuasca would like the new setting.  Would the same spirits show up?  Would the mountain environment bring in unknown and unwelcoming spirits?  Would altitude (3,700 meters/ 12,000 feet) affect the experience in a negative way??  Maybe the altitude would bring a positive influence.

Upon arrival the beauty and the energy of the mountains bowled us over.  The apus, or mountain spirits, are the big daddies of Peruvian Shamanism.  We could see and feel why.  The Andes are dramatic snowcapped peaks and those peaks surround The Way Inn.  Absolutely amazing.

The energies in the mountains are just cleaner.  The jungle is an aggressive environment, the competition for life is intense.  The fish have teeth.  This all translates into how the general energies feel.  In the mountains this aggressiveness is not as prevalent.  The energy is exhilarating.  You don’t need to be in ceremony to feel it.

Obviously the weather in the mountains is very different.  It is cooler, downright cold at night, dryer and less oxygen.  Being from the jungle Gume was almost giddy on this adventure as he was clearly enjoying the natural beauty, the food, and the energies.  He was shivering for the first few days and his lips were chapped dark purple from the dry air.  It took a few conversations to explain that the air had much less/no water in it and that he needed to drink much more water in the new environment.  Once he got past these issues he was happy as a clam.

Since I grew up in the Pacific Northwest the environment was a huge treat for me.  Altitude and dry air took some getting used to but everything else was AWESOME.  They have hot showers, a sauna and the food was particularly good as they had quinoa, good bread, and much more selection when it came to veggies.  It also helped that Alex runs a very tight ship at The Way Inn.  His cooks knew what they were doing and prepared amazing meals.  Coming from the jungle, it felt like we were staying at a mountain Four Seasons…..maybe an exaggeration, but on a relative basis it rings true.

This trip was a dry run, so we did not have a dedicated ceremony space.  We set up in a lounge space above the dining room.  Windows with views of the mountains surrounded the space.  As luck would have it we had clear moonlit nights for a majority of the time.  It was magical to look out mid-ceremony to see bright stars and moonlight reflecting off the snowcapped mountains.

Note:  For our first retreat in January we will have a large dedicated ceremony space big enough to fit fifteen people.  We will also be building a fifteen meter diameter ceremony house out of adobe.  This will be a round dome with a  closable fireplace/fire-pit in the center and skylights in the roof.  This larger ceremony house will be completed by March of 2012.  Longer term we will be adding spa type services such as floral/herbal baths, massages, ayurvedic super food diets, meditation courses, and yoga.

The first ceremony consisted of “The Three Amigos”  (Alex, Gume, and myself) along with two guests that agreed to the trip up from the jungle and some of the staff.  There was definitely some anxiety as to how the ceremony would go.

Luckily Alex had experience with drinking ayahuasca in the mountains.  According to him the biggest concern is the cold (it gets quite chilly at night).  Apparently the cold cuts the ayahuasca visions much like light does.  To mitigate this, we had a wood stove burning downstairs all afternoon and loaded it up with wood for the ceremony.  Cold problem solved.

Ayahuasca and the other ingredients do not grow in the mountains so we had taken up about five liters of ayahuasca that we had cooked up in the jungle.  This was a particularly strong brew with a significant amount of sanango and very thick ayahuasca vine.  We also brought up about eight schakapas (this plant does not grow in the mountains either).  In the future we will do the same for all the mountain retreats we host.  It just does not make sense to ship up raw materials from the jungle.

The ceremony started without a hitch.  The mariacion hit on schedule about twenty minutes after drinking.  The first thing I noticed was the clarity of vision and the lightness of the energies.   I did not notice any dark/funky spirits at all.  Wow, so far so good.

As the ceremony progressed it became clear that our location, high altitude, was literally bringing us closer to the divine.  Shiva and Ganesh showed up right away and Gumercindo commented that he saw angels hanging out on a distant ridge, and I saw more divine light than I ever have down in the jungle.

On the other side of the coin, we encountered fewer animal and plant spirits.  Makes sense I guess.

When ceremony was over we all talked about the comparisons between the two.  The conclusion was that while they are different, they are essentially equal.  Not a ground breaking conclusion, but important for those trying to figure out which location is “better” to drink ayahuasca.  I would suggest people look at where they are more comfortable.  Do you like hot, humid, and don’t mind bugs?  Or, do you like cooler, crisper air with mountains all around.  Totally a personal call.

Post Script- We are now based out of The Way Inn near Huaraz.  Our first mountain retreat is scheduled for December 31, with two more mountain retreats to follow before our next Jungle Retreat February 18th.

We have also moved to a donation only model.  We feel this is just the right thing to do.  We feel that the  “Ayahuasca Industry” has gotten out of hand with a majority of centers interested in payment first and helping people second.  It is also understood that when you book a retreat, you are required to pay money upfront for a service that has yet to be delivered.  You don’t pay doctors, or other health care professionals up front.  Why do you do this for ayahuasca???  All this said, we are the first major center to try this.  It is an experiment.  If it works great.  If not, we will change it back.  We will be giving it a shot until October 2012.

The team at Ayahuasca Satsangha has become huge fans of David Hawkins Phd. and his books such as “Truth vs. Falsehood”, “Power vs. Force”, “The Eye of the ‘I’, Which Nothing is Hidden”, etc…  These books are focused on raising consciousness by teaching about the following:

Humans have no ability to discern between that which is true and that which is false.  We believe that we are good at this, but in fact we have no clue.  Think about it, if we were good at determining that which is true/false we would have very few problems in our lives as we would always choose or follow truth.  If we were good at this there would never have been a Hitler, a Stalin, nor the various cult leaders such as Jones or David Koresh.  Trials of criminals would always produce just judgements (this is proven by the fact that eyewitnesses are often wrong regarding what happened at a crime i.e. DNA testing has proven many cases to be falsely judged based on eyewitness accounts).  We would not be suckered into buying shoddy products or services.  In fact poor quality products and services would not even exist as people would simply know not to buy them.  Sometimes we do get lucky with this dilemma, but it has nothing to do with our ability to discern between what is true/false.

One way to look at it is that our minds are like a piece of computer hardware with no

control as to what software or data is installed.  Society is constantly installing software/data into our heads and we have no real idea which software/data to keep or clean off the hard drive.

Given this defect we all have, it is no surprise that we have a difficult time raising our consciousness levels.  We have to rely on trial, error, and luck to find a spiritual organization, a spiritual teacher with integrity, and how to avoid some of the pitfalls as we progress/regress on our paths.

One of the key techniques Hawkins teaches is a simple technique using kinesiology. Once this technique is mastered (it takes practice and has very specific guidelines in order for it to work), anyone can determine what is true/false in a matter of seconds.  Obviously this is a huge discovery and we highly recommend you read these books as the applications are endless.

In addition to being able to determine what is simply true or false, we can use this technique to determine levels of consciousness .  For this, Hawkins has developed a scale of 0- 1000.  This is a logarithmic scale, so each incremental point up the scale is more and more powerful.  That said, once momentum gets going up the scale, it gets easier and easier.  Below are some, not all, important levels in the scale-

0- 199 Falsehood/ lack of integrity.  85% of the world population is in this range.

200 Basic integrity/truth.  Only 15% of the world population is above 200.

540- 599 Unconditional Love.  Spontaneous healing for those entering the field of this person starts to happen at levels above 540.

600+ Enlightenment

1000 Absolute Truth.  Examples:  Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna

We know that some people will have a problem with putting a number to consciousness, we certainly did at first.  This is just a form of spiritual ego- I don’t need to have a number scale, I can “feel” in my heart what is “right”.  Well that is simply false as stated in the paragraphs above. It is important to realize that this scale is just a map that can help us in positive ways, and as stated above we do not have the ability to discern truth from falsehood.  The scale is just a useful tool for our linear minds.

Being higher or lower on the scale is not important.  It is just a map that can be used for consciousness development and especially helpful in choosing spiritual teachers and spiritual paths.  Just because you may be higher or lower on the scale than another does not matter.  Those lower on the scale are not “bad people”, they just have limited capabilities, have more work to do and deserve compassion.  Those that are higher on the scale can be a source of inspiration and even teachers.

Now, before we get into the meat of this post- how much ayahuasca can raise consciousness, I want to point out that the majority of people only increase their consciousness by 5 points during their entire lifetimes.  We also want to reiterate that each point on the scale is more and more difficult to achieve.  Those 5 points that most people achieve are hard earned increases in consciousness.  It is also worth mentioning that consciousness levels move all the time.  One can move up and down the scale based on influences one is exposed to and the spiritual practices one does.  The consciousness scale is not like your IQ.  As far as we know, your IQ score is set for your physical lifetime.

Ok, with all of that said we can get into how ayahuasca can impact your consciousness levels.

Both Alex and myself used Hawkins technique to determine how much ayahuasca raises consciousness in the following situations:

• The impact ayahuasca (our recipe- ayahuasca, chacruna, sanango and various tree barks) has on an average person’s consciousness during an ayahuasca ceremony.

• The lasting impact of combining 4-6 ayahuasca ceremonies, a 7-8 day shamanic dieta, and medicinal tree bark teas has on consciousness (again our recipe and shamanic dieta).

• The impact ayahuasca has on an energetically “clean” shaman during ceremony i.e. how a shaman or maestro is able to heal during ceremony.

Before going into the above points it is important to highlight that ayahuasca itself calibrates at 598 on the Hawkins scale.  This is just below enlightenment which is at 600 and it is above the critical 540 level where spontaneous healing happens.  This makes sense as ayahuasca is primarily used as a healing plant and spirit.  Also, using ayahuasca alone (to our knowledge) does not lead all the way to longer term (beyond/outside ceremony) levels of 600+ or enlightenment.  It can lead to temporary enlightenment in ceremony for someone that calibrates higher than 460 (see ayahuasca effects in ceremony below).

For an average person their consciousness can jump an astounding 140-150 points during ceremony.  This result makes intuitive sense as we have all heard the amazing realizations people have had during ceremony.  Many people in the west calibrate in the high 300s and 400s.  There are often realizations of oneness, allness, and unconditional  love.

As for longer term impact, a person who partakes in 4-6 ceremonies and a shamanic dieta leaves the retreat having raised their consciousness 11-15 points.  Keep in mind this jump in consciousness needs to be nurtured with other practices such as meditation, prayer, or studying with a highly calibrated spiritual teacher in order to maintain the increase.  It should be understood that when we return home to western society we are bombarded by negative influences/energies that can bring us back down.  If a spiritual practice is in place upon returning home, it helps maintain or even increases consciousness levels.  This is not to say that ayahuasca will not change lives in a positive way without a spiritual practice.  I have noticed that people do improve their lives via better diet/health, better connection with people etc…  These are things that a higher consciousness allows one to learn.  You can learn a lesson through higher consciousness, drop in consciousness and still have learned that lesson.

It is our hypothesis that due to the above point, people often return to Peru to drink ayahuasca multiple times just to clean out re-accumulated or new negative energies.  Yes their lives are improving each time from the lessons learned, but their consciousness is not necessarily increasing each time they return.  If someone wants to maintain and maximize the increase of consciousness, they can combine spiritual practices with ayahuasca.  It makes sense that people consider this so that they can return to increase consciousness even further, not just to run on a consciousness treadmill.

When Alex and Zach calibrated the impact ayahuasca has on a shaman during ceremony we were somewhat surprised that the cleaner energy channels that a shaman has due to drinking a lot of ayahuasca did not mean a jump in consciousness relative to a non-shaman.  The increase in consciousness for a shaman during ceremony is between 140-150 points which is pretty much inline with a non-shaman.  That said, a shaman has more experience being at those higher levels.  When a westerner drinks ayahuasca the sudden increase in consciousness is often disorienting and sometimes disconcerting.  Therefore, it is our conclusion that with significant experience the shaman gains more control and has gained skill at the higher consciousness levels. This allows for healing to occur.

Remember that healing happens above 540, so a quality shaman needs a consciousness level of 390-400 to cause healing energy to be generated from their energy field.  Also remember that ayahuasca calibrates at 598.   Therefore we can conclude that when a guest/patient ingests ayahuasca it provides an energetic field that heals.  So a shaman need not  calibrate above 390 for healing to happen, ayahuasca will provide the healing in these cases. (Important Note: we are not suggesting that anyone drink ayahuasca without a quality shaman as there are many other factors to consider.  It is quite dangerous to come to this conclusion.  We are only examining ayahuasca as it relates to consciousness levels.)  If a shaman does calibrate above the 390-400 level, the guest receives significantly more healing benefit from both the shaman and the ayahuasca.  This is how shamans become famous for their amazing healing abilities.

Paradoxically as a shaman (or spiritual teacher) increases in fame and notoriety, their consciousness levels often drop. Sometimes they experience a significant drop. This is because as they become more well known, they are exposed to egoic temptations such as money,  power,  and sex.  Another pitfall is that they become enamored with astral realms, special powers and/or shamanic materials.  This is a regularly occurring phenomenon in the Amazon as the shamanic tradition is not focused on consciousness and does not warn of the egoic spiritual pitfalls that lurk at the higher levels of consciousness. Ironically it is when these shamans/teachers who have fallen in consciousness, they actually increase in popularity.  There are two reasons for this.  The first is that the fall happens after they become popular and the general public does not have the ability to discern the integrity/calibration of the teacher, the public is just blindly following the herd.  The other reason is that egoic energy is attracted to egoic energy.  Most people do not have a good sense of their own ego.   The egos of guests/students love to be around a teacher/shaman that has a big ego.  They are ego food for each other.

One interesting question we came across is that there are shamans that are able to heal outside of ceremony (without ayahuasca) that calibrate under 540.  In fact there are no shamans in Peru (based on our calibrations) that calibrate at or above 540.  So Alex and Zach asked a few other questions using the calibration technique.  Is it because the shaman has special training?  False.  Is it because ayahuasca is still circulating in the system of the shaman (due to ingestion of large amounts of ayahuasca over time)?  False.  Is it because of karmic history?  False.  Is it simply divine will or divine gift?  True.  So in these cases, as with everything, it is all up to the divine.  I am sure this answer will throw some people for a loop.  Not much we can do about that

Net net the key point here is that ayahuasca definitely raises consciousness during ceremony and if someone does a full shamanic dieta along with ayahuasca they can see a more sustainable jump of 11 points within 8 days which is more than twice what most realize in a lifetime.  Also, by adding or continuing other practices after the return home to western civilization you can maintain or increase consciousness levels.  If you do multiple diets, add other spiritual practices over a longer period of time, consciousness can be raised SIGNIFICANTLY.

Raising consciousness is never a straight line “up and to the right”.  There are plateaus and regressions throughout life regardless of ayahuasca and other practices.  We all have egos, work to do, and our own processes.

We want to thank David Hawkins for his wonderful books and sharing his calibration techniques with the world.  I invite you to read these books as reading them will also raise your consciousness significantly.

If you do read these books and learn the calibration techniques outlined therein, please calibrate your current spiritual teacher, shaman, and those you are considering working with.  Please calibrate us, ask various questions regarding Ayahuasca Satsangha.  Don’t take what anyone tells you at face value, find out the truth for yourself.

This post calibrates between 500 and 505.

Ego is all about “me”, “us vs. them” and separation.  The funny thing is that ego is actually a huge energetic being as we are all actually one.  We are like cels in a giant organism and the ego is a large parasite feeding off of that organism.  We just view the ego as an individual phenomenon.

In most cases ego, via the mind, controls us.  We are often oblivious about when the ego is in action.  It is a tricky little bugger because it uses the mind very effectively.  We are absolutely awesome at rationalizing our ego and egoic actions.

Ego is the reason that we are afraid of death which is really the reason we have fear in our lives.  The ego dies when the body dies.  The ego wants to live and feed into the larger energetic organism.  For our spirit or soul there really is no such thing as death as the spirit lives forever.  Sure the body can die, but not our spirit.  This is why enlightened masters don’t give a rats ass about death, they know that there is no such thing as death.  The body is not important.  One of two things happens when we die:  1) we still have work to do as it relates to karma- we come back to pay our karmic debts, or 2) we have burned through all of our karma and we can return home/become one with the divine (heaven or nirvana).

The ego can also die before our physical body does.  Thus the term “killing the ego”.  This is an odd term because the word “killing” can lead to the misunderstanding that one day we can wake up knowing how to kill it like we would a spider.  This is not the case.  We kill the ego in our physical lifetimes by slowly starving it to death.

Starving the ego to death is a looong process.  First we have to become aware of what it really is.  We often have the misperception that ego just manifests as boastfulness or selfishness.  It is true that those types of actions are ego based.  However, the ego is much more subtle than that.  Some examples of subtle egoic actions are:

• When we talk or think negatively about someone or something.  No matter how subtly or softly we do this, we are trying to put ourselves above someone else.

• When we are focused on money. Money is an extension of ego.  We use money as a way to separate ourselves from others either through socioeconomic class differences or simply accumulation of material items i.e. this is mine, not yours.

• When we are competitive with others.  This is total ego as we are trying to prove that we are better than the other, we are right and they are wrong.  The ego loves competition- very yummy, highly charged food for the ego.

• When we talk down to someone else or tell them they should do this/that.  Again, this is putting yourself above someone else i.e. I know what “is” and you don’t.

• When we talk about ourselves (both positively and negatively) or ask people to tell us about ourselves i.e. it is all about me.

• Facebook and blogs are all about ego.  It is a forum to talk about ourselves.

• In relationships we often become dependent on our partners to validate us, make us feel “loved”, etc…  This is all ego.

• Etc… Etc…

If we are not vigilant and do not work on starving the ego through awareness/consciousness we end up capping our spiritual growth. Our narcissistic egoic minds hold us back from realizing what is true and false.  In fact approximately 85% of the world population currently does not have the consciousness to determine what is true or false at all (Hawkins).

We can experience spiritual growth only to backslide into the ego based pitfalls of sex, money and power.  In fact there are several examples currently and in history where spiritual leaders advance to high levels of consciousness only to fall due to ego i.e. power corrupts.  The lack of awareness around ego is a (if not “the”) major spiritual pitfall.  Unfortunately the followers of such spiritual leaders often do not have the consciousness to recognize the spiritual fall of their leader (see above- 85% of the world population does not have the consciousness to discern true from false).

How does this post relate to ayahuasca and shamanism??

In my previous posts I have been talking about ayahuasca, shamanism and consciousness.  This post adds to that theme.

As I have stated before, here in the Amazon there does not seem to be much focus on raising consciousness through ayahuasca shamanism.  The focus is on healing.  Of course when one person helps another (healing in this case) their consciousness is raised i.e. Karma Yoga. This is awesome and valid work.

From what I can tell, the attitude in the ayahuasca community is that as long as the ego is at socially acceptable levels, it is ok.  There just is no concept of enlightenment nor killing the ego.  In some cases I have heard shamans say that the ego is good and that they have a comfortable/controlled relationship with their ego- a perfect example of the mind rationalizing the ego.

Unfortunately, many westerners come to Peru in search of an “Ayahuasca Guru”.  There seems to be a subtle myth that shamans are enlightened masters.  Yes, there are masters of medicine, but masters of ego…???

To be clear, I am not saying that I have control of my ego.  I have just started working on it.  The first step to removing the ego is to recognize what it is.  Then a vigilant practice of observing/watching the ego rear it’s ugly head is required.  Eventually we can stop the ego from gaining control before it happens- this is starving the bugger.  This gets easier and easier as the practice continues.

Ayahuasca helps this process by increasing awareness in general.  You can also set an intention with ayahuasca to help with starving the ego by asking for help right before drinking your cup.  Personally I have asked ayahuasca several times to help me starve the ego.  It seems to be working.  Ego still pops up in my daily life and I am able to notice it as it pops up.  Sometimes I am able to catch it before I say or do something egoic.  Sometimes I catch it after the fact.  Both are steps to starve the tricky bugger.

Recently I had a vision regarding ego.  I was sitting in the bathroom during ceremony and was in full mariacion with visions etc…   I noticed a little spirit that had a sharp spear hanging around.  I tried to brush it away (it was really small), but it was not going anywhere.  So I looked closer….”is that…..the ego??”  Immediately I knew it was.  It was a small skinny devilish looking guy with a pissed off look on his face.  I laughed because I got the feeling and the visual confirmation that he was not eating very well.

For obvious reasons meditation practices are extremely helpful as well (see my previous two posts).  I have been good about my practice and I feel that it has been key in starving the little guy.

La Familia Medicina is totally embracing the focus on increasing consciousness and starving the ego.  Our site and model will be changing significantly over the next two weeks.  Stay tuned!

I want to reiterate that I have noticed that peruvian shamans are focused on healing.  This is truly God’s work.  There are several local shamans who are absolutely amazing in their field.  By helping other people, higher consciousness is a by-product.  Again it is not a focus.

My point is that Gumercindo and I are starting to combine the two focuses as we see them as complementary.  We want to test my hypothesis that combining meditation and yoga practices will lead to acceleration in both areas.

As for my previous post, I have made some slight edits.

In a previous post I talked about the importance of starting or continuing a spiritual practice upon re-entry.  The idea is to maintain the energetic cleanliness, and/or continue to clean your energies once you return home from Peru as access to quality ayahuasca ceremonies in the western world is quite limited.   Funky energies abound at home and they can become overwhelming, thus causing somewhat of a backward slide if you do not have a practice to clean out things you pick up at home.  I suggested practices such as yoga, meditation, chi gong, etc…  Now I want to talk about doing these types of practices while working with ayahuasca in Peru.

For many months I had been doing a cycle of drinking ayahuasca and when I had time off from ceremonies I would return to yoga and vipassana meditation.  This was largely due to a combination of being tired from ceremony, having low energy due to the diets, and pure laziness.  This cycle worked fine, but I recently discovered that this cycle is not optimal.

Luckily I met my new friend Alex Good a.k.a “Mr. Good” or “Don Bueno” a few weeks ago.  Alex has been living in peru for about 10 years.  He owns a mountain lodge in Huarez called The Way Inn.  In addition to his time in Peru, he has spent a significant amount of time in India learning from various gurus and he has been a yogi/meditator since the age of thirteen.  Net net he is a very solid and cool guy.

When Alex showed up at La Familia Medicina we became quick friends due to our common our interests in raising consciousness, yoga and meditation.  That said, when he started to talk about breathing techniques to awaken the kundalini I kind of blew him off.  My ego was telling me, “I have my own practices (vipasssana meditation and vinyasa yoga), I don’t need a new one, I know what I am doing.”

Then the night of the second ceremony, Alex brought up these breathing techniques again.  This time I listened.  He told me to practice what is called “The Full Breath” where you start by filling your lower belly, then your mid section, and finally your chest with breath.  At the same time visualize pranic energy starting at the base of the spine then moving up the spine to the third eye, often called “pranayama breathing”.  I gave it a shot.  “Wow, pretty cool”, I thought and later told him.  I could really feel the energy moving- especially during ceremony.  It was like a battery re-charge, something I needed during ceremony as I was giving my energy outwards towards the guests via icarros and helping Gumercindo do his work.

He was like, “You think that is cool, try this:  at the top of “The Full Breath” use your bhandas (energetic body locks used in yoga) to lock in the breath, hold it for 15-20 seconds while “pumping” the bhandas then roll your eyes up towards your third eye.”  Again, I tried it…..OH MY GOD when I used this technique my vision of light EXPLODED and when I exhaled the light stayed for some time.  Amazing.

The next day I pulled Alex aside and asked him to provide a full explanation of these techniques.

We headed off to the ceremony house where he explained the concept of kundalini energy.  Essentially the energy centers in our body are shaped like a snowman.  We have a big ball of energy around our belly and sexual organs, “the root”- sexual energy/survival energy, the most powerful energy that we all carry.  The next ball is the solar plexus/chest which is where we get ambition and finally our head, or “crown” which is how we connect with the divine.    It does not take a genius to figure out that a significant portion of the world is stuck in their lower two energy centers.

We also receive  external energy through our crown and root.  The idea with kundalini is to pull that sexual energy that already exists in the root upwards towards the crown/head thus connecting us more with the divine.  It is also a process of energy channel purification- removing blocks that foul up the “energetic wiring” and flow in our bodies.  By doing this practice over a period of time we can open up our energy channels so that they are operating efficiently and become more aware of the divine, the universal oneness.

Once Alex explained the concept of kundalini, I posed the question, “So this technique does the same thing as ayahuasca, but by using breath.”

“Exactly.  It is just that these technique takes years whereas ayahuasca (with a dietas) can get you there MUCH faster.”

I thought about this for awhile.  There is a problem with the idea that is held by some westerners that ayahuasca will lead to something like enlightenment-  I have yet to meet a peruvian shaman that is focused on consciousness or enlightenment.  Sure there are great shamans that operate on much “higher levels”, but truly enlightened??  Of course who am I to judge who has reached enlightenment?  I certainly have not reached it yet (I know, we are all already enlightened), so how would I know?  It is just that I have noticed that this is not a focus for local shamans.

After more thought I came to the following hypothesis:  Amazonian shamans are focused on curing not raising consciousness.  Local peruvians show up on a shaman’s doorstep to help with specific problems, not to learn about how to connect with the divine.  Sure shamans call on the divine for help and often have a solid relationship with the divine.  However consciousness or connection to the divine is not their focus.  Healing is their focus.  With healing and helping others as a focus, higher consciousness is a by-product.

Then I came up with another hypothesis:  If we combine practices such as kundalini breathing with ayahuasca, they ACCELERATE each other.  They are like peanut butter and jelly.

I brought this idea to Alex, and he was like, ”That is exactly what I have been thinking for some time, I just have a few personal circumstances that have held back my examining this idea deeper – 1) I live in the mountains where there are no quality ayahuasca shamans. 2) I have been searching for six years around Peru for a quality ayahuasca shaman that is happy to share his knowledge about the medicine.  Now I have found Gumercindo and La Familia Medicina.  This new discovery solves problem number two.”

After our discussion I started to play with the breathing techniques both in and out of ceremony.  One amazing discovery for me was when I locked in the lower bhandas (the anus, parenium, and base of the penis) and sang icaros, my voice improved significantly.  I also discovered that I could consistently recharge my energies in ceremonies and during the day by using breath and the bhanda locks.  I found that if I was feeling “off” energetically I could do a couple rounds of specific breathing and clear the funky energy out.  Awesome stuff.

Gumercindo heard us talking about these techniques and his interest was piqued.  Alex ran through the details and some of the benefits.  Gume listened and tried them out, but it took awhile for him to really get into the idea.  Then two nights ago he tried the full breath with the locks during ceremony.  He was AMAZED at what happened- he stopped breathing for two minutes.  I should say, he forgot to breath for two minutes with NO negative effects.  In fact he said it was incredible, he was taken to a higher consciousness.  Gume has now started a regular meditation/breathing practice.

Since Alex has returned to the mountains, I have maintained a twice daily meditation practice that includes these breathing techniques.  In the past few weeks I have already found that with the combination of ayahuasca and meditation I can go into ayahuasca like states during meditation without ayahuasca.  I am also feeling much more connected to the divine throughout the day.  In ceremony this connection has been off the charts.  Obviously I will continue with the combination….and I will let you guys know what happens.

PS- while we are on this point, the above experiences are the reason we would like to have a true Kundalini Yoga instructor come down and volunteer to teach for one to three months.  If you, or anyone you know is qualified and interested, please e-mail me at zach@LaFamiliaMedicina.com.  Note: please do not use the comment box below to contact me- that comment box is for comments.

I have seen with my own eyes how a dieta can clean and heal much faster than drinking ayahuasca alone.  A friend of mine came down with me a few years ago to Peru for five ceremonies, but without a dieta.  He had a very difficult time and never really broke through to actually enjoying ceremonies.  His experiences were scary, intense, and he did not seem to be making any progress.  Then, just this past July he came to La Familia Medicina for a dieta and 5 ceremonies.  This time he committed to the shamanic dieta.

My friend was terrified to go into the first ceremony, but he persevered. The first two ceremonies were quite intense for him as he was heating up and purging A LOT.  This was the combination of the ayahuasca, the tree bark tea, and the restricted diet cleaning him out/straightening his energies.  We gave him lots of personal attention and encouragement which helped significantly.  He was 50/50 about going to a third ceremony, but he stepped up and went anyway.  It was the third ceremony that he broke through.  The ayahuasca and tree barks had done there work.  He was loving his experience.  He was done purging.  He actually started to look forward to ceremony from that point on.  My thesis is that without the dieta, he would have been “stuck” in this fear of ayahuasca.  The dieta helped him break through that fear and go even further with greater realizations and healing.

The above was only one example.  I now have seen this to be a quite consistent cycle for those who are on the dieta:  the first 1-2 ceremonies are intense purging with a breakthrough sometime during or after the second ceremony.  A dieta is hard, but WELL WORTH IT.

Shamanic dietas are quite strict and difficult, particularly from a food standpoint. For those that are new to the idea of the dieta, here are a list of rules and food that can be eaten during and after the 7-8 days on the strict shamanic dieta:

-No salt

-No sugar

-No oil

-No spices

-No touching other people

-Avoid the sun

-Avoid strangers

-The food consists of the following: chicken, fish, rice, yucca, potato, platano, cucumber, and coconuts.

-After the 7-8 days of the dieta no sex, drugs, or alcohol for 30 days and no pork for 6 months.

-After the 7-8 days of the dieta no sugar or acid fruits for a week.

As you can see the food variety is quite limited, especially when it comes to vegetables.  Well I have been asking Maestro Gumercindo many questions about the food since I started to work with him.  The above dieta is for those who want to follow the shamanic path.  We have come up with a new dieta, “The Training Dieta”.  This new dieta is for those who want to do deep, serious work but are not interested in becoming a shaman.  The difference between the two dietas is that “The Training Dieta” allows for a wide variety of vegetables and grains.  So if you have wanted to do the dieta, but were afraid that the food would just be too bland or limited, this may be an option for you to check out.

-Kundalini Yoga  and meditation instructor.  Needed immediately.

-Organic permaculture.  Expertise regarding farming in a tropical environment required

-Organic chef.  Spanish required.

We request a minimum of three months commitment.  In exchange for your time and efforts you will be able to have full access to the shamans and ceremonies.  We only ask that you cover your food costs.  Travel costs are also your responsibility.  Candidates should be comfortable living in a jungle camp environment and have a true desire to learn about ayahuasca and other plant medicines.

For more information, please send information regarding your past relevant experience and education to zach@LaFamiliaMedicina.com.  Please DO NOT use the comment box below to contact me.

First and foremost our philosophy seems to be quite different from other centers.  Gumercindo does a great job of summing this up by saying, “When you come  to La Familia Medicina you are not a tourist, you are not a client.  When you arrive you are accepted as part of the family.  We will relate to you and take care of you as part of the family.”  We take every possible step to make sure you feel safe, comfortable, and ensure you have space to enjoy your time here.  We have found that this philosophy is is both powerful and extremely important.  With this philosophy, you can fully relax into the medicine which in turn optimizes healing.

One of the more obvious things you will notice about us is the location and the space.  We are located deep in the jungle, the real deal.  A majority of the other centers are located in Iquitos or just outside of Iquitos.  Those centers are very convenient to travel to, but  the energy is very different.  We are constantly hearing feedback that the location, the design of the facilities and the energy of the jungle is simply amazing.

Upon your arrival, after settling into your rooms, etc.., we have a detailed orientation talk.  We will discuss the following points:

• Camp rules and safety.
• What to expect in ceremony and suggestions about what to focus on to maximize healing and transformation.
• The reasons for doing a dieta if it applies to you.
• The rules of the dieta and post dieta restrictions.
• Discussion as to whether the dieta is right for you and an opportunity to change your mind about the dieta.
• How there tends to be a consistent cycle when someone does a series of four or more ceremonies.

We really believe it is important that you understand everything clearly and fully prepare you for ceremony prior to your first ceremony.

Once ceremony time comes you will find that we provide a lot of individual attention.  We can do this as we keep our groups small- between five and ten people.  We make sure to take the time to explain to you in very simple, succinct language exactly what the Maestros are doing, teaching and exactly what is going on.

In ceremony we check in with you directly to ask you questions about your personal experience.  This is done to see how you are handling the medicine.  Once we hear what you are experiencing and what you are focusing on, we are able to explain to you exactly what is happening.  We also suggest individualized techniques as to how to accelerate your healing and how you may be able to work through various issues that may come up.

These “check ins” are more frequent during your first few ceremonies, “training wheels” of sorts.  As it becomes clear to us that you are becoming more comfortable with the medicine, the check ins become less frequent.  We also respect it if you feel the check ins are not necessary for you.

Laughter is healing.  We understand and embrace this.  We are focused and highly intentional when it is required.  We also know that ayahuasca wants us to have fun and enjoy life.  There is a lot of joking around.  We do not subscribe to the idea that the entire ceremony be serious or somber.

Something that struck me as somewhat of a surprise was that our guests find it extremely comforting that Gumercindo and Don Roldan stay in the ceremony house several hours after ceremony ends.  They stay to chat, joke, answer questions, and continually provide energetic protection.  Apparently this is not the case at many other centers in and around Iquitos.

During the day we spend a significant time talking with you.  We know that you are continually learning and healing during your stay here.  This includes non-ceremony time.  We proactively discuss with you what you are feeling during the day, what you are learning, your reflections on the previous ceremonies, and the dreams you may have had after ceremony.  Again we provide specific suggestions and encouragement based on these talks.

For more private issues we have one on one time away from the rest of the group to go over issues you may not be comfortable talking about in a group.  This may include negative thoughts or medical conditions.  Sometimes with these cases we are able to provide special treatment or plant remedies made specifically for you.  These conversations are kept completely confidential and we ask that you keep your medical issue and remedy confidential during your stay here as well.

Re-entry into modern or western society can be tough if you do not have the tools and preparation to deal with it.  Prior to your departure we discuss re-entry.  We talk about what you might go through when you relate your experience at La Familia Medicina with family and friends.  Sometimes the reactions are not as you might expect.  We teach you some techniques to deal with these reactions.  We also provide some ideas how to maintain your energies and even continue the work you have done here while you are at home.

I am extremely happy that those who have visited us thus far have been ecstatic about their experiences here and they have been very generous with their offers for help and feedback.  More than anything I feel extremely lucky to witness and be a part of such amazing transformations.  Thank you all.

We have built a huge octagonal ceremony house 48 feet in diameter, large private sleeping quarters that can fit 15 people, a swimming platform in the river  and a large kitchen/dining/lounging area.  All of this sitting on an picturesque small bluff above the river.  I can’t wait to move in next week.

To celebrate my return and this milestone we just had our first ayahuasca ceremony in the new camp a few days ago.  It was an intimate affair with just Maestro Gumercindo, his brother Marci, an older gentleman, Paolo, who is a patient of Gumercindo, and myself in attendance.

We left Hererra a bit late in the day with a chilly wind and a dark overcast sky that threatened to rain.  I was a bit concerned about it getting dark as we headed out on the big river, the Ucayali.  The currents are always strong and unpredictable with lots of large debris popping up.  I felt some consolation that we were in our big boat and that no one else seemed at all concerned about the conditions.

As it turns out the locals have no problem navigating the waters at night.  They know the rivers very well and I was reminded that they have an amazing ability to see in the dark.   I assume this is a trait developed by not having electricity (light) much of the time.  They are just more comfortable moving around in the dark.    That said, once we were on the smaller Aucayacu river I felt much better as it is a very calm “clear” water river. We (maybe just me) gringos are so soft.

Upon arrival to the camp it took some time to settle in as we essentially had to carry Paolo to the ceremony house.  Paolo has been having trouble with one of his ankles and was having a hard time navigating the steps up the bank of the river.

When Gumercindo first started to treat Paolo, his ankle had a softball sized swelling on the instep that extended throughout the foot. He could not walk nor move the foot at all.  After the first treatment by Gumercindo, the swelling had gone down significantly in a matter of minutes and Paulo could move it with minimal pain.  He was also able to begin walking again.  This was all done without ayahuasca.  Gumercindo had done a “ventiada”, performed some sucking to remove some of the bad energy in his ankle and prescribed some additional medicinal plants to apply to the affected area.  The ayahuasca ceremony was to provide additional cleaning and healing.

As we walked into the ceremony house I was struck by how large it is.  I already mentioned that the diameter of the house is about 48 feet and when you combine this with a “vaulted” ceiling that goes up at least another 30 feet the effect is quite impressive. This was particularly apparent with only four people in attendance. We had a small candle giving off a lovely soft light and the jungle sounds surrounded us.  It felt perfect.  It was like crawling into a warm blanket.

It had been about two months since the last time I had drunk ayahuasca.  I actually felt a bit nervous, something that I had not felt for quite some time.  I was concerned that I had picked up some dark energies while I was in the states.  As I mentioned in my last post, my time in the states was not “all roses”.  There was an expectation that some serious cleansing needed to be done.

Of course trying to predict what will happen with ayahuasca is absolutely ridiculous.  In my experience it never turns out as expected.

Ayahuasca was so gentle and actually generous with me.  The night was spent with lovely colorful visions, listening and singing along with Gumercindo’s amazing icaros, and joking around during the breaks.

About half way through ceremony I noticed a large green snake in my visions.  I could not see the head nor the tail at first  and something told me that it was not a snake.  It had odd coloring, a shimmering forest green that I had never seen on a snake.  The body started to turn in a way that I knew the head was coming around towards me.  In the next second I was face to face with a dragon that had smoke coming out of it’s nose and a menacing glare.  “Whoah!  WTF!?!”  I thought to myself, a bit scared.  Then in an instant the glare turned into a broad smile and soon after, raucous laughter.  He was just fucking with me.  We chatted without words for a bit before he took off flying playfully across the sky in every direction.  On one of his passes in front of me he invited me for a ride.  Of course I accepted and was instantly barreling through various worlds at warp speed on his back.  I was so grateful to have met such a fun new friend.

After hanging out with the green dragon, I started to think about the other dragon spirits…more specifically the red dragon.  Poof!  There I was face to face with another menacing dragon, this one less “solid”, as his body consisted of red flames.  This time I started laughing first as I knew the trick.  He soon joined me in laughter.  I spent the remainder of ceremony flying around and chatting with my new dragon friends.  Towards the end of my time with them, they said that they would always be with me now that we were friends.  Needless to say I was quite happy about this and they were true to their word.  When I would check in throughout the rest of ceremony they were there hovering above my head.

Ceremony ended. I spent the rest of the night chatting and joking around with the group.  I absolutely love post ceremony.  It is such a wonderful time to connect with friends in a way that just does not happen in daily life.

The next day we were up at 5 AM for the trip back to town.  Everyone had smiles on their faces as we all agreed that it was a great inaugural ceremony for the camp.

When I arrived in the states I was very much “in the flow”. For the first few weeks of my stay I found myself being quite amused with things like stress regarding time, blatant materialism and the dichotomy surrounding sex and sexuality in western culture. When I encountered these energies I had the ability to take the position of “the observer”. I definitely felt the pull, the temptation of materialism etc.., and I was able to maintain my center during those moments of temptation. I was able to side step these energies. It is important to note that during this time I was keeping a very regular yoga practice that included a fair amount of meditation. I believe that this practice was keeping my internal energies clean/straight and releasing any negative energies that I was picking up.

Then for various reasons, mostly the perception that I was short on time relative to my goals regarding the web page for La Familia Medicina, I stopped setting aside time for my yoga practice.

Looking back it was at this time that I started to succumb to the spirit of stress and to some extent materialism.

It was a slow process for me to get caught up in the faster, almost crazy pace of the west. First it started with a low grade sense of urgency and stress regarding our web page.

I kept thinking, kept looping, “Will I have enough time to finish this thing? It is taking forever for me to learn how to work with this technology! Oh my god, this is never going to get done in time! AAAARGH!”

Of course the web page is done now. I finished with about a week and a half to spare, but there was a fair amount of energy wasted just stressing. The funny thing is that I saw it all happening in real time as an observer and I kept reminding myself to take it easy which helped to some extent. However was not doing anything to release the stressful energies that were building up. Silly me.

My descent into materialism was particularly interesting for me. At first I was just very appreciative of things like hot water, climate control, fast internet, and the fact that things generally worked smoothly in the states.
Then I started to think about how things are just generally more difficult in Genaro Hererra. Nothing stays clean. It is always hot. Things like food and water generally require more effort to obtain and things like vegetables are always a challenge to get. No movies, no reliable internet. Etcetera, etcetera.

Why would I leave the comfort of the states? It truly is cushy there.

Thoughts of the medicine and La Familia Medicina are what kept me on my path. I absolutely love ayahuasca and what it has taught me. I am also so very happy with the work that I get to do here in Hererra. I get to see people transform right in front of my eyes in a matter of days. I am surrounded by love, both the family and the people who come to do work here. I am truly a lucky man, thank you God and thank you ayahuasca. That said, it is when I stopped my practice that the spirit of doubt tried to creep in albeit unsuccessfully.

I am not saying that my work with ayahuasca went out the window after a few weeks in the states. Remember, I essentially went from “zero to 100mph in two seconds” when I returned to the states after seven months in Peru. I was able to maintain the stance of the observer through the entire experience, and I have stayed on my path. The changes that have come from my work with ayahuasca are still very much intact and continue to blossom. My point is that with a regular spiritual practice to keep my energies clean and straight it was easier, almost effortless to maintain my center.

I have heard other people in the ayahuasca community say that they do not need additional practices besides ayahuasca. Maybe this is true for them and they have “advanced” further than I have. What I am saying is that practices such as yoga, meditation, etc… are extremely synergistic with ayahuasca and they can make things a lot easier during those times when we do not have access to ceremony. There is always work to do and these practices continue the work of ayahuasca.

I would propose that ayahuasca works much faster than any of the aforementioned practices as it collapses linear time when it comes to transformational and spiritual work. Ayahuasca teaches us faster and takes us to “higher levels” than any other modality. That said, other spiritual practices are additive and synergistic with ayahuasca. Again, these practices continue the work of ayahuasca.

This is just “my two cents”. Everyone is different and everyone has their own processes. They need to see what works for them. That said, if someone asks, I will suggest that some sort of spiritual practice be put into place or continued after a visit to Peru for a round of ayahuasca ceremonies.

As I said before, I am back in Genaro Hererra. La Familia Medicna’s new retreat center is almost finished- two more weeks to go. We will be well prepared for our July 18th tour! After the July tour we will be open for Budget Stays, Extended Tours, and Long Term stays. Check out the website for dates and details.