“highest inna di kingdom trees balancing over we.

humble within wrong is good spirit.

that is good spirit”

Often when I look at this king of trees towering above our horizon, I recall the song by Midnite, ¨Kingdom Trees¨. A lot of rasta metaphors are about plant world, and it was through rastafarianism I started my spiritual explorations outside of Europe. This syncretic mysticism, especially its ¨roots¨organic form, grounded in basic of nature, helped form part, to use again rasta figure, of my foundation, and until today remains a source of in-spiration, even if other plants now are fuel for my reasoning.

So to the roots I bow and today pay the homage for wise person that has just passed, Vaughn Benjamin, lead singer of Midnite.

Within being wronged, I found my home, in the shade of highest of trees. Now the tough part, while abundance and strength rises, to stay humble.

It requires no great futuristic abilities to say that very soon enabling your child to experience magic away from tablet or smartphone screen will be both a rare luxury and an act of social rebellion. Do the move first, without worrying about the others. It is the same as any other step out of cultural trance, like giving up socializing with alcohol or rat race for the best school. The benefits can be only truly seen once you make the jump.

Art of healing can be compared to art of carving, in this aspect of removal of excess as a way to reveal hidden beauty. It is not so much by adding something – like a magic pill that makes you full – but by getting rid, purging, removing obstacles that block one from understanding and his body from healthy growth and flourishing, we are allowing patient ( the one who is patient ) to heal.

We are talking of course about so called “alternative” or holistic healing, not paradigm of broken machine, that cares not much what made it broken. This holistic approach does not simply respect spirituality, as some helpful gimmick for aiding proper, biological course of treatment with improvements in psychological well being. Here, spirituality is essential, and what we are personally interested in, is not superficial layer, which god you worship or what colour of robes put on, but what is under the Mask, and what is in common. So if you look at actual practice of many serious spiritual traditions, you will see that activity of cleansing of physical environment is very common one. It may be symbolic, like sage or palo santo smoke to ward negative energies, but very often it is literal, as first step given to apprentice, here is your broom. Remember that quote from Terence Mc Kenna, comparing psychedelics and eastern traditions with their meditation, when admitting his lack of patience, he said that you can either spend 15 years sweeping floor of ashram to get a glimpse of something, or just take psychedelics. Well, maybe that is where his main mistake lied, and why he never was able to connect deeper with Amazonian shamanism with its discipline, but chose rather to experiment with his DMT pipe and mushroom megadoses, blazing trails for legions of current psychonauts, who often also have trouble with sweeping their filthy yard, but no trouble at all breaking next boundary of high.

This example here is given, because grandpa Terence was one of great inspirations on my way, and so I feel entitled in a way to give this advice to fellow psychonauts. The idea of our project here, Psychonauta Foundation, is not to abandon exciting journey into one’s soul, but to furnish the voyager with tools and skills, in other words, give him foundation, so that the journey is more productive and one can bring something back to the port. Because after a while, it is being in the port that can become more difficult, and so I believe Mc Kenna was completely wrong in his quote :

“It’s not hard to sweep up around the ashram, but it’s hard to take psychedelics.”

It is opposite, tells you someone who really has been places. You may have encountered elves or angry Somalis, in this realm or another, but does really more and more continue to bring you more meaning? You might have understood this easily about consumerist society and money, when unhappy with it, you set for your psychedelic oddyssey, but can’t the same happen with unquenchable thirst for experience?

When you sweep the floor and enjoy not only the beauty created by act of cleaning, but act itself, as you enjoyed the ceremony last night, that made it filthy, you come closer to balance and peace with this world, that eventually has to be left behind. But I believe the access to eternity lies not in dreaming about its shape and form that is to come, but in firm grasp of your broomstick, now.

It is both sense of great joy and fulfilment for us, who had exchanged stimulation of nomadic life for being settled in this forest, as well as essential part of the therapeutic process, that our camp has become a meeting place for people from so diverse backgrounds, cultures, ages and paths of life. Source of healing is precisely the energy resulting from those encounters, exchange of experiences through conversations, feeling but even more through extraordinary, almost telepathic connection in the ceremonies, and so happens greater understanding of self, own suffering and way out of it, through honest seeing and acknowledging it in other, and so in all, in One. We are willingly laid bare in front of others, as we have maybe never even been in front of ourselves, and we can do it, laughing at the concept of shame, because we have seen that there is no Other. Rastafarian concept of I&I, Christian selfless love for one´s brother, dissolving the drop in the ocean, poetry of mankind has many names for what mystics had glimpsed, and there is no point in waiting who is do first step when effects benefit all. Forgive now, truly love yourself and rest grows from it.

…

To zarowno zrodlo wielkiej radosci i spelnienia dla tych z nas, ktorzy zamienili stymulacje nomadycznego zycia na osiadly tryb w tym kawalku lasu, jak rowniez niezbedna czesc terapeutycznego procesu, ze nasz oboz stal sie miejscem spotkan ludzi z tak roznorodnych sciezek zyciowych, kultur, grup wiekowych i spolecznych. Zrodlem uzdrawiania jest dokladnie energia wyplywajaca z tych spotkan, wymiany doswiadczen, konwersacji, wspol-czucia czy tym bardziej niezwyklych, niemalze telepatycznych polaczen w ceremoniach, i to tak staje sie wielki cud doglebnego zrozumienia siebie, wlasnego cierpienia i drogi z niego wyjscia, poprzez uczciwe dojrzenie i uznanie go w innym, i tym samym we wszystkich, w Jedni. Swiadomie i chetnie obnazamy sie przed innymi, tak jak nigdy nie uczynilismy tego nawet przed soba samym, i mozemy to robic, smiejac sie z idei wstydu, poniewaz zobaczylismy ze nie ma Innego. Rastafarianski koncept I&I, chrzescijanska bezinteresowna milosc blizniego, rozpuszczenie kropli w oceanie, poezja ludzkosci ma wiele okreslen na ten przeblysk zrozumienia mistykow, i nie ma sensu czekac kto ma uczynic pierwszy krok, jezeli jego owoce beda dla wszystkich. Przebacz juz teraz, kochaj siebie szczerze, a reszta z tego wyrasta.

Foundation myths of a culture tell a lot about its approach to fundamental issues of human life. Eating from Tree of Knowledge being a sin in eyes of jealous god, projection of priestly caste and rulers needing religion as tool of social control is well known example, another is work as punishment.

Judeo-christian perspective of paradise as some distant, lost place before and after, without burden of obligations and work not only can be read as longing of sedentary, agricultural civilization for times of free roaming nomads, gathering what they need from abundant garden of nature, but is also conveniently fitting in modern capitalist economy, with its obsession of mechanization, taking away more and more tasks from human consumer, in theory to make his life easier and happier, in practice fulfilling need only to create another, placing him in constant bipolar struggle between workaholism despite abundance already present, and idle emptiness in wealth and depression. It echoes in Warren Buffet´s saying that if you don’t find a way to earn in your sleep, you will be working until the end of your life.

And WTF is wrong with that?

Isn´t that approach, that work is means to a final end, result, redemption in vacation or wealthy retirement, corresponding with Christian approach to life, that the reward will come when we do the necessary work, some time later, so we have to face that dull hell of the present? Focus on destination, not the way, on prize rather than the game itself, is a source of perpetual unfulfillment and unhappiness. We created that exile ourselves, not angry Jehovah, not by being forced do the work, but by our minds taking over, with their worrying and preoccupation with future, and distorting image of present moment, including possible beauty of effort itself.

When we chop the wood, preparing it for the ceremony that comes in the evening, it is not that this sweating is something to be hated, and state of bliss after drinking ayahuasca something to be waited for and loved, because we fixed ourselves on the idea that this is ceremony, this is celebration time, sacred time, while the preparation, menial work is mundane and necessary. Chopping wood IS the ceremony, as much as burning palo santo or singing icaros.
Same logic can be applied to any activity. When you cook, you should not see that as a chore, necessary to satisfy yourself with gorging later. Etc, etc, but I should conclude with important : we heard the phrase, do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life. But that not only means, find your bliss, and become a windsurfing instructor.

It means : love everything