Creating intentional tribes and rites of passage can restore a sense of purpose, belonging, respect, and morality. Tribal morality can be assimilated into the psyche, to create a lasting frame of relevance for the individual's gifts.

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It's a not-so-dirty little secret that most of today's leading meditation teachers were interested in drugs. By "drugs," of course, I don't mean alcohol or Oxycontin, but rather that subset of chemicals which our society has deemed unfit for human consumption, including cannabis, psilocybin, MDMA, and others. (more)

To be in the presence of someone who is completely comfortable with things as they unfold is to be in the presence of the miraculous nature of reality as it is. Trusting in this unfolding process requires the dissolving of controlling and defensive habits and giving full permission to what is trying to arise. To live in this state is to live a guided life. (more)

I cupped my hands over my ears and saw myself curled into the fetal position, disoriented and trying to escape. But escape from what, exactly? Not the effects of the ayahuasca or the visions, but something deeper, something residing at my core: the malignant feeling of being insignificant and alone in a universe far too vast and viscious for me to make headway. 

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[The Ayahuasca Monologues] • The ayahuasca journey deconstructed my reality and identity and sent new light into my being. The world had become fluid and malleable. I had embarked on the path of realizing my power to manifest reality, heal, and move through the interdimensional shamanic worlds. (more)

If we can create the mystical crucible strong enough to stand the horror of facing our collective and individual shadows, then the depth of our depravity and enslavement might provide, through the mystery of grace, a glimpse of the divine light that is unbearably intense at this moment, and is trying to make us wake up and claim responsibility for our transformation. (more)

The journey to enlightenment and unitary consciousness is a long one. Why is the road so uninviting and fraught with obstacles where so few seem to have reached the other side, much less have attained an illuminated body? Might we be holding out because the other side does not quite live up to our idea of enlightenment? (more)

Thanks to movies like Inception and Avatar, there have been more news articles about dream research in the last two months than I've seen in the last two years, with journalists asking: Is dream control possible? Will technology let us share dreams? What kind of pill can we take to wake up in our dreams? (more)

Encoded in the birth of the self-conscious, separate self is its own self-liberation. The moment of self-consciousness is the portal through which we can step out and let go of ourselves in the service of compassion. (more)

There was a method to Jung's madness: active imagination. It, along with the transcendent function, are the two most important discoveries Jung made in the years leading up to World War One. They describe a method of consciously entering into a dialogue with the unconscious to trigger a vital shift in consciousness, brought about through the union of the conscious and unconscious minds.  (more)

The mental constructions of ego and desire have long been essential to our existence. And yet, as the Buddha realized 2,500 years ago, these basic constructions cause a lot of pain. The needs most fundamental to our biological makeup are also the ones which tend to cause the most suffering.  Is there another way? (more)

Thousands of years ago, humanity planted three seeds, three transmissions, from the past to the future, three ways of preserving and transmitting the truth of the world, the self, and how to be human. Now these seeds are sprouting. Who is ready to receive the fruits?   (more)

The 2010 crop circle season has been an exciting time (so far). It has included many new crop pictures of a mathe- matical or geometrical nature, along with several other pictures which show nuclear fusion from subatomic physics, plus a recent pair of pictures which purports to show a "message from above" that is intended for everyone on Earth, if we can figure out what it means. (more)