Be Love Now: A Visit with Ram Dass

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It was 1997. I was visiting the Neem Karoli Baba ashram in
Vrindaban, India, when I learned that my old friend and spiritual teacher, Ram
Dass, had had a major, possibly life-threatening stroke.  How strange to hear such news in that
particular place, which took me over 20 years to visit since first hearing Ram
Dass’s wondrous stories about Maharaj-ji in the  mid ’70s. (“Maharaj-ji” is the less formal,
affectionate honorific used by Neem Karoli Baba’s devotees.)

In a shamefully narcissistic manner, one of my first
thoughts had to do with me. Because
of all his work in the field of death and dying, I always assumed that if push
ever came to shove and I was lying in my death bed somewhere, I’d call on Ram
Dass to come sit with me through the process and all would be well.  It simply never dawned on me that he
was 22 years my senior, and, barring unforeseen tragic events, he was quite
likely going to pre-decease me. I was a bit in shock at what should have been
an obvious revelation, and felt orphaned.

Ram Dass demonstrated through his stroke experience what it
means to truly walk one’s talk, for he managed to re-frame a frightening,
painful and shocking event that would completely change his life and abilities
forever, into what he would eventually refer to as “fierce grace”
(which also became the title of a wonderful film about his ordeal.) The
teaching he offered is that all circumstances — seemingly
good or bad from our own perspective — can be seen, felt and even known as God’s Grace, if one is but
willing to hold them that way and learn from them rather than merely complain
and be the unfortunate victim of a terrible turn of events in one’s life.

Of course, being a spiritual hero to thousands, Ram Dass
really had no choice; he couldn’t very well indulge in kvetching about his
reality for very long, or behaving as if God and his Guru were somehow suddenly
absent from the universe!  Clearly,
if God is real and present — no matter what
happens —
then one must learn to accept all experiences ultimately as the
Grace of God, some more fierce than others.

For most of us, though, how could having a stroke, being
paralyzed on one side, and initially losing nearly all of one’s speech
capacity, possibly be the Grace of God?
If such a thing happened to me, I know I’d be extremely pissed off at
God, and asking questions like, “What about playing guitar and piano? Or
bicycling?  I mean, I teach movement and dance for crying out
loud!”

Rabbi Harold Kushner’s famous query comes to mind:
“Where is God when bad things happen to good people?” According to
the mystics among us, the answer is always the same: God is present, and cannot
possibly be elsewhere, for the “One Vast Eternal Omnipresent Source of All
Being and Existence ” certainly cannot be off at a brothel in Thailand
while you’re being mugged in New York City. No, as Thich Nat Hanh might say,
God is the mugger and the mugged (and
the Thai prostitute.)  Given the
daily state of affairs in our own lives as well as the headlines from around
the world that bombard us each morning, if any of us presume to intuit the
Presence of God, then that Presence is clearly not impacted one way or the
other by actual events that occur.
The good stuff that happens doesn’t mean God is here, and the bad stuff
doesn’t mean the Divine has left the building. God is the animating force, or
the all-pervading intelligence within which all
experience takes place. The Tibetan Buddhists call it Cognizant Emptiness. Not
very spiritually romantic for devotional, religious types, but probably
accurate.

I had a video Skype session with Ram Dass a few years ago, a
service called “Heart-to-Heart” that he makes available to his
website subscribers. My agenda in setting up the conversation
was to ask him for his blessing before I set out on a book tour to promote The 99th Monkey, a memoir
that featured my history with him in the first and last chapters, symmetrically
framing the whole work.  And though
I had badgered him repeatedly the previous year, in the end he had opted not to
endorse the back of my book.  So
now, if I couldn’t get his blurb, I felt I at least needed his blessing. He
paused a moment when I asked, closed his eyes to search for his answer, then
looking straight into the camera and pointing his finger, said very calmly,
“You have my blessing, as long as you tell the truth.”

That gave my little brain plenty to think about!  Was he saying I  didn’t tell the truth
in the book? That I somehow misrepresented him in my story? What did he mean? I
didn’t ask, and rather than try and figure out his answer, I lived, as Rilke
said, “inside the question.” As I traveled the country on my book
tour, it became my personal Zen koan each time I took the stage.

And I think I told the truth. Mostly.

He also gave me an extremely valuable piece of advice:  “If you go on a book tour as an
ego, in order to sell books,” he said, “it is a complete pain in the
butt. But if you approach each event as a gathering of souls, then you can have
a meaningful evening together.” I took that very much to heart, and
brought my guitar along and wound up singing and chanting with people in
bookstores all across the country, and I do believe that souls were touched.
Mine was.

Apart from that Skype call, though, I hadn’t seen Ram Dass
for quite some time. Since I was to be on Maui, not 10 minutes from his home, I
requested some moments of his time, and he was gracious enough to receive me at
his gorgeous home overlooking the sea. His living room features a very large,
holy shrine adorned with flowers, photos and sacred relics, that pays homage to
his Guru and many other saints from a diversity of religious traditions.
Although he can swim in his pool and walk a bit with a walker, he is for the
most part confined to a wheelchair, presumably for the rest of his life.  Yet not only is he not complaining, it
seems he has managed to arrive at an even happier and more content state of
being than ever before!  This is
clear both from being in the room with him as well as from his own public talks
about his process in the years since the stroke.

I first met Ram Dass in 1975 at the age of 23, when I was
first emerging as a spiritual seeker, full of longing and penetrating
questions, deeply hungry for answers and direction. Ram Dass was bigger than
life, rapidly gaining worldwide notoriety as a counter-cultural hero and
teacher to millions, and author of what was becoming the pivotal spiritual
guidebook of those tumultuous times, Be
Here Now.
  He had returned from
India wearing the trappings of that culture — white robe and beads and long, wild
hair and beard. But even in his more ordinary American attire, he exuded a
powerful, loving presence that was quite palpable, penetrating and real.

I vividly remember the intensity and significance of our
first meeting.  He would often do
an exercise with new students that involved sitting across from one another,
eyeball to eyeball, with the instruction, “Anything that comes into your
mind that you don’t want to share with me, share with me.”  It was astounding for me to witness and
subsequently reveal the vast array of normally private, psychological
material — shameful secrets, things I was embarrassed about and so forth — and to
feel the unconditional love pouring through his eyes as he listened silently to
all that came spilling out of me in what amounted to being a liberating
confessional of sorts. The exercise continued until I reached my limit, my line
in the sand, where there were just certain things too horrible to say aloud,
and I didn’t, and he didn’t ask me to.

And I never have, to him. In a way, I never completed that
exercise.

Perhaps I should have used this visit in Maui to pick up
where we had left off some 35 years ago when we first played that game, but
this time I was determined to show up as an “adult.” I wanted to
approach my old spiritual teacher not as what George Bernard Shaw called a
“bundle of grievances and ailments.” I did not want to greet him as a
needy spiritual seeker full of problems and questions looking for someone to
provide me with answers.  Rather, I
wanted to have no particular agenda apart from paying my respects, human to
human, to an old friend and mentor, with the awareness that I didn’t know if we
would ever meet again in this lifetime.
(Ram Dass never leaves Maui, and this was my first visit there in nearly
25 years.)

I didn’t want to arrive empty-handed; yet there didn’t seem
to be any physical object I could bring that would make any sense. It’s all
just “stuff.” I had picked up various chatchkes around our house to
bring to him, but my wife Shari nixed each one. Then, in Maui, a few days
before we were to get together, someone was giving away a very long and exotic
Hawaiian flower, and I thought that one of them, like a single rose, would make
a nice offering. I put it in water for two days, but on the morning I was to
drive over to meet Ram Dass, I discovered that the flower had started to turn
brown and die. That would have had its own significance, I suppose, but I
wanted to bring a fresh flower, and it was too late to look for a florist.  As I drove to his house, I passed a
field of wild flowers, pulled over and picked one beautiful, fuchsia-colored
flower on a thorny stem.  I spent
some time on the side of the road, scraping all the thorns off with my
thumbnail until I felt confident that I could hand it to him without the risk
of him getting pierced by a thorn.

Meanwhile, I was recalling a story Ram Dass used to tell of
his early days in India, when he was agonizing over finding just the perfect
gift for Maharaj-ji. He had finally settled on purchasing a beautiful blanket,
because Maharaji basically only wore blankets,  and Ram Dass carried the blanket with him throughout his
travels, building up in his mind how wonderful it was going to be to present
his beloved Guru with this token of his great love, and how special he would
feel as the bestower of such a perfect gift.  But in fact, when he was finally sitting before his Guru and
presented him with the blanket, Majaraj-ji picked it up by the edges of one
corner with two fingers, holding it up like a dead rat, and then turned and
presented it to another devotee as a gift. He then turned to Ram Dass and
asked, “Did I do the right thing?”  “Perfect,” Ram Dass responded.  In that moment, he saw how much his ego
had riding on the blanket; it was not a “clean” gift in that way, and
Maharaj-ji held it up in that manner to indicate as much.

I examined myself carefully, but as far as I could discern,
my flower offering was clean.  I
liked that I picked it in the wild and not at a store, and that I had smoothed
off the thorns to protect his hands.
And so, when he wheeled himself into his living room to see me, I rose
to greet and hug him and presented him with the flower.  He held it in his hand awhile, feeling
it, contemplating it in silence.
And continued to do so throughout our hour-plus conversation.

Because of my decision to come to him not wanting anything,
the result was that in large part our meeting together remained mostly on a
“chatty” level, in great contrast to the original soul-bearing,
life-changing contact we had had over three decades earlier.  But several times we lapsed into
silence and simply gazed at one another, and I later concluded that it didn’t
matter what we talked about.
Whatever connection or transmission that needed to occur was going to
happen anyway, beyond the words. I suppose this is true of every interaction we
have with everyone, but right or wrong, I give my relationship with Ram Dass
more weight and significance than I do some others, despite his repeated
reminders in the early days that the bus driver or your Aunt Gertrude just
might be the Buddha.

At one point, after one of those silences, he said,
“You’re in good shape; you used to talk off the wall.”  I puzzled over that one for awhile,
then recalled that when I had been badgering him to endorse my book and he
wasn’t returning any of my emails, each time I wrote him I opened with a bigger
apology: “I don’t mean to be a nuisance, please forgive me, maybe you
didn’t get my email” etc., and then even sent him a snail-mail letter on
top of all that, until I finally browbeat him into at least agreeing to read my
manuscript, but then as press time approached and I saw no blurb from him
forthcoming, I bugged him one last time, and my apology had escalated to,
“I know you must hate me and think I should rot in hell for all of
eternity, but please know that our deadline is next week.”

And to that he
finally responded: “If you go to hell, I will miss you. Namaste, Ram
Dass.”  I laughed — a lot — and I
was simultaneously crestfallen. Because now I knew he was choosing not to endorse my book, it wasn’t simply that my requests
had gotten overlooked in a pile of mail.
So perhaps my “rot in hell” routine was what he was referring
to when he said I used to talk “off the wall.” Though undoubtedly I
had teetered on the wall many times before that.

Now, sitting across from him in Maui, talking about this and
that, he suddenly said, quite out of the blue, “You should let something
else, or someone else, write through you, instead of just writing from your
ego.”  I felt a bit defensive,
because I had not posted any blogs in months for that very reason; as an ego, I
knew I simply had nothing much to say or offer, and yet nothing else seemed to
be wanting to come through me.  In
response to Ram Dass’s suggestion, I said,  “Well, I’m usually pretty dense when it comes to subtle
energies or other dimensions.” He replied, “Well your ego is dense
through and through, but your soul isn’t.”

That was a conversation stopper, and we fell into silence a
bit.  Who knows, though? Maybe this is what I sound like when I’m letting
someone else write through me!  I
always figured it would sound more like, “Blessings to all my children who
come seeking union with their Beloved.” Maybe I am a channel for Shecky
Greene rather than St. Germaine. (Given a choice, I would have opted for
Kerouac.)

When the renowned Brazilian healer, Joao de Deus (John of
God) came to the United States for the first time, I hopped a plane to Atlanta
to meet him.  Some two thousand of
us, all dressed in nearly identical white yoga clothing, had the opportunity to
walk past him for a brief moment, while he was presumably inhabited by a
variety of “entities,” the spirits of deceased physicians. Through a
translator, he would quickly direct each person to either a healing room to
receive psychic surgery from the non-physical guides that were hovering about,
or to a meditation room to simply sit quietly in the energy that permeated the
place and was tangible even to a closed-off, skeptical cynic like myself. After
whisking people away one after the other in rapid succession, when I approached
him the translator stopped me dead in my tracks, pointed his finger and said
firmly, “YOU, he wants to see in Brazil.”

I moved on, thinking to myself, I schlepped all the way to
Atlanta to see him, why do I have to go to Brazil? I’m here now!  Plus, how do I know if I go to Brazil
he’s not going to say, “YOU I want to see in Atlanta?” But I decided
to go back a second day, and again I was one of two thousand new (and some
repeat) visitors.  Once again I
watched person after person march by him in half a second, getting waved on to
the healing room or the meditation room. And once again when I came before him
the translator stopped me and said, “YOU he waits for in
Brazil!”  Needless to say, it
gave me food for thought, but I never went.

I had heard that Ram Dass had gone down to Brazil to visit
Joao’s well-known healing center, known as the Casa, and had had very good
things to say about it.  He
compared the loving, heart-opening atmosphere he discovered there to the
feelings he had only experienced previously at his Guru’s ashram in India,
although he did not receive any physical healing of the stroke symptoms that
had prompted the visit. I told him my story of meeting John of God, and
receiving the repeated admonition to head to Brazil. Since Ram Dass had had a
positive experience down there, I asked him if he thought it would be worth the
trip for me to go.  After a brief
closed-eye contemplation, he responded, “Given your attitude, I don’t
think it would do you any good,” and we both cracked up; it was so clearly
the truth about me!  I am famous
for going to places like in order to demonstrate
that they don’t work for me.  I
have a reputation to uphold as the 99th Monkey, the proverbial one who  never gets it.
(It’s a really lousy job, you wouldn’t want to be me.)

Earlier in our conversation, we were talking about his
stroke, his physical condition, and with his left hand pointing to the
paralyzed right side of his body, he made a a gesture of dismissal, and said,
“Just my body,” then pointing to his heart, added, “Not
me.”  Of course some could
argue this is just cognitive dissonance, that once you’ve lost half your body,
your identity had  better reside in the heart and soul,
not the failing flesh. And I also realized that if I was to share with him any
of my personal issues, I couldn’t very well bring up my hurting knees or lower
back or the osteoarthritis in my big toes.

Witnessing the contentment, joy and absence of struggle he
was clearly enjoying, moment-to-moment, it was fairly obvious that he had
arrived at a pretty happy place in his consciousness, stroke or no stroke. The
wheelchair and the condition of his body were truly irrelevant to his primary
self-identity as “loving awareness,” a term from his current book, Be Love Now. The new title ups the ante,
nearly 40 years later, from merely being here
now to being love now. I’m guessing they
are interdependent, however, and arise together; if you are truly and fully
present in the here and now, love is the inevitable outcome.  Conversely, if you are truly
“being love,” you will find yourself in the here and now. But the
one-word change in the title points the reader in an ever-so-subtly different
direction, imbuing one’s journey with a somewhat softer focus, somehow, more in
the direction of kindness and less preoccupation with whether one is truly
present or not.

When I got up to leave, he wheeled himself behind me,
steering me in the direction of the altar (unless I went there on my own and he
followed? I can’t remember.) As I stood before the altar, he gently handed me
back the flower, and I understood that I was to offer it, which I did, and
gently set it down. My wild, thorn-free fuchsia-colored flower had been
received, my offering had been accepted.

The flower reminded me of the time I saw Ram Dass several
years after his stroke. He was making his first trip to Taos, New Mexico, to
the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram there, in order to celebrate bhandara (commemorating
Maharaji’s Mahasamadhi, the
time of his passing from this Earth, which occurred in 1973.) It would be his
first public appearance in several years. There were hundreds of people anxious
to greet him personally, if only for a few moments. I didn’t want to add to
what I imagined might have been too much for him, or overwhelming, so I opted
instead to go into a small meditation chamber in the rear of the ashram, away
from the hubbub.

There were only one or two other people in the room. Not
five minutes after I closed my eyes to meditate, I heard the door open, looked
up, and someone was wheeling Ram Dass into the room.  Feeling thrilled and privileged, I closed my eyes to enjoy
this intimate meditation with my teacher sitting right beside me.  Some time passed, and we looked over
and gazed into each other’s eyes for a prolonged moment. Then, as the aide
began to wheel him out, Ram Dass looked up at him and commented aloud, with his
then still-limited speech, “Every individual, like a flower.” It was
his commentary, it seemed, about our silent interaction.

He left the room and I burst into tears, for through that
one poetic remark I recognized that he was seeing the “flower part”
of me, a precious and pure, unsullied natural place within that I myself had
long since forgotten was still in there somewhere. And I also knew I wasn’t
special. He said every individual.
What would that be like, to go through life seeing each person as if gazing at
a flawless, beautiful blossom?

Our good-bye in Maui was less dramatic. I asked him if he
still did spiritual practices, and he looked at me as if I was speaking Greek
and asked, “Spiritual practices?” And I said, “You know,
spiritual practices; you remember those.” He replied, “I just hang
out with Maharaj-ji.”  When
you’re living in the presence, certainty and awareness of “being love
now,” one is no longer doing
anything in order to find or cultivate that love. I leaned over and kissed his
bald head and said I love you, walking away and not looking back; just before I
went out the door, he called out, “I love you too,” and of course I
didn’t believe him, and got in the car and immediately thought I had acted like
an idiot, wasted a precious opportunity to ask the deeper questions, and
figured that he probably thought I was an a**hole. And still off the wall.

But that’s just my way, and I got over it.  Meanwhile, I have some gardening to do
if I want this flower to bloom.

Image by MAMJODH, courtesy of Creative Commons license. 

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While similar (changa contains DMT), each drug has its own unique effect and feeling. Let’s compare and contrast changa vs DMT.

5-MeO-DMT Guide: Effects, Benefits, Safety, and Legality
5-Meo-DMT comes from the Sonora Desert toad. Here is everything you want to know about 5-Meo-DMT and how it compares to 4-AcO-DMT.

4-AcO-DMT Guide: Benefits, Effects, Safety, and Legality
This guide tells you everything about 4 AcO DMT & 5 MeO DMT, that belong to the tryptamine class, and are similar but slightly different to DMT.

How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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