CONTENTS:

TRENG
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CONTENTS

What is Ayahuasca,
how is it done?

AYAHUASCA; is an herbal brew
made by boiling parts of
the Psychotria viridis
and Banisteriopsis caapi plants.

 

The Psychotria viridis plant contains DMT molecules as a compound. The Banisteriopsis caapi plant contains MAO inhibitors which block the activation of the MAO enzyme released by the stomach and intestines in order to stop the body from breaking down DMT and getting rid of it through defecation. Ordinarily, when a DMT molecule enters the body, MAO enzyme gets released and it leads to the breakdown of the DMT molecule, ending with loss of effectiveness. Therefore, it is not only enough to use Psychotria viridis but also Banisteriopsis Caapi since it ensures the DMT molecule’s retention in the body. To reiterate, parts of Psychotria viridis and Banisteriopsis Caapi should be boiled and brewed together because, when the DMT molecule reaches the stomach, MAO inhibitor can stop the breakdown of the DMT molecule in stomach and intestines, where later on, it is filtered through the liver and finally reaches the pineal gland.

 

It is difficult not to wonder how this mysterious blend, opening doors to the energy dimensions beyond our 5 senses, was discovered in the deep Amazon forests where thousands of plants exist. Republic of Peru’s acknowledgement of Ayahuasca tea as a national cultural heritage and an extraordinary therapeutic value, shows its significance.

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DMT

Molecule and

Pineal Gland

Pineal gland is a bean-like organ located between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This small organ accepted as a psychic sensorium is also known as “the third-eye” and “the eye of the heart”.

 

Pineal gland releases melatonin, a hormone responsible for sleep cycles and it is also in charge of releasing the DMT molecule. DMT molecules are released mostly during birth, death and limitedly during dream state. Spiritualists presume that the spirit enters (birth) and leaves (death) the body with the DMT molecule. Another aspect of the Pineal gland is that it is the only other organ other than the eye which has a retina. The experiments demonstrate that in contrast to the eyes, pineal gland loses its ability to function in the light and regains its ability when in the dark.

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The Author’s Insights:

 

Isn’t it interesting how pineal gland is activated in the dark? As it is narrated in many sacred scriptures, the spirits are detached from the Creator and fall down to the material realm. In the Bhagavad-Gita sacred scriptures, it is said that the spirit got momentarily jealous of the Creator and consequently, it got transferred to the material body thus giving them the opportunity to experience the Creator’s characteristics. (Power, knowledge, fortune, beauty, renunciation etc.) After multiple lives, if the spirit remembers that it doesn’t belong in the material realm, its journey to ‘within’ begins and continues with intensified love of IT, which leads to decreased importance of what the eye sees day by day. Whenever a person renounces material pleasures and diverts all desire to IT with the intent of regaining its original position, bright spaces might become a distracting element for that person. It will be much easier to focus on IT, in a silent and dark atmosphere. Could our Creator have given us two types of eyes so that we can see the illusion or the reality in line with our intentions? Somehow, we have two eyes which allow us to see the material realm and this realm is made of dualities. Two eyes against the world of dualities… On the other hand, we have one third eye and could this be showcasing the one and only God in capital letters?

 

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Uyarı!

It wouldn’t be right to categorize Ayahuasca under the same roof as recreational drugs.  Shaman led Ayahuasca ceremonies help people to be healed in terms of body and soul. The intention is not enjoyment but on the contrary, it is to grow and mature spiritually being exposed to some kind of pain (by surrendering yourself for spiritual growth). If you are expecting a ‘joyful’ experience, then you might not get anything in return because, when the psychological distress happening during situations what they call ”the medicine has taken possession of you“ is compared to the physical challenges, it would be like comparing a piece of sand to the whole beach. The reason I say W A R N I N G! is because Ayahuasca should absolutely not be used for entertainment. Even if it is consumed accompanied by an experienced shaman, it can still cause you psychological distress.  If the person has not practiced controlling one’s own mind, then it would be wrong to suggest experiencing Ayahuasca tea. If you are ‘fallen’ like me ( someone who was not fortunate enough to follow a sacred scripture), you are not satisfied with the answers that you have come across or the what you can you see with your own eyes, you haven’t listened to your heart yet and finally if you are looking for proof about energy; attending an Ayahuasca ceremony led by a Shaman can strengthen your faith.

 

 

One way or another, in the end, the only place we arrive at, will be ONE.

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Shipibo Explanation of Existence

Shipibo people say that we are governed by two types of energies; the Life-Giving Good Energy and the Destructive Energy. If we can add Love to our focus, the doors open for experiences influenced by the Life-Giving Good Energy. The power of exercises for controlling our own mind and the ability to focus, manifests itself here. In the material reality, where we think we have control, the controllers are the Life-Giving Good Energy and the Destructive Energy. Fundamentally, we have the right to choose however, we are not the controllers. What should be done is to include Love to your breath and fall under the influence of the Life-Giving Good Energy. Shamans say that healing can only be achieved with Love and that is only possible through the Life-Giving Good Energy.

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Ayahuasca’s Effect on Perception

Using only our 5 senses, perceiving the material existence is very limited. It can be possible to access the energy planes that we have experienced before birth, when we were transferred to the human body, using Ayahuasca tea. Spiritual growth and maturity play a significant and determining role in being able to access these energy planes. Even through Ayahuasca journey can help you heal; it can also end with devastation. An interesting fact; during Ayahuasca ceremonies, when the medicine takes effect, you can read the hidden emotions in Shipibo folk songs. The words lose their meaning and necessity and the teachings come to life in your mind through energy flow. A Shaman acts as a channel between the cosmic energy and the participant to deliver the necessary information flow. Sometimes during the process, it is not always easy to anchor the Life-Giving Good Energy and in times like these, the Shaman creates a shield around the participant by using folk songs. You have to be spiritually pure and aware of The Creator and your eternal togetherness to be able to surrender your journey to IT’s control. The moment you realise you are not in the controller position, and you dissociate yourself from your mind, and when you blend the eternal trust for IT with the love you have for IT, you will be able to witness light teachings.

 

While under the influence of Ayahuasca, you understand clearly that being able to control your thoughts is the most important skill you can have. Ultimately, skills like thought control and concentration are gifted to us as a means to communicate with IT. During Ayahuasca ceremonies, whenever IT was not my main focus, it would be very easy for me to forget that I was in fact safe so, with the energy of fear, I would fall into a pool of misery and sorrow. If the roots of my thoughts weren’t derived from Love, I would be taken by the Destructive Energy. People who are dedicated to cleansing their souls by regularly attending Ayahuasca ceremonies, are taken by the Destructive Energy multiple times and learn the necessity of anchoring their thoughts to Love by using the pain that they encountered along the way. These people define themselves as Love Practitioners.

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Preparing for The Ceremony

It is very important that we are in control of our own minds to be able to convert negative energy into a positive one when we encounter it. What’s even more important is that it will be for your benefit to add the existence of The Creator and your eternal togetherness to your breath via sacred scriptures. In fact, if you let your mind take the wheel during this process, with the false notion of you being the controller, every second of the journey might be distressing. Before an Ayahuasca journey, you should prepare your body for energy dimensions beyond the mind. To avoid any health problems, you should follow the abstinence list mentioned below as Prohibition List, for at least 4 weeks.

 

Prohibition List:

Items That Are Needed for The Ceremony:

Vaccination List for Peru:

Stimulants (Alcohol, cigarette etc.

Sexual intercourse

Meat

Foods that are cold or/and containing salt, sugar and fat

Television, computer, telephone etc. looking at screens

Lounge cushion

Bucket (To vomit)

Flashlight with red light

Toilet paper

Yellow Fever

Typhoid Fever

Diphtheria

Hepatitis A

 

*It is not recommended for people with serious diseases and conditions or in the middle of a treatment such as; psychological problems, heart conditions, cancer and women who are pregnant women etc.

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Mama Manuela,
Noya Rao and Ayahuasca Ceremonies

In Peru, Mama Manuela is one of the rare female shamans where male shamans are predominant. While male shamans are masculine energy, women shamans are feminine energy thus, leading to two different experiences. I am guessing Mama Manuela is in her 80’s, she has dark skin and is approximately around 145 cm tall. She was very lovable with her advanced age, petite figure, little bit of weight and serious but maternal demeanor. During Ayahuasca ceremonies, Mama Manuela’s lounge cushion was situated in the middle of the circle which was formed by the participants. Before beginning the ceremony, she would blow upon the Ayahuasca and later on Noya Rao* bottles for minutes, in order to cleanse their energies and consecrate them. Mama Manuela’s consecration lasted approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour and during which people would sit or lie down, concentrated and in silence for their experience. Later on, Mama Manuela would call us next to her so that she could cleanse us with her Mopacho - a cigarette indigenous to Peru - while making us hold our hands together. She would blow the smoke of her Mopacho multiple times unto and above our middle fingers. Right after that, she would hold us close to her chest while blowing the smoke to our crown chakras* so that she would cleanse it. Afterwards, depending on the discretion of the participants, we would one by one, drink pinkie finger amount of the Noya Rao and ayahuasca brews that are put in shot glasses.

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Mama Manuela,

Noya Rao and Ayahuasca Ceremonies

 

*Noya Rao: According to the Shipibo tribe who haven’t come into contact with civilization for centuries, when we were first placed on Earth, the advanced beings living on the Sun, Moon and other stars, gave Noya Rao seed as a gift so that we can form a connection with the energy of Love. Noya Rao is also called ”The Tree of Light“ because, when you are under its influence, whenever you detach yourself from your connection to Love, you face complications beyond the 5 senses. In the absence of Love, after witnessing the dark, you remember that being with Love is the most precious gift and you transform into Love again.

 

*The Crown Chakra: In the body, there are seven main chakras, in other words energy channels in total. The crown chakra is situated on top of the head and it allows the soul to connect with the Creator. If the Crown Chakra is balanced, by comprehending the sense of unity, our faith in the Creator will be strengthened.

 

I mentioned that via Ayahuasca, we can have the opportunity to go beyond the mind’s limited potential perception and meet/remember different energy planes. Let’s start out with the human body: it is composed of millions of live cells and we have no idea what is going on inside of us. We are neither aware of the blood that is coursing through our veins nor have the power over how our organs are functioning. With Ayahuasca experience, it was really difficult to see how the body works non-stop like a machine and how the self is only a tiny little thing inside the huge body and being able to stay in this plane.

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Peru Diaries (2017)

A fortunate journey starting from my inquisitive self that questions its own existence, and ending with me becoming a Krishna devotee...

After over 24 hours of flight and ground travel, I had reached Pucallpa. The transportation in the city was made by three cycled motorcycle-taxis called Motocarro and the streets were full of them. After settling in my hotel room, I met up with the other participants to get to know each other. We started by introducing ourselves and explaining the reason behind our decision to attend an Ayahuasca ceremony, after that, it wasn’t difficult to see the common intention behind our decision: we were aiming to leave our traumas behind and becoming happier, better and more loving and to learn more about the existence itself. Soon enough, I had understood that I was part of an exceptional team and I was ashamed of myself for being nervous to be going there alone and not fitting in. When I look back, I understand that these feelings were there because of the insecurities that I had regarding my journey. Down the road, by reconnecting with IT, I would be embracing the feeling of security and how to be in the flow.

 

The next few days passed by resting so that we can adjust to Pucallpa’s tropical weather and get rid of our travel fatigue. After a day or two, at noon, we attended a session about information gathered by shamans in regard to Ayahuasca and existence.

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Dört tane
düzlem var;

1. Jene Nete: World of Water

2. Nun Nete: Physical World

3. Panshun Nete: Yellow World (The Sins)

4. Jakon Nete: Eternal Existence

 

Through Ayahuasca, Shamans know that the spirit is the energy which moves the living being and they obtained the information of reincarnation. They see death as not something that they are afraid of but as the next step of their existence.

 

Meraya is the highest rank that can be reached in the shamanic hierarchy. It takes approximately 18-20years to be able to reach this rank. Shamans at this rank may have abilities like; curing someone, transforming into an animal and being able to observe the cosmic energy.

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Ceremony 1

The day of our first Ayahuasca ceremony had arrived and because it was recommended that we drink only water after lunch time, we started fasting. This fasting was planned to last until lunch time next day, 24 hours in total and in the upcoming days, we would be fasting every other day for 24 hours. The emptiness of our stomach would prevent any sickness and discomfort and would make sure that our digestive system was only busy with Ayahuasca. Also, we were recommended to minimize our interactions with the other participants since this might have affected our journey within by manipulating or hindering our healing process. With the sun leaving its place to the stars, we gathered around at a house situated on the Amazon River. The house had long wooden legs, exceeding two meters, because of the river’s tide and it was surrounded with fly nets all over. The first time I drank Ayahuasca, I waited the night to be over with stomach cramps and a restless mood. Although the next day I thought the medicine didn’t work, the following days, I would realize that I was preparing my body, mind and soul for even higher levels…

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Ceremony 2

The following day, I increased the dose of the medicine a little bit and right after that, while I was meditating, I prayed to the Ayahuasca energy for sharing her wisdom with me. For the last two years I worked with Istanbul Rotaract* in various social welfare projects to help the people in need. I found the meaning of life in helping others to be happy while expecting nothing in return. During those days, what I had in mind was that; If I were wiser, I would be able to help people around me even more. I swore myself, with all my heart, that I would do my very best to be worthy of the upcoming teachings. Ayahuasca didn’t turn my wish away and it turned the focus of my mind to a teaching: “Even when negative situations come knocking at your door, if you change your perspective and with that, change your focus without getting tangled up in the negative, you will always be able to find a space within the moment, that puts a smile on your face.” For the rest of the night, I felt like I had maraca’s in my hands and I couldn’t stop myself from dancing while understanding this valuable awareness with all my cells. In the small hours, when the ceremony was concluded, I remember thinking to myself: “With this teaching, I am complete, and I don’t need any other knowledge. What I have to do is, to reach a level where I can masterfully control my focus.

 

*Rotaract: Rotary Foundation is a global community with an ambition to bring world peace and international understanding. Rotary clubs formed by young people between the age of 20-30 are called a Rotaract.

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Ceremony 3

We left the hotel for the next Ayahuasca ceremony and got on the road to the location in a small and rusty minibus. Aligned with the country’s low welfare level, there weren’t any asphalt roads apart from the main roads. Going towards the opposite side of the city, on a path with holes and bumps through the forest, the old and rusty minibus gave up and stopped! It wasn’t easy not to worry in the dark. Naturally, there was discontentment in the air because even though we repeatedly voiced our concerns regarding the minibus from World War I, they hadn't replaced it with another one. The driver was trying to jumpstart the engine, but he wasn’t getting anywhere with it! With each try and fail, we were getting even more worried and losing our faith in being able to restart the engine. There weren’t any other cars around us and everywhere was pitch black. Finally, unwillingly, we got out of the bus and started walking. After a while, when our eyes adjusted to the dark, we noticed the feast of existence with a galaxy full of stars above us. The minibus which tested our claustrophobic impulses had set us free. The situation that seemed negative at the start, turned into an unforgettable gift, like the old minibus was trying to show us that it would be for our benefit if we accepted the things we encounter with patience. Sometimes, life can go in an unwanted direction and it can be saddening sometimes but, if you concentrate on your development from yesterday till today; you can see the necessity of painful experiences to help your spiritual growth.

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Ceremony 3

After we reached the Ayahuasca ceremony location, everybody went ahead and sat on their lounge cushions where we performed the rituals one by one. Compared to the last two night, the effect of the tea was stronger this time for sure. With the medicine taking effect, my memories started to reflect themselves like a projection, going through in between my eyebrows and upwards with a forty-five degrees angle and my memories were going from one another without my control. I was struggling to follow the memories that come to mind as if I were watching them on television like a time lapse. The interesting thing is that while I was watching my memories through my third eye, I was having difficulty associating with them and it felt like my past and my consciousness were entirely separate from each other. I was trying to concentrate on the memories which were needed to be resolved and healed. I was making too much effort because of the mental struggle I was having, and I was consistently losing and regaining my consciousness. After a while, the memories of my father coming from work and me not welcoming him as he expected, started coming to surface. Between my childhood and adulthood, our relationship had transitioned from a father and son relationship to a boss and employee one. To top it all, because my dad had a dictator-like nature at work, it was out of question to have a healthy communication with him. The memories of me arguing with my dad at work and leaving the office early and afterwards, welcoming my dad at home with a forced smile on my face were yelling at me; ”Y O U  A R E  W R O N G!“ No matter what happens, the only thing that my dad wanted was for his son to welcome him home with love, but instead, all he got was, me, not being able to leave our quarrels at work behind and not welcoming home with love. At that moment, I remembered that in this temporary world, carrying my family’s mistakes for a long time doesn’t serve anything and that I shouldn’t withhold greeting anyone with love while letting go of the past.

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Ceremony 4

I couldn’t have guessed that all the things I ‘ve experienced so far was a preview of what I was going to experience in the future…Normally, Ayahuasca tea would take effect between 45 minutes and 1 hour. However, in 5 minutes, the reactions have already started in my body and mind! While the medicine’s effect was getting stronger and stronger, I have found myself in the communal bathroom. While the human body is able to comprehend the material world to an extent with its five senses, there I was, in a tiny bathroom, struggling to control my emotions, as my senses were sending me simultaneous alerts, working at incomprehensible and uncomfortable levels. The perception doors to the energy plane were now open and it was starting to get unbearable. Just at that moment, I understood how crucial Mama Manuela’s folk songs were. Because, Mama Manuela was creating a protective shield around the participants with voice frequency and guiding them on their journey. Each passing second, I was being wiped out and my soul was begging to be beneath Mama Manuela’s wings’ energy. I was trapped in this, soul clenching, hell like energy plane and I was petrified. Gradually, my breath of life was running out. The manifestation of this fear and anxiety must have been a layer of hell. I would later on discover that Ayahuasca was reflecting the mood that you were in just like a mirror. I didn’t have any more strength in me… I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stay in this plane for long and just as I was ready to admit defeat, I remembered a verse from the book Bhagavad−Gita that I brought for this trip.

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Bhagavad−Gita

Thousands of years old Treasure of

Hindu Wisdom

Those steadfast in this karm yog, always think, “I am not the doer,” even while engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, excreting, and grasping, and opening or closing the eyes. With the light of divine knowledge, they say that “it is only the material senses that are moving amongst their objects.” (Bhagavad−Gita Chapter 5 Verses 8 and 9)

 

This verse reminded me of the truth that I have forgotten, like a slap on my face. I wasn’t in this body a hundred years before and I will not be in it a hundred years from now. The true “me” was not the body that I was in! The minute I embraced the truth with all my cells, my soul left my body and got blended in the cloud of energy where I flowed from one place to another in the universe. At some point, when I reentered my body, I hugged myself with all my heart and soul to thank my body as I remembered what a wonderful experience being human is. I wasn’t remembering how I was continuing to breathe after I left my body because I wasn’t in it.

 

Finally, with the help of the energy coming up through Mama Manuela’ singing, I had a safe haven. Like in the other ceremonies, Mama Manuela sat before the participants one by one and with cosmic energy, she acted as a channel* on their journeys. Now it was my turn, I gathered the last of my strength to straighten myself up and show my respect to her. I could hear her saying “Son, you came from these energy planes and found your body. You have to remember the place you were once at and surrender yourself to flow.” as soon as she started singing. After I have accepted the situation that I was in, with Mama Manuela’s guidance, I would start to perceive the hidden teachings in the energy flows.

 

*Shamans act as channels between the cosmic energy and the participant in order to help them obtain the necessary teachings.

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A Native American Story

It was hundreds or thousands of years ago, maybe even when there weren’t tens of thousands of people on earth. Mama Manuela and I were only made of consciousness when we have arrived from the sky to a Native American tribe.

 

While everything was going as it should, the leader of the tribe passes away and when his or her two sons couldn’t give up the leadership to one another, the tribe gets divided in two. One of the parties take the animals and the other party stays next to the river. The following days, famine strikes both parties. One side is deprived of animal products and animal strength, the other one is deprived of water supply thus, can’t farm. Both sides become weak and sick, eventually death follows, and war begins.

 

Mama Manuela was continuing to sing folk songs in the Shipibo native language that I had no means of knowing them from before. While she was repeating the sentence of how the tribes declared war on each other over and over again, I understood ”No matter what happens, how can one sibling hurt the other?“  My self was revolting against the idea of how humans can be so selfish and indifferent.

 

One song was following the other and all the teachings were coded in my brain like I was in the movie Matrix. Vomiting was inevitable,when all of a sudden, a bad quality of mind popped up in my mind along with a horrible smell. Mama Manuela was sitting right in front of me and although I was trying really hard not to vomit on her by covering my mouth, I vomited through my nose. The bad quality of mine that I faced was actually ejected from my body as something material. I was astonished when I saw how the qualities of ours that are not rooted in Love would appear ugly beyond our perception. Before moving on to the other participant, Mama Manuela held my head towards her lap and when she held my temples by pressing on them from different angles, I was seeing her change the negative thought patterns that I had in my mind amongst horizontal and vertical rights. Just like an application being updated.

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The Fear of Death

During out of body experiences, when the fear of death surfaces, it might be very hard to stay in the flow. It is very important to know how to master your own mind because, when your fears start to show up, if you don’t accept and heal them with Love, they can distress you when you are at the limitless perception plane. After all my experiences, I have interpreted the mind this way: a truck going downhill at high speed because of failed breaks, with no wheel to control… You should keep in mind that attending an Ayahuasca ceremony without increasing your ability to concentrate through exercises such as; Meditation, breathing techniques, yoga exercises or worshiping, would have dire consequences. Another crucial point is; not to sever your connection to IT during your experience, with the awareness that you are safe when surrendering yourself. For example, just like how a baby kangaroo is comfortable in its mom's pouch, the spirit can also stay with Love against the negative energy flow, with the power of IT’s awareness.

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Going Back to The Beginning:

Meeting with Ayahuasca

As I grew older, my interest and faith in the realm beyond the material and mystic forces grew stronger. While I was in University, I used to visit the bookstore in Istinye park mall frequently where I enjoyed going through self-improvement books. During one of those times, I came across a book called Shapeshifting (John Perkins). It was a story about the experiences of the owner of one of America’s biggest industrial recycling facilities and his assistant’s journey to Peru and the local shamans’ mystical powers. During one of their trips to Peru, the assistant (who is also the writer of the book) falls sick and rapidly he loses 10 kilos. Noticing his sickness worsening and the death risk getting higher, shamans of the tribe decides to use Ayahuasca as a treatment. After the medicine took effect, Perkins realized that in his subconscious he was thinking about how natives were preparing food by smashing them with their feet and how this was unsanitary. So, he was very concerned about the idea of getting sick because of it. Right after that, even though he had barely eaten in a couple of days, he starts to vomit, and the worms fall out of his stomach, he continues by explaining how he also got rid of the idea of getting sick. He mentions how healing doesn’t only happen in the physical body but also in the mind. He tells how shamans can communicate with the cosmic energy using Ayahuasca, to go beyond the material reality.

 

I was in a search for finding the right answers for what it means to be human and the existence itself. After what I’ve read in Shapeshifting, I couldn’t help but be taken by it. Approximately 6 months later I read the book, one of my dear friends from high school reached out to me by text. She was filming a documentary about an amateur football tournament held in Peru and she told me how she had a chance to experience an Ayahuasca ceremony while she was there. In his text, she explained how she had out of body experiences and added that I was the only friend she had talked to about it. she continued by saying that they were planning another Ayahuasca ceremony for summer and she sent me an invitation for it. As soon as I saw the invitation, I looked up at the sky and said, “This must be a sign!” and I decided that it was my time to go to Peru.  I was going to take three books with me for this trip with an intention to learn and experience and not to have fun. The books were; Bhagavad−Gita, Mahatma Gandhi and Osho−What is Meditation?  I would be getting the chance to read only one of these books, Bhagavad−Gita and It would show me that nothing in life is a coincidence.

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Meeting with Bhagavad−Gita

 

During Ayahuasca ceremonies my clearest realization was that my original existence isn’t the human body but eventually I was back in my body and continuing to breathe. My daily responsibilities and homework assignments have lost their meanings because I was faced with the fact that I was going to die in the end and all my efforts in life would be in vain. Then, why was I stressing myself by struggling? I was having a hard time finding a reason to wake up. If I wasn’t this body then, what was I doing here? Life was too generous to me for me to rebel against it but yet, I was still not able to be at one with my body and couldn’t feel like I belonged to the state of being human.

 

Few months after this, a friend who I met during one of the self-improvement courses that I had been to, invited me to a Hindu Festival. When we arrived to Goranga Yoga studio at Mecidiyeköy, they told us that the festival was on the second floor. As we were heading up the stairs, hearing the sound of music, we understood that the festival had already begun, and we felt ashamed to be late. People were chanting a song that was comprised of only three words alongside music instruments that I had never seen before. Those three words were; Hare, Krishna and Rama…

 

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

 

Hare Rama, Hare Rama

Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Everybody was sitting on the floor on top of colorful square cushions. First, the person who was playing the accordion-like music instrument (harmonium) would repeat the words and later, the participants would chant them all together. I sat on the floor, crossing my legs, just like everybody else and as soon as I’ve memorized the words, I started chanting along. I wasn’t aware of the sanctity of these words and when I found myself in a mind plane, alone with God, I cried my heart out because I was feeling ashamed and sad for all the times, I was unloving. How I wasn’t worthy of God with every breath that I had, when IT was consistently giving me everything! This was absolutely unacceptable, and I wasn’t able to hold my tears back while begging for mercy to be IT’s proper servant once again. For the first time in my life, I felt at home and “complete” with his presence. Finding the missing piece that I was looking for, I would follow God’s direction anew. Once I opened my eyes, I saw a couple of women dancing elegantly back and forth, they all had colorful scarves wrapped around their heads. It was incredible to see them smile behind their conservative appearances! It made me remember the women who are following our country’s religious teachings and how I have never seen smiling. At that moment, with all my heart, I wanted every woman to dance and smile to their heart’s content. As being in Love with God is the ultimate goal there should have been smiling faces all over, like I saw it here. Because of the contradictions* in the world, just like my previous example, none of the sacred teachings felt right with me, however, as soon as I chanted the Hare Krishna Mantra, I knew I was where I belonged. When I looked over the people around me, the first thing that crossed my mind was this: “Whatever you are doing is working! The purity and Love in your heart can be seen on your faces. So, I can learn these teachings and turn into Love as well.”

 

*Contradictions: Another example; the answers I gathered for the injustice between a child in Afghanistan with a mother who was killed brutally by the terrorists and a child growing up in Switzerland with a happy family, had not satisfied me, except for the science of REINCARNATION. With Reincarnation, the soul, in its new body, balances out mistakes of its past lives by experiencing pain and with those painful experiences, the soul is educated not to repeat the same mistakes again. 

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Where does the word Mantra come from?


Mantra = Manas (Mind) ＋ Tra (Cleansing)

According to linguistic scientists, in Sanskrit language which appeared in 2.000 BC, the word Mantra is formed by the words ”Manas“ (mind) and ”Tra“ (cleansing). It is a method used by repeating the same sound, syllable, word or a set of words together with/without sound in order to help the mind reach a transcendental level. So, what does “transcendental” mean? Sacred books explain that humans are comprised of four things; body, mind, intelligence and spirit. To be able to acquire spiritual experiences, we must go beyond the mind. With Mantra repetitions, in a way, you calm and distract your mind. You can reach your soul by the vibration of sound. Additionally, if you repeat the names of the Creator and your prayers in your head for a while, you can experience Love and inner peace.

After hearing the Hare Krishna Mantra for the first time…

Which mother or a father would think of eternally condemning their children to a dungeon (hell) as a punishment, no matter how many mistakes they have made? And our God? The Creator of the universe, beyond good and bad, source of the infinite Love fountain, in a way, our mother and father… I want you to ask yourselves the possibility of God condemning us to an eternal hell, because of the wrong paths that any one of us might took or take. Is it possible that we might be interpreting what is called heaven and hell in the sacred, holy books wrong? Also, are you aware that we are experiencing heaven and hell on this earth, in our minds?

 

With every smile,

With every hug,

With every goodness,

With every sacrifice,

Or worship,

We experience heaven because we remember IT.

 

Whenever we are angry,

Whenever we are jealous,

Whenever we are lying,

Whenever we are selfish,

Or whenever we break a heart,

We experience hell because we know we have betrayed IT and our own nature.

 

The reality we face after our death would be beyond good or bad. We can understand that we are interpreting the concepts wrong if we were to believe that we would be blending with IT and becoming One, after our souls have left our bodies.

 

The choice is yours;

 

If you want, you can worship to be purified and experience the gentle breeze of heaven.

 

Or, you can go from trying to accomplish one desire to another in the vortex of the material world, so that you can achieve momentary happiness. Thus, after experiencing hardship, moving on to another desire to fulfill.

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The Distinctive Quality of Shamans

Shamans know that the concept of coincidence does not exist, and everything is connected to one another within or without perception. In the material plane that we are living in, while every incident has a psychical or mathematical explanation, does it mean that all of our sufferings and existence is coincidental because we are not able to see it with our own eyes?

 

Question: Which one of our five senses were to cease to exist, our existence would lose its meaning?

A) Sight

B) Hearing

C) Taste

D) Smell

E) Feel

 

If they were to take away my ability to feel Love, what would be the reason to breathe?

 

In the sacred Hindu teachings of Bhagavad−Gita, the relationship between The Creator and the spirits are defined as LOVE. It means that the spirit is happy to exchange Love with The Creator.

 

In the material plane we can communicate with God only through worshiping. If we were to see, hear, taste or smell him but cannot feel IT’s Love, how could we reach the level of Divine Lover?
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Direct your questions to your heart!

One day, I talked to one of my dearest acquaintances who is older than me, about my Ayahuasca ceremony experience and how I attended the ceremonies with a motivation to see what was beyond the body and to find the truth behind our existence. When he got back home, he mentioned it to his wife and to which in return, she asked him to ask me why I hadn’t seeked the answers to the spiritual questions that I had, to my heart? Probably, the reason why I wasn’t able to find the teachings that would satisfactorily explain the Truth up until that age, was because I wasn’t ready yet or I didn’t deserve it back then. Because I had lost my connection to the Creator, I had forgotten that the answers to my questions were in my heart all along.

 

When I look back, I tell myself that I am both glad and sorry that I experienced Ayahuasca medicine. On one hand, I say “I am glad I experienced it” because I was able to surrender myself by realizing that I wasn’t the controller and that my ‘self’ was beyond this body. I had seen that in the cosmic existence, I am only a tiny being and if I don’t eliminate my bad qualities and be pure, I would fall into darkness. This taught me a lesson about having positive habits later in my life. On the other hand, I say “I wish I didn’t experience it” because, maybe I wouldn’t be able to get rid of the traumas I faced under the influence of the Destructive Energy.

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Bhakti Yoga

After my first Ayahuasca experience, I wasn’t able to understand the reason behind our existence and by the grace of God alongside my insistent faith, I found myself in the middle of sacred Hindu teachings of Bhagavad−Gita. In these teachings, multiple yoga paths are mentioned; however, it says that the fastest method to reach spiritual freedom and regain our spiritual body by breaking the chains of the material plane’s reincarnation is Bhakti Yoga. In Sanskrit, the word Yoga means ”uniting“ and what are we ‘uniting with’ is The Creator. Bhakti Yoga is a discipline which allows a person i.e. the soul to remember its original position and its servitude by using certain practices. Bhakti yoga helps people remember the Love they have towards The Creator by teaching them how someone who has ‘itself’ in the center, can learn to put The Creator in its stead and that the spirit actually has the tendency to serve as a result of the Love it feels for The Creator. This method is bilateral; on one hand, Love creates a tendency to serve and on the other hand, serving can make you remember the state of being in Love.





*What is Reincarnation?
The spirits are reborn in material bodies in alignment with their desires and in consequence of their positive or negative behaviors. The sacred Hindu teachings of Bhagavad-Gita tells us that the quickest way of breaking the chains of reincarnation is to surrender yourself to The Creator. We have to develop the appropriate consciousness by building awareness in this direction and forming the right behavioral habits. However, souls who resist accepting and applying sacred teachings, lack self-improvement during the purification process; and find life in a new body after dying as a result of past mistakes and intentions.


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More information on Bhagavad−Gita:

 

Bhagavad−Gita is formed by dialogues between Krishna (The Creator’s incarnation on earth) and Arjuna (Krishna’s servant) It is said that The Creator has three forms; The Creator being diffused to all atoms, being in the heart of every living thing as a Superior Spirit and its ‘Self’. In fact, The Creator is one person and every soul have a personal relationship with IT. It explains that, just as every living being has its own personality, so does The Creator. In the material realm that we are in, for something to exist, it needs the opposite. We can say that it is the tainted reflection of the spiritual realm. The relationships we form here are bad examples of the eternal relationship we have with IT. In this case, a person should educate themselves on always being modest and full of love by bearing in mind that you could be forming a new habit with every approach you have. In fact, every action that we exhibit in this material body is a preparation process for the spiritual dimension and we can only be accepted to the spiritual dimension when we are once again worthy of IT in the material world.

 

Although yoga is known as sports in our society, its true purpose is to actually balance the body’s energy flow so that a person can focus on and connect with IT better when he or she sits to worship and pray. As for Bhakti yoga, it can be described as ”loving services that are offered to God''. People who practice the teachings of Bhakti Yoga, accept that the original position of the spirit is The Creator’s servant. He or she acts to satisfy The Creator by putting IT in the center of the mental plane rather than him or herself. He or she also gets rid of selfishness to better understand his or her true position and develops qualities accordingly.

 

Sacred Bhagavad−Gita scriptures say that the soul’s spiritual body’s size is one in ten thousand of the tip of a hair strand. If the soul wants to rejoin its spiritual body and go back to being with the Creator, it should serve while putting the Creator in its center. Just like how someone renders a few services to make his or her spouse, child or loved ones happy, the soul also loves the Creator that much and to show its Love, it has the tendency to serve IT in the spiritual realm, the same way.

 

The pure Love for IT is beyond the love manifested in the material plane. Similar to the light appearing in the horizon just before sunrise, we can experience pure Love very limitedly in this material realm. According to the teachings of Bhakti Yoga, we must pay attention to whom we have a relationship with, in order to boost our potential of Love. As a matter of fact, it has been proven via scientific development that everything animate or inanimate is formed of vibrations and it was observed that when two objects got together, their frequencies synced. To tie it all together; when you spend time together with pure people, you can be aligned with their frequencies and improve your spiritual qualities faster. People who are following the sacred Bhakti Yoga teachings pay great attention to forming the right relationships. Devotees* always spend time together because they follow the instruction to spend time with people who’ve accomplished an eternal loving relationship with the Creator since they have to fully comprehend it themselves.

 

*Devotees: People who follow the sacred Hindu teachings of Bhakti Yoga describe themselves as Devotees. In other words; ”The Devotees of God“

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Krishna Valley, Hungary

(2018)

I was fully focused on the sacred Hindu teachings of Bhakti Yoga and I was determined to turn into Love with all my heart. We were going to attend a festival at Krishna Valley in Hungary which was founded by the Devotees who were practicing the Krishna consciousness. I was very excited to attend it. When we arrived at the temple in the village covered with greenness, I was happy to see all the Devotees. Once we arrived at the temple’s entrance, I noticed how white and radiant people’s faces were. It was impossible not to see the divine light on the Devotee’s faces and I was screaming to myself ”THEY HAVE SUCCEEDED: Yes, the pureness of their hearts manifested itself on their faces!“

 

Located in a three-hour journey from Budapest city center, The Krishna Valley doesn’t use any electricity even though it is the third biggest village in Europe that produces organic goods. They made sure that everybody’s main interest was the community rather than themselves by forbidding money transactions and they also ensured the commune’s sustainability by giving everyone a different task depending on their qualifications.

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Krishna Valley, Hungary

(2018)

Do you remember when did you stop going after the ultimate question?

 

If you were given the right to ask only one question, it would probably be this one: ”What is the meaning of this life?“ However, we are condemned to live in such a system, we have stopped to think about this question… Actually, we are exhibiting a very interesting behaviour. There couldn’t be any shocking reaction than being able to stop thinking about the answer to this question.

 

 

Who is behind the wheel?

 

A lot of us have forgotten to ask the real questions while letting go off the reins to satisfy our senses and drunkenly, going after our material. When people realize that they will wake up with the same hunger to satisfy their desires no matter how much they have satisfied them before, this question will appear in their minds: ”What is the meaning of this life?“
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Krishna Valley, Hungary

(2018)

Because our minds are encrusted with arrogance, for many people, it might be difficult to digest the fact that the reason for our existence is servitude. If you take a look at what you are doing in your daily lives, you will see that we are serving for something one way or another by nature. For example, many of us are addicted to momentary happiness by serving their sensory satisfactions.

 

We can start to search what is permanent by realizing that material pleasures are temporary. We all agree that, in human form, Love is the most beautiful thing we can experience with our five senses. That’s why, I’ve made a habit of making every decision seep through the filter of Love. However, later on, when having cited the God’s names for the first time, I would remember the Love beyond the one which is only shared between two people. By feeling that magical, sacred, pure Love, my enthusiasm to learn the details of the mystery behind our existence would increase like never before. It is told in many sacred scriptures that The Creator created the soul with Love.

So, ”If we are created with Love, then why do we suffer so much?“ The root of our physical and spiritual suffering lies at our separation from The Creator. The scriptures also say that the spirit was sent to the material realm and was condemned to move from one body to another, stuck in the cycle of birth and death because it got momentarily jealous of IT or IT’s qualities and wanted to ”play God“. The good and bad deeds that we have done in our previous lives, come back to us as rewards or punishments in this life, they call this Karma. If you want to get rid of this cycle, you must stop desiring to be the prettiest, the smartest, the most famous, the most powerful, or the most selfless. We are humble and compassionate beings and we are eternally tied to our Creator with Love. So, in order to go back to the kingdom that we belong to, we must be pure once again and aim to be worthy of The Creator of Love and the things we can or cannot see. If we are able to purify ourselves and close our eyes on our last breath with the desire to rejoin IT, only then, we can get the chance to reach the spiritual realm once again.

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Krishna Valley, Hungary

(2018)

Although every religion’s ultimate message is the same, their practices are quite different. Something which leads to an endless discussion about whose path is the right path, causing everyone to lose the main focus. Once again, the Self is at the center rather than The Creator… We can’t stop destruction if we continue to put the focus on the Self. Nevertheless, how can people perceive The Truth in the same way when everyone’s comprehension capacities and awareness levels are sorely different than one another? Our Creator gifted us IT’s teachings in alignment with how much IT’s children can take, depending on time, space and circumstances. How can we purify ourselves while knocking things down and breaking hearts, when the aim is to follow the sacred teachings and to reach the valuable ranks such as; thinking, acting with Love, being compassionate, humble and pure? We shouldn’t make the mistake of drowning in details and always remember; God, God and God…

 

Question: There are paths B, C, D, E and F to go to Village A. It is forbidden to break any hearts to reach the end of the paths. Let’s say somebody has chosen a different path than yours and you think it is not the right one. What would you do?

 

Answer: A faithful person would explain calmly and patiently why he or she has chosen that path. This person wouldn’t impose anything on him or her because he or she knows that the way to transfer one’s knowledge to someone depends on that person’s capacity to take knowledge as well as his or her intentions.

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Krishna Valley, Hungary

(2018)

Because of his unshakable loyalty and faith to his own sacred teachings, a man of God could be questioning the authenticity or up-to-dateness of the other sacred teachings. However, him, not seeing that there are multiple other men of God who have reached sacred teachings and spiritual beauties, happens because he withholds seeing through the eye of the heart. It is easy to check; if the person in front of you was able to include Love in everything he does and is, it means he has succeeded. Whichever path you are on; you should learn how to be able to think, talk and act with Love, so that you can be worthy of IT.

 

Sacred Hindu teachings of Bhagavad−Gita draws attention to how the human body is ”THE BIGGEST TREASURE" and how it is the most suitable position to achieve spiritual development. In heavenly planets, the spirits are so busy with pleasure that they forget to question the reason for our existence. When the good karmas that they acquired in their previous lives, they would inevitably fall into the planets where pain also exists once again. As a conclusion, don’t let the material pleasures perplex you, so that you can follow the reason of your existence and reach The Truth. By this, it is explained that when someone continues down the road with his or her intelligence while accepting his or her faith and good intention as an essence, it will be inevitable for that person to turn towards spirituality and become indifferent to the material pleasures just like a disliked food. “Completely renouncing all desires arising from thoughts of the world, one should restrain the senses from all sides with the mind. Slowly and steadily, with conviction in the intellect, the mind will become fixed in God alone, and will think of nothing else.” (Bhagavad−Gita Chapter 6, Verse 25)

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Peru

Diaries

(2019)

Before leaving for my trip to Peru, I’ve prepared the automated email below to the people that I’ve postponed talking to about real things instead of empty conversations caused by the dynamics of our intensive work life. I urged them not to sever the connection to their hearts no matter what.

 

I am leaving for a new journey of reclusion in South Africa between the dates April 22− May 24, 2019. A lot of us neglect to question the reason for our existence while working day and night because of the tough living conditions and day by day, we distance ourselves from the ‘Self’. Herewith, I want to remind you of the eternal importance of turning to one’s heart by sparing time for yourself even more. It all becomes meaningful when you remember to ask your heart and find a connection with the Absolute Energy.

 

I was going to visit Peru for the second time to attend Ayahuasca ceremonies and this time, my motivation was to focus on the relationship with The Creator. During the process, I was reading the sacred Hindu teachings of Bhagavad-Gita and trying to digest all the information by meditating. Finally, I had shaped my knowledge on Bhakti yoga. During the ceremonies, I was reciting Krishna’s sound vibration form, the Hare Krishna Mantra, in my mind, while sitting with my legs crossed and my eyes closed. I was protected from the negative energy flows by concentrating on the center of my forehead as I was reciting the mantra. I was eliminating my uncontrolled thoughts and thus, my mind was becoming clearer. I was focusing on my third eye while I was reciting the Hare Krishna Mantra for a couple of rounds (each round 108 times) and repeating the word ”Love“ multiple times. I was setting intentions for being able to stay in the flow through all this process, without getting caught in unnecessary details and in my prayers, I was asking for IT’s help and consent. My faith in freeing myself from the material captivity only by adding IT to my breath, would become my truth.

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Pinyo Colarado

(Stomach Cleansing)

They give you an herbal mix, gathered using natural methods, to help you purge your stomach from accumulated residual and vomit. After drinking liters of water from colorful little washbowls, you have to vomit all of it back. This might sound very uncomfortable, vomiting has always been a very unpleasant experience for me too. After, over 24 hours of flight, a ground and river journey, I was vomiting in the middle of an old-growth forest, far from it being a pleasant experience. All of a sudden, I heard Marry, one of the participants, bursting into laughter. You know what they say; laughter is contagious and after a while, I started laughing as well. Although I wasn’t able to confirm it by looking at a mirror, I didn’t have any doubt about how my eyes were sparkling after realizing, even during such a challenging experience, laughter is possible.

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Noya Rao,

The Tree of Light

We would do the Noya Rao Dieta one more time, with Mama Manuela’s guidance. A challenging beyondbody training, to stay connected to Love no matter what, was waiting for us. I couldn’t help but be surprised by similarities between what we’ve learned from shamans and 5.000 years old teachings of the sacred Vedic scriptures. In Vedic literature, it is explained that even though humans think they are the ones in control, it is in fact, the Spiritual Energy (the Life-Giving Good Energy) and the Material Energy* (the Destructive Energy) that are in control. Both are The Creator’s energies and they are controlled by IT. When live beings move under the influence of material energies, they think they are the source of the movements however, actually, they are not the true source. Our position in the human body is to WITNESS, along with being able to decide to a limit.

 

If we can reprogram our consciousness with the foundation of Love and make this a habit, we might have a chance to experience a life with Love, under the influence of the Life-Giving Good Energy.

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Comparing Shipibo Explanation of Existence and Bhagavad−Gita

In the sacred Vedic scriptures, it is explained that being exposed to the Material Energy, the spirit which found its body in the material world, falls into an illusion. It is not hard to observe that even though we have pleasant opportunities, the Material existence is actually based on pain. What shamans call the Destructive Energy, the Vedic literature calls The Material Energy. As for the Life-Giving Good Energy, they call it Spiritual Energy. Both of their meanings match one another. The sacred teachings of these two entirely different communities were, in a way, confirming each other.

 

*Material Energies: It is stated that all living beings are under the influence of these three energies: goodness, passion and ignorance. 

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Ceremony 1

It had been two years and I was nervous about experiencing Ayahuasca ceremonies for the second time and I needed an adjusting period before beginning. Even though I had been cautious and hadn’t drunk a large amount of Ayahuasca, it was a challenging experience for the first night. Ayahuasca had dragged me into the energy dimensions very fast, just like it was saying ”there is no need to drag this along!“ I wasn’t happy to remember how a difficult experience this was to witness the body that I was in, functioning out of my control while I was struggling with going in and out of the communication dimension of the realm of the plant. Just like I how it was during my first Ayahuasca ceremony, the most distinguishable awareness was that my actual ”Self“ wasn’t my material body. ”All activities are carried out by the three modes* of material nature. But in ignorance, the soul, deluded by false identification with the body, thinks itself to be the doer.“  (Bhagavad−Gita Chapter 3, Verse 27) We fall into the long-lasting error of perceiving our bodies, which are comprised of millions of conscious cells as one piece by looking in the mirror and associating them with our ‘Self’. We define our constantly changing bodies as “ourselves” and we overlook the messages of oneness, lying underneath the countless vital activities that started from our birth and continue till our death, things all of which are out of our control. Isn’t the ultimate purpose of our cells and our organs comprised of those cells that are functioning in different parts of our bodies, is to keep the body alive?  So, as long as the body exists, these little organisms will keep existing as well. The human body is a very obvious example of how our existence is for the “One” and that we can find the awareness of ”not me but IT“.

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Ceremony 1

 

 

*Bhagavad−Gita sacred Hindu scriptures explain that in the material realm, all activities are carried out by modes of ignorance, passion and goodness. The way to purge yourself from these three modes is to learn/remember one’s spiritual nature and to develop behavioral habits in line that direction. The person should aim to reach the spiritual energy level.

We were in a pitchblack atmosphere, in the middle of the Amazon forests and the effect of Ayahuasca was increasing more and more. There were moments when I was entering inside a frog, aware of every single drop on its skin and moving uncontrollably into another living being’s energy with the sound vibrations of the frog’s croak. When I focused on my own body after getting tired of the plant and animal energies that I wasn’t used to, I realized I was in a structure which renewed and rotted itself at the same time. Experiencing this on a cellular level, my breathing was restrained. Our bodies rotting away is a situation we cannot comprehend in our daily lives and being able to smell it, made my gorge rise. Whenever I found myself in an unfavorable position, I would try and remember the sacred teachings of Bhakti-Yoga.  To explain how our original state is not the human body with an example, our soul is not the car itself, but it is sitting on the driver’s seat. Remembering this, had made me relax to some extent.

 

I have to say, if you haven’t learned the sacred teachings, when you open yourself to the energy planes through Ayahuasca, it will be very hard to interpret the messages you receive correctly, and you might experience psychological problems afterwards. We often forget in our daily lives, how complicated and beyond “self” the existence is. I was very unsettled when I saw how small like a grain of sand we were in this body, let alone the vast cosmic existence. Whenever I would go away from IT’s awareness and detach from Love, I would fall under the effect of dark energy and the seconds wouldn’t pass. In these situations, in order to transform the negative to positive, it is very important to accept what has come but to have the ability to not welcome it to your home as a guest. To elaborate the example, the negative thoughts should enter and then, leave through the back door of your mind without sitting on the sofa in the guest living room. You shouldn’t have the negative thoughts as a guest because if you do that, it would want to come back again. The process would become very difficult when I wasn’t able to overcome the negative energy fields while observing the thoughts that were flowing in my mind. While under the influence of Ayahuasca medicine, going on without placing IT in the center of my focus was like falling into the ocean of anguish.

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Ceremony 2

After resting for a day, I decided to increase the dosage of Ayahuasca tea just a little bit for the second ceremony. Even though I was going to drink more, I was approaching it with caution since I knew my place this time and how this could be a very difficult experience if I were to lose control. By the way, don’t take me wrong, when I say tea, I mean, cold, brown, clay-like thing that becomes unbearable when you drink it for the second time. While Mama Manuela was doing her rituals in the middle of the participants, I used my prayer beads to repeat IT’s name for three rounds (each round 108 times). A short time after drinking Ayahuasca and later on the Noya Rao, I started to feel its effects on my body and mind. When I observed on a cellular level that my body was functioning non-stop to maintain its existence and that I didn’t have a say on these bodily functions whatsoever, my astonishment left its place to the feeling of entrapment and fear in a short while, and that led me to breathe in and out very deeply. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to digest the possibility of existing in or leaving the body in this mind plane.

 

If the energy flows that you encounter without control are not rooted in Love, you would go through extreme hardship. You really wouldn’t want to be trapped by fear, worry, distress, impatience etc. and continue with the effect of the Destructive Energy. Ayahuasca was mercilessly teaching us the necessity of looking through the ”glasses of Love“ no matter what you face. However, we were grateful for the lesson since we would use it afterwards. During the ceremony I was trying to stay connected to The Creator by focusing on the center of my two brow and self-suggestions like ”darkness can only be illuminated with Love“ were helping me to stay under the influence of the Life-Giving Good Energy.

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Ceremony 3

In the ceremonies we would form a circle arranged in order and next to me, a middle-aged Lebanese lady from New York would sit. At one of our daily chats, she had mentioned she was smoking cannabis for 25 years. I wasn’t able to imagine how smoking this stimulant that causes the mind to work uncontrollably like a pinwheel for this long, must have affected the human mind negatively. Hence, it wasn’t difficult to understand how much suffering she was going through with her deep screams during Ayahuasca ceremonies. When I noticed the participants around me going through difficulties, I imagined creating cylinders made of light and Love in my mind and I positioned 5 of them around each of the participants and rooted it to IT. While doing this, I prayed they would deduce the teachings correctly by healing and staying in the flow. Me, letting go of my own path and focusing on helping the people around me, was actually my essence. Every doubt in my mind about healing in the mental plane was disappearing one by one, thanks to the serenity and spiritual satisfaction that this state had provided me with. Next day, when we met during lunch to discuss our experiences from the other day’s Ayahuasca ceremony, I mentioned the sticks of light. It made me smile when one of the participants told me that she saw cylinders of light during the ceremony. Ultimately, I wasn’t surprised because I knew that we were connected on the energy plane.

 

At the beginning of the same night, I wasn’t able to sit up straight and stay easily put when I crossed my legs. This situation was stopping me from concentrating on my experience and bringing the negative energy flows with it. Suddenly, the idea of getting inside my thoughts and prioritizing them appeared in my mind. Once I have put the idea of my back being so uncomfortable all the way back in my priority order, the awareness of my back discomfort disappeared. With this adjustment, it felt like they had fixed my back straight with a plaster and I was able to sit upright for hours. It was astonishing to see how we have the ability to move our thoughts to the back or front in our minds. However, I realize that it takes serious control of one’s own mind to integrate this to our daily lives. It felt as if I was seeing on the horizon, the level of consciousness obtained by people who devote their lives to retiring to seclusion and mastering the control of one’s own mind.

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Ceremony 4

We were starting our second week at the Amazon forests and I didn’t have any centimeter left on my body that wasn’t bitten by a mosquito. Like it wasn’t enough that I have scratched every inch of my body and ended up with scabs all over, I was encountering a different cockroach every day against all my efforts on blocking the doors openings with towels. It was like a bad joke of the Amazon forests. I had also encountered two scorpions, one a lot bigger than the other, before the night of our fourth ceremony. I was trying to keep an eye on the scorpions with a flashlight in my hand while trying to guide them outside with a broom. When I was a child, I had seen a dead scorpion, but this was the first time that I saw a live one, so I wasn’t able stop the fear from arising. Whenever I was trying to sleep at night, sounds of countless bugs, birds and animals in the forest as well as fruits falling like meteors on the metal plate that I had as a roof, were making me jump out of my bed. I had lied on my bed with the intention of sleeping but I was stuck in between the dream and wakefulness planes. Ayahuasca energy wanted me to face my fear of death. I wasn’t under the influence of Ayahuasca, but I had been stuck in the between dream and wakefulness planes for approximately three hours. I felt like I was suffocating while fighting with the worry brought by the uncertainty of death. I was very happy that, what was a traumatic night for me, was over as the sun had risen but I was spiritually and physically very exhausted. The following night, before the ceremony, I started meditation and begged IT to be gentle with me on this journey that I’ve started with good intentions. While chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra, I have set intentions to keep It and Its Love at the center of my forehead. I had been exhausted by the fear of death the night before, so I decreased the dose of Ayahuasca in order to avoid putting any more pressure on myself. I was focusing to welcome the teachings with Love and respect, just like I did the previous nights.

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Ceremony 4

That day, Mama Manuela and her student Robertina have gotten down to the city for shopping and handling other daily chores, so they have returned back quite late. It took an hour and a half to get to the city with wooden boats and the loud, continuous sound of the engine would make a person very tired. It was a very long journey that demanded a lot of effort for two women over sixty years old. In the evening, during the ceremony, they had sat in front of the participants and sang folk songs for half an hour each so that they could be the channel of cosmic energy and help us heal. It was a self-devotion worth seeing. I was greatly impressed by how committed they were to do their work. I promised myself that from now on, I would always show my respect to the elderly for doing things with such determination.

 

While one’s improvement potential is defined by their karma (from birth); the spiritual evolution process is defined by mental capacity, family and social factors and also intention and choices.  I observe that it becomes even harder to learn and add the spiritual teachings to the breath when adults don’t put in the necessary effort and time into spiritual teachings because how work life takes up their whole day. During our slow and fragile self-improvement process, a lot of us should be prepared to see the wall of logic that we’ve built come tumbling down like a house of cards within hours of drinking Ayahuasca. Because of this, even though Ayahuasca can be a method for you to broaden your horizon and experience different energy dimensions, it requires massive control of one’s own mind as it can make you question your every truth from square one. Back in the day, people would only be present during Ayahuasca ceremonies to help the shaman heal and no qualifications would be expected from the participants.

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Ceremony 5

With Ayahuasca taking effect, I prostrated myself and focused on my third eye with the image of Krishna in my mind. I pressed my hands together and I bent my thumbs to press them on my index fingers. Later, I discovered that when I press my bent thumbs on the spots where my nose and eyes meet, I was able to focus even better. No thoughts had flown into my mind for minutes and it felt like I was floating on my back in the water as the sun was gently caressing me.

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SHOW PAINTING

Ceremony 6

At the last ceremony, Mama Manuela was giving us a protection called the Arkana and singing different folk songs which were special for that day. Accompanied by the folk songs, I was in an energy flow full of enthusiasm and while singing songs face to face with Mama Manuela, we were celebrating our existence to the fullest. We had formed such a connection that I didn’t want it to end. Mama Manuela also showed that she was enjoying the connection by staying in front of me for a long time. I was eternally grateful to her for the protection and the compassion that she has given me. I was never going to forget the magic of this experience.

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Shipibo

Folk Song

Noya nete pikotai

Noya nete kanoya

Ani nete kanoya

Joe nete kanoya

Kano mai bewai

Pikotira bewai

 



English Translation:
Noya’s universe comes out
With the connection to Noya’s universe
With the connection to the great universe
The universe of light
The energetic channel of the earth (I) sing
(I) sing (and) it comes out…
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Suggestions for

when you are under Ayahuasca’s influence:

1. If you are trapped in a negative thought or energy flow, you can imagine purging yourself from them by breathing in deeply and later by breathing out through your mouth at intervals with a low voice.

 

2. I recommend that you stay seated the entire time. If you want to lie down, make sure your face is looking upwards. If you continue the process in a facedown position, the possibility of falling under the influence of Destructive Energy increases.

 

3. Avoid chatting with the participants next to you. Everybody is on their own journey and you shouldn’t disturb them while they learn the teachings they need.

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SHOW PAINTING

Why

the City Life? 

During the fifteen days I’ve spent in the Amazon forests, I had seen creatures like; scorpions, tarantulas, snakes, cockroaches, Amazon ants (they are the size of my little finger), parrots, tropical birds, chickens and a lot of types of plants, flowers and trees. There were constant births and deaths happening in the forest. I had understood better why people left the forests and built cities. As a matter of fact, in the community they have wanted to build, their main focus wasn’t comfort but to sweep the idea of death under the rug. As city dwellers, we don’t like to talk about death, and we continue living as if we are never going to die. It is not possible to ask ourselves the right questions when we think death is not the natural part of our existence. With minds covered with asphalt and make up, people don’t think about death and therefore, they don’t turn towards the sacred scriptures.

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Natural

Toilets

”Don’t forget to throw sand on it after using the toilet!“ They were covering their faecal matters with sand thrown out of a bucket at the primitively made toilets. Each time you left the toilet you would throw more sand on top of it and make the mountain of sand higher. And, It was very disturbing to see cockroaches the size of a thumb whenever you would open the cover of the toilet. When I thought about why I was so disturbed by cockroaches, the fear of death showed up again. Cockroaches feed off of dead bodies and thus, subconsciously remind me of death. We are attached to our bodies so much, that I can see how the thought of leaving it is making us feel uncomfortable. To accept that our bodies would become dinner tables to cockroaches once they reach their expiration dates, we must first digest the information that we are not in fact these bodies.

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Mama Manuela Q&A:

Question: Mama Manuela, what is the way of breaking free from the chain of reincarnation?

 

Answer: People create their own darkness and the answer to that question lies within you. The way to eliminate the negative is by falling under the influence of the Life-Giving Good Energy. Otherwise, you will face destruction that is influenced by the Destructive Energy. The most important thing here is to be able to concentrate on the Life-Giving Good Energy.

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Chosen Words from the Shipibo Native Language:

Thank you: İrakı

Yes: Hımhım

Good: Jakun

Bad: Hakuma

Life: Ja

True: Kun

Just like it should be: Jaskara riki

And that’s that: Jaskararibi riki

How are you?: Havu kuska ring mia?

Good morning: Hakun ya muy keri

Good night: Hakun ya mın

The food is very good: Hakun pi vı

My mind and soul are good. How are yours?: Na kund şi nan itang n okun kaya hakun riki. Mina kang?

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Bhagavad−Gita

Treasure of Thousands of Years Old Hindu Wisdom

Dear Arjuna, one who engages in actions for Me, considering Me the Supreme goal, engaging in devotional service for Me, freed from the contamination of fruitive activities and mental speculation, devoid of enmity towards any living entity; such a person attains Me. (Bhagavad−Gita Chapter 11, Verse 55)

 

There might be people who are arguing over the existence of The Creator. However, it is true that we can experience indescribable emotions when we meditate by focusing on The Creator. For example, it would be futile to meditate on the Atlantic Ocean in order to experience a similar result. This is something tangible and the prove of The Creator.

 

Bhagavad−Gita Chapter 11, Verse 55 is considered as the heart of sacred scriptures. It explains that if we put The Creator in the center of every action we take and cultivate our consciousness by the motivation to serve IT, we could go to the eternal Kingdom on the next page.

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− THE END –

My main intention behind sharing my experiences is to intrigue you particularly about Bhagavat−Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, The Nectar of Devotion and Chaitanya Charitamrita sacred scriptures and to be a step in your journey of salvation. Additionally, Ayahuasca is one of the methods of helping you develop the faith in believing there is something more than the world we live in.

 

 

In reality there is only one author, and IT is Krishna.

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