Alex Grey on Ayahuasca

Alex Grey, visionary artist, talks about an ayahuasca experience he had in Brazil. He shares the dichotomy of touching his own true Buddha nature and confronting his own shortcomings as a human being. His style is very personable, down to earth, and he invites the viewer to accept all aspects of simply who they are.

"I think ayahuasca can show us how beautiful we are inside; and what kinds of possibilities we have for love and for actions of kindness. What better way to root ourselves back into the web of nature and a compassion for this web of life, than through the plants themselves. The plants are talking to us; we need to listen." - Alex Grey

Alex Grey: Artwork Music Video

Drinking ayahuasca medicine is an encounter with the deepest sacredness that exists within each of us. One of the master lessons of the plant is to let go and allow the plant to enter into us. We embrace this intelligence of nature and allow it to help us to heal our humanity, reconnecting back to the primal force in all things.

This music video by Alex Grey and Eamon Barling graphically demonstrates the rewiring and reconnecting process of the human soul back to the universal web of nature, where all things are connected as one.

Graham Hancock: The Mystery of Human Origins

Watch this engaging interview with Graham Hancock speak on the mystery of human origins, sacred plants, and the shamanic realms beyond this world.

"The original inspiration [to drink ayahuasca] in my case was an intention to explore the mystery of human origins. As I started to investigate this material I found that most of the story is incredibly dull. Our early ancestors behaved for millions and millions of years in an incredibly dull and uninteresting manner with no creativity, no symbolism, no evidence whatsoever of a spiritual life.

The brain was there but it wasn't being used. Something happened that led to it being used. I believe that the evidence is compelling that our ancestors discovered altered states of consciousness. They may have come across hallucinogenic plants by chance; they may have thought they were food items. Then when they consumed them it brought about a radical transformation in the way that they looked at the world. It changed everything about being human." - Graham Hancock

Wade Davis: Cultures at the far edge of the world

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate. Wade Davis has been described as "a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet, and passionate defender of all of life's diversity." His talk covers a wide range of indigenous cultures from the Kogi indians of northern Colombia to the ayahuasca traditions of the Cofan in Amazonia.

"Together the myriad cultures of the world make up a web of spiritual life, and cultural life, that envelopes the planet. It is as important to the wellbeing of the planet as is indeed the biological web of life. This cultural web of life is the ethnosphere, the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations and intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness. The ethnosphere is humanity's great legacy." - Wade Davis

All of these videos and more can be found in the Video Library.

As many of you know, in March/April 2008 I went to Brazil along with my husband and son. It was a fantastic trip. The main purpose of the trip, though, was to be a part of a workshop that involved the ceremonial use of the plant medicine, ayahuasca. This medicine has been used by native Amazonians for thousands of years for healing of all types (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.). Each of the 3 ceremonies that I attended during the week was overseen by an ayahuasquero (a type of shaman) and his assistant. They brew the medicine prior to the ceremony, which is done by combining 2 different plants that are native to the Amazon jungle and cooking them together. One plant contains the DMT molecule, which is a naturally occurring substance that floods our brains both at birth and death (and there is a theory that it floods the brain of a woman giving birth as well, but it is not known for sure). The other plant contains an MAO inhibitor that allows the DMT to be absorbed by the stomach and then into the bloodstream where it passes through the blood-brain barrier.

We have just added six new videos to the video section of the site!

Videos with Terence McKenna, David Bohm, Alex Grey and Stanislav Grof have all be added.

Here is a list of what has been added:

• Terence McKenna: Culture is not Your Friend
• Stanislav Grof on Holotropic Breathing
• Terence McKenna on the Purpose of Psychedelics
• David Bohm on Fragmentation Theory
• Alex Grey on His Work
• Terence McKenna: Reclaim Your Mind

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953 in Columbus, Ohio) is an artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art (or visionary art) that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. His oeuvre spans a variety of forms including performance art, installation art, sculpture, and most significantly, painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute. He is also on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics.

Article by Ralph Miller

Ancient religious traditions and esoteric thought speak of how everything is connected to everything else. This is the concept of oneness, where duality and separateness break down and become irrelevant, and only a perfect unity remains. Our real nature is that we are not separate; we are all one. Our human experience feels lonely and isolated only because we have forgotten our true nature.

The renowned Swiss scientist, Jean Piaget wrote about human intelligence in his book Origins of Intelligence in the Child. His observations were that for an infant … all is one. Infants are unable to determine where they end, and the world or universe begins. They cannot distinguish their 'inner world' from their 'outer world'. They perceive their reality as One.

When we are born, we begin with this true understanding. We begin with a visionary mind. As we grow up, we begin to forget.

There is a grand paradox that has continued for eons now. We have evolved in our mastery of technology, but we have forgotten our true nature. As human intelligence has increased so has our 'forgetfulness'. We have forgotten and become disconnected from ourselves. A part of our minds has de-evolved. We no longer can perceive the beauty of the infinite realms that are woven into our 3D consensual reality we call time-space.