That's exactly it.. the lack of purpose is what drains the soul..

A ceremony, whether you travel for it or not, may fill it back up again.. but without finding the right path forward it will begin to drain..

I think Ayahuasca will show you what you truly believe in.. it takes courage and resolve, plus a vision to then make things happen. It is easy to simply fall back into old habits, especially when you feel 'blissed out' for a while.

running away for 'lack of purpose'...Hmm.

I still think you'd better go to the jungle if it is because you realy want to.

Nevertheless, if you're running away from lack of purpose, straight into the arms of mummy ayahuasca, something quite interesting may await you. To put it mildly.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Sounds like something that happened to ... ummm ... me ... a few years ago.
Out of college, unemployed and overwhelmed by the prospect of attaining a "higher" life overseas in a simple culture with mystical roots, I left the US and was fully prepared to not return. Well, the more I decided to not return, the more difficult it became to actually stay there, until my destiny violently snapped me back here to the West and I eventually over the next many years slowly integrated myself for the first time into the society I grew up in. And eventually became at peace with myself.

At the bottom of things, there is no special knowldege or visions or states of being held by overseas shamans or gurus or high spiritual authorities that isn't already inside all of us ... and attainable by all of us ... just by looking within. Those who say otherwise are looking for power and handouts.

Reading a few books and finding one's path, supplemented by a spiritual journey "to the jungle" of a few months, may well provide a helpful and time-saving boost to get started on that inward journey, but few if any of us need to reach escape velocity and leave earth or even our home country altogether.

We're lucky that in this kind of society we have the opportunity to go down these roads and fully explore what's in us. Sure, it would be nice if we could hold our own aya retreats here legally, or invite SouthAmerican shamans to fly to the big city and lead a (legal) ceremony. Well, that appears to be a "freedom" we don't have here. The score on that matter is Peru 1, USA/Canada/Europe 0.

But what we do have is the freedom to fly to the Brazilian jungle or Himalayan cave and return to our homes after a few months, and integrate that knowledge into the way we live our lives so that others who can't go to Iquitos can benefit from it.

I just smoked DMT and I have decided after a whole two hours of thinking that I want to go live on the moon, I will live in a hut and grow mimosa trees. Just kidding.

i think were on the same page, you have made good points that got me thinking....

i don't think that psychedelics or ceremony's can "fix" or fill our voids. i feel they can only point us to the direction we need to explore to truly heal, know, or change.
without personal integration of the experience or ceremony the full potential of theses substances will not be present.

it doesn't matter where we take what and how as much as what we do with the experience. for me when i decided to learn and drink ayahuasca i felt i wanted to do it here at home alone first and then venture forward with it. i felt, i'm not Peruvian, that isn't my world currently so it made more sense to take aya in my world first.

i have heard people say that they would only do ayahuasca in South America and that's their personal choice but i think its short sighted.
do these same folks feel that a Peruvian Indian would only benefit from taking mdma or lsd if they came to America? of coarse not.

ceremony is everywhere.... its where you put those intentions. trust me i cant wait to take ayahuasca when im' in Peru next year but i feel these plants are a gift to all humankind, there are no real rules just practices and traditions. these compounds existed long before any known ceremony did.

Great words Olympus, share my feelings very much.

Sometimes entering a new paradigm is exactly what you need. Having said that, you have to use discernment when choosing who to work with in Peru. "Mystical Tourism" is a big deal nowadays. Having said THAT, however, there are some really gifted/experienced/powerful shamans down there that can facilitate ceremonies of healing and transformation. Experiences between the individual and the spirits, where the context is always relevant, because the spirits are working with YOU directly.

very well said.

that would be a good place to run to if i was hanging with shamans i think it would be hard to come back.

even shamans cant hide us from ourselves. no matter where we run to....if were running away we will ultimately see theres no where to go.

You might think so, but let me tell you, living in the jungle, doing dieta, bathing in a 1 foot creek, eating little, gets old REAL QUICK. Experienced guys I met in Iquitos would go out for 1 or 2 weeks at a time then come back into Iquitos for a while before going back into the jungle some more. I'm talking long term visits though, 2-6 months, not a retreat. After a while in the jungle, you start to crave a shower, a bed, food, etc. And also, you can only do dieta for so long......

I spent a year and a half traveling through Latin America from Mexico all the way down to the tip of South America traveling by bus. The purpose wasn't to experience mushrooms or ayahuasca, but I did partake of both along the way. The purpose was also not to run away from anything, but to discover what's out there, or what's missing. It reminds me of Shel Silverstien's book The Missing Piece.

Anyway, the experience was so profound, awakening, and life changing that it all caught me off guard upon return. It turned out that the difficult thing to integrate was the Western aspect. I spent about 3 months after returning as a total wreck, almost completely unable to function again in Western society. But, eventually, slowly, a lot of the pieces fall back into place.

I can empathize with people who have no desire to return to western society after waking up to what else is out there. I've also met a lot of people all over the world who never did, and got something else started in a foreign country that they fell in love with. What works for some doesn't work at all for others. Either way, I'm happy for the guy for finding something that he really believes in, and hopefully it all works out for him.

I think everyone has their own path. And they have their own life they are free to do with as they please. If someone wants to abandon western society and live in the jungle, that's fine.

Of course most of us living in western society are going to project our views for whats best for us onto this guy.

IMO, when you're working with aya regularly I don't think it is easy to hide things from yourself.

Not judging the guy or his decisions. I'm on the "everyone has their own path" train too. And I agree that aya is a great teacher! Whatever happens with him, its all good experience to the part of him "upstairs".

i can see why he would of wanted to go back, when i stayed with shamans for 2weeks, 20 miles north of iquintos in the jungle what i found changed me. i would have loved to spend more time to learn more about life, the nature of reality and myself with them...
one day i will return, but for now my path is in North Wales....