The answer is simple: do nothing. You don't need to channel it, wield it, or use it in any particular way—just let it be. When the storm comes, don't hold on to the sound of thunder. That’s what you do with power.

Ayahuasca does not bring enlightenment. If this assumption were true, many people who drink medicine would be liberated. They are not. Real enlightenment is free of seeking—it is the inward turning to realise that which does not turn, to see that which can not be seen.

Presence is what is healing. You bathe in the cleansing presence that is reflected, but it is your own awareness, it is your own eternal presence that emerges. Listen now: what does not fall is not external to you.

Some people are constantly looking for answers, and they’ll find all sorts of ways to locate and justify them. But even when you “receive” something, it’s not like the entire universe is speaking to you through this one particular thing. Everything is mixed and blended with our personality, our own biases, afflictions, beliefs, experiences, upbringing, conditioning, and all of that.

If you don’t know where you are, who you are, who your allies are, how to walk, how to talk, how to sing, how to listen, or how to discern—what game are you even playing? It can be dangerous to dive into deep, open waters without understanding the territory or having the right equipment and a professional diver with you. Ultimately, the question is not just whether one can drink alone, but whether one understands the depth of what they are engaging with.

For those of us whose first language is English, there's probably going to be a part that feels cheesy with that, and more exotic and mysterious with a different language. The other side of the reality is that our own dialect hits home. It hits the heartstrings in a different way. It resonates and registers with a different part of our brain.

I appreciate all of the pathways that wind around the forest. I've been exposed to many different leaders, great ayahuasqueros, curanderos, onanyas, kurakas, pajés, madrinhas, padrinhos, and I want to be something of a translator. Sometimes, my role is to be a bridge between this world and that world, this world and the other.

When we look at the human tradition, we want to see spirituality as an indivisible whole and find an inherent and universal mysticism as the underlying movement of all the great religious leaders—whatever path they followed, whatever path they carved, whichever direction they led. And we want to appreciate the perennial, self-propagating wisdom that continues to sprout through pastures, forests, deserts, mountains, and cities all over the globe.

How can you “study” without “seeking”? How can you want to learn something, while also embracing the Great Mystery?

Spiritual bypassing is like painting over rust: it may look fine on the surface, but the corrosion continues underneath. True spirituality isn't an escape route from life's challenges or a licence to neglect responsibilities. It's a deep engagement with reality, in all its messiness.

In the end, practising non-attachment connects us to something greater than ourselves. It is freedom from the chains that we hold. It sounds terrifying because we only know what it is we hold on to. We only know the known. When we let go, however, we embrace the great unknown. 

Engage in the observation of sensations in the body without elaboration, without preference, without resistance or identification. Let them come and go with presence.