Understanding the knowledge of Ayahuasca Ceremony Teachers

Retreat centers using a variety of plant medicines, including ayahuasca, is often the reason for the visit of international tourists. Ayahuasca is a medicine that has been used for thousands of years by some indigenous communities of the Amazon. Note: quotes from the teachers were originally in Spanish but have been translated to English by Denise Benitez.

As our project we have interviewed teachers, the leaders of the ceremonies, to better understand both the impact of ayahuasca tourism on their communities and the knowledge they have received from the medicine about human nature and the world we inhabit. They described their knowledge as traditional as it is passed down from generation to generation. The teachers we interviewed were a part of the Shipibo culture.

In recent decades there have been problems concerning “spiritual tourism” and disrespect towards the cultures that are responsible for maintaining the medicine and practices alive. People often see it as an opportunity to “trip” or simply “get high”. This is, however, not a drug but a powerful medicine that has been and is used to cure physical and soul level ailments and needs to be used with the proper teacher, procedure, context, and space, as it was originally intended. The teachers expressed that often when people arrive to Peru in search for ayahuasca, they have their own idea and agenda. This creates a pressure for locals to fit into or create the vision that the tourist desires, resulting in “tripping centers” that incorporate a mixture of practices from other cultures without considering where they are from or the their history. This results in erasure of and meshing of cultures all to the please the tourist.

Interview with questions concerning a variety of topics including the impact of tourists and outsiders generally, and understanding how the use of ayahuasca can help us comprehend the nature of human beings and the universe. We started with questions to understand the basics of a ceremony, the preparation, and the plants, and then moved onto their beliefs about the spiritual world

Although we understand that there is a wide variety of opinions and critiques on the commodification of ayahuasca ceremonies, we will share the opinions of the teachers we interviewed. Maestro Tsoma expressed the importance for him to share his knowledge with the world and how he really appreciated when people took the time to sit down with him and converse. He explained that within the past few decades there has been a great increase in the amount of people seeking ayahuasca. This includes people of all ages. They will go due to various reasons including a physical/emotional problem and exploration. He said that it is important to be humble before the medicine, to want to learn, and help others as well. He repeatedly said that the medicine cleanses the body and removes any blockages, that is the main purpose in order to allow the healing energy of Ayahuasca in.

We must consider that live in a capitalist world. The way the community we visited sustain themselves is by selling to people from around the world (predominately from western European counties and the U.S.) a way of healing not available in their country. With the money the center recieves, the families of the teachers and of all the other people that help maintain the center (cooks, cleaners, assistants…) are able to sustain themselves and only leave the center to buy supplies and certain foods.

PLANTS AND THEIR USES

I am grateful to have found such kind people open up to us and give us their time for the interviews. The insights this trip has brought me are some that I will think about for some time. I am studying psychology and am interested in the use of consciousness altering substances for the healing of mental health illnesses. Finding out how ceremonial use of different medicines work for people with depression, anxiety, and other disorders concerning mood gives me motivation to find a way to ethically make alternative medicines accessible. I am frustrated by the way that, at the least the U.S., has made healing into a product, when it is a human right. If we want to help people we need new approaches, and exploring other systems that work is useful in helping us find creative solutions.

This research has had significant impact on the upcoming stages of my future life, as it provided me insights to how spirituality is strongly intertwined with medicine. The way how indegenous medicine is practiced in Peru gave me hope to how indigenous medicine could be re-engaged in different parts of the world. With respect to my cultural identtity, I have been concerned about the decline of indegenous medicine in Korea, however, this experience has given hope to me, for it to regain its spotlight and also abroad. The experience also made me aware of my impacts as a tourist in different places, with both positive and negative impact. I believe it will construe careful attitudes to the ways I exert my presence in foreign places.

“Spiritual tourism” is a complex topic to research. The ways it affects the communities providing the medicine is both positive and negative. We could only provide what the thoughts of the teachers of the particular center we visited. With the growing popularity of this practice we need to have more research done and find ways of practicing new ways of healing and exploring our consciousness ethically. As we move forward we must consider the impact that these practices have both on the customers and on the providers. To what extent can we/should we engage in and benefit from practices that aren’t our own? If we will, how can we minimize our negative impacts?

Please reach out to d_benitez@coloradocollege.edu and g_jeong@coloradocollege.edu if you wish to ask any questions. Thank you.