Do you have a Mentor?

[yatyas314]

Do you currently have a mentor? - Not formally no.
what is your current relationship? - None I haven't had any contact with this angel in about two years
And what was the 1 thing they taught you that still applies to your work with plant medicines? That you can always come back so don't turn intentions into expectations.
Y

 

[yatyas314]

Bump I hope some people chime in.

 

[taita]

I currently have a few mentors (besides the medicines themselves), two of whom that I work with more or less closely. The maestro of our school of Amazonian curanderismo passed on not long ago, so his senior students are helping to show the way they follow.
It feels like a loss, as I never got to meet him in person, only in vision, but I imagine it's how it's supposed to be

Humility is the key lesson that still very much applies. Thankfully the medicines don't have much tolerance for hubris and will humble you in an instant

Having worked with psychedelics for 3 decades prior to having any kind of guidance beyond my own intuition and the lessons learned from the medicines themselves, and being by nature a very independent-minded person (sometimes obstinately so), I have to say it's been actually really helpful to have a bit more structure around the container for these kinds of experiences. I feel very fortunate to have fallen in with a group of really good hearted and sincere people who respect and maintain the tradition but aren't slavish about dogma and allow for each individual to bring their own creativity and unique expression to the medicine work. It feels like a healthy balance of useful structure and creative freedom imo.

 

[Voidmatrix]

Yes, but it's more like a big brother. It's also my boss, lmao.

One love

 

[northape]

I've struggled with putting others on a pedestal my whole life but have never had a real mentor. My life path would be so much easier if I had support.
At this point, I doubt that I can accept just anyone for such a position. I'd need to feel some real wisdom behind a person.

We all have our inner mentor or guru, who speaks with a silent voice and guides us. It's just a matter of giving yourself space and listening to it. I'm so sick that I need medicine to create the right conditions, but it's slowly getting better. Then there are all the saints, buddhas, and sages who are part of reality and could be connected to as well. It's still difficult to accept that they are all a part of my mind (I guess what I need is to remove that "my" before "mind").

Praying works because you are trying to get out of your box and connect to something you know nothing about. It is a practice of opening up to reality. Please do not mix any Christian bias into it. I am not a Christian believer in a normal sense, even if I respect the tradition. Prayer is beyond religion, like looking into a vast empty blue sky. I see it as a direct connection to God or our ultimate mentor.

Life itself is a mentor, including the people we meet. I've learned a lot from you all and continue to do so. The same applies to seemingly random encounters that point to some truth you need to see.

 

[yatyas314]

I've struggled with putting others on a pedestal my whole life but have never had a real mentor. My life path would be so much easier if I had support.
At this point, I doubt that I can accept just anyone for such a position. I'd need to feel some real wisdom behind a person.

We all have our inner mentor or guru, who speaks with a silent voice and guides us. It's just a matter of giving yourself space and listening to it. I'm so sick that I need medicine to create the right conditions, but it's slowly getting better. Then there are all the saints, buddhas, and sages who are part of reality and could be connected to as well. It's still difficult to accept that they are all a part of my mind (I guess what I need is to remove that "my" before "mind").

Praying works because you are trying to get out of your box and connect to something you know nothing about. It is a practice of opening up to reality. Please do not mix any Christian bias into it. I am not a Christian believer in a normal sense, even if I respect the tradition. Prayer is beyond religion, like looking into a vast empty blue sky. I see it as a direct connection to God or our ultimate mentor.

Life itself is a mentor, including the people we meet. I've learned a lot from you all and continue to do so. The same applies to seemingly random encounters that point to some truth you need to see.

I agree with all of your points to an extent and am glad you chimed in. When I say mentor I was trying to ask if someone had showed you this and worked with you to get your first experiences in and what thing, what morsel of knowledge you might have gleaned that holds true today with your current practice. I wonder if your comfortable enough to share more about prayer and how you work with it?
Y

 

[northape]

I agree with all of your points to an extent and am glad you chimed in. When I say mentor I was trying to ask if someone had showed you this and worked with you to get your first experiences in and what thing, what morsel of knowledge you might have gleaned that holds true today with your current practice.

My first psychedelic experience was with a low dose of local liberty caps that some friends had picked. They knew close to nothing about mushrooms and just saw them as a natural drug. I remember a plate on the table filled with dried mushrooms (maybe 100g), and my friend just picked up a pinch and said it should be enough

The main message from that journey was never again, yet I was back for more in a few weeks. All of those friends eventually got their lessons in humility and respect, and some of them were harsh. It was never a party for me, right from day one. I think I felt like I needed help, but it was unconscious. I had my first bad trip with mushrooms, and that was the biggest shift of my life. Later I started to look for aya and found old ayahuasca forums. Iranian rue seeds took care of me, and here we are. So, I had no real mentors apart from the plants, forum elders, and some books.

I wonder if your comfortable enough to share more about prayer and how you work with it?
Y

"God have mercy on me and guide me to the light" is my latest prayer

God is reality or truth for me, and any name-form that speaks to you works. Mercy or grace is ever-flowing, but we forget it. Light is both physical (in my case) and our true nature. The ultimate prayer is Silence. You give yourself space to be in silence and listen. People call it contemplation or meditation. God is always speaking through silence. If you have ever felt fully present in the moment, that's the prayer, imo.

Nowadays, I keep reminding myself that there is no God out there. We're praying to the One living in our Hearts. Ego can never free itself, because any attempts to do so are of its own making. God is the reality that exists outside the ego-box and is forever unknown. Ego can never know God but can only dissolve into it. Yet, we can cultivate love for truth and reality. Everyone wants to be happy, and that happiness lives inside your Heart. When you become tired of this unending game of life, turn inside. Freedom is waiting for you there, forever smiling

Just Be

 

[rkba]

Do you currently have a mentor?

Fires are my connecting guides. Trees are the creators. Life are the mentors.

what is your current relationship?

Warm, with a touch of burn.

the 1 thing they taught you that still applies to your work with plant medicines?

Arrest and redirect Time to shift perceptions, such that the Being can 'listen' to the Story of Life as it is projected by the Womb of Existence.

 

[windyshaman]

Wish I had one... too many scars from learning things the hard way...

 

[Voidmatrix]

To be more specific on my first response, my first "mentor" f'ed that up, and I've had to figure out a lot on my own and have trust issues as a result.

My boss and I have actually talked about this. He reads me well, which is rare. He knows and sees my issues with authority. He wants to be my mentor, and I would like him to be my mentor, but it's delicate, because anything paternal in the affect of the relationship will turn me off, shut me down, and cause me to go elsewhere. So, he's big bro.

I agree with all of your points to an extent and am glad you chimed in. When I say mentor I was trying to ask if someone had showed you this and worked with you to get your first experiences in and what thing, what morsel of knowledge you might have gleaned that holds true today with your current practice. I wonder if your comfortable enough to share more about prayer and how you work with it?
Y

With regard to cutting my teeth with DMT, there was minimal wisdom in the room, we'll just say that. And that's not to cast any shade on those that got me into hyperspace my first few times. I'm just being honest.

One love