AUTHOR: Fernando López Espallardo (Madrid, Spain)
From a place of willingness to understand, I encourage ayahuasca communities as well as Mr. Varela to explore the path of dialogue, a route that has always borne wise fruits for humanity.
I have carefully read the text published by Mr. Varela to the Ayahuasca Community. I have also read the Manifesto of the Hundred and the declaration of Mr. Varela as Persona Non Grata by the Putumayo authorities too. The harshness of this text made me doubt going to Inner Mastery in my quest for inner balance, though I finally decided to go.
Regarding Mr. Varela, I must say that I share to a large extent the approach to Ayahuasca performed in his company; my experience with them makes me feel so. Four months ago I was engulfed in a deep depression, that started long ago, and the experience with his organisation has changed my life. So complex and yet so simple.
Ayahuasca is a medicine with enormous potential, it possesses a profound transforming power on the individual’s psyche. It has the amazing wisdom of going into your mind and showing you just what you really need. Ayahuasca is also called “the grandma” and that is how it behaves in visions and emotions; with the sweetness and deep love of a grandmother, but also the strong firmness of the grandfather, as it makes you face your deepest fears.
For me it is a master plant, even sacred, a medicine of the soul, a plant that should be Heritage of Humanity, and as such be protected by everyone with a lot of respect and gratitude.
I also want to manifest that I understand the ayahuasca communities perfectly. I understand their fear, their hurt feelings, at the fact that Ayahuasca leaves the Amazonian context and that the world can make disrespectful and irresponsible use of this sacred plant. Nobody knows for sure the origin of Ayahuasca; there are only myths and legends. In reality, for millennia, those communities have been wise and respectful guardians of the knowledge of that plant combination. Ayahuasca even has a sacred character for many people of many communities.
I believe that Humanity can never be thankful enough to all the generations that have kept the wisdom and hope of the Ayahuasca medicine up until the 21st century.
In my humble opinion, it is a profound mistake to decontextualise the origin of the plant. Ayahuasca must keep growing in the jungle and the essence of Ayahuasca will still be in its origin; that we must never forget. Ayahuasca is a medicine born in the jungle, a very potent psycho-spiritual medicine, daughter of the Amazonian jungle. The entire world should acknowledge its origin with pride and respect, because of its enormous symbology and healing potential.
The greatest teaching that my Ayahuasca experience has given me is to feel from the heart, and from there I consider that we should recognise and respect its guardians and experimenters for millennia. Shamans preserve a great backpack of knowledge. Hundreds of their generations taking Ayahuasca have kept the shamanism world alive and its incredible knowledge of the spiritual world and its healing. In one way or another, Ayahuasca and shamanism will always remain united. Whatever we do, it will stay in the beads of the people who facilitate sessions, in the long drumming nights, in their exotic but terribly effective tools, in any liturgy of well-deserved respect to the plant or the necessary cleansing of the participant’s energies.
Furthermore, my experience with Inner Mastery shows me another path in the use of Ayahuasca in the 21st century. A revolutionary method is offered, by combining the enormous therapeutic possibility of Ayahuasca with diverse western psychological approaches and group dynamics; in conclusion, a method of enormous effectiveness focused on the healing of people.
As rightly said by Alberto José Varela, Ayahuasca is just a tool in these processes;, a medicine that is always treated with enormous respect, but just one more element, though fundamental, in an array of techniques and dynamics.
In my short experience during three retreats, knowing firsthand the processes of about sixty people, I believe the therapeutic success of Inner Mastery lies in the totality of the experience: the Ayahuasca intake, the integration of experiences with western psychotherapeutic techniques and the group dynamics. These dynamics create profound emotional processes when you show your deepest fears to the group and the group shows them to you; they are effective tools for collective healing.
Another fundamental element is the people who comprise Inner Mastery. My experience in Madrid shows me that they are people who work from the heart, which allows the creation of a honest, intimate and safe environment. You feel like you are with people who accompany and support your inner journey. I make use of this opportunity to publicly thank all the Inner Mastery team in Madrid for the enormous and impeccable labour they are doing.
I am a person who believes firmly in the benefits of dialogue between collectives and people with a sincere heart, individuals with consciousness about the enormous transcendence and local and global benefit that such a dialogue can bring. From that place of willingness to understand, I encourage the ayahuasca communities as well as Mr. Varela to explore a path of dialogue, a route that has always borne wise fruits for humanity.
With my greatest respect to everyone, my gratitude.
Fernando López Espallardo
Ayahuasca International holds Inner Evolution retreats with therapeutic use of Ayahuasca in several countries in Europe. Click the links for specific information on each retreat.
Barcelona, May 31 to 4 June
Munich, June 1 to 4Eindhoven, Netherlands – June 8 to 11
Click here for a complete listing of information of all the 2017 Ayahuasca International Retreats Calendar. It includes subsequent links to information, prices and booking procedure for each retreat.
For bookings or to request any further information call to +49 (0) 171 987 6655 (also available by whatsapp) or write to [email protected]
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