Alex Grey, visionary artist, talks about an ayahuasca experience he had in Brazil. He shares the dichotomy of touching his own true Buddha nature and confronting his own shortcomings as a human being. His style is very personable, down to earth, and he invites the viewer to simply accept all aspects of who they are.

"I think ayahuasca can show us how beautiful we are inside; and what kinds of possibilities we have for love and for actions of kindness. What better way to root ourselves back into the web of nature and a compassion for this web of life, than through the plants themselves. The plants are talking to us; we need to listen." - Alex Grey

Drinking ayahuasca medicine is an encounter with the deepest sacredness that exists within each of us. One of the master lessons of the plant is to let go (read article Letting Go) and allow the plant to enter into us. We embrace this intelligence of nature and allow it to help us to heal our humanity, reconnecting back to the primal force in all things.

This music video by Alex Grey and Eamon Barling graphically demonstrates the rewiring and reconnecting process of the human soul back to the universal web of nature, where all things are connected as one.

View more of Alex Grey’s visionary artwork

Watch this engaging interview with Graham Hancock speak on the mystery of human origins, sacred plants, and the shamanic realms beyond this world.

"The original inspiration [to drink ayahuasca] in my case was an intention to explore the mystery of human origins. As I started to investigate this material I found that most of the story is incredibly dull. Our early ancestors behaved for millions and millions of years in an incredibly dull and uninteresting manner with no creativity, no symbolism, no evidence whatsoever of a spiritual life.

It's not until 40,000 years ago it seems like a light has been turned on all around the world. Suddenly the whole suite of behavior that we recognize as human is introduced all at once. And what is key to this change, is the dawn of art, the birth of art. There had never been art before and suddenly in upper Paleolithic Europe around 35,000 years ago, you get the most extraordinary art being painted, and this is rapidly found all over the world.

The brain was there but it wasn't being used. Something happened that led to it being used. I believe that the evidence is compelling that our ancestors discovered altered states of consciousness. They may have come across hallucinogenic plants by chance; they may have thought they were food items. Then when they consumed them it brought about a radical transformation in the way that they looked at the world. It changed everything about being human." - Graham Hancock

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate. Wade Davis has been described as "a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet, and passionate defender of all of life's diversity." His talk covers a wide range of indigenous cultures from the Kogi indians of northern Colombia to the ayahuasca traditions of the Cofan in Amazonia.

"Together the myriad cultures of the world make up a web of spiritual life, and cultural life, that envelopes the planet. It is as important to the wellbeing of the planet as is indeed the biological web of life. This cultural web of life is the ethnosphere, the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations and intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness. The ethnosphere is humanity's great legacy.

In the end it really comes down to a choice. So do we want to live in a monochromatic world of monotony or do we want to embrace a polychromatic world of diversity. When these myriad cultures of the world are asked the meaning of being human they respond with 10,000 different voices. And it's within that song that we will all rediscover the possibility of being what we are; a fully conscious species fully aware of ensuring that all peoples and gardens find a way to flourish." - Wade Davis

We invite you to have 'A Closer Look' at the Heart of the Initiate ayahuasca workshops in Brazil. We'll take you on an experiential journey with the sacred plants to have a deeper understanding of who you really are. In the stunning natural beauty of our location, we'll explore the vast inner worlds of this visionary medicine.

"The truly remarkable thing about this plant medicine ayahuasca is that it is presenting to you a whole new arena of consciousness. In the moment I think that's where this reconnection happens, this remembering, this reconnection with yourself. In this moment you can have a sense of the sacredness of every action that you make." - Ralph Miller, Heart of the Initiate

Terence McKenna (1946-2000) has been studying the ontological foundations of Shamanism and the Ethnopharmacology of spiritual transformation for the past quarter century. An innovative theoretician and spellbinding orator, Terence has emerged as a powerful voice for the psychedelic movement and the emergent societal tendency he calls The Archaic Revival.

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953 in Columbus, Ohio) is an artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art (or visionary art) that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. His oeuvre spans a variety of forms including performance art, installation art, sculpture, and most significantly, painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute. He is also on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics.

David Joseph Bohm (born December 20, 1917 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, died October 27, 1992 in London) was an American-born quantum physicist, who made significant contributions in the fields of theoretical physics, philosophy and neuropsychology, and to the Manhattan Project.

Terence McKenna (1946-2000) has been studying the ontological foundations of Shamanism and the Ethnopharmacology of spiritual transformation for the past quarter century. An innovative theoretician and spellbinding orator, Terence has emerged as a powerful voice for the psychedelic movement and the emergent societal tendency he calls The Archaic Revival."

Stanislav Grof (born 1931 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of altered states of consciousness for purposes of healing, growth, and insight.