When a musician and a mystic meet on the digital vine, things are bound to get juicy. In a deeply connected conversation between Australian artist Ben Lee and entheogenic explorer Rak Razam, we dive into the story behind Aya: Awakenings, the rise of plant medicine in the West, and what it means to reconnect with the sacred in an age of distraction.
A Shamanic Odyssey Goes Visual
What started as a journalist's mission in 2006 evolved into something far more profound for Rak Razam. After travelling to Peru and immersing himself in the world of indigenous shamanism, Rak documented his experiences in a book that would later blossom into a film. But this wasn't the usual path to the cinema. It was never meant to be a film, it became one because the experiences were too rich, too transformative, and too important not to share with a broader audience.
I never intended to make a movie about it. I first went to Peru in 2006 as a journalist. But I guess I was following my own spiritual path as well.
This spontaneous unfolding mirrors the nature of many spiritual journeys: unexpected, mysterious, and deeply personal. The film emerged from the synergy between Rak and his co-director, Tim Parish, and evolved into a powerful expression of the global shamanic revival.
The book... was like my love song to the world. There were so many very personal but very archetypal experiences in there... a generation coming of age and reclaiming this connection with the Earth.
With a mix of storytelling, ritual, and visual psychedelia, Aya: Awakenings offers not just a glimpse into Rak's inner journey but an invitation to others who feel the pull toward plant medicine and spiritual transformation.
Waves of Ayahuasca
Interest in ayahuasca has surged in the past few decades, but Rak is careful to frame this not as a trend, but as part of a larger, cyclical pattern. According to him, we're now experiencing the third significant wave of Western engagement with these sacred plant medicines.
It's been like two or three waves of Western contact with these plant entheogens.
The first wave included figures like William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, who ventured into the Amazon seeking the yagé experience. The second wave, which Rak identifies himself with, saw more Westerners living and learning with indigenous shamans. Now, in this third wave, the conversation is turning toward integration, ethics, and sustainability.
Those seeds are now helping anchor ayahuasca and other plant medicines into the Western mind frame.
These waves represent a deepening relationship, not just with ayahuasca as a substance, but with the worldview it brings. Rak sees this as a turning point, a moment to decide whether this relationship will be one of respect and humility, or exploitation and excess.
Podcasts, Pop Culture, and the Bleeding Edge
Out of the whirlwind of book tours and filmmaking, Rak found himself longing for a more direct way to stay connected with the community. Thus, his podcast In a Perfect World was born. Through it, he could keep the conversation alive, raw, unedited, and grounded in the now.
Ben Lee offered an interesting counterpoint, reflecting on how topics once considered fringe or radical are slowly making their way into mainstream culture.
On one hand, there's the co-opting of these subversive issues... But on the other hand, it really does broaden the palette of what can be digested by the mainstream
This tension, between keeping the sacred as sacred and making it accessible, is a defining struggle of modern psychedelic culture. Rak navigates this terrain with care, using his platform to elevate voices that carry authenticity and grounded wisdom.
In this way, the podcast becomes more than content; it becomes a digital campfire, where stories, truths, and visions are shared with an ever-growing tribe.
The War on Consciousness
The conversation took a more philosophical turn as the two reflected on the more profound implications of altered states. Ben articulated what many feel but struggle to express: society's discomfort with non-ordinary consciousness.
What role in our culture do amplified states of consciousness play? Because at the moment they play no role that's acknowledged.
Rak, ever the advocate for consciousness expansion, responded with passion. For him, the suppression of these states isn't just a social oversight; it's a systemic illness.
So much of our out-of-balance world has come from this war on consciousness that really has to end because it's a war on the people.
His view is that these plant medicines, far from being escapist or dangerous, are corrective tools. They realign us with nature, with our bodies, and with the spirit that animates all life.
It's all about getting the body and the energy body back to baseline, back to what is really healthy.
In this context, the so-called "trip" becomes a form of medicine, a return, rather than a departure.
Sacred, Not Spectacle
As ayahuasca makes its way into mainstream documentaries, music videos, and retreats, Rak and Ben both raised concerns about the line between reverence and reduction. The rituals of the Amazon are at risk of being turned into Instagrammable experiences, stripped of their lineage and meaning.
There are issues of cultural appropriation... especially as Western culture integrates and promotes this idea of ayahuasca. These issues need to be discussed.
Ben, too, noticed a cultural shift; more people are interested in these conversations, and not just the usual alternative crowd. Movements like Occupy brought unlikely voices together, revealing a shared hunger for radical change.
You can just feel the type of people that are interested in having this conversation.
But this interest must be met with integrity. As Rak frequently reminds his audience, it's not enough to sip the brew. You have to honour the roots from which it came.
Moving Forward Together
As the chat wound down, the spirit of collaboration came to the forefront. Both men acknowledged the importance of creating community and continuing the dialogue beyond the podcast mic or the film screen.
We'd love to work with you as well, Ben... maybe even continue some tour dates throughout America.
It's clear that this isn't just about promotion, it's about service. Both Rak and Ben are dedicated to being stewards of a conversation that is much larger than themselves. Whether through music, media, or medicine, they are helping to reweave the sacred into everyday life.
As more people turn inward to find outward change, this dialogue between two seekers reminds us: the medicine is not just in the vine, but in the voices that carry its message forward.