What if the world we live in is not the real world, but a dream? And what if the truth lies hidden behind the veil of ordinary consciousness, waiting to be remembered? In a profound conversation between myself, Rak Razam, and podcast host David Porter on "Death Proof," we delve into the transformative potential of plant medicines. We also explore the nature of ego and the forgotten maps of the soul. Our dialogue is not just an interview; it's a deep dive into the spiritual undercurrents of our age.
Ayahuasca as the Origin Realm
They basically say that the ayahuasca world is the originating realm, and this world is the dream.
In my experiences with indigenous shamans in the Amazon, I was often told that the world we return to in ceremony is the real one, and that our waking life is a kind of dream, a projection. This worldview is more than metaphor; it lines up with quantum physics as well. David Bohm's concept of the implicate order suggests that our universe is just a shadow, a reflection of something more profound. When we enter altered states, we're not escaping reality, we're coming home.
This perspective challenges the Western view of consciousness. Instead of dismissing visions as hallucinations, we can begin to see waking life as a consensual dream shaped by culture and ego. If this is the case, then the absolute truth we've forgotten might be what lies behind this dream. This realization empowers us, giving us the reins to shape our reality.
We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of the dream. As Willy Wonka once said when he drank my whiskey.
Through my experiences with plant medicines, I've come to understand that we are the creators of our own perceptions. These tools reveal how our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs shape our reality. By shifting these, we can quite literally change the dream we live in. This understanding opens up a world of possibilities and transformation.
If we are the dreamers, then the quality of our dream, the state of the world, rests in our hands. The use of sacred plants isn't escapism. It's a call to be active participants in dreaming a better world. This responsibility is not a burden, but a motivation to create positive change.
Initiation Through 5-MeO-DMT
When I first encountered 5-MeO-DMT, it wasn't just a substance; it was a teacher. I was immersed in a realm of blinding white light, my ego stripped bare. In that infinite space, Mesoamerican shamans made of light sang me back from what felt like the edge of annihilation. It was a profound spiritual initiation that changed me forever.
Experiences like this aren't just psychologically intense; they are cosmologically revealing. They show us the layers behind reality, the energetic patterns and spiritual intelligences that modern science barely acknowledges. But for those of us who have been there, the truth of those spaces is undeniable.
Usually the ego dissolves... into this egoless witnessing state where it might be the white light, the classic mystical experience.
This is the sacred core of many entheogenic journeys. It's not about psychedelic fireworks, it's about shedding layers of identity until only the observer remains. That witness consciousness, that awareness of awareness, is what many call God, or the divine within.
And it's humbling. To dissolve the ego and yet still be present is to realise that the soul endures. We are not our thoughts, our roles, or our trauma. What survives the ego is something pure, infinite, and whole.
Mapping the Inner Realms
Contrary to what some sceptics might think, these altered states are not random. Across cultures and centuries, mystics and meditators have recorded astonishingly similar experiences. From the Vedic sages of India to Amazonian shamans, these inner geographies have been meticulously explored and charted.
These maps aren't just theoretical; they are practical tools for navigating the spiritual journey. Recognising archetypes, energy flows, and dimensional gateways helps us orient ourselves in non-ordinary reality and integrate what we find.
We get trapped in the ego little bubble, and it's all about letting go of the ego right to reveal the ego.
The irony is that we think of the ego as the self when it's actually the mask. Letting go doesn't destroy us; it reveals us. In these sacred spaces, we learn that who we truly are is far bigger than any narrative we've been sold.
It's a radical unlearning. And yet, as we peel back the layers, there's a sense of coming home. A remembrance that beneath all the roles and identities, something vast and eternal watches.
The Ego and the Mind's Prison
It's incredible how something so simple has taken on such weight. In modern Western society, the ego has become the centerpiece of identity. It's what drives competition, separation, and the illusion of control.
But we forget that the ego was meant to serve the soul, not dominate it. The more we cling to it, the more we cut ourselves off from more profound truth, intuition, and connection. Healing begins when we loosen the ego's grip.
When babies are born, their brains are flooded with tryptamines... the ego's not there from birth.
We enter this world in unity. As infants, we haven't yet built the walls of selfhood. But over time, language, culture, and trauma shape us into isolated individuals. The ego is a coping mechanism, but it isn't the truth of who we are.
This shows us that unity is not something we learn, it's something we forget. And with the right tools and guidance, we can remember it again. That's what the plants help us do.
The ego thinks it's us, but it's not us.
By observing the ego, we begin to disidentify from it. We discover a deeper self, one that exists beyond thought, a self that is.
In that space of pure being, we experience a peace and spaciousness that no external condition can shake. It's the foundation for true freedom.
Direct Knowing and the White Light
I was being dropped into all consciousness while simultaneously experiencing unconsciousness... whilst also lacking any self or identity.
David's words describe a quintessential 5-MeO-DMT state. It's a paradox: to be everything and nothing at once. In those moments, identity dissolves, but awareness remains.
This is the mystical heart of the psychedelic experience. Not just revelation, but transformation. A reconfiguration of who we are at the deepest level.
The white light is not empty. It's full of everything.
What seems like a void at first is actually the source field of creation. It's not a vacuum but a vibrant fullness, alive with potential and love. There's no one showing you anything, you're allowed to witness the truth.
And that witnessing can change you. You come back from the white light knowing something that can't be explained, only lived.
The void is pregnant with everything.
That line always stays with me. We fear the void because we associate it with death or oblivion. But in the sacred space, we learn it is a womb, not a tomb. It births all that is.
The white light isn't the end, it's the beginning. It's where soul meets source and remembers it was never separate.
The Role of the Heart and the Return to Feeling
In the jungles of Peru, the curanderos told me... they navigate the astral and higher dimensions through the heart.
These aren't metaphorical statements. In altered states, the heart truly becomes the compass. It knows how to steer where the intellect falters. Indigenous traditions don't just value feeling; they rely on it as a source of truth.
This wisdom challenges Western over-reliance on rationality. Actual knowledge isn't just thought, it's embodied, emotional, and intuitive. The heart leads us home.
There's a species PTSD... we've gone into our mind as a trauma response.
This disconnection we feel from nature, from spirit, from each other, it's not normal. It's a trauma response that's been passed down over millennia. And it's killing us. The path home begins in the body, through the breath, through the heart.
Healing isn't about fixing what's broken. It's about remembering what's whole. And that starts with feeling.
Cultural Amnesia and the Return of the Sacred
The ancients weren't primitive; they were profoundly connected. Through practices like yoga, breathwork, and plant sacraments, they accessed higher states of being that we are only now beginning to reclaim.
In our rush for progress, we lost the map. But the map still exists, in oral traditions, sacred texts, and indigenous knowledge. And now we're being invited to remember.
I don't feel I have a belief in reality anymore... because I felt everything as one.
David's journey reflects what many of us experience after ego dissolution. Reality, as we knew it, seems incomplete. Once you've felt the oneness, you can't go back to believing in separation.
This shift isn't disorienting; it's liberating. We realise the stories we were told about the world were only half the truth. The rest is waiting behind the veil.
These plant medicines are 'death proof.
They strip away the illusion of finality. After experiencing the white light, after merging with the source, the fear of death disappears. What dies is not the self, but the illusion.
What remains is love. Not emotional, sentimental love, but a cosmic, unshakable unity with all that is.
The Ceremony of Life
Even when the visions fade, even after the trip ends, the work begins. Integration is where the real magic lies. Life itself becomes the altar, the ritual, the sacred path.
The ceremony of life continues.
Because ultimately, it's not about escaping the world. It's about returning to it with open eyes, a clear heart, and a soul awake to the beauty of being.