Article by Ralph Miller

We are taught in school that human beings are the superior species in nature. This is an idea that is ingrained in us as children. The problem is that this is only an idea … it is only a presumption. How do we measure superiority? If it is determined by which species can potentially endanger all the rest … then perhaps we are superior.

In fact, nature exists in such a delicate balance that a temperature change of only a few degrees brought on by global warming can have devastating effects. If we clear-cut thousands of square miles of the Amazon forest in order to strip-mine the earth of minerals, perhaps at the same time we are creating vast areas that will soon become deserts. The upcoming release of the film entitled, “An Inconvenient Truth” featuring Al Gore, will be a stark reminder of the legacy of ecological crisis we are handing to our children. I’ve seen the trailer and I really hope a lot of people will see this film.

We have become aggressors to the rest of nature. The list of creatures we want to control or do without increases steadily. Insects … what good are they? Forests … we hope they’ll grow back. Bears, wolfs, coyotes … lets move ‘em out of our campgrounds. Let them live somewhere else.

Article by Ralph Miller

Life is uncertain and unpredictable. There are times in our lives when we experience difficulties or crisis. When we see chaos around us, our minds become uneasy. We think about all kinds of possibilities. Danger. Uncertainty. Actually this is the way that life is. To hope for anything else is to be endlessly projected into an idyllic future that will never arrive.

In other words, in the midst of everyday life, we still have to live our lives. We have to choose everyday a course that will guide us through our highest evolution. This is what life is all about. It was never about where we are eventually going. It has always been about the journey itself.

We are right in the middle of our individual heroic quests. Right now. Real time.

Article by Ralph Miller

All of us have a sense of what eternity is. We came from eternity and when we die, we will return to eternity. Our lifetime on earth is a chosen separation from eternity. We come to experience and learn.

Eternity can only be ‘remembered’ from the deep recesses of our hearts. It’s a feeling or knowing, not a ‘mind’ thing. It’s a nostalgia for eternity that resides in our hearts as a long-forgotten dream. It’s a resonance, an ancient tone.

Religions capitalize on this nostalgia with various concepts of heaven or redemption. Sadly, the mere ‘concept of heaven’ is not even close to what a heaven would be like. Heaven can never be just an intellectual concept. It is a deep inner feeling. Remembering this ancient feeling is clouded by darkness that exists in the ego. Our hearts exist in eternity while we live out our lives in a realm of forgetfulness.

I have great respect for the ayahuasca medicine because I saw through the shaman’s journey a way to transcend our forgetfulness. We are offered a way to heal our nostalgia. We remember what the deep feeling was about. It is heaven.

There really is no methodical or logical way of remembering eternity. Your waking mind has only been with you for a few decades. It has no idea how vast or wide, you and eternity actually are. When we walk through the sacred inner doorway, we experience the true initiation of the heart and we remember within the immensity of time, our infinite and immortal selves.

Article by Ralph Miller

There is a gathering that is happening across the planet right now. People from all walks of life are becoming aware of new purpose and inner creativity in an extraordinary way. In the midst of wars, serious environmental problems, fundamental religious mania, energy concerns and political nausea, something truly beautiful is happening. People are waking up and remembering something hidden within their hearts.

The lotus blooms in the mud.

Ayahuasca is a plant medicine that helps us remember a place within that is long forgotten. It strips away ego behaviors that have enslaved us, and allows us to return to our source.

The current human condition has to do with the condition of individual humans. We have all been trying to survive. In order to survive we created an egocentric idea of ourselves that we think is stronger, more capable, and smarter than who we feel we really are. The ego has asserted itself as a false self, while our true nature lay hidden and forgotten.

The only way back to your higher self is to agree to let go of any notion of who you think you are and be willing to make the journey back. This process assails the ego. Shamanic traditions refer to this as the death of ego. Ideas of self-importance fall away naturally. They become irrelevant. The Ayahuasca medicine helps us to find the way back. It is nature’s teacher.

People come to the Ayahuasca temple in Brazil from all walks of life. Many of them have a deep sense of an undiscovered destiny. This destiny has to do with what will ultimately give their life true meaning. Some feel that they will become healers. Others know they have something to teach.

Article by Ralph Miller

Ancient religious traditions and esoteric thought speak of how everything is connected to everything else. This is the concept of oneness, where duality and separateness break down and become irrelevant, and only a perfect unity remains. Our real nature is that we are not separate; we are all one. Our human experience feels lonely and isolated only because we have forgotten our true nature.

The renowned Swiss scientist, Jean Paiget wrote about human intelligence in his book Origins of Intelligence in the Child. His observations were that for an infant … all is one. Infants are unable to determine where they end, and the world or universe begins. They cannot distinguish their 'inner world' from their 'outer world'. They perceive their reality as One.

When we are born, we begin with this true understanding. We begin with a visionary mind. As we grow up, we begin to forget.

There is a grand paradox that has continued for eons now. We have evolved in our mastery of technology, but we have forgotten our true nature. As human intelligence has increased so has our 'forgetfulness'. We have forgotten and become disconnected from ourselves. A part of our minds has de-evolved. We no longer can perceive the beauty of the infinite realms that are woven into our 3D consensual reality we call time-space.

by Ralph Miller

The energy represented by the lotus is exquisitely sacred and divine. The lotus flower appeared in legends originating both from India and from ancient Egypt. It played an important part in ancient Egyptian religion. According to the story; "before the universe came into being, there was an infinite ocean of inert water, which constituted the primeval being named Nun.

For me, the lotus flower represents the energy of the heart. The lotus or the heart energy is a feminine energy. It is pure creativity. In fact, the energy of the heart (lotus) is both feminine and self-creating. The natural tendency of this energy is to extend itself out to others. It wants to connect.