I can't shake the feeling that every time I drink Ayahuasca, I'm slowly preparing for my own death.
For me, ceremony is becoming more of a practice to get acquainted with the other realm.
The end goal is to diminish fear, so that when true death actually arrives it will be a smoother transition.

Does this idea resonate with anyone?

That's what Terence McKenna used to say, that the purpose of shamanism and life well lived, is to familiarize oneself with the after death body, so the act of dying won't cause confusion in the mind. And yes it resonates with me. But I think you're not only preparing, but remembering as well. And not just with the plants, but as far as spirituality in general, I feel like I've remembered more than I've learned.

Psilocybin has been tested for this purpose:

http://www.nytimes.com/2...nts-face-death.html?_r=0

For sure!

Interestingly, the "Tibetan Book of the Dead" and Leary's, "The Psychedelic Experience"(fashioned after the TBD) are guides for practice navigating the, deeply psychedelic/immediate afterlife, experience.

The ancient and rich(multicultural) tradition of metaphorically "equating" the plant induced entheogenic state(journey) WITH the afterlife journey is indeed the likely, root/ground/wellspring, for ALL human religious tradition, story telling and myth making. This deeply informative use of the plant medicines is intimately commingled with our(human) divergence from the proto-human(homonid) line, VERY probably.

BfP is so accurate when he reminds us that the "practice" is one of REMEMBERING what we already, always and forever, have known/gnown!

Peace

We don't really know if it's same realm but I agree very much with smoothness. I've known of a person with panic and emotional outbursts fighting and raging against his approaching death due cancer.

In contrast to that, having practiced surrender in advance, and trust in a wider perspective of existence, it could do a great job in easing the last period before death for sure.
And maybe during and after as a bonus?

Some people get really attached to the idea of learning how to die.... But dying is really the easy part.

Those who learn how to live a good life are the truly blessed. This also helps you embrace death BTW. No regrets.

Very very well said, Travsha.

Yes, the challenge is to live a good life. But Entheogens can help people live good lives by reminding them of the sacredness of life, hopefully pushing them to correct their ways if they had deviated into darkness, and back into the light.

The body is but a transportable housing for our true spirits, and when we realise the things that block our expression and overcome them, we can live life fully, and look forward to death fearlessly because we have lived our best lives and that is all that we can do, so we have to surrender to God, or the divine consciousness, and know that everything will be for the best. I call this true self confidence that is unshakeable to the core.

Entheogens like Psilocybin can as above linked, ease facing up to impending death, but why leave it to so late, why aren't people being offered this awareness earlier as a choice?

Cart before horse. Dying before "the body" is dead IS the way to living a good life.

This is key, learning to live in the moment

Charon is waiting for us all. For some, it will be a rough for some a pleasant ride. It is same boat, but we dont all perceive it in same way.

Hades for some is a place of bliss, for some indescribable torment. It is which state we arrive there.

My friend has met lady Persephone. She hates people who are afraid of death, she sees them as childish and ignorant.

Live life. Therefore, dont be afraid of Death.

Peace and love.

its not about dying.

its about cheating death to trip another day.
ya you lose eventually,
but in the meantime,
its the quick and giggle-ing........... and the dead.

trip hard, and dont be flat footed.

I would prefere to call it..[ Ayahuasca preperation for life and death].. since the whole story unfolds durring an Ayahuasca trip....

what is life without death?...what is death without life?

When I ingested Ayahuasca I found myself lost in a sea of blackness. I was alone and scared. The shadows began to move and swirl. Creating grimacing faces. The shadowy faces approached in all directions. They began to move my body. Twitching my arms and legs. Pulling me into another form. It felt as if my body was being twisted and contorted. I felt possessed. I fell into a state of complete hell.

As I was experiencing this hell in my mind, a thought popped into my head. It said 'All suffering ends eventually'. This thought became a buoy which I clung to in the dark sea. I saw myself suffering. I observed the panic, the pain. I had a overwhelming feeling of empathy for myself in that moment. I felt a strength in me arise from this. I felt like I needed to protect this poor soul from any more pain. I called out 'Please stop!' in a more serious and stern way than I ever thought I had in me. Like a parent protecting their child. Stepping in front of the bullet so to speak.

When I called out for the pain to stop and felt this sincere desire to end the suffering I was observing, something happened almost immediately. The pain stopped, the shadows pulled away and I felt suddenly like I was being rocked like a baby. I felt warmth and felt like I was surrounded in light. Wrapped in the light, slowly becoming part of it. I was free.

It took me a long time to integrate this experience. I am not sure what it was that I saw or experienced. The hell that I observed seemed more real than this world. Was I going to hell when I die? Why did I experience this?

Illusions. Illusions of the mind. Creating heaven or hell just by changing perception. All suffering ends when we choose to perceive that we have had enough of it. We all create suffering in our lives. We blame others for it. We try and escape suffering any which way we can. But unless you can see you are the one causing your own suffering then you will never change. You will remain in that victim box. Never taking responsibility for your perceptions and illusion.

Hindsight is 20/20. Look back into your life and see the suffering you have been through. Did it humble you? Did it show you something? Teach you something? How much suffering did you need to endure before you changed?

I found that through my hell experience I came to love those who tortured me. I love them because they accepted that responsibility. They were humbling me and teaching me. Showing me my illusion of suffering. Ultimately, it was myself that tortured me. It was me all along. Acceptance of the whole and loving all of it.

When we die we have a choice to buy into the illusions of the mind or we can let go and allow no more suffering. Learn how to die well and you learn how to live well. Don't carry the weight of illusion from this life into death.

Great post.

^agreed

When I drank ayahuasca I did not hallucinate so much, but other things went on that I don't know how to explain. It was a flood of introspection, fastforwarded, I guess. I was intoxicated enough to see blood and maggots in the towel when I'd purge, but not enough to be completely 'out'.

This thread resonates because under that great deluge of information falling down upon me I remember repeating to myself, over and over, "just let me die, just let me die, please". And I felt that, after the notion of karma, I still have things to sort out before I can be wholly emptied of myself. And it reflects a theme that has recurred throughout this relatively small life, a search for death and for 0 positive.

Pardon my real.. but it's the same thing. Learning how to live is learning to pass on. You are never fully alive until you do so.
This strong will / F surrender aesthetic... weak.