A poem written by Ceremonia co-founder, Austin Mao, while sitting with the sacrament of ayahuasca in ceremony.

Enlightenment is a non-dual state of being with the totality of experience. The path towards enlightenment is a practice that can be mastered through developing awareness and mindfulness. We need to create space for our feelings and allow ourselves to feel the impact that life and others have on us. This involves stretching our awareness to extend beyond our inner thoughts and feelings to register the subtle energy in our surroundings. The practice leads to a greater understanding of ourselves and others, allowing us to be open-hearted in our relationships. The path towards enlightenment begins with intention and cultivates a practice of awareness and mindfulness, leading to higher levels of peace, love, and joy.

Unconditional love is a necessary environment for deep healing. Inner and outer safety arises from our childhood experiences, where we learned to suppress our emotions and thoughts to meet the expectations of others. This pattern of behavior can continue into adulthood, leading to unhealthy relationships with others. Thus, an hour with someone who embodies unconditional love, like Ram Dass, can be more healing than a psychotherapeutic session because we can feel safe and accepted for who we are. This offers us the grace of accepting ourselves, flaws and all, to fully embrace the idea of unconditional love and find healing within ourselves.

A poem written by Ceremonia co-founder, Austin Mao, while sitting with the sacrament of ayahuasca in ceremony.

Attunement is a crucial component of spiritual growth and service, as it allows us to create deep, impactful, and meaningful relationships with those we serve. Self-attunement is the foundation of attunement outwards, which requires us to pause, step back from our ego, and let go to experience the essence of existence. There are five key elements of attunement that we must include in our spiritual practice: empathy, presence, active listening, non-judgment, and responsiveness. By cultivating attunement, we can connect with others on a deep and transformative level, allowing us to be in service to the transformation of others.

As humans, we start our lives in a state of unity with our mothers in the womb, but birth heralds the beginning of separateness. Spiritual teachers describe enlightenment as a non-dual state of Oneness, where the illusion of separateness between self and other dissolves, and the underlying reality is seen as fundamentally interconnected and unified. Illusion, according to Eastern philosophy, is the idea that the physical world we experience is an illusion that causes suffering due to our attachment to material possessions and identification with our ego. To shed the illusion of our impressions, we must become aware, continue to peel back the layers of our ego, and let go. Only then can we experience the essence of existence, where all we see, feel, and experience just is.

In talk therapy and common plant medicine ceremonies, there are experts to help hold one’s content: the emotions, stories, beliefs, and challenges that come up as one peels back their protective layers. Process are the tools by which we can transmute our content from the lower energies of shame, guilt, apathy, fear, and anger into Power via courage, acceptance, willingness, love, and peace. While the felt-sense of a new way of being with your content is the compass, the process is the map on how to get there.

The Enlightened Vision is who you are before your physical body takes its final breath. We offer this practice of the Enlightened Vision to frame what is truly important to you as millions of people around the world are setting goals for themselves–to distill all the things, projects, responsibilities, and tasks down to their very essence… how all of it makes you feel, who you want to be, and what values you are prepared to devote your life to.

Psychology was originally defined as “the science of the psyche or the soul.” Psychedelics combined with the study of the mind promises to unveil one’s spirit from the protectors of the mind.

Wholeness is more than a state of being. It is a practice of persistently feeling truly and deeply. It stems from a value of consistently honoring one’s Self, allowing the beingness of life to exist, and surrendering pain before it becomes suffering.

The Enlightened Vision is who you are before your physical body takes its final breath. We offer this practice of the Enlightened Vision to frame what is truly important to you as millions of people around the world are setting goals for themselves–to distill all the things, projects, responsibilities, and tasks down to their very essence… how all of it makes you feel, who you want to be, and what values you are prepared to devote your life to.

Who are you? When did you become you? Are you this body? Come into awareness of consciousness witnessing your senses, sensations, and thoughts. What happens when you allow your awareness to witness itself? This practice of meta-meditation has the power to demonstrate a simple yet absolutely profound idea: you are something so much more than what you do or have. You are so much more than this body.

This talk presented by Ceremonia co-founder, Austin Mao, presents the 3-stage Arc of Transformation of Awaken, Heal, and Manifest towards living a more joyful, peaceful, love-filled, and purposeful life.