Our lineage
A lineage, what is it?
A lineage is a chain of transmission between spiritual master and disciples.
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It assures that from generation to generation the ancestral knowledge is perpetuated; guiding each being of this lineage to encounter their healthy connection with life, opening their consciousness, bringing them to spiritual awakening, permitting them to behave in an aligned way during the time of their manifestation in this temporal world, respecting as much the laws of nature as the beings that constitute it, learning to serve life in the particular way that it has mystically destined for them.
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A lineage is that but also much more. The lineage reveals to the person their real identity, the absolute nature of their relations and their constitutional position in the weaving of life.
One or various lineages?
It’s a whole path that opens to the person who is connected to a lineage in order to grasp firstly the universal meaning then little by little discover the specific particularity that corresponds to them.
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There is no lineage above another. Each authentic lineage has its place, its utility and its function. It reunites the people that are part of it. Which will then permit bridges to be made between the different authentic lineages, through at least their representatives, entering into a healthy dynamic on the common universal bases, and bringing the richness of their complementarity. In a word: harmony. Such as nature shows us every day. So the opposite of the division of peoples that enter into war on the base of their differences. It seems to us high time to reactivate an inter-culturality that will benefit everyone and it’s why one of our ambitions is to make appear a council of leaders of different authentic traditions around the world; starting at the local level, up to the level of our possibilities and opening ourselves to the encounterings that life will make appear in this sense.
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How to know which is my lineage?
We sustain each and every one to discover the path of life, through a first authentic lineage that will open doors for them to universality and bring them to then wish to encounter their particular connection.
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It’s what we propose within our collective: an accompaniment towards that. Each one remaining responsible for their own process of discovery, because we cannot know the reality of the other: it’s for them to discover!
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For that, we rely on the universal philosophical bases that are transmitted to us by our Vaishnava lineage which aims to be inclusive.
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This means that the people who join us can, through our lineage, discover the universal philosophical bases that will permit them to give meaning to their lives. Free then to go and discover the particularity of their own connection and identity; which can be something completely other than ours.
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The paths of the Lord are impenetrable. Each one’s destiny is unique and is unveiled little by little.
How is the particularity of one’s lineage discovered?
As previously explained, it’s little by little that our identity is discovered through the lineage that defines us. It’s a long path, fascinating, that requires faith, patience and determination.
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It should be known that a lineage is not transmitted solely through direct, official transmission; which corresponds to the orthodox path. But can also be revealed in a non-orthodox manner: through authentic encounterings of the path that establish us in a link with a connection that will then be “one and different”.
How was this done for our collective?
For us, this discovery which is in fact a revelation and not at all a creation, was essentially done through the life process of the elder member of our collective.
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His first encountering with the path was made through the connection with Vaishnavism through Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada), an authentic, authorised and self-realised representative of this tradition, from which he received his first and second initiation: which authorises him to represent this tradition in the name of his master.
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This first encountering, by the choice of destiny, then brought him to encounter the connection with the red path tradition, in particular in relation with the continent of the Americas, called Itzachilatlan in the Toltec language, meaning “the continent of the great turtle”.
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This encounter with the red path came about through its two representatives Aurelio Diaz Tekpankali and Alfonso Pérez Tenoch, Mexicans linked to the Toltec Peyote tradition.
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From this encountering, Alfonso Pérez Tenoch proposed to unite the sacred fire of the red path tradition with the sacred fire of the Vaishnava tradition. Through a peyote ceremony, he entrusted this mission to two spiritual brothers: Gabyratma das and Sri Gopal das (the elder member of our collective), both disciples of Srila Prabhupada. The mission to go to India and request of a representative of the Vaishnava tradition his agreement to this alliance between the two lineages. One of the elders having participated in this union is Ram Tilak das of Rishikesh in India, of the lineage of Sita Ram. And the other is Rajendra das, of Radha Kunda in India, of the lineage of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. From this alliance, the two spiritual brothers returned to Alfonso Pérez Tenoch and made a ceremony to confirm it.
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This means that the identity of our path is particular. It is a being that includes these two path identities in complementary polarity. This connection is not a synthetic, artificial creation, but rather a being that aims to be inclusive.
What qualifies us as Vaishnavas to serve the medicine?
In order to be authorised to give and transmit the medicine of sacred plants, which incorporates the Vaishnava tradition and that of the red path, there has to be a base that integrates the two fires. This, through an agreement confirmed by authentic representatives of the two parties. This cannot be done solely by receiving authorisation from each tradition to represent it, without the two traditions’ common agreement to work together.
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We have thus, on our part, been authorised to initiate a new form of transmitting the path, in the union of Vaishnavism and the red path.
What are our other connections with the red path?
On the base of this alliance, the elder member of our collective received, during a ceremony, from Aurelio Diaz Tekpankali’s representative, from the Ecuador group, permission to transmit the medicine of Huachuma.
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Our connection with the red path is also linked to the connection of the buffalo people of North America, in particular through one of its recognised representatives, Wallace Black Elk of the Crazy Horse lineage.
He also received the necklace of the shuar ashuar of Hilario Chiriap’s group, also in Ecuador, for the connection with the medicine of Ayahuasca.
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An authentic connection with Mama Coca, in particular through Don Sebastien of the Qeros of the remote, high mountains of the Sacred Valley near Pisac, where our principal community is located.
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And, finally, the canasta of the Piaroa of Venezuela of Don Bolívar and Doña Elena, directly defining us as being part of their ancestral lineage and authorised to serve the medicine of Yopo and that lineage; which is for us our referent medicine.
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The encountering with the path is done through medicine dreams or encounterings in the ceremonial space. Such was the case of the encountering with the Sacred Pipe: Chanupa. Which defines that this connection comes from an encountering with the path in a past life.
How much time does the discovery of one’s lineage and the integration of its consciousness take?
All these encounterings and connections were not done overnight but over a period of several decades, during which he carefully worked on his connection with one medicine and then another. And their integration takes a lifetime. It is thus a serious path that demands steadfastness and real involvement.
Can we say that we are on the path of shamanism?
In our particularity, we serve the sacred plants which are under the control of Lord Shiva and Shakti Devi. Which is traditionally called the path of medicine, more commonly known under the term of shamanism; which is originally the connection to nature and its mysteries which bear consciousness and guidance.
What is the particularity of our medicine path?
Our path is that of the West. It is the path of the great mystery, of the inconceivable. It is non-orthodox. And for all that, can be difficult to understand.
It is however of great utility for all.
For those whose nature is as such, it brings infinite satisfaction: that of always being faced with the unknown, not knowing in advance what we are going to encounter and continually opening our consciousness to inconceivable things.
For others, it also opens their eyes to the illusion and its numerous traps; which is a big part of our work as a medicine circle. It helps each and every one to get out of the numbness of the known which is in reality a prison: that of the non-stop repetition of samsara. It offers gems, unveiling to us an unexpected mystic vision of life, beyond all our imagination. It’s worth the effort!
Who can judge the soundness of our connection?
The personal opinion of external people on our qualification to serve this path is their freedom but is not at all our reference. We do not define if we are in the right or not on the base of the opinion of people who have not encountered nor identified the connection that we have; for not having any real connection or the level permitting to have an opinion of value. We do not ourselves declare ourselves qualified, but we define that our qualification is valid on the base of the authorisation that we have received. Our reference is the masters who have authorised us to serve the path.
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We are nonetheless always ready to listen and revise what we do, in the sense of discovering and expanding our connection. So it seems to us important to consider the words of another person, asking them what their qualifications are to give us direction on the path; so as to determine if they are really of a higher status of qualification than those who have authorised us to serve the medicine path, in order to be able to give their opinion.
What do we think of the sacred plants trend?
The path of the sacred plants, or said otherwise the medicines, is a very particular path and is revealed by the plan of life, destiny. It’s not something that someone can decide by themselves. Invent for themselves. Want to or believe they can become. It is or it isn’t. It’s the choice of life, its divine plan; not a subjective whim nor a professional career plan. Otherwise it can put the person and their entourage in very grave danger.
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It is however possible that many people are brought to encounter it temporarily in order to benefit from help to put them on their own path; which, when that is encountered, will mark the end of taking sacred plants, so that it doesn’t become a poison.
Sacred plants are very powerful and working with them can become dangerous if the person is not connected in the correct manner, authorised by and aligned with an authentic tradition.
We cannot consider that a person is qualified and has authorisation to serve the medicine just for having entered into ceremonies with sacred plants. They must be recognised and receive permission to give the medicine through an authorisation of an authentic representative of a lineage. To give the medicine they must also be qualified to transmit the lineage, which means being capable of training someone in turn to give the medicine.
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It seems to us, given the trend, the increasing disrespect and dangerous carelessness that is observed more and more in regards to taking sacred plants, particularly in western countries but also in the original places intended for that, that it is important to point all this out so as to prevent risks; without negating the infinite benefits of the medicine of sacred plants if that corresponds to the person who receives a real call to it.
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We are here to help anyone who wishes to learn to distinguish an authentic connection from a false and dangerous one. Since, you should know: there are numerous struggles for power in the new age setting to discredit authentic connections and have false ones pass as genuine. As we don’t want to be part of this game and wish to protect you, we bring you all these clarifications. Prevention is better than curing!
Can we belong to different lineages?
Tradition isn’t something rigid. It evolves over the course of the encounterings that appear on the path. Which creates an inter-relation between the different streams of the tradition; the path bringing us to weave together through our differences. As such, to consider that it is possible to belong to different lineages; defining the order in the reality of our particular identity. This being the particular choice of our destiny which we discover little by little over the course of the path and which is not an invention of our mind nor of our desires.
Can a tradition evolve?
A tradition that doesn’t open itself to renewal, through encounterings, suffocates and dies. Also, tradition is always adaptable to time and circumstances, and to new encounterings that permit it to stay forever young; in expansion. If it remains rigid, it fossilises. The danger of renewal is nevertheless to lose the link with the original bases, introducing new, unaligned elements. So, not to stay rigid but not to fall into the other extreme either, the new age, an artificial syncretism where everything melts together, losing the sense of the authenticity and real richness of “one and different”.
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Hence the importance of clarifying that which is authentic and that which is not. It’s one of the things we propose that you discover at our place.
Continue reading: Process and ceremony