Ayahuasca Isn’t Your Shortcut to Enlightenment

It’s time we talked about it.
Ayahuasca ceremonies. Mushroom trips. “Medicine work” on the weekends.

There’s a growing obsession with plant spirit medicine in wellness spaces—and we’re here to lovingly (but firmly) call it what it is: a potentially dangerous bypass of the real work.In Episode 10 of Tantra Talks, Lama Tashi joins Devi Ward Erickson and Dr. Chris Erickson to explore the role (and risk) of plant spirit medicine in the context of authentic, lineage-based Tantra.

Spoiler: he’s not pulling punches.What We Cover in This Episode:

• Why ayahuasca is not safe without deep spiritual preparation
• The unseen spiritual consequences of opening energetic portals unskillfully
• The difference between true lineage and spiritual cosplay
• How plant medicines are being casually commodified in the West
• Why your “shaman” might just be a weekend workshop graduate
• The link between entheogens, psychosis, and unprocessed trauma
• What Tantra offers as an alternative path—rooted in clarity, structure, and daily embodied practice

“It’s not sacred if it’s just for sale.”

There’s a growing culture of turning sacred plant traditions into casual, capitalist adventures.

But as Lama Tashi shares:“When you take these substances, you’re inviting spirits in. Do you know who or what you’re inviting?”

Spoiler: it’s not always benevolent light beings. It could be demigods, manipulative spirits, or just raw unprocessed trauma. Without lineage, training, and real spiritual grounding, you’re playing with fire—and often calling it self-care.The Tantric Alternative: Results Without the RiskThis episode isn’t about shaming anyone who’s worked with plant medicine—it’s about discernment.

Because Tantra gives you the tools to:

• Enter altered states through breath, energy, and meditation—not chemicals
• Heal your trauma without needing to break yourself open to feel something
• Cultivate clarity and sovereignty within your nervous system, not override it
• Walk a path of awakening that’s been refined over thousands of years—and actually works

As Lama Tashi puts it: “If your spiritual practice isn’t improving your life—day by day—it’s not your medicine.”