A Garland of Flowers for the Great Mystery

I am setting out on a new path.

At the same time, it is a path as old as nature itself.

I don’t know exactly how to begin, so I will simply walk. This road, so beautifully illumined in my heart, is a simple one.

I believe that by combining the tools given to us by Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, with the tools called entheogens, given to us by the earth, and used beneficially from ancient times by the people of every continent, we can overcome suffering, and live in peace, freedom and joy.

The Buddha’s path is one of community. In the Buddhist tradition, we call this sangha. And so, this path is walked in an ethical and loving community of spiritual friends, a place of kindness and belonging.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and the flower I am pointing to is the lotus called the Dharma - no new name is needed. Still, words are handy tools in their own right, and, these days, I have been calling this ancient, beautiful road - the Dharmayana.

As I set out, I take refuge in the Buddha, the kind teacher who shows the way in this life. I take refuge in the Dharma, the path of love and understanding. I take refuge in the Sangha, the community that practices the teachings of the Buddha together. And I take refuge in the Great Mystery, and offer these simple words as a garland of flowers - my small and heartfelt gift, happily and reverentially offered, to that Mystery.

May all beings, everywhere, through all our mutual efforts, be free of suffering. May we all live in freedom, safe from harm, with hearts full of love, compassion, celebration, harmony, peace and joy.