Ayahuasca and peak experiences

“Do you know what I mean when I say 'peak experience'? I'm not sure how to say it in Spanish.”

-I'm not sure what you mean.-

“Have you ever felt a feeling of connectedness with anything, a feeling of intense elation, or a feeling that everything is exactly how it should be?”

-Yes, many times.-

“When Maslow first wrote about these experiences, he thought that only self-actualised people had them. Later, he realised that almost everybody has these experiences. It's just that self-actualised people have more of them, more frequently.

“Imagine if there were a substance that could give you that kind of experience, and even help you realise how you can have that class of experience over and over again.”

-But that would only be taking on the trappings of self-actualisation...-

“You think so? Consider this. you're a psychologist now. But one day you weren't, and you had the idea of becoming a psychologist. Were you wearing the trappings of being a psychologist?”

-No, because that was an idea which lead me to change something in my life.-

“Exactly; exactly my point. You had the idea first, and that lead you to be what you became. Likewise, a person can have a peak experience, realising the power of empathy, or that all beings in the universe deserve respect, and having had that vision, he can begin to make it a reality. That is, he can become self-actualised. Now, that substance exists, and it's called 'ayahuasca'.”