In this episode of The Sacred Speaks, John Price speaks with Dr. Rachel Harris about her book, Listening To Ayahuasca, and other related topics. Following her early experience in meditation and body practices at Esalen and with Suzuki Roshi, Dr. Harris formalized her interest in research focusing on the various ways that we may treat human suffering and then she experienced Ayahuasca in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Following her personal experience, she wanted to research “religious experience” as it manifests within the various reports that people provide following their own Ayahuasca journey. She explains the design of her studies and explores aspects of the biology of psychedelics, in particular, a network of the brain called the Default Mode Network, a network of brain structures “quieted” during psychedelic experience and meditation. The DMN is the “generator of our ego” it maintains the constructed world and self. Not only does Dr. Harris speak to the western approach to both the research-based use of psychedelics and the recreational use, but she also speaks to the worldview of indigenous cultures and how this metaphysical view that sees the world as alive has influenced and conflicted with the typical western worldview. While grounding her work in the Ayahuasca, her research reaches far beyond the experiences of Psychonauts and into the minds and homes of each and every one of us who seeks to transform the daily and the mundane.