Ayahuasca and Sumak Kawsay: Challenges to the Implementation of the Principle of “Buen Vivir,” Religious Freedom, and Cultural Heritage Protection
Anthropology of Consciousness September 1, 2016 Carlos Teodoro José Hugueney Irigaray, Pierre Girard, Maíra Irigaray et al. 6 citations
The current environmental crisis can be understood as a civilizational crisis. Alternatives for human transcendence are identified in the Inca civilization to address this malaise. The multicultural use of Hoasca (Ayahuasca) in Amazonian countries, particularly by the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal (UDV) in a religious context, may help reconstruct 'buen vivir' (sumak kawsay, or complete wellness), a principle of pre-Columbian civilizations. The State now confronts constitutional principles of buen vivir, religious freedom, and cultural heritage protection. The implications of the crisis and ways to overcome it are approached from deep ecology and the doctrinal vision of the UDV.