Our Church

Forest Path Statement of Faith

The Forest Path is a 501(c)(3) interspiritual ministry dedicated to exploring and realizing spiritual wisdom through direct experience, centered around our practices of contemplation, meditation, engagement with worldly life, and the sacramental use of ayahuasca.

Our mission embraces the rich tapestry of diverse religious and spiritual traditions, philosophical reflections, and the intrinsic harmony of the natural world. We emphasize the importance of ritual, sacrament, and communion, with ayahuasca playing a pivotal role. We believe this sacred brew of vine and leaf holds the keys to a universal and harmonious understanding of the nature of reality and the source of life.

We aim to foster a life marked by inquiry, contemplation, kindness, compassion, and understanding. This encourages each individual to discover and inhabit their unique connection to the universal and the sacred, guided by our core principles of Being, Presence, and Love.

The Three Universals

In our faith, the three universals — Being, Presence, and Love — form the core of our understanding and practice. Being is the absolute source, the ground of all that exists. Presence is the immediate expression of Being, bringing its essence into the moment. Love is the realization that Being and Presence are inseparably one. Together, these principles support and enhance each other in a seamless interweave, guiding our contemplative study, shaping our ministry, and informing our spiritual path toward a virtuous life.

  1. Being (Universal Truth)

We affirm the endless contemplation of Being—the singular, universal, and undivided source of all that is. Being is one: immanent and transcendent, the presence within everyone and everything. 

Known by many names—God, love, reality, and truth—yet ultimately nameless, formless, and timeless, Being remains beyond all definition and conception. It reveals itself across cultures, through disciplines, and within the depths of the interior life. 

No person or tradition holds Its entirety, and thus, we reject fixed belief as absolute. Instead, we honor a living inquiry drawn from the wisdom of saints, sages, and seers across all paths. In this, we affirm the sacred nature of all life and the birthright of every human being to seek, realize, and embody the truth of Universal Being.

2. Presence (Universal Human)

We affirm the inherent dignity of every human being as a bearer of divine inheritance — a child of Universal Being, existing before form and beyond name. The human is a universal figure, transcending the boundaries of nation, tribe, and identity.

We uphold each individual’s right to direct experience and realization of the divine, facilitated through ritual, sacrament, and communion. Among these, ayahuasca stands as an inseparable element and rite for the individual to foster this realization.

Recognizing each individual as an heir to the great lineage of humanity affirms that love is our religion, eternity our origin, the universe our country, and Earth our shared home. Under this unifying banner, we honor kinship, diversity, humility, and respect — qualities that dissolve prejudice and awaken the reverence born of true seeing: that the other is oneself, that we all live under the same sky, and within each person lies the seed of awakening to their universality in Presence.

3. Love (Universal Belonging)

We affirm that all life belongs to life — no being stands outside the indivisible sacred whole. Belonging is inherently inclusive and diverse, not earned through blood or belief, but is the birthright of one’s being. To belong is to be recognized, included, and empowered to participate in the unfolding of spirit.

We uphold the sacred right of every person to gather, to pray, to study, to teach, to serve, and to celebrate. This includes the right to engage in rituals and ceremonies that facilitate collective healing and the sharing of wisdom, prominently through the use of ayahuasca. This sacramental plant is pivotal in our practices, assisting in direct spiritual realization and preserving our sacred connection to this natural ally and to the Earth itself.

To live in Belonging is to live with Presence and to meet all beings with excellence, understanding, and compassion. It is to honor our shared humanity through acts of responsibility, service, and charity. In recognizing what we are, we give from what we are, and so we turn the wheel of Belonging — in family, in community, in the sanctuary of remembrance that is upheld by the realization of the universal pillars of Being and Presence that express as Love.

  • Being’s presence is love

  • Love’s being is Presence

  • Presence’s love is Being

Foundational Practices

  • Contemplation

    – On the teachings that lead to direct realization.

    Contemplation is the reflective engagement and inquiry with the truths that point beyond themselves. It is the turning of the heart and mind toward the teachings, not as doctrines to believe, but as doorways to enter. Through contemplation, one begins to feel the presence of what the teaching reveals.

  • Meditation

    – That illumines the teachings through direct realisation

    Meditation is the still point where the teachings dissolve and what they point to is directly known. It is the silent resting in Being, beyond thought, beyond seeking. In this resting, Being recognises itself — and what is most true arises not through effort but as the natural radiance of presence.

  • Integration

     – The embodiment of illumination through the teachings of direct realisation

    Integration is the natural flowering of what has been realized. It embodies the understanding that walks in the world through action, words, relationships, and service, transforming realization into a reality that is not an escape from the world but a sacred participation in it.

Our Commitment to Inclusivity, Reverence, and Right Relationship

We welcome all people, across all walks of life, backgrounds, cultures, identities, genders, and ages, with respect, reverence, sincerity, and humility. Ours is a path rooted in presence, guided by deep listening and the desire to walk in right relationship with life. This commitment lives at the heart of everything we do.

We hold a strict non-discriminatory policy and meet each person as they are. Behind every presence is a story, a history, a longing, and a sacred reason for drawing near. We strive to honour that reason. We aim not just to include but to embrace and offer a space where all feel seen, heard, and safe. Our wish is for each being who finds their way to our work to feel invited and welcomed rather than evaluated or judged.

The territories we walk are tender. Our work touches the sacred, the ancestral, the emotional, and the often invisible. It draws from lineages that are not always our own. We hold this with deep care. We recognise the privileges and access we carry, and we do not take lightly the responsibility of being in a position to study, receive, and transmit these teachings. Gratitude is not enough; we are called to accountability, humility, and continual self-inquiry.

We are learning to speak a language of inclusivity and tenderness, to address the teachings from a universal standpoint while honouring their specific roots. We know that language is not neutral, and we are refining the ways we communicate—visually, verbally, and silently—so that all who arrive feel welcomed in spirit and in word.

We are committed to accessibility. We strive to make our offerings available to all, regardless of financial means. To support this, we regularly offer scholarships, sliding scale options, and quiet openings for those in need. If you feel called to contribute to our scholarship fund and help extend this work to others, you may do so here: https://www.forestpath.co/scholarship-program.

This journey of inclusivity is ongoing. It is not so much a destination, but rather a way of walking. We are listening. We are learning. We are unlearning. We are willing to be changed by what we hear, see, and witness. Our path is not just as teachers, but, first, as students of the living wisdom of the world — of its diversity, its pain, and its extraordinary resilience.

We believe that the sacred lives in everyone. And that a community rooted in compassion, humility, and justice can become a field where Being, Presence and Love is not only practiced but realised by all.