Formal Education
My name is Rev. Jay Waxenberg, MA and I’ve spent most of my life questioning the nature of reality. This questioning of reality led me on a quest to ask larger and larger questions. First, I asked questions about our society, which led me to get a B.A. in history and sociology from the University of Miami. Then, I asked larger questions about human nature and conciseness, which led me to seek a master’s in philosophy. However, halfway through my graduate work, I had my first mystical experience while studying Caribbean shamanic cultures, which altered the course of my life. Finally, I had found a question that I was willing to spend the rest of my life on: mysticism and the mystical experience. I spent the next year and a half of my graduate work studying mysticism, culminating in a thesis on the mystical experience and “non-ordinary states of consciousness.” In this academic setting, I was able to work closely with several spiritual and shamanic communities. This afforded me unique access to work with powerful plant medicines such as ayahuasca, psilocybin, and mescaline. Once I finished my M.A. at the University of Miami, I knew I would have to continue my study and work with mysticism outside of the academic world.
Pampomesayok Rite. 2017
Spiritual Training
Like most on the spiritual path, I was eventually called to go deeper. After earning my master’s, I promptly sold or gave away everything I owned and set out to travel the world, seeking spiritual teachers and communities that would help in my quest to understand mysticism. First, I worked with shamans from Peru and West Africa, continuing my previous studies and receiving the shamanic Pampomesayok rites. I wanted to learn other ways of having mystical experiences, so eventually I immersed myself in various spiritual traditions. I first lived at a Hindu ashram, learning yoga, and then at a Zen temple in order to learn mediation. After learning the basics, I went on to study with the American spiritual teachers Ram Dass and Adyashanti. My search eventually took me as far as; India to find and sit with the guru Shyam Sundar Das Maharaji Ji, and Nepal to live at a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery.
My travels took a more structured format when I began OneSpirit: Interfaith Seminary in 2018. As my interfaith seminary studies began to cover each of the world religions I travel to the heart of each tradition. This new wave of spiritual study took me deep into the heart of western religions in Israel and Palestine. After years of traveling the world to study the worlds spiritual tradition I settled in Colorado to begin yet another phase of training. While still enrolled in Seminary I started my psychedelic training at Medicinal Mindfulness: Psychedelic Sitter School and then later Psychedelic Guide Training in 2019 and finally Advanced Practices in Psychedelic Therapy in 2020. At the end of 2019 I completed Shamanic Reiki level one and two before going on to Samasti Yoga to spend several months becoming a yoga alliance certified yoga teacher. In 2021 I completed KAP (Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy) Training with Polaris Insight Center. All of this training has led me to create this space to pass on some of this mystical understanding. Whether it was a Zen temple in Kyoto or a 4th-century church in Ireland, whether in an ayahuasca ceremony or a Holotropic Breathwork workshop, the mystical wisdom I’ve come across has been transformative and healing. I invite you to open your heart and mind and join me in the wisdom of these teachings to transform your life for the better.
What's Next?
2022: Psilocybin & DMTx training
2021: Ganja Yoga & Yin Yoga training