Unjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSWIf Capital-E Enlightenment is defined as a supreme state of perfect and imperturbable bliss in this lifetime, was that the actual focus of the Buddha's spiritual path? Inspired by Kenneth Folk's interpretation of early Buddhism's ultimate goal as escaping the wheel of rebirth, I unpack 11 myths of Enlightenment (including claims from contemporary teachers) and discuss their implications for the awakening process. I encourage seekers to embrace the full spectrum of their authentic emotional experience in the here and now.
Harvard's Project Implicit (Implicit Association Tests) https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
0:00 Intro β Why I'm Questioning Buddha's Enlightenment 1:03 My Early Romanticized View of the Buddha 3:02 The Received Western Story of the Buddha 4:57 Kenneth Folk & "Masters of Oblivion" Podcast 5:45 Nirvana = Cessation / Oblivion, Not Cosmic Bliss 9:56 Why This Changes Everything for Western Seekers 12:35 "The Buddha Is Not Your Friend" β A Darker Picture 14:28 How "Enlightenment" Got Mistranslated in the West 16:57 The "Sellvation" Dynamic in Spirituality 20:14 Nobody Has Ever Been Enlightened (Capital E) 25:00 Awakening vs. Enlightenment β My Distinction 26:23 Myth 1: You're Happy All the Time / No Negative Emotions 31:22 Myth 2: No Fear of Death 34:36 Myth 3: No Self Whatsoever 41:45 Myth 4: Seeing Reality As It Actually Is 45:11 Myth 5: No Preferences or Distinctions 49:45 Myth 6: No Thoughts 52:01 Myth 7: Complete Centerlessness 54:03 Myth 8: No Sense of Agency or Doership 57:36 Myth 9: Infinite Personal Freedom 1:03:36 Myth 10: Eternalism β "You Were Never Born and Will Never Die" 1:08:06 Myth 11: "As It Is, Not As You Want It to Be" β Goenka & Daoism 1:11:09 Car Breakdown Example β Realistic Responses to Life 1:15:31 Roger Thisdell: We Are Always Suffering (Baseline Level) 1:18:14 Reframing Awakening β Stop Making It About Ending Suffering 1:23:28 Conclusion: Enlightenment Is a Myth β Be Human Instead 1:26:55 Final Thoughts & Channel Support
Unjourneying is also available as a podcast on most major platforms.
Buddha Was Never EnlightenedUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-04-29 | If Capital-E Enlightenment is defined as a supreme state of perfect and imperturbable bliss in this lifetime, was that the actual focus of the Buddha's spiritual path? Inspired by Kenneth Folk's interpretation of early Buddhism's ultimate goal as escaping the wheel of rebirth, I unpack 11 myths of Enlightenment (including claims from contemporary teachers) and discuss their implications for the awakening process. I encourage seekers to embrace the full spectrum of their authentic emotional experience in the here and now.
Harvard's Project Implicit (Implicit Association Tests) https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
0:00 Intro β Why I'm Questioning Buddha's Enlightenment 1:03 My Early Romanticized View of the Buddha 3:02 The Received Western Story of the Buddha 4:57 Kenneth Folk & "Masters of Oblivion" Podcast 5:45 Nirvana = Cessation / Oblivion, Not Cosmic Bliss 9:56 Why This Changes Everything for Western Seekers 12:35 "The Buddha Is Not Your Friend" β A Darker Picture 14:28 How "Enlightenment" Got Mistranslated in the West 16:57 The "Sellvation" Dynamic in Spirituality 20:14 Nobody Has Ever Been Enlightened (Capital E) 25:00 Awakening vs. Enlightenment β My Distinction 26:23 Myth 1: You're Happy All the Time / No Negative Emotions 31:22 Myth 2: No Fear of Death 34:36 Myth 3: No Self Whatsoever 41:45 Myth 4: Seeing Reality As It Actually Is 45:11 Myth 5: No Preferences or Distinctions 49:45 Myth 6: No Thoughts 52:01 Myth 7: Complete Centerlessness 54:03 Myth 8: No Sense of Agency or Doership 57:36 Myth 9: Infinite Personal Freedom 1:03:36 Myth 10: Eternalism β "You Were Never Born and Will Never Die" 1:08:06 Myth 11: "As It Is, Not As You Want It to Be" β Goenka & Daoism 1:11:09 Car Breakdown Example β Realistic Responses to Life 1:15:31 Roger Thisdell: We Are Always Suffering (Baseline Level) 1:18:14 Reframing Awakening β Stop Making It About Ending Suffering 1:23:28 Conclusion: Enlightenment Is a Myth β Be Human Instead 1:26:55 Final Thoughts & Channel Support
Unjourneying is also available as a podcast on most major platforms.
For educational purposes only.Daniel Ingram | What Counts As Awakening? Cessation, Psychedelics & PhenomeniatryUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-09-28 | Pragmatic Dharma legend Daniel Ingram joins me for a lively conversation about cessation, the Three Characteristics, salvia divinorum, 5-MeO-DMT, the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC), and the new field of phenomeniatry that he is helping to establish. He demonstrates the utility of phenomeniatry by walking us through some complex differential diagnosis scenarios.
A cross-sectional survey on depersonalization/derealization and meditation-induced alterations of the self. Erola Pons et al. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13156312
0:00 Introduction 4:20 Cessation, Awakening & the Question of What Counts 9:05 The Arising & Passing Away vs. Cessation 11:25 What Actually Happens During Fruition? 13:23 Stream Entry and the 16 Stages of Insight 19:09 5-MeO-DMT, Salvia & Psychedelic Awakening 22:10 The Hard Reboot of Salvia Cessation 29:54 The Three Characteristics: Experiential or Ontological? 39:12 Noting vs. Noticing in Mahasi Practice 42:13 Why We Need the EPRC 46:38 Why Call It Emergent Phenomenology? 50:56 What Is Phenomeniatry? 54:47 Culture, Language & Diagnostic Colonialism 1:00:08 Spiritual Experiences vs. Mania & Psychosis 1:07:47 Equanimity vs. Depersonalization & Derealization 1:15:27 Spiritual Bypassing and βEverything Is Fineβ 1:18:37 EPRC, Emergence Benefactors & ClosingRectal 5-MeO-DMT for Pelvic Floor Trauma HealingUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-08-20 | Few people know that 5-MeO-DMT can be administered rectally. This route can specifically target pelvic floor trauma and associated tightness, pain, and dysfunction, offering a profoundly healing experience.
π Watch the full video: youtu.be/PkCnMATiL1wNondual Meditations: The Best 5-MeO-DMT PrepUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-08-19 | I guide all my 5-MeO-DMT clients through nondual meditation exercises. This approach offers a familiar and safe pathway to experience nondual states, even without medicine, making it easier to integrate profound insights.
For educational purposes only.Wystan Bryant-Scott | Jhanas, Tantric Sex, and PsychedelicsUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-08-03 | In this first guest episode of Unjourneying, I sit down with meditation teacher Wystan Bryant-Scott for a wide-ranging conversation on jhanas, nonduality, renunciation, tantra, and psychedelics. Wystan announces his upcoming jhana retreat at Nameless Mountain, and why he still finds deep concentration valuable even after awakening. We dig into the difference between sutta and Visuddhimagga jhanas, the real meaning of renunciation in modern life, and how to work with sexual energy without fixation. We also explore nondual awareness during ordinary pleasure and the role of psychedelics, especially 5-MeO-DMT, as powerful supports on the contemplative path.
0:00 Introduction to Unjourneying & Guest Bio 2:55 Welcome & Why Wystan as First Guest 3:30 Recent Activities: Nameless Mountain & Backpacking with Gabe Broussard (Vivid Void) 6:36 Upcoming Jhana Retreat at Nameless Mountain 7:53 Sutta Jhana vs. Visuddhimagga Jhana 11:03 The Role of Jhana on the Path to Awakening 16:18 Cessation of Perception & Feeling 19:39 Is Jhana Still Useful After Awakening? 24:27 Identifying as a Religious Buddhist 28:58 Renunciation, Commitment & Modern Practice 37:00 Sexual Energy, Tantra & Sensual Practice 43:50 Karma Mudra & Traditional Sexual Yogas 46:48 Nonduality, Orgasm & Everyday Bliss 54:29 Psychedelics on the Contemplative Path 59:55 Recommending Psychedelics as a Teacher 1:03:32 Integrating Psychedelics with Traditional Practice 1:06:17 Closing Advice & Where to Find Wystan 1:08:43 Outro & How to ConnectOceanic Lovingkindness Nondual Meditation ClassUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-06-29 | Using the tool of oceanic visualization to dissolve most of the contents of consciousness, except for the body. Then infusing that ocean with metta, or lovingkindness. Session 6 of my free nondual meditation class.
If you're experiencing mental health or spiritual challenges as a result of meditation, you can get help at Cheetah House: https://www.cheetahhouse.org.
For educational purposes only.Oceanic Flotation Nondual Meditation ClassUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-06-12 | Visualizing nondual awareness as an oceanic expanse that dissolves everything around your body. Session 5 of my free nondual meditation class.
For educational purposes only.Butter Fingers Nondual Meditation ClassUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-05-29 | Can you allow the boundaries of your body to dissolve, your fingers melting into a puddle of butter in your lap? Session 4 of my free nondual meditation class.
For educational purposes only.Floating in Consciousness Nondual Meditation ClassUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-05-22 | Dissolving the room, and then opening the aperture of the mind by gazing into your eyelids and hearing out into the boundless soundscape. Session 3 of my free nondual meditation class.
For educational purposes only.Disappearing Room Nondual Meditation ClassUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-05-15 | Noticing how the visual images and memory traces of the architecture and furniture (or whatever else around you) can dissolve in nondual awareness. Session 2 of my free nondual meditation class.
For educational purposes only.Disappearing Floor Nondual Meditation ClassUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-05-08 | Noticing how the sense of the solidity underneath your feet is a construct that can be dissolved. Session 1 of my free nondual meditation class.
For educational purposes only.Awakening Beyond NondualityUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-04-27 | Sharing from my experience, I outline a possible spiritual awakening trajectory through five different stages:
0:00 Intro & Disclaimer: This Is Just My Map 1:54 Stage 1: Somatic Mindfulness (Vipassana / Body Scan) 5:15 Stage 2: Non-Duality 8:56 The Non-Dual "Hot Tub" Phase & Attachment 11:10 Lyme Flare & the Crashing Halt 12:37 Realizing Attachment to Non-Duality 15:55 Stage 3: Metamindfulness (Noting Frames & Ways of Looking) 19:21 Stage 4: Unjourneying 20:05 Salvia Divinorum β Safety Notes & Protocol 21:15 Deep Deconstruction of Doership & Free Will 22:32 Dropping the Heroβs Journey (Marionette Insight) 25:05 Why βUnjourneyingβ β Neem Karoli Baba Story & Post-Psychedelic Presence 27:10 Post-Soteriological: Letting Go of Liberation as a Goal 30:26 Post-Ontological: Releasing Attachment to Any Ground of Reality 36:32 The Dance of What Is (No Goal, No Ultimate Truth) 37:53 Stage 5: Open Future β There Are More Stages Ahead 39:02 Closing Thoughts
Unjourneying is also available as a podcast on most major platforms.
For educational purposes only.Keep Your Hand on the StoveUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-04-24 | I share what I see as the essence of my work by unpacking my Hot Stove Meditation, which includes three steps:
1. Exposure therapy by intentionally welcoming in emotional distress. 2. Contacting the emotional body sensations of distress using vipassana. 3. Opening up into nonduality.
For educational purposes only.Nonduality & Volcanic Energy Live Coaching SessionUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-04-17 | Nonduality & Volcanic Energy: Live Coaching Session with Marcus
For educational purposes only.Nonduality, Long COVID, & Shame Live Coaching SessionUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-04-15 | Nonduality, Long COVID, & Shame: Live Nondual Coaching Session with Will
For educational purposes only.Nonduality, Cancer, & Mortality Live SessionUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-03-31 | Nonduality, Cancer, & Mortality: Live Nondual Coaching Session with Peter
For educational purposes only.5-MeO-DMT: Behind the Scenes with a Psychedelic GuideUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-03-12 | I'm Mira Funk, LCSW, a Harvard-educated, queer/nonbinary psychotherapist and psychedelic guide specialized in the facilitation and integration of 5-MeO-DMT retreats. Here I offer a detailed, behind-the-scenes tour of how my retreats work and what to expect, including:
π My Safety Screening Developed in Collaboration with Dr. Ben Malcolm
π§ My Preparation and Integration Protocol
β¨ My Vipassana & Nondual Integration Framework
πͺ Stepwise Vaporized 5-MeO-DMT for Trauma Release and Spiritual Opening
β³ Live Demonstration of The Hourglass, a Brand New Vapor Delivery System I Invented for Clients with Sensitive Lungs
π Extended-Release Rectal & Subcutaneous 5-MeO-DMT for Deep Psychological & Somatic Processing
For educational purposes only. The vapor that appears in this episode is VG/PG for demonstration purposes, not 5-MeO-DMT.20 Years of Chronic Pain Cured! | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-02-19 | I can run again! A surprising cure to 20 years of pain.
For educational purposes only.Psychedelic Entities! | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-02-04 | Are psychedelic entities autonomous sentient beings, or projections of our mind, like faces in the clouds?
#unjourneying #psychedelicintegration #psychedelictherapy #psychedelicvisuals #consciousnessRescue Your Roommate Marriage | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2026-01-21 | Do you and your partner feel more like roommates than a romantic couple? I share some relationship advice hacks to fix that.
#relationshipadvice #marriageadvice #relationships #marriedlife #relationshiprepairSlightly PainfulβTotally Worth It (Mira Funk, LCSW)Unjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-11-21 | Let's start a movement among white psychedelic professionals to donate at least 1% of our adjusted gross income to the Chacruna Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative.
β‘οΈ chacruna-iri.org β¨@ChacrunaInstitute1Where Does the Psychedelic Syringe Go? | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-09-16 | If you're looking to unlock old traumas stored in the body for greater connection and flow, sometimes the most effective medicine can be applied in a surprising location. Filmed in Vancouver, BC.
For educational purposes only.Ayahuasca Tuned My ADHD Brain Like a Guitar | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-26 | When you unjourney with ayahuasca, it can act like a tuning fork, entraining your mind to flow in the frequency of the vivid present.
For educational purposes only.Bottles Arent Made of What You Think They Are | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-26 | Neuroscience and Tibetan dream yoga suggest we're always dreaming or having a controlled hallucination, even when wide awake. Noticing this experientially is the essence of nonduality.
For educational purposes only.Psychedelic Integration: Squeeze Infinity Into a Box? | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-26 | People often ask me what psychedelic integration means. Here's my elevator answer. The central question is...do we integrate psychedelic insights into a self-improvement plan? Or do psychedelics open us deeper into the mystery of what "self" even is?
For educational purposes only.LSD Had No Effect on HimβHeres Why | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-17 | When Ram Dass gave his guru a massive dose of LSDβ¦nothing happened. Why? Because Neem Karoli Baba was already home. What happens when we stop chasing the psychedelic light showβand start unjourneying into the immediacy of now?
For educational purposes only.Can Mushrooms Make You Lucid to the Dream of Being? | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-17 | On my first mushroom trip, something clicked: Neuroscience. Buddhism. Lucid dreaming. It all pointed to one exhilarating truth: What we call βrealityβ is a kind of virtual realityβgenerated by the mind itself.
For educational purposes only.How One Phrase from a Naked Zen Master Healed My Existential Angst | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-17 | While living at a monastery in Korea, I was overcome with crushing existential doubt. Then, in the most unexpected place β a public bathhouse β a Zen master said something that stopped my spiral cold.
For educational purposes only.Salvia Divinorum: A Key to Unlocking Nonduality? | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-12 | What happens when your sense of self dissolves in slow motion? On salvia, I experienced the unraveling of awareness itself, a direct glimpse into the nondual nature of consciousness.
For educational purposes only.My Lions Mane Brain Melting Nightmare | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-11 | Lion's mane has healing properties, but be careful. For some, it causes inflammation and cognitive decline. I share my experience with neurocognitive issues, memory loss, and brain fog.
For educational purposes only.My Accidental Lions Mane Gender Reveal | Unjourneying: Mira Funk, LCSWUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2025-06-11 | How challenging neurocognitive side effects from Lion's Mane inspired me to embrace my nonbinary gender identity.
For educational purposes only.Working with a Psychedelic GuideUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2024-11-01 | Psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Mira Funk, LCSW, describes the process of working with her from beginning to end. The process begins with a 50-minute initial consultation. She and the client then agree on a retreat date and on an appropriate number of pre- and post-integration sessions. Mira recommends 5 at least pre-integration sessions and 1 post-integration session. Here is a breakdown of the session content:
1. Biopsychosocial Intake 2. Safety & Logistics 3. Hot Stove Vipassana Meditation 4. Floating in Space Nondual Meditation 5. Ocean of Love Nondual Meditation 6. Processing the Retreat
Mira also discusses the different medicines she servesβ5-MeO-DMT, N,N-DMT, and salvia divinorumβand the different retreat formats that are possible with these medicines. Each medicine has a short-acting vaporized route of administration as well as an extended release route. There's rectal 5-MeO-DMT, analog ayahuasca, and buccal salvia divinorum. Btw, apparently buccal is actually pronounced "buckle" not "boo-kle," oops! :-)
After completing a retreat with Mira, you become eligible to join her Unjourneying Circle, an online psychedelic integration group that meets every two weeks over Zoom. You also can participate in her group retreats.
For educational purposes only.Top 6 Reasons to Try PsychedelicsUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2024-11-01 | Psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Mira Funk, LCSW, shares the top six reasons that clients in her practice seek out psychedelic experiences. These reasons are:
1. Emotional Healing 2. Spiritual Insight 3. Neuroplasticity 4. Exploring Consciousness 5. Connection to Nature and Loved Ones 6. Physical and Neurological Healing
For educational purposes only.Defining Nonduality, Psychedelic Integration, & (Un)journeyingUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2024-11-01 | Psychotherapist and psychedelic guide Mira Funk, LCSW, defines terms commonly used in her practice. She offers an experiential definition of nonduality based on a lucid dreaming analogy from Tibetan dream yoga. Then she draws inspiration from Adyashanti for outlining psychedelic integration and nondual integration in particular. Finally, she distinguishes between what it means to journey and unjourney with psychedelics such as 5-MeO-DMT, ayahuasca, and salvia divinorum.
For educational purposes only.How I Became a Psychedelic Guide with 5-MeO-DMT, N,N-DMT, & SalviaUnjourneying | Mira Funk, LCSW2024-11-01 | In this introductory episode, Mira Funk, LCSW, shares the story of her background and how she came to be a queer, nonbinary psychedelic therapist and guide. In her childhood, she experienced medical trauma with a febrile seizure, Lyme disease, and babesiosis. During a bout of depression while at Harvard, she took a leave of absence and lived on a farm in New Hampshire, where she first encountered Zen Buddhism in the Kwan Um tradition. She eventually traveled to Korea to live at a Kwan Um monastery called Musangsa, where she experienced relief from her existential angst.
After a short-lived career in the arts, she went to social work school and became a mindfulness-based therapist. However, something was still missing. Everything changed when she did her first mushroom trip and had a direct taste of nonduality, especially as described in the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions. She felt inspired to go deeper with psychedelics, exploring 5-MeO-DMT, ayahuasca, and salvia divinorum. The healing and insight she received were so transformative that she resolved to devote her life to helping others through their psychedelic experiences.
Her own journey took some unexpected twists and turns when she experienced neuroinflammatory flare-ups on lion's mane mushrooms. Her difficulties led to her gender and sexual identity shift, and also prompted her to work with psychedelics in a new way she called "unjourneying," inspired by Neem Karoli Baba, who supposedly experienced no psychoactive effects on LSD. Mira started actively meditating while taking psychedelics and discovered diminished effects and more profound mindfulness integration.
Another surprise happened when all serotonergic psychedelics started causing flare-ups. After extensive medical testing, she discovered that she has Lyme, babesiosis, and bartonella. She decided to personally work only with salvia divinorum until her condition improves with medication. She found that unjourneying with salvia induces insights that feel orthogonal to nonduality, presenting a radical happeningness that deconstructs the illusion of free will and the very possibility of spiritual practice.