The Jaguar that Roams the Mind: An Amazonian Plant Spirit Odyssey [Paperback]

Robert Tindall (Author), Mark J. Plotkin Ph.D. (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2008

A journey into the deeper workings of indigenous healing in the Amazon

• Explores the three pillars of Amazonian shamanism: purging, psychoactive plants, and diet

• Shares the experiences of apprenticing with an Ashaninca master shaman

• Reveals the intimate relationship between shamans and plant spirits

The Jaguar that Roams the Mind is a journey into the vanishing world of Amazonian shamanism--an adventure of initiation and return--that explores the unique reality at the heart of the Amazonian healing system. Robert Tindall shares his journeys through the inner and outer landscape of the churches of ayahuasca and with the Kaxinawa Indians in Brazil; his experiences at the pioneering center for the treatment of addiction, Takiwasi, in Peru; and his studies with an Ashaninca master shaman deep in the rainforest jungle.

Moving beyond the scientific approach to medicinal plants, which seeks to reduce them to their chemical constituents, Tindall illustrates the shamans’ intimate relationships with plant spirits. He explores the three pillars of Amazonian shamanism: purging (drawing disease out of the body), psychoactive plants (including the ritual use of ayahuasca), and diet (communing with the innate intelligence of teacher plants). Through trials and revelations, the subtle inner logic of indigenous healing unfolds for him, including the “miraculous” healing of a woman suffering from a brain tumor. Culminating in a ceremony fraught with terror yet ultimately enlightening, Tindall’s journey reveals the crucial component missing from the metaphysics of the West: the understanding and appreciation of the sentience of nature itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A beautifully crafted account of a man’s psychospiritual healing quest, from his traumatic childhood and early drug addiction, to an ill-fated pilgrimage to the Sahara, to finally finding his path in the depths of the Amazon. Robert Tindall writes with exquisite fluid clarity and fearless, openhearted honesty. The book is a riveting, pleasurable read but is also profoundly sophisticated and deeply informative. I couldn’t put it down.”
(J. P. Harpignies, editor of Visionary Plant Consciousness )

“Like the twists and turns of ayahuasca, the sacred vine of the Amazon, this wonderful narrative of love and self-discovery connects vast inner worlds of dream and vision, power and magic, with a passionate pilgrimage in time and space. A joy to read.”
(Luis Eduardo Luna, author of Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the Amazon’s Sacred Vine and coauthor of Inner Paths to Outer Space )

“If you want to know what vegetalismo is really like, you could go to the Amazon, or you could read this book.”
(Dale Pendell, author of Pharmako/Gnosis: Plant Teachers and the Poison Path )

"I invite you to sink your mind into one of the most delectable and rapturous soul-twisters I have read in quite a while. It is completely worth the effort and will leave you permanently changed." (
Brian Wallace, reviewer, Nov 2008 )

"It is an exploration into the mind of the seeker as Tindall struggles to comprehend the culture around him--and, himself. . . . Well-crafted, this quest of indigenous healing in the Amazon could be read like a novel." (
American Herb Association, 24:1, March 2009 )

From the Back Cover

SHAMANISM / VISIONARY PLANTS

“A beautifully crafted account of a man’s psychospiritual healing quest, from his traumatic childhood and early drug addiction, to an ill-fated pilgrimage to the Sahara, to finally finding his path in the depths of the Amazon. Robert Tindall writes with exquisite fluid clarity and fearless, openhearted honesty. The book is a riveting, pleasurable read but is also profoundly sophisticated and deeply informative. I couldn’t put it down.”
--J. P. Harpignies, editor of Visionary Plant Consciousness

The Jaguar that Roams the Mind is a journey into the vanishing world of Amazonian shamanism--an adventure of initiation and return--that explores the unique reality at the heart of the healing system. Robert Tindall shares his journeys through the inner and outer landscape of the churches of ayahuasca and with the Kaxinawa Indians in Brazil; his experiences at the pioneering center for the treatment of addiction, Takiwasi, in Peru; and his studies with an Ashaninca master shaman deep in the rainforest jungle.

Moving beyond the scientific approach to medicinal plants, which seeks to reduce them to their chemical constituents, Tindall illustrates the shamans’ intimate relationships with plant spirits. He  explores the three pillars of Amazonian shamanism: purging (drawing disease out of the body), psychoactive plants (including the ritual use of ayahuasca), and diet (communing with the innate intelligence of teacher plants). Through trials and revelations, the subtle inner logic of indigenous healing unfolds for him, including the “miraculous” healing of a woman suffering from a brain tumor. Culminating in a ceremony fraught with terror yet ultimately enlightening, Tindall’s journey reveals the crucial component missing from the metaphysics of the West: the understanding and appreciation of the sentience of nature itself.

ROBERT TINDALL is a writer, classical guitarist, and inveterate traveler who has lived in England, Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. With his wife, Susana, he leads groups into the Amazon rain forest to encounter the indigenous healing traditions there. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Park Street Press; 1st Printing edition (September 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594772541
• ISBN-13: 978-1594772542
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A writer, musician, practitioner of Zen Buddhism and inveterate traveler, Robert Tindall sees the practice of pilgrimage as an antidote to creeping monoculturalism, a reawakening to our ancestral roots. His work explores themes of pilgrimage and the crossing of frontiers into other cultures and states of consciousness. Besides his personal narrative of his journey into the vanishing realm of Amazonian shamanism, "The Jaguar that Roams the Mind," and his various articles on the practice of Vegetalismo, Robert has published on pilgrimage along the Camino to Santiago, the commodification of Buddhism in the Himalayas, and on the spiritual practice of the medieval quest in the poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Robert and his wife, Susana live and teach in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spectacular cat's eye, October 14, 2008

By 

Author Brian Wallace (Mind Transmission, Inc.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jaguar that Roams the Mind: An Amazonian Plant Spirit Odyssey (Paperback)

This book features a powerful tour through the wondrous caverns of the entheogenic, visionary landscape. It delightfully captures one man's amazing journey of mind, heart and soul as he travels through foreign lands in pursuit of higher knowledge. I was captivated by the extraordinary insights and intense self-analyzing that keep the reader hypnotized and enriched throughout the process. There are vivid, engaging stories of environmentalism and stories of love. He recalls interesting parables and dabbles in some of the world's greatest offerings in the domains of literature, science and religion. He ties them into his personal experience with originality and vivacity. Excitement abounds in this work!

This highly colorful and enlightening book will bring your spirit higher and take you into rich, expanded territories of thought. It will obliterate close-mindedness and open your eyes to a whole new world of thinking and feeling about the world around you - and the world within.

The unique love story that evolves adds a poignant touch. Also, I enjoyed the heartfelt memories of his special feline.

Every chapter stimulates the reader to question ideas of philosophy, psychology, metaphysics and hedonism. You might even salivate as you turn the pages.

I invite you to sink your mind into one of the most delectable and rapturous soul-twisters I have read in quite a while. It is completely worth the effort and will leave you permanently changed.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A medicine path primer, January 5, 2009

By 

Jack Lieberman (San Anselmo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Jaguar that Roams the Mind: An Amazonian Plant Spirit Odyssey (Paperback)

This book is a beautifully written chronicle of one man's journey into the Peruvian Amazon in search of healing. It is familiar territory for me, both the outside environment and the incredibly rich psychic landscapes the author describes so well. Robert Tindall has the gift of being able to describe in intimate detail what is often indescribable. When people ask me about ayahuasca and shamanism, I find it very difficult to describe. Now I can simply point to this beautiful book for the best verbal painting that I have read of something that transcends words. I highly recommend this book not only to experienced psychonauts but also to those who are curious about ayahuasca and/or healing the spirit.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed emotions: lack of rigor competes with a likable narrator, January 23, 2009

By 

Senor Frog (Boulder, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jaguar that Roams the Mind: An Amazonian Plant Spirit Odyssey (Paperback)

The dilemma posed by this book: you're either a Westerner with a "limited, disconnected" world view or a new Private First Class to Tindall's rank as Spiritual Captain and I don't buy either of those alternatives. I for one, am a big fan of useful, rational principles such as Okham's Razor--and cats (I'd have at least had the spleen to say something to the idiot who let my cat... well, I won't ruin it for you)--and the sort of scornful, baby-with-the-bath-water dismissal of the principles of rational thinking leave both the narrative of the book and the explanatory narrative of ayahuasca healing in messy disarray. For example, Tindall, expecting for days that his Maestro will soon reveal to him that, yes, they have met in the spirit world (before they met in the earthly world), Tindall finally breaks down and asks the Maestro outright: Did you visit me in spirit last week? The surprise answer? Maestro grinned, Yes, I did. Of course--why not? Here's the giddy gringo handing it to you after all, take what you can get for free. Expectations are potent medicine. That's not cynicism, it's human nature to want the esteem of your acolytes. Much of the book is spent drumming up spiritual portent where there is none--or at least where the sober see none.

There are some good chapters. I particularly liked the chapter on the environmental devastation caused by oil and logging in the Amazon. I have seen these things first-hand myself and could hardly contain my rage as I read Tindall's vivid account of his experience with this travesty. I would have enjoyed reading more of this sort of thing. Likewise, the descriptions of some of his ayahuasca trips are fantastic. He lived them, after all, and here lies his strength: writing about things that are in-the-world or at least in his experience, and bringing to bear on them his newly enlarged perspective--not out on a limb apologizing for a cosmology that few can take seriously. Case in point: Tindall gives an account of a cancerous brain tumor healed--utterly and miraculously--through the use of indigenous medicines. Not content to leave it there, we are offered the explanation that the psycho-emotional changes brought about in the patient by the plants' spirits are responsible. No allowance for plant chemicals is given; it's cosmological interconnectedness or nothing. He may not realize it, but his attitude toward Western culture is rather condescending--ironic, when you consider that the core message of the book is that Western culture is myopic and condescending with respect to indigenous culture.

One more thing: His wife got damned lucky her corneal herpes flare-up settled back down instead of blinding her in one eye. Had that little bit of luck worked out differently, the General of the Spiritual Marines would have had some serious explaining to do.

Is the book worth having? If you're a fan of trip-lit, it's worth a read. You'll likely fly through it and be glad you did; Tindall is a likable enough guide and there are enough interesting chapters to hold your attention. Is it a good introduction to ayahuasca? You can do better.