UDV – Uniao do Vegetal Primer – Beezone

Mestre Gabriel Founder (recreator) of the UDV

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Run to where there is shadow,
Ask to whom has to give,
Don’t ask to whom never had,
Even if he had, he doesn’t give.
It is the superior strength
In which we should ask for:

Give me strength,
Give me light; give me the divine love.
Give me patience; give me the divine love.
Give me obedience; give me the divine love.
Give me perfect health; give me the divine love. 

A UDV chamada by Master Gabriel (translated from Portuguese)
Demystifying the UDV – by Joey McGolrick

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Mastre Gabriel 

- José Gabriel da Costa was born on February 10, 1922, in the municipality of Coração de Maria, near the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia (BA).

- In 1944, he enlisted as a “rubber soldier”. He travels by ship from Salvador (BA) to Belém (PA) and from there goes to Porto Velho (Federal Territory of Guaporé).

- From 1944 to 1946, he was a rubber tapper in the Bom Futuro and Triunfo rubber plantations. Back in Porto Velho, he worked with the supply of firewood for the Madeira Mamoré Railway and, later, at the São José Hospital in Porto Velho, as a nursing assistant.

- In 1947, he met Raimunda Ferreira da Costa, called “Pequenina”, and married her.

- Between 1950 and 1958, from Porto Velho he went to the rubber plantations with his family, living for a period in the Territory of Guaporé, current state of Rondônia, and returning to the capital. He made this journey a few times, without having the opportunity to visit Chá Hoasca.

- From 1959 to 1964, Mestre Gabriel lived in the Guarapari and Sunta Seringais, on the Bolivian banks of the Abunã River, on the borders with Acre. In April 1959, he had his first contact with the Hoasca Tea, which was distributed to people, without defined ritual or doctrine. He then began his purpose of using tea in a beneficial and orderly manner.

- On July 22, 1961, he declared the União do Vegetal created, with his wife “Pequenina”, his children and some rubber tappers present. He continues to distribute the tea, already within a ritual and a doctrine.

- In January 1965, Mestre Gabriel and his family moved to Porto Velho (RO), where the UDV first organized itself as the União do Vegetal Beneficent Association and in 1970 as the União do Vegetal Beneficent Spiritist Center, installing its first Headquarters. on Abunã Street.

- On September 24, 1971, he dies in Brasília (DF).

 

The União do Vegetal: Origins, Expansion, Schism, and the Pursuit of Legitimacy

“The União do Vegetal is planted on the Earth.” — Mestre Gabriel

The União do Vegetal (UDV) was founded through the spiritual experiences of José Gabriel da Costa, known as Mestre Gabriel, who encountered the sacred tea known as Hoasca (ayahuasca) while working as a rubber tapper in the Amazon. On July 22, 1961, after receiving profound revelations during his communion with the tea, he gathered others to form a spiritual doctrine centered on divine awakening, ethical living, and communion with the Higher Power. The UDV, from its inception, positioned itself not merely as a sect but as a spiritual current with ancient roots, re-emerging to bring light in times of moral and cultural decline.

In January 1965, Mestre Gabriel moved with his family to Porto Velho, Brazil, where he continued the religious work that would define his legacy. He formalized the structure of the UDV by creating the Cadre of Mestres and the Body of Counsel, which together formed the direction of the church. In 1967, Mestre Florêncio Siqueira de Carvalho was authorized to distribute the tea in Manaus, prompting Gabriel’s prophecy: “From Manaus, the União do Vegetal will go around the world.” This vision proved prescient as the UDV expanded beyond Brazil to Europe and North America.

Following Mestre Gabriel’s death in 1971, and the formal registration of the Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal in Porto Velho, the movement entered a period of consolidation. By 1982, its General Headquarters had moved to Brasília, establishing the center of operations for the growing church.

A Schism in the Order: Mestre Joaquim and the Spiritual Center

In 1975, Joaquim José de Andrade Neto, a young seeker from Campinas, encountered the UDV and experienced profound spiritual revelations. His early devotion was recognized by Mestre Joanico, one of Gabriel’s direct disciples. However, tension arose as Joaquim began to critique what he perceived as deviations from the original doctrine, institutional politics, and lax spiritual discipline.

By 1981, claiming spiritual authorization from Mestre Gabriel, Joaquim founded the Centro Espiritual Beneficente União do Vegetal. Though its name nearly mirrored the original, its distinction lay in its emphasis on spiritual purity, doctrinal rigor, and symbolic continuity with the founder’s mystical authority. The split caused lasting tension, culminating in **legal disputes over the use of the name “União do Vegetal.”

A 2020s court battle saw the original Centro Espírita suing the Centro Espiritual for trademark infringement, while the Campinas-based group claimed a moral and spiritual victory. The legal issue raised a deeper question: Can the sacred be trademarked?

“The name União do Vegetal is the target of a legal dispute between two groups… The spiritual center from Campinas claims to have won a victory in court…” (Folha Campinas)

This conflict echoes broader questions of authenticity, institutional legitimacy, and spiritual inheritance. Joaquim’s center emphasized fidelity to the spirit of Mestre Gabriel’s teachings, while the official center asserted continuity through institutional lineage.

Scientific Legitimacy and the Second International Congress of Hoasca

The UDV’s strategy of legitimacy has not relied solely on courts or spiritual authority. It has actively sought recognition in the academic and scientific realms, culminating in the 2011 publication of Hoasca: Ciência, Sociedade e Meio Ambiente, edited by Joaze Bernardino-Costa, a UDV Mestre and sociologist.

This volume emerged from the Second International Congress of Hoasca (Brasília, 2008), a gathering of over 1,000 participants including researchers, government officials, and religious leaders. Organized into three thematic sections—Science, Society, and Environment—the book articulates UDV’s identity as a responsible, transparent, and scientifically validated religious institution. With 44 contributors, it represents a milestone in the church’s engagement with public scholarship.

Part One details the work of the UDV’s Medical-Scientific Department, including collaborations with institutions such as UCLA and the Federal University of São Paulo, as well as studies on adolescents who consume ayahuasca within the religious setting. While these studies showed no adverse psychiatric outcomes and supported the benefits of religious community, critics caution that the findings are preliminary and not representative of the broader population.

Part Two addresses UDV’s social and legal struggles, including its U.S. Supreme Court victory in 2006, which upheld its right to use Hoasca sacramentally. This section also describes UDV’s public outreach, charity work, and diplomatic engagement with government drug control agencies. However, it largely omits other significant actors such as Santo Daime (ICEFLU) and Barquinha, reflecting a strategic focus on consolidating UDV’s singular identity.

Part Three highlights the environmental practices of UDV, including its efforts to preserve and cultivate Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, the two plants used in Hoasca. Managed under the Associação Novo Encanto, these programs reflect a sophisticated ecological ethic combining indigenous knowledge, scientific taxonomy, and sustainability practices. Yet, even here, the omission of the historical “Nove Vegetais” brew suggests legal caution and the gradual sanitization of UDV’s magical-Amazonian heritage.

Between Science and Spirit: Tensions and Transformations

The UDV’s bid for scientific legitimacy has been both ambitious and fraught with contradictions. While the organization proclaims openness to academic dialogue, critics argue that the Scientific Commission often operates under institutional constraints, shaping which studies are permitted and how findings are interpreted.

Scholars such as Labate and Melo (2013) have noted the overstatement of biomedical safety claims and a lack of reflexive engagement with the methodological limits of existing research. Moreover, UDV’s portrayal of equality and democratic structure is undermined by gender and social exclusions within its leadership, as women and LGBTQ+ individuals remain barred from attaining the degree of Master.

This dual posture—one foot in Christian moral traditionalism, the other in scientific modernity—is both the strength and ambiguity of the UDV. Its desire to transcend stigma and emerge as a legitimate, national religious institution has required a calculated balance of charisma, law, bureaucracy, and evidence-based discourse. In doing so, it has contributed significantly to the internationalization and normalization of ayahuasca religion, even as it navigates its internal divisions and contested legacy.

Conclusion: A Religion in Dialogue with the Modern World

From the sacred silence of Amazonian nights to congressional chambers and scientific panels, the União do Vegetal has traveled far. It has moved from mystery to media, from persecution to policy influence, and from esoteric healing to biomedical scrutiny.

Whether seen as a revival of ancient gnosis, a modern theocratic institution, or a hybrid of Amazonian shamanism and Christian doctrine, the UDV remains at the heart of global conversations on religion, psychedelics, ecology, and consciousness. The schism with Mestre Joaquim, the court disputes, the scientific research, and the environmental stewardship all reflect a movement negotiating the tensions between spiritual authenticity, public legitimacy, and institutional power.

Its future, like its past, will likely unfold in that dynamic borderland where revelation meets regulation, and where the vine and leaf continue to whisper their sacred mystery to those who dare to listen.

Selected Bibliography

• Bernardino-Costa, Joaze (Ed.). Hoasca: Ciência, Sociedade e Meio Ambiente. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 2011.
• Fabiano, Ruy. Mestre Gabriel, O Mensageiro de Deus. Brasília: Pedra Nova, 2012.
• Labate, Beatriz Caiuby, and Rosa Melo. “The UDV Religion.” Anthropology of Consciousness, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2013, pp. 214–227.
• Labate, B.C., and Henrik Jungaberle (Eds.). The Internationalization of Ayahuasca. Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2011.
• Callaway, James C., et al. “Pharmacokinetics of Hoasca Alkaloids in Healthy Humans.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol. 65, No. 3, 1999.
• Barbosa, P.C.R., et al. “Health Status of Ayahuasca Users.” Drug Testing and Analysis, 2012.
• Da Silveira, D.X., et al. “Ayahuasca in Adolescence: A Neuropsychological Assessment.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2005.

UDV Teachings

The tea Hoasca taken is made from two sources. One is a vine, Chacrona and the other is a leaf, Mariri. The growing, acquisition, harvesting and preparing of this tea is the central function of the centers or Nucleos. These centers or temples are the principal social structures for the gathering of disciples. The temples are the primary places where the tea is taken in ceremonial sessions. The purpose of these sessions is to receive the ‘illumination’ and the teachings of the UDV and Mestre Gabriel.

Myths of Origin

 

     In short, the constitution of the Spiritual Center, instead of generating revolt, should be cause for reflection and examination, since the law of the União do Vegetal is to be fulfilled, and not violated. And those who commit an infraction can’t and souldn’t evade the effects of which will be free only from the moment you recognize your heart attitudes inconsequential. Only thereafter can enjoy the comfort they their spirits so desperately need.

Nota

1. The American Loren Miller acted similarly to the Spiritist Centre, trying to get a patent on Ayahuasca (a corruption of Oaska used by Indians). His goal was to make it an exclusive product of Plant Medicine Corporation company, and because of that, was international news for a few years. In 1986 he got the patent, but the fact provoked the rejection of indigenous communities. The Confederation of Indigenous Communities of the Amazon (COICA) requested the cancellation of the same, supported by the fact that the drink is already being used by Indians for centuries. During the 5th Congress of COICA, in May 1997, eighty four hundred delegates representing Amazonian tribes were against patenting. Finally, on November 3, 1999, after much of the world have also done the same, the PTO (United States Patent and Trademark) rejected it, considering the meaning of the sacred drink for indigenous communities and the fact they to use for many generations.

 

One might suppose that the mythology of the UDV would have been inspired by one of the Indian groups inhabiting Brazil’s western frontiers. This does not appear to be the case, however, and the identifiable elements would suggest rather that the UDV acquired its esoteric lore form contacts with mestizo Peruvians and Bolivians. Three principal figures appear in UDV mythology:

King Solomon: “Salomão… o Rei… o Imperador” [“Solomon… the King… The Emperor”]

Tihuaco: “É o Marechal… a força… o mariri” [“He is the Marshal… the strength… the mariri”] [mariri is the name of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine]

Mestre Caiano: “O In-Caiano… a reencarnação do Rei Inca… o primeiro oasqueiro” [“The In-Caiano…the reincarnation of the Inca King… the first oasca drinker”]

Solomon points to the Old Testament and Christian element in mestizo folklore, while Tihuaco and the reference to the Inca suggests an inclusion of highland Quechua elements absent in Brazil, but widely distributed across the border. The relationship between these three figures is complex. King Solomon is generally credited with providing the mystical “key” to the use of the hallucinogenic drink. He did this twice, at least: once to the mythical hero Mestre Caiano, the reincarnated Inca King, and once to the historical figure of Mestre Gabriel, who is seen not as the creator but as the recreator of the UDV – an esoteric group which had already existed in mythical times, when it was led by Mestre Caiano. At the beginning of a drinking session, therefore, it is the spirit of Mestre Caiano who is called, as a guide to the state of awareness produced by the drug.

The teachings of the UDV and Mestre Gabriel revealed in these regularly scheduled (escala) sessions are given through the Mestre (teacher) conducting the session. In the sessions, the churches documents are read and then chamadas (calls) are made to bring in the guiding forces that are the guardians of the light. The calls are made by the Mestre to invite or invoke forces associated with Hoasca into the session. These forces guide (work with the energy circulating within the session) and direct the disciple if their ‘concentration’ is strong, to higher sources of knowledge. If not the light and force of the tea will ‘purify’ and ‘cleanse’ the disciple, mostly in terms of ‘throwing up’, called a ‘payment’. The conducting Mestre is the link to the ‘Superior Mestre’ and it is up to this Mestre to provide this connection. Disciples are not oriented in any way other than the outwardly social structure. Once the tea is taken the disciple is left between his or her own inner psyche and the mysterious qualities of the tea.

If the disciple is true to the UDV, he or she must understand that this path is a total path and once the disciple understands this, they will know that it is their one and only path to God. This path is not shared by any other teachings. It is a complete path within itself.

Disciples who drink the tea and do not have this understanding are drinking the tea for ‘other’ or ‘lesser’ reasons, or they have not developed this ‘higher’ understanding because of their particular ‘merit’ and therefore must seek this higher understanding.

 

Limitations

It is of course clear, drinking a ‘sacrament’ can be useful and instructive. It is also more evidential clear that to ‘maintain’, ‘keep’ and develop the ‘insights’ received one must continue to drink the tea. This is because the ‘illumination’ is NOT ones true and natural state of consciousness. The tea is required and that is a limitation. It is conditional. The ‘realization’ although ‘illuminating’, does not remain and therefore one is ‘required’ to return ‘once again’ and ‘reunite’ with the tea, regularly. This therefore, is a ‘way of life’ and one must maintain their connection to the ‘source’ of UDV if any benefit is to be ‘kept’.

The teachings and knowledge base of the UDV is very limited in terms of the larger body of religious and spiritual teachings in the traditions of the world. It is considered by some to be a fourth to fifth stage teaching and therefore limited in its full scope of understanding to the Full Breath of Illumination. To see more on the limits of a fourth to fifth stage teaching see The Seven Stages of Life. The UDV because of its limited ‘universal’ understanding and ‘superior astral’ seat considers itself ‘superior’ and therefore exclusive and limiting to others. They have a dualistic understanding of the cosmos – inferior and superior forces – and therefore are excessively ‘upward’ and ‘ascended’ in their orientation towards the Divine.

Deception

“As long as you regard yourself or any part of your experience as the “dream come true,” then you are involved in self-deception. Self-deception seems always to depend upon the dream world, because you would like to see what you have not yet seen, rather that what you are now seeing. You will not accept that whatever is here now is what is, nor are you willing to go on with the situation as it is. Thus, self-deception always manifests itself in terms of trying to create or recreate a dream world, the nostalgia of the dream experience. And the opposite of self-deception is just working with the facts of life.”

Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism.