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History
shamanism
 Ayahuasca (Santo
Daime)
spiritual leadership
Master Irineu (1930-1971)
Pd. Sebastião (1971-1990)
Pd. Alfredo (1990-present)
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Padrinho Sebastião
Sebastião Mota de Melo (1920-1990), one of the direct
disciples of Master Irineu,
continued his master’s work. Listening very well to what
nature told him, and knowing that it was his mission to bring
the Santo Daime to the whole country, he created a community
deep into the rainforest, from where he would lead the expansion
of the doctrine to the cities of Brazil.
Community
Sebastião Mota de Melo organized his followers into a
communitarian experience to further develop the ideals of Master
Irineu: the equality of men and perfection in work, meditation
and reverence for nature. By 1975, the group around Sebastião
Mota de Melo and Rita Gregório had grown to a spiritual
community known as 'Colónia Cinco Mil' (colony five thousand),
set up on the outskirts of Rio Branco, composed of 45 families.
The families that were previously formed mostly by peasants
and rubber latex workers from the Amazon region, also began
to receive middle class people, intellectuals, and artists.
The charisma and reliance of Padrinho Sebastião on the
spiritual dimension and the doctrine led him to guide a group
through the accomplishment of a communal project founded on
the simple teachings disclosed by the hymns, suggesting to turn
back to nature and reminding his brothers and sisters the simple
values of the community and down-to-earth ecological consciousness.
Céu do Mapiá
 Sebastião
began to have visions in which the rainforest called him to
leave the city and settle back in the forest. Padrinho Sebastião,
as his many godchildren began to call him, opened the way into
the forest, and, after some initial ventures, founded the city
of 'Céu do Mapiá' (Heaven of Mapiá) in
the state of the Amazonas, located two days away from the nearest
village by canoe. Céu do Mapiá began to be visited
by Brazilian and foreign followers, having become an outstanding
place of pilgrimage. With about 700 inhabitants living an ecologically-aware
lifestyle, and a great floating population of visitors, it faces
today the challenge of getting ready to play its role as the
worldwide headquarters for a spiritual mission whose high quality
is widely recognized. The community's home was safeguarded in
1989 by a decision of the Brazilian government to create a National
Forest in the rainforest surrounding Céu de Mapiá,
and they form the center of one and a half million acre protected
reserve. The village is now considered a model of rainforest preservation
through the practice of a sustainable economy.
Mestre Fundador
In 1991, Padrinho Sebastião returned to the spiritual
dimension, and passed the leadership of the Santo Daime religion
to one of his sons, Alfredo
Gregório de Melo. Padrinho Sebastião is now
refered to as the 'Mestre Fundador' (master founder), for having
founded the model of communitarian life within the Santo Daime
doctrine. The beloved Madrinha Rita is still living in Cțu do
Mapiá, together with her children and grandchildren,
protecting the precious work of Padrinho Sebastião, and
welcoming visitors of countries from all over the world.
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South-America (1971-1990)
Padrinho Sebastião created a community
deep into the rainforest, from where he would lead the expansion
of the doctrine to the cities of Brazil.
Hinário of Padrinho Sebastião
• 'O Justiceiro' (156 hymns)
• 'Nova
Jerusalém' (26 hymns)
Photos of Padrinho Sebastião
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