Would an Iboga retreat be akin to 8 weeks of military boot camp for...

[Jonsey]

the mind, spirit and soul?

Do you really need to take a psychedelic to properly prepare for a Iboga retreat? I personally think you'd have a more profound experience if you were in great physical shape.

I've taken psilocybin(in Amsterdam) and Ayahuasca and 5meo-dmt(in Peru) and while both of experiences were profound, they were not life changing(The 5meo-dmt was more like a cosmic orgasm than a outer body experience, I don't know, maybe I had a bad batch?).

To put it in perspective, I've had more of a psychedelic/spiritual awakening listening to all videos on actualized.org than I did on two of those retreats combined. Now granted it was my first time doing psychedelics and I didn't take very large doses. I also didn't know about actualized.org until 2 weeks prior to my first retreat in Amsterdam. I think if I had the good fortune of watching all of Leo's videos before embarking on the retreats, I would have had a much more profound and possibly life-changing experience. 

Neither psychedelic were very taxing on my body which makes me question whether or not simply taking a psychedelic will properly prepare one for the intense rigors of an Iboga retreat. In my opinion, if I didn't have access to psychedelics, I would prepare by meditating 1-2 hours a day, as well as train as if I were going to spend 13 weeks at boot camp in the marines. Or as if I were going to run a Marathon. Or take part in a Crossfit games event. 

The last thing I'll say on this matter is when I think of Iboga I think of  a stage yellow drill sergeant. He(or she) will most likely yell at you, treat you like shit and come off as an overall asshole, but deep down their is a deeper meaning to the drill sergeant's madness. And at the end of the boot camp/retreat you'll realize the drill sergeant wasn't trying to hurt you, but help you jail break your own mind because our minds don't want to be jail break and will do anything and everything possible to prevent this from happening. The stage yellow drill sergeant understands the immense power of the mind which is why he(Iboga) is so hard on you physically and mentally. 

 

 

[kag101]

Why do do you want to take Iboga? It sounds masochist tbh. 

[Jonsey]

On 11/25/2020 at 0:04 PM, kag101 said:

Why do do you want to take Iboga? It sounds masochist tbh. 

True, doing Iboga does sound like one is willing allowing the devil giving you a not so "happy ending," but jail-breaking your mind is hard my friend, and sometimes it may take a "madman" to deal with ones madness.

I guess it's like standing outside a haunted house knowing the house is haunted because it's haunted by your demons. Demons that have been holding you down for years. Demons that have been your kryptonite for decades and the only way to vanquish these demons is to confront them head on and kill them at the source. But you are afraid to go into this haunted house because you are afraid of what these demons and the haunted house may reveal about your psyche and yourself as a human being. So this is where Drill Sergeant Iboga comes in because the Sergeant doesn't give a shit about your fear or your feelings. He forces you in the house. Forces you to fight and deal with demons you probably were not ready to deal with but he doesn't give a shit because this motherfucking masochist deals with problems with a hammer not a switch blade. His methods are brutal but it's his way of allowing you to face the truth about yourself and what you need to do in the future to be the best version of yourself you can be. 

[Forestluv]

On 11/25/2020 at 5:00 AM, Jonsey said:

To put it in perspective, I've had more of a psychedelic/spiritual awakening listening to all videos on actualized.org than I did on two of those retreats combined. Now granted it was my first time doing psychedelics and I didn't take very large doses. I also didn't know about actualized.org until 2 weeks prior to my first retreat in Amsterdam. I think if I had the good fortune of watching all of Leo's videos before embarking on the retreats, I would have had a much more profound and possibly life-changing experience. 

This seems to view the expeperiecnes as separate and independent. Another way to look at is is they are inter-related. You don’t know what your relationship with Leo’s videos would have been without the psychedelics. For all you know, they may have been boring. The psychedelics may have opened doors such that Leo’s videos were now very intriguing and enlightening to you. 

It also seems like you desire a dramatic experience as being part of “enlightenment”. Something like flopping around like a fish in a jungle while on Iboga. That can be quite an adventure, yet it doesn’t need to be so dramatic. Entry into other dimensions and profound insights can occur while tripping in one’s bedroom. 

[electroBeam]

6 minutes ago, Forestluv said:

This seems to view the expeperiecnes as separate and independent. Another way to look at is is they are inter-related. You don’t know what your relationship with Leo’s videos would have been without the psychedelics. For all you know, they may have been boring. The psychedelics may have opened doors such that Leo’s videos were now very intriguing and enlightening to you. 

But quantity important though. For psychedelics to have a significant effect, you truly need large quantities. 2 trips wouldn't have had much of an affect.

Edited November 26, 2020 by electroBeam

[Haumea2018]

On 11/25/2020 at 5:00 AM, Jonsey said:

Do you really need to take a psychedelic to properly prepare for a Iboga retreat? I personally think you'd have a more profound experience if you were in great physical shape.

No, you don't.  Yeah, being in shape helps with anything, I think.

You sound to me like a good candidate for a Bwiti retreat because you seem to have the right mindset and attitude to benefit from the experience.

Iboga is the ultimate "no bullshit" experience. It will tell you the blunt truth about YOU -- your life purpose and what you need to change to be physically, emotionally and spiritually well.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Haumea2018

[Forestluv]

8 minutes ago, electroBeam said:

But quantity important though. For psychedelics to have a significant effect, you truly need large quantities. 2 trips wouldn't have had much of an affect.

It depends. More was revealed to me during my first trip than my previous 20+ years of meditation in Buddhist sanghas. I was never able to reconstruct my previous view of reality after that one trip. Yet for others, it’s different. Perhaps he does need to go to a jungle and flop around in a jungle on Iboga. I did something similar in Peru and Ayahuasca. Before the trip, my mind was made up - there was something in the mountains of Peru for me to discover and no one could convince me otherwise. The experiences had a lot of drama and impact on me. There was value in that. Yet I’ve had equally profound experiences in my bedroom or local park. Yet that will not be appealing to a mind convinced it must live with a tribe in the jungle and do psychedelic ceremonies. And in the context of that mindset, it is true. When I truly believed I must live with a tribe in Peru to reach deeper levels, that was what I needed at the time. That was the key. All other avenues were blocked off. 

[Corpus]

Ibogaine is a different beast than the usual agents; its more of a confrontation with the self rather than an agent to abolish or transcend the self. Taking it to awaken is probably misguided, but to really plumb the depths of ones core "structure" its very effective. One needs to carefully consider ones motivation for undergoing the experience which is heavy duty and cathartic. The physical risks are also not be understated, and it requires more than just being physically fit. Certain bloodwork and an ECG are essential pre-requisites before embarking down this road safely.  

[electroBeam]

15 minutes ago, Forestluv said:

It depends. More was revealed to me during my first trip than my previous 20+ years of meditation in Buddhist sanghas. I was never able to reconstruct my previous view of reality after that one trip. Yet for others, it’s different. Perhaps he does need to go to a jungle and flop around in a jungle on Iboga. I did something similar in Peru and Ayahuasca. Before the trip, my mind was made up - there was something in the mountains of Peru for me to discover and no one could convince me otherwise. The experiences had a lot of drama and impact on me. There was value in that. Yet I’ve had equally profound experiences in my bedroom or local park. Yet that will not be appealing to a mind convinced it must live with a tribe in the jungle and do psychedelic ceremonies. And in the context of that mindset, it is true. When I truly believed I must live with a tribe in Peru to reach deeper levels, that was what I needed at the time. That was the key. All other avenues were blocked off. 

Yep agree there.

Sometimes you can be in Peru in your bedroom, depending on the dose

 

[Forestluv]

25 minutes ago, electroBeam said:

Yep agree there.

Sometimes you can be in Peru in your bedroom, depending on the dose

Yep. 

[kag101]

@Jonsey As Leo said in a video: "When you cut one of the heads of the hydra, two appears." 

[Jonsey]

9 hours ago, kag101 said:

@Jonsey As Leo said in a video: "When you cut one of the heads of the hydra, two appears." 

Do you think this is what the mind does when it tries to reject your attempts at jail-breaking? Chopping off the head(s) of the snake will make your jail-breaking attempts futile. I think the key to truly having a successful jail-breaking session is to find out why they keep growing in the first place. 

[kag101]

On 11/27/2020 at 11:27 PM, Jonsey said:

I think the key to truly having a successful jail-breaking session is to find out why they keep growing in the first place. 

I agree. That's why I think that, for me, psychotherapy has been much more powerful than psychedelics.