What Psilocybin Mushrooms Teach Us

Hi, I’m Chi and I’m a mushroom.

Magic mushrooms have been used by humans for thousands of years. Our society is just rediscovering their healing powers. This masterpiece is Bee Shaman by John Speaker. It's a modern psychedelic re-creation of a ~6000-year-old cave painting found in Algeria. I love his art.

Mushrooms have changed my life. They’ve humbled me and taught me what it means to be a human being.

They’ve opened up my heart and helped me heal many generations of ancestral trauma. They’ve brought so much love, light, and gratitude into my life.

My life is dedicated to sharing their wisdom.

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A bit of background about me:

Since childhood, I struggled with addiction, depression, and low self-esteem. Like many others, nobody taught me how to deal with my difficult emotions. I learned to cope by numbing myself with substances and distractions.

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I was really fortunate to encounter Buddhist meditation in my early twenties. I had the privilege to practice with some amazing Buddhist masters. I spent 16 months in and out of silent meditation retreats. I even went to Burma twice to take temporary ordination.

But no matter how much I meditated, I never felt good enough. Meditation didn’t address the deep grief, shame and guilt I carried around.

By my late twenties, I was still struggling with the same problems, albeit with a little bit more awareness, thanks to my teachers.

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I stumbled upon psychedelics by chance. When I was living in San Francisco, I unknowingly found myself in Haight Ashbury, the epicenter of the psychedelic revolution in the 1960s. I bought my first tabs of acid from a guy who worked at this shop called Love on Haight.

My first LSD experience changed my life forever. It opened my eyes to a new way of seeing the world. Society teaches us that psychedelics are “dangerous” and “bad.” LSD helped me realize that society was wrong.

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A few weeks after that, I had my first encounter with magic mushrooms. I remember feeling more confident, lighter, and full of joy. Mushrooms felt gentle, warm, and natural. I laughed a lot, which I hadn’t done in years.

Over the next year or so, I had several beautiful psilocybin experiences and felt the call to get closer to the mushroom spirit.

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So I moved to Amsterdam, where magic truffles are completely legal. Magic truffles are the underground part of some magic mushrooms.

I was exhilarated to be living in a place where this medicine is openly sold in smartshops. I felt so happy to be free. My dad visited me and I convinced him to give mushrooms a try. After tripsitting for him a couple times and witnessing his transformation, my faith in the mushrooms grew stronger. I knew there was nothing more fulfilling than sharing this medicine.

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And that’s how Truffles Therapy was born. I wanted to create safe and loving spaces for people to experience their journeys. I didn’t have a guide on this path and I wanted to help people avoid some of the mistakes I made during my first few journeys.

Over the next 14 months, we organized 25 retreats for more than 225 participants from around the world. We’ve seen people from all walks of life, all ages, from thirty different countries. We’ve learned countless lessons along the way and it’s been a truly humbling journey. Here’s a little taste of what our participants experience:

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People feel called to the medicine for different reasons. Most people who come to us have all the material comforts they could ever wish for but they’re looking for something more meaningful. They’re longing for human connection, warmth, and love.

Underneath all the depression, anxiety, and addiction, there are many difficult emotions and reasons why people feel stuck. The mushrooms have taught us never to judge or make assumptions about anybody. We never know what kind of traumas people are carrying around, sometimes without even knowing it.

For example, we had an American teacher come on retreat this summer. He had been struggling with depression, anxiety and PTSD. After his retreat, he returned home feeling refreshed and optimistic. His creativity blossomed and he started writing pages after pages. He even published a blog talking about his experiences. About a month after the retreat, in a therapy session, all these repressed memories come to the surface. At age 40, for the first time in his adult life, he realized that his mom had been raping him almost daily from the ages of 6 to 11. He checked himself into the psych ward to protect himself. Luckily, his sister took care of him throughout the ordeal. Now, he’s back to work and doing really well, but this is just one example of someone who is unconsciously carrying around serious trauma.

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With so many people coming with these kinds of deep traumas, we had to learn quickly what the necessary ingredients are for the deepest healing to happen.

The first is space. The ideal space is in nature. It’s a place where people can drop their masks and be themselves. Where they can gather in circles, express themselves fully, and listen to others and realize that they are not alone in their struggles.

Mushrooms have taught us the importance of community. So many of our problems come from feeling isolated. We’re social creatures and need human interaction. So many problems can be resolved if we just gather in circles and share what’s happening in our lives.

When people are in community, they don’t feel the need to consume as much. They feel more content and connected. They get their happy chemicals from being with each other instead of from technology, junk food, alcohol, and drugs. They feel like they belong.

We’ve learned the importance of human touch and hugs in particular. Hugs release oxytocin, which reduces stress and elevates mood. One family therapist says, “We need four hugs a day for survival, 8 hugs a day for maintenance, and 12 hugs a day for growth.” We’ve seen hugs change people’s lives.

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Once we have the space and the community, the next ingredient is nourishing food made with love.

If we want to feel good, we have to eat healthy food. Our mushroom journeys can show us how everything we put in our bodies affects us physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I spoke with a doctor recently who instantly turned vegetarian and stopped drinking alcohol after his first journey. The mushrooms can teach us very quickly what is good for our bodies and what is not.

The most important ingredient in food is love. No matter how simple it is, mom’s cooking always feels better and more nourishing than the most luxurious restaurant food. Love is an energy that can transfers from one person to another through food.

When people have healthy homemade food before and after a journey, they feel comforted and loved, no matter how difficult and overwhelming their experience can be.

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Some people like to go on journeys alone. But most people prefer having a tripsitter around. Someone who can be a grounding and loving presence to keep them safe, and help them with any needs during and after the journey. Someone with whom they can share their emotions and experiences.

The best tripsitters have gone through many of their own experiences. They’ve explored the depths of their own subconscious and unconscious mind. They have felt and dealt with the wide range of emotions that can arise and can stay grounded, calm, and confident while the journeyer is going through a difficult time.

Leti, who is pictured above, is the better half of truffles therapy and is an incredible tripsitter. I’m really grateful to have someone so loving and caring to watch over me when I go through my bigger doses. Having a good tripsitter present can make a difference in how deep we can go.

The spiritual maturity of the spaceholder determines how comfortable the journeyer feels to surrender into the experience. When we enlist the help of a guide to find the best ways up a mountain, we feel more comfortable with one who has been to the top and has guided others to the top. We wouldn’t feel safe with somebody who was just figuring it out.

It's the same with psychedelic guides -- we feel safer around those who are calm and collected and have seen many people go through journeys. The best tripsitters exude a sense of peace and love.

Tripsitters are more like nurses or caregivers than a doctor or a guide. They are less like leaders, and more like servants.

The best tripsitters feel like family or a good friend. They want only your happiness and safety. They never make you prove anything. They make you feel whole, and when you are around them you feel everything is ok. You get warm, fuzzy feelings and you feel drawn to them. You can trust them fully.

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Ultimately, our attitude toward the medicine is just as important as any external factor.

Our journeys merely reveal how we are approaching everything else in our lives.

A lot of us, especially at the beginning, might think that we are going to get something or become something better or special. But the psychedelic journey is more about bowing and praying than it is about getting or becoming.

The more reverent, grateful, and humble our attitudes, the more the mushrooms will give us. If we’re arrogant, they’ll laugh at us and humble us anyway. Trust me, I've learned the hard way.

There’s a reason why the Aztecs called the mushrooms “flesh of the gods.” For many who’ve experienced their benefits, mushrooms are sacred teachers and healers.

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When we create the ideal setting and enter with a humble, surrendered attitude, magic happens.

I’ve been fortunate enough to experience and witness this magic on many occasions. It never gets old. Every time, the mushrooms humble me and leave me in awe of its mysterious healing powers.

On our retreats, almost everyone comes in mentally unwell. Dark, heavy, sad, and anxious. People can barely look each other in the eyes. They’re shy and have difficulties interacting with others and expressing themselves. Their bodies feel closed.

But by the end of each retreat, everyone feels lighter, brighter. Their faces are shining, smiling. Everyone expresses gratitude, love, hope, optimism -- emotions some of them haven’t felt for years and sometimes decades. Most people tell us it’s the most life-changing thing they’ve done.

The magic is real.

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It's a practice.

Mushroom journeys can give us a glimpse of the ultimate truth. The incredible peace, joy, love, and freedom available to us when we surrender and let go of control. It’s up to us to listen and incorporate its teachings.

Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

The psychedelic experience is just the same. We’re ordinary humans before, and we’re ordinary humans after. We just recognize how ordinary we are instead of thinking we're something special.

The mushrooms have taught us that it’s not just about having peak experiences. These can be pleasant, but if we get attached to them, we’re headed in the wrong direction. If we’re still chasing highs, we haven’t really understood the message.

Just like in Buddhist practice, the end goal of communing with mushrooms is not to achieve any special state or to become anybody special.

The practice is about looking inward, getting in touch with our bodies and emotions, and accepting everything as it is.

Communing with the medicine helps us dissolve our egos and expand our sense of self so we can include more of life.

We become softer, kinder, and more open. We stop thinking that we know it all. We become more childlike in a way. We start looking at everything with more curiosity and wonder.

Mushrooms teach us to question everything we’ve ever been taught. All our assumptions, beliefs, and values. We learn to look at life and take actions from a more compassionate, grounded, and mature perspective. We start thinking more about the well-being of others.

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So here we are in the midst of a psychedelic revolution. All of us know there’s a serious mental health crisis. Pharmaceutical drugs don’t work for many people. A lot of people are suffering and desperate for relief.

Many of our systems are broken and outdated. Mushrooms and other psychedelics can help us rethink and reshape our society. Let's get this medicine out to as many people as possible.

So how do we do it?

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It Starts with Us.

The first step is for us to go on our own journeys. We must develop the courage to look inward, face our fears, and commune with the medicine. It’s about humbling ourselves and learning how to listen. This is the foundation. We can’t skip this step.

Every time we go on a journey, we gain insight into the challenges we face as individuals and as a species. The more we understand the problem, the more we’ll be able to find effective solutions.

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Let’s create and invest in community spaces and retreat centers where we can gather freely and share what’s on our minds and in our hearts. Safe spaces where we can eat, laugh, cry, and commune with the medicine together. Where we can let our guards down and fully be ourselves without fear of judgment. Where people can be human beings, and not human doings. This is where the deep healing happens.

Let’s support and advocate for decriminalization efforts happening in cities around the nation. Imagine going to jail for eating some mushrooms. Crazy, isn’t it? People who use substances might have mental health issues but they’re not criminals. They just want to heal themselves and be happy. We must change unjust and inhumane laws.

Let’s also find ways to train as many tripsitters and therapists as possible. There’s a serious need for guides who know how to listen and hold space for those going through psychedelic experiences. Plus, the world needs more therapists and listeners in general.

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And let’s remember what this is all about. It’s not only about success and money or having ecstatic peak experiences; these things will come naturally for anybody who’s working with the medicine in the proper way.

It’s about advocating and speaking for those whose voices have been suppressed or silenced -- Native Americans, African Americans, our veterans, the elderly, refugees around the world, the homeless. We owe these communities more than we can imagine. And we never know, in this life or the next, if we’ll find ourselves in their position. We can't run from karma.

So let’s open our hearts, be kind to each other. We’re all in this together. 

Let’s think big and work together to elevate and expand our collective consciousness.

Let's get this medicine out to as many people as possible. 

The time is now. 

Thank you for reading and listening. Wishing you all safe and healing journeys. Namaste.