An opportunity presented itself to partake of Bufo alvarius toad secretion, as we know, a rich source of 5-MeO-DMT, and I decided I wanted to experience this. This would be under the supervision of Dr “Gerry” Gerardo Sandoval Isaac, a Mexican MD and someone with a great deal of experience administering toad secretion/5-MeO. Just the once, and for a full release dose, I was happy to experience this under the supervision of a doctor and someone with a great deal of experience in overseeing sessions. I knew of Dr Gerry and his work with the toad as some friends had published his book, The God Molecule, and gave me a free copy to read and review. I had a very brief exchange with Gerry over facebook which had been cordial, and having read his book, he came across as an affable guy, maybe with a slightly inflated ego. A good friend had seen him give a talk a few days prior to my session in London and had been fascinated by his talk, but said that during the Q & A afterwards, his ego seemed to come out a bit, something I had noticed a bit in his writing. I do think psychedelics can actually build up egos over time, and in some people it causes a kind of God/messiah complex...it may be that 5-MeO is a little more prone to this, I’m not sure.

So, my session...I found myself wandering through an industrial part of northeast London. I was excited and a little nervous. I had come down on the train to London the night before, and had been reading James Oroc’s fascinating book Tryptamine Palace on the way down. In it, Oroc states that 5-MeO taken before another psychedelic can dramatically boost its effects...he also stated that it worked the other way around, with being on a psychedelic boosting the power of 5-MeO. Based on this, I decided to ingest a 10 microgram LSD blotter (these having been used for microdosing purposes) and two small dried Psilocybe cyanescens mushrooms. I’m not sure 5-MeO needs any augmentation in terms of power, but I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of going deep.

I finally found two barge boats, on which people had gathered in preparation for the session. A small friendly group was in there, including the host and a good friend, and I felt comfortable on arrival. The other barge next to this one had been kitted out and made cosy for the sessions, which were conducted in a one-on-one context on a bunk in there. Dr Gerry briefed us on how to smoke the vapour correctly…by breathing out, and then inhaling the fumes gently from the glass pipe until he said, then putting a hand over one’s mouth, and counting to 10 while lying down.

Everyone who went before me and came out seemed to be in a state of awe, with a sparkle in their eyes, one person had been in tears. My friend went before me, and she came out with a very glowing testimonial, an experience of pure love. She is an atheist and a highly rational person, but she said that experience had challenged her views to some degree...not that she was now a believer or anything...but the experience had certainly been very deep, moving and profound.

It was my turn, so I hopped on over to the other boat. I started to feel more nervous, which reached a crescendo with my heart racing before I smoked the vapour. The dosage was 100mg of dried Bufo secretion, roughly equivalent to 15mg of 5-MeO-DMT (give or take a few milligrams). The session provider and his assistant, a lovely girl, both made sure I was comfortable and we held hands and did a prayer before I smoked. Then the flame of a torch lighter was applied to the pipe for a few seconds, and I started to inhale. I made sure to do it slowly, being careful not to waste any vapour. When I was done inhaling, I placed my hands over my mouth as instructed, lay down in the bunk, and started to count to 10. I’m not sure what number I made it too, but I certainly didn’t make 10. There was a dramatic break or shift in my awareness, and I lost all contact with the barge, with London, with my body and this reality...a total OBE. My entire being was enveloped in this vast realm of bright white/golden light fractals, which I was flying through. I know 5-MeO isn’t considered very visual compared to DMT, and certainly DMT is more visually complex, but this was still a dramatically visionary experience. My sense of individual self, of my “Isness” was obliterated, but some kind of awareness remained, experiencing flying through this realm of light fractals in a state of pure oneness. I find the 5-MeO experience incredibly hard to describe in words. The experience is, or occurs in, a state so far beyond the realm of words, that it is really hard to communicate the state or its profundity in any tangible way. The state of consciousness I experienced felt very deep, profound and quite sacred. Sacred is not a word I’m prone to use, and I appreciate how subjective it is, but this experience felt profound in a way I simply cannot describe in words. I have dabbled previously with 5-MeO, but those experiences could not hold up the faintest candle to this experience, in terms of its depth and power. There was a bit of fear for some time, due to the sheer raw power of the experience. I would consider this more powerful than my DMT breakthrough experience…in the latter, there was still a sense of I experiencing and observing, even if I had lost contact with my body and environment...on the 5-MeO, even the act of observing had been lost in the mix.

I really can’t say how long the experience lasted…linear time does not apply to that space. But it seemed like a decent amount of time. When I started to come back, I finally opened my eyes and looked at the skylight of the barge, and saw a tiny fly buzzing around up there, I knew I was back. I felt supremely relaxed once I became aware of my body again, and the post experience afterglow state was very warm and comforting. I was racked by full-body, teeth-chattering body tremors on re-entry. I smiled, sat up and caught the eyes of Dr Gerry and his assistant and laughed, Dr Gerry smiled and nodded, and then I promptly burst into tears briefly. It is not like me to cry in the midst of or following psychedelic experiences, and I can’t really explain why I did on this occasion, only that I was overwhelmed with the power, profundity and beauty of what I had just experienced. The guys hugged me, and I hugged them both back, and then joined the collective of people in the barge next door, still very awed about what I had just been through. Shortly after I left with my friend and went and had some nice food and chats. It was nice to reflect on the experience with a friend, even though we both really struggled to describe (let alone explain) what we had both just been through.

Later that night, I linked up with some friends to have a psychedelic session, and two hour long sessions in a floatation tank (my first time floating). We all dosed with a capsule of 4-AcO-DMT, and some of us nibbled a few Psilocybe cyanescens mushrooms on the side. The trip setting was a little strange, in terms of people vibes. One guy there was clearly there to get high on whatever was to hand, and chat and laugh...he had a really restless energy. Another guy was also restless, but going through some deep stuff. One of the other guys was on good form and wanting to chat, but getting distracted by these other two restless characters. My other friend in hindsight regrets taking mushrooms/4-AcO in that environment, he has been enjoying solo trips with mushrooms I have provided him with, for the purposes of therapy, and he feels he missed out on a therapy session by consuming the mushrooms in this setting. I had thought the setting would be much more calm and sedate then it turned out to be, I’d assumed we’d all be floating. I made the most of the opportunity, and had two hour long float sessions. I had one while coming up on my 4-AcO/mushroom mix. I took me around half the float session to really get comfortable, and when I had started to get comfortable, I had started to come up, with the darkness of the tank getting ever brighter with lights and colours, and the visionary spaces starting to open up. By the time I got out, I was feeling very calm and zen, and this affected the rest of my trip. While other peeps seemed quite restless, I felt very calm and serene, I was happy to sit down with legs crossed and eyes closed, chatting occasionally, more so as the night wore on, but happy to pay attention to what was unfolding in my inner space. One of the guys commented that I was a rock...I think partly I was in in a good space due to floating, but partly also due to the profound difference in experiential magnitude between a release dose of 5-MeO and the 4-AcO/mushrooms…the latter just felt so easy going and light in comparison!

It was interesting, but as the night wore on, I noticed that I was increasingly accessing the state of light I experienced earlier in the day on the 5-MeO, and my trip seemed to be deepening at the same time, when otherwise I would have expected to be coming down! I had another float session, and got more out of this one...I was in the zone from the outset, and it was nice being able to pay attention to my inner state without the distractions of other people. I really enjoyed the experience of floating. When I stretched out I could look behind myself, and it felt a lot like how I imagine being weightless in space must feel like. I felt refreshed and serene on getting out. I would definitely be intrigued to combine floatation with psychedelic experiences in the future, and would be interested in longer float sessions too.

Finally, around 6 in the morning following a day of deep psychedelic consciousness exploration, it’s finally bed time, and as I drop off to sleep on my friends couch, several times I find myself powerfully launching into the 5-MeO state!! At the time, this was fleetingly scary, as I felt my awareness dramatically shifting quite suddenly, although it was primarily really interesting, it never lasted long (seemed to occur on the boundary of waking and sleeping) but I have never experienced anything this vivid before in terms of psychedelic after effects! I have certainly experienced DMT and 5-MeO inspired dreams after having used both, but I’ve not had such vivid experiences of re-entering the 5-MeO state in partial waking consciousness, so long after the event.

I’ve heard that there can be 5-MeO reactivations for some time after one’s initial experience, such as during meditation, following breathwork or when dreaming, and also that one can gain access to the 5-MeO state when using other psychedelics, which after my experiences doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

I would definitely consider this experience with 5-MeO as one of my all-time peak life experiences (but also the hardest for me to explain), up there with my DMT breakthrough, my first time with iboga, and a few others. I would rate this experience as my most powerful. The release dose of experience of 5-MeO...going by my reading on these things...seemed to have more in common with a near death experience than a traditional psychedelic experience in some respects, and its power should in no way be underestimated...without a doubt this is some heavy duty, deep end stuff!! It should not be entered into lightly and it is certainly not a recreational substance at these dosages. I do however feel very lucky to have experienced this...it’s truly wondrous and amazing what a human being can experience.

Dr G is a pretty good guy, I've yet to avail myself of his services, but I've made his acquaintance a few times, and hosted a talk of his here in town. I think he's one of the few out there who isn't putting himself or his agenda in front of the experience. He genuinely cares about what he's doing.

Sounds like you had an awesome time, and yes, 5meo can "reactivate", spontaneously or most effectively and powerfully with breath work. It's an incredible substance that i credit with saving my wretched life.

I saw him give a talk with Natasha English not long ago. Dr. Gerry was a bit new age for me really and yes maybe a bit of an ego there and I do not necessarily agree with his take on dosing but that is okay...works for him and others and hes a nice enough guy it seems and means well. I resonate very well with Natasha English and her practice. She is the most grounded person I have encountered who is working with 5meoDMT and she prefers synthetic 5meoDMT to venom. I have only used synthetic 5.

I find the more new age aspects can turn me off and feels a bit flaky to me..that is just my own honest feeling about it..and there was none of that with Natasha English. I got a very grounded comfortable real vibe off of her and she is a real licensed therapist as well. I think Martin Ball turned her on to 5.

I was invited to a few venom ceremonies back in october..seems everyone was around for the conference. None of it felt right for me.

MDMA can really bring it back on, in the weeks following a 5meoDMT breakthrough in my experience.

Great report Banco! Sounds like had some powerful, meaningful experiences! It's always nice to read reports like these. Glad you had a good time!

I second this.

Bancopuma how is the integration going please? Long lasting effects?

I share your feelings regarding the new age stuff, he seems to be placing much more emphasis on the new age stuff now than when i met him, or perhaps it was just less of a focus at that particular time.

I feel i should backpedal a little on my statement. While i do like the guy, my opinion of his practice is based in relation to some others who are using toad venom and who seem to be more egoistic doing so. I just think his heart is in the right place.

I do take issue with his use of pseudo-science in his presentations, making statements that aren't backed by empirical evidence as fact. For example claims regarding the supposed conversion of bufotenin into 5meo or the physiological reasons for the peculiar'reactivation' of 5meo either spontaneously or thru the use of breath work. While that definitely does happen-I've experienced- there is no way to definitively state why or how it does.

There are folks working with synth, and while the ones i know of put their own spin on it and some are very much into the esoteric aspects of the experience (which is cool with me), there seems to be less disingenuity with that as opposed to the organic toad venom. There seems to be an overwhelming urge to place venom within some kind of cultural container, with claims of long standing indigenous traditions of its use in meso America granting it some kind of legitimacy along the lines of what's been done with aya, and i don't see that so much with those using synth in practice. I don't buy into the school of thought that says synthetics don't carry the same power as organics and it frustrates me that many do.

I have never used venom, my limited experience with "The 5" was also with synth. As I've written extensively about it on this forum, my introduction to it is what brought me here, being the most real, valuable, transformative experiences of my life-drug induced or not.

I have read somewhere here on the Nexus that Dr Gerry reveres toad produced 5-MeO-DMT over it's synthetic equivalent, which I don't agree with, as this is going to likely have the undesirable side effect of putting pressure on wild toad populations. The general consensus from the community with experience of both is they produce a more or less identical experience, just that 5-MeO-DMT is more of a precision instrument so a little more caution is advised when dosing. Some people feel the experience provided by the toad extract is a little smoother and more organic feeling, but at the dose I experienced it, this was simply not a factor for me, although I've yet to experience a full release dose of synthetic 5-MeO. Still, just for my first time, I was glad to do this under the supervision of a medical doctor and somewhere very experienced in over-seeing sessions.



Hey Jees, I've been feeling upbeat and positive following my experience, I'm finding it hard to evaluate what the experience meant in some respects, and even harder to articulate said meaning in words, I certainly consider it a profound peak life experience, but ask me to describe exactly why, and I'll struggle!! The experience has vamped up my curiosity and my hunger for knowledge and my general lust for life I think. Reading James Oroc's eloquent and thoughtful musings in Tryptamine Palace has been helpful in attempting to make sense of the experience. The light I experienced in that state was beautiful, deep and pure, and while I cannot directly bring that light to this dimension of reality, the least I can do is try and be good to people I encounter, I like to think I'm a fairly affable guy anyway but this experience I think has reinforced my desire to be this way, so maybe in some small way I can share that light. I've noticed my pre-bed meditations have been a little deeper, and I commonly encounter light behind closed eyes while meditating, and I've been having interesting and intense dreams since the event.

Some of the effects of floatation tanks can be attributed to the fact that they are saturated with magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt). Epsom salts contain large amounts of magnesium which is effectively absorbed into the body via molecular diffusion, and the impact is especially pronounced in float tanks as opposed to foot baths because float tanks expose the scalp to the salts (and of course the whole body), the scalp being one of the most absorbent parts of human skin.

I'm pleased you enjoyed the float tank, and I sure bet it was a different experience in your circumstance to usual!

Impressive after-effects Bancopuma!

Someone advised me to be not sparingly on epsom salt in a bath, like 500 grams in a one person bath. He said that being sparingly with the salt is like under aiming it's true potential.

Yeah I agree. Dr Justin Feinstein who is leading floatation research at The Laureate Institute for Brain Research at the University of Oklahoma is conducting ongoing research to see what extent magnesium is absorbed by the skin during floatation. Because surprisingly there is no solid peer reviewed scientific evidence to show this actually happens during floatation, so he will be testing circulating blood magnesium levels immediately prior and post floatation. I certainly think that the magnesium component of the epsom salt provides part of floatation's therapeutic effect, but I very much doubt it is the whole story...there are quite a few powerful testimonies of people using magnesium free sea salt/NaCl in float tanks prior to the use of epsom salt in the tanks, and these people still reported deeply positive therapeutic experiences. But I'm all for epsom salt in there!

This aside, floatation is a powerful holistic way of reducing stress levels...this could be worthwhile to look into dude, as it could be a help to you. I'm really curious to do some sober floating now.

I've just bought a 2.5kg tub of epsom salt myself to add to baths.

I'm not putting this as fact and maybe someone can put me right here. I was interested in the sanctuary for bufo alvarius that Dr Gerry said he was setting up, one that covered the areas both in Mexico and the US which was their natural habitat. I told him I was going back to live in Mexico sometime in 2017 and would love to help with that. He then seemed to brush me off and said it would be inappropriate and in any case he'd be traveling all over the world following the publication of his new book. I've never found any evidence that this sanctuary exists - maybe I just haven't looked in the right places

I've done a fair bit of experimenting with 5 but have always gone for the chemical variety. I've often wanted to write down some sort of description but words always fail me. I came across this video of Leo's the other day which I imagine is referring to his own experience. He puts it very nicely:

https://www.youtube.com/...4VNoe5tn3tg&t=1159s

A bit of a follow up for anyone interested.

Following this experience, I had a second encounter with a release dose of Bufo secretion with the same session provider, in the same setting at a later time more recently. This time, I entered into the experience sober, and I seemed to recall more of the experience compared to my first time. I recall one quite amazing but also quite freaky event, in which events and experiences and feelings associated with my life started to flash past my mind's eye at incredible speed. And not in a linear way, but everything seemed to happening all at once, in one extended moment, outside time. This was experienced as intensely disturbing when it was happening, as brief as it was (although being beyond time...at the time...it lasted long enough!). I guess this is where I should have surrendered and relaxed more into the experience, it was my first time experiencing something as bizarre and mind warping as this and I guess my ego found it threatening.

Skip forward to very recently.

I had some really interesting 5-MeO-DMT related experiences over the weekend (without taking it). Earlier in the year, I had two release dose Bufo experiences with Dr Gerry, and I had a smaller vaped 5-MeO freebase experience quite recently that was less strong than my toad experiences but still spectacular. A few nights ago, I had a powerful and intense 5-MeO reactivation during the night, my most powerful yet. It was very much akin to being back in the experience for real, it was very powerful, if brief. I was staying in a cottage for the weekend in the stunning Scottish countryside with two good friends for a weekend of walking. I had smoked a little cannabis with them before retiring and hadn't slept much the night before, which may have played a part in my reactivation, as my mind was highly active on going to sleep.

The next day, we all ate a good dose of dried Psilocybe cyanescens mushrooms (from the same batch I had microdosed with on the day of my first release dose Bufo experience). I usually vibe very well with mushrooms, and these particular mushrooms I've found to be consistently very clean and serene from past experiences with them. The coming up period was unusually anxiety ridden, and despite being out in stunning nature with two of my best friends, I was introspective and having a turbulent time, mentally. A big part of this experience was my forced mental focus on my recent Bufo and 5-MeO experiences...being in the bemushroomed state allowed me to much better experientially conceptualise actually being in the 5-MeO state, in a way that is simply not possible when sober. And my mind was being bombarded with the power and profundity of my past experiences, but in retrospect it seems that some much needed integration was occurring.

I now, in reflection, sincerely believe I experienced absolute pure, boundless infinity/eternity during my experiences (for whatever reason I can recall more of my second Bufo experience), and I will hold this view for the rest of my days. From my perspective, when the 5-MeO annihilated my ego, I was no longer aware of myself as a finite individual...in fact this seemed like an illusion. That in fact I'm an infinite being, and rather than being an individual, it's more that I'm an individual facet of something much, much greater than me. If you think about it, 13.7 billion years ago, the Big Bang occurred, and the physical universe and all its matter and energy and physical laws came into existence. We humans are special in that we are able in some way to comprehend our place in the universe..."we are star stuff...a way for the universe to know itself" to quote the great Carl Sagan. But of course we are very much part of that universe, there is no separation. All the large atoms in our bodies were forged in the cores of long dead stars. Our bodies run on energy originally derived from plants that can convert star light energy into matter we can consume. So on some level, our egos, our perception of being an individual being, separate from everything else, is a very sophisticated and elaborate illusion concocted by our brains. It makes great evolutionary sense of course, for us to feel we are separate entities, so we are able to live our lives and pass on our genes. So our egos are essential for our survival. But it is worth bearing in mind, that sense of us being separate individuals is an illusion. These breakthrough 5-MeO-DMT experiences very powerfully took down my ego. And when this occurred, I lost awareness of linear time, of being finite, and being an individual being, instead feeling a very powerful state of oneness, of unity with the infinite and eternal All That Is. This was a very cosmic experience, far beyond me as a human. But this force of infinity/eternity I very deeply encountered...felt like it could be part of the same force that ignited this universe/the multiverse in the first place, some kind of ultimate universal self organising fractal blueprint or equation of creation of which I/everyone/everything is a part of. It really is all one! I know that is one heck of a claim to make! But this was a very humbling and also empowering experience. In other words, experiencing this force directly, really felt like experiencing what some may term as God/Source/Tao/Brahman/Universal Consciousness.

Of all the many psychedelic and altered state experiences I've ever had in my life, of which there has been many, no experience has come remotely anywhere near as close as affecting me as deeply as this. I never ever expected to be able to experience something so incredible and so utterly mysterious in my life, and I believe I now know what a fair chunk of the mystics, yogis and near death experiencers were/are on about. "Entheogen" is not a term I’ve ever used, it never seemed really appropriate and so I never felt comfortable using it. In my experience though, out of all the psychedelics, 5-MeO-DMT seems truly worthy of such a label. Of all the various states of consciousness I’ve experienced over my lifetime, this is one I would have no issues referring to as intrinsically sacred. Without experiencing this directly myself, I simply would NOT consider such an experience to be remotely possible for a human being to experience by ingesting a chemical, or through any means for that matter. If there is a more reliable way of experiencing death in some measure before one's time, I'd like to know of it. This stuff has a power that dwarfs that of any other psychedelics, IMO. I don’t say this stuff lightly either. I’m a scientist and someone who likes to think they are rational and grounded person.


So yeah, the short version is that I'm truly awed and humbled, and goes to show 5-MeO-DMT keeps working on you long after your last session! It appears that this universe and this life is far more mysterious and wondrous than I ever dared dream or hope.

Wow, that realy sounds awesome Bancopuma.

I always love to read anything you write Banco, but this thread has been sublime. So pleased for you (and wildly jealous!) that you have been given these life-changing experiences.

Thank you very much for that report. Very uplifting and inspiring.

5-MeO-DMT really seems to have this special unique capability.
IMHO it is just astonishing that basically all people report the same thing. The same as all the famous holy people already say since thousands of years.

It seems it is the ultimate challenge for every atheist
For as it seems hardly any atheist, is after that experience, still an atheist.
(E.g. stories like this Link seem to be quite common)

BTW:
What dosage did you go for your FB experience? As I'm still up to deciding which dosage I should go for my first release.

Thanks peeps.

And yes Aum_Shanti my strong suspicion now is that 5-MeO is very likely involved in the experiences of the mystics and yogis...I think there is a very strong link between it and what the yogis refer to as Kundalini...and there seems to be some intriguing parallels between 5-MeO experiences and near death experiences. It is interesting to note than when Rick Strassman conduced his research on DMT, he was expecting the kind of experiences that 5-MeO much more reliably delivers than the former compound.

But yes I think a release dose would be good for any atheist, agnostic or religious fundamentalist or anyone with a "fixed idea about what's what" to quote Aldous Huxley.

My dose with the freebase that time was between 6-8mg. With my vaping technique honed following my experiences with Dr Gerry, I was impressed with the power of this dose, but it was nowhere near as deep as my Bufo experiences, which were likely around double this dose, approximately 15mg, give or take a few milligrams (with 100mg dried Bufo secretion per dose).

Do you think that certain spiritual practices can trigger the release of 5-MeO, or rather that 5-MeO can bring you into contact with something- a natural state- that was already there?

Honestly, I do not think these "spiritual people" are using endogenous 5-MeO-DMT.
I have had the privilege to get to know such a person. And they can shift in and out of this consciousness within a blink of an eye. That wouldn't be possible with endogenous substances.

Another thing is that they can function completely normally in their body, while being in such a consciousness. That also directly neglects IMHO that any endogenous emission is responsible for that state.

IMHO they simply have trained their brain to remain so calm, that you end up in the same state, or actually even a much further state, as they are not hindered by a drug which is messing their brain, so that they can keep the connection to this body consciousness, while still being in the highest and like that can bridge this gap and bring down from above.

Hey dragonrider, I strongly suspect so on both counts, yes. I actually suspect that endogenous 5-MeO may have played more of a role in producing endogenous mystical or transcendent states reported by the mystics than N,N-DMT. Certainly 5-MeO much more reliably induces the classic unitive, oneness, non-dual, white light, love/bliss experiences reported by the latter, highly distinct from the visionary, interdimensional, alien abduction style themes reported with N,N-DMT.

In particular, in certain branches of yoga I suspect 5-MeO may play a role, it seems to me that 5-MeO may be something very closely related to what the yogis refer to kundalini, if not the same thing. Yoga in Sanskrit means "union" as in union with God/universal consciousness (very much 5-MeO's vibe). Check out this very eloquent description of a kundalini awakening experience by Gopi Krishna:

"Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord.

Entirely unprepared for such a development, I was completely taken by surprise; but regaining my self-control, keeping my mind on the point of concentration. The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe the experience accurately. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider surrounded by waves of light. It grew wider and wider, spreading outward while the body, normally the immediate object of its perception, appeared to have receded into the distance until I became entirely unconscious of it. I was now all consciousness without any outline, without any idea of corporeal appendage, without any feeling or sensation coming from the senses, immersed in a sea of light simultaneously conscious and aware at every point, spread out, as it were, in all directions without any barrier or material obstruction. I was no longer myself, or to be more accurate, no longer as I knew myself to be, a small point of awareness confined to a body, but instead was a vast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point, bathed in light and in a state of exultation and happiness impossible to describe."

This to me sounds very very similar indeed to a breakthrough experience of 5-MeO. So similar in fact, that I think it is unlikely to be a mere coincidence. Gopi Krishna's experience resonates very strongly with my own 5-MeO breakthrough experiences. Also interesting to note too that kundalini type after effects are reported fairly frequently following 5-MeO use.

I also suspect 5-MeO may play a role in people's experiences during darkness meditation retreats. We know that all the necessary enzymatic apparatus for its creation is present in the pineal gland (see linked paper below), and given that it is highly atypical for the pineal gland to experience highly prolonged exposure to darkness, I think neurochemical changes are possible or likely over time.

http://onlinelibrary.wil...159.1976.tb04456.x/full

Some people's experiences in these darkness retreats again sound very similar indeed to 5-MeO experiences, as do reports of near death experiences.

The Taoists have their own hypothetical framework regarding endogenous neurochemicals and darkness retreats and how they think it all works. Interesting but purely speculative at this point in time.

https://www.universal-ta...room/enlightenment.html

"I was a gigantic bigger-than-all-concept-of-universe radiant unending shimmering ball of light emanating perfect compassion forever without cause."

"I was absorbed into this light, and this light became the entirety of space around me until I was only this giant, radiant light-filled void. I was real and home again and bigger than a trillion of our suns."

"Even my experiences of perceiving the maya, of perceiving emptiness and suchness throughout my whole “life as Lindsey” as a spiritual seeker could not come close to this total absorption into self-remembering perfection of total...er...uh...beyond words and description annihilation into truth-light." - – Account of darkness retreat (Lindsey Vona)

...I strongly suspect 5-MeO could be involved in these experiences too. The description of "annihilation into truth-light" is textbook 5-MeO vibes!

Some more musings on such parallels in this thread:

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=72499

Maybe there is a state of being, a natural state, and there are multiple ways towards that state (and 5-MeO being just one of these ways)?

Anyway, meditation also changes the brain over time. The brains of people who start meditating will initially produce lower brainwave frequency's. This is because of the state of relaxation they're entering when they start meditating.
But the brains of budhist monks, people who've been meditating several hours a day, for maybe decades, produce higher frequency and amplitude gamma waves. Gamma waves play a role in synchronising cognitive and psychological processes. It's being linked with counsciousness and higher cognitive processes.
These monks very often have extraordinary mental powers, like the ability to effortlesly remember every word of a conversation that took place years ago.

Maybe the years and years of intense and rigorous training changes the structures within their brains, to allow them to enter states that us 'normal' people couldn't without a substance like 5-MeO.

I spoke with such a person once, and he told me about the ego-death experience he'd had. He said that he realy panicked, and quickly ran to his teacher, screaming "what's happening to me?". And his teacher calmly responded by saying that this is a completely natural phase that all practitioners of vipassana meditation eventually have to go through: "it's very good that you feel this panic and confusion right now".

Maybe we, 'normal' people, need a substance like 5-MeO for this, because we haven't gone through that whole psychological process. We are very much used to holding on, while they've trained themselves for years and years, in overcoming that reflex.