I like Dennis McKenna as well, but it’s silly to say that he’s not motivated by profit. If you book his retreat while he is there, they bump the room rate to $10K per week per person.

That doesn’t mean that he’s not sincere, but it does somewhat muddy the waters, no? Clearly he leveraged the London Real subscriber count to promote a business venture, and the vehicle he chose has subsequently gone off the rails completely. Don’t you think the right thing to do now publicly would be to address that very audience to say no, this is not a government hoax, no these people are not getting sick from 5G contamination, no I do not condone this lunacy and yes, the Holocaust did occur?

This is the thing about trading on the fame of an internet influencer. You are the company you keep. I just think he should step up and say something.

Wow! That is an insane price to pay! I had no idea.. certainly does muddy the waters. And yes I do agree that he should publicly address the issues surrounding the London Real podcast. I didn't realise that this was his retreat centre so now I see where you are coming from..

Went to costa rica for a luxury ayahuasca retreat. Came back "re-connected". Went on holiday with his family, left them after 4 days and missed his kid's birthday and then winges to Gabor Mate about it. If i buggered off half way through a family holiday my other half would forcibly remove my nuts. I don't think that tis film is a very good advert for psychedelic drugs promoting self awareness. Frozen was a lot better.

I have worked a lot with people and Ayahuasca.. What usually happens afterwards is that the ego coming back much stronger.. and can fuck up your life on a new level.. especially if you expose yourself to improper environments..

I always have this talk after a cermony that: now its important for you all to be extra aware with more sensitive senses.. stay out of the city.. dont go to nightclubs.. etc etc etc.. bla bla bla..

I guess they missed this talk in Dennis retreat

The diet for both the mind and the body is as important before as after a cermony..

Yep, I agree. Searched for Dennis making a rebuke but couldn't find anything. Doesn't mean he didn't do it, just that I cannot find any statements to that effect.

Interesting, thanks. Are there a any films/documentaries that do a better job explaining the topic?

That I don't know.. it comes from own experience both with myself and participants.. I'm sure a lot of people here agree as well..

LOL.

Disney has some inside knowledge they’re trying to drop on the world.

I see that Dennis is an "advisor" (as is Gabor Mate and Bia Labate), but I don't really see any confirmation of him profiting off the retreat. If you have more information on that, please do share.

The five night "Diving Deep with Dr. Dennis McKenna, Ph.D." starts at $3875 for the entire week.
https://soltara.co/programs/631/

It looks like it normally runs about $2000, so they do almost double it when Dennis is there, but it's a far cry from bumping it 10 fold.

It seems only celebrities would be going to Dennis McKenna's retreat , I mean 10k

One could get a shitload of mimosa for that ,
and if one needs a guide what better guide than DMT itself

Edit : ah well it seems maybe it's not 10k , either ways DMT can teach more than any human being

Yeah, imagine for a moment the amount of rootbark and vine one could have delivered to ones home for that amount... Always blows my mind that people feel they need a "ceremony" run by a "healer" and how much they are ready and willing to pay for such.

Haha that's similar too: why pay 1000 dollars for a VIP table and a bottle of Champagne..? Imagine how much Champagne you can buy for that!

You pay to get the girls of course!!

And in this case you pay for Dennis!!

It's definitely worth this money just to hug him.. he looks soo cozy.. maybe if you pay extra you could curl up in his lap during the cermony

The $$$ makes it legal. That is a good reason to part with the cash for many who live in countries that repress freedom.

The war on nature and sacred plants is so immoral that you can have a legal experience with a "bribe", if you have the means.

It is a ridiculous and unfair situation, but it is our reality.

I've listened to Dennis McKenna speak on many podcasts and from what I've heard his message is very consistent that the plants are the teachers and that we monkeys are destroying the planet and need to wake up and listen to the plants, especially their ambassadors to our species: the psychedelic plants and fungi. On more recent podcasts he is very clear in stating that Coronavirus is real and is just another wakeup call to our species to change our relationship with the planet.

I find Dennis to be very thoughtful and insightful. He has done so much to promote a positive change in perspective regarding psychedelics.

Apologies. My mistake. A single normally goes for $5,500 per week on their website. Tripping with Dennis costs $7,000. They also have a couple's option, wherein you can come for the full 12 night retreat for only $17K. And you can actually book a cheaper option, if you're willing to bunk communally and can live without a bathroom.

Here's the link:

https://soltara.co/programs/621/

Regarding his "advisor" status, I think it's pretty safe to assume that if these three people are listed on the website as advisors, that they are being paid for their time and the use of their names. And Dennis McKenna is certainly the de facto face of the retreat. He facilitated and stars in a feature length infomercial about it that has now been seen almost a half million times on YouTube.

I'm not trying to pile on Dennis McKenna for sport. I like him very much. Gabor Mate as well. And they certainly have a right to earn a living, as do the founders of the retreat. But face it, they fucked up here. If you align yourself with someone because you want access to their audience, you're kind of tied to them going forward. I can't imagine anyone connected to the retreat reacting with anything other than horror to the recent London Real videos (and subsequent explosion of viewership). All I'm saying is that he who made the phone call inviting Brian Rose to fly to Costa Rica and stay for free (in exchange for a feature length documentary) is now responsible to address that audience, debunk these bogus COVID videos and rebuke them in no uncertain terms.

Edit: Just looking at London Real's recent videos on the website, I see him aligning with Candace Owens, Alex Jones, Charlie Kirk, Alan Dershowitz, Judy Mikovits, Robert Kiyosaki, RFK, Jr., Ted Nugent(?!?)... as well as a lot of other bullshit spewing right wing propagandists.

This guy is clearly making his play to vastly increase his already very sizable audience (and monetize it TO DEATH), and it's not just COVID related guests who are horribly problematic. I don't know what he believes or doesn't, but he's obviously trying to tap into a VERY specific market - so, he's either a cynical, calculating opportunist or a fascist. Take your pick.

I would say that makes him dangerous, and a person to be reviled. And all the more, it seriously calls into question the judgment of everyone who is connected to (and profits from) the retreat.

That Robert Kiyosaki got on my nerves when I saw an interview with him in that London Real channel. I don't remember the exact words but he was just disgustingly disparagingly speaking about people who live in poverty. Just do a youtube search of this guy, you'll see.

Yup. He's vile. As are all of the others I listed - as well as a bunch of other COVID deniers on his site that I didn't.

I just watched this last night. Big picture positives - I liked that it showed how ayahuasca can be used to reevaluate one's life, the guy clearly identified some problems in his life and was humbled which he needed at the time. I also like that he made it clear that his "reforms" were pretty much failing after the retreat experience, and people thought he was crazy, and the ego came back, and he ended up maybe not that much different from when he began. Sadly, I think this is pretty much routine for many people who try psychedelics. There is usually a post-trip period where they feel great and want to tell everyone about it, and then its pretty quickly back to baseline. Creating long lasting beneficial change requires a lot of work and desire, not just psychedelics.

As for the particular ayahuasca retreat in the vid... I see many problems there. First of all, the whole idea of giving people 3 doses of ayahuasca over a 5 day period seems stupid to me. It varies from person to person, but many will need weeks or months to integrate even one ceremony, ayahuasca can be quite hard on the body and mind. Giving people so many back to back doses is irresponsible in my option unless you really know the person is able to handle it and benefit from it. Making up silly unscientific stories about how it supposedly works is little more than lame mind tricks to force your views on other people to influence their experience: Denis talking about how the first trip is light and beautiful, second is dark and powerful, third one sews you back together so you are ready to go home? Give me a break! Don't tell people this nonsense, your experience will be whatever your mind decides it should be, influenced by your preparation, personal history, intentions, set, setting, and overall mental state. It is wrong to "pre-program" ceremony participants with your ideas of what their experience should be. As an aside, I laughed to see that they store the "sacred medicine" in a 2 litter plastic coke bottle that still has the coke label on it, "come on man!"

Sure some people can handle being dosed 3 times in 5 days, this guy seemed OK with that, but I seriously doubt this is a good approach in general. They only do this to make people think they are getting "bang for their buck". Speaking of which, I'm all for free markets, if they can change thousands of dollars for this, good for them, but people should also know that you don't have to be rich to go to an ayahuasca retreat. I know of a center in Costa Rica that does "one off" ceremonies for just $100 and its a pretty special place, where they grow and brew the medicine right there on the premises, and they do it with great passion - often live streaming the process (they sing, play music, and pray as it is being prepared).

My recommendation to people that want to do ayahuasca in a jungle would be to look for some reviews of a few places, find one you are comfortable with, forget about their ridiculous "package deals" and just tell them you want one ceremony only, then spend at least a day or two on nature hikes or exploring the wilderness just before your ceremony. Set an intention (or 2 -5 intentions for the ambitious) well before you leave home, and mediate on it at least nightly as you fall asleep.