After 2 years of living in Sacred Valley during the pandemic, I decided to travel and visit Mexico. Besides seeing cenotes and trying street food, I was interested in trying a true mushroom ceremony. Instead of mushrooms, Bufo showed up without me even looking for it.
Here is what I learned during my one and only Bufo experience.
In case you don’t know what Bufo is.
Bufo is an entheogen or psychedelic taken from the secretion of a toad native to Mexico. Bufo provides a short yet incredibly profound experience that is nothing short of divine or mystical. Bufo is so powerful that some people report stopping addictions to drugs or alcohol after one ceremonial dose.
Many describe the Bufo experience as a dissolution of the ego. Others may describe it as the experience of pure oneness or bliss. I’d say that Bufo matches the Yogic description of getting enlightened.
Meeting the medicine man
A chain of serendipitous series of events that guided me to this moment. There I was, walking, up a dirt road off the motorway that lead to Mazunte beach, hearing a shamanic drum getting louder and louder as I walked towards the Maloka-like temple (Traditional Ayahuasca Hut)
Renato, a medicine man in his mid 30’s, greeted me with a hug, like a good friend who hands seen me in a long time. The look in his eyes showed me he had done a lot of plant medicine in the past. His gaze gave me the impression he had one foot in the astral world.
We sat down to talk about what was going to happen. It was all very sacred and intentional.
Taking the Bufo: Going in
Renato guided me through some breathing exercises to relax before taking the medicine. He gave me a glass pipe loaded with the bufo crystals and told me to inhale very slowly, hold my breath, and fully let go of any control after that point. One is meant to fully surrender. Any attempt to understand or guide what’s going on would only create friction and interrupt the work of the plant.
The flame went on and I started inhaling. “Even slower”, he said. I held my breath with my eyes closed and saw these familiar patterns flash rapidly. The flashed about three times and before the fourth flash, I was gone.
There was nothing, just pure bliss.
I had become one with the big cosmic soup, source, or spiritual realm. I was pure love, warmth, contentment, unison…all at once. The closest visual I could describe is that of a still surface of the water reflecting a blindingly bright multi-colored sunrise. The closest sound I could describe is that of a choir of angels mixed with healing bowls and the sound of Om, all at once.
Funny enough, there was nothing to understand or comprehend in that state. The teachings started as I was coming back out. It was a gradual process, as though my being was being poured back into my body vessel.
12 Teachings from the Cosmic Soup of Consciousness
1/ The mind separates us.
I exhaled and it felt as though I had not taken a single breath in several minutes. “Oh no, the mind gets in the way!” I noticed how the emergence of thought separated me from the experience of pure bliss. “Oh…That’s why the Buddhists say “no mind”, I thought. The meditation teachings made even perfect sense in a new way.
2/ All is perfect as it is.
Then, I started feeling my body, soft and anesthetized, like coming out of Yoga Nidra. Now the awareness of body sensations separated me from pure bliss. I chucked as it became crystal clear that all is perfect and blissful, in oneness with God, a harmonious loving flow, one-verse. But we get in the way! We get in the way of our human minds and heavy (energetically dense) bodies.
3/ Nothing really matters.
I laughed some more at how simple everything is. I felt as though nothing in this material reality really matters. Only the harmonious flow of universal love matters. I saw that we’ll all go back to become part of the big cosmic soup and that's all that matters.
4/ Everything really matters.
After laughing because nothing really matters, I cried. I felt sad for all the time wasted with silly arguments with my mom, and other people I love. I felt sorry for all the pointless disharmonies in the world. If nothing really matters, there is no point in getting caught up with my ideas, opinions, triggers, or need to prove anything right or wrong. All that is so unnecessary, especially when I saw that we can always be in harmony and peace. Nothing really matters, and yet everything matters. Later I understood that the Earth plane is a sacred space where all souls come to work and meet.
5/ Meditating in Nature gets us close to the source.
I asked this in my mind as I knew the effect of the medicine was going to be over soon. The answer was” Inner silence, stillness, meditation, and being in sacred communion with nature”. I saw images of nature in perfect stillness, the sun shining through green baby leaves on a delicate plant, pink trees, and birds chirping. I understood that is all God, that nature is universal flow in a materially pure form.
6/ Savour every inch of your breath flow.
The message continued: “Go to nature and breathe in and out as slowly as possible, feeling every millimeter of your breath coming in and out. There, you will feel a little closer to pure bliss once again. Listen to the sounds inside your soul and you will hear the same angelic chants you heard here. The sound of pure bliss is always there”.
“Take more naps and practice Yoga Nidra. Respect your sleep, as it is here when we get closer to the state of pure bliss. Pray and thank God for every moment and you will feel the love in your heart. This will take you a little closer to that state of pure bliss”.
7/ Learn to flow.
Learn to practice flow state, it said. The hippies are right! They made perfect sense, juggling dancing and doing all the things the hippie tribe does during sunset at Mazunte and places like that. They are here to practice flow, go with the flow, vibe, and be in oneness. They serve that purpose. It’s all good.
Our minds separate us from the flow. For example, we might be dancing and enjoying ourselves but then we might think: “Do I look silly right now, am I clumsy dancing?” Boom, with this thought we get immediately out of the flow and the oneness of dancing.
8/ There is no purpose.
Then a question came through. “It doesn’t make any sense, if nothing matters and it’s all so simple then why this body, why this material reality?” No answer. “Is there a destiny for me?” No clear answer…just a faint “There is no fate, you can do whatever you want”. But, how will I know?. “The instructions will be given as you go, they are within you, listen to the inner silence. Meditate, breathe slowly in nature, flow, sleep, and you will know….but if in doubt, make it up”. I laughed or smiled some more as I continued returning to my body.
9/How to clear the mental sediment.
Buffo showed me how sometimes our minds can become sedimented, beyond the point where a regular practice of yoga or meditation can help. That’s when it is advisable to use Santa Maria (Cannabis) and Mushrooms (Psilocybin). These medicines help us clear the mental stuckness, clear the “sediment” and facilitate the flow of universal energy once again. They are not meant to be taken in full doses regularly, we should get their help when needed.
In a dream, I got part 2 of this teaching, which is to ingest Psilocybin with some Cacao. Turns out there is a growing interest in combining these and an increasing amount of science. You can do your own research : )
10/ Keep a clean body.
I understood that a dense or toxic body separates me or interrupts the energy flow of god. My body should be clean and light if I want to get closer to the feeling of bliss, and universal love I felt in Bufo. Taking onboard the previous teachings, that means more bliss when meditating in nature and, more connection when breathing slowly. Avoid toxic foods like bad fats and alcohol. Do yoga to keep the body flexible and the energy flowing. Use your body. Dance. “Practice flow, flow as much as you can.”
This reminds me of the teaching from a Tai Chi training: “At the beginning, you feel as though you are doing the movement, but with practice and experience, you come to realize that it is the movement doing you”.
11/ No Fear. No needs.
I was still lying down smiling in bliss, realizing that it is all good and nothing really matters. Everything is always ok. There is nothing to worry about because, in the end, there is only love and oneness. There is no need to fear death because know where I am going next. Death in this sense is a gift of returning to oneness.. It became clear that keeping people alive artificially is a terrible thing because it keeps them from naturally going back to the source.
I felt like needed so little, I barely needed to breathe! I didn’t need water, food, or clothes, all we needed was to be close to the source. The sadhus in India walking around in perpetual pilgrimage, possessing only the clothes on their backs made perfect sense.
12/ Get out of the way
My main takeaway or teaching from bufo was that the main work is to let the universal energy flow and don’t let ourselves get in the way. This reminds me of the book The Surrender Experiment or movies like The Yes Man. It feels like that’s the key.
Thanks for reading! May you find flow, inner guidance, and joy in the present moment as it is : )
These life-changing experiences and sacred medicines inform and guide my work as a Spiritual Coach and Breathwork Healer. If you're curious about my work, feel free to DM me for an exploration call or join a group Breathwork session. 🌟🧘♀️ Contact info on my website.
Love,
Rio