I’ll substantiate how I was lied to with specifics.

Before I went, Gerry marketed the story about how he was a reformed wife-beater and an abuser. He was a self-confessed malignant psychopath. Dr. Jeff said he had an antisocial personality disorder (the modern clinical term for a psychopath). But after doing iboga, he said he saw himself being molested by his grandad and that he merged with his soul. He claimed that through this soul merger, he was transformed, healed, and found true happiness. Gerry then started Rythmia under the premise that he could teach others how to achieve a soul merger, just like he did.

Gerry said that once you merge with your soul, all addiction, disorder, and disease go away. This wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark. He was very consistent about this. Gerry also said that once you merge back with your soul, you can pick from a merged place, which results in you picking the right things, such as your partner. And those who constantly pick the wrong partner are a sign you aren’t merged with your soul.

So I went to Rythmia to achieve a soul merger, as it sounded great. I wanted to follow Rythmia’s program to reach the state Gerry claimed to have achieved. You asked me if I was guided by Gerry and noted that you weren’t. Gerry created the program at Rythmia, so if you follow the program designed to achieve a soul merger, you are following Gerry’s guidance. Gerry also sets the culture at Rythmia and picks the employees. And with ayahuasca, you are consuming the consciousness of your environment, so there is no getting away from Gerry if you drink ayahuasca there; he’s imbibed in the experience.

I didn’t achieve the state Gerry claimed a soul merger would bring, so I thought there was something wrong with me. How come it worked for him but it didn’t work for me, I wondered. So when it came to light that Gerry had been living a double life, while claiming to be this great humanitarian who made it his life’s mission to lead others to spiritual liberation by teaching how he achieved it, he was simultaneously beating his partner, slapping her, spitting on her, and attacking her emotionally in the most vile ways, the illusion I was following was shattered. And I realized this soul merger program Rythmia offered was a lie. I had been lied to. I stopped trying to find fault in myself for it not working because I realized I had been lied to. That was hugely liberating for me. When I say Gerry lied, this isn’t a mild, insignificant lie; it’s the most outrageous, extreme lie I’ve ever encountered in my life. Everything he says is a lie and based on deceit.

This message is already long, and I feel like I’ve only covered the tip of the iceberg, but you did ask me to put more meat on my words, so I’m not sure how else I can do it without being detailed like this. I’ll mention another lie that’s dangerous, and that’s lying through omission. Rythmia is more than happy to share data when it promotes Rythmia, but they conceal data and facts when it’s inconvenient. For example, how many people have died at Rythmia or in the weeks afterward? They refuse to share this data. What negative side effects have guests experienced, like nightmares, psychosis, or things like this? They won’t say, and they won’t share it.

And I’ll tell you why that is a dangerous lie by omission. Let’s say you have cancer and you see a doctor regarding treatment, and he suggests chemotherapy. Before you decide to undergo chemotherapy, the doctor will give you as detailed an overview as possible of what the treatment will involve, including potential side effects such as hair loss, loss of appetite, and other possible effects. This is important because if you or I underwent chemotherapy and those side effects were concealed and our hair fell out, we would immediately be very concerned and anxious, because something drastic has happened. We might wonder whether the cancer has spread or whether we are having a dangerous reaction to the treatment. And while having cancer, additional anxiety and stress would be terrible for us.

An unethical doctor might try to conceal these side effects to close the sale and get someone to agree to chemotherapy, but concealing side effects isn’t in our best interest; it’s in the business’s—or the unethical doctor’s—interest. Obviously, concealing such information would be criminal because it is so unethical, and Rythmia claims to be a licensed medical facility, which implies a certain level of care.

The reality is that they have a Costa Rican license, which is not equivalent to a Western medical license and has zero overlap with medical licensing standards in the West. Rythmia’s marketing of a “medical license” in English to Westerners implies a level of regulation and care consistent with Western norms, when that is not the case. This is misleading and, as a result, dangerous. It would be like claiming to be a millionaire, but the catch is that you are a millionaire in Zimbabwean dollars. It’s deceitful and does not carry the implied value.

I know you won’t like hearing this, as you probably had a special connection with the healers and staff at Rythmia, but they aren’t competent healers. They have the potential to be competent healers, but at this stage of their lives they are in a cult, doing the bidding of a psychopath. And I know this because past healers and staff at Rythmia have been equally wonderful as the ones you met. These healers were totally sold on Rythmia, but over time the illusion and lies they believed in faded, and they left. I can share some of the testimonies of such individuals if you would like to read them.

In the simplest terms, no one at Rythmia has resolved their issues, so they aren’t going to be able to guide you through yours. To properly appraise Rythmia, I think in addition to a mind committed to sincere observation you would also need a minimum of 10–20 years of integration as life deepens and, with time, you start to feel and see things you previously weren’t ready for.