In this episode, syde & WarcoBrienza welcome Vanja Palmers, Zen monk and research facilitator in meditation studies.

Meditation and (Mind) Medicine are two ways or technologies of investigating the mystery of life and consciousness. Both have their relative strengths and their weaknesses, and the combination of them seems to be a promising approach to the big question of "Who am I ?‘.

• Where did your interest in psychedelics start? 
• The NZZ called your the most dangerous man in Switzerland. Why is that ? Here the article Der gefährlichste Mann der Schweiz 
• How is the use of psychedelics in harmony with being a Zen monk? 
• Spirituality and psychedelics are trying to answer the same question: Who am I ? Do they eventually share the same quest?
• What is Mind Medicine ?
• What are your hopes for the future ? 

Vanja Palmers was born in Austria and grew up in Switzerland. His career as a student at the University of Zürich and as the founder of a successful business start up came to a sudden halt when he ingested a few micrograms of a certain fungi derivative aka LSD. After a few years of being  a Hippie and a Yogi, he ended up becoming a Zen person, specializing in being nobody special, making effort towards effortless, traceless praxis….  with mediocre success - Felsentor and Puregg (two meditation centers) as well as some animal rights campaigns and institutions have materialized. 

Being grateful for being able to be part of the movement to bring psychedelics out of the demonized closet back into research, medical, recreational and spiritual contexts, he lives now on a little organic farm on Mt. Rigi in Central Switzerland.

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on psychedelic research in Geneva, Switzerland on 27.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here