Welcome to Zen Medicine.
This is Eric Brown, you’re receiving this because you joined either my (1) Serious Play, (2) Blood & Ink, or (3) Phoenix Culture substacks. (Shoutout to those who were on more than one!)
If you missed the announcement, I’m merging everything into one—this one—and bringing it back to Ghost. Thanks for your patience with the turbulence as we transition.
“I believe life is a Zen koan, that is, an unsolvable riddle. But the contemplation of that riddle - even though it cannot be solved - is, in itself, transformative. And if the contemplation is of high enough quality, you can merge with the divine.” — Tom Robbins
Welcome everyone...
We've got 581 medicine friends here—you’re in good company. It's exhilarating to see this after starting with 28.
Let’s jump in: What’s happening here? What’s Zen Medicine?
I’ve spent over a decade studying and writing about psychedelic therapy, awakening, philosophy, embodied change, and natural health. But for too long, I’ve spoken around them. Never as direct as I desire.
You can expect: short, potent emails most days, mixed in with longer, deeper essays. We're going to dive into self-mastery, Zen, Bitcoin, martial arts, psychedelic therapy, personal sovereignty, the philosophy/practice of medicine, and natural living.
Why? Somewhere deep in my heart—not yet translated into words—I know they overlap. Bitcoin and Zen are just as healing as Advil and Breathwork. If you don’t see why, you will soon...
& More: Ghost gives me a few new options to play with. Here's what's coming (or already started):
- See what I'm doing/studying/living like on the NOW page.
- Building out a LIBRARY of esoteric book commentaries.
- Creating a wild paid tier, think 'Medicine Martial Arts' (MMA). Part school, part dojo, part mentorship. (TBD)
- Starting a private medicine practice (coming... at some point).
I never imagined life would bring me to medicine work...
...I was 15 on a ‘take-your-kid-to-work-day' with my mom, a family doctor and assistant surgeon. The horror I experienced sitting in the operating room watching laparoscopic surgery of a gastric band (stomach ring) violently dissuaded me from medicine as a career.
From that point on it was business school, tech startups, and side projects. Lo-and-behold, fast-forward a decade and...
- I designed the therapeutic programming for the largest psychedelic therapy company in the world.
- I’ve worked with hundreds of clients (~400) 1-to-1, guiding them through ketamine therapy protocols.
- My work has been consistently reviewed & approved by licensed clinicians, nurses, and doctors (sometimes ghostwriting for them).
- I have designed and run entheogenic retreats for hundreds of participants.
- I got training/certification in Wilderness First Response, CPR, and Kambo facilitation.
- I’ve run countless N=1 self-experiments. From extreme diets (carnivore & raw vegan), novel compounds (methylene blue anyone?), research chemicals, and esoteric/natural health interventions.
Who would’ve guessed?
That’s what we'll do here: run headlong into the intersection of medicine, martial arts, bitcoin, natural living, and beyond.
I’m excited. It feels alive, fresh, and novel. I hope you’ll stay for the ride. If now isn’t the time, or it’s not your vibe, there is an unsubscribe button at the bottom of every email. No hard feelings, time is scarce and your inbox is sacred.
Buckle up, thank you, & welcome to Zen Medicine.
EB.
No spam, no sharing to third party. Only you and me.
Member discussion