Tony Pham (Butterfly) started meditating in 2010 during a difficult time when he was questioning all the stories people told him about who he was supposed to be. He is a heritage Buddhist, facilitator, and healer that occupies the intersection of queer and BIPOC identities. He is also a 2nd generation Vietnamese American whose parents immigrated to the United States as refugees from war. 

Butterfly is a ceremonial leader and ethical steward of spiritual practices rooted in compassion, indigeneity, and sacred lineages. In addition to supporting private medicine clients as a sitter in the U.S., they are a guest facilitator and integration specialist with Tandava Retreats, a wellness center in Mexico that responsibly offers 5-MEO-DMT. 

Beyond 1-on-1 work, he facilitates group heart ceremonies and is also honored to be a guest teacher with respected programs such as Psychedelic Liberation Training, Psychedelic Therapy Training, and F.I.V.E MEO Education. Their dharma teacher is Lama Rod Owens and one of their Bufo teachers was Pit Prieto, a co-organizer of the World Bufo Alvarius Congress before transitioning out of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Butterfly is also an alumnus of the East Bay Meditation Center’s PiTA8 trauma informed mindfulness program for social justice activists. In addition to teaching meditation and Compassion Cultivation Training classes at Tibet House US, he has also completed anti-racist, death doula and non-violent communication training.

Episode Highlights

• Butterfly's journey: from meditation to psychedelic facilitation
• The varying intensity of different psychedelic training programs
• The practice of reciprocity in psychedelic culture
• Butterfly’s path to psychedelics: personal stories and insights
• The role of psychedelics in healing and identity
• Embracing non-duality and paradoxes of enlightenment
• Butterfly’s powerful iboga initiation
• Integrating psychedelic experiences in daily life
• Navigating the challenges of expansion and self-compassion
• The role of therapy and alternative healing modalities
• Non-duality: free will and the ego
• Ethics and responsibility in psychedelic facilitation
• Training and education in psychedelic work
• Reflections on personal growth and the path of service
• The importance of community and self-care in healing work

Tony Pham’s Links 

• Website: www.tonyopham.com 
• Instagram: @butterflytruth
• OFFERING: A complimentary 20-minute guided meditation with Tony Pham (Butterfly)

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Psychedelic Therapy Training: Ecstatic Mysticism
• Meditation Course: 10-Day Vipassana Course 
• Psychedelic Therapy Author: Kylea Taylor