Reciprocity & Honoring Culture
The work we do at IbogaQuest is shaped by many lineages. We didn’t invent the space we hold. We inherited it from generations of practitioners, healers, and communities whose knowledge made all of this possible.
From our founder Barry’s decades-long practice of Tibetan Buddhism, to the diverse cultural and spiritual backgrounds of our predominantly Mexican team, our foundation is rooted in both personal practice and collective wisdom. Our team includes meditators, therapists, a Jungian analyst, a philosopher, and individuals who have walked deeply within their own and other traditions.
We have also had the privilege of working with people from all over the world, representing a wide range of spiritual paths and beliefs.
We do not promote one single worldview. Instead, we aim to create a space where different traditions are respected, where each person’s path is honored, and where learning can move in all directions.
Honoring the roots of iboga
Ibogaine does not exist in isolation. It comes from iboga, a plant native to West Central Africa, used for many generations within the Bwiti tradition. This tradition, held and protected by communities in Gabon, Cameroon, Congo and surrounding regions, carries a depth of knowledge about the physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of this medicine that the Western world is only beginning to understand.
Several members of our team have traveled to Gabon, spent time with lineage holders, and undergone traditional initiations. Those experiences have shaped how we relate to this medicine, not as something to extract or replicate, but as something to approach with humility and ongoing study.
We do not represent Bwiti. We do not attempt to recreate it outside of its cultural context. What we try to do is acknowledge where this medicine comes from, and behave like people who haven’t forgotten.
Reciprocity in practice
Respect has to be lived rather than spoken.
We are committed to direct relationships with people and communities connected to the origins of this work. Rather than distant or symbolic gestures, we prioritize human connection — listening, learning, and contributing based on what is actually being asked of us by the people on the ground.
In practice, that has meant:
- Supporting individuals and communities in Gabon
- Uplifting the voices of those preserving Bwiti traditions
- Contributing in ways guided by relationship rather than assumption
There is no perfect model for reciprocity, and we don’t claim to have one. We remain committed to showing up with sincerity, and to learning how to do this better.
Our home in Mexico
IbogaQuest is based in Tepoztlán, a valley long regarded as a place of spiritual significance in Mexico. This land carries its own traditions, rooted in indigenous cosmology, healing practice, and a long relationship with the natural world.
Mexico’s ancestral knowledge has endured despite centuries of colonization. We hold that endurance, and the cultures who safeguarded it, with respect.
Several members of our team carry their own backgrounds in Mexican ceremonial and traditional practice, and that presence shapes how we open and close our work together. At the beginning and end of each retreat, we hold a brief ceremony, a salutation to the seven directions: the four cardinal points, above to the heavens, below to the earth, and inward to our own hearts. This is followed by a smudging, in the way our local teachers carry it when they open and close a space. It is a small thing, done with attention. It marks the threshold.
Part of our weekly program also includes the temazcal, a traditional Mexican sweat lodge used for purification, reflection, and renewal. We participate in this practice with gratitude, and with awareness that it is part of a living cultural heritage, not a wellness amenity.
A meeting of paths
What holds our team together is not a shared religion but a shared commitment: to awareness, to compassion, and to personal responsibility.
Many of us have long-standing meditation practices, within Vipassana and other traditions. These practices cultivate the capacity to observe the mind, to find some clarity, and to relate to ourselves and to others with more care.
Awareness, presence, humility, care, these aren’t the property of any single tradition. They form the foundation of how we hold the space here, and they are qualities that can support people coming from any background.
An ongoing practice
We see this as a practice rather than a finished position. It asks for reflection, dialogue, and a willingness to keep evolving.
We are a team shaped by different teachers, different cultures, different lands. The space we offer is where those influences meet, brought together with the intention of supporting real inner work.
To honor where this knowledge comes from, to engage in thoughtful reciprocity, and to foster genuine respect across cultures, these are not items we check off. They are commitments we keep returning to.
With care, humility, and gratitude, we remain committed to walking this path in a way that honors the past, serves the present, and stays open to what we still have to learn.