Vietnam veteran Bob Parsons describes how combat trauma left him angry and withdrawn for decades. After trying ayahuasca, psilocybin, and LSD, he says his temperament returned to normal and he's since donated $7 million to advance psychedelic therapies for PTSD, depression, and prison reform.
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First day we took ayahuasca. The second day it was mushrooms, psilocybin. The next day it was LSD. I'll tell you what, Vishen, 50 years since the war, I finally came home.
My God. Wow. I'm so excited about our guest today. He is the legendary Bob Parsons, ranked number 340 on the Forbes 400 list. A billionaire, grew up in inner city Baltimore, enlisted in the Marine Corps and was sent to Vietnam in 1984. He started a software firm in his basement, sold that for 64 million to Intuit. Ten years later, create GoDaddy, sell that, and then start a string of businesses. One of his more popular brands right now is Parsons extreme golf. Bob, welcome to the mindvalley podcast.
Before I went over to Vietnam, I was pretty happy guy. Happy guy, liked being around people. Always felt like I belonged. When I went to Vietnam, I was with a Marine Corps rifle company. When I first got to my squad, they were in Quangnam province. They were on top of Hill 190, and there was rice paddies as far as you could see. And our job was to keep the North Vietnamese out of the little villages that were there. They'd come down, terrorize them, and take the rice and all sorts of things. We were on ambush every night. One of the guys in our squad lost his arm, lost his leg, side of his head. I saved a guy's life that night. The next night, our point man had his legs blown to shreds. The next night we, you know, we did our job and that's the way it went. And I was there for a month. We were walking through a village at night. I hit a tripwire and it had a explosion on the hand grenade on the end and tore my legs up, arm up. And then I was medevaced out in the army, Navy and Air Force. If you were wounded, you could opt out of combat. The Marine Corps, three times. So I got orders back, never wound up going back into combat again. But I was in Vietnam. A lot of rocket attacks, shit like that. And eventually I came home. But the Bob that came home was very different than the one that left. When I came home, I had a short temper. I didn't want to be around anybody. People would describe me as the most intense person they've ever met, that sort of thing. I wrestled with that for most of my life. Then three years ago, I read Michael Pollan's book, how to change your mind. I was fascinated by it. I told my wife, she hooked me up with a couple people that travel around and under the radar, treated veterans with plant medicine. First day, we took ayahuasca. Second day, it was mushrooms, psilocybin. The next day, we took a break. Matter of fact, I went and played golf with my wife. I've never putted so good in all my life. It was like the green was saying, hit it here, Bobby. Wow. The next day it was lsd. Then we were done. People could not believe the change in me. I was like I was before the war. I'll tell you what, I'm on board with the program, brother. You have another convert.
I really believe that people like you and me need to help bring mainstream is how powerful plant medicine can be. There's so much evidence right now that psychedelic treatment can relieve major mental health issues from PTSD to depression. But in so many parts of the world, it's banned.
The thing that I've come to realize is our mind, or brain, whatever, however you like to refer to the depths of its capabilities. We are only scratching the surface. And that is. That is one of the big things that psychedelics unlock. I believe we are all connected far more than we dare to even dream possible. Psychedelics makes that possible. And, you know, you know, it's interesting. I grew up and. And my. My mom, when she was a little girl, she was one of seven siblings, and her father was a raging alcoholic, and he would come home and always pull her out of the crowd and. And beat her, and only her. And so she. She grew up and she had a lot of the love just beat out of her. She was very gorgeous woman. Very, you know, she had. She had a good personality, but she was. She was not very affectionate. So if someone would ask me, they would say, bob, tell me about the most. Well, the most, you know, loving moment you spent with your mother. I couldn't tell you one thing because she was. She was, in fact, that close. I mean, she never held me. She never, never did any of that thing and probably made me the perfect U.S. marine. And. But the deal was, after I took the psychedelics, about two or three months later, in the middle of the night, I had this dream which was. It was like. It was like, I'm looking at you now right now on Zoom. And in the dream, I walk into this room and she's laying on the. On the couch, and she. She gets up and she comes over to me and she said, rob, can I have a hug and a kiss? I said, sure you can, Mom. And I mean, it had never happened before. So she gave me a hug. She Gave me a kiss and a brother. I felt it. Wow. I mean, I felt it. And she goes, I love you. And she said, can. Can I have another hug? I said, mom, absolutely. She did it. I looked down, looked up, she was gone. So it was three in the morning. I got up, looked at the clock, because, I mean, I. I thought it actually. I mean, it wasn't a dream. So my brother called me later that morning, and he said, rob, you know what today. Today is? And he said, it's Mom's birthday. And, you know, I tell you, that was the best time I ever had with my mother. And, I mean, I love her so much. But the thing is, I don't know where it came from. I believe she came to see me, and I believe the psychedelics played a big part in making it possible.
Wow. That is such a beautiful story. Such a beautiful story, Bob. It almost brings tears to my eyes. I'm so curious, and I think what you're sharing right now is so important, because someone of great influence like you, right, when you talk about these things, you add a legitimacy to it that ordinary people can add. And so your voice really amplifies this movement. What have you found that exploring these inner depths of your mind have done towards your goals and your visions as an entrepreneur? Has anything changed there in terms of the gifts and the contributions you want to bring to the world?
100%. We have donated a total of $7 million so far to help get that across, and we're just beginning. For the rest of my days, I want to see things change. I hope I live to see it. And, brother, this is a game changer. This total game changer. I mean, to help people with ptsd, I mean, combat troops should be treated with this the moment they come back. Other times, people that have a lot of. Lot of anxiety and trauma in their life, this can mitigate that. The deal is not to get rid of them. What the solution is is to make them better, to make them more compassionate, to take the guys that are really suffering from a traumatic life and to bring them home, so to speak. That's the solution. Now, there's one more place. How about prisons? Prisons? When MDMA gets approved, I mean, for the first time in the history that I'm aware of, we would actually have people getting out of prison better than they went in. And what that means is if we can take the violence and the anxiety and the trauma and the pain away from them, you don't need long prison terms. They just need to be made better. And, yeah, that's what's on the horizon. And I think this will be one of the renaissances, right, for the. For the whole world that rival any that's ever come before. I mean, it is. I'm so optimistic of what can happen, Bob.
I'm so appreciative of you helping spread the word that there's so much in terms of how governments can open up their minds, politicians can open up their minds in understanding these. These incredible alternative therapies and how we can be utilizing them to really help heal so many people who need healing. So thank you, Bob.
