1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,401 2 00:00:05,401 --> 00:00:08,347 [MUSIC PLAYING] 3 00:00:08,347 --> 00:00:19,670 4 00:00:19,670 --> 00:00:22,910 >> In the course of evolution in which life on Earth passed 5 00:00:22,910 --> 00:00:26,990 through stages of single-celled organisms to eukaryotes 6 00:00:26,990 --> 00:00:30,120 to multicelled and complex organisms, 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,470 one ever-present force has guided all of it to where we 8 00:00:33,470 --> 00:00:35,270 are now-- 9 00:00:35,270 --> 00:00:37,100 integration. 10 00:00:37,100 --> 00:00:38,690 That underlying principle that is 11 00:00:38,690 --> 00:00:42,530 seen in all arenas of intelligent life. 12 00:00:42,530 --> 00:00:45,020 Individual organisms utilize anything 13 00:00:45,020 --> 00:00:49,460 in their environment to ensure life and postpone death. 14 00:00:49,460 --> 00:00:52,880 By far, the most advantageous way for this to happen 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,690 is for peaceful and intelligent coexistence to take place. 16 00:00:57,690 --> 00:01:01,770 The flora feeds the fauna, which in turn digests and returns 17 00:01:01,770 --> 00:01:04,290 the food back to the flora. 18 00:01:04,290 --> 00:01:07,830 The flowers attract the bees, which in turn spreads the seeds 19 00:01:07,830 --> 00:01:10,380 and plants more flowers. 20 00:01:10,380 --> 00:01:14,760 The weather patterns, seasonal cycles, birds, bees, plants, 21 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,000 and trees all live within a greater organism 22 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,280 that many now call Gaia-- 23 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,340 the living Earth. 24 00:01:22,340 --> 00:01:26,410 And upon this Earth, there is no such thing as waste. 25 00:01:26,410 --> 00:01:29,520 Each part feeds the next and eventually cycles back 26 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:31,440 into itself. 27 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,270 All these intelligent moving parts 28 00:01:33,270 --> 00:01:36,540 fit together in an integrated system. 29 00:01:36,540 --> 00:01:39,540 The purpose of integration is for many individuals 30 00:01:39,540 --> 00:01:43,410 to work towards one higher cause that no one individual could 31 00:01:43,410 --> 00:01:45,350 achieve alone. 32 00:01:45,350 --> 00:01:48,440 In the world of computers, software and hardware 33 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,440 are upgraded perpetually for one purpose-- 34 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,730 to better integrate the rest of the endless web of technology. 35 00:01:55,730 --> 00:01:59,370 These upgrades not only add new features to the system, 36 00:01:59,370 --> 00:02:03,470 but they remove disruptive or obsolete features as well. 37 00:02:03,470 --> 00:02:05,960 In the world of psychedelic plants, 38 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,810 we find their effect on human consciousness 39 00:02:08,810 --> 00:02:11,420 not only adds insights and visions, 40 00:02:11,420 --> 00:02:15,410 but dismantles unproductive or harmful patterns. 41 00:02:15,410 --> 00:02:18,860 But when a deep psychedelic experience has completed, 42 00:02:18,860 --> 00:02:21,470 oftentimes, the seeker is left with more questions 43 00:02:21,470 --> 00:02:23,980 than answers. 44 00:02:23,980 --> 00:02:25,750 It is precisely these moments that 45 00:02:25,750 --> 00:02:31,000 call upon us to take time in peace, silence, and reflective 46 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,570 contemplation in order to pick up the shattered pieces of who 47 00:02:34,570 --> 00:02:38,860 we believe we were, discard what no longer serves us, 48 00:02:38,860 --> 00:02:41,560 and hold on to that which may still teach us. 49 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,190 And to reintegrate back into the dynamic system from which we 50 00:02:45,190 --> 00:02:47,380 were momentarily departed. 51 00:02:47,380 --> 00:02:50,980 >> Probably just as important as the psychedelic experience is 52 00:02:50,980 --> 00:02:53,800 the process of integration. 53 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:55,960 When you have a psychedelic experience, all 54 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,400 your preconceived notions of the world melt down-- 55 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:00,250 gone. 56 00:03:00,250 --> 00:03:02,083 You could develop all this new information-- 57 00:03:02,083 --> 00:03:03,730 floods of new information. 58 00:03:03,730 --> 00:03:05,360 And with all this new information, 59 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,960 you have to integrate it into your life when you come back. 60 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,380 >> Well, the physical body has been taxed. 61 00:03:11,380 --> 00:03:14,770 The brain, in some ways, has been taxed. 62 00:03:14,770 --> 00:03:18,490 Our psychology has been taxed in that we 63 00:03:18,490 --> 00:03:22,150 have to re-evaluate some pretty fundamental assumptions 64 00:03:22,150 --> 00:03:23,980 about ourselves. 65 00:03:23,980 --> 00:03:29,140 And energetically, our spiritual body has been blasted open 66 00:03:29,140 --> 00:03:32,050 and is reforming, and that's what's happening energetically 67 00:03:32,050 --> 00:03:33,370 with psychedelics. 68 00:03:33,370 --> 00:03:37,000 And like anything, it takes time for that to happen. 69 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:37,880 It's a process. 70 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,800 It doesn't happen over a few hours, or even a few days. 71 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,870 Sometimes it can take many, many weeks or months to return 72 00:03:46,870 --> 00:03:49,945 to a different baseline-- 73 00:03:49,945 --> 00:03:54,190 a baseline that's more holistic, maybe. 74 00:03:54,190 --> 00:03:57,250 >> Overwhelming experiences often call us to take breaks 75 00:03:57,250 --> 00:04:00,870 in order to process what just happened. 76 00:04:00,870 --> 00:04:04,890 After the death of a loved one, there's a grieving period. 77 00:04:04,890 --> 00:04:08,910 After running a marathon, a recovery phase. 78 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:12,000 And after the fabric of reality is unwoven and stitched 79 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,350 back together, after people's old habits are dismantled, 80 00:04:16,350 --> 00:04:18,360 there is also a period in which the tissues 81 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,570 of the body and the patterns of the mind need to begin anew. 82 00:04:21,570 --> 00:04:24,250 83 00:04:24,250 --> 00:04:27,080 In the daily grind of economically-driven society 84 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,620 and survivalism all around, the moments 85 00:04:30,620 --> 00:04:34,100 we give ourselves to reflect upon our lifestyles and choices 86 00:04:34,100 --> 00:04:37,010 are few and far between. 87 00:04:37,010 --> 00:04:39,470 And this happens even after psychedelic journeys 88 00:04:39,470 --> 00:04:42,560 that beg for us to slow down and integrate the messages they 89 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,000 hold. 90 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,300 >> I think it's a mistake when people rush off to their job 91 00:04:47,300 --> 00:04:50,930 or rush off to do something that re-establishes all the old 92 00:04:50,930 --> 00:04:54,320 patterns, because there's this amazing opportunity that people 93 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,410 have when, after the psychedelic experience ends, 94 00:04:57,410 --> 00:05:00,740 when things are fresh, when their brain is almost like 95 00:05:00,740 --> 00:05:04,070 a newborn baby, and they have this ability to establish new 96 00:05:04,070 --> 00:05:06,609 patterns, you want to strengthen those new patterns and this 97 00:05:06,609 --> 00:05:08,900 process of integration instead of going back to the old 98 00:05:08,900 --> 00:05:10,010 patterns. 99 00:05:10,010 --> 00:05:13,287 >> A lot of people I hear from say that they believe 100 00:05:13,287 --> 00:05:14,870 ayahuasca's going to be very damaging, 101 00:05:14,870 --> 00:05:17,880 because people who come back to society find it very, 102 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,320 very difficult to cope after they come back to society. 103 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:22,280 Gee, I knew this guy, and he wasn't the same 104 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:23,810 after he came back. 105 00:05:23,810 --> 00:05:27,140 It can be that way for people, because we live in a very, very 106 00:05:27,140 --> 00:05:29,265 dysfunctional society. 107 00:05:29,265 --> 00:05:30,890 That's why it's so important for people 108 00:05:30,890 --> 00:05:33,860 to integrate their experience after ceremony. 109 00:05:33,860 --> 00:05:35,810 You've got to sit down with the people you 110 00:05:35,810 --> 00:05:37,610 had the ceremony with and talk about it, 111 00:05:37,610 --> 00:05:39,890 and realize what you've experienced 112 00:05:39,890 --> 00:05:43,245 and realize what the world is that you've now opened up. 113 00:05:43,245 --> 00:05:45,453 And realize what you're going to be coming back into. 114 00:05:45,453 --> 00:05:47,750 See, there's the problem with ayahuasca, 115 00:05:47,750 --> 00:05:50,510 is that it does reconnect people to the earth 116 00:05:50,510 --> 00:05:53,710 so much that when they come back to somewhere like New York, 117 00:05:53,710 --> 00:05:55,560 they just go, oh, my God. 118 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:56,510 What am I swimming in? 119 00:05:56,510 --> 00:05:58,850 I can't do this anymore. 120 00:05:58,850 --> 00:06:01,580 >> Many of those who have traveled to the Amazon jungle 121 00:06:01,580 --> 00:06:04,670 to try ayahuasca in its traditional surroundings 122 00:06:04,670 --> 00:06:07,310 experience culture shock. 123 00:06:07,310 --> 00:06:11,260 The language, the environment, the customs, and of course, 124 00:06:11,260 --> 00:06:14,660 the medicine become a whirlwind of new experience 125 00:06:14,660 --> 00:06:17,870 that can be stressful on the body and mind. 126 00:06:17,870 --> 00:06:20,510 This is what is called a peak experience, 127 00:06:20,510 --> 00:06:23,870 and now these experiences are so easily attainable 128 00:06:23,870 --> 00:06:26,780 that people with no preparation and no context 129 00:06:26,780 --> 00:06:29,150 for the life-altering journey to come 130 00:06:29,150 --> 00:06:33,110 are flooding the Amazon in search of this brew. 131 00:06:33,110 --> 00:06:36,860 In the 1960s, the youth were increasingly experimenting 132 00:06:36,860 --> 00:06:39,170 with psychedelics and ripping apart their most 133 00:06:39,170 --> 00:06:42,560 cherished belief systems, but with little education 134 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:44,540 and a lot of ambition. 135 00:06:44,540 --> 00:06:46,700 So even if they were waking the sleeping mind 136 00:06:46,700 --> 00:06:50,720 to new information, were they truly ready? 137 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,720 Just as the gut is equipped to break down complex food 138 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,520 into basic building blocks for energy, 139 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:58,190 the nervous system must switch from 140 00:06:58,190 --> 00:07:02,150 sympathetic, or activity-based, to parasympathetic, which 141 00:07:02,150 --> 00:07:04,580 is the rest and digest state. 142 00:07:04,580 --> 00:07:08,090 Without this switch, without the resting state, 143 00:07:08,090 --> 00:07:11,210 the food struggles to digest. 144 00:07:11,210 --> 00:07:13,280 So what is the result of moving from one 145 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,920 peak psychedelic experience to the next 146 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,530 without fully digesting the previous insights that 147 00:07:18,530 --> 00:07:20,420 were gained? 148 00:07:20,420 --> 00:07:23,570 What happens when people do ceremony after ceremony 149 00:07:23,570 --> 00:07:25,940 without time for integration? 150 00:07:25,940 --> 00:07:29,550 >> If you take another medicine before the integration is done, 151 00:07:29,550 --> 00:07:33,950 you start to stack those big realizations and big 152 00:07:33,950 --> 00:07:37,320 understandings without fully integrating them. 153 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,700 And in a sense, it can create its own psychic burden. 154 00:07:40,700 --> 00:07:42,240 And it shows up like anxiety. 155 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,620 It's like, oh, I'm just overwhelmed by the concepts 156 00:07:46,620 --> 00:07:50,900 that I've received from my medicine work experiences. 157 00:07:50,900 --> 00:07:54,830 So there are times when doing regular work 158 00:07:54,830 --> 00:07:57,710 repeatedly is healthy and important, particularly 159 00:07:57,710 --> 00:07:59,870 in healing a trauma or something like that. 160 00:07:59,870 --> 00:08:03,800 You're doing some real clinical work and it's a period. 161 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,240 But then after that, there should 162 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,860 be long, extended periods of non-medicine use, 163 00:08:09,860 --> 00:08:14,180 just to really, fully receive and embody 164 00:08:14,180 --> 00:08:16,310 the lessons of the medicine. 165 00:08:16,310 --> 00:08:19,940 >> In most ayahuasca circles, after each night of ceremony, 166 00:08:19,940 --> 00:08:22,670 the group will sit together and share their experiences 167 00:08:22,670 --> 00:08:26,150 or insights in order to allow the group to reflect upon what 168 00:08:26,150 --> 00:08:28,550 they experienced and why. 169 00:08:28,550 --> 00:08:31,520 Some speak about what they saw or felt. 170 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,590 Others realize that they need to be better 171 00:08:33,590 --> 00:08:36,350 to the people around them, or spend more time laughing 172 00:08:36,350 --> 00:08:38,270 and enjoying life. 173 00:08:38,270 --> 00:08:42,320 And others find themselves still in the throes of the journey. 174 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:43,970 Many of them have similar reasons 175 00:08:43,970 --> 00:08:46,680 for attending the ceremony in the first place, 176 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,670 and it's nearly always because the life that they were leading 177 00:08:49,670 --> 00:08:52,340 seemed off-track, and now they're desperately 178 00:08:52,340 --> 00:08:54,140 looking for the trail of breadcrumbs 179 00:08:54,140 --> 00:08:57,500 to lead them back to the familiar world. 180 00:08:57,500 --> 00:09:02,420 >> Many people say, I am here because I lost myself. 181 00:09:02,420 --> 00:09:05,970 It's interesting to hear, because, hey, I'm here. 182 00:09:05,970 --> 00:09:07,430 How can I lose myself? 183 00:09:07,430 --> 00:09:10,880 So what they are reporting is that their spiritual awareness 184 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,980 knows that they're not complete. 185 00:09:12,980 --> 00:09:17,010 Somewhere on their highway of life, they took the wrong exit, 186 00:09:17,010 --> 00:09:18,780 and then nasty things have happened, 187 00:09:18,780 --> 00:09:22,680 experiences happen, and they want to go back on the highway. 188 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:28,280 So the beauty is, when you hear 40 people share, 189 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:33,290 you lose your modesty or shyness, or even shame, 190 00:09:33,290 --> 00:09:35,250 and you just share. 191 00:09:35,250 --> 00:09:39,830 And so I share, and I hear myself say something 192 00:09:39,830 --> 00:09:41,570 that I did not prepare. 193 00:09:41,570 --> 00:09:43,920 I was going to say something different, 194 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,780 but because of the whole group and the sphere, the atmosphere, 195 00:09:47,780 --> 00:09:51,770 the vibration, the resonance-- because it's a dynamic field 196 00:09:51,770 --> 00:09:53,870 that we're all in-- 197 00:09:53,870 --> 00:09:56,090 I hear myself say a different thing. 198 00:09:56,090 --> 00:09:58,600 And I think, where does that come from? 199 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,310 It's, of course, my own subconscious speaking. 200 00:10:01,310 --> 00:10:03,440 >> The ability for these medicines to reveal 201 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,560 our subconscious mind to us might be the hallmark of how 202 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:10,070 psychedelic plants can offer us life-changing moments. 203 00:10:10,070 --> 00:10:12,100 And out of all the plant medicines, 204 00:10:12,100 --> 00:10:14,840 ayahuasca ceremonies in modern contexts 205 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,380 are held in a slightly different manner from other ceremonies. 206 00:10:18,380 --> 00:10:21,510 There's usually an emphasis on the sharing circle. 207 00:10:21,510 --> 00:10:23,090 Whether or not everyone speaks is 208 00:10:23,090 --> 00:10:26,870 second to the priority of all being present for the sharing. 209 00:10:26,870 --> 00:10:30,020 These moments highlight the need for such peak experiences 210 00:10:30,020 --> 00:10:33,800 to be spoken about, listened to, and respected. 211 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,500 This allows for the nervous system to settle, 212 00:10:36,500 --> 00:10:39,320 for the mind to evaluate the experiences, 213 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,360 and to integrate the lessons of the medicine 214 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,410 into the tissues of the body. 215 00:10:43,410 --> 00:10:46,190 There are very real shifts taking place internally-- 216 00:10:46,190 --> 00:10:47,870 and even externally-- around those 217 00:10:47,870 --> 00:10:50,030 who partake in the ceremony. 218 00:10:50,030 --> 00:10:52,520 To illustrate the effects of what psychedelic plants are 219 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,830 truly doing to the human body and the energy field, 220 00:10:55,830 --> 00:10:59,620 a professor at St. Petersburg University, Dr. Konstantin 221 00:10:59,620 --> 00:11:02,330 Korotkov, has developed the technology 222 00:11:02,330 --> 00:11:04,370 to measure the biofield of the human body 223 00:11:04,370 --> 00:11:06,530 during ayahuasca ceremonies. 224 00:11:06,530 --> 00:11:11,040 >> My main background is quantum physics and biophysics. 225 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,675 And at some time, I developed instruments. 226 00:11:14,675 --> 00:11:18,590 Their overall name is [INAUDIBLE].. 227 00:11:18,590 --> 00:11:25,550 And this instrument allows us to detect, measure, and analyze 228 00:11:25,550 --> 00:11:29,690 human energy field, and we work in predictive integrative 229 00:11:29,690 --> 00:11:30,680 medicine. 230 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,160 It is measuring so-named stimulated electrophoton 231 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:35,300 emission. 232 00:11:35,300 --> 00:11:39,980 We apply very short electrical impulses to our fingers, 233 00:11:39,980 --> 00:11:44,330 and we have response in the form of photons and electrons 234 00:11:44,330 --> 00:11:45,920 from the skin. 235 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,440 So we are measuring people before, during, 236 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,870 after ceremonies, and this allows 237 00:11:50,870 --> 00:11:52,970 to understand how people transform, 238 00:11:52,970 --> 00:11:54,770 how they experience this. 239 00:11:54,770 --> 00:11:57,140 And typically, of course, it takes-- 240 00:11:57,140 --> 00:12:03,180 ayahuasca is very energy-consuming process. 241 00:12:03,180 --> 00:12:06,710 It opens up human chakras. 242 00:12:06,710 --> 00:12:09,080 It opens up your energy field. 243 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,570 That is why people become vulnerable. 244 00:12:11,570 --> 00:12:15,150 And of course, they lose energy in the process of ayahuasca. 245 00:12:15,150 --> 00:12:18,590 That's why, later on, they need to be closed-- 246 00:12:18,590 --> 00:12:21,560 energy fields should be closed-- and they need to be re-charged. 247 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,490 And we see this in our measurements. 248 00:12:24,490 --> 00:12:28,930 We can see that initial energy field was quite strong, 249 00:12:28,930 --> 00:12:30,680 80 Joules. 250 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:32,920 And it's uniform, very good. 251 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,540 And after ayahuasca, it is 61 Joules, so it dropped down. 252 00:12:36,540 --> 00:12:39,030 It shrinked, as we discussed. 253 00:12:39,030 --> 00:12:41,840 And we need to take it down so it is practically one day 254 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:42,970 after. 255 00:12:42,970 --> 00:12:44,680 Same as on level of stress. 256 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:49,490 Level of stress drop down, you see, from 07 to 91, 257 00:12:49,490 --> 00:12:51,820 so it's very positive effect. 258 00:12:51,820 --> 00:12:56,060 But energy dropped down as well, quite strongly. 259 00:12:56,060 --> 00:13:00,520 And we see dramatic effect on chakras as well. 260 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,960 Chakras was very disoriented, and after ayahuasca ceremony, 261 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,720 they became very well-aligned. 262 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,030 Not ideal, of course. 263 00:13:10,030 --> 00:13:12,940 This is not meditation process, this is different process. 264 00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:16,030 But they're much more aligned than before. 265 00:13:16,030 --> 00:13:19,360 >> Dr. Korotkov mentions that meditation puts the body 266 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,030 and mind into a different process than an ayahuasca 267 00:13:22,030 --> 00:13:23,020 ceremony. 268 00:13:23,020 --> 00:13:25,930 The greatest difference is that the meditative insights 269 00:13:25,930 --> 00:13:30,130 are arrived at by an inner process of relaxing, breathing, 270 00:13:30,130 --> 00:13:32,170 focusing, and observing. 271 00:13:32,170 --> 00:13:36,830 By its very nature, meditation is the process of integration. 272 00:13:36,830 --> 00:13:40,030 This is why every spiritual tradition uses meditation 273 00:13:40,030 --> 00:13:43,270 to integrate our concepts of life with real life 274 00:13:43,270 --> 00:13:45,650 at the end of each day. 275 00:13:45,650 --> 00:13:48,580 Even in the Amazonian ayahuasca ceremonies, 276 00:13:48,580 --> 00:13:54,220 after each icaro, or song, a moment of silence is observed. 277 00:13:54,220 --> 00:13:56,050 In order to close the photon field 278 00:13:56,050 --> 00:13:58,330 around the body before the ceremony, 279 00:13:58,330 --> 00:14:02,260 the shaman blows mapacho smoke over the crown of the head, 280 00:14:02,260 --> 00:14:05,560 and several traditions also include a flower-infused bath 281 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:08,200 after ceremony specifically to close 282 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,510 any rip or hole in that field after it 283 00:14:10,510 --> 00:14:12,940 is weakened by the medicine. 284 00:14:12,940 --> 00:14:16,660 This phenomena is also seen after receiving news. 285 00:14:16,660 --> 00:14:18,790 If the news is not shocking or destructive 286 00:14:18,790 --> 00:14:21,370 to the current mindframe, not much energy 287 00:14:21,370 --> 00:14:24,040 is required to digest the new information. 288 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,760 But if the news is intense and the person is not prepared, 289 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,600 it can cause such an awakening, such a transformation, 290 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,400 that the energy field around the body 291 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,190 is diminished as it moves inward to digest 292 00:14:36,190 --> 00:14:39,850 the earthshaking information. 293 00:14:39,850 --> 00:14:43,000 So what if a psychedelic journey reveals the inadequacies 294 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,390 and shadow sides of the modern society we identify ourselves 295 00:14:46,390 --> 00:14:47,830 with? 296 00:14:47,830 --> 00:14:49,994 >> Enlightenment is a very destructive process. 297 00:14:49,994 --> 00:14:51,910 Enlightenment is a breaking down of everything 298 00:14:51,910 --> 00:14:55,840 you thought was real, and none of this society is real. 299 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,709 Becoming aware of that is key. 300 00:14:57,709 --> 00:14:59,500 That's the only way we're going to heal it. 301 00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:01,150 But that's why I say to people-- 302 00:15:01,150 --> 00:15:04,750 I suggest they do not undertake this path lightly. 303 00:15:04,750 --> 00:15:08,410 The path to enlightenment and the path to spiritual awakening 304 00:15:08,410 --> 00:15:10,599 is very, very uncomfortable. 305 00:15:10,599 --> 00:15:12,640 You're not going to go there and drink on Sunday, 306 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,625 become this new age guru who's shining light 307 00:15:15,625 --> 00:15:18,220 and is going to go out and be warm and fuzzy 308 00:15:18,220 --> 00:15:19,617 and speak the truth everywhere. 309 00:15:19,617 --> 00:15:21,700 You're going to wake up and look back at the world 310 00:15:21,700 --> 00:15:22,690 and go, oh, my God. 311 00:15:22,690 --> 00:15:25,180 What have I been doing for the last 30 or 40 years, 312 00:15:25,180 --> 00:15:28,750 and what am I doing, and what is this world I'm living in? 313 00:15:28,750 --> 00:15:31,060 And it can be very, very confrontational. 314 00:15:31,060 --> 00:15:35,200 So if you're not ready for that, maybe don't do the medicine. 315 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,260 >> And so psychedelics can often bring up a variety of different 316 00:15:38,260 --> 00:15:41,860 kinds of material that's very difficult for people to accept 317 00:15:41,860 --> 00:15:44,090 and to figure out how to move forward with. 318 00:15:44,090 --> 00:15:46,300 But that's also the gift of the psychedelics-- 319 00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:49,090 is that it forced us to deal with these issues 320 00:15:49,090 --> 00:15:52,720 that we were otherwise able to bury into our unconscious. 321 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,120 So people often have difficult experiences, 322 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,420 because they don't have the support necessary to help them 323 00:15:58,420 --> 00:16:01,270 move through the new information and to find 324 00:16:01,270 --> 00:16:03,640 a different level of integration regarding 325 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,910 the traumatic experiences that they had in the past. 326 00:16:06,910 --> 00:16:09,490 >> If it truly is a lack of support that keeps us from 327 00:16:09,490 --> 00:16:12,460 integrating new and useful information, 328 00:16:12,460 --> 00:16:15,270 what kind of support are we in need of? 329 00:16:15,270 --> 00:16:17,530 By looking to the experts who have been researching 330 00:16:17,530 --> 00:16:21,230 psychedelics in both modern and ancestral contexts, 331 00:16:21,230 --> 00:16:23,860 we can begin to acknowledge how shamanic cultures use 332 00:16:23,860 --> 00:16:27,490 psychedelic plants to strengthen and expand the community, 333 00:16:27,490 --> 00:16:29,920 and even raise their youth. 334 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,400 >> The major problem is, how to integrate this into a larger 335 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,020 culture? 336 00:16:35,020 --> 00:16:38,170 If you were a [? witch ?] living in Mexico 337 00:16:38,170 --> 00:16:41,680 or in one of these cultures where everybody is part 338 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,890 of rites of passage and so on-- 339 00:16:43,890 --> 00:16:48,100 these experiences-- then it's actually helping the culture, 340 00:16:48,100 --> 00:16:54,640 because the way of living, the life strategy, the philosophy, 341 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,300 the mythology, the spirituality of the culture 342 00:16:58,300 --> 00:17:00,740 comes out of these experiences. 343 00:17:00,740 --> 00:17:03,610 So they actually initiate the young people 344 00:17:03,610 --> 00:17:07,089 into their way of living and their way of thinking. 345 00:17:07,089 --> 00:17:08,089 This is very different. 346 00:17:08,089 --> 00:17:10,150 We see what happened in the '60s. 347 00:17:10,150 --> 00:17:12,609 Suddenly, you had a young generation 348 00:17:12,609 --> 00:17:18,444 that started creating a totally different hierarchy of values. 349 00:17:18,444 --> 00:17:23,349 Make love, not war-- very pacifistic feeling. 350 00:17:23,349 --> 00:17:26,589 Very much concerned about the environment, and so on. 351 00:17:26,589 --> 00:17:30,370 They started differentiating themselves in the way 352 00:17:30,370 --> 00:17:31,810 they looked-- 353 00:17:31,810 --> 00:17:37,680 beards and long hair and beads and funny uniforms. 354 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,900 They're painting their cars with psychedelic colors 355 00:17:40,900 --> 00:17:44,080 so every cop knows there's grass to be found there. 356 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,960 Not very skillful revolution. 357 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,140 >> A rite of passage is something that many traditional 358 00:17:50,140 --> 00:17:55,070 cultures do value, where young people maybe go through some 359 00:17:55,070 --> 00:17:55,870 rite. 360 00:17:55,870 --> 00:17:59,830 It could be something like your first hunt, 361 00:17:59,830 --> 00:18:03,730 or it might be something like getting your first tattoo. 362 00:18:03,730 --> 00:18:07,060 It might also be your first ayahuasca ceremony, 363 00:18:07,060 --> 00:18:09,280 or your first peyote ceremony. 364 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,140 Of course, in our modern culture, 365 00:18:11,140 --> 00:18:16,060 we have ceremonies, which all too few people have nowadays-- 366 00:18:16,060 --> 00:18:19,750 like a confirmation, a bat mitzvah, a bar mitzvah. 367 00:18:19,750 --> 00:18:24,310 But I think that we need some sort of rite of passage, 368 00:18:24,310 --> 00:18:26,020 because young people-- they want to show 369 00:18:26,020 --> 00:18:27,910 that they're more grown up. 370 00:18:27,910 --> 00:18:31,210 I don't know how it is in various cultures, 371 00:18:31,210 --> 00:18:35,020 but I do know that young people are going 372 00:18:35,020 --> 00:18:36,790 to come up with some pretty-- 373 00:18:36,790 --> 00:18:40,000 sometimes dangerous-- rites of passage. 374 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,930 And very often, it also entails not being truthful 375 00:18:43,930 --> 00:18:45,310 with their parents. 376 00:18:45,310 --> 00:18:47,470 And wouldn't you want your teenagers 377 00:18:47,470 --> 00:18:51,010 to tell you they were thinking about doing something 378 00:18:51,010 --> 00:18:52,840 of this nature, they were thinking 379 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,090 about doing psilocybin, and that they 380 00:18:55,090 --> 00:18:56,800 could talk to you about it? 381 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,740 That you knew where they were, who they were with, and maybe 382 00:18:59,740 --> 00:19:02,770 you could even give them some guidance, like you should 383 00:19:02,770 --> 00:19:05,260 have an intention, a prayer. 384 00:19:05,260 --> 00:19:07,360 Be in a safe set and setting. 385 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:11,080 >> Current forms of rites of passage are seen at age 16 when 386 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,750 children in the US can legally drive, 387 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:17,500 at age 18 when they can vote, and 21 when they can legally 388 00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:18,640 drink. 389 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,380 But these achievements are not earned 390 00:19:20,380 --> 00:19:23,170 by bravery, intelligence, or honor, 391 00:19:23,170 --> 00:19:25,960 but simply by being alive through enough solar cycles 392 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,500 to be considered an adult. Because it is only natural 393 00:19:29,500 --> 00:19:32,830 that youth crave to perform more mature tasks in order 394 00:19:32,830 --> 00:19:35,500 to prove themselves, ancestral tribes 395 00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:38,290 have traditionally crafted cultural passage ways 396 00:19:38,290 --> 00:19:40,780 for children to become adults. 397 00:19:40,780 --> 00:19:43,450 In the small island nation of Vanuatu, 398 00:19:43,450 --> 00:19:47,460 boys at the age of 7 or 8 begin bungee jumping, oftentimes 399 00:19:47,460 --> 00:19:51,850 off a 98-foot tall tower with a vine tied to their ankles, 400 00:19:51,850 --> 00:19:56,240 to symbolize their bravery and their ascent into adulthood. 401 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,490 Among the Apache of North America, 402 00:19:58,490 --> 00:20:01,040 the young girls must complete the sunrise ceremony 403 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,520 after their first menstruation, in which they paint themselves 404 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,390 and reenact the Apache origin myth of the first woman. 405 00:20:08,390 --> 00:20:11,210 For four days, they are not to touch their skin 406 00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:13,910 and can only drink water. 407 00:20:13,910 --> 00:20:17,180 The Inuit youth are brought into the harsh arctic weather 408 00:20:17,180 --> 00:20:20,260 to learn to speak with animals and hunt. 409 00:20:20,260 --> 00:20:23,740 At age 13, the boys of the Sateré-Mawé tribe 410 00:20:23,740 --> 00:20:27,520 in the Brazilian jungle wear gloves filled with bullet ants, 411 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,430 which cause extreme throbbing pain. 412 00:20:30,430 --> 00:20:33,160 All of these rites of passage call upon the youth 413 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,710 to engage with their community and perform 414 00:20:35,710 --> 00:20:38,290 some sacrificial ritual in order to become 415 00:20:38,290 --> 00:20:41,140 an adult in that particular tribe. 416 00:20:41,140 --> 00:20:43,810 But these communities weren't simply initiating people 417 00:20:43,810 --> 00:20:45,430 into adulthood. 418 00:20:45,430 --> 00:20:48,100 They were integrating them into a healing tradition, 419 00:20:48,100 --> 00:20:52,040 in order to serve others and the planet at large. 420 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,670 For the hallmark of a functional society 421 00:20:54,670 --> 00:20:58,130 is peaceful and intelligent community goals. 422 00:20:58,130 --> 00:21:01,390 >> One of the classic features of shamanism was that 423 00:21:01,390 --> 00:21:05,050 the neophyte who was trying to develop shamanic skills would 424 00:21:05,050 --> 00:21:08,740 have to go through a very arduous ritual ordeal, 425 00:21:08,740 --> 00:21:12,820 often spending weeks or more alone in the wilderness, 426 00:21:12,820 --> 00:21:15,640 and often with the expectation that they were going to have 427 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,180 to encounter and deal with the animals-- 428 00:21:19,180 --> 00:21:21,370 the beasts-- that came to kill them. 429 00:21:21,370 --> 00:21:25,150 And I think that this reflects a primordial human concern. 430 00:21:25,150 --> 00:21:28,730 Once we become conscious, we realize we're going to die. 431 00:21:28,730 --> 00:21:30,970 Your dog doesn't know he's going to die. 432 00:21:30,970 --> 00:21:33,442 The antelope out on the plains doesn't worry about 433 00:21:33,442 --> 00:21:35,650 whether or not the tiger or lion's going to eat him-- 434 00:21:35,650 --> 00:21:36,660 unless it's right there. 435 00:21:36,660 --> 00:21:39,550 But we have a consciousness to project into the future 436 00:21:39,550 --> 00:21:42,170 and say, eventually, it's my turn. 437 00:21:42,170 --> 00:21:43,975 So how do we deal with this angst, 438 00:21:43,975 --> 00:21:46,050 this anxiety about death? 439 00:21:46,050 --> 00:21:48,280 Well, shamanic practices had a variety 440 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,740 of different ways of addressing this death concern, 441 00:21:50,740 --> 00:21:53,980 and one was that you acquired an understanding 442 00:21:53,980 --> 00:21:55,360 of your spiritual nature-- 443 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,510 that the body dies, but the spirit doesn't. 444 00:21:58,510 --> 00:22:00,880 And so people move beyond the concern 445 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,690 about their physical demise to understanding this continuity 446 00:22:04,690 --> 00:22:06,700 of spiritual existence. 447 00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:09,040 >> The realization that someone comes to-- 448 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,020 that one day they will die-- 449 00:22:11,020 --> 00:22:13,570 doesn't sink in all at once. 450 00:22:13,570 --> 00:22:16,300 It takes many moments of considering the implications 451 00:22:16,300 --> 00:22:19,780 of this final event to truly make an impact on that person's 452 00:22:19,780 --> 00:22:21,700 daily life. 453 00:22:21,700 --> 00:22:25,240 Some people, perhaps, never come to this realization. 454 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:26,890 So to fully integrate the knowledge 455 00:22:26,890 --> 00:22:30,340 that one day this body will die and return to the earth, 456 00:22:30,340 --> 00:22:33,580 tribes have traditionally used extreme rites of passage, 457 00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:36,670 as well as psychedelic plant ceremonies. 458 00:22:36,670 --> 00:22:39,940 Without dedicated moments of focusing on mortality, 459 00:22:39,940 --> 00:22:42,070 we may never fully realize the importance 460 00:22:42,070 --> 00:22:46,840 of living life as if we truly know it will one day end. 461 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,360 Those who have gone through near-death experiences 462 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:51,130 have reported much of the same phenomena 463 00:22:51,130 --> 00:22:53,140 as psychedelic journeys. 464 00:22:53,140 --> 00:22:57,610 Portals of light, other-worldly beings and ancestors, 465 00:22:57,610 --> 00:23:00,280 timelessness, and even the total life 466 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,380 reviews that cause them to re-evaluate 467 00:23:02,380 --> 00:23:04,580 what matters to them. 468 00:23:04,580 --> 00:23:07,480 They often report that they felt every harsh word or action 469 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,030 that they've ever given, but from the other person's 470 00:23:10,030 --> 00:23:11,650 perspective. 471 00:23:11,650 --> 00:23:14,320 Another commonality between near-death experiences 472 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,380 and deep psychedelic ceremonies is the realization 473 00:23:17,380 --> 00:23:19,390 of how we truly use the precious time 474 00:23:19,390 --> 00:23:22,780 that we're given in this body, and that this fleeting moment 475 00:23:22,780 --> 00:23:25,690 of life between birth and death should be devoted 476 00:23:25,690 --> 00:23:27,670 to the people around us. 477 00:23:27,670 --> 00:23:31,150 In fact, all of life seeks to integrate and support 478 00:23:31,150 --> 00:23:33,940 each other as one living organism. 479 00:23:33,940 --> 00:23:37,090 >> You couldn't develop consciousness in a vacuum. 480 00:23:37,090 --> 00:23:40,120 It takes an interaction of things. 481 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:45,850 And all of life is really an interaction of things. 482 00:23:45,850 --> 00:23:47,755 The body you see before you-- 483 00:23:47,755 --> 00:23:50,020 they say every seven years, I've completely 484 00:23:50,020 --> 00:23:55,910 gone through all my cellular matter and reproduce new cells. 485 00:23:55,910 --> 00:23:57,250 My old cells have died off. 486 00:23:57,250 --> 00:23:58,150 Hair's fallen off. 487 00:23:58,150 --> 00:24:00,940 Skin's fallen off, and I'm completely rebuilt. 488 00:24:00,940 --> 00:24:02,290 Same thing with consciousness. 489 00:24:02,290 --> 00:24:05,830 I was on my 30th birthday, and I was kind of depressed. 490 00:24:05,830 --> 00:24:07,720 My first book hadn't been published yet, 491 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,940 and I was feeling like kind of a failure. 492 00:24:09,940 --> 00:24:11,920 And I did some mushrooms, and I was just like-- 493 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,378 I started out with a friend, but I was being such a bummer, 494 00:24:14,378 --> 00:24:15,970 I think he just went home. 495 00:24:15,970 --> 00:24:20,830 And I was lying in this bathtub, having a bath, 496 00:24:20,830 --> 00:24:22,690 feeling sorry for myself. 497 00:24:22,690 --> 00:24:26,770 And there was this spider plant hanging above the bath tub. 498 00:24:26,770 --> 00:24:28,990 And it was just dry as dry, and I 499 00:24:28,990 --> 00:24:31,390 could see its roots and tentacles 500 00:24:31,390 --> 00:24:36,370 vibrating, sensing the wealth of water that I was in, 501 00:24:36,370 --> 00:24:37,720 just going like this. 502 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,600 And I cupped my hand and I put the water up to his roots, 503 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,780 and it just went [WHOOSH OF AIR] limp, 504 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:46,600 and just started sucking the water right out of my hands. 505 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:52,340 And it just totally brought the whole thing to life for me 506 00:24:52,340 --> 00:24:54,550 in a fascinating way that I don't 507 00:24:54,550 --> 00:24:56,590 think I would have ever noticed had it not 508 00:24:56,590 --> 00:24:58,480 been for the effects of the mushrooms. 509 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:03,850 And yeah, I think that it makes us realize 510 00:25:03,850 --> 00:25:05,650 that we are on Mother Earth. 511 00:25:05,650 --> 00:25:07,240 That's what these plants offer. 512 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:08,170 >> That's the message. 513 00:25:08,170 --> 00:25:12,370 We have to re-understand that we are part of nature. 514 00:25:12,370 --> 00:25:15,540 We're not in control of it. 515 00:25:15,540 --> 00:25:23,320 And we are potentially capable of damaging it very severely 516 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,370 by upsetting and destabilizing all 517 00:25:27,370 --> 00:25:33,280 of these homeostatic processes that keep Gaia-- 518 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,160 the Gaia organism-- in equilibrium. 519 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,420 We need to wake up. 520 00:25:38,420 --> 00:25:40,930 I think the plant teachers have been urging us 521 00:25:40,930 --> 00:25:44,680 to wake up as long as we've been associated with them, 522 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,020 but we're not very-- 523 00:25:47,020 --> 00:25:50,350 we don't listen very well, and it's getting even more urgent. 524 00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:51,890 First you have to wake up. 525 00:25:51,890 --> 00:25:53,540 Then you have to wise up. 526 00:25:53,540 --> 00:25:55,460 You have to have the realization, then 527 00:25:55,460 --> 00:25:57,560 what do you do about it? 528 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,300 That is trickier. 529 00:25:59,300 --> 00:26:04,100 But I think it's inevitable. 530 00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:06,290 >> According to many conversations surrounding this 531 00:26:06,290 --> 00:26:10,760 topic, the most important thing we can wake up to is the nature 532 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,500 of our individual egos-- 533 00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:15,910 the collection of beliefs and behavioral patterns 534 00:26:15,910 --> 00:26:18,170 we have about ourselves. 535 00:26:18,170 --> 00:26:21,770 The ego often wants to know all and control all 536 00:26:21,770 --> 00:26:25,280 in order to ensure no one else can take what is ours. 537 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,860 But this violent cycle of fighting for our place 538 00:26:27,860 --> 00:26:32,280 at the expense of others is fantasy, not reality. 539 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,240 The web of life is already functional without our desire 540 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,330 to exploit it and milk it for everything we can. 541 00:26:38,330 --> 00:26:40,790 This is called scarcity mentality-- 542 00:26:40,790 --> 00:26:43,110 the belief that there isn't enough for everyone, 543 00:26:43,110 --> 00:26:45,310 so I better get mine. 544 00:26:45,310 --> 00:26:48,340 Unfortunately, when someone is in this mode, 545 00:26:48,340 --> 00:26:51,460 it is difficult to wake up to its inadequacy, 546 00:26:51,460 --> 00:26:53,980 especially when surrounded by others that are also 547 00:26:53,980 --> 00:26:57,130 stuck in scarcity mentality. 548 00:26:57,130 --> 00:27:01,210 So the process of waking up is a surrender and the letting go 549 00:27:01,210 --> 00:27:03,910 of our ambition to have more than others and more 550 00:27:03,910 --> 00:27:05,620 than we need. 551 00:27:05,620 --> 00:27:08,500 From there, the wising up process 552 00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:12,130 consists only of peacefully and intelligently integrating 553 00:27:12,130 --> 00:27:16,090 with the one dynamic web of life that we are all dancing upon, 554 00:27:16,090 --> 00:27:19,420 a surrender to the flowing river of life. 555 00:27:19,420 --> 00:27:22,600 And the punchline at the end of this divine comedy 556 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,630 is that one way or another, through intention 557 00:27:25,630 --> 00:27:29,830 or exhaustion, the river will win. 558 00:27:29,830 --> 00:27:33,250 But why, then, does the ego seem so afraid of surrendering 559 00:27:33,250 --> 00:27:35,061 to the ways of the universe? 560 00:27:35,061 --> 00:27:38,290 561 00:27:38,290 --> 00:27:39,860 >> The ego wants closure. 562 00:27:39,860 --> 00:27:42,190 It wants a complete explanation. 563 00:27:42,190 --> 00:27:46,090 The beginning of wisdom, I believe, 564 00:27:46,090 --> 00:27:50,950 is the ability to accept an inherent messiness 565 00:27:50,950 --> 00:27:54,850 in your explanation of what's going on, 566 00:27:54,850 --> 00:27:59,080 because nowhere is it writ that human minds should 567 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,430 be able to give a full accounting of creation 568 00:28:02,430 --> 00:28:04,510 in all dimensions and on all levels. 569 00:28:04,510 --> 00:28:07,100 570 00:28:07,100 --> 00:28:13,010 The universe, at this moment, is a tremendously complicated, 571 00:28:13,010 --> 00:28:17,240 integrated, multi-level thing. 572 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,650 Perhaps what the universe is is a kind of system 573 00:28:21,650 --> 00:28:26,180 in which more advanced forms of order 574 00:28:26,180 --> 00:28:32,120 actually influence previous states of organization. 575 00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:34,310 They are attractors. 576 00:28:34,310 --> 00:28:37,370 That means that they exert influence 577 00:28:37,370 --> 00:28:41,210 on less-organized states, and pull them 578 00:28:41,210 --> 00:28:45,500 toward some kind of end state. 579 00:28:45,500 --> 00:28:50,420 The attractor is at the bottom of a very deep pit into which 580 00:28:50,420 --> 00:28:55,450 all phenomena is cascading. 581 00:28:55,450 --> 00:28:59,050 >> All life is truly a lesson, and the attractor that Terence 582 00:28:59,050 --> 00:29:02,890 speaks of is that invisible compelling force that calls us 583 00:29:02,890 --> 00:29:05,500 to continue learning in life. 584 00:29:05,500 --> 00:29:08,050 The increasing complexity of the universe 585 00:29:08,050 --> 00:29:11,470 may be exactly what calls us to abandon the ambition of knowing 586 00:29:11,470 --> 00:29:14,230 everything, or playing every role, 587 00:29:14,230 --> 00:29:18,340 and to simply play our own role, to keep observing and engaging 588 00:29:18,340 --> 00:29:21,160 reality in order to use the information that we 589 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,470 do have more wisely. 590 00:29:23,470 --> 00:29:26,320 Perhaps the evolution of complexity in the universe 591 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,530 is a reflection of our capacity to understand and utilize 592 00:29:29,530 --> 00:29:31,850 more complex information. 593 00:29:31,850 --> 00:29:35,440 And one of the most complex and malleable instruments we use 594 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,260 is the mysterious and ever-evolving human brain. 595 00:29:39,260 --> 00:29:41,530 >> The brain is a product of evolution, 596 00:29:41,530 --> 00:29:49,660 and the brain evolved as a profound information generator. 597 00:29:49,660 --> 00:29:53,660 It generates an inordinate amount of complex information, 598 00:29:53,660 --> 00:29:56,230 but also to receive and process information. 599 00:29:56,230 --> 00:29:58,870 And the environment is also an information generator. 600 00:29:58,870 --> 00:30:00,520 The environment is full. 601 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,277 The external world is full of information, 602 00:30:02,277 --> 00:30:04,360 and this information is always entering the brain. 603 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:08,590 But the brain needs to learn to sample information that is 604 00:30:08,590 --> 00:30:11,040 useful and to learn from that. 605 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:15,430 And in a sense, sensory information sculpts the brain. 606 00:30:15,430 --> 00:30:19,510 It's sculpts the connectivity-- the patterns of connectivity. 607 00:30:19,510 --> 00:30:21,760 All of these neurons-- 608 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,420 these cells in the brain-- 609 00:30:23,420 --> 00:30:25,810 they are connected in an extremely complex, 610 00:30:25,810 --> 00:30:26,670 intricate pattern. 611 00:30:26,670 --> 00:30:29,080 As sensory information enters the brain, 612 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,070 it changes the structure. 613 00:30:31,070 --> 00:30:34,810 >> Perhaps the universe itself is one single phenomena 614 00:30:34,810 --> 00:30:38,590 overflowing with information, and our brains are the part 615 00:30:38,590 --> 00:30:41,710 of that phenomena that collects, processes, 616 00:30:41,710 --> 00:30:45,310 and generates new combinations and patterns in service 617 00:30:45,310 --> 00:30:49,300 to an ever-evolving relationship between creation itself 618 00:30:49,300 --> 00:30:52,550 and that which is continually creating it. 619 00:30:52,550 --> 00:30:55,630 If psychedelic plants truly break down old beliefs 620 00:30:55,630 --> 00:30:58,690 and thought patterns to make way for the new, the way 621 00:30:58,690 --> 00:31:01,580 a wildfire clears the debris from a forest 622 00:31:01,580 --> 00:31:04,390 so new life can grow, then maybe the process 623 00:31:04,390 --> 00:31:06,730 of integrating into the cosmos is not 624 00:31:06,730 --> 00:31:11,490 a dilemma to be solved, but a dance to be danced. 625 00:31:11,490 --> 00:31:13,530 The idea of solving problems only 626 00:31:13,530 --> 00:31:17,760 allows for win, lose, or draw scenarios. 627 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,280 If life were viewed more as a relationship of moving parts-- 628 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,480 a cosmic dance do engage with, learn from, 629 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,370 and perpetually refine-- 630 00:31:26,370 --> 00:31:27,900 then the outcome wouldn't be limited 631 00:31:27,900 --> 00:31:33,240 by who gets what in the end, but by how deeply we've connected. 632 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,430 Perhaps the point of living is not 633 00:31:35,430 --> 00:31:37,050 a measure of the individual puzzle 634 00:31:37,050 --> 00:31:40,660 pieces, but how they integrate into the full picture of life 635 00:31:40,660 --> 00:31:41,460 itself. 636 00:31:41,460 --> 00:31:44,040 637 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:48,360 Up next, we will open two sides of the holy mushroom theory-- 638 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,460 a debate that might shake the foundation 639 00:31:50,460 --> 00:31:52,560 of the Christian religion and its origins. 640 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,640 [MUSIC PLAYING] 641 00:31:55,640 --> 00:32:03,702