All language subtitles for The.Reality.of.Truth.2016.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG.ENG

>> There's a story in the Bible
about God providing manna from

heaven, food to sustain the
Israelites while they were

wandering in the wilderness, but
it never said specifically what

it was.

What was this manna from heaven?

When I asked that
question, I had no idea

how much my life
was about to change.

[music playing]

The first miracle that Jesus
was reported to have done

was turning water into
wine at a wedding.

The story goes that
they ran out of wine,

and Jesus put a portion of
the manna into the water

that they boiled as tea.

He told the waiters to
pass it out as wine.

So I call up Deepak, and I said,
Deepak, I gotta talk to you.

I go, I just found
some stuff in the Bible

that's not making any sense.

I think I found some
psychedelics in there.

I think there's meditation.

Like, what do you think?

And he's quiet on the phone.

And I was like,
Deepak, are you there?

And he's like, yeah.

He said, where did
you find this exactly?

Like, send me what you're
talking to me about.

What do you want to do, Deepak?

What should we do about this?

You want to write something up?

And Deepak was like,
this is too important.

He was, like, why don't we
have a conversation about this?

Could part of the
religious experience

have to do with
plant sacraments?

In Deepak's tradition,
the mystery plant soma

was used to bring people
to communion with God.

>> Could have been that the
Hymns of the Rigveda were

actually sung to this
plant, which had no seeds,

that had no flowers, that
was really mushrooms.

>> There's a scene in the move,
"Noah," starring Russell Crowe,

where he has a dream that
he's under water with animals

floating past.

He wakes up, knowing that
God wants him to do something

but he doesn't know what.

He goes and sits
with the wise man

in the cave, played by
Anthony Hopkins, who

gives him some psychedelic tea.

He drinks it and has a detailed
vision of exactly what God

wants him to do.

>> First of all,
that's a possibility.

Secondly, why does our brain
have receptors to these things?

Well, because we are
part of the same nature.

You know, we're not
separate from nature.

Science is based on the
subject object split,

on the separation
that is artificial, me

and the universe, when, in fact,
I'm also part of the universe.

So the same
electrical storms that

create thunder and
lightning in the sky

create synaptic firings in my
brain, which creates thought.

We're part of a wholeness, and
what the religious experience

is to experience that wholeness.

What is enlightenment but
being one with the source?

So once they give people,
what I wouldn't even

call altered state
of consciousness.

I wouldn't call
them hallucinations.

They help people break out
of the everyday hallucination

of separation and to
the reality of truth.

And whether they did it through
wine, or manna, or soma,

who cares?

>> Doesn't even make any sense.

How could these ancient
plants that connect you to God

be somehow taken out?

>> Could these plants be the
ancient wisdom that we need

for our modern problems.

>> What we call today,
everyday reality,

which we take for normal, OK?

There's war.

There's terrorism.

There's global warming.

There's social injustice.

50% of the world lives on
less than two dollars a day.

The environment is
totally screwed up.

And we say this is normal.

It's psychotic, right?

And it's psychotic because
we have created it.

>> What do you think it would
take to break through that

boundary at this point?

I mean, here we are
in this 21st century.

>> Let's have a party.

>> We'll bring everybody down
to Peru and enlighten them.

>> Yeah, and put some in
the pot, and let's drink it.

>> Amen.

>> Amen.

>> Did Deepak Chopra just tell
me to go down to Peru and drink

ayahuasca tea, one of the most
powerful psychedelics known

to man?

Still dazed by what
Deepak had recommended,

I bumped into our
friend, Jerry, who

had generously loaned us his
beach house for the interview.

I was curious what he thought
about what Deepak said.

I didn't realize at the
time, but Jerry's world

was spinning out of control.

Despite having sold his company
for almost $100 million,

Jerry was abusing drugs,
drinking a lot of alcohol.

His family was in shambles,
and he was basically

trying to kill himself slowly.

More than I realized, Deepak's
words were really sinking in.

At this point, you
might be wondering

who this Zappy guy is.

Let me tell you a
little bit about myself.

I've done everything society
told me to do, go to school,

get a job, make a bunch
of money, fall in love,

start a family.

I was living the American dream.

I bought beer.com for $80,000.

A few months later, I
sold it for $7 million.

Here I am, starring in
my own Super Bowl ad.

Life was becoming very surreal.

Even though I had it all,
my conversation with Deepak

made it clear that there
were other experiences that I

needed to have.

The value that I place
on the experience

is more important to me.

So I always felt like I'd rather
have a passport full of stamps

than a house of a certain type.

It occurred to me
that, like most people,

I'd been searching for
happiness outside of myself,

and I was having the
realization that I might never

be truly happy unless I
went inside my own mind

to look for some answers.

Albert Einstein
famously said, you

can't fix a problem with the
same consciousness or thinking

that got you into the situation.

What this meant to me
was that if I wanted

to solve a problem in my
life, or if we, as a society,

wanted to solve some of
the big problems we have,

like violence, eco-destruction,
addiction, depression,

we needed to change our
collective consciousness.

Could society use some of
these ancient techniques

for its modern problems?

I was inspired by people who
came before me, that seemingly

had it all but chose to
take the risk of going

inside their own minds.

These people were what I
would call psychenauts:

sailors of the mind.

And I saw that these people
were going inside their minds

and exploring inside
their minds as part

of what they wound up doing.

And I thought, wow,
I have to do that.

I figured before I got too
extreme and sat with a shaman,

I should go out and talk
to some of Deepak's friends

about our so-called reality.

>> If you only identify with
the realm of three dimensions,

if you only identify with
the realm of the body,

if you only identify with
the mortal circumstance

and the mortal experience,
then to that extent,

you are at the effect
of those circumstances.

Faith is standing
on the conviction,

standing on the knowledge
and the conviction,

there's something way
bigger going on here.

>> What we see is only a small
portion of the total reality.

See, we have three states--

waking, dreaming, and sleep.

But beyond that,
there is a state

where it's neither of
the three, but there

is this full alertness
that dawns deep within.

>> There's nowhere were we
escape from being energy.

So we're always energy.

What we see at it looks,
physical material,

is actually the reflection of
light, photons of light that

hit our energy and bounce back.

So we're reflecting
light, but we're

reflecting it as a force
field, a tornado of energy.

>> If we can stand
within the unreal world,

the ultimate unreal
that appears real,

that seems limited by the
laws of time and space,

and yet have faith
in the realm beyond,

that literally invokes
that realm into being.

>> It seemed like what everyone
was saying is reality is just

a concept.

I needed to have the direct
experience of going inside.

Could ancient wisdom have
included plants and meditation?

I was excited to learn that
a lot of celebrities, people

like Jerry Seinfeld,
Martin Scorsese,

were doing this meditation
for a long time.

And recently, people like Oprah
Winfrey and Dr. Oz and Katy

Perry had taken
up the meditation

and it seemed to be making
them even more creative.

I wanted to see if some
of this ancient wisdom

could help me to tap
into my creativity.

In the 1960s, a funny little
man named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

came out of the Himalayas
to the United States,

and he wound up teaching his
transcendental meditation

technique to the Beatles,
and the rest is history.

Today, there are more than seven
million people worldwide doing

transcendental meditation.

What I like about a TM
technique is that there's

no dogma attached to it.

It's really just
a simple technique

of silently repeating a
mantra to yourself, which

causes you to transcend
into your quieted mind

to subtler and subtler states
of consciousness until a point

that you reach a place called
universal consciousness,

an endless field of energy
that connects all of us,

where all knowledge
is contained,

and where everything
is manifested from.

When the Maharishi
passed away in 2007,

he put John Hagelin in charge.

As a quantum physicist
and a meditator,

he had successfully
used quantum theory

to support Maharishi's model
of creative intelligence

being at the center
of all creation.

>> Waking consciousness is all
about being aware of something,

this, that, this
concept, that person.

Transcending is leaving
all of that behind

to isolate and experience
the self itself.

It's blissful.

It's not the end of the story.

10, 20 minutes of
that is enough.

The idea is to come
back into activity

and increasingly
integrate and stabilize

the experience of inner
reality, inner silence,

along with outer reality,
and that's when life really

gets to be interesting and fun.

>> The mind has
two aspects to it.

It's the brain, which
is very concrete.

You can measure it.

You can touch it, but it's
interacting with this field

of consciousness.

And what they come together
is our individual self,

our individual personality.

And that's what most
people think they are.

I'm 5' 11".

I have this education.

I'm this part in society.

I have this amount of money.

But it's not fundamentally
who you are, and to know that,

you need to have the
experience of that,

and that's where meditation
experience comes in.

>> It was found that square
root of 1% in some cities here

and there, and there, and
it does create positivity

in the atmosphere, in the
tendencies of the people.

>> What excited me about this
was that if we wanted to change

global consciousness, we
only needed a critical mass

of people tapped in.

When I found in
the Bible, verses

that said be still and know that
I'm God, the kingdom of heaven

is within.

That's what the
meditators are saying.

It's so obvious.

It's right there.

The Bible is saying meditate.

These days, religious
affiliation is shrinking.

I needed to go speak to some
of the religious leaders

and top scholars
of our time about

whether meditation was
once part of religion.

When it comes to
religious leaders,

there's no one more high
profile than Joel Osteen.

I wanted to ask Joel what he
thought the manna from heaven

was.

>> I've always taught that
it was like bread, you know,

like a mushroom or something.

That's what I heard.

That's what I heard.

>> I'd like it if
it was mushrooms.

We can sustain them.

Wow.

I did not expect that.

Bible descriptions
from Moses and Jesus

sound more like
mushrooms than bread.

In fact, every other
miracle that Jesus

is reported to have done was
after they drank the mushroom

tea.

>> St. Mark's
Basilica in Venice,

Italy Here's all the disciples.

Here's Jesus with giant
mushrooms behind him.

>> Oh, very cool, yeah.

We've got Jesus over here
with these giant mushrooms

behind him.

Jesus with the giant
mushrooms behind him.

>> [laughs]

I wanted to talk to some people
who had been there, done that.

>> I've probably had as much
psychedelics as anyone alive.

When you fall away for a
minute, something happens.

That's actually the
beginning, and now, you

have to relearn the world
just like you were a baby.

>> What I found makes ayahuasca
very special, number one,

is it's the only mind altering
substance that needs more than

one substance.

And the other fact
that's interesting

is that both of these
substances, the MAO, which

is harmaline or
tetrahydroharmine,

or the DMT, both
of these substances

are produced in every
mammalian nervous system.

So they are substances
that our body produces.

>> Filmmaker Foster Gamble's
documentary, "Thrive,"

shattered many of the myths that
we've been presented by regular

society that keep us slaves
to our so-called reality.

>> So it seems to be a
natural inclination to alter

our consciousness somewhat,
and I think one of the reasons

for that is, when we
alter our consciousness,

we can see our daily
consciousness in a new way.

And it shifts, tends
to raise and expand

our daily consciousness,
and to me, that's the point.

And if we can use
substances, whether it's

broccoli or ayahuasca, or you
know, C-sharp major, to give us

a glimpse of what's
possible for human beings

and specifically
what's next for me?

What am I ready for?

>> When my consciousness
separated from my body,

it changed the
paradigm entirely.

I realized, aha, there's
something more than this meat

vehicle that we have.

And that one realization set me
off writing all night furiously

until the dawn and
it just reevaluated

my whole philosophy.

And from that
point on, I've been

on a journey of
experiential spirituality,

finding the answers
myself, and the plants

have been the greatest
teachers in that quest.

>> Many times, there's a huge
benefit with one experience

because it really gets to the
core of what's been happening.

So it's almost like,
you know, 10 years

of therapy in seven hours.

>> Kundalini yoga icon Gurmukh
teaches many celebrities how

to journey inside using
the Kundalini technique.

She had her own experience
with mind altering energies.

>> I do not regret
anything I have ever done.

You know people
say, I did drugs.

I say, well, so what?

It got you here.

Forget it.

I've met other
people that I wish

they had because I feel they
can't go through the barrier.

They can't go into
that sixth dimension.

>> However you
want to look at it,

it's going to be the unknown.

And you have a choice--

fear or faith.

You know, faith
that you're gonna

come out all right, that
the lessons are going

to be valuable, and that
the medicine will guide you,

or fear, fear that something
else is gonna happen.

It's gonna be the
unknown either way,

so might as well choose faith.

>> There are times in life,
where through different means,

and God works in
mysterious ways,

we're shown the mountain top.

It's like through grace.

It's like the hand of God
lifts us up and just shows

us the mountain.

>> I owe a definite debt of
gratitude to my experience with

various substances.

>> I can't endorse it unless
you're at a certain space,

in a certain environment, with
certain true healers because it

can run havoc,
just like LSD did.

>> They are powerful
transformational tools and have

to be respected.

And if you approach them with
enough humility and respect,

I tend to believe you'll
be fine with them.

>> People are afraid that when
they go down there and do these

medicines they're gonna lose the
things that they love the most

about themselves.

And that's just
this common fear.

You know, you get someone
who loves their career.

What if I go down, and tells me
I want to be a yoga instructor?

I'm like, it's not
gonna do that, man.

And if it does, you're gonna
be even happier about the fact

that it did.

>> There's an opportunity
to use psychotropic drugs,

which will open up that
mind and show you, my god,

who you really are.

>> I'm fascinated by it.

I'm interested in it.

I believe it will have real
utility somewhere I just--

it's too soon for me, as
somebody that's trained

a certain way--

do no harm, help,
you know, really,

really be clear about
what you're doing.

We're not clear yet.

>> Whatever it takes, whether
you do the drug or whether you

do the meditation
exercises or whatever way,

I don't really care.

>> There's no doubt in my mind
that the first indication,

the first formal use for
hallucinogens will be at end

of life.

Because it's clear what
I'm reading and seeing

in the research is that
it improves our ability

to be connected with something
and feel OK about the dying

process, and God knows we need
help with that in this country.

>> The traditional psychological
model or the traditional

medical model, it usually
takes years, and years,

and years of therapy, and
years of intervention,

and working with a team of
experts to get even just

a little progress
in someone's life.

What I've seen, and the
analogy I give is it's

10 to 20 years of
psychotherapy, often in one

to two plant medicine sessions.

>> There is a relationship
to plant medicine when it is

entered through the door of the
traditions that brings people

more to a sacred recognition
of their life, their path.

I think the word drug really has
a lot of negative connotations.

I can't think of,
you know, maybe--

if some drug actually cures
someone, it's medicine.

>> See, I haven't heard of
people going off the rails,

I've seen people
go off the rails.

>> Before I took the final
leap, I needed to hear it from

a psychedelic bad ass.

That person is Ram Dass.

His real name was Richard
Alpert, born to an affluent New

England family.

He attended Harvard, and
after graduation, began

as a researcher
at the University.

It was the 1960s and LSD
had just been discovered.

The government was studying its
effect on individuals and enemy

combatants.

While a researcher at Harvard,
Alpert and Professor Timothy

Leary started to run
experiments on students

with psilocybin mushrooms
and LSD, both of which

were legal at the time.

The results were nothing
short of miraculous.

Users were reporting
that they were

having life-changing
experiences, including

a study that showed that 60%
of alcoholics that were given

one dose of psilocybin mushrooms
in the right set and setting

were never alcoholics again.

How could everybody
not know about this?

Discouraged with the
West, he headed to India.

His guru named him
Ram Dass, and when

he came back to the United
States and published his book,

"Be Here Now," he
was followed around

by massive groups
of young people.

>> If anybody has the
right intent to want to go

to their own spiritual insides,
the psychedelics are wonderful

for them, wonderful.

>> Would you recommend
that somebody looking--

>> Yes.

>> So seekers should
go, find a shaman?

>> Sure.

>> And go down and--

>> Sure.

Sure.

>> That was it.

I was gonna gather
up a group of friends

who wanted to take the risk
and go as deep into our minds

as humanly possible.

[music playing]

>> Things are just--

seem to be falling
in place, you know?

It feels like it's guided.

It feels like it's meant to be.

So for me, I'm just
letting it go, you know?

I just assume every miracle
that is going to happen

is about to happen, and
I should just kind of

enjoy it and let it happen.

>> I have chosen to work with
the mesa, which is medicine,

[?? bandeau, ?? ] meditations,
rituals, counseling,

and working with ancestral
medicine, such as Huachuma,

or San Pedro, which are
ancestral medicines that have

been used for over 5,000
years in the Andes of Peru

by pre-Incan cultures, who are
masters of accessing dimensions

of consciousness that
are so deep that we often

don't access.

>> You know, I feel like
it doesn't matter where

in the world you go, it's like
you'll always find, you know,

your kind.

And when it comes
to spirituality,

I respect anything or
anyone who kind of walks,

respecting the planet,
loving nature, and opening

their heart to, you know,
the universe and love itself.

As long as that's the main
priority behind your religion

or your, you know, ceremonial
spiritual belief, then,

you know, I'm down with you.

>> I've got a few intents.

Some are very
personal, which I'm

gonna try and bring back to
my family and loved ones.

And try and take some of
that knowledge or the glimpse

of the other dimensions
that are out there,

which I've been trying to do
kind of in artificial ways,

I mean, sometimes with my
artwork and my creativity

but in other ways with
less natural things.

And sometimes that's an
anesthetic for pain or just

your day-to-day life
that gets you down.

But yeah, this is
something that's

been calling me for a
while to come and do this,

but it hasn't been the
right moment in my life.

And so it all seemed to just
fall into place naturally.

>> I'm here to have sort of
like a rebirth, to, you know,

tap into a place that, I
guess, I've never gone.

So I don't know where that is.

I don't know what that is, but
hopefully, it's a good thing,

and I'll be able
to get through it.

>> When you drink
the medicine, 50%

of the medicine's responsibility
is to do all the healing,

all the cleansing, all the
awakening, all the clearing,

all the harmonizing
that it needs to do,

but the other 50% of
taking it further,

of taking it deeper
is always yours.

Part of my work in this is to
make the most gentle transition

possible from being very
sleepy to being fully awake.

>> I'm really looking forward
to tapping into some of those

guys' stuff upstairs.

>> The San Pedro
trip was gnarly.

It was really insane because
Fredy Puma, you know,

the shaman that introduced
us to the catalyst

to a spiritual
journey, you know,

which was the San
Pedro, the drink, he--

so in tune, that guy.

And I recall, you know, being
at the top of the mountain,

you know, at this plateau,
where we all, you know,

were just so tired from
this massive, you know,

high-altitude trek.

And we're finally, you
know, getting some air,

and you're looking off at
these amazing clouds that

are flying right at you.

And you're at the precipice of
this mountaintop, and you know,

you see hundreds
of feet below you.

And I got this enormous
sorrow, that I was just

overwhelmed with.

And the sorrow that
consumed me was something

that I've been carrying
for many years, kind

of like a little rebellious
anger, like, why am I here?

Like, you know,
like, Dad, you know,

like I didn't knock
on your balls,

you know, to come
out into this, you

know, universe kind
of anger that I've

been holding since I was a
teenager, you know what I mean?

>> Why stay in the past?

Why suffer?

Why struggle when you
can liberate all of that

and be of higher service while
being gentle on yourself.

>> I know that you need your ups
and downs so you can be human

and enjoy life and transition
because it's part of the beauty

of existence is to be
sad and enjoy happiness.

You need to know both sides.

But this overwhelming
sadness wasn't mine,

didn't belong to me.

Ever since I was a little
kid, it didn't belong to me.

It's not mine.

I'm a passenger like Iggy Pop
says, you know what I mean?

I'm here to ride this, you know,
in a respectful way, respect

everything that I come across,
and you know, walk my path

with love, and you
know, say goodbye

after my journey's done.

And he came out and he just--

I felt this warm
energy behind me,

and there he was, while
I was on the rock,

overlooking the clouds
that are flying towards me.

I was just cyring, you know?

And he touched my shoulder,
and he said, it's not yours.

Let it go.

Whoo.

[laughs]

[music playing]

If my trip ended
today, I've had,

you know, 20 years of heavy
pain lifted off of my shoulders,

and I'd be a happy camper
without doing the ayahuasca.

So I'm, you know, I'm feeling
really, really, really,

really light on my feet,
happy, appreciative,

and receptive, very
feminine, you know?

I'm such a tomboy.

It's kind of about time I
step into my femininity.

>> My full intent
coming down here,

my maco intent was to try
to share with everybody

in the world, for that matter,
the fact that there's different

ways to see reality and that
we sort of, in this moment

of chaos, need to take a step
back, everybody, and you know,

just try to see things
a little differently.

>> The only way that you're
supposed to fulfill your role

is by being yourself.

That is the heightened you.

You attract more love, and
you attract more energy.

One of my intents and one
of the things I asked for

was to face my fears.

And I realized that, no, I
don't need to face my fears.

My fears are not gonna go away.

First, I have to accept
myself with my fears.

>> Each person has a pattern
and that pattern is 50% woven

by the person and
50% by the divine.

Ayahuasca is capable of
changing that whole pattern.

From being one person
one day, the next day,

you're completely
another person.

>> I'm open to light and
love and just good vibes,

and anything that isn't on
that vibration or frequency,

I'm just like--

I don't even see you.

You don't exist.

So that's how I'm walking
into this ayahuasca trip.

I'm just in a very
receptive place.

I just, you know, I
know what I'm about.

I know what I stand for, and
I know what I resonate with.

And you know, I just
hope to walk that path

and you know, whoever's
walking along that path,

you know, I hope to meet
you, and we can join hands

and, you know, take this
trip together, you know?

>> It happened for me in my
ayahuasca experience when I was

sitting there and I realized
that I had just died.

As I was looking at death
and experiencing death,

I saw how dynamic it was
and how much was going on.

And I realized that I never
needed to fear death again.

It was totally liberating,
and as I spent time

in this ayahuasca
experience, I realized

that I was sitting in a place
where I could ask any question.

I could go into the future.

I could go into the past,
whatever I wanted to know.

So I'm gonna ask a big question.

So I decided to ask, why
do bad things happen?

And immediately
upon asking that,

I was ripped out into
the edge of space,

back to where, when you're
a kid, you go, yeah,

but what's past space?

And people go, oh, more space.

And what's past that?

More space.

I was out there on the
edge, looking at everything

in the universe
basically contained,

like God would look at it.

And as I'm looking at it,
Spirit said to me, you see that?

It's totally balanced.

It's perfect.

And I looked at it,
and I was, like, wow.

That's true.

It's totally balanced.

It's perfect.

If something happens
over here, it

will just be made up over here.

And as soon as I had
that realization,

I was sucked right back in.

I was sitting in the room again.

And as I was coming out,
I just started to laugh.

I was laughing, and I realized
that I had just gotten

the entire human cosmic joke.

Here we are with God, the
man with the white beard,

and Buddha, and Mohammed,
and Jesus, all these men,

and I was with God,
and it was a woman.

That has stuck with me everyday
since my ayahuasca experience.

>> Well, for me, ingesting
the medicine was a destruction

of everything I've ever known,
everything I've ever believed

in, everything I ever
thought was true.

I tried to reason it for
a while, two days after.

Try to reason the idea that
it's a hallucinogenic drug,

Michelle.

It just, you know, it takes
things from your subconscious

and projects them, you know?

There's absolutely
no way that there's

any truth in what
you envisioned.

It's just a trip.

You know, you read tons
of books on alchemy.

You know, you have tons of
information about symbolism

and religion deep
embedded into your brain

since you were a little kid.

But I know in my heart
of hearts it's not true,

and that everything
that I have ever known

could quite probably
be bullshit.

[laughs] And it makes me happy.

>> I felt a peace and calm I've
never experienced in my life,

an overwhelming feeling
that I could relax,

instead of constantly macheting
my way through life with

my urban armor on.

It just stripped everything
away and put me in contact

with something that was a
benevolent higher power is

the only way I can
really describe it.

>> It's such a hard time.

In the middle of
it, I don't know.

It's like a surgery,
and I felt my wounds,

my wounds just opened up,
and I was feeling pain.

And then, like I
grew up, and I was

able to love myself
a little bit more.

>> Once I got through
that hard part,

or the part that I
needed to get out,

it was just definitely the best
life-changing experience that

I've ever been through.

>> When people access
these medicines,

they need to access with full
love, with full willpower,

otherwise, they need
to find other ways.

People will transcend anyways.

Now is the time,
and these medicines

are major assistance, major
helpers, major masters,

you know, assisting this process
of transition for humanity

from one level of
consciousness to a higher

level of consciousness.

>> I've lost a lot of
anger, a lot of hatred,

and a lot of-- you know what?

If you're an asshole,
be an asshole.

It's your fate.

You know what I mean?

Like, I'm easy now.

Like, I'm not angry anymore
at all the mean people

in the world, you
know, because I accept

that they're part of
it, and it's all good,

you know what I mean?

It's not my walk, but
you know, do your thing,

and I respect your path.

But don't come near me
with your evil energy

because I'll knock
you the fuck out.

[laughs]

>> It all comes down
to intent for me.

If your intent is
right, it's gonna work.

It's gonna be better
than you thought,

and you're gonna have
a lot less chaos.

It seemed to me that
nature recognizes

that people are highly
stressed and that people

need healing medicines for
the problems of addiction

and depression.

I kept looking for ways to
transcend on a daily basis,

and I was introduced to
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,

and his breathing technique
called Sudarshan Kriya.

The technique is being
done by millions of people,

including prisoners and
inner city youth who've

been trained by Sri Sri
to use the technique

to overcome their
physical environment

and give themselves
internal strength.

Sri Sri's logic goes
that when we're born,

we draw in our first
breath, and when we die,

we let out our final breath.

But most people
think nothing of it

in between, when,
in fact, breathing

may be our most
valuable capability.

>> Breath is an
important tool, you know?

For every emotion, there
is a particular rhythm

in the breath.

And if we attend to that
breath by manipulating

your own breath, you can
slip into the altered state

of consciousness at will.

>> I learned the Kriya
breathing, which blew my mind,

the fact that I was able to put
myself into a psychedelic state

with just my breath.

Lightning bolts were shooting
out of my hands and feet.

Time stood still.

I continued to get
together with my friends

to talk about our
experience and how

we were integrating
our psychenaut

training into our lives.

>> There's a whole group
of scientists, very few,

but enough, who are saying
maybe brain doesn't produce

consciousness, maybe brain
filters consciousness.

>> You're saying
we're transmitters?

>> We're transmitters.

>> Hey, cool.

>> And what you're transmitters
of is that infinite potential

that you spoke of, that
feel of possibilities.

And so when you start to
break down the boundaries,

then all that's left
is the infinite.

>> So the boundaries are like
your prejudices, things that,

you know, that you've
accumulated throughout life,

that you either repel
or are attracted to?

>> Yeah, every boundary
is a conceptual boundary

in consciousness.

>> This is an Earth rover.

This gives me an opportunity
to come to this planet,

step into this suit, have
these life experiences,

be creative, and marvel at
this planet that we've come to.

And it's so funny because A,
I started this whole thing

not spiritual.

B, once I saw the nature of
the cell membrane, the cell

receptors, I said, oh, my God.

Instantaneously,
I had to recognize

if you buy the science,
then it's not is there,

is there not?

There's a spirit.

>> So it really helped me
to bring my scientific mind

and my kind of spiritual
experience together,

and you're like, they're
not different at all.

We're just discovering
through all these pathways

how all that is one.

>> After I started to really
journey with the plants was

when things sort of changed.

>> When that older
boyfriend of mine--

I was like 24 at that time,
and he told me I was an idiot.

And he said, you're
very passionate,

but you have nothing to back up
how you feel about the world.

You don't read.

You don't have-- you
know, you read one book,

and you can get 20 years
worth of research in one book.

And he kind of like opened
up my mind to do research

and to fill my mind.

Now, when I see the
world, I do a psychedelic,

I think metaphorically.

I think on so many
different layers, you know?

And of course, I
enjoy the moment too.

I can chase sensations
like any of them, you know?

I love to feel good and have
fun and interact with people,

but you know, information
is so beautiful.

And if we could just tap into
the reservoirs or fountains

of the people
before us, you know,

you never know where
it could take you.

>> When I lost
Paul, I was like--

I went through about a year
of just being like an animal.

Like, what could I do physically
to just get my mind off

of existentialism, get my mind
off how transient life is,

and how we just come here and
can disappear at any moment?

How could I get
my mind off that?

So I was just, fuck, summer,
crazy, nuts, berserko.

Like, I did everything
I could possibly

do to hide from myself.

And I'll tell you that
my ayahuasca trip made

me sad that he left me here.

[laughs] It wasn't a
sadness that he's gone.

It was more like a jealousy
that he's there first.

[laughs] It's
fucked up, but yeah.

>> I think it was affirmed to
me in the ayahuasca experience

and some other trips
I've had in my life,

where what was happening is,
when I took the medicine or I

meditated, and I went
inside, that basically,

I was taking filters off
is what was happening.

So all this bullshit--

>> Reticular activation system--

it's like doors of perception.

When he popped it, he felt
like that filtration mechanism

that we create by the age of
seven was just lifted off.

You know, how, like, you
receive so much information

in your visual cortex,
but your brain only

accepts a certain amount so
that you're not overwhelmed.

That's your reticular activation
system deciding, according

to your wants, likes,
and fight-or-flight,

deciding what information
you're gonna take in.

>> Each time I got together
with my fellow psychenauts,

we felt stronger and stronger
about the need to get

the information out, so we
could help others to access some

of these ancient techniques
that had been so profound

in our lives.

We should just, you know,
this True Reality Society

should set up a place
in, like, Costa Rica.

Put a dome.

>> Like a haven for people
who think the same way.

>> Put them all around the world
and the consciousness of it is

like--

>> I'm in.

>> Woo!

>> I'm in.

>> All right

Everything's rolling along,
things are falling into place,

and you know, like everything
in life, you want validation.

You want to know
that it's having

some kind of an effect,
beyond just, hey,

I'm having a good time.

I'm learning a lot.

I'm having all these
cool experiences.

But you know, is something
really happening?

And I was looking for some
kind of sign that, you know,

it was making a difference
because I couldn't

see what the difference was,
other than my own friends

and people around me.

So I was kind of thinking,
God, give a sign here

that, you know, this
is making a difference,

that there's something to it.

And then the phone
call came from Jerry,

who I hadn't seen since we shot
with Deepak in his apartment

years earlier.

Unbeknownst to me, Jerry had
taken Deepak's advice as well,

and he went down to Costa
Rica to do a plant medicine

called iboga, that comes
from an African root.

It's the strongest
psychedelic known to man

and Jerry was taking
it to see if he

could break his addiction.

The full moon came to
Jerry and asked him

if he wanted to see why
he was so messed up.

>> Because of my life, I
had, like, addiction issues,

tons of women issues, ego
issues out the gazoo, smoking,

drinking, you name it,
I was a fan, right?

So I said, what's wrong with me?

And so what happened then is
that my body went to a house

that I hadn't seen in 48 years.

It was my grandfather's house
in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

And at the front
of the house, like,

three-year-old me is
going like this to me,

is like waving me in.

And I'm looking at the floor,
and there was-- as a kid,

I knocked over cranberry
juice or grape juice

and it hit the wall, and
that stain was on the wall.

This is how perfect
detail, and then next thing

you know, the kid opened the
door and went like this to me,

like, go look at it.

And my grandfather was sexually
molesting me, and I was three.

>> The moon told Jerry to go see
his dead grandfather and have

him explain why he'd done
it and give him an apology.

Jerry went to see his
grandfather, who denied it ever

happened, and sent him away.

She told him to get
his father to help

him to get an apology
from his grandfather.

>> And he said
that he was sorry,

and I told him I forgave him,
even though he wouldn't do

anything for me.

And then the guy, the shaman,
goes, hey, go to the moon.

So I went to the moon,
back to the moon,

and I said, Mrs. Moon,
what can you do for me?

And she said, open your chest.

And I went like this, and
my heart was in there.

And the moon took my
heart out and washed it.

And I said what--

the shaman is saying,
what is she doing?

I said, she's washing
it, like this, like,

because she has hands, right?

Crazy but truth.

She's washing it.

I said, what should I do
with it, to the shaman.

He said, have her put
it in your left hand.

I said, Mrs. Moon, would
you put it in my left hand?

And she put it in my left hand.

I said, what do you
want me to do with it?

He goes, put it in your chest.

And I went to put it in
my chest, and it got here,

and it was black again.

So it only stayed pink for like,
I don't know, five seconds.

And I said, I'm not putting this
thing in me because it's shit.

You know, it's terrible.

And he said, ask
her for a new one.

So I said, Mrs. Moon, can
I please have a new heart?

And she said, yeah.

And then she gave me this
new heart, and then I said,

what do you want
me to do with it?

She said, put it
in your left hand.

Put it in your chest.

And then the next day,
I was a different guy.

>> He hasn't
touched drugs since,

and he's able to have a drink
socially without needing to get

drunk.

He's reunited with his family,
and for the first time,

he's in a real relationship.

>> The first time I was
invited to do plant medicine,

I thought the person was crazy.

I was like, you're gonna
take a drug to get spiritual?

I don't think so.

And I wanted nothing to do
with it, and it freaked me out.

You know, my mom's a meth
addict, and I was a meditator.

And finally, this woman, who
was like just a love in my life,

invites me to go, and
I couldn't say no.

So I went, and that
night, she told me,

set some intentions of
what you want to see.

And I said, OK,
I want to see why

I keep attracting
the same psycho

guy over and over and over
with a different face,

sucking the light out of me.

And the second thing
that I wanted to see

was what was I here to do?

And so that night was just
one of the most amazing nights

of my life.

I was shown exactly who I
am, what I'm here to do,

and exactly why I kept
attracting that same psycho guy

over and over and over again.

It's just amazing, because
Jerry and I wake up everyday,

and we're just, like, wow.

Is this our life?

Like, we just feel so blessed to
be in love with our best friend

and to be doing what we love.

>> Immediately, when I came
back and my kids saw me,

they knew I was a different
guy, and they knew something

changed.

>> As soon as he walked
through the door, I can, like,

visibly see a difference,
let alone when I was actually

talking with him.

I was, like, shocked, you know?

I was, like, whoa, I've gotta
give this thing a whirl.

If it could turn him around
180, what could it do to me?

>> The first time I saw Gerard
after he did plant medicine,

he didn't even have to
speak or say one word to me.

I could tell, as I walked up
to him about 15 feet away,

I knew he was a changed person.

The chances of
someone coming out

of that severe of a
lifestyle case is very rare.

>> I didn't want
to drink anymore.

I was smoking two packs
of cigarettes a day,

went from that to
nothing immediately.

I can't even think
about doing drugs.

Like, I wouldn't even have the
thought to go do some drugs.

>> He's like, Zappy, not only
did I take plant medicine,

and break my addiction
in one session,

but I've actually opened up
a center for people to come

and expand their
consciousness, heal themselves,

break addiction, and it exists.

And I was like, oh, my god.

It manifested from
that conversation

with Deepak that day, were
he said stir it up in the pot

and drink it.

>> The moon told me--

and it sounds so
ridiculously crazy--

but told me to go buy
a center and to make

it a plant-based center.

Told me what building to buy.

Told me what to pay for it.

Told me how to
treat my girlfriend.

Told me how to
treat my children.

Told me that
everything would be OK.

>> His place is called
Rythmia and where is it?

Set up the place in,
like, Costa Rica.

This was the miracle I needed.

This place had manifested out
of that single conversation

and the desire to help
people break the wiring.

The first ever
clinic, where people

can go to expand
their consciousness

and heal themselves.

While you're at
Rythmia, you can receive

counseling and spiritual
development, including

a program developed specifically
for Rythmia by Reverend Michael

Beckwith called
The Answer is You.

>> It's a
consciousness-expanding program

that allows people to, one,
take 100% responsibility

for their own life, come out
of the shame and blame game,

blaming others.

Two, it moves you
through a period

of forgiving yourself
and forgiving all others

so that you can be clean inside.

Three, you begin to embrace the
vibration of intentionality,

having an intention
or a direction of how

you want your life to be.

You have to choose this.

If we don't choose it, then the
undertow of the human society

is choosing for you.

>> Going to a place
like, you know,

what's being created at Rythmia
is a place where you can

literally just come
back to life's rhythm.

>> You know, the miracle
that you're gonna get is that

you're gonna get the real truth.

And the truth is that
we are all, all of us,

connected from the same thing,
and that love is the thing that

holds us all together.

And when you get to
that truth, that's

the whole thing that you've been
running from your whole life

is that one truth.

And then you come
to a place like us,

and you get to see
that that's the truth,

then there's the miracle.

And then you can walk away
and go, you know what?

You know, I lost everything
this weekend, or this week,

but I gained my life,
and what more could you

ask for in a vacation?

>> Everything I've gone
through has truly been worth it

because even before
this movie's finished,

it's already changed the world
because this place exists.

Every act that comes from
purpose is supported by nature

and has the potential
to change things

in ways you could
have never dreamed of.

>> How do I channel all of
this connection into being

an efficient human being in
society, into giving back?

Because for me,
love is everything.

>> That you almost have to have
a way to re-enter the ayahuasca

experience almost on a daily
basis to stay tapped into it,

and it has to be through
meditation or through something

that will deliver you back
there, if only for a moment.

>> All of us had
life-changing experiences,

so the question is, how could
these incredible plant energies

be illegal today to
consume or even to study?

It turns out that the
answer to that question

may be even more sinister
than the reason they've been

taken out of religion-- money.

The pharmaceutical
companies are only

interested in selling their
patented petroleum-based

medications that
people need to take

for the rest of their lives.

These drugs do not cure
but only mask the symptoms

and have significant
negative side effects.

Here I am, living my entire
life sustained by plants.

I'm eating vegetarian,
and my day job

is bringing out a
plant-based formula

to help people with addiction.

I owe everything to
these ancient tools.

Plant medicine,
meditation, breathing,

these are some of the
tools that were once part

of the religious tradition.

It's time to bring them back.

We started the True Reality
Society to create a peace army

to counteract mass
violence in the world,

and to bring together
people who believe

in the importance of
going inside their minds.

[music playing]

>> Breathe in slowly, and
then breathe out slowly.

On the in breath, perhaps
having the thought peace,

and on the out breath,
the thought joy.

Peace on the in breath
and joy on the out breath.

And bring your awareness
into your heart

now, and remember a
great experience of love.

Remember a great
experience of compassion,

a great experience of joy, a
great experience of equanimity,

the peace that
passes understanding.

And now bring your awareness
back into your whole body,

and allow the boundaries of
your body to slowly dissolve,

and merge with
your surroundings.

Recognize that every
boundary is conceptual.

There's no boundary.

There are no
national boundaries,

no tribal boundaries,
no ethnic boundaries,

no racial boundaries,
no religious boundaries.

They're all
imagination, and they

have limited our potential.

We are the stars, and we are
the sky, and we are the moon,

and we are the galaxies.

We are the cosmic horizon.

We are the Big Bang.

We are the laws of nature.

We are Planck scale
space-time geometry,

where everything dissolves
into all possibilities,

were platonic values like truth,
goodness, beauty, harmony,

evolution are embedded as
the essential raw material

of the universe, where there
is mathematical truth but also

musical truth, where there is
the poetry of the universe,

and the dance of the universe,
and we are that dance.

As Sufi poet Rumi says, look
at these words spinning out

of nothingness.

This is within your power.

We come spinning
out of nothingness,

scattering stars like dust.

Out beyond all ideas of
right doing and wrong doing,

there's a field.

I'll meet you there.

So remember the field
that you went to.

It was beyond right
doing and wrong doing.

It was the field from where
we come and which we long for.

I'll let Roberto finish
his Peruvian shamanic song.

>> [singing in non-english]