Today our episode is an encore presentation of Michael Pollan’s keynote presentation at the 2019 Psychedelic Integration Conference at the Esalen Institute. Pollan is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, including 2018’s “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.” This tome has become a four-part Netflix show, also entitled “How to Change Your Mind.” Pollan gives a great speech here, touching upon the pervasiveness of the human tendency to want to change consciousness, the ways that noetic understanding can add to healing on the psychedelic journey, the radical ways that plants can change us and change consciousness, and the ways that he remains a skeptic to some of the more grandiose claims of the psychedelic movement. A must-listen for fans and for newbies alike.

Encore Presentation: Michael Pollan at Esalen Psychedelic Integration Conference, 2019

Chef Elle Simone is a well-known American chef, culinary producer, test cook, and food stylist. In 2013, after realizing that women and persons of color were underrepresented among chefs, she founded SheChef, a mentoring and networking organization for women of color in the culinary field. She can be seen on PBS on America’s Test Kitchen and is the first African American woman to appear as a regular host on that show. Chef Elle is also a survivor of ovarian cancer and shows up as an activist and representative in that space.

Chef Elle is interviewed by S. Rae Peoples, Associate Director of
Diversity & Inclusion Education at Tufts University. She has over 25 years of experience serving in leadership roles that revolve around social justice in the arts, education, political, and nonprofit sectors. She advises organizations on how best to create internal conditions that allow equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice to flourish. Her opinions and writings have been featured in The Washington Post, Oakland Post, BlogHer, and YFS Magazine.  S. Rae is currently rooted in motherhood, love, and community in Somerville, MA.

Chef Elle Simone on Cuisine and America's Culture: How Flavor Shapes a Nation

Louie Schwartzberg is the filmmaker behind "Fantastic Fungi" - he's back now with a follow up film: "Gratitude Revealed." Louie has created and worked on a score of films in his life, including his own features like Mysteries of the Unseen World and Wings of Life, as well as the Netflix series Moving Art. Over the process of his career, it's fair to say that he’s revolutionized the field of time-lapse photography. Louie has also been a contributing cinematographer or visual effects artist to many idiosyncratic Hollywood movies, including Men in Black 2, Erin Brockovich, Vice Versa, The Heavenly Kid, Xanadu, Altered States, and the 1982 masterpiece Koyanisqatsi. His inventive TED talks have garnered more than 60 million views. Together we talked about how he balances a love of documentary footage shot in the wild with his continuing dedication to time-lapse footage that's shot in studio, how he sees making work as a spiritual practice, how social justice photography gave him his start in film, what Los Angeles was like in the early 1970’s, why he split town after graduation from UCLA and moved to a tiny town in Northern California, where he started retrofitting 35mm movie cameras to enable them to take high-resolution time-lapse photos.  Louie also talks about how he lent his own take on psychedelic iconography to the film Altered States in the early stages of a film career that has always existed in a fiercely independent realm. And I couldn't let him leave without talking a bit about how Esalen continues to inspire a sense of wonder in him.

Watch Louie's new film at https://gratituderevealed.com/

Louie Schwartzberg: Gratitude Revealed

Sam runs through his top 6 favorite things of 2022, including cloning his own voice, messing around with the bizarre world of ChatGPT, microdosing things other than psychedelics, intentionally being different in order to gain an outsize advantage, and being intentional and resourceful in finding new music to revitalize your soul and spirit.

Sam's Top 6 Favorite Things of 2022

Deborah Eden Tull is the founder of Mindful Living Revolution - a deeply experienced and respected dharma teacher, Tull is a spiritual activist, author, and sustainability educator. She has taught engaged meditation for over 20 years and trained for seven and a half years as a Buddhist monk at a silent Zen monastery.  With a focus on post-patriarchal thought and practices, Eden integrates compassionate awareness into her offerings, bridging personal and collective awakening in an age of global change. 

In this podcast, we’ll be playing a talk that Eden gave to the Esalen community on January 18th, 2023. In it, she explores the concept of duality - feeling special versus not special, and explores the impact duality had on the quality of her life growing up. She describes how it was this feeling of duality that ultimately led her to a spiritual path. Deborah also explores the shared nature of cultural conditioning, her own experience of navigating chronic illness, and how she was able to let go of the myth of self-improvement in order to tap into her own true nature, presence and essence.

https://www.deborahedentull.com/

Deborah Eden Tull's Dharma Talk at Esalen, January 18, 2023

Written in Big Sur, CA April 13, 2014. Recorded in Los Angeles.
Ambient guitar with accompaniment.

Santa Monica Airlines

The Real Housewives Of Esalen Institute

Paul Selig is considered one of the foremost mediums working today. He is the author of several rather extraordinary works of channeled literature, including I Am the Word, The Book of Love and Creation, The Book of Knowing and Worth, and The Book of Mastery. I spoke to Paul at length about the work he'd done before becoming a medium (he was a well-known playwright, as well as the director of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Goddard College), and we discussed the creative process, wondering if there was some sort of useful comparison between that and the work of channeling. Then we turned to the content of his work, the remarkable message of his guides. This is a must-listen episode for those who are fascinated by the art of channeling, and those who find their interest piqued by the message of the Word. 
Today's music is "Slow Dissolve" and was used courtesy of www.purple-planet.com. 

Paul Selig, I am the Word: The Extraordinary Life of a Spiritual Channel

Stanislav Grof is not only one of the godfathers of psychedelic psychotherapy -- not only one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology -- not only a renowned researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness to gain insights into the human psyche -- he was an integral part of the fabric of the Esalen Institute during the 1970's and 1980's, helping to shape the culture in Big Sur via his popular workshops and month long programs. 

In our interview, we talked about his relationship with Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy and how he came to be invited to live and teach at Esalen in the 1970's (where he created the practice of holotropic breath work, in part out of necessity to abide with the law), his abiding affection for Dick Price, and his collaborations with Fritjof Capra, Gregory Bateson, Rupert Sheldrake, as well as many more legendary teachers. 

Definitely tune in to the man, the myth, the legend - Stan Grof.

Stanislav Grof on Psychedelic Psychotherapy, Holotropic Breathwork, and His Life at Esalen

I met John Murphy @ Esalen in the Hot Springs and we spoke to one another in a language known as music.  He spoke through the Harmonica, I spoke through the Setar.  Here he has bestowed upon Mr. Mckenzie & I a track of Harmonica, which Jason has mixed into the improvisational piece.  He has also added a tabla track! enjoy!

Mellow Meadows ft. John Murphy

Dr. Kamilah Majied is a mental health therapist, professor, and internationally engaged consultant on social justice and inclusive contemplative pedagogy. The practice of Buddhism spurred a curiosity for Dr. Majied about the causes of unhappiness, particularly unhappiness as created by social oppression. A professor of social work, she is skilled in using Buddhist and contemplative practices to help people heal from racism, sexism, homophobia, and other types of oppression to reclaim joy in their lives. Together we spoke about privilege and some of the limitations it imposes, the various blind spots built into the human potential movement, some of the impediments to apprehending privilege, and how not to get stuck in guilt and shame while grappling with the challenge of confronting racism. 
No part of this broadcast can be duplicated or distributed without the written permission of Dr. Kamilah Majied. If you wish to make a gratitude offering for Dr. Majied's talk, please do so via her paypal or venmo accounts which can be accessed via her email address, kamilahmajied@yahoo.com, at which she is also available for any follow up questions or comments

Dr. Kamilah Majied on Privilege, Human Potential, and Contemplative Practices

 Fared Shafinury – Much of the “fusion music’ pumped out by a new
generation of bands in Iran transitions from East to west, writing Farsi
lyrics onto non-Iranian genres like rock, jazz, and country. While the results
can be novel and crowd-pleasing, the mix often feels more like an over lay
of disparate elements than a seamless, authentic form of art. This is what
makes the sound of Iranian-American musician Fared Shafinury stand out
from his contemporaries.

Born in a small town along the Gulf of Mexico, and classically trained on
the cello, Shafinury later unearthed a deep-rooted love for the music of his
parents’ homeland – the traditional vocal/instrumental repertoire known as
the radiff. His compositions thus move against the current, by retracing
the arc from West to East. In his hands, the setar, an Eastern cousin
of the guitar, and Fared’s virtuoso specialty, yearns not for a departure
from Iranian form nor the emulation of Western genres, but arrival at the
point where binaries and boundaries bleed and blend until they dissolve
completely.

Shafinury now lives in the Bay Area recording his 3rd album, as well
as composing sound tracks for various films. He has performed all
across the country, selling out prestigious concert halls. In 2009, Fared
Shafinury was the featured artist at the Iranian Alliances Across Borders
International conference on the Iranian Diaspora. In 2010, he was featured
at the Iranian.com music festival, performing at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Shafinury also has extensive knowledge of composing and arranging for
choreographies. In 2005, Fared Shafinury has had the privilege of studying under
some of Iran’s most prominent masters: including: Ostad Mozaffari, Ostad
Zoghadr, Ostad Shaari, Ostad Soukuti, and Ostad Mohammad Reza Lotfi.
Shafinury’s music is the progeny of his talent, passion, and environments –
producing a sound that simultaneously singular in character and universal
in appeal. 

"Voices of Esalen" features provocative, in-depth interviews with the dynamic leaders, teachers, and thinkers who reflect the mission of the Esalen Institute.

For more about the Esalen Institute, head to esalen.org 

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Surf Ambient Music, Drone and Guitar Improvisation for Navigating the Golden Void.
Los Angeles CA
Set Yrself Free
Ambient | Drone | Garbagewave | Boredom
VINYL: https://thereisnoteenagelove.bandcamp.com
Stream: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1255257638

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