Interview with Derek Riedle

Always fascinating to connect with people you knew in highschool and discover their ongoing journey. 

In the spirit of recent interviews with Dr. Rick Strassman, Dr. Eben Alexander, Carlos Castenada and others, I marvel at natural plant and human-produced substances that are getting new kinds of attention, inviting us to grow conscious of our conditioned views about natural and unnatural healing, states of mind and being. It is with perfect timing I reconnect with Derek Riedle. The rest speaks for itself.

Derek Riedle is CEO of Civilized Life, a consumer media company in the cannabis space focusing on North America. While he is on the road, doing what he does best, we put this together. Thanks Derek for sharing such relevant and timely views. 

Please begin by offering a bit of background and how cannabis became a key focus in your life. Talk about your passions, what drives you, what you really live for.

I have worked in marketing, communications and politics for my entire adult life. I have also been a cannabis consumer, so I fundamentally understood that the reality of cannabis was very different from the stereotypes. So, I was personally invested in living a more authentic life and emerging from the cannabis closet. Plus, as a professional communicator, the opportunity to break stereotypes and change culture was irresistible to me.

Its clear that changes are happening in many public arenas.  Many stereotypes that were once hidden are being shattered and brought out in the open. One point worth making is that shifts in consciousness in one area of society seem to precipitate shifts in perception about what is desirable or acceptable in other areas. 

Consider the example of the The First World Cannabis Congress is to be held in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.  Why is this significant and what is your role? 

The World Cannabis Congress is significant because it will bring together 400 of the industry’s top minds to discuss and debate the future of cannabis. And it will do so in Canada, which is going to be the first fully legal, regulated, adult use market in the northern hemisphere. It’s becoming the home of the world’s greatest cannabis companies. Civilized is presenting the World Cannabis Congress in Saint John, New Brunswick in June.

Love that your work behind the scenes as a driving force to encourage people to see the world differently. Some blog visitors may be unaware Saint John, N.B. is the city where I was born in Canada (N.B. province borders Maine, USA). Civilized Life emerges at the cutting edge to spread education about cannabis use on many fronts, especially its legalisation for medicinal use.  Of course, this is a symptom of expanding consciousness and understanding what and why certain substances are suppressed or made illegal in the first place. 

One can reflect on this ongoing process with cannabis and see similarities with what happened in the prohibition and then legalisation of alcohol, sugar and other substances.  Shifts in accessibility are always connected to social upheavals.

On this note, you founded strategic communications agency, Revolution Strategy. This has masterfully crafted and shaped the story of leading companies and winning political campaigns across North America. Tell us about your role here and what kind of environment is evolving.  What would you like to see happen?

I founded Revolution Strategy 20 years ago and been proud to help grow it into the truly, strategic communications agency it is today. The industry has witnessed remarkable transformation, most notably the arrival of more authenticity – in our marketing, our communications and our brands. I continue to provide Revolution Strategy senior counsel in communications, marketing, stakeholder engagement and all things creative.

Business Insider recently stated that legalizing marijuana could create a million US jobs and 132 billion in tax revenue by 2025. Why is this happening at this point in history? Why not during Woodstock for instance or some other era?  What is holding some states back from joining the bandwagon? Do you sense Marijuana is here to stay or do you envision new obstacles to this change?

No other industry has the high growth potential of cannabis, and we believe that high-quality media can help accelerate the development of this industry by sharing stories, ideas and information that’s been more or less forbidden for the better part of a century. We’re on a path to grow our multi-platform networks and I’m thrilled we are able to partner with Canopy Rivers, a leading and respected group of investment professionals and affiliate of the largest cannabis company in the world.

 You say, “It’s time for North America to embrace the reality of cannabis and its uses. It’s time to break free of the cannabis closet.” What is your view of what is happening with this abroad? What would you like to see and do you imagine being more involved on a global scale?

As a consumer media company in the cannabis space, we think we should (and do) play a significant education role. A number of people will likely try cannabis for the first time once it becomes legal in Canada – and the same principle follows in other countries or US states where recreational use recently became legal, or soon will become legal. Given how quickly we will be abandoning prohibition, and the extent to which cannabis use and information have been hidden or under-researched over the past century, there is a real gap.

What advice would you offer to people who are interested in getting their hands on cannabis and are unfamilliar with regulation or accessiblity in their area?

Every day, we produce and publish content on our site designed to educate, inform and entertain. In fact, we recently produced and released a series of short videos to answer basic questions about cannabis use. We believe this is important.

In addition to a focus on informing and entertaining, we also believe in promoting social responsibility more broadly. For example, since day 1 we have clearly articulated our responsible use philosophy (e.g. consuming within the laws of the jurisdiction, don’t consume and drive, don’t consume while pregnant, know your personal limits).

Cannabis for medicinal use in Australia is currently only available in the state of Queensland. Cannabis growing is tightly controlled here by government. Clinical trials are continuing here and limited numbers of licensed physicians are able to prescribe cannabis.  Do you have any views on what is happening on Australia?

I am unfamiliar with the situation in Australia. One international observation is that rights and freedoms are being revisited and revised on many fronts. 

Thanks Derek, for offering us insights on a topic that is gaining more public attention. Invite readers to check out Civilized Life and grow aware of what is happening with the legalisation of cannabis and other drugs in their own countries. Reflect on your own ideal life and how this is inhibited within yourself before you perceive anything in the external world. As within, so without.

EPILOGUE:

Since this Derek Riedle interview went live, significant developments in Australia include the ban on consuming hemp as a food was lifted. A super milk has now hit the shelves made of cannabis seeds. Hemp milk is now sold in Perth, Australia.  Consumers are increasingly aware of its high protein and other nutritional value.  It is marketed as a dairy alternative beside soy, coconut and nut milks.

Also Canopy Rivers is skyrocking. Canopy Rivers is an investment and operating platform structured to pursue opportunities in the emerging global cannabis sector. Canopy Rivers is managed by an experienced team of qualified financial and technical professionals with significant industry experience and relationship networks

Much is being compared to what is happening with increasing use and acceptance of natural susbstances. Invite readers to read Ethan Indigo Smith's views on the Prohibition of Marijuana. The world is waking up to this and far more.

 Also encourage readers to leave comments and share their views on this interview. What do you see happening with cannabis, DMT and other drugs in the public eye?

Interview with Adam Gokmen

Adam Gokmen is a Universal Tao Healing Instructor,  Healing Tao Australia manager and national coordinator for diverse healing events.  He brings Professor William U.Wei, Grand Master Mantak Chia in for extended workshops.  He invites instructors of healing arts and other serious students to develop or update their skills and spiritual practices in different areas.

I connect with Adam after reading books by Mantak Chia and William U. Wei, and discover colleagues have attended some of their training events. Its exciting to offer glimpses of ways to explore subtle energies, see universal philosophies are gaining momentum and taking root.

Thanks Adam for taking time-out to share some insights.

Which life events prompted you to develop an interest in Tao healing practices? 

Coming from kung fu martial arts background, i could relate to the eastern practices. My kung fu style had a number of internal practices.  As i was advancing in them, i got onto master chia's books to fine tune my practices and help me correct and guide my chi energy more efficiently.

Notable is how frequently martial arts students shift and recognize connections between streams. Aikido and Qigong introduced me to unifying with life energy and were also the stepping stones to explore other eastern traditions and practices.

What prompted you to switch from kung fu and become a Tao Healing Instructor? 

After 6 years of reading all master chia's books and self-teaching myself, i knew it was time to go over to train and get certified by the grand master as my vision was to do so and then bring the Universal Healing Tao system to Australia were we can have access to the wealth and power of the ancient taoist practices made simply to follow and practice by master chia.

Good on you for actualizing that vision to deepen self-understanding and also to serve and empower others.  How has this process affected or changed you?

Qigong, inner alchemy, tai chi and other powerful practices (Tibetan and Indian) are what i have practised.This has changed my life in many ways; my energy and internal strength, work & business, the  different ways one views life and balances me emotionally and spiritually.

Just as the 2Cellos I Will Wait , it is like we are each inviting the experience heaven within (and on Earth) at our own pace, though whatever we are intuitively drawn to create.

This said, its common for martial arts teachers to have muliple income streams, or, to teach healing arts part-time and generate income from other activities.  Do you notice a trend to balance more than one holistic job or healing practice?

  As The Tao is limitless, never closed- or single-minded, same goes with different practices.  We believe you can get the goodness out of all the holistic arts and practices, what works for one may be opposite or different for others as we are all different internally. At the end of the day, its all the same energy and force were working with.

Many people relate to Bruce Lee who viewed himself as an ambassador of chinese martial arts. He offered lectures about the wisdom of masters.  In  A Warrior's Journey, Lee explains "water is the softest substance in the world yet it can penetrate the hardest...water also is insubstantial, you cannot grasp water, cannot punch or hurt it every martial artist is aiming to be like that, soft like water an adapt himself to his opponent."  A warriors journey explains the states martial artists goes through in evolution from ignorance to enlightenment. Bruce Lee echoes, The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering. What is the taoist view?

Taoists believe there is an intelligent, guiding force, Tao, permeating the universe. Taoism is a natural philosophy more than a religion, and one that cultivates a keen awareness of the cycles and forces of nature, as well as its myriad and nuanced interrelationships. In Taoism, the forces of the world and those within us are an expression of the binary opposites called yin and yang. Cultivating a clear and empty mind and a body that moves like water are the goals of practice. Indeed, in a very real sense, Taoists worship water as the ultimate example of precisely the spontaneous, relaxed quality they want to see in themselves.

As the world is expanding consciousness, the West is seeing an influx of Eastern healing teachings and related wisdom.  Some say it is part of a process of integration. What stands out to you about Healing Tao Australia? 

The universal healing tao system is a practical system of self-development that enables people to complete the harmonious evolution of there physical, mental and spiritual bodies through a series of ancient Chinese meditative and internal energy excises. Not many ‘systems’ can offer this, as were working with real energies ( internal and external we know its real , we know there’s a force there and we can FEEL it.

Why not get involved in another martial art or healing practice?

Intuition. Our vision is to give the concept of the Tao creating the desire to manifest and practice the Tao in those students who are sincere, humble and deserving to practice the Tao. The humble can only perceive the truth and the truth will set you free. These four practices below will open up your Emotional, Physical, Mental, Energetic- Spiritual bodies if you are wisdom enough to practice them.

Tell us about different styles of tai chi.  
 
There are hundreds of tai chi forms. Master chia put many forms into just a handful to cover most yin and yang elements. His books illustrate tai chi literally means Yin & Yang energy (Duality).

Why are people drawn to this practice? 

The energetic purpose of tai chi is cultivate the qi or life energy within so it flows smoothly and powerfully through the body.  People are drawn to what they are ready for.  Sometimes people are sick and wish to get well.  Other times people are well and wish to sustain or build on this. Different forms of exercise maintain strength, flexibility, and balance.  Different tai chi forms are all versions of meditation in motion. Meditation is a process of re-balancing that goes on.

Right! It is like a conscious re-calibration or shift in vibration when one feels things energetically.

So, while walking through parks, its increasingly common to see older people practicing Qigong alone or in groups. People also gather outside in cities.  Where is it most natural to practice? 

Outdoors in nature is more energetic, but as your energy gets more refined and strong, it doesn’t matter where you practice.  You will feel the energy inside of you spinning and flowing through your meridians and channels.  Inside is your temple, your cave, your universe, so that’s when you can feel one with the great force. I started outside for the first year of my practices.  Now. I can do it anywhere, any time and for as long or short as I wish.
 
Tai chi and Qigong offer many mental and physical benefits.  Tell us about those and share some examples you have witnessed as an instructor.
 
Seeing students more balanced, more healthy and with more chi is most rewarding, turning tired depleted eyes into bright strong balanced energy windows and unbalanced organs clogged up in emotions into energy centres that produce and store energy is the way.  Some examples include; better mood, with lower levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. greater aerobic capacity and muscle strength. more energy and stamina. enhanced flexibility, balance, and agility.

In a similar light, Harvard Medical School Women's Health Watch offers a thorough article on tai chi benefits. 

 What kind of connection do you see between Tao healing practices and promoting immortality? (reintegrating this idea from possibility to reality into our conscious awareness)

The Immortal Tao is the Highest Inner Alchemy Practice in the Universal Healing Tao System. This is the process of transforming the Physical Body into the Spirit Body. It is a steam process of transformation from the physical form into the spirit form. Once this is completed you can materialize and dematerialize at will, having the ability to travel beyond time and space moving beyond the North Star (Center of our Galaxy) and breaking the Karmic Wheel so you never have to come back into time and space.  The Immortal UHT practices are broken down into Two Levels. The First Level is the Kan & Li Meditations: the Kan & Li (Water & Fire) meditations of Lesser Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Navel), Greater Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Solar Plexus), and Greatest Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Heart). The Second Level is the Sealing of the Five Senses (Cauldron at the Crystal Room), Congress of Heaven and Earth, and the Reunion of Heaven and Man.

What are some changes you notice in yourself (energy, perception, behaviour) as the result of practicing Tao healing arts? How long have you been practicing?  

The benefits there’s to many to list. more internal energy and stronger organs and kidney energy, also slowing down the aging process are all benefits I have personally experienced with balancing my emotional state and opening channels to the higher plane and receiving and sharing energies. I have been doing Qigong for 17 years and the secret is to do just a little bit every day, give yourself 10 -15 mins a day.

Do you see a link between the length of time you practice consistently and the nature of awakening or expanding perception?

As were going deep and changing our DNA through inner alchemy practices we are constantly changing and shifting, perception, behaviour and realisation are shifting to higher planes while securing your love and respect and connection with mother earth.

If you had a piece of advice, something to offer, what would it be?
 
At the start of my practices I was full of questions always constantly asking for external help and support (which is good when your starting off) but I learnt through the years if you just look within and close the monkey mind off (ego) and connect with you true self (consciousness).  All the answers are here and they become available to you to use and learn from. Once you connect with the universe and earth energies you download wisdom, intuition, and power to strengthen your soul and sprit bodies. Trust in yourself, trust in the great force (tao) and feel and watch your life transform. To do this you need to practice , it doesn’t just come from wishful thinking you have to do the hard work and push through the barriers and obstacles like that saying ‘see the light at the end of the tunnel’ well with the tao we can see and feel that light anytime you just have to make that conscious decision when you want to activate it and feel it in this life time. Only through training in meditation can we still our minds to make conscious choices which is not only beneficial to yourself but also others because we are the whole and what affects us affects others. We are the most helpless creatures on the planet when we are born and have to be taught and learn to do everything. By training in the UHT practices, you start to rediscovery what you already know but are not conscious of it. Taoist practices give you time to become conscious. Freedom is the right to became without infringing or hindering anyone else’ right to become. Everyone has a right to be; that is our free will, which is our Divinity. With Freedom we take on great responsibilities for ourselves and our actions. The greatest freedom is discipline. In order to accomplish everything in life you need to focus and discipline yourself to achieve it and without discipline it will never happen. The Tao with its practices teaches you spiritual independence, which is not to be depend on anyone else, or thing for your existence and evolution. It takes great courage to be free and to experience consciously your freedom being divine. You let go of all your conditioning, institutionalization and physical limitation to be free and self-sufficient. All the bodies are just levels of consciousness.

Know that in the tao we are our own healers, own gurus, own doctors, own psychologist and own masters!

Its significant to notice Master Chia is widely respected for his sharing and teaching healing Tao work. As you say, all who are drawn to masters are seeing reflections of what is dormant in themselves.  We each invite ourselves to accept and actualize all we are. All roads lead to Rome. Thank you for offering some insight into what draws you to awaken and share reflections.

Please share any event updates.

We have an upcoming Chi Nei Tsang Workshop in Brisbane, and events with William U.Wei and Master Chia on the horizon.  For more infomation on future events & seminars in Australia please see www.healingtaoaustralia.com/events 

Interview with William U. Wei

It may surprise you to hear that books mysteriously appear to me on library and bookstore shelves or enter my life in other unexpected ways. Such events are signals from the universe of a readiness for new growth, a reminder every action taken has more than one purpose, and layers of motivation are revealed with perfect timing. 

While engaged in spiritual practices, like Tai Chi & Qigong, one book that appeared to me was Sealing of the Five Senses: Advanced Practices for Becoming a Taoist Immortal by Mantak Chia and William U. Wei.  Tuning in to this led to discovering other books by the same authors, including the most recent, The Tao of Immortality. The true impact is immeasurable.

Ancient teachings enter our lives when we are ready for deeper awakening, to grow conscious of and access core knowing that is ever-present.  Thus, this interview is offered as Soulful insight.  

Please share a bit about yourself and how you connected with Master Chia. 

William U. Wei also known as Wei Tzu (and The Professor).  This pen name for this instructor allows anonymity and continuing to become a blade of grass in a field.

Its like we grow into our names to give them meaning and detach to view self not as personal, but rather, as a vessel to allow universal energy to flow.  This awakening involves losing what one thinks is important in order to merge with what truly is. Ego death is a "complete loss of subjective self-identity", or key shift of focal point.

Being has no form, no name. To stabilize in that beingness gives access all knowledge.

Please expand on the Professor's background. 

The Professor was born after World War I, growing up in the Midwestern United States. In 1984, this student of the Tao started studying directly under Master Mantak Chia.  In August 1993, became a Senior Instructor of the Universal Healing Tao. He specialized in one-on-one training to over 500 students. In December 1994, after liquidating all his US assets, this Senior Instructor moved to Tao Garden, Thailand, and assisted Master Mantak Chia in building Tao Garden Taoist Training Center.  During the next six years, this student of the Tao traveled to over 30 countries teaching with Master Mantak Chia and serving as Marketing and Construction Coordinator for the Tao Garden.

What stands out is feeling the truth prompts instant shifts in priorities.  That feels like true dedication to the Universal Healing Tao. Mark Twain echos the two most important days in life are the day one is born and day one discovers why.

Precisely. When ego is no longer directing action, Soul is consciously guiding it.  After ten years finally coming out from his Southern Oregon Mountain Retreat Sanctuary, the Professor has agreed to teach all the instructor techniques on the Basic UHT (I-III), Iron Shirt (I-III), and Kan & Li (I-III) practices learn directly from Master Mantak Chia.  The instructors and serious students will learn all technical aspects of the formulas directly from the Universal Healing Tao books, why we practice the formulas and how to properly practice and teach the formulas to the students so they will continue to practice them. This information comes from over thirty years of daily practice after personally taking over 600 of Master Chia’s Workshops and teaching over 500 individual students and over 5,000 students in group workshops while teaching on tour with Master Chia from 1994 through 2000.

What led to collaborating on Tao Healing books? 

Upon completion of Tao Garden in December 1998, the Professor became Project Manager (winters) for Universal Tao Publications’ books and products (coordinating the completion of an additional 48 book titles). With the purchase of a mountain having four waterfalls in Southern Oregon, USA (6/15/1998), this practitioner is presently (summers) completing a Taoist Mountain Sanctuary for personal cultivation, Higher Level Immortal Tao practices and ascension. 

Through this process acting as Universal Healing Tao Publications’ Project Manager, the Professor has managed the formatting, layout, coordinating, editing and writing the completion of 60 Universal Healing Tao Books with another fifteen books to go to complete the Universal Healing Tao System.

The Professor also personally wrote out the over 240 formulas from the Universal Healing Tao books into the Chi Cards format (Six Decks of twenty cards each on 3x5 cards) for his personal practice and teaching his fellow students and for their daily practices as well.

Which books has 'The Professor' co-wrote with Master Chia?

This student of the Tao is the co-author of twelve Universal Healing Tao books with Master Chia as follows: Living in the Tao, Sexual Reflexology, Cosmic Detox, Cosmic Astrology, Cosmic Nutrition, Emerald River, Universal Healing Tao Formulas I, Prostate Chi Kung, Uterus Chi Kung, Chi Nei Ching, Multi-Orgasmic Teen, Sealing of the Five Senses, The Tao of Immortality and co-creator of the Universal Healing Tao Formula Cards, Chi Cards (6 sets of over 240 formulas) with Master Mantak Chia under the pen name the “The Professor - Master of Nothingness”, the Myth that takes the Mystery out of Mysticism.

These books reveal feeling one's way into harmony with Source Energy is an awakening process. Chinese philosophers echo all experience inward and outward is the product of two opposing principles: Yin and Yang (female and male, dark and light, receptive and creative)  One way to harmonize these forces is through directed activity. Tai Chi and Chi Kung are powerful activities used to balance yin- yang and vital force (chi.)  

Please offer insight into other projects in progress.

The Professor is also presently working on the future UHT books with Master Chia as follows: Universal Healing Tao Formulas II”(Book II of the Chi Cards), Ending into the Beginning (personal ascension book) and an additional 6 sets of Chi Cards with over 240 formulas with Master Mantak Chia in completing the Universal Healing Tao System.

Chi-Nei-Tsang-Microcurrent-Therapy is another Mantak Chia project in the works to be released in August 2018 with co-author Aisha Sieburth. This is another example of bringing energy insights into the present to be made available for those who are ready to take their experience to new levels of expansion.

For anyone not yet familiar with Tai Chi & Chi Kung, share how this practice stimulates expansion of consciousness and immortality. How does it relate to energy fields, bringing more light in? 

The Tao of Immortality reveals that Tai Chi, which literally means Yin & Yang (Duality), is just a small but important part of the UHT practices leading to Conscious Immortality. This is Tai Chi Chi Kung not Tai Chi that is just a form of movement. The added Chi Kung means working the internal energy as you are moving in the form implementing the Iron Shirt I (Structural Alignment and Rooting to the Earth Force and being pulled by the Heaven Forces) and Iron Short II (Whip Movement, Chi Pressure and Tendon Power). This is a simple Yang Style Form with Thirteen Movements in Four Directions starting in the North moving counterclockwise 360 degrees then clockwise 360 degrees to the original position.

How does this affect cellular memory?

Once you learn the form, which is the ten thousand-practice rule (You do it 10,000 times), you know it completely activating your molecular memory. Then you do not know if you did it or if you did not do it because it has become a meditation and has become a part of you.  You have built up a complete defense system energetically through its practice with the postures and strikes (Ward Off, Rollback, Press, Push, Single Whip & Single Hand Push) with your muscle memory.

This reminds us that humans cannot express non-physical dimensions logically. Much like the Universal Tao practice shifts energy, Sadhguru explains our perception can be expanded beyond the physical when the focal point shifts from lower chakras to see through the Third eye.  This is about allowing energy to flow from a limited perception to receive and process energy from a higher vantage point, where expanded life experience comes as the result new clarity. 

One can be intellectually-realized without being experientially realized. Many paths exist to go from limited to more expanded awareness.

Why do so many people speak of peace as the end point?

Only when all methods are dropped does ecstasy happen. From here to here, there is no journey. 

More and more people are interested in astral travel. Those engaging in out-of -body experience (OBE) and astral travel are eager to hear more about this in terms of Ying-Yang and an analogy. 

Through your daily practice you have incorporated the form into your energy body and when you leave the physical body (Ascension) you take the form (Postures and Strikes) with you to the next plane. You have formed your Energetic Yang Body (Dense Spaceship) to travel in the realms of Infinity as opposed to a Yin Body (Astral Travel). It is like a baby (Yin Body) going into the jungle (Infinite Space) or a Yang Body (Armored Tank) going into the jungle.  There are big tigers in the jungle; so, would you rather be a baby or a tank in the jungle?  Every time you do your practice (Fusion/Spinning Pakuas & Tai Chi/Strikes) you are building your energetic tank and its energetic defense system for safe travel into the great beyond.

Its interesting that different cultures have different afterlife ceremonies, different preparations for travelling to and and for visions of residing in other worlds.  Those who know Near Death Experiences (NDEs) also gain insight into the energetic journey. 

Still, immortality remains a mystery to many. Different cultural groups and religions suggest it is something to work toward or earn through experience in this life for the next life. Still other teachers, such as yogis, monks, fakirs, echo other perspectives. How is your view of immortality changing through your practice of Taoist Meditation and other healing arts?

The Immortal Tao is the Highest Inner Alchemy Practice in the Universal Healing Tao System. This is the process of transforming the Physical Body into the Spirit Body. It is a steam process of transformation from the physical form into the spirit form.

Some people also describe this as evolution of the carbon-based body into a crystal or light body.

Once this is completed, you can materialize and dematerialize at will, having the ability to travel beyond time and space moving beyond the North Star (Center of our Galaxy) and breaking the Karmic Wheel so you never have to come back into time and space. 

That said, some beings do choose to return to this world of time and space as Masters or other teachers. Please expand on specific Immortal UHT practices.

The Immortal UHT practices are broken down into Two Levels. The First Level is the Kan & Li Meditations: the Kan & Li (Water & Fire) meditations of Lesser Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Navel), Greater Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Solar Plexus), and Greatest Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Heart). The Second Level is the Sealing of the Five Senses (Cauldron at the Crystal Room), Congress of Heaven and Earth, and the Reunion of Heaven and Man.

You have co-authored a number of books with Mantak Chia. Why is the time ripe to write and release: The Tao of Immortality? 

In today’s Global Society, people have lost sense of morality, respect for life or decency with the senseless killing and wars. They have lost their way. All spiritual paths seek the natural flow of the universe, the Tao. The Tao is one of balance and harmony with everything in the universe. Taoism is a real practice of body, mind and spirit. Not just a philosophy of mind only. When we have the true sense of its meaning, the true knowledge and wisdom, we will be able to make the right decisions in our lives. All spiritual goals lead to the truth of the universe. The Tao is the study of the technology of how to seek the truth of the universe, nature and humans. Its focus goes beyond any one single path or viewpoint. The Tao is not a religion and requires no initiations or ceremonies. The Tao is the outcome of all religions, while it leaves them behind just like the clothing of different seasons and different places. The Tao is the goal of serious science, but it leaves behind all sciences as partial and temporal descriptions of the integral truth.

What is special about advanced Taoist teachings?

Advanced Taoist teachings are like a master key that unlocks all doors. Taoism includes all religious subjects, yet its breadth and depth go far beyond the limits of religious devotion. The teachings of the Tao assist people in their lives like religions do; yet the Tao transcends all religions while still containing their essence. Taoism explains or demonstrates the truth directly, not on the emotional, thought or belief level. It leaves no room for skepticism or endless searching. Philosophy, science and religions all contain a part of the universal truth, the Tao. The Tao reflects the center of the ultimate truth (you) and helps you to reach it for yourself. Through the practices of the Universal Healing Tao System you will discover the Tao within yourself and our way back to peace and harmony with a Global Consciousness Transformation which is the only way to solve the upheaval on the planet today.

The book presents 5 infant spirits that exist within every human being and also states, “you want your infant spirits to gain wisdom and that is something that cannot be attained in school. Wisdom is only acquired in the stars. Your goal then is for your collective spirit and soul to become educated, grow up, and recognize your oneness with the universe.”

What advice do you offer souls who come to Earth never consciously disconnecting from this oneness of the universe, but struggle to ground? Their goal seems to be to grow downward. 

Only through training in meditation can we still our minds to make conscious choices which is not only beneficial to yourself but also others because we are the whole and what affects us affects others. At birth, we are the most helpless creatures on the planet and have to be taught to learn and remember everything.

How do UHT practices facilitate expanding consciousness?

By training in the UHT practices, you start to rediscovery what you already know but are not conscious of it. Taoist practices give you time to become conscious. Freedom is the right to became without infringing or hindering anyone else’ right to become. Everyone has a right to be; that is our free will, which is our Divinity. With Freedom we take on great responsibilities for ourselves and our actions. The greatest freedom is discipline. In order to accomplish everything in life you need to focus and discipline yourself to achieve it and without discipline it will never happen. The Tao with its practices teaches you spiritual independence, which is not to be depend on anyone else, or thing for your existence and evolution. It takes great courage to be free and to experience consciously your freedom being divine. You let go of all your conditioning, institutionalization and physical limitation to be free and self-sufficient. All the bodies are just levels of consciousness.

This new book talks about nine levels of alchemy. What relationship do you see of these levels have with the first 9 chakras? How is the process of cleansing and purifying the chakras related to working and ascending through the nine levels of alchemy? 

This is just in that area with the chakras. The Taoist focus on the five vital organs, three minds & three bodies for the nine levels of alchemy. You can achieve the Tao alone (all-one) with the universe but with the proper instruction the instructor will give you the Taoist concepts, guidelines (formulas) and feedback sharing their personal experiences with the formulas to give you direction for your own self-discovery in the Tao.

Why is having a teacher important? Why can one not do this properly alone?

Feedback is important and makes all the difference in world to one who sincere and deserving which is the way the Tao was traditional presented and taught.

How does the Universal Healing Tao system relate to other healing modalities?

Our vision is to give the concept of the Tao creating the desire to manifest and practice the Tao in those students who are sincere, humble and deserving to practice the Tao. The humble can only perceive the truth and the truth will set you free. These four practices below will open up your Emotional, Physical, Energetic and Spiritual bodies if you are wisdom enough to practice them.

In the West, the Tao healing practices are used by people diagnosed with different illnesses as part of a healing regimen. Which practices can you suggest to feel and balance inner energy?

Four practices are detailed here; Inner Smile, Cosmic Detox, Chi Nei Tsang and Taoist Cosmic Healing-

Inner Smile: The first step in this Inner Alchemy process is to feel the internal energy. The only way to understand the Tao is to feel it inside yourself. You need to feel the internal energy before you can cultivate it. Through the Inner Smile Formula, you literally get in touch mentally with your five vital organs and related-organs (Functional Channel - Front Line), digestive tract (Digestive Channel - Middle Line) and your crown and spinal cord (Governor Channel - Back Line) by using your eyes and smiling down each line connecting with each part of your body.  By doing this on a daily basis you will start to develop a personal relationship with yourself on the physical, emotional, mental and energetic (spiritual) levels. By using the autonomic nervous system internally through your eyes with a para-sympathetic (positive) response you create a good feeling of love in your body.  Your heart generates this smiling energy when you focus your eyes into your heart with positive thoughts. When you smile down your body, your body will respond with positive loving energy.  This is how we learn to generate love within ourselves instead taking it from others; the abundance of that love within us will spread to others energetically across time and space without trying to give love to anyone. It is like greeting someone with a hand shake, hug or smile: they will respond the same, except now you do it internally to all your internal body parts and you feel relaxed, calm and at peace.  By doing so you have created the proper internal environment to proceed with the next step in cultivating your internal energy in a systemic pattern. You always start each following formula with the Inner Smile creating the proper environment for your internal transformation; this is always the first step of your daily practice.

This Inner Smile practice you recommend resonates.  Its benefits are also backed up by Dr. Isha Gupta, a neurologist from IGEA Brain and Spine who explains a smile initiates a chemical reaction in the brain, releasing certain horomes including dopamine and seratonin.  "Dopamine increases our feelings of happienss.  Seratonin release is associated with reduced stress.  Low levels of  seratonin are associated with depression and aggression.  Low levels of dopamine are also associated with depression." (cited from Gaiam tv special on 'You Are the Medicine' -Psychedlica, April 2018) 

Cosmic Detox: In our modern world we live (awake & sleeping) in unnatural environments with artificial lighting, commercialized homes, drinking chemically charged water, and eating commercialized foods, which causes severe and fatal conditions in our bodies that are not natural to our body internally. The process starts from birth to our graves as we are exposed to these artificial environments consuming artificial foods, air and water, which block our nine openings (mouth, anus, genitals, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils) and the largest organ (skin) of the body. As we get older the toxins (poisons) continue to multiply causing insurmountable blockages in our bodies if we do not periodically clean them out with systematic techniques to maintain our health and longevity. Through the Cosmic Detox formulas (Colonics, Cell, Eye & Rectal Cleanses, Liver, Gall Bladder & Kidney Flushes, Facial Sponge Washing, Sexual & Chi Self-Massages, Nasal Douching, Dry Skin Brushing & Solar Bathing) and proper diet you can begin to release blockages. Without daily and periodic practice or living in natural environment 24 hours a day and 7 days a week the toxins will again build up and further wear out the body which is your temple where you do all your Inner Alchemy practices. We need to develop a systematic process to clean and clear out the built up toxins in our bodies or we will drown in them. Without unblocked openings in our bodies we will not have complete success with our Inner Alchemy practices because we are dealing with very subtle energy in those practices, which these blockages affect dramatically. With Cosmic Detox formulas this can be accomplished depending on the severity and maintained over our lifetime.

Chi Nei Tsang: In the rivers of the forest, leaves of the tree branches fall into the water clogging it up at the bends of the river.  When they stop the flow of the river stagnation sets up in the river and a new organism forms called a swamp. The same happens in our body with the energy channels (rivers). They become blocked with debris (toxins) and form a new organism called cancer when stagnation happens.  The Chi Nei Tsang formulas are a hands-on application to manually remove any branches (debris) from your energy rivers (energy channels, lines and meridians). Through the Chi Nei Tsang Internal Organ Massage techniques (Healing Hands Meditation, Fanning, Venting, Flushing, Opening and Chasing the Wind Gates and Winds) the practitioner activates and opens the channels and energy lines releasing the Sick Energy and Winds. The Chi Nei Tsang formulas (Navel Diagnosis & Release, Skin & Intestines Detoxify, Organ (Diaphragm, Lungs, Liver, Pancreas, Spleen, Heart, Kidneys, Lymph System, Psoas Muscle, Nerves, Ovaries and Prostate) detoxify the whole body removing the blockages one at a time over a period of time depending on the extent of the stagnation. Common aliments (Headaches, Leg Pain (Sciatic Nerve) and Pulse Balancing) are also healed by these formulas and healing is further attained by the Tree Chi Kung formulas (Tree Palming on Yin & Yang Sides) using nature’s Immortal Healers. You will learn how to diagnosis your body and its toxic levels and obstructions and stress from the inside out through the assistance of the CNT practitioner with periodic sessions and how to maintain your body’s balance with your daily hands on practice.  This is a safe, practical way to connect physically with and balance your body on a daily basis using these simple healing hands-on techniques to open up, release and detoxify your body for health and longevity.

Taoist Cosmic Healing: To connect with the energy channels we need to open them up consciously in the body. Through the Universal Healing Tao techniques (Bone Marrow Washing, Earth & Heaven Channeling, Tiger Mouth and Open Index Finger) we activate these energy lines, channels and meridians. This opens up our body to our consciousness.  These Cosmic Healing techniques will assist you in connecting with your vital organs consciously to grow and experience the internal energy while healing your body. Through the Cosmic Chi Kung formulas (Grabbing the Moon, Bridge & Regulator Channels, Yin (Functional) & Yang (Governing) Channels and Planets to Organs) you can activate the negative and positive channels in the body.  Cosmic Chi Kung (formally known as Buddha Palm) utilizes hand energy line techniques that connect with vital organs opening your body up to be healed by the Cosmos. With daily Taoist Cosmic Healing practice, you will activate and open up the body’s channels to the Cosmic Forces of Heaven and Earth and cultivate them in your body. By growing this Cosmic Energy and incorporating the Elemental and Color Forces (Earth/Yellow, Fire/Red, Metal/White, Water/Blue and Wood/Green) internally you will set in motion the total body healing process for your health and longevity and healing others who are open to this energetic healing.

People who hunger or thirst for truth, come to realize the human being is a transmitting station of forces. In which ways is awakening triggered or accelerated by spiritual practice like meditation and chi kung?

Truth is your own reality. It is what you perceive that resonates deep within you to be the truth for you. It is your truth that applies to you not necessarily to anyone else but we are so good at manifesting our truths and they resonate so deeply within us that we think they are for everyone or apply to everyone else. That is the problem that leads to conflict or wars with others. Plus, the factor your truth today maybe not be applicable on a future date because everything around us is changing and is subject to change so what apply for today may not apply in the future. That is the truth.

It is felt that a person knows and feels only through direct experience, and that one has to be willing to die to be reborn and grow in new directions.   In your experience, do students practice meditation & Chi Kung to move beyond the ego? To experience timelessness? For other reasons?

A person knows and feels only through their years of gather information and years of direct experience of utilization of that gain knowledge. The dying is letting go of the ego which obstructs the Flow of the Tao and its mystical way by learning and practicing the UHT practices. Space and time are an illusion created by the imprisonment of our consciousness using the perception of our five senses. When you move beyond our five senses you move beyond time and space.

The idea that man cannot “do” and that everything is already done in him can seem confusing. Only those that are being are in fact doing consciously. Please comment.

Within each our cell of our bodies (DNA) you find all secret truths of the Universal all you have to do is learn to slow down your mind (meditation) they will be revealed to you. That is the art of doing nothing, Wu Wei. To understand Wu Wei, you cannot give your ego, or monkey mind as the Taoist call it, anything positive or negative. Your ego is a parasite because it lives off your energy, positive or negative. When you resist the ego you give it the power to overtake you and if you support the ego it overtakes you. So, what do you do? Wu Wei, you do nothing by not giving it any positive or negative energy. Now this is an art and it takes many years of practice to develop it as the art of doing nothing because when you succeed you will not obstruct the flow of Tao and you will become the Tao.

If you could offer our readers some advice, what would it be?

Life is simple and complete once you have the concept of what you are doing which creates the desire to manifest what you want. Concept, desire and manifestation is the whole process of becoming from the initial manifestation of the physical realm to every thought we have. It is all the same process for all of us. Just think it and you will become it. So, become your own reality and this final note will help you on your journey and the realization of the Tao. As you learn to let go, the energy (Chi) flows through you and eventually, by practicing the UHT Formulas (correct action) you will connect with that energy and become one with it.  And that is the Tao.

Please share anything else you wish to add. 

In 2019, The Professor is offering a 10-day workshop. The date is to be determined. It is the second time this will be available to the UHT instructors who will learn how to upgrade their certifications from the Professor who helped design the Universal Healing Tao Certification system. It is the Professor's wish to share these understandings of the Universal Healing Tao System to his fellow instructors and serious student of the Universal Healing Tao (UHT) before he retires from active teaching and go into his cave for his personal Immortal Ascension.

Also Master Chia is planning to teach in Sydney, Australia in April 2019

Blessings from the Universe & may the Chi be with you.  

Love knowing we are each a version of Life Force or a dormant jedi like those portrayed as separate from us in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and other Star Wars movies.  Story Waters offers a relevant view on The Meaning of Life.  Teachings of the Masters in this world and beyond, invite us to grow more intimate with what is real.

Interview with Rick Strassman

Dr Rick Strassman, is a medical physician, clinical researcher, visionary, and author of the seminal work, DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2000).  He also co-authored Inner Paths to Outer Space (2008) and more recently, is author of DMT and the Soul of Prophecy (2014) ebook & paperback.

His related documentary also receives widespread acclaim. You might say his cutting edge work prompts inner shifts, inviting us to envision and take steps to create a new kind of conscious future.

Intuition guides me to connect with specific people with perfect timing. Interviews that arise empower readers to see a bigger picture unfolding. At one stage of life, I engaged in psycho-pharmacology research, gained insight into the grant-writing process as well as politics of drug research trends.  It reflects shifts in collective consciousness, points to where we are heading.   

Thank you Dr. Strassman, for the presentations about mystical experience & spiritual scripture (@Horizons Perspectives on psychedelics), other work you do, and making yourself available for this dialogue. Interest in the effects of psychedelics (literally, "mind-manifesting") on consciousness is growing.

Due to your books and work, what is your view of changing public interest, understanding and receptiveness to new uses of hallucinogens? 

I’m glad to see that psychedelics are returning to the arena of public discourse. So far, however, there really are no “new” uses of psychedelics in the research environment. Rather, these new studies are confirming and extending older data that was generated during the first wave of human research. Perhaps the newer uses that you are referring to concern religious applications, which include both indigenous and more Western-religion-oriented type settings. By these, I’m referring to the ayahuasca churches and indigenous ayahuasca use.

Yes. New Yorker magazine recognizes a huge ayahuasca boom in the U.S. Well-intentioned researchers like yourself, aim to bring ayahuasca as ancient medicine, into the light of science.  The prospect of a fast track to awakening draws western travellers to the Amazon in droves. (For anyone considering it, invite doing soul-work first and read: things I wish I knew before drinking ayahuasca).  How do you feel about these social trends involving hallucinogens? 

It’s important not to prematurely close the door on with these drugs can do. That is the temptation I see people indulging in regarding a type of fundamentalism. Either these drugs “occasion mystical experiences,” “mimic psychosis,” “increase brain connectivity,” etc., as their means of producing their effects. We don’t really know what they do to exert their effects.

When do you see them being clinically legalized for therapeutic healing?

In the US, there are movements to place MDMA and psilocybin into less restrictive drug categories. These efforts are using the tools of normal pharmaceutical companies to get a drug into the clinical pipeline. Phase I, II, and III—safety and tolerability in normals, small-scale studies in patients, and then large-scale studies in patients.

That is encouraging.  It shows people are growing more open-minded, even legalizing certain drugs for public benefit. The view of cannabis, for instance, has shifted dramatically. Although marijuana is not a hallucinogen, it can have hallucinogenic properties.  

Business Insider (Mar 2018) says 29 U.S. states have legalized medical cannabis.  This article notes 23 health benefits, including, slowing the spread of cancer, reducing anxiety, and slowing the progression of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.  What stands out is cannabis offers huge pain relief and facilitates natural healing.  Civilized Life is presenting the World Cannabis Congress in June 2018. The widespread legalisation of cannabis reflects a shift in acceptable drug use.

In this light, Australian private insurers offer partial reimbursements for some alternative health treatments. In the Netherlands, various drugs can be obtained in cafes without prescription.  What is your feeling about the evolution of psychedelic drug use in the Western world?

We still don’t have the optimal setting worked out for the optimal use of psychedelics. What will probably turn out to be the case is that because of the wide range of effects of psychedelics, there will be various optimal settings for various desired uses: religious, medical, creativity, and so on.

Your research popularized the notion DMT is produced during dreams and near physical death. Both the general public and other researchers are interested in this. Please expand.

Unfortunately, those were educated speculations rather than objective data. Nevertheless, those ideas have spurred on bona fide research and we are closing in on the role of DMT in the dying process. 

Your research inspires other researchers to go deeper, conduct further studies.   Recent neuro-pharmacology studies begin to touch on dreams and psychedelics. One article states, "The broad overlap between dreaming and psychedelic states supports the notion that psychedelics acutely induce dreamlike subjective experiences which may have long-term beneficial effects on psychosocial functioning and well-being." Researches also envision more clinical studies.

Progress is being made.  We don’t have information about dreams yet though.

Existing computed tomography (CT) research proposes a calcified pineal may relate to aging and the onset of Alzheimer's. Current theories suggest DMT is produced naturally during waking states in the pineal.  Yet, calcification of the pineal appears to inhibit DMT production. Why?  

The pineal gland appears to make DMT both in humans and lower animals. We don’t know whether calcification has any effect one way or the other.

David Attenborough reminds us, “We only know a tiny proportion about the complexity of the natural world. Wherever you look, there are still things we don’t know about and don’t understand." As you and he imply, new information is available to be discovered and examined. 

Research shows calcification prevents the pineal gland from functioning. Fluoride accumulates in the pineal more than any other organ. Fluoride exposure in animal studies has found to decrease melatonin and lead to accelerated sexual development in females.  When our pineal gland is calcified, one view is humans are out of balance with nature, impeding proper biological functioning. How do you sense this relates to DMT?

I don’t know how fluoride ties into the DMT scenario.

What do you envision happening as the pineal is de-calcified in more people?

I know of no way to decalcify the pineal gland.

Considering over one million people have watched DMT and the mysteries of the pineal gland, and huge audiences are focusing attention in this direction, this certainly warrants new attention.  How would you build on your  previous work in an international study if you could today? (I already know a few people who are ready and willing to volunteer)

There is one DMT study taking place in London right now. This is a brain imaging project. There are plans to actualize a continuous infusion study of DMT, wherein it is possible to maintain the state longer than is the case when it is given as a single bolus or smoked one time. There are ayahuasca studies taking place now in Spain and Brazil. Unfortunately none in the US or Commonwealth countries.

Traditionally, tribal shamans use plant substances to connect with spirit worlds and for healing. Shamanic schools now exist in different parts of the world, including the U.S. Shamanic healers offer services not covered under Medicaid or other insurance. When do you envision U.S. shamanic clinics emerging for the general population?

This relates to what kind of clinical models emerge for using psychedelics. While certainly not around the corner, I can see at some point “shamanic” use of psychedelics being considered “indigenous healing” which could be reimbursed. This is the case with, for example, certain indigenous healing practices of Native Americans and Hispanic cultures in New Mexico that at least one of the major insurers reimburses.

Your remark here echoes new changes in the air and echoes changes in collective consciousness. Helen Keller reminds us that the heresy in one Age becomes orthodoxy in another. George Bernard Shaw agrees. He echoes "all evolution in thought and conduct must first appear as heresy and misconduct.

How else do you imagine shamanic healing (DMT, ayahusca and other drugs) growing more accessible in the U.S. like medical opiates and marijuana? What about legalizing psychedelics for conscious tourism as is done in Costa Rica, South America and other part of the world?

This again relates to setting up environments in which people can take psychedelics for various reasons. The settings where there is direct benefit provided to patients for whom more traditional practices have failed are more likely to get off the ground first.

What does this echo on the state of collective consciousness and nature's harmonizing influence?

My late Zen teacher used to say that the balance between good and evil is always 51:49.

Midwives, health and well-ness practitioners such as chiropractors, naturopaths, ayurvedic doctors and others, are revolutionizing and changing the way people view health care services, integrative medicine and self-healing. What inspired your pioneering DMT research?

I was interested in the biology of spiritual experience. To the extent that psychedelics could bring about states of consciousness resembling those that occurred in non-drug religious states, I believed that there were common underlying biological denominators. The presence of endogenous DMT and its psychoactive effects made it a strong candidate for such a mediator.

Emerging technologies can record what the experiencer is sensing in altered states.  This is used for dream research, to track the brain in meditative states, channelling mediums and others. How do you see this, along with DMT, perhaps validating connections to the spirit world (i.e. higher vibrational states)?

First one needs to define “spirit world.” This needs to be done with more rigor than simply alluding to their having a higher vibrational state. I have more or less glibly wondered about dark matter cameras that could image those things that are comprised of it.

Agreed. John Chavez, who interviewed you before, suggests, we also need a clear idea of what Science means. Often people can be conversing about Science and spirituality and not be clear, and not be on the same page.

If the spirit worlds reside in normally invisible planes of existence, perhaps that type of imaging device could capture images of things existing in those planes. Then, one might compare those images with what one sees on DMT and related substances.

Many people are familliar with the psychedelics in the movies. Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Ridley Scott's original Bladerunner , Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey, are examples. Actor Jim Carrey took DMT and says his consciousness shifted dramatically as the result. How do you see the DMT experience is important for breaking through the matrix of individual and collective consciousness?

The existence of “things” in parallel, objectively verifiable, self-existent alternate planes of reality would be of great interest. However, simply establishing their existence without some goal in mind would only be tinkering rather than automatically being useful for the world.

In your Other Worlds, and your books, you suggest psychoactive substances like DMT allow the brain to bypass our five basic senses to unlock multi-dimensional realm of existence where other-worldly communication occurs.

This, of course, is only an hypothesis.

How do you account for the phenomena of synaesthesia, clairvoyance, and individuals with selectively magnified subtle senses, who do not ingest DMT yet access multi-dimensional realms spontaneously and at will?

It makes sense that nondrug states that resemble those brought on by giving DMT may be mediated by the same processes that are called into action when DMT is administered.

Also in Other Worlds documentary, you suggest the external search for alien life-forms is mis-directed.  Is our collective attention mis-guided when popular visionary sci-fi stories with aliens are the focus rather than the inner space world of our minds? 

Not necessarily mis-directed, but not the entire story.

Alien encounters are perhaps the most highly documented events yet are also the most downplayed. Sheer numbers of common stories, reports, and apparent abductions would, if on another subject, be substantial enough to make a huge statement in a traditional judicial system. That aside, if you view this from the perspective of your research with DMT, would this imply increasing numbers of people are expanding consciousness and producing DMT to access inner worlds of the mind?

We don’t know if endogenous DMT levels rise in states that resemble those brought on by giving DMT. Don’t gild the lily. Psychedelics can be used for terrible purposes. Just look at Charles Manson who used LSD to cement malignant beliefs and goals of his followers.

Why or why not? What other explanation could you suppose?

Humans are always living on the edge of disaster, the closer to the edge—that is, the more extreme the situation—the more extreme the potential solutions. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that LSD was discovered around the same time that the atomic bomb was developed.

Do you foresee DMT or related psychotropics being used more as a divination tool to gain greater insights into downloading visions for greater holistic technologies, mathematical and quantum understandings, as a think tank under controlled experimental conditions to improve upon the human condition?

There were some early studies using psychedelics to enhance creativity. This is an area that needs to be revisited.

Great composers and creative minds tune into the wide universe to download their masterpieces. What kind of world do you imagine as more people ingest DMT for clinical trials, healing or produce it naturally, to tap into conscious dream worlds? Would more of us get clarity faster and manifest our divine gifts?

It depends. I think that psychedelics provide a cementing of beliefs that previously were more or less conscious or about which people were more or less certain. This has to do with my notion of psychedelics as super placebos. Not wanting to beat a dead horse, it would be of use if you read the book about Manson and his use of LSD in his followers: Helter Skelter. It’s a sobering account.

It is suggested Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were aiming to contact the Afterlife with their emerging technologies. Tesla is known for saying the secrets of consciousness require an understanding of energy, frequency and vibration. He also said, “My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.” Which connections do you see emerging related to your work with DMT?

I have a predilection for the medieval Jewish philosophers. They suggest, based on Aristotle’s early work, that there exists an “Active Intellect” in which resides all past, present, and potential future information and events. The philosophers believe it is possible to “conjoin with” that information depending on one’s particular state—in particular, the state of one’s “intellect” and “imagination.” I think psychedelics stimulate the imagination, and to the extent that a more perfect imagination allows one to conjoin with the Active Intellect, there may be a little for them in tapping into what Tesla refers to as the “core.”

Indeed. Tesla's work still inspires shifts in what Science originally taught us to believe is impossible. Look at the electric car, free enegy and other technologies. Albert  Einstein also echoes, “The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.” 

Why do you sense the origin and function of the DMT- Spirit molecule frustrates many scientists?  

Most scientists are limited to what they can see, measure, observe externally. The properties of DMT are a little trickier to subsume in this way. For example, DMT is actively transported into the brain across the blood brain barrier using energy. This is something that the brain does only for required substances like sugar and certain amino acids. This indicates that DMT is necessary for normal brain function, and normal brain function translates into normal consciousness. In addition, the DMT synthetic machinery is active in retina. Thus, both general consciousness and visual consciousness in particular may be mediated by the maintenance of a homeostatic level of DMT. This is too mind blowing a notion for most of us.

As DMT production in the pineal is clincally proven in rodents, what can you add about human DMT production?

New data hone in more carefully on how DMT is produced in the pineal, and extends findings to the human.

What do you imagine is required for the assumed boundary between science and spirituality to dissolve?

It will never dissolve, but might become more porous. Even then, people believe what they want to believe.

One of your theories is that DMT may function as a type of cross species Esperanto, in that it allows communication among any organisms. If everything could tune into the same frequency at the same moment, what are the implications?

It might make people more compassionate. It also might open up a can of worms regarding mind control, loss of privacy, etc.

Your theory of Theo-neurology suggests God designed the brain for us to connect with the divine. Does your DMT research corroborate the idea the human body is a system of bio-circuitry?

My research didn’t address that.

Would you suggest the human body is like a radio dial and the level of DMT determines the channels or frequencies we tune into?

I speculate about this.

If so, do you suppose we regulate DMT release to change channels?

We don’t know anything about endogenous DMT levels in humans and their relationship to non-drug altered states. The “changing channels” notion is a metaphor, hopefully useful.

Many famous geniuses have drugs of choice. Graham Hancock's research led him to consume ayahuasca and he explains his journey on youtube. One thing he concludes is:“It may be that DMT makes us able to perceive what the physicist call "dark matter" - the 95 per cent of the universe's mass that is known to exist but that at present remains invisible to our senses and instruments.”  

Terrence McKenna and David Icke also advocate of the use of psychedelics to open the mind. Which ones have you or would you like to consume? What do you notice about your own shifts in consciousness with or without psychedelics?

I don’t talk about my drug use or non-use.

Terrence McKenna says “Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.” Please comment.

Psychedelics are illegal because of their adverse effects. I think it’s a counter-productive myth to point to their putative mind expanding effects as reasons for their illegality. There are enormously powerful drugs that can be misused and cause major problems. Thus, strict regulation is more helpful than not over the long run. I would rather fewer people with more supervision take psychedelics than more people with less supervision.

If you could leave a piece of advice for our readers, what would you share?

Psychedelics are not panaceas. One big trip may be all that you need, provide enough of a push for the rest of your life. After that, the rest is commentary.

Thanks again Dr. Strassman, for offering food for reflection about the ongoing shifts in collective consciousness. It is clear dialogue is ongoing in scientific, government and public spheres.  The jury may still be out on the best or most appropriate uses of psychedelics, but growing interest exists in exploring and testing out new possibilities.

Encourage visitors to check out Dr. Strassman's  books, Youtube presentations and to visit his blog. His visionary approach to psychedelic research is a sign of the times.

Nikola Tesla is right on point as he echoes, many people, much like Dr. Strassman, are doing research, and proposing theories that point the way in which humanity and collective consciousness is heading.  Invite you to tune into the vibe.

Interview with Jaan Sanaam (Jerabek)

Jaan Sanaam (Jerabek) is Founder of Global Transformative Education, large breathwork training and therapy organization in the southern hemisphere.  Based north of Sydney, Australia, he is Director of The Depression Solution, trainer of breathwork-orientated psychotherapists, and a new generation of therapists who value pioneering approaches to therapy.

His unique approach to Advanced Breathwork Therapy led him to become one of the most sought after and successful teachers who has even led programs on route to Antarctica.  He runs regular retreats and programs. He and his graduates tailor services to small groups.

Its fascinating how the universe works. About a year ago, my husband attended a packed Business Success Systems breakfast in Melbourne and Jaan was the speaker. Hence, a pamphlet about this wellness guru and his group retreats reached me.  Intuitively, I researched into his programs, watched Youtube videos and discovered we have some mutual colleagues. I attended one of his retreats, connected with some of his past students, and experienced the power of breathwork directly.

This said, as the result of training under the supervision of Jaan and senior students, turns out there is more to this man than meets the eye.  Thus, I am pleased to invite him to engage in an interview here.

Thank you Jaan, for reserving time in your busy life to share glimpses of your personal journey. 

Please tell people about your origin? How did you end up Down Under?

I was born in Czechoslovakia.  At age 6, I immigrated with my parents to Australia. My parents wanted my brother and I to have greater opportunities, and by god, did we ever.

Share some of the milestones that you lead you to create who you are right now.

My journey started at the age of 14. I came across a book about how ‘Ninjas’ attained their powers they are known for, and that was through meditation. Like any teenager, living in their dream world, I was determined to access these powers, so I started meditating daily for an hour. My atheist parents understandably found this a bit strange, but, let me go on with my dream of ‘attaining powers’, humouring their young child’s ‘fantasy world’. By the age of 15, after researching the ‘Yogi’s’ way of meditation and their level of mystical abilities and states they experienced, I upped my meditation to 2-3 hours a day.

That sounds like a very dedicated practice early on. I sense this invites readers to step back and view events in their own lives from a very different place. Would you say this is soul-driven?

I did not know it at the time, but I was well into the ‘full swing’ of my destiny. As much as I know I am writing this now, feeling the keys beneath my fingertips, I know on a ‘Soul Level’ I set my life up, so I could ‘get onto the tracks of my destiny’ – My sadhana – final Yogic stage where daily meditation, chants, purifications etc finish off the final stage…. Which has many stages itself.

And your sense of sadhana, what role does it play on the spiritual path?

Sadhana does not mean any one specific activity.  Rather, sadhana means using everything as a tool for well-being.  There is a lot to it.

So then, its not simply traditional meditation practices per se.  It is the insight we gain into ourselves through this process. 

Yes. sadhana is about how we eat, sit, stand, conduct the body, mind, sense energies and emotions, as well as the how we breathe.

Ah-ha! Tell us about breathwork.  This feels like a huge part of your calling.  What is it exactly?More than basic pranayama? Which life experiences guided you to get into breathwork? 

Going back a bit, At the age of 17, I had my first ‘Re-birthing Breathwork’ session. It was a turning point. I quickly experienced ‘Re-birthing Breathwork’ (RBW).  The emotional & psychological side is like using a hammer and chisel to break-through an emotional block – as if the emotional block was a huge cube of concrete. Cathartic Breathwork, however, invented and refined by me, is like taking a sledgehammer or sledgehammer to it 4 – 6 blows and the ‘Block’ – cement cube – breaks and crumbles.

How did developing this unique approach to breathwork change your life?

By age 20, I was a qualified Breathwork Facilitator, began seeing clients on a professional basis and facilitating workshops on personal and spiritual growth. At 21, I had a vision to bring Re-birthing Style Breathwork into mainstream healing. I was the founder and initial driving force of the body that has grown into the Australian Breathwork Association. This body is dedicated to raising the profile of Breathwork so it may claim its rightful perception as a valid, effective healing and psychotherapeutic technique.

Love that inner changes are reflected as external changes. Many people are noticing restlessness within themselves and shifts accelerating in the world around them. What you say about your journey with Breathwork reminds me of Arthur Schopenhauer who says, "All truth passes through three stages; First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." It reminds us to act when it feels right, and to hang in there and trust.

Now, on your site, you offer a free cathartic breathwork ebook.  Why is it a useful introduction?

It offers only a glimpse and invites you to explore further. That’s why I focus in hosting my 7-day residentials.  This involves 7 days of advanced Cathartic Breathwork Techniques plus a handful of other psych-therapeutic therapies I feel are 'the best of the best.'  If you are willing, using my techniques guarantee your transformation. Over 12 years of teaching them shows that my techniques work. 

The mystical aspect of breathwork and your early interest in ninja techniques reminds me of the mentor of Doctor Strange from the recent popular marvel comics movie. The protagonist relates that he was once a brilliant but ego-driven surgeon. After a car accident severely damages his hands and hinders his ability to perform surgery, he searches the globe for ways to repair them and encounters the Ancient One. After becoming one of the old Sorcerer Supreme's pupils, he follows his detiny as practitioner of both the mystical and martial arts. He also discovers what is involved in Mastering Time. This sparks one's curiosity about your teachings.

Yet for now, let's shift to focus on breathwork which is both technical and mystical. Who discovered, created key techniques in the West?

‘Holotropic Breathwork’ was discovered in Czech by a Doctor of Psychiatry in 1950’S – Stanislav Grof. ALSO, it was re-discovered at roughly the same time by Leonard Orr – An American spiritual explorer. What are the chances of this occurring?

Only synchronicity exists, when one is ready to see. The world must be ready for this phenomenon that presents as one of many ways to expand consciousness.

Exactly! This beautiful & precious jewel we call planet Earth, has paid for it collective Karma enough, to finally be given a tool that makes enlighten-ment, not to mention healing anxiety, depression, seemingly ‘no-way-out’ relationship blocks, and a whole range of inner issues - especially the ‘SELF WORTH’ ISSUE – which virtually no-one escapes from childhood with intact.

Karma, or the Law of cause and effect, is a huge, open-ended matter.  The healing potential of open-ended consciousness is also a significant development and tool for self-healing. 

Life experience and pioneering work has led you to be viewed as an authority on consciousness and evolution. For those unfamilliar with your work, please expand. What do you really do?

I teach about kundalini awakening. Did you know the real ‘Awakening of the Kundalini includes 3 very distinct stages? Each stage requiring a total different approach and and set of techniques for each of those stages. (yes, there are as many symptoms of the kundalini awakening as there are people on planet earth.) How do I know all this? First-hand experience.

You are a man who wears many hats; therapist, teacher, director, workshop facilitator and others. Who are you really?

I am Sanaam – Sanskrit for ‘Body of Bliss. Otherwise know as Ananda. Swami Muktananda, Nityananda, Sanannda etc. Sanaam is another word for the matrix of Bliss we have our cells arranged on and we access in love, child-parent love, universal Love etc; I am just not worthy – established 100% of the time in Ananda – Then I have a right to call myself ‘Sanaam’ and my name, which already is to a certain degree an access to Shakti Energy – To Heaven It-self, will within 10 years approx… become a mantra itself, so much shakti will be charged into it.

It is said we grow into our names; they evolve with us and us with them. What is in this name?

Jaan Sanaam Jerabek - My name has evolved and continues to evolve during the moment of my energetic evolution, I was born Ja'n Honzik Jerabek.  At school, John Jerabek out of a desperate desire to be accepted. Ja'n become John Jarabek. Changing the name felt temporarily normal. Changed back to Ja'n at 22 as it was truly me (at that stage). I stopped being insecure about my name.  At that point, I had no idea Jaan meant 'love & life' in Hindi.

Age 28 my Maha Guru - the real deal - put me into heaven bliss by pure divine will power - a state that surpasses orgasm, love you feel for someone, ant type pf experience of beauty...

One day I was initiated and realize I was 'Anananda' - the bliss behind everything..., I had experiences of giving prole experiences of Bliss till that point, but they were far and few between, it was not at my conscious control. I was the biss that reality is built upon, I creamed this whilst running after my maha guru....Her response...; Excellent'', You've done it, but I need you to establish yourself in that bliss, live, sleep, eat and have your being in it. Since your 1st name is Love & Life, I will give you a diifferent
version of Amnanda -You are Sanaam - The Body Of bliss -  Love, the Body of Bliss, and one day you will experience yourself as the bliss behind everything in existance, simultaneously, That's when you can
call yourself a real Guru, an embodiment of bliss and people just by repeating your name 'Sanaam' will enter the'Kingdom of heaven'. What you have worked so hard for over 26.27 years has just been your
university, your training Ground - Your Sadhanna. You cannot even fathom what awaits for you.

Would you say then, you offer unique insight into enlightenment? Many people seek this path.

The real nature of enlightenment is- Gradual. It is not arriving at a place, like all life, like all energy, it is a process. Having a ‘God Experience’ or ‘Momentary Enlightenment Experience’ is where things go wrong, People mistake this for enlightenment when it is simply an ’glimpse’ of enlightenment. How do I know this? in my late teens I decided to join my individual mind with the universal mind, spark with the great flame –The result I gain access to truths you will never read about unless from someone whom has done the same

How to you use direct insight as a teaching tool to empower others to transform their lives? 

THE TECHNIQUES I USE ACCELERATE EVOLUTION. I run a ‘Spiritual Bootcamp’ for Disciples, where healing depression, anxiety and inner conflict also a natural by-product of releasing the baggage that hinders true enlightenment.

It would be helpful to offer a testimonial:

Recently, a partner in a law firm said – ‘’I feel this year with you Jaan has enabled me to by-pass 10 -20 years of butting my head against the wall with my psychologist and other ‘therapists’’’.  

I am not wanting to blow my own horn, (well, maybe a little ), but my system works. It is the ‘Most Powerful Personal Development & Therapy Program available in Australia today. THIS WORKS! AND IT WORKS RELATIVELY FAST.

In addition, I am also happy to speak with anyone about my own-life changing experiences as the result of this Cathartic Breathwork training.

How long have you been teaching? After all, longevity makes a statement about staying power.

I have refined it over the last 20 years to take it out of a ‘close your eyes, and make an intention – a mental level regression occurs, usually very ‘Hit and Miss‘. You will most likely people told ‘what a great session, you cried, had an insight etc’’, But what about each and everytime’hitting’ the root cause of what you want to transform in your life, in a very precision, laser type surgery depending on your issue, depends what leading edge ‘psycho-therapeutic’ tool, is called for. IT IS NOT THE OLD, EVERYONE LAY DOWN, BREATHE, HALF OF YOU FALL ASLEEP AND SOME OF YOU CRY OR SCREAM INTO A TOWEL or HIT a PILLOW…. The dark, early days of Breathwork. It is now a ‘laser precision guided technique’ – to get at the core of your issues.                              

How do you envision your approach to breathwork evolving in the public eye?                  

Watch 20 years or so…we’ll have it on Medicare (I am the founder of what is now ‘The Australian Breathwork Association’ – a body to educate the public, constructed ethical guidelines and boundaries, access indemnity insurance).  Now, 20 years later, we do not yet have access to Medicare and private health funds. It will happen soon.  What is being ‘prescribed initially -Psychologists who have done little on no work on themselves get their knowledge from ‘other people, ‘case studies in textbooks’ COMBINED with drugs that are unhealthier than Cocaine & Heroin combined (at least they come directly from natural plant ‘alkaloid’). The pharmaceuticals (Greek for ‘mixing of poisons’) are often ineffective and, in my experience, usually makes matters worse.  Breathwork is the Future of Therapy. It is here to be used by all who are ready for it.

Who are greatest inspirations or mentors? How do they shape your life purpose and sense of being here? 

Leonard Orr and teachers on higher planes guiding me though the experience of my destiny.

What is the Anxiety-Depression Solution? How did this brainchild come to be? How do you envision that project evolving? Is there any connection between this program, breathwork retreats and your other projects?

I go into detail by answering questions on my website. Invite readers here to check it out.

Many people are experiencing noticeable changes in their lives and events appear to happen faster.  What kind of advice can you offer them?

Explore Breathwork – easy – It is the long lost ‘Siamese Twin’ of meditation.  What do I mean by this, 3 things:

1)      IT ‘IS’ the Future of Therapy. The collective takes a long time to catch up. IT IS A FACT. Did you know CBT - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – the main ‘so called therapy’, used by ‘Psychologists’ (who spend the 1^st 5 years of full time Uni studying statistics and then if they want to specialize in treating people they get taught CBT in the 6^th year), CBT was ‘invented’ in the 1960’s!! Imagine using the same surgery technique Doctors used in the1960’s now on people!?! What would result be? Our Organization – The largest Breathwork Training & Therapy Organization in the Southern Hemisphere –  get to speak to many people on the ‘front line’ of ‘mental illness’. I constantly hear reports along these lines…’’I have had 40 sessions with my psychologist and I still think negative thoughts and feel depressed and that’s even though I am also on 2 different ‘Anti-Depressants’’ – This was a call I had only yesterday. So, think of seeing a Psychologist for your depression or anxiety? Think hard. As ‘Well meaning’ as they are, unless they have the up to date tools/ and or have done years or decades of their own ‘inner work/ serious therapy, you are in for a long and frustrated (in most cases, fruitless I HATE to say) journey. 

2)      Breathwork, CATHARTIC Breathwork (CBW)I call it these days as I specialize in using it to release even womb and birth trauma, let alone early childhood * dysfunctional parenting trauma – works from the 1^st session onwards. You do not need to practise it or even believe in it, it just works automatically on everyone. It is actually something I recommend and get you to sign a disclaimer you will not be using it at home. Dangerous unless super-vised by a trained & experienced facilitator.

3)      Why, do I call it the ‘Long Lost Siamese Twin’ of Meditation. Easy, anybody can shut themselves of in their room and close their eyes and after a chunk of practise they can experience ‘Transcendence’. Rise above their issues, enter into the higher chakras – Crown and beyond and have a bit of quiet…but then they leave the room, interact with their partner, parents, boss, siblings etc and BANG! The same triggers are there. They lose their ‘peace and go back into their ‘normal’ state. Usually at the mercy of their triggers.

Does breathwork allow transcendence? In other words, is it a stepping stone to enlightenment?  

Breathwork does not enable you to ‘Temporarily Transcend’ It allows you to ‘Permanently Transform’. You see the root of ALL Your uncontrolled thinking, your monkey mind has at its core a trauma that has not been resolved/ integrated. that’s why you worry about the future, ruminate about the past, not allowed to live in the present Now, in the moment, where God Lives. Cathartic Breathwork enables the root of the automatic thinking patterns to be released permanently – the end result – a life in a permanent state of peace, what the Yogis call ‘Living in Meditation’. I used to be such a thing-a-holic I would at times not even sleep my mind went around and around, no…it’s as if a had a lobotomy. And how did this look like? The Kundalini awakening.  

Do  many of your students compare the experience of breathwork to lucid dreaming?

Many people ask me about lucid dreaming, projecting your 3^rd eye, listening great distances, Experiences of God/ Enlightened states, clearing the chakras, Experiencing the bliss, Love & joy we really are, Best Meditation techniques to achieve all of these and more….

Take Lucid Dreaming, becoming aware on the lower Astral plane to be more scientific and accurate about it. You see. If you want to learn ‘Lucid Dreaming’ instantly tells me, your energy bodies are at a certain level of vibration, where you are not becoming ‘conscious’ / ‘aware’ on the astral plane. It means you have a low vibration filled Etheric body (Your Emotional Body) so the bridge in your consciousness between your physical brain and astral body is clogged up with emotion – The Etheric Body. A.k.the emotional Body, needs to be cleared for Lucid Dreaming Nightly & ‘OBE’ – out of Body experiences. Now you could set months aside and form new channels, around the clogged ones that are already there. You program your mind, telling yourself each night ‘’ As soon as I start to dream I will ‘wake up’/ become conscious. You cut meat and other dense animal and chemical foods out of your diet to help things, eat nuts, use special oils and music - but this is not enough.

What is absolutely necessary to allow enlightenment to happen?

THE answer to all this is always the same. The kundalini awakening which has many stages to it, has to occur if you wish for any permanent affecting ‘Enlightened states’. The ‘Awakening of your Kundalini’ does not occur once and then that it, is open.

It is a matter of repetitious practise of a discipline, until the Kundalini starts to ‘Stir’ and starts to let you experience your powers automatically. 

Can you give readers a sneak peak of what they are in for, from your perspective?

I will give you a shortcut as a gift and enable you to experience where.

To speed things up, you need start to learn the art of transferring your consciousness to your astral body by imaging a double of yourself on the astral/ in a luminous darkness (astral comes from the Latin word for ‘starry darkness’ which the lower to higher astral plain looks like) and keep imagining using the arms, legs, torso of this ‘astral double you imagine’. See through its eyes, use its appendages etc With enough practise you eventually build a bridge between your physical brain and your astral level of awareness and eventually, your nightly programming –‘’as soon as I start to dream I will become conscious’’ and daily intention – you really have to want/ desire this strongly, so re-enforce this desire during the day hours, for months at least putting any goal or practice aside and eventually you will get your reward.

You see, we can all develop any power with enough training.  Yet, as you awaken the Kundalini, all the powers come to you one by one…for good. The Yogis called the people who spent months and years training themselves to acquire a power, as the misfortunate ones who were caught by the ‘trap’ – the acquisition of powers. Unfortunate, because they could have spent those months and years working on their ‘Sadhana’ – their final enlightenment process, after which, if they attained, they were given ALL the powers anyway. Permanently. Even into the next lifetime. For the psychic powers you develop individually, in the manner I just described, are a skill, there are not integrated into your soul level consciousness and you are born next life without the power to 90% of the degree. You do not get to ‘carry over’ your ‘learned skill’ into the next life time. This applies to all ‘learned ‘psychic abilities.’

Music is often a sought after tool for inspiration. It is widely assumed music or specific vibratins can induce meditative states and to promote lucid/ astral travel.  What is your feeling about this?

No music. It anchors you into material place. Music is cheating. I could put moving and emotional music to make you open up ur heart and cry. Cheating, I am here to help you master your breath. Not an emotional dj. Music has zero to do with lucid dreams and obe’s. Cheating otherwise. That is if beats and music helped failitate lucid dream. It can effect a true yoga nodes meditation but most fall asleep before 1 hour is up. No short cuts.

If you could offer readers some life changing advice, what would it be?

Listen to your heart. Do what other people fear to do. You, yourself are the knowledge. Only you can access it, but first, you have to discover how to feel and get out of your own way.

Thanks Jaan, for sharing this insight and inviting readers of this blog to discover the wisdom that awaits them through exploring options in Global Transformative Education. For more information on his programs, 7-Day Advanced Life Transformation Intensive and other retreats, the Depression Anxiety Clinic explore his website and contact him directly.