Mindrolling with Raghu Markus

Interfaith peace counselor Patrick McCollum and documentary filmmaker Gabe Polsky share the powerful prophecy that united the Amazon and led to making their film, The Man Who Saves the World?
Click here to find screenings of The Man Who Saves the World? near you.
This week on Mindrolling, Raghu speaks with his guests, Gabe and Patrick, about:
The origin story behind The Man Who Saves the World? and the real-life journey that inspired the film
How diverse Amazonian tribes are connected through shared spiritual practices and plant communication
The meaning of the Roxa Prophecy and why the Amazon is considered the “heart of the world”
Efforts to unite the Amazonian tribes to save the rainforest and its inhabitants
Our universal journey to understand reality and our purpose in life
How psychedelics, indigenous wisdom, and other spiritual pursuits open doors to new perspectives
Bursting the bubble of our constructed reality
Patrick’s work as a bridge between “the people of the concrete” (modern society) and the indigenous
About Patrick McCollum:
Patrick McCollum ​​is an interfaith chaplain, spiritual mentor, and peace counselor. Patrick was inspired by the Great Mother to promote a sacred universal vision that respects religious and cultural diversity and advances pluralism. As a dedicated peacemaker, Patrick brings forth a well-timed meta-narrative of universal magnitude that is alerting the world of the sacredness of all beings. Patrick is the founder and president of The McCollum Foundation for Peace, which aims to discover and implement positive, workable, and sustainable strategies that create local and global change and peace in all areas of life.
“Their ancient story said that one day, thousands of years later, the Amazon would be in trouble. It would be burning, the water would be poisoned, and the indigenous people and their wisdom would be wiped out. When that happened, the creator would send the spirit of Roxa into a man or woman, and that person would unite all of the indigenous people of the Amazon and help them create a strategy to save the heart of the world.” –Patrick McCollum
About Gabe Polsky:
Gabe Polsky is a filmmaker, director, producer, and writer best known for the documentaries Red Army (2014) and In Search of Greatness (2018). Known for pushing the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, Gabe Polsky has built a reputation for uncovering stories that challenge perception, provoke thought, and entertain. His work has premiered at major international festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival.
“After eight years of pursuit from these tribes, he agreed to try and unfold this prophecy. I learned about this, and I got caught up in this story as well, following Patrick down to the Amazon to try and fulfill this prophecy. It’s this wild spiritual adventure, very funny, very strange, it’s a film that has a lot of deep meaning.” –Gabe Polsky
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Dr. Phil Wolfson offers his seasoned perspective on psychedelics, ketamine assisted therapy, and more in this expansive talk with Raghu Markus and Gagan Levy.
Check out these FREE personal & clinical guidelines for use from the Ketamine Research Foundation
This week on Mindrolling, Raghu, Phil, and Gagan discuss:
How psychedelics shaped Phil’s worldview in the 1960s and inspired his commitment to social justice
Using psychedelics as tools for personal growth, healing, and transformation
The importance of set and setting when taking psychedelics recreationally, therapeutically, or ceremoniously
Going beyond the ups and downs of psychedelics and finding steady peace through practice
The persistent anti-depressant effects of Ketamine and its therapeutic promise
Phil’s ongoing studies with the Ketamine Research Foundation for phantom limb pain, end-of-life care, and menstrual cycle disorders
Mind Manifesting: What exactly happens to the brain on psychedelics?
Phil’s ‘bottom line’: positive intentions and practical guidelines for Ketamine use
About Dr. Phil Wolfson:
Phil Wolfson MD was Principal Investigator for the MAPS sponsored Phase 2, FDA approved 18-person study of MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for individuals with significant anxiety due to life threatening illnesses. His clinical practice with ketamine has informed his leadership role in the development of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Phil’s book, The Ketamine Papers, has been published by MAPS and is the seminal work in the burgeoning ketamine arena.
Phil is a sixties activist, psychiatrist/psychotherapist, writer, practicing Buddhist and psychonaut who has lived in the Bay Area for 38 years. He is the author of Noe: A Father/Son Song of Love, Life, Illness and Death (2011, North Atlantic Books). He has been awarded five patents for unique herbal medicines. He is a journalist and author of numerous articles on politics, transformation, psychedelics, consciousness and spirit, and was a founding member of the Heffter Research Institute. Phil has taught in the graduate psychology programs at JFK University, CIIS and the UCSF School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. Phil is the founder and CEO of the Ketamine Research Foundation and is committed to making the organization a vibrant contributor to the betterment of human beings through psychedelic psychotherapy.
"The work needs to be thought of not as a single episode, but as a therapy. Psychedelic psychotherapy is much quicker than conventional psychotherapy for many reasons, but it needs to have a follow-up, continuation, integration, and work with someone to be effective. That's not to say ketamine on its own doesn't have value, it does." – Dr. Phil Wolfson
About Gagan Levy:
Gagan Levy is the Founder/CEO of Guru, an award-winning creative agency dedicated to serving purpose-driven movements, brands, and organizations. They work with impactful brands like Patagonia, Traditional Medicinals, Nalgene, Non-GMO, The Organic Alliance, Bring Change to Mind and many natural products brands, including EO / Everyone Products, OM Mushroom Superfoods, and REBBL. Gagan also serves as Chief Evangelist at MAHA Global, a platform focused on helping businesses adapt to stakeholder needs using data-driven reputation intelligence. As former Co-chair of Social Venture Circle, one of the country’s most prestigious impact investor and social business communities, Gagan leads the way to a next economy that is regenerative, just, and prosperous for all. Gagan Levy is also a current board member to his prolific teacher Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation, he has been instrumental in strategizing how to connect the greatest wisdom keepers of our time to a new generation.
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In this rich conversation bridging Zen and Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Rami Shapiro and Raghu Markus navigate nonduality, the shadow, and the living experience of the divine.
Grab a copy of Rabbi Rami’s newest book, Zen Mind Jewish Mind, HERE
This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and Rabbi Rami discuss:
Veering off from traditional Judaism and into Jewish mysticism
Nondual awareness as the realm of divine consciousness
Going beyond the dead word and into the living word
Inspiration from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and Thich Nhat Hanh’s series on How to Live
Koan: the Zen practice of exhausting the logical mind to provoke direct, intuitive insight into reality and one's own nature
Recognizing our own shadow rather than pretending it does not exist
Holding multiple truths at once: there is no other, we are all part of a whole, and we do have differences
How the Kabbalah expresses the name of God in an embodied way
Seeing the divine in all humans and everything in front of us
Special moments with Ram Dass, accepting silence and accepting the moment for what it is
About Rabbi Rami Shapiro:
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an award-winning author of over two dozen books on religion and spirituality. He received rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College: Jewish Institute of Religion, and holds a PH.D. from Union Graduate School. A congregational rabbi for 20 years, Rabbi Rami currently co–directs One River Wisdom School, blogs at r writes the foundation’s newsletter, Ask Rabbi Rami, and hosts the foundation’s podcast, Explore Spirituality with Rabbi Rami. Rami is also a contributing editor for Spirituality+Health magazine www.spiritualityhealth.com where he writes the advice column Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler. Rami can be reached at https://www.threads.net/@rabbirami
"The Jewish meditation practices, the spirituality within Judaism, never or at least rarely gets beyond or slips into the nondual to the extent that you drop the labels, that you drop the tribal. You get Saint Paul saying there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, in Christ. To me, that's Christ consciousness, that's Buddha mind. When you reach that level of consciousness, all the labels fall away, your sense of separate self is gone.” –Rabbi Rami Shapiro
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Dakota Wint meets Raghu beyond the veil of normal perception to explore mysticism, altered states, and the fringe of spirituality.
Subscribe to Dakota’s new series, The Flower Heads Show, on your favorite podcast app.
This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and Dakota explore:
The Aghori people of India and the side of Hinduism a lot of people don't know about
Dr. Robert Svoboda’s trilogy on the Aghori people: At the Left Hand of God
Differentiating real prayer from performative rituals
Faith and seeing beyond the veil of our normal perception
Considering the limits of spirituality and how it is expressed across cultures
Dissolving polarities and seeing the universality of all beings
Taking wisdom from Ram Dass through his posthumous book, There is No Other
Realizing that wisdom and spirituality does not require travel or psychedelics
Dakota’s experience with plant medicine in the Amazonian jungle
Faith and remembering the mystery in day-to-day life
The eternal light of the Sadhu and reaching enlightened states without substances
You can find Dakota’s documentary, Aghori: Holy Men Of The Dead, free on YouTube: Click Here To Watch
About Dakota Wint:
Dakota Wint is a documentary filmmaker, vlogger, podcast host, and spiritual teacher from Detroit, Michigan. His films and podcasts revolve around current events, strange spirituality, and taboo traditions. You can subscribe to his podcast, A Place for Humans, HERE. Dakota grew to fame as an internet personality via his popular YouTube channel, Dakota of Earth. Dakota hosts retreats around the world and runs a non-profit focused on cultural and language preservation. Learn more about current happenings on his website
“I am just trying to figure out what spirituality is, what the limits of it are, how it expresses itself, are we all talking about the same thing, what can you show me? I go to these places that have these big practices. What do you have to offer? Especially in India, where all these gurus make these big claims, what can you show me? That's what I've been asking myself and anyone I meet.” –Dakota Wint
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From Tibetan Buddhism to Bhakti Yoga, Raghu and author Vincent Thibault explore reshaping the mind in our chaotic world.
Grab a copy of Vincent’s book: Overflow: A Buddhist Guide to Recovering Sanity in the Age of Information Overload | Vincent Thibault
This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and Vincent journey through:
Vincent’s early exposure to literature and the roots of his interest in Eastern philosophy and contemplative traditions
Navigating digital overwhelm and content overload in the modern age
How busyness and productivity culture can numb us to collective suffering
Parkour: a physical, artistic, and spiritually metaphorical discipline
Suffering as a path to transformation and a deeper connection with God
Drawing connections across many different wisdom traditions
Positive attachment versus attachment that traps us
Those who inspire the trust of our own pure minds
Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the value of learning from multiple teachers
Raghu’s lineage of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion
The Tibetan translation of devotion: interested humility
Training the mind, training the heart, and learning to relate to both inner and outer phenomena
Learn more about Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche HERE and check out his book on karma
About Vincent Thibault:
A man of ideas and actions, an amazed traveller, and a defender of what could be called lucid optimism, Vincent Thibault is a Quebec writer and screenwriter. Vincent’s writing takes on many forms, including fantasy, psychological or adventure novels, comic or dramatic scenarios, travel stories, literary short stories, philosophical essays, and translations of Buddhist texts. While his work is incredibly diverse, it revolves around the same key themes: integrity, the quest for wisdom, the relationship to uncertainty, the reconciliation between tradition and modernity, and the power of benevolence in a noisy and busy world.
Check out more of Vincent’s writing on his website which includes both a French and English section. You can also keep up with Vincent on Facebook.
“Be it just on the cushion for a few minutes a day, if you find a way to make that switch and see difficulties as opportunities, then you can slowly learn to turn everything into the path of enlightenment.” –Vincent Thibault
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