From Punk to Monk - Raghunath's STE/NDE

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From the time that they pronounced me deaf was a good 45 minutes.

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They cut my clothes and then they paddled my heart, my heart had stopped.

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And I could see people screaming and crying, but I didn't realize that was actually my

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physical body because I was somewhere else.

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The only thing that I could feel, if you could imagine, absolute love and peace, there wasn't

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anything else to be felt.

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I was greeted by people I'd known in the past.

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On back home again.

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Incredibly safe and felt at home.

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Welcome welcome to round trip death everybody.

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And I would like to welcome our special guest, Ragnoth, or in other words, Ray Ragnoth Kapo.

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Did I say that right?

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Thank you.

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Good.

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I'm glad I got close.

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Before we get into your interesting, interesting story, tell us just a little bit about you.

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Sure.

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Thank you.

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When I was young, I started a band that became pretty popular within the punk and the hardcore

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music scene in New York City and became international.

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When people hear punk, they think of it's crazy, noisy, negative, but this was very, the message

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was very positive.

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We were into clean living, clean diet, positive mental attitudes, self control.

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And I started diving deeper into Eastern thought and Eastern spirituality.

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But the success of the band, my father had won into a coma for three years, side by side

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with my success of the band.

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And then when he left his body, when I was 22, I had enough study under my belt that

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I realized I want to study spirituality myself.

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I want to enter the experiment.

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And I went to India to move into an ashram.

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I lived in ashrams in and out of India for about six and a half years, studied bhakti

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yoga.

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Now years later, I have a household myself.

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I'm the opposite of a monk.

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I was a monk for six and a half years.

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Now I have five children.

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I run a retreat center in upstate New York.

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I teach yoga internationally.

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I just published my book called From Punk to Monk, A Memoir.

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I can't wait to read it.

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It looks super interesting.

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Thank you.

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It's getting good, very, very positive reviews on Amazon.

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Is it?

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That's awesome.

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It's great for me, yeah.

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Okay, for those that don't know the punk scene that well, tell me the name of the band.

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The band that I started when I was a teenager was Youth of Today, famous for popularizing

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straight edge, which means no drinking, no smoking, and vegetarianism, which at that

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time was not really in the conversation.

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It was very peculiar to be interested in vegetarianism, clean living, what to speak

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of within the punk scene, which was really drugs, et cetera, and violence.

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From what I know about the punk scene, yeah, it seems completely opposite.

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It was the opposite.

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It was only bound in the punk scene.

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I think the common denominator was it was very loud, fast music and very harsh vocals.

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But that's what I was into.

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I was attracted to that energy, mosh pit stage diving, all that stuff.

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I just wasn't into a negative lifestyle.

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That was the message we put out there to the world.

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Without expecting it, we got thousands of followers.

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I think some of that is just the age of young men.

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A lot of us go through this weird stage.

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I don't know, but you really acted on yours, obviously.

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Just to give our listeners an idea of where we're going today, this is going to be really

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interesting, but we're not talking about the normal everyday NDE here.

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We're not going to be talking about dying, heart stopping, going through the tunnel

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to the light and all that.

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But something that I personally believe is much more common, which is the spiritually

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transformative experience is also known as STEs.

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They can come from all kinds of different things.

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They can come from trauma, like we're going to talk about with you.

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They can come from meditation.

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They can come from other types of spiritual places or experiences that can change us deeply

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and help us become a better person.

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We're going down that road today.

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Like I said, I think it's much more common.

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I think it's something that we need to be talking about from time to time.

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If you don't mind, Roggenath, if you would just go back and tell us about what led up

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to that horrifying night in New York City.

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Okay.

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Now, my first experience was not that horrifying night.

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That's in the book.

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It happened years later.

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Okay.

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I've got them backwards then.

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You got it backwards, but...

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Chronologically, let's start with the first one.

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Okay.

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Well, I don't think there was like an aha moment for me.

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And I think sometimes people are waiting for that hard shift of the pulling of the lever.

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Now I was going south and now I'm going north.

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I think it was more like a straw on a camel's back.

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And it builds and builds and builds and builds and builds.

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And then there becomes like a fire inside that says, you know what?

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There is nothing of this material world for me here.

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And if you do that with the proper cultivation of some type of spiritual information, then

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when things get really dark, you can turn towards light.

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If you don't have any proper spiritual cultivation of spiritual information, things get really

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dark and you head south and people become intoxicated in alcoholism, suicidal, take

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drugs, etc.

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So for me, there was a spiritual calling.

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It had to get to a boiling point for me to act on it.

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And I just feel like the universe knows exactly what that recipe is.

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And so for me, it was a combination.

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Sometimes you see people's spiritual transformation, you see it in a midlife crisis, or you see

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it in a person's old age thinking, what have I done with my life?

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Or you see it miraculously in a young child.

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I've met young children who are like spiritually lit up.

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For me, it sort of happened with a combination of success within a material sphere, meets

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my father going into a coma for three years, which was sort of tragic.

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It's a tragic sort of place to be in where you don't know if a person's alive or if

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they're dead.

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Are they a vegetable?

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Are they conscious?

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Do they hear what I say?

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Are they just like brain dead, like a lobotomy or something?

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What is going on?

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So in that confusing state where someone very solid in your life becomes now a mystery wrapped

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in an enigma, it's like, what is he now?

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And if he could happen to him at such a reasonably young age, he was 64 years old, I'm 58 years

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old.

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So if it could happen to him randomly, that could happen to me randomly.

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And it started to make me question how solid the material world is, how we're building

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these homes in sand, so to speak, like we're building castles of sand, and we expect to

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find everlasting love, everlasting joy in a temporary world.

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It started making me question the very foundation of what is life about?

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Why are we here?

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What are we meant to do in the short amount of time that we're here?

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And that was a driving force on my quest for spirituality.

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That's my story.

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I think it comes in different recipes for different people.

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Well, I think the huge key to it there is you are asking questions.

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And there was something going on in your life like your father in a coma that caused you

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to ask the questions that so many people don't.

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It's hard to have a transformation unless you're willing to dig deep and go, I don't

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get this.

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Be humble enough to admit, I don't get it.

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I want to know more.

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I'm curious, what were some of those questions you were really digging on?

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Sure.

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First of all, I just want to clarify the point you're making is incredibly valid.

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People oftentimes do ask questions like, you know, I work in advertising, but what am I

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selling?

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I'm selling people things they don't need.

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And I think it's about me, by the way.

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Oh, are you an advertiser?

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That's been my career.

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Yeah.

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Oh, so thank you for talking about you.

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But then you're obviously asking the questions.

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Yes.

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I suppose if you're in that position, because someone recently said that to me, I'm an advertiser,

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I'm selling people things they don't need, but then I thought, oh, well, that's just

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the way life is.

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You just do it.

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So they get a question and then they don't follow through with the answers to that question.

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Because usually when you follow through the answers, you get another question and another

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question and it opens one door after another after another and it brings you into different

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chambers of a castle, so to speak.

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Sometimes people just never open the first door.

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They get a question, but then they, eh, it's not worth thinking too deep.

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It is worth thinking that deep.

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If I'm going to base my whole ideas of meaning and direction and values and ethics and family

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and love, I got to ask those questions.

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So I think the first questions were for me is what is a win?

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Like what's a win?

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Is it just to be, you know, have a house in a swimming pool, you know, do whatever you

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want?

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Is that a win?

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Is it freedom?

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Is it love and romance?

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Is it a wonder loss where you get to travel all over the world and put your foot in every

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continent?

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Is it, is it just go for it and have as much sense pleasure and like a hedonistic sense

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pleasure?

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What actually is a win?

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And I really started to analyze each one and I started journaling on all of that as

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a teenager.

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And I think those were the questions and the understanding like, hey, life is tragically

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short and it can even be shorter.

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It's not like, you know, my dad perhaps didn't live the full term of life by averages, but

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there's people that die when they're six and nine and 15.

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So okay, what happens if I die in two years?

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In that case, I'm an old man right now.

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What am I doing with these next two years then?

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So to value the moment and ask the questions, what am I going to do that's actually significant?

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And even that question, is there a significance of this life or is life actually nothing and

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we just try to create some meaning to it?

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These were the questions running through my mind as a teenager.

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Those are good questions.

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Most teenagers are just thinking, what does that girl think about me and, you know, what

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are we going to do to party tonight?

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By the way, speaking of that, the punk rock scene in New York, you were the quote straight

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edgers.

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Where were you playing?

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Wasn't it mostly bars and places like that?

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Yeah, actually encounter intuitive.

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Actually no, there's good questions.

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They would oftentimes they'd play matinees shows, which were all ages, which means kids

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underage could come.

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Sometimes they'd put a mark on your hand, which means you can't drink.

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That's where the in straight edge people generally would wear an X on their hands because if

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you had a big X on your hand, you couldn't drink at the bar.

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They started wearing as a symbol of pride almost.

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We're going to wear an X on my hand anyway, even though there's no alcohol served.

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But we had we played night clubs and we prefer playing all all ages clubs as well that way

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because a lot of our fans were, you know, under 18.

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I think back then the drinking age was 18.

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Okay, I teased it earlier.

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We better jump to it.

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Tell me about the beat down night.

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Okay.

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All right, that was that was a very spiritually.

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This is one of those beautiful gifts of pain, which I open my book with, but it happens

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a little bit later on my spiritual journey.

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I was a monk.

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This is another twist in the book plot twist, which was after I became a monk after I lived

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like three years as a monk, I started to realize no, no, no, no, the teachings of India are

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not giving up what you do.

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It's taking what you do and use them in a spiritual way to glorify divinity instead of glorifying

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your ego.

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And that was the big shift.

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So what I did was at that point, I started a band not far different from my first band,

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but with spiritual ideas and spiritual lessons and this band, it sounds, oh, come on, how

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did that work out?

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I'll tell you how it worked out.

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It became bigger than the first band and we toured internationally.

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One night we did a performance.

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Again, we're all monks.

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We cook our own food wherever we go.

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We meditate for two hours a day.

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We set up just like a regular band.

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We set up merchandise and we have roadies.

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What was it called?

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This band was called Shelter.

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So yeah, and that night after the show, I'm not going to tell the whole story because

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it's in the book.

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I also tell the story on Joe Rogan too, but basically randomly we played in a ghetto and

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in that ghetto we got attacked by these guys with guns, baseball bats, and I got the living

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crap beat out of me.

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Randomly.

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00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:46,680
Randomly and senselessly.

244
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,680
A little more detail.

245
00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:50,840
Were you on stage?

246
00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:51,840
Were you headed home?

247
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,320
No, thank you.

248
00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:58,720
It was after the performance, after everybody was leaving and I was getting interviewed

249
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:03,520
outside and the band and the roadies were loading up our vehicle, which was parked inside the

250
00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,020
club.

251
00:14:05,020 --> 00:14:10,120
And so while I was getting interviewed outside in the alley, I see a car pull up with a gang

252
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:14,080
of guys get out of it and they just start beating somebody up randomly.

253
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:15,080
Young guy.

254
00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:23,840
I mean, the people go to our shows are young, you know, under 25 and 14 and up, 14 to 25.

255
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,680
So then they stop beating one guy and they beat another guy.

256
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,560
By the time they got to the third person, everybody's sort of running.

257
00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,480
I ran in the club and I said, hey, you guys, we got to get out of here.

258
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:39,360
It's two in the morning and there's like a gang of guys outside just kicking the crap

259
00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,680
about everyone.

260
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:46,480
And so all our van doors were open and I could see they were in the middle of loading in

261
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,120
all the gear and the merchandise and they just said, you know, we can't go anywhere.

262
00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,960
We're not even loaded out yet.

263
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:57,680
And all of a sudden the bad guys, they drove their car in the club and they parked right

264
00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:58,800
in front of our van.

265
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:04,160
The biggest guy, the leader of them got out and the guy was, I mean, you couldn't

266
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,880
create an evil villain.

267
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,400
This guy was so huge and ripped and massive.

268
00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:16,640
And he put his hand in his pocket and just said, I've got a gun and I'm going to kill

269
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:18,040
everyone tonight.

270
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,480
Now, there wasn't a lot of people left in the club.

271
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,040
There was a couple of bands.

272
00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,980
There was a sound man and people breaking down the PA and there was our band breaking

273
00:15:25,980 --> 00:15:28,240
down our equipment.

274
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:34,480
And I was like, oh my God, we are trapped in a club with a bunch of crazy guys.

275
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:40,040
To make a long story short, they started beating people up in the club.

276
00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,760
And then this is going to sound crazy.

277
00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,440
So I'm going to ask you just to believe this.

278
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:48,560
But all the guys in the band were younger than me.

279
00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,120
So they all said, well, Raghu, what are we going to do?

280
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,440
At the time I was like, I don't know why.

281
00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,560
I was like, let's not fight back.

282
00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:57,560
Let's not run.

283
00:15:57,560 --> 00:15:59,920
I was convinced we were all dead.

284
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,920
So I just said, you know, we're going to die.

285
00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:04,640
And so we're going to chant.

286
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,080
Hey, just a quick interruption.

287
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,680
This month we're asking for your support for the show.

288
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:17,160
It's definitely a labor of love for Will and I, but it takes a ton of time and money and

289
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,720
we need donations to keep things going.

290
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,800
For those that donated last week, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

291
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:25,760
For everyone else, it's easy.

292
00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,960
Go to roundtripdeath.com, click on the little donation button in the upper right hand corner.

293
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,320
You can show your support for the podcast and help us move forward.

294
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,920
We have had requests for video interviews.

295
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,080
That's something that will be unveiling soon as well as other improvements.

296
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:43,080
Thank you.

297
00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:44,080
Thank you in advance.

298
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,280
Now back to the guest.

299
00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:51,280
So in the tradition I follow, and there's a lot of traditions of Indian that the munchers

300
00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:52,280
are very sacred.

301
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,640
They're like divine sounds.

302
00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:59,600
And that at the time of death, when you're old or dying, you're to close your eyes and

303
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:05,440
you're to meditate on these divine mantras so you can pass through this body and through

304
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,400
this world and reconnect.

305
00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:09,020
That's the goal of yoga.

306
00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:14,600
So I went into the drum, I'm into the car rather, and I got a clay Indian drum that I

307
00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:15,800
play.

308
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:21,480
And we all stood in a circle and we started chanting these prayers, these munchers, like

309
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:22,560
singing a song.

310
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,960
It was the most surreal thing you could ever think of.

311
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:30,040
Here's chaos breaking out everywhere and we're in a circle singing.

312
00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:31,040
Now we didn't look like munchers.

313
00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,400
You didn't hope the fear go away.

314
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:34,720
You know what?

315
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,640
I don't know what happened, but I definitely had a transcendental experience because they

316
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,080
came up to all of us and all the guys in my band ran.

317
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:48,200
Some people ran under the van, above the van, in the van, here and there, and I was standing

318
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:58,280
alone surrounded and the guy grabs a gun and he looks at me and says, do you want some?

319
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,480
And I didn't know what to do.

320
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,600
And I put my hands like in a namaste.

321
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,720
I'm still wearing this big clay drum.

322
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:13,920
Put my hands in like a prayer mudra and I just said, I'm a devotee of Lord Krishna and I

323
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:15,760
have no idea why you're angry.

324
00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:23,400
I said it in a very calm voice and then I felt like a thousand fists in my face and I tell

325
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:30,720
you I have never felt helpless in my life until that moment, like totally helpless.

326
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,960
And every time I got hit, something very peculiar happened.

327
00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:36,600
Every time I got hit, I was chanting.

328
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:43,660
I was chanting some divine mantra, some name of God, Madhava Govinda Krishna Ram.

329
00:18:43,660 --> 00:18:48,600
Every time I hit and as I was getting hit, I was thinking, these guys are about to like

330
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,600
kill me because all I know, I've seen this happen before.

331
00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:58,760
Someone falls to the ground and then they start getting hit, kicked and their head stomped.

332
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,640
And I was thinking, and there's no way to get out of this.

333
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:08,560
And so I just thought, I'm about to die and I'm chanting divine names.

334
00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,160
This is the perfection of my life.

335
00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:17,040
And I can't explain, I don't think it was me because I'm not a very evolved person.

336
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:22,200
But I feel like there was some divine intervention that took away all of my anxiety.

337
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:23,760
I had no anxiety.

338
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:29,320
And then five girls came with baseball bats and I thought they were there to save me,

339
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:34,660
but they were the girlfriends of these guys and they started hitting me repeatedly with

340
00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:37,600
a baseball bat three times on the head.

341
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,080
And then still I continued chanting through each hit.

342
00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:46,600
And again, I was like floored, I was like, I cannot believe what's happening right now.

343
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,480
I am in divine consciousness.

344
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:52,680
So anyway, that's a teaser for the story.

345
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:58,880
But yeah, it was an out of body experience where I thought, I can't die.

346
00:19:58,880 --> 00:19:59,880
I can't be killed.

347
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,480
The body, yeah, they can wreck this body, they can damage this body, but I'm not the

348
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,840
body, I'm a driver of this body.

349
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:11,680
And I felt like it was not just because, like again, I'm so evolved or I'm this being of

350
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:12,680
light.

351
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,480
It's more that there was some divine intervention.

352
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,420
Like yeah, in a spiritual way, we do reach up.

353
00:20:18,420 --> 00:20:23,200
But also there's a benevolent divine force reaching down.

354
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:28,680
So I felt that divine force reaching down and giving me some type of clarity in a time

355
00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:35,480
where there should be nothing but panic, fear, anxiety, begging for forgiveness or

356
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,480
anger and spite and revenge.

357
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:38,480
There was none of that.

358
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,360
I tell you, I don't want it to happen again.

359
00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:46,040
I wouldn't pray for it again, but it was the most spiritual experience in my life.

360
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:47,040
That's crazy.

361
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,040
That's hard to.

362
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:49,040
It was crazy.

363
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,880
It's hard to believe and hard to understand, but amazing and good for you for being at

364
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,640
a place where you could react like that.

365
00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:58,640
Just curious.

366
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:03,520
I don't want to get too off tangent here, but were your other bandmates and friends,

367
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,080
were they okay or did they all get beaten up too?

368
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:08,080
You know what happened?

369
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,400
I didn't realize this till later.

370
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,200
They had all jumped in the van.

371
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,560
And even though we are sort of parked in by the bad guy's car, they had started the car

372
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:23,880
and they plowed through their vehicle, the other people's vehicle.

373
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,320
And they all escaped, but when they did a head count, they realized I wasn't in the

374
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:28,480
car with them.

375
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,000
And so yeah, it was a little sketchy.

376
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,480
They didn't get hurt.

377
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:39,000
I miraculously, you know, I went to the emergency room and despite five hits with a baseball

378
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:45,480
bat and getting pounded on, the doctors were like, you don't have a concussion.

379
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,560
You don't have any broken bones.

380
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,640
And we're just going to give you some ibuprofen on heavy doses.

381
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,320
So I couldn't walk for two days or move for two days, but three days later I played a

382
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,480
show with a cane.

383
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,480
Unbelievable.

384
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,280
It was unbelievable.

385
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,280
It was unbelievable.

386
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,800
The twists and turns this crazy world takes us, isn't it?

387
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:15,320
So you had already had some major spiritual transformations before that, but be a little

388
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:21,260
more specific on what happened that night, not physically, but spiritually.

389
00:22:21,260 --> 00:22:22,440
What changed in you?

390
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,000
What kind of switch flipped at that point?

391
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,680
You know, that's a great question.

392
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:36,240
I always, you know, I study, I'm a fan and it's what I do is I study wisdom literature

393
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:37,240
of the East.

394
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:38,400
I study it.

395
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:43,240
I try to imbibe it, but it's almost like a fruit, you know, to really study the fruit

396
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,840
without biting into the fruit or experiencing it, you can never, I can never quite explain

397
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,400
what a plum is to you until you take a bite of a plum.

398
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,720
I can explain, well, it's sweet, it's round, it's sort of fruity, you know, it's hard to

399
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:56,840
really understand it.

400
00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:02,440
So by studying wisdom literature, you can understand, okay, life is temporary.

401
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,040
Yeah, of course life is temporary.

402
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:05,040
Life is full of pain.

403
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,160
Yeah, I could live life is momentary.

404
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:09,560
It could end at any minute.

405
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,000
It's almost like a dream.

406
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,520
Yeah, that makes sense.

407
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:18,760
All these things make sense, but I remember where I was after the after all the violence

408
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,480
was over and everything was a mess and people took off and I thought they were, I thought

409
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:28,400
they were killing my band members, I was in some garage that was open and I was on my

410
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:29,600
knees.

411
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,680
I didn't know where my health, what my health condition was.

412
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,040
I thought I had a broken skull because blood was all over my face.

413
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:43,280
I thought I had a concussion because I was hit with a club and therefore I thought, you

414
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,960
know, my brain is going to hemorrhage and I'm going to fall asleep and I'm going to

415
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:48,960
die.

416
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:55,920
So my realization at that moment was very, very sanguine and very, very loud.

417
00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:04,680
It was, it was, you just had an experience of being saved, meaning even though you're

418
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,840
about to leave your body, there was an intervention where you had divine vision.

419
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:15,120
You always say, you have some lyrics that say, oh, this world's like a dream.

420
00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:16,320
It's not what it seems.

421
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,580
We think it's solid, but it fades.

422
00:24:18,580 --> 00:24:22,520
You had that realization, but now you know that's a reality.

423
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,080
It's not just knowledge.

424
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:29,440
This is a real reality and your experience of the dream and guess what?

425
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:30,600
The dream is over.

426
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:35,240
You're about to fall asleep and wake up into a new dream.

427
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:40,280
And so then I got very, very prayerful and I thought, you know, I started saying prayers,

428
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,240
you know, and I worship God as Krishna.

429
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,960
That's the way they say God in India.

430
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,960
I said, Krishna, this world is a dream.

431
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,080
And no one knows where I am.

432
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:50,240
My mother doesn't know where I am.

433
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:55,000
I loved ones don't know where I am, but I'm about to leave my body.

434
00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:02,400
But I tell you, Krishna, please, you gave me such divine vision and such focus.

435
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,560
If you're going to take me, please take me while I'm awake.

436
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,040
Don't let me fall asleep where my mind won't be, where my mind will be clouded and I'll

437
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,520
just, you know, I won't be able to meditate on you.

438
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,880
Take me now and I prayed to die with that focused vision.

439
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:19,160
I closed my eyes.

440
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:23,640
I got a vision of divinity of Krishna and I started chanting these beautiful Sanskrit

441
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,200
mantras that I had studied.

442
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:30,040
And now I felt like, wow, this is the final test of my study, these beautiful prayers

443
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:31,840
and mantras.

444
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:37,760
And then unfortunately I lived because I was in very, very great consciousness.

445
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:42,120
But when I lived, I realized, okay, Krishna wants something else from me in this life.

446
00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,880
Have you figured out what that is, what else he wants of you in this life?

447
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:52,640
Yeah, he wants me to dedicate my heart, my mind, my soul, my thoughts, my words, do

448
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,640
what I do best as an offering.

449
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:55,640
That's what I did with the book.

450
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,240
That's what I did with my music.

451
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:05,360
That's what I do with my podcast is to translate all these cryptic ancient teachings into practical

452
00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:06,360
life.

453
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,520
I lived like an impractical monk and now I live like a practical householder.

454
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,160
So it's like, how do you do that?

455
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:13,840
How do you find the balance within that?

456
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:15,400
And that's sort of my message.

457
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:20,560
Well, and that, by the way, startled me when we did our pre-interview the other day because

458
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,760
the whole living like a monk and having this yoga retreat and stuff, I don't know.

459
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:30,320
I guess I expected you to be sitting in a tent or something.

460
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,920
And it's fun.

461
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,160
Don't mean that rude in any way.

462
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:35,240
I do like tents.

463
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,160
I slept outside last night.

464
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,360
Or I should say to a teepee even is more what I was thinking.

465
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:46,720
But sure, no, behind you, you're just in a regular, really nice suburban home is what

466
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:48,240
it looks like to me.

467
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,160
Yeah, it's not suburban though.

468
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,080
I live in the woods pretty much.

469
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:53,080
Okay.

470
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:59,000
But yeah, I live on, you know, 11 acres farm and we have a retreat center here.

471
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:03,240
I have another second house that guests stay in.

472
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:08,480
Part of this house has guest rooms where we have people stay in and sort of like a spiritual

473
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,680
bed and breakfast of sorts.

474
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,400
It has four walls, but it's surrounded by nature.

475
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:19,000
But I don't live in a hobbit house.

476
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,800
But I have a strong, you know, my spiritual journey has brought me closer and closer to

477
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,560
nature and natural living for sure.

478
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,560
So I had in my notes the word drowning.

479
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,680
Did you have some kind of a drowning episode?

480
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:32,680
Yeah.

481
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:33,680
I had an episode of a new...

482
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:35,680
Do you want to talk about that?

483
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:36,680
Sure.

484
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:38,880
It was another great, another great, horrible experience.

485
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:44,320
And I think sometimes, by the way, if any listeners are going through hell out there

486
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,560
right now, because sometimes we have a season in our life where we're just going through

487
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,080
hell and I get it.

488
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:54,760
Sometimes that hell lasts a day or 20 minutes or sometimes that hell is like, you know,

489
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:56,760
a few months or a few years.

490
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:58,520
I got some good news for you.

491
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:02,580
It's at those times of hell that we find our biggest breakthroughs.

492
00:28:02,580 --> 00:28:04,600
It's God directly speaking to us.

493
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:12,360
And sometimes when there's no hell, when things are just going wonderfully, we're never introspective.

494
00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:15,480
Whenever I see a person going through hell, I was like, they must be sincere about their

495
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:21,200
spiritual life because it's the universe is forcing them to go deeper and ask some bigger

496
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,200
questions.

497
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,360
And those are the times we have to ask those questions.

498
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:29,880
So I did have a moment when that second band I did was starting getting really popular

499
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,640
and we had a hit record in Brazil.

500
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,560
And so we were on a Brazil tour.

501
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,840
I didn't even realize how big we were there at the time, but they were playing our song

502
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,440
on the radios and on MTV.

503
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:45,840
And we were doing all this press conferences and we were in Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro.

504
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:46,840
And I'm one of these persons.

505
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:47,880
I like to wake up very early.

506
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,280
I like to meditate, especially if there's like the beach or something like that.

507
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:56,560
I woke up and I sat and did meditation on my beads for like two hours.

508
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:02,760
And I studied a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and this was like my travel spiritual

509
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,480
morning practice.

510
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,120
It felt really good.

511
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:10,680
The sun was coming up, went back to the hotel to see if anybody else was up.

512
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,200
Maybe they want to take a morning swim.

513
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,760
It's good to swim in the ocean before breakfast.

514
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,400
There's lots of tropical fruits.

515
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,960
Everything seems perfect.

516
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,680
And then the only person who was awake was our publicist, nice guy named Paulo.

517
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,240
I asked him, hey, let's go swim in this morning.

518
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:32,880
And he said, I said, before we eat, it's really healthy to, you know, to bathe first in the

519
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:33,880
salt water.

520
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:35,960
And he said, you know, I really don't want him.

521
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:36,960
Not a great swimmer.

522
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:38,280
I said, well, I'm not a great swimmer either.

523
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:39,440
We don't have to swim very good.

524
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,280
We'll just go splash around on the waves.

525
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:49,780
And because I'm a persuasive son of a bitch, I convinced him against his will to swim.

526
00:29:49,780 --> 00:29:53,560
And so we're splashing around, not where the big waves are crashing, but sort of in the

527
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,240
aftermath of the waves.

528
00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,720
But we happened to be in, I don't know if it was a storm or if this is how eponema is

529
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,320
regularly, but the waves were very big.

530
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,880
Everything was going great until I couldn't find Paulo anymore.

531
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,400
And I was like, where the heck is my friend?

532
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,200
No one is on the beach except me and him.

533
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:14,440
And I'm looking around.

534
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,200
And then finally I just hear a voice going, help me.

535
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:19,920
I have a cramp.

536
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:20,920
I'm drowning.

537
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:22,400
Please help me.

538
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,600
I was like, I couldn't even see where it's coming from.

539
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:26,600
But I heard it.

540
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,960
And then I looked and it was just in the deeper water.

541
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,040
And I saw his face on top of the water, just like coming out of the water.

542
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,760
Help me, please help me.

543
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:36,760
You know, I wasn't sure.

544
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:38,320
Is he joking or is he serious?

545
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,400
So I swam over, are you okay?

546
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:42,280
Hey man, you okay?

547
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:46,440
And then as soon as I went to him, I did what I wasn't supposed to do, which is you're never

548
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,400
supposed to approach a drowning person from the front.

549
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:51,560
You got to go from behind.

550
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,280
I never took that lifeguard course.

551
00:30:54,280 --> 00:31:00,960
He gripped me with all of his force and held me underwater, which is, I think, from what

552
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:06,040
I understand, a natural instinct of a drowning person is you're fighting for your life.

553
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,800
And he pulled me underwater until I started choking.

554
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:11,880
And he's like scratched me with his nails.

555
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:17,680
It was like almost like this fight or flight type of situation in desperation.

556
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,640
And he started screaming, help me.

557
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:20,640
I'm drowning.

558
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:26,080
And I was still like worried about him, even though I was sort of choking.

559
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,520
But I was on the bottom of the ocean floor there.

560
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:29,920
I just sprung off the floor.

561
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:31,520
And I was like, are you okay?

562
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:32,520
Are you okay?

563
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,840
And he starts screaming at me again.

564
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,280
And again, with all force pulled me underneath.

565
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,160
And I started coughing and choking.

566
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:44,640
And then out of nowhere, two people came up and pulled him out of the water.

567
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,120
And at that point, I realized I'm the one that needs help.

568
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,280
Actually, I'm over my head.

569
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,800
I feel I feel I'm caught in a riptide.

570
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:54,800
And I need help.

571
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,640
And I just started saying, help me, help me.

572
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:03,320
And by my third help me, I was like in the impact zone of all these waves.

573
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,520
And the first wave knocked me.

574
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,400
I was just getting tumbled and tumbled.

575
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,520
But because I was in the rip, I just kept them getting pulled out.

576
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:16,720
And by the time I came above water again, hit in the impact zone again.

577
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:27,320
And by the third time I came up, I was dragged so far out to the ocean, it was almost laughable.

578
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,080
I was like, I actually got up, I said, this is almost like hysterical.

579
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,800
I am so far away from the sea.

580
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:34,800
I have no energy.

581
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,920
I have no breath.

582
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,640
And I better just start screaming for help.

583
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,640
Now, there's something humiliating.

584
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,400
And you just go, when you have to call out in desperation.

585
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:50,640
And I just started going, help me, help me.

586
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,480
But I was so far behind the waves that no one could hear me really.

587
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,480
There were some people on the beach at this point, but no one could hear me.

588
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,640
So finally, I just said, OK, humans aren't going to help you.

589
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,520
You're going to have to call out to God.

590
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:08,800
And I just said, Krishna, help me, Krishna.

591
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,000
And then, of course, no response.

592
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,960
And I thought, OK, humans aren't going to help.

593
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,200
Krishna is not going to help.

594
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:17,200
Guess what?

595
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,400
Today, Ray, you're going to die.

596
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,360
And guess what?

597
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:22,360
Happens all the time.

598
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,000
It's been happening since the beginning of time.

599
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,880
People screw around in the water.

600
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,240
They got caught out in the sea.

601
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:30,520
And they die.

602
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:31,520
It's not a big deal.

603
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:32,800
This happens.

604
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:36,640
And I was like, oh my god, I wasn't ready to die today.

605
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,520
I'm just about to start this big tour.

606
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:40,720
Our record is big.

607
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,520
And I started thinking, OK.

608
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,440
I'm just going to say a prayer and just give up.

609
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:54,280
And I just said, I know I'm not very evolved in my spiritual life.

610
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,560
And I know I was attached to all these things that are happening

611
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,840
and seem so exciting.

612
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:04,040
But my dear Lord, please, I know I'm not

613
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:06,400
advanced enough spiritually to be evolved.

614
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,920
I know it takes work in this world to evolve.

615
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,840
I said, but can I ask for this prayer

616
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,440
that in my next life I get born into a family that's

617
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:18,480
very focused on their spiritual life so they've

618
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:22,840
raised me from childhood, very focused.

619
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,200
And then I started chanting.

620
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,080
And I gave up.

621
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:27,720
And that's that.

622
00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:28,360
That's that.

623
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:29,160
You drowned.

624
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:30,520
We haven't seen you since.

625
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,000
Yeah, I haven't been there since.

626
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,560
Yeah, no, a 12-year-old kid came out and saved me on a surfboard.

627
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,080
Just put my body over the surfboard and paddled me in.

628
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,080
You know, there's something that's been on my mind.

629
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,320
Thank you so much for these stories and for your wisdom.

630
00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:46,440
All real.

631
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:47,800
All real, my friend.

632
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,040
And I tell you, sometimes we need a dose of tragedy

633
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,440
to make us wake up to reality.

634
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,960
Tragedy, trials, whatever it is.

635
00:34:58,960 --> 00:34:59,460
Yeah.

636
00:34:59,460 --> 00:34:59,960
Yeah.

637
00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:03,600
And something we touched on earlier,

638
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:05,720
you know, it's hard to ask those big questions

639
00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:09,680
because of the ramifications of the answers.

640
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:11,920
Frankly, we don't want the answers sometimes,

641
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:13,640
because then we may have to change.

642
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:15,280
And that's hard.

643
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:20,520
Now, I, sorry, I feel like I need to go down a road that I just

644
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:22,120
don't normally go down.

645
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:26,440
So to my regular listeners, hey, if you don't like this,

646
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:28,240
fast forward, that's OK.

647
00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:31,400
But I think there is so much misunderstanding

648
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,240
out there in religions.

649
00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:37,720
And there's persecution.

650
00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:40,120
There's people that just believe they're right

651
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,360
and everybody else is wrong.

652
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,560
And on this fundamentalism.

653
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:46,320
Yeah.

654
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,800
On this particular podcast, we keep it non-denominational.

655
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:51,200
Sure.

656
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,640
And we're not pushing any one religion

657
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,840
or putting down any other religion.

658
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,920
But you have mentioned Krishna and these Indian teachings

659
00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:05,640
so much that I would just like, for people who have not

660
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,360
been exposed to that before, to feel a little bit more

661
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,280
comfortable with it.

662
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,520
Because some of us grew up in a time

663
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,360
where the only thing that we knew about what you're talking

664
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:19,640
about was the white robes and the tambourines

665
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:25,880
in the airports chanting or on Kala Kala Drive

666
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,560
in downtown Waikiki or wherever somebody was.

667
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:30,160
Right.

668
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,080
That was all that we knew about it.

669
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,280
And they were these crazy young hippies.

670
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,680
And who knows what they were chanting about or what.

671
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,160
So I think, one, it's a breath of fresh air

672
00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:46,720
for us to see your regular people, just like people

673
00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:48,560
of other denominations are.

674
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,400
And I believe from what you've said,

675
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,560
you believe in a God that may have a different name

676
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,360
than someone whose Christian would give that God.

677
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,600
Is there anything else that you would like to say

678
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:03,920
for people of all other religions out there

679
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,720
to just help keep the peace and the respect

680
00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:07,960
amongst all of us?

681
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:09,240
Sure.

682
00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:11,600
The idea, at least in Eastern thought,

683
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,800
in which why I was attracted to it,

684
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,080
is that there is one God.

685
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:16,040
We believe in one God.

686
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:17,200
And God has different names.

687
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,960
In the same way, you called me Ray.

688
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:21,920
And some people call me Ragnarok.

689
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,800
And my little kids call me Daddy.

690
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:26,840
And my mom's got a nickname for me.

691
00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,400
So it's like, I'm the same person.

692
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,000
But I'll go by different names according

693
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:32,640
to different audiences.

694
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,160
Krishna just means the all attractive one.

695
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,600
God just means the one who is good.

696
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,280
So we believe in one, it's theistic.

697
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:45,440
But we believe that all people are on a spiritual journey.

698
00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,520
And the soul is eternal.

699
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,320
And India has always been a hub

700
00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:53,560
of spiritual information where people

701
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:55,200
from all over the world have gone to.

702
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:57,080
Because there's not a holy book.

703
00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,480
There's cannons of literature dealing

704
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:02,760
with the metaphysical and the spiritual.

705
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:04,640
It's not devil work.

706
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,320
It predates the world's religions.

707
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:10,560
But that being said, it enhances.

708
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,760
I find, for example, I grew up Christian

709
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,840
and I have a great respect for Christianity.

710
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,360
I will go to church with my mom

711
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:21,800
and I'll sing the songs and accept the Eucharist, et cetera.

712
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,320
I don't think it's being unchaste

713
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:24,760
because there's one God.

714
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:27,400
And no church has a monopoly on truth.

715
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,680
Truth is truth is for all people.

716
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:31,800
And the truth is that there's one God.

717
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,760
And that we're all part and parcel of some higher power,

718
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:36,560
whatever you want to call your higher power.

719
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,600
And our job in this world is to remember

720
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:39,720
that I'm not a material being.

721
00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,560
I'm not an American or a European

722
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,080
or I'm not black or white.

723
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,920
We're not of a particular gender.

724
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:47,400
We're actually a spirit soul

725
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,480
that's driving around in a vehicle.

726
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,880
And we should train ourselves to see spirit

727
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:53,920
in not only people that we're friends with,

728
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:55,800
but people that are different than us as well.

729
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:57,520
Even people that don't like us.

730
00:38:57,520 --> 00:38:59,560
And we see spirit in all living entities.

731
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:00,680
We see spirit in animals.

732
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:01,880
We see spirit in trees.

733
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,320
We see spirit in planets.

734
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,480
And we see in the earth itself as a being.

735
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,880
So I don't feel like I'm really contradicting.

736
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,440
When I read the Bible, I find like, yeah,

737
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:15,800
I believe this, love your neighbor.

738
00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:17,320
Love God with your heart, mind and soul.

739
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:21,000
That's the essence of the teachings of the East, actually.

740
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:26,000
So I feel there is, if we can ask the question,

741
00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:29,080
what do we have in common

742
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:31,480
instead of what are our differences?

743
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,520
You're gonna find a more beautiful world, period.

744
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:36,960
And I asked that question as young age

745
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:38,560
when it comes to religion.

746
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:40,880
What do we have in common with these religions?

747
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,000
They all speak of some higher power.

748
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:44,440
They speak of controlling the senses,

749
00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:45,840
controlling the mind.

750
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:48,040
They speak of temptations.

751
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:50,520
They speak of importance of compassion.

752
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:53,120
They believe in the importance of self-control.

753
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:54,920
They believe in the importance of forgiveness.

754
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,760
Why not say, hey, we got a lot in common?

755
00:39:57,760 --> 00:39:59,760
Okay, there's some different outfits,

756
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,640
different haircuts, different ways of maybe meditation

757
00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:04,640
or prayer.

758
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:05,480
Who cares?

759
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:08,440
Let that be a detail and let us come together

760
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,000
with some commonalities.

761
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,280
If we could do this in the world,

762
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:16,960
we wouldn't have this overwhelming hate and divisiveness

763
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:21,280
that is going on in the world, in politics, in high schools,

764
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,600
state to state, nation to nation.

765
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:24,960
It's disgusting.

766
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,920
I say this very frankly and easily

767
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:32,000
because it's woven into those teachings of ancient India

768
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,760
that anybody on their God path, we should support.

769
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,240
They have lessons to learn.

770
00:40:36,240 --> 00:40:38,440
We shouldn't try to, we're not trying to convert somebody

771
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,920
from this outfit to that outfit, join our club,

772
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:42,760
give up your club.

773
00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,760
No, the idea is that we're spirit and we forgot.

774
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:49,400
And any way you can wake up and remember that fact,

775
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:50,840
that you're a spiritual being,

776
00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:53,760
and that we're just around on this planet

777
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:55,360
for a short amount of time.

778
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:57,120
If you can wake up and remind yourself

779
00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,240
of our real identity, that's a win.

780
00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:01,480
So beautifully said.

781
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:03,240
Thank you, thank you.

782
00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:07,000
One last thing, let's touch on before we take off.

783
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,640
And that is, like I alluded to earlier,

784
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:14,280
I think spiritually transformative experiences

785
00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:18,160
are relatively common.

786
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,560
I think most people have an opportunity

787
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:24,160
to have at least one during their life.

788
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:26,960
And they may come in all kinds of forms,

789
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:30,160
whether it's being beat up or drowned

790
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:34,320
or some of these other things that we talked about.

791
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,520
What is your advice for someone

792
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,160
who's either going through something super difficult

793
00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:42,160
right now or has just had one of these experiences

794
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:45,000
but doesn't quite know how to process it?

795
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:46,680
Gee, this just happened to me.

796
00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:48,200
I know it was profound,

797
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,800
but I'm not quite sure what to do with this.

798
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:52,040
Sometimes it's no profound,

799
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,240
sometimes it's just plain tragic.

800
00:41:55,240 --> 00:41:58,600
But we should always understand that there's a,

801
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:01,960
you ever see one of those tapestries on the wall?

802
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:05,360
It's like a embroidery with a beautiful picture

803
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:06,760
of a waterfall or something

804
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,880
and the sun rising in the background.

805
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:10,320
That's a very beautiful picture.

806
00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:13,680
But if I was to flip that tapestry backwards,

807
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:16,120
it would just seem like a bunch of random threads.

808
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:17,480
And if I was to invite you in my home

809
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,440
and say, hey, look at my tapestry,

810
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:22,040
you would think, oh, so random.

811
00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:26,880
So it starts with just hearing about analogies like this,

812
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:30,160
that things appear random,

813
00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:34,600
but they have a very specific significance.

814
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:38,320
And when we understand what is the significance

815
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,960
and ask those questions, why did this happen?

816
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,000
Where is this goading me?

817
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,120
And don't let it goad you

818
00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:47,640
to what a Christian would call like the devil.

819
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:50,480
Let it goad you towards light instead of darkness.

820
00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:52,480
Let it goad you not towards revenge,

821
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,800
not towards spite, not towards hatred,

822
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:57,840
but towards what can I learn

823
00:42:57,840 --> 00:42:59,880
and how can I grow from these things?

824
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:02,240
Let that be the burning question.

825
00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:04,600
What is the greater plan?

826
00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:06,920
Nothing is random in this world.

827
00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:09,320
Everything is significant

828
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:11,360
because you're a significant being.

829
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,400
And therefore, everything is part

830
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,720
of some greater tapestry that I can't see

831
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:18,200
from my vantage point.

832
00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:20,120
I'm just seeing what's right in front of my face

833
00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:22,120
and it appears like a tragedy.

834
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:23,320
There's a greater plan.

835
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:25,640
Thank you.

836
00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:27,600
Do you mind if I add just something to that?

837
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,560
And that is once we figure that out,

838
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,360
the next question is, how do we take that

839
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:36,120
and now better serve others with it?

840
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,600
Are you asking me that question?

841
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,440
No, I was just sharing that soap box,

842
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:44,800
but please if you want to add to that, please do.

843
00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:46,520
Okay, that's a great statement.

844
00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:47,520
It's sort of a statement now.

845
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,160
How can we give that away to other people?

846
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:53,400
Yeah, that's right on.

847
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:55,440
All right, my last question.

848
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,780
On a scale of one to 10, how much fear of death do you have?

849
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:05,280
You know, again, it's something I could very easily say,

850
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:08,720
I have no fear, I'm a spiritual being,

851
00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:11,320
but you never know until you're in the situation,

852
00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:15,240
but I do have faith because it's been proven to me

853
00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:18,160
again and again that to the degree

854
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:20,600
that I am on my spiritual journey,

855
00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:22,800
even if something's traumatic,

856
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:25,360
I feel like there will be intervention.

857
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:27,080
So I'm less worried about it.

858
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:32,480
And there's a saying that if Krishna wants to kill you,

859
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:33,440
no one can save you.

860
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,800
And Krishna wants to save you, no one can kill you.

861
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,960
So when you hear like when it's meant to die,

862
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,240
you're meant to die.

863
00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:43,520
And if you're on a spiritual path, you'll be with God,

864
00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:45,400
you'll be connected.

865
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:47,320
Even if you get hit in the head from behind

866
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:49,720
where then at that time where you're struck,

867
00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:51,360
God will appear and be with you.

868
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:55,080
Nothing is random and everything is happening

869
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:58,040
for some purpose for our growth.

870
00:44:58,040 --> 00:44:59,800
And if you're on a spiritual path,

871
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:04,360
you should understand that you're really putting yourself

872
00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:07,000
in divine hands.

873
00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:10,440
If anybody wants to read Punk to Monk

874
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:13,960
or find out a little bit more about you, Raganath,

875
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:15,720
we'll have some info in the show notes.

876
00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:17,280
People can find it there.

877
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:18,520
Thanks for being with me today.

878
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:19,600
I really appreciate it.

879
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:20,440
Thanks so much.

880
00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:22,720
And it's available on Audible for those who don't read.

881
00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:24,520
I'm finding a lot of people,

882
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:27,360
a lot of people listen on Audible nowadays.

883
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:29,960
So I got a chance to read it on Audible,

884
00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:30,920
which was very fun.

885
00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:32,240
Oh, so it's all read by you.

886
00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:33,880
That's awesome.

887
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:35,240
Yeah, I got to read it myself.

888
00:45:35,240 --> 00:45:38,120
That was especially fun to do.

889
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:41,640
I've always wondered, as the author reading,

890
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:43,680
do you feel like making a little change here and there

891
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:45,520
as you're reading along?

892
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:47,720
Yes, I feel like ad-libbing it.

893
00:45:47,720 --> 00:45:50,640
And the publisher told me I absolutely cannot,

894
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,840
it's gotta be exactly word for word.

895
00:45:54,720 --> 00:45:57,080
They wouldn't let you ad-lib anything.

896
00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:00,640
No, no, because at first I started doing it

897
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:02,040
and I just called them on the phone

898
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:03,480
and they were like, you cannot do that.

899
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:05,360
You gotta go over and redo it.

900
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,240
It sort of stinks, but it stinks, but it's intelligent

901
00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:11,200
because I will just riff into a whole different story.

902
00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:12,960
Part of me glad I didn't do it.

903
00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:14,120
All right, thanks again.

904
00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:17,720
Thank you so much for listening and supporting the show.

905
00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:20,600
Just a reminder, click on over to roundtripdeath.com

906
00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:24,160
to make a donation and we'll put a link in the show notes.

907
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,440
Until then, I wish you every good thing

908
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:29,720
that you're looking for in this life and the next.