Stress, anxiety, and depression are all symptoms of disconnection to our inner source of peace and tranquility. Here, Pedram discusses how it is through our loss of connection with nature that we have become fixated on abstract concepts and separated ourselves from our original connection with nature.
Six weeks of diligent study in Africa turned into the adventure of a lifetime. While working on the film, Origins, we participated in a 28 day Trails Guide course which included: Tracking, Scouting, Animal Behavior, Wilderness Survival, Botany, Meteorology, Navigation, Astronomy, and more. Our quest was to return to the environment of primitive man and live as he lived. We wanted to re-learn the information that our ancestors had worked so hard to acquire. We wanted to return to the source and chronicle the changes in our consciousness while living in the wild of Africa. We really got what we went there for.
Here’s a key point to walk away with-
Any animal who forgets how to survive in the very environment it comes from is stupid. Welcome to humanity.
The human brain is the most pliable and amenable to suggestion at an early age. The suggestions we receive before the age of seven get deeply embedded in our psyche and, we have come to understand that subconscious programs run over 80% of our daily functions. They become the foundation of who we are, how we see the world, and what type of genetic expression we manifest well into our adult lives. They become our beliefs and our underlying programming which determine our reality.
The one thing that has become so appalling to me as I have been watching several loved ones raise their children is the degree of influence and control the media and large corporations have on our lives. (more…)
I have just returned from a 6 week trip to Africa where I was studying wilderness survival, tracking, animal behavior, and local plants. I got to meet with chiefs of tribes, medicine women, expert trackers, other film makers, local green celebrities, and much more. It was an incredible trip and we produced an amazing movie out of it (set to release next year).
We visited the main theme of our journey quite often and much light has been shed on the subject. The essential question was: why and how have we gone so astray and how can we possibly fix it before the ecosystem starts to unravel and life on the planet is compromised? (more…)
Simply put: Our lingual encoding of the world determines the world in which we live. Read on to discover what to do to unlock your mind
I had the privilege of spending some quality time with Jay Weidner in Ashland, OR. Jay is an alchemy scholar who has always been a great mentor and teacher to me. He’s an enlightened dude with a great heart and a wonderful sense of humor. Always look for people who don’t take themselves too seriously when searching for esoteric teachers- Jay is a riot and he really knows his stuff.
On our long drive through Oregon, we got into a great conversation about semantics and its impact on our understanding of Reality. He taught me a lot. (more…)
There is an argument out there that places a great deal of blame on corporate interests who are busy destroying the world with reckless policies and a blatant disregard for the environment. I agree that there is a great deal of blame which can be appropriately places and much can be chalked up to our ignorance at the time. We’ve really dug ourselves into a mess with Mother Nature and there can be a lot of finger pointing all around. This however, is not particularly useful at this time. We hit a big rock and it seems the ship is sinking- we can argue about it or grab the rudder and steer to a safe place where we can fix the leak.
How is it that we don’t know the difference between the songs of different birds anymore? If you were to see animal tracks on the ground, would you be able to tell:
Or maybe even “What is it doing right now?”
Well, our ancestors did and we somehow forgot. That is why we’re in Africa. We’re navigating by the stars at night, studying animal behavior, learning survival skills, and interviewing medicine men. The project revolves around reconnecting man with Nature and re-establishing our innate understanding of who we are and how we fit into the ecosystem. Survival is an interesting phenomenon. Although most of us are not running from lions on a daily basis, the notion of survival plays are central role in most of our lives. How? It’s called mortgage. Taxes, salaries, rising costs, hospital bills…all of these concepts that are tied to money are conceptually related to our survival. We stress about it every day and it consumes much of our attention.
So what does this have to do with Africa? (more…)
I have begun my 6 week trip to Africa. I’ve been wanting to complete this training for a number of years and now is the time. What training? Wilderness survival training with an emphasis on understanding animal behavior, tracking, and observation. I’ll be learning to navigate around the African Savannah by the stars…understanding the bird call and reading this language to understand where the big predators are…using medicinal herbs to heal any ailments and much more. Now, I’ve spent a great deal of time in my life working these skills and I have spent a good amount of time in the wilderness alone already. Why this? Why more?
