All language subtitles for S02E03 - Breaking the Ancient Matrix.en

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Those that have experienced
psychedelic plant medicines

describe profound journeys.

They have discovered deeper
consciousness and a deeper

understanding of our reality.

But can science explain
what's happening?

While researching the
effects of psilocybin,

a team led by Dr.
Robin Carhart-Harris

observed the default
mode network essentially

go offline when the
compound was applied,

allowing the subjects to
step into different realities

through their mind.

According to an article
published by the Imperial

College of London,
results of their studies

have been so promising,
the institution

launched the world's
first formal Center

for Psychedelic
Research in 2019.

They did a lot of
research exploring the effect

of psychedelics on the default
mode network and suggested that

maybe this is a neural
correlate of the ego,

that this is maybe
what the ego is,

just like accumulated
experiences forming

our personality, structure,
understanding of, who am I?

Who am I in relationship
to everybody else?

Who am I in
relationship to my past?

Who am I in relationship
to my future?

Despite advancements
in technology,

the mysteries and abilities
of the human brain continue

to confound and inspire us.

It is believed that
the default mode

network is where our
sense of self and memories

are created, where we
construct mental models

or simulated realities.

But those simulations seem
to lock the subjects deeper

into the consensus
reality rather than

create otherworldly realities.

Could our default
mode network actually

be part of an ancient
psychic technology,

a matrix capable of
locking our minds deeper

into material reality,
blocking access

to our spirituality
and alternate planes

of consciousness?

While decades of research led
to our current understanding

of the default mode
network, the term

itself was coined by
Washington University

of Medicine neurologist
Marcus Raichle in 2001.

The default mode network--

it's a network in
the brain that is

involved in our autobiographical
story of ourselves.

That's when we're thinking
about ourselves, when

we're thinking about
somebody else, when

we're wandering in our
minds into the past

or into the future.

The network is comprised of
different areas of the brain,

including the posterior
cingulate cortex, precuneus,

medial prefrontal, and
inferior parietal cortices.

It's less active when the
person is engaged in more

goal-oriented activities.

The Robin
Carhart-Harris group--

they brought forth a lot
of interesting ideas about,

what is this default
mode network?

So they were
studying the entropy

of the brain, how chaotic is the
brain's activity at any given

time, with the idea that it's
the entropy of the universe,

that they're ultimately--
like, things are just

in such a chaos and that,
when people are asleep,

or in a coma, or anesthetized,
they saw decreased

entropy of the brain activity.

And then, when they're awake,
they see increased entropy.

And then, when they get
into their dream state--

more entropy.

And then they go
into further states,

which could be really
enlightened states,

most people might
describe, or even madness,

going into full-blown
schizophrenic, psychosis,

or mania, where people are
just overwhelmed by the chaos

that they're exposed to.

So then they talked about
how the default mode

network and its activity
was altering that entropy,

that it was somehow suppressing
the entropy of consciousness

down to a level
that, for the human,

would be more manageable.

Their research also shows us
that, under normal conditions,

when people are simply resting
and not focusing on a task,

the DMN is not only active
but consuming roughly 80%

of the brain's energy.

Why does a resting
state of consciousness

consume so much of our energy?

When the default mode
network is too active, which,

for many of us, it is,
then rather than being

in a daydreaming
place sometimes,

we go to a ruminating place
or a high-anxiety place.

It can lead to disorders
like OCD, eating disorders,

severe anxiety,
intractable depression,

a lot of the conditions that
we are dealing with in society

right now.

Recent studies also show
that the default mode network

activation is correlated with
drug craving and withdrawal.

So the default mode
network is a functional part

of the human brain
and physiology.

It's important for
how we function.

But sometimes, when
it's stuck in a rut,

let's say, by
destabilizing it, we

allow for ourselves to come
into a higher functioning

version of the default
mode network in the sense

that, let's say, improvements
in mental health,

as they're measured,
could be observed.

So we're not just trying
to go up, up and away.

That's not useful either.

The ungrounded
optimism, the naivete--

that puts people in danger.

That's reckless
sometimes, so it needs

to be grounded in some way.

What is it that is keeping
human consciousness locked

so firmly in this
mental model of reality,

this default mode network?

So it's a
protective mechanism,

trying to predict scenarios
based on our experience.

And so that's useful.

However, if it's overly active,
and we suppress consciousness

further and further, like
they say, then we become,

you could say,
more narrow-minded.

Narrow-mindedness
leads to pessimism

just like open-mindedness
leads to optimism.

What psychedelics can do is
they temporarily disable that

default mode network.

They let you step out
of your reference frame

temporarily and look at
your existential situation

kind of at arm's length, kind
of, you're not caught up in it.

You can look at
it from a distance

a little more objectively.

Psychedelics suppress
the default mode network

for a period of time.

And that allows us to let go
of all of those protections

that we've placed around these
compartmentalized traumas

and memories and face
them in an honest way,

maybe for the first
time for some people.

We're trying to understand
how these substances can help

alter default mode
network functioning,

just like phsycotherapy
can and other things can.

What if reality is
not what we think it is?

What if one's daily
mental state was

built to keep us distracted
while energy is harvested?

And how can psychedelics help us
escape this default labyrinth?

As we strive to better
understand how our brain works

and how psychedelics can affect
the default mode network,

can we look to the wisdom of
our ancestors for more clues?

Is it possible that they already
understood what the default

mode matrix was capable of?

Archons in the Gnostic Gospels--

these demonic entities
suppressed human's ability

to transcend out of
the material realm.

Some believe that they
built a matrix construct

into the minds of the
human race in order

to harvest their psychic
energy, like parasites.

Could this be related to
the default mode network?

As a biologist, I kind of
see the reference of the Gnostic

Gospels to the Archons as kind
of like a virus on this planet

or in the cosmos.

And the way that viruses work
is they inject their programming

or DNA into the
host, which could

be a human or an organism.

And by a sneaky mechanism,
they get the host

to replicate more of the virus.

This might have been
occurring all down

the line of our evolution,
and these beings probably

would understand
genetics and engineering.

And they could implant something
like the default mode network

to keep us from being
aware of our divine origins

and keeping us more focused on
the physical level of reality

because that seems to be the
purpose of the default mode

network.

When I first learned about
the idea of a parasitic force

affecting human beings, that
seemed to me, like, woo.

And I'm skeptical in
nature, but not doubtful.

But when I started
connecting the dots,

then I started realizing
that what the Gnostics called

the Archons, and what the Native
Americans called [NON-ENGLISH],,

or Native Hawaiians
called [NON-ENGLISH],,

what Gurdjieff called the
"evil magician," and in Sufism,

it's called Shaitan,
same in kabbalah,

what Sri Aurobindo called
"occult hostile forces,"

what Carlos Castaneda called
the "flyers," the "predators."

So you see, there are many
different names for it.

There seem to be some invisible
force that is acting on us

and causing us to go through
this misguided perception,

where we use our faculties
to create negativity.

Hinduism tell us
that this is Maya,

a state of infatuation
with the material world,

where we lose the self.

We lose the self in the dream,
and we become the dream.

And so why
would they do this?

Some say, well, they feed
off of our suffering.

Or some say, they are just aside
from the spiritual evolutionary

ladder, and they just want
to feel powerful and have

beings to control.

Today, mankind struggles
with a daily onslaught of media

influence, social unrest, and
day-to-day stressors that can

contribute to a feeling of being
locked in that default mode

feedback loop.

There's less of that free
time for people to explore

their lives.

And their lives are
becoming dominated, not

leaving space for doing the
things that people do more,

I would say, all over the world.

In a village, they
have a local cuisine.

They know about the plants.

They play a lot.

They have a lot of festivals.

They have a lot of music.

They have a local
dance, what the humans

do all over the world.

But when you beat
it out of them,

they stop doing that stuff.

Then the culture just becomes
what they tell you on TV,

on the screen, on the phone.

We're going, oh, well,
everyone's watching this.

Let's all I watch that.

What about what you want to do?

What about what you would do
if you had more free time?

Yes.

Well, it's certainly true that
preliterate and Aboriginal

peoples have had an
obsession with time.

However, it's an
obsession shared

by the historical
societies as well.

Time seems to be the
dimension about which we

have the greatest anxiety,
perhaps because it's

the dimension into which we
see with the least clarity.

The point we're
trying to make here

that I have been involved
with over the past few years

is that a revisioning
of time would assuage

much of what is
called modern anxiety

and that we have limited
the categories we

were willing to entertain in
dealing with this problem.

Are there ways to
regulate the default mode?

Researchers have observed
meditation and exercise

having an effect on the
default mode network.

Additionally, plant
medicines, once again,

offer a possible breakthrough.

Robin Carhart-Harris and the
people in the Imperial College

of London-- they did a lot of
research exploring the effect

of psychedelics on the default
mode network and suggested that

maybe this is a neural
correlate of the ego.

And it was psilocybin
in this case

that really altered the
functioning of the default mode

network.

Somehow, decreasing certain
parts of the activity,

the default mode network
decreased possibly this ego,

this self-thinking
part of ourselves.

The default mode network
modulates something called

predictive coding.

And what predictive
coding is, is

when we come to
any new situation,

we're actually not
integrating all the details

and building the whole situation
for ourselves every time.

We take a few
details, and then we

fill in the rest based on
things that have happened to us

before.

When we shut down
the default mode

network for a period of time,
we shut down predictive coding.

And what that allows us to do
is to release these old stories

that we keep imposing
again, and again,

and again on each
new situation that we

encounter so that we can build
new stories for ourselves.

And that's
basically how we dream.

We become the dream,
and consensual reality

is no longer accessible.

We only realize that it's
a dream when we wake up.

So this reality seems to
be working in the same way.

But it's very important to
realize that to wake the self

up in a dream requires
judicious handling, awareness,

steadfastness, resilience,
going toward the fear

that we created
in the first place

to not apply the
unhealthy attachment,

to learn how to snap out
of the unhealthy baseline.

If humans are locked in this
limited perception of reality,

unable to wake from the dream,
does it make them easier

to manipulate and control?

Perhaps this is why
psychedelics have

been demonized and
prohibited by the government,

while other harmful and
addictive substances are

sanctioned.

Recent research also
shows increased activity

in the default mode network is
linked with mental disorders

like depression, anxiety,
and schizophrenia.

In some extreme cases, it
can lead to severe anxiety,

eating disorders, OCD, and many
of the mental disorders that we

see going on in
society right now.

In modern times, the Greek
myth of Pandora's box has been

boiled down to an idiom, warning
against starting new things

that may have
unforeseen consequences.

In the original story,
Epimetheus was gifted a wife

from Zeus, named Pandora.

Along with her comes a sealed
vase and explicit instructions

not to open it.

Curiosity gets the
best of Pandora,

and she opens it, releasing
all of the evil that

now plagues the world.

One item remains in
that container, Elpis.

This roughly translates
to hope or expectation.

Reserving expectation
is a shamanic discipline

to avoid distraction in a
world of illusion, our material

reality.

One can easily draw parallels
from this story to Eve

eating the forbidden
fruit, leading to her

and Adam being exiled
from the Garden of Eden.

Is it possible that these
are both shamanic stories

or forbidden
psychedelic awakenings?

In Bwiti, which is the
tradition from equatorial

Africa, we talk about
this idea of mabondo.

So you go into a ceremony
praying for mabondo.

And mabondo means
grace or benediction.

We approach the medicine with
humility because it's a chance.

It's an opportunity.

It's a time for great luck.

And so the less we have
our own ideas projected

onto that experience, the more
the medicine can do for us.

When we have too many
preconceived notions,

it can also be disrespectful
to the medicine

because this medicine is
here with its own gifts,

with its own teachings.

It is a master, and it has a
transmission unique for you.

Long ago, shamans
and priesthoods,

well aware of the powers that
psychedelic plants possessed,

closely guarded access to them.

Today, interest in and access
to psychedelics is on the rise.

This has led to
an increased focus

on creating safe and
effective settings, optimized

to individual's needs.

Everybody's different.

I think that some people can go
through these transformative,

challenging
experiences, and they

don't find them like an ordeal.

They can experience them as
though it was a revelation

almost to salvation.

They can experience a dramatic
reduction in anxiety and fear,

and it's not a
challenging experience.

For other people,
it is an ordeal.

And I think a lot of it has
to do with the inability

to surrender.

That's one of the keys
to psychedelic therapy.

Once you have the set
optimized and the setting,

and the medicine, and the
dose, the responsibility,

if you will, or the
job of the patient

is to trust the process.

I certainly know people who
have gone into the psychedelic

experience with the intention
of getting some answers.

So it's totally possible
that you can lift the veils,

open the doors of perception,
and get an idea of what really

would be good for
you, especially if you

set your intentions on that.

Many of the thousands
of journey reports shared

and cataloged online over the
past two decades report that

DMT pushed participants'
consciousness outside of normal

reality.

The other side is described
as a structured dimension

and that it felt more
real than what we commonly

accept as reality.

Former UFC champion Rashad
Evan's own personal journey

lines up with these accounts.

So when I came
back to my body,

I remember the
feeling of just loss.

It felt as if I just
lost the love of my life,

and I remember just crying.

I remember just saying like,
please don't go, please

don't go, please don't go.

And then I slowly
started to open my eyes,

and I just feel my face.

And I have tears running down
my face, and my heart's racing.

And I'm still mumbling the
words, please don't go, please

don't go.

And I really don't understand
why I'm saying that,

but I feel it.

And as I open my
eyes, I just start

to see reality just
very pixelated.

And as I open my eyes longer, it
starts to come into focus more.

And it just slowly starts
just to piece together,

like a video game.

It let me know that reality
was far more vast than I

could have ever imagined.

I just stayed in awe
for the longest time,

and then I couldn't
stop thinking about it.

And whenever I
had a free moment,

I would just think about
that, just the magnificence

of this consciousness
and just the magnificence

of what was inside of me.

And I had no idea.

It was really hard to
understand, for the most part.

But as I continue on my journey,
more understanding about it

starts to reveal itself.

In the ancient myths
of lost civilizations,

Atlantis and Lemuria, humanity
was divided primarily amongst

the technologically advanced
and spiritually advanced.

With technologies growing
influence on our lives,

more people are
seeking to reconnect

with their spirituality.

Could this pattern
be emerging again?

Today, mankind has come to rely
on internet technology for just

about everything.

It's how we learn, entertain
ourselves, and communicate.

But all of this convenience
and interconnectedness

may come at a cost.

These networks rely on
radio frequency signals

to relay information, creating
their own electromagnetic

fields.

Some believe that
these EMFs not only

pose a risk as a carcinogen,
but that they can also interfere

with pineal gland activity.

Again, this is the part
of the brain associated

with self realization,
enlightenment,

and higher and expanded states.

EMFs or Electromagnetic
Frequencies--

they have a kind of
sameness of the pattern

that they broadcast,
and this lacks

the signature of living forms.

We have also found
that they happen

to be broadcast in the same
frequency range as our biology.

So they actually interact
with our biology.

And they cause a lot
of negative effects,

including affecting
the pineal gland.

And we know that
the pineal gland

is extremely important for
higher states of awareness,

for how good we sleep, our
mood, all of these things.

So the electromagnetic
frequencies are not necessarily

helping humanity.

If true, could these
EMF-producing technologies lock

people's brains into the
default mode network?

With a new
technological obstacle,

what are the ramifications
for the future of psychedelics

and consciousness exploration?

The use of these
medicinal plants

can help turn off the
default mode network,

but this kind of
awakening is not a simple

"one size fits all" solution.

Integrating these experiences
into our everyday lives

remains a challenge.

We know that these sacred
plant medicines have an effect

on the default mode
network in the brain,

and they seem to render it
quiet for some period of time.

And when this kind of monotonous
drone of self-limiting programs

is silenced, we
have these glimpses

of the higher worlds of expanded
states of awareness of, really,

a more real reality than
we normally exist in

in our baseline consciousness.

And then, when we're not in
the influence of the medicine,

we come back to what
we call normal reality.

And the challenge is
always to integrate

the gifts of what we have
seen into our everyday life.

And it does seem that
they do get integrated,

but it takes a
little bit of work

because the reality seems so
different and so far apart.

But actually, they're just
layers of the one reality.

And so that is the gift
of the plant medicines,

is to bring back these
gifts and these glimpses

into the higher worlds
and to actually live them.

Whenever we are
catapulted out of normal,

we're being sent
into the unknown.

We're being sent into mystery.

That is incredibly
fertile ground

for completely new and
unexpected possibilities

for healing to happen,
if we're willing to take

advantage of that.

If the Archons of the Gnostic
Gospels are truly harvesting

human energy, using the default
mode network to keep us blaming

the simulation, could this
unique class of the plant

kingdom be here to serve as
the key to escape this matrix

before it's too late?

Sacred psychoactive plants
can serve humanity at this

time, as they always have,
to see beyond the program

of the matrix of the physical
world and remember that we are

actually divine cosmic beings
and that there is nothing

beyond that that can control
us, that we are actually all

the one creator.

They have always been here
provided by our dear planet

Gaia to help us awaken.

These sacred plant medicines
and psychedelic renaissance are

pointing to the need for
us to open our hearts.

And opening and
healing our hearts

is going to help illuminate
our mental health problems.

I believe William Blake said,
if the doors of perception were

open, we would see things
as they really are--

infinite.

So my hope is that the
psychedelic experience

helps us to see the oneness, how
our actions can affect others.

Anything that can
help lift the veils so

that we can see more clearly--

I think the planet really
needs that right now.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Up next, join us on
an auditory exploration,

incredible healing synergy
between psychedelics

and frequency.

[PSYCHEDELIC MUSIC]