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Crazywise

2016

What can we learn from those who have turned their psychological crisis into a positive transformative experience? During a quarter-century documenting indigenous cultures, human-rights photographer and filmmaker Phil Borges often saw these cultures identify "psychotic" symptoms as an indicator of shamanic potential. He was intrigued by how differently psychosis is defined and treated in the West. Through interviews with renowned mental health professionals including Gabor Mate, MD, Robert Whitaker, and Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, Phil explores the growing severity of the mental health crisis in America dominated by biomedical psychiatry. He discovers a growing movement of professionals and psychiatric survivors who demand alternative treatments that focus on recovery, nurturing social connections, and finding meaning. CRAZYWISE follows two young Americans diagnosed with "mental illness." Adam, 27, suffers devastating side effects from medications before embracing meditation in hopes of recovery. Ekhaya, 32, survives childhood molestation and several suicide attempts before spiritual training to become a traditional South African healer gives her suffering meaning and brings a deeper purpose to her life. CRAZYWISE doesn't aim to over-romanticize indigenous wisdom, or completely condemn Western treatment. Not every indigenous person who has a crisis becomes a shaman. And many individuals benefit from Western medications. However, indigenous peoples' acceptance of non-ordinary states of consciousness, along with rituals and metaphors that form deep connections to nature, to each other, and to ancestors, is something we can learn from. CRAZYWISE adds a voice to the growing conversation that believes a psychological crisis can be an opportunity for growth and potentially transformational, not a disease without a cure.

82 min

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Forgiveness: The Bridge Between Self & Soul

Forgiveness is an interesting phenomenon. As you learn to forgive and to say, “Of course you’re human,” or, “We all do that,” you open up your heart to embrace the person or the situation back into you.

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02:37

Ram Dass: Souls Are the Fingers of God

Shot on location at his current home in Maui in 2005, Ram Dass talks about the nature of the soul, the three levels of perception, and how it's all part of God, or the eternal.

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11:30

Growing with Suffering | Ram Dass Lecture 1980S

1980's. Ram Dass gives lecture on internal and external suffering. He says that resisting our suffering creates more suffering for ourselves and for other people. We need to practice listening, and to observe the way the mind responds to somebody's story.

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02:00:22

A Dialogue with Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle

An evening with Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle - these two teachers engage in an open conversation about spiritual awakening and the transformation of consciousness, October 28, 2011 in Maui, HI.

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Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart

A passionate and deep exploration of how love is essential to our spiritual growth and development, from beloved author and teacher A. H. Almaas. Love is a universal energy—and a primary force that powers our movement toward spiritual illumination.

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The Only Dance There Is: Talks at the Menninger Foundation, 1970, and Spring Grove Hospital, 1972

This book is based on talks by Ram Dass at the Menninger Foundation in 1970 and at the Spring Grove Hospital in Maryland in 1972. The text grew out of the interaction between Ram Dass and the spiritual seekers in attendance at these talks.

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Polishing the Mirror: How to Live From Your Spiritual Heart

Sometimes illumination occurs spontaneously or, as Ram Dass experienced, in a heart-wrenching moment of opening.

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EXPLORE TOPIC

Depression