Russell Brand and David Lynch In Conversation

thank you thank you and thank you for your patience on behalf of the David Lynch foundation I would like to welcome everybody here this evening to what promise to be unique and an extraordinary conversation with deep and I think meaningful things about consciousness meditation creativity art humor life with two rare and incredibly engaging individuals David Lynch and Russell Brand now I am thrilled to be here with you tonight for three reasons the first is the content of tonight's event I'm really looking forward to hearing this conversation to people who know a lot of what they speak and of course secondly the philanthropic angel of tonight's event all the proceeds will be used to support the work of the David Lynch foundation to bring Transcendental Meditation free to women in recovery at friendly house LA and [Applause] she's a wonderful thing that the David Lynch foundation does is they they are out there teaching all sorts of people meditation and in this case tonight it's friendly house la my own personal connection to the mission of the foundation is another reason that I'm here I've started meditating actually I was trained in meditation in 1996 TM meditation it did not stick and in the last six months I had a flash of I should I should start meta-data meditating I remembered my mantra and someone hooked me up with a wonderful Lin Kaplan yes of the David Lynch foundation who graciously agreed to sit with me and we meditated and then she graciously allowed me to attend some of the training classes and I went through the entire training again as if for the very first time so now like my partner is meditating my good friend Laura is meditating so there's three of us meditating where there used to be none so it's it's just a wonderful thing and my partner can't be here tonight she fell off a curb but she's okay when now before I turn the evening over to David and Russell I have a housekeeping message if you haven't turned in your card with your question that white card index card please hold it up and somebody will collect it from you there we go we have some questions out there excuse me now it is my pleasure to introduce our very special guests David Lynch is an American filmmaker painter musician actor and photographer David has been described by the Guardian as the most important director of this era while allmovie called him the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking David's films built blue velvet which he directed in 1986 and Mulholland Drive which he directed in 2001 are widely regarded by critics as among the greatest films of their respective decades while the success of the 1990 television series Twin Peaks led him to being labeled right the first popular surrealist by film critic Pauline Kael David has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director has one Francis césar Award for Best Foreign Film twice as well as the Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement achievement at the Venice Film Festival and just last week ladies and gentlemen the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that David will receive an honorary Oscar at their governor's award ceremony in October the Academy is recognizing David as an individual who has devoted himself to a lifetime of artistic accomplishment and brought outstanding contributions to our industry and Beyond and that is certainly our David Lynch please welcome our David Lynch [Applause] all right Russell Brand is a comedian actor and the author of seven books including the New York Times bestseller recovery he is currently developing a new live show based around the principles of 12-step recovery Russell hosts a weekly podcast called under the skin where he interviews artists spiritual leaders and scientists about their work his new book mentors explores how we all choose guides mentors and heroes throughout our lives in addition to being a supporter of both the David Lynch foundation and friendly house Russell is the patron of several residential rehab facilities in the UK and is an advocate for abstinence based recovery in the UK Russell lives in the UK with his wife Laura their two daughters two dogs two cats and eights - eight chickens please welcome Russell Brand and finally this evening our moderator Bob Roth is the CEO of the David Lynch foundation bob has been teaching Transcendental Meditation for nearly 50 years please welcome Bob Ross to the stage [Applause] Sue Sylvester and Sophie Lennon thank you very much Jane for coming and doing this absolutely fantastic so settle in we all know about both of these individuals really huge creative achievements the impact they've had in the world the idea here was to set up an opportunity as if we're sitting there sitting joining us in the living room we get to sort of find out I wouldn't sit on this angle in a living room what would you prefer face in wood a bit more I'd feel that David was too near this precipice don't be worried would you like to make adjustments I'm continually trying to he's gonna be a good sport about it anyway first question that I have for each one of you Russell Brand described David Lynch well I love David Lynch very very much I think you know even if we don't get into the artistic and creative pursues what about the hair I can spend a while just adoring his natural root lift but he's a devotion and dedication to meditation in the creative process is something that I am inspired by and used as sort of mentorship not in a sort of a gushing way because David isn't a person that likes people near him or at his home so remotely and from a distance without telling him I quietly admire him in a way that wouldn't impinge upon his personal satisfaction I will now tell you the story that I always tell in this situation because I know it frustrates David but you know he's got an honorary Oscar is it a life Oscar you're us guys for life I think congratulations I think so guess what happened the first time I ever spoke to David Lynch this is what happened I was with Bobby Roth when I was in an airport anyway Russell do you want to talk today to David I didn't say David Lynch or anything but I saw thought if this is going to be David Lynch right so I feel a bit nervous because I've never spoken to David Lynch before no I hope that nothing bad happens I'm going to talk to David Lynch you are very much admire and stuff and the Bobby had to be the phone like this and this is what happened exactly this I've recorded it in my mind because I knew that this would happen one day and I would need it this is me I put the phone to my ear Russell you know hummingbirds that's the first thing that God said not hello Russell you know hummingbirds yes yes I do know hummingbirds I didn't expect to have to talk about hummingbirds that quickly well well I'm in my garden they're coming near my face I was meditating they're coming near my face they're making this sound can you hear can you hear that sound yes yes and I thought I'm gonna do it back so I started to make the sound yes yes I thought I'm communicating with them they were coming closer and closer I'm communicating with them I'm communicating with these hummingbirds then I went inside and I told my friend David and he said hummingbirds are very territorial and they would tell I could just say he the hummingbirds were saying give me some space I love Russell Brand he doesn't talk much but I love him just the same David would you these are questions that people have submitted David would you describe what the term transcendence means transcendence I always say within every human being there is a Treasury and this Treasury is the transcendent it's a field and eternal field of pure unbounded consciousness and it being eternal has always in forever been there underlying the whole field of relativity deep within each one of us never had a beginning it's there now and it will be there forever and human beings have this fantastic nervous system and we're built to experience this transcendent within if we have the proper technique and this is what my Rishi Mahesh Yogi brought a technique to utilize the human physiology to dive within experience this treasury within and every time a human being experiences it they infuse some and they begin to expand whatever consciousness they had to begin with and in expanding that they expand these all positive qualities of consciousness and those positive qualities are intelligence creativity energy love happiness and peace and when those qualities of consciousness start expanding there's a side effect and that side effect is negativity starts to received so people diving within every day transcending every day start to see stress and traumatic stress and anxieties and tension and depression and sorrow and hate need for revenge despair and fear start to automatically lift away it's so beautiful so Russell I've known you now for 10 years 10 10 years bookie wook one bookie worked too many books recovery and now mentors this is quite an arc quite a story so it's what a narrative of your life and now when I hear you on your you'll seen his podcast heard his podcast under the skin you're talking about consciousness you're talking about pure consciousness you're talking about changing the world through through accessing that through witnessing through observing by not getting attached or identified with outer relative existence to questions second what does that mean first what what accounts for that very public and very private art in your life well this what happens to me is that I'm falak I'm continually in relationship with the outer world and in a world say for example now this moment there is part of me that thinks that my obligation is to be humorous and to make people laugh and that there are risks involved in that because some of the ways of deriving humor is by being sort of explosive and undermining things and so for me this is in this moment I have to determine where are those risks worth taking then I have to think what is it the reason that I want to even take those risk why do I in this situation think that I need further approval or validation I'm already honest age sat next to David Lynch and with Bobby Roth a great teacher in the direct lineage of another great teacher what is in in me that continually needs more continually needs more and I suppose it is I have an appetite driven component to my nature these appetites have formed our culture in many respects these appetites continue to govern our culture and I am very a sorbent person permeable I eat culture I eat life so then of course because of these appetites I an addictive personality so I do things until I the wheels come off until I recognize all these things are useless and do not make me feel happy and then along the way someone taught me I was taught that what I'm always pursuing is spiritual fulfillment and connection as Bob said he taught me meditation 10 years ago and I'm lucky enough to be I have been granted to 12-step recovery so continually I'm recognizing and but in continual negotiation with I want more I want validation I want more status I want to fulfill these drives and the acknowledgement and recognition they can never be fulfilled but I'm not alone in this because the culture continually provides you with the material doesn't it continually tells you get status take drugs have food operate on the vibrational frequencies of fear and desire this is what was continually pumped and if you are permeable then these things are very appealing to you so through a spiritual practice and through being granted to 12-step program I began to see that I was distinct from my biochemical activity and from my memories and that something was observing it and as David said that the process of transcendence gives you a transcendent meditation gives you access to this limitlessness and then it becomes increasingly absurd to try to build your life around things that are transient and disposable when you have access to things that are eternal like or honor love kindness simple things simple things so that's how I went from a life that was very much about indulgent and pleasure and gratification to one that is still about that quite a lot but a bit less I'd like to just take a moment to end for those of you who don't know meditation or Transcendental Meditation first of all how many people here practice some form of meditation it's it's a new world because when I first learned this 50 years ago if you'd raised it asked that question people would squirm and meditation has come a long way since that time and I think the problem of stress and anxiety is building in the world and there is no medicine that we can take to getting water for everybody see this is like in your living room that's what the idea here is and we wanted to thank you very much I really wanted to set this up so that you could have sort of it what unplugged just this is what they're thinking these are what these two great minds are thinking what they're feeling what they're doing and as we said at the beginning this is sponsored by the David Lynch foundation and so all of the proceeds tonight of you coming is going to help us bring meditation for free to women and recovery at the amazing friendly house so this is and I should add also that the David David started his foundation this 15 years now 15 years ago with the purpose of bringing Transcendental Meditation basically in partnership with the TM organization to the whole world we focused lately or originally on at-risk traumatized populations I wish there is a huge number and in the last 15 years we've now provided this for free to over a million kids and veterans and women who are survivors of domestic violence and men and women who must cope with substance use disorder so before I go on and on and on I'm gonna go back to Russell Russell was one of the first people to start step forward he was skipped over me to questions those really long answers he's definitely David's question now I think it I know I was going to get to you I understand this I answer when I was directing Mulholland Drive I was trying to create sort of a dreamscape that represented the unconscious mind a new mermaid and how comfortable Russell is on a stage he is like in the living room yeah okay you answer why you started the foundation you ask personally I love Transcendental Meditation from the very first meditation and but I always saw it as something that was private just for me I didn't think I needed to go around telling people that I meditated but I just loved it and I meditated regularly and I've been meditating regularly for almost forty six years never missed a meditation twice a day and I was this particular time I don't know why I was in Fairfield Iowa why was I there well the University went to see that yeah I know I think you may be to speak to some kids speak to the students I might have been there who wanted to spend winter in Iowa anyway while I was in Fairfield Iowa they had the age of enlightenment school one through twelve and they were gonna put on a high school play and I was invited to this high school play and it was a freezing cold rainy night and I thought this is gonna be a very tough night to get through and I was taken to this little tiny theater it was packed with people and I was in the center of the middle and there was no way to escape and out on the stage came these high school kids and they weren't actors but what I saw take place on that stage was amazing extraordinary I saw consciousness glowing on these faces I saw the timing perfect performances such a beautiful play sophisticated thing with dance and music and dialogue a humor just razor-sharp and I said number one every actor every actress has got to learn Transcendental Meditation it gives you this kind of it quality this charisma it was extraordinary and I thought well then one thing leads to another and I thought you know every kid should have this technique because when you're transcending everyday your unfolding your full potential as a human being why wouldn't everybody want that and need that is so beautiful so one thing led to another I did not on purpose form this foundation it was Bobby Roth's idea and dr. John Hagelin side you know and dr. John Hagelin took me to his living room just like we're sitting in now and he had me in his living room and he asked me sort of sideways I wasn't really looking at directly at me he said how would you like to form a foundation and I had heard that people did form foundations and I thought okay and then I thought well yes I'll get the foundation formed but it won't involve any work on my part and it won't do anything but it was not that way this foundation started and it took off in such a great great way and it's as largely due to the great Bobby Roth here working night and day and Lynn Kaplan and their many others there's a lot of people that were working lots and lots of people and the the real reason it took off is that things started changing in the world and all you needed to do is tell the people about this meditation is Transcendental Meditation as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and they got it that this was a very special form of meditation ancient form of meditation brought back for this time because the time demanded it and it's available for anyone if you're a human being anyone in the world so beautiful and people there's so many stories about what happens to people who get this technique it's it's for the human being and a profound blessing for the human beings a follow-up question how does it feel to finally win an Academy Award David recei as you heard there on earth it's the same answer my doctors asked me not to think and talk about these kind of things okay Russell do you believe that love can save the world this is you asking this no it's not well I'm right here it was somebody here you can read this excuse me sir Wow and then there's something at the bottom I like this [Laughter] signed a mr. David Lynch um do you believe the world earth consciousness heart opening are what lovely things well yes of course like no coffin when I'm listening to both of you describing the Unified Field I think of Pat and optimistically I feel and I must favor this direction that there is a benevolent and universal come like you know that we sort of recognizes love I make this bloody thing it blew my mind a little bit it's by this Jungian analysis analysis of these images that William Blake drew of the book of Job and Blake drew these depictions of joban where Jovi's having these encounters with Yahweh in this union analysis of it is called an encounter with the self in one particular tableau the Blake depicts this where Yahweh who looks the same as Jobe in these illustrations in these engravings Yahweh shows Jobe live avaya 'then that i have made as i made thee the leviathan lives under the sea under the water under the unconsciousness within the unconsciousness in Jungian terms and the behemoth is like this hippo without skin this creature of sinew and dum-dum propulsion dum need dum desire and Yahweh is saying to job I made them as I made thee and in the analysis in this book called an encounter with the self it says that if we are not good then God is not good if we do not encounter love if we do not generate love then there is not love that the idea of God the Father is some patriarchy that designs reality for us to inhabit it is not possible in a perpetual perennial continual present by in fact we are agents of goodness that we are authors of goodness this is just one analysis and I make no bloody claim via a book or Blake or the book of Job to absolute veracity be it struck me as pretty valid and real somehow that we're not just being good and loving because it's nice or we want some kind of badge or stripe we're doing it because this is the fundamental essence of existence this is our fundamental role here and the emitter to DivX practices that David and Bobby are describing and in fact teaching these are a way of accessing this energy that for me personally get very very clouded in a matrix of unnecessary emotions and sort of complexes you know I get caught up in desire lust greed self-centeredness all these kind of defects of character I need to transcend it its consciousness itself in my case that needs to grow to liberate me from it and I suppose this is where as you were saying to me earlier today Bob service becomes necessary it's not enough to oh look I sit on my own and I meditate and now I'm loving I have to find ways of being useful be being loving love as an act love as an action bhakti love is it pronounced bulk to your bhakti David are that David you ever come in from that I love what Russell said I love what Russell said only thing I came to mind is that when my Rishi first came to the United States he went to San Francisco I think for a day or two then came down to LA in San Francisco the write-ups they completely misunderstood what he was talking about and the front page said Transcendental Meditation will help you sleep and he was trying to get people to wake up so he came down to LA and at the Ambassador Hotel he was interviewed when he arrived and my Rishi said I will fill the world with love this is a very beautiful thing and I think this is starting to happen more and more and more more and more and more and and that 2020 and Beyond we're gonna start seeing a very very beautiful world appearing and I think I think the beautiful thing about this message I have a question for Russell on this is that this idea of a transcendent field but you have a notion and you have choppy waves on the surface turbulent waves on the surface but the depth of the ocean the ocean is over a mile deep and the depth of the ocean by its nature is silent and that is the the theory or the perspective of the mind surface of the mind is choppy lots of thoughts that gotta gotta gotta got a minder they call it the monkey mind that's the surface and there are approaches of meditation to try to calm that surface mind but then there's the the the recognition of the vertical dimension to our mind that deep within every human being is a transcendent is a field of silence of unbounded the meditation text unbounded intelligence unbounded happiness that's the theory the hypothesis and so throughout time we've tried to access that true happiness lies within and it's been caught up in philosophies caught up in religions caught up in but in its essence it's not a philosophy in its essence it's not a religion in its essence it's a human being thing the ability to access that and then all what David is talking about and filling the world would love just means people fill the world would love they fill that field from within and I was so excited to have these two amazing people here because they are talking in full terms of this ancient wisdom of life I always find that I default back in a little bit I'm going to tell you about the default mode Network and the prefrontal cortex and cortisol levels and all that kind of thing which I'm my father's son he was a doctor and I love science but I'll shut up for a moment and go back to Russell and Russell says Russell would you would the two of you here's a question with the two of you ever collaborate on a creative process David no makes my answer a little trickier because it's going to be yes yes that we master is my desire to direct David that would be that would be good that would be good I wonder what he'd have me doing it's an action movie David it's quite commercial sci fi and it's very very erotic but not in a weird mysterious unconscious confusing way like the deadly power of erotica just more Russell do you have anybody any advice for someone recovering from self-harm question there's not a heavy segue I know in a joke about directing they were lead in a sword on a hard movie no any myself ha opposites opposite opposites bad now of course it's not yes I have advice for people that are trying to cope with self-harm don't appear on the stage with bobbi and David only joking I know what I would say is okay so fun yeah if you were used to do that self harm because of the frustration and the anger felt like a sort of a release I've heard a lot of other people that harm themselves talk about it in those terms I suppose the way that you have to do with anything is addictive is to recognize that it's a problem come to believe that it's possible to change and ask for help don't do things if you are ashamed of yourself don't do things that fortify or augment shame shame a very very circular spiraling and destructive thing so it's very very good that you were even willing to write this question down some assuming that you or Eva someone that you love is recovering from self-harm you need support you need support with things that are shaming cause shame is isolating and I suppose how I I don't sort of harm myself in a very direct way anymore it's a long time since I felt the broken glass laceration of the skin in a little moment of fury and the relief for it I suppose I don't even go into those states as much anymore when I notice myself starting to feel ashamed or angry or self-hating I would consult with other people before the process by the time you like thinking about that kind of stuff you've gone a little bit too far and I would say that's perhaps true of other addictive behaviors that you have to try to recognize that there are concentric circles around it you have to try and smooth further and further away from it and acknowledge that this cannot be done alone and of course that you're operating within an illusion because you're not worthless you are beautiful and lovely there's no reason to harm yourself not when you are so wonderful you need to re-engage with that idea not with the melancholy pessimistic idea that you are ugly and that you need to destroy yourself although there is probably a little bit of truth in the self destruction because that is probably your misinterpretation of the impulse to transcend and be free from to a degree the ego I think this is a lot with junkies they are trying to dismantle the self they are trying to be free of the illusion of self but we have no scholarship we have no structure we have no scripture we have no one teaching us some principles meaningful principles only the reiteration of materialistic desire live principles so there is some information hope is on that particular topic so beautiful so beautiful I remember gonna say something yes please I think that Russell is doing great things in the world but I think he would he would agree that this thing like Einstein said if you want to solve a problem you got to get underneath the problem and you can't get more underneath any problem than the transcendent and people who are suffering people who are suffering a lot of times talking you know helping on a surface kind of level just doesn't work it helps maybe a little bit everything's relative but if you give them this technique to open the door to the Treasury within then automatically they're gonna start healing automatically they're gonna start getting happy inside automatically the torment is gonna start going out and so help them in all the all the ways but give them this technique right away so they can transcend get underneath that and get that Treasury it's bringing it in and watch things change for the good rapidly so before I go back to Russell and ask him to because we are here fundraising for bringing TM to the friendly house and I have a question for Russell about his 12 steps I do want to just do a little science alert here because when David said the reason why this is so useful in the reason why it's being used in schools and and friendly house is data because the mind and body are one and when you have an experience in the mind of transcendence it shows up profoundly in the body and on a level of you know I'll know it the word what cortisol is or cortisol it's a stress hormone that's secreted by the adrenal glands when we feel anxious if you get a good night's sleep cortisol levels dropped 10% and by the way cortisol fuels onset pre onset Alzheimer's weakens the immune system and there's an epidemic of high levels of cortisol so a good night's sleep drops cortisol levels by 10 percent 20 minutes of transcendence drops gordo cortisol levels by 30 to 40 percent every time and there's a spillover effect so I'll come back with more marvelous science alerts in a moment but Russell addiction your your approach to what you're developing and you're doing a hole now you're doing a whole stand-up and a whole book and your big plans yes I was freely given this technique that I did not devise there's a thing called 12-step recovery what I've done is put it in different words ever since there's been 12-step recovery it's been used in a variety of ways initially alcohol then sometime after that with co-dependent relationships for people that are attracted to drug addicts and alcoholics and God knows we are gorgeous and so dangerous energy and and uh but then for drugs for eating Ferber and then for behavioral addictions such as sex and gambling and stuff so because in my own recovery I recognized that the techniques that I had been given that helped me to get over alcohol and drug dependency were useful in my behavioral addictions for example around sex or food in my case I thought oh my god this works anywhere on the scale so I've been trying to develop the language around it and talk about it in a more secular but I don't mean secular in the sense is divorced from mysticism I mean sort of you know what I mean by that don't you I mean there is great mystery and power in these 12 steps and before David clubs me with a microphone I will act that step 11 is we sought through prayer and meditation to increase our conscious contact with God as we understood God meaning the vital vital component of 12-step recovery is having awaken from the illusion of drugs and alcohol you recognize that the thing you were looking for in the first place was a spiritual experience a spiritual connection as you or always so articulately and beautifully described that it is necessary if or a person that forms overt and painful attachments to the material world and my belief is that ultimately all of these attachments to the material world will become painful even if they are superficially innocuous I just love this person I just love this person pain is coming pain is coming like so for me they step 11 connection to the transcendence connection to the transcendent so when Bob taught me TM I saw our this fits exactly into what I'm like what I've been taught you know and so like so for me it's just I want I feel like it can be used for anybody that you don't need to you're lucky if you're a crackit because the problem is obvious if you're a crack addict like you don't own Oh what could the problem be I've got this terribly low self-esteem could it be the crack you are lucky because it's very obvious but like if your problem is codependency some food problems before they get extreme pornography etc so like you know I felt like I wanted to talk about it in a way that was more Universal and accessible and conversational I suppose so that's what I've been spending my time doing about prayer for a second you can okay prayer charlie Lutz who ran this spiritual regeneration movement center where I started meditation SRM in Santa Monica he said this very interesting thing prayer on the surface is like sending a letter with no address and no stamp it's not going to get there the deeper you can prayer pray the more power the prayer has and so when your unfolding your full potential you're expanding that ball of consciousness you're slowly making this subconscious conscious and that and when you're that ball of consciousness is growing you can pray at a deeper and deeper level and they save we're in enlightenment your prayer is answered before it even gets out of your mouth so the secret is to expand that consciousness and get that prayer being more and more powerful get those prayers answered this is the this is the deal so I have a non sequitur question for David from that but from here how do you I'm just warning you so Russell Daan's how do you choose the music for your films I pray there's a thing called intuition and this is a thing of knowingness and everybody's got intuition you can get more and more and more of that by transcending everything every single day and it's a thing of knowing when something isn't correct and seeing a way to make it correct and and so ideas are our talking are talking to us we get ideas and sometimes we get an idea we fall in love with and we want to translate that right that idea to one medium or another and in the translation every single element is super important and so you try to get them to be correct but how do you know they're correct you go by the idea is it matching the idea or you go by a feeling it feels correct this intuition it's a it's a most important tool and I set and this works with music the music's got a marry to the scene and how do you know it's marrying you could you in to it it it's a thing and you just keep working with different experiments until you get the thing to feel correct every element in musics one of them and you'd work it like that thank you rustle your ideas talk about your creative process just write comedy right they in the moment I tried to stay present in the moment I was just listening to that and like it's interesting when there is when you're doing things in concert when you're responsible for so many aesthetic components to make them marry together and I was wondering if you would be able to give us an example of something that we would like say like a moment where you've understood what was the right music in blue velvet or something in commuted like tell us some is there something that anecdotally occurs to you of where these elements came together and how your intuition functioned there no I'll tell you I'll tell you when I was writing blue velvet I was listening to Shostakovich symphony and a number I can't remember them number 15 and a major or something like this I listen to it all the time when I was writing kind of a Russian feel in an American small town it just felt real good to me and I think a lot of the writing came out listening to this Russian composer it was strange and I met Angelo Badalamenti in the course of the working on blue velvet big applause for Angelo Angelo Angelo is like a brother he is such a beautiful soul and this beautiful music that tears your heartstrings comes out of this guy Angelo and so I told him about this joste Kovich and he started writing things and we'd worked together to get this this same kind of feel throughout so it wasn't like one thing Russell it was like an overall kind of feel based on what I'd been listening to in their writing Thank You Russell you're thank you Richard that was a podcast that has the whole thing hasn't been released yet has it yeah oh and a time you don't listen oh I thought the seven minute trail David and I do podcasts entirely Fiore dafuk ation I saw it ignore it human lane to be in the transcendent which I don't think you even believe in seven seven minute trailer and David called him Richard and then you came back and apologized I i we said oh that's right I know his name was Richard I knew it in my mind this is Richard and I said Richard something and then a thing happened in my brain and I realized that Richard didn't sound right and I thought it was I don't know how long it took little less than a second probably that I said Russell it was over one hour - the only struggle a rustle but I felt horrible but run Russell made me feel okay in the end about it Russell in addition to meditation do you have other rituals or programs that you do - for to sort of get in the creative flow this is a question right here yeah no but if you ask any questions to which the answer is not Transcendental Meditation little karate shot me in the windpipe no but I said forget about saying transcendent other things I said other things no no that's the issue it takes this off topic first of all you encouraged David to relive a memory that he himself described as painful the one the Richard one a painful memory now he's havin to live it again that's three times one moment like a perennial multiverse of agony conjured by Bobby Roth some sort of desperate indra beyond all world creating states of perennial pain okay how many lozenges have I had this evening you've had two lozenges you had no I'm lozenge before you came on stage and then I saw you take a lozenge out of this pocket you showed me and you n the second one so I know I'm I am chronicling your lozenges which is a new film that David and I will be making together called chronicling your lozenges where David is a bloodthirsty vengeful man hell-bent on destruction we already have large Institue in the works do you want to give the backstory on this 93 I'd forget to tell Richard that I had a lozenge where we started I'll do the comedy unless you want me to stop making surreal films that no one understands touchy-touchy I pretend to understand to get girls now see the risk sometimes you take the risk Hahnemann rituals oh you had the rituals the Richard rituals yeah I do stuff I tried to think about gratitude and I try to think about humility I tried to remember the nothing is real and how I realized those things is I think of three things that I'm grateful for and I'm think of two things but I'm grateful that are removed from my life every day before I start the day with in terms of performance now I tried to not reach realize it too much and have tried to clear my head and come out and think be of service remember to be of service and not get too distracted like say this thing this is fundraising for women that are at friendly house to learn meditation and like if I spend all my time thinking oh my god what am I gonna say will people like me that means I'm not in touch with reality the reality is service - friendly house service - friendly house and that can be very very comforting actually so that service thing that the 12-step after you've through prayer and meditation sort of actualized some sort of awakened connection then being of service it's a good tool because it means you don't have to think about yourself all the time which is frankly bloody exhausting I've found hey what about that thing where if enough people meditate all tyranny and corruption will evaporate how's that gonna happen and when this here is gonna happen it's happening now these are my Rishi's be screening groups and if you think about us human beings as light bulbs there's a thing that happens when you get more and more of this consciousness expanding the filament in the bulb it gets all lit up and you enjoy that inside but also you're broadcasting that out so they say we affect our environment every human being affects their environment and so if somebody's filled with bitter selfish anger and they're always in a foul mood no one really likes to go sit with that person but if they're blissful and you know working away and filled with you know great stories or whatever you love being around them and there's a thing that Mari she you know brought out these TM cities that one of them is called yogic flying and people have laughed like crazy at first because the yogic Flyers are not flying they're hopping and so they didn't call it yogic hopping but it's yogic flying but I always say if I was gonna shoot a scene of the yogic Flyers I would start far away and you see these people hopping and I get closer and closer to them closer and closer and then I see this fantastic smile the serenity this kind of joy on their face and then I'd go inside the yogic Flyers and see this you know tremendous gushing of gold and blissful horsing through their bodies just intense bliss and it's that light bulb and the yogic Flyers has gone from bright to super bright if they're in a group also in a group of other yogi Flyers so they say all we need to change this world is a group the square root of one percent of the population one super group of only take nine thousand minimum number in a group the light coming from that unity that light of this unity of his consciousness would be so bright that it would affect this collective consciousness of the entire world and beyond they say this light goes isotropically at the speed of light it goes from you know the center part of India to Missoula Montana where I was born in less than a second and it goes way beyond bliss bliss bliss loved loved loved changes all the people just as like an individual does Transcendental Meditation now people wouldn't even have to really meditate they'd wake up in the morning feeling way better in their body they wouldn't feel it feel like blowing their neighbor's head off they'd start being kind to one another they'd feel blissful they'd feel this universal love coming they get more energy they get the obstacles for to fulfill their desires we start going it is start becoming a beautiful world that we would all love to live in this is real real peace this field is peace is within us all underlying the whole field of relativity it just needs enlivening and watch the wonders beautiful things that will happen when this takes place the group gets big enough it's real it's happening it's coming to us at a theater near you so I'm gonna do a little with my science alert on this if that okay I don't know what you're gonna say Bobby it's okay so the because I work a lot in Washington DC we're working with the United Nations our partner David Lynch foundation partnering with the United Nations is to establish in cities around the world develop in particular in developing countries city city where there's 10,000 kids are meditating together in schools and that school that that city with 10,000 kids would become a city a UN city of peace and the whole the whole hypothesis here is that yes we're different from one another yes we're different and yet there's that notion again that hypothesis that we're connected together at a deep level and there are stresses there are traumas there is racial religious political hatred intentions that no bombs can ever address no nation-building can never address no or Weiner you know we're going to do economic sanctions never get to that never get to that level where you have generations of of that hatred and so the notion here from the ancient meditation texts this approach comes that if a person accesses that field of silence within themselves that it doesn't just affect themselves it can affect society it can affect the collective consciousness of the world and there's a lot of data that has been published on this phenomenon but I just tell a story I was at a press conference in Washington DC where this was presented and after it was discussed a reporter from the Washington Post came up to me and he said I was a bureau chief in Russia during the fall of the birthday ax Iron Curtain and he said I just heard dr. Hagan talk about this it's so far-fetched I don't know that I can believe any of it but then he said but I pray to God it will work because if we if it's possible if it's possible to influence in a positive way society by people becoming happier and healthier and more enlightened within themselves wouldn't that be incredible and and yeah and it will be the thing I want to say and then I'll let Russell talk because getting antsy it will all be science it will all be science-based it will all be science-based you will see the changes a brain that is violent and a brain that is Attucks has trauma in the brain you will be able to measure in people who don't meditate healthier brain functioning that's how specific this would be so I just want to sort of say that this is part of the David Lynch foundation's message it's not something that person has to believe in we can just produce the effects and the data can demonstrate its effectiveness okay done with my logic number three and it's a mass has a different variety of lozenge okay Russell somebody said how do I get my mojo back baby emojos not gone nowhere you mojos there Layton in the infinite fuel beyond all relativity your mojo is accessible to you that summons that motor up right now you can feel it rising you can feel you were nothing but mojo look at you your carnal your beautiful your limitless there is great great power in you even now as David sucks upon that lozenge you feel a great force within you power as if all of us are becoming interconnected into a wonderful limitless flowing force that will blow away the old structures and systems are though with a machete we were hacking through a jungle new neurological pathways happening on the level of the individual this will be replicated on a grand grand scale the neuroplasticity of the individual will be reflected in societies the Mojo don't need to be got back for the Mojo is already there rising rising so we have final comments and then we're gonna pivot we're gonna give it to another ignores reality give us a lozenge the real oz inch I have to say came up we were down in the green room and I stepped away for a moment and Russell said you left and we had to fill up the with your absence we had to fill up the discussion about lozenges and I said nature must have pour a vacuum that you know I left such a gaping hole that it took a Lawson's to fill it up so I'd like to ask Bobby Harris everybody how many people do form of meditation raise your hand okay how many of you have on your person tonight lozenges so the rooms are washed with lozenges thinking of mountains of lozenges and posters of lozenges that we could sell to make money for this you know home yeah for this new venture tell us about the friendly health if you could put a larger base quite busy at the end of the evening at 1:00 one of your lozenges in a piece of paper and put it up here on the stage we take a photo of the lozenger and make a poster and please don't be but even if it's a partially sucked lozenge in some ways that's preferable because you have individually sculpted that through a form of mastication that's the greatest love in the world I rather have a rap queen love I bothered I'll take them blows engines as they come man nondiscriminatory lozenge policy their view to posters rustles poster in my mine can be stuck to the wall just by its own lozenge aguma tell us about the is this question about lozenges Bob because if it isn't I'm not sure I'm interested in answering it I've grown bored you're gonna ask about friendly house friendly house is a wonderful place it's a what it is is it provides sanctuary and recovery and treatment for women that have had addiction issues and complex needs now when I say stuff like that it sounds sort of quite medicalised and in a sense almost dehumanizing what is it more like is a place where women that have suffered from various forms of abuse can go to recover the person they were intended to be run for women by women with the support of some men of which I'm proud to be one they support 12-step recovery a former head Peggy Albrecht god rest her soul passed over leaving us in the wonderful hands of Monica is a loving environment yeah yeah Monica's brilliant I'm grateful to be affiliated with it because when I'm there doing stuff I think you'd now you're helping people you're doing something that's worthwhile if I'm doing something this worthwhile don't need to be all anxious and afraid no more because I'm doing something that's sort of helpful it's a wonderful wonderful environment I really can't I can't suggest strongly enough that you support it that's why I suggest strongly and things that are like it those are my suggestions but you'll hear more about it from people that know more because there's people here that know about friendly house and they'll tell you articulately so what I want to do now is we're going to pivot we're gonna see a four-minute video you could be ready of the work of David's foundation with people with substance use disorder before that happens what are we gonna do while that is on stand up we were overcoming we go we move to the side move to the side you're out of it I don't know no you're being moved right you're being moved over there we're being moved okay who's gonna move us right now I backwards in your living room anyway um we're gonna go to the dining room yeah we're gonna go over here we're gonna see a video and then we're gonna give to David Lynch foundation Awards and they used to provide a break and to give us some information to give them a break and so anyway I do want I do want to tell one story about the foundation so the prop you've ever heard this term adverse childhood experience ace adverse childhood experiences a term that's used to describe traumatic experiences that a child could have actually from an early age and if they and that's divorce separation drug abuse in the family of a beaut physical abuse neglect did you know neglect on a child can be more stressful than physical abuse more more traumatizing violence in the community guns the teacher has gun than the end of her his drawer if a child has two or three of those adverse childhood a sistah bout set towards either incarceration sickness drug abuse any of those things the whole thing now and nobody's knows what to do about it so the focus is now on promoting resilience because there are 16 million children in America who live at or below the poverty level who face that kind of adverse childhood experience they have another term called complex PTSD PTSD is of course what happens to say a veteran but complex PTSD is if the child grows up with that so three years ago two years ago the University of Chicago Crime Lab made a request for any program that could reduce stress and trauma and promote resilience in the lives of children ensure Kago so they 230 organization submitted proposals they accepted three David's Lin David's foundation was one of three and the people came and they heard about the incredible work that Lynne Kaplan one of the greatest TM teachers in the world has done with her team in in Los Angeles and they gave the first year they gave three hundred thousand dollars to do a study called quiet time where they had the kids meditate before at the beginning of the school day in the end of the school day transcend the results were so significant last year they increased it to another million dollars which a lot of money and this past year 1.3 million dollars and one of the things they were looking at was could they reduce violence particularly arrests for violent crime among the children in the toughest schools in Chicago if they do an intervention to reduce arrests for violent crime by five or ten percent they're happy the first data is out that outcome outcome was so significant that the there's something called the title one funding which is what the government gives to the Department of Education to help kids and schools at or below the poverty level so they gave us a couple two hundred thousand dollars for the Chicago program first time the federal government's given money to teach Transcendental Meditation public schools now the significance of this is what Lynne is doing here in Los Angeles with the LA Unified School District in the public schools with hundreds of thousands of kids and in New York City we're doing a replication of the study with four thousand kids and if we get the same results and we'll get more in those studies it will qualify to bring quiet time in Transcendental Meditation to the 16 million children in this country that live at or below the poverty level that will change the world and David can say and and the fact of the matter is David has a great team myself Lynn but the fact of the matter is it is David Lynch who has traveled all over the world on this behalf it is David Lynch who wrote an incredible book called catching the big fish he wrote up he did a film he did a film called with Sabrina called meditation consciousness and creativity does a countless media events and it is this man and the integrity of this man and the vision of this man that is making this huge change in the world so what we're gonna see now what we're gonna see now is this we're gonna get off the stage we're gonna four-minute video of the amazing work that's being done in the field of recovery then we're gonna have two awards and then we're gonna call it an evening so thank you very nice two gentlemen very very I think I had my first drink when I was about 12 or 13 years old from 21 on it got like really bad if I would be upset about something or stressed or didn't know what to do with myself period I would use any excuse to to have a drink but I was a closet drinker so I don't think anybody ever saw how much I drink I took my first drink with the same kids that beat me up because I found out after I got sober that my first rug of choice was your approval I was homeless I was smoking sniffing and licking the carpet doing it and get my hands on I've been anxious since I can remember and it took me years and years and years to screw up the courage to tell somebody I felt anxious and then once I told a doctor I felt anxious I was given a prescription and so nobody's treating with causing the anxiety they're just treating the symptoms of the anxiety and eventually you know in adult life in the last decade I turn to alcohol we have nineteen point five million American adults with a substance use disorder today nineteen point five million and what they're really doing is they're trying to quell their anxiety people don't use alcohol and drugs indiscriminately to wreck their lives they actually do these behaviors with some sort of sense even though at the finish line it doesn't quite look like that it looks like a train wreck right I always wanted to do TM because a lot of the successful people that I admired did TM I haven't missed a day since I learned it's been almost two years and it's just it's changed my whole program of recovery and my creative life as an artist I've been sober I think six months now and meditating for five this is the longest I have been sober outside of being pregnant and I think a huge part of it is because of my meditation it takes me to a certain part of relaxation that I didn't even think was possible my anxiety is a lot less than it used to be Transcendental Meditation helped me unclench in that moment and slow down stress and craving and that whole intersection of those kinds of psychological variables really plays a critical role in the relapse process and so anything we can do or offer patients to help mitigate some of that it can be a very positive thing and I see meditation in general and TM specifically as having great promise in relapse prevention and the research is crystal clear the research is incontrovertible they are able to attune with themselves which is sort of a fancy way for saying they can start to think straight I have found it to be an incredibly useful compliment and an incredibly useful component to my own recovery in my own sobriety we in the diction field need all the help we can get in enhancing our treatment and I would like to see this become part of mainstream addiction treatment my whole way of looking my perspective of the program and how I live my life changed and I know it was from meditation I know it was for our species for young people for old people for people that are suffering people don't want to suffer people that want the world to change with people that believe that the world can change this technique is a significant tool [Music] Lyne Kaplan's passion in life is working with populations is working with populations who suffer from trauma toxic stress and life challenges this is very this is very important Lin Kaplan in my friend for over 40 years Lin Kaplan's passion in life is working with populations who suffer from trauma toxic stress and life challenges she became a meditation teacher when she was 21 years old show that so that she could give people the powerful tool of Transcendental Meditation to help them build to help them prevent the build-up of stress that can leave to mental or physical health crisis she began working with the David Lynch foundation when it began in 2005 and helped implement one of the first quiet time school programs in Hartford Connecticut this is a school that had 5 different gangs fully armed security guards metal detectors and multiple fights every day after just one year the climate school climate transformed the medical the metal detectors were removed and the security guards didn't have to break up fights fortuitously for this city she moved to Los Angeles in 2010 and found the perfect community to teach this meditation to inner-city students to the LAUSD the Los Angeles County Office of Education and with the number of public charter schools thousands of students have been given the gift of this meditation through quiet time program in LA and Lynn and her staff expanded their mission to offer this meditation to veterans suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress women and girls who are survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and people who are in recovery from substance use disorder Lynn Kaplan is grateful every day for the opportunity to teach TM through the David Lynch foundation and serve the community where her heart is deeply deeply devoted please give me a give me join me to give a that was a wild conversation please join me in giving a very heartfelt welcome to a beautiful beautiful soul Lin Kaplan thank you Bob and thank you to all of you who are here this evening to help us honor Monica Phillips and support the important mission of a friendly house friendly house is the first woman's residential recovery program in the United States it began in 1951 is 68 years old it is my great privilege and joy to give this David Lynch foundation award to Monica the executive director of friendly house who with unwavering dedication commitment and service has helped women and families who have been devastated by the disease of addiction she is an inspiration to me and to countless people who have been touched by her unbounded love and devotion to uplifting others we at the David Lynch foundation in Los Angeles are grateful to have the opportunity to work with Monica to bring TM to the women that she serves Monica please accept this award [Applause] hi everyone I my I just stand in front of you with such a heart filled with humility and gratitude I love what I do and I love that I have the opportunity to help others and to help women that suffer from drug addiction and alcoholism the way that I used to I am so grateful to David Lynch and to Bob Roth for having the vision that this is necessary that people need help and for being so visual and attainable if you will in vocal with what they do and being able to help so many people through the David Lynch foundation and I have so much gratitude for Russell Brand he I've known Russell now going on nine years he and his family are so dear to me and he has done so much that is beautiful for friendly house and for people in general he gave us the opportunity nine years ago as friendly house staff to go to the David Lynch foundation and that I was able to learn how to do TM and to have this award presented to me by my TM teacher is amazing it's amazing so I am very very grateful that to the foundation for giving us this opportunity and I would also like to say been at a room this large I know there's various recovering addicts and alcoholics in this room that share the journey that I've been able to be on which is really as David kept saying beautiful and I know that in a room this large there's a lot of people in this room that have not come forward yet that have drug addiction and alcoholism and I want you to know that there's a solution and that you matter and I see you then I'd like to help you even though we help women only if you're an adolescent or if you're a man or if you're anyone in need please call me it's very easy to get a hold of me at friendly house I know a lot of good people and a lot of good facilities that can help you so thank you again thank you final award russell brand on one of his rustle in one of his podcasts describing himself as a narcissist who has a deep passion for changing the world and I think the narcissist part is like small compared to the burning desire that this man has to make a better world he has for as long as I've known him he has used every tool all of the knowledge that he has available he has an abhorrence for injustice he has it just will not accept pain and suffering he is the recipient of the David Lynch foundation's first and maybe only helping to heal the world award Russell doesn't just think about small communities he thinks about the whole world and I also have to say something he has the most beautiful wife and two daughters you could imagine would you please welcome Russell Brand a recipient of this helping to heal the world [Applause] give me that try to take my ward away the seconds after I'd received it Bob thanks for this lovely award thank you for allowing me to participate in this event didn't Monica do well with her lovely speech wasn't that delightful my my own vocally I can I thank you orally obstructed because people have talked about lozenges so much that when I saw one I just unthinkingly ate it and that is the nature of addiction now I've got a have lozenges some got my name right it's pretty good actually so really I mean I do love that you've made up an award for me I'm so grateful thank you very I'm in space but as my wife said like all awards are made up in it like the Nobel Peace Prize which you know this is a bit better than in Rose still made up in it I love my award here it is look my award thank you I like that it's helping to heal the world so there's so much room for ambiguity here suddenly seems to be contributing in a general way he's not actively obstructing his award for contradiction but trying to bring down peace and I really love this award hold on now I'm was told that when I got this award I had to do something productive is this that now right if you're watching this on the internet right this is how you can donate you have to text the word meditate I remember it distinctly that here it comes on on the ward the if you're a person that's actually here in this room presumably you've already bought a ticket so don't feel overly obliged I don't feel like I'm shaking you down after we've already got you in here I'm still sort of blown away by that thing that I only takes ten thousand of us to meditate for the shackles of tyranny to melt away when a try as soon as I get in I think I'll be one of the nine thousand I can't you know literally self subdivide but if the awards keep coming you know and so listen Tex to donate 50 quid or $1.00 in your language to exchange certain 825 and text TM to doing a $15.00 the thing that you in my opinion I would have done it another way around because you've got text a longer word to get $50 so even though you're actually that's counterintuitive it's a harder thing you should say if what if it's like text Transcendental Meditation oh it's terrific to donate a grant I mean you're too demanding what's like a to donate for half-a-million type out all of Tolstoy's works from memory me award me awards bring like this is a good metaphor for the nature of the ego the awards actually start to weigh me down and impede me now don't get attached to material things I've said it before I'll say again and then I was told in this wonderful way just as often events like this someone will that come up to you before the event and make the most preposterous request of you and this in this case it's this moment they went if anyone here Thanks if anyone here is willing to donate a thousand dollars you could come and meet me and David Lynch backstage and I said to David David have you ever done anything you're like this so adjacent to sex work I won't tell you the answer um yeah so if there's anyone here willing to cough up a grand Bacchus and my language thousand dollars in yours then you can come back there me and David will jam you full of lozenges get away from me yeah go on go on so what the money is going to do it's going to help so good that there's context against the friendly house so a lot we're gonna spend it on more lozenges it's going to help the waiting list of women who are desirous of learning to meditate to meditate for free our teachers are going in there our teachers are going in there just basically volunteering their time but they have needs some coverage of what they're doing so please take a moment while Russell and I are here and texts take a moment to $15 whatever you want to do or the thousand dollars for Russell didn't seem right you having that microphone it was troubling the whole time it was going on um I imagine if there's someone watching it on the internet now thinks my god I could get there with a grand I'd love to see that happen especially after you went through that grueling handbag search that was taxing wasn't it in May you had to walk for a metal detector for they can't be what you're gonna do the grand are you all right there's a woman here giving us a grand round of applause go over there to those people hey what's your name huh Pierre thanks Pierre that's really brilliant that's one grand there's anyone else up for being shaken down for $1,000 and we're if you go over there to cat and Nadya the woman that Nandini Nandini who said to me she's English she went I've been in your green room I was nibbling your nuts for you got here that's the sort of thing that passes for small talk in this day and age all right Bob so I feel like I don't see how we can victimize people in a handing over money any more explicitly than we have done thank you very much cheers and thanks for my ward so we're gonna we're gonna end this I hit the funny thing as I sat down and I thought I have no idea what's going to happen tonight and my vision was fulfilled I Oh idea was still have no idea what happened but what we're going to do yeah that's my ear anyway we're going to conclude with a two-minute video of children meditating around the world it is the message of prevention no you just wait over there for one second two-minute video and then David we're all going to come back out for a final thing but this the whole message is prevention we have to prevent and prevent give resilience to children all over the world we can't ignore it if the problems not going to go away so if we could watch this and then we'll be right back out know it again see but you see now y todo sales parent stuff available in Egypt [Music] estamos permitido la personne de las peleas lows toss agree she owns a spaceman bachata a boob in your ax or under give officer a rogue Maria was a big Dora and our curls come in and they are just a wreck and then they do quiet time it's a it just smoothes that out and they walk out of the room feeling normal feeling centered and that's huge [Music] if we can get that change within each one of us the change from within we will change the school and we will in turn change the community where's Russell Russell Russell I want to thank all of you for coming here this evening I wanted to thank Lin Monica David Russell the wonderful Jane and for this amazing evening and a short verse from the Vedic texts may everyone be happy may everyone be free of disease may auspiciousness be seen everywhere may suffering belong to no one peace [Applause] please please put your laws in just one lozenge from your pack on this red tape here and we'll photograph it and try to get a poster mate on the red tape at the front of the stage one lozenge from your pack

Channel: David Lynch Foundation

Views: 222,904

Rating: 4.8798571 out of 5

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Id: GluEVaV49Zs

Length: 93min 24sec (5604 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 09 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/amoeba3]

Name a more iconic duo, I’ll wait

[u/JoeMagnifico]

I can't wait to see the Lozenge movies.