Some interviews, events, and random philosophical & personal comments
Hey everyone, I want to share some recent interviews and upcoming events, with a few random philosophical comments. First online events, then in-person.
Online events & recordings.
I’ll put this one first because it comes first. I was honored to be interviewed by birth activist Samara Concepcion for her film, Birth: A New Story. It is in its crowdfunding stage right now. In our conversation Samara mentioned that she’d listened to several interviews with me and I’d mentioned childbirth in each one. It has always been close to my heart, for one thing because the four best experiences of my life were the witnessing of the births of my sons. And way our culture does childbirth is a microcosm of everything else. All the wrongness (such as the desecration of the feminine and the body, the splitting of the human being, the technological program, etc.) and all of the possibility for transformation and healing, is present in holographic microcosm in modern childbirth. It was a key launching pad of my lifelong radicalism.
The Revelation Project Podcast with Monica Rodgers. I have heard that Facebook takes it down when shared. Probably because I was pretty unrestrained. Very warm heart energy in this conversation.
Heresy To The God Of Capitalism. Podcast with Aubrey Marcus. Also talked about the Festival archetype. That’s what I remember. (see in-person events below).
Voices for Freedom NZ - Freedom TV. I don’t remember what I talked about. When the topic of freedom comes up, I usually explore what the word means outside the assumption of a separate self. What is freedom when we incorporate into our embodied experience our non-separation from the other beings around us, human and otherwise? With that, freedom and compassion merge into one thing.
Elevate Podcast. Gosh, I wish I could remember what I said in these. The title is “Counternarratives and Conspiracy Theories.” Usually after a podcast I run, not walk, away from my computer. Then when it comes time to summarize it I haven’t the faintest clue. I made a note that this was especially good though.
I’m pleased to be part of the film Planet Local - A Quiet Revolution, created by my dear friend Helena Norberg-Hodge. Lots of important voices on it. Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Naomi Klein, Russell Brand, Jane Goodall, Gabor Maté… Now I must say, I don’t agree with all these people on every issue, and in fact have diverged in recent years with some of them. A lot of leftists trust our institutions of science and medicine a lot more than I do—and by extension, the systems and paradigms that contain them. Anyway, the film has a lot of talking heads, but the ideas are important and the filmmakers did a good job organizing them.
Here is a panel on the film—my part starts I think 10 minutes in and then I had to leave.
Creating Health Summit July 23rd. An online program. My slot is called People and Planet: Health as Relationship.
In-person events
Lions Gate Family Campout, in Ithica NY. I’m really looking forward to this one. During the pandemic, a network emerged of people and groups who are building kind of a parallel society around what seemed at the time to be countercultural values. This is one of the watering holes. I love these low-budget events. They are so vibrant and alive, not so much because of the bands and speakers (although there are some good ones here) but because of the people who come. A kind of regional community is forming.
Arkadia Festival. It was going to be in a gorgeous location in Wyoming but the venue revoked their permit at the last minute. So now it is at Meow Wolf near Las Vegas. Put on by Aubrey Marcus’s organization, Fit For Service, I’ll be speaking there along with Zach Bush and Matias de Stefano. I’ve dropped in with both those guys and can say it is going to be extraordinary. Also, the fact that the event has faced various setbacks means it is going to be good. Lately I’ve been experiencing this in my own travels. When an event or ceremony is going to be transformative, catalytic, or deeply nourishing, usually I encounter obstacles and reasons not to go. It’s as if the universe wants to make sure that I want it enough to overcome the obstacles. I have that feeling with Arkadia.
I’ll be writing some more small posts soon. BTW in case you didn’t know, my new book, The Coronation, is available for pre-order.
i love that you are so transparent charles. admitting that you cannot recall things etc. glad to now you
Charles, Rob Hale here.
I have been an avid, nay - near fanatical/obsessive - follower of your words and some of your deeds as well since first I saw you on Collective Evolution, speaking with Joe Martino, whom I consider to be one of the most poignant and radically unique voices in the online world today, like yourself. I was one of maybe a dozen or so people who were chosen - I don’t purport to know why, but I’m forever grateful - to participate in the beta test or ‘birth’ of CE CONNECT, of which I’m sure you are aware, and because of that I have fully inhabited the role of ‘member of the tribe’, as you so beautifully described us. I say that, because when - a year or so later I was pointed towards NAAS by dear Madhava, and I instantly recognized the platform format as being inspired by, even directly modeled after your Social Network alternative society. At CONNECT, I was able to ‘spread my wings’, just a bit, but due to ongoing health issues, along with the seemingly never ending Maya that surrounds me and my efforts to ‘play my part’, I am, at present, unable to contribute to you financially, and for that I offer my heartfelt apologies. I’m a work in progress, you might say, but by sidestepping conventional medical treatments from the MIC - who predicted my death some 7 years ago - I have managed to stay incarnated, fairly ambulatory, and certainly able to go on creating musical, spiritual, and psychological constructs in and around my self and my environment - a small house and studio ‘bubble reality’ that I playfully refer to as Earthstation Alpha - here in Mission Village, Kansas.
I’m not sure why I feel compelled to tell you about all of this, but it’s clearly lighting up a neural pathway that signals green ‘across the board’ on my “ Go/No Go” meter. So here I am. Hello. And Welcome. <grin>
I’ve been noticeably absent from NAAS Lately, due largely in part to health and financial challenges that have made it very difficult to participate in any meaningful way, or contribute that which I feel it is my mission here to help convey. Much of what you speak of as a New and Beautiful world has been a part of my aim - my goal - my mission, if you will, since I was about 19 years old - around 1985, when I attended the ‘Rainbow Gathering’ in the Allegheny forest in Pennsylvania. I was already deeply initiated into the world of psychedelics - mainly real Owsley LSD-25, scored on the steps of a church in Berkeley, CA, by myself, and brought back home to Midtown, Kansas City, MO. That series of events led me to Many spiritual discoveries, rabbit holes, and just plain conspiracies, but ultimately - through a wild ride of drugs, music, intense self examination and reflection of the world that was, would become, and will continue to evolve into what I believe is Exactly the world you envision in your NAAS ZEITGEIST. I know we have not yet met - in person or virtually - but my dearest hope is that sometime soon, to share with you what I am working on/through, through what can only be described as a magical series of synchronicities and what I like to call ‘scavenger hunts’, wherein I follow little breadcrumb trails that I - either knowingly or unwittingly - place before myself, which Will ultimately lead to my musical, lyrical, and compositional contribution to what I truly believe is the furtherance of your (and others’) efforts to bring about the SHIFT, the transition, the impetus to positive action that propels us - ‘humanity’ into the place we were all meant to be. That World. You know the place.
I have ‘dipped my toes’ in NAAS, but I keep my online activities to a purposeful minimum, as I can be easily swept into energy vortecies that arise when the subject matter is exciting to my ‘egoic’ sense of self. I, myself, am a musician, poet, writer, tinkerer with exotic musical technologies, and along with several other highly like-minded individuals, will - universe willing - soon be creating a positive push along an appropriate vector so as to help impel us all, impel all life on this world, into a glorious future that we all know is very real, not only possible, but fucking inevitable, my dear brother.
Thank you for your lead, your trailblazing light, and your unwavering spirit. You have inspired me, many I know, and surely thousands, maybe millions more, to do our part in getting this job DONE, and done well, and done right. See you out there, Friend!
Rob