the co-founder of apologizes for a pro-democrat operation to create a fake russian during the alabama state. washington expresses concern over russia's newly tested. saying there are no effective countermeasure. the french judge is a long running probe into the downing of the former rwandan president's plane a key trigger point in the one thousand nine hundred forty s. . latest on the story. coming up though an anthropologist is the guest on sophie and co talking about the secret potential of the.

welcome to sophie and sophie shevardnadze for as long as humans can remember that cell stay had been trying to push the boundaries of their own nature and even now everywhere from south america to siberia people are embarking on a spiritual journey so this is and in santa i ask a man who has been studying and practicing practices for the past twenty five years anthropologists author explorer agitator as he likes to put it david that has. long been irresistible for humanity throughout history people have tried to stretch the limits of their capabilities through meditation and. other practices but

can anyone really move beyond biological constraints and train the mind to perform miracles or is spiritual is he in the transcendental just an age old illusion. then there's it's really great to have you with us you're an author you're an anthropologist explorer in my opinion educator worth that i greatly admire so you have been studying for the past thirty years different people in a mystical realm from west to east you've been all around the world what is it that all these people have in common all these different people with different backgrounds different religions different worldviews there's something you told me they all have in common. yes they have in common probably more than one thing first of all that in common that all human beings looking for meaning looking for are not looking for a story. and

a story that will force field the meaning of their identity both personal and transpose it seems that whoever choose and goes successfully through a process of transpersonal development using doesn't matter which narrative it ends up to be someone who is more love. more kind more compassionate and not the other way around so we also can put that to him as one of those few results you know i could kind of but is it really is worth going through that journey i mean it's like oh it's that thing that you dedicate yourself when it's a transpersonal and journeys that really worth going through all that if you can just love without you know doing all those things that you did i mean i love my friends i love my family and love my job never science tell us that we produce roughly between seventy to eighty thousand votes but they. and

our mind. produces these thoughts which we have pretty much no control of these seventy thousand thoughts what goes through the bar of the unconscious and makes it to where the conscious level are then percent roughly eight on the thoughts of these eight hundred thoughts the one that we interact weep are about ten percent eighty roughly. of those eighty thoughts is only ten percent to positive constructing thoughts that is based on cooperation on love and kindness the rest so seven out of seventy thousand is a staggering number the rest of our mental activity is i won't say garbage buddies definitely not not as good as it could be but that thirty percent that is

based on love and cooperation what does that mean in my everyday life why should i strive. to two words that twenty five per say i'm fifty sixty seventy hundred etc what does that give me in my everyday life that i don't already have when our mind when the content of our mind. is changed there are fees eco to ration at the level of the physiology that is a bit level of the brain the brain as a form of plasticity can rewire itself and not just the brain but also the rest of our body respond to that and if we can change deliberately with certain exercises the content and the quality of our mind we change the function and the physiology of our mind going to lower body when for example maturity caught these french buddhist monk will so happen to be a biologist that. went to be under invitation of the dalai lama to say

please go and be scrutinized and analyzed. they did all possible things m.r.i. scans easy and everything and they actually could measure that when he does whatever he does made for example on compassion or a different kind of meditation on stillness of the mind the focus there are actual narrow physiological changes that can be measured and he has been named the happiest man in the world because what the scientists so it is just completely off the scale you can't just everyone can just research these and we have hundreds of thousands of papers of people that on the google is serious process using proven practice and the next and protocols and methods because if you just look at the kony but you don't have a problem in metal the techniques won't work and if you then go and actually check you will see measurable changes so it's as if you're

a scientist and do this really cool discovery about a human brain you don't see lab ending up as a pilgrimage side where followers sleep with you and follow you everywhere why is it that there is a terrorist realm a trot so much coming teachers gullible followers what is. about this is a terry clip that is so. that i can't just point out what it is why do they aren't end up with these crazy people. being attracted to it and not to the to the reason of science for instance. i think because if the first. possibly is imagine go thinking a simple solution. to the deep need and the deep suffering of our society and of the individual mind so everybody like to put a very simple hope into an object of faith and belief and this one goes

a long way because i mean we could refer to these in most culture and just for the right. and i think that this really. is very sad them and as you mentioned before now with the when we when people speak about the word practices or or spiritual your meditation that has all these negative association ride. any in fact i can tell you that if you properly who do these practices you don't need to change the way that you dress or of the what you eat to what you don't eat or your sex life or anything like that if you need to this changes for me there is a deep suspicion that who teaches you or what to do is probably not the best possible choice to select these

where you during this journey ever skeptical of the mystical sides of what you're learning or doing where you're like what am i doing. where at any instance of the journey were you like this is just crazy well when you where when you are under the reagan there waiting for pull days of and so to meet one of those holy men sometime you say what am i doing here it's like they the national geographic explorer waiting to catch the monkey emerging from the forest and stay for three days under the rain waiting so sometimes you do have this why am i here you know why am i trying so hard to see something with to witness something or twelve the world to know something so yes i did have that but i never read that whatever i was researching or exploring would be purposeless or meaningless these are my know it so what's like one of the. mind blowing things memories i mean you've said it all these things but some must be more vivid and important and deep than others from

all this incredible people that you met studied with one of the most iraq listed that i've witnessed in my life has been my that there. was a very old woman when i met her just a couple of years before she passed and. at the time i was really looking forward to this super supernatural lady tating kind of people and you know really q. maisie's and this kind of stuff doesn't exist really people levitate just yes or no . do people levitate like it's a serious question i will get back to mother teresa. yes it's possible so why haven't we seen it i mean we live in an era of the media oh it's all around us you can just you know sort of film it on i phone and it's out there in the internet

there are actually the thing is that whatever you see in you can be faked so the key. is this is sort of the topic of conversation on terrorism but this is important because when people try to study how much they can do their powers their limits i mean this is the first thing that comes to your mind can i fly today let me take and this is the most common myth about you know if you met kate hard enough you will let me tape so have you actually seen it with your own eyes i mean i'm not asking you have you ever. i'm going to ask you do it. have you seen it like actually seen the person. who was a christian monk in. romania very well known people want to go into for it the past already but he was sort of a legend father justine in the mountains of romania a group of a. kind of saints with which i literally called the flying

wizard the flying monkey i don't remember the romanian word. and so definitely it's true and if you other people say you were just like tell the mother saying you're going to sherman's. i do not know if it's those kind of things i mean to find someone that could repeat these kind of feats that we'll he will be a truly breakthrough in science and and be very cool he was to actually start the scientific research on this kind of madness. to my knowledge has never been specifically for these kinds of things yet. so so let's go back to mother tears or shortly and then i would ask about science. well again considering that the time i was more looking. to these miracle the stick kind of phenomenology of the human mind which in my view was never really

been a matter of. divine intervention or anything for me as old i would just look at this thing as. it acknowledge it well it can be done somehow i believe that the research some ways that we could out there the perception of ourself and hence of the reality around us. that certain feeds will become possible so i will do said this very. to a certain extent macone system views of this phenomena. and so at the time that i was very focused on these moderate there as was the out a sort of something that at the time i missed. that sort of the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of love the great the spoiler of old is the power of love. and it is something that dramatically change me because this for. perfection you know it's always about me myself and i i will master my

mind i will do these and i can do that and you know me me me and them is very narcissistic and self obsessive so to certain degree. of course some of the true great sayings that display these phenomena as they they reach this phenomenon as me are side effects a symptom of something that's right so there was my personal limitation of the time and and coming to see mother teresa. show me that there is something much greater and so to me that probably was who it was many years ago but it was still something with the i go back as one of the most amazing thing out there with this in my life although there was no limitations maybe they should read the right we're going to take a short break right now when we're back we'll continue talking about whether there are any limits to what he will be doing all right chief we're talking about all of that was as apologist author agitator davies the best.

the ruling. elite. people feed the economy because they buy scratch tickets scratch off a lottery tickets you know when i was living in the ghetto in new york you know the red apple grocery store uptown had the highest prices in town and a liquor stores are open and you buy you know more expensive in the ghetto and that's how you build an economy it's always built on the backs of the poor america was built on the slave market america was built on prison labor to give them a look that they the good times of america the ne'er do wells it's all very swishy and swell that's over we got to go back to basics.

now we're back with anthropologists author agitator david there's the david but if you're like so well integrated into the scientific community which is a paradox because people of your interest don't usually lash well together with scientists you do because you're scientists at base have you ever proposed to scientists who study human biology to. something up to your brain to observe.

i raise differently i see things differently something is changing or on me when i do it the way i do it do you want to just maybe observe it and see what's going on with the human brain oh yeah i mean absolutely i mean i mean all that there are. just so it's a very simple posts on the and as i mentioned on the cob that many monks specifically buddhists somehow because buddhism is not a religion it is a very sign it's. the star of the mind. that is a little monster that i've submitted. themself to use to bury rigorous experimental research so we do have all these doctors and it's going to just grow and grow and grow what is interesting for me is like ok we have those monks maybe that would be meditating for sixty thousand out of us but and so we can see some incredible nehru physiological changes ride the personality changes and for us all behavioral

changes called if changes but can we heck can we speed up these results in any way so can we actually have some measurable changes from the person that comes from nothing and just got to do some proper exercise and protocol and training to and memes you know the qualities the functioning of the mind right the content of the mind and of the behavior of the company and my. that is that yes i believe it's possible. it is my great decide that we have more top us on these. so when we say practice meditation and most of your answers lead to the same. that people just become more integrated more accepting her money is with themselves and it's all about love so i believe if you do this meditation the right way you do get this natural healthy sense of high. which sort of you know makes you feel like well

that's great doesn't that take away motivation doesn't that take away because we'll know that like the hugest breakthroughs in my culture for instance. composers who have been like alcoholics and suffer tortured souls have come up with like masterpieces or writers or puts or directors i mean you name it you know i don't know great hackers they're all tortured souls if you give them that feeling of everything is fine of all around me when that does make them stop wanting more still you know like making breakthroughs in this earth's does that doesn't absolutely buxus take away ambition basically honest well you touch the very very very good topic in.

in the start of this center the study of the mind which i bring back to buddhism which i am openly a great fan of. motivation plays a key role. so again a proper training of the mind doesn't take away motivation it changes motivation so i could have the motivation to do something for you for the world or a project or something based on a rip scar city baze the fear of bayes the. mind or motivation system that is taking more. or if i am doing properly what i'm supposed to do by training my mind let's call it meditation to use this word although maybe mind training would be better. i would still have that ambition but the motivation behind changes any start to become

a motivational mob in your order. so less self-centered less fear based less greed is. more based on the higher or the rebellious so the motivation simply changes quality it is s. powerful less so when i ask you why do you do this interview. what is the motivation. and the motivation commune many right why am i here what is my motivation to be here. so meditation doesn't take away your mind training sort of preferred his word let's let's use his word. training of your mind doesn't take away motivation it just changes the quality of it obviously the truce is the truth . meditation and practices have long stopped being something marginal and it's a mainstream thing everyone does that especially in the west a lot of successful people do that. you worked with

a lot of powerful people you've been there a person their personal coach ten years those were men. how do you want me to put that into words you've been there what a life coach how do you what do you call yourself when you help them get into practices and the right to practice the work right way very simple in that moment i take it so you see the role of the future sort of an educator so you've been an educator too many powerful men whether it's businessmen or politicians what do they need you for i mean these people are super successful very rich very busy very ambitious why would they spent their precious time sitting down meditating. even if you look at the way that our brain has been evolving we started from europe to learn stem which we still have we have the mali and potten and then we have a very new pot that they knew from for cortex that started to develop better

recently and what is very interesting of their frontal cortex is that it grows and develops until our thirty's so until our thirty's that we are actually not truly fully develop and conscious identities right so if it is true that in nature does drive to or the evolution from ripley into mom up to that male from the cortex make has brought us to a society which is largely it is a more regulated less violent to a degree more compassionate it is only makes sense to believe that the national solution of the individual follows the same steps so we go through life to a process of evolutionary development so the all powerful person that the radius everything still is driven by that need of development then because here she'll radius everything and the question is what next because doesn't matter you are a king you are a president or you are

a businessman you have all the power in the world when you go to sleep at night on site fear anger revenge jealousies they steal. around your mind doesn't matter much you have that used to made. deep see that suffering is still there the churning of the mind didn't stop. and everybody wants to set them a point to stop because it keeps you a bomb sui limits you everybody want to see i want to know what i can be what i can do without it people in power always had and have spiritual leaders and there was a story just recently i think with a year ago where a south korean president was impeached because she had this here's your leader. and according to people that spiritual leader would have an impact of her decisions for the nation. so people aren't still accepting of that

size when it comes to politicians were why why is that why do you think having a spiritual it wiser isn't maybe with that beneficial after all for politicians and it could because people think it's dangerous they always lean pits to lady. it is a very good question and it is like choosing a good sick ologist or. us to make your choice very wisely the more your level of impact on the world the wiser and more critical is the choice is your choice in relation to the people that you surround yourself with that you are listening to because there is ignorance because many of these things a bit is a magical thinking because science the science of the mind didn't become mainstream people steal choose or not be on every go to scrape theory and so they fall prey of

maybe a child or people that maybe have good intentions but i have limited views and wisdom . if i may you know one of the adviser of the. russian so the royal family the famous rasputin. one example if you know culture or my fine then you know the people for what is what i have read very divided some people are great supporters somebody that he was a true mystic some people say maybe it was not. you obviously people in meditation you may take yourself there are a can you tell if a person meditates or not without knowing that person. but i like to. believe though for what they have seen for what the evil that i have heard that your president. and it's all pretty meditates well you know again for me meditation

is a word that is also a tsunami with prayer you know after you contextualize the meaning of iti know we are not i mean i some stories of you know some great monkey that he went to a some christian advise those monks or whatever else that yassin put these on posts on that occasion to these things so much loss of anything and i believe that probably in his own way without making us from a presumption he found a way to meditate i mean the the power of his mind the clarity of his mind and the obvious view when he these. matched. and which leads us to saying that logic that trump certainly doesn't meditate and waste their lives thinking there is this is a very good feeling to see if anyone feels good living with everything thank you.

well i think it certainly makes sense for for moscow to think both strong in its context with the united states i just fear that the dominant view in this city is that it is a nearly impossible until the united states kind of settled this domestic divide the environment in d.c. is you know i hate to see this. as work toxic but that's exactly what it is and then i think it's in a way. you know you're damned if you do. and you doubt if you don't.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics or business i'm show business i'll see that. he has been described as brilliant and blistering a putin apologist the most controversial russia exploited america he's stephen f. cohen author of the new book war with russia he joins us for a provocative one on one on this edition of the public. good to politicking on larry king scholar stephen cohen advised president george h.w. bush on the former soviet union he has taught russian studies at princeton n.y.u. published columns in the washington post reuters and elsewhere he recently said

that relations between the united states and russia are worse now than at any time since the nineteenth histories what's behind that claim and who if anyone does he think it improve the relationship between the two countries led spying doubt as for first a koan joins me from new york his latest book is war with russia i'm showing it to you from putin and ukraine to trump and russia gates ok stephen they so much for joining us i thought everything between russia and the united states was going to be better because of the relationship between putin and trump and the fact that russia wanted trump in the office. well i think larry you and i are what's called veterans of the previous cold war.