This weeks episode focuses on the life and times of Jaymee's late spiritual teacher, Vic Anderson, and the nature of spiritual mentorship. Jaymee is joined by Megan Malone, a mentee of his who recently launched a Love Is The Author Meditation Group with her partner in their hometown of Buffalo, NY. Jaymee and  Megan discuss at length the most meaningful qualities of their own student/teacher relationship, what's important to look for in a teacher, and how to be a student. Their discussion is accompanied by actual soundbites of Vic telling the story of how he transformed from being a lowly drug addict to a gentle, spiritual giant who (motivated by the compassion of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan people) risked his final years on Earth rebuilding monasteries in Tibet, while learning about the nature of his mind through ancient meditation techniques as a means of preparing for the eventuality of his own death.

LITA on Instagram: @loveistheauthor 

Megan on Instagram: @megan.malone.rn

When Devendra and Jaymee get together, they instantly become two children deep at play, bursting with positive energy, ceaselessly driven to expose the interconnectedness of life while utilizing Tibetan Buddhism as their primary navigation system. This episode is less of an interview and more of a natural long form conversation between two people who love each other. Jaymee and Devendra open up about overcoming their (former) heroin addiction, their experiences in recovery, how they found the Tibetan Buddhist path and eventually became immersed, fueled most recently by their shared obsession with the writings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. They also share the common themes of their ayahuasca experiences. Plus: the brilliant concept for Devendra's forthcoming album (near completion), the mind-blowing synchronicity that began their relationship, and how they both feel their passion for practicing Buddhism is equalled only to the feeling of falling madly in love. 

*Closing music by J. Carpenter

Follow on Instagram: @loveistheauthor

Raum Goods founder Tyler Pinkos is on a quest to (literally) connect people back to the planet and nature through his highly intentional creation, an ethically-sourced shoe with the worlds first copper rivets in the sole, directly connecting the bottom of your feet to the surface of the earth as a form of grounding oneself to Earth's naturally occurring electrons. Tyler has an uncommon origin story of having no established feeling of purpose in early life through his college years, possessing only an open mind, an entrepreneurial spirit, and respect for the Earth. He took the first job he was offered out of college at DC Shoes in Southern California as a brand developer, which led to a blossoming career (spanning multiple shoe companies) and a passion he couldn't have seen coming, creating one opportunity after another. A life-altering encounter with legendary music producer Rick Rubin, followed by a synchronistic run-in with an expert Turkish cobbler at a coffee shop, led Tyler to the inspiration for the Raum prototype (pronounced 'Roam'), which he eventually launched in 2019 after launching a wildly successful crowd-funding campaign. Quite simply put, Raum Goods are the most stylish, ethically motivated and produced shoes on the planet, significantly reducing waste and pollution typically created by the footwear industry through methods virtually unheard of in modern footwear, which Tyler outlines on the podcast. He is a humble entrepreneurial visionary, a genuine steward of the earth, attuning himself solely to where the subtle openings of life appear and invite him to create. 

Explore Raum Goods: www.raumgoods.com or on Instagram: @raumgoods

Jaymee's youngest brother Ryland Zweifel has an incredible story to tell. Surfer, survivalist, and documentarian, Ryland shares how he navigated childhood and the pain of their parents divorce, moving 10 times in his first 10 years of life, and what it felt like to constantly be the "new kid". He shares the recent realizations that came from looking back on a life living with his father in the wilderness of Big Sur with no electricity one year, and the next year living the height of modern life of Los Angeles with their mother, fully cracked out on World of Warcraft 3. These juxtapositions taught Ryland what's important life, and when tragedy struck in high school, Ryland shares honestly and vulnerably about how he found his voice and made a life changing decision that rerouted not only his fate, but the fate of many people he loves. The brothers share the arc of their relationship, and how they connected late in life through meditation and spiritual seeking. 

Ryland shares about the film he shot recently with his mentor, surfer and primitive skills teacher Gabriel Kelly, who decided to take a leap of faith by leaving all his possessions behind and stepping out of modern life into the great unknown, with no cell phone, wallet, food, clothing, sleeping gear, wearing nothing but a wetsuit. Gabe wanted to see how far he could travel and survive based on his humanity, his ability to communicate and  connect, and his primitive survival skills, and felt willing to die in search of answers to existential questions. Ryland tested his comfort levels by committing fully to the journey without amenities, learning how to be a versatile one man production crew without any comforts. Ryland and  Gabriels combined karma creates one mind-blowing synchronicity after another coupled with Jedi level manifestations at crucial moments, taking the men all the way from their starting point in Santa Barbara to the treacherous fjords north of Vancouver Island. You won't believe how the film ends! It's a Searching For Sugarman caliber plot reveal. 

This is Jaymee's favorite episode to date and he highly recommends you listen to it from start to finish! 

Ryland's photography on Instagram: @ryland_zweifel 

Ryland's film: @nothingbutawetsuit

Theme Music by J. Carpenter

In 2018, Danny Kiddie had a skateboarding accident that shattered his skull, causing irreparable brain damage, paralyzing half of his face and claiming his sense of smell. The emotional trauma of the accident led Danny to a dangerous repetition of acts of self harm, and in 2020, he entered Good Heart Recovery, an addiction and mental health facility in Santa Barbara, CA Jaymee co-founded and (formerly) operated. The two began an incredible healing journey that continues to this day as mentor and mentee. On the episode, Danny shares with raw honesty not only how he healed from self-harm, but how he currently struggles with self-doubt and isolation in the wake the recent passing of his brother, who was Danny's single greatest influence in life. Danny has a poetry to his process, infusing his words with a raw, transparent vulnerability that is both endearing and exceptionally rare to experience. At one point, Jaymee asks Danny to read 2 separate text messages Danny sent Jaymee over the past year, so that Danny may have the opportunity to experience the beauty of his own words. You can actually hear Danny in real time experience his own love coming back to him! This episode is full of examples of the essentiality of both the glorious and the wretched moments in life, and how to find faith, empowerment and trust in a path with no visible guarantees. 

Theme Music by J. Carpenter

Friend of the show Mike "One Shot" Coulter joins Jaymee for an entire episode dedicated to parsing through the supernatural qualities of The Beatles documentary "Get Back". Prior to watching the film, Mike (a former major label recording artist) was not particularly a Beatles fan and wanted to watch it more as an appreciator of documentaries, and Jaymee (former songwriter/producer) is your run of the mill Beatle superfan/historian who's biggest influence in life are The Beatles. Though the two entered into the film with separate preferences and in different mindsets, both interestingly walked away with a similar feeling, summed up perfectly in a Portuguese word Mike has tattooed on his hand: sau·da·de (noun) - a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia. 

Warning: This episode shares a lot of details about the film, though nothing discussed would be technically considered a "spoiler alert". It's a discussion mostly of personal feelings experienced. The episode does share interesting Beatle facts not included in the film to add additional context to what was happening in John, Paul, George and Ringo's lives at the time the film was shot, and the backstory of how Peter Jackson became the films director. 

Choir intro + outro music by: J. Carpenter/R.Maynes (recorded at Sir George Martin's Air Studios London)

Cover photo: Lou Mora

An engaging conversation between Jaymee and Lacee that began over lunch became this impromptu episode. The hosts discuss the unifying themes reported from heroic doses of psilocybin, the sacredness within making sacrifices on the spiritual path, the importance of cultivating consciousness through daily meditation, and Lacee shares a dream she had involving Ram Dass that she believes initiated a healing. 

Theme song by J. Carpenter

Danielle Ryan Broida is a Registered Herbalist (AHG), Certified Holistic Nutritionist and National Educator at Four Sigmatic. She's is a key player in the worldwide mushroom movement and brings her passion and expertise in herbal medicine, clinical practice, teaching, formulation, and her deep love for fungi to everything she does. She's had an adventurous education including becoming a Certified Yoga Instructor in Rishikesh on the banks of the Ganges River, later worked with a Naturopathic Doctor in Indonesia where she became a Certified Raw Chef and Detox Coach. Danielle is currently an Instructor of Mycology at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, and just completed co-authoring a book with Four Sigmatic founder Tero Isokauppila titled Healing Adaptogens to be released in late 2022. This conversation between friends is a rich resource for mycology, herbalism, plant medicines, and Jaymee correlates the functionality of mushrooms with Buddhist monastic vows and traditions. 

Explore more of Danielle: www.danielleryanwellness.com / www.us.foursigmatic.com 

on Instagram: @danielleryanbroida / @foursigmatic

Theme song by J. Carpenter

Jaymee rides the LITA pod solo and attempts to answer insightful questions posed by a few of his mentees.

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​*The 57 min documentary mentioned on the life of Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche titled "Brilliant Moon" can be found free on YouTube. It is narrated by Richard Gere, and features Lou Reed as the voice of Rinpoche.

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​Special thanks to Megan, Jacqueline, Celia and Mike from the LITA sangha for contributing such thoughtful questions.

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Miguel Rivera is a traditional sweat lodge ceremony facilitator, musician, award-winning supervising sound editor for television and film (Narcos, Star Trek, Samsara), and primary mentor of Jaymee's. Miguel comes from a long line of healers and has a truly unique story to share dating back to his early upbringing in Guatemala. He was eventually adopted by Native American elders, participated in years of Sundancing and Vision Questing, and has been constructing and facilitating sweat lodge ceremonies across the United States for two decades. He's been an active mentor of countless Veterans and at risk youth, and is a board member of multiple programs designed to reestablish neglected relationships between nature and humans. In 2014, Jaymee began his relationship under Miguel's tutelage, co-facilitating weekly sweat lodge ceremonies for newly sober people on land blessed by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Chumash elders specifically for this purpose. Miguel is an inexhaustible resource of indigenous wisdom, compassion, and throughout this episode he offers monumental servings of simple truths designed to reconnect you with nature and  elevate consciousness.