WHAT WILL THE AUDIENCE LEARN?
EPISODE SUMMARY:
This week, on The Conscious Consultant Hour, Sam is pleased to welcome ER Doctor, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Psychedelic Researcher & Guide, Sound Meditation and Breathwork Facilitator, Dr. William Berk.
Raised a Buddhist, Dr. Berk has married his longstanding meditation practice with his medical career in the ER of a Lower Manhattan hospital. His experiences have honed his focus on empathy, joy, and presence in his practice. He discovered a unique approach to meditation in 2020, using harmonic tones from various instruments like singing bowls and gongs to achieve deep meditative states. This approach, combined with his own practices of breathwork, visualization, and loving kindness, offers a transformative experience he's eager to share.
When the COVID crisis hit, Dr. Berk saw firsthand how important his approach could be. He offered small meditation sessions to his colleagues, helping them find peace and quiet their minds amidst the chaos. The result was a profound positive effect on everyone involved, enabling them to tap into their inherent goodness, even under intense stress.
His work has expanded beyond the ER, though. Dr. Berk now serves as a wellness consultant for the hospital system, providing meditations aimed at preventing burnout among staff. He also facilitates meditation sessions at social clubs in NYC and guides small groups at his Brooklyn studio. His roles at Nautilus Sanctuary, a NYC-based non-profit for psychedelic-assisted therapy, and The Center for Enlightenment Arts (CEA), a spirituality sanctuary offering transformative experiences, further reinforce his dedication to wellness and mindfulness. As an assistant professor and clinical instructor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, his influence extends to the next generation of medical practitioners.
Tune in and share your questions and comments about alternative healing techniques on our YouTube livestream or on our Facebook page.
Segment 1
On this episode of The Conscious Consultant Hour, Sam is joined by guest Dr. William Berk, an ER Doctor, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Psychedelic Researcher & Guide, Sound Meditation and Breathwork Facilitator. To start the episode, Sam reads one of his blogs entitled, “Exploring the Depths Inside of Us Is the Greatest Adventure of All.” As always, please visit www.talkradio.nyc/blogs or www.theconsciousconsultant.com for more blogs and content from Sam. Afterward, we are given a formal introduction to Dr. Berk and finish the segment discussing Dr. Berk’s background, growing up as a Buddhist, and how he got into his current field.
Segment 2
After the first break, we return to Sam and Dr. Berk discussing Dr. Berk’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and how he discovered Sound Therapy. He goes on to explain how Sound Therapy/Meditation was able to help him during a dark time of his life. From there, Sam shifts the discussion to Dr. Berk’s research and experience working with psychedelics along with how those may be applied to spiritual practices.
Segment 3
As their discussion continues, we return to Dr. Berk sharing what sparked his interest in psychedelics and what he believes could be the future for the substances. They discuss some of the benefits they may have for people who may suffer from PTSD, depression, and other similar conditions, the legalities of the medical use of psychedelics, and the contradictions they can hold if misused or what prevents them from being legalized.
Segment 4
As the episode comes to an end, Sam and Dr. Berk finish their discussion by talking about feeling certain emotions, specifically difficult ones, like fear for example, and viewing them from a different perspective. Sam then questions Dr. Berk about why people may fear death and why it may be difficult to be at peace with it. To learn more about Dr. Berk and his work, please visit www.williambermd.com for more details.
00:18:32.834 --> 00:18:54.909 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Good afternoon, my conscious co-creators. Welcome to another edition of the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. I am very, very pleased that you are all here with me today. We've got a wonderful show with a fascinating guest who really wanna bring on. But first, st of course, I have my blog post
00:18:54.910 --> 00:19:14.630 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: couple of years ago. And actually, I think this blog post is pretty apropos for what we're gonna talk about today. So let's get into it. This blog post is entitled Exploring the Depths. Inside of us is the greatest adventure of all.
00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:21.960 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: There are many places to explore in this world, and there are lots of other worlds to explore as well.
00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:28.980 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It is part of human nature to want to explore. We are fascinated by what we don't know.
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:35.049 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Humans are driven to always learn about what is not yet understood.
00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:46.799 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: There is so much till to there's so much still to explore in our world the depths of the oceans, the hidden jungles, the layers of history buried beneath our feet.
00:19:47.250 --> 00:19:54.740 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yet there is still one great unknown that we are intensely interested in exploring even more.
00:19:55.670 --> 00:19:59.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: That is the mystery of our own consciousness.
00:19:59.650 --> 00:20:03.770 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: For what greater depths are there than our own Psyche.
00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:05.410 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: our own mind?
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:10.580 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It is still a mystery how our consciousness even came to be.
00:20:11.020 --> 00:20:18.779 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: We seek to understand ourselves on such a deep level, so we can make sense of the world around us.
00:20:19.300 --> 00:20:22.800 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to find our place in the universe.
00:20:23.450 --> 00:20:28.540 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and most importantly, to understand our pain and suffering.
00:20:28.950 --> 00:20:32.959 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: There were so many theories and so many assumptions.
00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:40.000 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we are constantly bumping up against their limits and want to understand even deeper truths.
00:20:40.780 --> 00:20:44.089 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Where was our consciousness before we were born?
00:20:44.530 --> 00:20:47.710 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And where does consciousness go when we die.
00:20:48.540 --> 00:20:55.930 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we see life all around us, yet we don't know if any of it is conscious the way we are.
00:20:56.350 --> 00:21:00.070 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: We get confused by all we see in our life.
00:21:00.760 --> 00:21:04.660 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and that drives us to want to understand ourselves better.
00:21:05.390 --> 00:21:09.290 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Not only do we want to understand our place in the world.
00:21:09.370 --> 00:21:14.239 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we want to explore why we show up in the world the way we do?
00:21:15.030 --> 00:21:17.489 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Why do we pick the partners we do?
00:21:18.050 --> 00:21:22.240 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: How do we deal with the pain we have felt since we were children.
00:21:23.300 --> 00:21:27.050 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: What can we do to feel better about ourselves?
00:21:27.810 --> 00:21:35.139 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: These kinds of questions motivate us to want to understand our inner working on a truly personal level
00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:40.600 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: as well as wanting to understand human beings a as a whole lot better.
00:21:41.290 --> 00:21:47.659 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Our motivations, hopes, and dreams, our frailties, and our faults.
00:21:47.820 --> 00:21:54.529 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It all drives us to explore our consciousness in new and sometimes ancient ways.
00:21:55.490 --> 00:22:01.140 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to stop and just sit and be with ourselves, so we can see ourselves more clearly
00:22:01.770 --> 00:22:04.940 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: sure we sometimes don't want to see what's there.
00:22:05.360 --> 00:22:10.200 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: The fear of truly seeing our tortured souls can be formidable.
00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:13.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It takes someone of with a strong heart.
00:22:14.150 --> 00:22:16.200 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: or with strong pain.
00:22:16.520 --> 00:22:19.540 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to continue on this path of exploration.
00:22:20.430 --> 00:22:24.019 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: yet it can be the most rewarding path of all
00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:26.480 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to truly know oneself.
00:22:26.950 --> 00:22:32.250 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and be present to all of our internal struggles and visions.
00:22:32.910 --> 00:22:40.230 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: To look at ourselves naked in the mirror, and accept ourselves as being imperfectly human.
00:22:40.260 --> 00:22:42.400 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: does not come easily.
00:22:43.550 --> 00:22:48.710 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: yet we keep at it, and we keep walking down the path to greater understanding.
00:22:49.170 --> 00:22:54.609 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: There are worlds to explore inside of us as well as outside of us
00:22:55.570 --> 00:23:00.480 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: which worlds we decide to explore is entirely up to us.
00:23:01.520 --> 00:23:05.100 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Perhaps when we've truly explored our own depths.
00:23:05.270 --> 00:23:11.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we will be able to explore the depths of the universe in peaceful harmony.
00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:17.220 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So are you ready to explore your own internal depths?
00:23:18.210 --> 00:23:21.509 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So I I wrote this a couple of years ago.
00:23:22.330 --> 00:23:23.610 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and I remember
00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:25.350 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: speaking with someone
00:23:25.780 --> 00:23:32.000 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: A. A. A. And they were asking me like, you know, what did you want to be when you grow up? And and for me.
00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:41.839 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I I always wanted to be an astronaut. Actually, that was like the only thing that held my interest. You know the child of the Star Trek generation.
00:23:42.580 --> 00:23:53.130 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and and just the the allure of exploring outer space and discovering new worlds and strange forms of life and things like that. I mean, that was just so cool to me
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:55.730 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and
00:23:56.610 --> 00:24:07.830 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And in this conversation they they kind of pointed out like, Oh, well, I guess you you're learning to explore inner space instead. Outer space. Like, yeah, I guess so. And and that kind of.
00:24:08.330 --> 00:24:10.630 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know, got me thinking about
00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:19.959 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: especially, I've been seeing so many interesting theories and people talking about the nature of the universe and the role that consciousness plays in the universe. And
00:24:20.670 --> 00:24:22.950 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know some people even talking about how
00:24:23.010 --> 00:24:32.329 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: consciousness had to have pre-existed in order for the universe to form and all kinds of things like that. We'll we'll discuss it with our guest today. I'm sure he has something to say on this.
00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:33.460 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But
00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:37.759 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so with this, this, this blog post is kind of poured out of me.
00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:49.230 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know, because and and look, I like to travel as much as the next person. My wife loves to go see different parts of the world. I think we all do.
00:24:50.810 --> 00:24:57.549 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and it just I realized that exploring what's going on inside of us.
00:24:58.510 --> 00:25:06.560 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: The complexity, the the intricacy, the the interconnectedness of everything inside of us.
00:25:07.520 --> 00:25:08.780 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: is is
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:14.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: as equally a fascinating exploration as the external exploration.
00:25:16.820 --> 00:25:18.859 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and so that's really
00:25:19.040 --> 00:25:21.260 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: what this blog post is all about.
00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:27.280 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and I'm sure it might speak to some of you. It might not.
00:25:29.750 --> 00:25:33.579 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But I kind of feel, especially in today's world, where there's
00:25:33.600 --> 00:25:36.510 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so much confusion, so much
00:25:37.817 --> 00:25:43.440 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: disorientation in a way so much changing so rapidly, so quickly, things
00:25:43.520 --> 00:25:47.749 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: going in a direction that many people don't feel comfortable with, and
00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:50.039 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: that just doesn't feel right.
00:25:52.040 --> 00:25:59.559 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It seems to me the more we learn to map our own inner terrain, our own inner landscape.
00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:02.629 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: the more we get to
00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:08.720 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: understand ourselves, the more we understand others, the more we understand the world around us.
00:26:11.530 --> 00:26:18.999 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So that's that's my blog post. It's entitled Exploring the depths inside of us is the greatest adventure of all.
00:26:19.070 --> 00:26:31.149 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And of course, you can always find my blog on talk radio dot Nyc slash blog. And on my personal branded website of the conscious consultant.com.
00:26:31.502 --> 00:26:35.890 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I come out with a new one every Monday, so come check it out
00:26:36.760 --> 00:26:40.499 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: alright. Well, now, it is my extreme pleasure
00:26:40.850 --> 00:26:42.599 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to welcome to the show
00:26:42.770 --> 00:26:51.299 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: er doctor, assistant professor of medicine, psychedelic researcher, sound meditation and breathwork facilitator, Dr. William Burke.
00:26:51.730 --> 00:27:07.850 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: raised as a Buddhist. Dr. Burke has married his longstanded longstanding meditation practice with his medical career in the er of a lower Manhattan hospital. His experiences have honed his focus on empathy, joy, and presence. In his practice
00:27:08.040 --> 00:27:29.779 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: he discovered a unique approach to meditation in 2020, using harmonic tones from various instruments like singing bowls and gongs to achieve deep meditative states. This this approach, combined with his own practices of breathwork, visualization and loving kindness, offers a transformational experience he's eager to share.
00:27:30.080 --> 00:27:36.030 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: When when the Covid crisis hit, Dr. Burke saw firsthand how important his approach could be
00:27:36.140 --> 00:27:54.859 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: as he offered small meditation sessions to his colleagues, helping them find peace and quiet their minds, and Miss admits the chaos. The result was a profound, positive effect on everyone involved, enabling them to tap into their inherent goodness under the most intense stress.
00:27:55.860 --> 00:27:59.470 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Welcome. Dr. Burke to the conscious consultant tower.
00:27:59.630 --> 00:28:07.500 william berk: Sam, thank you so much. That introduction was so perfectly leading into this. And I'm I'm so excited to be here.
00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:13.490 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, it's so funny. I'm like, literally, I usually, I'm just taking these blog posts in order week by week. And.
00:28:13.490 --> 00:28:14.000 william berk: Yeah.
00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.259 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: How always seem to align with my guests so perfectly.
00:28:17.260 --> 00:28:28.054 william berk: You know, the alignment is is perfect. It's psychedelic day world psychedelic day. It's the summer solstice we're here. I'm I'm really. I'm excited to dig into
00:28:28.570 --> 00:28:29.085 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Beautiful.
00:28:29.600 --> 00:28:30.429 william berk: Sort of stuff. Yeah.
00:28:30.430 --> 00:28:37.850 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Me as well me as well, so I would love to just get a little bit more in your background.
00:28:37.850 --> 00:28:38.450 william berk: Yeah.
00:28:38.450 --> 00:28:43.039 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Someone by the name of William Burke you don't think of as a Buddhist too often, so.
00:28:43.040 --> 00:28:44.190 william berk: It's actually
00:28:44.900 --> 00:28:46.310 william berk: yeah, it's it's a.
00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:48.459 william berk: There was a
00:28:48.620 --> 00:28:51.590 william berk: essentially my. My parents are
00:28:52.200 --> 00:29:03.182 william berk: British military backgrounds, really not spiritual at all. And from, let's say, from the years about 4 to 10 they had a shyest.
00:29:04.595 --> 00:29:09.154 william berk: exploration. And Shivism is a type of non dual Hinduism.
00:29:09.610 --> 00:29:10.470 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Oh, okay.
00:29:10.470 --> 00:29:14.159 william berk: It's it's fascinating! And and I think, apropos, all of this.
00:29:14.922 --> 00:29:26.879 william berk: And then from about 12 to 15, they had a Buddhist phase, and so I was raised meditating breath consciousness, all, all of these. These sort of things ingrained into my childhood.
00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:27.800 william berk: And
00:29:28.750 --> 00:29:33.939 william berk: I would say, during college medical school I sort of left them behind and
00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:39.310 william berk: and rediscovered them in in residency, and then onward in my career.
00:29:39.890 --> 00:29:42.880 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and where were you raised? Were you raised here in New York and New York?
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:45.529 william berk: Based in New York City and in Connecticut.
00:29:45.530 --> 00:30:07.196 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Think Connecticut Gotcha, Gotcha? Yeah? Cause it's not not. I mean, I've met many, many people who discovered Buddhism and in their life later on and and adopted. It's practices and philosophy. But but it's not too common that I hear of people being raised in that kind of environment which I find fascinating.
00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:09.600 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: of no.
00:30:09.600 --> 00:30:13.700 william berk: Interesting as a child to learn how to meditate, I would say
00:30:13.710 --> 00:30:15.780 william berk: I came up with some.
00:30:15.910 --> 00:30:22.800 william berk: my own sort of childish understandings of it that have evolved. But it was really cool to to have that as a
00:30:23.120 --> 00:30:23.810 william berk: Yeah.
00:30:23.810 --> 00:30:25.400 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I'm I'm curious like.
00:30:26.060 --> 00:30:31.350 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: did the other kids tease you and make fun of you because of it? Or were they like fascinated, or or did you.
00:30:31.350 --> 00:30:31.820 william berk: Isn't so.
00:30:32.100 --> 00:30:32.380 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Them.
00:30:32.380 --> 00:30:41.870 william berk: I didn't really share too much. We we went to these Ashram retreats during the weekends, and I came back, and and no one was the wiser.
00:30:43.910 --> 00:30:58.473 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: but but I mean there must have been something, cause that I'm sure it gave you a certain calmness as a child that other children didn't necessarily have. Did people like notice like, Hey, check out, William. He's he's kind of cool on Monday. That's unusual.
00:30:59.288 --> 00:31:09.420 william berk: I think I was just a normal kid, but I would say that there were moments where, if I got in trouble, or there was something really tumultuous happening. I was able to meditate
00:31:09.510 --> 00:31:14.620 william berk: and and bring that in. And I did get in trouble relatively, frequently. So.
00:31:15.040 --> 00:31:19.240 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Okay. So then, you were a very normal kid. Awesome.
00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:20.469 william berk: I think so. Yeah.
00:31:20.470 --> 00:31:44.971 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Alright, we're gonna take a quick break when we come back. I wanna talk about the getting into the sound healing, how you applied it during covid, because I I know, because I talked to many people during those early days of of what a crazy thing it was to be a medical practitioner, especially being an er doctor, I mean God.
00:31:45.360 --> 00:32:10.080 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: yeah, I'm sure you'll practice served you well. So I wanna get into all of that to start with, and then we'll we'll get into from there other stuff. And I do see loyal listener Patty tuning in from wherever she is in her travels. She always travels around a lot. Thank you. Tuning in, Patty. I really appreciate you being such a loyal listener. So everyone, please stay tuned. You're listening to the conscious, consulting humanity.
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:24.969 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: We do this every Thursday 12 noon to one pm, eastern, right here on talk, radio dot Nyc and all over social media. And you can always find us on all the podcasting platforms, and we'll be right back with our guest, Dr. William Burke, in just a moment.
00:34:40.810 --> 00:34:47.629 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And welcome back to the conscious consult now awakening humanity. So
00:34:50.080 --> 00:34:55.829 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Dr. Burke. So you're an er doctor. You've been working as an er doctor. For a while
00:34:56.650 --> 00:35:05.530 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: something very unexpected happens. We have a pandemic, our 1st pandemic of our lifetime, I mean there been pandemics before, but the 1st in our lifetime.
00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:11.369 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: How did that affect you? And and and what
00:35:11.921 --> 00:35:14.029 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: got you to kind of.
00:35:15.220 --> 00:35:22.430 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know, find the these other skills of sound healing and and sort of develop your spiritual practice in in that process.
00:35:22.730 --> 00:35:23.430 william berk: Yeah.
00:35:25.250 --> 00:35:29.649 william berk: I think it's an answer that deserves a bit of a preamble in
00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:34.580 william berk: in medical school. You're really taught that, you know.
00:35:34.660 --> 00:35:36.510 william berk: all things are
00:35:36.870 --> 00:35:44.143 william berk: really material problems. You're you're taught that the world is solvable, that
00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:50.649 william berk: you know, each patient is sort of a problem to be solved and overcome and and move through, and and really
00:35:50.810 --> 00:35:57.679 william berk: look at yourself more of them as a machine than anything else. You're working 30 h. You're you're not, really.
00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:04.340 william berk: You're not encouraged to be empathetic. You're encouraged to to move faster, to be more efficient, to be more precise.
00:36:04.580 --> 00:36:05.570 william berk: and
00:36:06.030 --> 00:36:12.819 william berk: coming into Covid. That was sort of where we were all coming from. We all wanted to make sure that that
00:36:13.210 --> 00:36:18.959 william berk: everyone was taken care of, that that we could, that we could move this volume, and not really
00:36:19.120 --> 00:36:22.739 william berk: bringing too much awareness to the way that our
00:36:23.370 --> 00:36:26.989 william berk: parts were being affected by the volume of
00:36:27.290 --> 00:36:32.849 william berk: death. The volume of isolation and loneliness, you know, during those 1st months
00:36:33.130 --> 00:36:36.292 william berk: patients were dying without their families.
00:36:37.050 --> 00:36:41.890 william berk: People were coming in so scared and just the weight of
00:36:42.310 --> 00:36:44.019 william berk: of the pain, the weight of.
00:36:44.130 --> 00:36:47.159 william berk: you know, not having a place to put the bodies.
00:36:47.550 --> 00:36:55.890 william berk: The weight of not having Ppe, you know it was. It was heavy, and none of us had the skills to move that kind of energy.
00:36:56.432 --> 00:37:00.358 william berk: None of us even really have the skills to take care of ourselves.
00:37:01.360 --> 00:37:02.460 william berk: And
00:37:02.630 --> 00:37:07.979 william berk: so yeah, it got really dark, and I I would say, just in my own journey got really dark. I
00:37:08.030 --> 00:37:16.339 william berk: I tried to hoard as much money as I could, in hopes that that would make me happy. I I tried any number of things to
00:37:16.590 --> 00:37:18.250 william berk: make myself feel safe
00:37:18.390 --> 00:37:22.759 william berk: and I would say maybe a year into
00:37:23.230 --> 00:37:27.510 william berk: to the pandemic. I found, sounds meditation, and
00:37:27.530 --> 00:37:33.680 william berk: as opposed to some of the more of a pasta based meditation with breath or walking
00:37:34.370 --> 00:37:38.960 william berk: as the focus of attention. Sound was really incredible
00:37:39.100 --> 00:37:44.729 william berk: in the way it drew you in and the way it held you, it felt transcendent almost immediately.
00:37:44.790 --> 00:37:52.180 william berk: and I was getting so much out of it that I I got some instruments, and I started playing for my staff, and
00:37:52.680 --> 00:37:56.750 william berk: as sort of the doctor, the head doctor in an er I have
00:37:56.930 --> 00:37:59.390 william berk: 4 or 5 other medical
00:37:59.410 --> 00:38:04.670 william berk: people working for me, then maybe 10 nurses, and then plenty of ancillary staff.
00:38:04.910 --> 00:38:12.280 william berk: and as the guy in the center. I was really able to see where people were suffering, or if one of my staff was just at the end of the rope.
00:38:12.720 --> 00:38:15.800 william berk: and I was able to take them out.
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:19.869 william berk: you know, just for 2 or 3 min. Play a little sound, do a little breath.
00:38:20.160 --> 00:38:21.729 william berk: and and
00:38:22.030 --> 00:38:24.279 william berk: it turned that sort of
00:38:24.370 --> 00:38:31.989 william berk: pain, that thing that may have festered for a while that burnout that that would have made it hard for them to achieve the next.
00:38:32.110 --> 00:38:49.439 william berk: you know, to see the next patient, to to do what what they need to do. Really transmorph that into something that was beautiful. And and even that moment that they were cared for, they could pass on to the patient. And in so doing we created a really a beautiful environment. And that was.
00:38:49.560 --> 00:38:54.260 william berk: yeah, that was an incredible practice for me just to know that.
00:38:55.060 --> 00:39:01.970 william berk: Yeah, caring for someone can have a huge impact not only on that person but on me and on on the rest of the patient.
00:39:02.350 --> 00:39:04.320 william berk: Yeah, that's that's beautiful.
00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:11.849 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Because I I've talked to er nurses and er doctors around that time, and just the level of burnout
00:39:12.150 --> 00:39:13.990 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and the level of of
00:39:14.070 --> 00:39:15.860 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: trauma, I'll say.
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:22.540 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: was just so massive because we were so completely, psychologically unprepared for it.
00:39:23.590 --> 00:39:28.309 william berk: Yeah, I mean, I I worked at Elmhurst. In Queens, which is the.
00:39:28.310 --> 00:39:28.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:39:29.160 --> 00:39:30.500 william berk: You know, in in
00:39:31.250 --> 00:39:40.929 william berk: based on some documentation, one of the worst hit places, and you know, the sad part is that you know, as Covid started to die
00:39:40.940 --> 00:39:44.650 william berk: down, or to the way we talked about it, started to to receive.
00:39:45.900 --> 00:39:55.168 william berk: People were still really affected, and they really held those scars, and there was no way to move that that energy and
00:39:55.700 --> 00:39:59.360 william berk: And so even now I I do some occasional
00:39:59.370 --> 00:40:01.050 william berk: burnout prevention
00:40:01.140 --> 00:40:05.119 william berk: sort of retreats, little 3, 2, or 3 h retreats where we
00:40:05.220 --> 00:40:12.250 william berk: we give people the chance to just talk about those times, you know, because the world's moved on. But you know.
00:40:12.310 --> 00:40:17.280 william berk: you know, without being able to process those those experiences and motions, you can't move on
00:40:18.090 --> 00:40:23.019 william berk: so just giving people the Forum to talk about it in a in a con, just ways.
00:40:23.270 --> 00:40:24.550 william berk: Yeah, people have.
00:40:24.550 --> 00:40:29.420 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I've even seen it in some of the gatherings that have been to that. People are still learning to
00:40:29.480 --> 00:40:32.460 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: be comfortable, being in a group of people again.
00:40:33.390 --> 00:40:39.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Still, there's this little bit of unconscious anxiety on a very low level
00:40:39.710 --> 00:40:40.900 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: that, like
00:40:40.930 --> 00:40:44.919 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: either people don't know how or they're nervous about doing it.
00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:51.410 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and it's not a conscious thing. It's not a rational thing. It's just sort of the the shock from the whole thing.
00:40:52.290 --> 00:40:54.769 william berk: Yeah. And I mean even more so when you.
00:40:54.830 --> 00:41:00.136 william berk: when when it's your lot of your life, is spent in the same place. So.
00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:03.230 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, absolutely absolutely.
00:41:04.910 --> 00:41:07.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So I'm curious about sort of
00:41:08.030 --> 00:41:11.559 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: how your spiritual practice has sort of affected
00:41:12.436 --> 00:41:17.450 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: what you do, and and sort of the things you're interested in, because one of the.
00:41:17.450 --> 00:41:17.880 william berk: Yeah.
00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:28.600 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: One of the reasons I was excited to bring you on today is because of your interest in and research on the world of psychedelics, and how that is
00:41:28.610 --> 00:41:31.569 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: shifting and changing. It's a very dynamic landscape.
00:41:31.570 --> 00:41:32.060 william berk: Yeah.
00:41:32.060 --> 00:41:36.720 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, and I'm wondering how that spiritual practice kind of
00:41:37.080 --> 00:41:38.829 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: feeds into all of that.
00:41:39.170 --> 00:41:43.081 william berk: Yeah, it's a huge and ever evolving question.
00:41:44.860 --> 00:41:53.280 william berk: I was raised again as a as a Shivis. And and the basic tenant of Shivism is that?
00:41:54.670 --> 00:41:56.500 william berk: Let's say, let's say
00:41:56.600 --> 00:42:00.270 william berk: God existed for eternity.
00:42:00.270 --> 00:42:00.950 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And then.
00:42:00.950 --> 00:42:10.359 william berk: An eternity of bliss and omniscience and pleasure, and everything full, knowing, full, existing, eventually would get boring.
00:42:10.550 --> 00:42:13.800 william berk: And the concept in Shivism is that
00:42:14.230 --> 00:42:20.110 william berk: at some point God would want an experience that's not fully under God's control.
00:42:20.740 --> 00:42:21.820 william berk: and
00:42:22.670 --> 00:42:27.589 william berk: a a an experience of duality, or an experience of being limited.
00:42:27.950 --> 00:42:31.740 william berk: and in so doing God incarnated as you
00:42:31.950 --> 00:42:35.069 william berk: to have the experience that you are having right now.
00:42:35.370 --> 00:42:41.909 william berk: and it's almost they call it Leila. They call it the play. This is God's. You are God's play
00:42:42.530 --> 00:42:43.370 william berk: and
00:42:44.500 --> 00:42:47.799 william berk: and essentially, the the idea is that that
00:42:48.140 --> 00:42:53.849 william berk: in any good movie or in any good play you need drama, and that drama is the pain and suffering of your life.
00:42:53.930 --> 00:42:55.839 william berk: And if there is
00:42:56.330 --> 00:42:58.439 william berk: a purpose to life, it's too
00:42:59.020 --> 00:43:01.659 william berk: accepting all that comes in
00:43:01.790 --> 00:43:13.880 william berk: as like as freely as you can, as godly as as thank you for this experience that I'm having cause. I know I'm not just this limited being. I know I'm I'm so much more than that.
00:43:14.726 --> 00:43:19.729 william berk: And I would say that you know the mystical experience mirrors that
00:43:20.780 --> 00:43:21.800 william berk: perhaps
00:43:22.900 --> 00:43:28.590 william berk: the experience of knowing that. In fact, you are one with everything.
00:43:28.620 --> 00:43:37.319 william berk: This is. This is oftentimes the what what people pull out of it that you are, you are everything. You are more than just this
00:43:37.750 --> 00:43:43.210 william berk: physical, limited, you know, being that that has their their own foibles and
00:43:43.370 --> 00:43:47.800 william berk: and and neurosis, but that you're so much more. And so
00:43:47.860 --> 00:43:51.059 william berk: I would say that in my work with patience.
00:43:51.110 --> 00:43:57.650 william berk: that people are really able to grasp that understanding in more than an intellectual way, in a way that really
00:43:58.260 --> 00:44:06.740 william berk: speaks to them, and and they're able to carry into their lives. And once once you know that you're deeply, fully connected with others.
00:44:06.810 --> 00:44:10.149 william berk: that you're more than just this. This thing you know.
00:44:10.180 --> 00:44:14.029 william berk: the problems of the world are are a little little less heavy.
00:44:14.350 --> 00:44:15.170 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:44:16.578 --> 00:44:29.369 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and and it's interesting, like the way you describe Shivism it it. There's a little similarity to like capitalism, like in the Kabbalah, and they talk about the formation of the universe. It's a similar thing of like God
00:44:29.420 --> 00:44:32.600 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: emptying out this this other piece.
00:44:33.550 --> 00:44:34.750 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and
00:44:34.930 --> 00:44:37.460 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and creating this multiplicity.
00:44:37.650 --> 00:44:38.780 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: That's
00:44:39.020 --> 00:44:41.919 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: really just to experience the
00:44:41.980 --> 00:44:45.739 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: infinite possibilities of coming back to.
00:44:45.740 --> 00:44:46.190 william berk: Yeah.
00:44:46.190 --> 00:44:47.320 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Awakening.
00:44:47.850 --> 00:44:48.789 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah. So.
00:44:48.790 --> 00:44:54.310 william berk: I think it's it's a similar idea in many, you know, in in the idea of Buddhist reincarnation.
00:44:54.725 --> 00:44:59.620 william berk: Yeah, I think there's there's a lot of people are are excited about this idea.
00:44:59.620 --> 00:45:01.660 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, many mystical traditions.
00:45:03.010 --> 00:45:17.023 william berk: What I'm what I'm really excited. If I may, there's there's a therapy practice called ifs internal family systems that that I'm I'm in the middle of a certification for. But I've been I've been receiving for many years, and
00:45:18.020 --> 00:45:24.129 william berk: The the concept for the listeners is that we are made up of multiplicity of parts.
00:45:24.160 --> 00:45:31.309 william berk: and those parts take action on our behalf, and are trapped in in certain roles
00:45:31.390 --> 00:45:32.040 william berk: and
00:45:32.850 --> 00:45:42.339 william berk: gaining access to those parts and giving them compassion, love, forgiveness, and understanding is what really frees us up from our
00:45:42.420 --> 00:45:45.840 william berk: our knee jerk reactions, our anger, our
00:45:46.343 --> 00:45:51.840 william berk: pain and and so applying that to the psychedelic experience as well, has been foundational.
00:45:52.130 --> 00:46:06.599 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of people in the in the psychedelic world that they they look towards somatic stuff. So things like somatic, experiencing, or emdr, or and ifs this idea of of
00:46:06.820 --> 00:46:10.950 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: learning to see each of our parts
00:46:11.020 --> 00:46:12.380 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and bring
00:46:12.680 --> 00:46:14.699 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: more light to it, like bringing.
00:46:14.700 --> 00:46:15.080 william berk: And Rick.
00:46:15.080 --> 00:46:17.859 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Awareness, a greater consciousness to them.
00:46:17.910 --> 00:46:22.749 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so that they're not driving the bus, but bring them along for the ride.
00:46:23.330 --> 00:46:24.640 william berk: Yeah, they are the both.
00:46:24.890 --> 00:46:26.249 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Right they are the bus.
00:46:26.250 --> 00:46:28.940 william berk: We're driving the bus, and they are them. Perhaps.
00:46:29.921 --> 00:46:32.648 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Right? Exactly. Exactly. Alright.
00:46:33.410 --> 00:47:02.900 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I really wanna get into the the what's going on in the psychedelics industry and and and your perspective on it, but we just gotta take our next break. So when we come back, le, let's get into it. Let's talk about you know what what's going on in the industry overall with Colorado and and Oregon legalizing psilocybin ketamine being a legalized psychedelic. And and where you know the impact, do you see? And and where you see things going? Okay.
00:47:03.220 --> 00:47:03.970 william berk: Great.
00:47:03.970 --> 00:47:14.319 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Awesome. So everyone, please stay tuned. You're listening to the conscious, consulting humanity. Our guest this hour is Dr. William Burke, and we will be right back in just a moment.
00:49:21.350 --> 00:49:35.430 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And welcome back to the conscious. Consult our weakening humanity. I see we have a comment on on our Youtube channel from John Fagan he loves ifs. He says he loves Dr. Burke, so you've got Fan out there.
00:49:38.090 --> 00:49:42.819 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so so tell me what what sparked your interest in psychedelics.
00:49:45.870 --> 00:49:46.839 william berk: Do you know.
00:49:47.400 --> 00:49:52.020 william berk: I would say that a lot of people and myself included.
00:49:52.150 --> 00:49:53.120 william berk: we're
00:49:54.080 --> 00:50:01.220 william berk: are sort of tired of the concept of our existence merely as a material as
00:50:01.743 --> 00:50:10.016 william berk: you know, all we're here to do is reproduce. I I think that that comes up feeling really empty and
00:50:11.350 --> 00:50:17.580 william berk: yeah, excited about the promise of deepening my my understanding of of my own existence.
00:50:19.660 --> 00:50:23.168 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Gotcha gotcha and and
00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:33.379 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know now people are calling it like a psychedelic Renaissance, right? This rediscovering of it. There's a lot going on in the industry.
00:50:33.380 --> 00:50:34.050 william berk: Yeah.
00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:40.729 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: What's your perspective of of why is this happening now? And and where do you see things
00:50:40.830 --> 00:50:52.690 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: kind of going with what's happening? I mean we just there was a vote by a panel for the FDA. Actually not recommending mdma get approved, though I've heard
00:50:52.760 --> 00:50:54.209 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I've heard various
00:50:55.742 --> 00:50:59.730 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: perspectives on what they actually wrote rather than just the vote.
00:51:00.280 --> 00:51:07.570 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So some people are still pretty positive about it. What W. What's going on right now? What what happening with all of this
00:51:07.770 --> 00:51:08.505 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I.
00:51:09.460 --> 00:51:12.370 william berk: I don't think it's a coincidence that this
00:51:12.860 --> 00:51:21.310 william berk: moment we're having in in the psychedelic world is counterbalanced with this despair in the mental health world.
00:51:22.034 --> 00:51:32.199 william berk: You know, the the most prescribed medication in the United States is first, st blood pressure and second antidepressants. And 3rd antipsychotics.
00:51:32.380 --> 00:51:37.700 william berk: It's it's a it's it's it's really sad. And and
00:51:37.920 --> 00:51:41.169 william berk: I think a lot of people are feeling hopeless. Feeling
00:51:41.580 --> 00:51:52.090 william berk: tired of of the Western model of prescribed some drugs, you know. Maybe you can get in to see a therapist, perhaps go through years of therapy.
00:51:53.160 --> 00:51:57.340 william berk: you know, a lot of people are just feeling really like
00:51:57.780 --> 00:52:10.780 william berk: like. There needs to be a new system, or at least something that that can really speak to them. And really help them. And so the promise of psychedelics, the research that's been done, the history, the
00:52:10.860 --> 00:52:14.936 william berk: you know. We we were talking a little bit before about Rolling Griffith.
00:52:15.410 --> 00:52:24.410 william berk: the the grandfathers like Ron dots. Mckenna, you know. To see them speak, to see them
00:52:24.810 --> 00:52:31.029 william berk: really embody the lessons of this is is so much more beautiful evidence.
00:52:31.600 --> 00:52:37.070 william berk: That these really can change people's lives and do so in a relatively
00:52:37.370 --> 00:52:40.330 william berk: useful way when compared to
00:52:40.600 --> 00:52:47.669 william berk: years. Years of therapy or not that not that's not important. But so it does seem to me that that
00:52:47.980 --> 00:52:50.989 william berk: that we are coming into this in the most
00:52:51.650 --> 00:53:04.929 william berk: important, perfect moment, because I would say, humanity is a bit at a tipping point. If it's ever been at one in terms of falling off into disconnection, fear, isolation.
00:53:06.010 --> 00:53:06.840 william berk: and
00:53:06.970 --> 00:53:09.036 william berk: anger hatred, you know.
00:53:10.255 --> 00:53:10.810 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Polo! Is there.
00:53:10.810 --> 00:53:11.190 william berk: Yeah.
00:53:11.190 --> 00:53:12.549 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's happening right now, is.
00:53:12.550 --> 00:53:13.330 william berk: Exactly. Yeah.
00:53:13.330 --> 00:53:14.530 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So extreme.
00:53:14.680 --> 00:53:15.630 william berk: It's actually.
00:53:15.630 --> 00:53:24.030 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and you know myself having, you know, been a child of the seventies, and and tried all kinds of stuff. When I was in high school.
00:53:24.437 --> 00:53:39.829 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and then not doing anything for a longest time, and then kind of coming back to it in a facilitated, guided sacred Way. It it made a huge impact on my life, and and is really very different. And this is not the
00:53:40.210 --> 00:53:45.249 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: idea of of taking ecstasy in the eighties to go to a rave and dance.
00:53:45.250 --> 00:53:45.740 william berk: Yeah.
00:53:45.740 --> 00:54:01.550 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Long like like these very powerful substances are really being used to help with addiction. Ptsd. Especially some of the most severe Ptsd. Like with veterans. I know there were some.
00:54:01.550 --> 00:54:02.000 william berk: Yeah.
00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:08.360 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: There's some veteran groups that they actually will go overseas to where they can do it legally, like in Amsterdam.
00:54:08.570 --> 00:54:11.779 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and and have a tremendous recovery rate.
00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:33.130 william berk: Yeah. I, in terms of Ptsd recovery. I I think the rates of use of psilocybin and Mdma in isolation are are far higher. I don't remember the numbers, but way higher and longer lasting than any therapeutic or or pharmacologic
00:54:33.150 --> 00:54:45.330 william berk: modality on the market. The one I you know, ketamine is is legal in all 50 States, and one dissociative dose of ketamine decreases suicidality by 50%.
00:54:45.802 --> 00:54:56.129 william berk: Yeah. So there's a study at Nyu going on right now yet to be published, but studying essentially, people coming in, saying they want to hurt themselves, getting one dose of ketamine.
00:54:56.150 --> 00:55:01.969 william berk: and and half of them can be cleared to go home rather than multi-week stays in a psych ward.
00:55:03.100 --> 00:55:05.500 william berk: And so I think we are
00:55:06.170 --> 00:55:11.349 william berk: now that the the narrative has changed. You know you mentioned the seventies people taking
00:55:11.530 --> 00:55:14.520 william berk: handfuls of Lsd. In a field
00:55:14.610 --> 00:55:21.010 william berk: dropping out of school counterculture. It's a different. It's a different thing. Now. It's it's more about
00:55:21.240 --> 00:55:33.540 william berk: collective healing. It's more about conscious and really rigorous use of these modalities in a way that's that's meant to expand and and open our hearts. And
00:55:33.970 --> 00:55:39.029 william berk: I think it's a different world now. More focused more grounded.
00:55:39.100 --> 00:55:44.309 william berk: And I'm really excited about states like Colorado, Massachusetts, New York.
00:55:45.015 --> 00:55:47.199 william berk: Legislating the use of
00:55:47.430 --> 00:55:49.950 william berk: legalized psychedelics so that
00:55:50.270 --> 00:55:53.250 william berk: we can do this in a way that isn't. You know
00:55:53.430 --> 00:55:54.630 william berk: that I I
00:55:55.600 --> 00:55:59.180 william berk: I always use this term, but it's not like, you know, a woo woo
00:55:59.220 --> 00:56:00.380 william berk: Shaman
00:56:00.760 --> 00:56:03.489 william berk: sort of character, who you can't really
00:56:03.910 --> 00:56:04.940 william berk: say
00:56:05.120 --> 00:56:13.441 william berk: has has your best interest in mind, perhaps your best interest, mind, but but may not be trained in all the safety and all the all the background and and
00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:19.739 william berk: so it's exciting now that we can do this above ground, that that you know people like me could prescribe this
00:56:19.900 --> 00:56:25.009 william berk: with, you know, a good eye on your medical history, and and make sure it's safe and.
00:56:25.140 --> 00:56:27.260 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Right, right? And that. And that's.
00:56:27.260 --> 00:56:27.590 william berk: Gordon.
00:56:27.590 --> 00:56:30.530 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Things that's really so important
00:56:30.640 --> 00:56:45.099 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: right now is there are contraindications right? Like there are things where you need to be careful. If you want to engage in this stuff like if there's you know, medical history and and a a a of
00:56:46.220 --> 00:57:00.359 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: borderline personality and and and psychosis like you don't want to engage in this stuff, or if you've already being treated using antidepressants and antipsychotics, there are contraindications with those medicines and some psychedelics
00:57:00.550 --> 00:57:03.329 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so like being mindful
00:57:03.590 --> 00:57:04.400 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: of
00:57:05.650 --> 00:57:09.109 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: where we are, like the whole situation.
00:57:10.202 --> 00:57:11.810 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Because we're not.
00:57:12.530 --> 00:57:31.849 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know, indigenous people living in a village in the middle of the Amazon, where the village can take care of the person if they have some kind of spiritual emergence during a ceremony. You know we we live in a very different type of world. So we have to focus on different aspects of how to support people through this kind of a process.
00:57:34.850 --> 00:57:36.490 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Oops, I think he froze.
00:57:40.120 --> 00:58:06.920 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: let's give it a moment. See if he comes back. But yes, the Internet being what it is. Sometimes we freeze on these things, so always happens when we do it. quickly shout out to Patty, I see on the Youtube, she says, I just got invited to a psychedelic Facebook page, not even trying it. I don't know what to expect. Well, Patty, we definitely should talk up, and Dr. Bert dropped hopefully. He'll get back on in a moment.
00:58:08.750 --> 00:58:23.129 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: yeah. So th, there's 1 of the things I mean today being world psychedelic day and and and the solstice solstice is actually a a day early. Usually it's on the 21, st but this year, somehow, our our solstice is a little bit early.
00:58:23.410 --> 00:58:25.380 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and let's see if
00:58:25.720 --> 00:58:27.410 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Dr. Burke is coming back.
00:58:29.640 --> 00:58:31.020 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But but
00:58:32.530 --> 00:58:34.938 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know there there is the
00:58:35.500 --> 00:58:37.939 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: much more attention being paid
00:58:38.050 --> 00:58:49.229 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to what's going on. As as Dr. Berg mentioned, Kenyamine, which was initially used as as just an anesthetic, I mean, still used as an anesthetic.
00:58:49.240 --> 00:58:52.819 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: was found to have this sort of
00:58:52.970 --> 00:58:56.940 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: off label use, or be able to be used
00:58:57.310 --> 00:59:01.870 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: or not. It's originally approved purposes. So it was already
00:59:02.120 --> 00:59:04.655 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: legalized, and then
00:59:05.640 --> 00:59:06.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: was able to come back.
00:59:08.880 --> 00:59:10.389 william berk: There. We are so sorry about that.
00:59:10.390 --> 00:59:11.419 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: No worries, no.
00:59:11.420 --> 00:59:14.729 william berk: Calling from the hospital. So it's it's always a bit tricky in here.
00:59:14.730 --> 00:59:16.360 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yes, yes, yes.
00:59:18.360 --> 00:59:32.424 william berk: Yeah. As you were saying, it's already, FDA approved. So, luckily enough, we don't have to go through a full FDA approval process. We, we can use it as an alternative use. So there's plenty of great research now for its use in
00:59:33.150 --> 00:59:35.405 william berk: and treatment, resistant depression.
00:59:36.010 --> 00:59:37.040 william berk: and.
00:59:38.260 --> 00:59:42.669 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I'm I'm curious from as a medical, professional and knowing sort of
00:59:42.810 --> 00:59:47.730 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: things from inside the medical profession. What do you see as sort of
00:59:47.790 --> 01:00:05.549 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: what's happening with things like Mdma. You know, with they're in the phase 3 trials. They're waiting to see if the FDA will approve it or not but the panel. There's this panel vote that didn't recommend it, because I felt the data wasn't quite good is the feeling like
01:00:05.660 --> 01:00:10.630 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: whether it gets approved now or not. That this is moving forward, that they are going to find a way to.
01:00:10.850 --> 01:00:12.669 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know. Get this
01:00:12.750 --> 01:00:16.170 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: into the hands of practitioners, to be able to help people.
01:00:16.420 --> 01:00:18.269 william berk: It was definitely a blow.
01:00:18.640 --> 01:00:19.170 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: That.
01:00:19.170 --> 01:00:20.130 william berk: Against
01:00:20.230 --> 01:00:40.200 william berk: the you know, the the hopes and dreams. And I think a lot of researchers and a lot of people in this psychedelic Field had a sense that this was a sure thing. You know much in the way that I think Hillary supporters thought there's no way trump could win and you know, unfortunately, we get surprised sometimes.
01:00:41.130 --> 01:00:54.739 william berk: So yeah, there were some ethical concerns. There were some research concerns. There were some things that didn't get recorded at the FDA. Wanted. None of them are necessarily damning but
01:00:55.470 --> 01:00:57.940 william berk: you know it's it's a sense of of
01:00:58.990 --> 01:01:01.510 william berk: pushing this through a
01:01:02.060 --> 01:01:03.660 william berk: unfortunately
01:01:04.219 --> 01:01:16.099 william berk: a bureaucracy that's filled with older people that don't necessarily see the the miraculous changes. And and are just looking at the, at the numbers, at the risks.
01:01:16.220 --> 01:01:24.230 william berk: And so it we we it seems rather likely that we may have to wait another few years.
01:01:24.270 --> 01:01:36.439 william berk: Luckily the psilocybin is getting pushed through on a State to state basis much like cannabis was. So we may have access to that a bit sooner.
01:01:36.740 --> 01:01:46.609 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. It's it's time for us. Take our last break of the show when we come back. I'd like to ask you about something personal. You're going through
01:01:47.603 --> 01:01:48.536 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and and
01:01:49.620 --> 01:01:54.079 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: how your spiritual practice kind of supports you.
01:01:54.320 --> 01:01:58.779 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: what you're going through in a way that makes it a little bit easier, perhaps. Okay.
01:01:58.780 --> 01:01:59.360 william berk: Yeah.
01:01:59.690 --> 01:02:11.289 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Alright. So everyone, please stay tuned. You're listening to the conscious consult now awakening humanity. We're speaking this hour with Dr. William Burke, and we will be right back to finish it up in just a moment.
01:04:17.530 --> 01:04:19.119 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And welcome back.
01:04:19.740 --> 01:04:31.669 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: You know, Dr. Burke, I mentioned to you before the show how, when I was at the Psychedelic Sciences Conference in Denver that one of the most moving parts for me was seeing Roland Griffiths.
01:04:32.030 --> 01:04:33.439 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know, real
01:04:33.950 --> 01:04:35.960 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: elder in the industry.
01:04:36.270 --> 01:04:43.269 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: talking about him, facing his imminent demise when he found out he had stage 4 cancer, and he's since passed.
01:04:44.107 --> 01:04:50.010 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and to see how him he was able to talk about it with such poise and such presence.
01:04:50.820 --> 01:05:02.920 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: As a result of him, I mean, he was 25 years at least. Meditator meditating every day you have. Your own little challenge you're facing, aren't, don't you?
01:05:02.920 --> 01:05:17.150 william berk: Yeah, you know, it's funny. And and for the listeners, this came up because Sam mentioned that I was calling in from the hospital, and I'm actually a patient here at the hospital. I'm I'm having open heart surgery next week.
01:05:17.540 --> 01:05:18.380 william berk: And
01:05:19.460 --> 01:05:32.220 william berk: yeah, it's a it's a wild story in in 2,018, when I was a resident in at Mount Sinai, I actually found a formality in my aorta just messing around doing ultrasounds for practice.
01:05:32.350 --> 01:05:35.418 william berk: Echo cardiograms on on myself and
01:05:36.080 --> 01:05:43.879 william berk: We have been monitoring it for years, and then this year found that it's it's really too big, and and that it needs to be replaced with a graph.
01:05:44.727 --> 01:05:55.530 william berk: And I'm no Roland Griffith, but it has been a journey, and the journey of facing mortality was really what was it? What what was so exciting for me, to begin with.
01:05:56.860 --> 01:06:06.430 william berk: reminding myself that I don't get to take this body home, reminding myself that this is a this is a finite experience, that that I will die. And
01:06:07.180 --> 01:06:12.390 william berk: and as I told people, you know, they they were really shocked and showed a lot of sympathy, and
01:06:12.770 --> 01:06:15.040 william berk: I found myself relatively
01:06:15.220 --> 01:06:21.779 william berk: triggered by how much sympathy I was like. Oh, you know I'm I might I might die! And and realizing that
01:06:22.470 --> 01:06:28.500 william berk: maybe in reminding myself all the time that I was gonna die, I might manifest something that I don't wanna manifest.
01:06:28.500 --> 01:06:29.095 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yes.
01:06:29.690 --> 01:06:30.350 william berk: So.
01:06:31.040 --> 01:06:39.270 william berk: so yeah, so it's been a really interesting moment now of recognizing how lucky am I that I discover this, that I get to live.
01:06:40.016 --> 01:06:42.280 william berk: That I get to.
01:06:42.340 --> 01:06:44.519 william berk: you know. Take this moment of
01:06:44.850 --> 01:06:46.670 william berk: forced, forced
01:06:46.760 --> 01:06:49.319 william berk: sort of calmness, forced
01:06:49.480 --> 01:06:50.444 william berk: quietness.
01:06:51.650 --> 01:06:59.300 william berk: and yeah, and really be with myself and what comes up, and it's been an absolute fun house of of emotion.
01:07:00.590 --> 01:07:09.170 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I'm I'm wondering. Do you use your your s singing goals or your your instruments to do some sound therapy on yourself when you get a little trigger.
01:07:09.170 --> 01:07:12.663 william berk: For sure, and some friends have have offered.
01:07:13.580 --> 01:07:15.639 william berk: I think. What's what's been more
01:07:15.690 --> 01:07:18.609 william berk: beautiful for me. We mentioned the ifs was
01:07:18.750 --> 01:07:21.559 william berk: as as I feel in emotion.
01:07:21.990 --> 01:07:30.940 william berk: really allowing myself to feel that not pushing anything away, really getting to know the emotion of fear, really getting to know the emotion, of
01:07:30.960 --> 01:07:35.759 william berk: sadness, of anger getting to know the emotion of
01:07:37.450 --> 01:07:40.280 william berk: yeah, really, whatever comes up. And
01:07:40.500 --> 01:07:46.819 william berk: and when I can show presence, when I can say thank you. Anger, thank you. Fear. Thank you. Sadness.
01:07:47.895 --> 01:07:48.830 william berk: Those
01:07:49.470 --> 01:08:00.490 william berk: those emotions start to become friends and and and sign posts rather than things that I that I can't face, or things that I have to push away enemies, even.
01:08:00.490 --> 01:08:03.649 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, I'm I'm really curious cause.
01:08:04.320 --> 01:08:08.039 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Through my coaching practice. And my wife I mentioned as a psychotherapist.
01:08:08.040 --> 01:08:09.060 william berk: Hmm! It.
01:08:09.400 --> 01:08:14.069 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's usually the most challenging for us to feel
01:08:14.500 --> 01:08:19.029 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: those difficult emotions, the fear, the sadness, the pain.
01:08:19.700 --> 01:08:28.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: What is it, do you think that really helped you and supported you in being able to face those difficult emotions
01:08:28.840 --> 01:08:29.779 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: ends.
01:08:30.279 --> 01:08:37.429 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Still be able to have a presence and still be like, kind of, basically, okay, I mean, you seem pretty okay about me.
01:08:37.439 --> 01:08:50.019 william berk: Yeah, I know. Actually, the surgeon is like, Wow, you're pretty. Okay with this. Yeah, I think it's just allowing those emotions to breathe, you know, just like a child. If if you tell the child
01:08:50.029 --> 01:08:52.879 william berk: who's yelling for you, yelling for your attention
01:08:53.019 --> 01:08:54.129 william berk: to shut up.
01:08:54.629 --> 01:08:56.309 william berk: it's gonna yell louder.
01:08:56.549 --> 01:09:18.399 william berk: and if you allow yourself to fully feel, and and it's not a pretty sight I I go into my room and I scream into a pillow, and I I bang it around, I cry, and I ride, and I I let it all. I let it really embody me. Let it take over my body and and exist, and in so doing it's like.
01:09:18.989 --> 01:09:26.469 william berk: Oh, wow! You respect me, you listen to me, and so I'm I don't need to bang down the door in order to
01:09:26.849 --> 01:09:28.629 william berk: to to let you
01:09:28.959 --> 01:09:32.259 william berk: let you know I'm here. And I'm like, Yeah, I am scared. Yeah.
01:09:32.289 --> 01:09:33.379 william berk: I am sad.
01:09:33.911 --> 01:09:36.369 william berk: But because I allow sadness.
01:09:36.409 --> 01:09:37.779 william berk: and I allow, fear.
01:09:38.263 --> 01:09:41.169 william berk: It it doesn't. It doesn't run the ship.
01:09:41.430 --> 01:09:52.699 william berk: It's a it's and and it's it's not the way you would normally think about it. You're like, Oh, well, I have to avoid sadness. So I'm not sad. It's like, Oh, no, you actually have to be sad. So you're not sad.
01:09:52.950 --> 01:10:02.340 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, you you actually have to allow it the energy of that emotion to fully come forward so that you can process it and release it so that you don't keep holding onto it.
01:10:02.340 --> 01:10:09.470 william berk: Some people say emotion is energy in motion. And I think that's so true.
01:10:09.510 --> 01:10:11.760 william berk: you know, when you let the motion move.
01:10:12.601 --> 01:10:16.570 william berk: It it. It lets you. Yeah. Gives you that freedom.
01:10:16.570 --> 01:10:31.710 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So one of the, you know, big studies and one of the things they talked a lot about with Psilocybin was the the sort of end of life studies that they've done at at Johns Hopkins and Nyu, about how like a high dose of psilocybin helps people to
01:10:32.040 --> 01:10:36.939 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: be okay with end of life like they did a lot with cancer patients and stuff.
01:10:37.210 --> 01:10:54.460 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: W. Why do you think that is like, what is it about that experience that helps people to be okay with the fact that, you know, like with Roland Griffiths, that they, you know, they're facing the end of their life. I mean thankfully. You're gonna have your operation. You're gonna be fine. I'm gonna send lots of white light.
01:10:54.460 --> 01:10:56.525 william berk: Yeah. Knock on some wood. Yeah.
01:10:56.870 --> 01:10:58.979 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I know. Heard some civic. Yeah.
01:10:58.980 --> 01:11:05.460 william berk: Yeah, it's it's an interesting question. And I actually see a lot of death as an er doctor. And
01:11:05.600 --> 01:11:06.909 william berk: I would say that
01:11:07.600 --> 01:11:11.910 william berk: the people that recognize that there's something beyond themselves
01:11:11.970 --> 01:11:13.550 william berk: are the ones that
01:11:13.670 --> 01:11:17.389 william berk: can move gracefully into the next stage.
01:11:18.000 --> 01:11:20.580 william berk: And whether that's the people that
01:11:21.510 --> 01:11:27.529 william berk: believe in in really, whatever it is, believe that their family is well taken care of, and that they've been a good.
01:11:27.910 --> 01:11:30.439 william berk: you know. Let's say, father, they've they've
01:11:30.860 --> 01:11:32.630 william berk: they know that they will be
01:11:32.760 --> 01:11:49.619 william berk: loved and and remembered, or it's the people who, after a 5 grams of psilocybin, recognized that they are God, and they will never die, you know, so I would say that there's there's many ways to that. Meditation opens up a a sense of
01:11:49.630 --> 01:11:51.726 william berk: of belonging to everything.
01:11:52.980 --> 01:11:59.410 william berk: And once you have that sense, you know, Rhonda said, death is like taking off a a tight shoe.
01:12:00.690 --> 01:12:03.569 william berk: Yeah. And even in this heart surgery thing it
01:12:04.240 --> 01:12:07.840 william berk: I spent a lot of time teaching myself that death is safe.
01:12:08.390 --> 01:12:08.840 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
01:12:08.840 --> 01:12:14.019 william berk: I love that death is safe, you know, because ultimately you can't be hurt.
01:12:14.860 --> 01:12:15.370 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
01:12:15.370 --> 01:12:16.220 william berk: The real year.
01:12:16.530 --> 01:12:18.379 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:12:19.030 --> 01:12:24.219 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah. I've heard people talk about with with certain psychedelics like Buffo.
01:12:24.270 --> 01:12:27.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: the the quote unquote ego dissolution that when you.
01:12:28.010 --> 01:12:28.510 william berk: Yeah.
01:12:28.510 --> 01:12:36.190 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Have that experience of being at one with all that is that it's actually a very ecstatic experience, that it's
01:12:36.420 --> 01:12:44.659 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: that it's a beautiful experience, and one friend said to me, You know, after having that experience, I don't understand why we're all so afraid of death. It's actually a beautiful thing.
01:12:44.890 --> 01:12:45.695 william berk: Yeah,
01:12:47.150 --> 01:12:53.930 william berk: yeah. And I, I think ketamine mimics that experience as well, that sense of letting go and and being.
01:12:54.700 --> 01:13:05.120 william berk: yeah, being outside of your body. And it's funny. People in the mushroom space often describe that experience as being more real than their lived. Experience.
01:13:05.120 --> 01:13:05.580 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
01:13:06.445 --> 01:13:07.309 william berk: And
01:13:08.440 --> 01:13:10.380 william berk: you know, I'm sure that the people
01:13:10.510 --> 01:13:19.370 william berk: coming out of of those experiences are not trying to die. I don't think that we're we're we're saying that. But certainly.
01:13:19.600 --> 01:13:23.590 william berk: perhaps a little more at peace and a little more curious as to
01:13:23.730 --> 01:13:24.910 william berk: what comes next.
01:13:25.130 --> 01:13:26.260 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah. Yeah.
01:13:26.400 --> 01:13:28.420 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Well, Dr. Burke, thank you so much for.
01:13:28.420 --> 01:13:30.769 william berk: Oh, my God! Dude! Thank you!
01:13:30.770 --> 01:13:37.430 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So it's been a pleasure to meet you. I I would love to, you know, after your very successful heart surgery.
01:13:38.174 --> 01:13:38.919 william berk: I would.
01:13:38.920 --> 01:13:42.119 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: When you recover, I would love to get together and meet you in person. So.
01:13:42.120 --> 01:13:42.960 william berk: I'd love that too.
01:13:42.960 --> 01:13:48.127 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Your fellow New Yorker. So i i i wish you all the best, and I.
01:13:48.450 --> 01:13:50.450 william berk: Yeah, Sam, thank you for this opportunity.
01:13:50.450 --> 01:13:51.463 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And and
01:13:52.372 --> 01:13:54.430 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: should I give out your website?
01:13:54.430 --> 01:13:55.500 william berk: Yeah, please. Yeah.
01:13:55.500 --> 01:14:03.019 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So if anyone wants to learn more about him, his website is Www. William Burke, Mdc. Com.
01:14:03.210 --> 01:14:05.839 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And we'll make sure that's in the show notes. So
01:14:05.980 --> 01:14:26.539 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: thank you all for tuning in. Thank you, Dr. Burke, and thank you, my loyal listeners. We got plenty of comments on the Youtube channel. Thank you for commenting. And and just a quick announcement. We have an old show coming back on the network. I'm so thrilled that my dear friend Elizabeth Trip is returning to the network after many years.
01:14:26.540 --> 01:14:37.779 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to reprise her. Show. Nourish the soul. It will be she'll be starting her show on July 9th at 7 Pm. I hope you all will tune in for that.
01:14:37.780 --> 01:14:43.370 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Thank you all. Take care we will talk to you all next week. Bye, bye.
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