For Director/Producer Adam Schomer, The Highest Pass wasn’t just about making a cool, adventure film. On the contrary, Adam was looking for something more, something deeper. And as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.” Despite the fact that Adam had never ridden a motorcycle, he agreed to go on a motorcycle trip through the highest motorable elevation in the Himalayas.

THE HIGHEST PASS tells the story of how Adam Schomer and seven motorcyle riders drove across some of the most dangerous roads of the Himalayas in Northern India with his yogi and guru, Anand Mehrotra for a journey of a lifetime.

These riders and Adam, who learned to ride two weeks before the trip, are guided by the inspiring teachings of Anand who bears the burden of a Vedic prophecy that predicts he will die in his late twenties in an accident. He is that age now, yet leads with a fearlessness and wisdom that reminds us that “Only the one who dies, truly lives.”

But wisdom in words and wisdom in practice can be very different indeed, especially when riding along the sheer icy edges of Himalayan cliffs. The bikers ride on that edge, navigating dirt, gravel, snow, ice and the onslaught of loaded trucks, known as “road killers”, as they journey for 21 days towards the highest motorable road on earth. It is a pass open only three months a year and at a height 18,000ft, is on par with Everest base camp. Low oxygen, altitude sickness, river flooded roads, and a constrictive fear all live along this one lane road.

Yet they choose this path to seek Ladakh, the land known as the Little Tibet. Why this path? Because it’s a road that leads to incredibly isolated mountain lakes, ancient monasteries, inside the knowing eyes of a mystic oracle, and ultimately deeper into themselves…

It’s amazing that their guide himself is battling a prophecy and yet is determined to ride one of the hardest roads in the world. It is both haunting and inspiring. It brings up our worst fears and our deepest courage. Adam must ask if the possibility of a spiritual breakthrough worth the risk of serious injury or death? Will it help us all understand what it means to live our lives?

This adventure cracks the foundations we think we stand on. And in this case, the foundation is a one lane road winding through the Himalayas. The Highest Pass

I recently had the chance to interview Adam about what it was like for him and the film crew to make THE HIGHEST PASS and what they learned from it…

Adam told me why he went on this journey, how the film helped him overcome his fears, and even spoke about how the film inspired him to get over a fear he had about asking out a girl in a coffee shop!

He also offered some practical advice that anyone can use to help them deal with their everyday fears…

You can listen to our interview by right clicking on the text below. Simply right click and save the MP3 to your desktop and you can listen to it in iTunes or on your MP3 player…

RIGHT CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD MP3 of Interview with Adam Schomer

Adam also created an online course that will help people apply the teachings of the film to their daily life. He generously told me that the first 10 people who share this post on their blog or Facebook page will receive a free copy of the course, “Himalayan Wisdom for a Life Beyond Fear”. Simply share the post and link to the post on your blog or Facebook page, email me at
Editor@SpiritualMediaBlog.com and I will email you this course, produced by Adam Schomer written by Anand Mehrotra.

For more information about the film you can visit its website at http://www.thehighestpass.com/

This movie review is written by Sean A. Mulvihill

“What would our Earth be like if man would understand that he and the Earth are one?”

At its most essential core, Oliver Hauck’s new feature film, The Blue Jewel: A Documentary about Planetary Healers, can be described as a love poem to humans from the Earth herself. What’s interesting about this film is that its profiled mystical healers are leaders in a truly growing worldwide movement of planetary healing, and the movie, from Starseeds Productions, is one of a growing number whose mission is to heal the Earth. And it is an important mission, as director Hauck says, “…there is no Earth number two, there is no Earth number three, there is only one Earth for all of us.”

The film, which is episodic in nature, blends gorgeous aerial photography with interviews of profiled healers and teachers who discuss their diverse methods for healing the planet and its inhabitants. One key teacher in the film is the channeled voice of Gaia herself, speaking in soothing tones to us through the medium of the lovely Pepper Lewis. Gaia gives us humans the impetus to take the reigns of the further evolution of the Earth, comparing humans to the transistors in an old radio set: without them, none of the other technology works.

Another teacher, Gudrun Miller, talks about inter-human relations as the key to planetary healing saying, “Forgiveness…unburdens you, the forgiver.” She and her husband, David, and are creating “Groups of 40” people in cities around the globe who use mental visioning to protect the consciousness of their metropolitan area.

Perhaps the most delightful interview in the film comes with German organic farming couple Ignaz and Johanna Leitner. They speak of how their cows kept getting sick until they found harmony in their community relationships. Johanna also speaks eloquently of her desire for everyone to truly experience a rose blooming, and through experiencing a rose, we can become blooms ourselves.

Some of the other teachers include a psychologist (Dr. Roger Nelson) who works with group consciousness affecting random number generators, and a Hopi Native American, Ruben Saufkie, Sr., who teaches gratitude for Mother Earth.

The film’s breathtaking aerial views and music by “Beyond” (a group which includes Tina Turner), are also accompanied by amazing 3-D computer graphics of the Universe, beautifully created by editor Tom Schumacher.

The Blue Jewel can be characterized as a meditation which has little nuggets of wisdom for us to digest, well spaced out with time for getting in touch with one’s breathing and beingness. The implied main question the film raised in my mind is: “How powerful are our minds exactly? How much of my/our world is within my/our control?” One interesting episode of the film is director/producer Hauck’s experiment to use group telepathy to produce rain in the Sahara Desert at a specific time. The results are fascinating.

Those who are looking for story, conflict, peril, or a traditional protagonist will be disappointed by this film, but those who are earnestly seeking alternative views on healing the globe, mainly through personal inner work, will be enthralled by this feature length offering.

I had a chance to talk with German director Oliver Hauck before and after the U.S. Premiere of the film in Beverly Hills, and he had the glow in his eye of one who has found the work which he was born to do on this Earth. He spoke of how his mission to make this project attracted all of the right people at the right time. And I couldn’t help but think about other people who might be reading this article, and how they might want to help heal the globe by creating something, but might be confused as to what they can do, or are simply caught up in the day to day of life: paying bills, working, running errands, surfing the web, exercising, sleeping and then doing it all again the next day. They don’t perceive that they have time to go out into nature and say prayers in a big circle. So what can this busy city dweller do to help out? At the film’s finale, David Miller says, “Everyone on the Earth has seen those beautiful pictures that the astronauts took from the moon and those images are so beautiful. When we [first saw] those images we [began to call] the Earth the Blue Jewel…” He encourages us to meditate for a few minutes each day on the beauty, harmony, and balance which make up our world. This simple method can help to heal the globe. Surely we’ve all got a few minutes a day for that.

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Sean A. Mulvihill is the President of Hollywood Happiness Studios and can be reached via www.hollywoodhappiness.com

THREE MAGIC WORDS (reviewed at Laemmle’s Monica 4, August 22, 2012) by Sean Mulvihill

The Bhagavad Gita says, “…the wise man who knows the truth should not disturb the mind of him who does not.” When I was invited to view a film asking us to chant, en masse, the magical 3-word mantra, “I am God,” I admit, I was skeptical for two reasons. First, because I believed the film would be very polarizing and threatening to conservatives, and second, as a follower of “A Course in Miracles”, I had been very comfortable believing I was a child of God in whom God is well pleased, but to say I am actually God himself, well, wasn’t that blasphemous? As it turns out, the only blasphemy here is to sell ourselves short of the infinite power we possess.

In Michael Perlin’s well-crafted documentary film, Three Magic Words, we ask ourselves the question, “Who am I?”, and through interviews with authors, vignettes of a gorgeous young truth-seeker (Gabriella Ethereal), and visual art and motion graphics, we begin to piece together a feeling-realization that we are the one life, the one truth, the one way, and only within our own minds can we solve the mystery of existence.

The film is imperfect: it suffers from a lack of technical prowess at certain points; the dramatic sequences with Ms. Ethereal pull us out of the film’s narrative (mainly because she is a bit too sexy for the subject matter); and occasional speeches from the film’s host (Cameron Smith) are static, dry, and without any visual cutaways, which led this viewer to become impatient. Overall, however, the message is not damaged by these shortcomings.

The dozens of interviews never seemed overwhelming and broken into bite-sized chunks. The humorous quips of author Gary Renard bring a much-needed levity to the film, as most of the speakers are more serious in tone. Riz Story, the DP, editor, and composer’s vibrant score adds some enchantment and mystery as the film build up to its main message. The visual palette is often rich, and the authors, such as Kute Blackson and Neale Donald Walsch, appear as spectres, floating beings, in tropical landscapes. This device works well, and keeps us in a contemplative mood, preparing us to know that we are God.

All in all, the film, at a running time of 71 minutes, does keep us engaged, and offers hungry spiritual viewers a feast of words and images upon which we can digest, and when the film finally arrives at its main point, we are prepped and ready to own it.

Some of the funniest moments in the film come when Perlin interviews people on the street, asking them if they are okay with “being God.” Predictably, they are not ready for “that responsibility”. The film also hammers home the message that once we take responsibility for the fact that we are creating our own personal suffering by inflicting pain upon others and our environment (from which we are not separate), we can truly have the peace and joy that we all desire.

The movie also has to potential to convince many that we are not simply bodies, and bodies are only a reflection of what we want to see – in truth we are limitless. This concept, again, is one that may perturb the mind of one who has not yet tasted the divine, but those who are ready, will enjoy deeply.

The film’s theatrical release with Viva Pictures has been through Tugg.com. Creator Perlin and his producer Maura Hoffman, have plans to tour the film around the U.S. this fall and then to London in December of 2012, and the film is also available on DVD and streaming through their website. An ambitious effort like this, which took four years to produce, is not as easy to make as it looks, as the film has dozens of authors interviewed, many locations, and many minutes of graphics and effects which are time-consuming to make. If you have the means, I recommend funding filmmakers like Perlin to make more projects with these messages.

As for my skepticism as to the mass appeal of this film and its polarizing nature, I’ve realized people are more ready that I previously thought. As the Course in Miracles says, “A good teacher must believe in the ideas he teaches, but he must meet another condition; he must believe in the students to whom he offers the ideas.” Michael Perlin truly believes in us and trusts us with his message: We are God.

Seekers (and finders) of the truth will be well-pleased with this offering from Starseed Entertainment, but most of us movie lovers are still looking for that seminal film that will merge art and enlightenment.

By Jefferey Cavanaugh

Inspirational sports movies are a road that has been well traveled by directors for years. Films like Rocky and Rudy opened the floodgates to a stream of low quality inspirational sports films, which should be avoided like the plague. Occasionally a film comes along that manages to dodge the cliches and present a remarkable inspirational story with three dimensional characters, great dialogue, fantastic settings and actors. One such film is “Cinderella Man,” directed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellwegger. This movie touched me deeply and inspired some serious changes in my life.

What is “Cinderella Man” About?

This film is based on the life of the early 20th century boxer, James J. Braddock. This man was a talented and accomplished fighter during the height of the Great Depression. This film follows the ups and downs of his life and his family’s struggle with poverty. All throughout the film, Braddock has a calm dignity no matter what his circumstances, and faces death and hardship regularly to make sure that his family has a place to sleep and food to eat. While he accepts charity from the government, when he gets back on his feet he pays the money right back. Eventually his persistence pays off, and he wins a very big fight against the world heavyweight champion.

How is This Film Inspirational?

I took a number of lessons from this film that have helped inspire me to work through hardships I may face in life. James J. Braddock exhibits a calm dignity and style through the roughest situations and keeps himself together no matter what faces him. His steely determination at the height of the worst economic crisis this country has ever seen is awe inspiring at times, especially considering that before the Depression hit Braddock was a relatively wealthy man. When the market collapsed, he and his family were thrown into poverty. Yet while his physical assets and wealth were taken from him, he never loses sight of what was really important. Essentially, Braddock never really becomes poor because he never feels that he is.

Braddock’s undying love for his wife and children is also a very inspirational thread that runs through this film. Everything Braddock does is for his family. Everytime I watch this film I am inspired to live more for others and to make sure that everyone around me is as happy and comfortable as possible, regardless of the cost to my own happiness or status. “Cinderella Man” has affected me in a number of positive ways. This film may be inspirational for anyone who happens to be going through a hard time. The movie helps to remind us that no matter how bad we may have it, someone else could be much worse off. These factors combine to create an inspirational film for the ages. “Cinderella Man” manages to tug on your heartstrings while at the same time showing you an important message about life, family, and hardship.

This is a guest post written by Jefferey Cavanaugh. Jeffrey is an avid movie watcher and film buff in Hollywood CA. When Jefferey is not contributing to career resource sites such as DegreeJungle.com, he works as a writer full time and also spends a great deal of time watching film, television and stage productions.

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” reminds us that human beings are capable of displaying and receiving compassion, hope and courage in the midst of the most tragic circumstances. The movie is about a 10-year old boy trying to make sense of his father’s death in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The boy finds a key in his father’s (played by Tom Hanks) closet and sets off an adventure to try to find out what that key literally and figuratively unlocks to see if his father was trying to leave him any final message.

One message that really struck me as I watched the movie was how important it is to be compassionate and forgiving of ourselves during tragedy. The 10-year old boy spends the whole movie questioning whether he could have done more for his father. This reminded me of how we, similar to the boy, often carry unnecessary guilt by questioning whether we could have done more to prevent or improve circumstances in our life that are out of our control. By the end of the movie, the boy has learned to be compassionate towards himself and let go of his guilt. This inspired me to let go of my need to question whether I should do more in certain situations in my life.

The other message that really impressed me was to be open to the goodness of humanity and kindness in others. The 10-year boy embarks on a dangerous journey walking across New York City on foot to meet with other people who might be able to tell him what the key unlocks. He puts his trust in the goodness of others that they might be able to help him. In return, we witness the kindness, compassion and goodness that complete strangers are capable of extending. This reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Dr. David Hawkins:

“Simple kindness to one’s self and all that lives is the most powerful transformational force of all. It produces no backlash, has no downside, and never leads to loss or despair. It increases one’s own true power without exacting any toll. But to reach maximum power such kindness can permit no exceptions, nor can it be practiced
with the expectation of some selfish reward. And its effect is as far reaching as it is subtle”

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” shows us the incredible power that is available to us when we practice extending love to our self and others and also practice receiving other people’s love.

I recently hosted a Teleconference with Viki King on how to market inspirational and conscious books, movies and Web sites. Viki is a consultant and the best-selling author of How to Write a Movie in 21 Days – The Inner Movie Method. On our Teleconference, Viki discussed:

- How to Build It So They Will Come
- Beyond Social Networking
- The Magic of Cosmic Marketing

She also answered specific questions ranging from:

1. How to make it in the entertainment industry if you know NO ONE
2. How to get your project made and distributed if you have NO money
3. Viral marketing strategies

You can listen to the MP3 of the audio recording of this call by clicking the play button below, or use the MP3 Download link to download to your computer:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Viki King MP3 Download

P.S…I’ve ‘uncopyrighted’ this MP3…So, you can make copies of it and pass it on to friends who might benefit from this information too! =)

It’s a Wonderful Life continues to touch people’s heart and soul year after year with its message of love. Many movie critics ripped it apart when it was released. But, it is arguably the most successful movie ever made. The director of the film, Frank Capra, believed in the inherent goodness of life and humanity. This was not easy considering his career as a filmmaker took place during the Depression and World War II. His belief that people are basically good inspires hope.

Another valuable message of his film is the importance of the love between family and friends, both seen and unseen. During George Bailey’s (James Stewart) dark night of the soul, he looks over a bridge and contemplates suicide. At that moment a guardian angel in training, Clarence, enters into his life. This reminds us that in our darkest hour, the power of love — even from sources unknown to us — is transformative and can bring us out of our moments of despair.

Wings of Desire. Wim Wenders, 1987

This is a guest movie review written by Jennifer Kavanagh.

I first saw this film soon after it came out. It was at a time in my life that was unaffected by faith, and seeing it again more than twenty years later was a very different experience. I last saw it on DVD a few months ago, because I felt it was relevant to something I’m writing, and it retained all its power to move me.

Wings of Desire is a film about guardian angels. If we think of angels at all (and I’m not someone who is “into” angels), we are used to thinking of them as superior beings, close to the Divine. Here we are shown another side to angelic life, a life that is deprived of much that we humans take for granted. We see beings in touch with the eternal; we see the compassion of those who can read the minds of humans, hold them in loving support and suggest things to their minds, but are powerless to intervene.

The focus is on Damiel, a guardian angel who wants to be human. He is prepared to give up eternal life to experience the sense-richness of earthly life, to feel the solidity of the earth beneath his feet. As he says:

“It’s great to live by the spirit, to testify day by day for eternity, only what’s spiritual in people’s minds. But sometimes I’m fed up with my spiritual existence. Instead of forever hovering above I’d like to feel a weight grow in me to end the infinity and to tie me to earth. I’d like, at each step, each gust of wind, to be able to say “Now.” Now and now” and no longer “forever” and “for eternity.” To sit at an empty place at a card table and be greeted, even by a nod.”

Above all, he wants the freedom to fall in love.

Wings of Desire is a profoundly romantic film. Its beauty, poetry and timelessness are breathtaking, as is its technical subtlety. Shot in monochrome; the film breaks into colour only when we witness a human perspective – something that I’m not sure I noticed on first viewing. Its setting, the then divided Berlin, is a metaphor for the artificial division of spirit and body. We first realize that Damiel is no longer an angel when we see his footprint: a palpable sign of embodiment, of being a human being with all the frailty and glory that that entails. Wings of Desire arouses in the audience a deeper understanding of what it means to be human, and moves us to give thanks.

This is a guest movie review written by Jennifer Kavanagh http://www.jenniferkavanagh.co.uk/

Jeff Brown is a former lawyer turned author (Soulshaping: A Journey of Self-Creation) and filmmaker. His debut film, Karmageddon, is a personal examination of the spiritual journey featuring 1960s counter-culture icon and chanter Bhagavan Das. Bhagavan Das came to fame in the best-selling book “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass, the Harvard professor fired with Timothy Leary for their LSD experiments in the 1960s.

Karmageddon traverses all manner of interactive terrain: shadow and light, heart and soul, psychological and spiritual, the sacred and the profane.

For example, during the film Jeff is very critical of Bhagavan Das’s ethical and sexual decisions and even asks Ram Dass:

“Does how he (Bhagavan Das) behave in his personal life really matter?”

Ram Dass answers emphatically: “Yes it matters…you have to be able to justify your actions on every plane.”

During the film, Jeff does not shy away from expressing his own anger at Bhagavan’s behavior, especially in regards to women and even how Bhagavan Das treats Jeff’s girlfriend. This film really is a refreshing look at how to respond to a guru, teacher or any person we have trusted who has wronged us. It also shows us how to integrate spiritual and psychological teachings into our daily lives in a practical way that can help us deal with childhood traumas, unexpressed emotions and our pain. For example, this film helped me realize that is okay for me to feel angry, upset and hurt at times; and that by expressing those emotions in a healthy manner, I can work through them and grow from them. It also reminded me of the importance of creating congruence, authenticity and integrity in all parts of my life including my psychological and personal life…

I recently had a chance to interview Jeff about Karmageddon. I asked Jeff why he asked Ram Dass about whether the way Bhagavan Das behaves in his personal life matters; and how Jeff would answer the question if someone asked him. The rest of our interview covers much more psychological, spiritual, and personal questions. For instance, during our conversation Jeff answered many questions that most spiritual and self-improvement authors avoid talking about such as:

1. Must there be congruity between the teachings and the teacher’s personal life?

2. How can we bridge the quest for essence and unity consciousness fundamental to certain eastern traditions, with the quest for a healthy self-concept intrinsic to the western psychotherapeutic revolution?

3. How can we honor and express justified anger, without doing more damage?

4. What is the relationship between emotional and spiritual health?

Jeff’s answer to each question reveal an honesty about himself that show *us* it is okay to feel and be human while we pursue our path and callings in life.

You can listen to our interview by pressing the play button or download an MP3 of our interview by ‘right clicking’ on the text that says DOWNLOAD MP3 of INTERVIEW.

DOWNLOAD MP3 of INTERVIEW

Also, from now until December 21, you can watch KARMAGEDDON for free at http://vimeo.com/54939635.

SACRED JOURNEY OF THE HEART is a new documentary that investigates the healing power of the heart. I liked this movie a lot! The part of this film that I really liked is it talked about how to deal with negative feelings and traumas in an effective, healthy and transformational manner by using compelling real-life examples.

This is a bit of a digression, but one thing that kind of annoys me sometimes about movies like THE SECRET and other self-help gurus is they are too cerebral and literally just tell you to change your thoughts and you will feel better. This can work sometimes and usually is a pretty practical method for dealing with day to day challenges and even some bigger dreams. But, for some people who have suffered childhood traumas such as abuse or neglect, a devastating relationship break up, a death, or a lost job, those people (in my opinion) need to take some time to feel, express and eventually release their anger, sadness, confusion and grief.

For example, the filmmaker Ronna Prince, explains that she was inspired to make the film in order to explore the connection between the mind and the heart:

“This film started out as a promise I made to myself as a child, someday I would be heard and someday I would heal my heart. I suffered prolonged abuse as a child and my own life-long journey has brought me to profound heart-based healing that I share in the film.”

The reason I liked SACRED JOURNEY OF THE HEART is because it actually talks about how to deal with these painful feelings, experiences and traumas without simply telling people to “change their thoughts.” And, they use real people to talk about how they did that. I won’t go into detail so that you can watch the film and enjoy it without knowing everything about it. But, I thought SACRED JOURNEY OF THE HEART did a beautiful job of showing how real people expressed and worked-though some extremely difficult traumas, emotions and experiences in a way that was authentic, real and still uplifting…

It is available November 11, 2012 on DVD. The speakers in the film include Gregg Braden, Dr. Deborah Rozman, Cynthia James, Sarah McLean, Sunny Dawn Johnston, Uqualla, Larry Running Turtle Salazar, Colin Tipping and Mary Manin Morrissey. For more information you can visit the film’s web site at:
http://www.sacredjourneyoftheheart.com/