CHAPTER SUMMARY

We’ll jump right into the course, just as the motorcycle riders were plopped right into this new world of Rishikesh India, the crazy Indian road killer traffic, a radical modern guru, and the unexpected news that cloudbursts and monsoons have lasted a month longer than usual, washing away villages, bridges, and reeking havoc on the road to the first of four sacred Himalayan peaks of freedom. Every pilgrimage has to have its challenges. Every pilgrimage requires us to make great leaps, because a pilgrimage is a journey to truth. And the truth cannot be contained in our small worldview. So, we must leap out of that worldview to find truth, but thankfully the truth will set us free.

In this chapter, we learn how important it is to take quantum leaps in our own life. If we want freedom, we must break this bubble we live in. This bubble can be explained as our habitual, unexamined, and unquestioned worldview; how we see/perceive the world. And this bubble can enslave us, especially if we think we are free when we are not. So the first step in a journey to freedom is to step out of the bubble. This takes great courage, great willingness and nothing less than total commitment, and the reward is nothing less than liberation and freedom.

HOW THESE CHAPTERS FLOW

First, you’ll watch the episode, knowing what the general topic of the chapter is, and you’ll see the lesson on freedom jump out at you. Then you’ll read the Chapter where we explore the wisdom of freedom in real down-to-earth language and detail. Then we break the wisdom down into bullet points for your easy reference. Next we explore how the characters in the show embody that wisdom by showing you video clips and discussing the virtues/character strengths they exhibit. By watching and relating to them, you can cultivate these virtues for your own freedom.

Lastly we finish off by taking you deep into the journey in the Himalayas again, with the unseen bonus footage filmed during The Road To Dharma. These deep discussions are with master yogi Anand Mehrotra. As you can imagine, only pieces can make it into a show, but now you get to see the whole thing, as if you were right there on a journey. And then finally we’ll leave you with an audio meditation practice that combines pranayama, kriya, and mantra. The goal of these powerful yet compact practices is for you to feel and shift your energy to embody this aspect of freedom, and do realize you can do so in a matter of 20-30 minutes.

Now, I am a realist and I realize that you might just binge watch the whole series at once and then come back and read the chapters. That’s fine. Get into it. Take the journey. Then, when you come back and read a chapter, watch the episode again. You’ll experience the episode in a very different manner. The teaching will deepen. And the power of watching a real journey is that you feel emotions, the mind actually has neurons firing like you are there, you empathize, and you receive the experience. And so, if you are watching with the wisdom in mind, then you are translating the experience into deep understanding even quicker. And then one day, perhaps you can see your life as objectively as a movie that you are here to learn through… but we’ll talk about that later… or maybe you’re ready now, ready to take that huge leap and let go of identifying with your story! That’s a great start and intro into Quantum Leaps.

EACH CHAPTER INCLUDES:

• The Episode from the Road to Dharma Series
• The Key to Living a Life of Freedom Wisdom: Creator and Narrator of the Road to Dharma, Adam Schomer, takes us deeply into this aspect of Freedom, using real world examples and examples from the series.
• Simple Wisdom Breakdown: For easy reference on this aspect of Living in Freedom.
• Character Virtues: How the characters experienced the wisdom, how they showed positive character virtues, how you can adapt those strengths: (Courage, Humanity, Transcendence, Temperance, Justice, and Wisdom.)
• Unseen Bonus Footage/Deep Dharma Talk:The Full Interview/Talk with Anand at the sacred site.
• Meditation Practice specific to practicing the Key to Living a Life of Freedom.

CHAPTER ONE: FREEDOM TAKES QUANTUM LEAPS

I like to begin each chapter with a personal example and story that is not in the Road To Dharma series. I like to share something of my life that you can relate to and we can reference when discussing some quite profound and often daunting wisdom. So I’ll start with a story about how all this motorcycling with a guru began. It was by all means a quantum leap for me, doing something that seemed impossible and would possibly kill me.

I had come to see Anand Mehrotra in Rishikesh, India (the birthplace of yoga, nestled on the mighty Ganga River) in 2007 and 2008 with a group. Then in 2009 I went alone to spend time one on one with him, meditating by the ganga, walking through the jungles, discussing wisdom, and by all means developing the relationship of Guru and Student. Then one day, near the banks of the Ganga river at Ram Jhula( a bridge/neighborhood in Rishikesh) he said to me “Do you want to come ride motorcycles with me into the Himalayas, over the highest road in the world? Over 18,000ft, Ladakh India…”

I was half frozen.

I mustered a smile, just to give myself a moment to think.

You see, I did not know how to ride a motorcycle and if you had seen me ride even a moped in India you would have tilted your head, pulled down your glasses and said, “You, ride a moto into Himalayas? You crashed a moped twice already!” That’s what my ego was saying. Actually it was worse than that, but another voice inside was very loudly saying “Just say YES, move your lips. Adam, move your lips. Just say yes!” And I did. And then, as mentioned, that Ego voice got worse, “Holy crap, he is going to kill you. Are you crazy. This guy has had a Vedic prophecy he will die in an accident and you’re going with him!!?”

I took a quantum leap in that moment. I chose to burst the bubble of my worldview. The worldview was that I am not a motorcycle rider, that I will die if I ride with my guru, and that I should probably stay safe and think this through. Yet, I leapt and in that moment I became a motorcycle rider, I committed to be beyond my fears of death, and I committed to a safety that is not based in security, but more based in the safety of knowing who I truly am. And I did ultimately realize I am greater than my expectations. Just as life is greater than our expectations of it.

Does that mean I didn’t feel afraid every day after that choice?

Of course I did. The mind came rushing back in to try and find its grounding and its safety again. But a few things were going on: One is that on some level I was aware that I live in a bubble, a worldview that was keeping me small and hidden from the truth. Secondly, I knew that to grow, to evolve, and to find truth, we have to pop the bubble. Thirdly, I knew that only I had created this bubble, so it must be me who will pop it. And lastly, beyond all of that, I simply knew to listen to the calling of Love. I knew to listen to the calling of the Truth, which I see as the love of self. And I knew that I desired to grow and be in the Himalayas with my master. Did I have fear? Oh yes! And it came and went all throughout that first trip, The Highest Pass documentary, as I was learning valuable lessons. One of those lessons will really help us all as we make quantum leaps in our lives and watch our minds try to pull us away from those leaps. Here it is:

So lets break down this idea of a quantum leap - bursting the bubble.

Become Aware that we are in a bubble.

This is a first step to making a quantum leap, is to become aware of the bubble we live in our head. Most people think they are free, and thus their life goes unquestioned. We must first understand that we have bias and worldviews that are not necessarily based in truth or freedom. On some level everyone that came on this Road to Dharma journey knew that they wanted freedom, but they still had an outlook on life and themselves that was keeping them from it. It will help to understand what those worldviews are and how they got created, because we honestly waste so much of our energy and life trying to maintain this bubble… Can you see that? How much time and energy we use to maintain life in its comfortable bubble… how much planning do you do so that you don’t feel uncomfortable? Or are put in a situation that is uncomfortable. Or, another example would be how much energy we waste doubting ourselves. How is doubt maintenance? Well, if you are in constant doubt, its due to a view of the world that isn’t content, that still needs to prove itself, that isn’t accepting the way things are. So, we’ll doubt ourselves and our pasts, because we believe the current situation isn’t good enough. If that’s not clear, it will be soon. If nothing else, lets agree that our energy, our life force, is precious. So, let’s not waste it, especially on maintaining a small bubble.

That bubble is created by our worldview, which is our story of Self.

I love that Anand says that “whatever world we live in, we create myths and symbols, giving meaning to things they don’t have. It takes great courage to pay attention to it.” I started this chapter with it, because we need to know this is what is going on. This “Who am I” that we think we are is created by the conditioned self. This includes conditioning that we received from society, from family, and from our own traumas and experiences. The conditioned self… but not the true self.

Some examples of worldview that we see in the Episode One are the views people hold of the Ganga River, of Guru, and of Self.

• The Ganga River:

  For many in the Hindu religion, it is the epitome of the divine mother. The holy Ganga. The mother. But often it is just a religious belief, a bubble created around it, that lacks deep knowing. So then they come to the Ganga and dip in and she is fiercely flowing with rapids so she sometimes takes them under… Then she becomes a witch! The circumstances have changed and thus the view changes. So the view was not truth, it was limited to the bubble of belief and fantasy. If she really is the divine mother, then she is that whether or not she is calm or fierce – always a mother, as Anand says.

• The Guru:

  I purposefully began the episode by introducing Anand in a very casual way. I wanted the audience to see him walking in the jungle, joking with me about sleeping on a tree as a kid. I wanted to demystify the idea of guru as an old man in a cave or a person that just speaks wisdom. Anand can joke around, rides a motorcycle and clearly has reactions when he reads of 31 people killed in the cloudburst. He is real. I did this so the audience could let down their guard and also could take him off the pedestal of perfection. Otherwise we look to find ways to persecute the sage, to pull him down off the pedestal. So, I chose to present him in the Road to Dharma in a way that takes him out of the bubble that normally confines a guru as having to look or act a certain way. Wouldn’t that “bubble” limit what you can receive from guru? Just like the river, if he is spouting wisdom one might love him and if he is making fun of you or making you feel uncomfortable, you might hate him… And, some people might never listen to him if he is presented as all too pious.

• Self/Story:

  People are usually good until they come into difficult circumstances. Then the truth comes out. The true stories that are running in the background. We go deeply into uncovering these stories we have of ourselves in Episode/Chapter Two... but for now its enough to know that we have been told by others who we are, we have been told by society what will make us happy, and we have been informed by experiences how we can stay safe in life. All this will need to crack open to find freedom.

Courage to pop it. Leap beyond what we believe and perceive.

We realize our worldview is holding us back, that it enslaves us, and that it is taking so much of our time and energy to keep this bubble afloat. But nonetheless, it takes great courage and willingness to take an action that pops it, that shatters it. In fact this popping it is in fact the quantum leap. This is where that inspirational quote “More love than fear,” is very appropriate and helpful. We are not going to wait until we aren’t afraid. We are not going to wait until things are comfortable. We are not going to let the “Ifs and Buts” get in the way. We aren’t waiting to finish the past or wait for a utopic future. In fact, we might want to realize that when we feel challenged and uncomfortable, we are being given an opportunity to pop our bubble, to take a quantum leap. These are the cues that its time to step up, not recoil and wait until it’s all better. Usually, we seek escape routes in this moment, which we will talk about in Chapter Three, and avoid taking the leap. But it is our intention and great commitment, when seeking freedom, that we take the leap. To me, most of it is internal. It might take the form of external action, and the bubble might pop because of new circumstance and an external journey or pilgrimage, but usually that’s all a result of the internal “aha” or “Love” that you are following.

When does the leap occur? Now.

I don’t mean now as you read, but maybe. I mean that all leaps happen in the now. What that means for us is that we must be in the present moment. You don’t leap when stuck in the past or in the future. So come into the present at those moments where you can feel your world crumbling… and then leap. Anand speaks in more detail about this in the Bonus Footage dharma talk at the end of this Chapter. For me, at the banks of the Ganga back in 2009, I could see my whole life being challenged by this offer to ride on The Highest Pass and I made my lips say “Yes.” However, it didn’t stop there. There were so many more leaps along the that first journey to The Highest Pass… one happened when we visited an Oracle.

It never ends. The attitude of freedom has us make leap after leap.

While on the Highest Pass journey we journeyed to Ladakh, India, which is a region of Himalayan mountains and plateau that is all over 11,000ft. It is all very steeped in Tibetan Buddhism. While there we had the opportunity to go see an Oracle. An oracle is someone that channels spirit. The Dali Lama himself has a personal oracle that he consults with for counsel. Despite this, even making space in one’s perception for an experience with a spiritual channel is itself something that can crack the mind’s hold on reality.

Asking the Oracle a question.

I had thought about this and decided that I would internally ask the question “Whatever is most beneficial for my evolution, may I receive that.” Embedded in this very question is realizing that I have a worldview that more than likely is confined. Thus realizing that any question from “me” probably comes from my bubble. But, I’d like to grow beyond my limited knowing.... So lets take the attitude of being open to not even knowing the question to ask. Do you feel me on this? It’s like realizing that life might be giving you the lessons you need rather than what you thought you needed. So, opening up to that possibility is a “popping of the bubble,” a relinquishing of control. This is a leap, letting go.

Interested in what the oracle said to me and to all of us? It’s a beautiful scene in The Highest Pass documentary, worth experiencing, but I’ll tell you some. She said I “You have a good heart. Have lead many good lifetimes. Lucky man. And you do not need to cause any more suffering or hurt anything anymore.” I get emotional writing it as I know this heart and I also know that I lost some of it on the Road to Dharma, as you’ll see in episode 10. But recently in 2018 on another motorcycle journey (not filmed), I reclaimed that heart. It’s been a long journey and again goes to show that it never ends and that it’s the attitude of freedom that has us continually make leap after leap.

What is the Road to Dharma? What is Dharma?

The meaning of Dharma, like the journey to being free, will evolve and take on more meaning for you as you watch the episodes and read the chapters. I don’t want to fully define it as it needs some flexibility and space for you to feel it for yourself. It takes on many meanings and Dharma needs the ability to deepen and change as you deepen and change. What I offer up now as a base for us is this:

The Truth will set you Free.

Dharma is that Truth.

And Dharma is also the path to that Truth.

Our intention in the Road to Dharma (and in this course) is to find freedom. And the Truth sets us Free, as I have said. Thus this Road to Dharma becomes a journey to the find truth (Dharma) and thus to find freedom. However, The Road To Dharma is also about learning and realizing the Path to the truth. What I mean is that the path (or method) to find the truth is also as important as the destination/wisdom. In living the path, we are living the truth, living the freedom. The method (the path) is the dharma and thus the method is freedom too. Why is this important? Because the truth, much like you, is also ever growing and expanding, so it has to also include the path to it. And so the road we are on (the journey to four sacred peaks) will show us how to embody the Path to Truth… it will show us a way of Being that exemplifies that truth, that freedom; Freedom must also include the way of Living in Freedom.

Final thoughts on Episode One

I started this lesson walking along the Ganga River with my guru. Now, I want to leave you with a some lasting advice he got while walking along the Ganga with his guru, Maraji. As you’ll see in Chapter Ten, Maraji was a true master that even chose the exact moment he would pass on from this world. He would rarely talk, mostly transmitting wisdom to Anand in silence… So I love these stories of his actual words of wisdom. This is just one of the nuggets you’ll also find in the bonus interview with Anand about his guru and growing up as his student.

WISDOM BREAKDOWN

The Quantum leap is going to something beyond what we know. It is not gradual. It might come from lots of work leading up to it, but in the now it is a big jump. When we have that “aha!” moment, then we must go for it. And when we leap, our bubble bursts. You’ll know the small worldview collapses because you’ll begin to see the truth. And this truth will set you free.

THE QUANTUM LEAP

The Quantum leap is going to something beyond what we know. It is not gradual. It might come from lots of work leading up to it, but in the now it is a big jump. When we have that “aha!” moment, then we must go for it. And when we leap, our bubble bursts. You’ll know the small worldview collapses because you’ll begin to see the truth. And this truth will set you free.

• Know that we are in a bubble.
• See that our view of the world creates that bubble.

  This includes the story of our selves, the conditioning from family/friends, and conditioning from society and the conditioning from the time period in which we live.

• That bubble limits us.

  It confines us. We spend way too much time maintaining it. Ultimately it even enslaves us, keeping us from freedom.

• Be willing to leap beyond our worldview and limiting self-beliefs.

  This is the quantum leap.

• This world is beyond our Expectations. Thankfully so!
• Repeat over and over.

  Soon, the new will become the normal and again we will be called to leap. It’s a never-ending process of freedom. It is the path, the road to dharma.

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE

This is very similar to the quantum leap, but is in different language that might speak more to your experience in a given moment. These are some statements and questions that help guide us toward the truth.

• We give meaning to things they don’t have.

  Myths. Symbols.

• Have courage to pay attention to it.
• Look at where we waste our energy maintaining these meanings.
• Why would we not alter our worldview then?
• Am I the world? Or the world is me?

  Does the outside define me, or do I have control of how I perceive the outside?

• We must ask the question: Who am I?

  And thus… what is it that you really see? Who is it that you are really seeing through now?

• Here we find truth. Here we find freedom.

CHARACTER VIRTUES: SEEING WISDOM IN ACTION

When we watch stories on television, we empathize with characters. We feel scared with them, we hope for redemption for them, we cheer for them, and something about them resonates with us. Hopefully what resonates are their virtues and strengths. Why? Because then we will be motivated to cultivate those virtues. Am I saying that by watching TV we can improve ourselves? Yes. That’s what story at its origin was meant to do, not dumb us down and make us addicted. Conscious media will unshackle you. You walk out empowered. That is the goal of The Road To Dharma. To entertain you and also to unshackle you! To help you find your freedom.

Here are the main virtues/strengths as laid out by the VIA INSTITUTE ON CHARACTER, a global leader in the practice of character, and as seen in the deeply insightful book: POSITIVE PYSCHOLOGY AT THE MOVIES 2. It is a set of virtues that those in the media world and beyond have come to understand make for a better human being, that we would all want to cultivate… and thus would want to show in stories to teach people how to be better people. Lets have a look at the six major virtues and their sub virtues.

• COURAGE: Bravery, Honesty, Perseverance, Zest.
• HUMANITY: Love, Kindness, Social Intelligence
• WISDOM & KNOWLEDGE: Creativity, Curiosity, Judgment, Love of Learning, Perspective
• TRANSCENDENCE: Gratitude, Hope, Humor, Spirituality, Appreciation
• JUSTICE: Teamwork, Fairness, Leadership

  *I personally like the word Inclusivity, which I feel falls in Teamwork and Fairness.

• TEMPERANCE: Forgiveness, Humility, Prudence, Self-Regulation.

These are also qualities to reinforce and that give us greater access to freedom. Let’s see how the characters embodied this (or didn’t.) and how it brings to light the wisdoms and realizations of the episode. Also note that for your ease, we have included the specific clips from the episode, so you can easily watch the section again without scrolling through the video.

FRED’S SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

• COURAGE: bravery, honesty, and perseverance.
• WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE: Curiosity, Love of Learning
• TRANSCENDENC: Gratitude

You really have to love and admire Fred. The man is 75 years old and fully admits that his identity has based solely on his career. He even goes as far as to say that he would like to know what it means to be “Human.” It shows that he has definitely embodied Honesty and Love of Learning. He has also embodied the wisdom of realizing he is living in a bubble. Realizing also that it’s his worldview of self that has created that bubble. And then at 75 years old, having not ridden in 40 years, signs up for a motorcycle journey in the Himalayas… what?! Amazing spirit and Bravery. His Perseverance shows after he falls down, tearing up the skin on his arm. He gets right back up, wraps it in bandanas and off he goes again on the bike.

Anand recognizes this spirit in Fred. Anand and I spoke behind the scenes about Fred and if he was capable or not. He revealed to me how deeply important it is to honor Fred’s deep intention in coming here. It deeply touched Anand that an older person was really willing and committed to changing his life, even at 75… to even risk his life for the truth that he had hidden from for so long. I learned a lot by seeing how Anand cared for Fred and honored Fred’s intention. We see more of Anand really giving Fred all the support he can in Episodes Two and Three and really throughout the whole series.

This clip shows Fred discussing his identity, his fall, and then his deep Gratitude for being on the journey.

TIFFANY – THE FEMININE ROLE MODEL

• COURAGE: Bravery.
• JUSTICE: Leadership
• TRANSCENDENCE: Spirituality

Tiffany has a three-year-old son who she’s leaving for the first time. She’ll be gone for three weeks on a motorcycle on some of the most treacherous roads in the world and everyone she tells thinks she’s crazy. Yet as Anand says “If you have not been called crazy you have never lived.” What does he mean? If you have never questioned the norm, gone beyond what’s safe for others and life, then you are playing too small and never realizing who you really are. He means that we should not give into society’s limited conditioned way of thinking. And you’ll hear him reference Krishnamurti later in the series, “To be well adjusted to a sick society is no measure of health.”

Tiffany wants to give her son a feminine role model that is adventurous, that follows her calling and risks what is known for a greater understanding. She wants him to see the feminine in that way… She is showing her Leadership in this way. And she doesn’t expect others or even her parents to understand that. Why didn’t she tell her parents? I can only imagine she didn’t want to hear all the reasons why not to go… Don’t we have enough of our own fears without those from others too? And when we have the “Aha!” moment, and the bubble pops, we need to have Courage to follow it. Her desire for Spirituality outweighs the fearful mind. But as we’ll see in Episode Four, that fearful mind isn’t gone, it hasn’t just disappeared. That’s why we learned in this chapter to simply have More Love than Fear. I also included a special talk on that in the bonus footage.

RYAN’S SEIZURES & NEVER RIDING AGAIN?

• TEMPERANCE: Humility.
• TRANSCENDENCE: Gratitude
• COURAGE: Bravery

So in Ryan’s past he fell off some scaffolding, broke his collarbone, some ribs and subsequently starting having seizures after that point. Then one day when riding his motorcycle home from work, he took a seizure while going through a high-speed turn, flipped his bike and had a massive concussion. His doctor stopped him from riding. He admittedly thought he would never ride again. Anand could tell he was meant to be on the Road To Dharma, it was time for Ryan to make a leap… we’ll see that Ryan’s arc and leaps continue throughout the whole series, as they do in life in general. But it is this first desire to say “Yes, I’m coming to India to ride and find myself, to find peace in all areas of my life.” This is the first leap. Again, he was not yet cleared to ride by his doctor, and wasn’t sure he would be cleared, but goes about raising money for this trip. He has faith.

All riders paid for their own journeys, in fact people only knew it would be filmed just about a month before. This wasn’t a “casted” show. I think you see that in Ryan’s sincerity throughout the journey. He truly wants to transform and you can see he is Grateful to even be here riding. “Peace love and motorcycles, I love motorcycles,” he says… But he wasn’t expecting night riding, nor was he expecting night riding during the rain. More on that in Chapter Two. The point is, he is Grateful to even be able to be here, able to ride, and able to afford the opportunity. He is Humble in that he knows the dangers of riding, first hand. And yet despite that he is incredibly Brave.

DHARMA WISDOM TALKS by HIMALAYAN MASTER ANAND MEHROTRA

As you can imagine, we can only show parts of the full talks that Anand gives. But in this bonus footage you get to hear the full discussion and really digest this wisdom. The quantum leap talk takes place near a temple outside of Rishikesh called Kunja Puri, which is also the place where Anand gave an impactful talk during The Highest Pass. We’ve decided to give you that talk as well because it hits on that very important tool I have mentioned: “Have more love than fear!” In the talks you will hear Anand talk about:

Quantum Leap

• What is the quantum leap
• It occurs in the now, in no time.
• What is self-mastery.
• How the past is shaped by the you now. So you can change the past.
• We are cause, not effect.
• Don’t be victim.
• Invitation of pilgrimage is to know thyself.

Have more Love than Fear

• It’s too much to ask to not be afraid.
• Love is more powerful than Fear.