CHRIS MORROW: Well, thank you.
Thank you for having us.
We thought we'd actually start with a couple questions for you
guys, and then we'll get into our rap a little bit.
Just with a show of hands, we're curious,
how many people here might consider themselves meditators?
OK.
How about, how many people have tried it, but thought
it quote unquote "just didn't work,"
or they weren't good at it?
OK.
And it's all right to be honest, how many people
are skeptical that it works, haven't tried it?
All right, so not a lot of skeptics going here.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: They all read and shit.
These are smart people.
The research is crystal clear.
So it does work, obviously.
CHRIS MORROW: It does work.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Yeah.
I mean, well that's what the neuroscientists are saying,
right?
Everybody's saying that.
And they say the greatest gateway
to happiness, right, meditation.
You hear it, and you hear it enough, you kind of believe it.
But if you have faith in something, you do it.
Right?
You have total faith, absolute faith, you do it.
If it makes you happy, you do it.
Meditation makes you happy, that's what they say,
that's what the research says.
Meditation gives you greater brain functionality.
You people work at Google, you're all brainiacs, right?
Greater brain functionality, greater memory,
calm nervous system, get rid of your ADD, lower
your blood pressure, all that stuff.
You know all that, because you're sitting here.
You probably studied it quick, like the quick studies
that you are.
So you already know what meditation is for,
and what they say it does, and you kind of believe it
because the proof is everywhere now.
CHRIS MORROW: Well let's rewind it for one second,
because when we asked if some people had tried it and thought
didn't work, a lot of people--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: But the skeptics, no one would say--
CHRIS MORROW: No one's a skeptic, all right.
But the people who said they tried it, and it quote
"didn't work?"
RUSSELL SIMMONS: We're going to teach them, that's easy.
CHRIS MORROW: Well let's address that.
Is it possible to do meditation wrong,
or is everyone doing it right?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Well, yeah, wrong if you don't-- the one
thing you everyone has to have in order to be a meditator is
patience.
You have to have a bit of patience.
You know, my name is Rush, so I can meditate.
And my kids, they didn't want to meditate,
and their mother said, sit your [INAUDIBLE].
They became meditators, they said, don't move,
you know, and you sit there.
And the mind's crazy, like a monkey.
It bounces around in the head.
It's like, go to the refrigerator,
get something to eat, hit her before she breaks out,
she's gonna leave, get her this morning.
All kinds of stuff.
And you're sitting there, and your mind's
telling you, stop, stop.
And you're saying, I can't stop until the alarm goes off.
I can't.
The alarm goes off, so you can scratch,
you can do whatever you want, but you can't go nowhere.
So the mind is bouncing around like a monkey in a cage,
and then it settles, and you say to yourself, oh shit,
I'm meditating.
And then it bounces around some more,
and it transcends the thoughts even more.
And as the nervous system calms, the mind always goes after it.
That's the process.
It's simple, right?
The reason that we wrote this book is to demystify it,
meditation.
It's something I've been so passionate about for 20 years,
and I want people to do it.
I want kids in schools to do it, I want adults to do it.
I want the world to become a better place.
And if I could get more people to do it,
then I would lift the vibration of the planet
just a little bit, and I'd really
have contributed something besides entertainment.
Really contribute to the happiness of the planet,
or to the planet's ability to get along with each other
or love each other.
And so that's why this book is so important to me,
and I really have done a lot of work [INAUDIBLE].
Chris, you're watching me.
You're kind of surprised, right?
CHRIS MORROW: What am I surprised about?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: That I'm busting my ass, I'm everywhere.
CHRISMORROW:Oh no, he's working for this, it's true.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I mean, I give the money to charity
for my books, I don't make any money on them.
I've been working, the book's been on the best seller list,
like seven weeks.
I've been consistently working, and it's going to continue.
I want to put it in schools in Chicago,
where the most violence is.
I want people to watch the reduction in violence,
and see the schools' vibrations change.
I want to see that happen with people watching,
not like the schools we have all the country
where it's going on, where the research is clear.
But I want everybody to watch us do it in Chicago,
because I want to make it happen everywhere.
That's just a big ambition, and so that's why I keep pushing.
CHRIS MORROW: Well, let's take it
back a little bit for the people who haven't read the book yet.
Talk a little bit about--
RUSSELLSIMMONS: No one's read the book.
CHRIS MORROW: Or for everyone who hasn't read the book yet,
talk about your own journey to meditation.
What led you there?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Well, I went to yoga
a little over 20 years ago, because there
was no guys there, just girls.
All just beautiful girls.
They didn't have Lululemon see-through,
no shit like that, just shorts.
You know?
And I went to yoga, and there was a gay guy or two there,
but no guys, you know.
So anyway, I went to class.
And when I came out, I was high as hell.
I was like, oh shit, if I keep doing this,
I'm not going to make any more money,
because-- little bit of freedom.
And I used to think that-- the neurotic kind of person I
was, the noise that was always in my head, the rethinking
and rethinking, and the insomnia,
and the things that I was afflicted--
that those things were part of the formula for success.
That working, overworking, overthinking,
was part of the process.
And so I came out, I was a little worried,
because for a moment there was a little freedom from that.
And I learned since then that the seconds of stillness
are the only time you can ever make an informed decision, be
creative, or ever, never happy in the future or the past.
So the fluctuations of the mind are
the cause of suffering and sadness,
and the stillness of the mind causes happiness.
You know, every prophet has said it in every language,
and it's promoted throughout all religious dialogue, always.
But we have not embraced it.
And now all the doctors are saying it,
and they have all this proof, and so we should embrace this.
This idea of quieting the mind, consciously
working to quiet the mind.
Everything that we do, really, is geared towards this.
Everything we do-- take drugs, dumb the mind down,
get the noise out.
So it's cloudiness or clarity, are the two choices.
CHRIS MORROW: But haven't you always been looking for that,
even before you understood what meditation was?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Before I took drugs?
CHRIS MORROW: Well, yeah, because I remember
there's a famous story that Rick Rubin tells--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I started taking drugs very early.
CHRIS MORROW: Yeah.
But from that era--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I took drugs really early.
Before that, I didn't think about it much.
Did I misunderstand the question?
CHRIS MORROW: I didn't even get the question out.
But I mean, what I'm saying is, he tells a story about-- this
is probably like early '85 or mid '80s whatever,
living in NYU dorm rooms.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Are you on the [? past ?] steam room story?
CHRIS MORROW: Yeah, the steam room story.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: We all do-- I mean everything--
CHRIS MORROW: Do you guys know the steam room story?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: No, they don't [INAUDIBLE].
Everything is geared towards quieting the mind.
We don't realize it, we make the mind
go crazy while trying to quiet the mind.
We want the mind to be still, because that sunset--
the basketball players, we want to be in the zone.
You want to see the ball coming, catch it with this hand,
put it around here, and hand it to your man
so he can dunk the ball.
Right?
That's what we want to do, right?
Ball players, and they want to see it coming.
When the mind is fluctuating, you can't even catch the ball.
But when the mind is still, the rim is as big as this room,
you can't miss.
That expansive mindset is what we're all looking for.
In a car accident, everything's moving slow,
because you've carved out the past and future, everything's
oh shit.
That's the way the world is really
moving all the time, that slow.
It's the fluctuation of your mind keeping you
from seeing all the miracles as they unfold.
All the stuff given to you, all this beauty,
you don't see any of it because you've
got the noise in the mind.
We want to quiet the mind.
And when we quiet the mind, we see it all.
You've read this stuff-- because you're all smart people,
you've read-- it's true.
And having faith in it gives us more opportunity
to move towards it.
That means you have the tools available to you--
you have meditation, you have do-good karmic work,
all the shit.
All this stuff goes together, but the meditation--
of all the tools, of all the eight parts of yoga,
of all the religious teachings.
Of all the things that are meant to quiet the mind
to give you this consciousness, this heaven on earth,
no tool is greater than quiet time.
Because in here, is where it all is.
CHRIS MORROW: All right, but there
are a lot of different types of meditation.
The type that we talk about in the book
is mantra based meditation.
What brought you specifically to that style, or that approach?
Or did you to try other ones first?
How did you settle on mantra?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I think I've tried a lot since,
but I mean I started out, my first teachers
taught me to let go.
It's good, it's a good mantra.
It's a mantra based meditation.
And then they taught me candle gazing.
That's good.
They taught me concentrating on a thing.
On a thing that won't move.
You ever been in the water in a pool,
and you're just chilling right?
You want the water just to like--
and you're just chilling, that's meditation.
You just feel the fluctuation.
So concentration is a good tool for meditation.
Single pointed focus-- read a book,
and you forget to breathe-- that's still.
That's why when you like to do your work-- you make music,
my god you make music, and in between one
snare drum and the other like is a lifetime, the melody it's
beautiful, it sucks you all the way in.
So we want to be fully engaged in life, fully engaged
in its beauty, and meditation is the greatest tool
that I'm aware of.
This is why I want to give the world this tool.
CHRIS MORROW: Let's talk a little bit about what
trips the people up who do try, it and feel
like they weren't doing it right.
Because I know that when you first
started talking to me about meditation,
I'd be over at your house, and you'd be like,
let's meditate for 20 minutes.
And I would sit there, and I'd go through the motions,
and I'd have my eyes closed, and I'd have the right posture--
but in my mind I kept thinking, this isn't working,
I'm faking this.
It isn't happening, and the reason--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: People expect to--
CHRIS MORROW: Well that's the question.
RUSSELLSIMMONS: I'm going to answer it.
CHRIS MORROW: OK.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I know you.
CHRIS MORROW: For everybody else's benefit.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Will you ask the question?
CHRIS MORROW: For me, at least--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I've been working with this guy a lot
of years.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
CHRIS MORROW: So I kept thinking,
my mind isn't turning off.
I'm still having thoughts.
I'm thinking about the fact that I'm not meditating.
I'm thinking about the fact that--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You know I'm going
to include that in my answer, right?
CHRIS MORROW: OK.
So the question is, for someone who feels like their mind just
can't turn off, why is that something
that they shouldn't let trip them up?
And do you even ever get past that,
or is that just part of the process?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Like I said, the mind's
like a monkey bouncing around a cage.
You'll have seconds of stillness, and maybe not.
But calming your nervous system and rebooting the mind,
it's just like working out.
You do a push-up, you might not get a muscle after one push-up,
but it's good that you did it.
You kind of feel all up in your chest,
you feel like a muscle man.
You do 10 push-ups, shit, and the guys looking at you
like, you're the same motherfucker.
You haven't changed a bit.
But you feel like you--
So it's how meditation is, you know, the mind needs to settle,
needs to rest.
In your sleep, your mind's going crazy.
Your mind's doing all kinds of shit while you sleep, mostly.
But when you meditate, it's calming some.
Some days more than others.
Every day your meditation is different.
Never the same, always infinitely different.
But you have to sit and let your brain settle,
let it rest, reboot.
So people expecting something from meditation,
not going to work.
You will see results-- if you meditate regularly,
you will see dramatic results and changes
in your relationship with the world.
Changes in the way that you eat food, you'll be more mindful.
The scanners will show more gray matter on the brain
within six weeks of constant meditation.
The left side of the brain and the right side of the brain
will start to reconnect-- it starts disconnecting
at eight years old, it starts to reconnect.
You want that, right?
Your brain functionality will be improved.
You don't have to look for that, that's just going to happen.
So in the short term, maybe just rest.
The rest and perfection a little bit,
the idea of operating from a calm space.
We want the end result, right?
Imagine just sitting in a calm space, needing nothing.
This idea of needing nothing, that's what meditation is.
OK, watching your thoughts come and go.
In the world, being thoughtful in your choices,
not worried about results, being present, awake,
and thoughtful in your work, focused.
The work is the prayer, after all there's no payment.
They can't give you shit.
In life you want a comfortable seat,
that's all you really want.
If you can have a comfortable seat in life,
then that is the goal, that's happiness.
You're here to be happy.
And from that comfortable seat you
operate from what they refer to as operating in abundance.
So that's really purpose.
And then from there you become this great servant,
because when you take care of this you become a good servant.
And good givers are great getters,
so the toys come, and the cycle of giving and getting
speeds up, even though you slow down.
So that's kind of the rationale.
It's why I always put success in the books.
You know, I called my book "Super Rich" before this,
and everybody bought the book and said,
how can I-- there's no [INAUDIBLE].
The first chapter, the state of needing nothing,
they say, well, I'm going to throw this shit away.
But as you listen, it's a prosperity book.
The state of needing nothing-- needing nothing
attracts everything.
When you go to work needing nothing,
and you just do your job, forget results--
it's really important, it's really-- it's a thing.
You get happy from doing the work.
Making the song is the fun part.
Listening to the song and making the song, that's the fun part.
If you're a record producer, you remember making the record,
you don't remember the check.
You get the car, you drive the car around the block,
park the motherfucker, and say, damn, $400,000 for nothing.
It doesn't mean anything, the toys, the results.
All of us have to let go of the needy thing,
because that is like this much happiness,
so quick to come and go, it's nothing.
But the state of consistent bliss from a calm mind.
I know you know all this.
I'm repeating-- there's nothing in my book
new, and nothing I would tell you that's new,
but it's just remember to remember.
You know, why we're here, and what our purpose is,
and what makes us good servants.
Prosperity is the result.
CHRIS MORROW: Let's bring it back to the success thing
though.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: It always comes back to that.
CHRIS MORROW: It always comes back to the success thing.
We're speaking at Google, a lot of, like you said,
smart, ambitious people focused on their careers.
So specifically for you, as an entrepreneur,
as a business person who's juggling-- I
can attest to-- a lot of different things at one time.
How has meditation helped you?
How has it sharpened you?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I can say that I actually,
look-- every day I meditate twice, that's 40 minutes.
I go to class, that's an hour and a half.
CHRIS MORROW: Yoga class?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Yoga.
Every day, physical practice.
I don't give a shit what city I'm in,
I find a hot yoga room or a nice vinyasa practice, and I go.
Every single day.
So that's a lot of time out of my day.
I think I do twice as much in half the time.
I think, especially as a person who-- and all of us
all are-- people who have to make decisions,
thoughtful, smart decisions.
Get a little distance.
And when you meditate, the first thing that happens
is all the thoughts come racing into your mind.
And you take inventory.
And you see them for what they are, as
opposed to every thought giving you an emotional reaction.
CHRIS MORROW: Now you've talked about that's
when some of your best business ideas
have actually come to you, is that first initial stage
of meditation.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Yeah.
In the first part, in the first instance,
it really is usually a lot of noise.
Very seldom I sit down and say, ah, gone.
No, I sit and it's like-- should I just--
thoughts-- I was going to say a bad--
but the thoughts come, and you watch them differently.
You watch them.
And what you want to be in life is why we meditate.
We want to live in moving meditation.
Want to be a meditative person.
So in life, you want to be the watcher.
The watcher is the greatest doer,
because the watcher's watching and, oh, let me just
move this button.
And everybody's like, oh shit, you see what he did?
The watcher.
You know, the brain, you know, a little piece of your brain
when you meditate.
I always think of the basketball thing,
because I've had it many times.
And I'm not that good, in fact, I'm old.
CHRIS MORROW: I was about to say.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I don't know why you were going to say.
CHRIS MORROW: Anyway.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: But I'm much older now,
I don't play basketball that often,
and certainly not-- I don't have young guys putting their knee
in my chest while they stuff the ball,
that shit's not happening anymore.
But there's moments of when you're really
doing your thing, because-- He keeps like shaking
his head like, yeah I'm nice, I'm nice.
Are you a basketball player?
But the idea of being awake, fully awake.
You know runners, you get there, everything moves slow.
You say, oh shit, I'm not even tired.
I've been running for 300 miles, I'm not even, ah, awake.
We don't know how to induce this state.
We can't as a basketball player run out on the court
and say, I'm gonna get in the zone, I ain't gonna miss shit.
I'm gonna shoot 12 points in two seconds,
like Reggie Miller in 1912.
When did Reggie-- you remember that?
CHRIS MORROW: '93.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: '93?
Thank you.
He shot everybody's eyes out.
Why?
Because he couldn't miss.
It was impossible.
CHRIS MORROW: So if you owned the Brooklyn Nets?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: The brain has that capacity
when you're awake.
If I what?
CHRIS MORROW: I was saying, if you owned the Brooklyn Nets,
would you make meditation part--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Of course.
Phil Jackson did that for his Lakers, but of course.
I don't own anything, and I want people to meditate.
CHRIS MORROW: But do you-- you don't actually--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I gave Oprah a teacher,
she made her staff meditate.
I gave Ellen a teacher, she made her staff meditate.
Everybody I've given a good teacher,
and they learned to meditate, they gave it to their staff,
because it's important.
And once you experience it, you want it, too.
That's why Rahm Emanuel's got to sit, never mind just giving him
this idea, and the chancellor in Chicago
have to sit, that way they can give it to all the kids.
Should we get questions from these guys?
CHRIS MORROW: Well, I thought before we opened it up
to questions, maybe what would be
helpful is to actually-- all right,
let's say someone sits here today, they listen to this,
they grab the book, they read up,
they decide they actually want to do it.
Can we walk them through the actual steps of how to do it?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: We're going to meditate at the end.
CHRIS MORROW: We'll actually meditate at the end,
but I want to like-- oh, you want
to take some questions now?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I'll teach them when I teach them.
I'll teach them when they meditate.
CHRIS MORROW: So we'll take some questions from them.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You're going to meditate with us for a minute?
You got a few minutes to meditate at the end, right?
You're not going to leave, oh shit, now they're
going to meditate, I've got to go.
I mean, why did I sit here through the whole thing
if I don't learn to meditate, right?
She's like, let me out now.
It's like watching paint dry, but I promise you
you're going to like it.
All right?
All right, let's go to questions.
And there are going to be like, no questions, right?
AUDIENCE: Hi, thanks for speaking, first of all.
You mentioned at the beginning, you wanted to bring meditation
to the schools in Chicago, and I was
curious if you had, kind of, what work you were doing there,
if you were doing any at all.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Very little.
AUDIENCE: What plan you had.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Very little.
I write blogs about there.
I have peacekeeper programs in 25 cities
that I work with people on, and I have especially the three
in Queens.
You know, because kids are so violent, communities--
we don't talk about it.
One hot weekend, 60 kids could get shot in Chicago,
and you won't even read about them.
More kids got killed in a 20 block radius in Chicago,
than at the height of the Iraqi war.
You don't talk about it, no one gives a shit.
So I want to go there-- and they do care,
CNN did a series of specials, there's some discussion--
but there's no solution.
But Quiet Time is a part of a solution,
or it might be even a greater solution
than people could imagine.
It certainly is in other cities where we've had success.
CHRIS MORROW: And the David Lynch Foundation is doing it.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I'm going to do it
with the David Lynch Foundation, yeah.
CHRIS MORROW: They are doing a lot in that regard.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Lots of cities, lots of schools.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I'm on the board.
We really do do a lot in schools.
AUDIENCE: Thank you for being here.
I have a question.
So how has your approach to business and to life
changed since you started meditating?
You mentioned some things about, like maybe you
were partying before, but I'm more interested in how
your business decisions, how you treat people, and in general
what impact it had on you and your businesses?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I like to think that I'm
a more compassionate person.
I think I may be easier to work for, but maybe not.
You know, because I want people to be good at what they do,
and I think the way that I motivate
them is different from yelling.
I used to yell.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Why did you?
You know.
I don't ever do that any more.
I really don't have any experiences
lately that I can think of that I was yelling,
well fuck you, then bam.
I used to do it all the time.
So I think that my relationship with my executives
is different, and with my business associates is
different, and I think I'm a lot more productive.
I'm running a lot of stuff now, three digital companies,
a fashion company, a financial service company, a music
company-- there's more-- four charities,
so I'm running a lot of stuff now.
And I feel like I can do more.
And also, I sleep at night.
Sleep.
I was an insomniac, now I sleep well.
I do better.
My personal relationships, I think, have improved.
I think I'm much better.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: So I was just wondering
if you've encountered this, especially
in rolling out meditation to younger people,
sometimes my experience is that when
you talk to people about meditation,
or you're having a discussion about it,
they tend to have this almost cartoonish image of,
you're a swami on the Ganges in India,
you know, and you're meditating.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I'm a Swami?
AUDIENCE: No, the person that you're talking to.
Maybe you are, I don't know.
But I'm just wondering, particularly
in terms of sort of rolling it out to young people-- who
tend to be more skeptical, I would
think, of these kinds of things-- how you plan,
or if you've had successes overcoming
this sort of knee jerk reaction to it?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Well, I've had lots of experiences
where I got people who would not have meditated to meditate.
Ellen DeGeneres, I'm on her show, I talked her into it,
she got the meditation teacher, she joined the board.
Oprah Winfrey, I was on her show, we talked about it,
she took in a meditation teacher, she taught her staff,
she's not only joined the board--
she's the queen of America's new consciousness.
This idea, not necessarily religious,
but the spiritual awakening that's
happening in some parts of America,
with some people in America, Oprah is the queen of it.
And opened up lots of people's minds about it.
In the schools that we have in both, respectively, in Africa,
and these people sit in Quiet Time.
So they help to spread the word.
And lots of people, I mean even Puffy-- P Diddy, a meditator?
So I taught him to meditate.
So yeah, people would not meditate,
a lot more of them are meditating.
AUDIENCE: But what about young people, that was the question.
Have you found them more receptive?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I like to think of P Diddy as a young person,
because that makes me think I'm young.
No, I mean this-- no.
I go to schools sometimes, and work with principals and people
like-- I've been in schools like, lots of them,
but I'm thinking in particular about Dr. Rutherford's school
in Washington, DC, in the hood, where they were so violent.
And he's just turned the school around-- the middle school
and the high school around dramatically--
through Quiet Time.
He's a Maharishi, a real transcendental meditation guy,
he taught them all, they all have their own mantra.
He did the work, and the school has
a dramatic shift in everything.
Graduation rates, the scholastic improvement is dramatic,
the reduction in violence is dramatic, everything.
Complete turnaround.
I think I relate to kids a little better
than some of the people.
I'm not ideal, it's not like I'm Drake .
You know what I mean?
But I can talk to Drake.
Drake would pick the phone up if I call him, which is good.
Justin Bieber sent me a tweet that
said, Uncle Rush, teach me to meditate.
Sent me a tweet.
I was like, retweet that shit, retweet that.
We'll sell some books.
Rita Ora, the it girl.
My daughter is in love with this new singer, Rita Ora.
You guys all know who she is, right?
In love with her.
She tweeted out that she's really enjoying my book.
It's big deal, because my daughter's 14,
and Rita Ora just told her that she's
enjoying my book on meditation.
And then Khloe Kardashian tweeted out,
my Sunday afternoon-- I asked her to,
but then she read it, and called me, and said I loved it.
Because she has eight million Instagram followers--
and I don't know how many, she must have 20 million Twitter
followers-- and she Instagramed and tweeted it out.
That's how I made the best seller list, Khloe Kardashian.
So that kind of support system, changing young people's minds
about it, that's the process.
And they need it.
They're the ones with the anxiety,
they're the ones who are worried that they're not good enough.
Never mind that half of you are like,
oh my god, you wake up nervous, anxiety, over nothing.
And meditation teaches us it's nothing, really.
Right?
[INAUDIBLE]
AUDIENCE: You mentioned earlier that major thinkers
and philosophers throughout time have said over and over,
in various different ways, that stillness
is the link to happiness.
And that every religion has said in its own way.
And I was wondering, in your experience,
if you had any religious background
that either contributed to your involvement in meditation,
or how it might have played into it?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Well, I told you,
I think, it was because of chicks in class.
That was 20 years ago.
I like to say it because it's stupid, people laugh.
It's not that stupid, [INAUDIBLE].
My brother's a preacher, he's a kind
of non-conventional preacher.
My father and mother are Christians.
I fainted, I was like 12, or something--
I don't know why, I never fainted again
for the rest of my life-- I fainted at the bus stop,
coming home from church.
They never made me go again.
Like I don't know, I could have staged it,
but I didn't, it just happened.
And they came and got me, and said, what happened?
You fell down.
You were out for two seconds.
We took you to the doctor.
All right, OK.
Mom picked me up from the doctor, that was it,
I never had to go to church again.
Now I go to churches to speak about meditation,
or about spiritual matters.
But I do read all the propaganda associated with yoga.
The Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika,
the Textbook of Yoga Psychology, you know,
all the Yogananda stuff, I've read all that stuff.
I like that, because it's non-religious--
until you get to some of the deity stuff,
and that relates to Hindu stuff-- but before that,
the Yoga Sutras is only a science book for happiness.
The core-- 6,000 years ago this Yoga Sutras-- and you read it,
and it's like, so relevant.
It's like 194 threads-- a sutra is a thread-- So the Yoga
Sutras.
And yoga is-- the second sutra is
[SPEAKING SANSKRIT] in Sanskrit.
It means, yoga is a cessation of the fluctuation of the mind.
Or God Consciousness comes when the mind is still.
And that's beautiful, that's it.
We all know we-- you know you came out of the ocean,
and you grew a lung, and you stood up--
you know that, right?
That Adam and Eve shit is hard to digest [INAUDIBLE].
So you know that you came out of the ocean, you grew a lung,
we believe that, some of us.
And I like what Krishna said, and what
yogis have said about union.
If God were the ocean, we would be a cup of God.
Why do I believe that now?
Because quantum physicists are starting to believe it too.
Right?
That we're all connected-- all the animals
we abuse, all the planet we fuck up,
all this shit we're with-- that's us we're fucking with,
us.
We're all connected.
So that's a spiritual-- but in the basis of a lot of what
the prophets said too, although it's not what we teach,
it's separation to me.
I'm not knocking religion, but it's kind of separate in cases,
and you have to double check what they tell you.
All right?
The imams, rabbis, preachers, they might say some shit,
might put some people [INAUDIBLE],
they might do anything.
They do horrible stuff, religious leaders.
So I kind of shy away from all that,
even though I'm the chairman of the Foundation for Ethnic
Understanding, and I have imams and rabbis
in 40 countries exchanging pulpits and working together.
Including, in Israel we have 20 programs,
so it's a real-- I really believe
in religion as a way of helping people,
but I don't personally subscribe to any.
CHRIS MORROW: Well how about this though,
I had an incident-- and this kind of ties
into your question-- on Easter Sunday, where my aunt--
who's a born again Christian, and very serious about that--
came up to me, and took me aside, and said,
she'd read the book-- and I could tell she was a little
nervous-- and she was concerned that meditation would interfere
with, or kind of--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Thinking for yourself is a problem.
CHRIS MORROW: Well, hey.
Anti-prayer, I think, was the term she used.
It would somehow affect her prayer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHRIS MORROW: That's you?
That "C.R.E.A.M."?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: That's "C.R.E.A.M."
CHRIS MORROW: All right.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: [INAUDIBLE] You like that, Wu Tang Clan?
Yeah, you know, the Buddha said check for yourself.
Right?
Check for yourself.
Double check what they tell you.
Turn this thing off, I just want it to stop ringing.
CHRIS MORROW: I don't know if that answered your question.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I think I did, right?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Did I answer the question, or no?
AUDIENCE: Absolutely.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You asked me about religion.
I don't personally give a fuck, but I
believe it's good for people.
And I have not found a religion that suits me.
Compassion, religiously practice compassion.
And the Buddha guy here, on the bottom of the OM,
the OM is really-- and they just put him here,
he doesn't get in too many fights.
I like him because he has the least fights.
CHRIS MORROW: That's true.
I'm going to take a question over here.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: There's no yogis at war.
AUDIENCE: So my name's Keith, it's great to have you here.
I really appreciate your time.
So I've got a pretty simple question.
I moved to Manhattan, about a year ago, from San Francisco.
And I feel like any time you move to this city,
you just have this tendency to want
to like, triple your workload.
Manhattan is just moving so quick.
And so I did that, and realized that I was just
kind of going stir crazy, and I needed
to sit down and meditate, for the first time.
So I try to work it into my daily routine.
So I was trying to do it 10 minutes,
every morning, before I walk to work.
And I remember the first three times
I did it, like I thought I was crazy,
listening to all the thoughts in my head,
I mean there was just so much going on,
I'd never done this before.
But eventually, I kind of gave it
up, because I was trying to do everything else, you know?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: If you don't have 20 minutes,
you need two hours.
AUDIENCE: Yeah, I mean it was tough.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Did you hear me?
AUDIENCE: It was really tough.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
RUSSELL SIMMONS: If you don't have 20 minutes,
you need two hours.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: The thoughts should bounce around,
they should have fun, and they should settle.
And they will settle for everyone.
No one is exempt.
Everyone will meditate if they sit.
And patience, don't look for anything,
don't expect anything, and I promise you,
there's no way you can't meditate.
And if you have more work-- they say oh, Russell,
your schedule-- like assistants traveling,
we're going somewhere.
So you get up at 6:00 AM, you go to do these eight radio
stations, then you do this TV, then you have the event,
and after the event you have to go to meet with this person,
then you have this meeting, and then you have that event,
and then you have your yoga at 4:45 to 5:45.
It's only an hour class?
Yeah, it's an hour.
OK.
Then from 6:00 on, you're going to just be doing interviews.
Do I have my meditation and my yoga class?
With that, the rest of it's a game, I do what I'm told.
The idea of the sickness that comes from,
the anxiety that comes from the schedule--
I don't know where I'm going next,
I just go where they fucking tell me.
I mean, if I have to be prepared, they prepare me.
I just go, I do what I'm told.
You don't have to have anxiety over your work.
Your work is a fun challenge.
Work has to be fun.
I don't look forward to seeing the accountant for an hour,
but he's on the schedule.
I've got to see his ass and listen to him talk,
and I've got to do it.
But it's OK, I don't have to get anxiety over it.
Going to the studio, it should be fun.
And I do have preferences, I'd like not to have any,
I'd like to be blissful in all things, and even keeled,
but to some degree I'm not.
But more often than I used to be, I am.
This is why we meditate, so we can
have an even keeled, happy disposition.
And about doubling your workload,
that should be exciting, as long as you take your time,
go to the gym, whatever you do.
What do you do for yourself?
Work out?
AUDIENCE: Yeah, I work out a little bit.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: But do you work out like aaaaaah?
AUDIENCE: Like that, I mean, I play some basketball, as well.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: So you get in the zone?
AUDIENCE: What's that?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: How dope is it when you're like, high as hell,
right?
When you get real high?
AUDIENCE: When I came here to Manhattan,
I was playing on the courts on the--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: No more time for that now, huh?
No time.
AUDIENCE: I mean it's hard, juggling all this stuff.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You've got to make time to play basketball.
AUDIENCE: Where do you find the time?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Do you play violently?
Do you elbow people, are you mean?
AUDIENCE: I try not to, it depends.
If I get an elbow in the rib, then--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You get elbowed in the rib
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
AUDIENCE: It makes you a little mad.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: But you have to be happy in your work,
and you have to take care of the Muladhara
chakra-- the first chakra-- first.
Take care of yourself.
Meditate, do some work out, work out your brain,
reboot your brain, and promote circulation in the body.
Beyond that, there's nothing else.
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Oh, don't eat animals.
You eat animals?
Wait, do you eat dairy, and egg, and fish, and shit like that?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
I eat steak, chicken, duck, all that stuff.
I just ate some duck last night.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Do you eat steak?
You eat steak?
Did you guys know the new steak shit?
Did you hear?
You heard?
That if you eat steak as 30% of your protein,
and that's what you do regularly,
it's equal to 20 cigarettes a day.
I know.
The first day I started promoting my book
was seven weeks ago.
I went to Dr. Sanjay, and I went to a few others,
and I went to Fox and fucking Friends.
And "Fox & Friends," they were discussing this new research.
They wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.
Not them.
That's how much cancer you're putting
in-- 20 cigarettes a day?
I firmly believe that the worst karmic disaster
in the history of the world is the abuse
of 40 billion animals, made to be born into suffering.
They fart-- the greatest cause of global warming,
times twice all the planes, trains, and automobiles.
Then they give you cancer.
They take all the oil, the water, the grain, everything.
They make you sick.
This is why we meditate, so we can
choose whether we want to participate
in that karmic disaster, or not.
We don't want to be sheep.
Want to check our temperature, what
do we think about the abuse of animals,
dominion over the animals.
How can you say dominion over the animals, and then do that?
It's so hurtful.
So that's why we have to meditate, because society,
sometimes we go on a wrong course.
Whole societies, whole communities,
just say, oh let's genocide, or we don't like their religion,
let's kill them, put them in an oven.
Horrible, horrible stuff.
So you have to decide for yourself
what you want to participate in, and that's
why we meditate also, because then when
you have the thoughts settle you say, naw,
I don't want to do that shit.
They can have that.
Or maybe I'll speak up against it.
Maybe I'll use my voice.
AUDIENCE: So, not to take up too much time on my question--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I know I didn't answer your question,
I just went on a tangent.
AUDIENCE: How do you find time for this?
I mean you're a super busy guy.
You say that it's on your calendar but--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: It's on my calendar.
AUDIENCE: I feel like it's something
you need to do every single day.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Every day's different.
I have a lot of businesses, it's true,
and I have a lot of smart people.
Everybody around me is smarter than me.
Everybody.
So that's key, I think, in my position you need smart people.
Unless you're smart.
Especially smart, I mean, like really.
AUDIENCE: All right, thank you.
AUDIENCE: I think she was first.
CHRIS MORROW: OK.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: OK.
AUDIENCE: Hi, my name is Andrea, thank you for coming.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: What's your name?
AUDIENCE: Andrea.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Hi, Andrea.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
I was just interested more in this idea--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Do you have a diamond in your eye?
AUDIENCE: Yeah?
No, it's an eyebrow ring.
In this idea of religion, and dealing
with people who may be resistant to meditation or yoga,
I'm interested in how would you persuade someone who may not
be interested, for perhaps, a religious reason.
For example, I teach yoga, and I have
a sister who is very religious.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You teach yoga?
AUDIENCE: I do.
And similar to the story you mentioned earlier,
she's very resistant, I think she'd
be someone who could benefit from meditation,
but I don't really know how to approach her,
because I know her views really influence
the way that she thinks.
So what would you say to someone like that?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Well first of all, be still and know,
is in her scripture, right?
It's quiet.
There's no deities in silence, it's just being quiet.
You can give her a vibration, or you could just
tell her to sit and say let.
Inhale let, exhale go.
Let go.
It's not against your religion.
If there is a piece of God inside,
you maybe can dig deep-- and don't say it
if it scares them-- but the idea that there's
the piece of God inside you, and if you sit closer to God,
it should strengthen your faith.
It should, could, strengthen your faith.
And regarding the yoga, a lot of Christian yogis,
and Muslim yogis, and other religious yogis,
or yogis who have faith already separate
from what's in the Bhagavad Gita.
The deities are scary, right?
Shiva, Krishna, Lakshmi, all this rap, you say,
wait, who are all of these people?
But they're just images of ideas, you know?
The goddess of wealth, you give and you
get, the cycle of giving, you know?
So it's just there for that.
But you could leave them out.
You don't have to use Sanskrit words.
Right?
Upward dog, you don't have to call it.
I think it's easy though.
Yoga, we're just stretching to promote circulation.
And meditation, we're just being quiet to reboot our brain.
We don't have to scare them, and we don't need to.
And I'm having this discussion with lots of people,
because we have what we call Quiet Time in schools--
we don't use the word meditation-- Quiet Time.
And I think that's all it is.
In the end, that's what it is.
That's what the research is on, the Quiet Time, not on Krishna.
It's true.
You probably have studied all the scripture, right?
As a yoga teacher?
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: My question--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: She's next.
AUDIENCE: Thanks.
Hi, I'm Meme, thanks for coming.
So I feel like a common thing, when
I try to talk about meditation, the common push
back that I get, which I'm not sure I have a good defense for,
is, what if meditation makes you too complacent in a world
where there might not be room?
Like sometimes I feel like for me it's like, for example--
well this is not meditation related,
it's kind of an analogy-- like in high school I wasn't
very good basketball player, because I'm like,
well you take the ball this time,
I'll take the ball next time.
Whatever happens, happens.
Or like in work, for example, or in a relationship or whatever,
if you're like, OK is this just me not liking it
or just me not getting along the person?
Or is it just a mindset that I need to shift,
or if you lose something?
So I guess my question is, how do you not become too much of,
OK well this is just a part of life,
and these emotions that I feel are just
an instantaneous emotion that will pass by if I let it go?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I think by being
quiet you get in touch with a strength, not a weakness.
I think that's the point.
It's like, you sit-- oh, they're chopping up animals,
I'm going to go protest.
A lot of meditators, you find they're activists.
They're not quiet, they're more likely to be activists.
To go outside the box, to do what's in their heart.
If they're basketball players, they're more clear.
If they go to work every day, and they're focused and present
in the moment, they do a good job.
The work is a challenge that we accept.
The relationship is a challenge, we accept it in the present,
we do our best.
You gotta get the fuck out.
You can be strong.
You can say, no, it's not going to work.
Not mean, but you can be strong.
Meditation helps you to find the strength.
It doesn't make you complacent, that's a misconception.
And I can say that in all certainty,
you'll feel more in charge, more confident, more awake.
And so it's not about being complacent at all.
In fact, it's the opposite.
And that's just my argument.
If you can tell me an example of how you've been a meditator
and it made you a doormat, or made you less likely to fulfill
your dharma, then I can speak to it,
but I don't think you have those examples.
If you meditate, you will take more control of your life,
you're not going to let go of it.
AUDIENCE: Thanks.
My question is related to-- first I guess,
my name is [INAUDIBLE].
While growing up in India, I remember
my grandparents used to have the similar things to what you have
any hand, beads and with the OM.
And we used to collect in the evening to do meditation,
they just called it quiet time because meditation
wasn't hip with kids.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Good, [INAUDIBLE].
AUDIENCE: Kind of along the way, come here.
At that time we thought were wasting about almost half
an hour to an hour.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Is that what you thought as a child?
AUDIENCE: Because everybody was studying hard,
and I didn't study that much, but I used to recall more,
I used to remember more.
Everybody was surprised, how do you remember things,
like, that was taught six months ago.
I have no idea.
But now I kind of lost all that, because the grandparents
are gone, since then.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: They stopped making you meditate.
AUDIENCE: Yeah, nobody is making me meditate.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Yeah, my kids, I
think the minute they get from under Kimora's foot
on their throat, that they're going to stop meditating.
They meditate every day, and they're deep meditators.
But I think that they're, oh Daddy, and their mother's like,
get in there.
And they sit, but in the minutes-- that half an hour
you wasted-- do you know how long it is you sit there?
And everything was going crazy, and the next thing
you know it's like, meditation's over.
Or the next thing you know, you enjoy it.
But kids will still resist if you make them, I make my kids.
But I know-- they both go to school for the gifted.
My 11-year-old has been meditating
since she was eight, my 14-year-old since she was 10.
They've been meditating a long time.
When they meditate, they're deep meditators,
they just disappear quickly.
I don't want to do it-- gone.
I look over, because sometimes they could be fidgeting,
or they could be like, Daddy-- they're resisting.
I'll tell your mom-- and they just go back to it.
But then they disappear, and when they open their eyes,
you can just see that they're so happy,
and they start giggling, and laughing, and happy.
And before meditation they could have just been,
Mom, I don't want to-- then they open their eyes,
and they're happy.
And so I don't know, you force goodness on people,
you say, don't eat that, don't eat that, don't eat that.
Then one day they're just going to eat a lot of it.
So that could be true.
But you, having had that experience,
and having a greater memory, and greater brain functionality,
and a more expansive mindset and all that, you don't miss that.
You work at Google, you don't need your brains.
Go back, meditate.
Get quiet time.
AUDIENCE: And quiet time, that's what I was thinking about,
on my subway that's kind of an hour long commute to home,
then my son needs my attention.
So adding on to his question I think,
[INAUDIBLE], but I was thinking like, why doesn't the subway
have screens, where they just, people say to meditate,
or yoga, and then we all in the subway would start doing that.
Because everybody is standing anyway, just closes their eyes,
and then you would know when the stop has
come because it announces now.
Have you thought about putting it--
because I can't do that in the office,
I can't do that at home, because I can't
make my two-year-old stay and sit with me.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: There's always a place to meditate.
Go to the bathroom.
Sit on the toilet, put the alarm on.
CHRIS MORROW: I meditate in my bathroom,
I put a pillow on the toilet, that's
the only place I can get away.
Why are you looking at me like that?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: On the toilet seat?
CHRIS MORROW: I mean, I shut it.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Oh, you shut it.
CHRIS MORROW: Yeah.
But I meditate on the subway too.
I mean it's New York, you've got to get it where you get it.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You get the alarm, you put the alarm on,
and you sit.
You sit, and no matter what-- the best thing
is the alarm, for beginners.
You turn the alarm on.
A little sunshine ring, whatever ring you put on there.
Who's that, you waving?
Do we have to leave?
CHRIS MORROW: No, she's saying hi.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Oh, hi.
CHRIS MORROW: We should do one more question,
and then we should teach everybody.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: But the idea is, you put the alarm on,
and you sit.
AUDIENCE: Is chanting also a form of meditation?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Chanting is another form of meditation,
of course.
Anything that quiets the mind.
People chat themselves into bliss.
You know, kirtan, yogis, they chant, chant.
I've never been a big chanter.
I chant when they tell me, I do what they say.
You know, OM.
OK, they do it every class.
And they'll chant a few words, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE], you know,
Hindu prayers.
OK, and people do it, but people really--
just like some people candle gaze.
They look at a candle and they just
stare at the fucking candle, they stare,
and they're just out, staring at a candle.
I've done it, it didn't really grab me
as my form of meditation, but I'm
sure I could learn to candle gaze
or chant more, any of those things, they all work.
AUDIENCE: So I have a friend who's
gone on these meditation retreats
where you kind of leave for 10 days, and you're silent,
and they have these people that help
you go through this course.
And like, 10 days, you don't speak, and you meditate.
Are there any benefits which you see to really removing yourself
for extended period, versus the daily-- have you done it?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I know all about it.
I've heard about it from countless people
who had great experiences.
No one's ever come back from a 10-day silent retreat and said,
that sucked.
No one.
No really, no one's ever told me that.
They're always like, oh I went away, and after a couple days
I was like, I was fucking gone, man.
I was higher than the [INAUDIBLE], and I came back,
and I was so relieved.
Everybody, same response.
And I haven't taken 10 days to do it, but I get it.
I'm sure there's benefits, that's why people do it.
And they get high, and happy, and it's good for them.
I probably should do it, I haven't.
OK, now if you want to get out now, you can.
CHRIS MORROW: So you want to just?
Let's set it up a little bit.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I'm going to make it short.
Seven minutes.
CHRIS MORROW: Do we have time to do--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: You got seven minutes?
CHRIS MORROW: Seven minutes is a long time.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Seven minutes?
CHRIS MORROW: You guys can handle seven minutes?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: First of all, your first experience,
you sit at home, you do what I tell you,
you sit for 20 minutes, by yourself.
So now we're all together, we'll sit for seven minutes,
it's not hard.
CHRIS MORROW: You going to set your phone?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Yeah.
CHRIS MORROW: All right, but let's--
RUSSELL SIMMONS: I don't see why you
would say seven minutes is a long time.
Chris, are you keeping up on your meditation?
You write a book with me--
CHRIS MORROW: Yeah, I was up at 6 o'clock this morning
doing it.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: All right, well why
do you think they can't sit?
Look, she's like, let me out of here now.
OK, look, here's what we're going
to do, I'm going to give you a mantra, rum.
The collective is going to use rum.
We're all going to use rum, rum.
Say rum, rum, rum, rum, rum.
AUDIENCE: Rum, rum, rum, rum, rum.
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Say it really fast, rum rum rum rum rum.
Now say it slow, rum.
So that's our mantra, rum.
Doesn't have any meaning, so don't think, not alcohol.
Not alcohol, it's just rum, it's a vibration.
It has no meaning, but we're going
to concentrate on this word.
But we're not going to concentrate hard on the word,
we're going to concentrate lightly on the word,
try to keep it in our sense, in front of us.
And we'll try to focus on rum, and then the mind's
going to go crazy.
It's going to go into the-- first thing,
we'll do a few tricks before we start,
but that's going to be our mantra.
But the mind is going to go somewhere into a thought,
and you're going to think the thought, if you want.
If it's not worth it, don't think it.
Think it, think the thought, understand the thought,
digest the thought, and go back to your mantra.
Go back to your mantra, keep coming back gently
to the mantra.
You hold the mantra, they should become at some point,
the mantra will be so much more satisfying than the thoughts.
That may not happen today.
Nothing may happen today.
But if you are not looking for anything,
you will definitely find great peace, even today.
You sit and repeat the mantra to yourself, and that's it.
Now first thing, we're going to do a little breathing exercise.
Two fingers.
Breath in through your left side,
hold it, breath out through your right side.
Let's do that 20 times.
Go to the right side now, hold it.
Focus on the space between the breath when you hold it.
Inhale all the way, hold it, release.
Now do me a quick favor before we begin.
Close your eyes and think of everything at one time.
Now you all meditated, because no one had a thought.
Right?
Everything at once and no thoughts.
So we're going to sit.
Open your eyes and sit.
We're going to sit down and relax in the most comfortable
position that we can find, and we're
going to start to repeat our mantra to ourselves.
We're not going to expect anything,
not going to regulate our breath,
just going to repeat the mantra and rest in perfection
for a few minutes.
[BEEPING]
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Come out of it, begin to come out of it.
Breathe deep.
Smile.
How was that?
All right.
It doesn't cost shit, it's free.
You can do it every day.
Thank you so much, it was a pleasure.