BONUS MONDAYS: REVEALED: Astounding TRUTH About Jesus & A Course in Miracles (ACIM) with Emily Bennington

Summary

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Next Level Soul Podcast with Alex Ferrari

Episode: BONUS MONDAYS: REVEALED: Astounding TRUTH About Jesus & A Course in Miracles (ACIM) with Emily Bennington
Date: October 27, 2025
Guest: Emily Bennington
Host: Alex Ferrari

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Episode Overview

In this enlightening episode, Alex Ferrari welcomes Emily Bennington — a devoted student, teacher, and executive director at the Circle of Atonement — to unpack the spiritual classic A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and explore its profound teachings about love, ego, and purpose. Through personal stories and candid dialogue, they trace Emily’s spiritual awakening, discuss ACIM’s core philosophy and radical take on Jesus, and examine how ego, identity, and forgiveness work in both subtle and practical ways in daily life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Emily Bennington’s Awakening & Path to ACIM

• Catalyst for Change: Emily’s spiritual transformation began in 2010 after a tough moment with her young son:

  “I realized that the way I was behaving was making him sad. ... And that was kind of my wake up moment.” (04:22)

• Discovery of the Course: Coming from a Christian background but seeking deeper answers, ACIM resonated as spiritual truth and a radically loving vision of Jesus.
• Call to Teach: After devoted study, Emily experienced an inner calling:

  “All of a sudden I heard this, like, booming voice in my head, and it said, teach… I knew at that point I was supposed to teach the course.” (06:50)

• Transition to Leadership: Starting as a volunteer, Emily eventually became Executive Director at the Circle of Atonement (07:51).

Alex Ferrari’s Parallel Journey

• Divine Discontent: Alex shares his own journey from film to spirituality, describing a restlessness that dissolved once he said “yes” to his calling:

  “I had this...divine discontent...until I said yes to that voice. And then...that whole restlessness just dissolved.” (11:03)

• Rapid Spiritual Growth: Once aligned, doors in his new venture opened rapidly compared to his past career:

  “This is happening so fast, I can’t even comprehend it.” (10:24)

What Is A Course in Miracles?

• Core Definition:

  “A spiritual path in which we find our way home to God by learning to distinguish between what is real and what is unreal.” (15:30)

  • The essence:
    • Real: Our holiness, innocence, and “inestimable worth.”
    • Unreal: Judgments, grievances, attacks—essentially, ego constructs.
  • Key summary from ACIM:

    “Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” (16:05)

• Role of Miracles:

  “Miracles are defined as expressions of love that have a healing effect on the other person. ... Nothing heals like love, and that in turn heals us.” (17:12)

Forgiveness, Judgment, and Spiritual Practice

• ACIM redefines forgiveness as “seeing the other’s error, not sin”—recognizing they acted out of disconnection from their divine nature, and responding with love rather than judgment.
• Key Insight:

  “The way we forgive is we look at what the other person did as an error, not a sin...our job to see that truth in them and to love them anyway.” (19:03)

Trauma, Anger, and Love as Healing

• Both host and guest reflect on personal anger as a response to unfulfilled dreams and traumas, but agree love is ultimately the only force that genuinely heals suffering.

• “Anger comes from sort of trauma, sort of being disconnected from your source. Because someone who’s really connected ... don’t act in that fashion.” (21:43)

Letting Life Unfold & Divine Guidance

• Surrender and Trust: Both recount how life’s best outcomes were unplanned and emerged once they relinquished control and followed inner guidance.
• Memorable Quote:

  “Everything I tried to plan just never worked out. And the things that were unplanned have been the best things...” (27:55)

Who Wrote A Course in Miracles?

• Origin: Channeled by Helen Schucman (1965–1972); published in 1976. The voice claims to be that of Jesus, teaching radical gentleness and forgiveness (28:13).
• Notable Acknowledgments: Reflects the Jesus of “unconditional love”—not judgment, not wrath.

Jesus’ Message and Its Distortion

• On Misinterpretation: The episode explores how Jesus’ original radical love message was twisted by institutional interests to support judgment and division.
• Quote:

  “Jesus may have been crucified in one day, but his teachings have been crucified for thousands of years.” (29:24, quoting Yogananda) “Oh, Christians, you are so unlike your Christ.” (29:39, quoting Gandhi)

• The Appeal of Vengeful God: Emily explains,

  “If God is wrathful, and if God is saying these are the in group and this is the out group, then it sanctions our desire to do the same.” (31:38)

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Ego, Separation, and the Illusion of the Body

The Nature of Ego in ACIM

• Ego Defined: “At its core, the ego is attack, always out to separate — ‘I’m above; you’re below.’” (34:42)
• Modern Application: Even the spiritual space is rife with subtle ego—

  “It’s like, I am the most humble. I’m so much more humble than you.” (40:12)

• Root of Conflict:

  “All of our conflict...comes down to above and below. … If we can just eradicate that and have a spiritual path that says, ‘No, no, the only thing true about you is what God put there’… then we start to have a conversation about how we’re the same.” (38:50)

Ego & the Body-Identity Illusion

• The body is part of the unreal, a temporary container that our culture obsesses over (42:28).
• On Social Media & Identity:

  “What the ego will tell you to do is to hook into your looks and your status and your things... And what social media does...is [create] all the ways in which our lives don’t measure up to...those that we follow.” (47:06)

• The only lasting identity comes from soul, not body or possessions.

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Material Attachment, Giving, and True Legacy

Detachment from “Stuff”

• Learning to let go of possessions and body-identity leads to more inner peace:

  “I’ve slowly detached myself from my possessions...If I lose that, it’s okay.” (50:45)

The Treasure House of Love

• ACIM’s concept of the “real world”: Only love is eternal; acts of kindness are what, ultimately, survive.

• “What if what we really collect is our acts of kindness? ... That’s the only thing that survives.” (52:53)

Happiness, Altruism, and Fulfillment

• Studies show altruism leads to lasting happiness:

  “But what they found was ... you can actually elevate your happiness ... and what they found that actually makes us happier in a way that sticks is — altruism — it’s giving things away, it’s standing for something bigger than just yourself.” (56:22)

Example from Emily and Alex’s Lives

• Both have found exponentially more joy, fulfillment, and opportunity when they began genuinely giving and serving their audiences, rather than trying to “get” for themselves.

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The Crisis of Aging, Fame, and Identity

• Societal Obsession with Youth: Discussion uses public figures (e.g., Sex and the City stars, Paulina Porizkova, JLo) as case studies for society’s fixation on youth and beauty, and the suffering caused when identity is overly tied to these traits (43:03, 59:21).
• Quote:

  “But you can avoid that struggle altogether...You can stop crying if you’re not so identified with how you look. ... Find another source beyond this body for your happiness.” (62:56)

• Whether fame, beauty, or achievement, all these things fade — leaving only character, kindness, and soul.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”
  — Emily Bennington (16:05, quoting ACIM)
• “Our love will bring out that goodness in them.” — Emily Bennington (19:21)
• “Nothing heals like love, and that in turn heals us.” — Emily Bennington (17:18)
• “When the door closes, the window opens.” — Emily Bennington (23:12)
• “Jesus may have been crucified in one day, but his teachings have been crucified for thousands of years.” — Alex Ferrari quoting Yogananda (29:24)
• “I wish everybody in the world could get everything they wanted so they would understand it’s not the answer.” — Jim Carrey (quoted, 59:05)
• “All you need is love. ... That was Jesus’s message, too.” — Emily Bennington (66:36)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Emily’s Life-Changing Moment & Turn to ACIM: 04:15–07:51
• Alex on Divine Discontent and Spiritual Career Shift: 08:45–11:31
• What Is A Course in Miracles (core explanation): 15:30–17:29
• On Forgiveness & Responding to Others’ Behavior: 18:21–21:43
• Who Wrote ACIM, and Its Channeled Origin: 28:07–28:45
• Jesus’ Radical Message and Historical Distortion: 29:24–33:43
• Deep Dive into Ego and Body Illusion: 34:42–44:02
• Impact of Social Media & Material Attachment: 44:58–47:06
• Letting Go of Possessions, Practicing Altruism: 50:45–56:22
• Aging, Fame, and Self-Worth Discussions: 59:05–63:24

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Core Takeaways

• A Course in Miracles offers a framework to see all humanity, including oneself, as inherently whole, holy, and lovable, aiming to heal the root cause of suffering — the illusion of separation promoted by the ego.
• Transformative spiritual shifts happen when we fully surrender to our deeper calling, regardless of outer circumstances.
• Acts of giving, kindness, and love are what endure — both in this world and beyond — and are the only source of lasting happiness.
• Social and cultural obsessions with body, beauty, status, and material things are ultimately fleeting; only soul-level qualities matter.
• Final mission statements:
  • Emily Bennington: “My mission is to help A Course in Miracles become one of the world’s great spiritual traditions.” (67:11)
  • Why are we here? “To learn to transcend our ego and to love. And that’s how we find our way home to God.” (67:25)

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Resources

• Emily Bennington & Circle of Atonement
• A Course in Miracles
• Next Level Soul TV

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“Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”

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Transcript

[Guillermo Valderrama]

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[Emily Bennington]

A good friend to go through with it.

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Choose the coverage you need, and if.

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[Emily Bennington]

Like a good neighbor.

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Stay Farm is there.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Alex Ferrari]

Welcome to the Next Level Soul Podcast where we ask the big questions about life. Why are we here? Is this all there is? What is my Soul's mission? We attempt to answer those questions and more by bringing you raw and inspiring conversations with some of the most fascinating and thought provoking guests on the planet today. I am your host, Alex Ferrari. Now, before we dive into today's conversation, I want to invite you to experience something truly transformative. Next Level Soul tv, Our spiritual streaming platform where seekers from around the world can awaken, heal and expand. We've curated a powerful collection of life changing documentaries, Deep dive interviews, original series, audiobooks, courses, master classes and and live events all focused on conscious, personal transformation, ancient wisdom and the soul's journey, this isn't just content, it's a calling. Whether you're exploring your spiritual gifts, seeking answers from the beyond, or just craving something real in a noisy world, Next Level Soul TV was made just for you. And here's the best part. It's commercial, free, available around the world and growing every week with New soul expanding content. So if you're ready to go deeper, head over to NextLevelSoul TV and start streaming your awakening. Now, let's begin today's episode. Disclaimer. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the show, its host, or any of the companies they represent. Today we have Emily Bentington on the show. She is both a student and teacher of contemplative practices for both secular and spiritual audiences. Her dedication to A Course in Miracles comes from the extraordinary changes in her own life as a result of applying its teachings. And Emily and I sat down and had a wonderful conversation about A Course in Miracles life, finding your spirituality, finding your inner mission, and so much more. So let's dive in. I'd like to welcome to the show Emily Bennington. How are you doing, Emily?

[Emily Bennington]

I'm doing well, thanks. Thanks for having me on your show.

[Alex Ferrari]

Thank you so much for, for being on the show. I truly appreciate it. I wanted you on the show because we're going to talk about A Course in Miracles. And I know of it. I've, I've heard things about it, but I've really never delved into it very deeply. So. But before we get into the small book that is called the Course in miracles.

[Emily Bennington]

Small. 2,000 pages or so.

[Alex Ferrari]

Just a few. It's a few. 2,000 pages. Tell me about your orig. How did you get into the line of work that you're doing?

[Emily Bennington]

Well, origin stories are always rather lengthy, so I will keep mine as short as possible.

[Alex Ferrari]

Sure.

[Emily Bennington]

Sometime around 2010, I had a 5 year old son and I realized that the way I was behaving was making him sad. And he actually said, mommy, you make me sad. And so I was brutal.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Brutal.

[Emily Bennington]

So brutal. Kids are so honest, aren't they? I was just more impatient with him than I wanted to be. And so I realized in that moment when your 5 year old says that you make them sad, like, you really do need to change something about yourself. And so that was kind of my wake up moment. I was like, something in me needs to change. And so I started looking around for what could I do to transform myself so that I could show up better for the people in my life. And that led me on a spiritual quest. I found A Course in Miracles. And almost immediately after finding the course, I knew that this was my path. I knew that this was truth. I had grown up in a traditionally Christian home, but I had left traditional Christianity many years ago. But when I opened this book, I knew it was the wisest thing that I had ever read. And I also knew that it was Jesus. I knew that it was the Jesus that. That. That I loved, the wisdom teacher Jesus. And so when I found the course, I really dove into it. And everyone in my family after that was like, we don't know what you're studying. We don't even want to know. That book looks very intimidating. But keep doing it because you are a different person. I was far more loving and far more kind and far more patient with everyone in my life, not just my children. And then shortly thereafter, this was about 2014, shortly after, about. I was about three years into my study of the course. All of a sudden I heard this, like, booming voice in my head, and it said, teach. I mean, like, really loud. And I couldn't get rid of it. It was just say one word, and it was just teach. And it was very loud. And so I knew at that point I was supposed to teach the course. I had been a mindfulness trainer, corporate mindfulness trainer up to that point, was not looking to leave that career. I loved it. And yet I knew that God was coming for me.

[Alex Ferrari]

Whether you like it or not.

[Emily Bennington]

Like it or not, God was coming for me. It was the knock at the door of my mind that did not go away until I said yes to it. And so I had the classic surrender moment where I said, okay, fine, I will. I did a lot of bargaining at first. I said, okay, I'll teach a course in miracles if you just let me call it mindfulness. Can we do that? And that just wasn't happening. So I said, yes, okay, I will go wherever you want me to go. And I know that. I knew that if this was God, if this was truly God entering into my life, then I would be carried. And so I could trust that. So I said yes. And I landed on the shore of a small organization called the Circle of Atonement. Around that time, I knew that they were doing great work, but they could do more great work in the world, could spread their message further and deeper. And so I started as a volunteer. A couple years later. I'm the executive director, and here we are.

[Alex Ferrari]

That's amazing. That's an amazing story. Yet children can definitely be a little too honest. I have. I have a couple of my own twins. And the other day a little while ago, I was. I was in the middle of working out and losing weight and getting into shape, and one of my. My youngest daughter's like, yeah, dad, you know, you don't have as much blubber anymore. I'm like, I'm sorry, what?

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah.

[Alex Ferrari]

I'm like. She's like, yeah, blubber. Like the whales, like, they have a lot of blubber. And I'm like, oh, my God, that's so brutal.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah, I know. I said to my son, who's now 14. This is a couple of years ago, but I said, I need. I need the inspiration to continue my exercise program. And he goes, well, just look at your muffin top. Oh, okay.

[Alex Ferrari]

But the muffin top. But the muffin top is the best part of the muffin. I mean, to be fair.

[Emily Bennington]

You'Re right about that.

[Alex Ferrari]

There's a commercial like that. It's like there was a guy who turns to his wife. The wife turns to like, do I look? Do I have a muffin top? And he's like, the muffin top's the best part of the muffin, baby. And that was it Seinfeld about that. I think that there's a whole thing about that on Seinfeld. But, yeah, I had a very similar experience with me because I come from the film industry, and I was afraid of opening up Next Level Soul and going down this road of trying to talk about spirituality and personal growth and asking these big questions. And I did a little bit of bargaining as well. I'm like, well, I'll just do this and I'll do that, and until I finally decided to go in all in, and I go, you know, one doesn't negate the other, and they actually can work together. And because I have another popular show in the film industry, podcast, and I was like, well, I could see what I can do in the second. I said, all right, I'm in. The doors flew open, and people like yourself and a litany of other guests that I have booked now. I mean, like, in two, three days, it was magical. I could not even believe. I just started emailing people. I'm like, yeah, let's see if they want to be on the show. And I've gotten 80% yeses, you know, And I'm just like, what is going on? This is where. By the way, when I. By the way, when I reached out to them six months ago, when I first. When I was a little bit, like, in and out, I didn't get the response. That same response is so interesting. It was just so fascinating. I was like, can't believe that this is the second you just put. You just go, okay, let's do this.

[Emily Bennington]

Did you have the same, like, little voice that got louder?

[Alex Ferrari]

Oh, I Don't. I don't have a little voice. I have a very large voice. It's a he. He's very imposing, and he just says, I have to do what I have to do. And that's one of the reasons why I started the company and the show and trying to get the word out there. And it's grown, I mean, so much faster than my filmmaking podcasts and my screenwriting podcasts I've ever done. They're probably two of the largest ones in its industry. But it took a long time, took years before I can get real traction where now this is happening so fast, I can't even comprehend it.

[Emily Bennington]

Like, it's really pretty crazy fascinating because I had this. What I called. I mean, everybody calls it the divine discontent. Like, this restlessness about what am I here to do? Why am I not doing something with more meaning in my life, et cetera. And that was always there until I said yes to that voice. And then once I said yes, it was like, okay, I landed in this place. And that. That whole restlessness just dissolved. It's the coolest thing.

[Alex Ferrari]

You feel happier. There's a thing about contentment and being happy where before you thought things that were important no longer are important to you, and things that you never thought would be important become important to you. And there is this sense of peace that you. That comes over you. And I found it at a certain step when I started teaching through my podcast in the film industry, because that's where I knew. So I was like, well, I know this. Let me go down this road. And once I started doing this, so much of my anger went away. My wife, and she's like, I don't know what you're doing, but obviously you have found what you want. You're meant to do, keep doing this. And it kept growing and growing and growing. And then when I started to shift to this area of kind of going down the spiritual path and, you know, personal growth and really trying to help people with trauma and people with what, you know, what they're dealing with in a daily life. God knows we all have a lot of trauma in today's world. The world kind of just opened up a lot more and. But I was still fearful, just like you. Just like. I don't want to call it a curse. I'll call it mindfulness. You know, I'll call it this and that, and has very similar effect with spirituality. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

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[Alex Ferrari]

And now back to the show. You know, because I was raised Catholic, you know, Roman Catholic, and I've left, I begin to how long ago I left that in my life because I never found it to be made any sense for me, might make sense of other people, but not for me. And I just felt like I needed more. And this experience that I'm going through right now has just been so kind of magical. So I get to now really ask questions about things that I am really interested in, like a Course of miracles. So can we actually, let's look back on the track. What is A Course in Miracles? Who wrote it? How long has it been around? What is it?

[Emily Bennington]

Okay, so a Course in Miracles is a spiritual path in which we find our way home to God by learning to distinguish between what is real and what is unreal. So what is real is the beauty and the pure holiness and the innocence and inestimable worth of our true nature as God created us. And what is unreal is everything else pretty much our, our judgments, our grievances, our attacks, all of that is unreal. And the only thing that is real is again our core nature as we were created by God. Now, the course in its introduction says that it can be summed up very simply in this way. So the course, as we've been Saying, is a 2000 page 5 pound book, but it can be summed up very simply in three lines. Nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. And so what we learn as course students is a process of disciplining our mind to see beyond what our senses and our feelings tell us is true about the other person. We look to see beyond that through the true, the core nature of who they are. And from that place, from seeing them as they truly are, we can love them. And that's what miracles are in A Course in Miracles. So if you're studying a book called A Course in Miracles, it's helpful to know how miracles are defined. And in the course, they are defined as expressions of love that have a healing effect on the other person. Because we all know nothing heals like love, and that in turn heals us. And so it's a beautiful path.

[Alex Ferrari]

So in your opinions, because I've always been the, been of the, of mine, that when something negative comes towards you, let's say a person, let's say a negative, a troll online, which I'm sure you've probably dealt with at one point or another, being a person who's out in the public eye or, you know, somebody at a, in a line somewhere at the supermarket, or someone cut you off and when that kind of energy comes to, towards you, I always found it to be a reflection of something inside of me that I might have to work on. Whether that be an anger, a resentment, or something that I have to work on and this person's there to kind of trigger that in you, because I just found that, that to be true for me. And talking to other spiritual leaders and other seekers as well, they found that as well. I was just curious about your, your opinion of that.

[Emily Bennington]

Well, what I love about the course, and you mentioned that you're a lapsed Catholic, right? And I also, I came from Traditional Christianity. I grew up Presbyterian, and one of the reasons why, although I went into Baptism Baptist Church, one of the reason why I left was because I could never really resign myself to the core nature of original sin. Like, I could never really understand why, like underneath it all, if God really created us, why would he create us with flaws? God can't create with flaws. God can only create perfection. And so I could never understand the whole concept of underneath it all, underneath all of these behaviors, underneath all the trollish, etc. That you're talking about, like that there's just a original sin miserable sinner in there. I always thought that underneath it all, we were just pure goodness. And the work of spirituality was to release the blocks to that goodness so that it could just come through. And so what I tell myself when I'm faced with some form of attack or judgment from someone else is that again, beyond those behaviors is the core nature of goodness in them. That is true. And that's what I try and see. And what I love about the course as a path is that the way in which we forgive, the main teaching of a course in miracles is forgiveness. And the way we forgive is, is not to kind of chew on what the other person did, make it real, and then try and let it go. The way we forgive is we look at what the other person did as an error, not a sin. When they said that thing or did that thing, they were out of touch with their core nature. And so it's our job to see that truth in them and to love them anyway. To love them anyway beyond the behaviors that they display and that our love will bring out that goodness in them. And so what we tend to try and do when we're faced with these tough situations and tough and challenging people is we try and judge and attack and obligate and control them into the behaviors that we want. And what the course teaches is you love them. That's how you ultimately get the behavior that you want out of them. And if you, if they aren't willing to behave in the way that you want, it doesn't matter because your, your core nature isn't affected either way. So you're not clinging to them so much if you don't need the other person to behave the way that you want them to so much. And so there's just a tremendous amount of release and not getting so hooked in to the tiny and bit large grievances that we all day. And when you're not so hooked into those grievances, you live with more Peace and ease.

[Alex Ferrari]

Well, I mean, I think that as I've been walking around the earth a few years now, I've noticed that when people behave in a certain way, it is because of some sort of trauma they've gone through in their life, whether it was when they were children, when it was later something that they're looking for. Because when you're so angry, angry comes from sort of trauma, sort of being disconnected from your source. Because someone who's really connected to who they are, understands who they are, are at peace with who they are. Don't act in that fashion. You could look at spiritual leaders, obviously, who master that those are the masters, but generally speaking, that they don't. They're just disconnected. And I remember I was an angry. Oof. I was so angry when I was younger, a very angry and bitter person, because I couldn't achieve the dream that I wanted. And when I couldn't achieve it, I would be very angry at those who were around me. And it was very brutal to me. And I just understood there was such an anger and because of that trauma that I had been dealt earlier in my career that. But I think that love at the end of the day is what solves everything. I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, it's, it's. It does solve everything in one way, shape or form. It's not easy. It's not easy.

[Emily Bennington]

Interesting that you say that, like, part of the anger came from not being able to achieve the dream that you wanted in the world. And I'm a big believer. It's a cliche, but I'm a big believer in when the door closes, the window open.

[Alex Ferrari]

Oh, absolutely.

[Emily Bennington]

And so when you listened, like that voice that you listened to that opened the windows that created this situation that was beyond what you were even dreaming about. That's when you can start to. That's when you really start to develop faith and trust. Because you know that you're being guided through life in a way that allows for external circumstances to work out in ways that you couldn't have planned and predicted. But what you find is that it's the best thing for you in the end.

[Alex Ferrari]

There's no question about it. And I've. In my experience, nothing that I've planned have ever come. It just never works out like you want to. You're like. And when something really bad happens at the moment, you feel it's bad. But then six months later or a year later or many years later, you go, my God, that was the best thing that I didn't get like, I almost got on a reality show and I was devastated when I was made it like almost to the very end and I didn't get on. I'm like, oh, I thought it was the end of the world. And then years later I'm like, dodged a bullet. Thank God I didn't get on that thing. Oh my God. But you know, to give you an example, is that, you know, the anger of not being able to follow that dream. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway this fall. Take care of the little ones in the family with Baby Club Savings now through November 4th. Spend $25 on select Baby Club products and save $5. Shop for items like Pediasure bottles, Pedialyte powder packs, Huggies baby wipes, Huggies diapers, Gerber puffs and Gerber pouches. And save $5 when you buy $25 or more on participating products. Offer ends November 4th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[SpinQuest Announcer]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

A free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[Guillermo Valderrama]

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a reminder that your digital life is always a hackers steal identities, drain bank accounts and open fraudulent accounts. Lifelock is here with tips to help prevent you from becoming a victim. Use strong passwords, set up multi factor authentication on your accounts, report scams and update the software on your devices. And for peace of mind, get LifeLock. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US based restoration specialist will will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Plus, LifeLock plans include the million dollar protection package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you to your plan's limits if you lose money due to identity theft. Stay smart, stay safe and stay protected. Get comprehensive identity protection with a 30 day free trial at lifelock.com, use promo code NEWS. That's lifelock.com promo code NEWS for 30 days. Free terms apply.

[Alex Ferrari]

And now back to the show is you know I wanted to get access to these people Very high people in my industry, in the film industry, so big producers and directors and, and writers and things like that. And it was just. There was a desperation in me. It was. I. It's like you could smell it spewing off of me. And I just wanted to get access to these, These many legends and masters of their craft. Of course, there was no chance of me getting that. Fast forward. Years later, I have a podcast, and now they're asking me to talk to me for an hour. And now I get to sit down and ask them every question I've ever wanted to ask them and give access to that same conversation to millions of people around the world. And I sit there going, I can't believe I get to talk to this person or that person or this Oscar winner or this, you know, this writer of my favorite television show of all time. And oh, my God, like, how lucky. But it was. But if you would have told me this when I was in film school, I would have said, you're absolutely not. So I said, first of all, what's podcasting? But secondly, because it didn't exist then, I'm with you.

[Emily Bennington]

Everything I tried to plan just never worked out. And the things that were unplanned have been the best things that have ever happened in my life.

[Alex Ferrari]

No question. Now, let me. Who wrote the Course in Miracles? Is it a combination? Who's the author of it?

[Emily Bennington]

Right. You did ask me that earlier. I'm sorry, I didn't. Didn't get to that part of your question.

[Alex Ferrari]

No worries.

[Emily Bennington]

The Course in Miracles was channeled and it was scribed by a woman named Helen Chuckman from 1965 to 1972, and it was published in 1976 originally. And when I say it was scribed by Helen but channeled, the author of A Course in Miracles claims to be Jesus. And I know that many students find that to be outrageous and blasphemous and, like, unbelievable.

[Alex Ferrari]

Sure.

[Emily Bennington]

But at the same time, we've had so many students just like me who have picked up this book, opened it, read a couple pages, and recognized all, this is the Jesus that I know and love. This isn't the Jesus on the cross. This isn't the Jesus who's judgmental or vengeful or someone to be afraid of. This is the Jesus who just very kindly and gently wants to guide us home through true perception of each other. Back to God.

[Alex Ferrari]

Now, there's a very famous yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, who was a very big fan of Jesus and said that Jesus may have been crucified in one day, but his teachings have been crucified for thousands of years.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah, I know that's true. And Gandhi said, oh, Christians, you are so unlike your Christ.

[Alex Ferrari]

Right? It's like, it's like, I'm gonna. The Crusades, I'm gonna kill you because you don't believe in Jesus.

[Emily Bennington]

Like, it's like, yeah, the disconnect.

[Alex Ferrari]

Am I the only one that sees this?

[Emily Bennington]

I know Jesus came in. We strongly believe Jesus came in originally with a beautiful vision of an unconditionally loving God that was meant to counter this view of God as vengeful and wrathful. And so Jesus. The radical nature of Jesus, that he came in with this new vision of God and he got killed for it, and the message never took off. It's 2,000 years later, and there are threads of Jesus's message of unconditional love that have gone through time. I really believe that Tolstoy got it, Gandhi got it, Martin Luther King got it, St. Francis got the true nature of love, the message that Jesus came to give us. But in general, it's been very misunderstood and misinterpreted, and the course we believe is a correction for that now.

[Alex Ferrari]

And why do you think his teachings have been so massacred over the years? I mean, it's just like such a. Like we were just joking. But it's a disconnect from his original ideas of love and a loving God, a divine God. I always found it really interesting. I'm like, how can a God be vengeful? I mean, that means it's pure ego. Like, you mean our God is so, so egocentric that if you don't worship me in the way that I say you're. I'm going to be vengeful towards you? Like, that makes no sense even on a logical standpoint, you know, it just makes no sense.

[Emily Bennington]

Well, it does make sense if, if you realize, like, it's really hard to forgive unconditionally. Right. When we feel like someone. You mentioned trauma. When we feel that we have been deeply hurt and traumatized by someone, typically what comes to mind first and the, and the feeling and the emotion that we sit with is how hurt we are and how much we want to get back at the person who hurt us. And so that there's something like, in our ego core nature, the course calls it ancient hate. We come into these bodies with this certain amount of ancient hate. And so what better way to sanction your hate and to get approval of your hate towards someone else than to have a God that is also wrathful. And so if God is wrathful, and if God is saying these are the in group and this is the out group, then its sanctions are desire to do the same. So then we get to say, you're in, you're out, and I'm going to enact revenge on you. And it's okay because God's doing it too. It's a lot harder to. In the face of an attack. And no one faced more attack than Jesus, right? I mean, he was crucified in the most horrific, brutal way. And even in the face of that, he displayed unconditional love. Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. And so we, we find that message beautiful. And at the same time, we find it very difficult to enact in our own lives in the ways in which we're, you know, crucified in little ways every day. Like someone cuts us off in traffic and we kind of get upset. And so unconditional love is hard. And so if you want to hold on to the grievance and the judgment, give it to God and he'll sanction that behavior in you as well.

[Alex Ferrari]

So you mentioned the ego, which is one of my favorite conversations to have about ego, because it's something. We all have it. I don't care who you are, even if you're a spiritual master, in this lifetime, you still have ego. Some have mastered the ego, most have not. Why do you believe that? Or how does the ego, or why does the ego demand almost a separation of a separation from others? Like it's. It's me versus the world, as opposed to we're all connected, we're all together. And this. There's always that need to separate to make themselves look bigger. All this kind of stuff, the ego, like how when you're saying, like, when someone cuts you off, that's an offense to my ego, you know, it shouldn't be, but it's an offense. Like, how dare you cut me off? Don't you know who I am? I always love that. If anyone says that to me, I was like, wow, you're far gone, sir.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah. And this is, this is such a great topic, the ego, because we all have one. I believe that when it comes to the Holy Spirit, we all share the universal spirit of God. It's equal in all of us, no matter who we are or what we've done. But when it comes to the ego, the course says we make one ego for ourselves. And so that's why certain things that are triggering to me may not be triggering to you and that kind of thing. And so our ego is unique to us, and we turn the dial up and down on it based on what's going on in our own mind. But the, the course, from a course perspective, the ego is always something to do whatever you can to get rid of. And so the reason why I say that is because in spirituality today, there is, there's so much teaching. And it doesn't mean that it's wrong. It's just different than what the course teaches. The course teaches that the, the ego, its core nature is attack. It is never out to help you. And so that whole discussion of, well, I just have to make friends with my ego, I just have to dance with my ego because it's the thing that keeps me safe. From a course perspective, the ego will never keep you safe because it's always the thing that, that wants to separate from other people. It's always that its core nature is attack again. And so it's always going to want to puff you up at the expense of someone else. And that's what makes it so dangerous. And so that to me, when you, when you think, okay, the course, does the coordinate the problem? All the problems in our world come down to the ego, and the ego comes down to separation. And separation is I'm above and you're below.

[Alex Ferrari]

We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through November 4th. Shop the annual beauty event and save $5 when spend $25 on select beauty products. Shop in store or online for items like Dove Body Wash Native Body Wash, Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser, Dr. Squatch body wash, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel, Dial Liquid Hand Soap, and Olay Body wash. And save $5 when you spend $25 or more. Offer ends November 4th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[SpinQuest Announcer]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

SpinQuest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[Guillermo Valderrama]

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a reminder that your digital life is always at risk. Every day, hackers steal identities, drain bank Accounts and open fraudulent accounts. Lifelock is here with tips to help prevent you from becoming a victim. Use strong passwords, set up multi factor authentication on your accounts. Report scams and update the software on your devices. And for peace of mind, get LifeLock. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Plus, LifeLock plans include the million dollar protection package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you to your plan's limits if you lose money due to identity theft. Stay smart, stay safe and stay protected. Get comprehensive identity protection with a 30 day free trial at lifelock.com, use promo code NEWS. That's lifelock.com promo code NEWS for 30 days. Free terms apply.

[Alex Ferrari]

And now back to the show.

[Emily Bennington]

And so when you look around at the world and you say, okay, so if every problem, every conflict is caused by the ego, which is separation above and below, trying to be above everything, it's like you just put on these glasses and everything makes sense. All of our, the conflict in our home, the conflict in our work all the way up to war comes down to above and below. And so if we can just eradicate that and have a spiritual path that says, no, no, no, no. The only thing true about you is what God put there. And that's equal in absolutely everyone. So then we start to have a conversation about how we're the same versus how we're different. And that's when we really start to heal our planet.

[Alex Ferrari]

I mean, that is the beauty of being. I guess there's a beauty of, of animal life in nature. If you look in animals, animals don't have ego. You know, you don't see one wolf, one wolf trying to say, I'm a much. I mean, yes, there's territorial things, but that's more. But not liking the way that we do it, that we have to puff ourselves up and make ourselves look so much bigger. I mean, it's kind of like even the ego in the spiritual space because you see a lot of even, you know, quote unquote, spiritual masters like, you know, I'm so much more spiritual than you. I'm like the most spiritual.

[Emily Bennington]

I know. It's like there's ego even in humility. It's like, I am the humble than you.

[Alex Ferrari]

I am the humblest. I'm so much more humble than you are, Emily. I'm so much more humble than you. I'm the humblest person you'll ever meet.

[Emily Bennington]

And it's still trying to put yourself above through humility. Yeah. And that's what I'm talking about. That's when you. When you start to see, okay, this is what the ego does. It separates and puts above. Then you start to see it everywhere. And then when you realize, okay, that's the problem, then we can uproot it at its foundation.

[Alex Ferrari]

So what is the ego, body illusion, which I saw inside of the course of miracles? Is there. Can you kind of dive into that topic a little bit?

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah. So as I was saying before, the only thing real, ultimately real, is our core nature as we were created by God. So our pure innocence, our dignity, our worth, our holiness as children, sons of God. And so everything else is false. Well, everything else that's false includes the body. Ultimately, these bodies we know, they die, so they can't be real. You don't even have to be a course student to know that the body dies, so it can't be real. And so what. What the ego does is it tells you that your identity is in this body, and therefore it does everything it can to kind of protect the sanctity of this body. And what we're doing when we just take the foundation of the ego away is we say ultimately the body isn't real. And so I don't have to spend so much time trying to defend and protect this body. Now, that doesn't mean that you walk out in front of traffic or anything, but it does mean that there is tremendous freedom in recognizing that your source isn't your body. Because bodies age, they decay, they get sick, they get injured. And so when your sense of self isn't so wrapped up in the body, then you're freer in how you move through the world.

[Alex Ferrari]

So. And that's why it's so difficult for actors and models and people who are known for their body. As time goes on and they fight the, you know, time, they become more and more depressed. Where. And even in society, like, you know, you know, you know, the. The new Sex and the City spin off that just came out. Like, you know, they're in their 50s. They look like they're women in their 50s. That's okay. They're not supposed to look like. They look like in their 20s, and yet, you know, they're demonized for it. And men. Men get a little bit of a pass. But generally speaking, you know, men.

[Emily Bennington]

Men are allowed to age.

[Alex Ferrari]

Men are allowed to age, no question. Yeah, Sean Connery looked very dapper when he was older and. But women are not. But even then Even men who, you know, at one point were, were the, the stud and the, you know, perfect body and all that stuff that, that all deteriorates. It's impossible to keep that to the end. Everything deteriorates. It all goes away. So it's always fascinating, the ego that you build up in your 20s, 30s, and even 40s, when you start getting into your 50s, nature takes its course. You could hold off with some surgery and eating very well and taking care of yourself, but at a certain point, you're going to look like your age. Unless you're Jane Fonda, right? Share, share, share. Looks. She obviously drinks baby's blood. There's no question in my mind.

[Emily Bennington]

Unicorn tears.

[Alex Ferrari]

Unicorn tears. She is. There's. I don't understand. She's.

[Guillermo Valderrama]

She's.

[Alex Ferrari]

I think she's a vampire. But, but for everybody else, it's so true. And I would love to hear what your thoughts on, you know, you were just talking about the ego in the body and the ego needing to identify itself with the body and how it's so important to the ego. The world that we live in today in social media, it's all about what we look like, how we. The body and the filters, and almost putting out this false image of who we are in the world. Social media, in my opinion, has been very. It's a tool like any other. It could be used for real good, but it could also destroy a hammer, could build a house. It could also kill. You know, so it all depends on how it's used. But what do you think is happening to our society, especially this new generation coming up who. You know, I thank God I didn't have social media when I was a teenager.

[Emily Bennington]

My God, the comparison traps are hard enough. When you're a teenager, you have 30 other people.

[Alex Ferrari]

Yeah. When you have 30 other people in your classroom, it's rough. Imagine having 300,000 or 3 million other people to compare yourself with. It's insane.

[Emily Bennington]

I know it's difficult and challenging, and I, like so many others, have read the statistics, particularly about how social media affects teenage girls and the depression and anxiety that it causes. When you look at your not so great life compared to other people's curated, fabulous life, and it creates that disconnect and a lot of stress results. And so I, I certainly feel for that. You know, you were. You were mentioning Sex in the City, and I just have to say I was reading before I came to this podcast today, an article, and I don't know if this is true. I didn't actually look it up, but the women on Sex and the City are the same age as the Golden Girls.

[Alex Ferrari]

Yes, they were. They were. Blanche.

[Emily Bennington]

Blanche who was mind blowing.

[Alex Ferrari]

No, no. Blanche who was the sex. Whenever. The sex fiend in the Golden Girls, Betty White was 55 there.

[Emily Bennington]

I mean, that's amazing.

[Alex Ferrari]

Oh, yeah. If you want to even be your mind even blown more. Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon who said he's too old for this crap. He was 47. He was my age and he was playing 55, but he was 47. And I'm just like, looking. I'm like, oh, my God.

[Emily Bennington]

Well, I'm 45 and I think everyone on Sex and the City looks like, amazing. I could only hope to look like that now. But anyways, the point is, as I was saying before, that what the ego will tell you to do is to hook into your looks and your status and your things, your possessions and your relationships, who you know as your sense of identity and worth and what social media does, you mentioned it can be used as a tool of good or ill. And, but, but typically what you see, at least, you know, as we're scrolling, we, we see all the ways in which our lives don't measure up to, again, the curated lives of those that we follow. And so what you have to develop these days is an attitudinal musculature to have the discipline to say this person, while their life looks amazing and while they are beautiful, the truth of who they are is their holiness. And so we look to see beyond the form to the holiness. And so when you can do that with a life that you admire, then you work that muscle and it becomes easier to do in challenging situations where you're not looking at the other person so favorably. And so what we're trying to do as to spiritual students, is to kind of get away from this game of life where it is about who you know and how you look and what you have beyond that, to the goodness and the equality of all of us. And honestly, that's the only thing that's going to heal our world at this point.

[Alex Ferrari]

We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway this fall, take care of the little ones in the family. With baby club Savings now through November 4, spend $25 on select Baby Club products and save $5. Shop for items like Pediasure bottles, Pedialyte powder packs, Huggies baby wipes, Huggies diapers, Gerber puffs and Gerber pouches. And save $5 when you buy $25 or more on participating products. Offer ends November 4th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[SpinQuest Announcer]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

To play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[Guillermo Valderrama]

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a reminder that your digital life is always at risk. Every day, hackers steal identities, drain bank accounts and open fraudulent accounts. LifeLock is here with tips to help prevent you from becoming a victim. Use strong passwords, set up multi factor authentication on your accounts, report scams, and update the software on your devices. And for peace of mind, get LifeLock. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Plus, LifeLock plans include the million dollar protection package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you to your plan's limits if you lose money due to identity theft. Stay smart, stay safe, and stay protected. Get comprehensive identity protection with a 30 day free trial at lifelock.com, use promo code NEWS. That's lifelock.com promo code NEWS for 30 days. Free terms apply.

[Alex Ferrari]

And now back to the show. Yeah, I always, I always say that I've never seen a hearse with a U Haul behind it. You can't take it with you. And it's all. But it's true because at the end of the day, you accumulate all this stuff and it makes you feel better. And you're walking around and you're like, oh, look at this, or look at that, that. And I've slowly detached myself from my possessions to the certain point where I'm like, if I lose that, it's okay. It's just a thing. It's taken me a long time to do that because I used to be a collector. I used to collect comic books. I used to be collectors of a ton of stuff when I was a kid. And up until recently, up until right before the pandemic, I had, I don't know, probably 10 long boxes of comic books and I'd been carrying them since I was a kid and collecting. But I hadn't been to a comic book store in 10 years. And every time I moved, I lugged the thing out and I just sat there one day, I'm like, I don't even look at these. Let me sell them and invest the money. And I did.

[Emily Bennington]

Sorry, go ahead.

[Guillermo Valderrama]

And I did.

[Alex Ferrari]

And I was like. I felt so much lighter. And I kept one or two that were like, emotional. I felt emotional towards, like. I remember the story behind it. Even if I lost those tomorrow, it's not like I look at it every day. Even if I lost those tomorrow, I'd be like, it's okay, I have my memory of it. But it's an art. It is an art, for it is a work to detach yourself from the material world. And that's just one example. From the body to other people, to the physicality of the world, everything. This is a very intoxicating environment. This is the Matrix. This is the Matrix. We are in the Matrix. It extremely. It's extremely intoxicating. And. But we're trying to get back to the real world. This is, in my opinion, not the real world. And I know a lot of people, you know, out there, like, what are you talking about? This is the real world. Like, you know, that's just my opinion.

[Emily Bennington]

There's a concept in the course called the real world. And from a course perspective, the real world is only the love in the world and everything else doesn't exist. And it actually has this kind of fascinating concept. I don't understand it fully, but that the only things that are saved from our lives here is the love that we give. And so it calls it the Treasure House. And so some, somewhere, the love that we've expressed in this world is stored for us and we will access it. We can access it now. Again, I don't understand that concept. But when I think about it in relation to what you're saying about like comic books and I've collected magazines too, so I know that whole thing as well. But what if what we really collect is our acts of kindness? What if what we collect is the love that we give? What if that really is collected for us and that's the only thing that survives? If we thought, okay, I want to collect kindness, so therefore I'm going to act with kindness throughout my every day. Again, what a different world we would have. It's a whole lot more satisfying than comic books and magazines.

[Alex Ferrari]

It's so interesting because I don't know if you ever saw this. There was a study done where they gave 10 people $100 and they had 20 people $100. Ten of them get to keep the $100. Ten of them had to give it away to a stranger on the street. And when they brought everybody back, people who were the happiest were the people who gave up money away. And it's ingrained in our DNA because, honestly, if you don't give, the tribe doesn't continue. If you want to go back to prehistoric times, the tribe doesn't continue. If you. If you don't know how to cooperate, you don't live. You. You know, the saber tooth tiger that's gonna get another was no saber tooth, but you know what I'm talking about. The lion's gonna get you.

[Emily Bennington]

Something's gonna get you.

[Alex Ferrari]

Something's gonna get you. So the concept of giving you. There's endorphins that are released when you give. Feels so good to give. It feels natural to give. And in my life, the moment I stopped trying to take from the world and get what I wanted and start to give to the world what I wanted to give them, the doors opened in ways that I can't even comprehend. Like I told you earlier with my show, and the second I started to give back to my community, to give back to the people in the form of shows and education and everything that I do, my life changed. And it changed six and a half. About six and a half years ago when I started my first podcast, my humble first little podcast. And now it is now my life. This is what I love to do, and I have not given up on other parts of what I want to do in my life. But this is like, oh, no, I feel too good doing this. It feels. I don't know if you've had this experience, but someone walks up to you at an event or after you speak or something, and they go, you changed my life. Your book changed my life. Your teachings changed my life. Your podcast changed my life. Something changed. That is addictive. That's extremely addictive.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah, yeah. You mentioned the study about giving $100. There's also a study about our happiness set point. Scientists have been trying to figure out, okay, why are some people just more happy than others? And what can we do to bottle it, to make. To spread it around so that we're happier as a society? Because if you look at the data, we're pretty depressed, very much. And what they found was that you can actually elevate your happiness, and we have a happiness set point, and we can do things like get a new job or win the lottery and. But that fades and we bounce back to our Set point. Or we can become depressed, we can lose a spouse or lose our job or lose a bunch of money and that phase. And then we bounce back to our happiness. Set point. So what is it that actually makes us happier so where we can stick at a higher level of happiness? And what they learned was. Drumroll. Altruism. It's giving things away. It's standing for something bigger than just yourself. And that is consistently when we are in that practice of giving, that we become happier. And it's the only thing scientists have found that actually makes us happier in a way that sticks.

[Alex Ferrari]

You know, it's fascinating because we give. We're so much happier when we give, we give away. And you see, I use movie stars because I'm more. I know that part of the world that when movie stars have rich, they're rich, they're famous, they have, you know, perfect bodies. According to society, they have all the success they could ever want. And many of these people who I've met are very unhappy, very sad, of.

[Emily Bennington]

Course, because their happiness is contingent upon the disconnect.

[Alex Ferrari]

They're disconnected. Yeah, they're just. They're disconnected. They're disconnected. And I've talked to Oscar winners who've. After they won the Oscar, I'm like, I was depressed. I didn't know what else to do. Once you reach the pinnacle of the industry, according to what the industry says, you just go, what do I do now? I don't know what to do with myself. And that's why you see these rock stars and you see these rich athletes who destroy themselves, and you see them self destruct publicly. Some don't make it. Some do and make it out the other end. But it's really, really interesting. I think Jim Carrey said it. Jim Carrey is such an interesting character, not only because of his talent as an actor and a comedian, but he said, I wish everybody in the world could get everything they wanted so they would understand it's not the answer.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah.

[Alex Ferrari]

And you're like, so deep. So like, oh, that makes sense.

[Emily Bennington]

One of the. The most interesting Instagrams that I follow is Paulina Porschkova. I don't know if you.

[Alex Ferrari]

Oh, yeah. I just saw a video with her the other day. She's like, I'm 55.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah, that's right. So. So for those of us who grew up reading fashion magazines in the 90s, her and the Cindy Crawfords and the Naomi Campbell's were like it. They were just the. The height of Beauty and Polly. I don't. She's 55 now.

[Alex Ferrari]

She's. Yeah, she says she's 55. She's about a few years older than JLo, and people are comparing her to JLo and she's like, I don't look like JLo. JLo is again, another anomaly of she's.

[Emily Bennington]

A freak of nature.

[Alex Ferrari]

She's also another freak of nature. Yeah, but Paulina said that she's like, I'm 55. I don't see anybody my age out there. And it's like, you either JLo. And then the next time you see someone, it's Betty White. And everything in between is just not accepted. We don't want to see you.

[Emily Bennington]

Well, what's interesting about Paulina's Instagram is that she's so publicly grappling with this idea. So here is someone, and this speaks to your experience in Hollywood. Here is someone who has been celebrated her whole life for the way that she looks. And these looks fade. They just do, men or women. And so what happens when you're not turning heads and getting opportunities the way that you once did? If your sense of identity and worth is hooked into how you look, you're going to struggle with that.

[Alex Ferrari]

We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

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[Alex Ferrari]

And now back to the show.

[Emily Bennington]

And again, what makes Paulina's account so fascinating is that she's so publicly struggling with this. But you can avoid that struggle altogether. You can save yourself a lot of pain. Paulina herself calls. She has nicknamed herself the crying woman of Instagram. You can stop crying if you're not so identified with how you look. You can stop crying if you find another source beyond this body for your happiness.

[Alex Ferrari]

Yeah, and she seems to be fighting, fighting this idea because on one side of her, she wants to be able to grow old gracefully, but yet she's still holding on in on a subconscious level to what she was. And, and by the way, for everyone listening, it's not just beauty. It could be your career, that your career is your identity. It could be your marriage, your marriage, your career.

[Emily Bennington]

Lose a spouse and you lose your identity, you, skill.

[Alex Ferrari]

There's so many different things that you can associate, like this is what you associate yourself with. But everything, fate and one way from everything, fades. Your career will fade, your looks will fade, your health will fade, your relationship, they will die eventually, or you will die eventually. It all fades. But the only thing that doesn't is that internal connection. If you find that internal connection with yourself and the value of who you are as a spiritual being that goes along the entire path, and that should tell you that that is the real and the rest is not. In 10,000 years, I always tell people who get so caught up in my business, I'm like, Dude, in 10,000 years, no one's going to watch your movie. You'll be a footnote if you're lucky. The giants of our industry. Clark Gable was the biggest movie star in the world. 10 out of 10 people on the street, unless they're of a certain age, no idea who he is.

[Emily Bennington]

Yeah, it's true. Look at what the Beatles did in the 60s. Look at how the whole world kind of like tilted towards the Beatles. I asked my, my son the other day. I was like, do you know who Paul McCartney is? And he's like, no, eventually.

[Alex Ferrari]

And, and by the way, let's. Using the Beatles as an example, the Beatles basically dented the world. I mean, what they've done with their music is beyond comprehension. I'm a huge fan of the Beatles. Me too. My kids are fans of the Beatles now because we're playing the music and we're kind of passing it along. But you're talking about basically the biggest band of all time, the most popular band of all time. And they will fade. They will fade eventually. Maybe some trickles of it will live on. And I think the core message of what the Beatles said with love is love. Paul McCartney said, like, I don't know, like 95% of our songs are about love. You know, he goes, that's what. That was the message that they put out there when you went. You won't hear the same thing about. And I'm not going to bash Elvis, but Elvis or other artists of that, of that generation, the Beatles still stick, you know, they still stick. And whether you like them or hate them, they did dent the world, you know, they did. They made a difference. But they will fade as well. But their message of love, I hope, doesn't. And that's where that music is. I think that's why it holds so much, because it's about. It's essentially about love. Love's all you need.

[Emily Bennington]

All you need is love.

[Alex Ferrari]

All you need is love. All you need is love.

[Emily Bennington]

Now, that was Jesus message too.

[Alex Ferrari]

So you see this? Good. It's good, Mark. Jesus needed a better PR person. I mean, seriously, that's the problem. Jesus didn't have a good PR person.

[Emily Bennington]

So in that whole, like, thread that I was saying earlier, like Tolstoy and St Francis and Gandhi and Martin Luther King, we'll just put Carney in there.

[Alex Ferrari]

Paul McCarty and John Lennon, you know, and Paul and Ringo, everybody. The whole, the whole. The four. The Fabulous four, Fab four as well. Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions I love to ask all of my guests. What is your mission in this life?

[Emily Bennington]

In short, my mission is to help a Course in miracles become one of the world's great spiritual traditions.

[Alex Ferrari]

And what is your. And why are we here as a, as a, as humans, as, as a.

[Emily Bennington]

Species, to learn to transcend our ego and to love. And that's how we find our way home to God.

[Alex Ferrari]

Great, great. Answers to both those answers. Emily, thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate you taking the time out and it was an absolute joy and pleasure talking to you and continue the good work you're doing. My dear.

[Emily Bennington]

Thank you so much. It was an honor to be here.

[Alex Ferrari]

A Course in Miracles is a very powerful text and I recommend everybody listening to definitely check it out. If you want to get links to anything we spoke about in this episode, please head over to the show notes at next levelsoul.com forward/026 now. If this conversation stirred something in you, there's more waiting. You can listen to this episode completely commercial free on next level Soul TV's app where Soul meets streaming. Watch and listen on Apple iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Fire TV, LG and Samsung apps anytime, anywhere. Begin your Awakening at next LevelSoul TV. Thank you so much for listening. As I always say, trust the journey. It's there to teach you. I'll see you next time.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway this fall. Take care of the little ones in the family with Baby Club Savings now through November 4th. Spend $25 on select Baby Club products and save $5. Shop for items like Pediasure bottles, Pedialyte powder packs, Huggies baby wipes, Huggies diapers, Gerber Puffs and Gerber pouches, and save $5 when you buy $25 or more on participating products. Offer ends November 4th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

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[Guillermo Valderrama]

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