1 00:00:13,214 --> 00:00:16,648 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:16,751 --> 00:00:19,301 freeman: The road to damascus. 3 00:00:20,004 --> 00:00:23,839 Somewhere along here saul was blinded by the light. 4 00:00:25,009 --> 00:00:29,712 He had a vision of god, and at that moment he became paul the apostle. 5 00:00:30,748 --> 00:00:33,699 The man who spread christianity to the gentiles. 6 00:00:34,835 --> 00:00:37,336 Now prophet muhammad, 7 00:00:37,538 --> 00:00:39,338 zoroaster, 8 00:00:39,540 --> 00:00:44,176 even joseph smith, they all had visions too. 9 00:00:45,713 --> 00:00:49,381 Now I'm fascinated by these moments of insight. 10 00:00:49,917 --> 00:00:53,802 Not just by the glimpses they might offer of god and heaven, 11 00:00:54,505 --> 00:00:58,474 but also because these visions inspire change. 12 00:00:59,744 --> 00:01:03,479 They give birth to new ways of understanding god. 13 00:01:04,315 --> 00:01:07,800 Even starting entirely new religions. 14 00:01:08,002 --> 00:01:12,071 How do visions change life here on earth? 15 00:01:19,413 --> 00:01:23,665 I'm setting out to explore the power of divine visions. 16 00:01:24,401 --> 00:01:28,103 In this first photo you're in a wheelchair and now you're standing, you're walking. 17 00:01:31,175 --> 00:01:34,810 I'll see how visions can turn a life upside down. 18 00:01:35,179 --> 00:01:39,515 Iain: I just reached up and touched the wall, and the wall was alive. 19 00:01:43,838 --> 00:01:48,040 Freeman: I'll step into a space designed to bring on divine visitation. 20 00:01:50,144 --> 00:01:52,444 Learn how facing down spirits... 21 00:01:52,546 --> 00:01:55,380 Eddie: I was just coming apart at the seams up there. 22 00:01:55,483 --> 00:01:58,267 Freeman: Can bring one man back from the brink. 23 00:02:00,471 --> 00:02:02,671 And discover how a message from god... 24 00:02:02,773 --> 00:02:05,607 Mulli: And I said, "yes lord, I will do it." 25 00:02:05,709 --> 00:02:08,777 freeman: Can save more than 10,000 lives. 26 00:02:09,747 --> 00:02:13,765 (theme music plays). 27 00:02:24,912 --> 00:02:29,281 I've come to south western France to visit one of the holiest sites in catholicism. 28 00:02:30,301 --> 00:02:33,468 The sanctuary of our lady of lourdes. 29 00:02:42,146 --> 00:02:46,848 Many catholics believe this grotto is where, in 1858, 30 00:02:47,401 --> 00:02:51,069 a poor 14 year old girl named bernadette soubirous 31 00:02:51,172 --> 00:02:54,406 had several divine visions. 32 00:02:59,580 --> 00:03:04,032 Father xavier d'arodes is a franciscan priest who grew up nearby. 33 00:03:05,269 --> 00:03:08,103 Trust me, and this is? 34 00:03:08,205 --> 00:03:10,706 Father xavier: So this is the grotto massabielle and 35 00:03:10,808 --> 00:03:14,643 that's where it all happened, in 1858. 36 00:03:14,745 --> 00:03:16,311 Freeman: Right here? 37 00:03:16,413 --> 00:03:18,814 Father xavier: Right here. 38 00:03:23,938 --> 00:03:27,539 Bernadette was just coming to get wood for the fireplace. 39 00:03:30,377 --> 00:03:33,278 And suddenly she sees the apparition. 40 00:03:41,221 --> 00:03:42,271 She's scared. 41 00:03:42,373 --> 00:03:45,073 She thinks that she's a ghost. 42 00:03:45,326 --> 00:03:48,176 She tries to make the sign of the cross... 43 00:03:48,379 --> 00:03:51,413 But she's afraid. 44 00:03:52,816 --> 00:03:55,801 Freeman: Bernadette didn't find out until later that her vision 45 00:03:55,903 --> 00:03:59,605 matched depictions of the virgin mary. 46 00:04:02,376 --> 00:04:05,210 Father xavier: The lady starts doing the sign of the cross 47 00:04:05,312 --> 00:04:09,248 and says, "I am the immaculate conception." 48 00:04:10,050 --> 00:04:14,136 freeman: Bernadette was shaken, but she was sure of what she saw. 49 00:04:15,539 --> 00:04:19,675 She goes home, she says to her parents, "I saw a lady at the grotto," 50 00:04:19,977 --> 00:04:21,543 and the parents say? 51 00:04:21,645 --> 00:04:23,111 Father xavier: And the parents say, 52 00:04:23,213 --> 00:04:27,432 "but you're crazy. And we forbid you to, to come back here to the grotto." 53 00:04:27,534 --> 00:04:30,969 freeman: Now father, why would they say that to the child? 54 00:04:31,071 --> 00:04:35,107 Father xavier: Because they were the lowest in the town 55 00:04:35,209 --> 00:04:37,909 and so they didn't want to create scandal. 56 00:04:39,013 --> 00:04:42,514 Freeman: The parents say, "just shut up." why didn't she shut up? 57 00:04:43,250 --> 00:04:46,768 Father xavier: Because the urge was so present. 58 00:04:47,471 --> 00:04:51,573 She had in her heart that call for coming back. 59 00:04:53,143 --> 00:04:55,410 Freeman: Bernadette disobeyed her parents. 60 00:04:55,512 --> 00:04:59,915 In fact, she returned to the grotto another 17 times. 61 00:05:03,003 --> 00:05:06,505 Father xavier: She was asked to do penance for sinners, not for herself. 62 00:05:06,607 --> 00:05:08,206 Freeman: Not for herself. 63 00:05:08,342 --> 00:05:11,410 Father xavier: But for the sake of the people and for the sake of the whole world. 64 00:05:12,313 --> 00:05:16,181 Freeman: According to the legend, in one vision the virgin told bernadette 65 00:05:16,283 --> 00:05:19,735 to dig for water in the grotto and to drink it. 66 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,141 She dug with her hands but only found muddy water. 67 00:05:31,248 --> 00:05:33,765 She drank it anyway. 68 00:05:38,372 --> 00:05:42,274 Villagers gathered, wondering if she'd gone mad. 69 00:05:42,876 --> 00:05:44,443 Father xavier: They don't understand what's happening 70 00:05:44,545 --> 00:05:46,645 because they cannot hear the discussion. 71 00:05:46,747 --> 00:05:49,581 They just see the reaction of saint bernadette. 72 00:05:49,683 --> 00:05:52,067 Freeman: I'm watching that, I'm saying what, what in the world is she doing? 73 00:05:52,169 --> 00:05:54,436 Father xavier: Exactly. 74 00:05:57,341 --> 00:06:01,043 Freeman: But soon the water started to run clear. 75 00:06:04,481 --> 00:06:08,400 And the villagers had a change of heart. 76 00:06:09,136 --> 00:06:13,905 They took it as a sign that bernadette was indeed directed by the virgin mary. 77 00:06:19,380 --> 00:06:22,748 Father xavier: On the following day a lady who was in the neighboring village 78 00:06:22,850 --> 00:06:25,100 had an arm problem. 79 00:06:25,202 --> 00:06:26,835 Freeman: Paralyzed, or... 80 00:06:26,970 --> 00:06:32,074 Father xavier: Yeah, and so she came and put her arm in the spring and got cured. 81 00:06:34,144 --> 00:06:39,247 There was no internet, no television but the word spread, quickly. 82 00:06:39,883 --> 00:06:43,835 That something very unusual was happening. 83 00:06:44,538 --> 00:06:46,371 Freeman: Were a lot of people healed? 84 00:06:46,473 --> 00:06:50,008 Father xavier: Many people have been healed here. 85 00:06:50,310 --> 00:06:53,111 Freeman: In the decades after bernadette's visions, 86 00:06:53,213 --> 00:06:56,648 three sanctuaries were built on top of the grotto. 87 00:06:57,901 --> 00:07:00,936 Today, millions of people make the pilgrimage here 88 00:07:01,038 --> 00:07:04,639 to bathe in, and drink from the spring's water. 89 00:07:07,511 --> 00:07:11,847 Father xavier introduces me to a nun, who claims that she too was cured 90 00:07:11,949 --> 00:07:15,333 by the healing waters at lourdes. 91 00:07:15,436 --> 00:07:18,320 Her name is also bernadette. 92 00:07:18,405 --> 00:07:20,772 Father xavier: Sister bernadette, I mean, may I introduce you. 93 00:07:20,874 --> 00:07:22,307 Freeman: So, bernadette. 94 00:07:22,443 --> 00:07:23,442 Sister bernadette: Bonjour. 95 00:07:30,384 --> 00:07:34,035 Father xavier: She was officially recognized as being cured. 96 00:07:34,138 --> 00:07:35,837 Freeman: Why? Cured of what? 97 00:07:45,349 --> 00:07:47,265 Father xavier: She had to wear... 98 00:07:47,367 --> 00:07:48,400 Freeman: Brace? 99 00:07:48,535 --> 00:07:51,002 Father xavier: Yeah. Braces and she couldn't walk. 100 00:07:51,088 --> 00:07:54,172 Freeman: Sister bernadette's illness had no medical cure, 101 00:07:54,274 --> 00:07:58,577 so her doctor suggested she make a pilgrimage to lourdes. 102 00:08:25,606 --> 00:08:30,342 In this first photo I see you're, you're in a wheelchair and in the second one you're 103 00:08:30,444 --> 00:08:33,678 apparently pushing a wheelchair. 104 00:08:36,550 --> 00:08:40,769 And you don't look much older. 105 00:08:42,105 --> 00:08:43,638 Father xavier: That's 2008. Freeman: Yeah. 106 00:08:43,740 --> 00:08:46,641 Father xavier: And 2009. Freeman: One year? 107 00:08:46,743 --> 00:08:49,344 Father xavier: Yeah. 108 00:08:50,614 --> 00:08:54,366 Freeman: Doctors could find no medical explanation for her recovery. 109 00:08:55,068 --> 00:08:57,636 Sister bernadette believes it was a miracle. 110 00:08:57,738 --> 00:09:00,605 The catholic church agreed. 111 00:09:00,774 --> 00:09:07,045 In 2018 they recognized her healing as one of only 70 official miracles at lourdes. 112 00:09:10,050 --> 00:09:12,000 So miracles are not that prevalent? 113 00:09:12,102 --> 00:09:13,802 They're rare in the church. 114 00:09:13,904 --> 00:09:16,137 Father xavier: We're not looking for miracles. 115 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,208 What is important for me, is that indeed it's a holy place. 116 00:09:20,711 --> 00:09:23,812 Our lady appeared here. 117 00:09:32,606 --> 00:09:36,775 Freeman: Saint bernadette's vision of the virgin mary lives on, 118 00:09:37,578 --> 00:09:42,614 in the waters of the grotto, the basilica, this entire place. 119 00:09:43,967 --> 00:09:48,069 Catholics believe that what happened here was a miracle, 120 00:09:48,872 --> 00:09:51,206 and even if you don't believe, 121 00:09:51,308 --> 00:09:55,143 you have to accept the power of her vision. 122 00:09:55,412 --> 00:10:00,315 It has created a place that has transformed many lives, 123 00:10:01,034 --> 00:10:05,270 like sister bernadette's, and many thousands more. 124 00:10:05,973 --> 00:10:09,774 But does the divine only appear to the deeply devoted? 125 00:10:11,244 --> 00:10:15,614 Or is it possible to see god even if you doubt god exists? 126 00:10:19,703 --> 00:10:23,838 I've come to london to meet writer and editor, iain ball. 127 00:10:24,508 --> 00:10:27,409 Iain had a series of epileptic seizures, which led to a 128 00:10:27,511 --> 00:10:30,512 profound change in his outlook on life. 129 00:10:30,614 --> 00:10:32,147 Freeman: Iain. Iain: Nice to meet you morgan. 130 00:10:32,249 --> 00:10:33,999 (laughs). 131 00:10:36,737 --> 00:10:38,470 Freeman: I wanna know about your seizures. 132 00:10:38,572 --> 00:10:40,705 How did they start? 133 00:10:40,807 --> 00:10:43,008 Iain: It started really in January 2010. 134 00:10:43,110 --> 00:10:46,544 One evening I was at my local pool, having a swim, 135 00:10:46,647 --> 00:10:49,547 when everything turned sepia colored. 136 00:10:52,869 --> 00:10:56,171 Next thing I know it's two days later and I'm waking up in a hospital, 137 00:10:56,273 --> 00:11:00,141 after two days of epileptic seizures. 138 00:11:02,846 --> 00:11:08,566 Turned out I had a tumor, what they call a chondroblastoma tumor of the bone, and... 139 00:11:08,669 --> 00:11:10,301 Freeman: A bone tumor? 140 00:11:10,437 --> 00:11:13,038 Iain: Yeah, it was a bone tumor that was becoming a brain tumor and that was what 141 00:11:13,140 --> 00:11:17,475 was causing the epilepsy, and I had neuro surgery to have it removed. 142 00:11:18,111 --> 00:11:20,111 Freeman: You had the surgery, it was removed. 143 00:11:20,213 --> 00:11:25,166 Iain: Yeah, and it was after the surgery, after I'd left the intensive care unit 144 00:11:25,268 --> 00:11:30,071 that I started to have what I call breakfast meetings with the universe. 145 00:11:33,744 --> 00:11:35,210 Freeman: Clever. 146 00:11:35,312 --> 00:11:37,412 Breakfast meetings with the universe. 147 00:11:37,514 --> 00:11:38,780 Iain: Yeah. 148 00:11:38,882 --> 00:11:41,399 Freeman: Can you explain it a little bit? 149 00:11:41,702 --> 00:11:44,636 Iain: The first morning I remember, it started with the sunrise. 150 00:11:44,738 --> 00:11:48,173 Sunlight came into my room and woke me up, 151 00:11:49,443 --> 00:11:51,976 and I remember just looking at the wall above my bed, 152 00:11:52,079 --> 00:11:56,247 which was the same as it always was, except now it really felt like... 153 00:11:57,467 --> 00:11:59,534 A miracle. 154 00:12:01,838 --> 00:12:04,038 Freeman: The fact that there was sunlight? 155 00:12:04,141 --> 00:12:05,774 Iain: It was the, the wall itself. 156 00:12:05,876 --> 00:12:06,941 The presence of the wall. 157 00:12:07,043 --> 00:12:08,877 Freeman: The wall. 158 00:12:08,979 --> 00:12:12,480 Iain: I just reached up and touched the wall and I remember feeling like 159 00:12:12,582 --> 00:12:15,300 the wall was alive. 160 00:12:15,502 --> 00:12:19,370 Like it was conscious. 161 00:12:25,245 --> 00:12:29,414 Freeman: Everything iain thought he knew about reality was cast aside. 162 00:12:30,083 --> 00:12:33,701 He had begun to see the world in an entirely new way. 163 00:12:44,481 --> 00:12:47,081 Er been a religious person. 164 00:12:47,184 --> 00:12:52,170 He never really thought about god, but scarring from brain surgery brought on a 165 00:12:52,272 --> 00:12:56,274 series of visions that made him question everything. 166 00:12:59,479 --> 00:13:01,813 Iain: This carried on for about three or four weeks. 167 00:13:01,915 --> 00:13:03,281 Freeman: About how often? 168 00:13:03,383 --> 00:13:04,599 Iain: Every day. Freeman: Every day. 169 00:13:04,701 --> 00:13:06,134 Iain: Every, every morning. 170 00:13:06,236 --> 00:13:08,703 I felt like I was being sort of transported and being revealed 171 00:13:08,805 --> 00:13:12,307 fundamental truths about the nature of reality. 172 00:13:14,010 --> 00:13:17,312 One of which is that all inanimate objects are conscious. 173 00:13:18,248 --> 00:13:21,065 All beings are conscious, including walls. 174 00:13:21,802 --> 00:13:24,169 Tables and chairs. 175 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:29,808 Which seemed very counterintuitive to me. 176 00:13:29,910 --> 00:13:34,262 I mean who, you know, how can you have consciousness without a brain? 177 00:13:35,415 --> 00:13:38,766 The other thing that seemed to be happening was that everything is bound together 178 00:13:38,869 --> 00:13:43,271 in one thing, by an endless unconditional love. 179 00:13:47,544 --> 00:13:50,778 And there was this huge wave of emotion that came with this experience, 180 00:13:50,881 --> 00:13:54,115 which was really powerful and uplifting. 181 00:13:55,302 --> 00:13:56,701 Freeman: Are you religious? 182 00:13:56,803 --> 00:13:57,936 Iain: I was an agnostic. 183 00:13:58,038 --> 00:13:59,537 I didn't know how to understand it. 184 00:13:59,639 --> 00:14:01,172 I don't know if it was god. 185 00:14:01,274 --> 00:14:02,607 Freeman: You don't know that it wasn't. 186 00:14:02,709 --> 00:14:04,609 Iain: I don't know that it wasn't, I don't know what it was. 187 00:14:04,711 --> 00:14:06,811 Freeman: Um-hmm. 188 00:14:10,250 --> 00:14:14,269 Iain wanted to find out whether his visions had a medical cause, 189 00:14:14,371 --> 00:14:17,138 so he joined the cambridge university study 190 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,241 conducted by doctor joseph tennant. 191 00:14:20,644 --> 00:14:25,446 It was searching for a connection between epilepsy and mystical experiences. 192 00:14:26,550 --> 00:14:30,068 Iain: That's a scan of the tumor, that was the cause of the seizures I was having. 193 00:14:30,136 --> 00:14:31,703 Freeman: Okay. 194 00:14:31,838 --> 00:14:33,404 Tennant: So, I mean, as you can see on this scan, the growth from the skull, 195 00:14:33,506 --> 00:14:35,840 the left temporal lobe and so this is pushing up against 196 00:14:35,942 --> 00:14:38,443 iain's brain, and so they had to cut all that section away, 197 00:14:38,545 --> 00:14:40,111 but obviously when you do that you leave a bit of 198 00:14:40,213 --> 00:14:41,813 scarring on the left temporal lobe. 199 00:14:41,915 --> 00:14:46,067 So it seems something about the temporal lobe is potentially capable of 200 00:14:46,169 --> 00:14:49,704 producing spiritual experiences. 201 00:14:49,806 --> 00:14:52,440 Freeman: You have not come to any sort of conclusions yet, on it. 202 00:14:52,542 --> 00:14:55,710 Tennant: We can't induce a seizure on someone, of a mystical nature, 203 00:14:55,812 --> 00:14:58,880 and hope that we can get a good scan of it under a mri. 204 00:14:58,982 --> 00:15:00,815 We don't know when these seizures are happening. 205 00:15:00,967 --> 00:15:03,768 Freeman: Can't you come to some sort of conclusion behind that? 206 00:15:03,870 --> 00:15:06,537 Tennant: Uh, not quite yet. 207 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:08,006 Freeman: I would. Tennant: I mean... 208 00:15:08,108 --> 00:15:11,209 Freeman: Jump right to it. Just think, god exists. 209 00:15:11,311 --> 00:15:14,045 Joan of arc. 210 00:15:14,147 --> 00:15:15,847 Saint bernadette. 211 00:15:15,949 --> 00:15:21,336 Do you think that there is a possibility that they experienced 212 00:15:21,438 --> 00:15:24,405 this sort of epilepsy? 213 00:15:24,507 --> 00:15:26,374 Tennant: It is possible. 214 00:15:26,476 --> 00:15:30,111 So there was a neurological paper that speculated that paul's vision on the road to 215 00:15:30,213 --> 00:15:33,648 damascus was epilepsy, but I mean, so what? 216 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:35,767 Because the thing that occurred afterwards was 217 00:15:35,869 --> 00:15:39,737 paul was moved to go preach and become, you know, saint paul. 218 00:15:39,806 --> 00:15:41,406 Freeman: Right. 219 00:15:41,541 --> 00:15:44,876 Tennant: As a scientist I can't tell you whether these are metaphysical or not. 220 00:15:45,178 --> 00:15:49,781 The thing we can look at, is to say that something in the brain is capable of producing 221 00:15:49,883 --> 00:15:54,102 religious experience, and can do so even when it's not intending to. 222 00:15:55,805 --> 00:15:57,405 Freeman: Alright. 223 00:15:57,507 --> 00:16:01,476 Here's the $64 question, how has it changed you? 224 00:16:02,212 --> 00:16:05,446 Iain: Well I think, you know, it did remove any sense of, that I had, 225 00:16:05,548 --> 00:16:08,967 that the universe is a meaningless cold place. 226 00:16:09,069 --> 00:16:13,871 I think it gave a kind of foundation of meaning for me, and I think this idea of, 227 00:16:13,940 --> 00:16:15,473 was it a revelation? 228 00:16:15,575 --> 00:16:18,242 Or was it just an, an aberration in the brain? 229 00:16:18,345 --> 00:16:21,012 I've come to the conclusion it doesn't really matter because the thing that really sticks 230 00:16:21,114 --> 00:16:26,901 with me is that feeling of endless unconditional love, and I don't think that really 231 00:16:27,003 --> 00:16:31,105 matters where it came from, a divine force or from my damaged brain. 232 00:16:37,881 --> 00:16:39,847 It was a real feeling and for me that's, you know... 233 00:16:39,949 --> 00:16:40,848 Freeman: Yeah. 234 00:16:40,950 --> 00:16:42,200 Iain: That's inspiration enough. 235 00:16:42,302 --> 00:16:44,035 Just trying to live in that spirit is enough. 236 00:16:44,137 --> 00:16:46,471 Freeman: Very good. 237 00:16:49,275 --> 00:16:54,479 It's easy to get caught up, pitting science against religion. 238 00:16:55,615 --> 00:17:01,903 The rational versus the spiritual, but iain's case shows that there is room for 239 00:17:02,005 --> 00:17:06,607 scientific understanding, without discounting subjective feelings of the divine. 240 00:17:07,811 --> 00:17:10,578 As carl sagan once said, 241 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,915 "the notion that science and spirituality are 242 00:17:14,017 --> 00:17:17,969 mutually exclusive does a disservice to both." 243 00:17:30,016 --> 00:17:33,601 visions can be shaped by our personal relationship to the universe, 244 00:17:33,703 --> 00:17:38,005 but changes don't just happen inside those who receive divine messages. 245 00:17:38,508 --> 00:17:41,509 They can shape the lives of thousands. 246 00:17:41,611 --> 00:17:45,279 Sociologist andreas schneider has come to rural kenya 247 00:17:45,381 --> 00:17:49,167 to meet a man who changed the world. 248 00:17:49,269 --> 00:17:53,571 Doctor charles mulli is a prominent businessman and philanthropist, 249 00:17:53,673 --> 00:17:56,674 but he didn't have an easy start in life. 250 00:17:56,776 --> 00:18:02,080 Mulli: I grew up in a rural area, far away from the center of nairobi. 251 00:18:03,016 --> 00:18:07,568 At the age of six years my father, my mom, they abandoned me. 252 00:18:07,904 --> 00:18:11,305 Andreas: At the age of six, being by yourself. 253 00:18:11,407 --> 00:18:12,607 Mulli: Yeah. 254 00:18:12,709 --> 00:18:15,510 Andreas: I, I cannot imagine that. 255 00:18:17,347 --> 00:18:22,533 Mulli: At the age of 16 years I decided to walk to the city of nairobi 256 00:18:23,103 --> 00:18:25,503 and I had no experience. 257 00:18:25,605 --> 00:18:29,107 I had no education, but I got a job. 258 00:18:30,210 --> 00:18:33,511 I got some money, I bought a vehicle 259 00:18:33,613 --> 00:18:37,181 and later I was able to buy another one. 260 00:18:37,717 --> 00:18:40,802 Then I had a fleet of buses. 261 00:18:40,904 --> 00:18:43,905 Freeman: His bus fleet grew into a successful transportation conglomerate 262 00:18:44,007 --> 00:18:47,542 and he became a wealthy man. 263 00:18:48,111 --> 00:18:52,180 But his newfound success was about to suffer a profound blow. 264 00:18:55,034 --> 00:19:00,505 In 1986 charles was confronted by some poor boys on the street in nairobi. 265 00:19:00,940 --> 00:19:03,374 They wanted money. 266 00:19:03,610 --> 00:19:05,409 Mulli: I said, "no, what have you done? 267 00:19:05,512 --> 00:19:08,312 You have done nothing, and I will never give you money." 268 00:19:11,668 --> 00:19:14,669 freeman: It was a decision he would come to regret. 269 00:19:18,041 --> 00:19:23,778 The boys stole his car, but charles' feeling about those boys soon shifted 270 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,848 from anger, to sympathy. 271 00:19:26,950 --> 00:19:31,636 Mulli: But I had no peace in my heart, because I did not give this food. 272 00:19:32,772 --> 00:19:36,941 I'd already forgotten about my past, that I was like them. 273 00:19:39,979 --> 00:19:43,848 Freeman: The faces of those boys haunted charles for years. 274 00:19:47,837 --> 00:19:52,039 Until one day his guilt became too much to bear. 275 00:19:52,141 --> 00:19:56,777 Mulli: In November 17, 1989, it was around 11:00 in the morning. 276 00:19:57,146 --> 00:20:01,299 I felt like the world was falling apart. 277 00:20:01,401 --> 00:20:03,534 There was no peace. 278 00:20:03,636 --> 00:20:05,636 I was crying, you know. 279 00:20:05,738 --> 00:20:10,575 I was asking god "what is that you want me to do?" 280 00:20:11,044 --> 00:20:15,980 and there was a little fear in my heart, and after four hours in that car... 281 00:20:16,082 --> 00:20:17,348 Andreas: Four hours? 282 00:20:17,483 --> 00:20:23,170 Mulli: Four hours, crying, the voice of the lord god, showed to me. 283 00:20:26,809 --> 00:20:32,914 "I gave you everything, I rest you from nowhere, and I gave you all this, 284 00:20:33,483 --> 00:20:39,370 and now I want to take everything that you have. Give it to the poor." 285 00:20:41,274 --> 00:20:45,243 I went down to the humblest level. 286 00:20:46,246 --> 00:20:49,347 That was the real turning point. 287 00:20:50,283 --> 00:20:53,634 I said, "yes lord, I will do it." 288 00:20:55,805 --> 00:21:00,107 and at that moment, I got the greatest joy in my heart. 289 00:21:00,877 --> 00:21:04,979 Andreas: This is actually something that we see as a breakdown. 290 00:21:05,081 --> 00:21:08,799 That brought on a new beginning. 291 00:21:08,918 --> 00:21:11,636 Mulli: I told my family, I have good news for you, 292 00:21:11,738 --> 00:21:15,873 and I said, "I will not want any time for money. 293 00:21:16,276 --> 00:21:20,411 I want to give everything that I have for the poor." 294 00:21:21,214 --> 00:21:24,732 freeman: Hearing god speak to him gave charles the courage to start an orphanage, 295 00:21:25,802 --> 00:21:28,803 but this proved to be another test of faith. 296 00:21:29,706 --> 00:21:33,407 He found a large plot of land capable of housing many children, 297 00:21:33,526 --> 00:21:36,911 but it was useless without one vital resource. 298 00:21:37,981 --> 00:21:39,480 Water. 299 00:21:39,582 --> 00:21:41,565 Mulli: We had a severe drought. 300 00:21:41,684 --> 00:21:44,168 We had no water anywhere. 301 00:21:44,270 --> 00:21:47,338 We had three years in that we never got water. 302 00:21:49,809 --> 00:21:53,311 I was praying for three weeks. 303 00:21:54,814 --> 00:22:00,134 It was after midnight and during that time is when I heard the voice. 304 00:22:05,141 --> 00:22:11,379 "your problems are over. Get up. I'll show you where I'll give you water." 305 00:22:13,649 --> 00:22:16,801 I told my wife and we walked all the way. 306 00:22:19,205 --> 00:22:22,840 And then we stood here, and god said, 307 00:22:22,942 --> 00:22:26,677 "this is the place. I'm gonna give you water." 308 00:22:35,772 --> 00:22:38,139 and then I told my wife, "call the children," 309 00:22:38,241 --> 00:22:41,175 and then the following day, and we started to dig. 310 00:22:48,668 --> 00:22:51,802 We had to trust god. 311 00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:05,232 Andreas: That must have been a gigantic relief, when you finally found water. 312 00:23:05,535 --> 00:23:07,401 Mulli: Never seen something like that. 313 00:23:07,503 --> 00:23:12,773 I've never felt in my life, something that was so touching. 314 00:23:14,777 --> 00:23:18,312 All the people from the village, all the children, 315 00:23:18,815 --> 00:23:22,299 from mully children's family were in jubilation. 316 00:23:26,873 --> 00:23:31,509 Freeman: The water from that well helped the mully children's family become an 317 00:23:31,611 --> 00:23:36,013 operation that today almost funds itself through farming. 318 00:23:37,016 --> 00:23:41,969 Since charles heard the voice of god on the side of a road he has built six orphanages 319 00:23:42,071 --> 00:23:46,140 and raised more than 10,000 orphans. 320 00:23:46,409 --> 00:23:51,645 He has rescued ten failing schools, and built many more shelters for children. 321 00:23:52,982 --> 00:23:56,851 Mulli: There was nothing better in my own life, that I could do, 322 00:23:56,936 --> 00:24:01,172 than saving children's lives in the world. 323 00:24:01,441 --> 00:24:02,740 Andreas: That's quite a privilege. 324 00:24:02,842 --> 00:24:04,742 Mulli: Yeah. 325 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,742 Freeman: Charles was willing to give up everything he had for the sake of his vision. 326 00:24:22,411 --> 00:24:27,248 For the sake of god, and in doing so he changed thousands of lives. 327 00:24:28,050 --> 00:24:30,734 How many of us would have done that? 328 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,742 For the faithful, visions of god are a source of divinity here on earth. 329 00:24:39,712 --> 00:24:43,681 They bring miracles, unconditional love and endless compassion. 330 00:24:45,635 --> 00:24:48,702 Visions however, are rare, 331 00:24:49,272 --> 00:24:53,908 but what if divine guidance was available on demand? 332 00:25:10,510 --> 00:25:12,877 Freeman: I've come back to France, home to some of 333 00:25:12,979 --> 00:25:16,514 the world's most inspiring architecture. 334 00:25:22,305 --> 00:25:26,240 But one of its most important works is not in the city of light, 335 00:25:26,342 --> 00:25:30,311 but in a small town 50 miles outside paris. 336 00:25:33,449 --> 00:25:35,533 Chartres. 337 00:25:40,907 --> 00:25:44,508 Since its completion in the early 13th century, 338 00:25:44,610 --> 00:25:48,946 chartres cathedral has drawn a never-ending stream of pilgrims. 339 00:25:50,650 --> 00:25:55,286 Its design is said to inspire them to feel the presence of god. 340 00:26:02,178 --> 00:26:04,712 I wanna know how. 341 00:26:06,415 --> 00:26:09,366 So I'm meeting doctor julio bermudez. 342 00:26:09,468 --> 00:26:10,601 Bermudez: Welcome to chartres. 343 00:26:10,703 --> 00:26:11,902 Freeman: Thank you. 344 00:26:12,004 --> 00:26:15,105 A professor of architecture who studies sacred spaces. 345 00:26:15,308 --> 00:26:17,274 Bermudez: We're gonna enter the sacred space. 346 00:26:17,376 --> 00:26:18,475 Freeman: Alright. 347 00:26:18,578 --> 00:26:20,010 Bermudez: And I'd like you to prepare. 348 00:26:20,112 --> 00:26:21,679 Freeman: How do I do that? 349 00:26:21,814 --> 00:26:25,866 Bermudez: Well we're gonna walk into the threshold, looking down into the floor, 350 00:26:26,802 --> 00:26:29,036 and then once we get in, close your eyes. 351 00:26:29,138 --> 00:26:31,438 Freeman: Closed. 352 00:26:31,540 --> 00:26:34,842 Bermudez: Take a breath and look up as you open your eyes. 353 00:26:38,147 --> 00:26:41,315 Freeman: Wow! 354 00:26:50,876 --> 00:26:53,877 And this was built by hand. I mean no, no machines. 355 00:26:53,980 --> 00:26:56,246 Bermudez: No machines. Freeman: No machines. 356 00:26:56,349 --> 00:26:58,565 Bermudez: Manpower. Freeman: Every stone cut. 357 00:26:58,668 --> 00:27:02,369 Bermudez: An act of love and commitment to god. 358 00:27:03,372 --> 00:27:05,939 Freeman: A project of this scale was a colossal undertaking in the 359 00:27:06,042 --> 00:27:11,412 pre-industrial age, which makes it even more remarkable that chartres was mostly 360 00:27:11,514 --> 00:27:17,067 complete by 1220, just 26 years after construction began. 361 00:27:18,404 --> 00:27:23,407 Bermudez: Back at the time of the 12th, 13th century this was just an amazing thing. 362 00:27:23,843 --> 00:27:27,444 It was the biggest thing ever built. 363 00:27:28,714 --> 00:27:32,966 Imagine you being a pilgrim, that had walked for several mile, and see the highest, 364 00:27:33,069 --> 00:27:37,805 biggest, most incredible church in europe. 365 00:27:40,409 --> 00:27:42,743 Freeman: Pilgrims eight centuries ago would likely 366 00:27:42,845 --> 00:27:46,347 never have set foot in a space this tall. 367 00:27:46,682 --> 00:27:48,899 Bermudez: First thing about the whole thing is verticality. 368 00:27:49,001 --> 00:27:50,567 Freeman: Uh-huh. 369 00:27:50,670 --> 00:27:55,973 Bermudez: They eye goes up and this is about 120 feet high vaults. 370 00:27:56,175 --> 00:27:57,908 Freeman: To the ceiling. 371 00:27:58,010 --> 00:28:02,229 Bermudez: To the ceiling, yes, but what you had to think, these people really felt 372 00:28:02,314 --> 00:28:05,599 that they were conducted to god, to heaven. 373 00:28:06,669 --> 00:28:09,503 Freeman: And when pilgrims looked up, they would experience 374 00:28:09,605 --> 00:28:12,706 another key element of this sacred space. 375 00:28:15,911 --> 00:28:18,512 Light. 376 00:28:20,783 --> 00:28:23,934 Bermudez: Light, perhaps the most important thing. 377 00:28:29,141 --> 00:28:32,409 It represented god. 378 00:28:33,212 --> 00:28:37,681 So god, he spoke through light, and that's why he wanted to have these 379 00:28:37,783 --> 00:28:42,136 stained glass windows, with those beautiful icons. 380 00:28:43,839 --> 00:28:47,808 They believed that god was talking to them, telling the stories of the bible. 381 00:28:54,750 --> 00:28:57,601 When you encounter a place that overwhelms your senses, 382 00:28:57,703 --> 00:29:01,405 absorbs your attention completely outward, 383 00:29:01,507 --> 00:29:04,775 and demands so much brain power, and that allows you 384 00:29:04,877 --> 00:29:08,312 to enter in a state of unity. 385 00:29:08,414 --> 00:29:13,834 Freeman: So, an actual physical change takes place in the human mind, 386 00:29:13,936 --> 00:29:16,370 when it walks into a place like this? 387 00:29:16,472 --> 00:29:19,706 Bermudez: Yes, a mystical state if you wish. 388 00:29:19,809 --> 00:29:21,408 Freeman: Or a state of grace. 389 00:29:21,510 --> 00:29:24,011 Bermudez: Yeah, absolutely state of grace, correct. 390 00:29:24,079 --> 00:29:26,747 Freeman: See, I'm catching on. 391 00:29:28,701 --> 00:29:32,336 But the people who built chartres cathedral nearly 800 years ago 392 00:29:32,438 --> 00:29:36,640 meant for it to be more than the passive experience of space and light. 393 00:29:37,143 --> 00:29:41,979 It was built so that pilgrims could make a physical journey all the way to god. 394 00:29:43,415 --> 00:29:45,449 Bermudez: Look at that. It's a labyrinth. 395 00:29:45,551 --> 00:29:48,836 Maybe the most famous labyrinth in the world. 396 00:29:48,938 --> 00:29:51,672 Something that allows you to enter in a contemplative state. 397 00:29:51,774 --> 00:29:53,474 Freeman: Meditation. Bermudez: Yes. 398 00:29:53,576 --> 00:29:55,909 Morgan, why don't you try it? 399 00:29:56,011 --> 00:29:59,780 Freeman: I'm game. 400 00:30:03,202 --> 00:30:05,702 Bizarre. 401 00:30:07,907 --> 00:30:10,340 Bermudez: You're doing very well. 402 00:30:10,442 --> 00:30:13,977 And you can't go too fast otherwise you lose your way. 403 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:17,848 Every time it feels like you're going further and further 404 00:30:17,950 --> 00:30:20,667 from the state of truth, or the center, 405 00:30:20,769 --> 00:30:24,571 and yet you're getting closer in a different way. 406 00:30:25,441 --> 00:30:28,642 Freeman: And, ta-dah! 407 00:30:29,845 --> 00:30:32,045 Bermudez: Morgan, you made it. 408 00:30:32,147 --> 00:30:36,800 Freeman: There is something to this, 409 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:42,606 but I feel something's at work here, 410 00:30:42,708 --> 00:30:44,174 so it's very interesting. 411 00:30:44,276 --> 00:30:46,443 You accomplish something and you have an experience. 412 00:30:46,545 --> 00:30:47,644 Bermudez: Yes. 413 00:30:47,746 --> 00:30:49,813 Freeman: I had an experience. 414 00:30:49,915 --> 00:30:53,500 Bermudez: In the middle of this incredible space. 415 00:31:04,446 --> 00:31:09,867 Freeman: The designers of this cathedral created a magnificent space. 416 00:31:11,403 --> 00:31:15,839 In there you feel a connection to something bigger than yourself. 417 00:31:16,375 --> 00:31:19,543 There are generations of history connected there. 418 00:31:19,812 --> 00:31:24,481 Not to mention the herculean efforts of the people who built it. 419 00:31:27,303 --> 00:31:28,769 It's more than that. 420 00:31:28,871 --> 00:31:33,907 For me it creates a sacred space, up here. 421 00:31:37,146 --> 00:31:39,012 Stops logic, 422 00:31:39,415 --> 00:31:44,001 it stops the persistent drumbeat of modern life. 423 00:31:46,939 --> 00:31:50,474 It transports you outside of time. 424 00:31:50,576 --> 00:31:53,877 I guess you can call that divine. 425 00:32:10,579 --> 00:32:13,747 High in the mountains of ethiopia, orthodox monks 426 00:32:13,849 --> 00:32:17,234 take a different path to the divine. 427 00:32:20,406 --> 00:32:23,807 The tigray region is famous for its mountain churches. 428 00:32:25,144 --> 00:32:29,813 Many built more than 1,000 years ago by ethiopian coptic christians. 429 00:32:31,083 --> 00:32:35,235 Carved directly into the mountain, the ancient houses of worship 430 00:32:35,337 --> 00:32:38,772 often tower thousands of feet above the ground. 431 00:32:41,577 --> 00:32:45,545 The climb up to them, can be extremely dangerous. 432 00:32:48,667 --> 00:32:52,602 One false step can mean the end of a priest's earthly journey. 433 00:32:54,373 --> 00:32:58,542 But, many of them make the perilous trek every day. 434 00:33:08,137 --> 00:33:12,139 Us based ethiopian journalist bemnet yemesgen, 435 00:33:12,241 --> 00:33:15,876 has come here to try and understand why. 436 00:33:16,879 --> 00:33:18,912 He's meeting doctor hagos abrha, 437 00:33:19,014 --> 00:33:21,748 a scholar of the ethiopian orthodox church. 438 00:33:21,850 --> 00:33:22,833 Bemnet: Doctor hagos. 439 00:33:22,935 --> 00:33:24,067 Abra: Hi. Hi, hi. Good morning. 440 00:33:24,169 --> 00:33:25,302 How are you? 441 00:33:25,404 --> 00:33:26,837 Bemnet: So tell me where we are? 442 00:33:26,972 --> 00:33:29,206 I'm, I'm looking at a structure up there, and what are we looking at? 443 00:33:29,308 --> 00:33:32,943 Abra: Yeah, this is a christian orthodox monastery called abba yohani monastery. 444 00:33:33,045 --> 00:33:34,978 Bemnet: Why is it so far up there? 445 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,914 Why not build a church that's slightly lower and more accessible? 446 00:33:38,017 --> 00:33:40,934 Abra: I have been asking the same question for many priests and monks, 447 00:33:41,036 --> 00:33:43,870 and most of the time the answer is 448 00:33:43,972 --> 00:33:47,808 simply because they are getting closer to god. 449 00:33:48,010 --> 00:33:52,012 Bemnet: So the burning question for me is, can we walk up and be closer to god? 450 00:33:52,214 --> 00:33:56,266 Abra: We have to first call the monks and then ask permission to walking up. 451 00:34:03,675 --> 00:34:08,678 (speaking in native language). 452 00:34:11,550 --> 00:34:13,467 He's a monk of this monastery. 453 00:34:13,569 --> 00:34:16,703 So he goes up and down this mountain every day? 454 00:34:16,805 --> 00:34:18,872 (speaking in native language). 455 00:34:18,974 --> 00:34:21,908 He says minimum once a day. 456 00:34:22,010 --> 00:34:26,513 He prays frequently and he mediates in the cave. 457 00:34:27,416 --> 00:34:29,066 Bemnet: So do you think he can take us now? 458 00:34:29,134 --> 00:34:31,802 (speaking in native language). 459 00:34:38,310 --> 00:34:42,345 Freeman: They embark on a strenuous climb to a lofty chapel. 460 00:34:43,515 --> 00:34:47,100 And perhaps to experience the presence of god. 461 00:35:01,550 --> 00:35:03,166 Bemnet: Oh my goodness. 462 00:35:03,302 --> 00:35:07,170 Freeman: The climb to the abba yohanni monastery in ethiopia's gheralta mountains 463 00:35:07,272 --> 00:35:10,674 is not for the faint of heart, 464 00:35:10,776 --> 00:35:12,809 but its remote location has allowed it 465 00:35:12,911 --> 00:35:18,281 to resist invaders and looters for at least 1600 years. 466 00:35:36,702 --> 00:35:41,571 Bemnet: Wow! Oh my goodness. 467 00:35:41,673 --> 00:35:44,174 Breathtaking. 468 00:35:46,645 --> 00:35:50,914 Wow, this, this space is beautiful. 469 00:36:01,643 --> 00:36:03,910 What, what is the monk doing? 470 00:36:04,012 --> 00:36:06,646 Abra: He's praying the book of psalms. 471 00:36:06,748 --> 00:36:11,401 The book of psalms is the most respected prayer book of the ethiopian orthodox church. 472 00:36:16,675 --> 00:36:20,010 Freeman: Far removed from the noise of the modern world, 473 00:36:20,112 --> 00:36:23,547 the monks who make the climb find a mystical refuge. 474 00:36:23,916 --> 00:36:29,469 A space to pray in peace and lose themselves in contemplation of the divine. 475 00:36:34,176 --> 00:36:38,178 Bemnet: It's really amazing to, to be in this space and, and to just really experience 476 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:43,366 the, the peacefulness and just the special place that this is. 477 00:36:57,316 --> 00:37:01,468 I have to say at first, I didn't know why anybody would want to build a church or a 478 00:37:01,570 --> 00:37:05,438 monastery so far up and so far removed from everything. 479 00:37:05,540 --> 00:37:08,475 But now that I'm up here I understand why they would do this because 480 00:37:08,577 --> 00:37:11,978 the peace and the tranquility up here. 481 00:37:12,547 --> 00:37:16,399 Abra: Now we can say that we are where god dwells. 482 00:37:18,070 --> 00:37:22,706 Freeman: Every day, orthodox monks of ethiopia make long, dangerous treks up rugged 483 00:37:22,808 --> 00:37:26,476 mountains to be closer to god's home in heaven. 484 00:37:27,713 --> 00:37:32,933 Along the way they sense the presence of god, in silence, stillness. 485 00:37:34,236 --> 00:37:38,989 For them, it's not the destination, it's the journey. 486 00:37:47,783 --> 00:37:52,202 The tradition of actively seeking divine guidance is not only a christian one. 487 00:37:57,075 --> 00:38:00,076 I've come to the mississauga first nation community of 488 00:38:00,245 --> 00:38:03,480 scugog lake, in ontario, canada. 489 00:38:06,234 --> 00:38:11,338 I'm here to learn about the anishinaabe first nation's practice of vision questing. 490 00:38:13,442 --> 00:38:16,543 Here to welcome me, is eddie robinson. 491 00:38:17,045 --> 00:38:19,779 (speaking in native language). 492 00:38:20,048 --> 00:38:21,214 Eddie: Means... 493 00:38:21,316 --> 00:38:22,565 Freeman: I see your light. 494 00:38:22,701 --> 00:38:25,235 Eddie: Yes, and I'm gonna learn from you and you can learn from me, 495 00:38:25,337 --> 00:38:27,904 and I'm gonna respect you and you can respect me. 496 00:38:28,006 --> 00:38:29,572 Freeman: Perfect. Eddie: Um-hmm. 497 00:38:29,675 --> 00:38:32,909 Freeman: I wanna know about a vision quest. 498 00:38:33,011 --> 00:38:37,213 How do you decide to go on one, and what are you seeking when you do? 499 00:38:37,582 --> 00:38:40,767 Eddie: One of the main things is it's, for us as human beings, 500 00:38:40,869 --> 00:38:43,370 to re-engage with our original family, 501 00:38:43,472 --> 00:38:46,406 our first family, and that's creation. 502 00:38:47,242 --> 00:38:51,745 But it's also giving up food and water, giving up of those basic essential needs and 503 00:38:51,847 --> 00:38:55,248 physiological needs for creation. 504 00:38:55,867 --> 00:39:01,571 So we go and spend time on the land, in a singular spot and just pray, 505 00:39:02,174 --> 00:39:06,276 and while we're there we engage and interact with energy. 506 00:39:09,281 --> 00:39:12,499 Spirits and animals. 507 00:39:13,769 --> 00:39:17,971 They know that we're there to pray, to show our gratitude. 508 00:39:18,473 --> 00:39:21,875 Freeman: So it's a way to get back in touch with the great spirit. 509 00:39:21,977 --> 00:39:23,510 Eddie: Yes, yes. 510 00:39:23,612 --> 00:39:24,944 Freeman: Okay. Eddie: Yes. 511 00:39:25,047 --> 00:39:28,448 Freeman: So how did you happen to go on a vision quest? 512 00:39:28,917 --> 00:39:31,234 Eddie: A calling. 513 00:39:32,571 --> 00:39:35,739 An unexplainable calling inside that tugs at you. 514 00:39:36,775 --> 00:39:41,511 Like a lot of indigenous people in canada, I live in poverty, living on the margin. 515 00:39:42,848 --> 00:39:46,699 It was after being in juvenile detention and on the streets 516 00:39:46,802 --> 00:39:49,936 that I was actually doing community service hours 517 00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:53,807 at one of the local centers in toronto and I heard the drum. 518 00:39:54,810 --> 00:39:57,644 And that heartbeat of that drum, boom, boom, boom, boom, 519 00:39:57,746 --> 00:40:01,181 just called me, and I just started crying. 520 00:40:01,383 --> 00:40:05,602 And all I kept thinking was that this is my culture, this is who I am. 521 00:40:07,506 --> 00:40:10,273 Freeman: Eddie met an anishinaabe elder from minnesota, 522 00:40:10,375 --> 00:40:14,878 who advised him to head to the woods, undertake a fast 523 00:40:15,814 --> 00:40:19,682 and seek the spiritual guidance of a vision quest. 524 00:40:19,751 --> 00:40:21,468 Eddie: It was at the end of October. 525 00:40:21,570 --> 00:40:22,869 It was minus one. 526 00:40:22,971 --> 00:40:24,838 (laughs). 527 00:40:24,940 --> 00:40:28,408 They drove me out on a atv, ten miles into the forest, 528 00:40:30,112 --> 00:40:33,079 and they put me in my fasting spot and said, 529 00:40:33,181 --> 00:40:35,999 "we'll see you in three days," and just left me there. 530 00:40:38,003 --> 00:40:39,969 Freeman: What, no shelter? 531 00:40:40,071 --> 00:40:41,204 Eddie: No. 532 00:40:41,306 --> 00:40:42,639 Freeman: Come on. 533 00:40:42,741 --> 00:40:45,975 Eddie: They said, "if you get cold make a fire." I'm like, "okay." 534 00:40:48,447 --> 00:40:51,815 and they said, "if you see any spirits just put some tobacco down." 535 00:40:52,567 --> 00:40:55,835 I said, "okay." and they left. 536 00:40:56,438 --> 00:40:58,471 Freeman: Alone in the freezing woods, 537 00:40:58,573 --> 00:41:01,875 eddie steeled himself for his quest. 538 00:41:02,110 --> 00:41:03,977 His life was about to take... 539 00:41:04,079 --> 00:41:06,079 A new path. 540 00:41:16,508 --> 00:41:19,509 Freeman: Eddie robinson, a young man of anishinaabe descent, 541 00:41:19,611 --> 00:41:23,646 was barely connected with his nature and spiritual tradition, 542 00:41:23,748 --> 00:41:26,432 but now he was on a vision quest, 543 00:41:26,535 --> 00:41:29,569 on a freezing night, miles from help. 544 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:33,006 So you're on your vision quest here? 545 00:41:33,108 --> 00:41:34,607 At, during (inaudible). 546 00:41:34,709 --> 00:41:37,577 Eddie: And it was tough, because I was sitting up on a scaffold, 547 00:41:37,679 --> 00:41:40,013 probably about six feet off the ground. 548 00:41:49,941 --> 00:41:53,776 They're not built for comfort, 'cause you're supposed to stay awake for three days, 549 00:41:53,879 --> 00:41:55,745 so we put your stuff up there in your bundle 550 00:41:55,847 --> 00:41:58,481 and you just pray while you're sitting up there. 551 00:41:59,467 --> 00:42:01,334 Freeman: Did you see anything while you were out there? 552 00:42:01,436 --> 00:42:04,637 Eddie: Yeah. 553 00:42:05,540 --> 00:42:08,708 There was a spirit bear that came and visited me. 554 00:42:12,113 --> 00:42:15,615 It came and sat, not even four feet in front of me. 555 00:42:22,574 --> 00:42:24,874 I'm like, I've gotta give him tobacco. 556 00:42:24,943 --> 00:42:27,610 He's coming for his tobacco. 557 00:42:32,250 --> 00:42:34,734 And then he just disappeared. 558 00:42:35,470 --> 00:42:37,971 He must have ran 60 kilometers an hour. 559 00:42:38,073 --> 00:42:39,973 It was surreal to me. 560 00:42:40,075 --> 00:42:41,407 Freeman: And you didn't eat for two days. 561 00:42:41,509 --> 00:42:42,675 Eddie: Three. 562 00:42:42,777 --> 00:42:45,912 I didn't eat anything or drink anything for three days. 563 00:42:46,815 --> 00:42:49,115 I was crying. 564 00:42:49,217 --> 00:42:51,234 Yelling. 565 00:42:51,336 --> 00:42:53,002 Singing. 566 00:42:53,104 --> 00:42:56,205 I was just coming apart at the seams out there. 567 00:42:58,877 --> 00:43:02,412 I was battling and proving myself to those spirits. 568 00:43:06,717 --> 00:43:08,635 Freeman: But you didn't die. 569 00:43:08,737 --> 00:43:09,836 Eddie: No. 570 00:43:09,938 --> 00:43:11,271 It was tough. 571 00:43:11,373 --> 00:43:12,805 It was hard. 572 00:43:12,907 --> 00:43:15,942 But the hardest thing I had to do out there was face myself. 573 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,447 I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or if I was just seeing things 574 00:43:21,549 --> 00:43:24,534 'cause I didn't have food or water. 575 00:43:24,636 --> 00:43:29,872 But true enough, there was this old man that presented himself to me. 576 00:43:33,511 --> 00:43:36,813 And I could see him as clear as day. 577 00:43:36,915 --> 00:43:39,866 He was just there, looking at me. 578 00:43:41,803 --> 00:43:44,537 And then he was gone. 579 00:43:46,675 --> 00:43:48,207 Freeman: And that was your vision. 580 00:43:48,310 --> 00:43:49,742 Eddie: That was my vision. 581 00:43:49,844 --> 00:43:52,745 Kind of like, how I interpreted it later was that the spirits, 582 00:43:52,847 --> 00:43:55,782 or the old ones are waiting for me. 583 00:43:57,102 --> 00:44:00,269 They're waiting for me to take that path. 584 00:44:02,207 --> 00:44:04,407 Freeman: You took that path, and that's the path you took, 585 00:44:04,509 --> 00:44:07,010 then that was a better path than you were on before. 586 00:44:07,112 --> 00:44:08,411 Eddie: Yeah, and... 587 00:44:08,513 --> 00:44:10,680 Freeman: Sort of like saul on the road to damascus, huh. 588 00:44:10,782 --> 00:44:11,914 Eddie: Yeah. 589 00:44:12,017 --> 00:44:14,500 That's where I found my calling. 590 00:44:14,602 --> 00:44:17,303 Freeman: Eddie's vision quest was his key to escaping a life of 591 00:44:17,405 --> 00:44:21,107 addiction and violence in western culture. 592 00:44:21,710 --> 00:44:26,379 It was an experience he knew he had to share with other young first nation's people. 593 00:44:34,205 --> 00:44:37,540 So then you became sort of a guru, teacher. 594 00:44:37,642 --> 00:44:39,409 Eddie: Yeah. 595 00:44:39,511 --> 00:44:42,478 I learned about how the sweat is done, I learned about how the fast is done. 596 00:44:42,714 --> 00:44:46,332 I learned how to help with healing and doctoring ceremonies for our people, 597 00:44:46,434 --> 00:44:48,735 and all I wanted to do was just keep giving it back. 598 00:44:48,837 --> 00:44:50,703 Keep giving it back, right. 599 00:44:50,805 --> 00:44:53,573 Freeman: So now that's your quest. 600 00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:03,299 Eddie: For a lot of people on this nation, they have been disconnected from that way, 601 00:45:03,401 --> 00:45:07,170 so I'm here to help support them on their journey back. 602 00:45:07,505 --> 00:45:10,473 They've never been in a sweat and they've never been to a vision quest. 603 00:45:10,575 --> 00:45:14,010 We need to re-connect our spirit to this land. 604 00:45:14,779 --> 00:45:18,281 We consider creation our first family. 605 00:45:18,383 --> 00:45:22,468 There are so many people that wanna sit with their first family. 606 00:45:36,601 --> 00:45:39,836 Freeman: Like saul, on the road to damascus, 607 00:45:39,938 --> 00:45:44,974 eddie's life was completely changed by a vision of the divine. 608 00:45:47,479 --> 00:45:51,047 In his case, it was the great spirit, 609 00:45:51,549 --> 00:45:55,101 the manifestation of his people's connection to the land. 610 00:45:55,703 --> 00:46:00,807 And, like saul, who become an apostle named paul, 611 00:46:01,709 --> 00:46:05,711 eddie became a guide for the first nation's people, 612 00:46:06,247 --> 00:46:10,533 spreading the transformative power of the vision quest. 613 00:46:32,540 --> 00:46:36,375 What happens when someone sees, or feels, 614 00:46:36,478 --> 00:46:40,379 what they believe is the presence of god? 615 00:46:41,549 --> 00:46:44,233 The simple answer is perspective. 616 00:46:44,602 --> 00:46:46,936 It's a moment of understanding. 617 00:46:47,138 --> 00:46:49,739 Shows a way forward. 618 00:46:51,209 --> 00:46:54,477 Visions happen in the mind of one person. 619 00:46:55,413 --> 00:46:58,514 But when someone like saint bernadette, 620 00:46:58,616 --> 00:47:01,534 charles mulli or eddie robinson 621 00:47:02,003 --> 00:47:04,670 have the courage to share their vision, 622 00:47:04,772 --> 00:47:07,490 it can alter the course of many lives. 623 00:47:08,776 --> 00:47:10,943 Even... 624 00:47:11,045 --> 00:47:14,046 Change the world. 625 00:47:18,069 --> 00:47:19,235 Captioned by cotter captioning services.