Pete Evans Embracing Simplicity Amidst Chaos

[Speaker 2] (0:00 - 3:10) You are now listening to the Here for the Truth podcast hosted by Joel Raffidi and Erasmus Stilionesis. All right, everybody, welcome to episode 46 of Here for the Truth podcast. I'm your co-host Joel Raffidi, as always, with my brother in LA Erasmus, Erasmus Stilionesis. What's up everybody? Today, we've got an incredible guest for you. As always, we have award-winning Australian renowned chef, restauranteur, entrepreneur, and truther, Pete Evans. But just before we bring Pete on, as always, there's a few ways to support us and our podcast and what we do here. You could subscribe to our Patreon to receive early access to all our episodes and also get access to our monthly community calls where we hang out and interact and provide each other with guidance and support. During these times, you can donate to our podcast. There's donate options in the bio or the brief of wherever you were listening or watching this podcast. If you're after any divination needs, head to joelraffidi.com. I work with individuals to help them better know themselves and step deeper into authenticity. Work through their inauthentic traits they have adopted. If you're after some body work and you're in the LA area, please reach out to Erasmus or if you're after any specific human design readings, you can reach out to Erasmus as well. We appreciate you guys so much. It's been 46 episodes and we're loving the direction of this podcast and the way things are growing and the way everything's headed. And we're excited to continue to bring to you these incredible guests and the cutting-edge information on all things self-knowledge, health, freedom, conspiracy, reality, and much more. So without further ado, we'll bring on Pete now. All right, everybody. Today, we have for you Pete Evans. Pete is an internationally renowned chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author, television presenter, and documentary producer. He also has a podcast called Evolve with Pete Evans, which I believe is a network now, exploring nutritional and emotional well-being. His passion for food and a healthy lifestyle inspires individuals and families around the world. He's the producer of award-winning documentaries such as The Magic Pill and The Magic Plant. He was the co-host and judge of Australia's number one television show, My Kitchen Rules, for 11 seasons. He's Australia's number one best-selling author of healthy cooking and lifestyle books. He loves his family, the ocean, surfing, and he believes that food is medicine and is our first port of call for a healthier life. Pete, thank you for being here for The Truth, man. [Speaker 1] (3:12 - 3:14) Hey, thanks, Joe. Thanks for having us. [Speaker 3] (3:16 - 3:51) I was going to say, Pete, you know, I grew up in the restaurant business in New Jersey. My dad had a traditional New Jersey-style diner for like 35 years. It was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, never closed. So food, and my parents were both born and raised in Greece. So food is such a huge part of my life, personally. And so I just love that it's so important to you, and it's been such a huge part of your life. I'm curious, how did you, you got started so young, getting into food, and what was it? What was the seed that was planted that got you really fired up to start cooking? [Speaker 1] (3:53 - 14:34) Thanks for asking. That's fantastic that you got brought up in that industry. You know, usually it's enough to deter people for life if they're brought up in the industry, never to make it a career for themselves, because they get to witness what it takes to run a business like that. And no doubt you would have seen the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, the emotion that comes from being of service in that industry. And it's such a beautiful industry to be involved in. And it can be heartbreaking at the same time, and exhausting, you know. And I'm so grateful for my experience in the culinary world, or the restaurant industry, because it taught me a lot about myself. And what attracted me to the industry was... It's funny, I just got off a podcast with a fellow called Robert Breedlove, who talks about Bitcoin. And he was talking about what is money. And obviously, I went into the industry as a young man. I think my first job was when I was 13. And the reason that I pursued a job was to earn money. It's as simple as that. There's no romanticism behind it. Well, there is, because I wanted to be able to earn money to be able to purchase the things that I desired in my life. You know, whether it be a surfboard, or a musical instrument, or a car, or being able to take a girl out for dinner, or to the movies. And then eventually moving out of home, so I could spread my wings as a 17-year-old, and be independent. All of these things come back to the ability to earn a living, or to earn a currency, so that you can turn your dreams into reality. So there is romanticism in that. But at the same time, I've often questioned the concept of work. Ever since a young age, because what I've witnessed and observed throughout my short history on this planet, is there seems to be a lot of people that choose an occupation that they have no passion for, or no desire for, or there's no potential growth for them. And it may come from parental fears of wanting to please mom and dad, or family lineage, if there were doctors, or lawyers, or whatever it was, and it gets handed down from generation to generation. I also see people that are extremely talented and intelligent pursue academic careers, because they think that's what is meant for them. To have that capacity to rotate information, regurgitate it through academic endeavors, through an education system that favors the quote-unquote good students. Well, I'm good at this. I'm an A-level student. So I should pursue the career that other A-level students would, the path that they've chosen or has been chosen for us. So I've often spent many an hour or many a decade pondering life choices from education to work. And the two leads sort of hand in hand. And actually the podcast that I just got off, where I was interviewing somebody, Robert Breedlove, for instance, he talked about that he has created for himself the ideal occupation, because he is a teacher and he gets to philosophize. That's all he's always wanted to do is be a philosopher. And Bitcoin has allowed him to create that career for himself. And for me, with my podcast and Joel, with the beautiful introduction you gave me, I have managed to or manifested my own reality where my career now is in a place where I absolutely adore every single second of it. And we'll take my podcast or the films or the TV series that I create these days. I put myself in the role of the student, student of life. And I love that. And occasionally I flip it around and I become the teacher. And one of the things that I really appreciate about being in this experience of life is that we get to wear so many different hats. We get to be the student. We get to be the teacher. We get to be a beginner, a novice. We get to become clumsy at something and then develop the skills to master it. And we have the capacity for eternal and infinite discoveries of our talents, of who we are. And I believe it's a lifelong adventure to discover who we are and to keep building upon our knowledge base. And when I look back at my early years of my education through a public schooling education, I really didn't fit in because, and I felt that it was such a waste of time because I felt like the things that I was being taught at school had probably 1% relevance to my day-to-day existence. And going back in then into the career of cooking, I'm very grateful that I got to experience that. And the reason that I chose to be a chef out of all the professions that were available to me was that I felt at a very young age that I needed to learn a very important life skill. I looked at all the different professions that were available to me. And I quickly realized that being able to cook for myself would probably become one of the strongest assets and life skills that I could ever give myself. And I realized that from a very young age, that the ability to be able to cook delicious food would bode me well for the rest of my experience as a human being, as Pete Evans. And it was a, I don't want to call it a sacrifice, but the training has given me the skills that each and every day I get excited about what I'm about to cook for myself. The reason I was a couple of minutes late for our podcast today is because I was looking at my freezer to see what I wanted to cook for dinner tonight or my wife and I to cook for dinner. And I have a 700 liter chest freezer that is full of all different types of cuts of meat and seafood, one that is just dedicated to meat and steamed food. I've probably got a year supply or two years supply of meat in there and seafood. And every day I get to open it up and look and choose what I want to create in a very selfish manner of deliciousness for tonight. And so I just pulled out some awful sausages and some ground meat, as you call it in America, minced meat, as we call it in Australia. Some very basic, simple, cheap ingredients. And I'm excited about what that's going to turn into. So that's a very long-winded answer to my exploration into the culinary arts. But it has offered me so many gifts. And if we fast forward to when I was in my mid thirties to actually then discover the power of food, as you mentioned before, that food is a medicine, that has again offered me such a wonderful education and understanding as to how to ensure. I mean, there are no certainties in life, but it has enabled me to have a very beautiful foundation to understand how to maintain a functioning physical and mental and spiritual body through one of those tools. And one of those very important tools is the choices we make around what we put inside our bodies in relation to food. And for that, I am eternally grateful that my intention to be on this planet for as long as possible will be helped in a great part by the knowledge that I've discovered through some wonderful teachers as to why food can be a very powerful medicine or equally a very powerful poison. So the choice is ours. And, yeah, I'm very grateful for the education I've learned so far and continue to learn about how powerful food is. Yeah, beautiful. [Speaker 2] (14:35 - 16:21) You're speaking our language on so many levels. I mean, particularly what you touched on there in terms of people not being connected to what they do for work or for a living. And in my view, vocation or the lack of vocation is the primary dilemma that most of us are dealing with. We literally go to schools and we're molded for 15,000 hours of our life conditioned and entrained to work completely against what naturally emanates within us, what is authentically ours. And we look around, you see so much unhappiness, depression, people living these mundane routine lives. And the answer is looking at what happened during those 15,000 hours. So tapping into what is authentically you is such a key process for one, so I guess really live a life of potential and fulfillment. And for me, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm here, I want to be here as long as possible. But at the same time, I want to explore what's truly mine and dive into what really that potential is. In as many facets as possible. So leading on to that, I want to ask you, what were the major rites of passages that you experienced that really shook up your consciousness to a point where you were able to observe, I guess, reality from another layer or from another level? What were the key experiences, dark night of the soul, so to speak, that you might've gone through to get you to shift perspectives from that mainstream indoctrination? I think you're muted. Yeah, you're muted. [Speaker 1] (16:22 - 28:45) Yeah, I was muted. I was going to say, I'm so used to muting when I'm doing interviews with other people. My apprenticeship, the first year of my apprenticeship as a chef as a 17-year-old was a rite of passage. It was an initiation to discover a part of me that I didn't know existed. And that was how strong mentally and physically I was. And I realized very, very early on in that, that I was very, very weak. I was very weak physically and emotionally. The training that I experienced or the education that I experienced or the initiation that I experienced as a 17-year-old, going into a restaurant industry that had a very hierarchical system and one of physical and mental abuse and emotional abuse. Some liken it to venturing into the army or the military as the rite of passage. When I started in the cooking profession, it was a place where the newbies, the new guy or the new girl would be treated in such a way as to break them physically and mentally and emotionally. Generally, it was done by people that I view now as being very insecure and very fearful and not having the communication skills or the love in their heart to be able to nurture and nourish and educate. And at the same time, I'm very grateful for that experience, that I got to feel all of that because what it did was igniting me an understanding and knowing that if ever I got to be in a position of leadership in the restaurant game or any other game, that I would do things completely opposite. That the yelling and the abuse was just a symptom or a disease of a system that hadn't learned how to heal and love itself. So I had the great fortune of becoming a restaurateur and an owner or a head chef at a very young age, a few years after that at the age of 19. And the thing that always I held very deeply was, I will educate and I will communicate and I will nourish and nurture anybody that worked with me. Instead of being under me as a boss, as I was a boss of my own restaurant with my family, I would communicate to the juniors and sometimes they were my seniors as well, they were a lot older than me. But I became a, what I loved about my experience as being a boss is helping people and myself at the same time find our insecurities and express them into ways that benefited not only the individual, but the whole team. And I'm very grateful for the 20 odd years that I had as wearing that hat as an owner or a business owner, a restaurateur, executive chef. That was one of the highlights of that career for me was building teams, building resiliency, building adaptability, building an evolutionary platform for staff to come in and then for them to depart with new skills and new knowledge and a new understanding of themselves. And I was very honed into that, whether I made it apparent to them or not, you'd have to ask the people that came through the ranks, so to speak. But I probably did it in a very subtle way. So yeah, I love the journey of the culinary arts because it taught me so much about myself. It taught me how to conduct myself in a very highly stressful pressure cooker situation. And I did a couple of decades of that. And through that experience, then I developed the strengths, physical, mental, and I might even go into a spiritual there. As to what I could take, what I could endure, and for 20 odd years, my working weeks were 80 to 100 hours per week for 20 odd years. And I might take a week off to have a surfing adventure. And what that taught me was how, it's interesting, we've run a wellness retreat here now. I've got to create my dream with my wife where we take people into uncomfortable situations. Again, it's the same thing, just in a different setting. But one of the things, or a couple of things we take people through is saunas and ice baths. And breath work. And I explained to people, we're about to take you into an uncomfortable situation. We're about to stress your body. And we're going to teach you mind over matter. And that's what I learned in the restaurant game is the ability to train my mind and push through the uncomfortableness of long working hours, of physical exertion, of mental strain, of dealing with 50 dockets in front of you and trying to organize in a systematic mathematical way to treat each one of those dockets and customers as if I was cooking for my loved ones. And train and inspire my staff to think the same. That whether we're cooking a piece of toast for breakfast with avocado on it, which was before it was fashionable to cooking lobster of an evening with foie gras or something like this, or truffles, that each dish that we create, we strive for perfection. Whether it's a $5 dish or it's a $50 dish. We have the same mentality. We have that Zen like culture of aiming for mastery of our craft and perfection. And it's no accident that my favorite cuisine in the world is Japanese. And especially the Sashimi Masters or the Sushi Masters, where they spend decades learning how to slice a piece of fish. And I have the complete and utter reverence and respect for these individuals that devote their life to sharpening their knife, to picking the most exquisite, beautiful, fresh produce. And then doing as very little as possible to it. I mean, if you think about it, can it get any more simpler than a slice of fish potentially with nothing on it, except a little sauce or a little wasabi? Like, fuck me, it's just the quintessence or the essence of what simplicity is and what mastery is and what discipline is and what service is. And we can even take it even simpler than that. The opening of an oyster, fresh, the picking of a berry, of a bush or a piece of fruit or whatever it may be, the simplicity that we can create, but it's not even creation that we can observe and bring into our day-to-day lives. In a world of noise and complexity and distraction, again, I'm very grateful. So the rites of passage was learning what my mind and body could take in a vocation that I entered into with no passion at all, but which cultivated under that pressure system. It was like the diamond was formed under immense pressure for me. I had no romantic nature of learning to become a chef. In the early days, that developed through the discipline, through the sacrifice, through the pain. And I guess the second part of probably the most profound experiences I've ever had were psychedelic journeys of having to trust and accept and let go and surrender to what is, who am I? And I would say that, and the third part, I would say as well, fourth part of, I'll say there's two other parts of my rites of passage would be learning how to surf, facing death many times in those situations and surrendering and also finding the will to survive. And obviously we can't not include relationships, romantic relationships, family relationships. There are always an ongoing rite of passage and discovery and I laugh about it because you get to know yourself in these relationships that we seek out in others to help shine a light on the parts of us that need healing. So yeah, I'd say four things there and we can go on any one of those paths if you choose to, or change to a different topic. [Speaker 3] (28:45 - 30:37) I mean, it's just so beautiful to hear everything that you say, you speak my language in a lot of ways and you said something early on that really hit me because I think very often people think about learning from mentors in a positive light and yet when I think about my life in terms of how I want to live and how I want to teach or I want to practice the things that I do, I learned what to do by observing what other people were doing and not wanting to do that. So that's just been a huge learning for me. And in terms of relationships, I mean, talk about relationship as teacher, healer and guide. I mean, is there anything better than that? I mean, yeah, we can sit on the top of the mountain and meditate for hours and hours and hours and that has its own benefit, but get into a romantic relationship or a business relationship and where these parts of the person's psyche mirror back to you things about yourself that maybe you haven't discovered or haven't developed or repressed. And I mean, there's moments right there just to continue that growth of like, oh shit, this person said that, how am I going to react? What does that say about me? Even after I have a reaction, oh, why did I react that way? So it's just, there's just something in relationship that's so powerful that, I mean, I think all the main elements of my growth and my evolution as a human being have been when I think about the partnerships that I got into and whatever happened during that. And then if I was honest with myself afterwards to really look in the mirror and go, well, why didn't things work out? Or what happened and what was my role in it? And that's been the key is like, it could be easy to blame people and point the finger, but the real work is when you look in the mirror and go, what did I do? What was my place in that? Whatever, it could be in any relationship, not just romantic. [Speaker 2] (30:39 - 32:21) Absolutely, man. I mean, you can throw kids into that picture as well. I know you're a father as well, Peter, and that'll teach you more about life. And if you're discerning, it'll correct your path real quick as well, that responsibility. And this is the importance of responsibility in, I guess, a world that is trying to negate the importance of responsibility. And we talk about mastery, like the sushi masters. I mean, the path to mastery of a specific art or a specific passion is such a lifelong journey and mission that'll teach you so much about yourself through the struggles, the trials, and the tribulations of moving through that process. But where has the art of mastering something gone? You know what I mean? That we've lost that completely in our culture, dedicating our lives to becoming a master at something. And there's so many parts to self-knowledge, you know, through action, through relationship, through what it might be. But I think the point of it is that we have to exert ourselves in the world on some level and push up against something, you know, because we live in, I've expressed this before, but a malignant culture that has pre-carved our paths for us, school, college, university, then you've got five or six choices that remain socially acceptable as a career. But where's the authenticity in that? There's not whatsoever. The true path is carved and paved as you walk it. And as you walk it, you're stepping on every bindi, every thorn, bumping against every wall, and you're learning and figuring out about yourself. And so to me, that is this experience. Why would we be here to not do anything and to do nothing? [Speaker 1] (32:25 - 37:15) We are here to express ourselves creatively through our passions, you know, and it's pretty simple. It's really simple. And the mastery can be mastery of self, you know, the dedication to self. And, you know, you mentioned children there. And I'm so grateful for some of the mentors and teachings that I've had, because, you know, I've got two teenage daughters that are, one's about to turn 17 and one's 15 and a half at the moment. And, you know, part of my understanding was to get out of the way. Just get the fuck out of the way, Pete. Like, just let them be, let them explore. Obviously, when they're very, very young, you need to provide the food and the shelter and the love is unconditional. But we've got to be very careful that we don't create mini me's. You know, it's otherwise, you know, things that I understand is children take on the generational trauma and fears and beliefs of their parents and the lineage there. You know, and if you're not working on yourself, you know, it's like this pile on effect for the next generation. They're accumulating. Their parents, their grandparents, their great grandparents, shit that they haven't worked out. You know, and I've been to enough retreats and experiences to understand that people, there's people out there that continue to work on themselves and they're then working on themselves for the community or for their loved ones. Yeah, that's fucking pretty brave stuff that people take on. You know, I'm working on this for, for more than myself. You know, it brings tears to my eyes to think that because none of these sort of, you know, if we think about a ceremonial, whether it be the tumor or psilocybin or ayahuasca or toad medicine or choose your entheogenic experience or even breastwork, you know, the reality of those experiences, some of the most profoundly traumatic that we get to experience. And yeah, it's, it's such a wonderful journey to be on, to be able to explore this for ourselves and for others. Not that we're responsible for anybody else because we're not. We're responsible for ourselves. If we do bring children into the world, we are responsible for them for a period of time. And then, as I mentioned, we try to get at the best, try to get out of their way the best so that they can express themselves and discover who they are with, without them adopting and inheriting and imprinting our bullshit stories about reality. And here we are. Oh, and yeah, it's a big one. It's a huge one. It's fucking huge. Like, and, you know, I witnessed this. I witnessed this in my friends, that they're still trying to please their parents. And that might be 40, 50, 60 years of age. I witnessed family dynamics still playing out in people than in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s. Like, how long are you going to play this out for? You know, you have a choice. You don't need to be in this feedback loop, this pattern, this groove. You have a choice. We all have a choice. And, you know, when you observe it, I know there's messages in that for these people, but it's difficult to observe sometimes. Because the solution or the answer can be so simple. So again, pretty deep there, but it felt like it needed to come up. [Speaker 3] (37:16 - 39:52) We love getting deep here, man. I mean, this is what this podcast is about. And we also, we just love hearing people's personal hero's journey and the things that they've learned along the way. I mean, I talk about this often, but a book that changed my life was reading Siddhartha in my teenage years by Herman Hesse. And I grew up first generation Greek American. My parents came to the U.S. with nothing. And my dad worked 20 hours a day nonstop. Like, he had a hotdog truck under a bridge in Bayonne, New Jersey before he saved enough money to buy the diner in Wayne, New Jersey. And he just worked nonstop. He's 91 years old to this day, you know, and still going strong. And, you know, it's just, yeah, it just had an impact on my life. And I don't know why I went on a certain road. You know, a lot of the kids that I grew up with, you know, they stayed home or they took over the family business or whatever, you know, and I wanted to choose something different. You know, I went off to university and, you know, I traveled around Europe for months. 13 years ago, I backpacked around the world. You know, I ended up in Peru, living in a tree house in the jungle, you know, engaging with plants there. And I mean, crazy experiences. I mean, you talk about getting brought to the deepest, most intense, darkest places within yourself to be present and to be able to sit with and to be able to hold space with it. That's what some of the lessons that I've gained from having those experiences is that, you know, to bring up a kitchen reference, they said, you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. And I remember during one of my ceremonies that came to me and it was like, well, do you have what it takes to sit with pain and discomfort and gain the lessons that come from it? So on that point, I'm curious. Obviously, you shared about how, you know, working in the kitchen and working all these hours, it really tested you mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I'm curious if all of that prepared you for when you decided to speak out more so on things happening in the world, what's going on. If you were like fucking battle tested, like this ain't nothing. I don't care how many articles get written about me. I don't care how many talk shows talk shit about me. Like it ain't nothing, you know? So I'm curious how that was for you when all this started happening and people started saying things about you and how did it impact you? How did it impact your family? I'm curious if you're open to sharing. Yeah, I can show you in one shot here. [Speaker 1] (39:52 - 48:31) This is a dog, Chikoba, you know? She's 70 years of age and, you know, dog ears, whatever that is, which she's a middle aged woman there. She's licking me. And she's been doing exactly the same thing for all of her life. You know, like her opinion of me hasn't changed. With what I've said or what I've done. And again, going back to the simplistic nature of, you know, how complicated do we need to make things? You know, the relationship we have with nature, with animals, with plants, as you talked about, you know, it doesn't need to be that complicated. We tend to like some people love drama. You know, some people like conflict because it's an invitation to. I was talking to somebody the other day, and they're in a loop through this pattern. And I've known them for 20 years. And same shit keeps happening to them. And they asked me for advice. I go, well, it's the same advice I told you last year or the year before or the year before or the year before. And it's up to you to be able to recognize what that is so you can break that pattern. They blame everybody else for what's happening. I'm like, it's all you. It's nobody else. You're just manifesting. If you get rid of them out of your life, your relationship, you'll just attract more of the same. I've seen it. I've witnessed it for the last two decades. So going back to your question about have I been battle-hardened? You could say that. Yeah, I definitely think that. I mean, people often ask me, how do you deal with the media writing things about you? And I'm like, well, I said, it's like this much. You know, it's actually nothing. I remember years ago, I said, you know, it's sort of like a fly buzzing around, you know, then they're not always there. It's just a little, you know, oh, you're back? Haven't you got someone else to shit on or eat, you know? And they'll go find something else. You know, that's the media's job. Their job is to shit on people and eat shit, you know? It's like this ongoing, their loop is that, you know? And, you know, I love them for what they are, you know, especially now. I mean, how perfect is the last 18, 20 months with the pandemic? It couldn't be more perfect. The mainstream media has shown everybody who they are. My dog's, she's starting to go out. But, you know, there's no hiding anymore who they are, who they work for, what their agenda is, you know? It's like, oh, fuck, you've actually shown yourself to everybody as you really are. Ooh, how much further are you going to go? If I was in your position, I would have just kept trip feeding. Just a little incremental, you know? So it's like the boiling of the frog, so to speak, you know? But they've just turned the heat up on themselves and for everybody else. Nobody can take you seriously anymore. Everybody can see through the manipulation, the lies, the conflicts of interest. And we're witnessing that through the world at the moment. It's through all of these systems that we once maybe trusted or were curious about. They're all exposing themselves. So I've been quite grateful that they chose me as one of their targets over the years, because now it's just like, okay, yeah, fantastic. I saw them many, many, many, many years ago for what they represent and the energetic nature of that industry. And it's interesting. I've said to people over the years that have contacted me when they've read another story about me. They go, did you do that? Did you say that? They've written this about you, right? I said, for the 10th time. You do realize that none of it is true. Do you think the last nine times they were, you know, they were lying, that it wasn't true. And do you think now they're actually telling the truth the 10th time or the 100th time when you know who I am and how they've taken either something out of context or completely fabricated something? I said, do you still, can you not see it yet? Or the better part of it is, can you not feel it yet? It's an energy. All you have to do is tap into your intuition to understand what it is. And if you can't tap into your intuition, then maybe that's a really good question to ask. Where is my intuition? How do I develop my intuition? How do I develop my gut sense? How do I develop more of my senses? Because we have been conditioned to really just trust our five senses. I mean, that's what media manipulation is. And we're witnessing that on a grand scale at the moment. That's why people call it the great awakening. Everything's in balance. There's a huge agenda at play. But at the same time, the more that that pushes through with such force and such acceleration, the more that people will awaken to more than just their five senses. I mean, it's beautiful to witness. It's beautiful to observe. It's beautiful to experience because it's all perfect. It couldn't be designed any better than what it is currently for what is happening for the evolution of the human species. And it is an initiation. It is a rite of passage. Some people are going to really struggle through this. Some people will not make it. Some people are going to thrive through this experience. And it's a choice as to how you manifest your reality through this through this evolutionary process, which we've always been on. We've just been probably a little sleep over the last few decades or generations. But these patterns are definitely being shown and being felt now. So people have a choice. They can continue to go along with what they always have thought. So they've got a place or they can step into the unknown. And one of the things I would encourage people to do is get comfortable with the uncomfortableness like I was talking about before. Start experiencing what it means to have uncertainty and be comfortable with uncertainty. How to be comfortable in the uncomfortableness. How to feel safe in the dark. There's true medicine in this. You might have to go to the toilet. Is that what you're wanting to do? I might just if you want to just pause for two seconds. [Speaker 2] (48:35 - 50:22) Yeah, man, I hear you. Absolutely. And everything is in balance, right? You got this one collective you may completely buying everything that's being spewed at them. But the reason that they're really consuming it is because the comfort is the killer. And they think that by consuming it, they're going to maintain their sense of comfort on some level, maintain their sense of normal. And really there's nothing normal about what's happening whatsoever. And you're right, the dark is being exposed on extreme levels. And you look at the numbers, even just online in terms of mainstream media posts on YouTube or whatnot, the downverts, the upvotes is astronomical on all these politicians, on all the vomit that's being projected right now. It's just such a curious and such an interesting time. And yeah, man, absolutely. There's a massive window of opportunity available right now. There is an acceleration that's taking place for those who are willing to choose to go with what's true and to go with what's authentic and pull out the inauthentic and those tentacles which have grappled onto us over the course of this time that we have been asleep. And you have an interesting perspective, right? Because I mean, you more than anyone, you're inside that machine, metaphorically for a while there. And I mean, still are on some level, obviously. So I'm wondering like, what is the reality of mainstream media from the inside, from the outside, all of us can look at it and see it for kind of what it is, but I mean, what's your perspective from inside it? What did you witness that really showed its hand if you're willing to go there or what you can share? [Speaker 1] (50:24 - 52:46) Yeah, I mean, I had a great relationship with the mainstream media for 20 years. Well, really the last, yeah, the first 70 years I was on cable television, then the 13 that came after was more mainstream on commercial television. And I've got great memories and great experiences from that. It was for me, again, it was an apprenticeship basically because I was a very shy young man and boy turned into a young man, very, very shy. I didn't wanna be seen, didn't wanna be heard. You know, this goes back to my childhood of my experiences of growing up in a family and that was the end result or the accumulation of my beliefs about who I was. And I'm not blaming anybody in my family for that. It's just what came of it. So my rite of passage again was facing a fear and my fear was being seen and being heard. You could call it being shy, you know? And we're not talking just a little shy, we're talking massively shy. I was the kid at school that if I did a book report and stood up in front of the class, the paper would be shaking and my voice, it was the worst fucking thing I could ever think of doing. So when I was invited to audition for a cooking show in my late 20s, I said no and then I was invited again and that was when I was like, oh fuck, there's something here for me. You know, there's a path here, I don't see it yet but I know that I'm being invited to go on another path that I really don't wanna go down because I know how much pain it's gonna cause me because I'm gonna have to face my insecurities and my fears. And, come here, quick, please, come here. And, shit, it's my dog. That's all right. Dogs are the best, dogs are the best, I love dogs. [Speaker 3] (52:47 - 52:52) I wanna get like my Rosie all of a sudden, I wanna grab her if she's here. I know she's probably with my wife, she's amazing. Rosie! [Speaker 1] (52:53 - 53:10) If you're okay with a little stretch to get a little, we've just moved into a new place so we're not comfortable to let her go. So, I'm not being cruel here. But, going back into the initiation, into the, oh, look at that, beautiful. [Speaker 3] (53:11 - 53:18) She's got her little coyote collar too, you know, she's pretty badass. She's so cute, she's so cute. [Speaker 1] (53:19 - 55:47) You could have fun, another dog. But, we, going on that journey of discovery of who I was, I had to face so many fears. It took me about six years to become comfortable. Would I be saying comfortable? Six years of working in the television industry where I got, I remember it vividly. I was standing in front of the camera, six years into it and I wasn't fearful. It took me six fucking years. And, just to be not scared. Yeah. And, I remember a couple of years after that, I was in LA actually. And, I was cooking a meal with a fellow called Curtis Stone for a 600 person dinner called G'day LA or G'day USA. Yeah, G'day USA. And, it was an Australian government promotion. And, I had to get on stage in front of 600 people and present the menu. And, I remember talking to the MC of the day who's a very, very, very famous Australian TV host. And, I was backstage. I said, do you get nervous still? They've been doing it for 30 years or something. He goes, I shit myself every day. And, that was a really defining moment for me. I was like, I don't wanna be scared doing public speaking or anything like this in the future. Like, how the fuck have you not worked this out? You know, this is going through my head. You do this as a job and you're still scared. And, at that moment, I just made the decision. I'm gonna master this. I'm gonna master this so that no longer will I not be fearful, but I will actually embrace this. And, it was that moment. Because, again, you see mirrors in people. You're like, fuck, I don't wanna be scared every time I go up to speak. Let's change this program. Let's create a new reality, a new future. And, in you go, quick. Good girl, in you go. She's got a little carry case that she hops into. I'll take you for a big walk in a sec. [Speaker 3] (55:47 - 55:50) I'm obsessed with her, man. I'm obsessed with her. [Speaker 1] (55:51 - 58:14) I love her. And, so, again, that was a defining moment. I was like, okay, all right. So, subsequently, after that, because I was still, I was okay in front of a camera, but getting on stage was equally as terrifying, if not worse. So, when I got back from America, I basically started to put myself into situations where I would have to be on stage. And, that culminated in a couple of years ago, where I, three or four years ago, where I did a speaking tour called the Paleo Way, where we went around Australia and New Zealand and we would speak in front of 1,000 people, 1,500 people. And, I could get up there for six hours and nonstop speak for six hours about anything, unprepared. Like, no script, no nothing, and just be me. And, when I got to that point where I could just be me, it was so liberating. It was so freeing. And, it's the same when I do my podcast now. It's, I never prepare. I don't study the person that I'm about to interview. I don't really give a fuck how many letters are after their name, if they're a doctor or whatever accomplishments they've made in their life. I don't identify with that, so to speak, even though they're masters in their craft. My intention is to speak to the human being that is under all of that, all of that packaging. And, I love it because again, I have no fear or there's no judgment of anything. It's simple. Let's have a chat. Let's just have a chat. Let's have no preconceived fucking regurgitation of bullshit. Let's just have a chat. Let's just connect eye to eye, heart to heart. Let's see where it goes. Yeah, it'll be perfect. No matter what happens. [Speaker 3] (58:15 - 58:35) Yeah, that's where being present and connected to your intuition can take you to a beautiful place. You don't need to have seven notes. And, how many shows did Pete Evans do? And, what did he do here? What did he do there? It's just like, no, you're a human being. We're human beings. And, let's be real with one another and have a chat. Like you said, have a conversation. And, connect heart to heart and see what comes up. [Speaker 1] (58:36 - 1:03:10) Yeah, I had a mate yesterday who's starting a channel and he did an interview and he was sharing on his social media how many views he had and I could tell he was excited because it sort of went viral. And, I wrote to him. I said, be careful. Just be aware of what you're putting out into the world. What you're letting others see about you. Because, I could see it plainly. I was like, okay, you're attaching your identity to an outcome of something. What happens next time when you only get half the amount of views for the interview that you did? Are you going to share that? What will that mean to you? You know, I said, be very careful with how you present yourself to the world, you know, because you will be judged. You know, and I was doing a little, it wasn't so much judging it, but I could feel that there was something going on in there for him. I was like, just be aware that you can be authentically yourself and it doesn't matter if anybody watches it or they don't watch it. What are you actually doing this for? Are you doing it for you? Are you doing it for others? You know, and that brings us back to the vocation of the career, the education. What are you doing? The choices that you make in your life, who are you doing them for my dog? Now she's like, I don't really care that you're a podcast. I just want to go outside. I'm not going to be quiet for you. I'm just going to be me, authentically me. And I wonder how many people actually get to be their authentic self unashamedly, unapologetically, not many, just be you. It's interesting because to observe, you have judgment. So it's a sort of paradox that way. And paradoxes are the most beautiful part about this experience of life. I found is that two things can be true at the same time. It might seem completely opposite. So it's a bit of a mind fuck. But again, when you can get become comfortable that two opposing views can be perfectly right at the same time. You mentioned before we chatted, we're on a page together, a Telegram page. And there's some pretty staunch views about certain things, such as terrain theory versus germ theory. And one of the things I've mentioned in the past is, can they both be true? What if they're both true? I'm not saying they are, but what is? Yeah, for sure. In what reality can both of these potentially be true and everything else in between? Anybody that's journeyed knows that we have unlimited potential, and there's unlimited possibilities, and everything is true. If we believe it, if we believe it, we create it into matter. Our thought becomes reality. So somebody that believes in germ theory, they're going to manifest that belief. Somebody that believes in terrain theory will manifest that as well. Who's right and who's wrong? So many people that I've interviewed and know that have been in the natural health world have had to rely on pharmaceuticals to save their lives. So many people that have only believed in the pharmaceutical model have had to turn to spirituality and plants and natural medicines to save their lives. What if we could embrace it all without demonizing one or the other? And it's a pretty wild thought at the moment when there's so much division and so much polarity in both realms. The alternative media, the mainstream media, both are pushing their own agenda. I'm guilty of sharing my own perceptions out there, and they're my perceptions. I don't want to fucking poison in my body. [Speaker 2] (1:03:11 - 1:03:11) Exactly. [Speaker 1] (1:03:11 - 1:04:54) There's no way. There's no way that I would ever choose that at the moment. But I'll tell you what, if there was a fucking real pandemic out there, and that was proven that that would save my life, and it was made by a pharmaceutical industry. Look, I might have to reevaluate my reality. If a bioweapon has been created and the only solution to that bioweapon potentially was another man made substance that I would normally have said no to. I might have to do some deep realization. I've interviewed people that are on the spiritual path, the alternative path. I should never say alternative, but you know what I mean? The natural path that have taken this poison. But their mindset is that they will take the medicine out of if there is any they believe there is and release any of the poison that is not good for their body. It's fascinating observing not only my own thoughts and beliefs, but others and exploring what can happen in this reality because we make it. We manifest together, and the thing that we resist persists. So again, we need to be very careful about our beliefs that we put out to the world. I sometimes question myself. I like the humorous part of it. I like the means. I find it hilarious. [Speaker 3] (1:04:56 - 1:04:58) I don't know what I do the last two years without me. [Speaker 2] (1:05:00 - 1:07:04) Absolutely. Man, my perspective through all of this and the shift that's taking place or the awakening that's happening on some level is for the people that are realizing, I think it's an awakening of individuality, right? And I think it's shifting out of the whole collective paradigm. I think by embracing individuality, that is kind of the path forward from my perspective. Like, sure, you as an individual have your own views, morals, values, beliefs. As long as you're not causing harm to me or anyone else, you have the choice to make whatever choice you want to make for yourself. I, as an individual, have had my own experiences, done my own research, have my own morals, values, and belief systems, and I'm free to make whatever choice I want to make for myself as an individual. And I think if we just understood each other as individuals and got out of this whole group think mentality or for the greater good, or I am my brother's keeper, or I need to save your grandmother from the air, then I think we might begin to gain a bit more clarity about how to move forward. There's just this massive fog that's constantly being spewed at us from all angles about what our morals are, what our values are, what our duty is, how we can be of service to the community. And people are very, very, very confused, right? Because all of a sudden they're disconnected from the individuality. They don't know who they are. They don't know what they believe. They don't know what is good for them because they've never actually explored it in a true way. We talk about intuition. How can you have intuition if you don't trust yourself? How can you have intuition if you're allowing someone else to dictate what's right for you, for your health, for your kids, for whatever it might be? So the key is learning to trust yourself. And the first step to trusting yourself is stop blindly taking on the advice from organizations and corporations that have proven time and time again that maybe they don't really have your best interests in heart or in place. [Speaker 1] (1:07:08 - 1:07:30) Yeah. Or gurus or influencers or people like myself question everything. You know, it's simple. I try not to give any advice too much unless people ask me straight up for it. [Speaker 3] (1:07:31 - 1:07:44) And then if you give advice also throwing the copy out, and this is what I believe. And you're free to explore and investigate and find it out on your own and decide whether or not you think I'm a crazy idiot or not. You know, this is what I believe. [Speaker 2] (1:07:44 - 1:07:45) This is my experience. [Speaker 3] (1:07:46 - 1:07:46) Yeah, exactly. [Speaker 2] (1:07:47 - 1:07:55) My experience with you might not work for you, but you're free to have your own experience. And this is what we need to include everybody to be doing, I think. [Speaker 1] (1:07:56 - 1:08:51) Yeah. And that trust thing is such a powerful one for so many. Come on. Trusting in our choices, because when we trust, that means we have to take accountability for ourselves when we do make those choices. We don't have anyone else to blame. You know, that's a huge one. Oh, it's probably one of the biggest ones is when we have to fully take accountability and responsibility for every decision that we've made. Everyone. Yeah. That's a big pill. That's the biggest red pill of all. That's the huge suppository in the means. You know, the real reality is everything is your fault. Everything is your responsibility. [Speaker 2] (1:08:51 - 1:08:52) Yes. [Speaker 1] (1:08:52 - 1:09:52) Everything is you. It always has been here. Doesn't mean anybody else. You know, and when I say, you know, not fault, but when I use the word fault, the good and the bad, and whether you even want to label them as good or bad. But every experience has been created because of you. That's where true mastery comes in when you get to witness that. You know, if you're with somebody in a relationship that drives you insane, that's your choice. Don't blame the other person. Yeah. You chose to be with that person. If you're in a job that drives you insane, that isn't fulfilling, that's your fault. You chose that. Can't blame your parents for pushing you into your medical degree or whatever it is. You chose to do it. You could have at any point in time said no. [Speaker 3] (1:09:53 - 1:09:54) Yeah. [Speaker 1] (1:09:54 - 1:14:32) If you're living in the list goes on and on and on and on and that's where how simple the answers are. It's you. It's always been you. So the path forward to create the reality or create the version of yourself, your authentic nature or your authentic experience in this reality is you. I had a talk with a friend the other day, and they were deciding they wanted advice on whether to sell their business. They're like, you seem pretty up on the world events. What's going to happen with inflation? What's going to happen with these lockdowns? What's going to happen with people getting the vaccine? What's going to happen with this, that and the other? I said, I don't know. I said, it looks like it's heading this way. But I said, I don't have the crystal ball. I said, maybe a better question to ask yourself is how would you like to live your life? I said, just keep asking that question. How do I want to live my life? How do I want to live my life? What do I want to create? What do I want to express? What do I want to turn into reality? Because if you start asking those questions, the rest will sort itself out. Because when you start asking those questions and you create the answers that are in alignment with you, then that's when the path develops. So it doesn't really matter whether the agenda is rolling full steam and they're going to lock people up in quarantine camps, which is the news today out of one of our states or territories in Australia. The Northern Territory, they announced today, they're taking people, close contacts of people that have COVID and taking them out of their homes and putting them into these quarantine camps. That's happening. How quickly is that going to escalate to be the population? They need some pretty big quarantine camps for that to happen. It may happen. It may not. You know, we're getting a taste of it today in this country. What are we going to do about it individually and collectively? This is an invitation. This for some now will be like, that wasn't two weeks to flatten the curve. I thought if we all took a two jabs or three jabs that that wasn't going to happen. But it's happening. Okay, so what does this mean? Have they been lying to us for the last two years? Well, if they've been lying to us, what's real? These are deep questions. I mean, I'm just pointing out something that's happening. Today in this country. And then the question is, who are they locking up? You know, is it the indigenous? Why would that be a potential question to be asking? Why is this happening? So going back again to the question is what life do you want to create? How do you want to live? None of us know how long we're going to be around for. Could be around for another day. We could be around for another year. Could be around for another five decades. If we merge with AI, we could be here for eternity. If we take a psychedelic, we've experienced a certain psychedelic, such as Toad. We've experienced eternity. And we know that everything's perfect, regardless of what happens on this earth plane. So while we are on this earth plane, how do you want to live? Well, you can touch and feel and intuit and create a manifest. I mean, these are the questions that I ask myself most days. How do I want to live? What do I want to eat? You know, I'm going to take you out in a sec. Maybe she needs to do a poo. I've never seen her so demanding to go outside. [Speaker 2] (1:14:33 - 1:15:20) So wrap this up. We're not going to hold her off any longer whatsoever. I've been taking her fuse for a while. Pete, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for being here for the truth. Thank you for speaking out the way that you have, particularly, you mean, in the position that you hold within the media and whatnot, man. I think it was a breath of fresh air. A lot of people, particularly last year, you're a machine on Instagram, man. You were relentless. And obviously, we saw the censorship that came with that. But again, more exposure, right? As to what really is behind all this and what can't be heard and what can't be seen and what information you mean. It shouldn't be presented to the public. It's all very curious and very interesting, as is the nature of this time. Anything that you'd like to leave our audience with? [Speaker 1] (1:15:23 - 1:21:00) Yeah, it's interesting, actually. I'll just finish with that is, you know, I think I had an expectation and other people had an expectation that I would step up into a different role. And actually, I'm taking a different path now. You know, what I'm witnessing and I mean, last weekend was a great representation of that. Is the amount of people that have taken to the streets. And I mentioned this last year because I was invited to run for politics. And it seemed right at the time. And as I went down that path, it felt so. It didn't feel right. Like it's like, whoa, fuck, what's this going on here? And it wasn't a fear. It was just an incongruence. It's like, no, no, no, no. This is another lesson. You think this is what you should be doing. Other people think this is what you should be doing. But is it really what you want to be doing? And it was one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to make, to be honest with you, is to step away from being in the public political fight. And I said, you know, it's not time yet for me to wear that hat. And my reasoning was, it doesn't feel authentic at the moment. And it doesn't seem like there's enough people yet that want change. So I said, I'm going to sit back here and continue to do what I do, be sort of behind the scenes and not be so public. And potentially, when enough people stand up, and if I get invited back, and it feels right, that's when I may come back into that space. So it was really interesting watching last weekend in Australia. Maybe close to half a million people from some of the reports that I've got. And I get asked to speak at all of these events. And I spoke at one earlier this year, and it was interesting. I did that once. And I think that my first line of being on the speaker box for the Sydney one with about 10,000 people was, I'm not here to save any of you. This is what this is about. Each and every one of us needs to see this for what it is and then stand up in our own unique way, whatever that is. Whether it be through music or art or just non-compliance or actually going down the path of believing the bullshit and then potentially getting injured to wake yourself up or others in your family. So yeah, so I don't have any plans at the moment in that space. But it was beautiful to see the world each week. It's seeming to grow in popularity for people to stand up, which is great. And I did a podcast the other day. I was a guest, and they said, how do you feel about that? I said, I think it was great. You know, what was that? Like 5% of the population, 2% of the population. I said, where do you think it's going to go? Do you reckon we'll get to 20%? 30%? 40%? What do you reckon? That was it. I said, I'm curious to see where this goes because I have no idea. Yeah. But I do believe it's all perfect at the moment. And I'm an optimist, and I believe that human beings are so unique that we have the capacity for unconditional love to receive and share. But we also have the capacity for death and destruction and hostility for ourselves and for others. So where is humanity going when we are capable of all? I don't know. I have a feeling that the dark and the light will be in perfect balance as we continue on this journey. So I'm not picturing a utopic future for us. I'm seeing an ongoing evolution where we get to embrace the darkness in us and learn to love that. But at the same time for the dark to let in the light and see that for what it is to and to experience that and to get a taste of that. And individually and collectively, it's our journey to navigate those two realms and everything else in between to discover who we are. And there's no rule book for this or guidebook, so to speak. It's through experience and exploration. And I'm going to continue to explore and experience and go on this adventure of discovering the dark, discovering the light, and all the different colors and shades in between and learn to love it all and have a good laugh and have some good food and some great connections. Are you back now? Perfect, perfect timing. Perfect timing. Those words speak to my heart, too. [Speaker 3] (1:21:00 - 1:21:15) I'm in the same boat. Let's continue to explore. Let's dance between the light and the dark and continue to know ourselves in the deepest levels. Laugh, build community, eat great food. I'm right there with you. I love it. [Speaker 2] (1:21:15 - 1:21:16) I echo everything. It can be simple. [Speaker 3] (1:21:17 - 1:21:18) Yeah, it can be. [Speaker 2] (1:21:19 - 1:21:51) It definitely can be simple. That's right. So how do you find the simplicity within the chaos? That's a question that I implore all our listeners to heed. And Pete, thank you so much for being here for the truth. And I'll let you take it for a walk and do what your dog needs to do. To our listeners, thank you so much for listening. This is Pete Evans, and we'll see you guys next time. Take care. Bye.