This film addresses one of the biggest existential questions of the ages and one that has been fascinating and vexing humans from our inception. If the thing which differentiates humans from everything else on earth and the universe is consciousness and awareness, then what exactly is it, where does it originate, and what does it mean? Scientists, philosophers and mystics have always grappled with this question with a staggering array of theories and quasi-answers and massive amounts of information and knowledge. The only thing for certain is the lack of a unified theory.

The beauty of the big question is the amount of fascinating research that it has spawned and the six brilliant scientists and thought leaders included here have all come at it from radically different angles, including physical studies of the brain proper, neuroscientific examinations of the connective apparatus in humans, meditation, animal and plant studies, and psychedelics. What emerges is the multitude of networks of consciousness, overlapping and intertwining all of them. The scientific monitoring of controlled experiments with psilocybin have produced dramatic experiences into inner space and beyond. In the case of Richard Boothby, the philosopher, haunted by the suicide of his son. Under the influence of psilocybin he had a quasi-religious apotheosis which helped him to reconcile the event in a more bearable way.

Matthieu Ricard, the molecular geneticist turned Buddhist monk who moved to Nepal found his answers through meditation and the practices of the Nepalese Buddhist temple where he has resided for years. The Mayan healer Josepha Kirvin Kulix lives in perfect harmony with her plants and herbs which she uses for healing and teaching. For me the most interesting was Monica Gagliano, a professor of plant behavior and cognition in Sydney, Australia. She began her career researching animal cognition and has come to believe and has designed experiments which imply that plants have cognition, communicate with one another and are, indeed, sentient.

The subjects of the film are all passionate about their work yet without hubris, no doubt, due to their respect for their field, which resists absolute answers. It is simply too vast. They are eager to share their work in a way that is comprehensible to a non-scientist. They are compelling and sincere and clear communicators. Some of the questions posed are complex. For example: “Is self-awareness the definition of humanity?” “How do you change the waters of the mind into the wine of our conscious experience?” “How is it that we are aware that we are aware?” No easy answers here. But a suggested methodology: “If meditation is the tried and true course to understanding the nature of mind; psilocybin is the crash course.” All of this fascinating information is packed between glorious interludes of aerial, underwater, nature and outer space cinematography. It will certainly open your mind. But don’t expect any answers. The quest will continue. Way more interesting, I think.