Full transcript: John Joseph on London Real
0:02 The mind could be your best friend or your worst enemy. You have to learn to harness that shit. It’s not what happens to somebody. It’s what they do as a result of it. So day after the race, you know, I’ve been thinking about everything that happened and I got this big buzz obviously crossing that thing. Hell yeah. And then like getting all these messages from people and my parents saw what happened and then now it’s the next day I still feel good, but also just thinking like Kind of like what’s next and is it is it always about what’s next, you know, what’s that?
0:55 Yeah, it always is you’ve been here before Yeah, I mean the whole thing too is you get on such a high and I mean your endorphins are going through the fucking roof You’re like you’re on such a high racing It’s you know, you’re challenging yourself to like really to put yourself under those Circumstances and then cross cross the finish line it’s it’s you know, it’s an incredible feat and It really pushes you and gets you on this like it’s a spiritual experience I mean wouldn’t you agree doing the whole thing and then it’s like and then it’s like Monday It’s the day after they call it Metal Monday, which by the way, you have to post your metal today After Iron Man and hashtag Iron Man Chattanooga 70.3. It’s called Metal Monday You post a picture of it. Yeah, you post a picture of your metal. Okay, and everyone else follow that hashtag But then you’re just like, okay like What’s you always looking for the next thing and I and I talked about that After I did the first Iron Man, it’s like there’s there’s two things. You’re either gonna get the Iron Man bug You know and or you’re gonna be one and done and For me, it wasn’t even a question. I was immediately looking for the next race and then it was Cabo and you know, so you know, it’s it’s uh, and You know you putting in months and months of training to bring to that plateau and then it’s like you just empty in the tanks of Everything and then the next day you have time to like reflect and be like
2:36 But it’s like a thing. You’re like looking for like, okay, how do I get back to that? How do I get back to that feeling? I think for you you did so well in this race. I Think you should look for a full and Go the distance man, you know You know, it’s to me it’s like It’s part of what I do. It’s either touring writing doing this doing that and or training It’s part of it’s part of like what I do. It’s part of like my DNA at this point is to do these races and my girls like It’s what you do. Some people go to rehab. Some people do this. Some people do that. Some people go to NA meetings You do Iron Man, so she doesn’t ever try to get in the way I mean you have a wonderfully supportive wife like he said she was cooking for you and doing all this and taking care of the kids while you’re training, but you know, it’s Double the commitment of what you just did. Yeah double commitment I mean, I’m just trying to get my head around this challenge thing because kind of guys like us are always like what’s the next challenge?
3:49 Yeah, what’s the next challenge and like part of that got me here. So I respect it But then part of me also wonders am I still searching for the next challenge? And is there does there need to be some peace somewhere in between where you’re just happy being you? Yeah, you know, I’m not saying it happened the next day, but I’m saying take time reflect on everything chill out and you know the thing about the races is and and and and one of the things where you have to work backwards from there is They sell out you know, so That’s why I’m always like Florida for instance I think there might be some tier three or four slots left, which they start charging more money, but The day after the race this year I got on and I got tier one Sign up for that because that was the only race that I that I DNFed. I got hypothermia. It was 38 degrees They canceled the swim. I mean technically it wouldn’t have been an Ironman anyway Because it’s not a 2.4 mile ocean swim. So that’s you know, yeah, it doesn’t You’re already locked on to that next race in six months And then you mentioned it to me right after the race and Samantha did too and look I mean, I’m a goal oriented guy I think it’s a beautiful thing but remember we were in New York and you said Brian one of the happiest times of my life was when I was a monk. Yeah, but when you’re a monk You don’t have those Goals and challenges. Do you well?
5:20 Yeah, I mean when I was a monk I was Part of that was spent in in a temple in Hawaii where I was training with a martial arts Instructor who was happened to be a devotee So I was training doing my monk stuff getting up at 2 a.m. Every morning Getting my two hours of meditation and then they have a whole morning program and then after the morning program before breakfast I would train You know, this guy was like a karate dude who liked to run and do whatever. So, you know there’s always and There’s challenges of the mind, you know to try to be a celibate monk. So it’s always To me I think you know It’s iron mind right? It’s like sometimes the battles within the mind are the hardest ones because that’s the ones You know that force people to quit, you know Steve was telling me he did Placid and some guy Crashed out on the bike and shredded his whole face in his leg and his arm and he’s still finished So it’s like, you know Most people would most people would call it a day. I Saw one guy yesterday and that happened to him and
6:42 He just said fuck it I’m done, you know and his bike was still operable he just crashed and You know had road rash and stuff like that But see I don’t let it even even with a bike mechanical and whatever the hell I had going on I was like, I don’t care if I made it before the cut-off. I’m not quitting. It’s like that’s not what you do You you you roll with everything and and you assign a goal and then you you do whatever it takes to finish that You know But I think you deserve, you know that title of you know, I am man Doing the full course race But take your time and pick a pick a smart race and a smart race for you might be a race in Europe Where you don’t have to come all the way to the United States. There’s races in France There’s races, you know in Europe in areas and stuff like that But you know and and see how you feel about it what you’re real You’re still on the high of the whole thing. So Yeah, see how you feel in a couple weeks And I’m just trying to get my head around my own personality of always putting that next challenge, you know And I know with you you got a tour coming up then the PMA book is coming up And you must have asked yourself a few times like can I be happy without those no I can’t and I’m gonna tell you a story cuz I love Steven Pressfield and he’s an old-school writer so if you read the war of art and All the writers back in the day They would go up and rent trailers up in the hills of LA and all that stuff, you know
8:19 And just be alone and right so he worked like crazy and he told this I forget who the writer was but he Was like a mentor to Steven Pressfield and Steven Pressfield worked like hell to finish this book and then By the way, if you don’t have the war of art it applies it’s applicable to every single aspect of life Like it doesn’t matter if it’s talking about writing whatever you’re doing the resistance to something you kept bringing up and He worked like hell to finish it You know trying to get Kudos from the guy and he handed it in and you know what he said to him. That’s great now go start the next book and I and I talk about that too. There’s always the next book. There’s always a next You know screen play there’s always the next race There’s always more music. I’m looking to do another album I did an album with this band blood clot last year, which was number one in the metal punk distributors in Europe You know, so it’s always something is this not itself some kind of addiction in itself. Sure, but what’s the To be to do what you love You know, there’s destructive addictions So I had to put that you know, Mike my first coach was Orion Mims He came out of a hardcore, you know, he’s a six-foot-four African-american dude tough life and You know, he fucking kills it in Ironman ten hours and he’s like He just said the same shit man. We’re running these shits to beat down our fucking demons That’s what it’s about and it doesn’t have to be Ironman
10:13 It could be like to go to the boxing gym or you like to do MMA or jujitsu You know, maybe marathoning maybe You know paddleboard races, whatever it is It’s like if you don’t replace the negative things in your life with positive actions Meditation and all this other stuff that goes hand in hand You’re just gonna keep falling victim. Why did my brother why does my brother constantly keep relapsing into drugs? He called me right before this race. I’m dying Fuck you. You don’t even call me anymore. I’m fucking dying and he is dying But he’s not trying to help himself I said when you go to the fucking VA the Veterans Administration drug rehabilitation Program and call me from there and check into a program. I’ll fucking talk to you until then I got nothing to say You know, so he’s choosing destructive behavior so what You know, he’s dying because of the choices. He made he’s not dying because he got cancer from whatever you know He’s dying because he chose to Hit the bottle do the pills do the drugs eat the bad food Which led to him needing surgery then that?
11:36 The VA gave a Mercer which is slowly killing him They ain’t giving him painkillers when he couldn’t get those he’s does drugs. How do you do with that negative? My second Iron Man in Cabo Day before the race. I look on my Facebook page and the people I follow My brother’s friends and they’re like I’m praying for my brother Frank, you know, my good friend my he’s like a brother to me And these people the mother took him in when it’s it’s the Morrison family and Amy Morrison She has documentary films the Morrissey the Morrison project. She’s amazing. She’s a Fucking tough fucking family from the Lower East Side. Nobody fucked with them Alex Who passed away Joey Morrison Joseph Morrison like tough fucking Irish brawlers that were down there since When that were you know, and now for best city. So the mother took Frank in so it’s a whole that’s like his brother and I’m fucking I called up my brother. I’m like, yeah, what the fuck is going on, man?
12:43 I’m seeing all this shit. They’re like, yeah, we didn’t want to tell you Frank’s in a coma And he spent a month and a half in a coma. So the day before I did the race He said there’s like a 10% chance. He’s gonna live the doctors don’t think he’s gonna make it So I had to race with that You know, so it’s always You know constantly being tested. It’s constantly being tested in every single race like that I do or even in life. Everything is there to test you and I wrote I write about this in the this new book I got coming out Because if we as humans are not tested then we don’t advance those tests are put there to force us to push through shit Like people that are like try to avoid challenges and being tested They’re not getting anywhere in life by willingly Placing yourself into difficult situations You advance as a as a human being and as an entity and a spirit and yeah in a long-term It’s like that’s what the whole brahmachari monk lifestyle is all about Yeah, I said I was the happiest because I had no attachments. I Woke up every day the first time in my life feeling like I’m where I’m supposed to be You know like service to everybody, you know, that was And it was at a point when I really needed healing because I was fresh out of fucking lockup fresh out of the streets fresh out of all the other shit I had to deal with and Then you know when I started getting into the philosophical stuff because of who was around the bad brains. I
14:29 Was like I started going to see you know the way Gurdjieff people or Krishna Murti and going to yoga spots and hearing all these other people talking I was like, this is what I need So I had to do that at that point but then I realized it wasn’t it was good to get that training and that mindset and be in that like I could do anything after coming out of that and And I needed it at that time, but I realized there’s other work I had to do And little signs kept coming like I was in Hawaii and giving out books on Kalakau Avenue I saw this dude with his girlfriend visiting from LA and she had a bad brain shirt. I was like yo How do you know? Oh, we just saw the bad brains in in LA. They were fucking incredible And then like, you know, you start it’s thinking feeling willing. That’s the nature of the mind so then I’m thinking about it, then I’m feeling like, you know, I Wanted to be back in that thing and then the next thing your will just carries you there It’s the same thing with anything. That’s like I break down a whole chapter in this book of how the mind works You know to understand the mind and how it works and It gets deep, you know But it’s the whole thing. It’s it’s got to be I Don’t want to just float through life You know that’s not Gonna get me anywhere and it’s about risk, you know Risk is everything people don’t people that play it safe and don’t want a risk. They don’t get anywhere Everything they want
16:11 You know, that’s why I’m glad I’m not a fucking You know a trust fund kid You know all those guys that I know that lived that way man, they got fucking crazy issues now with Everything’s handed to them. They they didn’t have to work for nothing That’s the lack of challenge fucking no challenges and then look what they end up succumbing to drugs and bad relationships and bad choices You know like I had shit forced upon me So when it came time for that I had the the free will and the choice to do You know, whatever it was. I was gonna do I Made the right choices, but then again It’s always a test. That’s why you know when all that shit happened with the chrome eggs in 87 I Fucking hooked up with the wrong people You know and then the next thing you know, I’m with this girl who’s a fucking cocaine fucking Like, you know rich girl that has anything she wanted and she she’s still doing drugs She had every single facility the best rehabs in the fucking world I had nothing I went back and lived in a burnt-out building and all the cocaine I had from that whole shit in LA motherfucker robbed me like Sitting in Tomkin Square Park just crying like fucking you know, and that’s rock. It’s like I said to every Well when you owe when you hit rock bottom No, you could go below the rocks with the fucking maggots and rock bottom ain’t the lowest you know, but That’s the thing about choice, you know You know and association is key. It’s called song on
17:59 Who you associate with that’s why I love the energy of the Iron Man Community and people that are doing positive shit even the dinner last night. Look at those people So passionate like I’m like, all right. I want to fucking eat. I just did a half iron man I need to fucking eat but the dude he’s so passionate and It’s it’s it’s passionate out of compassion. He wants to help other people Like he gave me his DVD box said I turn it on and it’s like this is the black plague of the modern time Fucking diabetes and all this and he wants to save people’s lives That’s a noble cause man But people have to be ready for it. Just like when the guy said do you want to live?
18:42 He couldn’t he couldn’t respond right away. Yeah, cuz it’s not lip service He actually thought about that shit for a while He said every hamburger every fucking milkshake all this shit. Everything you do is deciding whether you live or die so, you know Just being around those types of people and cutting off the bad association because that’s It’s like you’re trying to row out to sea and your fucking anchors stuck in the ground That’s why now I have very little patience like people hit me up. I’m like or friends. Oh, I need help I fucking tell them what’s up point them in the right direction to the experts if you hit me a month later with the same Shit, I homie. Well, you know, what’s up? I told you what’s up. So it’s up to you now I’m not gonna hold your hand through this You know, but that’s the whole Wellness community rich roles and the Brendan braziers and the doctor Esselstyn’s and Osveld’s and all these people are just dr. Garth Davis They’re they’re just out to help people Kip Anderson with his own films you know, I I made Strategic choices to place myself around these people Because like I said, that’s why I hang out with you know a tight personalities Hopefully some of their shit will rub off on me, you know, I’m under no way Fixed a hundred percent. I’m still a neophyte on this path. But like by hanging around with those people You see what it takes, you know, like even in Iron Man, you see these people they’re fucking crushing. Oh, well, you know, it’s like
20:30 You know I’ve done an 11-hour Iron Man, but It’s like I want to get back to Kona qualifying. So that’s my goal, you know But you know and do more books and everything else like, you know feed the homeless in New York do whatever it’s it’s constant That’s why I having Erica in my life is great because she’s like a partner that works with me in all of this stuff She loves to help people. She’s wonderful Compassionate person and is on the same path with the plant basing and you know your wife now, you know, I mean she seems Wonderful, you know like from what I’ve seen she really loves you guys have a great family You know, so I guess it’s like what’s next for you like You got to make a conscious decision like you can’t stay stuck on stupid now You know the whole science behind the plant-based thing. So I think the challenge is to you is okay What do I do now motherfuckers? It’s like what are you gonna go eat a big steak? Like Like dude You know, I could have celebrated anyway, I want last night, but I’m still playing based. Yeah and sober sober plant-based Amen life. I’ve seen so much death around me in my life and not just from people Getting sick and dying just people that don’t take The human life seriously man and make stupid choices and getting murdered of just all kinds of crazy shit dying from drugs and you know, it’s like That’s why they say it’s a razor’s edge one slip could be catastrophic You have to be philosophical every day. You can have fun with it though, too
22:23 Me and Steve had a fucking laugh like every day, it’s like He’s a very Steve’s a very intense dude Steve ready, man, you know like But it’s like that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and have to have a stick up your ass and all those people were telling Me man, you know the one guy he works here and he’s like I all I do is give these Hardcore and he’s the doctor that was days I give these hardcore people you turn them on to your videos and all this stuff and they get your book and they’re like holy shit, like I didn’t know it could be like this because like there’s a Stereotype of the typical You know now there’s this vegan recovery group like You know carnivore diet people and they’re just like talking all this shit and he’s like, yeah, you know We we rescue vegans. It’s like the vegan rescue group or whatever. I’m like motherfucker first of all I don’t call myself a vegan second of all You said that they call themselves plant-based, but then five seconds later. You’re saying oh, yeah, they ate all junk food junky vegan food like You know, why don’t you take subjects that are doing the shit the right way to Mac Danzig’s the rich rolls the fucking you know world weightlifting record You know the David Carter like any of these people you don’t pick them you go to the fucking Worst motherfuckers that are eating like the worst vegan fucking deep-fried soy nuggets and shit that are GMO like That I got to see happen through the 80s and all of that, but now it’s like
24:05 It’s changed. There’s a lot of science behind it. Yeah, it is, you know, I was talking to that guy Dr. Gabor Mate on my show and yes, you saw you saw some of that stuff Yeah, and he’s always saying that you know, a lot of this stuff goes back to childhood trauma and you know Look compared to your life. I didn’t have any trauma But when you’re seven years old everything feels like yeah, you know and and he’s always saying like Brian Is this behavior rooted in something whether it’s heroin addiction or success? He was great. He was one of the best Just his vibe is so I was like this dude’s fucking mad She’s got some magic shit going on and there’s the aura and everything. Well, he was a baby when the Nazis rolled into Hungary and so he he believes he was a four and five-month-old baby had trauma. Of course He did fucking feel it dude energy is energy man positive or negative I Was in the womb of my mother being and and he was beating my mom. He broke my mom’s jaw while I Think he broke a jaw and nose or something while she was pregnant with me There’s a picture in my book when he’s holding me coming home from the hospital My brother who’s one year old is hiding behind my mother like terrified of him Like you you experienced pain in the womb Plank and Childbirth you just it’s such a traumatic experience. You forget it all But all of that listen coming to the material world It sucks no matter how good you have it and that’s what I say
25:40 Even for rich people all bets are off. That just means you could afford the best fucking You know depression meds or whatever the fuck this it’s Prop I’d always said it’s like a fish out of water. You’re not meant to be in the material world suffering the threefold miseries adi baltic adi diving adi amik miseries of the body and mind miseries by natural disturbances miseries caused by other living entities you know and and then there’s You know birth death disease old age it’s like You’re trying to make the prison house a nice place But the real goal of the prison and ask anyone who’s locked up they want to get out So you’re there trying to make all these arrangements, but you’re gonna be kicked out of this body You know so that’s why the whole process is to understand the whole birth and death and all of that and Train your mind so that at the time of death you’re actually in meditation. You’re in Samadhi That’s the goal and whatever you practice in your life That’s why at the time of death people that have had near-death experiences. They’re like my whole life flash before me There’s a reason for that. There’s a science behind it that the vader talks vaders talk about it’s because your Mind is racing to attach to something that you felt comfortable with because it’s such a painful condition to die So whatever that comfort wherever you found the most comfort in your life. That’s what you’re gonna think of
27:20 It’s your children or whatever it may be I’m hoping that it’s My spiritual path you’re hoping there’s nothing that flashes for your eyes because you’re you’ll be meditating no But what am I meditating on? I’m meditating on the form of Krishna or Vishnu or you know My time as a devotee. That’s what I want to be meditating on you know You know Krishna says to whatever the consciousness you remember at the time of death That’s the place you pick up in your next life That’s why it’s so important to do this work because if you even gain 5% advanced consciousness You’re gonna pick up at 6% There’s no way in the world that this is a one-shot deal Because then why does somebody have to get born with a disability in some third world country and another person?
28:13 Gets born under the royal family. There’s karma which one’s more challenging. That’s the question Yeah, I mean, I’m just using that as an example Yes There’s karma from past life stuff that all of us are working out and I say that maybe I was a fucked up father Or whatever in my last life, so I had to work out a little bit of karma coming into the beginning of this life but then You pick up, you know Wherever your consciousness was at in the previous life. It’s deep. There’s a book called
28:48 Like Life comes from I’m not life comes from life. It’s a book about past life experiences and How people were able to go to like the houses that they lived in in their last life and all kinds of stuff You know, how do these kids they’re virtuosos on the piano at two years old. They can play fucking Beethoven It’s like they just picked it up. It’s like, you know, there’s a lot of unanswered questions It’s like for somebody like Steve who’s been all over India and stuff like that like the things Like the guy was saying there’s a child being born right now that could live it for a thousand years I got news for you. There’s yogis in the Himalayas that are hundreds of years old You don’t never see him because they don’t come out of the mountains to cheat people But they’re there What’s your next life look like you think I don’t know I’m just trying to do the best I can and stay in the moment here and not think about all that But I know that you know karma is real. So every action is an opposite reaction They you know, they prove that you know action reaction. So that’s karma. So I’m not gonna make any choices At a whimsical that I’m not really thinking about I try to do things now that where I’m Even though those bad choices might cause you to be tested in future lives You know, like I said, I’m a work in progress so Sometimes I am gonna make bad choices, but I’m saying things like that you willingly could be like, okay
30:27 I’m gonna go fuck and smoke that joint or fucking drink that booze or you know for the most part It’s just it’s a thing every day to wake up and be clean and sober I know I got to exercise my body. I know I got to exercise my mind. I know I got to help people That’s you know, that’s not taking on some Jesus complex. That’s like You know, it’s paying it forward and that’s what I said Because everyone that I that helped me they say the only payment I want is teach other people, you know Get share share the knowledge of people. So there’s things I know I have to do every day And those are the things that keep me out of trouble and keep me in the good association you know, I Mean meeting you and everything else was you know, it’s been great man. It’s like a friendship, you know That’s gonna continue as even after this race, you know so The power of good association. Yeah, and vice-versa man. I mean look look at you know, yeah it results positive association produces positive fruits of that labor You know, where does negative association and negative actions take you My brother’s a perfect example of that and Other people I know you know and And they may not even be addicted to drugs. They may be successful, but where’s their mind and their hearts at?
31:59 That’s what I I don’t like to say judge people by but I really see how people treat other people That to me is with how you treat people when the cameras ain’t on and they can’t do nothing for you That says a lot about a person It’s not all always about oh, yeah, you know posting every little Accolade or thing you’ve done or get trying to get brownie points for helping people. It’s like most of the shit I do You know, like they kept saying oh, yeah, he opened this this yoga center temple I said, I don’t want people to know that like for the ten years that I financed it and whatever. I’m like It’s not why I did it, you know, I did it cuz I see what it did for me and then every Sunday There’d be a hundred people in there Meditating and chanting and getting the books and like kicking drugs and kicking dope and getting off booze and you know You know, so That’s it’s all about keeping good association my spiritual teacher Prabhupada said that’s 90% of That’s gonna determine How far you get in this life is who you hang around with and look who’s been on your show Like all these positive people like to do was saying last night at the dinner Your shows helped so many people you have so many great people on there It’s all about helping people to become better humans, you know Like the people you picked to be on that show
33:44 That was your vegan producer, what’s her name? Now you sold me right away, yeah, you know, I’ve just been thinking about my own like Childhood traumas and you know I know you said that part of the reason you probably went into performing and stuff was cuz like feeling inadequate and I’ve been doing a lot Of forgiving, you know lately forgiving myself and you know, I don’t think I told you but I saw my old buddy in New York City I actually contacted my old girl. You did tell me yeah, and I’m my old girlfriend. I actually had a call with her I haven’t told anybody that really and I told I apologize to her too, you know, and and um, Do you ever think about like I know you you I know you relived a lot of that trauma when you wrote your book But do you ever think about that and forgiveness and how that yeah, I mean I had to forgive him because like I’m the type of person if I don’t Like I mean, there’s the two dudes that did that shit to me in that home I’ve never encountered them before I even went back to the foster home and knocked on the door Like I told that story and they came out they came out of the or mrs. Valenti mrs. Valenti and Daughter yeah, and they were like It was intense because like I pulled up and There was the old Italian man who was their friend watering the lawn across the street and I said hey And I was with the you know, the lady from from Simon and Schuster was helping me do book readings and stuff. So
35:18 She’s like you sure you want I said I have to see that house I ain’t back been back there since whatever 73 or 74 and then she’s like, all right And then I get out the minivan and it’s always like the gap between expectation and result. That’s the power of story That’s what Mickey says, right? You take an action. You think the universe is gonna respond in a particular way. Nope There’s conflict. So I said hey, how long you lived here? He’s like me you know 50 to 55 years I’ve been here like you know, and I was like and I’m looking at him and I’m like That’s their fucking friend. They used to come over and have fucking cappuccinos with them and They would get us to do his yard work and shit like go do his you know like we were to fucking rent the slaves and then I was like really I Said who lives in that house over there? I was like is that still, you know the Valenti’s He’s like a yeah a rose and above above above above and I just was like, you know, then it’s like BAM punch in the face And I’m like, you know, not what I expected and I was like He goes who are you? Why are you asking her so many questions? He talked and I was like we were to force the kids in that home and We were the ones that got the home shut down for what they were doing to us and then he looks at me He just drops the garden hose and runs in his house and fucking locks the door I won’t come and like that was it left the hose running
37:01 Because I guess they was waiting and then knock on a door and No answer They’re weirdos. They keep the curtains closed. I got talked to the neighbors like yeah during the storm I went to try to help them and they’re like get the fuck away from my house Like she was screaming from inside That was old lady and she opened the door and I was like funny enough the first thing I looked for was that fucking mole under her nose and Then I had to hear her say is your name Rose Valenti I had you know, she’s like who are you get the fuck away from my door. Why are you banging on my door?
37:39 Then like You know and then the daughter came out and I was like, you know They tried to she tried to invite me and I said, why the fuck would I want to come in there? Like do you think I have good memories of what the fucking people did to us? And that’s when they were like, what’s this motherfucker doing here? see the pigeon wants to hear the story and
38:03 She’s looking at me and just for effect that it was summertime I had a wife beat her and like wrap around shades and I was all like fucking cock diesel and I’m like She’s like, oh, how are you bad? How are you and your brothers? We I was like, we’re all right now that we got out of prison Like you know that type shit and then she’s like you just saw her be like Okay, and then mrs. Valenti just kept saying take your glasses off take because she had to look in my eyes and then she was like When I did she’s like you and Marie son And then the next then she was just like she like fell back against the wall like fucking and then That’s what I said to him. I said, where’s Harold and Tony?
38:50 So I like and I’m glad they weren’t there because Think when I do see them It’s like I’m gonna be like yo you put your hands on me and did this shit when I was a kid and couldn’t defend myself, but now what and I think that’s gonna be there. I’m not You know, I could try to speculate however, I’m gonna act toward that But I already know what’s gonna happen. What’s gonna happen? I’m a fucking snatch him up. I’m not Say how about that?
39:23 Proud part would say that a child abuser should get his ass kicked That’s what probably would say Papa said if any and and they raped a lot of the kids in the Krishna school After Papa’s departure, there’s a whole law case and everything. One of my friends was one of the ones that got raped It happens. I just watched a movie about the Jewish the Hasidim’s My friend Rachel Grady did it who did Jesus can’t you should get her on your show Now she did another movie about the Hasidim and what they do to the women and this hurt like the fear they had after World War two So they got this tight-knit community and so many rigid rules and they they’re like we are the law We don’t let the outside law come here So they’re raping the women and molesting the children and doing all this shit It happens in every religion So it happened in the Hare Krishna up at Lake Huntington school in upstate, New York and my best friend who’s now a jacked Surfer was being molested when he was a kid up there and all the kids that shit was being done to them But before proper I left the planet Papa said if anyone touches a child, they should be hung You put your hand and that’s why I always say when you go to prison There’s a name for that. My friend was the Joe Joe Carberry Start in the film Miguel pin Pinheiro’s who he did a movie called short eyes And short eyes is the name for someone that’s attracted to kids and molest kids Now you’re talking murderers on down people that killed two three people. Do you know who they hunt in prison?
41:11 Child molesters child molesters have to go to PC Punk city protective custody They can’t put him in Jeep in general population because they get murdered in prison So even a fucking prisoner who’s done some of the most horrendous thing knows you don’t touch a fucking kid So that’s why you don’t let these fucking priests and all these people do this shit to these kids and When they go to jail, there’s one famous Catholic priest. He went to prison and they murdered him You don’t let people touch kids man, and that’s why I’m like, you know, they were whatever 1617 was still it’s gonna be a confrontation cuz I’m not letting that shit go by they don’t get a pass. No, absolutely not and John Joseph can’t forgive that No, I’m not at that point where I’ll see like I could speculate in my mind what I’m gonna do but I know I have a certain personality that You know Who knows they didn’t keep doing that shit to other kids as they got older That shit that behavior don’t stop. I never did that I had that that’s not an excuse cuz I had it done to me I’m gonna fucking do it to somebody else that shit. They cop to that’s bullshit I had that done to me and I fucking I would never for that reason touch a kid or fucking Any of that shit, but these motherfuckers a it’s in their fucking DNA to be predators Can’t let them and then these these guys are all around the kids again Even in the higher Christian movement and and the one kid in in in the city movie said that guy is still
43:01 Running the camp for the acidic summer camps He didn’t go to prison So the John Joseph of today ain’t ready to forgive motherfuckers for doing that shit, you know, and You know, there’s a part of me that wants that confrontation there’s a part of me that’s like Okay, maybe it won’t happen and Who knows I won’t beat these motherfuckers into a goddamn coma But I’m I don’t have that inner strength to be like, oh, yeah, okay You did that to me. I forgive you No, you’re human I’m human man, I’m fucking I’m just as human as anybody else What I’ve fucking stomped out people that did that shit to 15 year old girls on the fucking scene Doing perverted shit to them back in the 80s. We all we didn’t let motherfuckers do that Fucking touching kids and shit You’re getting the fucking beaten and worse You know, it’s like I don’t you could you know, it’s a tough It’s a tough deal man. That’s a tough deal You know and what about Mrs. Valenti or your dad one day. Do you think you’ll ever did I I didn’t tell you the story when my brother was in It is in was in the Finger Lakes rehab. No, he tried to contact me I said motherfucker you ain’t nothing but a sperm donor. I have no interest in meeting you recently No a few years ago, you know supposedly he was on his
44:46 I’m gonna tell you this and this is a fucking you want to hear a crazy story my brother was in the VA rehab up at the Finger Lakes and The nurse walks in because he had the detox off drugs before they could do the surgery So he’s up there and then the nurse is like Oh Oh Frank McGowan Are you any relation to John McGowan? He’s like, yeah, John Joseph McGowan. That’s my brother from the Chrome eggs That’s what he was thinking and she’s like no not John Joseph McGowan John Emma McGowan and Frank is just like yo that that’s my father. She’s like John Emma McGowan is your father She knew him She goes she goes she leaves the room and comes back talking to whoever And she’s like do you have two brothers John and Eugene and your mother’s Marie, yeah Says your father is in the next room dying Frank called me. I still get fucking goosebumps Frank called me that days like you’re not gonna believe who’s in the next room next to me. We share the bathroom our father was a veteran and Was dying and Frank sent they sent the priest in that your father’s asking for forgiveness before he dies and Frank says tell him to fucking go to hell. I’ll never forgive him you know and Came back and then he pulled through and they put him to another part of that facility the Finger Lakes is you know and then They wheeled Frank in in a wheelchair and he’s in a wheelchair over there my father No, this I and they’re like, oh you guys related you’re both McGowan’s and Frank goes. Yeah, that’s my father and
46:46 Then the dude goes I ain’t you know, my father goes. I ain’t his father. We just have the same fucking last name he’s like an old alcoholic and Then Frank goes you motherfucking right eat my father fucking you fucking piece of shit what you did to my mother You know and then he starts wheeling the fucking wheelchair over to like get him in the fucking nurses. We’re like yo, yo You know, like what are the odds of that? Maybe that’s a sign Yeah, but it ain’t no sign for me because I have you know my other You know, and then I think whatever they met was like my brother he met with him Just out of curiosity to see Because he called me and I was like, I’m not fucking I’m not coming to meet you if I meet you I’m gonna reach across the table and pop you in your fucking mouth And it’s seen him in 20 30 years. Yeah me. I ain’t seen him since I was two I had the last memory I have I have two memories one was all his friends They were working on a car. The only other memory I have is the night that he broke in and Almost basically beat my mother to death and then the cops came. I I it was the opening I adapted The book to a film and it’s like some of the opening scenes is Like that’s the last thing I remember and then being in the cop car and staring back and it’s like All the cop cars my mother leaving in the ambulance and all that. I mean, I Don’t remember the motherfucker. I was like, you know, who what does it matter?
48:27 My mother didn’t even it wasn’t even consensual sex that you raped her. That’s how I was born you raped my mother you broke in and raped my mother and my mother didn’t terminate the pregnancy and Everyone around her said that she she only planned to have my older brother Everyone around us said terminate the pregnancy She didn’t I would not be here having this conversation It’s heavy, you know, so it’s like and then beating her the whole time She was pregnant with me. So you want to talk about?
49:02 Trauma and you know conceived out of a rape a brutal rape You know that could have been you as a previous life. You said maybe Who knows? I know I’m was working some shit out. I know I was probably a fucked up person That maybe had some good inclinations to other shit, but had his demons who could speculate and no I mean, you know Do you think though if if you can ever find it in your heart to give that forgiveness to him or mrs Valenti it might get you to another level where you can It’s added to you know what it’s out of sight out of mind. What would I gain from forgiving in them?
49:43 I don’t it’s you know what? Robert McKee takes you through all the steps, you know What’s you know the opposite? the opposite of Love is hate, but what’s worse than hate? Apathy no Worse than hate is indifference. I don’t even care enough to hate you That’s how it is with me. I don’t even care enough to hate certain people. I could give a fuck less People that did the most grimy shit to me my old band member Harley Flanagan writes a fake book. It should be in science fiction. It should be fucking fiction section the shit that he wrote and Left out all the shit he did to me robbing the band all the times turning me in ratting me out trying to put me in Prison all that shit It’s like I don’t even care enough. I don’t have no beef. You know, I don’t write nothing about him I don’t give a fuck have a nice life. I hope you sell a million records and it’s the same with all them at that The real growth was that I gave up that hate because I just moved on to another place of indifference You could say it’s worse, but I say it it’s what I had to do You know just block them out And that’s not to say if I don’t see whoever I’m not gonna That’s just that Street, New York fucking. I’m like a fucking Irish motherfucker from the Lower East Side I’m not gonna not say nothing. It’s not You know just cuz I took to this path doesn’t take away my personality And I think that’s like the doctors were saying that’s why a lot of these motherfuckers
51:30 Relate to me when I talk about plant-based diet or whatever the fuck cuz like it’s real it’s like yeah, I’m just the real motherfucker that who happened to grow up in New York and You know keeping it real. I didn’t lose who the fuck. I am just cuz I don’t eat meat. You know or whatever So it’s like I don’t feel the need to have to forgive these people cuz if They don’t they don’t matter in my life anymore Everybody gets their karma. She’s a miserable person These people that do shit to other people You don’t always have to be the deliverer of the karma That’s the lesson I learned and if you the so the seeds you sow is what you’re gonna reap What comes around goes around there’s so many fuck you can’t cheat karma. Look at all the shit Do you think that all of those?
52:25 Sayings keep manifesting if they weren’t true So it’s not my job to deliver the karma to some of these motherfuckers, but there’s a couple of people that Oh If I run into it’s gonna be some shit. Okay, and I will just leave it at that cuz You know, I’m not one to talk about what I’m gonna do to somebody or whatever. It’s like I just Deal with it when it when it pops up and I don’t live That anger side of my mind like thinking about it. That’s not the kind of where I’m at I just I deal with things as they arise, you know And most of the time I’m too busy Dealing with you know, how trying to do whatever I need to do for myself or people that are writing me or whatever the hell so What’s the one thing you want people to take away from the whole iron mind experience like if you You look you you are shining example of What you can do when you apply yourself You know finished the race you You know You had a great time you you know all the positivity that came out of it all the amazing people You know all the rich rolls and all these people you had on the series You know, it’s like and You know, what’s the saying? It says it on it’s the Iron Man logo. Anything is possible A sign a goal whether it’s to get healthy do this stop drinking do whatever and figure out how to get it done That’s why in my house, that’s that’s what I put up. I have a cork board And every one of my fucking goals are on that cork board that I’m trying to do and I map it out backwards from there
54:20 What do I got to do to get to here? It’s a screenplay writing is the same thing. You do a step-out line That’s what Robin keys tells you to do for each act You know, what’s the scene? What’s the value? How does the scene turn?
54:33 What are the beats put it up on the wall and you’re working toward you work backwards from the climax So that’s what life’s about you work backwards from the goal and figure out how to do it Who do I got to be around whose brain do I got to pick? You know, but anything is possible You know, I saw people out there on the course yesterday that were easily 80 90 pounds overweight man Oh, yeah, and fucking doing it to them. That’s like us running a double Iron Man Everything’s relative for that person that I saw many people Seriously overweight they’re trying they’re giving it. They’re all it’s like For them to do a 70.3 is like us doing two Iron Man’s back-to-back, you know And it’s like that’s why my motherfuckers laugh at people in the gym and all this shit I’m like, you’re a fucking douchebag. I caught him motherfuckers laughing at somebody I said that motherfuckers here and knows he’s gonna have to face assholes like you with your fucking mouth You’re a fucking dick. If I hear you say another fucking thing, you should just get the fuck out of here I went off it then they were laughing at some Some fucking heavy chick at crunch and I’m like you’re a fucking asshole that person’s here to better themselves You know how much willpower it took for her to step in this gym?
56:01 With all these fit people around her the mindset and Then slowly, but surely I saw her the weight coming off showing up every day doing the work. I talked about her in my book She took up boxing and Then when I went on tour and came back and I had been to that gym in a while She fucking had lost like 70 pounds and all this shit and I’m like, don’t make fun of people that are trying to better themselves You know So it’s you know, you uh, you meet a lot of people in this whole Thing, you know doing it. I’m sure and you do too, but you you know London Reels You know It’s a good thing Because it’s inspiring a lot of people. I don’t know how many even the you know, the iron mine thing It’s got what million views or whatever the hell you said people have seen it all over the world and people saw you finish and Now you are going to inspire somebody else. Maybe I’m gonna go do a fucking Olympic triathlon I I’m getting that people hit me up all the time. I just signed up for my first 10 K. I just signed up for my first sprint triathlon You got to encourage people why?
57:15 Everybody’s suffering in the material world. Why should you be the person that wants to make them fucking suffer more? That’s a horrible fucking way to live man If we all help each other and give a hand up to help somebody else Look at all the help you got to do this shit. Everybody was in your corner If everyone did that for everybody man, we could fix the ills of society in a fucking day, but that’s not The reality of the world. There’s people that just like to kick motherfuckers when they’re down They get their jollies off of people suffering I feel for people when I see them in pain and suffering it it fucks me up. I want to help them That’s why I do what I do is not to like be some narcissist that fucking You sit there talking about themselves non-stop. It’s like yo, I feel the pain that this person has I can relate So how are we gonna fix it? How do we fix what’s going on?
58:15 You know and to me the plant-based thing is just You know, I’m not supporting the death and destruction of billions of animals. It’s proven It’s destroying the planet. So you make conscious choices every single day. What am I gonna do? How am I gonna?
58:35 We’re stewards of this world and the the standard the brahminical standard is we leave a place better than we found it so how are you gonna do that and and to me it’s like I’m gonna Do that by getting all these other people to become inspired to be better human beings and say Save the planet save the animals do whatever whatever it is to educate people, you know And I think that’s what This whole iron mine thing that you know Started in London really because the wheels would turn and I’m like that motherfucker need, you know, if he’s to come back and You know and it’s stuck with you. You were like yo, I’m thinking about coming back. I’m like, all right You know, so Just look at the comments like It’s like, you know people loved it You know people absolutely loved it because it instills that in them a Belief that they too can change, you know what you went through what I went through both of us telling our stories It’s like different worlds, but it’s where we intersected. There’s no difference. It’s like you’re dealing with shit I’m dealing with shit every human’s dealing with shit. How you gonna deal with your shit? How you gonna get over your shit? Here’s how So it might not be an Iron Man. It might be another way that They try to improve themselves, but at least they saw you do it Do you feel better as a human?
1:00:14 Do you feel better with yourself after doing what you just did? Let me ask you that How do you feel today? I feel like a fucking champion I think there’s a lot of things, you know me going through those demons and talking about that stuff on publicly and For you know forgiving myself and people and and then going and doing something positive And being open with our paths to help other people with their past and then look what happens You get a whole host of amazingly positive energy people that want to help you on that journey forward. It’s like kinetic energy, man That’s why I say you could deal with the dark energy or you could deal with the energy of the light And I had my times with the dark energy So I know I got to stay in the light You know, I got to stay around those people and you know It’s like I’ve learned tons of lessons in my Mission to help others I’ve helped myself I’m being constantly reminded That’s why I just told Steve, you know cuz Steve’s publishing the book through equal vision and then we do an imprint on his label with evolution of a Cro-Magnon and now I’m doing it with this book, but the thing is I Was like, do you know what writing this book for two and a half years did for me?
1:01:32 It reminded me of the shit I need to be doing more of You know, I’m like writing all this shit and then I was noticing that when I talked about The author of the four agreements Because I went to see him speak and everything and then I’m like don’t take things personally and I’m writing about it then I’m like some shit pops up in New York and I’m like Don’t take things personally So it’s it’s lessons that we’re constantly being reminded of, you know as well. Yeah, I’m making this whole movie Just reminds me. Yeah, be more vigilant on all those lessons you have to be because The test is still gonna come it’s still gonna be something something’s gonna be put and that’s what being philosophical and that’s what having your devotions every day and working on yourself every day Prabhupāda said Mountains in the path will become pebbles that you could just kick away and That’s the truth Because the work that you do on yourself daily That’s you have to That’s why it’s a science. You have a formula you apply it you get a result. That’s science. So then Okay, I’m doing this thing when those tests come and my girl Erica is always like You know reminding me when I get in a certain situation back up take a deep breath. She knows I’m fucking fire I’m like You know, I still have that New York shit. You’re coming at me fucking Exactly doing the op the four disagreements, you know, and I wrote about that in a book I like I practice the four disagreements sometimes I take everything personal fucking
1:03:30 And she’s like back up. Take a deep breath. Think about it, you know Why is this person saying and doing this shit against you? like for what like Look look at their life. That’s a reflection of them not you know who we are and that’s what You know Don Miguel Says in the book. It’s their hell It only becomes your hell if you accept it and that book has helped me so much the four agreements I still pick it up and we’ll look through it and along with Bhagavad Gita and We were reading the Gita here every day while I was cooking the food here Steve was reading from Bhagavad Gita as it isn’t like Wow or me and my girl read the Shima Bhagavatam So it’s constantly constantly have to be reminding yourself because our nature is to forget become forgetful You know, why do you think people?
1:04:34 Will be like almost dying from it. Oh, I’m never gonna my brother fucking almost died I’m never fucking you know touching that shit again, and then six months later. What’s he doing? we were Constantly forgetful of the pain that we’ve caused ourselves because of how we dealt with situations and Even in these races, it’s like something’s always gonna come up. It’s always gonna be something You know, I was telling you that’s how you could get fucked up with a bike mechanical and it happened to me. So it’s like You know, it’s always gonna be a test in any aspect of life because that’s how we get pushed to advance ourselves You know and now I’m like, okay bring it What’s next bring it, you know, cuz then I know I got to work through it, you know You know six months ago. I remember you were traveling down to Scotland and You were trying to make it to the studio in time and I was like is this motherfucker gonna show up and like what’s gonna happen and you had the gig in Camden and I never thought any of this stuff would happen. Yeah and so that’s because If I was a lazy motherfucker and smoking weed and doing whatever I Might not have showed up at the studio that day But there’s a reason every single time somebody asked to interview me. I Go to the ends of the earth to try to make it happen. Whether it’s a little fanzine a TV show your show newspaper, whatever And it’s not because I sit there and like to talk about myself. It’s not for that reason. It’s because
1:06:26 Maybe there’s somebody out there that that message is gonna get through to You know That’s what I said an evolution of a Cro-Magnon if this path works for me as fucked up as I’ve been in this Lifetime it could work for anybody I’m a prime example. I was the worst I Had good qualities for some reason that from given to me, you know inherited from my mother I believe I Didn’t get it from him my dad But like That’s why I say if it could fix me it could work for anybody So that’s why I don’t blow shit off somebody out There’s like might read a punk rock fanzine that has the circulation of fucking a thousand and it’s that one person that that’s gonna touch what’s the value of of helping one person save their life and Come to a place of higher consciousness and Repair all the pain that they have what’s the price you put on that?
1:07:37 Mm-hmm, so why wouldn’t I inconvenience myself a little bit and fucking Not take the nap at the hotel and go To your fucking show and then have great conversations and then that See everything you do in this world. It’s like It leads to something else So look what that led to that initial Conversation and time we had in the studio led to all this other positive stuff and then it’s it’s the exact opposite too, you know Do you know how many people I know that ended up in bad shit? They were fucking should have never went to that fucking bar that night I should have never fucking done the drugs with that motherfucker and then like it’s always I Try to make choices now that I’m not gonna regret
1:08:33 John it’s been an epic absolute Hugely grateful. Let me get up 56 year old absolute Just fucking honor and pleasure Hugely grateful man for everything bring it and I’m gonna come to your house and give your wife a night off from cooking next time I’m in London I’m gonna come cook at your house and throw it out on some Corn maze shit. Yeah. Yeah, you got my word on that I love that my girl’s never been to London and she’s a photographer so she wants to go so at some point We’re gonna come over. All right. Yeah. Yeah, what’s next?
1:09:13 What’s next I got tour coming up I’m in Europe in June got the new book coming out Got Iron Man in November, you know, maybe some new music. We’ll see You know, all right, you keep your shit going you again. I love your shirt finish them motherfucker.
