HELP WANTED: WQ assistant trainee

We need more than social media fame, Ji-Ji.

Help wanted. Recently, we were asked to come speak at a Buddhist temple in North Hollywood for Vesak (Buddhist Xmas) and did so. We were not told other speakers were speaking -- monks and philosophers.

Our Dharma editor so wowed the crowd and abbot with a powerful talk on the Three (most important) Things to understand in Buddhism that we were asked to return again a week later for the Friday night meditation group.

• A week in the life, THIS WEEK:

1. Vesak at Dhammakaya Garden Monastery, Sunday night
2. Prepping for DisclosureFest.org, Monday night
3. Visiting Hsi Lai Temple for lunch, Tuesday afternoon
4. Visit with abbot, Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara, Wednesday afternoon
5. Zen Meditation sitting, Thursday night, Friends Meeting House, Pasadena
6. Three Things (Dharma Talk), Friday night, Buddhist meditation center, North Hollywood
7. Prom (dance), Saturday night, Morongo Casino, road to Joshua Tree
8. Vegan potluck party and BBQ, Pasadena, Sunday afternoon

What is Zen practice other than the ordinary?

It became clear that Wisdom Quarterly and the Dharma Buddhist Meditation needs help, a personal assistant eager to learn about Buddhism, meditation, yoga, spirituality, vegetarian/vegan health, Meetup.com, and helping organize for-profit events. We will train.

These qualifications are helpful:

• knowledge of social media
• proficiency in cellphone use
• living in Los Angeles or Orange County
• interest in meditation practice
• exercise of some sort (yoga, breathwork etc.)
• interest or knowledge of the various Buddhisms
• love and appreciation of some kind of music
• enthusiastic about beach, prom, helping with live events
• Appropriate for shy introverts, situational ambiverts, and even funny extroverts

Introduce yourself and indicate your interest at Dharma Buddhist Meditation (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) by sending a Meetup message to Ananda (using the Meetup Messaging System) or privately in the Comments Section below

Help wanted creating Ekaterina Sky's mural

Fellow Los Angeles Fire victims, navigating through Altadena and seeing murals on some of the remaining walls is encouraging. From the ashes of our communities, people are offering art as visual support.

Wisdom Quarterly is inviting artist Ekaterina Sky, who once had a studio in Lincoln Heights, to form a group (art collective) to adorn another wall.

She envisions people affected by the fire coming together to set intentions for Los Angeles and the planet and create a mural.

This is to express loss and instill a sense of wonder and hope, bringing community together to envision a new world.

• DETAILS: Prayer for the Earth: A Mural for Healing, Unity, and Environmental Renewal, Altadena, Los Angeles (canva.com)

The Plant Based Treaty | Eat Plants, Plant Trees

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If interested in participating (or know of an available wall), please contact Ekaterina and us at:

• Email: artist@ekaterina-sky.com
• Instagram: ekaterina.sky.art
• Website: ekaterina-sky.com

Altadena Mural Zoom Logistics Meeting

UK-based street artist creates animated GIFs using street graffiti (mentalfloss.com)

• When: Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 5:00–6:00 pm (PDT)
• Where: us06web.zoom.us/j/4827388921?pwd=VFNETGtuejlzMDZUQXU4VWVsZHArZz09

• Painting may begin on July 18, 2025, depending on this Zoom.

For this interactive art project and installation, we are partnering with Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots, The Plant Based Treaty | Eat Plants, Plant Trees; PasadenaWeekly.com; Oh Happy Days Vegan Cafe; and others.

• RSVP and message Ekaterina and Seven to participate:
• (Disclosure Project) Attention artists, HELP WANTED creating mural in Altadena with Ekaterina Sky, Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 11:11 AM | Meetup
• (PasaDharma) Attention artists, HELP WANTED creating mural in Altadena with Ekaterina Sky, Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 11:11 AM | Meetup
• (Nature Center) Attention artists, HELP WANTED creating mural in Altadena with Ekaterina Sky, Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 11:11 AM | Meetup

Amazing art of Alex Grey; Ekaterina Sky (ekaterina-sky.com), canva.com, Voyage LA Magazine (photos, 10/21/24), text by JP, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Meetup), Wisdom Quarterly

The most punk rock girl in the world

HELP WANTED: Apply to be the new DG

Long ago there used to be a writer calling herself "Dukkha Girl." She disappeared, came back, then faded away again. We loved her. Where is she today? One can only imagine a fate of suburban motherhood for her, or a rural life with cats, but maybe, just maybe, she became a nun, forsaking the lower life of a householder for the exalted life of one striving for the ultimate goal. Who knows?

Punk Rock Bowling isn't as good as the museum

We're sure she'll eventually be in touch and tell us. In the meantime, there's an attention [solicitor] we can imagine in the role, now that she's been excluded, branded a total "poser," and banned. It's gotten so bad, she lost her business.

Punk Rock Dukkha Girl?

Oh, beloved vegan yogini with such a penchant for makeup and marriage, what will become of her? She was at Cali Vibes scrouging up influencer-sponsorships to become the next MrsBeast, getting up early for yoga, and eating lots of Cena Vegan and other treats. Now that she brought her spikey hair down, no one recognizes or pays much attention to her. And that has to be galling because, bowling or not, is she not the MOST punk rock girl in the world...was? Oh, Erin, will you never learn? For all anyone knows, she could be a girl genius like this candid camera clip.

The Carbonaro Effect: Girl Genius Revealed: How Erin was discovered?

Happy? Miserable? Opinionated? Apply to be the new Dukkha Girl

Help wanted. Inquire within (in the Comments)

No one imagines Erin could be a reliable correspondent for the despondent, a reporter of all that is dukkha in life. But someone can. Why not you? Are you drawn to Daria, to snarky comments mumbled under your breath, wishing to get your message to millions. Yes, Wisdom Quarterly has millions of views. Look it up.

There are so many voices that need to be heard.

Great writing skills not a prerequisite, nor is knowledge of philosophy or religion, just opinions. Remember that episode of Family Guy when Peter got a job at the local news station for a weekly segment "What Really Grinds My Gears"? Like that. Do that. Opine. We'll edit and punch it up, make it relevant to the true extent of dukkha.

QUALIFICATIONS: Opinionated, snarky, willful, mad. Gender: open. Race: open. Religion if any: open. Writing skill level: average. Health: have a pulse. Psych: sass. Location: US or expat in Asia. Meditation practice: preferred. Musical taste: alt. Political leanings: open. Sense of humor: a must. Favorite color: should be purple. How to apply: Send writing sample.

• Deep Dukkha - Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

Maybe it's always just been about fashion

What does punk rock have to do with Buddhism?

Get It Away: Straight Edge Hardcore Punk: A Short Film About Boston's SS Decontrol (Pt. 1)

What is higher than faith? Knowing-and-seeing

In the Kalama or Kesamutti Sutta, we find the Buddha explaining to the Kalama people NOT to believe, not to trust in tradition or texts, but to question, to go against the stream of the world, inviting them to come see for themselves. This path, the Dharma of Awakening, invites investigation. It is for the wise, those wishing to see for themselves without relying on anyone else to say how reality is or is not. The Buddha, the Awakened One, pointed out the path of knowing-and-seeing for oneself. All of this is very much in line with punk rock, the original impetus for a movement that went against all the BS and the music industry's profit-motive. It was rugged, real, and about personal experience and self-realization, not "going along to get along," not blind faith, not complicity with a religion. Buddhism in many ways is not a religion. It has become one, it gets treated as one, but that is not what the Buddha was talking about. There is a path-of-practice that leads to freedom, liberation, an end to all rebirth and suffering. Most people will not see it, not let go, not give up the lesser good in hand for a higher good yet to be attained. What did the Buddha say? Going Along with the Stream

• Get It Away: A Short Film About SS Decontrol (Part 2)
• Coolea, Punk Has a Poser Problem, 10/21/24; Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy, "What Really Grinds My Gears"; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Don't buy love: Rent-a-Grandma 👵

(Solace Fox) Nothing changes until we do this. (Just do this)

Granny, can you get us some chocolate?

Motherhood is strange. It leads to motherhood. Every mother has a mother, who for the next generation is called the grandmother. But not every individual has the luck, karma, or good fortune to have a Grandma to rely on. Thems is the breaks.

"Always Trust Your Grandma" childcare, nannies, and pet care to the rescue. Welcome to Rent A Grandma (RAG), which provides vital, healthy, safe "care providers." RAG specializes in placing caring women, possessing deep life experience with families as nannies, babysitters, and in-home care providers, as well as chefs, cooks, and highly experienced domestic staff.

Learn more about RAG's services or contact the with any questions or comments. Check out Rent A Grandma in the App Store. Browse grandmas and create an account from an iPhone or iPad.

Remember, these Grandmas offer excellent care as: babysitters, nannies, baby caregivers, after school care, special needs care, housekeepers, senior care/companions, personal assistants, pet care/sitting, cooks, tutors [but not call gals, dates, or Vegas ranch workers, so don't ask, or ask very gingerly because it's not legal outside of Nevada]. Subscribe to mailing list: rentagrandma.com

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire (SoCal)

As the God punishes the East Coast, the Goddess blesses the indulgent West Coast (RenFair)

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Work at RenFair SoCal. Help wanted.

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire has arrived in the San Gabriel Valley at the Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area in Irwindale, where the 134 and 605 Freeways cross (near the big brewery).

The Renaissance Faire opened last weekend for its Southern California run. This lakeside area (Santa Fe Dam reservoir) is a wonderful place to spend a few hours, with a lot of great opportunities to people watch, says Robyn.

Thanks to an abundance of actors and stages, visitors really do feel like they have been transformed back to the Renaissance ["Rebirth"] time period. Small children really have fun, as there is a plethora of things for them to do amidst the adult debauchery. There are plenty of options for food and drink. But mainly it's just cosplay for busty adults in those special "cleavage platter" brassieres and the people who love them (RenFair.com).

How a chicken can fly: path to enlightenment

Gary Larson (art); Dhr. Seven (poem), Ashley Wells, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

A flood? Why didn't you fly? - I lost the balloon.

"Oh, how sad, Chicken Bob, to see you try.

They call you Fryer, but you're meant to fly."

He muttered, I thought, asked, "Hey, what the cluck?"

I sat and I pondered: What could be up?

My eyes lifted as thought-balloon drifted.

Wide pupils shifted, reading, it's scripted:

How bright the idea that balloon brought!

Better the bulb than the darkness of thought.

Now what if he rows as I provide lift?

I get him to float, won't he flap his wings?

Now "what if" is no way to live a life.

For what if I ask, and he but denies?

So sinched at the waist, a string through his strut,

Seatbelt fitted in haste, he levitates up!

The helium balloon wafted him high.

I said, "Daft bird, see, it's better to try!"

Analysis

What is at the very heart of wisdom?

-So, Seven, you're saying, through symbolism and Gary Larson's comic strip, that we should figure out a novel solution and try it?

Poetry is not symbolic. I'm just telling a story about a scared bird, Chicken Bob, who thought he couldn't. Then with a little help he could. It's like when I try to meditate, I can't. But with a little help, who knows. Once my teacher applied peppermint essential oil to my upper lip to keep my attention at the breath as it goes in and out (anapanasati bhavana). It worked. It was subtle, but peppermint is brightening and kept me awake and vigorous, yet not too excited as green tea might do. I would never have thought of that. "Plant helpers" can go a long way to bring us to the verge of samadhi and insight. But without a deva to point that out, it's hard for a fledging sitter or an old bird set in his ways to make progress.

O, hail, Kwan Yin, Goddess of Compassion!

-Ingenius! So you're saying everyone should try peppermint to advance their sitting practice.

I'm saying no such thing. I'm just telling a story about a scared bird, Chicken Bob, who thought he couldn't.

-Is he "Chicken Little," symbolically?

No, he's Chicken Bob.

-Ah, and is "flying" meditation?

No, meditation is meditation, generally of two kinds, initial calming and subsequently systematic practice with a purified mind to know-and-see.

-Know-and-see what?

Ultimate materiality (kalapas) and mentality (cittas).

-What does that mean?

There are particles of perception, and discreet mind-moments that form the stream of consciousness we take to be one thing when it's really part of an impersonal PROCESS going on. We take this process to be a "self," and we cling to it.

-Isn't it a "self"?

Heart of Perfect Wisdom (Prajna Paramita)

No, it's not-self. The Heart Sutra makes this clear: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are the Five Aggregates or "Heaps" clung to as self. But they are not self.

• Isn't it a self that clings to self? 
• -No, a "self" doesn't cling; ultimately speaking, form clings to form, feeling to feeling, perception to perception, mental formations to mental formations, and consciousness clings to consciousness. The whole entanglement is ignorance, avidya, and snapping out of it to wisdom, knowing-and-seeing, and right view is "awakening" or bodhi).

-What ARE they then?

They are impermanent, disappointing, impersonal (empty) phenomena arising and passing away. When we see that directly, we can let go.

-If we let go, is that flying?

Letting go is freedom. Enlightenment is possible in this very life, right here right now, because there's only now, right?

-The past is not real? The future is not real?

One is a memory, one is a dream, and all that's real is right now. This present moment is real and it's all that's ever been real. Forget the rest. Be at your best RIGHT NOW.

-Is that what Ram Dass (Harvard's Dr. Richard Alpert) was saying when he famously said, "Be here now"?

I don't know. But it's good advice. Be. Here. NOW.

-Isn't that Eckhart Tolle's advice?

I think it might be Byron Katie's advice. Do The Work, asking the Four Questions. That'll bring you into the present moment, that is this NOW.

-Then who needs help?

Sometimes we need help. People weren't just spontaneously awakening until the Buddha arose and pointed the Way, revealed the Path, gave step-by-step instructions to make an end of all suffering right now.

-Those instructions still exist?

Yes, they do. Each teacher might put a spin on them unique to each individual's capacity and unique experience, but the fundamentals are right there in the ancient texts.

-Which texts?

The Pali canon is pretty reliable. Pa Auk Sayadaw has renewed their vitality and cleared the cobwebs and so has awakened students like Beth Upton, Ven. Dhammadipa, Sayalay Susila, Sayalay Dipankara, Tina Rasmussen, Stephen Snyder, and my own erstwhile teacher. Even Ayya Khema and her student Leigh Brasington, with the help of a Sri Lankan meditating monk, made it back to the original right-stillness (samma-samadhi) practices for calm. Vipassana is a little more involved.

-But the Heart Sutra is in Sanskrit not Pali!

It is, and isn't it amazing that it is the mostly widely read "discourse" in Mahayana Buddhism, yet no one gets what it's about?

-What's it about?

Ven. Sariputra, foremost in wisdom

"Emptiness" (shunyata). The mark of things is that they are all impersonal. All composite "things" (dharmas) are anatta, "not self." The "perfection of wisdom" is the direct realization that all things are impersonal -- particularly those five things clung to as a "self": form (body) [arrangements of the Four Elements or characteristics of materiality]; feeling (sensation), perception (all we perceive), mental formations (all the other psychological stuff), and the hat trick consciousness (awareness) [the four characteristics of mentality].

-And that made you think up a bird poem?!

No, there's no symbolism. I'm just telling a story about a scared bird, Chicken Bob, who thought he couldn't.

Work in the US Forest Service? Help wanted

My life's mission is to save the forest.

The forests need protecting. It's not clear that the bureaucracy that is the USDA does that. But it might. In college at Berkeley, my roommate was majoring in forestry to become a forest ranger. Rather than doing anything interesting, he said the work was doing studies to prove polluters were reducing fish populations and gathering data to make a case even as they continued doing it. He was disheartened. It might be better to join the Sierra Club or an organization that isn't co-opted by business interests. Remember, if you think the System is working, you must be working for the System.

• 91001 LA County Job Listings | JobHat
• sierraclub.org

What "problem" is Apple solving with VR?

Moon, June 6, 2023; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How Apple's Vision Pro (virtual reality goggles) will change society forever

(Moon) Apple’s Vision Pro headset combines virtual reality, augmented reality and real reality for the price of $3,500. It's apple's first major new product in a decade and it has changed society forever. Here's why. The economy and business of VR is changing and needs to be talked about.

• 00:00 - Vision Pro
• 01:45 - What problem is this solving?
• 05:25- Development
• 09:58 - Invest in art - Masterworks
• 11:10 - Where things went wrong
• 15:50 - The ugly future

Free weekly essays written by Moon (mailchi.mp/3ded12821743/moon). Support. All money goes straight back into the channel: ► Become a Patron: patreon.com/MoonReal ► twitter.com/MoonRealYT. Skip the waitlist and invest in blue-chip art for the very first time by signing up for Masterworks: masterworks.art/moon. Purchase shares in great masterpieces from artists like Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol, and others. See important Masterworks disclosures: masterworks.com/cd.

Zen story: What if I don't get all I want?

This is what happens when we only WANT/CRAVE in life: a Zen story

(Dare to do. Motivation) June 5, 2023. This is a beautiful short story by the Zen owl Nisshitsu. What if we become like [the Western character spoken of by Nathaniel Hawthorne in] Young Goodman Brown?

Listen to your heart. Be happy. Persist [don't give up]. Have faith/confidence [always believe]! Leave a like and a comment and tell the creator what you think. Stay blessed.

• The Power of the Universe Playlist
• Samurai Stories Playlist: • Ryokan - Heaven O...
• Buddha Stories Playlist: • The Story of Ananda...
• The Tao Wisdom Playlist: • This Old Man's Ad...
• Meditations and Affirmations Playlist: • 432 Hz Tesla Guide...
• Motivational Quotes Playlist: • 45 Life Lessons W...
• e-Book: amazon, amazon.in
• Support: paypal.me/daretodomotivation

Hello, everybody. I write (script) and speak (narrate) most of the speeches myself. So if you need material or want to collaborate, feel free to contact me: kori.sarian@hotmail.com

• Speaker: Dare to do.MOTIVATION @daretodomotivation
• Music Search: artlist, videoblocks

FAIR-USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, commenting, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

1) This video has no negative impact on the original works. (It could actually be positive for them).

2) This video is also for teaching purposes.

3) It is not transformative in nature.

4) I only used bits and pieces of videos to get the point across where necessary.

DARE to do. MOTIVATION does not own the rights to these video clips. They have, in accordance with fair use, been repurposed with the intent of educating and inspiring others. However, if any content owners would like their images removed, please contact: kori.sarian@hotmail.com

The Freedom to Love: 3 Kinds of Suffering

Pema Chodron, T. Simon, Sounds True, 8/5/22; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Are you sure you want marriage material.

There's the old joke, true in its own way, that with every marriage there are three rings. Three? Yes. There's the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffe-ring. Similarly, beloved American teacher and Buddhist nun Pema Chodron distinguishes three kinds of dukkha.

Three Kinds of Suffering with American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön

(Sounds True) With The Freedom to Love, Pema Chödrön invites us to start wherever we are — with any challenges, frustrations, or fears we may be facing — and use them as the launching pad to awaken the natural and boundless capacity of our heart.

Do we want to love and connect with others more deeply but need a little help? Struggling with matters of the heart? This is the place to bring them through six sessions of intensive learning and practice, this beloved and gifted teacher guides us through Buddhism’s traditional awakened heart training...with a difference.

She might have named this course “Working with the Hard Stuff” — because here she shows us how to use the principles of The Four Immeasurables in our most challenging situations, relationships, and emotional states. Check out the online course, The Freedom To Love: bit.ly/3QeGspl. Subscribe to Sounds True with Tami Simon for more: bit.ly/2EAugMf.

Abraham Hicks 2022: The Best Thing is Coming

Abraham Hicks 2022 | The Best Thing is Coming for You | Expect it Soon 🙏| Animated Abraham

(Manifest the Divine) Sept. 9, 2022. What is the truth about our inner being? Repetition is one of the keys. What we believe is what is true for us.

👉 The Manifest the Divine team is the sole licensee of the commercial rights of the video footage. These rights are not further transferable. Team Manifest the Divine owns the rights to it.  👉 All Abraham-Hicks audio materials is copyrighted by Esther Hicks and MTD are sharing these following the use of copyrighted material guidelines: youtube.com/user/AbrahamHicks... Recordings and other Abraham Hicks material can be purchased from their website. 👉 abraham-hicks.com or call (830) 755-2299. 🔻 FREEBIES ▶️ The Vortex amzn.to/2TmxkEw ▶️ The Astonishing Power of Emotions: amzn.to/32N7dtn ✅ The two best courses on the entire planet to reprogram the subconscious mind for making millions ✅ Money back guarantee: Must give them a try but if you feel they are not working for you, simply get your money back. Questions asked. 👉The Genie Script Works: digistore24.com... 👉 Overnight Millionaire System: The 7 Mind Hacks used by the 1 percent (must give it try) digistore24.com... For more inspirational and videos on the Law of Attraction, subscribe to channel. (It's free). Subscribe. ✅Abraham Hicks Playlist: youtube.com... 👉 JOY JOY JOY Song Cover | Dedicated to Esther/Abraham Hicks | 2022 Version of "I Can Do it" 👉 Softest Air Conditioner Meditation inspired by Abraham Hicks youtu.be 👉Powerful Breathing Meditation with original breath sounds youtu.be 👉 Morning Meditation for a Great Day Guaranteed

Please consider supporting channel 💖 PayPal: paypal.me/AshishRaturi. Esther and Jerry have generously allowed fans of the Teachings of Abraham to copy and post short audio excerpts from their copyrighted Abraham material on YouTube, and a search of YouTube will reveal thousands of recordings on countless topics which may be accessed for free. Jerry and Esther only require that others follow their USE OF COPYRIGHT GUIDELINES. ✅Animation - Manifest the Divine ✅Intro created by Manifest the Divine #AbrahamHicks #AbrahamHicksNew #LawofAttraction #AbrahamNow #AbrahamHicksLatest

Spiritual manifesting w/ Jeffrey Allen (video)

Jeffrey Allen teaches body awareness as yoga in Mikonos, Greece (Mindvalley).

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I don't know what I'm doing (groupon.com).

What will one learn? We’ll learn to use energy to transform any aspect of our life. Learn the importance of living, not just in the physical world but also in the spiritual world. Learn to function in duality to transform every aspect of this life. Get guided through FOUR powerful energy tools, FOUR of Jeffrey Allen’s most effective energy healing techniques… That’ll help attract more abundance, more love, more good health, and more happiness to this life. (Apply them in any aspect of life and see instant results). Learn how to get answers from intuition. Learn an incredibly simple “intuition exercise” to use to get answers to any question. — Even beginners can use this simple technique to feel “more trusted and confirmed” and…enjoy a more perfect connection to source. Learn how to clear the #1 energy block in just 7 minutes. This simple 7-minute energy technique is an excellent way to experience the power of Energy. It will clear our #1 block and we’ll feel different right away. (Watch out for amazing synchronicities right after doing this). Uncover the next best step in life. Pick any aspect of life that feels stuck right now — business, love, career, health, spirituality, or even parenting. And sit back to watch Jeffrey Allen uncover the next best step through a unique Energy technique, and much More

• Boost Your Spiritual Energy - Free Masterclass | Mindvalley
• Little known side effects of smoking marijuana (cannabis)
• VIDEO: Hey, stud, learn to flirt for a fee (theflirtmethod.com)

Founder of Mindvalley Vishen

HOST: Vishen is the founder of the world’s largest personal growth company, Mindvalley. He’s the author of the NY Times bestselling book The Buddha & the Badass and is regarded as one of the foremost experts in the field of human development. He and his team of 250 education innovators at Mindvalley have created many of the world’s foremost money-making brands, apps, tools, and events in the field of human development including Mindvalley University, Omvana, A-Fest, Soulvana, and more. As a host, Vishen uses his experience in learning design to draw out the best ideas and wisdom from each trainer.