Noble Warrior with CK Lin

My guest is Lee Merschon. He is the founder of Camp Epic, a theme camp at Burning Man. Born in Israel in 1981, our guest had a tumultuous childhood, moving between countries and struggling with lying and theft. However, after realizing that the root of his problems was within himself, he began to make changes and eventually graduated with a degree in psychology from UC Davis. He discovered magic and experienced a major injury, but persevered and even went on a year-long journey through Central and South America, Europe, and Israel. He eventually met his wife in Berlin and started a business in Los Angeles, where he also discovered Burning Man and started a camp focused on hosting fluid projects and fostering creativity and connection. Our guest has faced many challenges and come out on the other side, making him a unique and inspiring individual.We talked about(0:22) The relationship between theme camp organizers(4:16) The line between snarky and mean at Burning Man(5:47) Why the founder of Camp Epic has returned for 10 years(15:29) The relationship between statistics and miracles(32:38)(47:17) Why every camp at Burning Man is a plug-and-play camp(39:51) The evolution of the founder's leadership over the past 10 years(53:19) How the problem of plug-and-play was solved at Camp Epic(76:05) How Camp Epic governs and makes decisions(82:19) How 'success' is measured as a camp(83:54) Lessons for aspirational camp organizers(90:56) Three ways Burning Man has affected the founder's life outside of the event(100:35) The ripple effects seen from Camp Epic(102:52) One idea to share with the audience

My guest is Samantha Coker, an entrepreneur, writer, and humanitarian. She was the project manager for Red Lightning, a theme camp at Burning Man, for 5 years, and is also the co-founder and CEO of Rich Nuts, a rapidly growing sprouted gourmet nut company that she hopes to expand internationally to bring healthy food and education to a wider audience. With a career that exists at the intersection of art, commerce, and social change, Samantha has a unique ability to balance the creative and pragmatic. She has a passion for diversity and has spent time living abroad, immersing herself in different cultures.We talked about+(6:05) Introduction to intentional or conscious camps+(9:34) Evolution of Red Lightning's intentions+(17:03) Definition and discussion of culture appropriation+(21:48) Finding the right scope or ambition for Red Lightning+(26:01) Decision-making processes in running Red Lightning+(31:48) Key lessons learned from running Red Lightning+(39:46) Identifying intrinsic motivators in people+(44:23) Creative ways to fund theme camps+(52:29) Why plug-and-play robs people of their burning man experience?+(56:37) Tips for maintaining healthy romantic relationships at Burning Man

My next guest is Christopher Krywulak. He is the founder of Playalchemist, a Burning Man theme camp. Christopher is no stranger to pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box. He started his first company in Saskatchewan at the young age of 18, with a mission to conduct business more humanely and create a self-managing environment that fosters creativity and personal growth. Since then, he has built several successful software businesses, including iQmetrix, Cova, Ready, and Shiftlab. Christopher is a true trailblazer and we can't wait to hear his unique perspective on entrepreneurship and personal growth.We talked about:(2:16) The meaning of synchronicity(3:43) The prevalence of synchronicity at Burning Man(7:23) Strategies for avoiding a life of quiet desperation(23:08) The appeal of learning how to lucid dream(28:01) Christopher's personal experiment with synchronicity(33:31) Balancing surrender and intention-setting(40:50) The interplay of order and chaos(43:00) Christopher's purpose in life(53:46) The importance of following inspiration from the higher realm(57:28) Disentangling the mind and spirit(57:28) The journey of bringing the concept of Camp Playalchemist to fruition(95:04) The transformative power of parties(98:24) Letting go of attachment to outcomes(108:47) Striking a balance between challenge and comfort in a camp setting(112:18) Handling camp members who don't adhere to guidelines(116:06) Christopher's perspective on transformation(120:56) Techniques for accelerating the transformation process(126:01) Ways to get into flow(139:44) Different frameworks for human development(144:15) The underlying issue in our society

My next guest is Syd Gris. He is one of the longest-running fun creators in the Bay Area music and underground arts scene, Syd is known as a Renaissance man of the West Coast burner scene, and with good reason. Not only is he the co-founder (in 2003) of the legendary Opulent Temple collective (best known for their premiere sound stage at Burning Man), he is also the founder of Opel Productions, (2002) which has been consistently throwing club events and parties with purpose in San Francisco for 20 years.  He also is a child psychologist with a Doctorate in transpersonal psychology, an outspoken promoter on social issues.We talked about:(0:48) What is transformation?(02:42) What is our eternal nature? How do we connect to it(05:30) What did you learn from interviewing Jack Kornfield and Ram Dass?(22:31) How do the stories we tell ourselves impact our life?(24:10) How do you infuse your philosophy into Opulent Temple experiences?(30:45) What do you hope to accomplish in sharing the various aspect of your own consciousness?(34:49) How do you find the line between lecturing at others and curing the space?(38:16) What do you say to the naysayers?(42:04) What does it take to bring Opulent Temple to the playa?(53:58) What is a notable low moment for Opulent Temple(56:25) What are the top lessons from running Opulent Temple?(58:32) How do you learn to surrender?(61:23) What'd you say to the younger version of yourself 20 years ago?(67:08) What do you do to ensure that people bring the right energy to build?(71:18) What's one thing you wished you had known(76:31) After 20 years, what are you excited about?(81:15) The 4 recipes for a quiet desperate life(82:11) Burning Man is a great opportunity to deepen your bondsLinks:Spin article about Syd's role in sound at BM - https://www.spin.com/2015/09/syd-gris-burning-man-interview/Interview about sound camp history and related topics on Burn.life - https://www.burn.life/blog/interview-with-syd-grisCopy of a 2009 article that appeared in DJ Mag, an international publication on dance music and its culture, written by the Editor in Chief at the time- https://www.opulenttemple.org/dj-mag-feature-on-opulent-temple/

My next guest is Steve Hermosillo. He leads a yearly pilgrimage of 60 revelers to Burning Man where their theme camp, I'm OK, You're OK Corral, erects a saloon that slings drinks, live music, guest DJs, and a bevy of shenanigans. It's their collective gift to the community and 2022's event marked the camp's 19th year bringing their camp to Black Rock City.We talked about:(2:29) (5:33) How do you describe Burning Man to others?(16:32) What were some transformations you witnessed?(18:52) What is the Man?(25:19) How to design a camp that lasts?(29:02) What's great real estate placement in Burning Man?(32:32) Tell us the importance of cultivating relationships with your neighboring camps(38:41) Tell us about your invitation process(50:15) What rules do you have to ensure fairness in the camp?(55:37) Why did you pick 60 as the optimal size for your camp?(61:21) How do you give people the right jobs so they can grow and succeed?

My next guest is Salman Hatta. He is a transformational artist and coach who has found his way to personal freedom through a variety of spiritually awakening experiences. After spending nearly 15 years in high powered banking and tech positions with an Ivy League MBA, he discovered that following his own heart led to more fulfillment than following achievement-based societal and familial expectations that were actually self-limiting.He sees himself as a bridge between the mainstream and the spiritual. He weaves in between worlds with ease and grace. His joy comes from helping those who are deeply connected with their minds connect more with their hearts, as that is how he believes the world best gets to heal.

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D. is the Director of Yoga Research for the Yoga Alliance and the Kundalini Research Institute,Research Affiliate at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.He has conducted research on yoga and yoga therapy since 2001 and has been a practitioner/instructor of Kundalini Yoga since 1973. His research has evaluated yoga for insomnia, chronic stress, and anxiety-related disorders, and in workplace and public school settings. He works with the International Association of Yoga Therapists promoting yoga research as scientific director for the annual Symposium on Yoga Research and as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy. He is medical editor of the Harvard Medical School Special Report Introduction to Yoga, and chief editor of the medical textbook The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care.We talked about:(0:59) What trends happened in yoga in the last 50 years?(4:21) The barriers for yoga to enter the mainstream(6:38) Why do people enter yoga and why do people stay with yoga?(9:38) Why people don't stay with their yoga practice?(11:59) How did you stick with your discipline in the last 50 years?(14:23) The limitations of modern medicine(18:56) What's spirituality to you? How do you distinguish science and spirituality?(25:11) How do you study mystical experiences?(29:46) Have you seen any promising funding mechanisms to fund the spiritual aspects of yoa?(33:33) How has being media savvy helped you with your research?(40:49) How did you end up choosing your field of research?(45:12) If you could design any experiments, how would you study altered states of consciousness through yoga?(50:23) Is there a parallel between research about hallucinogens and research about yoga?(52:29) Why is multi-discipline practice like yoga more beneficial than other single-discipline practices(58:57) How do you find the yoga teacher, environment, and philosophy that best suits you?(62:57) Why yoga is the better mind-body practice than others?

Leon VanderPol is an internationally-recognized leader, spirit-based teacher, and author in the field of transformational coaching and transformative living. He is the Founder of the Center for Transformational Coaching and his book, A Shift in Being: The Art and Practices of Deep Transformational Coaching, is selling in multiple languages, bringing his work to new audiences daily. Leon has spent over two decades immersed in the dynamics of personal and inter-personal change. At the core of Leon’s teaching lies the transformation of human consciousness—what happens when we consistently begin to experience ourselves beyond our ego-based state of consciousness, as our essential Self and soul. Today he works with people from around the world to explore the boundaries of their existence, grow into new paradigms of personal experience, and tap into their most authentic Self. Link: To find out more, visit him at www.centerfortransformationalcoaching.comWe talked about:(4:13) What is transformational work?(10:10) How does impatience serve you?(14:06) What's the difference between transactional coaching, developmental coaching, and transformational coaching?(25:09) What happens when you receive transformational coaching?(30:38) The one question you need to answer when you receive coaching(37:52) What's the difference between a transformational coach and a therapist?(48:12) How do you cultivate trust with your path?(52:55) How to determine your optimal rhythm?(72:27) How to scale a coaching business with trust?(88:25) What matters in an enrollment conversation?(93:00) Why he listens to his inner guru today?(96:29) How do you rise above the noise in social media?

My next guest is Stephen Cope. He is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life. His most recent work, The Dharma In Difficult Times, is the sequel to best-seller The Great Work of Your Life.For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In addition to his role as Scholar-in-Residence, Stephen is the founder and former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—one of the world’s most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation, with a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, University of Pennsylvania, and many more.We talked about:(1:05) What is dharma, one's true calling?(4:21) What do you say to those who are anxious for not having their purpose?(7:21) Thoreau, dharma, and the hunter metaphor(8:05) What are dharma assignments(9:55) What are 'fallow' periods, the times when you are actively searching(13:12) The leap of faith vs. the stepping off the curb(16:27) Surface level of the mind and the deep part of the mind(18:32) What is fluid intelligence? (22:16) How do you differentiate between surface mind and deep mind?(29:14) Three kinds of karma - drawn on water, on the sand, and ethed on the stones.(37:50) Duality and nonduality

My next guest is Rajesh Setty. He is often referred to as Silicon Valley's secret "spark plug" for startups, scale-ups (and shake-ups)Being a Polymath, Rajesh is constantly in the middle of running experiments across a variety of seemingly unrelated areas of interest, but with the common goal of how to create a better world through the projects, he incubates as one of the founders or participates in some meaningful capacity to help the founders.Together, the startups that Rajesh has co-founded are valued at $150+ million, and the ones where he serves as a mentor are valued at $700+ million. Finally, he has also taught 2000+ entrepreneurs as part of Founder Institute & beyond.His latest startups are Audvisor and MentorCloud.His latest books are "Six Foot World" and "Smart, but Stuck."His latest courses are "The Right Hustle" and "Flourish by Design."We talked about(01:22) Rajesh's fearlessness of publishing(11:53) Attach yourself to effort and detach yourself from results(18:45) Relationship building and social media(26:38) How Seinfeld provided him with infinite motivation to create(30:26) Mental health is about stories we tell ourselves about ourselves(33:18) Value creation is about giving meaningful gifts at scale with low incremental costs(38:11) 3 kinds of value creation: Delta T, Delta B, and Delta E(61:26) How a bicycle metaphor illustrates value creation for organizations(65:16) How to stay calm even amidst triggering events(69:22) How to manufacture goodness from misfortunes(78:04) The art of making good asks(78:11) The 3 time scale of relationships: long term, very long term, and lifetime(101:04) Choose 3 things carefully: projects, conversations, and people(102:56) How to ignore the critics on the internet(104:27) Rajesh's hack for gaining capacities at scale🔥 To activate, express, and amplify your purpose, go to: https://bit.ly/3lVRhhN