Autobiography of A yogi for the 21st century
What lessons can a modern seeker draw from Autobiography of a Yogi? Rizwan Virk discusses how universal principles such as karma, meditation, and yoga can be used to address issues and challenges of the present, such as the diversions of social media and the quick pace of contemporary life.
Rizwan Virk, a graduate of MIT and Stanford, is a successful entrepreneur, investor, futurist, video game industry pioneer, indie film producer and bestselling author. Rizwan writes on the intersection of science, science fiction, business and spirituality. His latest book is Wisdom of a Yogi.
Website: zenentrepreneur.com
Facebook: @zenentrepreneur; X (Twitter): @rizstanford
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This interview with Rizwan Virk was dynamic. His knowledge of karma, meditation and yoga flowed throughout the dialogue. I was particularly drawn to the way Rizwan related stories in Autobiography of a Yogi to illustrate how we can recognize and follow the clues that show up in our life to discover life's treasure - our svadharma. Yogananda often used the metaphor of moving pictures to illustrate how this life is maya, an illusion. Rizwan, a video game developer himself, takes Yoganands's metaphor into the 21st century by viewing life as a multi-player video game where we exist independently (our Real Self) outside of the game, but descend into the game of life to play a character (avatar) in a simulated world. "The key to a good game is one that is easy to play, but difficult to master. This makes the treasure hunt much more interesting." I highly recommend this podcast!
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed my discussion with Rizwan Virk, looking at lessons from Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of A Yogi to see how they apply to modern seekers in today’s world. Riz described the importance of following the “clues” we get, both externally in the world and internally from our intuition, using Yogananda’s journey to bring yoga to the West as an example. I was struck by how Riz updated Yogananda’s metaphor of life as a motion picture to describe life as a multiplayer video game. I particularly appreciate his efforts to make Autobiography of a Yogi interesting and accessible to a new generation of seekers.