Uncover the SECRET to Reprogram Your Subconscious to MANIFEST Your Dream Life with Srikumar Rao Ph.D

Alex Ferrari 0:09
I'd like to welcome to the show Dr. Srikumar Rao. How you doing Dr. Srikumar?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 0:13
I'm doing very well. Thank you Alex!

Alex Ferrari 0:15
Thank you so much for coming on the show, I am so excited to talk to you. I've been a fan of yours for a while I've read your books, I've taken some of your courses on Mind Valley is how I got introduced to you by vision. And, you know, your work is pretty remarkable. And I think that the conversation we're gonna have today is going to delve into some deep waters that you generally don't talk about too much, which is great, and I'm really excited about but first and foremost, how did you start down the path on the journey that you're on with your work because it's a very niche space that you've carved out for yourself?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 0:53
Yes, indeed, it is a niche space. And I wish I could say that this is something that I planned and cultivated execute with great care. But that's not the way it worked. Let me give you some background. My mother was a very, very, very spiritual lady, and with a very deep interest in spirituality, and from a very young age, persons of enormous spiritual influence have been a part of my life. Mahesh Yogi, for example, founded Transcendental Meditation, he used to hang out at my place and spent many nights there. This was before he was discovered by the Beatles and Mia Farrow and became a worldwide celebrity and just come off the mountains. And nobody had heard of him. But my mother recognized who he was, as I said, and cultivated him. And many of the monks of the Ramakrishna Mission, who were the disciples of the direct disciples of Rama, Krishna, were everyday figures in my life. Of course, at that time, I just knew them as kindly old gentlemen, kinda like surrogate uncles or grandfathers, but something had to rub off. So many years ago, I read decades ago now two years ago, I read a certain secret India, which is Paul Bromptons, introduction of Ramana Maharshi. And I was very, very, very deeply drawn to him to Ramana Maharshi and his teachings. But all of that was just something that was a byline, if you will, and I was busy making a career I did my MBA went to the corporate life, and so on. And but I continued on that reading mystical biographies Spiritual Autobiography, because I was just drawn to them. Then what happened is, for a time my career stagnated, and I was stuck in a university where I had a stellar corporate career, when I was in the corporate America was my career took off like a rocket. But I got burnt out by politics, which is why I came to universities, that I found out that politics is alive and well in universities plus the money isn't that good? Gee, I blew it. I had such a seller carry a great education and I ruined it all, but life is ruined. Now, all my life had been doing a lot of reading spiritual biography, mystical autobiography, as I explained, they take me to a wonderful place, and I came back to the real world and it sucked. But somehow, I knew that this editor also occurred to me that a lot of the stuff I was reading was only useful if I sat quietly meditating and thinking peaceful thoughts, where it wasn't useful when I came to the Hurly burly that it was useless. Somehow, I knew that wasn't true, I knew it was very valuable, perhaps even the only thing that was valuable, I just hadn't figured out how to make use of it. So one day, I came up with my bright idea, which is why don't I take the teachings that will scrape masters, strip them of religious, cultural and other connotations and adapt them so that they're acceptable to intelligent people in the post industrial society. The thought of doing that may be come alive. I was a marketing guy. So normally, whenever I got an idea, my immediate question was, would others be interested? Is there a market for it? And if I thought there was a developer, if I thought there was a tie, drop it, this is the first time I did not ask the question. I was going to create the course because I needed it for me. My initial thoughts were I teach MBAs we all know what, what motivates MBAs. Nobody's good head row. And that was fine. If they did wonderful if they didn't, God bless them. I was going to create that course because I needed it for me. So I did. It did well I moved it to Columbia Business School in 1999. That it exploded. It is only course at Columbia, which is a university wide draw. I had students from law school business schools, School of International Public Affairs, journalism, Teachers College all over the place, and then spread by word of mouth students from law school came to Columbia in exchange I went back and said, This is a great course you Gotta have it. So it traveled. I taught it at Columbia, business school targeted Kellogg targeted Haas, Berkeley, targeted Imperial College. And now I teach it privately in New York, London and San Francisco. Since the pandemic, it's virtual. And it's going so well that I don't know if I'll go back to doing live courses again, well, and I'll make up my mind in a year or so. So that's the background. And I said in the syllabus, my course, by the way, that this course will profoundly change your life. And if it doesn't, we both failed. And the reason I can state that so poorly is because of where I draw my material from, these are the teachings of the world's greatest masters. And it's been tested over millennia. So how can it not change your life if you really implement what I share with you. Now the material that I talk about is my quote, unquote, material. I've taken the teachings of expressed in a different language that's more acceptable to the beliefs in which I function major business schools, major corporations, with entrepreneurs, and they relate to it intensely. But the power comes from back from where I draw the material.

Alex Ferrari 6:18
It's pretty remarkable. I mean, that it's a fairly genius idea to be able to basically translate the great teachings of, of the masters of the world and strip them of all of these kind of biases that people have, like, Oh, it's a yogi, or, Oh, it's this or it's Jesus Christ. And, and you start adding that because all those names come with baggage. So you strip the baggage, and you're like, let's just look at the core of what they're teaching.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 6:42
Exactly, that is further because what happens is, it's not really acceptable to talk about religion or spirituality in the beliefs in which I function, particularly top business schools and major corporations. But people who are attracted to what I do are smart cookies, and they quickly figure out that you know what it's all about. But more important, I never asked them to believe anything, and never ask them to take me on trust. What I simply say is, hey, look, whatever you're doing is not working for you. So why don't you take what I say and try it out in your life and see if it works for you. And they find OMG, it does work, it works in spades. And that's how they go from Skeptic to Believer to quite a few become evangelists.

Alex Ferrari 7:34
Now, your wealth of knowledge in this in the spiritual space, and all the studies you've done, because to be able to translate, you really got to be a student of these teachers, not just reading the book, once you're reading it, again, and again. Now you've been teaching it for for decades at this point. So out of all the experience and all the knowledge that you've been able to accumulate over the course of your career. What is your definition of consciousness?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 8:03
That is pretty simple, Alex, that I'm not going to define consciousness, but I'm going to explain what it is. Consciousness is your being rooted in the knowledge that you are not who you think you are. You're not Alex, who was at films and has now got a spiritual podcast. That's just a drama. That's a soap opera. That's a drama you've created and you're starring in who you really are, is pure awareness, masquerading as Alex. Let's say you go to bed at night and you dream and you dream. You're Julius Caesar and you're chasing Pompeii, and you're legions of firing his legions and you cross over into Egypt and get involved with their affairs. You have an affair with Cleopatra. You help her, his her brother. All of that is a dream and you recognize that when you wake up equally, you're being Alex's dream and you recognize that when you wake up your job is to wake up and when you recognize it was all a dream, it is all a dream. There's only one of me there's only one there's not even of me because there is no me. Getting to the point where that is your being, I can't even call it experience because there is no end entity to experience anything. That's why words start breaking down. But this residing and being pure awareness, that's what consciousness is.

Alex Ferrari 9:43
So is that what the great masters when they find enlightenment?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 9:49
Is the that was the kingdom of heaven. That is the one that is Saqqara, that is awakening.

Alex Ferrari 9:57
And that's what and that's what we all strive for. Is that oh Awakening because when Yogananda or Buddha or Jesus Christ consciousness all that, they, while they were still in the play, they figured out that they're not an actor on the stage, I always use the term movies like so many of us, you could play bad guys or good guys. But at the end of the day, the actor goes home, and lives out there on life, we as well,

Dr. Srikumar Rao 10:21
Exactly what I say by thing is when you look at whatever is happening, if you identify with the actor, your goal, if you identify with the character, you're screwed.

Alex Ferrari 10:32
And that's so they see that I want to just dig into that for a second. Because that's so profound. There's so many people live in the character, they believe that there's a character.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 10:42
The vast majority of everybody around who is being a character. But the vast majority of everybody, everybody around and the everyday body around is your creation. It's your dream.

Alex Ferrari 10:55
Yeah, without question, but you really need to focus on the actor, which is, which is another word for the soul, the higher consciousness, the awareness, awake, right, what we're looking for, because I always find it interesting that even most people I run into and obviously, you know, I believe that whoever runs in your path is there to teach you in one way, shape, or form. And it's part of our drama, I get that. But when I meet people or speak to people, I always find that even if they don't admit it, there is a searching. They're looking for something. And it's yeah, sometimes it's grounded in ego. But there's always a little something. I mean, look, how many billions of people go to church every Sunday, how many people go to the mosques, they're searching for connection, it feels like there that we have been disconnected from our source. While we're here playing these parts, and we're constantly searching, it is those masters that were able to find that source again and go, Oh, I understand. I am the care. I am not the character. I am the actor. And they're able to go in and out of source through meditation and other aspects. Is that, is that correct?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 12:06
Oh, they're always in there. They don't go in and out. Like, take Ramana Maharshi. As already said, I've been heavily influenced by him. Ramana Maharshi was in the body. We think that he was the body, you know, he grew to be 70 had cancer, his left arm and he died of the cancer. But now he's a presence. The body is like a pseudo clothes, it gets worn, you discard it. He had no identification with the body. We have the identification of his body. And we said he is there he died. He didn't die he was born to begin with. It was pure awareness.

Alex Ferrari 12:46
So you were saying something interesting a little bit ago, when you said that words start to break down? They break down entirely Yes. Because there's no explanation. And the only experience I have with that is when I meditate. So when I'm a deep meditation, I come out in the only word that even remotely comes to the feeling I get out of a deep meditation is bliss. And it still doesn't actually explain it exactly. But it's the only word I can come up with. That is pure bliss, when you go into deep meditations. And I've been meditating for for years now. And I can do hour, two hours, three hours sometimes. And when I come out of those deep meditations, there's this, this thing, and my family, my younger my young daughters will walk up to me and they're like, Oh, Daddy, you were just meditate. And I didn't tell them, but they can even they consent. Something's different with daddy,

Dr. Srikumar Rao 13:46
There is a term for that. It's a Sanskrit term called Ananda, which is unalloyed bliss, it's a very deep feeling of well being it is not happiness as we define it. Really, it goes beyond that. It's a very, very, very deep feeling of well being. That Alex is your real nature.

Alex Ferrari 14:11
Right! And it's only a smart like, if it was if it was from one to 100 It's like point 0001 of what I think, eventually, what we feel on the when we connect to source when we really truly are awakened.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 14:26
That is the complete source of the Buddha, the Jesus Ramana Maharshi they were there. That is the kingdom of heaven. Right? It's always open to you. All you got to do is get there.

Alex Ferrari 14:40
Exactly. And from what I understand, from my experience, from my journeys during this, it takes its work. It doesn't just come even I always find it interesting that Jesus showed up at 31 or 32. This is 30 years that's unexplained about I'm assuming he was doing some stuff he didn't just come in, come in enlightened. Buddha had to go do some stuff. Yogananda had to go do some stuff. Ohashi had to go do some stuff. They didn't just come like, because if they just born, born enlightened, what's the almost like, what's the point?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 15:13
This is where the words totally break down. Like, what's the point? Here's the point. Even asking the question, what's the point? Root you in duality? because something has to happen and it doesn't happen otherwise, what's the point? What's the point of existence? What's the purpose? There is no purpose. The purpose of existence is to be That's it just be put in our heads of God. Oh, there is me. There is our likes. And you know, I got to do something ever get by podcast more famous, I gotta get better people to listen to it. I got to get more people to listen to it. All of that is part of the drama that you are creating. There is no purpose the purpose is just to be That's it? And there is nobody else for you to influence or do anything with. So there's no question of point there is no point. The fact that you ask what's the point of that means you rooted in duality, because there's something you have to accomplish, there's nothing you have to accomplish.

Alex Ferrari 16:29
So explain to me are explained duality to people who are listening.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 16:33
Duality is very real thing there is you and something else. And if there is you and something else, there will always be conflict.

Alex Ferrari 16:43
Okay, so then when you're not in it, when you're when you're

Dr. Srikumar Rao 16:47
Not in duality, there is no conflict.

Alex Ferrari 16:51
Interesting.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 16:51
Recognizing that you are one and one without a second. That's why in India, you don't say one, you always say one without a second. You know, Ramdas put it beautifully. There is nowhere to go, there is nothing to do, there is no one to do it anyway.

Alex Ferrari 17:13
So now we're getting into very deep waters here, which is

Dr. Srikumar Rao 17:17
I kind of suspected you might be going there. That's why I said I want to have a recording.

Alex Ferrari 17:22
This is wonderful, because we're going into some very deep waters here, which I absolutely love playing in these waters. Because it just starts to make you these are the kinds of conversations that start making you think and start making put, you know, change direction and start thinking about things that are much, much deeper level. This is kind of like a home cooked meal is a verb as opposed to a fast food pickup. Now, okay, so the key I think, if I'm if I'm correct, in some of your works, and some of you your talks, you've talked about the flow state or going along with the universe as far as having the universe almost conspire with you. And so much so many of us, don't, we, we have that ego that wants to control, constantly, every aspect of our lives, control other people control our money, control our careers, control, our bodies, control everything. And what I found out, through my experience so far in this world, is that the moment that you allow the universe to kind of guide you, and go with the flow that are the opportunities and things that are presented to you. Yes, you have to work don't get me wrong, you got to kind of like you know, you have goals, you want to be a filmmaker, you want to be a writer, you want to be a professor, whatever. But if you're going in the wrong direction, the universe does throw stats push you, it does nudge you. And sometimes we're so stubborn that it has to hit you over the head with like,

Dr. Srikumar Rao 18:58
With a baseball bat for you to recognize.

Alex Ferrari 19:03
And believe me, I've had been hit with a baseball bat way too many times. I think I'm just exhausted. So now I'm just like, okay, you know what, I'm just gonna stop walking up the river, I'm gonna stop getting out of the boat and try to push the river because I can't push the river the river is already going. And the moment that I allowed myself to let things flow, and less and less, less things, let things happen a bit more. And I'm not saying I'm not a participant. I am. I always tell people, I cut wood and carry water. I cut wood and carry water. But where I go with that wood and water, I let the universe kind of go and this show is a perfect example of that. Where I once I said you know what? I'm all in. I'm going to let go and let's see what happens. And I'm not even kidding you the moment that was declared to the universe. The door swung open and things started happening with the show and with my world that I couldn't even dream of like I would have after listening to you reading your books watching you on Mind Valley and all these things. If you would have told me Oh, you're gonna have a, you know, a deep conversation about spirituality with Dr. Rao, I'd be like You're out of your mind. But yet, here you are. And it's just, it's just so interesting. How do you do that? What's your experience with kind of letting go because I'm assuming, just like everybody else, you didn't come out fully formed, there were moments that you were holding on tight and try to control

Dr. Srikumar Rao 20:28
I had more than my share of baseball bats. And to be very honest, I still do, because I recognize this as the way to go. But I'm not there yet. That's actually in some ways, the greatest frustration of all, when you know what needs to be done, that you can't do it, because you're not there.

Alex Ferrari 20:49
It's brutal. It's even worse than not knowing.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 20:52
Which is what the vast majority people are now, but increasingly, what happens is, I've discovered that you're not alone, you and the universe are inextricably tied together, you're dancing, the tango. And when you lead differently, the universe has no choice but to follow differently. Interesting. So I recognize the fact that the universe I and I are in a dance, and I lead and sometimes the universe lead strongly, and sometimes I lead strongly. But whatever comes is what the universe wants to have happen. And between you and the universe, always bet on the universe. So whatever happens, you go with that. If you say this is what I want, but if you accept it, and by the way, we're all control freaks. As you know, we always want things to happen, our B. So as long as you got a vision of this the way things are going to do you try your level best to make that happen. But you try your level best to make that happen. Knowing that what you have is the illusion of control, you don't have control.

Alex Ferrari 21:56
Which, which is very interesting, because if you going back to, I don't know, when you were five and had a crush on a little girl, and like I want to marry her. If at that moment, the universe said, Okay, this is the one you're going to marry. Imagine where your life goes. If you actually got what you wanted in life, or you planned on in life. I feel that it was it'd be a disaster and you start and you only can look back through time. As you get older you look back I'm like my target dodged a bullet there. Oh my God, I wish that didn't I'm so glad that didn't happen

Dr. Srikumar Rao 22:28
I did love bullet Alex because I did fall in love with a person right after I came to America and I really infatuated with her. But somehow I knew she wasn't right for me. But despite the fact I knew she wasn't right for me, I was still infatuated. Didn't work out arrived so grateful to a wonderful year reverts. Which gave it with a baseball bat at that time.

Alex Ferrari 22:52
Not now Rao oh my god, just with just with the girlfriends alone, how many baseball bats I've been hit with. And when I finally met my wife, there was no baseball bats. It was just, it just flowed. It was so easy. She moved in in three months. And we were married three years later, we had a family and everything just kind of float because that was the path that I needed to go on. But it's it's so interesting that you said something that we don't have any control, which then creates the concept that the conversation about free will. And my take on that is that there is a blueprint, there is a direction that you are put here on earth to go do I won't be a basketball player, I won't be a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins even though I want it to be when I was when I was a kid. I don't have the skills or the talents to do that. Yeah, or the physique, exactly. The physical physique, the talents, the anything, or the placement or any of that kind of stuff in life. But when you start finding out what those talents are, that's that that's what kind of guides you in the direction you go. You are like tomorrow, I could stop doing everything. I'm not going to go be an astronaut. I'm going to go back to school, I'm going to study and I want to be an astronaut. Obviously, that's a very difficult path. And if it's not true to who I am, it's probably not going to happen. But because the universe is going to be throwing bats left and right at you. So how do you have the the balance between freewill in your opinion freewill versus a predetermined path that you are kind of born to do.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 24:29
Okay, a couple of things here. First of all, I really believe that you or anybody listening to this can get anything he wants or she wants. Anybody can get anything he wants or she wants. Only you're not going to get it at level one. And let me explain what I mean by that. You want to be wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. on level one you become wide Receiving for the Miami Dolphins and Alex, that's going to happen. But on level two, you go to Why do you want to be wide receiver of Miami Dolphins? They want the fame. They want the acclimation Money, money, what does it represent to you? And the third level is, why do you want that. And it is that that third level that everyone can get what he wants, or she wants. But you have to do the patient digging, and it requires a fair amount of intelligent discrimination to go down that path. Obviously, you can go down as many levels as you want. But in my experience, three or four is more than adequate for the vast majority of us and for the mass majority of situations you ran. And it is at that level that you can get anything you want.

Alex Ferrari 26:01
That is fairly perfect. That's I mean, that is fairly profound. Because if I never thought of it in that way, because you're absolutely right. If you start to ask the questions, I had another guest on there the other day, he's like, the answer is always within the kind of question you are asking. And it's so to

Dr. Srikumar Rao 26:18
I want to be a billionaire, I want to be the richest man alive.Well, many entrepreneurs are stuck in that is, you know,

Alex Ferrari 26:24
Oh, they just want money more and more, more and more, it's almost a sickness, like I want to build more, I gotta go faster, I got a big bigger, I gotta, you know, have an exit strategy. Good luck, I watch Shark Tank every week, as well, I love it.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 26:34
I want to get down to that word. Ultimately, Alex, what it boils down to it is you don't really want to be world famous, you don't really want a billion dollars in the bank, you just want to have the internal wind state that you think you will have when that happens.

Alex Ferrari 26:58
Right! And you know, what's really interesting, because I've had the I've had the pleasure of speaking to extremely high performing people in the film industry, Oscar winners, and, and you know, billion dollar directors and writers and producers. And I've had deep conversations with them about when you win the Oscar, that's the that's the event. That's the goal. What then, and how they really had to come to grips with like, I've been struggling all my life. I've been chasing this, this thing. I get it. Now what now? What do I do with the rest of my life? And there is profoundness in that and I don't know about you, but I'm not saying all rich people aren't happy. But if people who are successful, I've met a lot of successful people, and few are happy. And it's not. I'm not saying all I'm saying few that I've met are extremely happy and fulfilled because they have this kind of need to want more and more and more. And people ask me all the time, like, well, don't you want money? I'm like money? What is the definition of money for you? Do you need a roof over your head, a comfortable place food on the table, some money in the bank in case the entire world goes to crap, which it has multiple times in the last few years? money to send your children to school, like at what point? How much do you need to be happy to be content to be secure? After you reach that point? Everything else, in my opinion should be of trying to build something to be of service to the rest of the world. Because at a certain point.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 28:34
You don't even need that.

Alex Ferrari 28:36
Okay! Oh, you're well, yeah. Okay, I, I see where you're going. I see understand what you're saying

Dr. Srikumar Rao 28:42
You do not even know it's the story. You're telling yourself, I need this. We have the story. You know, I need security in security means that I have enough money in the bank to look after my needs for me or if I have a, an injury, I can you know, go to the hospital and have my bills taken care of I can educate my children, etc, etc. It's a story you've told yourself. Look at the stages, the scenes in Ramana Maharshi, the only thing he had was the lime flop and a water pot. And people flew from all over the world to be in his presence, because he was completely self sufficient. Whereas we're not very good, tremendously grasping individuals who always want something and something more.

Alex Ferrari 29:27
So could there be a master who is wealthy and builds organizations and builds companies that help the world

Dr. Srikumar Rao 29:35
Absolutely whether or not somebody what somebody has hold on quote, does not determine whether he's a master. I had a hedge fund manager who was a guest speaker in my class, a very unusual hedge fund manager. But this was when I was teaching at Kellogg, and a bunch of students and I were hanging out with him after the class was over. Always with NBA audiences that my question turned to money and how they wanted to make. And I said, Why the hell are you all, you know, concerned about that? I got to tell you that I have several Forbes 400 clients. And let me tell you, they are exact quote, sick, miserable Fox end of quote.

Alex Ferrari 30:24
I will quote you on that.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 30:27
The sick miserable Fox who have a lot of money.

Alex Ferrari 30:31
Because at the end of the day money, I mean, if I had a billion dollars, I would, I'm like, Great, fantastic. I can do a lot of good in the world. It wouldn't change who I am. I don't? How many cars do you need? How many houses do you need? How big of a house with

Dr. Srikumar Rao 30:45
There is a trap Alex, I'll tell you because this notion that I am going to help a lot of people, okay? Is an ego driven, thought, the notion, I'm going to have a lot of money, I'm going to help a lot of people I'm going to do that. That is a prison.

Alex Ferrari 31:01
Okay?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 31:02
What happens is you're not helping anyone help is happening. You just happen to be the instrument through which it is be enormously grateful that you are the instrument. But the notion that I am helping that there is an I, which is helpful.

Alex Ferrari 31:22
No, no, I understand

Dr. Srikumar Rao 31:23
Disastrous

Alex Ferrari 31:24
I agree with you. 110%. No, I completely agree with you that I would definitely be the instrument of the universe as Mother Teresa was the instrument of the universe for what she did. And you know, she went around the world looking for money to help people and things like that. I absolutely agree with you, I would be an instrument that I personally can do anything is ridiculous, as a constant

Dr. Srikumar Rao 31:48
And even the notion, you know, I want to get a lot of money so I can help get rid of it. For whatever reason, you have this desire to have a lot of money, by all means go try to have make a lot of money. Sure. You may succeed, you may not succeed, if you do succeed, fantastic. If you don't succeed, fantastic, you will get that each out of your system. But if you do get a lot of money, then you now have a lot of money and you're the trustee. 20 years from now, 40 years from now you're going to be dead and whatever you accumulated is going to be stripped from you.

Alex Ferrari 32:22
I always I always say the same thing. There's no u haul behind the hearse.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 32:26
Exactly. It's just one I'm going to copy it right away

Alex Ferrari 32:31
There's no you I've never seen a U haul on a hearse. It doesn't exist because you can accumulate You mean you could be Jeff Bezos, you could be Elon Musk, you could be whoever you know, or Steve Jobs or wherever the richest person in the world is at this moment in time. And when it when you're done, you're done. You're done. You leave the same way you came in alone. You know, you came alone and you leave alone. And that's and that's the thing. So it's all about what you do while you're here. And how because if you're right, if you're given this kind of wealth, or this kind of influence, or this kind of whatever, superpower, quote, unquote, that you get, whether it be being a teacher, being a host of a podcast, being an athlete, whatever that power is, it's a responsibility to like, Okay, what am I going to do with this? Am I going to do this from my own ego, or I'm going to be of service, and you speak of something very interesting about the power of being of service to others, and to help others and how that makes you feel happier. And that has been clinically proven that there is an endorphin tickets released. It's a I forgot what they call it, but it's almost like a happiness. endorphin. If you and I've seen the, the studies. And it's so true, because I feel so much better giving $100 and getting $100. Personally. Can you dive into that a little bit?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 33:51
Absolutely. Look, let me give you an example. Can I tell you a story?

Alex Ferrari 33:57
Absolutely!

Dr. Srikumar Rao 33:59
Okay, in my pro, course, I have an exercise called the other centered universe. And that bears the fact that all of us live in a me centered universe. We think the Earth revolves around us. So no matter what happens, we very quickly bring it down to what's the impact of me. Your partner gets a great job offer and you think, how is this going to affect our relationship? Your daughter drops out of high school to begin an in depth exploration of controlled substances, anything. G is rehab covered by insurance. No matter what happens, you very quickly bring it down to what's the impact of me. So what I point out is that if you live in a me centered universe, and most of us do, but if that's where you predominantly spend your time, then you are going to live by and large, a mediocre existence punctuated with flashes of pleasure but essentially meaningless. That's just the way it is it comes with the territory. So we want to get out to the point the vision I laid out You're radiantly alive, you have to find a cause which is bigger than you are a cause which brings a greater good to a greater community. And you have tremendous flexibility in defining both the greater good and the greater community. But unless you find something like that, to which you can subsume, if not your whole life, at least a big chunk of it, you're going to live a mediocre existence. So you have to be other centered and the exercise I have in my class is, I asked people to think of a time when somebody did something that made them feel so good that the glow carried over. You know, maybe you were waiting in a line for something and the guy next to you was happy and jovial and cracking jokes. And you know, and he made everybody laugh. So the time flew by, or you will visited the department store, and the clerk told Yo, this suit really looks good. And you and you sense that he wasn't just trying to make a sale, he was sincere. Can you remember such a time when somebody made you there, everybody can recall at least some instances. So that happened. So my exercise is very simple. You're going to go out tomorrow and deliberately, you are going to make somebody stay. So there was a senior music industry executive who was actually commuting from Brussels, to London Business School to take my course. And if you're commuting from Brussels to London, what you generally do is you take the Eurostar. So he took the Eurostar, which gets off at St. Pancras. And as he got out, he said, Gee, I was supposed to have been working on the other centered universe exercise that I haven't done a damn thing. And there were a bunch of students who were, you know, in a huddle, they're there, and he overheard the conversations, and they were only visitors to London, and they wanted to go somewhere. He knew where, because they had the conversation, and they didn't know if they had enough money. So everybody turned out their pockets, and they were counting, and they're not sure whether they had enough money to buy the tickets, and then a sudden impulse, he went up to the counter and bought tickets for all of them video, maybe they weren't counted and bought tickets for all of them. And he said, Look, those kids are going to come and they're going to ask for tickets to that, and why don't we give it to them and tell them it's paid for. And if it turns out that they're going to leave without coming, call them and tell them that, you know, the tickets that they've been paid for. And then he just went to the exit sign and waited. And the kids counted. And finally, they decided they had enough and one other went to buy the tickets, and the clerk gave them all the tickets. And he saw his face light up. And he was all excited. They called the others and said, Hey, get there, they were all excited. And they could thank anyone because he was the one that just said, and then it came back and relate to my class. And he will did that. And he said, you know, Professor Rao, I haven't felt this good in years. So that's what the other centered universe is about. And as you can imagine, since I teach a top MBA school taught business schools and MBAs are sharp cookies very soon somebody picks up the professor around, let me get this straight. We have to be other centered because we feel good. Yeah. But then it's really all about us. That's a wonderful day, then the short answer to that is, yes, in the beginning, it's like you have training wheels on a bicycle. But once you learn to ride a bicycle, you take the training wheels off. So initially, you are other centered because it genuinely gives you an endorphin high when you help someone. But if you continue down that path, eventually you help people not because it makes you feel better. But because that is the outward manifestation of the kind of person you have become. And then you're no longer thinking I feel good. You help out of feeling good. Not you help to feel good.

Alex Ferrari 39:08
So that's a fantastic story. I the other day, we're teaching our daughters to try to give as well and to be of service and all of that. And we were in the drive thru of Starbucks, and I needed a coffee because I was they just beat the hell out of me because they're 10. And I needed something that'll little pick me up. And when we got there, my wife said, Hey, why don't we pay for the car behind us? Because the car behind us was a young man, and a little beat up car. But he was waving to my daughter's just saying hi, being kind because my daughters are waving at him. And he waved back, said wouldn't it be nice, let's just pay for his thing. So we got to the thing like hey, how much is the guy's coffee by doesn't really, oh, it's this much. I'm like, put it on my tab and just let them know. Thank you for being kind and we drove away. Never saw the reaction, my daughters are dying to see the reaction. But I drove away fast enough, so they couldn't see it. I didn't want them to be, you know, like, why I want him to just do it out of the goodness of their heart badly. And not just because I want to get attention. And, and it was it was a real learning moment for them. And now they like it's a concept that they have kind of been hard wired with now we're like, How can I be kind to someone? How can I be helpful and when they see something that's not kind or not helpful, they recognize it and call it out, which is really fascinating to me that because when they're so young, they can be programmed. In so many, it's a lot easier, the programming is a lot easier at 10 than it is at 40. But, but I agree with you 100%. And I felt good about it. But I've been used to doing that. I do that all the time. I help people as much as I can, whenever I can

Dr. Srikumar Rao 40:49
Random acts of kindness, do it, then just do it because you know makes the world a better place and you want to live in a better place.

Alex Ferrari 40:58
No, no question. Now we've we've discussed a lot about finding your path in life and finding the you know what you're supposed to do? Do you have any advice on how to discover what your mission or what your purpose is in this life? The thing that makes you happy and helps people as well?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 41:20
I get questions all the time, Alex, Professor Rao, I really love what you do. I want to be passionate about what I do like you are, how can I find my purpose? Wrong question. Okay, purpose is not like a seashell on the beach, you're walking along and you find it and say I found my ankles,

Alex Ferrari 41:42
Agreed 100% Agree 100%

Dr. Srikumar Rao 41:44
Passion does not exist in the job or what you do. Passion exists inside you. And if you don't figure out a way by which you can ignite it right where you are, you're not going to find it outside. So your job is not to find purpose, you're not your job is not to a your job is not to find the passion. Your job is to ignite the passion that is already inside you. And you do it right where you are. Purpose finds you, you don't find purpose. And the way to do that, Alex is to recognize that the only thing you ever do in life is you work on yourself. Now this is really deep. So you bear with me. You are given a bunch of tools by a benevolent universe, your wife if you're married, is it to your children are tools, your career is to your podcasts on the film business is a tool, your podcast and spiritual topics is a tool. You use all of these tools as skillfully as you can, if you're an entrepreneur, you build up your business, hire the right people cater to your customers, you do all of that. But as you're doing all of that, what you're really doing is you're working on yourself. You try to be the best father you can. But as you're trying to be the best father you can what you're really doing is you're working on yourself. The only thing you ever do in life is you work on yourself.

Alex Ferrari 43:43
I'm gonna have to agree with you on everything you just said. Because just on the father aspect of loan when you're trying to be a better father, you're trying to improve yourself, for others.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 43:53
And that's the only thing you do my friend, you work on yourself. Where do you recognize that you will find that every act becomes meaningful. You don't have to find purpose purpose finds you. And when you gradually all of the things that are not right for you, Alex will drop away.

Alex Ferrari 44:16
And that's kind of being in the flow of the universe being the flow of what you're supposed to do. So if you can find passion in your job at Starbucks, if that's not what you want to be doing and find the job that find the the joy and the passion and that eventually that if that's not the place for you. The opportunities that are going to be focusing your energies will come along and it won't happen in your timeline that I can promise you, it will not happen in your timeline.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 44:45
Exactly correct. You know, we all heard the classic immigrant story guys come to a you know country doesn't speak the language. The only job you can find is a dishwasher. Right? And you know, 20 years fast forward and you know he owns it. Trains over train of restaurants and as a multibillion millionaire. He was there were washing dishes, he was building a better future for his kids.

Alex Ferrari 45:12
But he found he found the joy, the bliss in doing what he did.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 45:16
You do what you do, don't give thought to the consequences be where you are. There's a beautiful Zen saying that really encapsulates that the purpose of washing dishes is not to get them clean. The purpose of washing dishes is to wash the dishes. And as you do that, you have a stack of clean dishes in the trailer.

Alex Ferrari 45:46
It's so funny, you were saying that your purpose finds you if you would have told me at 20 that I was going to be a podcaster. Doing that full time. And speaking to not only people like yourself, but the young 20 or 20 year old version of me, wanted to talk to Oscar winning filmmakers and Oscar winning screenwriters and very high profile people, but I can never get into doors, the doors were always shut to me, it was always outside the party never end. And now those people reach out to me to talk to me. And you just go in how funny the world works. And now that I've this show is kind of fallen into my this company that I'm building is fallen into my lap. And the doors are opening. It's just so magic. Like, I found my purpose, because I'm happy. And I've been happy for the last six and a half years, podcasting. And even my wife saw me when I was an editor and doing visual effects and things like that for the movies. She's like, you're always so angry. I'm like, Yeah, because I was washing dishes. And I did not understand that Zen. That Zen saying at the time, it was it was I was just angry. Because imagine if you, you you're washing dishes, but what you want to be as the owner of the company, and if you focus on wanting to be the owner of the company, you can never be happy just washing dishes. I lived 2020 25 years of my life that way. And then when I finally found podcasting and online businesses and doing what I love doing, I became so much more content, so much more happy because I started to wash the dishes, or cut wood and carry water as I like to say, it's I love that saying By the way, it's a beautiful thing. I'm going to I'm going to use that one as well. Sure. Now, we talked about the flow of the universe, how do you suggest that we fall into that flow to accept the flow because we want to control so much. Any any advice, any tips on how to just kind of let go and let God if you will

Dr. Srikumar Rao 47:50
Examine your need for control, we're always trying to make things happen the way we want to. We're the group of friends and we try to control the flow of conversation. Give your wife makes a suggestion. Let's go see movie A you say now let's see B, I always wanted to see B. It's very subtle, but it's always there. You're always trying to shape the universe to meet your desire. First thing is then a couple of months examining how this shows up in every aspect of your life. And gradually start releasing your ever so strong preferences. Good arrest restaurant, you know what you want to order it, just ask the waiter Hey, what do you recommend? And whatever she recommends take it and you know, enjoy it. As you start letting go of your preferences, you will find that it becomes easier and easier. And you say Oh, but these are big decisions. You know, should I go to this bank or that bank? Should I borrow a million dollars or $10 million? Should I go for this project to that project? And if these I can't just let the universe decide, actually you can and the more you release your need to make things happen, the more you may find that whatever happens is the perfect thing and is orchestrated So finally, that it's a miracle. Let me read something to you. Hold on, please. Yeah, absolutely. Now Alex, I must tell you that what I'm going to read to you is really very profound okay. I expect nothing less sir. Okay. Day by day the man falls day by day the wisdom guidance and direction necessary for that day are given to us, God does not often advise us a week in advance, we receive the direction as we need it. We have acquired the habit of impatience. And the result is that instead of waiting for God's decision to be made manifest, we let fear creep in. And then afraid of possibly unfortunate effects of indecision rushing an act on the basis of our own best human judgment. pretty profound, sir. That, sir, is profound. But if you think about it, you also know that what you need is endless patience,

Alex Ferrari 50:49
Ohh that is something I've had to learn with many baseball bats, along along the journey the patients is. That's why thank you for sharing that, by the way. And that's why I've, even in my own journey, have really let go of so much. Where I wanted to control this, or I wanted to control that deal. Or like we, we just moved to Austin a little while ago, and we were looking for homes. And I just kept saying to my wife, our home is waiting for us, and she would get so upset. I'm like, Don't worry, our home is waiting for us. The one that has everything that we want, is waiting for us. And when we found it, I said, Okay, this is the home and she's like, well, what if it is and I'm like, then it isn't, then those wasn't the one. And it would drive her mad, it really would. But at a certain point, I was like I have, I can only control the way I approach things in life. I can't control things that are out of my control. And we exert so much energy of our lives trying to control things that we have absolutely no control of. And I'm like, I just could control how I react to the things that happen in my life. I can't control if, if I'm going to get outbid by it by somebody in this house. If someone's going to take that job. If if the guest that I'm trying to reach out gets

Dr. Srikumar Rao 52:12
Let me stop you there Alex even there, you're wrong, because you don't even have control over that. Okay, you have control, but you don't. Okay, tell me I remember I was teaching at a London School, one of the students was pushing back. What do you mean, Professor Rao? I don't have control. You know, I want to scratch my nose. See, I just did that. I want to do it again. I did that I want to do it again. I did that I have complete control over whether I want to scratch my nose or not fair enough. And then somebody else in class said yes, you have complete control. Until you don't LSA processor. Ah, it's so funny hearing you use that example. Because six months ago, I was in a freak accident and broke both my arms. And both my arms were in a cast and I wanted to scratch my nose. I couldn't.

Alex Ferrari 52:58
Well, I so I'm gonna push back for a second. And I agree with you 100%. But what I'm saying is not that I have control of, of physical things, but I do have control on how I react to things.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 53:10
No you don't?

Alex Ferrari 53:11
So so when something happens to me, I can't say that I can't have

Dr. Srikumar Rao 53:14
You think you have control but you don't let me give you an example, please. Let's say you're a heavy smoker. Surely you say okay, you know, smoking is bad for me, I want to give up smoking. Now what happens is, perhaps you can give up the physical act of smoking. But you have no control over the desire for smoking. Every time somebody lights up in your presence, you say, Gee, I wish I could have a smoke, okay? Okay, you cannot give up desire. Desire has to give you up.

Alex Ferrari 53:48
So with the example

Dr. Srikumar Rao 53:49
A lot of the times when you say I have control, I can do this, etc, you really can't.

Alex Ferrari 53:54
So so the so using the house, the house analogy I was using earlier, where I just let go of the option of like, if it's going to happen, it'll happen. That is something that is within my control, too. So it isn't,

Dr. Srikumar Rao 54:08
Because what happens is, maybe you're in the fortunate position where you genuinely can let go. Okay, but a lot of people feel that this is a good thing to have, but they can't. This is one of the core teachings in my program to try your level best. But you know, you don't have control and you accept whatever comes. A lot of people cannot accept whatever comes they resented the resist. Oh my god. That's not what I wanted to happen. I thought if I practice I would make the team but I did not make the team and represented and there's all kinds of psychological turmoil inside. If you were genuinely able to say I accept it and let it go. You're truly fortunate and be immensely grateful. You got it. Many, many, many will not be able to do

Alex Ferrari 55:09
That's where I think we can agree. Because I understand your point, I think because we're both kind of saying the same thing, but from a different perspective, but I do agree with what you're saying, 100% you truly have to let go and the desire, even the desire of wanting it, is an act of not completely letting go. Whereas in fact, yeah, exactly. Because if you could say outward outwardly, like, Hey, I'm, I don't care if I get the house, but inwardly like, Man, I really wanted that house. But if you could truly elevate yourself to the place where you like, I truly can let go of what happens. And it's not an easy task, and I do it. I am not 100% at it, but I'm getting better at letting go

Dr. Srikumar Rao 55:51
If you find some areas, you can in some areas, you can't and the area's you got to the areas you need to work.

Alex Ferrari 55:57
Right. Exactly, exactly. It's like it was it's, it's fascinating. The other day, I got a, an email forum, somebody that I wanted to have on one of my shows. And for whatever reason, I couldn't, they couldn't make it. And it all sorts of nerves inside of me, because they represent a very big organization. And, and it was like, all of a sudden, all these emotions started coming up in me like, oh, well, I just want to get accepted by by the establishment, I want to get accepted by something that's mainstream and inside of that industry. And then I said, But I recognize that I became aware of the feelings of like, oh, this is all ego and all the old baggage that you've been carrying around with you for the last 30 years. Okay, you've got to let it go. And I go, and I did in a couple hours. Laters. And now I doesn't bother me at all. I'm like, hey, it doesn't happen. It wasn't supposed to happen. But for those two or three hours, before I went to bed, I was just like, man, it's, it's bothering me. So it's not easy. It but you can feel it, and then release it. But that is even a lot because most people hold on to things for decades. For the lifetime for lifetimes, sometimes. Yes. I want to ask you because you speak about changing your you shift your perspective on the world to make you happier. How does someone shift their perspective on the world?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 57:28
Einstein said the most important question you will ever ask yourself is, is the universe friendly? Yeah, it is. Yeah. Let me repeat that. Einstein said the most important question you'll ever ask yourself is is the universe friendly? Now we revere Einstein as a great scientist, he discovered a formulated the theory of relativity discovered the photoelectric effect for which he got the Nobel Prize. So yes, he was a great scientist. But he was also a great philosopher, and he had a very intricate understanding of the way the universe worked. And what he said is the most important question you will ever ask yourself is, is the universe friendly? The vast overwhelming majority of us believe that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly. It doesn't know I exist and couldn't care less it is indifferent. Here I am going around doing my thing. There's the universe going around doing its thing. Sometimes it seems to be working for me sometimes it seems to be working against me. But essentially, it's random. What if the universe was aware of your existence and not only what if the universe was aware of the existence what or the universe was friendly? The universe was well disposed towards you. Well, if the universe was friendly friends don't shaft friends, do they? Of course not. So the universe was friendly. What is it give me things I don't want. I want to travel on vacation. The universe gives me pandemics and lockdowns. What does the universe give me stuff I don't want. Well, what if the universe gave you stuff that you don't want? That that was exactly what you needed for your learning and growth. It's like you're a small child and you want a tub of ice cream and your parents give you fruits and vegetables. And you don't want fruits and vegetables. You want a tub of ice cream with your parents give you fruits and vegetables. And it isn't until much later when you have a greater greater level of wisdom and maturity that you can say Thank God my parents gave me fruits and vegetables. What if the universe was like that? It doesn't give you what you want, but it gives you exactly what you need for your learning and growth. Now, regardless of whether or not the universe's friendly if you believe the universe was friendly, your experience of life would be immeasurably enhance. And what if the universe actually was friendly? Then my friend every day would be a blast. That's the perspective by Einstein said, the most important question you can ask yourself is, is the universe friendly. And there is every possibility of your discovering, first deciding, and then discovering that the universe is friendly. And that's what Michaels and programs are all about.

Alex Ferrari 1:00:47
So let me ask you this, because I saw this in another interview, you're a very big tennis fan. And you got your tickets to Wimbledon. The first time you were gonna go and you, of course, the pandemic happened. And not only did you think this could never happen, but that they shut down Wimbledon, which was unheard of. What was that teaching you?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:01:10
Oh, it didn't teach me anything. Because I already accepted that in advance I knew shows stuff like that happens that I didn't have control. But it simply gave me a wonderful example to use, because everybody can relate to that right off. You don't have control, let's say, Yeah, you know, you can imagine you can't go to Google that because somebody fell ill or something like that, right, and go to Wimbledon because it told them it was canceled, and no planes flying between New York and London. It's that big.

Alex Ferrari 1:01:41
That doesn't happen. That's never happened. I've always been able to go to the supermarket and get toilet paper. What do you mean, I can't get toilet paper, like backing it?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:01:49
Up pandemic has really done us a great service, because it's really shown us visceral level, how little control we have.

Alex Ferrari 1:01:58
And I wanted to ask you this question. There's obviously a shift going on in the world, there is something that the entire world is feeling at the exact same time. And I love to hear your perspective on what you think is happening on on the consciousness of of the species of humanity of the world. What do you think is happening? Because there's absolutely something going on shift is happening. There's like I call it the edges, sketching of the world better, like shaking it up a little bit, and completely changing things that were rock solid.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:02:28
That's a very good one people ask me all the time, do I feel that people are coming more conscious that there is a general drift in that direction? And the short answer is, I really don't know. Obviously, the kinds of people who are attracted to me and the work I do are inclined in that direction. And that's why they seek me out. So I see more and more evidence of such people happening. But whether that means there are more such people, or whether that means the few such people there are are discovering me. I don't have a clue. But I do believe that in general, we are on a path towards higher levels of consciousness. And if you look at it, you'll see signs of it all around. We're all upset today, because major war has just launched in Europe, the first war in 70 plus years. And you know, there are many parts of the world which are bad. But if you look at it from a broader scale, and you look at the entire history of the world as we know it, there has never been a time when a greater person to the population was living in relative peace and plenty as right now. There always been battles, they've been severe battles where people lost their life. 150 years ago, it was perfectly acceptable for one human being to own another human being. And slavery still exists, but at least there's widespread realization that this is wrong and should not be. So we are moving to higher levels of consciousness, nowhere near as fast as many of us would like, but it's unquestionable that it is. Me So overall, I would say where am I, in the drama that I have created? I am guardedly optimistic. And in the meantime, my goal is to recognize it's all a trauma. So who's the slave and who's the owner? It's all a story we're telling ourselves anyway.

Alex Ferrari 1:04:28
Now I'm going to ask you two questions. I asked all of my guest, what is your mission in this life?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:04:34
My mission in this life, Alex is to awaken and through the things that I have been privileged to understand because one thing that I have come to realize false modesty aside is that I am a damn good translator. I can take these concepts and frame them in language that is acceptable and understandable to Intelligent people whose heart is in the right place, but haven't had the background in training.

Alex Ferrari 1:05:07
And why are we all here?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:05:12
We are not here that is a dream.

Alex Ferrari 1:05:17
So why are we dancing in this in this dream and these meat suits.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:05:22
That is this soap opera that you have created. And if that soap opera that you have created, there is this guy's Srikumar Rao has interesting things to say to your audience, right? You created all of that my friend, you created Srikumar Rao you created the audience, you created the podcast, and your job is to wake out of it. And my job is to help you wake out of it as part of my own journey towards waking out of

Alex Ferrari 1:05:51
it. So at the end of the day, we're all all of our journeys is to awaken.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:05:55
Let me read one more thing to you by me.

Alex Ferrari 1:05:58
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:06:01
This again, Alex is super profound, okay. And it talks about a seeker who's been to a monastery and spent a long time they became very friendly with the one of the young acolytes in the Monastry. And when they were leaving, when it was time for him to leave, it was very sad. It was particularly sad, because they both knew that he would go back to his homeland and the probability of their meeting again was very remote. Okay, so this is the acolyte, advising the author. Do not grieve, elder brother, we shall miss each other, but let it not be too much. As the preceptor said yesterday, you and I, and all beings are animated by the one's spirit, no parting and no meeting ever really take place. When we rejoice at a meeting, or grieve at a parting, we are allowing false understanding to take the place of truth. Wherever you go, in this life, and in lives to come, I shall be with you. The light which shines deep, deep within your heart, is my light The light of all. And when at last, we have gained the object of our grade search, even apparent differences and divisions will melt away. You and I will know ourselves for the one that we have never ceased to be.

Alex Ferrari 1:07:47
That's amazing, beautiful, profound quote. Dr. Rao, where can people find out more about you and the work that you're doing?

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:07:56
Best ways for them to go to my website, www.theraoinstitute.com and browse, they could read my blogs, if they like what they see there's a button called Join Now. And if we click that, they can register and they will get information about my programs. And they will get my blog.

Alex Ferrari 1:08:17
Dr. Rao, it has been a profound conversation as I knew it would it has been a pleasure talking to you and I do truly appreciate your work in this delusion that we've all created. But the work that you've done to to help awaken not only entrepreneurs and business leaders, but hopefully the world as well. So I appreciate you my friend. Thank you so much.

Dr. Srikumar Rao 1:08:39
My pleasure entirely, Alex.