Dor Konforty is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, investor, and awakening teacher dedicated to distilling the first principles of the dharma and bringing them to every aspect of human life. He spent most of his twenties conducting interdisciplinary brain research in academic settings, and his thirties as an entrepreneur and CEO in the decentralization space—applying his neuroscience background to envision more collaborative, non-zero-sum human networks. 

In parallel, he has devoted thousands of hours to meditation practice as well as growth and relational modalities, training closely with pragmatic dharma teachers such as Culadasa, Daniel Ingram, and Delson Armstrong, and personal development coaches like Joe Hudson and Kim Barta. 

He is the founder of The Awakening Fund, a venture that invests in technologies aimed at making meditation unnecessary. Dor is also the author of The Heart Illuminated, a spiritual successor to Culadasa’s The Mind Illuminated. Drawing on over fifteen years of multidisciplinary experience, the book lays out a clear and systematic path towards awakening through a completely modern lens.

In this episode, we explore Dor’s book The Heart Illuminated, his time studying with pragmatic dharma teachers—Culadasa, Daniel Ingram, Delson Armstrong, and Dan Brown—and dive into topics such as integrating emptiness with fullness, investing in awakening technologies that aim to make meditation unnecessary, aligning artificial intelligence with dharma, and navigating the complexities and controversies that can arise in relationships with spiritual teachers.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Dor’s personal site
• The Heart Illuminated by Dor Konforty
• Dor’s investment venture, The Awakening Fund
• Follow Dor on Twitter/X
• The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram
• Delson Armstrong
• Dan Brown

📝[Show Notes] 📝

0:00 - Introduction 
3:43 - Dor's journey into meditation 
7:09 - The unique contribution of “The Mind Illuminated”
10:04 - Working closely with Culadasa and inspiration for writing “The Heart Illuminated” 
21:49 - The iterative writing process and gathering feedback from community 
24:58 - Understanding the multiplicity of the mind (sub minds, parts, agents, modules, and coordinators)  
31:32 - Integrating awakening (emptiness) with healing (fullness) 
39:22 - Is awakening about creating a better life?
47:00 - Meeting Daniel Ingram and doing a 23-day Fire Kasina retreat under his guidance 
55:30 - The Power of dark retreats and sensory deprivation 
57:40 - Friendship with Delson Armstrong
1:01:20 - Sutra, Tantra, metasystemicity, and stages of development 
1:12:16 - The contributions of Dan Brown and Dustin Diperna 
1:16:43 - Investing in awakening technologies and making meditation unnecessary 
1:26:02 - Aligning artificial intelligence with Dharma 
1:36:18 - Navigating the Culadasa controversy 

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