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Most people inherit a way of seeing the world.
Few ever stop to ask whether it's true.
The Visionary Human is an invitation to do exactly that.
This podcast is for the rare few—for those willing to question the presumptions of society, think independently, and consciously participate in the evolution of what it means to be human.
We are living through a profound transition in human consciousness.
The old maps of success, identity, and fulfillment are no longer enough. A new way of being is emerging—one that calls for deeper awareness, greater courage, and a life lived from vision rather than conditioning.
Each week we explore the frontiers of consciousness, science, philosophy, psychology, creativity, leadership, spirituality, and human potential—not as separate disciplines, but as parts of one timeless question:
What does it truly mean to be human?
Rooted in the timeless wisdom of Yoga and Ayurveda—and enriched by modern science, philosophy, psychology, and the creative arts—this podcast explores consciousness not as an abstract idea, but as a lived experience.
This isn't about becoming a better version of yourself.
It's about remembering who you were before the world told you who you should be.
You won't find surface-level advice, empty motivation, or spiritual clichés here.
Instead, expect deep conversations, original ideas, timeless wisdom, and practical insight with visionaries, scientists, philosophers, artists, entrepreneurs, contemplatives, and courageous thinkers who are helping shape a more conscious future.
Hosted by Mariko Bhakti, founder of Visionary Yoga, author, teacher, and lifelong student of Yoga, Ayurveda, and human potential, this podcast bridges ancient wisdom and modern insight to help you see with fresh eyes, live with greater intention, and create a future that is consciously chosen rather than unconsciously inherited.
If you've ever felt there must be more to this human experience...
If you've ever questioned the obvious...
If you've ever sensed that another way of living is possible...
Welcome.
You've come to the threshold.
Let's step into the adventure.
Welcome to the Visionary Human podcast, a small corner of the universe where we question the obvious and explore the possible. I'm your host Mariko Bhakti. You've arrived at the threshold. Let's step into the adventure. Welcome to the Architecture of Identity.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I'm super happy you are here, and I think this is very important rabbit hole to go into, the architecture of identity. Usually, we're so focused and so busy on outer things, usually related to survival, making money, and all these things. But it is very important to examine those things that are our blind spots, and identity is one of them. I'm a big fan of Socrates and Plato and Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living. And so let's take this precious moment in time because time is the most precious commodity.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Right? Why not spend it delving into what is actually creating your reality? This is the beauty of the inner aspect of yoga, the on... The invisible, unseen aspect of yoga. The whole world thinks yoga is asanas and you know the prowess of doing amazing gymnastic calisthenic feats.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:But actually, the more advanced yoga is the invisible one that you carry from moment to moment with you. And that, my friends, have the power to change your life as a lived reality. So let's get down to it, shall we? So at the moment of this recording, it is the culmination, the very last day of the nine night festival known as Novratri. And we're celebrating the divine mother, the Devi, the Shakti, the power of, you know, everything that is animated and shifts and moves and, you know, powers of existence is the Devi, the Shakti.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So it's in my own practice, it's a deeply meaningful time to really examine, you know, what am I holding on to? What am I nourishing? And what what is ready to come alive? And I found that in this stage of my life, this question of identity was very much calling me. So...
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And in the nondual tradition that yoga comes from, Shakti is the dynamic power of consciousness and that makes for a beautiful context for this presentation, becoming aware, bringing that awareness into how we live. And there's going to be teaching. There's gonna be inquiry. There's gonna be maybe movement as well. And towards the end, I'll be sharing a really precious gift with you.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So hang on to the end if you can. And my intention for you is that you leave with something you can use in your daily life because yoga is a very practical philosophy, a way to recognize an identity that limits you, consciously choose how you wanna participate, and begin practicing that in your very life. So let's get to it. So it's a three part framework. Very easy.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I felt that you could... Everybody can remember three things. And because when it comes to the moment, don't wanna have, like, a 10 step to memorize. Right? Just three.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Step one, see the old story. Perceive it. That means you step back from being in the story. Right? You step back so you can see the story.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Make the story the object, not the stuff you are, the frame that you're in. Put the frame outside and step outside of it. Step one. And two, choose your expression. And step three, embody, live the practice.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So I highly recommend you have something nearby to write on because this will make it that much more powerful. I want to ask you for your full presence. Yoga as in life is like what we bring to it matters. Right? And this is a yogic session even though you're probably not on a mat.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Maybe you're walking around and listening you to this recording as you go about your day, but let's not make a mistake about it. This is participating in a yogic process. And it's the portable yoga, which is actually the transformational yoga. So if you're multitasking, I encourage you to just maybe close those tabs, a virtual and metaphorical and real tabs, and just feel the support beneath you. Take a huge deep breath and just notice what brought you here in this moment.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And importantly, what in your life deserves your full attention now? What in your life deserves your full attention now? What's calling to be transformed? And just take a note of this. If you can write it down, I highly recommend you write it down.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Choose one area of your life, whether it be a specific relationship, and the more specific, the better. Yeah? Your work, maybe a specific aspect of your work, specific aspect of your health, a specific transition you're going through, or something specific you're looking to create. So that's... With that specificity, write it down because unless you look at these teachings and these principles with something practical to work with, it's gonna forever remain an abstract concept.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And I don't want that remaining a concept. I want it applied to your lived fabric of life. Okay? So... And I just wanna offer the very heart of this teaching with you right at the beginning.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:In the gorgeous, amazing, sophisticated philosophical system known as Kashmir Shaivism, and it's not very well known. It's not a mainstream thing. It is... It comes from Northern India, from Kashmir, and it produced some of the most enlightened beings in the ancient India. And it says, our deepest nature is understood as consciousness.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And not only is it our deepest nature, Shakti, this energy, leapt up and wove this universe, this material physical universe out of her own being, and it is your deepest nature as well. So that means reality, you know, consciousness inside and outside are actually one and the same. It's very radical, but yoga is a radical revolution. So the living awareness through which experience is known is Shakti, aka your deepest nature. And so we tend to experience ourselves though within a much smaller tradition, Like, I am this body.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I am this age, this personality, this history. Right? So I'm the capable one. Right? I'm the anxious one, the person who everyone depends on or, you know, and the one who is constantly doubting himself or herself.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So whatever we become identified with, whatever patterns we become identified with, we can find ourselves defending tooth and nail. This is one of the things about identity. We're just wired to defend it. Even a negative identity can feel strangely necessary to defend. Isn't that true?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Have you experienced this in your life? Like you're, you know, having an argument with somebody and somebody's pointing out your bad habit and you're like defending that bad habit knowing it's a negative trait that you have and yet you have to like argue for it, defend for it, right? So someone sees a possibility in you maybe, right? And then we immediately explain that, That can't be me. That's just not me.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So we defend our limitations. How often have we done this? Right? So we become so practiced at describing ourselves that we stop investigating. Hence, the value of this moment.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So today, hold this possibility. Perhaps your familiar identity is not the whole of you. Perhaps you have more freedom to shape your expression than you've been allowing yourself. Let's look underneath the old story. So Kashmir Shaivism says that every human being as universal human experience is born with these three veils, three malas.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:The first veil is known as Anava Mala, and it's the universal experience of incompleteness. The sense of you not being good enough, not being beautiful enough, not being blank enough. Something is missing in me. For example, you could receive a 100 compliments and one criticism and then that's the one we harp on. Right?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So, Anuvamala is very deeply ingrained. It can also be said it's the sense of unworthiness. Isn't it interesting to know that unworthiness is a universal human trait? And because of this, we are constantly seeking outside to compensate for this. And that brings forth the next mala that triggers the next mala known as mayyamala.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So mayyamala comes from the Sanskrit word maya, which is often translated as illusion, which I don't completely agree with because, look, this physical reality field, there is a reality to it, a certain reality to it. It's just not permanent. We have to remember this. It's very transient and we get so caught up in it and it makes us forget the eternal nature from which we come from. Right?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Hence, on that level, yes, it's illusory. But while we're living it, oh my god, it feels so real. Right? So my Yamala creates the experience of separation. This basic separation of me versus the world.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And it's like this world is out there which I have to navigate, which I have to conquer, and I have to find, carve out a place for myself in. It's also this feeling that there are others out there judging me, and this makes us suffer so much. Right? We worry so much about what other people think. Isn't that true?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:We worry so much about how other people perceive us, and that is a kind of a suffering that in human society, you know, we all experience. And it's good to examine this, to look at this if you want to overcome these basic three malas. That's no small thing. Right? And the last of the veils is karmamala.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:This one is the one that really traps us, and it is experienced as the sense of doership. Carmamala is the sense of I'm the one who did it. And it can make us both puffed up and kind of, you know, when you feel like you did something good, it makes you a little bit puffed up. Right? But when you feel like you did something wrong, something...
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:A big mistake or, you know, it didn't go the way you intended to go, oh my god, you feel so terrible and you suffer. You suffer this terrible sense of low esteem. You just wanna shrivel up and die. You know? This kind of feeling.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So karma mala mixes go up and down according to the outcome of our actions. We identify with the outcome of the actions, and it's what we become. That's the thing. It traps us in the outcome, and we wear it like a crown of thorns. You know?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So these are examples of recognizing the teachings in life, just seeing these principles in action. Okay? So notice the cycle it takes you on. Right? It's like first you feel incomplete so there must be something out there that can help me feel whole, help me feel, you know, just complete.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And so you look outside for that thing. Maybe it's just a sense of validation and confirmation, right, that we look for outside. Then, you know, there's me and the world, we're living inside of that and then we're identified with our limited nature. And then I make the outcome of my actions the measure of my worth. And this cycle perpetuates and perpetuates.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So there's always another thing to fix. There's another thing to prove. Right? And we can spend most of our lives just in this cycle. And so yoga says, stop, look, study, inquire, wake up, and start to gain the real skill, the subtle essential skill of liberating yourself from these things.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And while we're here, I just wanna explain to you another very key concept in the inner yoga that is essential to understand and that is Samskaras. Samskaras. As we go through life, experiences leave impressions on our subconscious and in yogic language, those impressions are known as samskaras. They feel what feels... They shape, you know, our preferences, what feels familiar, what we expect and anticipate, and how we tend to respond to certain stimuli.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And so some are painful and some samskaras are helpful. We can use the word conditioning to roughly equate to samskaras, but, of course, Sanskrit word, you know, is so much more than just English translation. So we'll come back to this concept that there's actually positive positive impressions we can create. So let's suppose... Okay.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I'll take my example. I grew up in Japan and before I came to United States at age 9.5 years old, I was painfully shy. And once in school, there was... I think early in like first grade or something, I... You know, there was a chance to speak up and I raised my hand and then I was ridiculed.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I was humiliated. And then later, another opportunity to speak appears. But this time, I... Because the previous experience was so painful, I just kept to myself. I thought better keep quiet than experience that pain of humiliation again.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Right? And then eventually, like, this thing became an identity. I had, like, I had a painful experience speaking out became I'm just not someone who speaks out. So this was like a samskara I perpetuated throughout my childhood. I...
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:That's why I became so kind of, like, introverted and kind of afraid of outside environment or putting myself out there. You know? So as an example of how the past begins speaking as if it were the entire truth in the present moment. Not every pattern arise with a clear memory attached. Sometimes you simply notice the hesitation, a familiar tightening, the impulse to withdraw.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:It can begin with what's available to notice right now. So just start with what you begin to notice. Right? You don't need to dig deep into psychotherapy and all that. Just in the unfolding of your life, notice what arises when somebody says something that's actually neutral, you know, and how we project our samskaras onto it.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Let's take an example. Right? So this little cartoon is... I call it the day in the life of ahamkara. And ahamkara, I should explain what that is.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Right? So let me just fast forward a little and just explain that in yogic psychology one zero one, there are four functional parts of the mind. And actually, this is just a gross overview because yogic psychology goes much subtler and deeper than just four parts. But I don't wanna spend a lot of time here. I just want you to understand the four basic functioning parts.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:First part is called Manas, and it is the part of the mind that lives closest to your sensory apparatus. It coordinates. It associates. It's all that, you know, that makes you aware of the environment. Right?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And is that part of your consciousness that holds all the impressions from this lifetime and perhaps previous ones as well. It's a vast reservoir of impressions, chitta. And then the third part of the mind is known as Buddhi, very important faculty. I could say it's the higher mind. It is the intellect that analyzes that executive branch of your mind that makes decisions and judgment calls.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And Buddhi is a very, very important part of our mind. And then Ahamkara. Ahamkara is the one we were to talk about. Right? Ahamkara is that function of the mind that appropriates everything to itself.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Like, I'm in a bad mood. It's like taking a state of emotional at unease and attributing it to me. Right? This is my opinion. It's taking a certain thought from a certain perspective and saying, ascribing me to it.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So is, you know, it's interesting word. Two Sanskrit words, which means eye, and which means to make. So it's literally the eye maker. Isn't that interesting? So the eye maker, let's go back to that cartoon.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:You're just having a perfectly normal afternoon, maybe sipping a cup of tea or coffee, and then boom, there appears a text on your phone. Just four words. Can we talk tomorrow? And it comes from somebody important in your life. Maybe it's your boss.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And in that moment, manus is scanning through all of the data stored in your chitta, all the associations, maybe an earlier criticism from your boss, maybe a conversation in a meeting that went badly. And it's like going through all of this data and then the eye maker makes it personal. Oh, I've done something wrong. There's, oh boy, I'm in trouble. They're always disappointed in me.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I always get it wrong and you start to... Your heart starts to sink. It's just four letters on the phone. Right? And suddenly, you're preparing your defense thesis.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Just notice the movement. Right? A message comes... Becomes an interpretation and the interpretation becomes a state and then that state of being becomes a statement, an identity about who you are. Your shoulders tighten, you reread it, and you start explaining a problem that may not even exist.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Right? So this is just an example of how, you know, we start to create reality superimposed on what actually is. We start to... This Ahamkara starts to project its own reality onto what already is. Right?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So this is where yoga gives us a very powerful tool. And I had this beautiful image here of the goddess holding this incredible sword. It's one of her most powerful weapons, the sword. It's the sword of Viveka. Viveka means discernment.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:It's the power to distinguish between what's actually real and what is unreal, what is fabricated. Right? Viveka is peeling through the layers of our being and getting crystal clear. Like, okay. I have a body of a certain age, but it's not the whole of who I am.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:I have this vehicle, right, that is the medium for my three-dimensional experience of life, but it's not the whole of me, viveka. And viveka can exist really only if you have had glimpses of that yourself as pure consciousness. Right? Out in the social world, it is so normal to think of me as an object. Right?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:But yoga says, and specifically Patanjali who gave us Yoga Sutras says, so emphatically that you are never the object, you are the eternal subject. And Viveka, the sword of knowledge, is the ability to distinguish between that. Right? So whenever you allow yourself to become an object, in that moment, you have shrunk and limited yourself to becoming that object of others' perception. And then you're really stuck in the where you feel the judgment of everybody because you're so attached to your identity as this limited body personality package.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:No one has done it to you. You have shrunk yourself. Notice. Right? So here's the essential practice.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:A moment to moment practice. It is this constant vigilance of remaining as the seer. Remain the eternal subject. Don't shrink yourself and become the object, and it will save you from so much suffering, especially those sufferings that we go through when we think we're being judged. Let's take a recent example in the area you chose.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Right? So you chose one area of your life to work with and if you can write down these three things in that arena. K? So if you're not somewhere where you can write this down, I would encourage you to come back to this point and do it like a workshop because I tell... I promise you, it will be life changing.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So write down three things. What actually happened? What's the objective thing that happened, right, without you transposing anything on it? And then what did I make it mean about me? And then when I believe that...
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:This is question number three. When I believe that what I projected on it, what do I do or stop myself from doing? Please do this exercise when you have a moment. So this is part of the three part yogic process of listening. At first, there's listening, Shravana, and then next, there is Manana, contemplation of what you heard.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And then third, embodying it. So this question process, this inquiry process is absolutely important to engage with if you don't want this material sitting as a fancy concept, another podcast you listen to, and you store it away in your knowledge of one day you implement. Forget it. You're never gonna do it. No.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:You have to juxtapose it to your life right now. Otherwise, it is just growing a big head. Right? What's the use of that? So let's look at that answer.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:That is where the identity starts directing your life. Right? The question now is, can I recognize this pattern without making that pattern the entirety of me? Let's explore this directly. I'm gonna take you into a tarna.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So, again, if you're driving, don't do this, you know, with eyes closed. Maybe you can just listen. And if you are in a place where you can close your eyes and sit quietly, please do that. Feel the support beneath you. You can close your eyes or let your gaze rest softly.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Let the breath come and go at its own pace. Notice a sound or a soundscape. Notice a sensation, a warmth, a pressure, a contact. Now notice a thought. If one is present, you don't have to stop it.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:A thought is there and you are aware of it. Bring back the sentence that you wrote in this previous exercise. Perhaps it's I have to keep everyone happy. It's this pattern you noticed. Or I'm just not someone who can do this.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Or I'm the one who has to do it because nobody else will. Just notice the words. Notice any sensation accompanying them. Now I invite you to try adding this sentence in front of that thought. I am noticing the thought that...
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:For example, I'm noticing the thought that I have to keep everyone happy. The thought may still be there. What happens when you recognize it as a thought rather than immediately taking instructions from it? The thought is known. The sensation is known.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:For a few moments, give your attention the simple fact of awareness. Is a description the whole of what you are? Of course not. Right? I am consciousness is the possibility we are exploring through this teaching.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:The familiar story can arise within awareness. It does not need to occupy the entire field. So let's keep this as an inquiry process. Whenever you are in a stressful situation, whenever maybe you've experienced a conflict, just take a step back, calm yourself down, regulate your nervous system, then go through this three part questioning process. Right?
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:What actually happened? What did I make it mean? And then when I believe that, what do I... How do I act or what does it stop me from doing? So yoga's inviting a deeper exploration.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Can I play this role well while maintaining the awareness that I am pure consciousness? Can you maintain and be centered in who and what you truly are and still do what needs to be done in this moment? Absolutely possible. You can be fully engaged, bring your intelligence, your care, your creativity to what's right in front of you and still maintain the awareness of your true identity that I am pure consciousness, isn't it? That is the essential skill that yoga with a capital y is trying to teach you.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And there's such a beautiful freedom in that versatility. It's a essential skill. So yoga is defined as skill in action in one of the main bible of yoga, which is known as Bhagavad Gita. Yoga is skill in action. So from here, we can begin to participate consciously in who we become.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So there is something you can begin to work with your life right here. And I wanted to offer you a gift as we come to the conclusion of this experience and I wanted to invite you to a complimentary thirty minute conversation where we can talk about what came forward through this work and what is asking for your attention, where you would welcome support. And I will practice deep listening and share my perspective and support you and considering your next step forward. And, you know, I just want to let this be a conversation. I've been really longing to get to know the people in my tribe more deeply.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:So this is a gift to you, And, I'm putting the link in the email that has this video in it and also it'll be in the description below it. So, please click a time and I really ask you to honor that time because I'm not charging for this. It's my gift to you freely given, but please honor it by being in a place where you can focus a 100%. Please don't be multitasking because it's your life and future we're talking about. It's your identity we're talking about.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Right? So the booking link will be in the description as well as in the email. And the other gift I wanted to give you is to join the Visionary Circle. It's a completely free group, and we... I'll be sharing various events.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:And because we're in this great amazing city of New York City and also there'll be online experiences for those of you who are not based in New York City, and it's my desire to create a community beyond just the mat because yoga, you know, we wanna break this stereotype or prejudice for the lack of a better word that yoga is just on the mat. Yoga continues into life, into art, into music, into lived experiences and connecting with each other. So I'm gonna put the link and there may be also a QR code where you can scan and you can join the WhatsApp group for the Visionary Circle. And in the warmer weather you'll be getting exclusive invitations to Yoga Outdoors and you know other exclusive invitations to the events I put on as well as events in the city that I curate that I think would be a great fit for our tribe who is growing in consciousness and evolution. So I wanna thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your time in listening and watching and being with me in this way.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:It's a great time for shifting. The twenty twenties is an incredible time of transformation, accelerated evolution. So let's embrace it. Whatever shows up in your reality is your teacher. Here's to becoming the creator of your identity moment by moment.
Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa:Lots of love.