We are born with unique gifts—some bold, some hidden beneath hardship. Yet within each of us is a divine spark. True leadership begins when we help ourselves—and then others—unlock the path to transcendence.
– Deepak Parashar
Step into this enlightening interview as host Stacey Chillemi guides us through the groundbreaking insights of engineer‑turned‑spiritual explorer Deepak Parashar. With a career spanning 34 years, leading power-plant initiatives and cross-functional teams in over 30 countries, and moments alongside luminaries like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Deepak bridges pragmatic precision and soul-centered wisdom. His techno-spiritual book, Life — The Spiritual Essence, distilled from 14 years of research spanning 38 countries, is specifically tailored for the Tier-1 Global Professional to strive for excellence in all endeavors, both professional and personal.
The book features a holistic, strategic, and action-oriented framework called the “Six Trigger Points,” which took over a decade to develop, test, and refine. They are crafted to bridge the realms of high performance and soulful fulfillment daily — designed to work in harmony, transforming relentless pressure into boundless inner wealth. Listed below are examples of how this self-sustaining energy chart works.
Whether you’re a high-performing professional seeking sustainable resilience or someone seeking profound spiritual growth, this interview peels back the layers of stress, ego, and habit to reveal actionable practices. From harnessing emotional alchemy to cultivating cosmic interconnectedness, prepare to discover how five mindful minutes each morning can redefine your energy, sharpen your focus, and launch you into exponential personal and professional excellence.
Thank you so much for joining us on your “Spiritual Billionaire” series podcasts! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?
Namaste and thank you, Stacey. My career as an engineer-MBA led to managing large energy initiatives globally, where 12- to 16-hour days, including weekend work, were routine. On paper, I had it all: an MBA, industry expertise, and demonstrated leadership skills. However, such relentless demands inevitably lead to stress unless they are carefully managed. Three pivotal incidents within six months commencing the end of 2008 — including a “chance” meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a flight to Tokyo — shifted everything. Sensing a unique calling, I embarked on a 14-year global experiential odyssey of research.
This journey led me to engage with over 100 thought leaders across various professions — industry, education, the space program, defense, arts and entertainment, and the clergy — complemented by deep scriptural study and extraordinary travels ranging from the Arctic Circle to the haunting grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Testing every insight in the crucible of daily life, I distilled my discoveries into Life — The Spiritual Essence, which expounds the interconnected nature of our existence through the substratum of energy guided by celestial intelligence.
Can you give us an overview of the Six Trigger Points?
Certainly. To achieve extraordinary demands, more than talent — it takes tremendous self-esteem. But to get there, we first must understand the “Real-Me” versus the “Perfect-Me”, in essence, the fall of the ego. These daily triggers, reviewed five minutes every morning, get you started on the process of re-engineering within, by progressively working through six action-oriented quadrants of the mind which incorporate 25 sub-triggers. Then ask yourself the next morning: How did I fare? Over time, you’ll see that most of life’s actions and challenges are woven within these six essential points. This daily rhythm of awareness and self-mastery is what makes the extraordinary possible.
The Six Triggers constitute:
1. Rise Above the Traits: Map your three core energies (purity, passion, dullness) and consciously direct passion towards pure, aligned purpose.
2. Work into Worship: Infuse sacred intention into each task, eroding egoic friction, and invite effortless flow by understanding the transitory nature of your fears.
3. Dynamic Quietude: Cultivate an inner command center of stillness, allowing rapid, clear decisions under pressure.
4. Cosmic Power Within: Understand the interconnected nature of our existence, and align with nature’s rhythms (sunrise, seasons, biological cycles) to win daily.
5. Eye of Wisdom: Cultivate nonjudgmental awareness to perceive subtle cues within yourself and others. In doing so, rise into a cheerful, dynamic presence — a force of positivity and influence.
6. Progressive Fearlessness: Dare to dream of gradually expanding your comfort zone, strategically transforming doubt into a catalyst for action.
What inspired you to create this chart?
The spark struck at 38,000 feet on a Heathrow-JFK flight. Somewhere mid-air, a single verse from the Gita hit with such force that I found myself sketching a dozen transformative practices on the back of a boarding pass. Back on the ground, those ideas were put to the test in real-world conditions: client negotiations, field operations, and spiritual circles. Over the next 14 years, I gathered insights from across the spectrum — from the underprivileged to the affluent, from global leaders and scientists to executives and spiritual mentors. Each insight fed into an ongoing process of testing and refinement, ultimately shaping what is now a dynamic, living, and powerful energy tool: the Six Triggers Chart.
Trigger 1: Rise Above Traits — what are they in practice? Can you also address the interplay of fear, desire, and anger?
Certainly, we each possess and embody three traits or energies — purity, passion, and dullness — in varying proportions depending on our level of spirituality. Our challenge is to direct our passion (our “gas pedal”) toward purity. Fear, desire, and anger are linked: when we desire something, we pour passion into it, fear losing it, and often become angry. The solution is to look through the object of desire, thereby putting it into a suspended animation — much like a boxer’s power fades when lifted off the ground.
A sage once shared a simple yet profound technique that exemplifies how triggers work both alone and in harmony. With mindful awareness (Trigger 6d) of his anger (Trigger 1a), he would pause before reacting (Trigger 2b), then gently envision placing his anger into a balloon and watching it drift away. Within moments, a serene smile — like that of a Cheshire Cat — would grace him.
Trigger 2: Work into Worship — how can professionals apply this today?
Stacey, I have always loved walking through office corridors — whether at the workplace, supplier facilities, or client offices. Over time, I began noticing four distinct types of people: those who are highly systematized, those who are action-oriented, those who are naturally reserved, and, on rare occasions, those who embody a powerful blend of all three types — the “warrior–monk.”
Celebrated examples of this warrior–monk archetype appear across many fields: from Roger Federer gliding effortlessly across a tennis court to Flamenco dancers performing intricate moves within the tight confines of their stage. These individuals show mastery within structure, action, and stillness, all at once.
Interestingly, this observation echoes a framework from formal Yoga practice, which speaks of four paths: Devotional (Bhakti) Yoga, Action (Karma) Yoga, Intellectual (Jnana) Yoga, and their synthesis, Raja Yoga. Each offers a unique approach, yet all share the same aim: skillful effort performed without ego, free from the weight of past fears or attachment to future results. And when work takes on this spirit, it becomes worship — leading to a living miracle of life, with excellence transcending into a greater cause to help others, creating ripples of purity and positive change at a macro level.
Trigger 3: Dynamic Quietude — what is this inner silence?
Dynamic Quietude is all about applying the great wisdom acquired effectively and appropriately. You cleanse out a jittery mind, and with knowledge comes a sense of fulfilment and silence in action. Men and women of great wisdom conserve their energy, often utilizing economy in speech while acting with concerted efficiency.
In other words, it is a dynamic energy that has been quietened down to operate most efficiently. When the mind slows its incessant chatter, a divine focus emerges — apparent inaction masking profound, deliberate action. I once attended a concert by Ustad Zakir Hussain, the master of the twin-drum Indian instrument, the Tabla. His performance was pure yoga of action: intense focus expressed as utter stillness within, while his hands created celestial vibrations for all to experience.
Trigger 4: Cosmic Power Within — how do you reinforce it daily?
Cosmic Power is about understanding the implicit laws of the universe and aligning ourselves with them.
Have you ever felt that the world operates in an uncanny balance, where each individual action contributes to a vast, interwoven design? Consider the lives of actors, generals, doctors, and singers, examine what shaped them, and then reflect on your own life path. Would their roles have suited you, or yours suited them? It may just dawn on you that, though seemingly unrelated, we are all working in perfect synchrony toward a higher purpose — one that transcends us individually yet connects us all. It also reinforces just how special your life and contributions are to others.
To harmonize with these universal laws, we must align our daily rhythm with nature itself. The early morning hours are imbued with purity, making them ideal for meditation, introspection, exercise, and creativity. Across cultures, this time has been revered as the time of creation, where cosmic energies, amplified by the stillness of the ether, are at their purest. Step outside, and nature itself greets you with the joyous songs of birds. Our passion trait — the drive to act and work — naturally dominates until early evening, before yielding to a period of rest and reflection as the day winds down.
And when you truly grasp this interconnectedness, something profound happens — you begin to celebrate the success of others as though it were your own. This simple shift in perspective is a powerful key to unlocking joy, both professionally and personally.
Triggers 5 & 6: Eye of Wisdom, and Progressive Fearlessness — how do they work?
Let me share my own journey. As I improved in Triggers 1–4 through diligent, daily effort, I noticed something remarkable: I was operating at a higher level, and long-standing negative traits began to fade away. People told me I carried myself with cheerful dynamism — leading through laughter, temperance, and strategic vision.
I also learned something profound about fear — they are largely transitory. When you look fear directly in the eye and confront it head-on, it begins to dissolve. You realize you can dare to dream — regardless of age — and more importantly, turn those dreams into focused action without worrying about the outcome.
Obstacles? They are not barriers, but springboards; they exist to propel each of us into excellence. Study the lives of 10 leaders who inspire you. You will note a common thread: each faced extreme odds yet persevered, blazing a trail for us to follow.
How can someone start integrating these triggers tomorrow morning?
Before beginning your daily routine, take a few minutes to reflect on how you fared against each of these triggers the previous day. I was amazed at how effective and encompassing they were — not only could I pick out low-hanging fruit to quickly resolve, but I also came to realize how the mind is like a rubber ball: squeeze one way, it pops out in another direction. It takes a larger strategy to contain excesses. Here is a hilarious story of a relative who tried the Six Trigger points. She said, “For a week, I was walking on water, doing everything right. And then I fell off the cliff, all my old negativities resurfaced!”
With concerted practice comes a familiarity with how these triggers work individually and in combinations to help you navigate life’s daily challenges. They also work in parallel as a wonderful set of “lessons learned” to analyze how you fared the previous day. What you are really doing is rewiring your brain’s circuitry, reshaping your thought patterns toward progressive excellence.
Final words of inspiration?
The Six Triggers are inherently spiritual and universal in nature. When practiced with diligence, your conscious choices gradually become purified, transforming into intuition or primed soul guidance when the mind is calm and illumined. Those who commit to this self-sustaining energy practice will quickly realize that positive change isn’t easy; at times, it can feel almost impossible. It takes focused effort, grit, and daily introspection to move beyond surface-level intentions and embed these conscious choices so deeply that they become an effortless part of one’s daily life. Laughter is involuntary, just like anger!
This is where holistic preparation meets opportunity — by living fully in the present moment whilst honing exceptional skills. These simple “mental housecleaning” techniques create a foundation that reinforces your future endeavors, be it building a consistent meditation practice, dedicating your life to serving a greater community, or deepening your spiritual or religious path.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Connect on LinkedIn and Facebook. I am also on X, Instagram, and Threads. The Six Trigger Points are further explained in detail in my Book, Life — The Spiritual Essence, available on Amazon and other platforms.
Deepak, your depth of insight — bridging engineering precision and spiritual wisdom — offers our community a transformative roadmap. Thank you for sharing these profound practices.
Thank you, Stacey. It’s been a privilege. Namaste!
