The Awakening Fund

Hello! My name is Dor and for the past 15 years I’ve been on a quest to express the essence of the dharma in every aspect of our human lives. One part of this, which is how you may have discovered this page, is my book The Heart Illuminated. The other is that I’ve been investing in interventions that facilitate the process of awakening. 

I wish to scale up this operation beyond me. Bigger community, more resources, stronger message, wider scope of industry. I want to make this a thing-in-the-world, a niche in the market that is investible and full of companies that are profitable at scale.

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Remember how we used to have to look at a map before going on a trip? You’d figure out the best path, perhaps even memorize the roads, what landmarks imply taking a left or a right.
Meditation is sort of like that; preparing in advance for the trip, for actual life. But what if you had a suite of tools, interfacing with your body and mind in real time, all subtly nudging you to stay on track? 

What if we could live an increasingly-more-awake life without spending a minute on the cushion? 

What sort of society might we craft if we’re able to connect to one another at an immediate and deep level, recognizing the shared ground of reality we all inhabit, without having to rely on the human equivalent of dogs sniffing each others’ butts in making sure the other person has our preferred set of ideologies?

A little non-intrusive tickle to the brain, calming your amygdala just enough to take a real deep breath.

A tiny EEG electrode bundled into your earphone, connected to an AI whispering in your ear and occasionally directing your attention to a more expanded awareness. 

Gentle haptic feedback reflecting to you how your posture has changed in the current social situation, 

coupled with optional guidance on your smart device for how to feel the underlying suppressed emotion rather than escaping it. 

Even before we have a “Waze”,
What if you could tune down your prefrontal cingulate cortex just enough to start your meditation retreat from a place of deep equanimity?

Sanmai

A safe, non-intrusive, deep brain stimulation and imaging system powered by focused ultrasound. It’s capable of safely and subtly tuning deep brain structures. The results are picked up by the device itself, allowing for immediate and ongoing readjustments. Each of the targets I’ve tried were useful in the context of meditation and the path; particularly the PCC, which is greatly responsible for tying the whole of the “small self” together. 

I’ve been following Jay’s work since 2016, when we met at the TransTech conference. He’s been working with Shinzen, a famous western meditation teacher, who had conceived of some of the stimulation targets Jay has been working on the year Jay and I were born. :)

^{Getting zapped in the top pic; with Shinzen and Dr. Jay in the bottom left one. We had previously aimed the device “blind”, but here in 2019 were finally assisted by imaging.}

We’re now planning a first ultrasound-enhanced meditation cohort. Join the Telegram community channel if you’re interested!

Cognigenics

This is the stuff of Sci-Fi: a very short-term, highly-targeted alteration of gene expression in the brain. Relying on RNA interference using shRNA, Cognigenics’ first target – the Serotonin 5HT2a receptor subtype – leads to a 34% reduction in anxiety and a doubling of the learning rate when tuned down in mice. Human safety trials are about to begin, following which we hope to conduct a first retreat augmented by this intervention. 

All it takes is a single nasal spray to relax the limbic system for a few short days. So much of meditation involves learning to regulate this network, leading to the sense of settledness and safety required before the deep work to change the basic assumptions and configuration of the mind can truly take place. Guidance provided along with the intervention will assist users in identifying the relaxed versus activated states as well as uproot entrenched core beliefs causing the limbic system to be overly activated to begin with.

On a societal level, I imagine a tool that keeps people grounded and rational in times of great turmoil could inoculate us against ever-escalating fear mongering and divisive control strategies. Cognigenics was co-founded by Dean Radin of IONS fame, an world-renowned investigator on the frontiers of consciousness research.

Neurable

On the seemingly-mundane front,
Dr. Ramses Alcaide, who’s been working on his AI signal analysis solution as a publishing scientist for about 10 years, has a working product that uses simple EEG electrodes, placed inside of commercial headphones and even inside earbuds, to offer fidelity close to matching that of standard lab-grade EEG systems. 

^{Co-founders Adam Molnar and Dr. Ramses Alcaide with a VR headset/EEG combo}

Dr. Ramses, who had always found meditation to be challenging, developed a technological solution that helped him tailor a self-care regime for himself. “Insights coming from the Neurable app have not only improved my meditation, but also helped me pinpoint which techniques worked best for me”. “When I was given a work-break recommendation, the measurements in the app helped identify when I needed a quick breathing break versus when I needed to regulate my emotions.”

Humanity Tech

And back to Brain Zapping. Created by founder Dr. Blake Gurfein, this novel technology relies on generating radiofrequency magnetic fields which rapidly improve mitochondrial function brain-wide. The effect regulates cell metabolism, aiding in energy generation and reducing inflammation in the process.

Not only does this technology promote recovery from neurological and psychiatric conditions, but .. it can act as a technological nootropic, supporting energy generation AND the process of waste disposal in brain cells.

I had first tried it after a disturbed night’s sleep, overwhelmed during a conference and sporting a piercing headache. Within a minute, the pain subsided. A few minutes later, only traces remained, and I was instead energized and happy to return to my conference duties.

I had already been an investor, though, so I may be biased. ;)

It is my hope that this simple-to-use device becomes a standard not just for therapeutic purposes; early research shows an entrainment effect on the mitochondria’s own EM fields, coupling them to the device’s and improving their functionality. Aside from the immense potential benefits to brain health and power, this gentle intervention can hopefully support daily meditation through a calm and energized mind.

This isn’t the type of company that I would generally expect to find in my portfolio as I’m more into depositing energy into the brain than altering its chemical makeup,

Tactogen

But I have been deeply impressed by both Tactogen founders and their work. Creating what I can only describe as a molecule that’s a half-class above MDMA – already a tough act to beat when it comes to creating a peaceful, comfortable, and energized healing space – Tactogen has created a similar molecule with superior qualities for both therapy and awakening.

Their crafted MDMA-like molecule interfaces differently to its core target, the neuronal pumps that govern the concentration of neurotransmitters in the synaptic junction. By emphasizing SERT and lowering DAT and NET reuptake activities, and by a careful jiggering of a few other parameters, MDMA-like qualities are maintained, but the effect is less depleting to the serotonin system, has reduced cardiovascular risks, has a less disconcerting onset, and a longer effect time without a second dose being required, which is one of a few contributing factors to neurotoxicity being significantly engineered out of the way. 

This class of mind-altering substances – Entactogens – lower neuroticism, defensiveness, and increase feelings of connection to self and other through establishing an “internal safe space” that allows a “deep cleaning of the soul”, especially coupled with skillful guidance and therapy. 

Tactogen was founded and is led by neuroscientist Matthew Baggott, Ph.D (left). and ⁨Luke Pustejovsky. Matt started his career decades ago in the first lab to study the long-term effects of MDMA on the brain and later consulted with MAPS; a foremost expert in the field of Entactogens and the only person I’ve ever agreed to take advice from for my roll supplement stack. 

More than a fund?

My preferred model for this endeavor would look something like a partially-decentralized and autonomous organization (DAO): multiple, varied stakeholders all enjoying the increase of value of the entire venture as they each contribute according to their capabilities and get rewarded based on pre-established criteria as well as ad-hoc, community-based decisions. Unfortunately, living in the US, and catering to many US participants, this is between illegal and impossible: Participants in this forming organization cannot be given a finder’s fee for bringing in teams we end up investing in; US investors have to be “accredited”, closing the pathway to small investors, which I would have wanted to join us as champions of this undertaking, also receiving exclusive invites to augmented retreats and priority opportunities to use novel awakening tech; and so on. 

Instead, I am contemplating creating multiple entities:

A Small Fund
into which I can transfer my existing investments, more of my own money, and collect other aligned investor funds into. This would allow me to approach potential investments from a place of their knowing I can lead their funding rounds.

I am in a unique position to do deep due diligence on such companies, having a good grasp of the science, tech, business and dharma involved. It is my hope that upon giving my stamp of approval, in collaboration with our science and tech advisors and under the watch of a wisdom committee, we can then pull in other funds in related fields (brain health, cognitive enhancement, mental healthcare) into the deal.

It’s not all going to happen right away, of course; I intend to start with the fund and move from there as more people join, more resources are collected, and more opportunities are generated.

More about Dor

I spent most of my 20s in the academy doing interdisciplinary brain research and most of my 30s being an entrepreneur and CEO in the decentralization space, leveraging my knowledge of neuroscience to inform my views and vision for collaborative human networks.

When I read “The Mind Illuminated” in 2016, I realized Culadasa had written the book I had wanted to. I quickly connected with him, retreated for months under his guidance, and became certified as a teacher. Around the same time, I moved to the SF Bay Area to find friends on the Enlightenment Engineering path and began consulting and investing in companies in that space, aiming to scale up access to awakening using modern means.

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I currently also serve on the board of Emergence Benefactors, a non-profit org which supports healthy outcomes for individuals undergoing the process of awakening. The org funds and supports rigorous, objective scientific research into the study of awakening practices and their effects across all modalities, including meditation, psychedelics, and neurotech. 

This is part of my attempt at driving consciously self-directed evolution at societal scale.

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Dedicated to John Yates, Ph.D., AKA Culadasa, my teacher and guide

Who, with enthusiasm matching my own, encouraged my explorations into this space, both intellectually and experientially. He would be the first to sign up to participate in any experiment to get his brain zapped or imaged, always offering reports of experiential, scientific, and dharmic significance. 

Thank you for inspiring me on this path. <3