Inside the Wellness Festival for Millionaires | Fringes 

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"Money is a measure of the value you are contributing to the world." Yes, please, tell that to all the teachers, doctors, social workers and everybody else who is literally making sure we as a society do not collapse.

"Money is a measure of the value you are contributing to the world" instantly showed me EVERY color of that mans character.

That interview with him was very unsettling. The type of energy that would either make you hate him or walk away in tears. I bet he goes through assistants and partners like crazy.

The way Vishnen cut off Sydney to say bye to the Princess Rym and the way he treated his assistant speaks volumes.

the way he freaked out at being called a "guru" just shows how aware he is that he's moving towards cult leader territory

So that’s how I make easy money, by running a spiritual wellness grift on rich people. Thanks Vice!

I like how real and authentic Sydney is. She stayed true to herself throughout, and that’s not always easy to do. I also like her sense of humor. She made me laugh too many times to count. And you are already a positive changemaker to the people in your life, of that I am sure. 🙏🏻

You can volunteer at a soup kitchen freely, help those with mental health challenges freely, use your talents to help those around you freely. This video is a reflection of vanity. I'm probably preaching to the choir.

The way he treated his assistant just shows what kind of person he is

The moment he said the Buddha would be a CEO today is just precious.

Working at an Executive Assistant for half my life with multiple leaders: I can tell you Sydney shows all the capacity for true leadership . She holds space for things she doesn’t understand, listens, learns, and does her best to actively engage as well as gather information critically to form her opinion. So many red flags about this “CEO”: if my leader ever opened a meeting saying we only have twenty-five minutes to ANYONE: we’d have a fight. It’s saying you’re not important when their office choose to schedule the meeting right before a closing ceremony ? I’m addition - the interview content was horrid. He wasn’t prepared. He didn’t have any rational or logical argument - it was all conjecture and opinion. The Buddha comment and the “Bedouin” party. What??? culturally appropriate and I guess call it spiritualism??? They also did that in the mediation - it’s from the Vedas and it’s called the Akash. It should be lead by an experienced meditation circle leader and it should NEVER be caught on film (it’s a violation of the purpose of the meditation and the group’s privacy). People are told to scream, yell, make animal noses… This summit it’s just a mosh of faiths that are sacred without context, guidance, or any spiritual understanding, which is dangerous and misguided. This place makes a mockery of faith and it humiliates people and they don’t even understand…Because they just want to be better people because being an adult is so lonely so their attracted to something branded as healing… when this summit long term will really just making you more lonley because it has no true purpose to enlighten, guide, or nurture. I work for a WONDERFUL leader today and literally yesterday - I should have flagged her sooner on a meeting. She pulled me aside. That’s trust. His assistant was just doing her job by interrupting. He treated her and Sydney as a reporter and he treated them like they were worthless, and frankly, came-off as classist and sexist. Dude is not an ethical person and he’s doing something fraudulent . This video has “misguided cult leader” and “embezzler” all over it.

the guy at the end with the beatboxing flute had more talent in his index finger than most of the people at that festival had in their entire bodies

"to read a book by literally touching it" had me literally bursting out laughing

This guy is classic modern day cult leader vibes. Find people that are lost or seeking something and you’ve got success. Everyone feels like they have a very close relationship with him even though I’m sure most of them barely know him. He’s got everyone under a spell. Pretty crazy stuff!

Sydney (the reporter) was amazing in this! Down to earth and genuine.

Wow I’m shocked but also not surprised at the same time. I was introduced to Vishen and Mindvalley 2 years ago by my mom who was obsessed with the whole thing. She had a Mindvalley subscription and would follow all the classes on the app. She even bought his book and bought me a copy so I can read it. Personally, I always felt like the Mindvalley bs was very cult like and even kept telling her this but she wouldn’t listen. However, I really enjoyed reading his book and learned life lessons that I still use to this day. But regardless, I always had a gut feeling something was off about the guy and his whole brand

The BEST part of this was Sydney. What a gem of a reporter, actually being appropriately cynical and questioning of this

I remember Muhamad Ali once said "I do not trust anyone that treats a waiter badly because it means they would have treated me the same if I was in that position" The way he spoke to his assistance speaks volumes about him... Oh and this reporter is just jaw dropping beautiful.

In theory she is the perfect candidate to "convert" to a "change maker". She's curious yet guarded, aware of energy yet not sold on tools that tell us where it is. Yet the conversion never happens because the underlying tone of the experience she's engaged in is rooted in the sole leaders' inability to be the change and embody the values he espouses and markets. Until we take what we learn beyond the doing (such as attending a festival) and bring it into the being (daily practice), we never become a better version of ourselves and if we're not careful we become something like Vishen, complete with a 1.6m view exposé on Vice.

What you see in people is a reflection of some aspect of yourself. The fact that you went on the journey and shared the experience with us already qualifies you as a change maker, you just have to embrace it.

I love Sydney’s skepticism and how insightful she was.. to not feed into this absurdity… I hope she’s aware that her reaction to that breathing workshop was an internal alarm to RUN

Amazing racket! 400 people at $3,000 each = $1,200,000 for a 4 day “wellness retreat.” It’s an impressive con. Well done Vishen! You are right previous generations have nothing on you!

Woah! 😮 Things are not always as they seem. Before watching this video, I had only ever seen Vishen’s commercials on RU-vid, and was shocked to see this darker side of him revealed. Amusingly, his commercial was played during the ad segment of this video 😂.

When he first got started, I was drawn to his content, but now I can’t even stand the sound of his voice, that’s how much his energy has changed.

Having attended seminars for both, it's amazing how similar wealth and mindfulness events attract the same kind self-absorbed people.

She is fearless and I dig her willingness to even venture into that lunacy. This is fascinating and hilarious at the same time.

Favorite line; 10:28 " With my breath work induced panic attack successfully averted, I'm excited to be meeting Linda Clemens,.....

Ok I ain’t even finish the intro, but reading a book by touching it is crazy as hell.

that linda clemmons lady actually seems genuine, and she wasn't even wrong, body language changes the way people perceive you and she seems genuinely sweet and nice, unlike everyone else there

The irony of this whole event is beyond beautiful to me. The spiritually dead seeking guidance from their own kind. Wallow in your wealth, because me and mine are rich with life. That’s the thing with these people, they will always miss the mark. They create that barrier themselves by living the life that they do. How many suffering people did they have to walk past to attend this festival? Money might just be a measure of what you have to contribute to this world. Which leads me to another point of sweet, sweet irony. Those without money are more likely, in my eyes at least, to contribute positively. These people’s wealth just contribute to what’s been oppressing humanity for years. So they can go ahead and look for happiness in each other, but they’d do well to know that they won’t find it until they take a look in the mirror and examine themselves.

Linda was the best part of the whole retreat she brought VALUE

I loved roberto and his stuffed friend it really was so wholesome in this madness

This guy is a power-drive monopolist operating in the personal wellness realm. You could tell by the way that he spoke to his assistant, and disregarded the interviewer as soon as he thought the cameras were off, that all his loving/connecting messages actually mean nothing to him when it comes to his genuine interactions. He just enjoys elevating his status socially and financially by manipulating people.

This was so delightfully sarcastic. The beatboxing recorder player is by far the best part of the video. True talent.

You're a change maker in my heart with your up close and inside journalism.

it reminds me a lot of all those fundamentalist evangelical christian festivals I used to enjoy as a teenager and young adult. A-fest gives me some mega-church vibes without the church. This is Hillsong in atheist or as "the goddess is me". What he sais in the beginning "People connect deeply when you have a shared experience of insight or a shared experience of awe" sums it all up. It is true. He gives people the opportunity to have this experience in the same way these mega churches do. I remember having the time of my life until I couldn't believe all of the theory any more and started disagreeing. And boy did I feel lonely afterwards.

What I enjoyed the most about this documentary is that not only Sydney kept her journalistic integrity and a healthy dose of detachment, but she managed to capture many facets of a tricky industry without judgement. That's wisdom and no festival can teach you that.

This interviewer did an exceptional job, bringing this mentality to light. It’s a joke. There is no self improvement, it’s chasing an idealism of a person. The “guru” is toxic and avoidant. The act of self improvement falls to ourselves. Our accountability. We can connect with one another by our actions towards self improvement. So it was rewarding for those that felt they got something from the experience. But wow what a journey. But again it’s just my interpretation.

Trending topics such as mindfulness, networking and personal growth in general, have given rise to targeted events for people interested in new and meaningful experiences for their lives. After pandemic, there is a great valuable marketplace around these consumers needs; and Mindvalley is only one example of the potential that exists. Let the game begin!!

This expose was really interesting, in that there so many “healing” seminars and events offer the promise of enhanced wellness and spiritual enlightenment. This reporter was fantastic to watch. I love her honest approach to self-discovery and thoroughly appreciated the humor that she brought with her. Her thoughts were so insightful and understanding the experience of A-Fest from her perspective, helped create a more realistic understanding of this workshop. I feel so happy that she too, recognized the off-putting nuisances of Vishen’s business attitude toward people, when financial gain was not the primary motivation. This expose shows the truth in that; when wealthy business moguls create multi-million dollar concepts that portray the core principals of “positive change in the world”, even then…it does not necessarily mean that their own belief is a reflection of their financial strategy…. Thanks. Can’t wait for the next!

By the end of this you can clearly see that they regretted inviting vice news, the way he's trying to keep the interview really short at the end and his defensiveness you can tell people were freaking out that vice news was there. People are realizing this might not look as positive as they were thinking

I kind of feel like Mindvalley is something we'll see an expose documentary on in a few years. But brilliant work for capturing this and showing all its facets. (And the body language teacher seems actually really cool.)

The guy was definitely making a "connection'' with all women if you see what I mean. Love the tone you used.

A simple advice: Don't walk up to people asking them to be your friend (even if it's for a show, as a joke). This will make you look socially awkward and people tend to feel uncomfortable with this. Friendships are naturally created when we connect on the simplest things. I did really enjoy her scepticism though. The guy (Vishnu) gave me such huge ick from the very beginning. I've met people of his calibre and they are only driven by money and fame. The activities they create for the events, the talks, the parties etc etc, there's a financial aspect to it all. I wouldn't trust this dude for a second: he doesn't know how to regulate his own stress, he's nasty to the assistant which shows he's in reality really insecure etc etc. Good reporting!

“buddha wouldn’t be meditating he’d be a CEO” 😂😂😂 jesus

This feels like The White Lotus series

Very Interesting. Kept getting BOMBARDED by adverts for mind valley over the last 4 years and the way that mind valley guy speaks always raised the hairs on my back. I felt in my gut that he was a people-using money hungry totally fake opportunist and saw right through his mask. Then suddenly this documentary popped up and confirmed everything I felt and saw. Yes this rich people and spirituality self help world is where the money is at for sure. Like Tulum 😅. But gosh. Amazing how easily influenced empty people are by the fakest of people .. and i wonder how rich this awful man is now… Thank you for making this documentary. And yes integrity beautifully kept because made by a clearly good soul.

She's funny - I love her honesty. This is a bunch of weirdo rich people looking for answers they're not going to find in this BS. And the organizing guy was a real jerk.

This event looks cringe AF - Sydney your hilarious and your storytelling is solid AF 😂🤍🙏

Every time you see Syney's expression when she is talking to someone its hilarious because it looks like she is trying to not show how cynical she is about everything they are saying but it still shows so much haha

I signed up for Mindvalley membership because of Jose Silva's method. I took two of the courses by Vishen. For some reason, his voice irritated me and gave me anxiety. I didn’t feel calm and peaceful, instead, I wanted to run away from it. These 4 days “wellness retreat” did look like a big fun party. I guess it serves its purpose. 🤣

The manner in which he passive aggressively told off another human being says everything about him.

Sydney was by far the most genuine person at this large scale virtue signalling event

I am glad she attended. Another viewpoint of such an event is absolutely needed.

you don't become confident by shouting affirmations in front of the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are.

17:03 "Money is a measurement of the value you are contributing to the world" Just made every blue collar/essential worker flip the bird at this guy

This emphasizes the concept that you don't have to be smart to be rich

i literally meet vishen in thailand and we did a 2 and half hour breathing technique while he played and dj the coolest music,, i had a n epic experience, lots of beautiful visuals like i became the buddha, at the end lots of people were feeling like they were tripping, the effects of the breath work ere so much that people had accidents returning back home, i know i breathed fro that time and lucky i stay at the place of the event but i felt the effects until the night i never been so high in breathing

I love that “ Corporate and Spriirtual Success”. Talk about elite guilt.

Loved that you captured him "off camera" for a minute there. Seems like a real nice guy...

The tone of this piece was perfect. Savage where it needed to be, and also moments where earnestness from the interviewees was met with empathy from Sydney and the editing.

What Vishen said is totally legit. Any human being being misinterpreted deserves to give a proper explanation to his/her words. She as a reporter has also a very criticizing attitude which I get (and is part of the role she plays). But it doesn’t mean it’s not perceived unwelcoming for him. I totally agree with Vishen’s words, I’m not sure the words are totally aligned with this festival thing. A lot happening there seems problematic and unaligned with the “activism” he wants to bring to the world, but definitely the idea of planting seeds of change is perceived.

I am glad that you did this, I always had a feeling about Vishen that he is not what he portraits to be- I feel that he really need to investigated.

I had the chance to talk to a Native American chief-to-be, and I asked him about cult leaders and he said something that surprised me. He said that in indigenous cultures, there's not an expectation that a shaman is a good person, and in fact it's expected that there's something wrong with him. That there's kind of a trade off between getting spiritual gifts and then having something defective about your personality. He said this obsession with gurus in the west is a hold over from priest programming that tells us to believe that the spiritual leader can do no wrong, when in fact it's the opposite, that there's inherently something wrong with the people who are closest to that energy. I don't hold anything against Vishun, because he's clearly created some powerful things that have helped a lot of people, but the belief that he should then also be perfectly good is just naive.

This correspondant is FANTASTIC! I could listen to her for hours ... Such a perfectly dry sense of humor. Great job.

Human silliness. Hope you all find your path.

I loved seeing the positive interaction between Linda Clemens and Sydney! That interaction seemed to really bring her out of her shell a bit and have a moment of fun in an otherwise mostly uncomfortable situation for her. This was an interesting video!

So, the A in A-Fest stands for A-hole? The Vice lady did a great job. I was LOLing at her facial expressions at some of the things going on there. The whole friend saga was funny as heck. Also, keep the hat.

Really glad I got to see this other side of Vishnen. I’ve only seen the side he curates for the public, thank you for showing it all. The truth.

I love Sydney's energy. She's a changemaker in my book

For all those Mexicans, you will find Aislinn Derbez in 21:40. What a real whitexican

I actually really loved Linda Clemmons, she seems like such a sweet soul and one of the few, geniune people there. Her laugh is contagious.

Sydney's hilarious, I love her xD When she complained about her new "friend" ditching her lmao. Then "apart from this traitor" at the end killed me hahaha.

Great short documentary,thanks!

Very informative 😅 this answered my lingering questions 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Literally 99.% of spiritual teachings in west and india: be poor, it is good, everything is changing This guru : STONKS

You know it’s a scam when someone teaches you how to read a book by touching it 😂😂

Sooooo basically it’s a bunch of rich people patting each other on the backs. Way to go on the changes and amazing things you are doing for yourselves.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💙💚💛🧡❤️ We are ALL the SAME PERSON experiencing life in a BUNCH OF DIFFERENT BODIES!!! which means that EVERY PERSON that you meet, is really just YOU... LIVING IN ANOTHER BODY!! you see..you are INTERACTING with YOURSELF at ALL TIMES!!! & once you understand this,you can achieve unity! I and my father are one Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself 💜💙💚💛🧡❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

those types of group “breath work” concern me so much. they’re just meant to make the emotionally venerable relive traumatic events or in the case of rich losers, lament their inability to be made happy by their ill-gotten wealth. it’s making people go through as many extreme emotions as possible to make you susceptible to influence rather than actually heal any internal wounds

That interview with the CEO was so tense. 😬 You could tell he had already made up his mind about what that interview would be, and was just on the defensive correcting her the whole time. Ironic for someone who themed the event 'connection'.

i missed you vice thanks for your documentaries!

wow...wow ...wow...That was worse than a sleazy car salesman- how absolutely nasty he is when not in front of the cameras!!! What an amazing LEADER and GURU Vishen is!!!!!!Such integrity and decency!!! Thank you Sydney and Vice for showing us the TRUTH!

I used to sell life insurance, and we’d have lots of team building events that resemble this. And it looked like a very fun place to work with lots of people higher in the ranks taking interest in you and helping with every step of the way, through an entire 4 week training camp where we’d learn a 20 page sales script word for word. In the end we were writing faulty life insurance policies fully knowing they would not be payed out, and collecting the annualized commission immediately. Then when the new kids are worked to the bone and want to quit, all their clients get passed on to the manager who just keeps stacking clients and collecting more and more money , churning out young kids tricked into thinking they will become rich. Really went off on a tangent there, but the lesson I’m trying to convey is beware of people who seems too nice and things that seem too good.

gotta hand it to Vishen he found a way to seperate rich people from thier money easily and took full advantage of it.

i'm now convinced there is nothing as easy as fooling oneself

Great PR piece of Mindvalley. No critical view on anything.

This is hilarious, but it's something important we all can learn from. All the talking points at these lectures, they're points cults have used for decades. The body language woman saying "we live in a world with so many distractions these days", that's exactly what Heaven's Gate used to say. All of these seminars work on the idea of supplying you 'forgotten truths' that the world doesn't want you to know. Lots of people use this idea today to fuel their cults of opinion, on and offline. The idea that they have the answers. Hell, I'm kind of doing it right now! It's important to recognize this and not fall for that kind of laziness of thought in the future.

omg anytime this man speaks , my head hurts

I want to say that Jose Silva was a great man who brought the human potential movement to mainstream without using religion or cult psychology. I have always felt like this man jumped on his coat tails after his death and became rich and powerful. Now rich people are the only mark he is going after. He truly knows how to make money and that is his superpower and I would not want it. It should not reflect on the memory of Jose Silva

What these people need in their life is some real struggle , that's it.

Sydney may be the most grounded and realistic person in this entire gathering, love her style. Vishen is the opportunistic purveyor of the "product". For the 0.1% who have the luxury of meandering into such esoteric arenas, it's a lovely concept . . . for the rest of the population, who actually have to work in the real world to make ends meet, well . . . I was once at a somewhat similar high end "wellness" self help extravaganza. My first impression was, it was all about "new age" performance artists, catering to "successful" but desperately empty clientele looking to fill perceived voids in their lives, and getting paid absurdly well for it. I still don't get it . . .

Wow, the journalist was so professional and open-minded. The GURU (Yeah I said it) is a pompous jerk. Way to expose who he truly is. Loved the walking coach!

That was, without a doubt, the “greatest” display of men wearing fedoras I have ever seen. And just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any “better,” along comes another dude who somehow found a way to punch through that glass ceiling. Glorious.

The amount of money you need is a measure of the size of the hole in your heart.

I live in Silicon Valley. I am a computer engineer. I've done the Burning Man circuit 13 times, and this sounds nothing like Burning Man. This is a purely elitest event where people believe that by being by others of means and success, that they too become like them. If they do or not really isn't the point, though. The point is that this is a psychological operation on the participants basically. He says it's lonely at the top? It's only as lonely as you make it there. A lot of people where I live become so involved in their work that they forget the biggest work we all have - to connect to others and help the world. But while that's their choice, they certainly don't need a $3500 party to connect with others. A gentle smile and friendly hello to a hard-working, tired Costco worker will do.

MONEY CAN'T GIVE YOU COMMON SENSE

It's not invite only, you can apply on their online website and then they send you a link to buy a ticket. It's great for scammers and people who fall for the scams.

I’d like to take a moment to remind you that our society deems these people capable of participating in a democracy and voting.