Dubai's 'Yogi with a Lamborghini' on bridging the gap between money and spirituality
By Laura Buckwell • Updated: 16/10/2022 - 11:24
Copyright euronews - Credit: Dubai
Master Sri Akarshana, better known as the Yogi with a Lamborghini, is an entrepreneur turned educational motivator who has reached 35 million people through his social media channels and live performances.
Master Sri Akarshana on Twitter
Born Eric Ho in the UK, the Dubai resident credits his father for helping him develop his entrepreneurial skills.
“My dad was an entrepreneur, so he had multiple restaurants, so I grew up learning about taking bank loans, then setting up a business and cash flow,” he told Euronews.
Master Sri Akarshana and his parents
He became a millionaire at the tender age of 25 years old after getting into steel and rubber recycling.
“One of the first deals we struck was for around $15 million. So, yeah, it just happened. We just took a chance and it worked out,” he said.
But despite his early success, Master Sri became disillusioned with money and “got a little bit lost chasing material [things], supercars, watches, houses, yachts.”
At a crossroads, a meeting with a Himalayan yogi from India changed his life and gave him what he describes as an ‘awakening’.
The Newcastle-born businessman underwent yoga training in the Himalayan mountains, eventually taking on the title of Master Sri Akarshana.
Grandmaster Akshar with Sri Akarshana
While yoga’s roots can be traced back thousands of years, Master Sri Akarshana decided to give the discipline a modern twist.
The viral name Yogi with a Lamborghini, therefore, was born of a desire to bridge the gap in society between those who are goal driven and those who are more spiritually inclined.
Yogi with a LamborghiniMaster Sri Akarshana
Master Sri explained, “It's not about one or the other. It's saying that, hey, we need to learn presence of mind and breath work and things like that and happiness fulfilment. But at the same time, we live in a material world, so money does matter.
“So to get that point across… I'm going to buy a Lamborghini and I'm going to continue to practise yoga and spirituality, because all the people who are chasing materials would see the Lamborghini and say, ‘hey, this is for me, I want to learn something’, and then all of the spiritual people would come on this channel saying, ‘Why is he driving a Lamborghini?’”
Now, Master Sri wants to bring the transformative power of yoga to more people, so he is opening a yoga centre in Dubai.
“It’s going to be the biggest yoga centre in Dubai, because Dubai likes everything to be the biggest, so we decided to do the same thing.... It's around 8,500 square foot unit, so we're going to be bringing a lot of people along this journey, building the community here, helping with health and wellbeing and mental health as well” he said.
However, this project is intertwined with his latest foray into the world of blockchain and digital art.
Master Sri launched three NFT collections with Super Creators this year, a market which has grown enormously since 2020, and has linked the collection with his yoga business.
“Aside from just selling let's say pixelated artwork that a lot of people are doing, ours has a real utility to it, where everybody who holds the NFT will be able to get free access to the yoga centre and all the training” he said.
Master Sri explained, “It's not about one or the other. It's saying that, hey, we need to learn presence of mind and breath work and things like that and happiness fulfilment. But at the same time, we live in a material world, so money does matter.
“So to get that point across… I'm going to buy a Lamborghini and I'm going to continue to practise yoga and spirituality, because all the people who are chasing materials would see the Lamborghini and say, ‘hey, this is for me, I want to learn something’, and then all of the spiritual people would come on this channel saying, ‘Why is he driving a Lamborghini?’”
Now, Master Sri wants to bring the transformative power of yoga to more people, so he is opening a yoga centre in Dubai.
“It’s going to be the biggest yoga centre in Dubai, because Dubai likes everything to be the biggest, so we decided to do the same thing.... It's around 8,500 square foot unit, so we're going to be bringing a lot of people along this journey, building the community here, helping with health and wellbeing and mental health as well” he said.
However, this project is intertwined with his latest foray into the world of blockchain and digital art.
Master Sri launched three NFT collections with Super Creators this year, a market which has grown enormously since 2020, and has linked the collection with his yoga business.
“Aside from just selling let's say pixelated artwork that a lot of people are doing, ours has a real utility to it, where everybody who holds the NFT will be able to get free access to the yoga centre and all the training” he said.
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