101: Ben Decker on The Temptations of Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll on Modern Spirituality
So this week I'm speaking with author, speaker and meditation thought leader, Mr. Ben Decker. Ben grew up as a member of the Church of the Latter-day Saints. He also began meditating and traveling the world on spiritual pilgrimages and mission trips. And then he decided to enter the priesthood as a teenager. But a battle with addiction and depression caused him to change his mind and search for a different type of career. He ended up doing a 180 by going to Los Angeles and becoming a publicist.And after rising up through the ranks and becoming one of Hollywood's biggest publicists, particularly for Playboy Bunnies, Ben had a dear friend died by suicide, and he felt somewhat complicit in his friend's unhappiness and depression. So he decided to leave his prolific career in PR, and he went back to his roots by starting his own field of study, which he called collaborative religion.Then Ben helped to open a religiously pluralistic spiritual center in Venice Beach, California called Full Circle, which is where he and I first crossed paths because I rented that space to help host one of my inspirational variety shows that I was doing at the time called The Shine. And Ben went on to become a prolific teacher and author of books on meditation.He's now written four books, most recently publishing Modern Spirituality: A Guide To The Heart of Mindfulness Meditation, and The Art of Healing, which became a bestseller. And he's also the host of the Modern Spirituality Podcast. And as always, we dive deep into the backstory of how Ben came to be the author and teacher that he is today. And what's notable about almost all of my episodes was that there was always a moment where the guests decided to take a big leap of faith in the direction of what they identified at the time as their purpose. Sometimes, they were motivated by curiosity, other times they were motivated by pain. Ben's case was more of the latter. So if you're on the fence about making a switch in your path to something that feels more aligned with where you currently are, I think you're going to find this episode very inspiring.