I recently came across an idea that stuck with me more than I expected. I had heard Mohnish Pabrai talking about Warren Buffett, and it connected to a familiar saying: you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If your closest friends are doing well, you tend to rise with them. If they are stuck, unfocused, or unhappy, that gravity pulls you down too. This idea shows up everywhere. Jim Rohn famously articulated it, and even the old phrase “birds of a feather flock together” points to the same truth. Who you spend time with shapes who you become. But Pabrai raised a more interesting question: How do you actually choose those people? Time … Read More
Repost: It’s better to be in love, than to be loved
Naval Ravikant: Once your health is taken care of, once your material needs are taken care of… You pursue truth, love and beauty. Love I think is important because people want to be loved, because that helps them get over their mortality. It makes them feel a little safer (monkeys huddling in the dark around the campfire, scared of what’s out there in the woods). But one thing I’ve realized for myself is that: it’s better to be in love than to be loved. If somebody loves you too much—like your mom’s coming up and hugging you all the time, or some girl or some guy is obsessed with you—it can get a little clawing, right? It feels like it’s a burden. You almost don’t … Read More
Pursue your natural interests, not success
At first I had titled this “pursue excellence, not success” and I realized that this was my own conditioning and programming that was resisting a blog post about the dangers of pursuing success. When we say the pursuit of excellence, I think that they can imply an end goal a means or an aim to get somewhere and this is the problem. When we don’t know who we are, we continue to pursue external things and rewards. We start to desire, success and more success, and it’s ingrained in our culture that we should strive to be successful. After all, we have to do something we have to do some action there’s no way around it so we played games … Read More
Know yourself (or if you don’t yet, start with your archetype)
Sometimes it’s tough to know what you want, to know what direction to go, and you may hear lots of different advice from people. Each person is unique – how can I suggest you love books or your someone else suggest you love adventure? Which is right or wrong? While people may influence you – ultimately you must know yourself – which helps you to say YES or NO to what matters, and ultimately IMO enables you to trust yourself and make decisions for yourself. That being said, it’s a bit easier said than done, no? How does one exactly know themselves? Well, the good news is there are archetypes that can help point the way. Archetypes represent universal patterns … Read More
What is the relationship between “Eternal” and “non-Eternal” on the one hand, and “real”” and “false” on the other? How do you make the jump?
Except from a talk by Swami Sarvapriyananda: No Mind Q&A June 3, 2018 Just because something is non-eternal, temporary doesn’t mean it’s not real. That’s what that’s our reaction, all of this [pointing to the world], it is non-eternal, we know. And yes, of course, it’s very good, very soon we’re going to bring the session to a close. It’s non-eternal. Luckily, otherwise, you’d go hungry for a very long time if it’s an eternal Vedanta session. I find it extraordinarily interesting, and some people find it scary, from the well accepted fact of the things change, things born and die. From this fact to go into that things are false, they are illusions, they are appearances, I will show … Read More
The Prince of Kashi
Long, long ago, in a kingdom in India, a play was being staged in the royal court. It was called, “The Princess of Kashi.” The role of the Princess of Kashi was to be played by a little girl. Since there was no little girl in the palace, the queen thought that the prince, who was five at the time, could be dressed up as a girl and play that role. It wasn’t a big role and all the prince had to do was to stand there. He looked so adorable as a princess that the queen ordered a painting to be made of him. When the painting was done, the artist brushed in the words, “The Princess of Kashi” … Read More
One thing
There is one thing that when cultivated and regularly practiced leads to deep spiritual intention, to peace, to mindfulness and clear comprehension, to vision and knowledge, to a happy life here and now, and to the culmination of wisdom and awakening. And what is that one thing? Mindfulness centered on the body.
When the ambulance drives by
One of the things I tell my daughters to say as an ambulance or firetruck or police drives by is: “Go save them!” As cheesy as that sounds, its something I do myself (or at least say a silent prayer “Om shanti” which means “Peace”) for those people who are in distress. When we don’t do things like this – acknowledge the suffering of others, the situation looses urgency, gravity, and we miss an opportunity to practice empathy or compassion. For many, we remain silent and/or annoyed as an ambulance or firetruck or police forces us to slow down and get out of the way — forgetting all too quickly that at their destination someone in need is requiring them.
Saying “Hi” practice
Often when I walk down the street, I say hi as someone walks by. And I find, others don’t always say hi! Maybe I wasn’t clear or loud? Maybe I have something in my teeth? Maybe my smile is too creepy? No. OR… Maybe they’re just rude? Thinking something, busy worrying? Think I want something from them? Who knows! I’m not sure why others don’t always say hi back. That being said, I think it’s a great practice to NOT be reactive. To not get hurt or offended. To not fundamentally change your nature and continue to be friendly and say hi. This practice can easily follow in situations in life when others don’t do as we’d like to – … Read More