Continuation from yesterday…..(Why Your Own Mind Is Your Worst Enemy)
Perhaps my own life offers a perfect illustration of what is possible through meditation.
Since about the age of 10 I have been driven. First in sports, then in school and finally in my business pursuits. While it might sound admirable, this mindset came with one significant drawback. Massive amounts of STRESS were introduced into my life from an early age. At first, my attention was entirely on making the Olympics in swimming. And while I was fairly good, I never approached a level where I needed to be. As months and years flew by and my competitive times failed to improve, no matter how hard I worked, I found only failure, disappointment and STRESS in my pursuit of excellence.
And as soon as I hung up my Speedos, this pursuit was replaced by taking 20-25 units a semester to get out of school as fast as possible. Of course, this amount of course work inadvertently comes with massive amounts of STRESS built right into it. Yet, my mind was just getting warmed up.
Shortly after graduating from the University I started my own investment business at the age of 21. And as was suggested earlier in the book, outside of being in an active combat zone or perhaps beings an emergency room physician/nurse, active financial market participation is about as stress crammed of an environment as anyone can imagine. That is why so many in the industry turn to drugs, alcohol or other questionable behaviors. They are just trying to cope with massive amounts of STRESS associated with the pursuit of making money in financial markets.
In other words, from about the age of 10 to 26 I continuously added more and more STRESS into my life. Culminating in a near suicide attempt described earlier in the book. That was my bottom.
Today, those who knew back then would not even recognize me anymore. All STRESS and STRESS associated energies no longer exist in my state of consciousness. In fact, I am so far along the path that most things, internal and external, no longer impact me. All negative thoughts, feelings and emotions bounce off of me as they were rubber balls bouncing off the ground after a 10 story drop. And that becomes quite handy when it comes to my primary profession of being a money manager. All thanks to meditation.
The following quick story about Buddha should drive the point home.
One of Buddha’s disciples (I don’t recall the name, but let’s call him Bob) asked Buddha.
Bob: “Master, can I go and preach your message in the “New World”. I believe I am ready. People there have never heard of such a beautiful message before. I will deliver it to them. “
Buddha: “This is not a good idea. It is a very dangerous place. People there are very angry and violent. You will disturb them with my message. You might even get hurt. They might even kill you. “
Bob: “Master, believe me, I am ready.”
Buddha: “If you are ready, answer the following three questions. First, what will you do if they hate your message? What will you do if they insult you, spit in your face and threaten you?
Bob: “I will thank them for being such wonderful people. All they are doing is insulting me. They could have beaten me, they could have murdered me. Their kindness knows no end.”
To Be Continued on Monday…...(Why Am I Seeing This On A Financial Website?)
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