Lies, sweet lies:
Last Friday and today I came across as raving at times, no pun intended. I was ready to find composure again in any sort of activity. Luckily, I found a book from the local library that I had brought home sometime back. It is titled “Fearless at work” by Michael Carroll. He is a Manhattanite who spent years as an executive prior to finding relevant teachings from Buddhism his calling. I presumed this book would be much of the sage and ancient wisdom that washes away in the hustle and bustle of modern day life. I was pleasantly surprised to read anecdotes one after another that held such profound connection for me.
This book teaches us to be free, confident and skillful. On any day, those words would have sounded too simple to afford any time for reflection. His writing and his references however made a tremendous difference in how I have come to realize that there is boundless abilities in being fearless.
Take the example of a Taoist story of a boy named Simha He was walking along the edge of the jungle on his way home when a tiger spotted him. The boy was clever and being mindful of where he was decided to make it to a quarry nearby. He slowed turned towards the path of safety and dashed towards the quarry. As he climbed up the quarry with the help of a vine, the tiger came to the base only a little too late. The boy’s relief was however shortlived There came another tiger at the top of the quarry ready to make its meal. As the boy hung in limbo, he couldn’t help notice a pair of mice playing in the nearby growth nibbling at the very vine that was supporting his weight. As the boy weighed his options, he saw a bright strawberry just within reach if he could swing close enough. In the midst of a desperate dismal circumstance, Simha delights in a simple gesture which is the tasting of the berry. Michael teaches that to be human is to confront our circumstance but always with the possibility of delight. He reminds us that the outcome of this story is not as important as the slogan “No delight; no courage”.
This is essentially one of the five primary slogans Michael mentions at the outset of his book and walks us through each of these. These five are 1 Face the fierce facts of life 2 No delight; no courage 3 Recognize fear 4. Discover the jewel of fearless abundance and 5. Command gracefully. He knows we will forget teachings even if they are in the form of slogans. So he suggests that we write it down on index cards or better yet attach our own experiences to some of the slogan. These five are the primary. There are thirty-eight slogans in all. He doesn’t mind if we randomly pick a slogan from a set of cards and put it against our calendars, so we become more familiar with them.
He makes it clear this book is not about solving fear nor is it a roadmap for a fear free life. Instead he draws on the Buddhist observation that “fear does not exist”. It is merely our experience and we can overcome it with the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation.
Among his countless stories and varied sources including the military examples of “shih”, he lays out plain and simple narratives that we immediately get instead of lengthy and numbing discussions. Among his teachings, one of my favorites is about lies. When we have absolutely nothing, we can take delight in lies and pretense if it helps us feel confident to confront the world. In this regard, I recall his example of “the wish fulfilling gem from the mystical kingdom of Shambhala” The gem has the magical ability to manifest whatever the possessor wishes. The abundance of fearlessness is like this wish fulfilling gem. One day when a worker was feeling anxious all day about a possible layoff when called by his manager, his wife called him and said “you have won a lottery of 345 million dollars”. He was more fearless and poised even in the face of bad news and would come out appearing confident and even shaking hands with the manager.
This book has been a delight and a profound learning in what even nothing can offer so much possibilities to be fearless.
Last Friday and today I came across as raving at times, no pun intended. I was ready to find composure again in any sort of activity. Luckily, I found a book from the local library that I had brought home sometime back. It is titled “Fearless at work” by Michael Carroll. He is a Manhattanite who spent years as an executive prior to finding relevant teachings from Buddhism his calling. I presumed this book would be much of the sage and ancient wisdom that washes away in the hustle and bustle of modern day life. I was pleasantly surprised to read anecdotes one after another that held such profound connection for me.
This book teaches us to be free, confident and skillful. On any day, those words would have sounded too simple to afford any time for reflection. His writing and his references however made a tremendous difference in how I have come to realize that there is boundless abilities in being fearless.
Take the example of a Taoist story of a boy named Simha He was walking along the edge of the jungle on his way home when a tiger spotted him. The boy was clever and being mindful of where he was decided to make it to a quarry nearby. He slowed turned towards the path of safety and dashed towards the quarry. As he climbed up the quarry with the help of a vine, the tiger came to the base only a little too late. The boy’s relief was however shortlived There came another tiger at the top of the quarry ready to make its meal. As the boy hung in limbo, he couldn’t help notice a pair of mice playing in the nearby growth nibbling at the very vine that was supporting his weight. As the boy weighed his options, he saw a bright strawberry just within reach if he could swing close enough. In the midst of a desperate dismal circumstance, Simha delights in a simple gesture which is the tasting of the berry. Michael teaches that to be human is to confront our circumstance but always with the possibility of delight. He reminds us that the outcome of this story is not as important as the slogan “No delight; no courage”.
This is essentially one of the five primary slogans Michael mentions at the outset of his book and walks us through each of these. These five are 1 Face the fierce facts of life 2 No delight; no courage 3 Recognize fear 4. Discover the jewel of fearless abundance and 5. Command gracefully. He knows we will forget teachings even if they are in the form of slogans. So he suggests that we write it down on index cards or better yet attach our own experiences to some of the slogan. These five are the primary. There are thirty-eight slogans in all. He doesn’t mind if we randomly pick a slogan from a set of cards and put it against our calendars, so we become more familiar with them.
He makes it clear this book is not about solving fear nor is it a roadmap for a fear free life. Instead he draws on the Buddhist observation that “fear does not exist”. It is merely our experience and we can overcome it with the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation.
Among his countless stories and varied sources including the military examples of “shih”, he lays out plain and simple narratives that we immediately get instead of lengthy and numbing discussions. Among his teachings, one of my favorites is about lies. When we have absolutely nothing, we can take delight in lies and pretense if it helps us feel confident to confront the world. In this regard, I recall his example of “the wish fulfilling gem from the mystical kingdom of Shambhala” The gem has the magical ability to manifest whatever the possessor wishes. The abundance of fearlessness is like this wish fulfilling gem. One day when a worker was feeling anxious all day about a possible layoff when called by his manager, his wife called him and said “you have won a lottery of 345 million dollars”. He was more fearless and poised even in the face of bad news and would come out appearing confident and even shaking hands with the manager.
This book has been a delight and a profound learning in what even nothing can offer so much possibilities to be fearless.
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