Sunday, November 10, 2013

a mandala of sorts

I'm reading a book by Lodro Rinzler: The Buddha Walks Into A Bar… A Guide To Life For A New Generation. Someone on twitter recommended it, and I'm feeling bad that I can't remember who because I would like to thank them.


It's one of those books that came along with a great message … a message that has now been recurring for me in many different forms of media.

Let me explain, or rather, let Shakespeare explain…
"There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so."  - Hamlet to Horatio

What I like about Buddhism is that it is essentially the study of ourselves… of our thinking, of the intentions behind our actions.

In Buddhism, a mandala is like an organizational chart of concentric circles. Whatever is your chief motivation lies at the center of your mandala. By becoming inquisitive about our lives and peeling away our habitual behaviors, we can discover our root motivation and make it central to who we are.
"From there we radiate out. All our activities can be infused with our core belief. When we do that, we live a life we can be proud of, and a life that has a positive effect on everyone we encounter." - Lodro Rinzler



So this idea of a mandala, of concentric circles, of finding our core belief and working from the inside out… all started to look so familiar:


It was looking a lot like Simon Sinek's book Start With Why. I'm also a big fan of Chris Guillebeau and World Domination Summit… which inspires us to live a remarkable life in a conventional world.

Doing 'what' you do is conventional. 'Why' you do what you do is remarkable.

And then I read this quote from George Lucas:
"The sciences are the how, and the humanities are the why. Why are we here? Why do we believe in the things we believe in? I don't think you can have the 'how' without the 'why'."

Living from the inside out… from your 'why', your core belief. If our core belief involves kindness, compassion, inspiration… we can have a positive effect on those around us.

Are you living from the inside out?

What's your chief motivation? Why do you do what you do?





No comments:

Post a Comment