Integrate creativity, spirituality (ethics/Dharma), and financial stability (“making a buck”) into one cohesive way of being. This holistic approach supports overall happiness, ethical conduct, and positive impact on the world.
View your professional life as an essential spiritual practice, rather than separating work from your spiritual and ethical principles. This allows you to apply Buddhist teachings and personal values in the significant portion of your day spent working.
Embrace the principle of “as it is” (dharmata) by accepting reality, including impermanence, old age, sickness, and death, without wishful thinking. This direct reckoning with life’s conditions helps you deal with them more effectively.
Recognize that ultimate responsibility for your path is “up to us,” meaning you have choices and must find your own way. Even when seeking guidance, understand that you are the primary agent in your life.
Work to “clean your mind” by reducing emotional upheavals and habitual patterns. This develops mental and physical acuity, allowing you to respond to present conditions with clarity and potency.
Begin meditation and self-observation by making friends with your mind, treating it with gentleness and kindness rather than as an enemy to conquer. This approach fosters stability and clarity over time.
Give yourself the gift of compassion, especially when struggling with learning or changing habits. Understand that personal growth and deeper understanding naturally take time.
Express kindness through various forms, including “direct” communication where truth is delivered precisely and swiftly, even if provocative. Ensure your motivation is pure and aimed at helping the person.
To bring visions to reality, first visualize and dream about their form, then connect them to “earth” by taking practical steps. This involves assembling the right team and securing necessary resources.
Cultivate an openness to “auspicious coincidences” (tendril) by being “tuned up well” and listening to the “melody of circumstances.” Notice when things happen with a sparkle, without trying to force them.
Avoid actively seeking “siddhis” (superpowers or magical abilities); instead, focus on attention and compassionate motivation. If such phenomena occur, use them for the benefit of all or simply appreciate them.
Be authentic about your experiences and current state, as this honesty resonates with others and provides a genuine starting point for personal growth.
When negotiating, clearly understand your value and worth, allowing the other party to make their offer first. Hold your dignity and remain fluid to secure a good deal without undercutting yourself.
Achieve grounded self-assessment by practicing softening and tenderness, noticing and releasing physical and emotional tension. Be willing to be vulnerable, admit wrongs, and receive.
Systematically practice getting comfortable with discomfort and uncertainty. This expands your capacity to navigate challenging situations and reduces the need for constant safety.
When facing challenges or discomfort, cultivate curiosity about your experience rather than labeling it as “bad.” Explore what you are feeling to shift your perception and understanding.
Explore the nature of your fears rather than letting them tighten you up. Understanding fear is a prerequisite for experiencing fearlessness and using it constructively.
When experiencing unpleasant emotions like fear, dismissiveness, or rushing, recognize them as a signal that you are not fully acknowledging something. This prompts deeper self-inquiry.
Practice “Shenpa” by using strong emotional triggers or habitual patterns as an “alarm clock” to remind you to open up and investigate, rather than getting caught in the reaction.
If you are experiencing suffering, consider it a signal that you are not being fully mindful or aware of something in the present moment. This prompts you to bring more attention to it.
Avoid taking yourself too seriously by cultivating a flexible, “be like water” approach, rather than fixating on winning, losing, or a rigid sense of self. This allows for self-deprecating humor and spontaneous action.
Practice the “don’t bring things to a painful point” slogan by lightening up and giving yourself and others a break. Avoid using clarity or aggression to cause unnecessary harm or self-mutilation.
Focus on doing your best in any situation, and if you fall short or make a mistake, commit to trying again. Repeated effort is part of a gradual path of learning and transformation.
Cultivate self-awareness regarding your habitual communication patterns, such as being too harsh or fast. Use subsequent interactions as opportunities to adjust your approach, delivering messages with more patience and less aggression.
Use the repetitive nature of reality as an opportunity to learn and make small shifts each time you encounter similar situations. This is the “gradual path” towards transformation.
Adopt the perspective that your spiritual or personal progress is “none of your business.” This allows you to focus on the practice itself without getting caught up in tracking or judging your advancement.
Cultivate the ability to hold both “absolute truth” (non-negotiable reality) and “relational truth” (everyday experiences) simultaneously. Recognize their inseparability without biasing towards one.
Apply the understanding of absolute and relative truth to your work by acknowledging its practical importance while simultaneously recognizing its deeper insubstantiality. This helps avoid taking work too seriously.
When encountering difficult people, remember the Buddhist concept of emptiness, recognizing they lack an inherent, unchanging essence. This helps you respond skillfully without memorializing their negative traits.
Use “prajna” (acuity/wisdom) to discern the most skillful way to interact with difficult people, which may involve being tough, precise, and clear. Avoid imputing a fixed, unchanging essence to their behavior.
Cultivate the view of “basic goodness,” recognizing that a wholesome, brilliant quality permeates all reality, including difficult individuals. This fosters a more compassionate and open approach.
Cultivate the “dignity of outrageous” by developing self-trust and spontaneity that doesn’t rely on external confirmation. This allows you to take bold leaps and act without needing constant validation.
Recognize when a project or effort is fundamentally flawed and be willing to abandon it to start something fresh. Avoid investing excessive time in trying to perfect something that is not working.
Engage in a foundational mindfulness practice to cultivate awareness and intuition. This enables you to “figure things out” and navigate decisions effectively.
View mindfulness as a foundational practice, but recognize it is not the entire path. Be open to cultivating additional practices like compassion and skillful means to fully realize opportunities for growth.
Focus on sharing and relaying the foundational teachings and experiences that profoundly impacted you. Aim to transmit this wisdom to the next generation while also remembering to have fun.