Buddhism for business: A mantra for success



12/11/2020 3:16 AM


On any given day in life, you are in one of three stages: aspiration, success, failure. At each of them, you are battling with ego.



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As Benjamin Franklin observed, whoever drinks from a cup to the bottom should be prepared to encounter sediment. But what if that sediment is not so bad?

Harold Jenin noted, "People learn from their failures. They rarely learn anything from their successes." That's why an old Celtic proverb says, "See much, learn much, suffer much - that's the way to wisdom." What you are facing right now can and should be that path.

Wisdom or ignorance? Ego is the voice of hesitation in voting. Pursuit leads to success (and adversity). Success creates its own adversity (and, fortunately, new ambition). Adversity leads to aspiration and further success.

Not striving for ego, not seeking ego.

To succeed without ego.

Fight through setbacks with strength, without ego.


We live in society and find ourselves at different points in life. But failure is lousy. No question about it. No matter what lies ahead, we can be sure that there is one thing we would like to avoid: ego. It makes all stages difficult, but at the stage of failure, it gives permanence. Unless we learn from our own mistakes, here and now.

Unless we take this moment as an opportunity to understand ourselves and our own mind better, the ego will turn towards failure with the tenacity of a compass arrow pointing north.

All great men have gone through difficulties to become what they have become. All of them have made mistakes.

They benefited from the experience, even if it was simply the realisation that they were not infallible and that things did not always go the way they should. They realised that the way up is provided by self-reflection: without it, they would not be better and they would not be able to rise again.

That's why we have the mantras that lead to survival and success at every stage of our journey. They are simple, but, as always, not easy.

Based on "Ego Is the Enemy" by Ryan Holiday


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