“There’s and old story about a farmer who went to the Buddha seeking help for his problems. Either droughts or monsoons make his work difficult, he complained. What’s more, he grumbled, even though he loved his wife, there were certain things about her he wanted to change. Likewise his children – yes, he loved them, but they weren’t turning out quite the way he wanted.
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“Mindfulness allows for a discrimination in psyche which is free of judgment . . . and which still allows for the influence of the unconscious to be entertained in consciousness. Mindfulness is not looking for a way “beyond,” rather it is a posture which seeks insight within and which allows an openness and availability to unexpected and uninvited unconscious content.
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Over the years I have come to realize that we may not have to work so hard to connect in our relationships. As a matter of fact, I think we are already connected and that the true nature of our relationships is a shared-phenomenal-world-in-common.
This is a pre-existing connection unencumbered by doubt, fear, judgment or the countless obstacles that cloud our perception. Recognition of this common basis becomes the context for resolving difficulties that hold us back in life.
By efficiently removing the veils that cloud this clear view, we begin to recognize how our relationships are integral to our success.
“Some things are just known in ways that I can’t explain. Some things have no verbal equivalents. Actually, lots of things have no verbal equivalents. We labor under the illusion that if we don’t have a name for it, it doesn’t exist.” (Bear, 2002, p. 92).
Language is developed in our organizations so that we can share a common reality. But does it help us to understand the unknown? So much of what we fear we simply do not have the language to describe, and therefore make sense of. Communication that is alive and which continually refreshes itself is absolutely vital to the well being and identity of an organization.
“What we have no words for, we cannot understand; it does not fit into our view of what is real. And if we stumble upon it . . . we may be taken by surprise, and frightened. On the unknown places on their maps, the ancient cartographers wrote, ‘Here there be dragons.” (Kornfield, 2000, p. 62)
“The challenges you face in your daily life, business, career or creative pursuit are a vital part of your accomplishments. If managed with compassion and insight, your trials will inform your process and ensure your success.”
- Timothy Dukes
“It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade.”
- Henry Ward Beecher
I trained with a Hindu Brahmin along the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, India. This is an ancient town, brimming with life; merchants, holy men, travelers, and families. It is webbed with dark alleys opening to an expansive avenue leading to one of our most sacred rivers. It is embraced on one side by this sand-colored town were monkeys romp on the tile roofs and on the other shore by an infinite expanse of flood plain surrounding this heart of mother India. The training involved pre-dawn yoga and meditation on the sun as it peaked over the horizon moving from red, to orange, to yellow and finally white. The teachings were a daily rigor for a three month period. Perhaps we worked together for six hours each morning with afternoon and evening discussion and meals. What was remarkable about the hours I spend with this man, Anand, was that all of our conversations where accomplished in an abbreviated sign language. He had lost his hearing at an early age to smallpox.
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In life, perhaps in one moment, we are given an opportunity to listen. If we are still, we may actually hear what is calling to us. We have a choice at this time; “do I listen” or “do I move back into the familiar patterns of my life?” Do I answer the call and take the risk inherent in it’s promise - to change me and “riddle” me into being more fully who I am?
” Often in actual life, and not infrequently in the myths and popular tales, we encounter the dull case of the call unanswered; for it is always possible to turn the ear to other interests. Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, or ‘culture,’ the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. His flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and is meaningless – even though, like King Minos, he may through titanic effort succeed in building an empire of renown. Whatever house he builds, it will be a house of death: a labyrinth of cyclopean walls to hide from him his Minotaur. All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration.” (Campbell, 1949, p. 59)
As you weather these difficult times, there is something to keep in mind: We have been through this before. It may not feel the same, certainly we have unprecedented news coverage this time around, but this is just the current manifestation of one phase of the cycle of the life of a business – birth, life, death and transition. This is the destructive phase – denial awakens and there is simply too much to think about, safety is replaced by fear, comfort is shattered by anxiety, and predictability is overrun with doubt – leaving each of us feeling isolated and vulnerable. It may be a time that you find little comfort in the company of others so it is important to use your speech wisely and stop scaring one another.
Pull back from the feelings of a “freefall.” Recall and hold onto the other major phases of the cycle of your business – Creation and Preservation. Spend a few moments and bring to mind those areas that are working and focus on preserving them. Begin again by creating and digging deeply into the processes that are tried and true. Leverage your assets and spend time with the key people in your life. Focus on preserving what you can while creating within the possibilities that are available to you. This is a time to invest wisely, with the resources that remain, so as to position yourself and your organization for the recovery that will follow.
I was recently reminded of what Don Juan said in Tales of Power; “The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse.” As I prepare my work for a week of business clients, I face the familiar struggle; to move the work into a place where I can embrace it as a challenge; knowing what to do is sometimes as important as knowing how to do it.
Ref: Gerber, Michael E.: (2001). The E-Myth Revisited: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it. New York: Harper Business.
