Business lessons from Thich Quang Duc!

Have you ever read of a Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc?

Who is this person?

He was an elderly Buddhist monk who immolated himself by fire in nineteen-sixty-three in response to the oppression of Buddhism by the then Vietnamese government.

What stood out for me after having watched his video was the power of meditation, the power of deliberation and persistence. He was born an ordinary man but died superhuman.

His prose amidst fire was a powerful testimony of the human will. We certainly do not have to subject ourselves to the same outcome. However, lessons can be noted from his stance.

Consider us; we are business people, right? And our biggest evil, after doubt and shortsightedness, is loneliness. Then how do we use mind-over-matter like that man to overcome this issue?

I will say that this varies on a human-to-human basis.

However, I write this to those who fit that business stereotype of solitude and workaholism. Anyone can take notes, too, though.

To us, what are we learning from this man in our daily lives? Can we see his life as an embodiment of ours?

Here are the takeaways:

1. A man dies alone amidst the fire. 

2. He maintains a position of meditation throughout. 

3. Nothing seems forced.

4. His life is a testimony of persistence and its resulting outcome. 

5. His life portrays letting go. In our case, letting go of all those meetings we could not attend. And the heaviness we carry daily in pursuit of a goal the world cares little of, but means the world to us. 

In reality, we are as strong-willed as this man in many ways, maybe just not as refined in one particular craft. But we face the same issues he had. And we face challenges that run so deep they may literally shake our core, leading us down a spiral. 

There is a lot of insanity attached to us.

For me, it’s ego and gratification from approval and a slight judgmental nature that I have. This becomes tricky, particularly when it does not conform to the laws of life. 

But I have learned that most of us as business people have these dark sites to us. And, like myself, we have several, too many to mention. And more often, we try to suppress them, lest we desire societal condemnation. 

But here is a thing. And we differ slightly from monks in that we need not detach ourselves too much from material reality since attachment to them is vital in our efforts to attain them. 

In my previous post, I wrote about obsession. And what its benefits are. And I think Thich was a man of obsession, maybe even possible delusion. 

Someone mentioned that the mind is a suggestible organ, and it tends to believe real or imagined things. And that is important for manifestations in life. Therefore obsession and suggestibility are key components for the likelihood of something manifesting. 

Study what I wrote and relate it to business. Business is a challenge; will it get any easier? Business is so cumbersome that you will travel paths like I have mentioned, out of a crisis, out of searching for answers. 

I have started numerous businesses, and I can mention firsthand that the odds of success are always obscure. Sometimes success finds you when least expecting. But deliberation always lends us down a complicated road.

It’s a paradox, a dilemma. But we must make it. Thich made his, and annulled all else in his life. 

But as a person with a universalist mindset, you probably won’t take this at face value. The thing about you is that you want to explore life in its entirety. And you are okay with multitasking to that end. Sure. Go for it. 

I wrote this because life can feel so chaotic, and we may sometimes feel profoundly lonely. I suppose it’s not always about business, but life itself, with its maxims. 

I think it’s important for us to chat, write, and find one another. And determine what structures we can build that is akin to sexual pleasures that can help our minds, that can keep us healthy. I mean well.

I think as business people, and so in life holistically, we are searching. Searching for an elixir for both pure happiness and contentment. We are doing this whilst pursuing our goals as hard as possible since we also draw satisfaction there. And that is what a Buddhist monk can teach us. 

Dedication is a lifelong learning issue. And pure happiness results from learning to assimilate our positive and darker sides peacefully. That is the story of business and life. 

All the light to you. 

Xoxo.