Super Rich

That makes it pretty straightforward, eh?

So, which train are you on?

And, if you’re heading in the wrong direction, is NOW a good time to get off that train and start going in the right direction?! :)

Sounds simple. And, well, it is.

The challenge, of course, is to notice when we’re off then do what needs to be done…

Stillness.

As Simmons tells us, it’s “the fertile soil” in which our deepest intentions can take root and get nourished.

Reminds me of Deepak and Joseph Campbell.

First, Deepak (see Notes on The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success) tells us: “But first, you have to practice stillness. Stillness is the first requirement of manifesting your desires, because in stillness lies your connection to the field of pure potentiality that can orchestrate an infinity of details for you.”

And, Campbell tells us we need “a sacred place” (see Notes on The Power of Myth): “This is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers this morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you might find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”

So, how’s YOUR sacred place?

Are you taking enough time for stillness?!

Hah.

Love it.

We’ve gotta clean out the junk mail in our minds, yo!

One of the best ways that Simmons strongly recommends throughout the book? Meditation.

Let’s quote Deepak again: “There is no greater attribute in a meditator than patience.”

Amen.

We talk about this all the time—with not only our meditation practices but with life in general!

Eknath Easwaran (see Notes on Conquest of Mind) tells us not to be “heroes in the beginning”: “In Sanskrit we have a word which means “heroes at the beginning”: people who take up a job with a fanfare of trumpets but soon find that their enthusiasm has tiptoed down the back stair. Those who go far in meditation are the ones who keep on plugging. They may not be very spectacular; they may never hear a trumpet. But they keep on trying day in and day out, giving their best in every situation and relationship, never giving up. Such people are bound to reach their goal.”

While Matthieu Ricard (see Notes on Why Meditate?) tells us: “Excessive effort can also result from impatience or exaltation, two states that lead nowhere. If you begin climbing a high mountain at a run, your lungs will soon force you to stop. In the same way, if you draw a bow too far, it will break, or if you try to cook on too high a flame, you will end up burning your food.

Demanding immediate results is an aspect of unsteadiness of mind or laziness. His Holiness the Dalai Lama joked: “In the West, people would like enlightenment to be fast, easy, and if possible, cheap!” In the same way that it takes patience to grow a crop, steadiness is indispensable for the practice of meditation. It does no good to pull your plants to make them grow faster!”

Another “Hah!”

Brilliant.

It’s funny how often people say that they’ve meditated a few times and didn’t “feel” anything. As Simmons tells us, we don’t do a set of push-ups and expect to be all ripped up. :)

Same thing with meditation.

We’ve gotta hit the “mental muscle” gym diligently, patiently, persistently and, OVER THE LONG RUN, we’re bound to be rockin’ it. :)

Love this one.

Simmons puts it this way in his other great book Do You! (see Notes): “In the yogic tradition, this principle of using intense effort to burn through life’s distractions is called Tapas. It’s another Sanskrit word, roughly defined as ‘heat’ or ‘essential energy.’ The concept is that through a disciplined approach to work and self-sacrifice, Tapas will burn away the negativity that separates us from God. By working our hardest and happily enduring the hardships of life we are able to create a sense of peace and clarity in ourselves.”

The idea of tapas reminds me of Rumi’s mojo (see Notes): “This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away.”

So, as we get our meditation and prayer and yoga and all that “spiritual” stuff on, let’s not forget to get the tapas fire burning as we embrace hard work! :)

In his classic The Science of Getting Rich (see Notes), Wallace D. Wattles says something similar. He tells us that we need to “more than fill our current position.”

Too often we get all geeked up about all the great things we’ll do when we finally get our big break. But, as Simmons tells us, the great break comes as a RESULT of always doing our best.

“So when you see a Lyor or a Brett or a Puffy and think, “I want what they have,” understand that you’re never going to get that if you only focus on the man or woman you see today. If you want to follow in their footsteps, you must first emulate the young Puffy, or the young Lyor, the hungry and, most importantly, happy hustler who was willing to do anything for anybody at anytime.”

From 50 Cent to Puffy, Simmons shares all kinds of examples of pop icons who started out at the very bottom and LOVED working super hard and doing their best day in and day out. As a result, they got noticed and their power grew.

And, over time, we came to know them as among the best at what they do. All because they more than filled their prior position!

How’re you doing with that?

This is from a chapter where Simmons shares his interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita (see Notes)—one of his favorite books and one of the core texts of Hinduism.

First, a quick context: The Gita is set on a battlefield and one of the greatest warriors, Arjuna, is reluctant to go to battle against members of his own family who are up to evil stuff. The God Krishna disguises himself as a charioteer and is giving Arjuna some powerful advice.

Including this gem: “If your Dharma was to be a doctor, I’d tell you to go out and heal people. If your Dharma was to be a farmer, I’d tell you to get busy planting some seeds. But since your Dharma is to be a warrior, you need to stop crying and instead get ready to take on the forces of evil. I know you’re scared and you don’t want to make a mistake, but trust me, you can never go wrong when you embrace your Dharma.”

So, back to Karma Yoga. The idea is simple: It’s all about embracing what we’re here to do and seeing our engagement in the world AS A SPIRITUAL practice in and of itself.

Too often, we (like Arjuna in the Gita) think the truly spiritual path would be to retreat into the mountains and get our full-time meditation on.

But, for most of us, the path of action, or ‘Karma Yoga’ is where it’s at.

Do YOU need to engage in Karma Yoga more?

Simmons, an uber-successful entrepreneur, presents some great wisdom on how to rock it as a “Business Yogi.”

Reminds me of Geshe Michael Roach’s awesome wisdom from his great book, The Diamond Cutter (see Notes): “Never accept the idea that, because you are in business, you don’t have the opportunity or time or personal qualities which a true spiritual life demands, or that maintaining a deep inner life is somehow contradictory with leading a business career. The wisdom of The Diamond Cutter says that the very people who are attracted to business are exactly the ones who have the inner strength to grasp and carry out the deeper practices of the spirit.”

In fact, as Roach says: “In America, it will be the business community that leads a quiet but certain revolution in how we conduct the business of our work, and our lives as well, using ancient wisdom for the goals of the modern world.”

This is great stuff. I often mention Maslow’s wisdom that, in any given moment, we’re either stepping forward into growth or back into safety.

I like to imagine earning a +1 or getting a -1 depending on which direction we head. Now, no matter how many steps we’ve taken in the wrong direction OR how many steps we need to take before we get where we want to be, the next choice is always clear: Will it be +1 or will it be -1?

As Simmons says here, it makes a whole lotta sense to quit stressing ourselves out and simply take the next step in the right direction, eh?!

This all reminds me of some Vernon Howard mojo. Check out the Notes on The Power of Your Supermind where he tells us: “Do not be impatient with your seemingly slow progress. Do not try to run faster than you presently can. If you are studying, reflecting and trying, you are making progress whether you are aware of it or not. A traveler walking the road in the darkness of night is still going forward. Someday, some way, everything will break open, like the natural unfolding of a rosebud.”

Howard also tells us: “It is a mistake for anyone to think he has lived too long in his old, unsatisfactory ways to make the great change. If you switch on the light in a dark room, it makes no difference how long it was dark because the light will still shine. Be teachable. That is the whole secret.”

Amen to that!